One Collection, Cards for Three Occasions

I wanted to send cards to three strong women in my life who are going through three very different things: a devastating loss, a major surgery, and a horrible court battle. I made all three with the same paper collection (Romantic Roses from Dress My Craft), stamp set (Everyday Sayings by Hero Arts), ink (Color Box Pigment Ink), and technique (clear embossing powder). Affiliate links here and below.  

I started with the sympathy card. Those are always the hardest for me. I chose a gorgeous paper featuring roses and cut a card front, then stamped and embossed the simple sentiment on the scrap. I backed that with a heart-shaped doily that I cut down. 

The Get Well card was next. I cut out the card front, then fussy cut some extra leaves from the scraps and glued them in place. I stamped and embossed the sentiment and attached that to the card. 

The third card was a bit tricky in that I wasn't sure what my message should be. My friend has been fighting in court for years and the decision finally went her way. I'm proud of how strong she has been and thrilled that the judge recognized what we've all known all along. For her card, I used two sentiments and added them to the dresser drawers on the card front. 

You can't tell in the photos, but all the embossed sentiments look fantastic. I've struggled with embossing in the past, but this was so easy. Two things changed. First, I stopped using clear ink with colored embossing powder because one stray or missing speck can make the whole thing look bad. Instead, I use colored ink and clear embossing powder, which makes a world of difference. (So much so that I've given away all my colored embossing powders). Second, I have a proper heat gun now and I LOVE it. All this time, I've been using an iron for embossing and this is SO. MUCH. EASIER.

Creativation VIP Swag Bag Challenge Hop

Welcome to the Creativation VIP Swag Bag Challenge Hop!

So what's the Creativation VIP Swag Bag Challenge Hop, you ask? Each of the VIP Creators who attended the Creativation show received a huge bag of products donated by 26 of the exhibiting manufacturers. Each of us is using the same products from eight of those manufacturers to make something original. You can hop from designer to designer to see which direction each of us went with the same materials. As you do, leave comments on each video or blog post as you hop, because the sponsors are giving away 7 *fabulous* prizes! The more places you comment, the better your chances of winning!

These are the eight items we used (affiliate links here and throughout the post): Hero Arts stamp set, Sakura pen, Westcott scissors, Supertite adhesive, Izink Diamond Paint, The Crafter's Workshop Medium, Joggles Art Parts and Charms, and a Paper Rose die. In most cases, we received more than one color, style, product etc. from each manufacturer, so you might see some variety in what we used.

While I use some of these items semi-regularly in my crafting, I can count on one hand (one finger?) the number of times I've used metal dies and texture pastes. And metal body parts are definitely not one of my frequently used supplies! Ah, but what fun is a challenge if it isn't challenging, right? Right!

Ready to see what I made?

I let the dresses, metal arms, and a sentiment from the stamp set guide the direction my project took. Here I played with the placement of the two girls on the die cut, which I cut from a pale grey cardstock. 

Once I had the basic concept in place, it was time to prepare the components. I spread the modeling paste onto a square board, using a palette tool. When I got it just the way I wanted it, I pressed the die cut shape into it, then lightly covered it here and there with the modeling paste. 

Before I put away the paste, I put the thinnest coat possible on the two metal arms. I wanted to paint them skin tone and was hoping the paste would both smooth out the metal and allow acrylic paint to adhere to it. Success on both counts! While I had the skin tone paints out, I painted the heads to match the arms. 

I used the Izink Diamond to color one dress green...

... then used Izink's spray ink to color another dress blue. I punched a heart from the grey cardstock scraps and colored it with Izink pigment ink. When the inks were dry, I added Stickles on top of the blue dress and the heart. I matted the stamped sentiment with another piece of the same grey cardstock and added silver Stickles to that. When it was dry, I matted it again with a piece of grey cardstock that I colored with the Sakura pen. I outlined the die with the pen as well, then colored the edges of the board before adding black Stickles on top. 

Time for the hair. I have this cool twisty DMC floss that I used to make the girls' hair. For the blond, I wrapped the floss around three of my fingers, then cut it along the outsides of each finger. I put glue on the head and wrapped the floss up and over so it hung down the back. 

For the brunette, I unraveled the floss first to give her curls. I wrapped the floss around two fingers and then cut it and glued it in place. 

I attached the heads to the dresses, then glued everything to the base.

Here's another look at my finished piece:

So, about those prizes...

We are giving away 2 Supertite Glue packages, a Hero Arts $25 Gift Card, three Joggles $25 Gift Cards, and A Vintage Girl $25 Gift Card! Comment below by March 8th for a chance to win. We'll be announcing the winners on March 12. We recommend subscribing so that you'll know if you win.

Now hop along to the next VIP Creator, Ann Strecko Koeman!