Monday, July 15, 2013

Summer Card Class II, Week 2, Day 1 Post

I am back for another quick post. I am posting my homework today rather then tomorrow because it was a very quick card to do.



For this card, I used the colors from Week 2 and sketch number 3. I also utilized some stamping "tricks" that Jennifer McGuire taught in her video. I never thought of using the back of stamps to make circles OR to go around my craft room and find items to use to stamp with, like the top of a marker. She also made her card into a window card but since I did that yesterday, I chose not to do that.


I made the sketch my own, as I often do when I use sketches, by adding more circles throughout the card. The original sketch had the card being a horizontal card and only the circle design on the left. I chose to flip it and stamp the elements in more of a diagonal from the top left to the bottom right.


I would have loved to put beads inside the sequins like Jennifer McGuire did in the video but I need to get some new glossy accents before I do so. I am tired of fighting with my mono adhesive glue!! (which I know some people really like. I just cannot seem to make it work for me.)


I also stamped the inside with some alternate sentiments. If I have time, I like to match the insides with the outsides.



What I learned from today's class:

  • I need to start thinking outside the box in terms of what I stamp with and how I use my supplies. All three teachers used their supplies in alternate ways or went the extra mile to "jazz" things up.
  • I have gotten to be lazy. I just need to play with my stuff more often and view the process as more important then the outcome. That is hard for me!!
Thank you for looking!! I appreciate you stopping by!

Nora

Card Supplies:




Summer Card Class II-Day 5

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!! I didn't do a whole lot but I was able to work on my cards for Day 5 of the card class. I chose alternate color scheme #4 to create my cards. I had to tweak the shades a bit since I don't own a mint green but I included at least four of the colors plus a little white. I also used Kristina Werner's technique in her video. I very rarely ever copy a technique directly but I liked how she made her card so I thought I would give it a try. I had to make two sympathy cards for two different people so I decided to use my homework as a place to create them. The first thing I did was to die cut a bunch of the flowers and leaves out of white card stock. I then stamped my images using Papertrey Ink's Rosie Posie stamp set. To create the leaves, I used my Sour Apple Stamp Pad from My Favorite Things. I inked up the leaves and then stamped off some of the ink and then stamped on the die cut. It have the leaves a mottled look.


After I stamped all my images, I went back in with re-inkers to paint some details on my images. I LOVE how it came out but it was very labor intensive. I need to get the coordinating detail stamp for this set to make my life easier!!



This is my first card that I created. I decided to use one a foam adhesive to pop one of the roses up on the yellow flower to give the card a little bit of dimension.


I would have made two gray cards had I had more of the patterned paper. I think this is perfect for a sympathy card!!


 The second card I created was pink and I stamped the sentiment in gray to get the 4 colors in.


 As with the gray card, I used foam adhesive to add dimension. However, I chose to use it on both flowers instead of just one. I think I like this look better.




I did create half of another card using the cut out technique but it came out terrible so I will not be posting it.

Things I learned from Day 5 of the class:


  • Kristina's video made this technique look easy. I, however, found it very labor intensive with all the different steps. I did make it harder on myself by watercoloring the flowers, I know. I LOVE how it came out, though and think if I did this again, I would make a ton and do it in steps.
  • Using glue is not my friend!! Yup, I am glue impaired. I like tape runners or my ATG gun. For some reason, no matter what I use, I always squeeze too much out and it goes everywhere. This project was no different!! I spent time getting glue off my plastic with a glue eraser.
I am off to look at what this Monday's class will bring. Thank you for stopping by to see my projects!!

Nora

Supplies:

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Summer Card Class Homework Day 4

I think the homework for day 4 of the Summer Card Class II was one of the hardest that I have had to ever do in a creative class. The challenge was to make a card in 10 minutes. I have never created ANYTHING in 10 minutes. If I need a quick card and I don't have it in my stash, I buy it! I take way too long to plan out my creations-which is one of my problems-and even when I plan something out, I get a better idea and change it half way through.

The first thing I did to prepare for this assignment was to take out everything I was going to need for the challenge. I had so much out that everything was strewn across my work space. I should have taken a photo of it but the mess stressed me out so bad that I just couldn't.

To start with, I decided to use lemon tart card stock as my background piece and went from there. I had pulled out various yellow scraps of patterned paper last night, which were still on my desk, and I knew that I wanted one paper in particular on this card. I then just went for it, not second guessing anything and HURRIED!!!



I was actually feeling sick to my stomach at the end because I didn't think I was going to make it. To be truthful, I went a little over the time. Shshsh!! It actually took me 10 minutes, 10 seconds!! That was because I had to die cut the word balloon twice due to a stamping error. It always happens when I am in a rush so I should have cut out two to begin with!!


So this is what I learned from today's class:


  • If I do this challenge again, I will do it very differently. Instead of die cutting things from scratch, I would pull out my huge box of "extras" that I have die cut in the past and start from there. 
  • Before I start a project like this, I will CLEAN OFF MY DESK!! I think this was part of the problem. I had too much there-mostly from my late night last night and I need a clean work space.
  • For challenges like this, clean and simple is the way to go.

Well, that is all for today unless I get inspired again. Thank you all for stopping by. Have a great Thursday!!

Nora

Supplies: