Cheers

December 30, 2018 0 Comments

Happy Sunday Dare 2B Artzy Friends, Monico here again today!

This is my final project as a Guest Designer for December 2018.  I hope that you enjoyed the holidays and being together with your families.  One of my greatest gifts this year has been sharing my creativity in this venue with Dare 2B Artzy as it has allowed me to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone and to combine two things that I love:  teaching and paper crafting.  I thought the best way to round out the holiday season is to look forward with anticipation to the New Year with a card featuring the Cheers Tag Die.  In addition to celebrating Christmas, my family also celebrates Kwanzaa.  Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration starting the day after Christmas through January 1^st that honors African-American heritage.  Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa represent a principle intended to reinforce the importance of sharing and community.  Today, December 30th is the 5^th day of Kwanzaa and the principle is Nia, which means Purpose.  Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, the 6^th day of Kwanzza and the principle is Kuumba, Creativity.  January 1^st is the final day of Kwanzaa and the principle is Imani, Faith.  May you move into 2019 with great anticipation as Purpose, Creativity, and Faith guiding you all year long. Happy New Year!

For is New Year’s themed card I used an 80 lb. pre-folded black card base and layered it with a rose gold foiled cardstock mat.  The technique that I used for this card is called “Black Ice”.  I did not create it, but I have seen it featured on many YouTube channels and I wanted to try it out.  It is a simple three step process to prepare the foiled cardstock mat and the results are stunning!

Step 1) Take a permanent black alcohol ink pad and lightly drag it across the foiled cardstock in long even strokes that are heaviest on the top and bottom edges of the cardstock and dry the ink completely with a heat tool or let it stand until dry.

Step 2) Use a clear embossing ink to cover the entire surface of the foiled cardstock.

Step 3) Cover the embossing ink with a clear embossing powder and heat set.  The end result is a super shiny surface that looks like it is covered in a thin layer of ice.  Kudos to whomever created this technique, it is to die for!

Next I adhered the foiled cardstock to the base of the card.  I trimmed the foiled mat down by ¼ of an inch on the width and length to allow a 1/8^th border on the card base.  I then cut out the Cheers Tage Dies using glossy black paper for the frame, rose gold foiled cardstock for the word outline, and glossy white cardstock for the work “cheers”, layered them together and adhered the black frame to the middle of the foiled mat with foam tape to add dimension.  I LOVE this die set!  The detailed stitching around the frame and the beautiful script make this a perfect set for and everyday or elegant card project.

I went back into my embellishment stash and added sequins of varied shapes and sizes in shades of rose gold, black, clear, and copper.  I adhered the sequins with a strong matte finishing liquid glue.  As you can see, this is a stamp free card front.  You can decide to stamp a sentiment from one of Dare 2B Artzy’s stamp sets for the inside of the card and heat emboss it with a matching metallic embossing powder on the black cardstock or add a mat inside to hand write a note.

This concludes my last post as a Guest Designer for this month.  Thank you to Cindy, Kendra, and the entire staff at Dare 2B Artzy for allowing me this opportunity to stretch myself and to share my creative gifts with all of you!    Cheers and be blessed.

Monico

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