Michael Strong Card of the Day - Fermented Friday

Here is my final card of the week.  It is a center step card and totally out of bounds for mailing.  I just gave up at the end.  Anyhow she can hand this one to someone.  So much more personal.

The ghosts are punched out of vellum so they are transparent -- just like real ghosts.

Hope everyone has a terrifically terrifying Halloween!

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Spooky Silhouettes)

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Tenebrous Technique Thursday

My technique for this Thursday is "Ghosting".  I stamped a word script stamp with Versamark onto some glossy paper and then rubbed some black ink over top.  The ink resisted where the Versamark was stamped onto it for a ghostly look.  Then I stamped Mike's spooky tree on top.

Alas this card also did not go through the card slot and extra postage was needed.  Again I probably should have seen it coming but I honestly thought all the dimensionals I used to pop up the image would just squish flat.  Oh well.  I was still trying at this point.

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Spooky Silhouettes)

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Wayward Wednesday

My card of the day finds me finally stepping over to the dark side of embellishments with that "Boo!" sticker.  It was plastic and therefore didn't squish down so it pushed the postage machine over the edge and into extra postage.  My sister was not happy.  On a brighter note, once I finally became corrupt I was free to let my creative juices loose and do whatever kind of card I wanted.  (Yes, I noted that it didn't take me long...)

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Spooky Silhouettes)

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Turbulent Tuesday

Here is my card for today.  Notice I have a bit of an embellishment here (even though I was told not to).  I justified it at the time by saying that it would lie flat through the mail however looking back I realize that this was my first step towards open rebellion...

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Spooky Silhouettes)

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Murky Monday

This card is a pretty simple one.  I give these to my sister who has forbidden me from adding on embellishments because they cost more for her to mail.  The sky is sponged in Broken China and the spiderweb in the corner is embossed in white.

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Spooky Silhouettes)

Halloween treats!

Okay, not for anyone reading this blog post -- for my bridge students.  I'm going to fill them with chocolate and hand them out this week to anyone who shows up and plays bridge in our novice games.

I used Tim Holtz's new coffin die cut and stamped with a hardwood stamp.  For the leaves I randomly blotted on some distress stains (Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Crushed Olive and Mowed Lawn) and then cut out with Tim's long leaf strip.  The sentiment is also Tim Holtz.  I sponged around the edges in black and then glued on with liquid glue.  The bat is another Tim product and the ghost is a Sizzix die cut.  I used vellum so the ghost would be transparent.

I made enough for 9 tables.  At first this was fun but a little overwhelming to actually glue all these coffins together.  I tried using sticky strip at first but the places to glue were just too small -- especially with the lids.  In the end I just used liquid glue and I held the parts together with tiny little clothespins.  That worked really well.  I could do quite a bit at one time and then when I ran out of clothespins I just waited for the glue to dry and then did some more.  The coffins with ghost on them will be filled with white chocolate and the ones with bats, dark chocolate.  Here they are:

Blog Hop!

Hopefully you came here from Hetty's blog but if not you can start the blog hop here at Michael Strong's blog.

I made a Halloween card for the blog hop.  For this spooky card I took 3 squares of cardstock (3x3, 4x4, 5x5) and layered them on top of one another.  Then I randomly stamped Mike's cat and a spiderweb stamp in black craft ink on top.  When the ink was still wet I sprayed on some Dylusions sprays (Lemon Zest and Squeezed Orange) and then splattered with some black ink.  The ink ran a bit to get a cool, spooky effect.  After the pieces were dry I pulled the pieces apart and matted them with some black cardstock.  I then put on some clear embossing paste with a small circle stencil in some places and let dry.  I added some black ribbon and some orange fiber and added a tag with the sentiment.  Hope you like!

There will be a name drawn from all the people who comment on the blogs and the winner will get Mike's new Pumpkin Harvest stamp set! 

