Non-Traditional Christmas Colors for the Latest Freshly Made Sketches Challenge

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

It’s been quite a while since I joined in on a card challenge. I’ve been busy making my Christmas cards for this year. Since they are almost finished, I thought I’d create a card for one of my favorite card challenge sites, Freshly Made Sketches.

Here is the latest sketch…

and here is my entry.

Any holiday card that I’ve made usually has red and green on it, so I decided to leave my Christmas comfort zone and do something a little less traditional. How about light blue and light green? I really like that color combo, so I went for it.

I started with Ellen Hutson’s Mondo Poinsettia stamp set. I gold heat embossed the images onto Bristol paper, and water colored them with Peeled Paint and Broken China Distress Oxides. I really love the Distress Oxides. They stamp beautifully, and they are wonderful as watercolors. After the leaves and flowers had dried, I cut them out with the matching dies and put them aside.

My Merry Christmas sentiment is from WPlus9 Hand Lettered Holiday stamp set. I just love the pairing of the script and capital letters. I cut Merry out of some silver metallic card stock and heat embossed Christmas with silver embossing powder onto a velum strip. Once that was done, I needed to do a little something with my card base. Plain white just wasn’t going to be right. I decided to do a little light stenciling using the Broken China ink and a Gina Marie Designs stencil. All that was left was to put the card together. I adhered the velum strip just between the two flower groupings and popped up the flowers with some foam tape. The final touch was to add a few sequins and some Nuvo gold drops on the flower centers.

I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Holidays!

30Jul2017

The Ton’s Dearest Peony and Freshly Made Sketches #298

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

It’s been a while since I’ve entered a card sketch challenge. Freshly Made Sketches is one of my favorite sketch challenge sites, and here’s the latest sketch…

And here is my entry…

For the background, I used the Hero Arts Houndstooth stamp inked with Hero Arts Soft Granite Shadow Ink. I had to stamp it a few times to get good covered (thank goodness for the MISTI tool). Because of the design of the card that I had in my mind, I had to alter the sketch a bit. I knew that I wanted to cut out the diagonal from the background, but I also wanted to stamp my sentiment within that cut out…so, I reversed the diagonal from the sketch and cut the opposite corner diagonal from my background. Using light pencil markings, I determined the perfect positioning of my greeting and stamped that in Versafine Onyx Black ink (my favorite black ink for fine details) onto my card base. To finish off the background, I used foam tape to adhere the two houndstooth pieces. I just love how the sentiment is recessed.

Now, on to the pretty part. I stamped The Ton’s Dearest Peony floral image onto white card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with black embossing powder. To color, I simply applied Picked Raspberry and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks with a waterbrush. Once it was dry, I fussy cut it and glued it to the two houndstooth triangular pieces. I added a few Nuvo drops to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts Houndstooth background, The Ton’s Dearest Peony
Ink: Hero Arts Soft Granite Shadow Ink, Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Distress Inks
Card stock: Neenah Solar White 80# and 110#
Other: Nuvo Drops, black embossing powder

28Apr2017

A Simple But Elegant Card

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I have to admit that I’ve been in a creative rut lately. It happens to me quite a bit, but I have learned one thing…go back to simple. It works for me every time. So, that’s what I did. To help with a little inspiration, I checked one of my favorite sketch sites, CAS(E) This Sketch. I love their sketches because they are generally simple, but allow for a lot of creativity.

Here’s their latest sketch…

For my card, I started with a stamp set from Lil’ Inker Designs that’s been out for a while…Filled Heart. It’s such a beautiful stamp set, and the design practically makes your card for you.

I gold heat embossed the heart image onto watercolor paper. The light coloring is from my Light Violet Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker applied with my water brush. It is very subtle, but adds just the perfect softness to the image.

The greeting from the same set is gold heat embossed onto a strip of watercolor paper. I cut fish tail ends on both sides and attached it with foam tape to give it some dimension.

All that was left was matting the card front. I decided on a piece of Recollections gold glitter card stock. This was the first time that I have used this paper, AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! It has a nice heavy weight (and it comes in silver, too)!! The photo doesn’t really do it justice. It sparkles beautifully.

After attaching the card front to a white, top folding A2 card base, I added a few gold and iridescent sequins to finish it off. Unfortunately, the photo makes the gold sequins look brown. Trust me, they are a beautiful, shiny gold.

I hope you like it. I’m thinking of adding it to my Etsy Shop.

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22Apr2017

Using an Older but “New to Me” Stamp Set

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

Wish Big Stamp & Die Set by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson

I just purchased this stamp and die set recently (but I’ve been wanting it since it first came out). I just love the adorable hippo and bird with all of the birthday extras! Before starting most cards, I check two of my favorite sketch sites. I decided to go with the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week.

