Hey Procraftinators!
Ok, now that we got all that out of the way, let's get to my cards that I made with this kit this month. I wanted to mix a little modern with the vintage this month. If you have been here before, you know that I LOVE making backgrounds and that I recently got some Dr. PH Martin's Hydrus Watercolors for Christmas from my husband. Well, so many people loved the background that I made in the Blind Background Swap Collab Video that I did with Delaney Jane cards. That I thought I would try doing some more backgrounds with these vibrant watercolors and this kit. For my first card, I taped some Fabriano Hot Press 140lb Watercolor paper to my glass media mat and wet it down with a large paint brush. Then, I dropped in some of the Turquoise Blue watercolor. I let it spread out. Then I decided that it wasn't moving enough for me, so I sprayed it with my water bottle. I moved it around with my brush a little. I'm really not a pro here. I'm just a card maker that is playing around with a new medium. Eventually, I decided to drop in the Ultramarine Red Violet and started mixing the two colors in the center and spread it out until I got a pure color towards the edges. Again, just moving the color around and playing.
The idea here was to have this watercolor piece go behind one of the patterned paper pieces from the An English Garden Bundle. I had chosen the more delicate looking floral background and cut a circle out of it with a Spellbinders Nestabilities, Standard Circles, LG Die set. Once I was fairly happy with the way my watercolor piece was looking, I brought that patterned paper in to see how it would look over the watercolored background. I still had some white edges showing, which was not my intent. So, I spread the color out a bit further before heat setting and pulling the tape off.
After finishing the watercolor piece, I pulled out Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy and inked the edges of the patterned paper piece. The one that I had cut the circle out of. If you have been here before, you know how I love distressing the edges of...well everything! For vintage looking items, I usually use Vintage Photo, however since this piece was so light in color, I thought maybe Brushed Corduroy would be a better fit. In the end, I held my piece up to my watercolor background and decided that I wanted more contrast and ended up using the Vintage Photo just around the very edges, not completely covering the Brushed Corduroy that I had already laid down.
Next, I decided that I needed some black splatter to my watercolor piece. So, I pulled out my Dylusions Spray in Black Marble. I removed the spray nozzle and splattered it all over the piece until I was satisfied with the amount of splatter I had. Then, I heat set the background, because I am too impatient to let things air dry on their own.
Then, if there is something I am more addicted to then splatter, it would have to be my DIY Shimmer spray. It's just a mixture of Perfect Pearls and water. I put it in a mini mister from Ranger. I go through this stuff so fast, but I don't mind. It's super cheap and easy to make. And look at all that shimmer!!!
Next, I applied the patterned paper to my watercolor background with some Xfasten foam tape. Then, I glued the ephemera butterflies from the English Garden Bundle to the watercolor background. I only glued the bodies to the background so I could bend their wings up and make them dimensional.
Next, I stamped my sentiments. Both the front sentiment & the inside sentiment came from the Altenew Life is Beautiful stamp set. I used the My Favorite Things Slanted Sentiment Strip Dies to cut the front sentiment. I cut it out of white cardstock and then used the residual ink on my blending brush from ink blending the card front panel to make it match. That way it wasn't stark white.
After stamping the inside sentiment, which says "Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful," I finished off the inside of the card. I used the circle that I cut out of the front of the card in the lower right hand corner & I glued the last remaining matching butterfly on top of it. Then, I trimmed off the parts of the circle that hung off the card. That finished off the first card.
For the second card, I also used my Dr. PH Martin Hydrus Watercolors, but this time I used Hansa Yellow Medium, Chrome Yellow, & Vermilion Hue. Again, I used Fabriano 140lb Hot Press Watercolor paper taped down to my glass media mat and I wet the paper with a large brush before dropping in the color. I started with the Hansa Yellow Medium and when I first dropped it on the paper and it plumed out, I thought it looked like a smoke cloud. Well, except that it was yellow and not gray or black. So, at first I thought, that if I could get the others to do this, maybe I would go with it and have them all kinda plume out that way from the edges, but not touch very much. If that makes sense, but in the end I ended up mixing them all together. I still love the way it looks and it was all just me experimenting and having fun. I just kept pushing the color around with my brush and spraying water with my spray bottle until I was satisfied with how it looked. Once done, I pulled the tape off from the edges, as carefully as possible.
Next, I cut down the butterfly ephemera piece to 3x3.25in and mounted it on some black paper that was a 1/4in bigger. I cut the background pieces to 3.75x5in and also mounted it onto a black matte that was a 1/4in larger. After mounting the butterfly piece, I realized that I meant to distress it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink first. So, I just went ahead and did it while it was on the black matte. Distress Inks are transparent. So, it wasn't going to show up on the black paper anyways.
