Zhuzhed Vellum Butterflies, a Blank Page Muse Post

Hello! I am back at the Blank Page Muse blog with this project featuring vellum butterflies. Please visit the BPM blog for more details. Thank you!

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Simon Says: Emboss It

Alcohol Inked Alphabet

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I attended a virtual workshop by Ishani (@quill_ish) last Saturday. I enjoyed creating live with her and the rest of the attendees. 

One of the techniques I learned in the class is about creating a background using alcohol markers. I don't have any Altenew alcohol inks. I only have Copic, which is an alcohol based marker. Since I prefer not to start a new collection of a different brand of alcohol ink, I used Copic refills as a substitute for the Altenew alcohol inks. I added drops of colors on a Yupo paper. I don't have an alcohol ink blower so I just used my heat tool to move the ink. Once I am happy with the pattern, I heat set it to dry the ink. 

I created two alcohol blended panels, one red-pink base for the flower, and another blue-green base for the leaf. I die cut these panels using the Altenew Layered Rose die set. I used the drop outs on this project but I kept the outline die cuts for future use. The best way to keep the drop outs in its original placement is to use a masking paper to pick up the pieces from the die or the plate. This will make the next step easier.

I die cut the image outline on pink mirror cardstock. I die cut the solid piece using a scrap white cardstock. I adhered the mirror outline die cut to this and inlayed the alcohol die cuts to the outline die cut. This is the second technique we learned in the workshop. 

I die cut the letters on both the alcohol panel and the mirror cardstock. I adhered the mirror die cut to the back of the alcohol letter die cut offsetting it for a shadow effect. I went off the instructions on the letter M on the left. The mirror letter die cut was supposed to be offset towards the left, not to the right. I only realized my mistake when I was adhering the letters to the weaved panel. 

For the weaved panel, I rubbed pink dye ink on the flat side of the Altenew Wicker Texture 3D embossing folder. I sandwiched a pink cardstock cut at 4 3/4" x 3 3/4" inside and ran this through my embossing machine. What it does is the inked flat side is pushed to the deeper crevices of the embossing. Such a cool technique shared by Ishani during the workshop. No worries with the cleaning. Just wipe the inked side of the embossing folder with a damp cloth and the excess ink should come off. 

I matted this embossed panel with the same pink mirror cardstock. If I had more time during the workshop, I would have cut this piece into a frame so I can use the middle portion of the mirror cardstock for something else.

I adhered this to the same pink cardstock I used on the embossing which was cut at 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".

I added a sentiment strip using a stamp from the Altenew Wild Hibiscus stamp set. I stamped this using a red dye ink on the same pink cardstock which I die cut into a strip. 

I hope you like today's card. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Simon Says: Anything Goes

Color Inspired Graduation Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. My eldest son will be graduating in two weeks. How exciting is that, right? This celebration needs a card. Thanks to the latest Newton's Nook Challenge with their color challenge, I was able to create this card.

I die cut the shapes using a Honey Bee Stamps Double Stitched Polygons on yellow, green and purple cardstocks. I made the center polygon into a frame. 

I traced the outer frame of the window die cut on a kraft cardstock. I stamped the sentiment and the graduation cap on this panel. The pencil mark gave me an idea up to where I will stamp the graduation caps. I used a kraft die ink for the graduation caps to achieve a tone on tone look. The stamps I used are from the Newton's Nook Designs Newton's Graduation stamp set.

For the other polygons, I temporarily adhered it together with a tape. I stamped the graduation cap on these die cuts using a white pigment ink. It was hard to see the stamping on the yellow cardstock. If I will do this all over again, I  will use a yellow dye ink for stamping on the yellow cardstock.

I adhered the window frame die cut to the stamped kraft panel. I adhered the rest of the polygon die cut pieces making sure that the pieces are butted next to each other. 

For the star of the card, Newton, I stamped Newton on a white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the image with Copic markers with Crystal, our dog, as the model in coloring. (Sorry for we don't have a cat.) I fussy cut the image to the line. I ran a black marker around the edges of the fussy cut image to hide the white core of the paper. I adhered this to polygon panel.

I trimmed off 1/4" on each side to make this into a 5 1/4" x 4" panel. I adhered this to a top folding A2 note card. 

I used the negative polygon cut as an accent to the inside of the card. The sentiment is from Ellen Hutson.

