Good morning! If you missed my first post on adding sparkle to your cards yesterday just scroll down or click here! I also wanted to just say thanks to all my new blog followers! I really appreciate your support and sweet comments!!
So, in continuing with my goal to share different methods of adding sparkle to your cards, I present a set of cards dedicated to my faithful crafting companion!
…who insists on trying to live inside my Foldio…
Seriously though…I was watching her sleep in my craft room a few days ago and was amused at how she’s able to sleep pretty much anywhere…perched on a window sill, draped over my Procision trimmer, with her head resting on my Silhouette…
So, here’s how she inspired my design for this set of cards:
Ha…I still haven’t figured out how to color a tortoiseshell cat with copics so I’m sticking with tabbies… 😉 For my first card I blended distress inks in Spun Sugar, Dried Marigold, and Picked Raspberry onto Canson watercolor paper and let it dry. To add sparkle to this background I covered (read wasted) it with wink of stella clear glitter. It’s hard to see in the photo and up close it barely shows up. Don’t get me wrong…it’s shimmery but it’s not sparkly. I much prefer to use wink of stella in more concentrated doses in smaller applications like a sentiment or small image (like a heart). It’s definitely not financially worth it to use wink of stella on a large area.
To complete the card I stamped several sleeping cats from the My Favorite Things I Knead You stamp set and colored them with copic markers. I was originally planning on creating a shaker using the Abstract cover die but I was not having a good day with my foam mounting tape…I finally decided that it was a hint to not do a shaker and instead used the die to give my cats various resting places. I stamped the sentiment from I Knead You on the Stitched Fishtail Banners from My Favorite Things and adhered it to the card with foam mounting tape.
My second card follows a similar layout but uses cooler colors.
For this card I blended Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, and Seedlesss Preserves distress ink onto watercolor paper and then spritzed it with the Tsukineko Frost spray. I also flicked some of the spray onto the paper for the larger droplets. After letting it sit for about 30 seconds I used a paper towel to blot off the large droplets and then let it air dry. This is definitely sparklier than the first card and I like that the whole background is slightly shimmery and there are little pieces of glitter scattered throughout.
My next card is probably the most shimmery but the least sparkly…if that makes sense…
This was actually a total experiment…it turned out well in this case but not so well in another card attempt. I started off by blending distress inks in Victorian Velvet, Aged Mahogany, Dusty Concord, and Shaded Lilac onto watercolor paper…you can’t really see the Dusty Concord as it’s covered by the sentiment strip but you can see how it blended into the colors above and below it. I loved my glittery embossing powder background from yesterday’s card and decided to see what would happen with Wow Silver Pearl embossing powder. I stamped versamark all over the background and then applied the silver pearl embossing powder. It created a really pretty background but really muted the color of the distress inks. In fact, my other card using warmer colors was way too muted by the embossing powder. So I like this effect but I’d recommend it only with darker distress inks. I did create a shaker card using the Vertical cover-up die from my Favorite Things and added sparkly clear and silver beads and sequins.
For my last card I followed a similar layout but used warmer colors in a diagonal design:
For this card I blended Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, and Seedless Preserves distress inks onto watercolor paper. Once the panel was dry I spritzed it with a blend of water and perfect pearls. It created a soft shimmer with teeny tiny specks of glitter.
So there’s my second installment…thanks so much for visiting! Tomorrow I’ll have one last group of cards using some slightly non-traditional methods of adding sparkle to your cards! I’d love to know what you’re thinking? Do you have a favorite method so far? Anything else you’d like to see me try?
Supplies:
Love, love, love your kitty cards!
These cats are adorable! Love those backgrounds.
Beautiful cards. I love the colors and your explanation of how you made each sparkly in a different way.
Hi Jess,
I love all your cards but I think the last one may be my favorite. It’s great to hear the different ways to add shimmer and sparkle. These are just too darn cute!
i absolutely love your experimenting with shimmer and shine.. i love them… your color combo for the last one is my go-to color pallete.. thanks and also for the lovely lil welcome:) i like…
I love how you perched those cats on the die cuts, they are too cute! Gorgeous backgrounds on every one of your cards!
Oh my gosh, these cards are ridiculously adorable!! There’s just something about a sleeping kitty that always gets to me and the way you made them all unique is the best part! The first card, with the cats resting on their various perches adds a real whimsical touch to your design. LOVE these!
Such awesome cards! And Jessica, as a cat owner you should know that a cat will curl up anywhere you don’t want them to! LOL
HEy JEss, I totally love your cards!! the abstract backgroud is such a great idea for the kitties to lay on….I think I need to be a millionaire, and that might not do it, to get alll the things i’d like to for making cards…tee-hee Thanks SO much for sharing your gift with us!
oh, i almost forgot cuz i’m so tired, but i haven’t tried this but have seen some cards done using table salt, or sea salt if you want it to be courser on your cards. I think if was Laurel Beard who did it. It was a pretty cool efffect….
These are all so fantastic! I love the idea of having the cats sleeping in funny places (which is so true!) and your backgrounds are amazing. I especially love the second card, those colours together are exceptional!!
So cute. I love the idea. All the different backgrounds are great.
Adorable cards! That’s cats for you…sleep anywhere they please! LOL
Love those kitties and they work so well with the abstact ceover plate! I really like the color bloom sprays by Prima!
I have 2 kitties so these hit home with me adorable!
I really love those card designs! They already catched my eye in the MFT linkup!! And you remind me to use my perfect pearls again! ??
Beautiful cards. Love the distress inks you chose, I’m new to distress inks so I’m glad you explain everything. Love the pearl shimmer.
Beautiful inspiration! Thank you!
I loved all of your cards but my favorite was the 2nd one. 3 is my number though.
Love these cat cards. We used to have a tortoise shell cat–she was my favorite cat and we have had quite a few. thanks for the info on the Wink of Stella–I just bought one.
Awesome background die and colors! LOVE the kitties! I am away from home right now and missing my Coco!
Love them all. I want to go try some of those idea right now! Silly work gets in the way!
I am a cat lover so this card just spoke to me. Plus I love the way you used the stencil! I will definitely be following your blog!
Cute cards.
Such fun cards! I just love how you combined the cats and the abstract die!
Your cards are wonderful. How clever to take the Cover Up die and pair it with the sleeping kitties and the shaker cards are wonderful. Well done.