How to make HOME MADE SHIMMER MIST

plus BACKGROUND & CARD

Scroll to the bottom to see the card!

Hello everyone! I've been having fun making my own "shimmer mist" and thought I'd share this recipe with you today! It's hard to see in the picture, but when you spray this on paper or cardstock, this spray creates a beautiful, shimmering pearl effect after it dries!

YOU WILL NEED:

L.A. Colors Shimmering Loose Eyeshadow (purchased at Dollar Tree)

Warm water

Rubbing Alcohol

Clear Glue

4 ounce spray bottle

Remove sprayer top from bottle. Cut tube so that it will sit 1/8" to 1/4" off the bottom of the bottle (so that the mica powder doesn't clog the tube or sprayer tip).

Add 2 3/4 ounces of warm tap water.

Add 1 ounce of rubbing alcohol.

Add about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp. of clear glue (this helps the mica powder stick to the cardstock).

Add about 1/2 of a bottle of eyeshadow. On a piece of copy paper creased in the middle & opened, tap the upside down eyeshadow container onto the paper.These containers are oddly designed, so you will need to work at this, it will not come out easily. Once you have about 1/2 the bottle on the paper, fold the paper in half at the crease & carefully pour the eyeshadow into your spray bottle.

Put the cap back on and gently swirl the bottle round & round to mix well. DO NOT SHAKE! If you need to, take a swizzle stick to blend the glue at the bottom well.

 

These are the two shimmer mist background pieces I created to use in my card and the 4 shimmer mist sprays I made - purple, gold, pink & blue.

The larger piece is 4.75" x 6.75 inch white text weight paper. I sprayed the pink & gold randomly on this & dried with my heat gun. It is normal for the paper to curl as it dries. You can straighten it with a brayer or a warm iron later, or use as is!

The smaller piece is 4" x 5.25 inch 65# white cardstock. I wanted a distressed look for this piece, so after spraying with pink, gold, purple & blue shimmer mists, I gently crinkled up the CS into a little ball, then straighten out before drying with the heat gun. I thought it was too light the first time, so I repeated the process & I just loved how this one turned out after the second application!

THE CARD!

To make this card, I used a pink 5 x7" card. I attached the light pink shimmer paper, then the smaller multi-color piece on top of that. I added the Anna Griffin Butterfly (Anna's All About Him & Her Die Cuts) with pop dots, then cut the frame from white CS and attached with Zig glue.  Next I added the floral die cuts (All About Him & Her). I cut the "Happy" & "Birthday" from Anna Griffin's Wishful Thinking Dies and attached with Zig Glue. The final step was to add the pearls. This picture just doesn't do the shimmery effect justice!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity! Happy stamping & crafting! Smiles, Laura

QUICK MONOCHROMATIC WEDDING CARD

Hello! Today I'm sharing a quick & easy A2 Wedding Card using the Monochromatic Technique! I've done this card in shades of teal, aqua & white, but you can can select any color range you like!  I used a white A2 card & Co'ordinations 12" cardstock, cut to 5 1/4" x 4" (the teal & white background on the card, so pretty!). Next I cut two white swirlies with Anna Griffin's Fretwork Dies #2 & white scrap cardstock. I attached these to the background with Zig glue, but you could also use spray adhesive.

I used Anna's new Sentiment Stamps & Dies set to create the 3D sentiment. I stamped the swirly design on light teal pearlized cardstock with black pigment ink. Next, I stamped "On Your Wedding Day" with teal dye ink on white CS. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut the gorgeous shapes out with my Big Shot. I used foam tape to attach the two pieces together, then attached to the card. The final step was to attach a sheer white bow in the upper left corner!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

BABY CARD using SPONGED BACKGROUND Technique

Hello again everyone! Sorry this post is late, was out of town longer than I planned, and yesterday was HSN Craft day, so I was glued to the television all day! But I did create this Baby card yesterday! It's using a technique called SPONGED BACKGROUND & it's a great technique when you can't find or don't have just the right cardstock on hand. There's nothing more satisfying than turning a plain white piece of cardstock into a colorful masterpiece!

