The designers at Card a Day Blog are joining together to do a blog hop this weekend! The theme is Masculine cards!
Let's not let the guys have all the fun on Super Bowl Sunday....let's get a little of our own fun in!

To join in....visit all the participating designers by visiting their sites, some are having prize give aways...so make sure you pop in!
Make sure you comment on all the blogs too, because at the end of the weekend, they are going to send a list of all who commented on their blog,
and we are going to do a grand prize drawing of all comments on each blog!

So JOIN IN TODAY....comment on the main blog page, and visit the other hop pages and comment there too!



Here is an easy little card for that football fan in your family. It uses a fun little technique that is totally adaptable for any simple shape.


For this card I cut the background and then I cut the cutout footballs from several different colors. I place the football grid on the paper and then filled in the complete football cutouts with the different colored footballs. Notice that I was a little off on a few. This was because I was hurrying. To avoid this make sure that the everything is flat when you push in the football shape (too many footballs)

I colored the digi glued it all down and the card was done.

My husband commented that it looks like a football going through a stained glass window....... To address this, I think that the background shapes could be simple people shapes ie a circle on a rectangle. Then it would look like a grandstand in the background. the ribbon could then be the goal post. So you see this idea is totally adaptable. If I have the time and energy, I will try another card just for him.

For your freebie I have included the entire card, digi and cutouts in gsd, studio, ai, knk, wpc, svg, and mtc. Enjoy!
click the format you want to download. by doing so you agree to my terms of use.

gsd/studio
ai
knk
wpc
svg
mtc

This is my second post for the Blog Hop so check out yesterday's post if you have not already seen it.

Have fun and be inspired
Laury

Tomorrow I will be posting a new card and some steampunk background digi paper. How did I end up doing this 3 days in a row.... oh well it has been fun and enjoyed the challenge and fun of trying new techniques myself
Later!
]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=355 Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=352 It's BLOG HOP TIME!

The designers at Card a Day Blog are joining together to do a blog hop this weekend! The theme is Masculine cards!
Let's not let the guys have all the fun on Super Bowl Sunday....let's get a little of our own fun in!

To join in....visit all the participating designers by visiting their sites, some are having prize give aways...so make sure you pop in!
Make sure you comment on all the blogs too, because at the end of the weekend, they are going to send a list of all who commented on their blog,
and we are going to do a grand prize drawing of all comments on each blog!

So JOIN IN TODAY....comment on the main blog page, and visit the other hop pages and comment there too!




Welcome to the Card A Day Blog Hop!



I will have two posts for this hop, one today and one tomorrow so do stop by tomorrow. Tomorrow's post will include a freebie

But today I have these two cards and a transfer technique.



I am subscribed to Cloth Paper Scissor Magazine and they recently sent out a free ebook giving instructions for 4 different methods of transferring an image onto paper.

Your first question is probably, "why do transfer when you can just print and photoshop?" For me the answer is that the process of physically transferring an image is not perfect. It is full of wonderful little glitches and additions, It is a wonderful surprise! There is that moment when you peel off the original and get your first look at the transferred image..... Exciting!



The focus of this blog hop was to design a masculine card. Today's card is dedicated to Sasha, a good friend of my daughter who is really into steampunk.

I found my images at The Graphics Fairy blogsite This is a wonderful place to find fun images from yesteryear.

Once I had the images, printed them out on HP inkjet transparency film. I had two sheets left over from an old project. I used one and filled it up with different images to experiment on.

To do the transfer, I loosely cut out the image (you need a finger hold). I then used a pallet knife to apply a thin film of Golden's Soft Gel Medium (available at M's). I place the transfer ink side down on the medium and started burnishing, side to side, up and down, round and round. The CPS instructions state that you need to complete the burnishing within a minute. Then just peel back the transfer film and voila your image has been transferred. Now you and I both know that the first time can be disappointing so be prepared to practice.

Once I had the transfer I found that it was a good idea to dry it and add another thin layer of medium over the transfer. I found that if I didn't that some of the inks and sprays I used caused the image to smear.

