Creating the Shadow by Trina Pham

Happy Sunday everyone!  It appears I am on a butterfly roll and have a couple more really easy clean and simple (CAS) butterfly cards to share today.  Then again, it’s not surprising since Memory Box offers so many gorgeous butterfly dies.  Some of them come with a matching shadow die, while some do not.  But there are two easy ways to create that shadow if the latter is the case.

For my first card, I took the butterfly die from Butterfly Heart Frame and created a DIY stencil from acetate.  

Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio distress inks were then blended through the stencil onto regular white cardstock.

The sentiment from Springtime Typewriter stamp set was stamped with Blueprint Sketch distress oxide ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The butterfly with antenna/body were die cut twice from white scraps and white glitter paper then stacked.  Mermaid Lagoon distress ink splatters were added to finish.  

My second card used an even simpler method to create the shadow.  Simply die cut directly from the card panel, then back the opening with color cardstock, pattern paper, or whatever you like, etc.

For my card, I backed the opening with a leftover alcohol ink piece.  

The butterfly this time was die cut from white scraps and silver foil paper.  The sentiment was heat embossed with silver embossing powder to match.  Besides being simpler, this second method allows dark cardstock to be used.  

And that concludes this post.  We are half way through our Clean and Simple challenge this month, so there is still plenty of time to link up your CAS entries.  Thank you for hanging with me.  Have a wonderful week.

 

Supplies

 

94110 Butterfly Heart Frame craft die

CL5239 Springtime Typewriter Sentiments clear stamp set

CAS Masking Tape Backgrounds by Trina Pham

Hello there!  No surprise, but I’m loving this month’s Clean and Simple (acronym CAS) challenge.  As mentioned in the intro of the challenge, CAS is a simple card design that can be mass produced easily.  It is also characterized by minimal layers, patterns, textures, embellishments and plenty of white space.  So when I spotted my blue masking tape on my desk, I decided to use the simple masking tape technique to create these cards. 

Started by trimming two panels measuring 4.75”x3.5” from regular white cardstock.  Inked the sticky side of a strip of masking tape by pressing onto a dye ink pad, then transferred onto the panels.  Repeated for the remaining colors... and that’s all there is to the technique.  Painter’s tape would work as well.  If the felt ink pad type is used, a more textured spotty look will result.

If the spongy ink pad type is used, then it will be more even and opaque.  

Because it is more opaque, white die cuts do show against it.

 The felt ink pad version looked better with black die cuts.

The diecuts are from the Butterfly Meadow die and the sentiments are from the Best Life Typewriter stamp set.  The panels were popped up on fun foam for dimension and clear shimmer was applied to the butterflies for some sparkle to finish.  Keeping these CAS, so no embellishments.  And that does it for me.  The challenge is open until April 29, 11:59 pm EST.  Thank you for dropping by.  Enjoy your weekend!

 

Supplies

 

94238 Butterfly Meadow craft die

CL5237 Best Life Typewriter Sentiments

Mer-mazing! by Trina Pham

Hi everyone.  It’s Trina here sharing a really quick and easy ocean scene CAS card made with products from the Spring Collection.

Using Circle Basics, a circle aperture was die cut in the center of a Bristol panel measuring 5”x3.75”.  The underwater scene from Underwater Scene Circle and the mermaid from Mermaid Wonder Frame were die cut next from Bristol paper as well.  Adhered them on the backside of the circle opening to create the scene.  

The background was created by watercoloring Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Salty Ocean distress inks on watercolor paper.  Sparkle spray was added to give it some shine, but it doesn’t show in the photo.  The sentiment from Oceanside Typewriter Sentiments was white heat embossed on a black strip.  Popped the panel onto a white card base with fun foam for some dimension to finish.

And that was all there was to it.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful week.

Supplies

 

94224 Underwater Scene craft die

94222 Mermaid Wonder Frame craft die

CL5240 Oceanside Typewriter Sentiments clear stamp set

30087 Circle Basics Set

Side Butterfly Circle Twofers by Trina Pham

Hello there!  Trina here and I am sharing not one, but two, CAS cards using the Side Butterfly Circle die from the 2019 Spring Collection.  First up is a birthday card, which happens to fit our Flower challenge this month.