Next up on the Blog Hop is Peg:

http://stampinwiththescottishlass.blogspot.ca/

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Spooky Silhouettes)

Mojoed Seahorse

For this card I stamped the new "Mermaid Lagoon" colour from Tim Holtz onto some Whisper White paper and cut it out using Mike's seahorse die cut set.  Then I sponged around the edges with more Mermaid Lagoon.  For the background I stamped the seaweed in Versamark on Whisper White cardstock and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  After that I sponged a bit of Mermaid Lagoon on and then sprayed some Mermaid Lagoon on top using a diamond stencil.  Some silver string and silver brads completed the look.  The sketch was based on this weeks Mojo Monday sketch #417.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Cloisonné Seahorse, Cloisonné Sea Turtle/Seaweed) 

Wedding card

This is a wedding card I made for my second cousin who is getting married this summer.  The pink is "Pink Pirouette".  I used some shimmer spray on the heart.

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Mini Shapes)

Seahorse Colour Sandwich Sketch

This card uses the "Colour Sandwich" technique from the June/July 2011 issue of Technique Junkies.   The colours are "Mermaid Lagoon" and "Cracked Pistachio" which are two of the new colours of the month from Tim Holtz.  The sketch is this months sketch in the Michael Strong Yahoo Group.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Cloisonné Seahorse, Cloisonné Sea Turtle/Seaweed) 

Sunday Seashore

 For the background I stamped Mike's seaweed in Soft Suede onto Crumb Cake cardstock.  Then I sponged on some Soft Suede dots with a stencil and added some translucent embossing paste.  Then I mounted on Pacific Point cardstock, added the ribbon (Pacific Point), some burlap and some Pacific Point brads.  I added Mike's small sea horse and sea star (both stamped with Soft Suede onto Crumb Cake cardstock and cut out with the matching die cut) and the sentiment was cut out of Pacific Point cardstock.

The sketch is from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch (#275).

Stamps: Michael Strong (Mini Creatures, Cloisonné Seahorse, Cloisonné Sea Turtle/Seaweed)

Happy Father's Day card

My dad is really into wine so most of the Father's Day cards I make for him involve some form of grape.  This one is no exception.  I stamped the leaves in green (Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive) and then misted a bit to get them smeary and then stamped again overtop in green.  I did the same with the grapes (Dusty Concord).  I then stamped a script stamp in Tea Dye and misted a bit.  Finally I used a stencil and sprayed with some Antique Linen.  I also sponged around the sides with Antique Linen and stamped the sentiment in Tea Dye.  My friend Laura had given me some fibers a while back and they were perfect for this!  I also attached a grape leaves die cut.

May Sketch

Here is my sketch for the Michael Strong Yahoo Groups May sketch challenge.    The flower background is coloured with Brusho.

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Mini Shapes)

Happy Mother's Day

Here's the card I made for my mother.  The background is coloured in Brusho.  The layout is this weeks Mojo Monday sketch (#396).

Stamp:  Technique Junkies Stamps (Poppies, Large)

Sunday Leftovers

The sketch is based on this weeks Sweet Sunday Sketch (#267) and created with some leftovers from my last card.  It's for my friend that only likes orange and yellow on a card. 

Stamps: Verve (Petals & Wings)

Mojo Winnings!

So today my prize for winning the last Mojo Monday sketch challenge came in!  I ordered "Petals & Wings" and had to use it right away.  I used this weeks Mojo Monday sketch (#395).

The flowers (and butterfly) were embossed with black on watercolour paper and I used some Brusho (Lemon and Gamboge) to colour it. 

Stamps: Verve (Petals & Wings)

Bike Mojo

I'm very excited about winning last weeks Mojo Monday sketch!  Here's my submission for this week (#394).  My sister wanted a card for her fitness instructor who is apparently big into biking.  I only had one stamp that had a bike on it so I used that.  The background is coloured with Brusho.

Mojo Spring

Made this card (as it was snowing outside -- will it never stop?!?) for this weeks Mojo Monday challenge (#392).  I coloured the flowers in distress reinkers (Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry) and then lightly stamped on a script stamp in Wild Honey.  I sponged a bit with Antique Linen and Black Soot. 

Spring Birthday

It's my instructors birthday next Monday and  we are having a little party for her so I offered to make the card.  She's all positive energy and things like that so I thought I'd make her a happy, bright sunshiney spring card!

