Blog Hop for Club Scrap: Crewel and Unusual

Time for the monthly blog hop.  This is where you see all the wonderful creations than have been made from this months kit.  To start at the beginning,  start at  Club Scrap Hop,  If you have been hopping along, you should have arrived from From Deb at debduzscrappin.

Crewel and Unusual Deluxe Kit

This month I am going to organize this differently.  Normally I show you the cards and then discuss the process.  Today, I am going to discuss the making of the background and the creative process.  Then we will explore how the cards were made.  All were simple and are based on the background.

Backgrounds are the work horses of card making.  Any time you create there is a fair amount of testing and experimenting.  All these failures can become elements or information for another process.  I wanted to make a background with distress.  I have all the colors, so how do I choose which ones to use.  Well I play.  The first step is the technique.  I wanted stripes.  So I grabbed some ink and started to figure out what I wanted. 

                   Placed some reposition tape on my card stock and colored between the line.  

This is what I got.  As you can see, I messed up, there is a big glob of black ink on the paper, but remember I am experimenting.  Both with color and with placement of the color.  

Next using white pigment ink, I started playing with how to stamp and position the stamping.  I cut my stamp down so I had one very smooth edge and placed that on the grid line on my block.  I used this to help with placement.  

Ok, I like this concept but I did not like the colors.  So, I pulled out my color swatch sheet and chose several colors I thought would work.  Started to place them randomly on the paper, adjusting and changing inks based on what I was seeing and liking.  Here are my sample papers.

I take what I think will work and place them on paper, overlap, blend, adjust.  I even try different spritzing techniques to get the effect.  The bottom one has been sprayed with water that had Perfect Pearls added to it.    Ok now I know the colors and what can be next to the other, the intensity of the color or the softness.  I took the same process I used in the first example, but with different inks and created these backgrounds.

One is a bit darker, the other more stripes are more irregular.  To the darker one I added the white line stamping.  In looking over my samples, I decided they had promise as well.  So, I took out a stamp that was ink splatters and stamped a circle splatter in white pigment onto the the background, used a towel to tone it down in places.

Double click to get an up close view of the inking and how the the stampings have been faded in places.  I will list the colors of distress I used in the supply section.  Are you ready for the cards!!

Card 1:

 

This is a simple card.  Once the background was prepared, I just trimmed down the panel, stamped a floral and greeting on the front, heat embossed with white powder and mounted it onto a mat and then onto an A2 Card base.  

Note: I did mask off an area where the Hello would go, stamped and heat embossed the flower and then stamped the image.  I used a white Gel pen to "clean up the edges".  

Card 2:

Again the background did all the work.  I stamped the greeting and heat embossed in clear.  It seemed flat, so I cut 3 diecuts from cards stock with a zigzag die, and glued them together.  Then I added a top layer of glitter paper, a silver ribbon and bow and a few rhinestones.  Added a white mat and placed it onto an A2 card base that was created from the red paper in the kit.  Stunning!!!  And all from a sample sheet. 

This photo shows the inking best.  It is most promenade at the corner on the right side of bottom edge and on the top left corner.

Card 3:

Not as straight forward but simple.  Last month Trisha showed us how to put a window in a card.  Follow this link:  Greetings to go YouTube, and at about 2:30 secs, Tricia Morris will show you how to make this window card.  I followed her instructions, but changed the measurements.  This is an A2 card.  The small panel measures 3/4", the window is 1 1/2".  I cut the panels of the background , stamped and doodled on them.  Also cut out additional stamps from the left over backgrounds  and adhered to the so the "peak out over the window.

Stamped and colored the image on the inside with copics and doodled with a White Gel Pen.  This view is with front panel cut off and folded.  A few Pearls and it is a wrap.  

That was fun.  Don't you just love making backgrounds and with amazing stamps to finish off the project, stunning cards that are easy to mail are a fun project.  I also have more backgrounds available for more cards.  A productive process..

Your next stop is:  Hetty over at Craftchaos

Until next time,

Happy Crafting

Josette

Supplies:

Crewel and unusual: Deluxe Kit

Distress inks used:  In final project:  Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet, Worn Lipstick, Twisted Citron, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimon.  In the first test run: Blueprint Sketch, Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple, Lucky Clover, Squeezed Lemonade.  There looks to be others in both groups, but when they are blended over each other they create different colors.

Unicorn White Pigment Ink

Hero Arts White Embossing Powder

Black and white Gel pens, Copics and Multiliner in black.