Began by die cutting a circle from regular white cardstock with the Circle Basics set.  Used mini blending tools to blend on Cracked Pistachio and Shaded Lilac distress inks to create the background.  Next, the Side Butterfly Circle was die cut twice from X-press It cardstock.  Colored one of them with Copics, then adhered it to the background circle.  Trimmed the leaves off on the second diecut piece then stacked on top.  This was done to hide any messy coloring of the flower petals.

This garden scene was looking a little sparse, so the Lily of the Valley Frame was die cut from X-press It cardstock.  Any parts that I didn’t want were then cut away and the stems were colored in with Copics.  For the butterfly, the solid piece was die cut from X-press It cardstock and the outline from black cardstock twice.  Adhered one of the outline piece to the solid piece and colored with Copics.  Added clear shimmer for some sparkle, then topped with the second outline piece.  Dots were added with a white gel pen.  The sentiment from Birthday Blowout was black heat embossed with clear glitter embossing powder directly onto a top folding white card base, then mounted the circle scene with fun foam to finish.

My second card is a lot easier and brighter, using only the butterfly from the Side Butterfly Circle die set.  I always love a good rainbow, don’t you?

Took a stitched Bristol A2 panel from my stash and masked an open strip across the middle.  Used four colors of distress oxide inks in Squeeze Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Twisted Citron to ink blend the rainbow.  Made sure to overlap the colors to get a good blend and secondary colors.  Flicked on some water and dabbed with a paper towel to give it some texture.  

For the butterflies, I wanted to try a new technique and watercolor on vellum.  The solid pieces were die cut from vellum and the outline pieces from Bristol paper.  Adhered the outline to the vellum, then watercolored from the back side with Zigs and a watercolor brush.  The vellum curled quite a bit, so had to reattach with a strong adhesive such as Ranger Multi Medium.  Added clear shimmer to the front of the vellum then added a second white outline to give it more dimension.  Black heat embossed the sentiment from Springtime Typewriter Sentiments to finish. 

That completes my spring twofers with the Side Butterfly Circle die.  Thank you for dropping by. 

 

 

Supplies

 

94232 Side Butterfly Circle craft diej

94215 Lily of the Valley Frame craft die

CL470 Birthday Blowout clear stamp set

CL5239 Springtime Typewriter Sentiments clear stamp set

30087 Circle Basics Set

Faux Stained Glass + Blog Blitz Giveaway by Trina Pham

Happy Sunday everyone!  Trina here and I am capping off the week for the 2019 Spring Collection Blog Blitz.  With it being named Stained Glass Rose Circle Frame, I couldn’t resist using the faux stained glass technique to create my card with it!  There are many ways to do this technique and I’m sharing my favourite method. 

Started by die cutting a circle from X-press It cardstock with the second largest die in the Circlr Basics set.  Next added Stick It adhesive to the back of two pieces of white cardstock and one piece of black cardstock then die cut them with the Stained Glass Rose Circle Frame.  Adhered one of the white ones to the circle.

Colored the piece with Copics.  Thought it would be fun to have the roses in rainbow colors.  Did some light shading for the other areas.  It’s going to look like one hot mess.

But no worries because the second white piece will cover it all up like so.

For the stained glass effect, applied Crystal Glaze (could use Glossy Accents instead) to each individual section, and set it aside to dry.  The black piece was then inked with VersaMark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder for some shine.  I did this twice to get a smoother look.  I would have preferred to use foil paper, but I didn’t have any black.  When the Crystal Glaze dried, the black piece was added on top.

The sentiment from Bold Friendly Greetings was white heat embossed on a black strip.  Attached the circle frame to a dark gray panel that was adhered to a white card base, then popped up the sentiment strip on with foam tape to finish.  This technique is not limited to just this die.  Many of Memory Box’s intricate dies would look amazing.

Now the final giveaway!  For your chance to win the Stained Glass Rose Circle Frame die, leave a comment on this post by 11:59 pm EST tonight.  The random winner will be announced tomorrow at 6:00 pm EST here on the blog.  Thank you for visiting.  Good luck!

