A Fun Project using Easy Frames and Mica Gloss

Today I have a combination of things to show you. I have used one of the "Easy Frames" and Mica Gloss on this card.  I know lots of you have been buying these products from Joan's Gardens and want to show you some more ideas using them.  I started out by embossing a piece of Black Glossy card stock with the Cuttlebug "Kassie's Brocade" embossing folder.  The paper was placed in the folder then the largest rectangle Easy Frame was taped to the top of the folder and run through my die cut machine.  I wanted to add some shine to the card since I was making a Halloween card, so in order to add color andshine to the embossed part of my card front I used a piece of Eclipse tape to mask off the center of the card that had not been embossed by using the Easy Frame.

 

Center of card is masked off in this picture.  I placed the Easy Frame over the Eclipse tape and drew a line around the inside of the frame to get a perfect fit before cutting it out with scissors.

 

Next I placed about a dime size dot of Purple, Gold and Green Mica Gloss on my Craft Mat leaving about a half inch between each color.  Then using the brayer, rolled over the dots, going in a straight line back and forth, to get the brayer completely covered with it.  Starting in the middle, a little off the card, I started rolling the brayer over the card until I was satisfied with the amount of coverage.  I then had to add more color to the brayer and go over each end until the entire piece was covered. The Eclipse Tape pulls right off.

The stamp sets used on this card are the new JustRite Halloween sets:  "Happy Halloween" and "Trick or Treat" sets.  To complete the Mica Gloss card, I used the Static Pillow to dust the front of the card then gold embossed the Trick or Treat Witch in the center of the area that did not emboss from using the Easy Frame.  I found out you need to pour the embossing powder off to the side of the stamped image and let the embossing powder just fall across the image.  It seems the area where you "dump" the embossing powder really sticks to everything so if you pour the powder off to the side, you can brush off the extra. I have only had this happen when using Black Glossy card stock.  After the image was embossed, I used a gold metallic marker to draw little lines around that framed area.

The piece of design paper used on the left side of the card is from the "Stella Rose" paper pad by My Mind's Eye.  The edges were sponged with purple ink.  The two flourishes are a Marianne Designs "Garden Branch".  I wanted to tie in the metallic look so brushed on some of the green Mica Gloss on each branch.  I love how they look.  The two JustRite pumpkins were added and a big purple bow completes this card.

  It is so fun to play with the Easy Frames.  Have you come up with some unique ways to use them?  I am also having fun playing with the Mica Gloss Inks.  I can just imagine all the things I will be using these inks on when I start creating Christmas cards.  Joan now has all the colors of Mica Gloss Inks posted on her blog.

You can purchase all the products used on the above card from Joan's Gardens.  

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An extra ----

Today is our grandson's birthday.  He lives next door to us and loves to go golfing with his grandpa.  This is the birthday card I made for him.  The golf bag stamp is a very old stamp I have in my collection.  The golf club is an embellishment I have had in my collection for some time.   Happy 13th birthday Ryan!

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Another "Easy Frame" Project

 

Today I want to show you another way to use the "Easy Frames".  Joan has been so busy shipping out Easy Frames to everyone so I know they are very popular.  I thought I would show you another idea for using them.  I used a Sizzix embossing folder and the circle Easy Frame.  I did an "oops!" -- I put the Easy Frame inside the embossing folder.  You don't want to do that because you end up embossing the Easy Frame.  It doesn't hurt the frame but that is not the correct way to use them.  You need to center it on top of the embossing folder and tape it down, then run it through your machine.  The embossing doesn't show up as well when you do it wrong, so I had to emboss a second piece.  I love how the Easy Frame leaves that unembossed area so you can stamp on the front of your card without having to layer.   On this card I found a Nestability circle -- it was the the third largest in the "Petite Circle Small" set that fit right inside that unembossed area.  I centered it over the unembossed area and used a Copic 0.5 Multi-liner pen to draw a black circle, to frame the unembossed area. I used the inside of the circle for this.  It was a perfect fit.  