SPONGED BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE:

You'll need white cardstock (I sponged the front of a 5x7 white card here) & a craft sponge (I cut mine into 6 or 8 triangular shaped pieces, like a pie) &  2 or more dye ink pads (I used a light blue and a light mint green). Gently blot up ink from the blue ink pad with a sponge, then dab & tap  the inked sponge randomly onto the white CS, leaving some white space for the 2nd color of ink. Then, with a clean sponge, do the same with the mint green ink, covering the white areas & dabbing into the blue in random areas. If you need to, go back over this again with the blue sponge, until you achieve the desired look. Finally, sponge the edges with the blue ink.

NOTE: You'll get different inked effects, depending on whether you gently tap or if you apply more pressure or if you rub the ink on a circular motion - have fun playing and experimenting with this!

THIS FRONT OF THIS CARD:

Next I used my Cricut to draw "Hello Baby" with Anna Griffin's Gracious Giftables Digi cartridge bonus content on white CS. I cut it down to 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" with the drawn sentiment centered, then sponged this & a 1 1/2" x 2 1/4" scrap of white CS the same way as the main background. I used Unity Stamp Company's "Just Stinkin Cute Add-on" to stamp the "Congrats on the cute new poop machine" sentiment with blue ink. Finally I hand drew the double stitching on both of these pieces and the card front.

I then randomly stamped the baby bottles on the card front with blue ink. Then I used an edging punch on both sides of a 1 1/2" x 7" strip of navy CS, before stamping stars on it with white pigment ink and attached to left side of card.

I attached buttons on the "Hello Baby" sentiment as shown, then attached to the card front. I used pop dots to attach the "Congrats" sentiment, along with a onsie die cut.

THE INSIDE:

I used Unity's "Just Stinkin Cute" stamp set for the inside phrase & image! The sentiment says "Sh*t just got real! Congratulations!"

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

SYMPATHY CARD IDEA

Today's share is a sympathy card I made using Anna Griffin products. The card base is white A7. I cut a piece of pink textured white core cardstock, embossed with Anna's Jolie Lace folder, then sanded to reveal the white core. I trimmed the bottom with scissors before attaching to the card front.

I made the sentiment with Anna's Chalkboard Sentiment stamps. I used Anna's Pink Pigment Ink Pad to stamp "With Sympathy" & "For the Graduate".  Then I trimmed a 1/8th inch border around the "With Sympathy" and matted on light pink CS, again trimming a 1/8" border around this and attached to the "For the Graduate" sentiment with pop dots. Next I trimmed a 1/8th" border around the graduate sentiment, and matted with light pink, white & light pink again, trimming each layer to 1/8th". I attached the sentiment to the card front about 3/8th" from the left side and 1 5/8th" from the top.

I printed & cut the roses with my Cricut & Anna's Fantastic Flipcards Digital Cartridge (bonus content), then attached to the card front with popdots. The final touch was to add the sheer white ribbon bow at the top of the card!

I won't be able to post again until next week Monday, as I'm out of town this weekend - I'm heading to the Spring Stampede in Sayner WI!!! As always, I hope I've been able to inspire your creativity! Happy Crafting, Smiles, Laura

VINTAGE FLAPPER GIRL CARD

Today's share is a vintage A2 card that I taught in my class last night. It's a really quick & easy card to make. The image & sentiments are retired (TAC image, sentiment??), but you can use any vintage image you have on hand. I stamped both with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on a soft watercolor floral paper (4.75"x3.5") I got at Joann's. I matted this on light mint green CS (5"x3.75") & then pink CS (5.25"x4") before attaching to the cream A2 card front.

I cut the wine bottle & flutes from a leftover piece of watercolor cardstock I made using the Acetate Smack technique (see my post from April 23, 2017 for this technique) & then lightly sponged the die cuts with the Cocoa ink to give added dimension. I glued the flutes onto the card with Zig glue, and attached the wine bottle with pop dots.

