Friendship

You’re in my Thoughts & Prayers

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This is day three of seven projects re-purposing leftover workshop kits.  The only thing this card has in common with the first sample is color and a floral motif.  Wow, I love how it turned out.  When I made this I thought it was lovely, but didn’t have a special someone to give it to. Sad to say that now I do.  I do love having somewhere to express sincere thoughts and feelings. This will be perfect.

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The card front was stamped with the huge image from Rose Wonder.  The small flower image is also from the same set and I used it plenty all around.  I then sponged color lightly over all of the images.  I wanted soft color not exact or even water coloring.  The color almost glows. Then I ran it through the big shot with the elegant dots embossing folder.  The look was stunning.  I nearly left the rest of the decoration off.  It was lovely enough to be a one layer card.  But I kept on and dressed it up some more.

The doily was sponged with sweet sugarplum to match perfectly, love that option.  I crumpled it up some to offer more texture.  I was surprised on how many flowers I got out of that little piece of glimmer paper in the kit.  Careful use of specialty paper sure does make it last.  I staged the doily and sentiment tag before putting down all of those flowers.  There was a nice spot for everything if I do say so myself, and I do.

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Everything was sponged and sponged some more.  It put everything in a soft focus look which lends itself to a card like this.  I didn’t want any harsh lines.  I don’t always re-create a project, but I can see myself making this one again.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Love You More

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You know when you plan, prepare and get all ready?  And then suddenly everything gets in the way and it seems your work was in vain?  That was this morning.  However, I am trying to get it sorted out and keep my commitment to myself and have fun doing it.  How do you do that? Just keep smiling and pushing forward.  Twelve hours later, here is the blog project I had all ready.  Technology isn’t always my friend, but I want it to be.

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I gave myself a challenge to create seven projects from my leftover workshop project kits.  The goal is to use the materials provided and make it look different than the original.  This one was hard to reinvent because of the designer series paper.  Kind of had to stick to the pear thing, but I still managed a bit of a twist.  The stamping is definitely different as well as this fun and funky burlap ribbon.  I like it, but it is kind of hard to work with.

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This project was relatively simple, and even more lovely.   Creating something new out of something old can be very rewarding.  Cleaning up my desk has actually been kind of fun. Enjoy the next several days as I share more of my tidying up.

Hope you had a creative day!  Mind was more frustrating than creative, but still satisfying.

Moana

Don’t Quit Your Day Dream

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Glimmer paper makes everything look better.  How fun!  These projects were part of this last weekends workshop and the ladies really enjoyed making one.  Good thing we worked with the glimmer paper from this years sale-a-bration because it ran out and they would have missed out completely.  So glad I could share a little at least.

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Pretty straightforward cards here.  A few layers, some stamping and a delicate little bow. I helped out the ladies by pre-diecutting their leaves.  Folks get a bit frustrated waiting to die cut or emboss their work, so I try to make it a bit easier.  Maybe one day I will add a second Big Shot, maybe.

The sweet sugarplum glimmer paper may be gone, but the blushing bride is part of the annual catalog, so I can make more of these.  I am thinking about a thank you card gift set and this might just be the thing, with a different sentiment of course.  I think yes.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

A Perfect Day

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It is kind of ironic that I created this card last Thursday evening for Friday’s blog post. Then I entered into a series of hectic, not perfect days at all.  So, here it is five days later.  Today can still be that perfect day though, right?

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I usually am not into realistic photo paper, but this designer series pack has some really nice pieces in it.  This one especially. It looks really dimensional to me and I know it isn’t. It did create a lovely background though, and is the inspiration behind the card, literally.

I went with the country feel and scattered flowers all around the sentiment.  That was stamped, die cut and layered up a bit.  Those stitched shapes framelits are cool.  I debated turning the sentiment into a wall hanging with brads and linen thread, but knew I wanted to use burlap ribbon, so I left it alone.

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The pearls were so fun to place.  I usually don’t use the largest ones that often, or so many, but this card called for it.  I might have to make an envelope for this one, I don’t think it will fit, or very well.  Works for me!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Blooms & Wishes Gone Wild

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Using a stamp set different than intended can lead to some lovely results.  The main image here is a flower base and the sentiment does come from the same set.  However, when you change it up some, and maybe create a silly creature instead, that same sentiment remains tender, but also very silly.  That kind of sums me up I guess.

