Up Close: Aging & Staining

This tri-fold card was an experiment to use several aging/staining techniques I will be sharing with you in the near future. I really like the effects you can obtain by using tea stains, inking, paint, masking and overlaying. It gives a bit of the vintage feel, but still retains an overall modern and stylish look.






Also, next week be on the lookout for your chance to win some cool prizes, including:



Wanna know what they are and how to win them? Stay tuned...and tell a friend. Have a terrific weekend Crafty peeps...

Love Struck 2010

I seem to be enchanted with hearts these days. While two-thirds of the country may be finding icicles dripping from their tickers, it's safe to say that the blood is still flowing in my neck of the woods. (Which reminds me, I should really clear up the latest craft-blog rumor about myself: That story about me dating an entire NFL football team is so overblown. I swear. It was just the offensive line of the Indianapolis Colts--not the entire team.)

Hearts are so randy... Now, where was I? Oh, hearts. Not to be obvious or anything, but Valentine's Day is soon upon us and Cupid will be looking to pierce his little sticks of love (or lust) into unsuspecting paramours around the world. I'll shortly be handing out my yearly application for potential boyfriends and other assorted play toys.

One of the new timely releases from ProvoCraft's new line of seasonal limited-edition cartridges is appropriately entitled 'Love Struck 2010'. It features a very nice array of highly-detailed cuts celebrating all things love and hearts. This weekend, I played around with the cartridge a bit and thought I'd share a couple of examples of the intricate hearts found on this mini-cartridge. It's truly a must-have in my opinion (but, aren't they all usually?)

These first two are base cut out of Bazzill cardstock and the overlay is cut from a piece of K & Co. decorative cardstock from the "Smitten" collection.




The final two examples (which I A-D-O-R-E-!) are cut with base layers of Bazzill white cardstock. The top layers are cut from Stampin' Up! textured cardstock in Melon Mambo. To really set off the intricate designs, I used a layer of Stampin' Up! Crystal Effects for gloss, sheen and added dimension.





Now all of you crafty peeps, go break some hearts....