December Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique. We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas. This month we’re going to stamp our own background for a unique customized look.  Hopefully, we’ll inspire you to try one yourself.  If you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing
• February-So Sketchy
• March-no hop this month
• April-Stamp Set Showdown
• May-World of Watercolor
• June-Basic Card Folds
• July-Bleaching Your Card
• August-World of Watercolor
• September-Inlaid & Lifted Die Cuts
• October-Waterfall Cards
• November-Masking Magic

Our amazing sponsor this month is Claudia Henderson of Close to My Heart

Please take a moment to check out her store here.

And the awesome prize this month is:

We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today.  Since this is our last A Year Of Card Techniques hop and the holiday season is just around the corner, we are going to give you some extra time to hop!  The winner will be announced on Saturday, December 30, 2017 on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check her blog on Sunday. The winner will have until January 6, 2018 to claim their prize.  If you would like to be notified by email, please leave your email address in the comments.

You should have arrived here from Debbie's blog, Paws to Scrap.  If you're visiting here first, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss a thing and increase your chances of winning by commenting on each blog.

This was fun to make. I heat embossed the background with gold embossing powder, then rubbed gold pan pastel over the entire piece. (I think it's time to replace my gold embossing powder. It's kind of speckled!)


After doing this card for the hop, I decided to make a dozen more for my Christmas card stash this year. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's very shiny - red glitter paper mats for the center panel and sentiment, and red glitter on all the berries.


I'm not sure what I'll do with this card - depending on what is stamped inside, I think it could become a birthday, thank you, sympathy, thinking of you or just hello.


Have you ever had an idea that looked GREAT in your mind, but when it was finished, not so much? This gray and yellow card is one of those. But gotta be real, right? So I'm including it even though I'm not terribly fond of it!! :-)


This is a color combination that I don't use too often, but I think I like it!

Now you’re off to visit with Amanda at My Thoughts and Scraps. Hope you had fun this year!

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost:

Claudia
Debbie
Wilma
Amanda
Jodie

November Technique Blog Hop

NOVEMBER - Masking Magic

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique. We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

This month we’re going to explore masking techniques.  There are so many variations of masking, it would be difficult to list them all here.  But, since pictures speak louder than words, we’ll let our team show you the masking techniques they opted to try. Hopefully, we’ll inspire you to try one yourself.  If you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing
• February-So Sketchy
• March-no hop this month
• April-Stamp Set Showdown
• May-World of Watercolor
• June-Basic Card Folds
• July-Bleaching Your Card
• August-World of Watercolor
• September-Inlaid & Lifted Die Cuts
• October-Waterfall Cards

Our amazing sponsor this month is Jodie Park of Close to My Heart. Please take a moment to check out her store here. The awesome prize this month is:

We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today. The winner will be announced on Sunday, November 26, 2017 on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check her blog on Sunday. The winner will have until December 14, 2017, to claim his or her prize.

You should have arrived here from Kim's blog, Katydid Cards.  If you're visiting here first, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss a thing and increase your chances of winning by commenting on each blog.

Now, let's get on with it!!

Masking is a simple technique used to give the impression of depth. You can mask with pretty much anything...copy paper, post-it notes, scraps of card stock or washi tape, etc., and you can mask stamped images or shapes. This is a card I stamped recently for a friend in Alaska. The llama and skunk were stamped first, then masked so the mountains could appear "behind" them. Then the closer mountains were also masked and the farther mountains added. 

 

Here's how I put this one together:

For small images I use post-it notes for the masks, but for larger or more complex images, I like using this removable tape. Stamp your front image(s) on cardstock and also on the removable tape, then cut out the shapes from the tape. 

Place the mask over the stamped image to protect it.

Next, stamp images that will be in the background.

It's going to look pretty messy with all the layers of masks and ink...

But the scene is revealed when the masks are removed.

I colored this with Copic markers, then cut it out with my Scan 'n' Cut. (The insides of a couple of clouds disappeared in the process, but I wasn't about to start all over again!!)

For this card I used Fun Stampers Journey sets Creature Comforts (SS-0308), No Prob-LLAMA (SS-0481), and Climbing Mountains (SS-0322).

I really like using masking when I make simple, one-layer cards. It seems to take the stamping up a notch. For this card, I just taped off both sides and sponged color down the center of the card before stamping.


Here the yellow bird was stamped first, then masked. The other two were stamped over the mask, then all I had to do was color.


I made this one quite awhile ago - the masking is subtle, just torn paper held in place at different angles with a little color sponged over the edge to create a background.


I hope you enjoyed these samples - and I know you'll love Amanda's as well when you hop over to her blog next. Hope you had fun and thanks for stopping by.  See you next month with another great technique!

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost along the way:

Sharon
Kim
Wilma
Amanda
Jodie
Debbie
Claudia

October Technique Blog Hop

Waterfall Cards

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique. We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

There’s just something about interactive cards!  And Waterfall Cards are among the best interactive card techniques.  They look intricate, though, so we’ll let you in on any hints we uncover along the way.   Hopefully, we’ll inspire you to try one for yourself.

If you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing
• February-So Sketchy
• March-no hop this month
• April-Stamp Set Showdown
• May-World of Watercolor
• June-Basic Card Folds
• July-Bleaching Your Card
• August-World of Watercolor
• September-Inlaid & Lifted Die Cuts

This month our amazing sponsor is none other than  Bugaboo Stamps

Please take a moment to check out their store here, their blog here and their Facebook page here.