The last step was to add the 1" white ribbon bow in the upper left corner to complete the card front. If you wanted to, you could also stamp a small "Happy Birthday" sentiment just under the image between the wine bottle & champagne flute. The inside of the card was stamped with a sentiment that says "IT'S WINE O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE!"

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy crafting, smiles, Laura!

MASCULIINE GOOD LUCK CARD

Hello everyone! Today I'm sharing a masculine card that could be used for a graduation, or for a college-bound student. This card looks complicated, but it's really very easy to make.

CARD BASE:

The A7 card base is black (5x7" when folded in half). With white pigment ink, stamp a background pattern around the edges, then heat set the ink with heat gun. I've used Anna Griffin's Border Stamps diagonally in the picture above.

SHIRT & COLLAR:

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" x 6". Now, at 5/8" from the top of the card, cut in 1" at each side. Gently bend, but do not crisply crease or fold, the two partial strips inward & down to form the collar, as in the picture above.

TIE & COLLAR BUTTONS:

Using Anna Griffin's Embossing Folders for Him, I embossed the tie on red cardstock scrap, cut out with scissors, then used direct-to-paper technique to apply black dye ink to color the stripes on the tie. (Direct-to-paper technique involves gently dragging & tapping your inkpad on the cardstock/paper.) Attach to the center of the card about 3/8" from the top of white shirt with pop dots. Then gently bend 1 side of the collar over, poke hole through corner of collar, tie & back of shirt (I used my Spellbinders Tool-in-One to do this) & fasten with a gold mini-brad. Repeat this process on the other side of the collar.

POCKET:

Emboss the pocket from Anna Griffins "Dad" Folder (same set as above), cut out & attach to shirt with pop dots. Now attach the shirt to the card front, about 1/4" from the top.

EMBELLISHMENTS:

This is the easiest part! I attached die cuts with pop dots from Anna Griffin's "All About Him" set. All you need to do is finish the inside of the card as you see fit! And, Thanks Anna, for making such amazing die cuts, I love them!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

DYE INK MARKER WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

Happy Friday! Today's share uses a technique I call Dye Ink Marker Watercolor Technique - as far as I know, I invented the technique, have never seen anything about this posted anywhere (let me know if I am wrong, please)! It's a variation of Acetate Smack Technique that I discussed here last week.

I used plain old 65# smooth white cardstock (GP - purchased at Walmart in office supplies dept.). I also used my Cricut with a fine point black Cricut marker (notice the marker did not bleed or run when water was added, love these markers!)

After drawing the image (from Anna Griffin's Lace Cards & Embellishment Cricut Cartridge), I colored the image in with Tombow (#533) & Memento ( Grape Jelly, Rosebud, Cantaloupe & Summer Sky) DYE INK MARKERS (not alcohol or pigment).

Now for the cool part! Lay a piece of acetate on top of heat resistant craft mat. Spray/mist the acetate with a good amount of water. Lay your colored image on the misted acetate & wiggle around a little. Blot up excess moisture with paper towel, remove acetate & dry with heat gun! Be careful drying, it will tear easily after being soaked with water!

If the colors turn out too light, add more color to CS where needed & repeat this process until you're happy with it! I had to apply more ink 3 times, but just love the effect! After image is thoroughly dried, apply Stickles glitter glue for that little extra something, then mat & attach to card!

This card is not completely finished yet, I'm waiting on some new dies to arrive, will repost the finished card sometime next week. I'm thinking this will make a FANTABULOUS Mother's Day Card!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

ENCOURAGEMENT CARD

Hello everyone! Today's share is an encouragement card that my students made in class this week! The dark teal & aqua pieces were embossed with Anna Griffin's Summer & Fall Folders (Feathers), and then I sanded the aqua piece (textured CS) to reveal the white core. The feather and sentiment are from a free download from the cardstock pack Fancy Feathers available at http://www.paperwishes.com.

