When card surgery doesn't go to plan...

Hi Everyone,

Today just a quick post, where I'll share with you my recent card(s) I made with the current Altenew challenge in mind. It was also inspired by the new class over at the Altenew Academy - Background Magic. 

I truly love the teal/blue and pink colour combo that is the current inspiration for the Altenew Challenge, and so I went with it (again!) for my card. I also wanted to incorporate some kind of a more-less elaborate background in my card, and this is what I came up with:

The flowers were heat embossed on vellum, and coloured with Copics on the back. Initially, I was really pleased with my design, but as I looked at the card more and more, I was not sure I was happy with the busy background peeking through the vellum. 

Therefore, I decided to perform a little "card surgery", and amend the design a little bit... Sadly, the adhesives I used were really strong (which I am normally delighted with, LOL), and the vellum flowers tore... The only thing I was left with was a usable enough background panel:

I didn't want to waste it, since I really loved the turquoise/gold combo, and so I decided to try a slightly different design. 

This time, I opted for stamping the flowers on white card stock instead of vellum. It's not very visible in the picture, but each of the flowers is actually slightly different - one of them has a light pink solid "base", one was stamped with the first impression of the Distress Oxide Ink, and one was stamped with the second generation stamping technique. The differences are subtle but noticeable in real life, and I think they add to the more natural look of the flower cluster. 

For the final touch, I added some of the gorgeous confetti by Studio Katia. 

And here's the final result:

I am entering the card into the following challenge:

Altenew  - May inspiration challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything goes

Do you think it was worth it? Which version of the card do you prefer?

I must say, looking back at the photos - I am quite happy with both designs, but I am more pleased with the second one, so I suppose the surgery was not a total failure in the end ;o)

Have a great week,

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Printable vellum - Crafter's Companion

Altenew Educator Certification Program - All About Layering 2

Hi Everyone,

Today, I am sharing my second project for the Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP) - All About Layering 2. This class is - just like the first one - a free one, so why not give it a try? :o)

There was loads of gorgeous inspiration in this class, and it was hard for me to focus on only one of the showcased techniques. However, what I definitely wanted to try out was "letting go", in the sense that not all layered stamping needs to be done super precisely and exactly as intended by the manufacturer. This is something that I definitely struggle with, so I challenged myself to trying it. 

I made two cards during my "homework" attempt, and both are in a way similar, hence I am sharing both in this post. For one, I used a kraft-coloured card panel, for the other - a grey one. I made floral clusters, using Distress Oxide Inks for the flowers and some of the leaves (Oxides stamp beautifully on darker card stock), and a Lawn Fawn ink for the remainder of the leaves. The details & sentiments were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black on the first card, and heat embossed in gold on the second one. 

Where is the "letting go", you may ask? Well, to start with, I used the black detailed lines from one of the flowers in the stamp set, and the "background" petal colour was stamped using another one of the florals. I didn't use all of the available layers either - just one solid coloured layer, and the detail layer. I let the inks overlap, I didn't use any masking. And, finally (and that's mostly visible on the second card), I simply had fun with the inking and stamping - I didn't want precise & exact coverage on the stamped images, to add a bit of variation, and for the flowers to have a more "natural" and organic feel. I even went a step further, and did two slightly off-set impressions for the leaves!

I had loads of fun with these cards, and thanks to the fact that I didn't want them to be too precise, they were really quick to put together, too! So a total win-win in my eyes! If you have never tried to "let go" a little bit yourself - I think you should definitely give it a go. You never know, you might really enjoy it - I for sure did, and am planning to try stamping like this more often. 

And here are the finished cards:

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Use more than one stamp

Which one do you like more?

Have a great day,

Mirella


SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Enamel dots: from my stash

Melonised mermaids with Mermaid for you by Lawn Fawn

Hi Everyone,

I have a really fun project to share with you today, and I hope you're going to like it as much as I do! 

I have recently acquired a few Lawn Fawn goodies, and so every now and again I try to participate in the LawnFawnatics challenge. Entering challenges really motivates me to make cards - it's great to see how other crafters interpret the theme (fab source of inspiration!), it helps when my mojo is hiding somewhere, AND if one is lucky - one can also win a prize from time to time - what's not to love, right?!

This time, Lawn Fawn provided a mood board as inspiration. The second I saw the beach/sea theme AND the watermelon, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. 

Have you heard of "melonising" before? It's a super fun initiative that Pepita Hasenkeks (@pepitahasenkeks) came up with on Instagram a while ago. Basically, she wants people to turn any images into watermelons, with the use of colouring. Sounds mad? Well, check out #melonentierchen on Instagram, and your mind will be blown with people's creativity! 

I once turned Lawn Fawn's mermaid into a melon, and so I decided the time has come to use her on a card - this mood board was simply perfect for her! 

I created a sea background with ZIGs (Light Blue 036, Turquoise Green 042, Cobalt Blue 031 and Cornflour Blue 037) and some Perfect Pearls, stamped some corals with Distress Oxide Inks, and added a few rocks, coloured with Copics. I then decided to "melonise" another mermaid from the Mermaid For You stamp set - it truly made me giggle. As a final touch, I couldn't help but add a few of the gorgeous Iridescent Bubbles by Studio Katia - don't they look fab?

I am really pleased with how this card turned out. It's not often that my end result turns out better than the design I imagined, so big YAY!

Have a look and let me know what you think:

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

LawnFawnatics - Mood Board

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use more than one stamp

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge  - Sailor went to sea (sorry,I have a toddler in the house, LOL!)

Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - SUMMER

Have a great day,

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):