Here is FMS #284…

and here is my entry…

To start, I cut even strips of bright card stock from my scraps (thanks Jennifer McGuire for the inspiration!). I adhered them in rainbow order vertically on to the center of a 3.5 x 5.5″ piece of white card stock. I stamped the hippo and bird using Memento Tuxedo Black ink because I wanted to color them with Copic markers. After coloring the animals, two party hats and two balloons, I used the matching dies to cut them out. To give the party hats a little bit of character, I used a Signo Uni-Ball white pen to add dots and stripes. I knew that I wanted the balloons to be cut out of the vertical stripe area to represent the hearts on the sketch. I decided on the placement of the hippo and bird and die cut the balloons out of the rainbow card front.

In starting to put together the card, I realized that the rainbow card front needed some kind of mat to prevent it from hiding. I cut a piece of black card stock the same height but 1/4″ wider. I glued those pieces together and then attached the animals and balloons with foam tape for dimension. I used a piece of patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye Happy Day 6×6 paper pad to cover the card base and attached the rainbow piece in the center. I white heat embossed the greeting onto black card stock, cut the fishtail end and attached it next to the balloon so that it almost looks like it is flying with the balloon.

Thanks for stopping by!

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2Apr2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #281

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I have been wanting to use my latest Simon Says Stamp Watercolor Friendly Flowers for a while now, and the latest Freshly Made Sketches sketch seemed like a good place to start.

Here is the latest sketch…

This is the card that I made…

I started by white heat embossing the outlined flowers in the set. I pulled out my Zig clean color markers and selected a few softer colors that worked well together. I used a water brush to disperse the color on each petal. Once they were dry, I heat embossed the center portions of the flowers with Zing Metallic Silver embossing powder using my embossing pen. They still needed a little something more, so out came my Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.

On to my card design…I knew that I wanted a little color on the white background where my flowers were going to go, so I lightly ink blended an area in the center with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I liked the 3 horizontal stripes on the sketch, but I really wanted my flowers to be the highlight. I found a very old stamp set from TPC Studio called Dots and Stripes. (I’m so glad that I dug into my stamp collection because these stamps are fantastic!) I chose one of the dot border stamps and stamped it 3 times with Versamark ink and used the same silver metallic embossing powder as before.

I fiddled around with my flower placement until I liked what I saw. I glued 4 of the flowers on to the white base and adhered 2 with some fun foam to give the grouping some dimension. For my greeting, I chose the “just for you” stamp from a 3×3 set from Lia Griffith (Hero Arts) and stamped it in black.

I knew that the card base needed to be something other than white, so I went with my next favorite, light gray. I think it coordinates well with the silver embossing.

I hope you like it!

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24Mar2017

Getting Out of My Color Comfort Zone

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

With the Help of Freshly Made Sketches

I know the trend in card making is now about florals and bright colors. I’ve found myself getting too comfortable with those designs. I wanted to change it up a bit (at least for me) by using colors that I never really even think of when starting a card – orange and navy.

Now, for the design…I went to one of my usual sites for inspiration–Freshly Made Sketches. Here is the latest sketch…

While I usually don’t follow their sketches to the letter, I just received a new stamp set that is perfect—Hampton Arts Lift Me Up. The detailed butterfly is gorgeous, and the sayings are terrific.

I started off by white heat embossing the butterfly on navy Bazzill card stock towards the bottom right corner of the paper. I wanted this image to be kind of a shadow for the main butterfly. Next, I stamped the butterfly with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and cut it out with the matching die. I colored the butterfly with Copic markers and added a few small white extras with my white gel pen. I attached the butterfly with foam tape to give it some dimension. For the last touch, I covered the butterfly with my Wink of Stella clear glitter pen. The “You Lift Me Up” greeting from the stamp set seemed to perfect, so I white heat embossed it on the bottom left corner.

I knew that I needed to accent the card with some orange to balance the orange butterfly, so I cut the navy card stock slightly so that I could have a strip of orange on the left side of the card. Then, I realized that the card front was still a little dark, so I trimmed a slight edge off of the top and bottom so that the white card base would peak through. Once all of that was done, this card still needed something else. I’ve really been trying to incorporate sequins (another card trend) on to my cards, but I didn’t have any orange ones (remember, orange is not one of my go-to colors 🙂 Then, I remembered seeing Jennifer McGuire use her Copic markers to color some pearl accents. I found my pearl dots and colored them with one of the same orange Copic markers that I used on the butterfly. They were the perfect final touch on my card.

I hope you like it!

5Mar2017

Using Ink Blending with a Detailed Background Stamp

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

The Latest Freshly Made Sketch Challenge

I just love the Freshly Made Sketch Challenge blog. Their sketches are so wonderful because they allow for a lot of creative freedom. They never fail me when I’m in a little bit of a creative slump. If you’ve lost your creative mojo, you should definitely check them out! They even have all of their sketches archived.

Here is this week’s sketch… and this is what I came up with…

I started with an A2 size piece of Bristol paper and white heat embossed it using the Hero Arts wave background stamp. This was my first time using this stamp. I always worry a bit when I’m using a detailed background stamp, but let me tell you, it stamped beautifully! I just love Hero Arts stamps and my Misti of course.

