Sunday, January 25, 2015

In Love with Wink of Stella

Feeling all fiddly....



You know when you just feel like sitting down and doing something really fiddly?  Sort of like fussy cutting but without the cutting.  Well, that was how I felt last night.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  I had no plan in mind, but earlier in the day I was flipping through my patterned papers, and decided that I really wanted to use some grey.  I love greys...

Note:  At no point did I ever really "fall in love" with this card...  I fussed over it a lot.  I like it, but I'm still not satisfied with it.  This is probably a design I'll come back to again and change.

These look almost brown in this photo, but they really are grey!
The other thing I wanted to incorporate was Wink of Stella, and because these papers have such beautiful patterns on them, I thought what better way than to trace the patterns with the Wink of Stella to give them a little shine.

Yup, those are my bifocals in the picture...

I decided on another 5x5 card - one of my favourites.  I cut Neenah Solar White 110 lb card stock at 5 x 10 and scored at 5".  I also cut a lighter black card stock (65 lb) at 5x5.  I chose to use lighter weights because I knew the card was going to be a little on the hefty side as I would stacking and glueing card stock together, so I didn't want to go overboard.  I used my Silhouette with a dark grey card stock (65 lb) to cut the scalloped frame, and also to cut the word "Love" out of the paper.  


I have to tell you that I love my Silhouette.  I don't have a lot of dies, and I find with the Silhouette I can really personalize things, easily change shapes and sizes of elements, etc.  It's such a versatile tool!

I cut 5 extra Love words and one from the patterned paper for the top of the stack, and used the the base as a guide to start layering and stacking.  Each layer was glued into place, and I built it up until I had 5 layers including the final layer of patterned paper.




I did the same thing with hearts.  I cut one copy of each with patterned paper, and then 5 more copies of each size in the dark grey paper.  I glued each stack together layer by layer and topped each one with a patterned piece.



I cut a lot more than I needed, but I put those away to use in another project.



With all the heart stacks glued onto the base, I knew it was missing something.  So I chose two different heart stamps, the smaller from the Lawn Fawn Home Sweet Home set, and the bigger one from a heart set by Inkadinkado.  I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink and stamped off once before stamping onto the card.  I only wanted a very subtle look since this is a fairly plain and simple card.  I traced each heart with Wink of Stella to give the card some glitter and shine in an understated way, and then traced the patterns on the hearts and Love.  It's too bad you can't really see that in the photos, because the end result is really pretty.

Still missing something, I chose some light pink ribbon and attached it to the card.


One thing I've learned is to first secure the ribbon to the back of the card with adhesive, and then secure it again with whatever adhesive you're using to adhere the card to the base.  A little security is a good thing!

So there it is!  This card went from "Gee, I really like those grey papers", to a finished card.  I'm not going to lie...  This card took hours because I had no plan in mind, but sometimes just flying by the seat of your pants is a lot more fun than having a well laid-out plan.

Like I said, this is a design I'll probably come back to again and change a few things along the way.

Hope you enjoyed it!


What I used...

Ellen Hutsen - Momento Tuxedo Black Ink
Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock
Simon Says Stamp - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock
Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 110 lb Card Stock
Simon Says Stamp - Neenah Solar White 110 lb Card Stock
Tombo Mono Multi Glue
Scotch Tape Runner
Fiskars SureCut Paper Trimmer
Martha Stewart Score Board
Silhouette Cameo

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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Floating by... with Paper Smooches

Birthday Fishes

Paper Smooches Challenge!





A good friend's birthday is coming up and, traditionally, every year I give him a card with fish on it.  This all started when we used to work out at the gym together.  There was a comment about him looking pretty, he cursed at me, and a card was born.

This year I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and design a card not only for him, but also for the Paper Smooches Challenge.

This was another occasion of me having only one stamp set to choose from, but it's one that I adore.  The Birthday Buddies, which I bought with him in mind.

I chose a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 side folding card this time.  It's another favourite card size for me.  I usually opt for a top folding layout, but I wanted enough space to have a good amount of "water" for my fish to be swimming in.  