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The background took some time, and I nearly tossed it when I was sure it was wrecked. Since I make myself walk away sometimes and return with a new perspective, I kept on. The colors came together nicely and I wish I could repeat it.  Sadly, I think this will be a one of a kind for sure.

The flower creature was stamped in black, leaving plenty of room for those little legs. He got a heavy brushing with gold wink of stella and a couple of google eyes.  I tried a mouth, kind of, but let it go.  It will just have to remain a mystery.

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The inside got some echo stamping with a smaller flower from the same set and that was all it needed. What an adorable card if I do say so myself, and I do.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Golden Garden in Bloom

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Distracted, distracted, distracted.  That would be my theme for the last several days. Sometimes we complain when we get stuck in a run, other times we stress out looking for that comfortable rut.  I think mine was on another planet all together.  Still looking, but getting closer for sure.  This lovely project has waited on my desk for four days to be shared. Worth it though, it is so pretty.

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I sat down, picked out five different colors and began a water color background. That has to be one of my favorite activities, just making soft blending colors.  Almost soothing. When it was dried I added the huge floral stamp from the garden in bloom set. Some images were stamped full strength and others stamped off once. I wasn’t quite happy there, so I took it up a notch. I have these awesome guilding flakes that give a really cool embossed look. You brush on glue from a pen, set them on the glue and swirl a stipple brush over that to get rid of the excess.  This time I brushed the glue directly on the stamp, stamped a glue image and then put the flakes on.  It worked out so great!  Can’t wait to do it again.

The tag was simply created with water color paper.  I stamped the image, rounded the corners and sponged the edges.  It was a bit stark so I took a light wash of color right over the top.  It blurred the sentiment a bit, but not too much.  A touch of ribbon on the side anchored with metallic thread and I was ready to go.

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The inside got a bit of echo stamping of course. I nearly always put that in place.  It just ties it all together so nicely.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Nailed It!

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How about a tiny tool kit for a gift bag?  These tool framelits are so fantastic, they really just make me giggle. This set is a little more elegant than others, but I still found myself playing with them before I put them in place.  I realized this photo makes it look like it could be a card, but it is a gift bag made from half a sheet of cardstock.  The tools were die cut from a piece of water color paper that had been painted with several ink colors and some liquid metal colors as well.  Love that look!

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I tried to keep the whole hexagon theme going on here and it turned out nice. The paper is so great it speaks for itself.  What a great set of paper, really.  This piece is foiled and heavier than the others.  After I die cut the large hexagon piece, using a die from the same set, I embossed it for another layer of dimension.  The sentiment background was cut from another piece from the same set.  The classic label punch worked pretty great for the actual sentiment and kind of nestled as well.

A bit of ribbon for the handle was all it took.  I was trying to give it the look of a bucket handle.  Not sure if that happened, but it looked pretty good. The large hexagon was placed before the tools, raised up on a couple of dimensionals.  Then I just started wedging the tools in place and squished some tombo glue underneath to keep them in place.  Fun!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Thanks For Always Building Me Up

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I love tiny things, also terribly over sized things, but tiny things are my favorite.  Die cutting these tiny tools, painting them, and placing them in a tiny jar really made me giggle. Making a masculine card usually doesn’t elicit giggles, but this one sure did.

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The tools were stamped on water color paper, painted and then die cut.  I tried to keep the tools in color scheme similar to real ones which was really kind of boring.  The screwdriver is my favorite. The tiny screws and nuts are so adorable though.  I used foil paper for those and thought they looked great. They all got a bit of sponging with soft suede to kind of grunge them up a bit.

The background paper got a light water coloring with the same colors I painted the tools with, sponged as well and then I ran it through the big shot using the hexagon dynamic texture embossing folder.  So very cool, love that folder.

