Hello and welcome to my blog. I’m so thrilled to share these cards today on the next step of my educator journey.
I still remember the first time I stamped an image on a card. It was an October evening in 2003, at a Stampin’ Up party. I had never seen a rubber stamp or ink pad, and when I stamped that first image, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe that I had created that image! From that moment, I was hooked on stamping. Over the years, I have collected wood mounted rubber stamps, unmounted red rubber stamps, acrylic cling stamps – you name the stamp, I’ve played with it.
The course I studied for today’s post was Irresistible Inking Techniques, taught by Sara Naumann. It’s designed to teach various ways to use inks and how to get the most out of them. Ink pads are so versatile! One can stamp with them, watercolor with them (water-based dye inks, at least), smear ink with them, and use a brayer with them. Sara demonstrated several different techniques, and I was especially drawn to her use of layering stamps and a brayer. So, I decided to use both of those ideas for today’s post.
The stamp set I used for today’s cards is from the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Garden Rose. Now, full disclosure, I subscribe to the Altenew Craft A Lift Project Kit. I. LOVE. THESE. KITS. Once a month, I receive a fabulous collection of items that all coordinate – and the price point is very affordable!
I created a background from the Garden Rose stamp set by stamping the roses and leaves on white cardstock (8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″) using VersaMark Ink, then embossing with white embossing powder. Using my brayer, I rolled over the cardstock with Altenew Crisp Dye ink – Puffy Heart, Purple Wine and Ocean Waves. It took me a few tries to get the cardstock inked to my satisfaction, but it was such fun to roll the brayer over various sections of the cardstock using the different colors. I ended up with a colorful, ink resist background, which looked different from a blended brush background. I then cut the background into 1×5-1/2″ strips. Now, I could make my cards.
Card 1
For my first card, decided to do some layered stamping. I chose the smallest rose from the Garden Rose stamp set and stamped the outline layer in Onyx Black VersaFine ink. This rose has two other stamps that layer over this outline layer, so following the layering guide that is included with CAL kit, I stamped the second rose layer in Altenew Puffy Heart Crisp Dye Ink, and the third in Purple Wine. Altenew’s Crisp Dye Inks come in sets of four coordinating inks – the set I used is the Rose Petal Crisp Dye Ink Oval Bundle. It makes layering soooo easy. Then I die cut the rose with the coordinating die. I also stamped one of the leaf stamps in Onyx Black VersaFine ink and die cut it out as well.
To create the card, I chose three of the brayered strips, trimmed them to 4-3/4″ long, and layered them over three strips of lilac colored cardstock, cut to slightly bigger than the strips. Then, I adhered them to the right side of a white 4-1/4×5-1/2″ top folding card base. I arranged the die cut rose and leaf at the bottom right corner of the brayered strips, and trimmed off the edges.
I chose to use one of my favorite sentiment dies, Altenew’s Fancy Thanks Die, cut from black glossy cardstock. I also embossed two of the sentiments from the Garden Rose stamp set in white embossing powder on black cardstock and arranged them on the card. A few sparkly sequins finished the card.
Card 2
I had a few extra strips left over from the brayered background, so I decided to made another card and do some additional stamping and brayering.
For this one, I stamped both of the layered roses from the Garden Rose set. I again chose to use Altenew Puffy Heart Crisp Dye Ink for the second layering stamp, but went with the darker Cosmic Berry for the third layer. I also stamped and cut several of the leaves.
In the course, Sara had discussed the different effects you could achieve by brayering over a piece of colored cardstock with a coordinating color. So, I used the lilac colored cardstock I used before, and brayered over it with the Puffy Heart Crisp Dye Ink. I loved the result!!!!
It gave a subtle texture to the cardstock. So, I decided to use it as the center panel of the card. I matted it with black cardstock and arranged my roses and leaves on the right side. I created dimension with the flowers by cutting three extra roses and stacking them together. I also cut extra black panels to stack under my main panel. I really liked the solidity of it.
To put the card together, I adhered one of the brayered strips on the right side of a white 4-5-1/4″ cardstock panel, trimming off any excess. Then, I centered the pink/black panel in the middle of the card front, trimming off any of the roses that extended over the edge. You’ll see that I had stamped the word “sending” on the pink panel before I adhered the flowers. I always play around with my cards and die cuts before gluing anything down.
Lastly, I used “hugs” from Altenew’s Hello and Hugs Die Set. I love sentiment sets that have shadow dies! It results in fabulous contrast. Finally, I glued the white panel onto the front of a black 4-1/2×5-1/2″ top folding card base, and finished it off with some sparkly sequins.
I had such fun playing around with inks, stamps and a brayer. I hope this inspires you to play around with your own supplies – you never know what you’ll learn. Happy crafting!
Erum Tasneem says
These look absolutely FABULOUS!!! Thank you for submitting your beautiful work to the AECP assignment gallery.