276 posts categorized "Laura Fulcher"

10/24/2024

Thu 24

Using Watercolor Scraps
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. Today I want to talk about something I do when I work with watercolor paint. When I watercolor something, I keep blank pieces of watercolor paper next to me that I use to help clean my brushes. I don't think about what colors are used or how the finished piece will look. I am often really structured in how I do things (items placed straight and in the center for example). Doing this method allows me to end up with truly abstract pieces of color that look something like this:

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Sometimes I really hate the finished piece. Sometimes I end up with pieces that are great for diecutting the "good" sections. With this piece, I thought there was enough "good" parts that I could trim it down and use it as a background layer for the card. I then chose some of the new Memory Box papers that matched.

When I die cut my three trees, I cut them out of the Memory Box Leaf Sprout paper and then edged the left sides of the trees with Distress Oxide Lucky Clover and Peeled Paint ink. I wish I had added a lot more ink because as the ink dried, the shading wasn't as noticeable. To finish the card, I added an assortment of jewels and a Memory Box Christmas banner:

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What about you? In your crafting, do you purposely create your own scraps?

Thanks for stopping by today!

Laurasignature

 

 

 

 

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09/30/2024

Mon 30

Making Holiday Ornaments
by Laura Fulcher

Santa

Greetings friends. Today I want to share a couple of ornament ideas with you. I find that I often start too late to make ornaments, so this year I am starting earlier. Memory Box dies make really beautiful ornaments, but they are a bit easier to use. All you need to do is cut out your dies, adhere them to an ornament blank and add some Mod Podge to the top to seal them. Stamping can be a bit more difficult, so I wanted to walk you through my thought process. Perhaps that will save you some trial and error time.

For both samples, I am using the Limited Edition between Memory Box and Simon Says Stamp. It was released for the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember event. When it is gone, it will be gone. I would give it a look because it has lots of cute holiday characters to color.

For the first ornament with Santa, I used a metal blank I got at Michaels. Because the ornament is metal, my stamping didn't really show up well on top of it. It is also not porous, so it is hard to get a good look with it. You could emboss on top of the blank, but you need to be very careful. It will heat up very fast, and there is a chance you could burn yourself.

To avoid all of this, I stamped my Santa and trees onto Copic XPress It paper with black Memento ink and then colored them with Copic markers. Next, I cut out the images and glued them onto the blank. I let the metal of the ornament blank show through in the background to act as a sky.

What about stamping on an ornament blank? Let's look at the second sample:

Penguin

For the second ornament, I stamped directly on top of a ceramic blank ornament. I had to be a bit of trial and error. My first thought was to stamp my penguin in Memento ink and use Copic markers for coloring. However, the ink really didn't show. Instead, I needed to stamp it in black Versafine ink and then emboss it in black embossing powder. I made to use a talc anti-static pad under the Versamark ink so that my embossing powder didn't the ornament. The powder stuck only to the ink. The ceramic disc got very hot when embossing so I made sure to hold it with some heat-resistant tongs. I then set it down on a heat-resistant mat to completely cool.

Next, I colored the penguin with Copic markers. I found it worked best to dab the color onto the surface rather than draw along the surface. I learned that with a big, open area such as the sky, the marker looked really streaky. I avoided that look by first laying down some B02 marker and then dabbing on top of it with a B00 marker. It gave the sky a mottled look, much like an alcohol ink background. To finish the ornament, I added some fake snow and Stickles to the ground.

Do you have some tips for stamping on different surfaces? I would love to hear them.

Laurasignature

09/18/2024

Wed 18

Fusion Holiday Card
by Laura Fulcher

Finish

Greetings friends. What do I mean about a fusion holiday card? Well, I combined elements from the Yuletide collection with elements from the brand new Fall Cornucopia collection to create my holiday card. I absolutely love to challenge myself and mix an match my stamp supplies to repurpose them in different ways. Therefore, I decided to used the a holly wreath stencil and some poinsettia dies as a backdrop to my Halloween wreath.

I started with some of the brand new Lavender Bloom cardstock from Memory Box and placed my holly wreath stencil on top. I then sponged Wilted Violet and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks on top to form my wreath:

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I used black ink to make the leaves look spiky instead of like holly leaves.

Next, I added some cut out poinsettia leaves in purple to add a bit more dimension to the wreath:

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It was then time for some embellishments. I added some spooky black spiders and white ghosts. I cut out the ghosts using white cardstock and glued strips of black cardstock behind the eye openings to "color" them:

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To finish the card, I added my sentiment in black VersaFine ink and added some black and purple jewels from the Memory Box Autumn Fairy jewel pack. Here is a close up:

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Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you were inspired to use items usually meant for one holiday and use them for another. There are so many possibilities!