Better with Brusho

I made this card for a lady I teach bridge to that unfortunately got into a little skiing accident the other week.  Luckily she wasn't too hurt but has to rest for a few weeks.  Anyhow hope this card cheers her up!  The card was coloured with Scarlett Brusho.

Burnished Bunny

I needed some Easter cards so I used Mike's little bunny with the "Burnished Watercolours" technique from the Aug/Sept 2007 issue of Technique Junkies.  Colours are Early Espresso and Soft Suede.  The layout is this weeks Sweet Sunday Sketch #261.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Seasonal Silhouettes)

Spring Challenge Entry

The spring challenge for the Michael Strong yahoo group is to use punched flowers somewhere on your card.  Here's my entry.  The Gecko was coloured with Brusho.

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Cloisonné Gecko)

Michael Strong Spring Blog Hop

Time for another blog hop -- this one is to celebrate spring!

To make the background for this card I first embossed Mike's small flower in clear on white paper.  Then I tore a sheet of paper and alternatively sponged on Tim Holtz Faded Jeans and the new Cracked Pistachio.  Then I stamped the flower in both Pistachio and Jeans over top and spritzed a bit of water on top.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Mini Shapes, Mini Wings)

Next on the blog hop is LAURA:

http://holmadelaura.blogspot.com/

Winter Challenge Card

The Winter Challenge for the Michael Strong yahoo group was to make a card that was all white.

I applied some clear embossing paste to some white paper with a heart stencil.  Then I painted some burlap white and put Mike's small hearts embossed in white on top.  I added some pearls and a die cut and then to finish the card off I lightly sprayed with some glimmer mist.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Mini Shapes)

Splattered Collage

The Splatter technique is from the June/July 2009 issue of Technique Junkies.  I used 3 Dylusions sprays (Crushed Grape, Bubblegum Pink and Funky Fuchsia) and did the technique then misted my paper with water and let dry.  Then I did the technique again.  Once it was dry I put on some Frosted Film to soften the background a bit and give a little shimmer.  I painted the butterfly with the sprays and cut out and put on top.  The layout is this weeks Mojo Monday sketch (#383).

Stamps:  Technique Junkies Stamps (Vintage Botanicals Collage)

Splattered Koi

The Splatter technique is from the June/July 2009 issue of Technique Junkies.   The three inks I used were:  Radient Rain (Sea Foam) and some Dylusions sprays (Calypso Teal and London Blue).  The Koi was stamped in Peacock Feathers.  The diamond background was some shimmer paint applied with a stencil.  The sketch is based on this weeks Sweet Sunday sketch (#254).

 In this picture you can tell how shimmery it is:

 Stamps:  Technique Junkies Stamps (Koi)

Sprayed Medallions

This was another scrap piece that I fixed up.  I had some paper sprayed with Lindy's "Bells of Ireland Green" and Lemon Zest Dylusions.  Didn't quite know what to do with that so I applied some translucent embossing paste with a large diamond stencil and let dry.  Then I sprayed that with Fresh Lime Dylusions and when that didn't show up well some Calypso Teal Dylusions.  I stamped Mike's Medallion all over in Mowed Lawn and distressed and sponged the sides with Mowed Lawn.  The butterflies and sentiment were cut out of Daffodil Delight but sprayed with Lemon Zest to make them brighter.  The paper is Lucky Limeade.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Cloisonné Medallions)

Birthday Pot

The background of this was just some paper that I mopped up some Wild Honey ink sprayed with water and let dry.  Then I applied some translucent embossing paste on with a stencil to get some diamond shapes on.  I then sprayed the corner with some Melted Chocolate Dylusions spray.  

To make the pot I gold embossed Mike's pot onto some Real Rust paper.  Then I added some Mohogany Bister and sprayed with water to get the effect I wanted. 

The flowers were created using the Decorated Pretties technique from the Oct/Nov 2009 issue of Technique Junkies.

The papers in the background are Daffodil Delight and Real Rust.  There are some tiny gold brads, some Chocolate Chip corduroy brads and the tiny tag is a Stampin Up! punch.  The sentiment was just printed out and then punched out.

Stamps: Michael Strong (Cloisonné Pot)

Sketched Flowery Brusho

This is a card I made for this months sketch challenge in the Michael Strong yahoo group I belong to.  For the background I embossed Mike's large flower in clear and then sprinkled with Yellow Bister.  Then I sprayed with Lemon Zest Dylusions spray and let dry.  The paper colours are Daffodil Delight and Chocolate Chip. 

Stamps:  Michael Strong (Cloisonné Flower)

Vintage Brusho

First I embossed the Vintage stamp in black on watercolour paper and then added some Yellow and Orange Brusho.  The layout was based on this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. The orange paper in the background is Pumpkin Pie.

Stamps:  Technique Junkies Stamps (Vintage Botanicals Collage)

Sweet Sunday Brusho

 The main area was embossed in black and then covered and sprayed with Neutral Bister.  The Crepe Paper Flowers technique is from the Aug/Sept 2012 issue of Technique Junkies.   The button and background are Marina Mist.  The sketch is based on this weeks Sweet Sunday sketch.

Stamps:  Technique Junkies Stamps (Vintage Botanicals Collage)

Brushod Hearts

This was based on last weeks Mojo Monday sketch but I never got around to putting it up.  Mike's large heart was embossed in clear and then Brilliant Red Brusho was applied and let dry.  I ironed off the embossing to flatten the card and then added some Tim Holtz frosted film and cut out.  The tiny hearts were embossed in white.  The paper is Real Red.  I'm getting an early start on my Valentine's Day cards!

Stamps: Michael Strong (Cloisonné Heart, Mini Shapes)

Brushod Bridge Card

I made this for a lady I teach bridge to that was having her 70th birthday during the course.  It uses a bit of Brilliant Red Brusho with a bit of stenciling.

Stamps:  Tim Holtz (Mini Blueprints 2)

Just what is Brusho?

Brusho is a lot like Bister.   It comes in a container that is about 4.5cm (1.75") tall.  It looks more like powder as opposed to fine grains of sand (like Bister) but that does depend on the colour.  Some of them will have grains in them.  Here's a picture:

Bister came in containers you could open and dump all the grains out.  With Brusho you could do that but they say to punch a hole in the top of the container and shake the Brusho out.  However you get the Brusho out of the container just like Bister you add water to get a watercolour you can then paint with.  Just like Bister you get these cool effects by misting it.  Different grains turn different colours and spread out all over to get a really neat colour effect.  Bister always had brown grains mixed in while Brusho doesn't so the colours are brighter.

As for price, I got my Bister from "I Brake for Stamps" where  they were selling all 8 colours for $13.20 or $1.65 each.  Add in shipping to Canada and I got all 8 colours for about $22 US.  I couldn't find Brusho anywhere close to me.  Amazon.com has some but they won't ship to Canada.  I checked their prices and they are selling a 12 pack starter set for $65US!  (I also noticed they have 8 NEW colours that I don't even have!!!  MUST GET!)  I ended up getting mine from the UK through eBay and it cost me about $70 US for all 24 colours.

The most obvious difference is the colours.  Bister comes in 8 colours and all are very natural looking colours.  All have that brown tone to them.  Brusho comes in 24 different colours and are very bright and vibrant.

Here are the different colours of Brusho:

Black:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Basic Black cardstock.  On the right side is a square of watercolour paper that I sprinkled a little bit of Black Brusho onto and then misted with water.  You can see up close that there are little grains of blue, orange and purple colours that then spread out.  When you mix them together you get the piece on the left (which is also on watercolour paper).

Grey:

This is again photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Basic Black cardstock.  Here you can see what the grey looks like when mixed so I didn't bother making another square.  Very similar to Black.

Purple:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Basic Elegant Eggplant (on the bottom) and My Favorite Things Grape Jelly (on the top) cardstock.  I'm going to do a comparison later on and when I sprinkled the Purple on then it looks quite a bit more like Stampin Up! Rich Razzleberry.  But here it didn't.  I guess it depends on how much of each different coloured grain comes out.

Violet:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Basic Elegant Eggplant cardstock.  On the right is the colour you get when you mix the grains together.

Here are the purples together against a background of Stampin Up! Basic Elegant Eggplant cardstock:

Gamboge:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Daffodil Delight cardstock.