I used four different JustRite stamp sets on this card.  The stamped frame I used inside the Easy Frame is from the "You Inspire Me" stamp set.  The sentiment in the middle is from the "Spread Your Wings" set And the pretty flourish above and below that sentiment is from the "Friendship Blooms" set.  A JustRite Spellbinder tag die was used for the tag on the bottom of the card.  It was die cut twice -- once in black and once in white.  The birthday sentiment is from the JustRite "Elegant Frames" set.  The same flourishes used in the circle were also stamped on the ends of the tag.  The center of the white tag was cut out with scissors and attached to the center of the black tag.  I really like how that turned out.  

A piece of scrape design paper, left over from the box I made the other day, was attached to the left side of the card.  Two Cheery Lynn (B127) Tropical Flourishes were added on the left.  Hot pink flowers were created by using the "Small Sakuras" and "Small Sparkle" punches.  They were shaped with the white tool from the Flower Tool Kit and smallest stylus then attached over the vine.  Two additional flowers were also added.  A few small KaiserCraft pearls were added to complete the card.  

I love coming up with different ways to use these Easy Frames.  It is so nice that there are seven frames in each package so you can do a variety of things with them.  If you haven't ordered your  Easy Frames yet, be sure to check them out at Joan's Gardens. 

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Judy's Blooms and a Give Away

 Today I am posting another card that I used one of the Easy Frames for the background.  I used the Cuttlebug "Argyle" embossing folder.  A piece of dark brown card stock was placed inside the folder then one of the oval Easy Frames was taped to the top of the closed folder.  Be sure you place the Easy Frame on the top of the embossing folder, otherwise you will end up embossing the Easy Frame.  After the piece was embossed, I used the second largest Spellbinders "Beaded Ovals" Nestie to emboss a frame around the unembossed area left from using the Easy Frame.  You just tape the Nestie you want to use, with removeable tape, over the unembossed area, place the embossing mat over it and run it through your machine.  I love how it turned out.  Last time I showed you how it would look without using a Nestie to frame it.  It looks beautiful either way and you have a nice smooth area to add your sentiment.  I used a Heartfelt Creations sentiment and gold embossed it in the center.  


My card is 6x6" square.  I used a piece of design paper from the BoBunny "Zoology Collection" paper pad for my background.  The brown embossed piece is 4.25 x 5" and the embossed area was a little smaller.  I decided to use a VersaMark pen and ruler to draw lines around the embossed area, then it was gold embossed.  I like how it finished off the dry embossed piece and it goes well with the design paper.  

Now I have to tell you about the part I had so much fun doing.  Don't you just love to sit and play trying out new things.  Well I have some of the new Tim Holtz Distress Stains, and wanted to play with them. These bottles have a sponge top and are so easy to color larger areas. I decided to cut the flower and leaves from the Cheery Lynn Judy Blooms die using watercolor paper.  Oh my gosh, this cut so well and just popped out of the die.  I am going to have to start using more watercolor paper!  I also thought the Cheery Lynn "Fanciful Flourish" (B117) matched this flower and leaves so  cut one of those out using water color paper too.  Now for the fun part.  I laid these pieces out on my Teflon Craft Mat and sprayed them with a fine mist of water until they were pretty wet.  (I say "them" because I cut out six sets and colored all of them.) I started with the largest petals first. I then dabbed the "Wild Honey" Distress Stain all over.  How quick and easy was that!  I then moved them to a dry area on the craft mat and used the heat gun to dry them.  Next the smaller flowers were colored.  There were beads of the "Wild Honey Stain" still on the craft mat, so I wet each of the small flowers then rubbed them down in the stain on the mat.  It made them a pale yellow which which is what I wanted.  I was able to use up the ink on the mat and not waste it and it gave a nice contract for the flower.  Without cleaning up the left over stain, I laid down the leaves and flourish, and sprayed them with water, then dabbed them with the "Peeled Pain" Distress Stain.  (The yellow and green stains blended well.)  They were turned over and also inked on the back using up all the stain left on the craft pad. The flowers were layered and a punched "Sky Flake" was used for the stamen.  It was punched out of brown card stock.  The round tips were touched with the VersaMark pen and gold embossed to tie in with the rest of the card.   It was such a quick and easy, fun project.  The flower petals were shaped using the tools in the Flower Tool Kit. The layered flower,  leaves, and flourish were attached to the left side of the sentiment.  Square golden rhinestones were added to complete the card.  As you know, all products in "bold" can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.


