The Faded Batik effect...

 Ok, I really have NO business making cards right now.  I'm SUPPOSED to be packing for Cozy Crop which starts on Sunday. Sure, it SOUNDS like there's time... but there really isn't. My SIL arrives Thursday, the Ernman and the boys arrive Friday and I've got housecleaning and bed making to do. On Sunday, we all go to a party in Delaware. From there, my SIL, friend Susan, and I head off to Cozy Crop. Busy, busy, busy. But first...

 

I decided to do another lesson In the Catherine Pooler class I'm taking thru Craftsy. This is called the "Faded Batik Effect". WICKED cool result! Using a stencil, I put Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough and Spiced Marmalade distress ink on it. I spritzed with water then put onto watercolor paper as if it were a stamp...

 

THEN, without moving it, I wiped up excess water that was around it. Using the same inks and a distress tool, I inked thru the stencil. I was supposed to spritz with water and dry, but I didn't. I can only imagine how it would have looked if I'd done as instructed. I finished off the card by die-cutting "smile" out of the center and mounting on blue cardstock. I added twine (lower price in my Etsy shoppe HERE ) and sequins from Pretty Pink Posh

 

Anyway, I got my itch to make cards out of the way until Cozy. NOW, back to packing... :)



Crafting with Sherry...

 On my most recent trip to Ohio, I was invited to come craft a couple days with long time friend Sherry Varga in Canal Fulton. We had a blast teaching each other new things...

 

 This was our first endeavor. Using our MISTI, we stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white. That left the flower area untouched. Sherry taught me how to paint the flowers with distress ink we had on our mats. I really enjoyed the process AND the outcome so I stamped another eight to do when I got back home... :)
 

I brought all the supplies from Joisey to do this card. I had done a "make and take" last December at a local Scrapbooking store and accumulated the supplies to make it and hadn't done so yet. The buck was cut on my Silhouette. We inked and spritzed an Impression Obsession background stamp with gray and blue ink. We added silver twine from Michaels and the greeting is from Impression Obsession as well...



Sherry wanted to learn how to make a shaker card so I taught her what I know. This "window" is over a mod podged napkin. WICKED cool!! Both of us LOVE to mod podge napkins so I see many more like this in my future...



I really loved all the wicked cool sentiments that Sherry has. This was a wooden stamp that I stamped on the ivory paper before we closed up the well. I really, really like it!



I made a card similar to this several months ago and we CASEd it with Sherry's new daisy die cuts AND sentiment set. Sherry has a large selection of pre-cut patterned papers that are so fun to look thru. We found this green to use as our background...



Again with her box of pattern papers, we found this polka-dot paper with raised dots. The flowers are a Stampin' Up set and punch that she owns. We had to get her husband involved to help us line up the stamp and punch so we could crank out several for the cards we were making. He helped us figure it out... don't you just LOVE husbands?!!



This was our final creation. I was COMPLETELY blown away by this effect. We stamped her wood stamp of dogwoods into each corner and colored in with colored pencils. I'm STILL in awe of this card! It's stunning...

So, to say I had a good time would be a grave understatement! Sherry insisted I bring very little and I obliged. For each card, once we figured out what we were doing, we became an assembly line. I was so pleased to come home with such an eclectic group of cards. Thank you again Sherry, for a wonderful, wonderful time and I look forward to doing it again sometime...