The jar was stamped on water color paper and lightly painted with a very light blue.  I then die cut it as well as a piece of velum card stock.  Some of the screws and nuts were glued to the bottom and the tools placed on as well.  I glued the velum jar over the top to make the glass look happen.  I hid some adhesive under the tag, allowed some to show on the screws at the bottom, then reinforced the top wrapping it in gold metallic thread. Good deal!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Kudos

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When you have a little more time than usual to create, things get really fun.  Being home all week due to evacuation stress hasn’t been relaxing of course, but this does help so much. This vulture makes me laugh, a lot, right ahead of that tiny fly.  Seriously, who doesn’t need a fly stamp in their stash.  I have a toilet paper one along with a plunger.  I will use those another time.

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I know I should be more precise with layering like this, but I usually just wing it.  The rocks and grass went down first and I eyeballed the post and it worked out.  Made me happy.  I did try to mask part of the sign to give my vulture claws a spot to be, but then forgot about the post top.  To be honest, it all worked out really well.  Then I got a bunch of distress inks out and played and played.  I hit the point when you have to stop and felt satisfied.

The card front was just placed single layer on top of some early espresso cardstock and I didn’t even put one extra thing on top.  Not my easiest task to accomplish that is for sure. Now I just have to decide who needs this card.  Not everyone likes being called an old buzzard, but it really makes me laugh.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Tasty Trucks

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Let’s taco ’bout how awesome you are!  What a great sentiment to use, right?  This adorable stamp set has many little food options to decorate with, hot dogs, cup cakes, ice cream cones, and pancakes.  They all fit in with this little food truck that can be decorated all kinds of ways.  And no, that is not designer paper, I stamped all those little tacos and gave them some color too.  It didn’t take long, but they are super fun.

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The truck made me giggle a bit, even more than the tacos.  My oldest daughter is all about the puns and today she needed a pick me up.  This is it.  Life isn’t always fun, but cards sure can be.  This one especially.

I stamped everything, followed that up with coloring in water color pencils and blended everything in super quick with an aqua painter.  How fun and easy!  Coloring the truck took longer just because I had some color choices to make, not much else though.  Simple and silly is the theme for today and I couldn’t be more pleased.  I think I will spend some more time at my desk making silly cards.  What a great way to spend the afternoon.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

You’re My Person

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Doesn’t this guy just make you smile?  I really can’t get enough of him.  My current favorites are directly between this fuzzy monster and the fluffy headed chicken from the set Hey Chick.  For all of the elegant floral creations I surround myself in, when I need a smile I go directly to whimsy.  And I guess the odd kind.  Works for me!

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This was actually made for my husband for Valentine’s Day.  I spent plenty of time here for sure.  I masked off the rounded tummy outline on the stamp and stamped him in the lower portion of the paper.  The frame is 8 x 10, so you can see how much larger this is than my traditional greeting card pieces.  I wanted to create the radiating feeling of love and almost a heart image.  Not bad if you ask me.  But, I couldn’t leave it too smooth, so I moved into distressing the inks further with a water brush for those cool water lines and additional droplets of water all over the place.  This was not intended to be super in line and perfect, very loose indeed.

Hope you have a creative day!

Moana

Enjoy Your Special Day

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

With all of the crazy flood problems and evacuation orders in our area (Northern California), writing this blog almost seemed silly.  But, instead of constantly worrying, I thought I would try to do something a bit more productive.  This project was actually for Saturday, but I never seem to be able to get a blog in on workshop day.  Just a bit much for a Saturday morning I think.  So here you go!

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The ladies sure did love making these.  I was kind and did the die cutting for them, but that was just so the big shot would be available for the hot air balloon birthday card.  That was blogged the other day, and they loved it too!  I know how to challenge them, make them a bit crazy, and help them have a wonderful creative time.

This project idea came from another Stampin’Up! demonstrator, who got it from one of her friends.  Either way, Dawn’s Stamping Thoughts is the inspiration behind this project.  She used different colors and the white wink of stella covering the entire dragonfly, so only a tiny touch different. I added a bit of inside stamping.

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It looks so much more complicated than in really is.  The back piece of the dragonfly was die cut from whisper white and the detailed overlay from basic black.  They were glued together and the sections were colored in with the brush end of the marker.  I then went over all of the sections with gold wink of stella.  How easy is that!  It is so beautiful in person. I tried to get an angled photo just right to show off the shimmer, but it is so hard to capture those tiny little glimmers.  You really have to try it out.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

We Might as Well Dance

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When things get crazy it always helps me to have a creative outlet. I think the theme of my projects this last weeks speaks volumes.  Good thing I have a way to share that really brings me joy as well as peace.  Just yummy.