And the awesome prize this month is a $12.00 gift code to the store (worth approximately four digi images).

We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today.  The winner will be announced on Sunday, October 29, 2017, on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check her blog on Sunday.  If you would prefer to be notified if you win, please leave your email address in the comments and someone will contact you.  The winner will have until November 16, 2017, to claim their prize.

You should have arrived here from Claudia Henderson's blog, Crafting with a View. If you're visiting here first, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss a thing and increase your chances of winning by commenting on each blog.

Now, here are the cards I made this month. I had never tried this technique before, so it was a lot of fun. There are pictures of each card "opened" lower down in this post.

This was my first attempt at a waterfall card. I kept it fairly simple while learning. As you can see, I kind of misjudged the bottom image that says "Happy Thanksgiving!" The images are from the Bountiful Thanks stamp set in the current Fun Stampers Journey mini catalog. I colored them with watercolor pencils. I'm thinking about attaching a ribbon "pull" to the tab at the bottom so people will know how to "open" the waterfall. 

I felt like I was getting the hang of it with this next one, and even stamped on the pull tab. A tip - figure out how much is going to show, and either stamp above or below, because AGAIN my "hello" got chopped off a bit. (I'm a slow learner!) These images are from the "Pretty Birds" ATS set.

This is my last card this month. I generally don't do "vintage" style cards, so wanted to move a bit out of my comfort zone, and I actually like it a lot! I used "Day Fern" and "Vintage Notes" for the background, and "Embroidered Rose" for the images, set off with accents from the gorgeous Mystic Romance Prints paper. I did a more detailed tutorial for this card here.

 And finally, here are some pictures that show a just little of the waterfall action of these cards. They were a bit intimidating at first, but turned out to be pretty simple and a lot of fun to make!
  

Now you’re off to visit with Jearise at Lorby's World. I hope you're having fun this month - see you in November with another technique!

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost:

Sharon
Claudia
Wilma
Jearise
Lisa
Jodie
Card A Day Challenge Team
Debbie
Amanda
   

September Technique Blog Hop

SEPTEMBER - Inlaid & Lifted Die-cutting Cards

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique. We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

Die Cuts are certainly popular in the crafting world and there are so many from which to choose. But they can be expensive, so we’re looking at additional ways in which we can use them; specifically, inlaid and lifted die cuts.   Hopefully, we’ll inspire you to try an idea or two that we’ve shared with you.

If you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing

February-So Sketchy

March-no hop this month

April-Stamp Set Showdown

May-World of Watercolor

June-Basic Card Folds

July-Bleaching Your Card

August-Stamping on Patterned Paper

We have an amazing sponsor this month, Katydid Cards:

Please take a moment to check out Kim's Katydid Cards blog or Facebook page. Her awesome prize this month is:We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today. The winner will be announced on Sunday, September 24, 2017, on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check Sharon's blog on Sunday. The winner will have until October 14, 2017, to claim the prize.

You should have arrived here from Kim's blog, Katydid Cards. If you're visiting here first, you might want to start at the beginning to increase your chances of winning by commenting on each blog.

August Technique Blog Hop

AUGUST - Stamping on Patterned Paper

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique. We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

We all love our stamp sets and we all love our patterned paper. Well, this month we’re combining the two by stamping ON patterned paper for some unique projects. It will be fun to see what stamps and papers our team members decide to pair together. And if you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing

February-So Sketchy

March-no hop this month

April-Stamp Set Showdown

May-World of Watercolor

June-Basic Card Folds

July-Bleaching Your Card

Our amazing sponsor this month is Card a Day Challenge Blog.

Please take a moment to check out the CADC blog here.
And... there are TWO awesome prizes this month:

We  really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the  blogs in the hop today.   The winner will be announced on Sunday,  August 27, 2017 on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to go back and check her blog to see if you are the winner!  If you would prefer to be notified, please leave your email address in the comments and someone will contact you if you win. The winner will have until September 9, 2017 to claim their prize.  

So...let's get to it! You should have arrived here from Kim's blog, Katydid Cards. If you're visiting  here first, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss a thing and increase your chances of winning by commenting on  each blog.

Here are my cards this month:

This was my first try. Maybe the pattern on this paper from the Designers' Choice Prints pack was a bit too large for the size of the stamps, but I like the colors together. This is a new stamp set called "Hello Fall" that just came out in the Fun Stampers Journey Holidays catalog.

I've hoarded this gorgeous piece of paper for a very long time, because I love the colors and the soft, kind of cloudy look of it. I decided my new "Dandelion Wishes" set was perfect for it. (Not so sure about the silver, though.)

I over-stamped this piece of yellow patterned paper with the retired FSJ Star Burst background stamp in orange - then didn't know what to do with it! Die cuts and punches to the rescue, though. I also got to play with my brand new toy, a Brother Scan 'n' Cut 250, to cut out the sentiment.  It's an older model, but I'm absolutely in love with it. I still love my Silhouette Cameo too, :-), but this gives me a really quick way to cut out things that don't have dies.

I love to paper-piece, so this card just seemed natural. Who can resist a llama in brown flowery pajamas! The little corner embellishment is also punched & die-cut from patterned paper scraps. This set of 12 stamps is called "No Prob-llama", has a matching set of 6 dies and some really cute sayings.

Now you’re off to visit with Jearise at Lorby's World. Hope you had fun....see you next month with another technique!