Backgrounds, Backgrounds, and More Backgrounds!

Hi, everyone!

Welcome to the very last post here at Cards by Sybrina. Tomorrow will find me blogging away at Chapter Three.

A couple of folks have asked why I'm changing up things. Well, this blog has been dedicated to card making, primarily card making for Operation Write Home. Now that I've retired, I've found that I'm expanding my interests. So, I'd like a blog that reflects more than card making.

That said, my very first post will be about a card. LOL! Hope to see you at Chapter Three tomorrow.  :)


Now for the backgrounds that I made for the Day 4 of the Background Online Card Classes.

• I used a Paper Smooches die to create the template/stencil shown below.

• Replacing the cutout strips gives a nice tone-on-tone effect. But, I'm not committing yet.  :)

• Next, I inked up a Distress-Ink-rainbow background...

• Placing the inked up paper behind the template/stencil is so... colorful! Thinking this might make for a great kiddie card.

• I used Paper Smooches wave dies to try out one of Kristina's techniques. Thinking that I might need to angle some of the top cuts. And, I am going to play with the color of the next-to-the-top wave strip. (Something's not quite right, but can't put my finger on it.) Still waiting to adhere the wave layers -- waiting to see what Kristina has in mind to turn this into a card. May want to stay with just one layer of dimensionals.

• Finally, I tried some tone-on-tone lettering. Depending on how this is used for a card, I may go with smaller letters and run the card horizontally. Still hedging my bets on this one, too.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get caught up with Day 5 lessons tomorrow.

Our Words 2 Scrap By August Challenge goes live tomorrow... as does Chapter Three. Hope you have a chance to stop by.   :)

Have a great weekend and happy scrappin'!

Still Inking Away

Hello, everyone!

Today was hubby's birthday! And, we had a wonderful day -- lunching with the dads, going out for ice cream this evening.  :)

So, I haven't had a chance to check out any of the Day 4 Online Card Class videos. But, I did have a chance to ink up another background. Then, I made cards with a couple of OCC backgrounds, including the background from day.

Card 1: Sparkle!

The card below was my only successful smooshing. The tenth times the charm, right?! But, boy oh boy, it was worth it because it really does sparkle. Since the panel was smaller than the ones made by Kristina, I matted it like an abstract painting, added a simple sentiment, and called it a day.  :)



Canson watercolor; Bazzil black
Distress Inks: mustard seed; peacock feathers, fired brick (or pickled raspberry)
Stampin' Up! good greetings sentiment, heat embossed in DI black soot
SU brads; adhesives: Scotch ATG; Recollections foam squares
My Favorite Things shimmer mist
 

Card 2: happy...


This card features the background I made today. To finish it off, I used Jennifer's inlaid strips technique -- resisting any of the shortcuts.  I initially forgot to heat emboss "birthday to you" and the sentiment really did seem to get lost. When I saw the difference the heat embossing made, I went with a two-ply "thanks" and applied some Glossy Accents for a little extra oomph.  :)

Canson watercolor; Bazzil black; Cardstock Warehouse white
Distress Inks: fired brick and mustard seed
Winnie & Walter cutaway, enhanced with Glossy Accents
Winnie & Walter sentiment, heat embossed in DI black soot
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Ranger multi medium

Parting Thoughts

A new Words 2 Scrap By challenge goes live on Saturday. Hope you all will check it out.

Did you hear there's an online OWH party on Saturday? It's scheduled for 12:30 Pacific Time.

Finally, tomorrow's post will be my last one at this blog. You can find me at Chapter Three starting on August 1.

Think that's it. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Online Card Class - Day 3

Hi, everyone! Still having fun in the Online Card Class. Today we took a break from making backgrounds to make cards from the backgrounds already made. 

I have two cards to share.   :)


For the first card, I used tips shared by Kristina to make a shape card, topped with a pretty bow.

Distress Ink scattered straw and pine needles; stash pink
Winnie & Walter big, bold sentiment in various Distress Inks
Hero Arts background cling stamp in scattered straw
Stampin' Up! bow punch; Spellbinders Nestabilities scallop dies
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots

For my second card, I incorporated tips shared by Jennifer. Since my cards are now going to hospitalized kids, the menopause room is getting a little glittery! And, this glittery card is going to be linked up to the current Shopping Our Stash bling challenge.   :)

Canson watercolor; Distress Ink scattered straw and pine needles; stash pink
Our Daily Bread Design background stamp, heat embossed with clear Zing powder
inking in DI pickled raspberry
Winnie & Walter cutaway from Recollections glitter paper
Winnie & Walter sentiment in StazOn jet black on acetate
Stampin' Up! small flower punch; EK hole punch
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots; Ranger matte multi medium

So, what fun things will we learn tomorrow in class?! Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Playing with Inks

Hi, everyone! Spent the night getting inky trying out the techniques shared during Day 2 of the Background Online Card Class.

Left Card: pigment ink on top of dye ink
Middle Card: stamping on top of stamping
Right Card: resist on pattern paper

first attempt at plaid

Lessons Learned:

• Jennifer, Kristina, and Laura are unbelievably talented. They just make it all look so easy and effortless!
• In spite of the stash I have, I never seem to have just the right stuff to achieve the look I want from these techniques, like those stamps used by Laura to create her plaids and the pigment ink used by Kristina. Hmmm...
• Need to go to Pinterest and search out nice color combos for plaids.
• Can't wait for Day 3!

Speaking of stash, there's a new bling challenge going on at Shopping our Stash. Here's my card.

