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 - Tuesday

Here are my cards for Tuesday.  They are even simpler than yesterday!  I just stamped Mike's Gecko in black and added a sentiment.  Quick and easy and now that rainbow card front stash is all gone!

Michael Strong Card of the Day - Monday

This week I decided I would get rid of as many of my scraps as possible.  I love to play around with techniques and sprays to get interesting backgrounds for cards but somehow most of the papers end up stacked together ready to be made into cards rather than actually being made into cards.  So this week will be the end of my procrastination!  Here is my first round of cards:

I love this background!  I forget what I was trying to do (or even if I did it) but I still like the look.  But I wanted a simple layout that would allow me to keep most of the background.  I tried using Mike's Cloisonné Medallions and loved the look...

... so I made a few more just like it using different backgrounds.

and finally

The edges are just torn or distressed and the black splatters are black watercolour crayons and black enamel accents.  The black string is just crewel wool.

Card for the blind

My aunt recently went blind.  I wanted to send her a card letting her know I was thinking of her but didn't see the point.  Then I decided I could make one she could enjoy -- I just had to put in as much texture as possible into the card!  So I sprayed on some Goosebumps spray (this gives a slightly bumpy feel), added some of Tim's rock candy, smeared on some white acrylic paint, added a couple different types of brads, some canvas stickers, and some fuzzy white wool.  Lastly I stamped Mike Strong's smallest hexagonal stamp into some Stampin Up! clay and added that to the front.  It feels great and I know my aunt will love it! 

Technique Thursday

This isn't really an official technique but recently I have been playing around with a few different techniques and have been going crazy making designer papers that I love the look of using scrap pieces.  I'm going to make a few cards here so I'll start with 4 scraps of white.

First I take my sponge dabber and randomly sponge on one colour (I used summer sun) in blotches leaving some white. 

Once that is done I take another colour (island indigo) and sponge it on the remaining white overlapping with some of the first colour to make another.

 Once the scraps are done to your liking take the first colour (yellow) and stamp with a background stamp.  I used Michael Strong's Cloisonné Mosaic Frame.  You can see the colour faintly in the background.

 Now take your stamp and fold it so when you ink it up with the darker colour it is only partially inked.

Stamp.

 Finish stamping the same way all over the scraps.

 Here are the cards I made with those scraps.

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!