Supplies

 

94231 Stained Glass Rose Circle Frame craft die

CL5236 Bold Friendly Greetings

30087 Circle Basics Set

Going Nautical by Trina Pham

Hello there.  Trina here and I have a nautical masculine birthday card to share today.  I was rummaging through my drawers and came across some much forgotten brads.  Well, maybe not quite forgotten because I didn’t think I had any left.  Anyway, they gave me the idea to create a porthole sea scene with the Sailboat Frame die from the new Spring Collection.  

Of course you could use a wood background stamp and skip this part, but I did the faux wood technique to create my background.  Started with a panel of Smoky Slate cardstock and used a scoring tool to score lengthwise every 3/4”.  Turned the panel 90 degrees and scored some perpendicular lines in between those lines.  Next took a white pigment inkpad and dragged it down lengthwise accoss the panel.

Try not to work it too much.  You don’t want it to be uniform.  The process was repeated using Pumice Stone distress ink.

Finally a Smoky Slate marker and ruler were used to draw in the lines for better definition.  I found this technique worked better with the felt inkpads instead of the spongy type.  It also helps that the inkpad is not dry.  The panel was set aside to dry.

In the meantime, the water scene circle was die cut from hot press watercolor paper, then watercoloured with distress oxide inks.

The sailboat pieces was die cut three times from white cardstock and stacked for dimension.  It was pieced together onto acetate then excess acetate was trimmed off.  This was done to make it simpler to handle.  The clouds are a single die cut layer.  The “porthole”  frame was created by die cutting from dark gray cardstock with two sizes of circles from the Circle Basics set.  Adhered the frame over the watercolored scene and added the brads.

The sentiment from Bold Friendly Greetings was stamped with Blueprint Sketch distress oxide ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Adhered the panel to a white card base, then mounted the circle scene with fun foam.  Drew in a few seagulls and added highlights to the water with a white gel pen to finish.

This is just one of the many beautiful products from the Spring release.  Make sure to come back starting Monday for Blitz Week.  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy your weekend!

Supplies

94226 Sailboat Frame craft die

CL5236 Bold Friendly Greetings

30087 Circle Basics Set

Birthday is in the Air by Trina Pham

Hello everyone.  This is Trina and I am sharing a CAS birthday card today made with products from the Valentine’s Collection.  

This card came about because I really wanted to use the bike from Neighborhood Heart Frame.  The bike was die cut from X-press It cardstock and coloured in with Copics.  The bike was a bit flimsy, so a second bike was die cut from black cardstock and adhered behind.  The heart balloons were also die cut from X-press It cardstock using a heart die from Have a Heart and coloured in with Copics.  

The sentiment from Best Life Typewriter stamp set was white heat embossed on a black strip.  The sky background was created by sponging Tumled Glass and Salty Ocean distress inks over a cloud border stencil on an A2 sized white panel.  Drew in the balloon strings with a ruler and black Copic multiliner, then assembled the card.  Crystal glaze was added to the balloons for some shine and dimension.  Once dry, white highlights were added with a white gel pen to finish.

That does it for me.  Happy Valentine’s Eve.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great day.

 

 

Supplies

 

94102 Neighborhood Heart Frame craft die

CL5237 Best Life Typewriter Sentiments

32238 Have a Heart die set

Showering Love by Trina Pham

Hello everyone!  Trina here and with Valentine’s only 10 days away, I am sharing another Valentine’s card made with products from the recent 2019 Valentine’s Release.  No surprise, my card is inspired by several challenges, in particular this month’s Memory Box color challenge of Pink and Red.  Here is my card.

Started by black heat embossing the sentiment from Wishing You the Best stamp set with clear glitter embossing powder on a white A2 sized panel trimmed from Whisper White cardstock.  Die cut the heart frame from Neghborhood Heart Frame die three times - twice from Bristol paper and once from black cardstock.  Mounted the two white ones together and offset the black piece for a shadow effect.  Adhered the frame below the sentiment.

