Showing posts with label Topography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Topography. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Altenew Mountain Die Set, 10 Minute Card

*This post contains affiliate links to Altenew

OK, I didn't officially time the making of this card, but honestly I think it really took me only ten minutes to create.  This is partly because I had the cardstocks out for another project, so I didn't have to go searching for them.  It's also because these Mountain Dies from Altenew just don't need a lot.  They are the epitome of standalone dies.

I simply die cut each of the edges on a piece of cardstock that was about the width of each of the dies.  I wanted to cut the entire width so that I could adjust how the silhouettes lined up. 

Once I was happy with my landscape, I adhered the pieces to a piece of light blue cardstock, trimming each one down as I went.  I thought about popping up a couple of the layers, but ultimately decided to keep things night and flat for easier mailing.


The sentiment is from my old Topography set for Neat & Tangled.

Really so quick and easy!  These dies are perfect for mass production.  You could easily create card sets varying both the colors used as well as the arrangement of the landscape pieces to mix things up a bit.  

That's all for me.  We've been doing a bunch of rearranging around the house and some purging too, so I'm knee deep in stuff!  

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Pinkfresh Through the Trees


Today I'm sharing a couple card created with Pinkfresh Studio's Through the Trees stamp set.  I had to have this one when it was released last year, and it's taken me a while to get around to using it, but I'm so glad that I finally did!.

This is one of those backgrounds that really does all the work for you.  Today I'm showing it off two ways.

For this first card, I started by adding a soft inking to my panel using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and just a hint of Salty Ocean Distress Ink.


Next, I stamped the background image, using my MISTI.  I started by inking up the stamp with Twisted Citron Distress Oxide.  I then went back (without cleaning the stamp) and randomly dabbed Mowed Lawn Distress oxide over the stamp to get some variation in color.  I knew that this was going to be the back layer of trees, so I wasn't trying to be particularly precise.

I then turned my panel 180 degrees and inked the stamp with Lucky Clover Distress Oxide.  Similar to the background, I then went back with some Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide to get some varation in the color.


Once I was happy with the panel, I set it aside to dry a bit so that I wouldn't smudge anything.  Once the ink was set, I added a sentiment from my Topography stamp set for Neat & Tangled, and then adhered the panel to my card base.

Next, I wanted to create a night time card.  Again, I started by inking, using Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, and just a touch of Black Soot Distress Ink.  I then added a bit of white splatter using Hero Arts White Shimmer Metallic Ink to create the stars.  I wanted to add that to my background before stamping the trees because I wanted some of the stars to show through the trees.


After letting the panel completely set/dry overnight, I used my anti-static pouch, stamped with Versafine, and then embossed the image using WOW! Rainbow Black Embossing Glitter.  It's got such a pretty sparkle to it!


The sentiment is from an old Studio Calico set by Jasmine Jones and was stamped and embossed with Hero Arts Princess Gold embossing powder.

I really love how you can get such different looks with this stamp set.  Thanks so much for visiting!

*Affiliate Links Below

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Neat & Tangled January Release & Giveaways - Day 3


Hey everyone!  It's Day 3 of the Neat & Tangled January release and today we're showing off my latest cover plate, Wonky Chevrons.

This cover is perfect for bold backgrounds and masculine cards.  It's designed much like my Inlaid Squares and Squares and Chevron cover plates, where part of the design is the webbing, so the individual pieces aren't all separated by webbing.

One of my goals this year is to incorporate more patterned paper into my cards.  For this first card, I cut the cover plate from two patterned papers - black and blue.  The black webbing piece was adhered to a piece of white patterned paper.  The blue pieces were then inlaid into the piece.  


Because there isn't webbing for all the different piece, you've got more options, so for example, the large blue chevron piece lowest on the card is supposed to nest right next to the black with a second piece sitting next to it in that open space.  Instead, I left one of the pieces out, and centered the blue piece in the opening to create a different pattern.  I also moved the second blue piece up just a tad so that it covers a bit of the black above it and leaves some more white exposed below it.  Finally, I altered the top blue piece, cutting 1/8" off the top edge so that I could see some more of that white below that.

The cover plate is just smaller than a full A2 card, but I trimmed my card base down a touch so that there isn't a margin.  I use the Love You dies featured on Monday for the sentiment, cutting the sentiment three times from red cardstock to get some dimension, and adding the xoxo from the Just Because stamp set.


As I mentioned before, I love this cover for simple, bold, masculine cards.  I thought that the chevron was a bit reminiscent of mountains, when pointint upwards, so for this card, I die cut three different green patterned papers and then inlaid them.


The sentiment is from my Topography set and I placed it just above one of the chevron points so that your eye is drawn directly to it.

This is a really quick and easy card to create and you can get three for the price of one.

