How To Make a Mermaid Valentine Card With Stencils

Little did I know that when I posted this Mermaid Valentine card using Funfare Stencils that the technique I used to make the ocean and waves would interest so many people! This project was posted 4 years ago. I loved the process and am thrilled to share it for you again. It was a long and artsy process so settle in for a LIST of photos. 

~ Oceans of Love ~

Paper Supplies in Inches:

Heavy cardstock for card, 4x6

Medium to heavy weight cardstock for image base, 3.5 x 5.5

Scraps of paper for tearing. 7x3

Tear your paper scrap in half. Tear slowly and with lots of "dips".

Don't feel silly practicing this!

The torn paper is the key to the wave look.

Coloring Products:

 White embossing powder (Zing), white pigment ink (Clearsnap), and three colors of mist.

I used a mint green (Heidi Swapp), a teal (Tattered Angels)

and London Blue (Dylusions).

For tools you will need sponges or cotton rounds and a pointed stick (mine is for applying rubons).

Adhere the torn paper strip with the strait edge 1/4 of the way from the top. Apply the adhesive just to the ends so that no debris remains on the image base.

Mist the sponge with the lightest color and spread it on the base in a circular motion. The color should cover all the paper beneath the torn strip.

Repeat the process with the medium color but do not cover the entire paper.

Sprinkle the darkest color onto the base by removing the spritzer and tapping the tube. Be sure to cover the top of the base with a scrap paper to catch oops drips. Leave the drops on the paper about 10 seconds before spreading them in a circular motion.



 The base needs to be completely dry before begin this next step.

Using the pigment ink daub the base right at the edge of the torn paper. The width of the ink strip will be the width of the white caps on the waves.



Dust the ink with embossing powder. Tap off the extra and use a paintbrush to remove any unwanted portions. Use the stick to scrape circular lines in the powder. Heat to set. 

Place the mermaid stencil over the ocean and apply ink.

Dust with embossing powder, heat to set.



To complete my mermaid I used Clearsnap ink and WOW embossing powder. The Sentiment is MME and the sticker is Heidi Swapp. All papers used are Craft Smith.

I can't wait to see this technique showing up on projects!

Be sure to share.

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Make A Congratulations Card That Shines

Today's project is a Congratulations card that shines. Rinea Foiled Paper and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist work together to give the dragon a spark of personality. Best Glue Ever from ScraPerfect works behind the scenes to keep things secure. 

~ Congratulations ~

 The dragon medallion is a stamped and embossed image. I painted it with Glimmer Mist to give it a water color effect. I used a corrugated circular die to cut out the dragon.

The base of this card is a 4"x 6" piece of emerald Rinea Foiled Paper. On top of that I placed a slightly smaller piece of black cardstock with the word Congratulations cut out from it with a die.

 I used Best Glue Ever to go all around the word. To get in the small spaces with out over doing it I used a No-Clog Writing Cap.

The dragon medallion is centered on a strip of gold foiled paper with scant amounts of BGE.

After letting the glue set a minute I added thin strips of Best Glue Ever to the back of the gold foiled paper and centered it below the sentiment. 

 I spread a thin layer of BGE on the card blank to hold the base down and the card was finished.

 Best Glue Ever adheres to smooth surfaces without wrinkling the paper. The No-Clog Writing Cap helps me get glue in all the nooks and crannies. ScraPerfect products make this card a success.

Supplies:

Cardstock:Recollections
Patterned Paper:Fancy Pants 

Foiled Paper:Rinea

Water Colors:Tattered Angels

Embossing Powder:Wow
Metal Dies:Peachy Cheap, Echo Park
Stamp:Stash

Adhesive:Best Glue Ever

Scrap On!

~Charity Hotrum~

How To Create Drama With Only Two Colors

Today's project is a clean and simple layout that creates drama with only two colors. I started with a 12x12 of black cardstock and added depth and interest with stamps and heat embossing. Only the Peachy Cheap wood shapes of clouds and gears relieve the monochrome color scheme.

~ Split Rock Lighthouse ~

This month the color prompt from White With 1 is:

 This vacation photo of a mist shrouded lighthouse is perfect for the color scheme. Adding nautical themed stamps sets it off strikingly. The mermaid above and the nautilus below hold the photo aloft.

 The looped rope stamp is heat embossed with black ink onto white cardstock. I fussy cut the rope and used a die inside the loops. The looped rope boarder is glued over the matted photo. Twine strung through the loops is tied over a silver brad. 

 Wood gear shapes are scattered around the nautilus shell. Two small brads hold the twine below the photo.

 The ocean waves were stamped, heat embossed, then fussy cut. I popped them up with craft foam and layered them below the ship. A length of twine runs from the ship to the anchor below the waves. Wood cloud shapes from Peachy Cheap complete the scene.

Stop by the White...With 1 blog to see the design teams beautiful samples.

Scrap On!

~Charity Hotrum~

Mixed Media Delight With Poetry and Paint

Today's project is a mixed media delight of poetry and paint. I used an assortment of stencils with paint, mists, and embossing powder to prepare the background. Gear, star, and wing die-cuts add interest while rub-on alphas convey the poem.

~ What if you fly? ~

 The gears and stars, applied in three layers, are cut from scraps. Single and double layer foam dots give the cluster depth.

 Jade/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper and Turquoise/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper from Rinea are layered for the photo mat. 