I used distress inks, momento inks, Gilder's paste and Copic airbrush with some brown markers.

I added hardward to the cards. I wish I had some gear fasteners. They probably exist...

This technique can also be used to transfer colored images, that will be for another day.



Hope you give this a try. It is a lot of fun!
Remember stop by tomorrow for another card and freebie

Now it is time to head on to the next stop



Laury ]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=352 Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=350



In my most recent crayon video I showed how to color a precut die cut with melted crayon. As I worked I used a scrap piece of paper to remove unwanted crayon from my iron and to catch wax under the die cut.

Never one to miss an opportunity, I added more melted crayon color to these scraps until they were totally covered. I made sure to have areas of color that I knew I would use for the flower and leaves. I then smoothed them down with my iron. The resulting sheets were then used to cut all the pieces of this card.

I then opened up MTC (Make the Cut - I have a Zing) and started roughly placing my flower and leaf shapes to approximately match up with the color on the paper. Once I had the big pieces placed, I then started finding room for the smaller pieces until the entire sheet was covered. No waste allowed!

The resulting pieces were cut and arranged on a simple card background.

I had some extra scraps that I cut strips from and used these to frame out the outside and inside of the card. The grass was hand cut using Martha Steward's Fringe Scissors.



When I do this again, I will color the edges of the shapes, the inner white shows up just a bit more than I like. If the pieces were mounted on white paper this would not be a problem.

This technique reminds me of the art of a popular children's book illustrator/author. It is bright, easy to cut (make sure wax is smooth) and fun to assemble. I hope it fires your creativity!

The flower die cut is from my Cone Flower [LV00083] die cut available from www.paperthreads.com



Don't forget to check out the Card A Day blog tomorrow to see what great ideas Shelley has!

Laury


]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=350 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=346


This is a little card I just finished designing.

I have put together 3 videos demonstrating 3 different ways that the die cut can be decorated.

Notice that my supplies are limited. I have around 40 out of >300 Copic markers. My colors are the primaries in light, medium and dark plus some secondaries and some colors that I just like. That is it.

But here is the thing once you start layering these colors, the magic begins! Surprises await!

So with all this said here is the first video demonstrating with Copic Sketch Markers



My second Video features the Copic Air Brush System ie, their compressor and marker "gun" This method is a little faster. I do not use any masking for this video just gentle squeezes of the gun.

Using the air brush with the markers can be a little frustrating at times but once you get past the idiosyncrasies it is a lot of fun. I have some tips for using it in another youtube video if you are interested.

Here is the card made with the Air Brushed die cut.





Lastly for those who are not interested in markers, I demo a melted crayon version.

A couple of hints here; Use medium heat on your iron, (I use a Clover mini Craft iron), and keep the wax from smoking by cleaning off your iron frequently with several papertowels. For fine detail I load only the tip of the iron with wax then tilt the point down. The melted wax will flow off the point onto the paper. As your iron gets hotter it will flow faster. I work on a mini quilters ironing square with a silicone craft sheet over the cloth side. This protects my desk.





Here is the store link for the die cut



While I am at it here are a couple of other files I just finished





I hope I have inspired you to learn a new technique
That's all for now
Laury

If you are coming from CardAdayBlog: Thanks for visiting and don't forget to stop by the cardadayblog tomorrow for more inspiration]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=346 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=344
Had to share my challenge results. Here is the card I designed for the first I love my Zing forum. You can find it
here







MTC also allows you to export your design to a raster jpg or png file. Here is the jpg. You may use it.



The mtc file is here If I get a request for a different format I will put it up but for now it is only the mtc format.

Well that is all for now
I really have to start getting my house in order!!! Family will be arriving within the week....... including my little granddaughter who is mobile!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas All!

Laury
]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=344 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:59:13 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=342

This Santa is based on a 1950s era Santa that was used as a lawn ornament. My grandmother painted one when I was very small and he greeted me every Christmas morning! My dad still has him in the attic waiting to make his yearly appearance this year! I searched for him on the web but could not find the company that sold the design which was life size! My little Santa was painted by me and he is much smaller. I used the easel format for him as a personal reminder of all those Christmas mornings.

