New Year, New Challenge (Blog): Beyond The Blue

 New Year, New Challenge (Blog)! 

I have been crafting with some new Facebook friends for a few months now (thank you, Pandemic), and, under the guidance and tutoring of @understandblue (Lydia Fiedler), we've all been discovering the wide world of mixed media papercrafting techniques.  The new techniques and new friends are a powerful combo--and the results often pop up in my cardmaking.  

Enter this:  Beyond the Blue--a papercrafting techniques weekly challenge blog, where a few of us will try out one of Lydia's techniques that are mostly demo'd in one of her many YouTube videos, and we'll post our results, in order to inspire you to try out that mixed media craze.  As our fearless leader, Lee is choosing the techniques, and we're trying them on, one at a time.  

We hope you'll try these techniques, too and link them to our new challenge blog--anything goes and definitely, definitely Use. Your.  Stash!  My fellow design team members are all Understand Blue followers, and I hope you'll follow them, too!  

Looking forward to seeing what you create, and we'll all be "showing some love" to your linked creations.  

How I made it:  Today's new technique is to use your gel plate or gel press (same, same)  with something most of us have in our cardmaking stash:  dye reinkers, embossing ink (like Versamark) reinkers, and stencils.  Lydia's instructional video is linked in the challenge blog.  The card above is my favorite result--so far!

What I used:  The reinkers were a combo of things in my stash, the stencil is a leafy bordered 6X6 from Simon Says Stamp, and the die cut is a set called Botanic Images from Mama Elephant (that I coveted, bought, and never used...until now!). And the gel plate measures 6X6 The bits below the card are to show you that I've used EVERY little bit of the print I made--those scraps are all that's left!--and also peeking out beneath the card and scarps is a second print I pulled that uses the stenciled image in reverse.  I'll use that in another card, or maybe in my art journal. 

I hope you'll check out the rest of my friends' creations when you go to our challenge blog.  Most of all, I hope you'll try this technique for yoursel, and please post your creations!

We'll be back next week with a new technique--and a new challenge!

Thanks for stopping by,

Essie

Use Those Gel Press Prints!

 

I struggle a bit with backgrounds (I may have mentioned this previously) but with gel press prints, I have a ready supply of interesting colors, patterns and even depth and shine to use as card backgrounds.  Today, instead of focusing on one of those backgrounds, I've used my gel press prints for die cuts the clean and simple 5X7 inch card you see above.  

Method and Chat:  Using a gel press is easy and relatively inexpensive. The only real equipment you need is a gel press, a brayer, copy paper (yes, the stuff you use in your computer), and some pigment. For the card above, I used Golden Open acrylic paints, but  I've also used dye inks, pigment inks, distress inks, alcohol inks, and watercolor (so there's almost certainly something in your stash that works).  Understand Blue has great gel press videos on You Tube - if you're interested in good tips and techniques and videos, I've linked you to her playlist. 

I've made some pretty successful prints (meaning: just what I wanted!).  Here are three I like:

 I've also had some failures (meaning:  not what I was aiming for....cue sad horn music, mwah, mwaaaah, mwaaaaaaah).

And that's where today's card originates--with this gel press failure:

This print was just NOT pleasing to me--the cake impression is blurry, and the gifts didn't work out at all, but I did like the colors.  I decided to salvage the print because of those happy, saturated colors--they look like a party to me.  

First, I pasted the copy paper print onto a thin piece of card stock (65#, the inexpensive kind) to give me enough body to be able to die cut the page.  Next, I grabbed the (Hero Arts) cake die I used to make the impression you see above and die cut the cake from a colorful part of that same failed print.  

I grabbed a (My Favorite Things) sentiment die, and cut it out twice from a second (similar) failed print, which I'd also (first) pasted to lightweight card stock.  Tip:  The glue needs to be FULLY dry before you die cut...ask me how I know!

Next:  I aligned and die cut the sentiment out of white cardstock, and carefully pieced in (inlaid) the gel press letters.  I put the cake on a wobbler and placed it to the right of the sentiment.  Done.  I get wobblers from Art Impressions. I think they not only elevate the piece cake to give the card some texture/interest, but I really like the whimsy of that cake kind of wobbling about.  

And that's it--I'd love to hear what you think of the card and whether you've entered the gel press craze!  

Thanks so much for stopping by, 

Essie
 

Beveled Foiling--New technique!

I'm kind of a youtube crafting addict--almost everything I know about card making I learned on weekend mornings, watching those youtube videos with my daughter, while we ate breakfast and marveled at techniques, products, and all of those beautiful cards!

After watching hundreds (maybe thousands) of those videos, I've made one of my own.  It's a technique video I made after a friend got my holiday card and asked "How did you do it?"

So, here's the card:  

...and the part that is a new technique is the beveled foiling background that shows the black cardstock behind the foiling and stenciling.  

Here's the foiled, stenciled background before it "grew up" into that card for Lydia: 

I hope you can see that there's height for the snowflake--that's what really gives that beveled look to the piece!

Materials I used:  

1. Super shiny card stock (several different kinds work)
2. Heat transfer foil (although Glimmer Foil works, too!),
3. Foil transfer gel (and a couple of other gels work as well!), 
4. Stencils
5. A foiling machine (mine is a Heidi Swapp Minc machine, and since that's the only one I own, I can't make any claims about whether others will produce a similar result).  

Here's a collage of my results--I created these beautiful foil pieces, with raised stenciling and beveled edges that allow the cardstock underneath to show through.

I've been able to repeat the process--and can't wait for the weekend when I can experiment some more!  

 

Especially if you're a foiling fan, I'd love to see what you make! Your comments kind of make my day.

And as all those youtube videos say at the end, "please like, share, and subscribe." 

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Essie

Hope

Although starting a cardmaking blog as a New Year's resolution is hardly a novel idea, I'm hopeful that it's an idea I can actually make good on in 2021!

As I move into 2021, I'll try to post my cards not only on Instagram (see me there @escards) and Facebook (you can friend me there, I'm Essie Cards), but also here.  When I have some techniques to show you, I may really go out on a limb and make a little youtube video.  Just because it's a good year to try new things, to start over, and to stretch our way into whatever our brave new world will look like.

That overwhelming feeling--of hopefulness--has made its presence known in the cards I've been making in the last week.  I've been playing with cards to send my friends and family in the new year that are all about hope and brighter tomorrows.  Here are three, all using the December 2020 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit*, which is, as ever, unique, beautiful, and timely.  I hope you enjoy them.  

I hope you'll drop by again--it will help to keep me honest, so that I can keep my little New Year's resolution! 

Thanks for visiting!

Essie

*I have not been compensated or sponsored by any company mentioned in this post.  I like to make cards, and am simply happy to share the materials and products I enjoy.