Playing with a Retiring Favorite--#tgifc263

So, I did something a bit different today for the TGIF Challenges sketch challenge this week.  I decided I wanted to use the octopus in my retiring Sea of Textures stamp set (#146488) as the focal piece in the sketch.  Then I needed to figure out my background.  How about using the retiring Pigment Sprinkles (#149663)?   It was fun experimenting with this card.

Can you believe it?  I only used the Bermuda Bay pigment sprinkles on the background layer and I got these gorgeous Blackberry Bliss pockets of color on my card.  Kind of like the deep, deep ocean. That's why I love the pigment sprinkles, you never know what will happen when you use them. I wanted a lighter backdrop for my octopus in the top layer, so I first did a watercolor wash with Coastal Cabana ink, then taped off two of the holes in the the Bermuda Bay pigment bottle and lightly tapped on some sprinkles.  This gave me a swirly patch with just a bit of Rich Razzleberry.  The other sketch layers are Blackberry Bliss card stock and the Gray Granite netting die cut from the retiring Under the Sea dies (#146334).  The card base is Gray Granite.

The greeting is from the Sea of Textures stamp set. It was stamped in Blackberry Bliss on Gray Granite card card stock, heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder and punched out with the Classic Label Punch (#141491).   Retiring Blackberry Bliss Nature's Twine (#146342) and retiring Noble Peacock rhinestones (#149494) complete the card.

The octopus is stamped in Mango Melody.  My octopods are almost always a shade of orange.  That was the color of the only octopus I've ever met in the wild.

There are lots of fun and beautiful interpretations of this sketch over at the TGIF Challenges blog here.  Check them out!

Hope you are surviving quarantine.  My friend, Mari, arrived home from her art studio yesterday to find a painted dog.  Her living, breathing pet dog was painted in a rainbow of colors.  She was able to escape to her studio, but her 5 creative kids (ages 4 to 18) were stuck at home . . .

Cheers!--Sara Nell

A Dinosaur Card with a Flip Greeting

A few weeks ago, I was playing with ideas for a Facebook Live project.  I'd just finished a scrapbook project with the Dinoroar suite and the Dinoroar designer series paper, the  Dino Days stamp set and the coordinating Dino dies were sitting on my desk.  Sitting beside them was a group of samples I had made with each of the new Pigment Sprinkles colors.  These items inspired this project with a fun flip greeting: 

The card base is Mango Melody layered with another piece of Mango Melody embossed with the Layered Leaves 3D embossing folder.  On top of the Mango Melody layer is a 3" x 4" piece of the designer series paper.  The T-Rex was die cut from another pattern in the Dinoroar paper (Note:  You have to die cut the T-Rex and the spiky ridge separately.    I actually just fussy cut the ridge, leaving the side that was next to the T-Rex's back intact so it would exactly fit into the die cut T-Rex's back. I used Tear and Tape adhesive to smoothly adhere the ridge to the T-Rex, leaving the paper strip on the tape.)  I mounted the  T-Rex onto a circle die cut from a piece of the Mango Melody Pigment Sprinkles sample and layered to an Old Olive die cut scallop circle.  The greeting was masked before stamping the front and then again for the back of the flip piece.  It was stamped in Old Olive with little dinosaur tracks in Mango Melody. The fishtail end of the banner piece tucks under the scallop circle to keep it in place.

Here's how I constructed the card:

You need:  5-1/2" X 8-1/2" card base folded in half; a 5-1/4" x 4" card stock piece embossed with the Layered Leaves embossing folder (or other folder of your choice); a 3" X 4" piece of Dinoroar designer series paper; a T-Rex or other dinosaur die cut from the designer series paper (I chose my paper, card stock and ink colors to coordinate with the dinosaur); a 1/2" X 5-1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock, scored at 1" from one end of the piece and punched with the Banner Triple punch from the other end to form the fishtail end (you will end up with a 4" banner on the front of the card); a die cut circle and coordinating die cut scallop circle to layer under T-Rex (for the one shown in this photo, I die cut a circle out of Shimmery White card stock and watercolored it with Old Olive ink).  You need Multipurpose Liquid glue and Stampin' Dimensionals,  plus Tear and Tape to adhere the ridges on the dinosaur (if you choose to use them).

Adhere the designer series paper to the embossed layer about 1" from the left-had side of the layer.  Use Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive.  Mask off the bottom of the greeting stamp from the Dino Days stamp set, then stamp the "I love you THIS much!"  on the front of the greeting piece about 1" from the fishtail end of the flag.  Turn the flip piece over (making sure the front is right-side up, then mask off the top of the greeting stamp and stamp "(it's more than it looks)" on the back side about 1" from the score line.  (Remember to take of the mask before you stamp!!!)   Add a few dinosaur tracks if you like.

Fold the score line and fit the small end under the embossed layer about 1/2" from the bottom.  Adhere that small end with Multipurpose Liquid adhesive and let it dry.

Fold the banner over the front of the card.  Adhere the die cut circles together with Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive and layer the dinosaur on the circle with Stampin' dimensionals. Adhere the circle piece to the card front making sure that the fishtail end of the banner fits under the edge of the scallop circle:

Layer this piece on your card base with Stampin' Dimensionals:

Hope you have fun with this little flip greeting technique!

Thanks for stopping by today!--Sara Nell

  

Leaves Make Me Smile--#tgifc226

If you've been checking out my blog for any length of time, you already know that leaves make me smile.  I love when the weather cools and the leaves start falling.  I celebrate this with my stamping.  It is not yet officially Fall, but this week's TGIF technique challenge had me bringing out the leaf images in the Colorful Seasons stamp set.

This week's challenge is Splatter!  Immediately I thought of the color-splattered leaves that are already showing up in my yard (I'm kind of worried about my neighbors' maple tree, actually).  I started my splattering with Pigment Sprinkles, then added more splatters with my Aqua Painter and Early Espresso ink:

I used Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight Pigment Sprinkles.  I sprinkled them on a piece of the new Fluid 100 Watercolor paper that had been brushed with water.  Then I spritzed the paper with water and used my Heat Tool to move around the pigment as it dried. I added more water and more sprinkles to get the look I wanted.  As I was in the final drying stage, I added a few more sprinkles and spritzed the paper lightly to keep the small splatter look on the paper. 

When the paper piece was completely dry, I used my bone folder to even out the warping in the paper (yea, I used a lot of water!).  Then I stamped the leaf image randomly over the paper with VersaMark and heat embossed it with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder.  After the leaves were finished, I add the Early Espresso splatters with my Aqua Painter.

To complete my card, I added a copper-embossed greeting from the Colorful Seasons stamp set.  I stamped the greeting on a leftover piece of the watercolor paper and then die cut it using an oval in the Stitched Shapes die set. I mounted the greeting piece on an Early Espresso scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals die set.  The splattered piece is layered on Early Espresso card stock with a piece of Copper Trim wrapped around it and tied in a bow.  The card base is Granny Apple Green card stock.

Go find some inspiration for adding splatters to your cards over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

--Sara Nell