Next, I stamped my sentiments in Memento Tuxedo Black ink using the Gina K Designs Butterfly Kisses stamp set. For the outside of the card I chose "Thinking of You." For the inside, I chose "Just when the caterpillar thought it was over, it became a butterfly." After stamping the inside of the card, I used a couple of the ephemera butterflies that I had printed from the bundle to decorate the inside of the card.
To finish off the card, I used some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Ebony Black to offset the blank space to the left of the sentiment on the front of the card. I put 3 drops next to the sentiment. Once I got done, I realize they were slanting uphill slightly. To fix this, I added some more on top of the one that was the lowest. Then, I added just a little more to the other two, since now they were smaller than the one I just added to.
For my third and final card, I decided to forgo the watercoloring. I just wanted to use up most of the remaining pieces that I had printed from the English Garden Bundle. For once, I actually started with stamping my sentiments! Shocker, I know! I started by stamping the "Just a Note" sentiment on the tag ephemera. This sentiment is from the Altenew Lace Up stamp set.
I moved on to the inside and stamped "Thank you for all you do" from the same stamp set.
Next, I glued a piece of the 1/4 sized patterned paper straight down to my card base using Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.
Then, this is where things went wrong....terribly wrong! I took a little patterned strip from the bundle and matted it on a pink-ish coral strip of scrap paper from my stash and then I glued it to my card base. I totally glued it down crooked, but I didn't notice it until after the glue dried and while I went to adhere down the tag that I had stamped "Just a Note" on. I had removed the back paper to the foam tape that I put on the back of that tag and was just about to mount it on my card base when I noticed it was crooked. So, I set down the tag in a fluster, foam tape sticky side down on my glass mat!!! I was going to see if I could pull off the strip. It was already adhered, so I decided to just adhere the tag over top. Well, that's when I realized that the tag was now adhered to my glass mat! I had to pry that off. Then, I put that tag on the front and I just couldn't live with it. It was too noticeable. So, I peeled to tag off and then I did the unthinkable. I peeled that strip off. Yes, it ripped my cardstock and made a mess. It wasn't too bad though and I was able to just glue the strip back down straight and cover up the mess I had made. It was fine in the end. I adhered the tag back down and everything was good! I adhered my last butterfly on the inside to finish that off and then I finished off the card with some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Bubblegum Blush.
I hope that you enjoyed my cards today and will check out the other Design Team members projects, linked below. Also, if you do go to the Taylormadecards4u shop, remember that there is a 20% discount if you use the coupon code Loyalty on digital products only.
Card # 2
Today, I am back with another design team project for Taylormadecards4u! This time, I am working with the English Garden bundle. I chose to only work with the 4 piece card sized background and a few of the ephemera pieces. This month, I decided to load the ephemera pieces into Cricut Design Space so I could have my Cricut do a Print then Cut. Not only because I am not a fan of fussy cutting, but also because I could easily resize the pieces to suit my needs. I chose to print and cut the butterflies in a few different size variations so I had plenty to choose from for my cards today. There is a TON more stuff included in this bundle that I did not get a chance to work with for this project though. I've included the bundle promo picture so you can see what all is included. There is a ton of value here. You can find the Taylormadecards4u shop by clicking HERE. Also, Taylormadecards4u is partnering with the Crafter's Castle Challenge Blog this year. So, every month the winner of the challenge will win the kit, not the bundle, that the Taylormadecards4u design team is working with.
An English Garden Kit (Prize for the Crafter's Castle Challenge Blog Winner this month)
An English Garden Bundle (What the Taylormadecards4u Design Team is working with)
For being a loyal subscriber, I have a 20% coupon for you that is only
good on digital items in the Taylormadecards4u shop. Use the code:
Loyalty
If you would prefer to watch the video, I'm leaving that here at the top. If you are more of a blog post kind of person, continue on below.
Ok, now that we got all that out of the way, let's get to my cards that I made with this kit this month. I wanted to mix a little modern with the vintage this month. If you have been here before, you know that I LOVE making backgrounds and that I recently got some Dr. PH Martin's Hydrus Watercolors for Christmas from my husband. Well, so many people loved the background that I made in the Blind Background Swap Collab Video that I did with Delaney Jane cards. That I thought I would try doing some more backgrounds with these vibrant watercolors and this kit. For my first card, I taped some Fabriano Hot Press 140lb Watercolor paper to my glass media mat and wet it down with a large paint brush. Then, I dropped in some of the Turquoise Blue watercolor. I let it spread out. Then I decided that it wasn't moving enough for me, so I sprayed it with my water bottle. I moved it around with my brush a little. I'm really not a pro here. I'm just a card maker that is playing around with a new medium. Eventually, I decided to drop in the Ultramarine Red Violet and started mixing the two colors in the center and spread it out until I got a pure color towards the edges. Again, just moving the color around and playing.
