How I Make a Card/Use a Blender Pen

Today I thought I'd do something a little different. Rather than just show you pics of the craft I've done, I thought I'd walk you through the process of how I actually make it. I would have loved to test out my new Copic markers for you, but you need special paper and ink for them and I don't have them yet. I placed an order for Pure Luxury 120 lb weight white paper and Tuxedo Black Memento Ink at Gina K. Designs http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/ this afternoon, so hopefully I'll be able to show you just what my little beauties can do in the near future.

I did want to do some coloring today though, so I went with my next best option, the blender pen. I started by stamping this sweet little honey pot in StazOn ink. StazOn is a permanant ink that dries almost instantly and doesn't bleed (though it's still wise to use caution when going over it) which makes it a perfect for using with a blender pen. Keep in mind that because StazOn is permanant, you will need to use StazOn ink remover to clean your stamps afterwards. The paper I'm using is the backside of a sheet of watercolor paper because it has a smoother surface than any of the regular white cardstock I have at the moment.

The next thing I did was make myself a color palette by tapping a little Colorbox Chalk Ink onto an acrylic block. Then I took the brush tip of my Marvy blender pen and scribbled it in the ink to pick up some color. Test it on a piece of scratch paper, then begin applying ink where you want it, picking up more ink, or scribbling off as needed. When you're ready to switch colors, scribble and wipe until the marker writes clear, then pick up a new color.

I also stamped and colored this little honeybee, then carefully cut it out, since I wanted to pop it off the page later. Here you can see me choosing the elements that I'm going to use in the card. I decided on pink cardstock, this stripey patterned paper (the same one I used it last week's birthday card), and some sheer pink polkadot ribbon.

Then I just play around with everything, arranging it in different ways on the card base until I find one I like. I trimmed, rounded corners, and glued down the papers, added some black stitching marks behind the bee, and tied the ribbon into a bow. To keep the the bow in place, I added a mini glue dot under the knot. I decided to add some white stitching around the patterned paper with a white gel pen to tie the stripes and dots together.

Aaannd, I learned that I should save black stitching for last, because somehow in the process of tying the ribbon, I smeared it. If that weren't bad enough, I got off track with the white stitching on the bottom as well. But I kept my cool. I've learned from watching Kristina Werner's videos that mistakes are easily covered up. I brainstormed for a minute, and then selected these cute little felt flower buttons I'd picked up at JoAnn's a couple of weeks ago. I tied some embroidery thread through the centers, then glued them down with Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

And here's the finished result! I think it looks even sweeter with the flowers. I bet you'd never have known I used them to cover up my mistakes if I hadn't told you. ;o) But I'm learning in life that there is nothing wrong with owning up to our mistakes. We're all human, we all make them, and sharing them might just help someone. So there you go.

I had just finished my card and cleaned up my mess when the mailman arrived with a package for me. It was the blog candy I won from Kathy at The Daily Marker! http://thedailymarker.blogspot.com/ Kathy, if you're reading this, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Just look at all these goodies! I can't wait to share all the projects I make with them with you.