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This is my kind of card.  Lots of layers, a bit of interest, a touch of water color and a lovely sentiment.  Not to mention wonderful designer series paper as a background. This one has to be a workshop project for sure.  So great!

The layers were simple and all of the corners rounded. I even found tag framelits that would also carry the rounded corner.  The card base was cut normally measuring 4 1/4 x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″.  There is an additional score to fold the front back on itself perfectly in half.  That half folded front became the base for the decorative front to be place.  A little different, but not too much.

The water color pencils don’t come in all of the classic ink colors just yet, but the colors I chose match really well.  I used bermuda bay, daffodil delight, pacific point and calypso coral.  It worked out fantastic.  Light coloring and even lighter water coloring with the aqua painter.

To complete it I wrapped some of this years Sale-a-bration free ribbon.  Metallic ribbon often is a bit stiff and not fun to work with.  Not this, I love how soft and pliable it is. I would love it if this became a regular product carried in the annual catalog.  Fingers crossed!

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Truly a wonderful project today.  I couldn’t be more pleased, hope you enjoyed and better yet, try one out for yourself!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Everything Will Be OK

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Where did yesterday go?  Well, just about everywhere, and it was a good kind of crazy.  I did create this little duo for yesterday, but really didn’t have time to sit down and share it. Oh well, it will work for today as well.

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I had begun with a totally different card in mind, totally.  It wasn’t working, so here we are. The designer series paper was the only original idea that stayed put, so that became my focus.  The urban underground set is so cool.  I used one side for the card and the other to decorate the matching bag.

The stamp duo is from a free Sale-a-bration set called Designer Tee.  It actually has ten stamps, cool!  The problem came when I decided on the stamps actually.  They were too small to be by themselves and the paper wouldn’t lend my go to floral options.  It took longer for me to get it together.  But it got there!

I love embossing folders, but sometimes I forget myself.  When embossing velum card stock I use a lower tab on my big shot base, but forgot.  It embossed so deep there were some actual tears along part of the pattern.  They got put to work in making the tag look a bit more creative. I will have to remember that.

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I also do love to use one half of a sentiment on the card while placing the other on a gift bag. It really makes for a nice gift.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Special Reason

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Opening new product is so much fun.  This is a stamp and framelit bundle I bought from the spring Stampin’Up! catalog, and I love it.  I had a tag sitting on my work station trying to inspire me, and I went to this set.  Fresh eyes are hard to come by sometimes.  The tag had some colors that I would not have put together myself, or I thought, because I had made that tag!  Silly me.

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Either way, this is what I came up with.  I stamped my background paper using the two floral images from the Special Reason set and then sponged with sweet sugarplum to fill in the spaces some.  The flowers were stamped off once before hitting the background to soften the colors.

I made a die cut from each of the ink colors in coordinating card stock to become the background for my sentiment.  How lovely.  Instead of wrapping ribbon around the card, which is what I love to do, I only made a sweet little bow from ruched ribbon and attached it with a glue dot.  I wanted the ribbon, but not the distraction it would have caused with too much of it.  A very nice balance.

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The inside got a little stamping, as always, to finish it off.  I like this project so much, I think it will become the second project for my class on Saturday.  The ladies love to make their own background paper.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Wishing You Brighter Days to Come

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Life isn’t always fun, often more discouraging.  Those around us need a pick me up now and again.  A special someone needs this, along with a red umbrella I think.

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So many people have been stamping and coloring on craft paper giving a really unique look. I wanted to try a different tone.  Chocolate chip cardstock seemed like a challenge enough. And it was, for sure.  Silver encore ink really helped bring some diversity to the layers though. The background piece was embossed with the falling petals folder and hi-lighted with silver ink.  At first I started with just a sponge dauber but wanted more ink to show. The aqua painter did the trick.  I just sponged the ink pad onto the top of the ink lid and used that for the pallet.  Quick brushstrokes along the petals gave plenty of dimension.

