Welcome, Autumn!

Hello and happy Fall!


My favorite time of year! I enjoy the beauty of the colorful leaves, the cool mornings and evenings and, yes, the return of football season. :-)

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to play in a challenge and I’m happy that I had time to play this week. All of the cards in this post fit the fun theme for this week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge to create a CAS (clean and simple) design inspired by autumn (CFC71). The design for the third card below was made for last Wednesday's Splitcoast Stampers challenge sketch (SC403). I used alcohol inks to create some of the background and accent papers and plain metal accents for the sketch challenge card. I also used distress inks to color in the leaf images and a combination of distress inks and alcohol inks to color in the die cut pear.

Thanks for looking!

Stay inspired,

Sabrina

         

Vivid Congratulations!

Hi there!

I am back this week with one more card using a patterned background by Hero Arts (Flower Dot Pattern). I have made several cards with this same background stamp and same basic technique, each resulting in different looks.  You can view my previous posts for photos and descriptions (Heartfelt Thanks, Happy Thanksgiving).  This time, I heat embossed a background panel in silver and then colored the image with Ranger Distress Re-Inker without blotting or spritzing with water. Once the panel dried, I used alcohol ink on the red portions to deepen the color (the red re-inker did not appear as vibrant as the blue and green after initial application). I had trouble placing a sentiment on this one since the background is so ornate. I opted to heat emboss a script sentiment onto vellum with a backing strip of paper to aid in adhering it to the panel. That’s it!  Thanks for checking in.

Stay inspired,

Sabrina

Below are the other cards that I created with the same Hero Arts background stamp (Flower Dot Pattern).


                    

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello! 

I have another Thanksgiving Card to share.  This design features a Hero Arts background stamp called Flower Dot Pattern that I used in a design shared in an earlier post (see Heartfelt Thanks). This time I stamped and heat embossed the background image with clear embossing powder before sponging the entire panel with Distress Ink giving it a more subtle look than the previous design (in Heartfelt Thanks). I used another metal leaf die cut as the focal point (see my previous posts to see other leaf cards: Autumn Glory and Fall Thank You) and a heat embossed Hero Arts sentiment as a finishing touch. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stay inspired,

Sabrina

Heartfelt Thanks

Hello!  I am here this week with a couple of cards that I made using an August Hero Arts sketch and a Hero Arts background stamp. I heat embossed the stamped background image with white embossing powder before coloring the design with two colors of Ranger Distress Re-Inkers. I spritzed the panel with water and blotted to soften the colors. I then cut the panel in half to create two cards. I added die cut butterflies (cut from metal using Stampin’ Up! and My Favorite Things dies) to one card and I added a large sentiment on the second card using the same basic sketch.  That’s all for now. Thanks so much for looking!

Stay inspired,

Sabrina

Butterflies were die cut from metal.

Here is a close up shot of the butterflies:

Below is the Hero Arts sketch for a contest that I submitted my designs to on Aug. 22, 2012:

Purple Haze

Hi there!

I recently tried a technique called “water stamping” that was featured on the Splitcoast Stampers website and I just couldn’t stop at one (see Fall Thank You for my other creation with a water stamped background). I’ve had a lot of fun trying out different kinds and colors of inks with the technique. Below is a card that I created using the Hero Arts Zig Zag backgrounder stamp on a panel that I made with a purple ink gradient (sponged as well as direct to paper application of Stampin’ Up! and Distress Inks). I’m not certain of the maker of the sentiment stamp but it is a wood-mounted stamp that was likely on clearance at one of the local craft stores. I absolutely love using the dollar or bargain stamps whenever I see ones that I like. This one was appealing to me because of its size and the pretty script. Well, that’s it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stay inspired,

Sabrina

Closer view of the water stamped background.

*This design was submitted to a Hero Arts contest on Aug. 22, 2012.