Lemon:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Daffodil Delight cardstock.

Yellow:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Daffodil Delight cardstock.

Here are all the different yellows photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Daffodil Delight cardstock.  Gamboge is on top, Lemon in the middle and Yellow at the bottom:

 Orange:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Pumpkin Pie cardstock.

Dark Brown:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Soft Suede cardstock.

Light Brown:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Soft Suede cardstock.

Here are the two Browns together on Soft Suede.  The Dark Brown is on the left.  Hard to tell them apart.

Vermillion:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red cardstock.

Crimson:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red (top) and Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  Here you could clearly see the different coloured grains so I mixed them together to see what they would look like combined.

Brilliant Red:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red cardstock.

Ost. Red:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red cardstock.

Scarlett:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red cardstock.

Here are all the reds photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red cardstock.
From top to bottom:  Vermillion, Crimson, Brilliant Red, Ost. Red, and Scarlett.

Cobalt Blue:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Pacific Point cardstock.

Ost. Blue:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Pacific Point cardstock.

Prussian:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Night of Navy cardstock.

Turquoise:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Pacific Point cardstock.

Ultra Marine:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Pacific Point cardstock.

Here are all the Blues together.  From left to right: Cobalt Blue, Ost. Blue, Prussian, Turquoise, and Ultra Marine.

Emerald Green:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Kiwi Kiss cardstock.

Sea Green:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Kiwi Kiss cardstock.

Leaf Green:

This is photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Kiwi Kiss cardstock.

Here are all the Greens together.  This is against a background of Stampin Up! Lucky Limeade cardstock.  From left to right are: Emerald Green, Sea Green and Leaf Green.

Side by Side Comparison

Here's a better comparison.  For these pictures I sprinkled some of the Brusho onto watercolour cardstock and then used a wet paintbrush to mix the colours together.

Here are the blacks together.  The middle is just the Black Brusho watered down.  You can tell the difference between the watered down Black and the Grey -- the Grey is a bit warmer.

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Basic Black cardstock:

Here are the browns together.  The middle is just the Dark Brown Brusho watered down.  I couldn't tell the difference between them really. The Light Brown was much lighter but then I added more Brusho and it came out darker.  So to me it was really just how concentrated the colour was.

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Soft Suede cardstock:

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Crumb Cake cardstock:

Here are the yellows (and orange) together.  Not a big difference between the yellows.  The Lemon is the most like Daffodil Delight.  The Yellow is quite similar but with a bit of a brown tinge to it.  The Gamboge has a bit more orange to it.

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Daffodil Delight cardstock:

Here are the purples.  You can definitely tell a difference here.  The purple is also quite a bit different than the first time I did this.

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Rich Razzleberry cardstock.  The Purple is quite close in colour:

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Elegant Eggplant cardstock.  The Violet is close in colour but a bit brighter.  I also included the other Purple swatch here so you could see the difference.  That's the one on the very left:
 

Here are all the reds.  These are very difficult to tell apart.  The Crimson has a touch more brown and the Vermillion and Ost. Red are a bit lighter but very hard to tell Brilliant Red from Scarlett and Ost. Red from Vermillion (Vermillion has a touch more brown to it).  But all very similar.

 Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Real Red cardstock.  Scarlett came closest but it doesn't quite match:

Here are the greens.  None of these match any cardstock I have but the Sea Green does come closest to Stampin Up! Garden Green.  It's a bright colour of grass.  But you can tell there is a difference between each green.

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Garden Green cardstock. 

Here they are photographed against a background of lime green cardstock. 

Here are the blues.  These are all quite distinctive.  The Cobalt Blue is very close to my favourite colour Stampin Up! Pacific Point.  The Prussian is quite close to Stampin Up! Night of Navy.

 Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Pacific Point cardstock. 

Here they are photographed against a background of Stampin Up! Night of Navy cardstock. 

Astute readers will notice that that is only 23 colours.  The last colour was White and that doesn't show up well on white watercolour paper so I didn't photograph it.  On my black paper it didn't really do anything exciting.  I'll have to play around with it because right now I'm not seeing any point to having White Brusho.