Thinking of You - Faux Denim

Happy Wednesday! The week is half over!
Today's card is another glossy cardstock card! I have used glossy cardstock on the last few cards I have shared and today is a faux denim technique!
This technique works with any blue ink that matches your project. I wanted a darker denim look to match the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper(DSP). I used a combination of Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy. If you want a lighter denim you could use Baja Breeze and Marina Mist.
Like the Versamark Resist technique, the Faux Denim technique has been around for a while! It's a fun technique that isn't just limited to blues! This technique is beautiful with any color! It especially looks good with Melon Mambo or Rich Razzleberry for teen/girly cards!

To distress your denim even more you can go back over it with your sandpaper once you apply the ink! This photo is of the same card but I went back over the "denim" with the sandpaper a second time.

Below I have shared the supplies and instructions for making this card!

Supplies:
- 4.5x6 inch Kraft card base
- 4.25x5.75 inch piece of glossy cardstock
- Sandpaper or a sanding block
- Ink in Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy
- Sponges or ink applicators
- 5.5x2.75 piece of Kraft carstock
- 4.25x2.5 inch piece of Paisley Petals DSP
- .25x2.5 inch piece of purple Paisley Petals DSP
- 1x2.5 inch piece of pink Paisley Petals DSP
- Seam Binding Ribbon in Very Vanilla
- Corner Rounder
- Eyelet Border Punch
- Sentiment Stamp (Mine is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set)

Instructions:
1. Round the bottom corners of the front of your card. Round the corners of the tops of the large piece of DSP, the piece of Kraft, and the piece of glossy cardstock.
2. Take your glossy cardstock and sand in straight lines horizontally and then vertically from top to bottom. (This will give your glossy cardstock a linen texture)
3. Take your sponge and apply the inks along the edge and into the middle of the glossy cardstock. I use circular motions. You can keep applying ink until you get the desired affect.
(Optional) Once the ink has dried go over the glossy cardstock again with the sandpaper. This will give you the look in the second photo.
4. Use your border punch to punch along the bottom of your piece of Kraft and the piece of pink DSP.
5. Adhere the pieces of DSP to your piece of Kraft as shown in the photos.
6. Stamp your sentiment with Night Of Navy ink onto the top of the DSP and tie your Seam Binding Ribbon around the bottom. Adhere to the front of your card using foam adhesive squares.

Fun and easy! Practice this technique on a scrap piece of glossy cardstock using various ink color combinations! The affects are beautiful! The new color Island Indigo is also a beautiful blue to use!
I hope you like today's card! If you have any questions please email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment here!
To purchase the Stampin Up products used in today's post simply contact your Stampin Up demonstrator or go HERE!

Bye Bye Stars

Happy Friday!
As I mentioned on yesterday's post it's Stampin Up's retirement time! They will be retiring a ton of products that you can order until June 30th. They do this to make room in the new catalog for a ton of new stuff!
One of the retiring sets is Seeing Stars. I used it on today's card. This is another card using the inlaid embossing technique! This easy technique gives your card a quilted look and is perfect for 4th of July cards/projects!
I have shared supplies and instructions to make this card below!

Supplies:
- 4x5.5 White Card Base
- (3) 1 inch circles punched from Riding Hood Red cardstock
- (1) 5/8 inch circle punched from Riding Hood Red cardstock
- (2) 5/8 inch circles punched from Not Quite Navy cardstock
- (1) 2 inch circle punched from Not Quite Navy Cardstock
- (1) 2.5 inch circle punched from Not Quite Navy cardstock
- Whisper White Cardstock
- Scrap Piece of Riding Hood Red Cardstock (Optional)
- Stars #2 Big Shot Die and Big Shot Machine
- Square Lattice Embossing Folder
- Scallop Oval Punch
- Scallop Oval Die and Movers and Shapers Die for the Big Shot (Optional)
- Ink in Riding Hood Red and Not Quite Navy
- Sentiment or You're Invitied from the Sincere Salutations Stamp Set
- Seeing Stars Stamp Set

