Create a Bright and Fun High Contrast Card Design

by Elina Stromberg

Create a Bright and Fun High Contrast Card Design

Best summer craft projects are fun and easy to make. On a sunny summer day, you don’t want to spend time in collecting a large number of tools and materials, but rather create something beautiful quickly, using just a few basic supplies you’ll always have at hand.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 30 minutes per card

Directions


Step 1

For these flower cards, you first create your own patterned paper using repeated floral images and your favorite ink colors. Then you decorate the front of your card with a panel cut from the self-made patterned paper, add a stamped sentiment on top, and your card is ready! Isn’t that just the perfect recipe for a summer day craft project!


Step 2

Using white cardstock, die-cut, punch, or free-cut with scissors a pile of flowers. Color the flowers with your favorite ink colors. For these sample cards, I used two blue Memento inks: Bahama Blue and Danube Blue. If you want to let the ink colors mix, mist the flowers with water and let dry.


Step 3

If your flowers have separate centerpieces, color them, too. Glue the inked flowers on a piece of white cardstock. Leave some white space between the flowers. Let dry.


Step 4

Using scissors or a paper trimmer cut a panel from the decorated flower paper. Mat the panel on a piece of matching color cardstock, and glue on the card front. Stamp “Thank You” or “Hello” with VersaMark and heat emboss sentiment on a piece of solid color cardstock. Glue panel on a card front.

 

Supplies

Imagine

Other

  • Scissors
  • Paper trimmer
  • Glue
  • StudioCalico – ‘Thank You’ stamp
  • Sizzix – ‘Hello my Friend’ stamp, Floral die
  • Cardstock – Dark Blue, White
  • Cardbase – White

 

Send A Loved One a “Thinking of You” Greeting

by Martha Lucia Gomez

The summer is here and July is a perfect month to experiment with quick cardmaking projects like this. Today, I am showing you how to color and give a gold metallic effect with different colors and texture of inks. Enjoy!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour

Directions


Step 1

Stamp the flowers and leaves images over watercolor paper using VersaMark and heat emboss using Gold Embossing Powder. In my project, I am using a combination of the stamps Wild Rose from Pretty Pink Posh and Loving Mom from Kennedy Grace Creations.


Step 2

Select the colors of Delicata Ink that you want to use and dilute them with a few drops of Ink Potion No. 9. To color the flowers, I used Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green in Delicata. For the leaves, I used Dark Brown Shimmer. Fussy cut the flowers and leaves and set aside for a while.


Step 3

Create a card base using whisper white cardstock. Dilute Rose Gold Delicata Ink with Ink Potion No. 9 and using a paint brush to splatter color over the card base. If you want you can also add a few splatters of Dark Brown Shimmer Delicata Ink.


Step 4

Stamp the sentiment “Thinking of You” using VersaFine Clair Pinecone and emboss with Clear Embossing Powder. Finish your card by adding embellishments like gold metallic thread, arrange the flowers and leaves with glue dots and double-sided foam tape. As final touch paste gold sequins using On Point Glue.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Pretty Pink Posh – Wilde Rose Stamp Set
  • Kennedy Grace Creations – Loving Mom
  • Crackerbox & Suzy Stamps – Thinking of You
  • Cardstock – Whisper White
  • Watercolor
  • MISTI Stamping Tool or Stamparatus
  • Gold Metallic Thread
  • Gold Sequins
  • Paint Brush

Create an Industrial Mixed Media Look with Walnut Ink

by Iris Rodriguez

I like abstract art and assemblages in crafting! The mixed media style can be created with just about anything; inks, paints, found objects…there are no rules. For today’s tutorial, I wanted to create an abstract assemblage art combined with the vintage, grungy, industrial look using Imagine’s Walnut Ink.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1.5 hours

Directions


Step 1

Stamp the texture images with VersaMark ink on watercolor paper. Add Imagine’s Embossing Powder in White and heat set.


Step 2

Brush on the Eucalyptus Walnut Ink. Dry paper.


Step 3

Brush on the Walnut and Java Walnut Inks.


Step 4

Let the paper fully dry.


Step 5

Stamp more texture images with Spiced Chai StazOn ink.


Step 6

On a separate piece of watercolor paper stamp the round images with the VersaMark ink. Add Imagine’s Embossing Powder in White and heat set. Brush on Java or Walnut inks or a combination of both. Vary the colors on the circles. Dry paper. Cut out the circles.


