Jun 09, 2015
Blog Design Team: Downtown Double-Take
Happy Tuesday, crafty friends! Summer is always the perfect time to get away from it all. A ‘missing
you’ card is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family who
are back home and this card is a great one to send. We’ve got a special feature for you today with two eye-catching projects from two of our talented designers, Amy Kolling and Julia Stainton. They’ve taken our popular Starry Night Cutting Plate and Downtown Border and used different techniques to create two unique takes on cards that say ‘I miss you.’
Plus, we are so excited about these beautiful projects that we are doing a giveaway! Keep reading for details…
First up, let’s hear from Amy about how she created her stenciled and sponged project…
Distress Inks are almost always at my crafty desk. There are so many
techniques and ways to use them. Truly they are nearly fool proof and are a great way to create a night sky. I started with a piece of Sugar Cube cardstock
trimmed to fit a standard A2 cardfront. Using Faded Jeans Distress Ink,
I began inking my background until it was dark and then added in the
Seedless Preserves. I blended the two until I had the dark look of a
nighttime sky.
I like getting more out of my dies, so I used the Starry Night Cutting Plate as
a stencil. I die-cut a stencil from vellum so I could position it over my
“night sky” to see where the stars would end up. Using white pigment
ink, I sponged it on until the stars were white and then removed the
stencil (I just held it in place with my hand while stenciling). After
sponging stars into my sky, I spritzed some shimmer spray over the top.
My sentiment (from You are Here) was stamped once in Versamark and then once more, slightly overlapping with white pigment ink. Lastly, I added a Downtown Border die-cut to the bottom of my scene.
Thank you, Amy, for sharing how you created your card. Be sure to visit her on her blog, Stamp-n-Paradise, for more of her wonderful work. Next up, let’s hear from Julia about her gorgeous, die-cut card…
Today I’m pairing up the
beautiful Starry Night Cutting Plate with the Downtown Border to visit
the excitement of a big city. The big city lights pair up with a
beautiful starry night with lots of shimmer and glitter.To add in some great sparkle to the
stars, I lined the back of the black Starry Night die cut layer with
some silver glitter cardstock. (I love pre-glittered cardstock as it
keeps the mess down, but you can also create your own by applying
adhesive to a sheet of cardstock and then cover it with silver
glitter.) The glitter adds a great pop of sparkle and shine to really
light up the card.To create the Downtown Border layers, I cut
the border twice from Earl Grey and Lemon Meringue Cardstock. By
layering them together and off-setting the yellow die-cit, it adds the
effect of light and makes the silhouettes pop along the bottom of the
card.The city always gives off a lot of light at night and seems
to make the sky glow. By sponging on some yellow pigment ink and
blending it on the sky layer from the bottom fading upwards, it really
adds to the effect of the night sky.To add in the sentiment, I
die cut a sweet little heart from the Cupid’s Arrows Dies set and
stamped on it. At first glance, this arrow set seems to be just for
Valentine’s, but I love using it all through the year and it actually may
be one of my most used TE die sets!
Thank you, Julia! Visit Julia on her blog, Belle Papier for more of her delightful creations.
We absolutely love both these cards and we think you will be inspired to create your own versions that will have us doing a ‘double-take’! To help you out, we’re giving away a Downtown Border and Starry Night Cutting Plate to one lucky reader! See below for details on how to enter:
How to Enter: Leave a comment below telling us your favorite city to visit (and why!) by Friday, June 12, 2015 at 11:59 pm PST.
We’ll choose one lucky winner at random to win a Starry Night Cutting Plate and a Downtown Border Die prize pack! We’ll announce the winner here on the TE Blog next week. Good
luck!
Amy’s Card:
Julia’s Card: