2020 #10 Postcards with ESN {by Carol Fox}

2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Intro
There is something super appealing about white, black and a splash of blue on kraft card. The white space is less 'white' when you work with kraft (duh) and somehow that adds a warm balance which I find super-appealing! Carol works her magic utilising many of Sara Naumann's stamps, and there are always a load of interesting elements within them to suit the painted layers perfectly!
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Carol with you today, and I'd like to share with you some postcards made with my favorite packaging to recycle those lovely Amazon Kraft Coloured envelopes.

I have made some 6 x 4 postcards to send in the place of Cards, either for birthdays or just a random "miss you card". I do usually send these naked through the post so I make them flat. Here I have simply stenciled and then added stamping over the top with paints and inks. I used a combination of paints and inks as this adds more layers and I was also introduced to my new must have background stamp, and yes I do admit to being a little bit in love with it.

My finished postcards. I usually send them naked through the post like this, but due to the present circumstances I have added an envelope and this is shown in the last photo.

Background stencil with PS046 and Chalk fresco Paint. I went for a softer white as I thought this looked nicer against the Kraft coloured card.

My new favourite background stamp set ESN09 stamped using Marbles Fresco Paint. I pounced my paint gently onto the stamp with a bit of cut and dry to avoid to much paint and a smudgy image.

  

The words from ESN05 stamped in black archival in. 

Using sets ESN21 and ESN28 I stamped an image on each card using black archival ink.

I added the same splatter image I used before from ESN09 but this time I stamped it in black archival ink. I like how the same image stamped in different mediums adds depth to my postcard.

I didn't like the way the quote had covered my 'Carte Postal' on one of my cards, so I decided to colour in the words on each card and this helped to lift the words in front of the circle stamp. I also ran my ink pad around the edge of the cards to frame them a little bit.

On my envelope I simply repeated what I did for the cards, but I masked off a bit in the middle with a post it note to give a space for the address.

These are very quick to make and are handy for a last minute Birthday card and I like them in preference to a proper card as they remind me of when I was little and we always seemed to get loads of postcards in the summer from Holidays, a bit of the lost past now with all the social media sites and everything being so instant...grief showing my age here!! But I suppose they appeal to the retro chick in me and I love writing my message on the back. My family did think I was either weird or to mean to give them an envelope at first but I think they get it now. Also if anyone still reads proper books they make great bookmarks. 

Have a lovely Day and I can be found at the following places.

Carol x

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2020 #8 Popping Pink: A Trio of Wishes with ESN {by Miriam Grazier}

2020 Topic 8: Popping Pink

Intro
Both paint and infusions are popping for this pretty trio of cards by Miriam. It's nice to have stripped back ideas: simple stencilling, white space, black ink and careful use of one colour is all the is necessary. Sometimes we just make things more complicated that they need to be!
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Miriam with you today, and I'd like to share with you a trio of cards that I have created to send to friends and family that I cannot see at the moment due to the travel restrictions in the UK.  

I felt, in these unprecedented times, that I wanted to let people know that I am thinking of them even though I cannot physically see them just yet.  For me, craft is also great for my well-being.  I find it relaxing and it takes my mind off my worries, even if it's for a short time.  

I kept my cards easy to make for beginners, whereas a more experienced crafter could advance my instructions very easily.  

What I really enjoyed was creating cards with very few materials that were quite striking once complete.  I have also ensured that, even though there is some dimension, they can be posted using a normal first class stamp.

This card was super simple and you can adapt using the stamps that you have in your stash.  I kept the colour scheme very clean in order to allow the Bougainvillea to really 'pop', after all, that's the theme this fortnight.

I simply loved the black solid bird and branch image against this background.  Sara's images often lend themselves to being able to cut parts out and layer them up, which is what I did here with the bird, simply to give a bit of dimension.

I also wanted to show how a stencil used alone can create a striking background.  

This time I chose this beautiful quote stamp.  You can use any stamps that you want here, including images if you did not want to use a quote, but I simply love this quote and know that the recipient will too.

If you wanted, you could tidy the lines up slightly by using a white gel pen, but I loved the imperfect look that I created.

Again, this is a very simple card, and very quick to make too.  Here I created a very quick background colour using Magenta Infusions.  You could do the same with paint or ink just by pressing them onto a craft mat, adding water then swooshing your card panel through.

The main image was stamped onto the card and then separately onto another panel of card so that it could be cut and mounted.  I also followed something that I have seen Sara do many times, which is to cut and colour parts of the collage image and layer them up.  I have done this with the stamps on the collage.

I also stepped this card up to see how it would look.

This time I used a thin layer of Grunge Paste onto the card panel first.

I loved how the Infusions caught each peak and texture of the paste, however, the pink didn't 'pop' as much when I used it on top of the Grunge Paste.  I thought about this and concluded that If I wanted to do this again I could paint over the panel using Snowflake Fresco Acrylic chalk paint before I added the Infusions, which would make it 'pop' again.

Here are the two Infusions cards together.  You can see how brighter the pink looks on the card without the Grunge Paste.

I loved how I could create simple, but striking, cards using not many materials.  

I also love how you could step each of the cards up by using more layers and gems, to name only two things.  The ideas could be endless.

More importantly, creating these came me a moment of calm in what is currently a crazy world.  And I know that the recipients will love receiving them too.

I really hope that I have encouraged you to create cards yourself.  Whether you are a beginner or whether you are more experienced but want to lose yourself in the joy of creating, I know that you will be delighted with your simple makes.  If you want to make them more detailed, that would be fabulous.  Whether you plan to keep them or give them to those that you love, the joy of creating will satisfy you.  I would love to see what you create.

Thank you for joining me this evening.  
Happy Crafting!
Miriam

Blog:  Miriam's Creative Dreams