Hi Fellow Bloggers,

I’ve made a card for our niece who just had her second child, another girl.  Her parents named her Isabelle and are calling her Izzy.  It took some time to make this card since it has many parts.  I also decorated the inside of the card, but I won’t get into that on this post.  I had a difficult time photographing the card, maybe because of the time of day – around 10:30 am.  I tried outside and then inside -too many shadows.  So I finally settled for this one after taking many, many more photos.  This one was taken indoors, so I’m sure the white on the card is not as bright as it would be if taken outdoors the right time of day.

I worked on the balloon for a long time with Copic markers.  I haven’t quite gotten the hang of Copics yet.  However, I did get to a point that I was sort of satisfied, howbeit I couldn’t get the reflection on the balloon as light as I wanted it.  Still, it was okay.  Here’s the disappointment.  TIP:  I put Spectrum Noir Clear Overlay on the balloon.  After it dried, I noticed that it moved some of the color on the left side of the balloon that was supposed to be shadowed and was now streaked.  I love Spectrum Overlay, but now I know that it will streak on top of Copic colors.

Simon Says Stamp is currently having a challenge to make a card with something that is square, so I decided to make the baby card I needed  to fit the bill.  Here’s the directions to make this card.

The Baby and Balloon

• Tina Wenke Sent from Heaven Stamp
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
• MISTI Stamping Tool
• 80# Neenah Solar White Cardstock
• Copic Markers – RV10, RV13, RV17, C0, E70, 0 (Colorless Blender)
• EK Success CUTTER BEE Scissors – Cut out the image. 
• Memento Tuxedo Black Dual Marker – Go around the edges of the baby and balloon.
• 110# Neenah Solar White Cardstock – Stamp the image again to adhere to the bottom of the colored image to give it some dimension.  Cut the image smaller than the colored image.
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium  – Glue the second cutout to the bottom of the colored baby and balloon. 
• Lay an acrylic block over the image until it dries.
• After the image is dry, apply a light coat of Crafter’s Companion CLEAR OVERLAY Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen over the baby’s hair, diaper, and bottle nipple.  Lay aside to dry.

 

The Circles and Background

• My Favorite Things Die-namics Pinking Edge Circle Stax Dies
• 140# Strathmore Watercolor Paper
• Cuttlebug Die-Cut & Emboss Machine Provo Craft – At first I padded the watercolor paper with another watercolor paper, so the die would not cut through the bottom paper.  Only the impression was left, or in other words, the bottom paper was embossed.  The top layer was cut through, so I laid this aside to be used with another project.  I LOVE this die set!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads – Picked Raspberry, Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade
• Ranger Mini Blending Tool – Even though I had a pad for each ink color, the tumbled glass came out looking mint green instead of light blue because of the blending.  When I laid the inked circles on the plaid paper, the embossing didn’t show up as much as I had hoped.  Possibly it didn’t because the watercolor paper has so much texture.  So I laid the Circle Stax Dies one by one over the embossed circles and die cut them.  It was easy to do, but took time.  I just had to find the groove and place the die there.  I used Post-It Tape to hold the die in place as I ran it through the Cuttlebug again.
• Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid 6 x 6 inch Paper Pad – Select a piece of paper that matches the distress ink colors used on the circle.  Trim the paper to 4-5/16 x 4-5/16 inches.
• Scrapbook Adhesives E-Z Runner Tape – Make sure the circles are lined up properly according to the color.  Adhere the circles to the plaid paper.  
• Apply a light coat of Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen to the circles.  Let this dry.

 

The Sentiment

• Blessings Die from Simon Says Stamp Christmas Blessings Die Set
• 110# Neenah Solar White Cardstock
• White Fun Foam
• Cuttlebug – Cut one Blessings word with cardstock and one with fun foam.
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium  – Glue the paper word to the foam word.  Lay aside to dry with an acrylic block on top of it to press it down. 

 

The Hearts

• Simon Says Stamp Holiday Shapes Die
• 110# Neenah Solar White Cardstock
• Cuttlebug -Die cut six tiny hearts, six medium hearts and six larger hearts.
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads – Picked Raspberry, Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade
• Use Finger Daubers to blend the ink on the hearts
• Color three tiny hearts, one in each color; three medium hearts, one in each color; three larger hearts, one in each color.
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium  – Glue the colored hearts to the same size white hearts to give the hearts dimension.

 

Finish the Card

• 110# Neenah Solar White Cardstock, cut to 10 x 5 inches to make the card base
• Martha Stewart Scoring Board – Make a crease to fold the card in half, creating a side-folding card that is 5 x 5 inches.
• Scrapbook Adhesives E-Z Runner Tape -Adhere the plaid paper to the card base.
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium  – Glue the baby, balloon, sentiment and hearts to the circles
• Lay a large acrylic block on top of this until it dries.
• Ranger Stickles, Star Dust – Apply Stickles to the word Blessings and to the hearts.  Set this aside to dry.  TIP:  Star Dust is the Stickles color I reach for most.  It gives a sparkle to an image that picks up the color of the image.  The sparkle is clear and not tinted with blue, pink or violet as are the Stickles colors – Icicle, Crystal and Diamond.

There was a whole lot of drying in this card, wasn’t there?  I really like the way it turned out.  I LOVE those Pinking Edge Circles cut on heavy watercolor paper.  The dimension and texture are wonderful!  I’m sure I will do this again.  Tell me what you think.  Please leave a COMMENT by clicking on Leave a Comment, located under the title at the top of the page.  Please show me that you LIKE this post by clicking on the LIKE button at the bottom of the page.  Thanks for stopping by and showing an interest in my work. 

Have a splendid weekend!

Tricia Ann

 

CHALLENGES ENTERED

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge It’s Hip to Be Square  http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #244-245 – Anything Goes   <a href=”http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/&#8221; rel=”nofollow”>wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/</a>

Simon Says Flickr Challenge Cut It Out 
SSSflickrchallenge#52

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Spread Your Wings