Michael Strong Card of the Day - Monday

Here is my card for Monday.  It uses the monthly sketch.

I used Dylusions sprays (Cut Grass and Fresh Lime) and a stencil to make the green paper then stamped Mike's smaller Paisley stamp in black.  The dots are make with black enamel accents.

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Technique Thursday

One sheet wonder

I don't know if this is a technique at all.  Basically it involves splitting up one sheet of paper into a number of smaller pieces and adding each of those to a card front.  Seems quick and easy but I've never tried it!  Since I am trying to get rid of my stash this week I thought I'd give it a go.  

Here's my sheet of paper (12x12):

I tried to see if there was some sort of set patten you could cut out and then it would list all the card sketches you could follow but I couldn't find any for 12x12.  So I figured I'd just wing it.  I wanted a 4x5.25 cut in half diagonally and then some small squares but that's all I really wanted.  So I started off cutting off the 4 from the end then 5.25 from that.  Then I just cut where I wanted (remembering that a normal card front -- with mat -- is 4x5.25) and came up with this:

The first number should be the measurement across the top and the second number should be the measurement down the side.  All measurements are in inches.

Then I made my cards!

I grabbed a couple of stacks of paper that I thought looked good with the colours.  These turned out to be Stampin Up! Rich Razzleberry and textured Crushed Curry.  Then I pretty much just matted each piece with black (I had to trim the diagonal ones a little) and then put it where I wanted on the card.  I had a "Happy Birthday" stamp (from SU! -- "Voila") that I thought looked good with the cards so I punched a bunch out and matted them.  Then, depending on the card, I finished them off with black crewel wool, black brads and/or paper piercing.  To make all these cards took me less than 1 hour (including thinking time -- like what colours should I use? how long should I cut this side?) but that doesn't include the time to make the designer paper itself.

Thinking about it, I'm realizing this would be a perfect thing to do for Christmas cards.  You can make a whole bunch of cards that are similar -- but not exactly the same so you get bored -- and they are quick to do. 

 

I think I'll try this for my Christmas cards.  Then my technique can be how to make the designer paper!

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Wednesday

Here is a cool red background (Dylusions sprays and a stencil) that I split up and made into 4 cards:

and my favourite one:

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Monday

My week to do the card captain in the Michael Strong Yahoo Group.  I bought these Dylusions Sprays the other day and had to try them out.  I absolutely loved the results I got with "Lemon Zest" and "Postbox Red".  I sprayed quite a few papers with those 2 colours and here are some results:

So bright in real life.  Love them!  I love making designer paper to use on cards and scrapbook pages!  I used a couple of stencils to make these -- one was a stencil from Dylusions called "Diamond of a Border" but I don't know who made the other (with the uneven circles).  Anyhow I turned one into this card:

I used Stampin Up! Summer Sun, Real Red and Basic Black.  The sentiment is from Stampin Up! ("Voila") and the pearls, hardware and embosslet to make the butterflies (Beautiful Wings) are also Stampin Up!