I hope you like today's card. It brings me joy each time I am able to join the Newton's Nook Challenges. I don't ever get tired of coloring Newton. I know I have a dog but I fell in love with Newton first before we adopted Crystal. I wish I can join more of their challenges often but my DT responsibilities pretty much take over my crafting time. That's why I appreciate the few times that I can participate in their challenges.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Newton's Nook Design Challenge Blog

Anything Goes ~ Weeks #696-697

 

Negative Space Coloring

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project features the Negative Space Coloring technique. A negative space is the area surrounding the image, in my project's case, the sunflowers are my images and the surrounding open space around each flower is the negative space. We often give more attention to the image, adding colors and details to the image/s. This is not the case with negative space coloring technique. We do the opposite in negative space coloring technique, in which we add color to the background instead of the image.

I used the Blank Page Muse Small Sunflower Blossom rubber stamp on my project. I stamped the sunflower on a yellow cardstock cut at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig tool to help me stamp the flower repeatedly on the panel. The Stamp-a-ma-jig is an old tool but there are other stamp positioning tools that can be used for this purpose. I used Memento Tuxedo black ink for stamping.

After I stamped the sunflowers in rows to fill up the whole panel, I colored the negative space with a black Copic marker.

I die cut the sentiment on a pearl gold shimmer cardstock. The die I used is from Lawn Fawn. I die several pieces of this sentiment and adhered this to the panel. 

I ran the black marker on the edges of the panel to hide the color of the yellow cardstock. I adhered this to a top folding A2 note card.

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Scrapbook & Cards Today FB Challenge

Challenge 2, Wk 4~Anything Goes #108

A Capy Holiday Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card was created for a person I work with who shares with me the same fondness for capibaras. She was nice enough to lend me her Capibara stamp and die set to play with. She has not even used these sets! To repay her kindness, I created this card using her stamp & die sets. 

The stamp set has a birthday theme but it does not mean it cannot be used for other occasions. I stamped the stacked capibaras on a Copic friendly cardstock. I used Memento Tuxedo black ink which is a Copic friendly ink. I colored the images with Copic markers. I die cut the image using the coordinating die.

I die cut a cream carstock using a postage edged die from the Mama Elephant Peek a Frame Creative Cuts. I added dotted details to the edges of this panel using a die from the Lawn Fawn Stitched Borders die set. 

I stamped the word Capy using the ME Inline Letters stamp set. I stamped the letters using the colors pink and green. Can you guess where I got my inspiration for the colors? (I will reveal the answer at the end of the post.) I used the Misti Stamping Tool to stamp the letters. I temporarily positioned the capibara die cut on the panel so I can space out letters evenly.

I stamped the rest of the sentiment on the panel. The stamp I used is from the ME Happy Everything stamp set. 

I adhered the Capibara die cut to the center of the panel. I adhered confetti die cuts on the panel which I die cut on green and pink cardstock and patterned paper using the ME Confetti Creative Cuts.

On a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" white cardstock, I stamped the diagonal stripes on the edges using the same pink and green dye inks I used for the letters. The stamp I used is from the ME Boutique Borders stamp set. I adhered the postage die cut panel to this panel.

I adhered this to a side folding A2 note card. 

I hope you like today's card. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day! Before I forget, my colors were inspired by the Wicked movie since I just recently watched it and I really love it!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Simon Says: Use Dies in DieCember

Lunar Animals One Layer Greeting Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am glad you are here. I will be taking a month long break from blogging and creating. I hope you like my last project before my August hiatus. 

Mama Elephant is one of my favorite brands. The are searching for Guest Designers. So exciting, right?  I certainly want to give this a try. 

My card was inspired by a card I previously made with a similar design. Please check it out if you have time (Almost a One Layer Card).

To create the layout, I arranged the lunar animals from the Mama Elephant Lunar Animals stamp set based on its order on the Lunar Calendar. I have several pieces of stamped and die cut images left from a previous project that I used to plan the layout. For the animals that are lacking, I die cut scraps of cardstock with the coordinating dies. I used these die cuts as guide for placement of the stamp on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" scrap paper. Once I am happy with the arrangement, I picked the die cuts with a Glad Press N' Seal.

Using the Misti Stamping Tool, I positioned on a corner a top folding heavy weight A2 note card. I positioned the Glad Press N' Seal over the A2 note card. I matched the animal stamp with the die cut. I picked the animal stamps with the door of the Misti then carefully removed the Glad Press N' Seal. I inked the stamps with Memento Black Tuxedo ink since I will be coloring the images with Copic markers. Without re-inking the stamps, I stamped the images on a Post-It Note which I die cut later on using the coordinating die.

