Welcome to Velvet Paw Creations - Design Team Projects by Leigh Snaith-Brunton - The Sharpie Domino Queen & owner of LeighSBDesigns Art Stamps!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Faux Metal Peacock Feather Card - Blockheads' Magic Metals Technique Challenge

Howzit Everyone!

Here's my 2nd design team sample for the new challenge over at Blockheads Paper Arts called Magic Metals!  This time I created a faux embossed peacock feather embellishment for my card!

Faux Metal Peacock Feather

It's technique challenge time again at Blockheads Paper Arts and Karen is hosting the challenge this month and she has an awesome tutorial and technique sample for you to check out over at Blockheads Paper Arts where you will find all the challenge details.  Also check out my first project featuring faux gold embossed postage stamps!


Here's my card I made using Blockheads' latest stamp set - Proud As A Peacock and a sentiment from the Verses full sheet.

Faux Metal Peacock Feather Card

Stamp the Peacock feather background stamp onto blue cardstock with Top Boss Embossing ink and emboss with white embossing powder.  Colour the centers of each feather and random sections of the wavy feathers with metallic markers.


Tone down the whole background with a wash of Black Soot Distress Stain!  I love how this changed the whole look of the background.  You can't really tell in the photos but the metallic colours do still show through and you can see the subtle hints of metallic blue, green, copper, gold and pink!


Cut out three narrow panels and distress the edges with Silver Mixatives Adirondack Alcohol Ink.


Corner punch (Marvy) all three panels and adhere to mats cut from black cardstock with double sided tape.  Ink up the small peacock feather from the Proud As A Peacock stamp set with Top Boss embossing ink and have it ready to use.  Cut a piece of Tim's Grungeboard and apply clear Top Boss embossing ink to it.  Sprinkle on a layer of regular metallic silver embossing powder.  I used UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) in my first project and I wanted to demo that you can use regular EP too.  Melt the first layer of EP with a heat gun and while the EP is still molten sprinkle on a second and then a third layer and continue heating.  While the EP is still hot sprinkle on blue and green Patina Perfect Pearls powders.  Continue heating until the Perfect Pearls melt into the EP for a really cool effect.  While the EP is still in a liquid state press the stamp firmly down into the EP and try to avoid moving the stamp or wiggling it in any way!  Hold it there for a few seconds to allow the EP to cool and harden and then carefully remove the stamp.  The result is a beautiful embossed design but if you don't like how it turned out you can simply reheat the EP and start again!  Cut a mat from black cardstock and use the same corner punch on it.  Then adhere the faux embossed metal feather embellishment to the mat with white craft glue.


Make a folded card from black cardstock with the back slightly wider than the front cover.  Cut a mat for the card front from a sheet of green pearlized patterned cardstock - The Luxury Stack by DCWV.  Adhere the three feather background panels to the green mat with double side tape.  Wrap metallic variegated fiber around the panels a few times and adhere the ends on the back with a piece of tape.  (In the photo the fiber colours look completely wrong for the card but I just couldn't capture the true colours properly without affecting the colours of the other card elements.  In real life they're darker and look more like peacock feathers with a wonderful metallic shimmer to them.)  I decided to go with that particular fiber to bring out the subtle metallic colours of the feather background panels.  Adhere the faux embossed metal embellishment to the card front with dabs of white craft glue.  Then adhere everything to the black card with double sided tape.


Stamp the sentiment onto a piece of black cardstock with Top Boss embossing ink and emboss with the same silver embossing powder.  Cut a mat from the same green patterned cardstock and corner punch all four corners.  Adhere the embossed sentiment to it with double sided tape.  Punch small holes on both sides of the sentiment and add square silver brads.  Adhere the sentiment panel to the inside of the card with double sided tape.  Distress the right hand edge of the card front with silver Mixatives Alcohol ink.


Below you can see how the sentiment looks with the card open.