 The wings are cut from Ebony Starstruck Foiled Paper and Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper, both from Rinea.

The poem, by Erin Hanson was written about 5 years ago and has sparked a host of illustrations. This is my rendition of the piece, and most likely will not be my last.

 This page is my entry Scrap The Boys Mood Board Challenge:

Supplies:
Patterned Paper:49 and Market, Blue Fern Studios

Foiled Paper:Rinea

Mist, Paint:Tattered Angles
Embossing Powder:WOW
Pigment Ink:Color Box

Stencil:Stencil Girl Products, The Crafters Workshop
Dies:Momenta, Spellbinders, Echo Park
Rub-On Alpha:Making Memories

Scrap On!

~charity hotrum~

How To Make Something Beautiful With Simple Diecuts

This beautiful card with simple diecuts is so easy to learn how to make. This month Rinea is teaming up with Pink and Main! Stop by the online shop to see the lovely stamps and dies. I snatched up the Hot Air Balloons immediately.

~ Adventure ~

This stamp set comes with matching dies so the card practically made itself. 

 I chose Rinea's Glossy Blush foiled paper. I cut balloons in all 3 sizes, then I used Rinea Ghost Ink to add graphics to my balloons.

 The top of the large balloon has a ruffled cloud shape. I used it as a stencil to add clouds with pigment ink.

 I heat set the pigment ink till it was mostly dry. Then I dusted on embossing powder and gave the clouds a golden glow.

I assembled the card and added the sentiment from the stamp set. Quick, classy, and versatile. Stop by the Rinea shop to see more colors of Foiled paper and make your own flashy cards.

Supplies:
Cardstock:Craftsmith
Pigment Ink:Clearsnap
Embossing Powder:WoW

Stamps and Dies:Pink and Main

Foiled Paper and Ghost Ink:Rinea 

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Make Epic ATC's With Beautiful and Unique Foiled Paper

Today I am sharing how to make epic ATC's with Foiled Paper that is beautiful and unique. My theme for June's ATC A Day Challenge was Ocean. It quickly deteriorated into a chaos of unrelated ideas. Before it did I made this pair of ATC's with Rinea Foiled Paper accents.

~ Ocean ATC's ~

 Making the Fish ATC was fairly simple. First I punched the center then the opposite corners with detailed designs. I stamped and embossed fish then lined the card with Red Glossy Foiled Paper.

 I used the amazing glue from ScraPerfect to hold the slippery foiled paper onto the cardstock. The No-Clog Writing Cap helped me place very thin lines and dots of the Best Glue Ever exactly where I wanted them.

 The Ocean Waves ATC took several applications of product. First I painted stripes of watercolors onto the cards. Over that I stamped and then embossed layers of waves. The final step was a frame, die cut from Silver Glossy Foiled Paper.

Together, this pair of ATC's show how simple it is to add a bit of glow to any project using Rinea Foiled Paper!

Supplies:

Cardstock:Warehouse Paper Co.
Embossing Powder:Wow Embossing Powder
Ink:Clear Snap
Stamps:Inkadinkado

Punches:Kreaxions
Foiled Paper:Rinea
Watercolors:Close To My Heart

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Make A Stunning Page Quick and Easy With Embossing

Today I have a new tutorial that shows you how to make a stunning page the quick and easy way. This process lets clear Embossing Powder steal the show with a Mixed Media twist. It's all the hard work of a messy fingers project without the drying time.

~ Special Event ~

My weekend in Tacoma with this dear friend was an exceptional experience. We relaxed, saw the sights, and reconnected over plenty of coffee. Blue Fern Studios new collection Spring Parade shares the emotions of that time with its pastel tones and garden images. These tags with the titles Special Event and Small Moments pulled it all together.

The sketch I used for this page has a background heart shape. I wanted to incorporate a Mixed Media element but didn't want to take the time for the layers to dry. I decided to put my Wow Embossing Powder to work and it was CLEARLY a success.

I made this sweet Teddy ATC to illustrate the process I used for the green tone-on-tone heart on my layout.

To begin I cut a heart shape from cardstock and taped it over my purple ATC blank. Over that I placed a stencil with a very open pattern. Finally I dabbed it heavily with clear embossing ink.

 I dusted my ATC with clear Wow Embossing Powder then heat set it.

 I again taped the heart shape over my purple ATC. I dribbled a darker purple mist onto a cotton round then rubbed it across the embossed surface. 

 The mist tinted only the bare paper and wiped off the embossing. The finished product offers a tone-on-tone Mixed Media background. The ATC took mere minutes to produce!

Special Event is my entry for Stuck Sketches June 15th Challenge. Here is the sketch by Laura Whitaker.

Layout Supplies:
Paper:Blue Fern Studio
Flowers:Prima
Flower Centers, Acetate:Glitz Design
Tags, Tickets:Crate Paper
Die Cut Banner:Fancy Pants
Pearls:Close To My Heart
Embossing Folder:Crafter's Companion

Purple Mist:Clear Snap
Stencil:The Crafters Warehouse
Embossing Powder:Wow Embossing

ATC Supplies:
Paper:Close To My Heart

Cardstock:Recollections

Twine:Twinery
Stickers:Echo Park, Bella Blvd
Teddy:ClipartView.com

Stencil:Kite
Embossing Powder:Wow Embossing

Scrap On!

~charity~