Laurasignature

 

 

Supplies

 

09/07/2024

Sat 07

Wax Resist Birthday Card
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I want to share a wax resist technique today using a white Crayola crayon and an embossing folder from Memory Box. I think it gives the finished background a batik look.

To make the background, I started with some 140lb watercolor paper and ran it through my die cut machine to emboss the paper. While the paper was still in the folder, I then rubbed a white crayon over all the raised edges:

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I must apologize for the picture. I made a lot of backgrounds and took a picture of this step using the tree background rather than the swirls I ended up using on the card.

Next, I placed my paper in a box and sprayed it with various sprays I had on hand. I must admit, I used an assortment of water based sprays I owned. The brand really doesn't matter for this step. Choose colors you like. You could also wet the paper and use watercolor paints if you don't have sprays:

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Once the paper was completely dry, I placed it under heavy books so that it would lay flat.

To finish the card, I added my sentiment and colored my gift with Copic markers that would match the colors of the background. I am always happy to have extra birthday cards on hand. here is a close up of the background:

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Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you will try using wax resist as a technique with your embossing folders.

Have a great weekend,

Laurasignature

 

 

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07/06/2024

Sat 06

Woven Scraps
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I love patterned paper, but I really hate throwing anything away. I thought it might be a good time to use up some of my scrap paper.

To make the card, I took scraps from the Brilliant Fuchsia paper pack and cut them into 1/4" strips.

I then cut out a 5 1/4" x 4" piece from Memory Box's kraft woodgrain paper. Any base works for this project, but I thought the woodgrain paper would add nice texture to the project.

Next, I measured 1/2" in along both of the narrow sides and drew lines in pencil:

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You should be able to see the pencil marks at the top and bottom of the kraft paper. I used magnets to hold the paper in place and then cut 1/2" lines all the way across the paper using an xacto knife. For each cut, I started at the top pencil line and cut all the way down to the bottom pencil line.

Once all the slits were cut, I wove the 1/4" strips in and out of the cut lines. I alternated the strips of paper so that I had one metallic paper followed by a matte one and so on until I ran out of space. The last woven piece is a bit tricky to weave, so take your time or cut that strip a smidge smaller to make it easier to weave.

When I finished the weaving, this is what it looked like:

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I cut off all the extra bits of paper and glued the ends down so they wouldn't "unweave" themselves.

Here is a close up of the pretty colors from the pack:

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As a final step, I added my birthday sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you have a great weekend!

Laurasignature

 


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07/04/2024

Thu 04

Fuchsia Birthday
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I probably should have designed some flowers in red, white and blue, but I really wanted to stay true to fuchsia colors. I must admit that I wasn't exactly sure of the colors, so I used the picture on the die envelope for coloring inspiration.

To make the card, I cut the leaves out of green cardstock and then added a bit of dimension using a G24 Copic marker.

I wasn't sure of the flower colors, so I cut all the petals out of white Copic XPressIt cardstock and then colored everything with various shades of Copic markers. Here are the colors I used:

For the purple sections- V12, V15, V17

For the Bright pink sections- RV02, RV06

For the green leaves- G24.

This is a close up of the flowers:

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To finish the card, I used pretty plaid paper from the Fuchsia Plaid paper pack and then added a black happy birthday.

I hope everyone that celebrates the holiday today has a very special day and I thank everyone for stopping by the blog today.

Laurasignature

 

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06/24/2024

Mon 24

Glitter and Die Cuts
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I was in the mood to play with some of Memory Box's new papers and dies along with lots of glitter for sparkle. I thought I would give you a few tips for better results.

First, a nice bold pattern of paper seems to work best. This is the one I chose from the Brilliant Fuchsia paper pack:

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Next, you want to choose a really strong double sided tape that will hold glitter strongly and you won't end up with bits of glitter everywhere. I really love the tape from Elizabeth Craft, but there are lots of options for glitter tape on the market. I took the backing off of one side of the tape and adhered it on top of my patterned paper:

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I left the backing on the other side and placed my die cut side down so that it would cut through the backing, the tape, and my patterned paper.

Once I cut out the wings, I peeled off the remaining backing. You might not tell from this picture, but there is exposed tape on top of my cut out wings:

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Next, you want to a glitter that is finely ground and is translucent. If you would to choose course glitter and/or opaque glitter, you wouldn't be able to see the pattern of the paper anymore.

