Tag Archives: gender-neutral

Artful Thanks

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I’m working on teacher projects again. This time for the local/current teachers. It is so nice to be back in a system that has music, art, and PE in the regular schedule with a dedicated and knowledgeable teacher!

I created this card for, can you guess? 😀 Yes, the art teacher. My girls both love doing art projects. And now they are getting real instruction.

The idea for this card is actually due to the current sketch at Waltzingmouse (wmsc48). I originally pulled out my Teeny Trees set (new to me – and loving it!!) to use the circle stamp as I’ve seen others do, but then the other tree tops caught my eye and this idea just popped right in my head. I had to go for it!

I hand drew and cut out the palette. Then I stamped a rainbow using 3 different tree tops. I finished it off with a sentiment from Say it Loudly which is probably one of my favorite sentiment sets now!

Thanks
Stamps: Teeny Trees, Say it Loudly (WMS);
Colors: Pure Poppy (PTI), Pumpkin Pie (SU); Daffodil Delight (SU); Landscape (Palette); Pacific Point (SU); Lovely Lilac (SU); True Black (PTI)
Other: Scissors 🙂

Waltz with the Mouse

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Not THAT mouse – a better one: Waltzingmouse Stamps 🙂

I so want that little guy from the logo as a stamp!

This month’s theme is masculine. This is always a tough category for me. Thankfully I have the Free Spirit Boy stamp set. There are a ton of images in this set.
 

The medallion was created using Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I’ve used this stuff before and even done this technique before, but it has been years…and boy it showed. I’m pretty certain I will be finding granules of this powder on my desk for months to come! The idea is to start with a card stock shape and ink it with Versamark. Then you add UTEE and heat it, once it melts, add more powder, and so on until you have a few layers. Then you take a Versamark-inked stamp and press into the goo; wait a minute a pull it out.

Since the medallion is so shiny and I opted for a busy pattern for the “tails” (they started as tails, as you see, they migrated up and out), I kept the rest of the card very simple.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bravo
Stamps: Free Spirit Boy, Off Beat Backgrounds, Bitty Banners, Fancy Phrases (WMS);
Colors: Not Quite Navy (SU); White, Kraft (PTI);
Other: Limitless Layers 1 3/4″ dies (PTI); Gold UTEE; Versamark;

Lucky Chevrons

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I created this card for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge (wmsc45). I will say that the idea looked better in my head, lol. Still, it was fairly quick card to make, even with all the background stamping.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Good Luck
Stamps: Off Beat Backgrounds, Fancy Phrases (Waltzingmouse);
Colors: Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Handsome Hunter (SU);
Other: Celery ribbon (SU); Rhinestones (Kaiser); Label die (Spellbinders);

Blue Bird

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I created this card for the SCS CAS challenge – Rule of Thirds (cas116). The challenge was to use three – however you interpret that. I did colors (blue, white, black) and images (bird, wire, sentiment).

My hubby is going on a business trip next week, so I needed a “miss you” card. To do the bird was a bit tricky. I figured it would take a few iterations to get right, so I stamped it on another piece of paper and cut it out. I inked up the bird and then kissed a tiny heart stamp to the image (multiple times) to remove ink. The heart I used is NOT a clear stamp, so getting the heart into the same spot multiple times took a steady hand. I think it also helped that I used a pigment ink, so it sorta smooshed itself right. I’m just glad I got it to work!

Thanks for taking a peek!

missing you
Stamps: Birds of a Feather (PTI), Perfect Plaid (SU);
Colors: Not Quite Navy (SU); White (PTI);

Panel Art Inspired

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This card is for another relative who sent some books to the family. I wanted to create a card that had an oriental feel, so I went to Google images and searched for Japanese art. There was a piece that caught my eye immediately – beautiful panel artwork with wispy trees. I tried to recreate it, but fell short. I still like this card, but it isn’t what I was hoping for.

