Pearlized Iris Card JRC#108

I haven't had a chance to enter a challenge in months. I still don't have a lot of time, but I miss doing challenges, and decided to make one for JustRite Friday Challenge #108 - Sketch.

This week's challenge was a sketch. I think JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners Clear Stamps must be my favorite, because I seem to use it over and over.

For this card, I used lots of layers of Core'dinations pearl CS in white and pale gold. I love the heavy weight of this CS, and the shimmer is beautiful. It was stamped with VersaMark, and embossed with gold EP, then cut and embossed with JustRite's Nested Oval Medallion Labels Dies for the frame, and a Spellbinders oval die for the flower layer.

The frame and the flowers were painted with some watercolors I made from Pearl EX micro pearl. The top photo shows the shimmer of the paints and paper, and the bottom photo shows the detail.

Delicata Golden Glitz was used to shade inside the oval to add more contrast to the flower layer, and both layers, plus the pale gold layer underneath were edged with the same ink, then I used a gold Gellyroll pen to trace inside the oval die.

Next I cut four medallions from Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Pendants, which were shaded while still in the die with more Golden Glitz. These were layered over the background paper, and the medallions were mounted dimensionally on top of that.

Tiny fabric flowers were added to each corner, and liquid Pearls and a bow were added as accents.

Blue Butterfly Card

A few months ago, I made a pink butterfly card using some paper I had stamped and embossed in gold using an old Anna Griffin background stamp I had. I really liked that card, and decided to make a blue one just like it.

The blue paper for the card was made by taking some white moire paper I bought a few years ago at an art supply store, and painting over it with some watercolors I made from two shades of PearlEx. I ran out of sheets of Gold Mirror card, and only have scraps left. The mirror card is really hard to find, and the new owners of the craft store where I bought it are terrible about ordering, so I used some gold gift wrap I bought years ago at a paper mill outlet store for the matting. The butterflies were cut from my scraps of mirror card using Cheery Lynn Exotic Butterflies, then I used those Angel wing things to cut some blue paper for behind the wings. I still hate those angel wing things, and wish they were whole dies instead of half dies though. Usually I have to run them twice through the Grand Calibur to get a whole butterfly. This time, I used lighter weight paper, and folded them, but the bodies came out thinner than the bodies on the filigree butterflies and didn't quite fit. Anyway, after gluing the butterfly layers together, I used a sparkly Gelyroll pen to color the blue in the wings a little bit deeper shade of blue than the background.

The label is from Spellbinders, and is cut and embossed from more scraps of mirror card, then I gold embossed a JustRite stamp on blue paper for the sentiment. This was stamped with VersaMark, and the whole label was mounted dimensionally.

I'm really sorry I haven't been around to visit much lately, it's still pretty busy here.

Gold and White Special Day Card

I thought I had enough nautical cards made up, so I decided to use some new paper I had to make a white and gold card. I finished this one, and started another non-nautical card. Then some women came into the shop and bought all my nautical cards, so it looks like I will have to make more nautical ones when I finish the one I started after I finished this one. I'd rather make flowery cards than nautical ones.

When we went to Rockland a few weeks ago, I stopped at a place in Camden, Maine which sells artist supplies. They had some really interesting paper there, and I got a few packs of assorted handmade papers. The gold and white paper on this card was in one of the packs.

I used white Core'dinations Pearl CS and gold mirror card for the layers, then used JustRite stamps, VersaMark and gold EP for the design. The stamped design was die cut with matching JustRite Spellbinders dies, and painted with watercolors I made from Pearl White PearlEx, and is very pearly and sparkling in person.

When I was holding the die cuts over the card to decide where to put them, it looked kind of plain, so I decided to add a piece of ribbon, then mount the die cuts dimensionally over that.

Gold and Pearl Bouquet

When I made my last gold and pearl card, the pearl flowers looked like mother of pearl, and it was really pretty, so I decided to try another card with gold and pearl flowers. I did these on a pale gold Core'dinations Pearl CS. The flowers don't look quite as much like pearl on this paper as they did the last time. It might be the light, it's really dark today. I don't have window sills, so I propped a plastic container up on the back of the couch and faced the card as much as I could toward the window, but it doesn't really show the shine.

The bouquet was stamped with an Anna Griffin stamp using VersaMark and gold EP, then painted with my Micro Pearl PearlEx paint. The layer behind is White Core'dinations Pearl which I also painted with the PearlEx to give it even more shimmer. Both of these layers were outined with a gold pen, and the flower was mounted dimensionally.

