February TRS Color Challenge- Mermaid Shaker Card

Welcome back to my blog, I hope you are having a delightful, productive weekend.  I've been suffering with some acute on chronic GI problems this week, so I surprised myself when I completed this card on time!  This is my DT card for Three Room Studio's monthly card challenge.  You can participate as well by checking out their blog for the monthly photo inspiration, then post your card using TRS stamps to Instagram using #trscardchallenge or post it to their Facebook page, Three Room Studio's Fourth Room.  Initially I wasn't planning on this being a shaker card, but once I got to a certain point, I got stuck.  Does that ever happen to you?  I thought I knew where I wanted to go, but then I didn't really like it and I'd spent a lot of time on the background and coloring the images that I didn't want to scrap it.  So, I switched gears (or really directions) and turned it into a shaker card.  So here's my finished card.  Below, I'll explain what I used and how I made it.

Here's the inspiration photo:

























I started off this card by white heat-embossing a waves stamp from I believe Hero Arts (it's unlabeled in my stamp bin).  I then used 3 shades of blue/green ink from Gina K. Designs and ink blended the background, going from light to dark as I went
down the card.  Using an oval stencil I cut from masking paper, I repeated the colors but more intensely.  Next I stamped the TRS images from "Mermaid at Heart" stamp set in black Amalgam ink from Gina K. Designs, then colored the images with Copic markers that coordinated with the color palette above.  On the mermaid tail I used the 0 Copic blender to create little dots in the lighter colored areas, then followed with dots of ink from a Gelly Roll pen in Clear Star (see other photo below).  I then fussy cut all the images out. 






Next I prepared the frame.  I first ran it through my die cutting machine using Altenew's Dotted Scales Debossing Cover Plate.  Next I die cut that with the frame die from Mama Elephant.  The dotted scales are subtle, but coordinates nicely with the theme.  The "celebrate" die cut is from Birch Press Designs.  I had previously die cut and colored it for another project that I ended up not using it for, however it was perfect for this project.  I believe I used a mixture of embossing powders together to achieve this metallic dark blue/green color.  Next I applied X-press it foam tape around the edges of my card panel then glued the little fish and sea horse in place and added various elements for my shaker (sequins, glitter, glass balls, etc.).  I glued a few of them in place so that when the card is held upright, some of the elements stay at the top/middle.  I then carefully placed the frame and clear acetate window that I had previously glued in place onto my card panel.  Last, I glued the lovely mermaid and sentiment in place then adhered it to a standard folded card base.

The specific Copic markers I used were R20, R22, E07, BG11, BG72, BG75, B99, and E53, E55, and E57 for her hair.  Skin colors were:  E50, E00, BV00 and R20 to cheeks and R24 to lips.

I hope you enjoyed my underwater shaker card.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  I will have this posted to Instagram and FB, and you can see all the DT cards up on the TRS blog or just #trscardchallenge on IG and you'll see all the cards from all the challenges.

Thank you again for visiting my site.  Stay crafty my friends!

Jill ✂

Witt & Sass Launch - You are Beautiful, You Amaze Me Shaker card

Hello again!  Welcome back to my blog.  Today I have something very special to show you.  I made it for the Witt & Sass launch of the "You Are Beautiful" stamp set.  My card is sparkly, it's shiney, it's elegant, it's pink and gold, and it's floral!!  AND it's a shaker card!  What could be better than that?  I know, it's very girlie, girl... but I'm sorta that way, so I do love it for a change of pace.  Warning- this did take me quite some time to make (but I'm not known for my card-making speed!)  For me, the key to making this lovely card, aside from the great stamps and layered stencils from Witt & Sass, is Gina K's Wreath Builder Stencil.  I used the smaller stencil and my MISTI to achieve this nice round/balanced wreath.  To make this card, I used two products from Witt & Sass:  the You are Beautiful stamp set and the Layered Stencil Floral.

How I made this card:

I started by first stamping the wreath using the largest floral cluster and the largest single flower stamp in the set.  I used the Gina K. Designs Wreath Builder Stencil to help me position my stamps and stamp them in a circle.  I started with the largest floral cluster and stamped it twice on opposite sides of the cardstock.  I then created two masks of each end of the floral cluster, so I could stamp the large single flower in the two gaps, but it overlapped a bit, so that's where the masks came in handy.  I stamped the other flower into the gaps, then I used the tiny flower trios in the stamp set to fill in any areas that looked a bit barren.  I set this aside to work on my background paper so I would know what colors to use when I colored my wreath.

