Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Guest Designing for City Crafter Challenge Blog

Hi, everyone!  If you're new to my blog, then welcome.  This week I am honored to be the guest designer at City Crafter Challenge blog.  The theme this week is a fun one: "Creatures of the Night."  There are so many directions that you could go with this challenge.  You could make something creepy, with a vampire image, or you could make something cute, with a nocturnal animal image.  I chose to go for the cute option and made a card with a goggle-eyed stamped bat.
 
Supplies: orange paper & orange/cream striped paper from Authentique; gingham paper from Bella Blvd; purple dotted paper from Pebbles; dark blue dotted paper from American Crafts; light blue dotted paper, green swirl paper, & star stamp from My Mind's Eye; bokeh vellum from Webster's Pages; chipboard frame & enamel dots from October Afternoon; black gesso from Ranger; metallic green paint from DecoArt; ink from Hero Arts; bat stamp from Unity; laser-cut sentiment from ScrapMatt's; upcycled bubble wrap.

On my blog I have a tradition of sharing a stash-busting idea each month.  This month, I'll be talking about the technique of layering.  It's fun to do, it's a popular trend at the moment, and it helps you use up your stash of scrap papers.  I used layering on this card in order to draw attention to my bat image, which is rather small.  The layers behind it help it stand out and look important and interesting.  I built up this layered mat using just scraps.  This was a great way to use up lots of leftover bits of paper.


I added a heavy coat of black ink to the edges of each of my paper layers.  Not only does this play up the nighttime/darkness aspect of the challenge, but it also make the rich colors of the papers really pop.


To add darkness to my card base, I randomly swiped on black gesso to make an interesting background.  I also painted a scalloped chipboard frame with the same black gesso.


My paper layers had a lot of green in them, so I felt like the chipboard frame and the background needed a touch of green, for the sake of unity.  I added this green by stamping with bubble wrap and green metallic paint.  After the paint was dry, I put my card together, first placing the layered papers on the card base, then adhering the chipboard frame, which I had dressed up with bokeh vellum and enamel dots.  I topped it all off with the cute stamped bat, and I added a sentiment and a couple of stamped stars as well.


I'll leave you with one last look at the card.  If you feel inspired, then go ahead and play along with the "Creatures of the Night" challenge at City Crafter Challenge Blog.  The challenge runs for a week.  Happy crafting!

14 comments:

Ros Crawford said...

Lovely to have you with us this week at CCCB! Terrific card!!

Mac Mable said...

Congratulations on being guest designer at City Crafters. What a gorgeous card. Love all the texture and layering and thank you for the tips on how you achieved this fabulous creation x

Dana Tatar said...

I love this card! The distressing with black and teal paint and the pop of pink paper is fantastic! :)

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

So fun and awesome, love this background, looks great! And thanks for sharing the layering technique too, thank you so much for being our guest this week at CCCB, certainly fun to have you!

Patricia said...

beautiful...

Stella said...

Your car dis stunning! And a fab take on our theme. I am so happy to have you as our GD week at CCCB! We're honored to have you with us!

Carol L said...

I love how you layered this fantastic creation with wonderful elements! I love the bat :)

yyam said...

Very cool. Love how you did the layers with scraps! Congrats on being guest designer!

Marina said...

It's amazing how the techniques you've used really spotlight the bat, even though he is relatively small. I love your rich colours and the distressing techniques. What a great card! Thank you for being a fabulous Guest Designer at City Crafter.

Sharon Fritchman said...

Ooooh, Denise! Your card is absolutely amazing! So cool, creative and spooktacular! I love your take on their theme and big congrats on being their guest designer, too! And I want to thank you so much for your wonderful words left at my blog, too. HUGS!

Heather McMahon said...

I love this! Love your stash-busting idea too! The layers really add to the project.

Unknown said...

The black Gesso touches give your card a sooty quality I like a lot. Like a bat coming out of a fireplace in a old house. Very successful I'd say!

Halle said...

Nicely done! The black gesso mucking up the background along with the inked edges really sells the spooky cute quality. :)

Lori said...

Denise, thanks for sharing these techniques. I've never used gesso before.