Magazine Inspiration

Twisted Chick Creations a.k.a. Flaxychick (see my blog links to the right) challenged her blog readers to use a magazine ad as an inspiration for a card. As I was flipping through my House and Garden magazine, I saw an ad that would be PERFECT! The layers of the appliances immediately stood out as a fun card layout. The font colors (blues and lavender) inspired the color scheme. The font style inspired the swirly Cuttlebugged background (which I rubbed with Lavender metallic ink). The Harlequin style paper is made by My Mind's Eye. I used my "Like it a Latte" stamps for the coffee cup and the sentiment, because it was really the only kitchen related stamp set that I had! The steam for the coffee cup is stamped with Staz-on ink on acetate, and then cut out. I got the idea for that trick from "labullard" at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for the idea Linda! The blue panel that the sentiment is stamped on is popped using 3-D Zots.

Thanks for the inspiration Flaxychick! I'll definitely be using magazine ads for inspiration again!
Better view of the card.

Argyle Inspiration

The layout for this card came from the Sketch Challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week. It had lots of layers, which always means a fun and challenging card-making experience for me! As I went down to the basement to work on the card, I really didn't have any particular color or image scheme in mind. But, when I saw my argyle ribbon laying there, I knew I just had to use it! The ribbon inspired the color scheme and the image choice. The colors reminded me of a 40s or 50s coffee shop, so I used the "Like it a Latte" stamp set for my images. I used Stickles (glitter glue) to make the foam, straws, heart, and outline of the mug sparkle.

Coffee beans

This card uses two similar techniques, masking and reverse-masking. Masking is a simple technique that allows you to use only part of a stamp for your image. It's handy for layering images in front of one another. In this case, I masked the interior of the coffee cup. I did this by stamping the coffee cup on a scrap piece of paper, cutting the center out, and using that center cut-out to "mask" the center of the stamped image on my pink cardstock. So, when I stamped it, it only showed the outline of the coffee cup. Then, I did reverse masking. I used the other part of the scrap paper that I cut (which had the outline of the cup on it), and used that as a reverse mask. It basically covered the outline of the coffee cup on the pink cardstock, so I could fill in the center with something else. I filled the center with Creamy Caramel sponged ink, and then with coffee beans in Basic Brown. It's a fun technique that I'm sure I'll be using many times over again in the future.

There's an excellent tutorial by Beate at Splitcoaststampers. It shows pictures of how to do this fun technique!
Reverse Masking Tutorial at SCS