I cut a base from Neenah Solar White 110 lb card stock measuring 4-1/4 x 11 and scored at 5-1/2.  Another 80 lb card from Neenah, and I was all set to go.



Using Ranger Distress Inks and Ranger ink blending tools, I used Peacock Feathers and Shabby Shutters to create my water.  I knew I wanted three layers.  The layers were cut using Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders in three slightly different shapes with the Cuttlebug.  Once the ink had dried, I spritzed some water onto my fingers and then shook some on the card to create some little water marks and give it a more of a watery feel.

During the process of cutting, I made a happy mistake, and ended up with a skinny, little stitched piece.  I almost threw it out, but after a moment of thought I decided to keep it and work it into my design as almost a fourth layer of water.  I think it worked out really well.



I cut the fish out using the Cuttlebug and matching dies for this set.  I used Copics for the colour, and then decided that I didn't like the white border, so I cut them out.  I was much happier with the result. The white against the water just didn't work well.



I stamped the sentiment "Birthday Fishes" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and because they're clear stamps, I was able to bend them to match the curve of the water.  I used The Alley Way Stamps set Gabfest to create the "floating by", but I really didn't like it in black.  So, out came the Hillside Borders once again, and I cut the entire thing, taking all of the black text off.



I ended up with a matching curve in the card which I liked, and adhered it to the base, using the space on the base to stamp the same words over again, but this time in Wild Hare grey ink from ColorBox, which I like a lot better.

I added air bubbles from the stamp set in black and grey and used a turquoise glitter Sakura Gelly Roll pen to fill in some of the air bubbles and the topped them off with Glossy Accents.  The birthday hats on the fish were finished with a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen to add some festive details, and then I added a little glitter with clear Wink of Stella to make them extra special.



This was another fun card to make.  I've got some ideas for the other stamps in the set, and I'm hoping to set aside some time to get my hands dirty.

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Friday, January 23, 2015

Home Sweet Home Card - Lawnscaping Challenge: Create a Background

Home Sweet Home

Check out the Lawnscaping Challenges!




This card took a long time.   Some cards just roll out so easily, and then others I trip and stumble over.   I kept changing my mind and trying different things, and changing and trying, and changing and trying.  Some of the photos have different elements in them, but you can see the end product in the photo once I finally decided what I wanted.  Fear not, I plan on adding video to these posts just as soon as I get it all figured out and find a decent light source.  For this particular post you'll have to make do with photos only, I'm afraid.

We've had such grey weather here in southern Ontario lately that I really wanted bright, happy colours.  Anything to make me feel like spring is getting closer.

I looked through my small supply of stamps, and came up with the only set of Lawn Fawn stamps I have so far.  Don't get me wrong, I love Lawn Fawn.  They're images are absolutely adorable!  I just don't have much of anything at the moment, so my choices were very limited.  In fact I had the choice between Home Sweet Home and Home Sweet Home.  Not much of a choice there!

I used 110 lb Neenah Solar White card stock for the base, cut at 5"x10" and scored and 5" to make a 5x5 card.  I really love 4x4 and 5x5 cards as they're a little less common.  It's harder to find envelopes for them, but if you use an envelope punch board, you can whip one up in no time at all, which is what I do.  It's also a great way to really personalize your card.

Next I cut a 5x5 piece of the green patterned card stock by Momenta.  I'd never heard of this brand of card stock, but oddly enough, in one my rare visits to WalMart I came across a few different pads of card stock made by this company and it's really pretty amazing.  Very cute patterns in nice bold colours at a really reasonable price.  I'll try to post a link along with all the other supplies I used at the end of this post.

Next I cut a piece of 80 lb Neenah Solar White card and put it through my Silhouette, using a scalloped edge border.  This border isn't completely even which gives it a cute sort of playful appearance.  I cut it at 4.875" square so that it would layer nicely on the green and have a border around it.  I chose a matching pink card stock, cut it at the same measurement as the white with the scalloped edge, cut it down and layered that over as well.

