Musical themed note

The QKR stampede challenge last Friday was Anything Goes with a twist: Inspired by Music. When I saw the challenge I instantly thought of all the music related embossing folders and punch that I've owned for a while but never actually used. This challenge was a good reason to bring them out and play! Unfortunately, my hubby and I left for a road trip before I had a chance to upload the card and it was too late when we came back, but I still thought I'd share it here and on SCS.

I started with a basic black card base. Then I cut a mat of whisper white and ran it through the big shot with the Piano Notes embossing folder from Darice. I've never tried to color the embossed part of an image with an ink pad because I worried that I would get ink on the non-raised portion. Turns out that was a legitimate worry. Even when using a basic black stampin' spot, it took me several tries to get  a black and white image that did not "muddy" up the white. Even that was not completely perfect (you can notice some balck ink "dirt" on the white piano keys") and it also wasn't dark enough, necessitating me to go over certain spots with my basic black marker. Imperfect though it may be, it still looks pretty good.

Next I used a Sizzix Simple Impressions Treble Clef embossing folder on whisper white to get that image, and colored the clef with a basic black marker. I added a stamped sentiment from the Mini Mates set in basic black ink and also some notes I punched out of basic black card stock with an eighth note punch from EK Success. I added a mat in basic black with room on the right side to punch holes with the double rectangle punch. I then wove a piece of narrow white grosgrain ribbon through the punched holes. I added a basic gray mat and attached the image to the embossed background with dimensionals.

The monochromatic nature of the card makes a pretty bold stamper, but I think it would appeal to a music lover.

Recipe:

Paper: basic black, whisper white, basic gray
Ink: basic black
Stamps: Mini Mates
Accessories: double rectangle punch, narrow white grosgrain ribbon, Piano Notes embossing folder from Darice, Simple Impressions Treble Clef embossing folder from Sizzix, eighth note punch from EK Success

Neon Light

Dawn's Free For All challenge on SCS today is to show light in our cards. There are lots of less literal ways to interpret that challenge, but my mind immediately jumped to the obvious, in part because I was also thinking of Jeannie's challenge on her blog, Dragonfly Journeys, to make cards incorporating neon. This idea fit both challenges perfectly.

The card base is basic black. For the white mat I used a lightbulb image from the Mini Mates set and yo yo yellow ink to create a uniform design.  I sponged the edges with yo yo yellow before adhering the mat to the card base.

For the main image I used a piece of basic black card stock, versamark ink, the sentiment from the Mini Mates set and the lightbulb image from the Crazy, Mixed up Love set. I stamped the lightbulb upside down, masking off the sentiment with clear tape so that the words wouldn't show on my card. I then added a "cord" with a versamarker and heat embossed everything with detail white embossing powder. I colored the bottom "glass" part of the bulb with a yellow bic permanent marker. I used the same marker to color the word "light" in the sentiment. I used a silver sharpie to color the cord and the top part of the bulb.

I cut a piece of yo yo yellow card stock as a mat and used the wrought iron corner punch on all four corners before slipping the stamped main image inside. I added a basic black mat behind the yo yo yellow layer and attached the image to the card with dimensionals.

Recipe:

Paper: basic black, whisper white, yo-yo yellow
Ink: Yo Yo Yellow, versmark, versamarker, bic yellow permanent marker, silver sharpie marker
Stamps: Crazy, Mixed up Love, Mini Mates
Accessories: detail white embossing powder, wrought iron corner punch, stampin' sponge