Next, I sprinkled the wings with glitter and pressed the glitter into the tape firmly with my fingers. After I shook off the extra glitter, I used a common lint roller to roll over the wings to pick up any remaining pieces of glitter.

I assembled my butterfly and then chose a watercolor background I make the other day as the backdrop. I simply masked off a rectangle onto watercolor paper, wet the paper and then applied my paint. I started with the blue circle in the center and then worked my way out using different colors:

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Here is a close up of the glitter wings and the watercolor background:

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Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you will try glittering your die cuts. After all, we all could use a little sparkle in our lives.

Laurasignature

 

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06/16/2024

Sun 16

Rub Ons and Vellum
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I am back with another card featuring rub ons. This time I wanted to combine them with a tricky surface such as vellum. I wanted to end up with dragonfly wings that looked like printed vellum.

To make the card, I started with heavy weight vellum and drew a rough circle around my die. I wanted to know how much area needed to be covered with the rub ons:

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Next, I added my rub ons to the circle:

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I then die cut my wings. I had enough paper to cut out one large dragonfly and two small dragonflies:

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Because the vellum is translucent, you can change the color by changing the color underneath the vellum. In the next picture, I put my wings over white cardstock, and on the bottom, I put the wings over green cardstock:

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I chose the green for my project and then glued the vellum just in the center to adhere the top wing to the bottom. I wanted to make sure that I could pull the wings back so that you could see the vellum really well on the card. If I had glued the vellum the whole length to the underlayer wing, it would defeat the purpose of using vellum since it would end up looking like regular patterned paper. In the close up of the next photo, you can see the vellum wings pulled up over the bottom layers:

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I really liked the look of the vellum on the finished card. To complete the design, I cut out some leaves and and arch and then layered everything onto patterned paper.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

 

Laurasignature

 

Supplies

 

06/10/2024

Mon 10

Playing with Rub Ons
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I hope everyone had a great weekend. One of the items in the latest Memory Box release is a set of Rub-Ons called "Cottage Meadow." I was excited to play with them in a couple of different ways. On the card I am sharing today, I paired them with a kraft notecard. Sometimes when I use kraft as a base, the colors I layer don't show up as well as I would like. This isn't a problem with rub ons! The color shows up great, and you don't even notice the edges of the rub ons that surround the flowers and leaves.  Here is a close up of the look:

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To make the card, I cut out the rub on pieces I wanted to use and played around a bit with where I wanted them all placed. I then adhered all the pieces using the stick that comes with the rub ons. Make sure you gently peel back the backing piece so that you can rub the piece again if there are spots that aren't sticking.

To finish the card, I added some pink paper from the Blush paper pack and added one of the new sentiments in white cardstock.

As I said, rub ons show up great on darker cardstocks such as kraft, gray or black. They also make cardmaking easier by adhering to unusual surfaces. In my next blog post, I will show you how well they work with vellum.

Rub ons definitely make for a quick and easy card. Hint- don't forget to add some to your envelope for a coordinated look.

Thanks for visiting today!

Laurasignature

 

Supplies

 

05/27/2024

Mon 27

Return to Basics- Paper Piecing
by Laura Fulcher

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Greetings friends. I wanted to revisit a technique that I haven't used in a very long time. I was prompted to give it a try because I have a lot of patterned paper scraps, and I was trying to figure out what to do with them.

My card is not completely paper-pieced because the stamp I chose is intricate and I would have had a lot of tiny pieces to cut. Instead, I cut out my pieces and then added Copic markers on top to add a bit of shading. For example, I cut out green plaid paper for the leaves and then colored one side of each leaf with a Copic marker instead of cutting out two different shades of green paper to make each leaf.

Paper-piecing is a rather simple process. First you stamp your design onto cardstock and then you stamp your image again onto patterned paper of your choosing. Cut out the patterned pieces and then glue them to the original stamped image. Here is a close up of the patterned paper:

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One tip I have is to use a fine tipped black marker to cover up any areas that you may not have cut very well. It fixes a lot of mistakes.

I used a combination of the Anemone and Gladiola paper packs to make the card. here is a break down of the paper and Copic markers I chose for each section:

Green Leaves-Anemone Plaid paper, YG45 Copic marker

Blue Flowers- Anemone Grove paper, BG01 and BG07 markers

Purple Flowers- Anemone Plaid paper, BV31 marker

Yellow Flower- Glimmering Gladiola paper, Y38 and Y08 markers

Red Flower- Glimmering Gladiola paper, R81, R83, and R85 markers

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you haven't tried paper-piecing a try before, I encourage you to give it a go.

Laurasignature

 

 

 

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