Here you can see where I started to change my mind a bit.  My original thought was to create a background using the little bird and leaf stamps and colour them in with Copics.  I've done this a lot in the past, but for this particular card it just wasn't working for me.  The background became too busy and the yellow added one too many colours.  So, into my "Ideas" box it went.  Maybe it will reappear at a later date.





Next I used another piece of the 80 lb white, and cut a circle using the small Lawn Fawn Stitched Circles on my Cuttlebug.  This was the biggest circle in the set. I took a matching piece of the green card stock which has a really cute pattern on it and compliments the stamps really nicely.   I cut a matching circle using the same tools, and then created the wave using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hills Border die set.

This is when I started second guessing my choice of backgrounds, and scrapped the idea.  I cut another piece, and chose the leaf stamps, squiggle, solid and heart outline, arranged them on a block in a pattern I liked and stamped them in Versamark.  I chose a pearl white embossing powder from Martha Stewart and heat embossed it.

Note: The Martha Stewart embossing powders actually work really nicely.  I have a few other brands and this one stands up with the others.  It was also one of the first ones I bought at my local Michael's store when I wanted to try it out (with a coupon!) and I'm pretty happy with it.


With all my background pieces done, I set about stamping the focal image with Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  I used Copics for the colouring, and die cut the birdhouse and banner, adhering them with dimensionals to give it some extra character.  I stamped the little blue hearts with Stampin' Up Soft Sky, added some glitter with clear Wink of Stella on the birds and the door, and finished it off with Glossy Accents on the heart between the birds and the little door knob.

I try to never leave the inside of any card blank.  I just can't resist adding a little something as an extra treat, so I stamped some leaves on the bottom and right side with Ranger's Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.



Nothing on this card is done perfectly, and I designed it in that way.  The stamp set is playful and has a fun quality about it.  I just felt like if things were done perfectly, it would take something away from the feeling of the card.

I had a great time making this card, and I'm really looking forward to getting some more sets from Lawn Fawn.  They really have a whimsical feel and the possibilities are endless.

Thanks for looking!  I hope you enjoyed the card and come back to see more!


List of Tools

Copics
Blue birds: B00, B02, YR04
Branch: E47
Bird house: E33, E35, E37, RV23, RV 25
Banner: E 33, E35

   
Lawn Fawn Home Sweet Home Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn Coordinating Dies
Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Circle Dies
Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Border Dies


Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock
Simon Says Stamp - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock
Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 110 lb Card Stock
Simon Says Stamp - Neenah Solar White 110 lb Card Stock

Stampin' Up Soft Sky Ink
Ellen Hutsen - Momento Tuxedo Black Ink

Ellen Hutsen - Ranger Distress Ink, Shabby Shutter
Simon Says Stamp - Ranger Distress Ink, Shabby Shutter

Fiskars SureCut Paper Trimmer
Martha Stewart Pearl Embossing Powder "Snow"
Scotch Adhesive Roller
Martha Stewart Score Board


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Welcome!

Welcome and Bienvenue to Inkspot @ Papillon!


This blog has been a long time in the making - well in my head, anyway.  I just haven't been able to get the time to actually sit down and get to work because of... well, work.  I'm an intermediate teacher of a split grade 7 and 8 class full of little creative minds, and mom to two amazing children of my own.

I've really wanted to take part in one of the many fantastic card challenges online, stumbled across the lawnscaping challenge and really wanted to take part!

Reading the rules, I discovered that I had to link the challenge to my blog, which of course, I hadn't started yet, and so here I am!  Forced to get my little butt in gear and get going.

So what will you find here?  Well, you'll just have to wait and see, because I'm always up to something!  (Literally.  I can't stop.)

Papillon?  What's a papillon?




The word Papillon is the French word for butterfly and also the name of my business.  You can check out my Etsy store Papillon Gifts where I sell handcrafted jewelry, with more great things coming.  You can use the link in the sidebar, or click on the link above in this post.  In fact, you'll be able to find pretty much anything you want on Etsy, including card making and scrapbooking supplies, so check it out!

Now that I've got this started, its time to get busy and start the card for my challenge!  Stay tuned!




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