BPM/IBFS - A Sequined Background!

Hi, friends!

I hope that everyone is having a great summer!  Mine has been great so far.  I've been able to enjoy some time off while also keeping up with my crafting time.  Speaking of summer, today's card is a celebration of it featuring another one of the Rick St. Dennis bear stamps.  Who doesn't love spending some time at the beach?  A little fun in the sun is good for the soul - even if you're a bear!  My inspiration for the card was a picture of the bear on the beach being given to say hello to a friend.  What sets this card apart from others is that the card panel background is completely made up of sequins.  It was the first time that I've tried this and I am really happy with the results.  What do you think?

Here's what I used to create it:

• Beach Costume Bear by Rick St Dennis Line Art Rubber Stamp
• Special Day CLEAR Sentiments Flowers Stamp Set designed by Pam Bray 
• A2 Kraft card base
• 3.25" x 5" Light Turquoise card panel
• 2.5" x 4" White card panel
• Sequins . . . lots and lots of sequins!

 Here's how I made it:

• Adhered turquoise card panel to card base with double sided tape and stamped the sentiment at the top.
• Stamped the bear onto the smaller white card panel and colored it with alcohol markers, pastel gel pens, and glitter gels pens.
• Starting at the bottom of the card, glued sequins down to the card base and worked my way up to the top: used cream, brown, and gold sequins for the sand and rocks; turquoise sequins for the ocean; light blue sequins for the sky; silver sequins for a couple of clouds; and yellow sequins for the sun.
• Adhered the smaller panel to the card; angled the smaller panel to give it a more relaxed, whimsical feel.

I love how the sequined backgrounds almost mimics a mosaic type of look!  It's also nice that some of them are a little more flat and others are a little more shiny to break it up.  I am definitely going to try this technique again!

That's it for this post.  I hope that you continue to enjoy your summer.

Until next time . . . be well!

BPM/IBFS - A Bearable Birthday!

Hello, friends!

Welcome back to Paper Play.  Do you ever find yourself needing a quick birthday card and not having the right one in your stash?  It's nice to be able to fall back on something to help save you time when that happens - and that's the focus of today's post.  Blank Page Muse has a great digital download kit, It's Your Party, that will all will you to create a really nice handmade card.  It has a variety of papers, ephemera, greetings, and more.  I chose a paper that I really liked and paired it with one of Rick St. Dennis' adorable bear stamps.  The result is a card that is certain to make someone smile!

Here's what I used to create it:

• It's Your Party Birthday Printable Papers, Bookmarks Ephemera for Junk Journals Cardmaking and more designed by Pam Bray Designs
• Birthday Bear with Cupcake Hat Line Art Rubber Stamp by Rick St Dennis 
• Special Day CLEAR Sentiments Flowers Stamp Set designed by Pam Bray
• A2 sized Light Purple Card Base
• Rainbow Colored Gems
• Glossy Accents Clear Dimensional Medium
• Hampton Art Wobbler Action Spring
  

 Here's how I made it:

• Used the printer app for my printer to reduce the size of the digital background paper for the card (3.75" x 5") and printed it.
• Adhered printed panel to card base with double sided tape, stamped the sentiment, and applied Glossy Accents to the balloons on the panel to give them texture and make them shine.  TIP: use a heat tool on low or a hair dryer to speed up the drying time of the glossy accents!
  

• Stamped the bear onto white card stock; colored the image with a mix of alcohol markers, pastel gel pens, and glitter gel pens; fussy cut the image.
• Adhered the bear to the card with a Wobbler Action Spring, which gives the bear some motion when tapped.
• Placed two rows of rainbow gems under the sentiment.

Such a quick way to make a colorful and fun birthday card!

I hope you enjoyed this post and my tips for making a beautiful card in no time at all.  Let me know what you think!  I'll be sharing another card featuring a Rick St. Dennis bear in my next post.  Stay tuned!

Until then . . . be well!
 

BPM/IBFS - May You Never Be Too Old

Hi there, crafty friends!

Thanks for stopping by Paper Play today!  The holiday season is in full swing and Christmas magic is in the air.  Today's post is all about that.  I have always loved the saying, "May you never be too old to search the skies on Christmas Eve."  It's so nostalgic for me - it brings back Christmas memories from my childhood and the good times that we had as a family.  Not to sound too corny, but those really were different, and in some ways much nicer times: spending time with family, the excitement and anticipation of Santa Claus visiting, and the magic of the season as seen through a child's eyes.

The card that I'm sharing today on the Blank Page Muse blog today captures that magic.  It has a vintage feel to it thanks to the wonderful rubber stamps designed and sold by Blank Page Muse.

Here's what I used to make it:

• Country Lane Cottage Line Art Rubber Stamp by Rick St Dennis
• Vintage Santa & Sleigh from Winter Wonderland Stamp Set
• Beyond the Border Christmas Set 1 CLEAR Stamps designed by Pam Bray
• May You Never be too Told to Search the Sky on Christmas Eve sentiment stamp from Bella Carta
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain Stormy Skies
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Mica Winter Frost
• Tim Holtz Distress Grit Paste Opaque
• Altenew Pure White Ink Spray
• Altenew Evergreen Crisp Dye Ink
• Lawn Fawn Yeti White Pigment Ink
  
• Ohuhu Alcohol Markers

Here's how I made it:

• Stamped the village in black ink onto a horizontal 4.5"x6.5" white card panel
• Made a stamping mask by stamping the village onto masking paper, fussy cut it out, and placed it over the stamped image on the card panel.
• Sprayed card panel with Stormy Skies spray ink and then with Winter Frost Spray Mica
• Used a heat tool to dry the panel.
• Sprayed some white ink spray onto my glass craft surface, spritzed it with water, and used a paint brush to add some "snow flakes" to the sky.
• Removed the stamping mask from the village and colored it with alcohol markers.
• Inked one of the trees from the Beyond the Border Christmas stamp set with Evergreen ink and stamped it next to the village; repeated this two more times for a total of three trees.
• Used a pallet tool to add opaque grit paste to add snow to the ground around the village and trees.
• Used a paint brush to add some opaque grit paste to roof tops and bushes.

• Stamped Santa & sleigh onto a piece of white card stock; colored the image with alcohol markers and fussy cut it out with detail scissors.
• Stamped the sentiment with white pigment ink in the upper left hand corner of card panel and dried it with a heat tool.
• Added double sided foam tape strips to the back of the Santa & sleigh image and adhered it to the sky in the card panel.

• Adhered double sided tape to the back of card panel and centered it onto a 5"x7" navy blue card base.

These stamps are gorgeous and work so well together!  I love this country cottage stamp and think that I'll be creating seasonal cards to show life in this village.

My hope is that this card invokes some wonderful Christmas memories for you and helps you believe in the magic of Santa Claus this holiday season.  I'd love to hear from you if it did!  Please consider sharing a comment with a favorite Christmas memory, favorite Christmas movie, or whatever you may like to share.

Thanks again for spending some time with me on Paper Play today.  Until next time . . . be well!