For the background paper I found this lovely pink 6 x 6 paper that had some variation in color to it.  Not quite ombre, maybe closer to a watercolor look.  I decided to use the Layered Stencil Floral on it from W & S in slightly darker pinks than the paper (but I did not want it bold).  I started by using the floral stencil's solid flower shape and used Distress Ink, Spun Sugar on both the large and small floral shapes.  Next I shifted the stencil so that the stencil flower petals lined up with what I just colored.  I started with Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in Pink Flambe' on a rag and rubbed it in.  It needed additional color, so I grabbed my Distress Oxide Ink in Picked Raspberry and very gently pounced it on with my mini ink blending tool.  Once a section was done, I quickly ran over to my embossing station and put some Ranger Holographic Embossing Powder over the freshly inked flowers and heat set it.  I repeated those steps until my entire pink paper was done.  I then trimmed it down to 5.75" on both sides, as I didn't want my card to exceed 6" on any side. 

I returned to my floral wreath and practiced colors on a scratch piece of paper before I just dove in.  I wanted 3 colors of roses, one matching the background paper, the other two variations of pink.  I also wanted 1-2 flowers between any same color flower.  Fortunately the numbers of flowers worked!  I started by coloring all the same color flowers first with my Copic markers (I used a 3 color combination on them- but did I remember to write down which ones?  Yikes!  The answer is no 😞

(that's something I have to work on before I clean up my space!)  Anyhow, then I colored the leaves, again I masked a few areas and tucked in some leaves from the large single rose where I thought it needed more for balance.  I used 3 Copic markers in the BG family, then used C5 to make the leaf crease down the center.  I colored the small dainty flowers a deep red, then went around with my Sakura Jelly Roll pen in Clear Star to the centers of all the flowers in the wreath.  Then I used Clear Wink of Stella on all the roses.  Last, I decided to heat emboss the 3 small circle clusters as a single stamp from the You are Beautiful stamp set.  I didn't want them to be too overbearing, so I only stamped them 3 times with Versamark ink, then used my Stampin' Up! Gold Embossing Powder.  I trimmed my wreath cardstock to 4" x 4", rounding the two bottom corners.  I then went about fussy cutting the inside of my wreath using my handy #11 Penblade (the yellow, pointed one).

I placed my wreath cardstock onto the pink background to where I liked how the background flowers showed and left enough reveal on all sides.  I cut down my pink layer a bit more and rounded the bottom  two corners.  

Very Important step:  If you secure your bow with a brad, do it now before proceeding any further, or it may be impossible to use a brad at all!  I made a 3 piece bow from some Stampin' Up! ribbon I had that matched my card nicely.  I made a hole through all 3 pieces of ribbon with my pokey tool, put the brad through it, then poked a hole about 1/4" from the top of my floral wreath, in the middle and pushed my brad through the hole and opened the legs on the back side to secure.

Next I picked out some foiled white cardstock from DCWV to frame and support my pink paper (it was not the heaviest of papers and I was making a shaker card, so I wanted more rigidity).  That layer ended up being 5.75" x 5.5" (well below my 6" max.).  It also brought out the gold elements in my card.  I then adhered that to my card base, that was a top folding card of 11" x 5.75" total (I wanted not to have to cut into a 12" x 12" piece of my cardstock, I prefer using my 8.5" x 11" cardstock for my card bases.)

Next I lined up my wreath paper onto the pink paper, then marked very lightly in pencil the corners.  This would help me when I finally adhere my wreath paper onto the pink paper.  Next I marked a few points of the inside of the wreath onto the pink paper, then removed the wreath paper and drew a very light almost round circle.  I would eventually add my adhesive foam tape around my marked pencil line, ensuring  none of the tape would show.  But first I needed a piece of acetate for my shaker window.  I decided to use one of the floral stamp's sentiment on the acetate.  It just barely fit! So that I got the sentiment centered, I went ahead and glued the acetate in place on the backside of the floral frame.  Once secure, I stamped the sentiment inside the middle of the wreath, using the help of my MISTI for perfect positioning and no slipping around with the ink.  I used Ranger's Archival black ink and did double stamp it to make it darker (not a problem when you use a great stamp positioner!)  I set it aside to dry, while I made my shaker element.

