This week One Stop Craft Challenge wants cards that are inspired by fireworks. I love the inspirational picture they posted.
However, my card efforts weren't very successful. I wanted to do emboss resist to have bright, colorful snowflake "bursts" and then ink over in black. However, the techniques just didn't work out like I'd hoped.
First I sponged Distress inks onto the card base using a "stencil" of the Stampin' Up! snowflake punch-negative space. Then I used a VersaMark pen to trace the colored flakes so I could emboss with clear embossing powder. Finally, I did direct to paper with Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink over the whole thing. Wiping off the embossed areas to show the colors really just showed that the embossing wasn't good enough.
Then I tried using the stamp with Distress inks and clear embossing powder. This made much more delicate "bursts" and when I sponged on dark inks it didn't get as dark as I'd imagined.
Then I tried sponging on the Distress Inks thru a punched out snowflake negative again. After creating all the colored bursts, I laid the stencil over each one and sponged on Distress embossing ink. I used iridescent embossing powder for this one, but again the dark ink just made it look messy. If anyone has a good idea for how to stamp/ink/emboss bright firework bursts and get the background black, please let me know.
The finished card uses the second try, and I added a sparkly sheer ribbon along with the sentiment.
The current Cute Card Thursday challenge is to do a card with angels or fairies. I have this digital image of a darling little boy fairy, with a pet (or captured?) dragonfly. The uncolored image is by Ina Jane. She's done several darling fairies, and I chose the boy since I have three sons. The image came from www.SweetColoringPages.com, and I did the coloring in PhotoShop Elements. The sentiment is by Gina K Designs. Turns out the challenge closed before I got this posted. Oh, well. He's awful cute anyway.
This card combines The Craft's Meow's November sketch challenge, and last week's Mid-week Throwdown at Operation Write Home (a valentine). This card uses Gina K Designs stamps, and various bits of ribbon scraps I had around.
The challenge for 365 Cards Day 245 is to choose something from your home decor as inspiration for a card. I immediately thought of a print we have in our living room, by Lee Teter, depicting a veteran at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C. The first time I saw this print it grabbed my heart. I wasn't sure I could handle living with it, so didn't
buy it. But the image stuck with me, and a few years later I had
another opportunity to buy the print. So, this is the inspiration for
my forest green sympathy sentiment card.
I did one masculine version, with tan for the
focal point and a leaf border punch, and one more feminine version, with
a pale olive green for the focal point, swiss dot embossing, and a lacy scallop border punch (from Stampin' Up!). The sketch is from the Just Us Girls JUGS #161 challenge.
Another winter card for Joan's Garden and Oozak, using the first November sketch from Viva le Verve. This card uses a Hero Arts image, as well as the color scheme AND dry embossing for their November contest.
The color scheme was a little different - wet cement, soft olive, red royal, soft granite, and tide pool. The olive, red and tide pool (teal) are pretty obvious. The soft granite is the grey mat that has been embossed with a Cuttlebug snowflakes folder. The olive oval is also dry embossed, using a Stampin' Up! folder. The wet cement color is the body of the house (clapboards). The rest of the image was colored with Copic Markers, and then I added white flocking to the image where snow is indicated. The wet cement color just didn't work for snow. LOL!
This week One Stop Craft Challenge wants cards that are inspired by fireworks. I love the inspirational picture they posted. 
Then I tried using the stamp with Distress inks and clear embossing powder. This made much more delicate "bursts" and when I sponged on dark inks it didn't get as dark as I'd imagined. 
Then I tried sponging on the Distress Inks thru a punched out snowflake negative again. After creating all the colored bursts, I laid the stencil over each one and sponged on Distress embossing ink. I used iridescent embossing powder for this one, but again the dark ink just made it look messy. If anyone has a good idea for how to stamp/ink/emboss bright firework bursts and get the background black, please let me know. 
