I can see clearly now, the rain has gone!

Welcome back. Today I am sharing a simple card with you. So simple, in fact, I didn't even have to break out the Copics for it. It's all about the stamped images, which are big and bold, and the papers, which are really quite subtle.

The faded ticking background is a new stamp by Hero Arts that my mother recently gave me. She's a generous lady and I can tell this is going to be a "go to" stamp. The brushed floral image is by Penny Black. I love these stamps, because they are beautiful and dramatic. I started with my die cut panel in white. I have had a few people ask me about how I add color to my die cuts, so I thought I would describe it, step by step for you. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but if you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll be happy to answer them.

Uniformly applying Distress Inks to a die cut panel:

1. After I emboss the beveled edge onto the die cut, I leave it in the Nestie die so it acts as a stencil. When I shade my die cuts in this manner, I always work on a pad of paper and the top sheet needs to be clean. The pad acts as a cushion and makes is easier to hold the die on, and the clean sheet ensures that I don't drag any unwanted colors onto my panel.
2. Next, I use the Tim Holtz foam blending tool to apply the color to the die cut. I have a foam pad dedicated to each color I use. I don't use them for more than one color, because I want the color I am applying to the die cut to remain true.
3. I dab the foam blending tool into the Distress Ink pad 2 or 3 times, then I pat it off on the clean sheet of paper a couple of times before I start working it onto my die cut. This seems like a waste, but it helps prevent any harsh lines from appearing on my die cut panel.
4. Next, starting off the panel, I begin to work the foam blending tool in a circular motion, then I slowly drag it onto the panel while maintaining that circular pattern. I have found that if I just plop it down on the panel and start blending, I will have a distinctly darker starting point and the color on the finished panel will appear blotchy. Not a good thing.
5. I go around the panel and do this several times until I have the color depth that I want.
6. I am careful to firmly hold the die cut in place on the panel until I am completely finished. You'll find that the beveled edge that has been embossed onto the panel will aid in keeping the die cut in place.
7. After this process is complete, I should have a uniformly colored panel and when I remove the die, I should have a nice, crisp white border around the edge. Be sure and wipe the ink off the die using a damp cloth, before you put it away. Otherwise, it might impart color to the next project you use it on.

I know it seems like a long process, but really, it only takes a few minutes. For my card today, I not only left the die cut on the panel while I added Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks to it, but I also left it on while I stamped the ticking background and the flower. When I stamped the images, I made sure to press down firmly around the edges so that my images went right up next to the white border when I removed the die. I applied glitter glue in Diamond to the edge of the panel and then set it aside to dry while I assembled the rest of the components of my card. Easy peasy.

I may have to make more cards like these. It only took a couple of hours to make, which is about half the time it normally takes me. That includes picking out images, paper, etc.

By the way, I was at Walmart the other day, trying to pick out some cheap reading glasses. My friend had convinced me that Walmart had them for a dollar...she's a notorious exaggerator...LOL!! The cheapest ones I could find were $8.00. That's not horrible, but I was really wanting to find those $1 glasses she had touted ;D Of course, when I tried them on, I couldn't see a thing. I tried looking around and everything was blurry, then it occurred to me...these are readers. They are for "upclose" work...duh!! I reached over and grabbed the nearest product to read the ingredient list as a test. It just so happened to be a tube of foot cream for Athletes Foot Fungus. I'm sure I was the picture of middle age with my readers perched on the tip of my nose pouring over the contents of this tube of funky foot goo. Anyway, I found some that did the trick and used them the other night. Wow! What a difference! I was able to color up an image without squinting, blinking, holding the image at varying arm lengths to bring it into focus, etc. AND it was easier to cut it out, too! YAY! Of course, my sister stopped by last night and spied them on my desk. She proceeded to make mock. My only satisfaction is that I know, one day, she'll be in the same (blurry) boat ;D