The Missing Card Mystery

This is a card I made for a young friend who started his first job recently.  I was a bit late with the card so these stamps and the sentiment were perfect!  I have used these images for a 'New Job' card before, but I've used a few different techniques and colours for this one.  The stamps used are from Sheena Douglass's a little bit sketchy range 'Mystery Author', 'Ageing Beautifully and 'I Say', plus a 'Congratulations' stamp by Chocolate Baroque.  The inks used are Distress Inks - Black Soot, Broken China, Dusty Concorde, and Versafine Black Onyx.  The base card is plain white card that I have edged with Dusty Concorde.  The background panel is smooth white card onto which I have blended three DI's.  Then I flicked drops of water over the panel and blotted it with paper towel.  This is faux bleaching.  When dry I over stamped the bleached areas with images of 'Ink blots' using blue ink.  I then stamped some text and a question mark using the same inks randomly over the panel.  I blended black soot around the edges of the panel and matted it on to black card.  Next I stamped the typewriter and sentiment onto smooth white card in black ink, then heat embossed them with black powder.  I stamped and embossed the magnifying glass in the same way onto acetate, and the question mark onto a piece of the background card.   I stamped a small sentiment onto the typewriter paper.  Then I die cut the sentiment and edged the panel with black ink, cut the question mark out in a circle, and cut the magnifying  glass out of the acetate.   I faux bleached the question mark and edged the circle with black ink.   I water coloured the typewriter with DI.  I layered the background panel onto the base card, and attached the sentiment and embellishments with dimensional glue. 

New Home Chic

This is a lovely card I made as a 'New Home' card.  I am still really into the vintage/shabby chic style and wanted to use it in my design featuring the key to a new home and the start of a new chapter in life.   The stamps I have used are from Chocolate Baroque's 'Key to my Dreams', and 'Mini Scripts sets.  The inks used are Stormy Skies, Broken China, Dusty Concord and black Soot DI's.  I started by creating the background panel, blending the blue and purple inks on to smooth white card, and shaped the panel by die cutting.  I then splattered water randomly all over the panel and blotted it with kitchen paper, as a faux -  bleaching effect.  Next I stamped some script randomly over the panel in Broken China  ink, and then stamped a crackle pattern around the edge in second generation black ink.  I embossed a key pattern on to the panel using a folder through a machine, then blended black ink around the edges.  I had decided to make a shaped card so I used a coordinating blue card and die cut it the same shape as the panel.   Then I did the same with another piece of blue card, making the front and back.I stamped the same script randomly over the front blue panel and edged with black ink.  I scored the back blue panel  about 1cm from the top, folding it both ways to make a hinge for the card.  I attached the front to the back with some strong double sided tape,then I attached the background panel to the front of the card.   Using the same coloured card as the background I stamped the key and the lock images in black ink and heat embossed them with black powder.  Next I cut them out and shaped them with a ball tool, then attached them to the card with dimensional glue.  I had already threaded some fibres through the top of the key.  I had also already made the flowers for a previous project but not used them, ( Autumn Butterfly) and they were perfect for this card.  They are made from individual die cut flowers that I have stamped and layered up, using a self adhesive pearl for the centers. I attached them with dimensional glue.  I then cut the sentiment out of the same card as the background using dies, and edged the words in black.  I attached them with strong glue to the card. This is a lovely design and I think it would be suitable as an 18th or 21st birthday card as well, for male or female.