I created a "Man" card without stressing . . . and I do mean stressing . . . about it! As my friends know, I find it hard to make cards for the males in my life. I prefer to make cards which feature flowers, pretty colors and glitz. Frankly, I find man cards are pretty . . . dare I say it . . . boring! (Yup, I dared to say it. hehehe)
Anyway, I made a card for one of my brother-in-law's upcoming birthday and I'm really pleased with it! It's not too fancy but I did "cheat" a little as you'll discover when you read the instructions. Here it is:
First I cut Crumb Cake cardstock 8 1/2" by 5 1/2", and scored it at 4 1/4". Then I layered a piece of Textured Chocolate Chip cardstock cut at 3 3/4" by 5 1/2" on top of it. Then came the cheating part: I used a technique to get a Faux Mother of Pearl look! (There's more explanation of that technique further down the page.) The strip is cut at 1 1/2" by 5 1/2" and is layered on a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock cut at 1 3/4" by 5 1/2". Those two layers are placed approximately 1 3/8" down the Chocolate Chip section.
Now for a little more information on the Faux Mother of Pearl technique. Typically it's done using a light color of ink, such as Stampin' Up's Frost White Shimmer Paint (found on page 203 In the Idea Book & Catalogue [IBC]). However, Kathy showed me how to use Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint to achieve a different look. Here's a close-up of what it . . . kinda . . . looks like. It's hard to get an accurate picture of it, but if you click on the picture it will get larger so you'll get a better look at it. I love it 'cause it looks all gold-shimmery! (Warning: I make up words sometimes! lol)
In order to achieve this look you'll need Glossy White cardstock (page 181 in the IBC), the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and plastic wrap (that's right, the stuff in your kitchen).
(1) Put a small amount of the Shimmer Paint onto a plastic lid (like a used . . . and washed . . . margarine container or foam plate).
(2) Smear the paint around so there won't be too much in one place.
(3) Scrunch up the plastic wrap and dab it into the Shimmer Paint.
(4) Then dab and swirl it onto the Glossy White cardstock, being careful not to cover all the cardstock and dabbing some off the edges.
It should look the the photo below.
Let it dry well.
(5) Then, to achieve the look I used in my card, take a piece of sponge and swirl Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso ink over the cardstock. There's no special recipe for how much of each color you use. It depends on what looks good to you. Start with the lightest color and sponge it in light circles, starting off the edge of the cardstock. Then add the next color, ending with the darkest color.
(6) Finish it by rubbing gently with a paper towel all over the cardstock. That will take the ink off the parts covered with the Shimmer Paint and the beauty of the Faux Mother of Pearl will shine through!
Okay, back to the card . . . I then stamped images from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set (page 237) on Very Vanilla cardstock cut at 2 3/8" by 1 1/8", using Early Espresso ink. I backed them with Old Olive cardstock cut slightly larger than the Very Vanilla pieces. I finished by sponging all the edges with the corresponding ink.
I assembled the card by using Dimensionals (page 206) on the tops and bottoms of the stamped images, thereby popping them up over the Faux Mother of Pearl strip. Then I added the sentiment, taken from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (page 157), stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock with Early Espresso ink and punched out using the Word Window punch (all punches on pages 209 to 213). It's backed with Old Olive cardstock punched out with the Modern Label punch. I sponged both pieces with corresponding ink and popped them up using Dimensionals. I also added two Mini Brads (page 299), 'cause hardware screams "Man" to me! lol
So that's it! I made glittery cardstock but mostly covered it up with the stamped images, so it's not too overpowering for this card. However, a casual comment made by my husband, after he had seen today's card, did lead to me making a fancier one for my mother. I won't explain any more about that right now, but stay tuned for more information. hehehe
Suspenseful hugs, (lol)
Colleen, Kathy's sister
No comments:
Post a Comment