February TRS Color Challenge- Mermaid Shaker Card

Welcome back to my blog, I hope you are having a delightful, productive weekend.  I've been suffering with some acute on chronic GI problems this week, so I surprised myself when I completed this card on time!  This is my DT card for Three Room Studio's monthly card challenge.  You can participate as well by checking out their blog for the monthly photo inspiration, then post your card using TRS stamps to Instagram using #trscardchallenge or post it to their Facebook page, Three Room Studio's Fourth Room.  Initially I wasn't planning on this being a shaker card, but once I got to a certain point, I got stuck.  Does that ever happen to you?  I thought I knew where I wanted to go, but then I didn't really like it and I'd spent a lot of time on the background and coloring the images that I didn't want to scrap it.  So, I switched gears (or really directions) and turned it into a shaker card.  So here's my finished card.  Below, I'll explain what I used and how I made it.

Here's the inspiration photo:

























I started off this card by white heat-embossing a waves stamp from I believe Hero Arts (it's unlabeled in my stamp bin).  I then used 3 shades of blue/green ink from Gina K. Designs and ink blended the background, going from light to dark as I went
down the card.  Using an oval stencil I cut from masking paper, I repeated the colors but more intensely.  Next I stamped the TRS images from "Mermaid at Heart" stamp set in black Amalgam ink from Gina K. Designs, then colored the images with Copic markers that coordinated with the color palette above.  On the mermaid tail I used the 0 Copic blender to create little dots in the lighter colored areas, then followed with dots of ink from a Gelly Roll pen in Clear Star (see other photo below).  I then fussy cut all the images out. 






Next I prepared the frame.  I first ran it through my die cutting machine using Altenew's Dotted Scales Debossing Cover Plate.  Next I die cut that with the frame die from Mama Elephant.  The dotted scales are subtle, but coordinates nicely with the theme.  The "celebrate" die cut is from Birch Press Designs.  I had previously die cut and colored it for another project that I ended up not using it for, however it was perfect for this project.  I believe I used a mixture of embossing powders together to achieve this metallic dark blue/green color.  Next I applied X-press it foam tape around the edges of my card panel then glued the little fish and sea horse in place and added various elements for my shaker (sequins, glitter, glass balls, etc.).  I glued a few of them in place so that when the card is held upright, some of the elements stay at the top/middle.  I then carefully placed the frame and clear acetate window that I had previously glued in place onto my card panel.  Last, I glued the lovely mermaid and sentiment in place then adhered it to a standard folded card base.

The specific Copic markers I used were R20, R22, E07, BG11, BG72, BG75, B99, and E53, E55, and E57 for her hair.  Skin colors were:  E50, E00, BV00 and R20 to cheeks and R24 to lips.

I hope you enjoyed my underwater shaker card.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  I will have this posted to Instagram and FB, and you can see all the DT cards up on the TRS blog or just #trscardchallenge on IG and you'll see all the cards from all the challenges.

Thank you again for visiting my site.  Stay crafty my friends!

Jill ✂

Sending Loads of Hugs and Kisses from Three Room Studio (TRS)

Well, hello my friends!  I'm here on the TRS design team, sharing two Valentine's Day cards with you using current non-Valentine stamps from TRS.  The TRS weekly card challenges are starting off with of course a Valentine theme for February.  We are to make these cards using non-traditional stamps from TRS.  This challenge can be found on Instagram at #trscardchallenge.  It's not just for the Design Team either.  Play along with the TRS weekly card challenges by visiting their blog to see what the current challenge is and post your cards on Instagram.  New challenges will post every Saturday.  We'd love to see what you are making!  This first challenge wasn't hard at all, as you will see from not only the cards I made, but the ones made by the team as well (check out TRS Blog).  My first card is a rather CAS card (unusual for me), using stamps from three different sets (Let's Hygge, Skate Sleep Repeat, and Loads of Love.)

I first checked for sizing of the mug and hearts on the Avery Elle scalloped heart die cut I wanted to use.  Lucky me, it fit!  So I die cut the heart first, then stamped the mug (I removed the ink from the back of the mug where the cluster of hearts would be) inside my MISTI.  Next I stamped the cluster of hearts.  I decided to color the image with my Copics first, then finish the rest of the stamping (just in case I didn't like how I colored it).😁  Next I stamped the floating hearts, and the sentiment and heart on the mug using Catherine Pooler ink in Peppermint Scrub.  I colored a grey shadow at the base of the mug so that it didn't look like it was floating.  Next I used a finger sponge dauber to add color (Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink) to the edge of the scalloped heart, as it sort of disappeared when placed on the background panel.  That panel was die cut using a Hero Arts background die.  I wanted the background hearts to be translucent, so I adhered a panel of 30# Platinum Translucent Vellum from Grafix to the back side of the front panel.  I cut it about 1/2 inch long so that I could score it at the top and adhere it to the back panel at the top.  I did this to retain the translucent look to the background hearts.  Last I used some foam tape to adhere the scalloped heart to the card, for a little dimension.

My second card is a little more "typical me" with lots of coloring and scene building.  I first stamped the woman and cart in my MISTI, then added the cart contents, masking small areas where needed.  The stamps I used from TRS were:  Retail Therapy and Loads of Love.   I then masked that entire image so I could use my Copic airbrush to color the background.  I used Altenew and Honey Bee Stamps stencils on my background.
Once the background was dry (it didn't take long), I colored my stamped images with Copic markers in mostly reds, pinks, and blues since I felt the color palette would be too busy if I added more colors, since the background was so vibrant.  I drew in extra boxes inside the cart, and drew in a shadow of the cart on the ground as well.  I used clear Wink of Stella on the hearts and X's and O's.
Back to my MISTI I used my embossing buddy to remove static and any remaining stickiness from my Copic airbrushing.  I then stamped the sentiment in Gina K's Black Amalgam ink first, then in Versamark and then heat-embossed it using WOW's Black Glint embossing powder.  The sentiment stamps were from TRS, SSS, and Hero Arts.
Finally, I trimmed the card to 4 inches and mounted it onto some red card stock that had a strip of Adhesive Glitter Paper in pink from The Ton adhered to the right edge.

That concludes my February Valentine post for Three Room Studio.  I hope you can see how you can use non-traditional stamps for just about any occasion.  Save your money and stretch the stamps and supplies you have.  I bet you'll be surprised!

Thanks again for visiting my blog.  I hope you found it useful.  Please visit Three Room Studio to see not only the products but also their blog (which is linked to on the top of the Home page) which will show all the DT's Valentine's Day cards and everything TRS.  Enjoy!

Jill ✂