Embrace... Pop Dots!

Today is all about pop dots. These small items can really add a lot to any project. One recommendation I have for pop dots is, once you find a good source to buy, pick up LOTS. My local Dollarama carries several types. They are available in large squares, small squares, large circles and small circles. You get at least 384 of the small squares on one sheet for $1.00, so it's a pretty good deal. They stick well and are a nice thickness. Anyway, my point is, once you find some you like, stock up. These can add the perfect "pop" to any card. Today's card was inspired by this wonderful gift set by Jennifer McGuire. She's a wonderful artist in both card making and scrapbooking. A lot of her stuff fits into the clean and simple, but WOW! style. If for some reason you haven't checked her stuff out before, here's her blog link.

For my card, I used pop dots both to pop up the butterfly, as well as to pop up the entire pink layer. I was inspired to use piercing and stitching, so I got out the piercing guide for the frame, and I got out the dental floss for the butterfly trail. The green scallops were made with a slit punch. Stamps come from Verve Visual (butterfly) and PaperTrey Ink (saying).

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS Tips

Today's tip is using clusters on your card. This can mean grouping as little as 3 items, or going all out with the clusters, as I did on this card. This type of stamping can be done on one layer or you could cut out and raise the items you'll be grouping for some added dimension. This type of stamping also works very well with certain shapes, like flowers, stars, snowflakes, even letters. Give it a try! Supplies: Stamps: all flowers by PaperTrey Ink, Sentiment by Verve Visual Paper: Confetti White Ink: Palette Orange, Yellow, Mustard, Black

Crayon Resist

This is the first time I have done the crayon resist technique and it took me under 10 minutes to make this easy, simple card. I think it took me longer to find a white crayon than it did to make the card! I started with white glossy cardstock and stamped the flower image in black Staz-on. Then I traced the insides of the flower with the white crayon. Next I swiped a purple (looks blue in the photo) Marvy dye ink pad across the entire card and wiped off the ink with a tissue. Supplies: stamps: SU! Pocket Fun; Paper: The Paper Co. glossy cardstock; Ink: Staz-on, Marvy Dye ink

CAS Friendy Techniques

Every so often, I'll be focusing on a technique that I find works well with the CAS style. For this one, I'm going a bit "old school", in more ways than one... Pull out that glossy paper and white crayons, maybe a brayer or a few sponges- it's time for White Crayon Resist. This technique is super fast, and it looks pretty cool. Decide on an image theme and your colours and you're all set to go. For this one, I started with some flowers from PTI's Beautiful Blooms set. I stamped them, then added in some white lines with the crayon. Next, I got a sponge and started wiping mustard and burgundy all over. I finished it off with a small frame, some matching ribbon, and a sentiment. One of the great things about this technique is that you could stamp a whole sheet of these, then cut it up and make a whole bunch of cards like the style I've posted here.

Silhouette Color Challenge

The colors Natasha challenged with were Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red and white for a neutral. At first I thought Autumn but was not feeling in an autumn mood! So I decided these colors would make a good silhouette at sunset. I inked up the leaves image with Versamark, then chocolate chip and stamped the image. I embossed it with clear embossing powder. I sponged on the really rust, then the ruby red and a little bit of chocolate chip. I cut the image and mat out with my long rectangle nestabilities. I used DCWV cardstock which has great texture and some SEI patterned paper. I felt it needed a little something to complete it so I stamped the butterfly on the left over sponged paper, cut it out, mounted it just on the body so that the wings could be bent away from the paper. I finished it off with an Amuse Twinkler sticker. I left room for a sentiment in the lower left corner of the image.