Heart Stems with Turquoise and Burgundy

I enjoyed drawing this today, tall stems with hearts, and then coloring it for my card.  Unusual colors together - turquoise and burgundy with white, and touches of brown and green.  I like it.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink scarlet jewel (burgundy) and Hawaiian shores (turquoise), with Neenah solar white.
• The drawing is my "heart stems" doodle, as posted here on my drawings blog (Mostly Markers). 
• Technique: To color my drawing, I started with rough, wide stripes of color - Copic markers BG32, B32, YR24, and G43.  After it dried, I spritzed on some colorless blender ("0") to make the spotted/splotchy effect.  When that was dry, I colored the hearts (RV06, RV55, R56) and added color along the stem and ground lines (G46). 
• I used a Copic brush-medium multiliner to edge the circle with black (coloring the edge of the paper with the side of the multiliner brush tip). 
• Dies are Papertrey Ink limitless layers circles (2-1/2") for the three smaller circles, Spellbinders Nestabilities big scalloped circles LG for the largest white circle, and Papertrey Ink double-ended banners (shorter banner) for the sentiment.
• The sentiment "Love You Always" is computer-printed with burgundy ink in "Curlz MT" font (bold).  The two hearts are also computer-printed in Zapf Dingbats font. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (195)

Purple Flowers with Yellow Dots

For today's card, I die cut some purple flowers, then traced around the same die with a purple pen to create my background pattern.  A very nice effect.

The tracing idea came from a Papertrey Ink forum post by Ashley ... "tracing the shapes of certain dies would make a cool background."  Thanks, Ashley, I'm glad you thought of this! 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink royal velvet (dark purple), winter wisteria (light purple), summer sunrise (bright yellow), and soft stone (light gray).
• The die is Papertrey Ink flower fusion #3.
• I used a purple Copic 0.3 multiliner to trace around the die.  
• The flower centers are dots from a 1/4" hole punch. 
• I added some texture to the card base with a linen impression plate from Papertrey Ink.
• The sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed in purple ink with Zapfino font. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (193)

Rainbow Thanks on Tan Stripes

A die-cut "thanks" with Copic coloring.  I like the soft, weathered "country" effect of all the colors together.  The Copic colors look muted and a bit uneven (in a nice way) on the letters cut from fine linen (tan) card stock.

My inspiration came from Nichole Heady's recent "Thanks All Ways" post, where she used a rainbow of Copic colors on kraft.  Click here, then scroll about 1/3 of the way down through her post to see her card.  Thank you, Nichole!  

Card details:

•  Card stock is Papertrey Ink fine linen (tan), ripe avocado (green), ocean tides (blue green), and stripes from the fine linen pattern pack.
• Dies are Papertrey Ink chevron stripes border dies (for the ocean tides edge) and block alphabet upper.
• My Copic colors - similar to Nichole's in effect, but not all the same colors - are R08, YR07, Y38, YR95, BG75, and B66.  In real life, the orange (YR07) looks less red. 
• Technique:  Die cut the letters on a strip of card stock, and save all the pieces, including the little triangle from the "A."  Cover the back of the negative cut with scor-tape, and now you will have sticky tape in the letter openings.  After coloring each letter, place it back into the negative cut.  Note, the "H" and "S" look somewhat symmetrical, but there is a top and bottom, so be careful when placing them.  Press down firmly to adhere.  Then remove the scor tape backing to adhere it to the card base or layer. 
• Technique:  For more on how I line up my letters for die cutting, click here.  It's not perfect, but it's the best method I've found so far. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (192)

Brown Tree with Dots

A lovely and simple autumn card. 

Card details:

•  Card stock is  Papertrey Ink canyon clay (rusty orange), dark chocolate (brown), rustic cream, and polka dots from the melon berry pattern pack.
• I placed a layer of Papertrey Ink clear card stock behind the treetop leaf cutouts.  It's not visible in the picture, but in real life, it adds a very nice sparkle to the leaves.  
• I drew the grounding line with brown Micron pen. 
• Dies are Papertrey Ink trendy tree tops and double-ended banner.  
• The sentiment "Miss you..." is computer-printed in brown ink with American Typewriter font.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (191)

Triangles in Orange and Brown

 

My card today is for the August "masculine card" challenge sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs (thank you, ODBD!) to benefit Operation Write Home.  The triangles in autumn colors make a strong, simple effect. 

Card details:

•  Card stock is Papertrey Ink classic kraft, orange zest (orange), terra cotta tile (deep rusty orange, not so red in real life), dark chocolate (brown), and rustic cream.
• The triangles are cut with Papertrey Ink heart-2-heart #5 die.  This die cuts four triangles at once, and they are beautifully aligned, so it's easy to use the negative cut as a frame.  (For this card, I cut with the die twice to make eight triangles.)
• My sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed in orange ink with brown outline, using Papyrus font (small caps).  The double triangle shapes above and below the sentiment are also computer-printed in Webdings font, typing "8 7" on the keyboard.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (189)

Cloudy Blue Sky with Red Bird and Banner

A cloudy blue sky, a red bird, and a banner.  I started with inspiration from this post on Cristina's My Paper Secret blog.  Though my card went off in a different direction, I would not have tried it without seeing her card.  So, thank you, Cristina!  