I cleaned the stamps, then returned it back to the clear sheet. I placed the Glad Press N' Seal again over the note card, then repeated the process of lining and stamping the stamps. I stamped one row of animals at a time. 

I created a DIY stencil with a re-purposed plastic from a broken accordion file. I die cut a square on this plastic film using a square die that is large enough to fit the lunar animal stamp. I applied large Post-It Notes inside and on the back of the notecard to protect it from any stray ink.

I covered each lunar animal with the coordinating Post-It Note die cut to act as a mask. I positioned the DIY stencil over the panel with the square opening over the stamped die cut mask. I blended different Tim Holtz Distress Oxides on each lunar animal. I blended a color on the square opening, cleaned the DIY stencil and re-positioned the stencil on the next lunar animal. I repeated this process until I have blended inks on all of the lunar animals. I flicked some water droplets over the panel and picked the extra water droplets with a dry paper towel.

My most favorite part about masking is removing the mask and unveiling the image underneath it.

I colored the images with Copic markers. I stamped a simple message on the panel using a sentiment stamp from Mama Elephant Sunday Sentiments stamp set. I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I poured clear embossing powder over the wet ink then heat set it until the powder is melted.

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you come back again after my blogging break. Will I see you in September?

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Anything Goes

4 Legged Friends

Almost a One Layer Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project features the Kat Scrappiness Wok On stamp set. Isn't this stamp set stinking cute? 

I cut a heavy weight white cardstock at 4 1/4" x 11". I scored this on the long side at 5 1/2" to create a top folding A2 note card. 

I created a DIY stencil using the plastic insert from my son's broken accordion folder. I cut the plastic in half, measuring about 5" x 6". I die cut a square on the center of this plastic using one of the dies from the KS Never Ending Square Craft Dies. You might have to use a metal shim for the die to cut through the plastic. 

Using the stencil as a guide, I traced the square on the front of the top folding note card to create a grid of squares. This will guide me on where to stamp the images. 

I stamped an image on each square. I re-stamped the image on a masking paper. I fussy cut these images cutting it on the line. I used this mask to cover the images I stamped on the front of the card. I blended Tim Holtz Distress Oxide to each square, using different colors per square. I used two shades of each color per square, blending the colors together. I used the DIY stencil in blending the colors, taping it on the sides to avoid shifting. I covered the inner side and the back side of the card to protect it from any stray ink. But it is alright if you end up having inked portions on these areas. This just gives the card a handmade feel.

I flicked water to the blended area. I let the ink absorb the water, then picked the water with paper towel.

I lift the masking paper off the paper using a craft knife. I intentionally blended ink over the image on the blue square. My paper shifted while I was stamping this image. That's why I called this card an almost one layer card. It was the last image that I stamped. I did not want to repeat the process so I let it be. 

If you look closely, there is an area on the red and purple square without ink. To fix this, I adhered the mask back onto the stamped image. I lined the right portion of the mask to the stamped image on the card. This is when small blending brushes are very useful. I was able to do a touch up on these areas as you can see on the image below. 

I colored the images with Copic markers. While I color an image, I protected the other areas with a piece of paper while coloring. You never now if you drag colors with your hand while you color.

I stamped the image I used on the blue box on a light weight white cardstock. I colored this with Copic markers fussy cut it on the line. I adhered this on top of the inked image on the blue box. In this way, I was able to save this project. Nobody will ever know about this boo-boo except me and you.

I added accents to the images with a white gel pen. I did not add a sentiment to the front of the card. I wanted the focus to remain on the images.

I hope you like today's card and give this masking technique a try. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I added below links to the Kat Scrappiness products I used on this card. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase any of these products. While you are at the Kat Scrappiness website, do check out their wide array of products especially the exclusive Kat Scrappiness products. Enjoy!

Inspired By Pastel Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I created this card to join in the Inspired By Challenge which is linked at the bottom of this post. 

The focal image of the photo inspiration is the 'Wellies' which I only learned to be another name for rain boots. I went through my stash and found a Lawn Fawn stamp of a bear wearing wellies. The stamp set is called LF Here For You Bear stamp set. I colored the raincoat pink just like the color of the wellies in the photo. I colored the bear's wellies yellow just like the ribbon in the photo. I used Prismacolor pencils to color the bear. I added details to the bear with gel pens which you can see on the next photo. I fussy cut the bear leaving a narrow border around it.

The photo has flowers coming out of the wellies. To add flowers to my project, I used a border stamp from The Ink Blot Shop. I stamped the flowers using a neutral ink and colored it with pastel colored Copic markers, following the colors of the flowers on the photos. I created three of this floral border. I fussy cut the floral border leaving a border around the images.

