Faux Croc

First off, apologies for the week long absence.  Lots of things happening in the background that cannot be shared till 2014, but let me tell you, I am excited for the new year already!  I also have been preparing for the Inspiration Unlimited event in Las Vegas this coming weekend.  Lots and lots of hours of work have gone into the preparation of over 250 kits.  Thanks to friends and family who have helped put kits together!
I posted this picture on Facebook a couple weeks ago.  This is my husband cutting 1200 grungeboard letters with the Vagabond machine.  He had a whole system worked out that included his portable garage work table, a bin of pre-painted grungeboard, and a golf match on the TV.  Gotta love him...he made it through, then moved on to 275 leaves and another 275 postage stamp frames.  He is a keeper.

Enough about what I have been doing as of late...
Lets get started making an easy card today.  I couldn't decide what colors, so I made two #8 colored tags using Distress Stain and water technique.
First up the warm group - ripe persimmon, milled lavender, and squeezed lemonade

yum.

Next up - mustard seed, peacock feathers, seedless preserves

wow, that came out brighter than I thought it would...but I like it. 

I'm going to use the Sizzix Writing Desk Bigz die - that feather was calling my name! 

 

The feather runs diagonal across the die so my tag needed to run that way.  I just laid the tag on the die and clipped the corners so it would run through the Vagabond machine. Easy solution.

It's hard to see the lavender color on screen but it is a great contrast to the orange and yellow. 

Love the green too.  I think I will go with this one today and save the orange for another day next week.

I glued some Core'dinations Kraft core cardstock to a piece of chipboard and cut out the ink bottle with the same die.  Use the sanding grip to sand away some of the black to reveal the kraft color underneath.

Next I cut a piece of cardstock for the center of my card.  I painted it with Bundled Sage distress paint.

I chose the new Distress Paint Dusty Concord for the edges of the card.  Then used the Burlap layering stencil and a blending tool to rub on the paint around the edges of the card, making sure to leave a uneven line on the center of the card.

Before letting go of the stencil, I used the tip of my finger to rub over the stencil...basically wiping away the color from the middle of the burlap....

And transforming the burlap texture, into "faux croc". 

My, oh my, I love this look.  Can't wait to try it with darker colors.

Once dry, I stitched the cardstock piece to the card front.  I used a standard size 14 needle (sharp not ballpoint) for the stitching.

I used Archival Ink - Watering Can (grey) and the Tall Text stamp set to add a message.  As you can see, I use the lines on the mat board and a ruler to keep my text straight.  Once I have the top line done, I use the bottom of the stamped text as a visual line for the second row.

I added the stamped label from the Mini Halloween 3 set (Aquamarine Archival ink).  And there you have it...super simple!  Still love that feather!

So I am now off to Inspiration Unlimited!  I have a tutorial coming up on Sunday over at Simon Says Stamp as part of STAMPtember...I will send out a reminder post so you don't miss it.  Then I will be back next week using that orange feather I made.  I that that one is going on a layout I have in mind.

carry on,

paula

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