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white and Papertrey Ink spring rain (light blue), blueberry sky (medium blue), enchanted evening (dark blue), pure poppy (red), and polka dots from enchanted evening pattern pack.
• Dies are Poppystamps simple banner, small bird from Wplus9 folk art florals, large and small clouds from Papertrey Ink heart-2-heart #6, and the curvy label (B) from Papertrey Ink fabulous frames.
• I added a dot of Copic cobalt multiliner. to the bird's eye.
• I colored the banner line between the flags with a Sanford Uni-ball white gel impact pen.  In real life, it picks up the white of the clouds and adds a nice contrast.
• The sentiment "I miss you ..." is computer-printed in red ink with American Typewriter font (expanded spacing). 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (190)

Vase with Maple Branches

An interior scene with a large vase of autumn maple branches.   The window looks out on a blue sky with clouds.   I really, really like this card.  Colors, patterns, shapes, layout, overall effect, just really nice. 

Card details:

•  Card stock is Paper Source curry (gold) and Papertrey Ink fine linen (beige), orange zest (bright orange), terra cotta tile (deep rusty orange - not so red as it looks on the screen), dark chocolate (brown), spring rain (light blue), blueberry sky (medium blue), enchanted evening (dark blue), stamper's select white, stripes from fine linen pattern pack, and damask from enchanted evening pattern pack.
• I used both dies and punches, as follows: Papertrey Ink mega gracious vases die, Papertrey Ink fabulous frames die (A, middle frame), Memory Box puffy clouds die (medium cloud), Savvy Stamps branch die, Martha Stewart ribbon bow punch, and Recollections maple leaf punch. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (188)

Flower Vase with Orange and Teal

A simple scene with a vase of flowers on a table.  Lots of nice little touches, like the vase embossing and white faux stitching.  I really like the finished card.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source (PS) and Papertrey Ink (PTI). 
• The card base is PTI ocean tides (muted teal). Embossing folder is Lifestyle Crafts diamonds and dots.
• The dark teal vase and background layer are PS peacock (dark teal).  The vase is die cut with one of the PTI mega gracious vases dies.  The embossing folder is Sizzix berry splash.
• Technique for vase:  After die cutting the vase shape, I moved it around in the embossing folder to find a nice pattern.  The plastic folder was easy to see through and position the pattern on the vase. 
• The table base is PTI dark chocolate (brown), with a table cover of PTI Hawaiian shores (aqua) from the 2009 bitty dot basics patterned paper.  The table cover is die cut with one of the PTI fabulous frames (B).  I added some faux stitching with a white gel pen. 
• The little heart is PTI terra cotta tile (deep rusty orange, not as red as it looks on the screen); it's the wing cutout that was left over from the bird in this card. 
• The flowers are PTI terra cotta tile and summer sunrise (yellow).  The sun-shaped die is PTI ad sense, and the flower centers are from a 1/4" hole punch.  I edged the yellow flower with Copic YR27 marker, to help it stand out more on the background.
• I drew the flower stems with Copic 0.3 turquoise multiliner.
• The light orange background is PTI melon berry. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (187)

Brown and Rust with Leaves

A note card in autumn colors.  All the textures and shapes work well together.  

Card details:

•  Card stock is Papertrey Ink canyon clay (rusty orange), terra cotta tile (deep orangey leaves - not so red in real life), dark chocolate (brown), rustic white (sentiment square), and stripes from the fine linen pattern pack. 
• Die cut (striped layer) is Papertrey Ink fabulous frames (small inner cut from the A frame).  I also used a small Recollections punch for the leaves and Fiskars corkscrew edger scissors for the end of the brown section.
• I added some shine to the leaves with a Sakura clear glaze pen.
• The embossing folders are Stampin Up square lattice (placed diagonally) on the brown, and Tim Holtz Sizzix stripes on the base layer.  
• The sentiment "Hi" is computer-printed in brown ink with "Cooper Std Black" font (expanded spacing).  The square borders are also computer-printed.  The inner border looks yellowish in the picture, but matches the canyon clay color in real life.  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them."  (186)

Hexagon Patchwork - Red, Yellow, and Blue

A pattern of hexagons, bright prints on white.  It reminds me of an old patchwork quilt.  Thank you to Monica K, who sent me a batch of hexagon die cuts to play with!  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink summer sunrise (yellow sentiment layer), stamper's select white, and several pattern packs: pure poppy (red) stripe, enchanted evening (blue) gingham, and summer sunrise bitty dot.  The six punched dots on the hexagons are pure poppy, summer sunrise, and enchanted evening.
• Note: the gray is background, not part of the card. 
• The red line is drawn with Sanford Uni-ball gel impact pen.  
• Dies are Papertrey Ink hexagon cover plate and double-ended banner (white sentiment banner).  The small dots are punched with a 1/4" hole punch.
• The sentiment "Thanks!" is computer-printed in blue ink with American Typewriter font (bold, expanded spacing).

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (185)