I FINALLY got my projects done with Papretrey's Tarajan Monogram set - I've had the ideas rolling around in my head for weeks now and even though they're fairly simple projects something always kept interrupting me before I could finish them! AURGH!!
OK now that I've vented ---- on to the projects - for this first one I painted a plain wood frame (I picked up several frames at Michaels months ago - they're sized to fit 4x6" pictures and were only $1.50 each! So of course I got several...) with Making Memories acrylic paint.
I think that was one reason this project took me so long - I used paints from the MM City Scape set - but the brown it comes with wasn't the shade of brown I wanted. So I spent a fair bit of time mixing and fiddling and finally got it to a nice deep chocolaty-brown shade (and since I was fiddling I have NO idea of the amounts of black and whatnot I used to GET it to this color - I just kept adding and stirring till I liked it!).
I painted the frame all over with the brown. I then took MM Sky paint and rubbed it on here and there with a foam brush for a more distressed look.
I used Papertrey's Tarajan Monogram set to stamp the word "FAMILY" right onto the wood with MM Manila paint (yes you CAN use acrylic paints with clear stamps - I cleaned them off right away with a baby wipe and they're good to go). I just inked up a foam brush with paint and lightly dabbed it onto the stamp. A major bonus about using clear stamps for this is not only can you SEE where you're stamping but if you miss a spot (very likely and yes it did happen on this frame b/c of the grain in the wood) you can just re-ink (aka paint) the stamp and position it right over top and re-stamp it.
With the exception of the mixing to get the right color - this makes a quick and EASY gift - I actually made four frames in one sitting and plan on giving one to Tim for his office at work. This one I'm keeping to put in out living room (hence the pickiness over the shade of brown - it needed to match!!).
(oh and that picture of us is OLD - we took it last October (over a year ago). I wanted a more recent one but we just haven't got around to doing it - me thinks it's definitely time - we all look so much different than we did then (and the girls are so much bigger!!). I HAD to have a picture in the frame tho before taking a picture of THAT b/c it looked too empty without.........)
I must say this card had a totally different look in my head. I had a layout sketched out and ideas of what I thought it would end up looking like (more layers and colors and embellishments!) but it turned out like this and just SCREAMED to be left as is! And I couldn't do anything more anyway b/c I really do LOVE how this turned out. Simple isn't always easy and I was shocked at how well this card came together....
I used Papertrey's Stamper's Select White card stock for this card (I use this card stock almost all the time when I need white card stock) - it's PERFECT for simple, no-layer cards like this b/c it's such a heavy weight and sturdy and WHITE - I mean really nice crisp white. If you don't have any of this stuff I highly recommend it!!
I made 2 score lines on the card (you might be able to see them if you click on the picture to get the pop-up window with the larger view) half an inch apart as a "channel" for the ribbon (I got this idea from HRR Julie and LOVE it).
The added bonus of making the "ribbon channel" is that it gives you a straight line to go on when stamping several letters. I inked up the letters "SMILE" from the Tarajan Monogram set with Versafine Onyx Black ink (this ink is so very BLACK and very crisp - perfect for something like this), stamped them onto the card and let them dry.
The ribbon is by May Arts, and the Primas I got from StarLitStudio eons ago (they're fabric ones and GORGEOUS) - I attached 2 flowers with a black jumbo brad (from the Dollarama) and then attached that to the card with mini glue dots and voila!
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Don't forget that there's going to be another Papertrey release this Friday night at midnight! Nichole's been posting sneak peeks on her blog and the sets are FABULOUS (as usual!). Mine arrived this week and the ideas have just been rolling and I've been having SO much fun with them I just don't want to put them down! I can't wait to see what all the other DT members came up with - I just KNOW their samples will knock your socks off! *grin*