OSW Tutorial Series, Part 2

Are you ready for Part 2 today?  Yesterday was the first day of Autumn, so I will share a beautiful card that fits the season and is all about OSW.  So... Happy Fall and now...let's get creating!  

This OSW is similar to my Part 1 card.  It just takes it down by 1/4" so that you can layer another color of CS behind it before attaching it to the card base.  This is a nice way to get two accent colors behind your top layer and pull together your color story.  For this OSW, we stamp first and then cut, using the diagram above.

Now, you're ready to design and create your own DSP.  This is really fun and you can get as creative as you'd like.  Using the design above on the left, stamp all your leaves, one color at a time.  You can divide up your colors however you'd like.  If you completely change your color story, you can have a card that's designed just like mine but takes on an entirely new look.

Tip:
To make the process go a little quicker, I chose my ink colors and then set a leaf stamp on each pad to plan how to best use my colors.  I stamped all of 1 ink color/leaf and then moved to the next.

For this OSW, you'll get 6 card layers and then have a few little scrap pieces left over.  Save those for accents on future projects or give them to the kids to play with making their own creations.

Because my design is pretty busy, I decided to stamp only my top accent leaf and place a gold one and a plain CS one behind it.  They are attached with dimensionals and tied with a little sprig of linen thread.

Notice how a simple band of ribbon across your card can tone down a busy design and compliment it.  When this ribbon first came out, I had a customer go into a bit of a tangent about how it was pretty but too bulky for a ribbon.  She wanted flat bows.  My answer is to think outside the box.  Who says a ribbon is only for making bows?  To see more ideas on using ribbons, click here.

I have several more parts to this series, so keep coming back to see what's next.  Leave me a comment if you have questions or suggestions. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

New Version of the Acrylic Block Technique and Sneak Peek at My OSW Cards

I have lots of stamping goodness for you today that I hope will inspire you to create something beautiful this weekend.  First up, I have a NEW version of the Acrylic Block Technique and then I have a sneak peek at my OSW cards, along with a bit on what it's all about.

My card today features a beautiful color story for Fall --- Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze and a bit of Soft Suede.  I won't even start in on how much I love making Fall cards or how much I love, love, love our new Vintage Leaves stamps AND coordinating framelits.  Over the moon, truly!!!

So how did I do this acrylic block technique?  It is super simple! 
Ink up the entire acrylic block by tapping it on the ink pad color you want to use.  Hold the block about an arm's length away and lightly spritz it one or two times.  Then... stamp, hold it onto the CS for just a little while and you get a beautiful background image.  It is more intense than when you use this technique with markers, because your ink is applied with a much greater intensity.  By spritzing the block, you give it more interest in how it comes out on your CS.  I did not use watercolor paper for this technique and it worked just fine.  You could use it if you wanted to play with how it changes the image a bit.  It would still be very pretty.

The little speckles are from an Awesomely Artistic stamp.  I seem to be using that stamp set about as often as my beloved Gorgeous Grunge lately.  I make all the cards for my church to send out each month and this one will be for September.  I've actually just finished October and have a few more bows to tie onto the November cards and then I'll go ahead and make the cards for December and finish up for 2015.  I've heard so many touching comments from people in our church about how much the love and appreciate the cards and that just touches my heart.  I find myself putting more and more into them each month because I know how much joy they will bring.  I want them to be my very best.

And now... let's move on to more about my OSW cards and the class where we'll be making them.  The class is my September Saturday Stampers class for September 19.  It will be from 1:00-4:00 and the fee is $20.  It involves more materials and a lot more prep time on my part and I know you'll find it worth it and then some. 
You'll be going home with all 5 of these cards, along with 2 OSW sheets AND lots of helpful templates.  So what is OSW?  It stands for One Sheet Wonder.  It's really all about how can I get the most bang for the buck from 1 sheet of CS (card stock) or DSP (Designer Series Papers).  I'll show you several versions and give you lots of ideas.  Most of the ideas and templates will be for 12 X 12" CS or DSP, but I'll also show you several ways to use an 8 1/2 X 11" piece of CS.

Sound like fun?  As they say in the beautiful state of Minnesota: "You bet!"  Below are the 2 sheets we'll be making at the class.  I have already made and cut the pieces you'll use for your cards during the class, so you'll go home with these 2 pieces uncut and ready for your own set of beautiful cards.  I really am looking forward to this class.  Sign up early to save your spot.  If you don't live in the area, follow along on your own, using my ideas to inspire you.  Be sure to leave me a comment on what you tried.  I love hearing from you.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.