I used Scotch 3M foam adhesive tape around the circle I had drawn on the pink paper.  I decided to make it double think for more dimension and room for more goodies inside the shaker.  I carefully used an antistatic tool along the inside of the tape ring so that my shaker elements wouldn't stick to it.  I used several products on the inside, all light pink, gold, white, holographic/rainbow, and a few tiny hexagons in those colors and a few blueish-green ones that matched the leaves and ribbon on the wreath.  I also used a few pink gem stickers from DCWV inside and outside on the pink paper.  I feel that a few elements glued in place inside the shaker helps keep all the shaker elements from falling to the bottom (unless that's what you want, of course!).  So once all the shaker bits were added...drum roll please... I very carefully laid down my wreath paper onto the foam adhesive ring (using my corner markers as a guide.  One thing I forgot to do was put more double thick foam tape around the rest of my wreath paper.  The edges sagged a bit.  I had to fix it.  I very carefully cut the foam tape lengthwise in half and measured approximately the length I needed.  I stacked them up double, removed the release tape and gently wedged them in place along the outside edges.  Harder to do this way than to have had it done before I placed the wreath paper down, but you can't tell the difference, so only you and I know!!  

Last, I chose 6 of the shaker elements and glued them to the pink paper, 3 each on opposite corners.  Now, finally, this card is done.  Though a little time consuming, I love how it came out, I hope you do too!  I can't help myself but shake my card around and look at all the pretties inside!  

Thank you for visiting my blog (this one more lengthy than usual), I know!  I hope to see some of your shaker creations using Witt & Sass products.  Remember if you are following a challenge from an order you received from W & S, use #wscardchallenge on Instagram so we can see what you create.

To see other Witt & Sass Design Team creations, go to the  

Witt & Sass Facebook page (you'll need to join first) or check Instagram at @wittandsassstampco.  Also the store's website has lots of inspiration and information about  W & S, some of it quite funny!  Their website is:   https://www.wittandsassstampcompany.com/  
  

Also, don't miss out on all the Blog stuff, too.  You'll find that at: 

https://www.wittandsassstampcompany.com/blogs/news  

**For your convenience, I've linked the W & S products to the store and linked to the various social media platforms as well!**

However, if you just want to see more of my stuff, visit me on Instagram, that's where all my work is located.  I'm jktaylor911.  I don't blog every card, so IG has so much more!

Thanks again, and happy crafting!!

Jill ✂

Banners and Blooms, Concord & 9th from CEP

Welcome back to my blog my friends, today I have the pleasure of sharing a card I made for Creative Escape Papercrafting as their Guest DT.  I am again featuring products by Concord & 9th that are featured in the store.  The stamp set I used is called Banners and Blooms.  I primarily used the floral component and a couple words as well.  No banner on this card!

Here's the process to make this card:
I started by placing the floral stamp on my Stamp Platform then proceeded to stamp the image along the diagonal line of my landscape A2 sized 80# NSW card panel.  I never moved the stamp, I moved my cardstock for each stamping of the image.  I did use some masking in a few places so that where the images overlapped slightly it would look natural.  The stamp set also has individual stamps of the floral image, so I could "fill-in" with leaves and branches where I thought they needed to be.  I used Gina K. Designs new Amalgam Ink to stamp all the floral images.  It worked wonderfully, no smearing at all.  After that I chose my color palette for the flowers and started coloring with my Copic markers.  Once that was done, I stamped "Happy Everything" in the blank areas between the floral diagonal lines in Lawn Fawn's Manatee (a light grey).  Also some hash marks from the stamp set.  Next I die cut the panel using a large stitched rectangle die, so the panel was 4" x 5.25".  Next I taped 2 of my Simon Says Stamp rectangle dies together to cut out a frame from the central portion of my card panel.  This was so I could make a shaker card with a fun die cut sentiment over the front of the card.

I also decided to place a piece of black cardstock behind the shaker window so that just the frame had a narrow band of black around it.

I adhered my floral panel to some turquoise cardstock, then the black cardstock, then the inside floral panel.  I then cut narrow strips of the Thermoweb 3D Foam Strips from CEP and made the shaker frame just to the outside of the inner floral panel.  I filled the space mostly with CEP's Glam Metal Sequin Mix of rose gold, gold, silver and clear elements.  I did add some yellow sequins and light purple pearls from my stash to better coordinate with my colored flowers.  I chose to glue a few elements into the top half of the shaker so that there would always be a little bling everywhere in the shaker, not all pooled up at the bottom.  Next I adhered some clear acetate to the back of the floral frame.  Once dry, I carefully placed it atop the adhesive strips.  My shaker element was complete!!
Next I went about die cutting Concord & 9th's You've Got This die 3 times: once in the turquoise cardstock, then the black cardstock, and finally the black fun foam for more dimension.  I adhered the layers together, making sure I offset the turquoise so the black looked like a shadow.  So that everything lined up how it was supposed to be, I fit the letters and word segments back into the cardstock it was cut from (it's negative piece), then applied some Press and Seal over the top to make it all stick together.  I flipped the whole piece over and applied the glue to the back of the letters.  I then carefully positioned it over my shaker window and lightly pressed down.  I let it stay there a couple minutes before I peeled the Press and Seal off and the other paper piece.  Last, I took 5 sequins from the CEP Glam Metal Sequin Mix and glued them on and around the frame.  Card complete!  And oh how it sparkles. It only took me 4 days (sessions) to finish.  I never said I was a fast card-maker.  You'll probably never hear me say that!!  Quality over quantity, that's my motto.😃

To see more of my card creations, visit me on Instagram as jktaylor911.  Visit Creative Escape Papercrafting's Facebook page to see other designer's work and other information regarding everything CEP.  Don't forget to visit the online store.  It's been given a face lift and has lots of new items.