The Clematis Flower was created from an SVGCuts cut file 3D Flowers SVG Kit Part II. I used lavender & green cardstock to cut them with. To learn how to assemble these flowers, watch the video on their site, its a great tutorial!

I attached everything to 5x7" lavender card base and added turquoise bling rhinestones to the upper right corner of the card & the center of the Clematis.

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MASCULINE CARD IDEA

Hello everyone! Today's share is a masculine card I created. I know it's a little out of season, as it looks fall-ish, but what father doesn't like beer and football on Father's Day? I actually made this for my hubby's birthday in October, and yes, I'm way ahead, but I am known to play Christmas music in July while making Christmas cards!!!

This card was really quick and easy to make. The 5x7  card base is dark brown. I embossed a 4.75" x 6.75" piece of barn red textured WHITE CORE cardstock with Anna Griffin's Summer & Fall embossing folders (Chrysanthemum), then gently sanded to reveal the white core before attaching to the card base.

Next, on a 4"x6" piece of plain white cardstock, I stamped blocks with 6 different fall colors of dye ink ( olive, clay, dark brown, light brown, cantaloupe & tangelo), then embossed with Anna's Leaves folder. After embossing, I applied Brilliance Copper ink direct-to paper (the raised areas will pick up this ink beautifully), then sponged in a little plum ink before attaching to card!

The sentiment, beer stein & football were super-easy! Thanks Anna for creating such wonderful die cuts - For The Boys! Just pop dot & attach & the card is done!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! As always, Happy Crafting! Smiles, Laura

ACETATE SMACK TECHNIQUE

using water based dye markers

Today I'm sharing a card made with a technique that I just love. Acetate smack technique produces a stunning watercolor effect on plain white cardstock and is fairly easy to accomplish using a few simple tools:

SUPPLIES

Acetate (you can use a piece that comes with your clear stamps)

White cardstock (3.75 x 5" for an A2 card)

Water based dye ink markers (the brighter/darker, the better)

Water spritzer/mister bottle

Heat resistant mat

Heat gun

Paper towel

TECHNIQUE

Lay the piece of acetate on the heat resistant mat. Choose 3 - 6 marker colors. Scribble the markers on your piece of acetate, then spray with water from your mister bottle, just until the colors start to blend a little. Gently lay your piece of cardstock on the colored, misted acetate, wiggling just a little to the left & right to blend the colors a little more. Blot up excess water with paper towel. Lift cardstock away from acetate, blotting up the excess water & ink. Place cardstock on the heat resistant mat & dry with heat gun This will take a few minutes; it is normal for the cardstock to curl a little!

THE CARD IN THE PHOTO

The marker colors I used to make the background were bright pink, bright yellow, turquoise & medium brown. After drying, I embossed the CS with Anna Griffin's Seashell Cluster Folder (Anna's Summer & Fall Embosssing Folders from HSN). 

Next I used direct to paper technique to apply Brilliance Moonlight White ink to the embossed CS, and dried with the heat gun again. Then I matted this with pink CS & attached to a white A2 card base. The final touches were adding the stamped sentiment & the flowers, which I printed with Anna's Fantastic Flip Digital Cricut Cartridge!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! As always, Happy Crafting! Smiles, Laura 

GIRAFFE NOTE CARD

Happy Friday! Today's share is a Giraffe notecard, in honor of April having her baby! The card base is A2 size in black. I created the background (4"x5 1/4") from tan CS with the Crocodile embossing folder from Anna Griffin's Folders For Him (HSN). After embossing, I sponged it with yellow, terra cotta, medium brown & dark brown inks to create a mottled leather look. I then stamped the giraffe phrase on a small scrap of tan CS, embossed, sponged and matted on black CS, as seen in picture.

The giraffe was first stamped with Terra Cotta ink on tan CS, then with light brown ink. Next, I fussy cut it out and matted on black CS & fussy cut again. With black ink, I stamped the fern image onto green CS & fussy cut these out as well.