I stamped the woman in black stazon then colored her with water color pencils.  I made sure I liked the look of the colors on this dark paper.  The red pencil looked more orange on the paper, so I went with melon mambo.  It definitely looked more red that way.  Her dress was done in white and yellow and brushed again with wink of stella.  That made her dress really pop.  I went back over with the black pencil to define the contour lines better, they got lost in the white.

Plenty of sponging with silver to give the clouded rain look.  I love how it turned out.  The ribbon is actually tip top taupe striped, but it looked great next to the chocolate chip and definitely took on a darker tone.  Wonderful!

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I think my card ladies would enjoy trying this card out.  This coming Saturday is workshop, this could end up being the first project.

Have a creative day!

Moana

I Hope You Feel Appreciated

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I don’t think I will ever find too many places to stamp this awesome chicken, ever.  There are two other adorable chickens and a little egg too, but this guy rocks!  So here he is peepin’ in a little window to say hello.  Too adorable.

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For a very simple card, I sure did use a lot of different products.  Really though, it went together quite fast.  The card base became a one layer card.  I stamped with white stazon onto the card base using the hardwood stamp.  So cool.  It gave me a subtle woodgrain look that was just right.  I die cut the window out of the card base and again out of whisper white. I glued those two windows together so when I nested them back into the opening, the white one would layer up just ever so slightly.

I backed the window with velum to create the ‘glass’.  I traced the window pane openings on my inside piece of cardstock so I knew where to stamp the trees and chicken.  They got a little ink and a little water color pencil activity and then I glued them in place.  I could have left them on the inside back of the card, but I knew I wanted to cover up the back of the window and have plenty of space to write to my friend.  So I adhered it to the inside top flap of the card and put another blank piece down on the inside back.  Then I had double the space to write and my window stuff all covered up.  Total win!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Thanks For Being You

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What a perfect way to say thank you, for just being you.  A great compliment anyone would love to receive, I know I would.  Mixing a project with butterflies and flowers are one of my favorites.  Interesting how even when creating my moods show through.

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I have dipped into the falling in love designer series paper pack so many times since I got it. It really is a lot of fun.  I had put off using this pattern, feeling like I use too many butterflies in my work. When I was a bit fussy though, I went right for it.  The flower stamp and these tiny butterflies and a perfect pairing.

The flower and sentiment come from the Avant-Garden stamp set which is another free one available during this springs Sale-a-bration.  If you are going to buy fun product to work with, you might as well get something free too, right?

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There isn’t anything too complicated here today.  Just a little extra layering.  I even refrained from sponging, but looking at it again I think I would have liked it sponged up. I might have to try it again.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Thanks For the Smile

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I love using stamps and paper in a way that creates a new vision.  This background paper comes from a lovely set of paper called Falling in Love.  This particular sheet is actually an artistic view of glitter.  When paired with this amazing dragon fly stamp, from Dragonfly Dreams, is looks like a shimmery pond and sunset.  Wonderful.

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The dragonfly was stamped three times on the front and once on the inside.  That is it.  I used basic black archival ink to give this strong, rich look.  Awesome!  The same ink was used on velum cardstock for the sentiment.  I used the triple banner punch to make this layered tag and wrapped it with some of the free ribbon I earned from my last Sale-a-bration purchase.  Love that stuff!  I hid my adhesive on the ribbon.  I used glue dots, small, strong and easy to hide.  And there you go!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

First Time I Saw You

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Too adorable for words.  How can you make a masculine card adorable?  Just like this.  The catalog shows this product more in line with Father’s Day, but I seriously couldn’t wait.  I felt like making the die cut pieces and just playing with them, how silly.

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The background paper was stamped with the saw image in delightful dijon in a random but still kind of organized way.  I then layered that piece on a slightly larger piece of coordinating card stock.

The saw and sentiment were stamped on water color paper so I could paint on them without warping.  I used the same delightful dijon on the saw blade and went with a wash of early espresso for the handle.  I did go over the screws on both the saw and the sentiment with gold wink of stella.  Subtle, yet just enough.  You can’t do too much on a masculine card, kind of defeats the purpose.

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I touched each side of the sentiment tag in the ink to give a strong edge and still washed the rest of it in yellow.  It worked out nicely.  I tried to stamp the sentiment in early espresso, but my water coloring over made it too light.  I went back to my standby of black stazon. That is just my favorite!

Have a creative day!

Moana