Flocked Mother's Day

One of the techniques I couldn't wait to try with this awesome Hero Arts 'Stencil' DesignBlock stamp (besides chalking) was flocking. I love the rich look and texture of the flock. When paired with bold, swirly images like this one, it gives such a dramatic, elegant feel to the card (click to see larger):

This card is for my mom, so I used her favorite color, blue, as the base. After masking my area and then stamping the image in black, I went over it with my Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, section by section, followed by flock. I have yet to find another adhesive (pen or pad) that does a better job of adhering the flock than a plain ol', trusty glue pen (the Zig 2-Way and the Sakura being my faves). And believe me, I've tried them all! ;) Anyway, the "Mom" medallion was stamped and matted, with a row of Gemstones added in a curve to complete the circular design. A small flower was stamped onto the blue paper, flocked, punched, and put up on a pop dot for dimension. An additional sprinkling of Gemstones throughout the flocked image ties it all together.

One thing I realized while making this card, is that I just can't tolerate my Coluzzle any longer! The edges of the card stock seem to snag and curl, even with a fresh blade (which by the way, are becomming harder and harder to find)! I would also like to find a circle cutter that gives the option of cutting mats in 1/16th of an inch increments. Does one such cutter exist? Over all, I just don't like the inconsistent results I've been getting with the Coluzzle and need something different. What kind of circle cutter do you have? What do you like about it, and where can I find it? I'd appreciate any opinions, thanks! :)

And to all the mothers, moms, mommies, mamas, and mums out there... my sincerest wishes to you for a wonderful Mother's Day. May it be filled with all things sweet and special. :) Thanks for stopping by!


SUPPLIES:
Paper - Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, and Soft Sky
Stamps - all Hero Arts
Ink - Memories (black)
Misc - Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Stampendous Fun Flock, Coluzzle, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Hero Arts black Gemstones, circle punch, and pop dots

Kickin' it old school

Boy, you guys are a tough crowd! Just can't cut a girl a break, can ya? ;)


This card (click to see larger) is pretty basic and uses one of the easiest and oldest stamping techniques I've learned: poppin' pastels. I went back to 'Stamping 101' and stamped the main image with VersaMark, then used my Stampin' Pastels and some cotton balls to bring the image to life (I prefer to use cotton balls over daubers or Q-tips because they are less likely to smear the image while applying the chalk). I love this stamp from Hero Arts - it's one of their new DesignBlock background stamps called 'Stencil'. I'm usually drawn to solid, bold images, and this is one I particularly like! And it's amazing how light the wood mount is! Anyway, after chalking, I gave it a quick spray with some fixative, quickly went around the edges of the flowers with my Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, and then dusted the whole thing with Art Institute glitter in Crystal Ultrafine Transparent. It has some amazing sparkle IRL!

This card gave me some serious fits during construction. I cut the background image down into this panel shape, originally going for another layout design, that ended up just not looking right. So to avoid having to start over and stamping and chalking an entire new image, I decided to see if I could make the panel work. After almost an hour of pushing elements around here-n-there, trying this-n-that, I finally cried defeat and decided to just go with this simple, less is more layout. ;)

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a great day. :)


SUPPLIES
Paper: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Regal Rose
Stamps: all Hero Arts
Ink: VersaMark, VersaFine (black)
Misc: Stampin' (Up!) Pastels, cotton balls, Prismacolor Workable Fixative, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Art Institute Crystal Ultrafine Transparent glitter, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Hero Arts Gemstones