Happy Birthday Jer

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing a card I made for my son's birthday.  He is an artist and I always show him all the cards I make and he gives me valuable feedback.   I showed him this card I made a last week, using this watercolored background.  He loved it ... and I hadn't even thought that I should have kept it to myself to give to him for his birthday which is in a couple of weeks - duh!! :)

So today I made a second card very similar, but added some special effects.  This time, I made it look like a piece of art hanging on a wall ... at least that's what I was going for :)  I made a trip to an art store yesterday and picked up some new-to-me supplies, one that I used on this card.  It is a gel medium that is filled with tiny glass beads.  I used my palette knife to scrap it over top of the watercolored background (a leftover piece from my card from last week).  I LOVE how it looks.  It adds texture, sparkle and shine to the image.  It dries clear, so the colors show through - I just love it and look forward to experimenting more with this product.

I'm including a couple of close-ups so hopefully you can see the texture and shine from this glass bead coating.

I'm entering this card into three challenges ... CAS on Sunday (#32 - Sparkle and Shimmer), Simon Says Anything Goes, and CAS-ology (#93 - Electric) ... I think these colors are electric :)

Stamps:  A Little Sentimental (Clearly Besotted)
Paper:  Black (SU!); Watercolor
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango (SU!); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Water Mister, White embossing powder, heat tool, Glass Beads Gel Medium (Golden)

Challenges:
CAS on Sunday #32
Simon Says Anything Goes
CAS-ology #93

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Today I'm also sharing two more cards from my Dirty Dozen Design Team for last October - theme "It's about Time".

The sentiment is computer generated, so I printed that onto my card front first.  Then I splattered the background with a toothbrush loaded with diluted re-inker.  I didn't have a clock image or die, so I printed off this clock face from the internet, adding a bit of brown sponging around the edges to give it even more of an aged look, and then mounted it on a circle of heated copper.  I mounted the "clock" onto a banner cut from burlap ribbon.


The second card is celebrating "vacation time" ... now I would like to be in a place like this! :)  I brayered the sky and stamped a silhouette of palm trees.  I then mounted it behind a square cut-out so that it's like you are looking through a window at a beautiful sunset.

Lost in Time card:
Stamps:  computer generated
Paper:  White (Neenah)
Ink:  Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  copper metal sheet .005 thickness (K&S Precision Metals), mini butane torch, burlap ribbon, toothbrush

Paradise card:
Stamps:  Palm Island (Stampscapes)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Whisper White (SU!)
Ink:  Black, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Rubber Brayer