Now, something for you to win!   Joan has added a lot of new Cheery Lynn dies on her blog that I am sure you will love.  She also posted a video that introduces these new dies. I have an fun request and will reward someone for participating.  I'd love it if you would go over to Joan's Gardens and check out these new Cheery Lynn dies and let me know which one(s) are your favorite.  Please leave me a comment below.  I'm looking forward to seeing your responses.  I appreciate you taking the time to let me know which dies you like the most, so for every one who leaves me a comment on this post, about your favorite new Cheery Lynn die(s), I will do a random drawing and will send one of you the Cheery Lynn  "Judy's Blooms" die (C184).   This is the die I used on my card today. I will draw a winner on Monday evening, July 18.  I'm sure you will love working with this beautiful flower die so be sure and leave a comment below to let me know which die(s) are your favorite for a chance to win. 

Here is a picture of the die you will win:

Cheery Lynn "Judy's Blooms" (C184)  $13.99 

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Easy Frames and new Challenge at Joan's Gardens

 

Today I want to tell you about another new product you can purchase from Joan's Gardens.  Do you remember about a year ago when we were all trying to come up with ways to leave an un-embossed (is that a word?) spot in an area when we used the Cuttlebug embossing folders?  I did a tutorial on how to do it using a wood frame.  Well great news!  There is now a product that is much easier to accomplish this with; it is called "Easy Frames".  You can now purchase a package of 7 different frame shapes which include circles, ovals, rectangles and squares that fit any standard size embossing folder.  Be sure to go over to Joan's Gardens Friday to see the different frames in this package and order your set.  

I used the Cuttlebug "Victorian" embossing folder and one of the rectangle "Easy Frames" on this card.  Here is the sandwich you are creating for the Cuttlebug or similar die cutting machine:  A Plate,  Embossing Folder with card stock inside, Easy Frame on top of embossing folder (I recommend taping down the Easy Frame over the embossing folder to be sure it doesn't move around), C Plate.  Then you run it through your embossing machine.  Can you see the area in my card that was not embossed so I could add a sentiment?   Isn't that neat.  The sentiment I used on the card is from the JustRite stamp set "Kindness".

The design paper used on the back of  my embossed piece is from the BoBunny "Vicki B" 6x6 pad.  In case you haven't seen it, Joan is having a sale on these pads right now.   Right behind the design paper I added a 6" square punched with the Martha Stewart "Doulbe Arches" punches.   The flourish is the Marianne "Garden Branch" (LR0152) and the leaves under the flower is one of the leaves from the Cheery Lynn "Tropical Leaves" set (B119).   My flower was created with the Tim Holtz "Tattered Florals" die.  The stamen for this flower was created by punching 3 each of the large and medium "Sparkle" then shaping the with the tools in the Flower Tool Kit.  To add even more texture to the center of the stamen, I added some very small black beads to resemble black seeds.  Love how it turned out.  

I have been very excited to tell you about these new "Easy Frames" and hope you will go over to Joan's Gardens to see all seven frames.  She will be posting these on her blog tomorrow,  Friday, July 15.  As you know, all products used on this card can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.

This week Lana Edwards is our guest designer for the weekly summer challenge at Joan's Gardens.  You won't want to miss this gorgeous project.  Here is a picture

You can read more about Lana, the challenge rules, plus get the link to Lana's tutorial at Joan's Gardens.

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