Be sure to head over to the Neat & Tangled blog.  Danielle is giving a cover plate away to one lucky commenter.  Leave a comment here too as I'll be choosing a random commenter to win this cover plate.  For extra chances, head over to my Instagram (@mprantner) and follow the directions there.

See you back here tomorrow for our last day of reveals!

Monday, June 4, 2018

Neat & Tangled June Release and Giveaways - Day 1


Hi everyone!  It's June release week at Neat & Tangled (how can it possible be June already??!!!)!  We're kicking things off with the newest set from Elena called So Fly. 

The main image is this adorable couple of critters in a plane.  I love the size of it don't you? 

The image was stamped, colored with Copics, and then die cut.  Note that when you die cut the image the top of the elephant's head and the chin of the giraffe are still connected, but when I put an image like this on a dark background, I like to show a bit more of an outline, so I used my detail scissors to snip it apart and create a sliver of open space between.


The sentiment is from my Topography set, and was embossed white on this map patterned paper that I thought would be perfect for this image.

That's all for me today, but head over to the Neat & Tangled blog to check out what the rest of the team created and to enter to win a set for yourself.

Leave a comment here too.  I've got several new items in this release and I'll be giving some away to commenters here on my blog.  The first two products are going to be revealed tomorrow, so I'll see you back here bright and early!

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Neat & Tangled May Release and Giveaways - Day 3


Hey everyone!  It's Day 3 of Neat & Tangled May release reveals and I get to show off my latest set today, Layered Landscape.  Take a look:


There are a ton of possibilities with this set and lots of great techniques that you can use.  I ended up creating three different cards using three very different techniques.  

The card above is what I've been wanting to do since I designed the set.  The mountains where inked with dye ink, the stamp was spritzed with water, and then stamped onto watercolor paper.  This was done with each of the four different mountain shades in four different shades of blue (I used Altenew's Cool Summer Nights set).  

Once that was done, I repeated the process only this time I flipped the stamps over and repeated the process using the back side of the stamps to get the reflection.  

Note for this card (and all the others), because of the side and solidity of the stamps, I used a stamping platform.  In this case I found the Tim Holtz platform the easiest since it's a bit larger and and so were the stamps.


After the panel was dry, I used a slightly wet brush to paint over the reflection portion at the bottom to soften it and give it a more water-like look.

The sentiment was then stamped with Versafine and the entire panel was popped up over the card base.


For this next card I used just one of the mountain pieces - the more horizontal one.  I again used a series of four Altenew inks, this time the Rock Collection set.  Starting with the lightest ink at the top of the card, I partially inked the mountain image and stamped it on my panel.

By partial inking I mean when inking the image I was focused on the top of the stamp pressing the pad at more of an angle so the entire stamp didn't necessarily get inked.  You can repeat this step as necessary to get the amount of coverage you want, I wasn't going for perfect inking here - I think the partial inking adds depth and texture.


I then went back and using the next darker shade of ink essentially did rock and roll inking on the edge of the mountain to add a bit more definition to the edge.

This process was repeated as I worked my way down the panel.  I used both the front and back of the stamp and moved it from right to left in order to vary how the mountains looked.  I did three layers for each of the shades of gray except for the darkest which was stamped as a totally solid layer at the bottom of the panel.

The sentiment is also from the layered Landscape Set.


For the final card I went extremely clean and simple and I love the look.  It reminds me of an advertisement/poster.  

I again used Altenew inks, these greens are from the Green Fields set and simple stamped over to pof one another in layers. 

After stamping each layer, I used a heat gun to dry it before stamping the next layer.  This cuts down on bleeding between the layers and makes the lines much more crisp.


The sentiment is from my Topography set which I think works perfectly with the mountains.

So what do you think?  Which version/technique did you like best?

I'll be giving away one of these sets to a lucky someone.  To be entered, be a blog follower and leave a comment.  For extra entries head over to my Instagram page (@mprantner) and follow the directions there.

You'll also want to head over to the Neat & Tangled blog to check out what the rest of the ladies created and to enter to win a set there as well.

See you back here tomorrow for more goodness!

*Affiliate links below to Ellen Hutson and in text to Altenew and Neat & Tangled stores

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Adventure is Calling


I was moving things around the craft room the other day (one of my favorite pastimes) and I came across this panel that I colored during Kathy Racoosin's last 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

I figured I ought to put it to good use.

I didn't want to cover it up after all that work, so I opted for a simple matted sentiment embossed with Liquid Platinum embossing powder.  Both the sentiment and background are from the Topography set.


I still have a couple colored background panels I need to do something with, but first, Christmas cards.....

*Affiliate Links below to Ellen Hutson and in text to Neat & Tangled