Foiled Lotus Field

I tried hot foiling the gorgeous Lotus Field press plate from Hero Arts - and it turned out beautifully!

I am using Aura hot foil from Spellbinders, which is actually a pale gold in real life, with a subtle glimmer of colour - it's not nearly as rainbowy as the photos show!  Still, it is absolutely gorgeous.

This one was pressed on white Hammermill cardstock, with only some very slight imperfections.  I wanted to keep most of the image, so the card is a little larger than A2 size.  I matted it with black, and adhered it onto a panel of Concord & 9th's Bluebell cardstock.

I used my Pinkfresh Studio reverse foiling plate to use the negative, which gave me the foiled flowers.  The image foiled really well with just a few imperfections.  My most successful reverse foil so far!

Here's a slightly better representation of the colour!  I used a hot foiled sentiment on black, and added a few black jewels.  Below shows the two foiled images.

Floral Mosaic

My second card with the March Betterpress Society plate, Teardrop Mosaic, was done using just two of the teardrop shapes.

I pressed the two floral teardrops on six different pastel colours of regular cardstock, using Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide ink for a softer look (it was Easter, so I reached for pastels!).  I was originally going to put them in a floral shape, but decide to split them, and add a sentiment across the middle.

 

The sentiment is from the Inkspired Wishes plate set from a few months ago - pressed in Lisa Horton Silver Shine metallic ink, and adhered with 3d foam adhesive.  I matted my white rectangle with a matte silver cardstock, and mounted it all on Art Impressions patterned paper.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription from The Papercrafter's Workshop!

Teardrop Mosaic

For my first project with the March Betterpress Society plate set, Teardrop Mosaic, I did some painting!

This set includes the all-over grid pattern press plate, three sentiments, and four patterned designs in the teardrop shape.  I wanted to do a card featuring just the grid background, so I started off by painting a watercolour piece.

Using my set of Gansai Tambei paints, I did a pale turquiose wash on the entire piece, then with the panel still very wet, I started dropping colour around the outside, allowing it to bleed softly.  I made sure to keep the colour random, and made some areas darker than others - then added more of a navy shade in several places.

I also painted the same colours on a scrap strip of watercolour paper, along with a couple of complimentary colours.  I allowed the pieces to dry, and placed them under a heavy book overnight to flatten them.

Using Betterpress Black ink, I pressed the grid and one of the sentiments onto my panel.  *I had intentionally kept the center lighter, as I knew I'd be placing the sentiment there.

I used the Spring Florals stamp set from Pigment Craft Co. to stamp all the flowers and foliage onto my scrap piece, then fussy cut them all out.  The base was trimmed a little, then mounted on a piece of black cardstock.

I arranged all the pieces in opposite corners, then added a few silver pearls as the flower centers.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription from The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Lilac Poise

 Another Unity Stamp Co. image today - this is Lilac Poise.  I coloured it with my niece, and got to borrow her Olo markers!  Really great to try them, but I will be sticking with my Copics for now.

A bit of a different image for me - I loved being able to colour outside the lines a bit, and used a bunch of different colours both around the image, and on the blooms.

I used a hot foiled sentiment from the I Adore You sentiments from Spellbinders, and added a few champagne pearls.  the image and sentiment are both popped up with 3D foam adhesive.

Stories & Snuggles

I am using a Unity Stamp Co. set today!  This is the Stories & Snuggles set, coloured with Copic markers.

I found an older Teresa Collins paper pack in my stash, and created a collage style background for my image.

So great to be using my Copics again!

New Home cards

 I already had the idea to use these dies to make some 'New Home' cards, but when I saw the recent launch by The Greetery, I was inspired by the colours Betsy used!

This is the Market Place Minis die set, that came out last fall, and I used to make some European looking Christmas cards.

These are the cutest little row houses.  Yes, they're a little fiddly to cut and assemble - but I've learned to cut multiples, then mix & match the pieces to make it go faster.

The end result is so worth it!

The sentiments are from Perfect Sentiments by Pinkfresh Studio.  Stay tuned, I have a few larger ones in the works.

Class Cards!

If you buy the whole 'We All Have Baggage' collection by Sheri Ballantyne for Spellbinders, you get a link to a free card class using all the sets!  It just launched this weekend, so I created along with the class last night.

The bundle also included a class pack, that had the coloured cardstock and gems to create the four cards, with lots of leftovers!

The Designer Purse dies.

The Retro Suitcase and Sentiments set.

The Rolling Tote dies.

The Awareness Ribbon and Sentiments.

The bundle and individual sets can all be found at The Papercrafter's Workshop.

H is for Happy Birthday cards

I am playing along with the Alphabet Soup challenge in the Papercrafter's Inner Circle group on Facebook.  This is H is for Happy Birthday.

I am using a pressed image of the Floral H and Sentiment Betterpress plates, pressed on watercolour paper, and painted in with shimmery metallic paints.  Happy to have another card that uses up some old papers.

Quick cards

This is definitely my most used product of the year so far!  This is the Thought You Knew press plate from Spellbinders.  Everyone that sees this sentiment smiles... sisters, brother-in-laws, friends... lots of uses for this!  Even my adult children will probably be getting one of these at some point.

I love that since the sentiment is the star of the show, that anything goes for the rest of the card.  It's been a great way to use up older paper pads.

Gate Fold Radiant Blooms

 I made a Gate Fold card using the February Betterpress Society plate, Radiant Blooms.

I pressed the plate on a piece of light aqua cardstock using Betterpress Black ink.

I used one of the coordinating stencils along with 4 shades of aqua ink from Pinkfresh Studio, to create and ombre ink blended effect.

My Floral Spray and Hemstitched Ovals dies were used to create a cluster to glue to the front of my card.  I cut the pressed panel in half, and glued it to a piece of dark teal cardstock that had been scored twice so that it opened in the middle.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription from The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Golden Bloom SocieTea cards

Spellbinders does a craft-along event once a month, called the Betterpress SocieTea!  I played along with Erin, switching things up a little with what I had on hand.

I glimmered the February Betterpress Society press plate, Radiant Blooms in Rose Gold foil, on some melon coloured cardstock.  I used the Arched Expressions dies to cut out an arch shape from my panel, and then cut a larger one out of some mango cardstock.

I used my Fresh Picked Buttercups dies for the florals, and popped up a pressed sentiment from the You Are Everything sentiments.  I few gold pearls picked up the glimmer from the foil.

I had the lovely foiled, arch frame leftover, so wanted to make a companion card.  I added the mango cardstock behind the opening, used the same flowers, and decided to use a sympathy sentiment.  You can get a Betterpress Society subscription from The Papercrafter's Workshop.