Nevermore

Have you tried Inka Gold Metallic Rubs yet? I think they've been around for awhile, but I just discovered them a few months ago, and I love them! They are fantastic for creating a metallic look on just about anything, and it's super easy to age or distress with "rust" or "oxidation," too!

This Halloween card started out with a Serendipity Owl die cut that has been sitting in a tray on my craft table for months. I had heat embossed it with silver embossing powder, and I really liked it, but couldn't decide what to do with it. When I got this steampunk clock die, the owl immediately came to mind. I colored the owl with Copic markers and touches of Inka Gold, then I lightly sanded it to let some of the silver sparkle through. It is backed with a piece of vellum, which I colored with Copics also. The vellum seemed too pristine for the aged owl once it was in place, so I spritzed the owl lightly with Black Marble Dylusions Ink Spray. It wiped easily from the owl, remaining just on the vellum. The background text is an Impression Obsession stamp called The Raven. It's the first half of the narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe. If you know the poem, there is a raven in it, who shows up right at midnight, who can talk. But, all he ever says is Nevermore. Creepy, right? Perfect for Halloween! And, how cool, that Graphic 45 has a Nevermore image in its Steampunk Spells pad! I used Inka Gold on a button, then tied a twine knot in it. The clock die cut is where I had fun with the Inka Gold.

I can't get over how fantastic this looks! I cut the clock face out of a dark brown cs, then used several colors of Inka Gold (colors listed below) randomly on it until I had a scorched metal look. I cut the clock hands from kraft cardstock and used less copper than on the clock face to help delineate it. It's put together with a copper brad.

On the inside, I tore the edge off a piece of My Mind's Eye dp, then continued the "scorched" look by inking the torn edge with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and Black Soot Ink. The sentiment, from a dollar bin Inkadinkado stamp set is stamped onto a pale yellow cs die cut (the wonky die cut in the Blueprints 15 Die-namics set). I colored the Halloween text with a Copic marker, and stamped the Haunted Tree stamp in the lower left corner.

And, that'll do it for me today! Thanks for stopping by!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Serendipity Stamps Challenge #33: Twine
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenges #69: For the Birds
613 Avenue Create #80: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Top Hat Days

Last month, I made a Mother's Day card with a vintage feel to it. With Father's Day around the corner, I used that design and made a more masculine version. Even though they are very much alike, they look completely different! The only major differences between this and the previous card are the backgrounds (embossed vs. stamped), and an added element (the doily die cut).

On this card, I embossed the background, then added some Inka Gold to the embossed areas. The doily was cut from kraft cs, colored with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, then spritzed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist. The image is colored with Copics, and I add some highlights with a white gel pen. The round "metallic" embellie, just to the left of the hat is made from clay, then I used Inka Gold to give it a nice finish.

The inside is the same as the Mother's Day card, just in a different color palette.

Slowly, but surely, I'm getting caught up, posting my cards! :D

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Father's Day/Masculine
TCP Tuesday #267: Anything Goes
Paper Issues: The World is a Circle
Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards Challenge #66: Embossing
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge R#179: For the Boys
Polkadoodles Challenge Week 23: Men On Our Minds
Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #96: Masculine with Ribbon or Trims

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Father's Day Metal

Ever since I made my Faux Metal Art project, I have been looking for ways to incorporate Inka Gold into my creations. (Eventually, I'll get around to posting those creations.) ;) Well, Father's Day is almost here, so a manly card is in order, and what better time to add a little faux metal, right? ;-)

This card's design is from the Viva la Verve May 2014 Week 5 sketch, and I have to admit, when I saw that sketch, I almost decided to just skip it and let this month's VLV challenge go. But, then I saw a really cool die from MFT stamps that reminded me of riveted steel. Perfect! I cut the strips from kraft cs, added several colors of Inka Gold, gave them a good buff, and voila! Faux metal! For the Father's Day banner, I first covered a piece of kraft cs with Inka Gold, buffed it, then heat embossed the Father's Day sentiment with copper ep. To give it a little more dimension, I curved the center of the banner a little and attached it with Coll-All 3D glue. I used Coll-All to attach the "metal" strips, too. The bg was distressed by inking the edges of the paper, tearing it in a couple of places, and adding more age with a few splatters of watered down Inka Gold, and random stamping using Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and a couple of pieces of wrapped candy. Yep, you read that right...wrapped candy. I had a square of Dove chocolate and a wrapped Jolly Rancher candy in a basket on my table, so I inked up the bottom of the chocolate piece and the crinkly twisted end of the Jolly Rancher and stamped just like using a regular stamp. 

The circular images were heat embossed in silver, onto paper that I had first watercolored with Inka Gold. To distress them, I tapped a little Versamark in a few places, then dipped them in Distress Embossing Powder.

I did minimal stamping on the inside of the card, and threw in another faux metal strip to "anchor" the white panel. This card was quite fun to make! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve May 2014 Week 5 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
Paper Issues: The World is a Circle
The Paper Shelter Challenge #160: Make it Manly

~Hugs,

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Faux Metal Art

Hello Blog Friends! Hope you, in the U.S., are enjoying your Memorial Day today! This is going to be a quick post--short on words, long on pics. 

If you are in the Atlanta area, you may have seen this Faux Metal Box in the Impressive Ideas store in Roswell. I've been teaching it as a class there for a few weeks. It's been a really fun class.

Here's a look at the entire project. (There is only one box in the project--I used two for the photo so you could see the inside and outside of the box.)

The entire box is covered in panels that have the look of forged metal, and colored are with various mediums.

The patterned paper on the inside has a distressed look to go with the "aged" metal on the outside of the box.

A few tags give everyone a chance to practice their metal coloring techniques.

We even stitched up a little notebook!

And, a set of four gift cards are decorated with metal butterflies.

My next class is a cute boxed card set. I'll have pics of it in a few days, and you'll be able to see it at the Impressive Ideas store, too!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
TCP Tuesday 266: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create #73: Anything Goes w/optional twist to use Metal (feel better Chana!!!)

~Hugs,

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Feathers

I've been busy the past couple of weeks, working on a project I've designed to teach at my local stamp store, Impressive Ideas, in May. It includes a box, notecards, tags, and a handbound mini book, and features a faux metal technique. It has been great fun to make, and I can hardly wait for classes to start! :)

In the meantime, I've got a masculine birthday card to share.  I'm loving all the feathers that are everywhere right now, and I finally got a small feather die set! Yay!

The blue feathers are Spellbinders Feathers on the Wind dies, and I just love the embossed detail in them. The third feather is one I made from an old dictionary page. Can you see the word, "feather" on it? The "f" got trimmed off just a little bit, but it's there. A closer shot of it is in the banner pic. The lattice element behind the feathers is a Tim Holtz die cut. To make it, I layered several die cuts, glued them to another piece of cardstock, then covered it with a piece of aluminum foil that I almost threw out! I was doing some experimenting, a couple of weeks ago, with different coloring mediums, and this piece wasn't doing much for me, so I sat it aside, figuring it was destined for the trash. Glad that didn't happen. ;) I love the forged metal look. The sentiment is from a new stamp set of Emily Dickinson quotes (I'm a sucker for just about anything literary), and it was heat embossed with copper embossing powder onto a piece of cardstock that I had colored with Inka Gold (my new favorite medium!).

On the inside, I used the same lattice die cut, cutting it in both the blue and orange colors, then pieced it back together with the contrasting colors. The sentiment is a companion stamp from the Dickenson set.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Paper Issues: Pitch Perfect
The Paper Shelter #155: For the Boys
613 Avenue Create #68: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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