Colored Dry Embossing

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? I've got a cooler full of frozen neck scarves, so let me know if you need one while you're reading this. I really feel for all of you who have been under the heat dome for days and weeks now and my prayers are with the people of Greece, Canada, and Europe where there are both raging fires and heat.🙏

Group of Seven Cardmakers

This month the Group of Seven Cardmakers turned to 3D embossing folders for fun and Bonnie provided videos and examples for us to try, including sponging, watercoloring, and inkpad swiping. Several beautiful examples and the links to the videos are on the Go7 blog.

I wasn't feeling well earlier this month, so I only made one card, using watercoloring:

If I'm honest, I struggle with adding any sort of color, paint, or ink to my embossing folders or embossed panels. It's just one of those things. Fortunately, I love the look of embossing folders without color! Nevertheless, I'm not a quitter, so I tried watercoloring an e/f again. 

I used a 3D folder from Simon Says and colored the bits with my Ziggies. As in the past, I thought it turned out meh. It sat there for a few days. Thankfully, Hammy came back from his bowling league championship bus tour so I could ask his advice. I'm going to take a pee break here while you get over laughing hysterically as you visualize eggplant-shaped hamsters bowling with those little tiny arms and legs.

After he ran around his wheel for five minutes, looking at the panel from every angle, Hammy saved the day as usual and we ended up deeming the card sendable ~ and that's what counts! I fussy-cut the panel and then outlined the bits with my fine-line pen. To add more interest, I popped it on another embossed panel, but I placed it too far to the right, so I added a strip of Washi tape for balance.

Please check out the amazing cards the other ladies have created using their embossing folders and all the various coloring methods! 

Group of Seven Cardmakers!

Challenges

• HLS Birthday: A/G.
  
• Seize the Birthday: A/G.
  
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: A/G.

Twofer

I made this simple design for the July Rudolph Days Challenge. I missed last month and need to catch up on making Christmas cards. I plan to use this design for batch-making, changing out the stamp. I'm also going to unearth my cache of Christmas pp, which should also work as backgrounds.

I don't have the packaging for this evergreen stamp and die, but it's a favorite. I stamped it twice on the card base and then once separately, so I could die-cut it and use it as a brooch in the upper corner. They're coming back, you know, brooches. The Picture Frame dies are from Waffle Flower.

 

Challenges

• Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers.
  
• Peace on Earth.

~~~

This appeals to my dark sense of humor.

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! As you can tell, I finally feel more like myself again. Thank you all for your ongoing thoughts and prayers. Stay cool and well!

*Life is too short!

You're a Great Friend!

Hello Stamplings!

How's everyone doing out there? I didn't expect to be away so long with this nasty virus, but this nasty life-sucking virus had other plans. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired and now we're just trying to get things done during short spurts of energy, which are few and far between.

In one such spurt, I made a card for the first time in weeks! I went easy on myself and did a simple smooching/painting with acetate to create this:

I can't remember the last time I did smooching with acetate, if ever. There are many videos out there showing this technique. (I used this video from Lisa Arana.) I fluffed my painting out a bit with my Ziggies to give more form to the flowers and leaves. I need a lot more practice with the acetate to target the areas I want painted. 

To start, the image (Framed Anemones from Honey Bee) was heat-embossed in gold. You can see that I was too weak to press down on the whole image. Now you may ask yourself why didn't I just start over and do it again? Well, I'm glad you asked yourself because if you'd asked me, I wouldn't have an answer. Maybe brain fog? Anyway, I shrugged it off and after I smooched the inks on it using the acetate, the whole exploding anemone design started to grow on me. 

Hammy (who has nearly died of boredom while I've been laid up) sprayed pearl mist over the whole panel, trambolined gold schplatters over that, and topped it off with gold bits of bling. The sediment looks popped up, but it is simply two-layers glued on the card. 

Challenges

• Beautiful Blossoms: AG with optional Mood Board.
  
• Triple B: Blooms-Birds-Butterflies.
  
• We Love Stamping: Fabulous Florals, with an AG option.

~~~ 

I didn't make a Christmas card Twofer and I haven't gotten all the way through our vacation photos yet, but here's a fun couple of photos of a baby sunflower that started growing in a flower pot a few weeks ago. One of our neighbors grows a small patch every year so I suspect a squirrel did his little squirrelly thing and this is the result.

And here's our Lantana in bloom. I just love how yellow flowers are allowed inside the pink flower balls and vice versa. Flowers are inclusive and magical.

~~~

Also, do you have a hard time thinking of what to say on the inside of your card? You might have seen the following idea on Facebook. It really made me giggle, so I wanted to share:

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, especially when I've been terrible about visiting you. 

*Life is too short!