Thanks for taking a peek.

thank you
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree (SU); Communique Sentiments (PTI);
Colors: Vintage Cream (PTI); Watercolor paper (Strathmore); Soft Suede, Early Espresso (SU);
Other: sponges;
Technique: Sponging; Wet Paper Watercoloring;

Rock On

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This was just something that came to me. I’ve been trying to use more pattern paper (I have way too much). The metallic thread is some spirelli thread from Spellbinders – I thought it was a perfect touch for this rockin’ themed card. The sentiment came from Please Be Seated – hee hee, love it when something like that happens.

rock on
Stamps: Extreme Guitar (SU), Please Be Seated (sentiment-SU);
Colors: Brilliant Blue, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Black, White (SU);
Other: Jersey Shore DSP (SU); metallic thread (Spellbinders); star dies (MFT);

Balloons Squared

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Just getting in a little weekend stamping. I created this card for the Moxie challenge – In My Beautiful Balloon.

This card isn’t my favorite, but it isn’t horrible, lol. Not much to really talk about. I chose the pattern paper because of it being bright and I knew as soon as I saw the squared pattern what I would do. I cut the pattern so the white “grout” would act as another mat for the focal panel. And I chose to use the Curly Label punch to help break up the square-ness.

Hi
Stamps: Up, Up & Away (PTI); Everyday Button Bits (sentiment-PTI);
Colors: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, White (SU);
Other: Washington Apple DSP (SU); Curly Label Punch (SU); 1″ Circle Punch;

Masked Leaves

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Wow, it took me a long time to figure out what to do with PTI’s latest Make-It-Monday challenge (mim10). The challenge was to use dies for masking. The sample created in the video used reverse masking.

Since no idea was presenting itself automagically, I decided to get all my PTI dies out and rifle through them until the muse got interested. I finally settled on using the leaf dies, but I could easily have done this same thing with flowers.

Anyway, the way I did it: I took a piece of printer paper and cut it to card front size. Then I ran it through my Big Shot with the leaf die, moved the die, ran it through again, ditto (for 3 leaves). Then, just like Lisa’s video, I added repositionable glue and adhered it to my card base. Next was sponging – I used 2 colors per leaf and chose to go from green (summer), to yellow (fall), ending with brown (winter). Finally, with the mask still in place, I went back and stamped the Geometrics grid background over the sponged leaves using vanilla ink.

Of course then I just sat and stared at the card not knowing what to do next! Obviously I figured something out 🙂

Thanks for taking a peek.

Thinking of You
Stamps: Places Please, Vintage Picnic Sentiments, Background Basics: Geometrics (PTI);
Ink: Kiwi, Olive, Curry, Mustard, Suede, Espresso (SU); Vintage Cream (PTI);
Paper: Rustic Cream, Ripe Avocado (PTI);
Other: Rustic Twine (PTI), Leaf dies (PTI), Place Card die (PTI);
Techniques: Reverse Masking, Sponging;

Retro Doilies

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I finally purchased a doily set. There are so many out there! This set is from Maya Road and I love it! The images aren’t huge (the blue one is the biggest of the set), but I think it will do for what I want.

I needed a few quick cards so I could get some RAKs into the mail. I pulled out the doily set and picked a retro-feeling color scheme. The card just took a couple minutes to make. The sentiment is stamped on the same type of paper, trimmed, and popped-up.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You
Stamps: Doilies Stamp Sheet (Maya Road); Wonderful Words (SU);
Colors: Rustic White (PTI); Bermuda Bay, Kiwi Kiss, Soft Suede (SU);

Spring Oak

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There are a few birthdays in early April that are for some of the guys in my life. My standards for masculine cards are pretty simple – no frills, no flowers etc. That doesn’t leave a lot to work with! I wanted a simple layout and thankfully this card came together quickly.

I started with the Crazy 4 Challenge #78. The challenge was to use a tree on a card (for Earth Day). I pulled out a set that hadn’t seen ink in a while. For the layout, I took a tip from a PTI designer (I think it was Dawn) and made the card base skinnier so the over-hang bit would still fit in an envelope. I do like the way it turned out.

PTI’s recent challenge to do partial embossing has got me looking at the impression plates differently. I managed to emboss the top of the card base by using a chipboard shim like I did for yesterday’s card.

Happy Birthday
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree (SU), Faux Ribbon, Birthday Basics (PTI);
Colors: Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate (PTI);
Other: Woodgrain impression plate (PTI);