Altered Cards Week 5

Hi everyone. This is already week five of the altered cards challenge. For  me this week was indeed a challenge.  Here is what Claudine did this week.

And this is what I came up with:

Like Claudine I did a paper collage background. Since I don't really have a lot of patterned paper and nothing that would work with the photo I went and in Studio drew rectangles and filled them in pattern. Alas I tried to turn a music sketch file into a print and cut and the music printed too light to really show up. Also the background ended up being an orange color which was not exactly what I had in mind.  I tore my rectangles into pieces and glued them onto the card. Then I coated the card with Vintage Creative Medium to try to pull things together. I glued the photo of the girl down and put another coat of Creative Medium over everything. I then stamped dream on a piece of white tissue paper and adhered it with the Creative Medium. The butterflies were painted with Pickled Raspberries and Wild Honey Distress paint. They ended up darker than I had planned. Then I used a quote stamp and stamped on them using Stazon Timber Brown the same color I had used to stamp dream. I edged the card with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Because in places there was gesso which took the color darker it does indeed look distressed.

Claudine;s stenciled circles are more subtle than mine.  I used Cafe Au Lait by Apple Barrel for the base.  Then using a plaid stencil and a "spouncer" I pounced a light green paint with the name  Sorbet over the stencil. Then I mixed Ivy Green with folk art glaze.  Using a "spouncer" I pounced most of the paint off on a towel. Then I pounced just around the edges of the circles on the stencil. When the paint was dry I didn't like the Sorbet color  also I noticed some places where I missed with the base paint so the gesso showed through. I brushed on Vintage Creative Medium. which toned down the Sorbet and blended in more where the gesso showed. Alas I did not like the resulting strokes.  There was a plastic bag on my desk and I thought why not see what happens if I place this crinkled bag on top of the wet Creative Medium.  The result was this wonderful texture.

I decided it would be too busy to add all the detail that Claudine did to her imagination card. I did not have any butterfly tape so went with a cut out butterfly that I colored with Antique linen Distress ink and stamped on using Peeled Paint distress ink which is the same color of ink I used to edge the word  tags as well as the playing card.

The lady is from Dover clip art. Because of the background she was on I could not trace her for cutting with my machine. I could have traced around her with a black fine tip pen and scanned her and probably could have traced her that way. However, I thought it was quicker to just cut her out by hand. I did turn the wing image into a print and cut. I embossed the wing with kaleidoscope embossing powder and then glued it onto the lady. Then she was pop dotted onto the card.

I can't wait to see what the themes and what techniques are used next week. This is a fun challenge even if it took me all day Monday before I came up with how to do the imagination card.

Besides doing these two cards I was also experimenting with using Distress Paint on plastic. I hope soon to put together a card with a painted plastic panel.

Thank you for stopping by and leaving comments. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Dance To Your Own Music

Today I have a fun card to show using Distress Paint. for a background. Recently I was able to buy some Distress Paints on sale. They have been on my wishlist for a long time.

I had cut out an extra window card and was going to use a lattice for this card but changed my mind. I took Pickled Raspberry,Wild Honey, and Broken China to make my background.  I randomly daubed the  different colors of paint and then spritzed the paint to run together. 

I painted the frame with copper paint. I love how with paint I can change paper to look like metal.

The image is from Graphic Fairy. It is printed on semi-gloss photo paper. I edged the fairy with a black glaze pen. Then brushed with a cosmetic wedge Creative Medium Shimmer after the glaze had dried.. The fairy is pop dotted onto the card.

I don't know what the name of the set is that the sentiment is from. I used Teal Stazon ink.

This is the inside of the card. The paint bled through to the other side of the card stock but I like the softness of the look. I debated about which side to use but thought the more vivid colors went with the image.  I will probably cut out another frame to use inside with a quote.

I have not tried stamping with the Distress Paint yet and I have more experimenting I want to do. I do like the fact that unlike some products once it is is dry it no longer reacts with water. I can see lots of possibilities using it in mixed media projects.

Thank you for stopping by and do come back as I will this week hopefully be posting another week of altered cards. I have no idea what the theme is or what supplies or techniques are being used this week. So it will be a surprise for me. Hopefully my mojo won't desert me just when I need it. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Lattice Talk About Using Lattice On Projects ( two cards)

Today I have two lattice cards for you. The lattice cutting file was designed by Debbie  of Paper Pulse who so generously shared the file when I first got my cutting machine. I love this file because it always cuts out so nicely.  I don't cut out lattice much because I hate having to do the weeding. however this file is not as bad as some of the other files I have. However, having said that lattice whether cut using a cutting machine or cut from a die can add a lot to a card and you can create an elegant looking card in no time at all. Depending on how you finish your lattice it can even look like metal. Although for these two cards I went more for a wood look.

I have not decided yet whether to keep this for the front or have this for the inside. For now I kept it for the front to show you that you can glue your lattice inside and have it show through a cut window. I love this card base I made using a Silhouette frame cutting file for the opening. For this card I inked the opening with copper ink.

I don't know if you can see all that clearly in the photo but the lattice really looks like wood. I painted  nutmeg color paint on it and then painted a walnut gel stain over it. I took a dry bristle brush and removed some of the gel paint so that the nutmeg paint shows. Gel paint is normally used for antiquing wood but also works great for making a faux wood look. Because my lattice is painted a dark color it shows through the cardstock even though I used a heavy cardstock.

After I cut out the snowflakes I used a pouncer  brush which is stiff to pounce on gesso. While the gesso was still wet I sprinkled glitterd to give some sparkle.  I attached one snowflake with  round adhesive foam and then the other snowflake on the other side of the lattice. I decided to not line the snowflakes up.

This is the inside for now. Which side would you use for the front and which for the inside?

For this card I decided to play with my Kaleidoscope Kreator software. I took a photo that I had taken last winter of trees covered with snow. After playing with the different templates I picked this one as it looked like a large snowflake to me. I printed it on semi-gloss photo paper so that I would get more intense colors and a bit of a shine. The snowflake was cut out of the same photo paper.

Originally I cut the lattice out for another card. I painted it yellow and it was all wrong. Then I painted it hunter green and it was too dark. I then painted it cafe which since the green was still wet it gave me this nice green.  When I saw the photo next to it I decided to go ahead and use it for this card.

I am using up my stash of gem stars.but when I saw this star I knew it would be perfect for the center of the snowflake.

I just glued the lattice around the edges so that I can tie a tag with a sentiment on the card if I decide to at a later date.

There you have it two quick cards using lattice other than waiting for the paint to dry. ;-) Other ways to use lattice would be to use lattice as a stencil and then use a color mist or ink. If you are painting your lattice like I did you could paint it on another piece of cardstock and then use that piece  for a card. Lattices also make good good borders for cards or scrapbook pages. A lot of times design-wise they can keep a layout from looking cluttered. They are great for adding texture by weaving ribbon or rickrack  through the holes.  Now if I haven't convinced you yet to use lattice another reason to use it is because you can quickly create an elegant looking card.

Thank you for stopping by and do come back. I am almost done with creating a card using Distress Paint for the background for my focal point. Distress Paints have been on my wishlist for a long time and when I found them on sale for 40% off I had to grab a bunch. Sometimes it pays to wait. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!