Using Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Carved Pumpkin, Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon and Wilted Violet), I ink blended the whole piece in a rainbow like design. I die cut a frame from the Lil’ Inker Designs Dual Dotted Rectangles die set, and glued it on the left side of my card front. I cut away the part of the frame that wasn’t attached to the card front, and using the same Distress Inks, I ink blended the frame to match the base. I love how the frame got a little bit of the deeper colors. I think this prevented it from disappearing into the background a little.

Now for the sentiment…I’ve been wanting to try the Hello die from Mama Elephant for a while. I gold heat embossed it twice to give it a little dimension and adhered it in the bottom left corner of the frame. I cut off the front portion of the die cut that didn’t fit on the card. For a few final touches, I glued a some sequins just above the greeting. I trimmed the card front just a smidge (is that a word?) because I wanted the Neenah Solar White 110# card base to frame this colorful piece.

I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Supplies Used:

Hero Arts Wave Background stamp, Recollections Snow and Gold embossing powders, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Lil’ Inker Designs Dual Dotted Rectangles die set, Mama Elephant Hello die, Neenah Solar White 110# card stock

2Mar2017

Need Creative MoJo?

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

CAS(E) this sketch #211 To The Rescue

Here’s their newest sketch…

This sketch is perfect for so many beautiful floral stamps out there. Because I just received my first Unity Stamp Company order, I was excited to use one of them. I chose their Steps of Courage set for my floral image.

Here’s my card…

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of Bristol paper. I white heat embossed my floral image on the bottom right corner. I knew that I wanted a soft look, so I pulled out my Zig Clean Color markers and used a water brush to apply the color. After coloring the flowers, leaves and stems, I applied a very light wash of light blue around the image. I drew a rough square around the card making sure to leave a space where the flowers met the bottom.

It took me a while to decide on where to place my greeting. I knew the sketch had the sentiment closer to the bottom, but I felt it detracted from the pretty flowers. I decided to place it higher on the card. I white heat embossed a greeting from Technique Tuesday’s Beautiful Bouquet stamp set on to black card stock. I felt it was a little plain, so I added a slight lavender mat around the fishtail greeting. I then adhered it with fun foam to add dimension.

For some final touches, I glued a few sequins (2 black and 1 iridescent) near the flowers. To soften the brightness of the card, I sprayed some black watercolor over the whole thing to get those small black flecks. I attached the card front to a top folding gray card base.

I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Supplies Used: Unity Stamp Company “Steps of Courage” stamp set, Technique Tuesday Beautiful Bouquet stamp set, Recollections snow embossing powder, Versamark ink, Zig Clean Color markers, Craft Medley sequins, Bazzill Alpaca card stock, Bristol paper

3Feb2017

This Week’s Freshly Made Sketch Entry

Posted in Handmade Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

Once again, I’ve gone to one of my absolute favorite card sketch sites to get some inspiration. Freshly Made Sketches is a great card challenge site that you must really check out!

When I first saw this week’s sketch, I immediately thought of washi tape. I don’t know where that came from because I don’t think that I’ve ever used washi tape on any craft item. My small stash tends to be used to hold card pieces down when I’m die cutting. I went with my idea, and I’m pretty happy with the results.

Here’s the latest FMS…

and here’s my card…

I chose 3 of my favorite washi tape designs that coordinated pretty well together. I simply ripped a piece (no measuring or cutting with scissors here) of each and placed them on a piece of white card stock. I then matted that piece with some blue card stock and then adhered that to my A2 top folding card base.

Using one of my favorite heart stamps, Hero Arts Patterned Heart, I heat embossed it with Recollections gold embossing powder. The heart is attached with dimensional adhesive. All that was left was the greeting. I decided on one of the greetings from Simon Says Stamp’s Hydrangea Blooms stamp set.

I hope you like it!

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24Jan2017

CAS(E) this Sketch #205

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

Another one of my favorite card sketch challenge sites is CAS(E) this Sketch. Their sketches always challenge me to try and think outside the box (which is a pretty difficult thing for me).

Here is their latest sketch…

and here’s what I came up with…

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I started off with my favorite size card base–A2 4.25″ x 5.5″ made from kraft card stock. I then cut my patterned paper from 2 different 6×6 My Mind’s Eye paper pads by eyeballing it. I have to get better at being more precise when it comes to cutting paper 🙂

Using the Pierced Heart Stax dies from My Favorite Things, I cut the hearts out of the top kraft layer, the blue layer and the yellow layer, leaving the red layer alone. I adhered all of the layers so that the hearts lined up.

After seeing it all put together, I thought it looked a little dull, so I added the black strips along the outside cut edge because I knew that my greeting was going to be black. I triple cut the love greeting from the Simon Says Stamp Love die set and glued them together to give a little dimension to the greeting. Even after that, it still looked a little plain, so I pulled out my newly acquired black Nuvo drops and added those above the heart and below the greeting. I also added the small kraft heart in the center from the Pierced Heart Stax smallest die.

I hope you like it!