Canson watercolor; Distress Ink ble
Hero Arts image, heat embossed in Distress Ink with Zing powder
Stamper's Anonymous stencil inked in DI spiced marmalade and mustard seed with Ranger blending tool
Creative Memories oval cutting system; stash sequins

Love the cheeriness of this little card. Think this one is going in my SAS4Kids box.  :)

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! 

Online Card Class: Day 1, Card 2

Hi, everyone! The first day in the newest Online Card Class was so amazing, I just had to try my hand at another card.

For this card, I went with blending -- and water spatters. And, I have to say, I'm much happier with the way this card turned out!

my blended background of DI mustard seed and salty ocean

Canson watercolor' Stampin' Up! black
Distress Inks: mustard seed, salty ocean, and black soot
Winnie & Walter big bold happy cutaways and sentiment
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen

I chose to ink the bottom third in yellow so that the birthday sentiment would pop. The "happy" cutaway is 2-ply to give it a little stronger presence.

Think this will be my nephew's birthday card. I purposely went with blue and yellow -- avoiding pinks and purples.

Can't wait to see what Day 3 holds. And, would still like to go back and try one or two other Day One techniques! Thanks so much Jennifer, Laura, and Kristina on a rockin' Day One!

 

Parting Thoughts

Two quick reminders:

• Words 2 Scrap By! challenge ends tomorrow. There's a $20 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp up for grabs. Hope you'll check it out!
• As of August 1, I'll be blogging at Chapter Three. I'd love for you to visit me there.  :)

Online Card Class: Day 1, Card 1

Hi, everyone! This is the first day in the newest Online Card Class, and oh my gosh! Jennifer, Laura, and Kristina are just amazing!

For this first card, I tried Kristina's smoosh technique. I tried smooshing using acetate. Somehow, no matter how hard I tried, my results didn't look anything like Kristina's. But, I was bound determined to make my background work.

You'll have to let me know what you think...

my smooshing attempt

After smooshing, I added some spattering -- including some black spatters. Then, I mounted the background on some black cardstock and embellished.

Canson watercolor; Stampin' Up black; Distress Ink scattered straw
Distress Inks: pickled raspberry, peacock feathers, scattered straw, black soot
MFT stay tuned sentiment; Unity image
Creative Memories circle cutting system
SU brads; adhesives: Scotch ATG, Zig 2-way pen, Recollections foam squares

This card was based on OWH Sketch #259, the very last Operation Write Home Sketch. Think I'll link it up to the post even though I already sent in my last box of OWH cards.

So, what do you think about this background? This card? I'm a bit ambivalent about this card, but am super crazy about the card I'll share in my next post.  :)

 

Parting Thoughts

Two quick reminders:

• Words 2 Scrap By! challenge ends tomorrow. There's a $20 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp up for grabs. Hope you'll check it out!
• As of August 1, I'll be blogging at Chapter Three. I'd love for you to visit me there.  :)

CIE Christmas in July

Hi, everyone! It's the third Monday of the month. So, I'm here with a card for the Card in Envy challenge that starts today.  :)

This new challenge is Christmas in July. Well, let's see... I love Christmas and I love July. Sounds like a perfect challenge to me!

Amazingly enough, the inspiration for the card below came from the napkin at the right. I came across this several years ago and thought it was as cute as cute could be. I've finally  gotten around to translating my little napkin into a little kiddie holiday card. This little card will be headed to Send a Smile 4 Kids.   :)

Stampin' Up! cream, black, and cherry cordial; Distress Ink core; Echo Park this n that dp
carrot: Creative Memories burgundy pen; Distress Ink fired brick applied with Ranger water brush
punches: SU owl builder; EK hole and snowflakes; Martha Stewart branch; Sizzlits button
stash ribbon; Darice googly eyes; Imagine Crafts shimmer mist
Sizzix and Cuttlebug embossing folders; Creative Memories oval cutting system
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way pen; Glue Dots; Ranger multi medium
 

As pleased as I am with the final result, there were a number of times I was almost ready to throw in the proverbial towel.

• A big challenge was translating the square inspiration design to an A2 shape for CIE. Doesn't sound like it should be that tough, does it? Well, it was for me. I thought the little round face in the napkin was really cute and I didn't want to lose the whimsy that it brought to the snowman.
• It also took a while for me to get just the right look for my little face. The face felt flat until I added some pink -- and a little shimmer -- to those cheeks. Then I struggled with the mouth -- trying lots of different circle combinations before achieving just the right smile.
• However, the face was easy compared to the hat. Boy, oh boy, did this take a lot of trial and error to get right. And, I have to say that I couldn't be happier with this little hat.

So, I hope everyone will stop by Cards in Envy and play along with our Christmas in July challenge.

And, I think I'm going to link this little card up to the Send a Smile 4 Kids challenge to make a card with bright colors.

Parting Thoughts

The OWH deadline to get any and all remaining cards to Sandy is August 1. My last box was mailed on Friday. After all, it's a long way from Ohio to Washington... right?!

There is also a fun challenge going on at Words 2 Scrap By. Our Friend with Chocolate challenge has a $20 gift certificate up for grabs. Hope you'll visit W2SB and join in our July challenge.

Lastly, a couple of updates. I am going to be applying my creative mojo to support Send a Smile 4 Kids. And, starting on August 1, I will be blogging at Chapter Three. Hope you will check out my kiddie cards -- and other retirement endeavors -- that I blog about at this new Web home.