They were matted with more of the pale gold, some gold mirror card, and mounted onto a white pearl card.

I added some half pearls and a small gold bow as accents.

Gold and Pearl Lattice Card

I was looking through my Dresden Paper this morning and decided to use this lattice background for a card. I used my new Yes! paste to attach the lattice and the gold borders around it. I like the paste very much, and think I will be using it a lot!

For stamps, I used four different ones from JustRite. They were stamped with VersaMark, and embossed with Gold EP. I cut and embossed them with matching Spellbinders Dies, then mounted them dimensionally, then decorated everything with Liquid Pearls.

After I added the pearls, the irises needed something, so I painted it with some Micro Pearl PearlEx paint I made. It was still wet when I photographed it, and the paint rippled the paper a bit while it was wet, but it's perfectly flat now.

It's one of those cards I really liked when I finished it.

Chinese Flowers Card

This is another one made from my digital stamps. The background is painted with my Pearl Ex Paints, and looks smoother in real life. The rest is colored with Copics.

The design is matted with gold mirror card and more of gold and teal the paper I bought years ago at a paper mill. The center is one of the Spellbinders Persian Dies, and I added a few teal colored pearls.

We are on our third weekend in a row of big snowstorms, only this week, so far, the power hasn't gone off like it did the last two weekends, so I got two cards made today. Now I need to get the lunch dishes done, and start dinner!

Another Dud Card

I am posting this messed up card anyway to show the Pearl Ex paints I made. Some of them are duo colors I made by mixing more than one color. I also used some Twinkling H2Os and some Lumieri.

I started this card at noon time yesterday. At six pm last night, I got the image mounted onto green Core'dinations paper. I was very late starting dinner, but my husband was busy too and said he didn't care if we ate late. Feeling guilty anyway, I was trying to hurry. That's when everything started going wrong. I used two brand new gold pens. One was Krylon, the other was an extra fine Pentouch. I think the gold metallic pens we buy in this area must be old ones, because it seems like every time I buy a new one around here, they don't work very well. When I buy them in New York, they work.

Any way, they go from very dry, to blobbing. I ran the fine one inside the die on the darker green layer, and got a big blob in one corner. Then I ran the Krylon one around the outside and it was dry and messed up and I had to keep trying to make it work. Since the border between the two gold lines was messy, I painted dark green H2Os between them to hide it.

The other messy thing was when I was finished and added a few Liquid Pearls. I didn't like the arrangement, and kept adding more. They got messier and messier. I should have stopped working on this card as soon as I finished cutting it out, and waited until I had more time. Then it might have come out nicer.

I started this card with a digital stamp I made from this Phoenix. (I'll add a link to the book later, we are going off the island today). Then I colored it using a mix of Pearl Ex, Twinkling H2Os and Lumieri paint. The darkest green at the top of the wings and the smaller touches of orange on the flower are Lumieri, the medium green is the H2Os, and the rest are Pearl Ex. The Pearl Ex ones are the most Pearlescent, and the ones with the greatest color shift, and the Lumieri ones are the ones I like least on this card. I'm also not very happy with the white shades.

After painting it, I was trying to figure out a good shape. I came up with this. Since the CS was a bit warped after painting, I ran it through the Xyron, hoping that it would flatten when I mounted it. It flattened perfectly, so that was one thing I did right.

Then I decided this was the best Spellbinders Grand shape I had for the card. The outside edges reminded me of clouds, which tied in with the Chinese theme of the card.

The smaller layer is Core'dinations, and the card is cut from ordinary white CS, and painted with Pearl Ex Duo Green Yellow inside the die to match the card better.

Anyway, it's a dud, but it was an interesting idea, and I may try something similar later.

Blue and Gold Special Day Card JRC_089

I almost didn't do a card today. I think my mojo went to Florida where it's warm. Then I found this paper stashed away. I bought it at a paper mill, years ago, and forgot about it. It's in a roll like gift wrap, and is embossed gold metallic with turquoise.

I still didn't know what I was going to make, so I decided to mount it on to a 5x7 card and mat it with a matching turqoise paper. I was really careful when I cut it, but when I mounted it, it was a tiny bit crooked on the left, so I took some matching turquoise ribbon, mounted it onto a strip of gold mirror card, and covered it up. :-) Then I glued a strip of gold Dresden Paper on that.

I was trying to figure out what else to do with it, and I remembered that another of my favorite JustRite stamps, Botanical Medallions & Banners, had a border which was similar to the design in the paper. It also had those banner stamps, so it would fit a 5x7 card nicely. It's one of the reasons it's one of my favorites, plus, it had custom dies to match, and coordinates with my other JustRite sets!