The challenge also includes a sketch which can be an option if you don't want to do the photo inspiration. If you know me, I love jamming theme challenges in one project. To add the sketch to my project, I trimmed a 3" x 5 1/2" cream cardstock. Using a dotted stencil, I blended cream ink to the stencil. I must have not cleaned my stencil really well because there was ink contamination on my panel. I just went with it. After using the stencil, I made sure to wash it well this time. 

I trimmed the 6" floral border in half. I adhered the flowers to the cream panel. I tucked and adhered the bear underneath one of the floral borders. 

For the sentiment, I stamped the sentiment on a strip of cream cardstock. This is the same cardstock I blended the ink on. 

For the background panel, I embossed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Concord & 9th Baby Powder cardstock using a We R Memory Keepers 3D embossing folder. I lightly spritz the panel with water before running the the paper through the die cutting machine. This prevents the paper from cracking. 

I adhered the wide floral strip panel to the embossed panel using liquid adhesive. This is my favorite adhesive to use on 3D embossed paper.

I hope you like today's project. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Inspired BY Challenge Blog

April~Make A Spring Card

 

Interactive Birthday Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. We have a new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs. March's challenge theme is/are Birthday &/or Funny/Humorous. Please visit the challenge blog and see how the other DT members interpreted this month's theme. We also hope you join us in this month's challenge.

I am using an Art Impression's stamp and die set called Workout Gal. The final product has a moving element that I think the recipient will enjoy.

There are instructions on the packaging insert but if you are more of a visual learner, Laura Bassen's video is very helpful in using this product. 

I colored my image using Copic markers. The set comes with two sentiment stamps, one of which I used on the card.

I blended ink on the sides of the colored panel.  Just like in Laura's video, I matted the colored panel with a patterned paper before adhering it to a side folding A2 note card. 

Luckily, I have some mini-brads in my stash. I could have colored the brads the same color as the skin and the bunny slipper but I think the movement of the leg makes this less noticeable.

Don't you think this card is both funny and fun? What do you think?

Below is a short video showing the lady in action. I hope you like it.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day.

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Anything Goes #117

Cricut Cut Dog Shaped Ornament

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project was created for a friend, Linda, whose dog, Ollie, crossed the rainbow bridge. She has a vial encasing a snip of her dog's hair. She requested me to create something special with it.

I got this project's idea from a similar project I created for her a few years ago (More Cricut Cut Elves). I used my Cricut to create this dog.  Luckily, there is a Bichon Frise file cut image in Cricut Design Space. 

The image cuts the outline of the dog. I used the CDS Contour feature to create a solid cut for the backing of the dog. I also used this feature to create separate cuts for the dog's eyes, nose, lip and tongue so I can cut these pieces on a different colored cardstock. 

Most of the pieces were cut on white cardstock. Without separating the positive and negative cuts of the dog, I colored the dog with gray Copic markers to add dimension to the dog. I adhered this to the solid dog piece. 

I pieced in the eyes, the nose, the lips and the tongue to the digital cut. These pieces, except for the tongue, were cut on black cardstock. The tongue was cut on pink cardstock.

I added a heart to my Cricut Canvas. I resized this so it fits the dog's chest and it will fit the width of the vial. 

To make it personalized, I added Ollie's name and today's year to the heart with the use of a foil pen. Cricut has a foiling pen accessory but I don't have one. Instead, I used the We R Memory Keepers Foil Quill tool to write on the heart.

I poked holes on the center of the heart. I threaded a red-white twine through these holes. I added mini glue dots in between the holes. I adhered the vial to this. I tied the twine around the vial into a bow. I adhered two pieces of heart on the back for dimension.

I adhered a heart gem to the rubber cap of the vial. I forgot to take a top view photo of it but you can see a side view of the heart gem on the photos above and below.

I adhered the heart to the chest of the dog.

To make this into an ornament, I adhered a glittered twine to the back of the dog. I used strong double sided adhesive for this. I covered this up with two more pieces of the solid digital dog cut. If you notice it on the photo above, this paper ornament is thick from all the layers, making it really sturdy. 

Here is a link to the CDS file I used for this project, https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/6557d2a6e00233f83add70a3, in case, you are interested.

It brings me joy when I make someone happy with my creations, especially if it is custom made. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day.

Ollie

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Simon Says Stamp IG Challenge

Scrapbook & Cards Today's FB Challenge

Challenge #303~Seasonal