Instructions:
1. Adhere your circles to the card front as shown in the photo above. (Use a glue stick to adhere the circles and stars for best results after embossing)
2. Die cut your stars out of Whisper White cardstock using the Stars #2 die.
3. Use temporary adhesive to adhere your stars to a flat stamping surface. Use the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to stamp your die cut stars with the Seeing Stars stamps. Adhere your stamped stars to the card as shown in the photo above.
4. Trim the excess cirlces and stars from the edges of the card. (I have a rotary blade trimmer and to trim I simply lay the card face down and trim the excess off)
5. Use a corner rounder to round the top right corner of the card. (Optional)
6. Place your card front into the Square Lattice embossing die and run through your Big Shot.
7. Use your Movers and Shapers die to cut out a scallop oval from your scrap piece of Riding Hood Red. (Optional)
8. Stamp your sentiment onto Whisper White and punch out with the Scallop Oval punch. Adhere onto the red scallop oval.
9. Use foam adhesive squares to adhere your sentiment onto the center of the largest star.

This card would be perfect for invtations to your 4th of July picnic! One of the best things about the Big Shot are the steel rule dies. These dies allow you to cut multiple layers of cardstock at one time! This is great when mass producing cards!
I hope you enjoyed today's card and the fun inlaid embossing technique!
If you have any questions about Stampin Up's retiring products, receiving a new catalog, or today's card send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Have a super fab Friday!

Ships and Blogs

Well (as most of the blogging world knows) Blogger went down yesterday like a sinking ship and took with it all of the comments left by my awesome readers. So...if you left a comment on any of this weeks posts THANK YOU!!!
Speaking of ships I promised yesterday I would share a card made using the brand new Open Sea stamp set and Nautical Expedition Paper from the Summer Mini Catalog!
This card is very quick to put together. Just make sure you don't stamp the compass upside down like I did! Hehe! ;) This card could be for Father's Day, graduation, birthday, or just about any manly occasion!
The sentiment is not a stamp. I typed it out and printed it onto Marina Mist cardstock. This was a card in my Stamper's Night Out Class and I wanted it to be an all occasion card. I used the Happy Father's Day stamp from the Best Dad Ever set and stamped the inside of the card. There are many sets that include Father's Day sentiments like All Holidays, Teeny Tiny Wishes, and there is even a set called Word Play that has a stamp that says "You Mean the World to Me."

To make this card you need:
- White Card 5.5x4
- Not Quite Navy Cardstock cut (or ripped) to 3.5x5.5
- Red Striped Piece from Nautical Expedition Paper cut/ripped to 2.5x3.75
- Marina Mist Cardstock cut/ripped to 2.75x3.5
- Whisper White Cardstock cut/ripped to 2.5x3.5
- Antique Brad
- Baker's Twine
- Open Sea Stamp Set
- Ink in Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake

1. Stamp the ship stamp in Not Quite Navy in the lower right corner of the Not Quite Navy piece of cardstock. Adhere to the card.
2. Adhere your piece of red striped paper about an inch from the left side of the card.
3. Stamp the ledger stamp onto the Whisper White cardstock with Crumb Cake ink. Stamp the world stamp onto the left side with the Not Quite Navy ink. Stamp the anchor to the left of the world in Basic Gray. Stamp the compass stamp in Riding Hood Red at the bottom of the world.
4. Adhere the stamped piece onto the piece of Marina Mist cardstock. Use a paper piercer to punch a hole through both pieces and insert brad.
5. Tie the baker's twine around the paper and wrap around the brad. Trim ends.
6. Adhere about a quarter of an inch from the left side of the card.

Now wasn't that easy!?! Beautiful, but manly, cards are sometimes a challenge to come up with! Here is one that would be perfect for any aged boy OR woman!
If you have any questions about this card please email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com! Also if you would like a Summer Mini Catalog mailed to you just send me an email with your mailing address!

-My next card post will be a baby card I made a while ago for a dear friend who is having a baby soon! I used the Animal Stories stamp set and was inspired by....a kitchen towel! Haha! I'll even post a pic of the kitchen towel!
Well folks have a fabulous Friday!