I've given you two great ideas as well as Karen's Magic Metals tutorial to get you inspired so I hope you'll give this technique a whirl and enter the Blockheads Magic Metals Technique Challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!  The Challenge closes on April 21st so you've got plenty of time to play and enter!  All the info regarding the challenge is below with pics of more design team samples as well as the challenge entries above the inlinkz button!  I hope to see your project featured there soon too!!!

I've got a couple more Magic Metals projects to share...I told you I was embossing up a storm and I wasn't kidding so keep a look out for those coming soon ;0)

Here's some challenges for this card!
Simon Says stamp: Anything Goes
Cheerful Stamp Pad: Anything Goes
Crafty Purple Frog: Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin: anything goes
Stampin for the weekend: anything goes
Moxie Fab World - Fascination With Feathers Challenge 

Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Faux Metal Postage Stamps Card for Blockheads' Magic Metals Technique Challenge!

Howzit Everyone!

It's technique challenge time again at Blockheads Paper Arts and this one is called Magic Metals!  Karen is hosting the challenge this month and she has an awesome tutorial and technique sample for you to check out over at Blockheads Paper Arts.

Faux Metal Postage Stamps
 

I've been having a ball and my studio has been more like a witch's den or whatever you call the place where witches concoct spells and potions.  I've been creating with embossing powder flying everywhere with a lot of "a sprinkle of this and what would happen if I add a sprinkle of that" going on ;0)


Here's my first design team creation for the Magic Metals technique challenge with more to follow so don't go anywhere!  I created these faux embossed metal postage stamp embellishments for my card with embossing powder.  I'm a stamp collector of the other kind too and I was inspired by my gold plated metal commemorative stamps and this is the result and I hope you like them!



All the stamps used are exclusive to Blockheads Paper Arts.  I used sections of the Botanical Silhouettes stamps to create my faux metal postage stamps and cut outs, the French Script from Backgrounds for All Occasions and the Postcard stamp from the Vintage Light and Form set to create my faux vintage ledger paper background.


Faux Metal Postage Stamps Card

Die cut out four postage stamp frames and inserts from Tim's Grungeboard with a Sizzix Postage Stamp die.  Apply clear Top Boss embossing ink to each rectangle insert and coat with gold embossing powder.  I used gold UTEE, ultra thick embossing enamel, but you can use any kind of embossing powder to achieve the same results by applying more layers of EP!  Apply clear Top Boss embossing ink to one of the Botanical Silhouette stamps and put it near your work area so it's ready to go.  I like to put ink on the stamp as a release agent to prevent any of the UTEE from sticking to it.  Heat one of the rectangle inserts until the powder melts and apply more UTEE while the layer is still in a liquid state.  Continue heating until the second layer melts and while the UTEE is still molten press the stamp firmly down into the UTEE and avoid moving it!  Hold it there for a few seconds to allow the UTEE to cool and harden and then carefully remove the stamp.  The result is a beautiful embossed design but if you don't like how it turned out you can simply reheat the UTEE and start again!  Repeat the same steps for the other 3 pieces.  I like the way the grungeboard shrunk and curled a bit but if you want the embossed piece to lie flat then use chipboard or a very heavy weight cardstock instead.  Stain the postage stamp grungeboard frames with Black Soot Distress Stain.


I created my own vintage ledger paper background for my card by first designing the distressed red lines with a yellowed background colour in Photoshop and printing it out on cream cardstock.  Cut the cardstock down to the size needed for the card.  Wet the cardstock and tear the edges to get the old torn look.  While the cardstock is still wet stamp the French script multiple times with Pumice Stone Distress Ink.  The ink runs a bit and blurs the writing.  Re-wet the cardstock again and apply Pumice Stone Distress Ink and Rhubarb Stalk Memento Ink to the Post Card stamp and stamp it along the top and bottom edges.  Re-wet the cardstock again but only in certain spots and along the edges and apply Vintage Paper Distress Ink with an ink applicator tool to the entire sheet.  You can see in the photo above that the ink goes on darker where the cardstock was more wet and gives it that really cool vintage look.


Cut out a mat from black cardstock with Fiskars Paper Edges Postage Stamp scissors and adhere the faux vintage ledger paper to it with double sided tape.  Cut out a larger mat from light brown cardstock and sew a red thread border around all four sides.  Then distress the edges with Tim's Distress Tool.  Make a folded card from black cardstock and adhere the brown cardstock mat to it with double sided tape.  To give the card the vintage wrapped parcel look wrap a length of burlap string around the Postage Stamp panel and secure the ends to the back with double sided tape.  Adhere vintage lace with another piece of string on top along the bottom edge and wrap the ends around the sides and secure to the back with double sided tape.  Make a bow from the burlap string and adhere it where the strings cross with a glue dot.  Adhere the Postage Stamp panel to the card with double sided tape.


Stamp portions of the Botanical Silhouette stamps onto a scrap piece of the faux vintage ledger paper with a combination of Distress Inks Pumice Stone, Vintage Paper and a touch of Rhubarb Stalk Memento Ink.  Apply Versamark Watermark ink to the stamped images with a Versmark Pen and coat with a single layer of clear embossing powder.  Heat the EP and cut out the stamped images.  Adhere Recollections flowers to the card front with glue dots.  Then embellish the bouquet with the Botanical cut outs adhered in place with dabs of white craft glue.


Here's a peek and the link to my second Magic Metals project for you to check out but in the meanwhile grab all your supplies and give this technique a whirl and enter the Blockheads Magic Metals Technique Challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!  The Challenge closes on April 21st so you've got plenty of time to play and enter!  All the info regarding the challenge is below with pics of more design team samples as well as the challenge entries above the inlinkz button!  I hope to see your project featured there soon ;0)

Here's some challenges for this card!
Simon Says stamp: Anything Goes
Cheerful Stamp Pad: Anything Goes
Crafty Purple Frog: Anything Goes
Frilly and Funky - show your favorite vintage style
The Secret Crafter Saturday: shabby chic/vintage
Sweet Stampin: anything goes
Stampin for the weekend: anything goes
Vintage Challenge - Blue Box babe blog
Little Miss Muffet Challenge #31 - Silhouettes

 
Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Saturday, March 17, 2012

"Proud Of You" Art Deco Accordion Card!

Hello Bloggers!

 Over the last few days we've (the Blockheads Design Team) been sharing our 'Different Points of View' in celebration of the launch of the "Proud As A Peacock" stamp set!  It's a horrible wet and wintery day here in San Diego and I'm so happy I'm indoors and sharing my 3rd Peacock inspired
project that has an Art Deco feel to it and this one also features a stamp from Blockheads "Botanical Silhouettes" set which launched last week!

"Proud of You" Art Deco Accordion Card

Click on the pics below of my first two projects if you missed them:  
"Twilight Serenade" and "We're So Proud"

"Proud As A Peacock"
"Botanical Silhouettes" 



Die cut out two metallic silver cardstock panels with a Spellbinders Labels 21 die and stamp the Peacock Feather background with StazOn Jet Black ink on both die cuts.


In the photo above are the layers for the front cover of the accordion card.

Starting from the top:
Small black topper - Stamp a portion of the sentiment "I'm Proud of You" from the "Proud As A Peacock" set in Brilliance Silver ink and emboss with silver embossing powder.   Die cut out with the smallest Spellbinders Label 21 die and emboss the edges of the die cut with the aid of a Spellbinders Tan Embossing Mat.  Mix a small amount of Perfect Pearls Pewter Patina powder with water and paint the debossed edges of the die cut.  Spritz with a mist of water to set the Perfect Pearls.

Gold layer - Die cut out a layer from metallic gold cardstock with a Spellbinders Label 18 die and emboss with the Spellbinders tan mat.

Peacock Feathers Black layer - Die cut out a layer from black cardstock with a larger S/Label 18 die.  Stamp the Peacock Feathers background with a Perfect Pearls ink pad and brush on Pewter Patina powder.  Spritz with water to set the powder.