Took one of the heart cutouts and blended on Rubellite and Pink Diamond dye inks with a mini blending tool.  A DIY heart stencil was created next with the Heart Sprinkles die and acetate.  Real Red dye ink was then applied with a sponge dauber through the stencil.  Cupid from Cupid with Swing die was die cut from Bristol paper and adhered to make him look like he’s sprinkling the hearts.  The heart was inlaid back into the stacked heart frame.  Highlights were added to the hearts with a white gel pen to finish.

Pink and red is the color challenge this month, and you have until February 27th to play along.  Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!  

 

 

 

Supplies

 

94102 Neighborhood Heart Frame craft die

94103 Cupid with Swing craft die

94112 Heart Sprinkles craft die

CL8127 Wishing You the Best clear stamp set

Double Embossing with Dies by Trina Pham

Hi there!  This is Trina and I am back to share another CAS card using the Bright Hearts die from the Valentine’s Collection and a die technique I’ve had on my to-try-list for probably over two years.  😂   Better late than never, right?  I’ve seen it done throughout blogland, but I believe it originated from Jennifer McGuire.  Here’s my card.

This is a super easy technique combining both dry and heat embossing with dies.  I found darker cardstock looked best.  Started by prepping the cardstock with an anti static bag and then setting it in my die cutting machine to be dry embossed.  Placed the die with the cutting edge facing up, then gently inked only the raised cutting edge with VersaMark.  Carefully picked up the die and flipped it onto the cardstock.  Ran it through the die cutting machine to dry emboss it, then added white embossing powder.

The embossing powder sticks to the VersaMark embossed lines.  Heat embossed to complete the technique.  Even after using the anti-static bag, I found the powder strayed quite a bit.  I simply used a small brush to remove them before applying the heat.  

I wanted the image to stand out more, so I used a black Polychromos pencil to add some shading.  The sentiments from Best Life Typewriter stamp set were white heat embossed on hot pink cardstock and popped up with foam adhesive.  For some sparkle (wasn’t able to capture it in the photo), added clear shimmer to finish.

 Essentially this is like “turning your dies into stamps” and is a great way to stretch your dies.  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy your day!

Supplies

 

94120 Bright Hearts craft die

CL5237 Best Life Typewriter Sentiments

 

Snow Much Love by Trina Pham

Hello there!  This is Trina.  Before I begin, I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave such encouraging comments here, on my blog and on my IG account for my first DT post.  Not sure if you could tell, but I was a little nervous and those comments brought a smile to my face!  So my card today honoured that.  

Last year in September, I purchased the Snow Much Fun stamp set.  I think it’s just that - so much fun!  For some reason, it takes at least a month for my orders to arrive in Canada from this one US company.  This time, though, the waiting dragged to almost two months and then I received notification that my order had been returned because I had moved!  Huh, what?!?  (I may or may not have used more animated language here... just saying).  😂

Major postal service error since I never moved!  I ended up re-ordering it from a different US company, but that meant it would not arrive in time for the holiday season.  And rather than waiting till the end of this year, I used it to create this.

Love must be in the air because these two are no longer throwing snowballs at each other and are quite smitten.  😉   Started off by stamping the bunny images on X-press It cardstock with Copic friendly black ink.  Coloured them with Copics then die cut out with the matching dies.  The heart framed fence from Neighborhoid Heart Frame was then die cut three times from white cardstock and stacked for dimension.  Adhered the bunnies behind the frame and trimmed off the overhangs.

On a 4”x5.25”panel cut from mixed media paper, the sentiment from Best Life Typewriter was heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Next, Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac and Blueprint Sketch distress oxide inks were blended on with a mini blending tool.  The embossed sentiment resisted the ink.  Spritz it with a DIY shimmer spray created by mixing water with Perfect Pearls (couldn’t capture the shimmer in the photo).  Adhered the panel to a white card base and added a few sparkly clear sequins to finish.

I love stretching my supplies whever possible.  And the Neighborhoid Heart Frame set made this possible today.  Thank you for visiting.  Have a wonderful week.

Supplies

 

94102 Neighborhood Heart Frame craft die

CL5237 Best Life Typewriter Sentiments

CL5224 Snow Much Fun clear stamp set

32224 Snow Much Fun die set