It's official!!

Well, it's official now. I'm a blogger. I didn't ever plan on starting a blog, but there are some awesome tools and techniques that I'd like to share with you. So.....here it is....my first blog home!! I'm still learning the ropes, so please be patient.



I'd like to start by sharing a card I made recently with Rubbernecker Stamps.
All the supplies you need to make this card can be found here:
Rubbernecker Stamp Company
The card is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4; one of my favorite sizes to work with. I cut the base to shape and added the other layers as follows: Purely Pomegranate 5 x5, Certainly celery 4 3/4 x 4 3/4, then glossy 4 5/8 x 4 5/8.

I used the polished stone technique on the glossy with Adirondack alcohol inks: oregano and copper. I also used the blending solution.
All you do is take a cotton ball, put about 5 drops of the oregano on it and 1 drop of the copper. I added about 1 -2 drops of the blending solution to lighten it up and help it spread better on the glossy paper. Then just tap around the glossy until you get the look you want. You might have to add more ink and solution depending on the size of the space you are trying to cover. Rubbernecker carries an ink blending tool that makes this much easier, but I don't have that yet.

The hinges are covered with the same inks, and attached them both with hot glue. I distressed the brads by rubbing sandpaper over them. The binding is
1 1/2 x 1 1/2 and is wrapped around the edge of the card to give it a "book" look. I need to take this time to tell you about these awesome hinges!! They're grungeboard. You can bend it, scrunch it, twist it and it still retains its shape. Because of that, it's flexible and moves with the card. It also holds color extremely well and is textured. It's quite awesome stuff and can be found at www.rubbernecker.com Tim Holtz gives an awesome tutorial on how to use it at that website. Check it out!!

The flower was first stamped on watercolor paper with versamark pigment ink and embossed with black embossing powder. I then watercolored it with Adirondack reinkers: Butterscotch, Wild Plum and Bottle. I used an aqua pen to color the image. Finally I added a light layer of glue with the Sakura Quickie Glue Pen and sprinkled ultrafine crystal glitter over the stamen.

The background panel and flower are both lifted with dimensionals, and the petals are all cut into the center to give them the look of movement.

I hope this helps explain a bit about how this card was made. This is my first tutorial...Yikes!!

Recipie: Stamps - Rubbernecker - Bold floral
Inks - Versamark, Adirondack: Butterscotch, Wild Plum, Bottle, Adirondack Alcohol ink: oregano and copper, blending solution
Paper: Black, su purely pomegranate, certainly celery, glossy white, watercolor
Accessories: Grungeboard, brads, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Ultrafine glitter, aqua pen, sanding block, dimensional tape