The file also comes with a couple of place cards for Christmas dinner and a gift tag design.



I also put up a Digi line drawing for folks to color in themselves, a painted version with lines and the painted version. These are just print and cut files that do not include the cards.



These were all cut on my new Zing!
That is all for now
Happy Holidays!!
Laury]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=342 Thu, 8 Dec 2011 10:25:23 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=340 First off they are not my design. I wish they were. I think they are just awesome.

The designer's blog is here and the kings are only a small selection of the templates that she has for free. Her cut files need a little work but the end result is well worth the extra effort.

These are really baskets that can hold a few choice chocolates. They are reversable. I did find that I had to use a little glue to keep the layers lined up.








I have also been playing with paper airplanes............. It is a guilty secret that I love paper airplanes, the ones that fly not the models. I am currently working on one based off the classic balsa wood glider. Since I don't have a model on hand It has been a bit of trial and error. more error. A lot of nose dives and startled kitties! Nasa has one for kids that I tried. It goes long. The one I am working on has more lift but no zoom.

I should have been working on store files........... sorry! just had to play a bit on my Zing!

I did work on a tunnel card using my journey to Christmas file. Came out great but a lot of work. Not sure that it is store worthy. I will post a pic when it is done along with a selection of my aircraft collection. :)]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=340 Fri, 2 Dec 2011 18:49:54 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=333 Celebration of Christmas.

For me that always starts with "The Reason for the Season" and that is Christ, his birth and his sacrifice.

I chose reds and greens to represent the blood and everlasting life. The cross is based on Celtic knot work and reminds me of St. Patrick who preserved the faith! The cross and the holly are detachable and can be used as a paper ornament. The inner message reflects the meaning of Christmas.



All my paperthreads files are on sale thru the end of the month - 50% OFF!Format:
I wanted to highlight the cross and felt that it would be lost in a rectangular format. I tried different papers but nothing caused the cross to pop. So, decided to use the mat that came with the cross die cut file. I made two shadow/outlines. The largest one I copied and slid in next to the first and welded them together. I used MTC to create the additional outlines.

Cross:
For the cross I cut my Irish Cross [LV00078]die cut file using my new Zing! (Oh how sweet she sings!) I cut it smaller, 5.25 inches high than it comes in the file. I then used Gilder's paste to coat both the front and the back in silver. I highlighted with Inca gold.

Holly:
The front Holly was from my 3D Holly Bow [LV00145] die cut file. I cut it, again using my Zing, from Paper Source Moss card stock. The berries were cut from cover stock that had gold metallic wrapping paper adhered(Super 77) to it ( no problem for Zing). I used my Copic Markers to brighten up the colors and add a few touches. The gold berries were colored with my R37 Copic marker over the metallic gold wrapping paper. I gently sculpted the leaves to add some dimension.

Assembling:
I punched a hole in the center of each arm of the cross green and red mats and sewed the cross to it. I then attached a string to hang it from. I should have attached the string first before sewing.



Inside:
For the inside, I used Stampendous N240 Precious Gift stamp and Momento Black Ink. It is not as dark as I would like and if I were to do it again I would probably emboss it with either black or clear embossing power. The inside holly was not sculpted. I left it flat to allow the card to close. The edges of the beige paper were gently rubbed with Antique Linen Ranger Distress Ink. The pen lines were done with my Copic 0.3 liner. I wanted to balance the sharpness of the die cuts with soft wavy lines.



Supplies:
Stampendous N240 Precious Gift
Inca Gold Gilder's Paste
Silver Gilder's Paste
Copic Markers: R37 and FYG2
Copic 0.3 Liner
White and Metallic Gold Gell Roll Pens
3D Holly Bow from Just Laury LV00145 available from www.paperthreads.com
Irish Cross from Just Laury LV00078 available from www.paperthreads.com

Additional options



This print and cut is a new file in the works.



This one was printed as a digi and colored with copic Markers and a little distress ink on the edges.