Sandwich a length of narrow gold/black ribbon between the silver cover and the large black layer and adhere in place with double sided tape.  Mount the gold layer on top with black pop dots and then adhere the black sentiment topper to it with double sided tape.


Make the inside of the card from a sheet of cream cardstock cut down to size to fit inside the die cut card covers.  Stain both sides of the cardstock with Tea Dye Distress Stain and while the cardstock is still very wet stamp the Peacock Feather background all over on both sides with Pumice Stone Distress Ink.   Dry the cardstock with a heat tool and the result is a vintage distressed panel - I love how the subtle feathers look like wood grain!  Stamp the following images with Black Soot Distress Ink:  Circles border from the Botanical Silhouettes set across the top edge, Way To Go sentiment from the Proud As A Peacock set across the bottom edge and both sides with the smallest Peacock Feather stamp.  Stamp the small feather image around the edges on the back too.  Finish off by edging the front and the back of the cardstock panel with a metallic silver paint pen.  I used one of my older pens so the paint didn't go on perfectly for a more distressed look.


Score the cardstock panel into 3 sections and fold.  Adhere the accordion panel to the inside of the card covers with double sided tape.


To close the card you can tie the bow in two ways, either on the right hand side (or on the left if you prefer...so actually there's 3 ways) or tie the bow on the back.


The pic above is a view of the Accordion Card open and fully expanded and below a view from above not as expanded.


Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed all my projects this week ;0)
Don't forget to check out my design team mates 'Different Points of View' projects too - links to their projects can be found in my Twilight Serenade post!  Have a super weekend!

I've enter this card in the Moxie Fab World - Fascination With Feathers Challenge

Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Friday, March 16, 2012

"We're So Proud" A Clean & Simple Card that packs a punch with a splash of colour!

Hello Bloggers!


I'm back with another Peacock themed project featuring Blockheads Paper Arts stamp set 'Proud As A Peacock' which will be available for purchase next week!  Woohoo!

My first card, "Twilight Serenade", was quite an involved project with lots of different techniques going on so I thought I'd share a clean and simple card today that still makes a statement with a splash of bright colour!


Make a folded card from white cardstock and mask off a narrow panel down the right hand side with low tack tape or post-it notes.  Stamp the large and small single peacock feather images with Brilliance Purple Pearlescent ink and heat set.  You can see the pearlescent shimmer of the feathers in the photo below.


Colour the centers of the feathers and random feather strands with either dye-based Memento markers or water-based Marvy Le Plume II markers in bright colours.


Adhere a piece of colour co-ordinated ribbon (Target $1 section...one of my fav places!) to the card with double sided tape.  By the way, the ribbon IS straight!  The card had a slight curve/bulge to it along the bottom edge and I couldn't get it to co-operate and stand straight, uuggh.  I'm sure it's bothersome to your eyes and it's still bugging me big time LOL!

Stamp the sentiment "We're so proud" in Brilliance Purple ink along the bottom edge on the left hand side of the card.  If you're not confident about eye balling the placement then use a Stamp Positioner tool to get the sentiment exactly where you want it!


Here's a neat idea for this kind of card especially if lots of people are going to sign it!  You can write messages on the front of the card in the white area as well as all over the inside and the back. Great for large family gatherings like graduations and perfect for a co-worker so the whole company has space to write their kudos in!

Thanks for stopping by today, I've still got more Peacock inspired creations to share...one with traditional peacock colours and another with an Art Deco feel to it...so don't go far ;0)

Now I've got a challenge perfect for this one - thanks for the heads up Colleen!
 Moxie Fab World - Fascination With Feathers Challenge

Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Thursday, March 15, 2012

"Twilight Serenade" - Introducing the New "Proud As A Peacock" Stamp Set by Blockheads Paper Arts!

Hello Bloggers!


I'm thrilled to be showcasing Blockheads Paper Arts newest stamp set release called Proud As A Peacock!  These images are divine and I've been having a great time playing with them!  I've got a couple of projects to share demonstrating the versatility of this set so stay tuned!