Well that's it for me.  I hope wherever you are, you're getting a little summer sun, because here in Montana its been rain almost every day...
Until next time, blessings to you all and happy crafting!

Jill ✂

Creative Escape Papercrafting June's Fully Loaded Kit, First Four Cards

Well hello my fellow crafter's and friends, I know it's been a while since my last post (I believe I mentioned there may be a delay through May) as I dealt with some health issues and the death of a very dear friend.  But I'm back, and I have a very fun kit to show you from Creative Escape Papercrafting (CEP).  I'm a guest designer and I've made 4 cards so far from the June kit and I'll share how I made each one.

June Fully Loaded Card Kit

My first card (going counter-clockwise from the back right corner) is the Giraffe Shaker card.  I used a lot of elements in that card alone.  The June kit is built around The Pebbles Happy Hooray Collection.  There are 18 sheets of specialty paper, a 40 pack of ephemera, and a 12" x 12" cut-apart sheet that has a nice pattern on the back, so you have options.  The other 2 major items are the Altenew Halftone Stars stamp set and a Spellbinders Celebrate word die + balloon die.  I'm not going to list all the other pieces in the kit except when I use them on a card.

I knew I wanted to do a shaker card as soon as I saw the Heidi Swapp hot pink glitter decorative frame.  I decided first on the elements for the outside of the frame, then decided on 2 different specialty papers for inside the shaker and around the frame.  I used the giraffe and star ephemera on the outside, and a piece of rolled up candy ephemera on the inside, which I adhered so it wouldn't shake around with the other elements.  I used the Spellbinders die to make the balloon and string, then used a small piece of white/yellow baker's twine from the kit for the bow, which I adhered with a glue dot from my stash.  The Spellbinder's "celebrate" was die cut from some green glitter cardstock from the April card kit I had leftover..  That's what's nice about the kits, there are leftovers to use with other projects/cards and keeping the non-perishables like the stamp sets and die cuts are great items to either start a stamp and die collection, or add to your existing ones.  I used some of the 3D foam from the kit to adhere the giraffe where it hit the acetate window.

To assemble my shaker, I adhered some strips of Thermoweb dimensional foam (from April's kit), but cut them in half down the length of the strip.  I then adhered it all around the back side of my frame (I previously glued the clear acetate window in place).  I then filled the window with about half of the Studio Katia Crystal Rainbow Fusion Sequins that I received from CEP.  They are very bright and almost iridescent!  I then carefully placed the rainbow striped specialty paper to the foam adhesive on the back of the frame.  I decided to keep the card large so that you could really see the specialty paper on my card base.  It is 5.5'' x 5.5''.  I cut and scored the yellow cardstock in the kit for my card base, rounded the bottom corners, then adhered a slightly smaller piece of the specialty paper on top, so that the sides would show the pop of yellow that coordinated so nicely with the other elements in the card.  Lastly I positioned and adhered the shaker element to my card base.  Card #1 complete!! 

In card #2 I decided to use the Altenew stamp set.  I first cut some cardstock that was about 3.5" wide by 5.5" in length.  I heat embossed the 3 stars onto the panel using my Ranger's Silver Pearl embossing powder (it leaves a really nice sheen to the stars).  

I then blended 3 colors of Distress Oxide Inks- Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers and Fossilized Amber over the star panel.  I buffed the stars with a cloth when done to remove any ink remaining on the stars.  I then splattered some DIY shimmer to the panel and blotted dry.  

I picked out an acetate cupcake ephemera to use at the base of my star panel.  I used small glue dots from my stash to adhere it so that the adhesive would be nearly invisible.  For my card base, I used the blue cardstock in the kit, die cut a piece of white cardstock using Lawn Fawn's Quilted Backdrop that I bought from CEP and adhered it to the blue base.  Next I cut strips of the green glitter cardstock (from April's kit) and positioned them so that the reveal was about 1/8th" on both sides from my colored panel.  Last I adhered my colored star panel to the prepared base.  Card #2 done!

Card #3 features a large central oval ephemera sentiment image that I applied some Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink along the edge to coordinate with the main specialty paper in the background.  That paper was the 12" x 12" Pebbles Happy Hooray cut-apart sheet, which I chose to use the backside of, and take advantage of the "YAY" sentiment strip along the bottom edge.  I also applied the same Distress Oxide ink to the other 3 edges to make the card more cohesive.  

I chose red to be my accent color and used it for my card base, as well as the Sizzix Ticket die that was placed between the ephemera piece and the specialty paper.  The red paper came with the kit.  I adhered all layers (popping up the ephemera piece) with the included 3D foam pieces in the kit.  To finish off my card, I used the blue and white cord included in the kit by tying it around the top of the folded cardbase and tying it off on the right side.  That'll do it for card #3!!

Card #4 uses all kit supplies except for the die cut background hills and frame.  That is a Lawn Fawn product called Stitched Hillside Backdrop: Landscape (as it comes in Portrait as well) that I purchased from the store (though I believe they sell the Portrait version).  I inked the edges of the 2 hills with Bundled Sage Distress Oxide ink as I felt that coloring the entire hill would look too obtrusive.  I decided on the blue and white polka dot specialty paper for the sky.  I glued that to the back of my die cut frame/hills, and while it dried I picked through the ephemera to decide what would go on next.  First I found the "PARTY" rectangular piece printed in rainbow colors.  It was just a tiny bit short, so I decided to frame it, again with the green glitter cardstock from April's kit (I love that stuff!).  I adhered the two pieces together, then found several animal pieces in the ephemera.  I picked out the Zebra.  I adhered both elements, using my small glue dots on the Zebra that you can barely see.

I also added a star that I found in the ephemera pack.  I adhered all of this to my white standard A2 card base.  Looking at the card, I decided it needed a little bling!  So I pulled out 4 sequins (red, orange, yellow-green, and green) from the Studio Katia pack I received and applied them following the color of the words "PARTY."

Now I thought I was done.  However, as I was writing this blog and looking at my cards, I realized I had to do one more thing to this card.  The flat yellow star was screaming for some of my  Wink of Stella!  So I grabbed not the clear one I usually use, but the yellow one.  I wanted the star to be a bit more vibrant.  So now my friends, card #4 is done!!

I hope you enjoyed my examples.  This kit is a lot of fun, especially for kids celebrations.  Although the Altenew stamp set makes it very versatile.  My goal for the next few cards are making some a bit more for adults.  So stay tuned and see how I do!  
Don't forget to visit me on Instagram, as they have my largest selection of card creations.  I am jktaylor911.  Please visit the store, there are so many new items to see and a newly redesigned online store at https://creativeescapepapercrafting.com.  Also visit their Facebook page to see what all the talented designers are creating as well as new happenings with CEP.  For your convenience, I've linked everything to the store and social media.

For now I say goodbye, and blessings to you all,

Jill Taylor✂

Spring at Last, Santoro Gorjuss Girl card as Guest Designer for 7 Kids Craft Supply Store

Welcome back to my blog friends and fellow crafters!!  We had a "sneak peak" of spring a couple weeks ago in Montana and it inspired me to make this card for The 7 Kids Craft Supply Store, as my second creation in February as a Guest Designer and entrance card in their current Rainbow challenge.  I know, you say where is the rainbow???   Well, she's looking at it!  I love doing this for Kelly, the owner, as she is so great to work with and she's brought so many fun products to the store to work with.

I was not familiar with Santoro Gorjuss Girls before I shopped at Kelly's store.  Boy was I missing out!  This is my first completed card using a Gorjuss girl as my main image.  I have since bought more because they are great stamps AND they have matching dies as well.  I don't have the dies yet, so I fussy cut my pretty girl!

Since she is laying on the ground in Springtime, presumably, I decided to make a shaker card with Distress Oxide inks on the background paper (in light yellow/greens and green with subtle DIY shimmer spatters) that matched the paper I was using on the frame of the card and my girl's dress.  I used a mixture of sequins, some of which were flower shaped to denote laying amongst the flowers.  My window sheet from Stampin' Up! has some flowers and vines on it, just perfect for my card as well!  As I was also making this birthday card for a friend, she has dogs and a new puppy, so I wanted a cute dog on my card as well.  I used a C.C. Designs Puppy Power image that I first die-cut out with the matching dies, but decided to fussy cut the white outline away since my girl figure didn't have any white around her.  That made all the difference. The stamped images were all colored with Copic markers.

The frames on this card are from 2 different sets.  The larger one from Mama Elephant and the scalloped one from Simon Says Stamp.  The single frame looked too plain, so I added the orange contrasting color with the second frame to balance out the colors in the card and create better visual interest.  The Happy Birthday Banner is from Brutus Monroe's Botanical Banners set.  I fussy cut that out.

After adhering all the top layers together I grabbed my Scotch 3M Foam Adhesive tape and created zones on the back of the card so that the shaker pieces wouldn't congregate in one area (see photo).  Once this was done, I added my shaker elements to all the zones (mental note, use your Anti-static Powder Tool along the sides of your adhesive strips so that the shaker elements don't end up sticking to them).  I forgot, and it was an annoyance but didn't cost me too much time.

With the front panel already flipped over, I adhered my Distress Oxide panel to a standard A2 side-folding card base of NSW 110# cardstock.  I then very carefully adhered that to the backside of my front panel.  Some finishing touches was using some clear Wink of Stella on the flowers on the girl's dress, the flowers in her purse, and the butterfly on her dress.
Project complete!!

I was really happy with how this card came out.  A bit different in style for me, but I really enjoyed making this card!  I hope you are inspired to try a shaker card, try out some Distress Oxides and/or Copic markers, or some of the other products I used from The 7 Kids Crafting Supply Store.  There is a products list at the end of this blog post for your convenience.  The majority of the products used were from the store.

If you'd like to see more creations from the other Design Team members or other customers using products from the store, go to Facebook on the
7 Kids Customers Create! page, visit Instagram  @7kidscraftingsupplystore or go to the store at http://7kidscraftstore.com.

If you'd like to see more of my work, visit me on Facebook or for the largest collection of my work, please visit my page on Instagram.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog, I wish you blessings and lots of crafting time!!



Jill ✂


Supplies List:


7 Kids Crafting Supply Store-
Santoro Gorjuss stamp - Spring at last (full size), C.C. Designs Puppy Power stamp/die, Brutus/Monroe Botanical Banners stamp, Mama Elephant Hug it Out die, Copic Markers, Ranger Distress Oxide Ink (Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio and Lucky Clover), Finnabair Art Ingredients- Mica Powder in Silver for DIY shimmer spray, Nuvo Glue Pen, and the MISTI stamping tool.

Other Supplies-
Flower Fantasy Painted Window Sheets from Stampin' Up!, Designer Series Patterned Paper and colored cardstock from Stampin' Up!,  Pistachio Pudding Classic Dye Ink from Stampin' Up!, Scalloped Frames die from Simon Says Stamp, Neenah Solar White cardstock in both 80# for coloring, and 110# for cardbase, Shaker elements from Pretty Pink Posh, Kennedy Grace Creations, and others(?), Scotch 3M Adhesive Foam tape, Tombow Dot Adhesive Stamp Runner, and Wink of Stella in clear, and the Sizzix Big Shot.

Joy Peace Love, December Mood Board for Kennedy Grace Creations

December is here and Christmas is getting near!  Hi there, I've created this card for the Kennedy Grace Creations Mood Board this month (see below).  I continued my playtime with Yupo paper and Ranger Alcohol Inks to create the background for my card.  I think this one turned out fabulous!  I used just 2 colors of alcohol ink, Stream and the Pearl Mixative, along with the Blending Solution.  Since I knew this was going to be the background, and I didn't want to cover too much of it up, I decided to add some die cutting in the center of the card, make it a shaker element (I do love Shakers, you've probably noticed!) and then add some simple, elegant floral images from Kennedy Grace Creations (white heat-embossed) to the two opposing corners.                                                   

 

Here's what I did.  After the Yupo paper dried completely, I die cut the Stitched Square from Simon Says Stamp from the middle of the 5" x 5" Yupo panel.  I then die cut the three Holiday Words die from Essentials by Ellen from both the Stitched Square Yupo panel and some white Woodgrain cardstock from Essentials by Ellen.  I thought the texture would add a lovely element to the card.  Next I adhered a piece of clear acetate to the back of the die cut Yupo paper, then ran the three words through my Xyron 5" Creative Station.  I then carefully inlaid the words onto the Yupo paper.

Now came the difficult part.  I wanted to have more than one shaker well, so that all the sequins wouldn't fall down to the lower "O".  So what I did was use my Stampin' Up! Foam Adhesive Strips to divide up the windows.  I ended up with 3 wells (see picture below).  I carefully added specific sequins from 3 Kennedy Grace Creations Sequin Mixes (Dress Blues, HoneyBee, and Beachside Bliss).  I then removed the adhesive backing and adhered a piece of Crafter's Companion Shimmering Cardstock in Silver Starlight to the back of the shaker element.  I trimmed off any excess around the edges.

