New Front & Back

I have a very different card to share for this week's Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog - mostly dies!

I stamped the little 5780 - FB Sitting Dog onto some Bristol Smooth Cardstock using Tombows 565 & 969, and painted him with N55, adding layers where he needed to be darker.  I went over his features with my Black Twintone marker, then cut both the front and back out with the matching dies.  I did the same with the bird from 5261 - WC Large Birdhouse Set, painting him with 533 and fussy cutting him out.

To create the window, I cut the window frame from 5770 - FB Farm Fence Die Set in white cardstock - twice, and cut the shutters out in black.  It's a little hard to see in the photos, but I cut 1/2" strips of pale blue cardstock, and glued them all together to mimic the wood siding on a house.  I ran this panel through my machine with the 5063 A2 Rectangle Double Stitched Die, then cut out two black & white polka dot rectangles as well.  The black one was glued inside my card to be the 'inside' of the house, and the white polka dot piece was glued to the inside of the window.  Once I had created my layers for the front of my card, I used the rectangle die that cuts out the window, then glued the two window frames on the inside and outside of my card.

The pup was glued together and placed with his head sticking out the window to look up at the bird.  The dies that cut him out also cut out under his paws, which allowed me to let them perch on the windowsill.  I cut out my Memory Box Twig die in some kraft cardstock and glued it to my card so that there would be a good spot to have the bird standing on one of the branches.  The sentiment from 5734 - Friend Sentiments Set was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Even though this is an easy card - it required a lot of planning!  You have to think before you glue things together, making sure you're not missing a step.  It's also important with a Front & Back card to have the inside look nicely finished - so I made sure to have some patterned paper on the reverse of the front panel to not have the dog sitting there on his own.

Check out the Ai blog and instagram on Saturday to see what Diane & Tricia have to share!

Stamptember with Art Impressions!

 I am excited to be participating in the launch of Art Impressions' collaboration with Simon Says Stamp to have this sweet stamp set as part of their Stamptember celebration!  Here is SSE23A Apple Cider Set:

I started by stamping her on masking paper and cardstock, cutting it out, and covering my stamped image with the mask.  I used Candied Apple, Squeezed Lemonade and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide inks to blend my background - then sprinkled it with water, as well as white and grey paint to created a little background interest.  I removed the mask, and coloured up with Copic markers.  For her cute capris, I stamped them onto some Graphic 45 paper, fussy cut them out and adhered them to my base.  I cut the image out with my rectangular die, and added the sentiment with Versamark Onyx Black ink.  I raised the panel on foam adhesive before attaching it to my blue background, and added a few red enamel dots.

This set is only available through Simon Says Stamp - while quantities last!  And they usually go pretty quick, so head over to their site and grab yours now.  The set comes with two images, and four sentiments.  Great for fall birthdays or maybe even a teacher card?  The whole Ai team has cards to share, so check out the Ai blog for inspiration, as well as the SSS site.  

Blooming Floral

I am using a new-to-me stamp and stencil set today called Blooming Floral.  These are from Pigment Craft Company, a Canadian company who has such a unique style - that I recently purchased a number of new products of theirs.  The inks are also from Pigment Craft Co - love their colour palette!

The first of many projects you'll be seeing from me this fall using this company.  Jewels are from Pink Fresh Studio.  The decorative die is from The Greetery.  Happy crafting!