For the last one, I printed it as a digi and used Ranger Distress inks to add color. I used a Copic Black marker to color in the figures at the bottom and a metallic gold gell pen to color in the star. I had an extra mat and decided to see how it would look as a shadow. I mounted the digi off center using mounting foam.



Thank You for looking at my little treasures!
Laury]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=333 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:02:00 -0500 http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=329 Card A Day Blog! I am such a nervous Nelly. I have agonized over what I would do first. So much so that I created not 1 card but 6.... But an interesting technique came out of it all which I will try to explain later.

I lined up the cards for my darling daughter Lily who had just opened her new Skyrim video game. She took a quick look and voted for the first two below as her favorites! It turns out her favorites were mine as well so all is well. She may emerge from her game long enough to eat tonight, maybe..




Of interest here is the stamped background. I also extended the embossing folder by tracing the next sized Nestie Circle from the stamp circle, and then cutting it by hand. All the edges where gently wiped with Inca Gold Gilders paste. The stamp was colored and airbrushed with Copic Markers. See below for colors.




This was Lily's favorite. My only issue with it was that it did not exactly fit the Theme of Christmas Around the World. The best I can do is say that most countries that I researched decorate and the Christmas Tree is used in many countries.

For this card I used one of my new Ornament Stencil designs. I used a pallet knife to spread Golden's Molding Paste in the stencil. This gave the ornament an embossed look which I really like. The back ground was created using a Martha Stewart Christmas Clear Stamp set. I used Gilder's paste to "gild" the ornament. Copic markers and liners were used to color the background greenery along with a white gel pen. The ornament hook was drawn with a gold gel pen.




The greenery on this card was created using the same supplies as above. The ornament is one of my designs. I used simple paper ribbon for the bow on the bottom and stapled the ornament ribbon to the card. The ornament is not glued down. I used a white gel pen to dot the black mat.



The greenery on the left used the same supplies. The die cuts are my designs. For this card I decided to try foiling. I wanted to see how well the die cuts would stand up to the foiling process. They did ok. The string above the ornament to the right was also foiled.



I always have scraps left over so I decided to see what I could do with them. Most of the scraps here were foiling experiments. The greenery was cut using one of Martha Stewart's punches. I used the stamp set to vein the leaves on the die cut. The stocking is a part of my vintage Christmas Digi Stamp Collection. I used Copic markers and foiling to decorate it. When I cut the background card base the pattern did not line up the way I wanted so I decided to angle the card front.



This was an early card. I used a stamp for the sentiment and a Cuttlebug Folder for the texture. The ornament is one of mine. This is my least favorite. The colors are not working well.

Here is a picture of the main ingredients of the cards with some small exceptions.






Creating Greenery


The greenery was created using two stamps from the Martha Stewart Collection, the long pine branch and the twin pine cones. The technique is to build up the image from back to front, from blurry to sharp and light to dark.

For the first card, I first misted yellowish paper with the Walnut Ink. For some of the cards I used the Faber Castell "lipstick" tube watercolors (Sorry, that is not the name..). I used two greens.



Once the paper was wet and gently colored, I blotted it to remove any water puddles. I then used Vintage Sage Distress Ink to stamp lots of pine boughs at different angles.



I then waited 10 minutes or so to allow the paper to dry some then stamped with the Crushed Olive Distress Ink using the pine bow. The resulting images were a little sharper and a little darker. The pinecones were stamped with Vintage Photo.



I let the paper dry and finished stamping with the Momento Tuxedo Black ink but only in a few places so as not to over power the image. The line work was done with a Copic 0.3 Liner.



The white highlights were done with a white gel pen. I finished off with a little airbrush work to darken the edges of the image. Some of the Copic deep colors will splatter little dots when airbrushing from the pointy end. I like these tiny dots.





The image edges were gently rubbed with Inca Gold Gilders Paste.


I hope you enjoyed my little collection I do apologize that the theme was VERY loosely followed.

Well that's all for now
Laury





]]> Paperthreads http://justlaury.paperthreads.com/index.php?itemid=329 Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:38:47 -0500