I stamped the frame, sentiment and banner onto Core'dinations Pearl CS with VersaMark and embossed it with gold EP. Then I cut the pieces out using JustRite's Nested Oval Medallion Labels Dies and their Vintage Label & Banner Dies.

They were colored with some of the Pearl Ex watercolors I made last week. The color was made using a tiny scoop of Gum Arabic, two scoops of Turquoise, and two scoops of Duo Green Yellow. I painted it darker on the frame, and did a shaded wash on the banner and inside the frame. (The shaded wash inside the frame actually looks smooth in person, but in the photo, it doesn't). It matched the other turquoise perfectly. Then I went around the outside of the die cuts with a Krylon pen, mounted them dimensionally, and added a few Liquid Pearls.

I decided to enter this one into JustRite Friday Challenge #089 - Anything Goes.

Mighty Sea Card Pearl Ex and Twinkling H2Os

I used one of my scenes from yesterday to make this card.

I wanted to keep it simple because there is so much shine, and without embellishments, it could also be used for a masculine card.

The scene and card background are matted with silver mirror card. The background is some shimmery textured card from my stash.

I put another photo below showing how it sparkles with the sun on it. The embossing powder is silver tinsel I've had for years, and the stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs.

Below these is another experiment with Pearl Ex.

This experiment was done on dark green CS.

The sky actually blends better in person. Some of the flowers are done with duo colors, so they change color with the light.

I hope this weekend I can get some more of those jars I mix Pearl Ex in. It would be fun to mix duo colors so the scene would change from spring to fall as you move the card!

More experiments with Pearl Ex and Twinkling H2Os

I've never done much with water colors before, and I still need practice, so these aren't great. I decided to try playing with my paints again today to see if I could make a moonlight scene.

I decided to try the Mighty Sea set from Our Daily Bread Designs for this one. For both experiments I used the same dark blue CS.

For the one I did first, I stamped it with VersaMark and embossed it with silver EP. When I embossed it, I realized that there was too much embossing, and very little room for coloring for what I wanted to do. I decided to try it anyway and see if I could make a "happy mistake" instead of trashing it.

It actually looked kind of interesting when I finished it, and I will probably try to do something with it. I painted grass into some of the places where it was supposed to be sand and rock to give it more color.

For the second one, I stamped it with black VersaFine. Please ignore my funny looking birds. :-D I told you I'm not good with water colors!

Anyway, that one could have come out worse, and it was fun experimenting! I'll probably use that one for something too, since the shimmer makes them quite interesting in person.

Pearl Ex and Twinkling H2Os Painted Card

Today I made paint out of my Pearl Ex and gum arabic. The Liquid gum arabic is really expensive, so I was too cheap to buy it. I finally got the powdered stuff from Jacquard last week when I sent for all that stuff.

On Sunday, when we went off the island, I got a bunch of little clear jars made by Leow Cornell, and during the week I kept mixing a few colors a day until I filled all the jars. I have 38 colors of Pearl Ex, so it took a while. (Now I want all the colors)! I also want more of the little jars, because I want to make some more Duo colors with what I have. It's really fun!

I made small amounts of each color in each jar. They are watercolors, so you let them dry and use them just as you do with twinkling H2Os. If you want to try it, it's one part gum arabic powder to 4 parts Pearl Ex, and just add enough water, (I used a medicine dropper), to mix to a creamy consistency.

I used a Duo Red Blue for the roses, and took a bunch of photographs trying to show how the color changes with the light. The roses are shaded with Twinkling Black Cherry.

The colors I used are a combination of my Pearl Ex paint and Twinkling H2Os. I used Pearl Ex Spring Green for the leaves and shaded them with Twinkling Sweet Alfalfa. There is a dew drop on the leaf, which I used Twinkling Pearl Green on, but on the dark color, it turned very green when dry. I forgot to do it before I took the photographs, but I'm going to put Glossy Accents on it.

The baby's breath is Pearl Ex Micro Pearl.

I stamped an old Stampendous Rose onto wine colored paper with VersaMark, and embossed it with gold before painting.

Please excuse so many bad bad photos. Some were taken in the sunlight, and some were taken after dark. Some with, and some without flash. I was trying to capture how the color changes with the light. The background looks different colors as well, but that doesn't change. It's real color is a deep wine. The roses change from blue to violet to pink, and the leaves from a bluer green to a yellower one.

All the painting is very shimmery.