Next I went back to the Yupo frame section and prepped the frame with an anti-static tool.  I used the large flower image from Kennedy Grace Creations Loving Mom stamp set.  I stamped it in Versamark ink first, then used some WOW! Opaque White Fine Embossing Powder.  I heat embossed it carefully as the Yupo paper can warp with a heat tool used too aggressively.  Think of it like embossing on Vellum, use the same technique and you shouldn't have any problems.

I decided to frame my card with both Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise cardstock from Stampin' Up!  Lastly, I adhered my shaker element to the center of the card.

I had so much fun making this card!  I hope you try out some of the products and/or techniques used here.  I've linked up the Kennedy Grace Creations products to the store for your convenience.

To see the most comprehensive collection of additional card creations by me, find me on Instagram as jktaylor911 or on Facebook as Jill Taylor.

Thank you, and I wish you all a very blessed Christmas season.

Jill

Please be sure to follow the Kennedy Grace Creations blog, facebook, twitter, instagram and pinterest. Our Design Team has great projects to inspire you with our great stamp sets. 

Kennedy Grace Creations Card, God's Greatest Gift

Hello holiday crafters, I'm in full Christmas swing here on my Blog!!  My card today is called "God's Greatest Gift."  I wanted to shake things up a bit by using a technique I had never used before - Yupo paper and Ranger alcohol inks.  I created my card background using several colors (in hindsight I would have used fewer) and the silver metallic mixative (love it!).  I then embossed the Yupo paper with a Sizzix Christmas snowflakes embossing folder that I discovered in my stash (I don't tend to use a lot of embossing folders, so I sometimes forget about them).  But that was exactly what this Yupo paper needed to make it look like a Christmas background!








I then die cut Penny Black's Manger die from the middle of the central embossed snowflake on the card panel, then die cut it again from NSW #110 cardstock.  I inlaid the white die cut into the Yupo paper, then adhered some clear acetate to the back side of it.  I used some Fun Foam on the back side of the Yupo paper so that my shaker window would have some depth.  I then used my 1/4" Scor-Tape all the way around the circle opening on the Fun Foam.  With the card facing down, I filled the shaker window with several types of Kennedy Grace Creations fabulous Sequin Mixes (Dress Blues, Beachside Bliss and Caramel Apple).  I then very carefully adhered my Brushed Silver top folding card base from Stampin' Up!

I felt the card needed more white cardstock to balance out the white of the Manger die cut, so I added a white frame, using Avery Elle's Scalloped Pierced Rectangle die.  Then to finish it off, I heat embossed the sentiment from Kennedy Grace Creations Sweet Baby Mine stamp set with Brutus Monroe's Sterling Ultra Fine Embossing Powder.  I cut the sentiment strip from a MFTs Blueprints 29 Die-namics that I cut down as it was a bit too long, then adhered it with dimensionals.  Thinking I was done, I took some photos of my card and looked at them as I was writing this post, and decided one thing was missing.  It's on the last picture here.  It's the rhinestone on the Star of David above the manger scene.  It just looked incomplete without it, so I added it at the very last moment.  Sometimes you can't tell what's missing until you see your card on your blog post and it's one of those Ah-Ha moments!


I hope you enjoyed my card.  For tips on how to create different types of backgrounds using Yupo paper and alcohol inks, see Jennifer McGuire's videos (she has 2 that I know of).  To see more of my card creations, or others on the Design Team for Kennedy Grace Creations, go to http://kennedygracecreations.blogspot.com/  or jktaylor911 on Instagram for all my creations.


Wishing all of you Christmas Blessings and a fabulous Holiday season!

Jill 

** I've linked all the KGC products to the store for your convenience, as well as the Jennifer McGuire video I refer to. **

Please be sure to follow the Kennedy Grace Creations blog, facebook, twitter, instagram and pinterest. Our Design Team has great projects to inspire you with our great stamp sets. 

Oh Holy Night Christmas Card

Welcome back to my blog, this one is for me for a change.  I love playing with my new Christmas Stamps and dies!  I hope I'm not the only one who buys more than I can ever hope to use in one season.  Does that make me a hoarder??  Well, perhaps but I'm OK with that!

For this card I used a beautiful background stamp from The Ton called, Poinsettia Close Up.  I stamped it in Versamark on Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper and heat embossed it with Brutus Monroe's Sterling Ultra Fine Embossing Powder.  I then water-colored it with Daniel Smith Watercolors.  I used a combination of Mayan Blue Genuine, Moon Glow and French Ultramarine on the flower portion, and along the edges (in a few places) I used Iridescent Sunstone to give it a golden hue.  I then took my Simon Says Stamp die, O Holy Night (2 pieces)  and die cut out the outline portion of the die from the middle of the Poinsettia.  I adhered some clear acetate to the back side, then adhered the silver glitter paper die cut, O Holy Night, to the front side.  I had used my 5 inch Xyron to apply adhesive to the back of the die cut.