Step 7

Color the gears and brads to make them all the same color with Chai Staz-On ink. Heat set the gears and brads if you’d like to speed up the dry time.


Step 8

Attach the gears to the circles with the brad. Place the circles in the desired area on the background paper. Do not glue the circles yet. It’s easier to bend and wrap the wire if the circles are not glued down. Wire wrap around each gear and brads, ensuring that the wire goes under the gear. Do not let the wire press down on the circles, it will bend the paper.


Step 9

Turn the circles upside down, add glue to the back of the circle and onto a piece scrap piece of chipboard.


Step 10

Adhere the chipboard pieces on top of the brad’s backing. This will secure brads and gears and give the circles dimension by giving them a little height. Glue the circles onto the background. Add dark brown backing and you’re done.

Thank you for stopping by the Imagine blog! I hope you give this abstract art project a try.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Impression Obsession stamps – Seth Apter Edges, Planetarium
  • Watercolor paper
  • 20 gauge steel wire
  • Metal Gears
  • Brads
  • Chipboard
  • Brush

Watch a Video on Watercoloring with Memento Markers & VersaFine Clair

by Melissa Andrew

Watch a Video on Watercoloring with Memento Markers and VersaFine Clair!

Pets are the best! It is often that a dog or a cat is not simply a dog or cat but a member of the family. In today’s tutorial, I create a card with a pet theme using Memento Markers, VersaFine Clair, and clear embossing powder. The combination of these three craft items and the pet imagery really makes a gorgeous and simple creation. Memento Markers are versatile water-based markers so you can watercolor with them, add fine detail and create stunning backgrounds. Join me as I show you how.

 

 

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Whimsy Stamps – Shaker Maker Banner Die Set, An Unbreakable Bond
  • Paper Trimmer
  • Heat Tool
  • Canson Watercolor Paper
  • Cardstock – White

Send Birthday Wishes and Puppy Dog Kisses

by Elina Stromberg

Send Birthday Wishes and Puppy Dog Kisses. Use Gold embossing.

Our color of the month is Golden Glow. Gold is an excellent choice for July a month filled with bright sunshine and sparkle! In today’s tutorial, I create this sweet birthday card theme with two puppies that are colored by hand. This time I used a golden color for decorating the background of a cute birthday card. I love how it turned out!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour

Direction

dabbing clear VersaMark on the background, remove the masks, and heat-emboss the revealed pattern using Gold Embossing Powder.
Step 1

For decorating the card background I used two stencils that I layered on top of each other. I placed the number themed pattern stencil on the card background and masked with a circle stencil. Create the pattern with heat embossing by dabbing clear VersaMark on the background, remove the masks, and heat-emboss the revealed pattern using Gold Embossing Powder.

yellow ‘Cantaloupe’ Memento ink
Step 2

Place another, slightly larger circle stencil on the heat-embossed area, and inked the round background area with yellow ‘Cantaloupe’ Memento ink. This step made the background less busy, letting the stamped, colored, and fuzzy-cut main images pop. When the background was ready I stamped and colored the puppy images on white cardstock. When fuzzy cutting I left a thin area around the images, which made the cutting a lot easier as not all the finest details needed to be cut out.

My Favorite Things Top Dog collection
Step 3

The cute puppy stamps are from My Favorite Things Top Dog collection. The extra copies can be used for trying out new color combinations, but they also become handy if something goes wrong with coloring and you need to start over. I used Promarker alcohol markers for coloring, so for stamping it was important to use a water-soluble Memento. Tuxedo Black was just the right choice for that step.

My Favorite Things Top Dog collection

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Cardstock – White
  • Carabelle Studio – Number stencil
  • Two circle stencils
  • My Favorite Things – ‘Top Dog’ stamp
  • Glue
  • Promarkers
  • Scissors
  • Masking tape
  • Cardbase

Say “Hello How are You” with a Handmade Greeting Card

by Arjita Sepaha Singh

Say "Hello How are You" with a Handmade Greeting Card

Hello! How are you? Sometimes we need to simply reach out and say hi to an old friend! In today’s video, I created a very organic and easy card using VersaFine Clair and VersaMagic Chalk ink. I blended three Blue inks on a piece of Iris paper (slightly glossy) with a sponge dauber. I used an arrows stencil and added white and blue ink using finger daubers. To finish the card I heat embossed a sentiment and matted it on a white card base.

 

Supplies

Imagine
Other