Now for the assembly! I attached the background to the base with tape runner, then attached the ferns with tape also. I attached the giraffe with 1 small pop dot behind the head and tape on the bottom, just to give it a dimensional look. Finally, I attached the phrase with pop dots, for added dimension. I attached a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of medium terra cotta CS on the inside to create a lighter surface to write my note on, as the card is black. Of course, you could also use white or gold gel pens to write the note with on the inside, if you choose!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy stamping & crafting, smiles, Laura

FOR MY FRIEND CARD

Hello! Today I'm sharing a card I made largely from scraps of cardstock! I had some 1/2" strips of Anna Griffin orange & teal CS leftover from another project, so I cut them to 5 1/2 inch lengths and attached them to a pink 5x7" card base. Then I fastened a teal ribbon bow to the top of this. Next I took some 3/4" left over strips & die cut them into the little scroll borders at the top & bottom, followed by attaching a white 4" doily atop this.

Then I cut a leftover piece of metallic gold cardstock with my Cricut ( 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" - Anna's Lace Cards & Embellishments - butterfly background) and attached with pop dots on the doily, followed by the banner sentiment "For My Friend'.

I hope you've enjoyed today's share! As always, Happy Crafting! Smiles, Laura

SPRING THINKING OF YOU CARD

Welcome everyone. Today I'm sharing a "Thinking of You" card I made using products from Anna Griffin. This a 5 x7" card when folded & I used a medium spring green color for the base. I then used a piece of DCWV coral colored white core textured CS (5"x7") and embossed it with Anna's Trellis Folders, which I purchased at HSN.com. After embossing, I trimmed with scissors around the scalloped edges, and punched holes in the little circles with a 1/4" hole punch. Then I used a sanding block on the coral embossed piece to reveal the white core. I love this sanding technique, it's a quick and easy way to create a beautiful background.

After attaching the coral background to the green card base, I added white ribbon & die cuts from Anna's "All About Her" die cut package (also from HSN.com). I left the inside blank, as I am using it as a notecard, but you could stamp a phrase & add die cuts to the inside, if you choose to.

I hope to begin posting once a week again, so check back regularly for new card ideas & tips! As always, HAPPY CRAFTING everyone! Smiles, Laura

RACING BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello Everyone! Today I'm sharing a birthday card I made for my father-in-law. It's a 3-step card, for a great template to make a 3-step card, visit Norma's blog at frommycraftroom.blogspot.ca - not only can you find great templates there, but adorable card designs as well!

I used two 6" x 12" pieces of medium royal blue 80# cardstock to make the card base (inside & out).

CARD FRONT: The tree & deer were cut from dies by Cottage Cutz and the road was freehand cut from gray glitter cardstock using scissors. The car & phrase "VROOOOM" were stamped from a set called "Vrooom" by TAC (The Angel Company), then colored in with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers. The "Go Soupy Go" phrase was stamped with "Mini-bet" also by TAC. I attached all the piece with my tape gun, except the car, which was attached with pop-dots.

INSIDE: The "Happy Birthday" phrase on the left was stamped with a TAC set called Vintage Greetings, then colored with alcohol markers. The road was again freehand cut from the same gray glitter cardstock. The flags were stamped from an FSJ set called "Checkered Flags". The above pieces were attached with my tape gun. The car (same as car on front) was attached with pop dots.  "Soupy" was stamped with the TAC mini-bet set, "IS" was stamped with a retired TAC alphabet set.

The hashtag was cut with a die, as was the number "1" over it.  On the right side, I used a new die set by Anna Griffin called "Wishful Thinking" (available on HSN) to cut out all the beautiful pieces of the phrase "Happy 70th Birthday Dad" (cut from silver metallic cardstock).

As always, I hope this card will inspire your creativity! Happy stamping, Laura Kovala Neumann!

PS: Since my last posting I got married! Hence the name change! Happy stamping!