The idea here was to have this watercolor piece go behind one of the patterned paper pieces from the An English Garden Bundle. I had chosen the more delicate looking floral background and cut a circle out of it with a Spellbinders Nestabilities, Standard Circles, LG Die set. Once I was fairly happy with the way my watercolor piece was looking, I brought that patterned paper in to see how it would look over the watercolored background. I still had some white edges showing, which was not my intent. So, I spread the color out a bit further before heat setting and pulling the tape off.
After finishing the watercolor piece, I pulled out Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy and inked the edges of the patterned paper piece. The one that I had cut the circle out of. If you have been here before, you know how I love distressing the edges of...well everything! For vintage looking items, I usually use Vintage Photo, however since this piece was so light in color, I thought maybe Brushed Corduroy would be a better fit. In the end, I held my piece up to my watercolor background and decided that I wanted more contrast and ended up using the Vintage Photo just around the very edges, not completely covering the Brushed Corduroy that I had already laid down. 
For the second card, I also used my Dr. PH Martin Hydrus Watercolors, but this time I used Hansa Yellow Medium, Chrome Yellow, & Vermilion Hue. Again, I used Fabriano 140lb Hot Press Watercolor paper taped down to my glass media mat and I wet the paper with a large brush before dropping in the color. I started with the Hansa Yellow Medium and when I first dropped it on the paper and it plumed out, I thought it looked like a smoke cloud. Well, except that it was yellow and not gray or black. So, at first I thought, that if I could get the others to do this, maybe I would go with it and have them all kinda plume out that way from the edges, but not touch very much. If that makes sense, but in the end I ended up mixing them all together. I still love the way it looks and it was all just me experimenting and having fun. I just kept pushing the color around with my brush and spraying water with my spray bottle until I was satisfied with how it looked. Once done, I pulled the tape off from the edges, as carefully as possible.
Next, I cut down the butterfly ephemera piece to 3x3.25in and mounted it on some black paper that was a 1/4in bigger. I cut the background pieces to 3.75x5in and also mounted it onto a black matte that was a 1/4in larger. After mounting the butterfly piece, I realized that I meant to distress it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink first. So, I just went ahead and did it while it was on the black matte. Distress Inks are transparent. So, it wasn't going to show up on the black paper anyways.
For my third and final card, I decided to forgo the watercoloring. I just wanted to use up most of the remaining pieces that I had printed from the English Garden Bundle. For once, I actually started with stamping my sentiments! Shocker, I know! I started by stamping the "Just a Note" sentiment on the tag ephemera. This sentiment is from the Altenew Lace Up stamp set.
I moved on to the inside and stamped "Thank you for all you do" from the same stamp set.
Next, I glued a piece of the 1/4 sized patterned paper straight down to my card base using Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.
Then, this is where things went wrong....terribly wrong! I took a little patterned strip from the bundle and matted it on a pink-ish coral strip of scrap paper from my stash and then I glued it to my card base. I totally glued it down crooked, but I didn't notice it until after the glue dried and while I went to adhere down the tag that I had stamped "Just a Note" on. I had removed the back paper to the foam tape that I put on the back of that tag and was just about to mount it on my card base when I noticed it was crooked. So, I set down the tag in a fluster, foam tape sticky side down on my glass mat!!! I was going to see if I could pull off the strip. It was already adhered, so I decided to just adhere the tag over top. Well, that's when I realized that the tag was now adhered to my glass mat! I had to pry that off. Then, I put that tag on the front and I just couldn't live with it. It was too noticeable. So, I peeled to tag off and then I did the unthinkable. I peeled that strip off. Yes, it ripped my cardstock and made a mess. It wasn't too bad though and I was able to just glue the strip back down straight and cover up the mess I had made. It was fine in the end. I adhered the tag back down and everything was good! I adhered my last butterfly on the inside to finish that off and then I finished off the card with some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Bubblegum Blush.
I hope that you enjoyed my cards today and will check out the other Design Team members projects, linked below. Also, if you do go to the Taylormadecards4u shop, remember that there is a 20% discount if you use the coupon code Loyalty on digital products only.
Card #1
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Dr PH Martin's Hydrus Watercolors Set # 3 - Ultramarine Red Violet & Turquoise Blue
Distress Inks - Brushed Corduroy & Vintage Photo
My Favorite Things - Slanted Sentiment Strips (RETIRED)
Painters Tape
DIY Shimmer Spray - Perfect Pearls and Water
Dr PH Martins Hydrus Watercolors Set # 3 - Hansa Yellow Medium, Chrome Yellow, & Vermilion Hue
Painters Tape
Card #3
Altenew - Lace Up Stamp set (RETIRED)
***Except for the English Garden Bundle, which was provided by Taylormadecards4u in exchange for making a video, I buy all of my supplies myself and am not affiliated with any company. The links I provide are not affiliate links. I do not make a commission when you buy using these links. They are merely for your convenience or clarification of which supplies I have used. I do not guarantee they are the cheapest prices. I suggest you do your own research and shop around.***
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