I next adhered some cut up pieces of Fun Foam to the back side of my card around the window portion to keep the sequins confined.  I chose a hand-picked mixture of Kennedy Grace Creations sequins (Dress Blues, Tropical Treasure, and Beach Side Bliss) to create the perfect color scheme for my card.  For the back of the shaker window, I decided a dark background looked best, so I chose The Ton's gorgeous Glossy Fine Black Adhesive Paper.  It's a subtle sparkle in the background that I just love!  Now that my sequins were secure in their window, I adhered the panel to a 5" x 5" white #110 NSW top folding card base.  Feeling like the card needed a frame, I used the largest Scalloped Square Die from Stampin' Up! and used the outside portion to frame my card.  Lastly, I used the same sequin elements I chose for the inside of my card as the sequin details for the outside of my card as well.

I hope you enjoyed my card creation, I had fun making it!  Hope you visit again for some more Christmas inspiration.  If you like this card and would like to see more of what I make, I post almost everything on Instagram as jktaylor911 and also as a Design Team Member on Kennedy Grace Creations blog (link on left side of this page).

Blessings to you,

Jill

Kennedy Grace Creations Mood Board Shaker Card

Hello, this is Jill making a card for Kennedy Grace Creations!!  I created this card for October with their Mood Board as inspiration.  I used a stamp set originally tailored for Moms/Mother's Day, etc. as I loved the flower image and always thought it would make a great shaker type card.  It's called Loving Mom.  I only used the largest flower image on this card and took my cues on coloring it from the mood board.

First I die cut a circle into an A2 sized 80# NSW card stock using a MFTs Die- Circle Shaker Window and Frame set.  I knew I'd be using a MFTs Circle Shaker Pouch, so the sizing of the circle die was perfect for the pouch.  I then stamped the 4 flower images around the die cut window and placed masks over each one, as I was going to color the background with some Distress Oxide inks.  As I sometimes like to do, I had already practiced the background on another piece of lesser quality card stock since I wasn't exactly sure how it would look.  I used first Twisted Citron Distress Oxide ink in various spots on the paper.  Then I used Black Soot to fill-in, blend, and cover-up some of the Twisted Citron.  The only change I made was adding the Encore! Silver pigment ink.  It bridged the two colors nicely and added a little sheen as well.  I removed the masks and immediately liked the bold whiteness of the flowers against the background.  So I decided that I would bring in the orange color to the inside of the window, the window frame and the stamens on the flowers.

I'd been wanting to use this Silver Gem Nuvo Glimmer Paste that I'd had for a couple months, so I used the inside circle of the window I had die cut, placed a Penny Black Hypnotic stencil over it and carefully spread out the paste onto the circle.  Once dry (which it does rather quickly, so clean your stencil and spatula immediately, or you'll regret it!) I air-brushed the circle with my R12 Copic marker so that the card stock and the glitter was the same color.  I then went about coloring my flowers.  I used C1 and C3 Copic markers on the petals, and E93 and R14  on the stamen.  I also added some clear Wink of Stella to the stamen as well.

I chose a sentiment from another KGC stamp set called Time to Blossom.  I heat embossed the sentiment with WOW! Opaque White embossing powder.  I chose multiple color sequins from a variety of KGC sequin mixes.  I regrettably didn't have any orange sequins (that I will have to fix!).  I mounted my trimmed panel onto 110# NSW card base that I had used some 1/2" adhesive backed foil in burnished silver from The Ton along each side. The frame was difficult to decide what color/finish it should have.  I finally decided on orange foil (I used a Peel and Stick Toner Sheet and Foil from Deco Foil).  I layered it on top of other rejected frames to give it some dimension and sturdiness.  Finally, not quite satisfied, I found the silver metal "together" piece that I'd had for years in my stash.  I do not know who made it, possibly Making Memories, as I used to buy a lot of their nick-knacks way back when.

So that is it!!  My October Shaker Mood Board card, and another lengthy dissertation from me.  I'll forego a products list since I include it in my write-up.  KGC products are linked.  Please, if I was not clear on a product that I used or a technique, use the comment section and I'll be sure to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed my card.  Join in the fun of creating cards with the October Mood Board and post it on the Kennedy Grace Creations Fan Page on Facebook!  If you prefer to share elsewhere, remember to tag it #kennedygracecreations so we can admire your work. 


Have a blessed day!

Jill 💌