Layered Leaf Anniversary Card

 Here's my final Layered Leaf Print card for a little while!  This is the August Betterpress Society plate set and add-on plates.  I have a special friend who loves green, that celebrated a big anniversay in August, so it was only fitting that I make her a leafy card with a little extra bling.

I am using my new (to me!) set of Pinkfresh Studio inks today.  These are the four green inks in their Garden Stroll set, so I used different inks for each plate, overlapping them all slightly.  I have been wanting to try to do more stitching on my cards, so I used my sewing machine, without any thread, to stitch the guideline holes down each of the darkest leaf image fronds.  Then I used some Gutterman metallic gold thread, and hand stitched the lines.  For a different texture, I made french knots to try to imitate berries on another branch.  Finally, I wrapped the thread around the bottom of my piece several times, and secured it in the back.  

I cut a piece of Tonic Studios gold metallic paper (colour "Wedding Band") a little larger than my rectangle, and matted it underneath and adhered it to my base with 3D foam tape.  The sentiment is from the Everything For You Sentiment plate set -  pressed and gold embossed on white cardstock.  I added a few Pinkfresh Studio gold pearls to finish it off.

If you're interested in signing up for a Betterpress Society subscription, contact the Papercrafter's Workshop!

Dragon Birthday card

I have a wonderful great nephew that is turning 7 this month, so I pulled out my Dream Big stamp set from Lawn Fawn, as well as their Happy Birthday die, and put his card together.

I am playing along with the Lunar New Year Challenge - excited to be participating for the first time!

Blue & Gold Pigment Craft Co.

I picked up a few more Pigment Craft Co. stamp sets this summer, and have pulled out a few of them to put together a couple of cards today.  This is Modern Poinsettia, Winter Sprig and Festive Floral.

Shout out to Michelle Ferguson for the colour inspiration/design idea.  She does some beautiful work with the Pigment Craft Co. products.

Sentiments are the It's Your Day Betterpress set from Spellbinders, pressed on their Treasured Gold brushed cardstock.

Layered Leaf Arched card

I have another card using the August Betterpress Society plate from Spellbinders, "Layered Leaf Prints".  I've been wanting to make a few shaped cards, and the Essential Arches dies from Spellbinders are some of my favourites, and worked really well with these plates.

I pressed onto a Bisque Cotton Card panel, using plates from both the main set, and the add-on set.  I used Distress Oxide inks in Spiced Marmalade, Bundled Sage, Fired Brick, Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge.  Before pressing, I used a little Antique Linen ink to soften the bottom edge.

After pressing, I used one of the Arches dies to cut out my panel, and then used the largest one to cut out a reddish toned mat for my scene.  I used the same die to cut out a piece of folded cardstock, to use as a card base that I adhered everything onto.  I added a sentiment from the You Are Everything Sentiments set, and a few jewels.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription by contacting the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Fresh Picked Anemones

I recently purchased the pretty Concord & 9th 2024 Colour Collection papers, so I pulled them out to create 3 cards using the Freshed Picked Anemones dies from Spellbinders.

I love making multiples when I'm cardmaking, so this was the perfect opportunity to try out a few colour combinations:

I also tried doing some Betterpress sentiments on the Spellbinders Treasured Cardstock, using the brushed gold paper, and I thought it worked out really well.  I used the Betterpress black ink, and would maybe try a different ink next time to get a darker black impression.  Still happy with the look it gave!

More Autumn Sealed Sprigs

 I have another similar card using the Autumn Sealed Sprigs die from Spellbinders, along with the leaf from the Sealed Squiggles die set, and the brand new Acorn Trio Wax Seal.

This time I mounted my sprigs onto a rounded faux stitched rectangle diecut panel that was adhered with 3D foam adhesive.  Instead of thread wrapped around the background, I used the Sealed Twine Etched Die for a faux twine look.  Everything was spattered with gold metallic paint.

I did a mix of pale gold, orange and metallic red wax, and added in a few bits of gold leaf to create my seal.  You can find all your Spellbinders needs at the Papercrafter's Workshop!

October Watercolour Weekend

  I am up on the Art Impressions blog today!

Scroll down to the end of my post to enter my Giveaway!

 

October crafting - it's a balance between fall & Christmas projects for me, so these will be the last of my fall Ai paintings for a while!  My first card features the tub from the recently released 5923 - Farmhouse Container Set, filled with different flowers and foliage.

I stamped the tub in N55 on my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, then masked the top edge of it and added the two sunflowers from 5594 - Harvest Scarecrow Set in #993/177/969.  The ferns from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set were added in #126, and the foxglove from 4052 - WC Flower Set 1 was stamped repeatedly in #565, angled in different directions.  Everything was touched with a damp brush, and layers of colour were painted on the flowers.  The small grass from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 was added in #158, and painted as a wash below the tub.  #496 was added as the sky.

The background paper is from 5835 Mini PP.

My second card is a slimline (8 1/2" x 3 1/2"), and I have cased this card by Marie Nicole, as I loved how she used a gnome for the A, and I knew how great this would look with the 5785 - Gnomes Set.  I die cut the letters from the 5072 - Block Letters Die Set in kraft paper to spell out Grateful, omitting the A.  I blended some Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink onto the bottom of each letter to create a soft gradient effect.

All of my images are stamped in N55 on Canson XL Watercolour paper.  I used a mix of #565/249 to create the teal colour that I painted on his hat and pants, using several layers to create the darker tones.  N55 and N75 were painted on his boots and mits, and light tones of N55 were painted on the edge of his beard.  A little #850 coloured up his nose.  Some #947 is painted on his tunic, as I wanted it to match some of the shades on the pumpkins.

The two pumpkins from 5059 - WC Harvest Set are always my favourite pumpkins to use on projects!  They were painted in tones of #993/933/947/969 and #249/565 respectively, with #126/158 added to their stems.  I wanted a few leaves scattered around my project, so I used the two clusters from 5795 - Berries Set, colouring them with dabs of #993/126/905/933158.  After fussy cutting everything out, they were mounted to my project with some thin 3D foam tape, to add a little dimension.

I used the 5463 - Slimline Dies Set to cut out my background paper, which I matted with some teal cardstock, and then adhered it to my kraft cardstock base.

Giveaway time!

I have two of the recently released flower sets (5917 & 5918) to give to someone who leaves a comment on the Watercolour Weekend blog post on the Art Impressions blog. **Please note** - the giveaway is open to Canadian residents only! - I'm afraid that's where I'm mailing from, and to keep mailing costs down, avoid duty etc... we're going to give our Canadian fans a chance this time.

Just leave a comment (click here for a link to the Ai blog!) before midnight ET, Sunday, October 13th - and I will update thepost with the winner's name on Thanksgiving Monday, October 14th.