Twilight Serenade

My first project is titled "Twilight Serenade", I envisioned that I'm looking out of a brightly lit room onto a balcony where the Peacock and the marble balustrade are bathed in the light and the peacock is singing to the moon in a twilight sky.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out ;0)



Stamp the large peacock feather background onto a rectangle panel of blue cardstock with Versamark Watermark ink and emboss the design with black embossing powder.  Apply standard household bleach to the entire panel.  Vary the amount of bleach used to achieve the different shades of purple and pink.  Once dry apply more bleach to the centers of the feathers to get the lightest pink.  Test your blue cardstocks from different manufacturers until you find the one that bleaches to the colour you like.  I got mine in a big value pack at Michaels years ago so I'm going to be really bummed when I run out!  I didn't get the whole background onto the panel and ended up with the plain stripe at the bottom which I decided to incorporate into my design.  Colour the centers of the feathers with a metallic pink marker.  I picked up a nice set of metallic markers with really pointy brush tips by Papermania Docrafts while I was in England.  Adhere a narrow metallic pink Mrs Grossman's border sticker along the bottom edge.

 
Apply Brilliance Pearlescent Twilight tri-colour ink to the Peacock image - perfect name for my project don't you think ;0)  But before stamping the image onto a small piece of white cardstock press the stamp down onto the large un-inked feather background stamp to remove some of the ink.  The un-inked background stamp lifts the ink away leaving a subtle design behind.  Cut out the peacock and adhere a strand of purple pearlescent eyelash fiber to the back with white glue concentrating a tuft at the top of the Peacock's head and the rest around the tail.  Randomly spritz another piece of white cardstock with Fireworks Craft Ink sprays (I used Danube Blue and Grape Jelly) and let dry before die cutting out the balustrade with a Spellbinders Moroccan Accents edge die.  Adhere the balustrade to the background panel and then the Peacock with dabs of white craft glue.


Stamp the sentiment 'Way To Go' with the same Brilliance ink pad onto a piece of black cardstock.  You can't tell in the photo but it does have a subtle purple-pink hint of colour to it.  Heat set the ink and cut it out with scissors leaving a narrow black border.   Adhere it to a piece of metallic pink cardstock (DCWV) with double-sided tape and trim.  Make a tab from a piece of the same blue cardstock used for the feather background but this time only closely trim around 3 sides leaving a larger section on the left side.  Adhere the sentiment tab to the feather background panel with double sided tape.  Adhere a strand of purple eyelash fiber to the back of the feather panel along the top edge with double sided tape.

 
Cut a large mat from the same metallic pink cardstock and adhere a piece of purple organza ribbon to it by wrapping the ends around to the back and securing in place with double sided tape.  Adhere the feather panel to the metallic pink mat with pop dots.


Make a card from the same blue cardstock just slightly larger than the metallic pink panel but leave the back of the card (right hand side) slightly bigger and adhere everything to it with double sided tape.  Add a strip of the metallic pink border sticker along the right hand side edge on the inside of the the card so that it shows when the card is closed.  Punch out a moon from a piece metallic pink cardstock and adhere it to the background with double sided tape.  I used a circle punch and then repositioned the same punch to cut out the quarter moon shape.  Make a bow from the same purple ribbon and sew a pearlescent purple button onto it with metallic silver thread.  I didn't have any silver thread handy so I just ran a strand of white thread across my silver Brilliance ink pad to stain it ;0)  Adhere the bow to the card with a glue dot.  Finish off by embellishing the upper left corner with three pearls.  I made my own pearls with a Magic Transparent White Pearl Pen so that they'd take on the colour of the pink background when they dried semi-transparent and they also have a pearlescent shimmer to them too.  I took the photo below so you can see how shimmery and pretty all the elements of the card really are depending on how the light hits the card!


Thanks for visiting with me today!  Don't forget to keep an eye out for more of my Peacock themed projects!

The Blockheads Design Team are celebrating the launch with a series of 'different points of view' on what you can do with this set and the results are spectacular!  Check out Karen's collection here and Colleen's projects #1 and #2!
Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents