Carved wood technique for backgrounds

 I tried the carved wood technique by Gina K after seeing a few examples on Splitcoast Stampers in the past few days.  I did not have all the supplies she used so I assembled what I had and got started.  Making the plain wood grain pattern was pretty cool and so effective with so little time and supplies!  I had not tried it before but I will be doing it again.  It took a few tries to get the look she got.  My best one is the top right hand one.  I realized that she created a dark wood grain and after debossing with the vine embossing folder used a light colour pigment ink which left a dark coloured debossed pattern which in her example really looks like carved wood.  Mine a little less because with my pad I could not get the contrast she did with her colours.  So I just decided to make some woodgrain embossed backgrounds and have fun!!  I will certainly give it another go at another time!!  I made quite a few more than these ones but I got into making cards and just realized I should make a blog post about the backgrounds before I blog the cards!!

Therese

All occasion card featuring watercoloured and embossed flower, decorative paper and ribbon

 As I move ahead with getting some all occasion cards made for my stash I am experimenting with new sketches and using supplies and tools that have been sitting for a while. 

For this card, I am using a flower (SU) as my focal element that has not seen much use as of late.  I decided to stamp and emboss it with silver embossing powder on white cardstock.  I stamped several more while I was at it and have added them to my image stash.  I created my background using some white embossed pieces, a yellow strip and a strip of bright purple decorative paper.  I layered the purple strip over the yellow one and trimmed the edges to leave a bit of on each long end and even on the short ends.  I trimmed the white embossed layer and added some on each side of my accent piece then trimmed it to fit on my pink card base.  I added a purple organza ribbon around my background overlapping the purple decorative paper, secured the ends to the back with double sided tape and then tied on a short piece with a single knot to simulate a bow before adhering it to my card base.  I watercoloured the flower to coordinate and mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Lots of white with some punches of colour!! Perfect!!          Therese

An all occasion card featuring a black and red upcycled denim feather, decorative paper and thread

 For my second card featuring an upcycled denim feather I used one of the black ones I had created!!  I started with a black card front and added some red and white paper from the same Asian paper pack I used last time.  I trimmed out a piece for my background and added a torn length of vellum, folding the ends to the back and securing with regular tape.  I adhered this  large layer to my card front.  I added a swirl to the top of my feather and tied the thread to the top of it  just below the swirl and then wrapped it around my card front and tied the two ends on the front at the top of my feather.  I used a small punch to create a hole on the spine to pass my thread through.  I used a small piece of double sided tape on the back of my feather to help support it on my card front.  

Really happy with this one too!!

Therese