Still Time -- Koala T Crafts Challenge #1

Hi there crafty friends, I hope you are enjoying your Saturday!  I just wanted to take a minute to remind you all that the KTC Challenge #1 will be ending very soon.  Don’t worry, you still have a little time left to enter and I sure hope that you will.  You can get more details over on the challenge blog by clicking here.  Make sure you read all the details when you get there so you know exactly what you need to do.

Keep in mind that you don’t need a blog to participate.  Just upload a picture of your card to a photo sharing site and you are good to go.  I’ve posted instructions here. which will help you figure out how to do that.

I really do hope to see you there!

Winner–Bleached Cards Technique Hop

It’s time to announce the name of our winner from the A Year Of Card Techniques “Bleached Cards” hop picked by Random Name Picker!

And the winner is…

Congratulations, Emma!  Please contact me at apieceofheart.blog@gmail.com with your mailing address and I will pass this info on to Debbie so she can send you your awesome prize!

Thanks for playing along, everyone! Don’t forget to check back with us on August 19th for our “Stamping On Patterned Paper” hop! You won’t want to miss your chance to win another fantastic prize!!

We Want YOU!

Hello there, crafty friends! I’m hoping you will consider joining us over on the Koala T Crafts Challenge Blog for our very first monthly challenge.  July’s theme is red, blue, or stars.  At least one of those three things must be included in your project.  This challenge runs through to the end of July so you still have some time to link up your creations over on the Challenge Blog.  You have a great chance at winning because there aren’t many entries yet!  Make sure you read all the details when you get there so you know exactly what you need to do.

Keep in mind that you don’t need a blog to participate.  Just upload a picture of your card to a photo sharing site and you are good to go.  I’ve posted instructions here. which will help you figure out how to do that.    I no longer recommend using photobucket, however, as they have changed their posting rules recently (in the process of revising my post).  I’ve posted some other options for you to use so check it out and come join us for all the fun!

The Meadow At Sunset Bleached Card

Hi there, Crafty Friends.  I am back with more details about my favorite bleached card I made for yesterday’s blog hop.   I call this one “Meadow At Sunset”.

To start off, I used different colors of Tim Holtz Distress Ink and sponged it onto a piece of cardstock making sure to blend one color into the other.  I wanted to give the appearance of a field with a beautiful sunset sky above.  I don’t know about you, but I love it when the sky has that pretty pink glow in the evening just before the sun goes down.  Once I was happy with how it looked, I poured some bleach onto several pieces of paper towel which I had folded up to use as a make-shift ink pad.  I used enough bleach to saturate the paper towel but not so much that it wouldn’t be able to absorb it all.

The stamp set I used is Inkadinkado’s “Meadows” set.  I mounted the stamp (bottom stamp in picture) on a block and tapped it onto the bleach “ink pad”.  I held the stamp to the paper for about 30-seconds to make sure I would get a good impression.  I tapped my stamp onto the bleach “ink pad” again and stamped a second time just in case it needed that little bit more.  I let that dry for about 3-minutes before stamping the tall grass with Versafine Onyx Black ink. 

I used the stamp-off technique when stamping the other stamps onto my cardstock so that they would look more faded. The stamp-off technique is when you stamp once off the paper before stamping the image onto the card.
 

I added a little sparkle to the butterfly and wrapped some twine around the card a few times before adhering it to the card base.  I haven’t added a sentiment to this card yet because I’m not sure what occasion I might use it for in the future.

Hopefully, you enjoyed this and it has inspired you to create a bleached card of your own. 

Before you go, don’t forget to check out my TECHNIQUE CHALLENGE post if you haven’t already done so and be sure to make a comment for your chance to win our fabulous prize this month. 

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon with another card.

A Year Of Card Techniques–Bleached Cards

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique.  We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

From laundry, to disinfectant, to fashion, bleach is a staple in many households; but did you know you can use bleach in your card making and paper crafting? Yup, from stamping, to painting, and several techniques in between, we’re going to share our experiments with you. And if you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing

• February-So Sketchy

• March-no hop this month

• April-Stamp Set Showdown

• May-World of Watercolor

• June-Basic Card Folds

Our amazing sponsor this month is Debbie Bonczek of Close to My Heart.

Please take a moment to check out the great products Close to My Heart has to offer. To visit Debbie's blog, click here.

And the awesome prize this month is:

We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today. While you are encouraged to comment at any time, only comments received by Friday, July 21, 2017 at 8:00pm (EST) will be eligible to win. The winner will be announced on Sunday, July 23, 2017 on this blog, so be sure to check here on Sunday the 23rd to see if you are the lucky winner.

Since I’m the first stop on this hop, let’s get started!  But don’t forget to continue on with the hop once you are done here so that you don't miss out on increasing your chance of winning by commenting on  each blog.

Good golly, I’m not going to lie to you, I found this technique one of the hardest I’ve ever tried.   It took me a while to find my groove, but once I did, I think I managed to pull off some half decent cards.

Making sure I was in a well ventilated area, I poured some bleach into a small cup, selected a paintbrush, and went to work. 

 

I kept the first card fairly simple.  I stamped the daisies onto my dark blue cardstock with VersaMark ink.  Then I added some black embossing powder and heat set it.  I did this to try and keep the bleach confined to each area.  The embossing powder on the top left flower kind of clumped a little because I forgot to rub my Embossing Magic pillow over the cardstock before stamping.

I painted each petal with the bleach and watched the color start to fade.  I had to be careful not to go crazy with the amount of bleach I used because it would saturate the paper too much causing it to tear.   I found it intriguing to watch how the bleach reacted with different colors of paper. 

Once I had finished up with the bleach, and after it had dried thoroughly, I added some color with a Zig Clean Clear Color Brush and some water.  I finished it off by adding some twine and a sentiment.

My 2nd card is a little ‘ode to Christmas in July.   I have had the Stampin’ Up set “Snow Much Fun” for years and I’ve never used so I decided this was as good a time as any.  I stamped the snowman onto some red cardstock with some VersaMark ink and embossed it with black embossing powder.  I painted the snowman’s body, face, and snowball with the bleach and was happy to see it turning white (or at least some shade of white).  I colored the hat, scarf, nose, and boots with Copics.  I printed off some patterned blue digital paper to layer on top of the card base as well as a colorful snowflake digital paper which I adhered behind the image.  I added some snowflake brads and a sentiment to finish it off. 

My last card is my favorite!  I decided to use the bleach in a different way this time and I love the way it turned out.   I’m going to share more details on this card in a separate post so if you want to find out how I achieved this look, please visit me here again on Sunday.

That’s it for me.  I hope you enjoyed the cards I shared today.  Now you’re off to visit with Claudia, but don’t forget to comment first for a chance to win our awesome prize!  Hope you had fun and thanks for stopping by. See you next month with another technique!

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost: 

• Sharon
• Claudia
• Kim
• Wilma
• Card A Day Challenge Team
• Sandy
• Jodie
• Debbie
• Ronda

Koala T Crafts July Challenge – Live Like It’s Summer

Hello there, crafty friends!  I’m here today with my first Koala T Crafts Challenge Card!  I am so excited to be part of this DT along with an amazing group of talented women.  We were given a few images to choose from and I chose this awesome and cute Sherry Baldy digital stamp, “Fluffy Sunshine Girl”.   I have to say, Sherry Baldy is one of my all-time favorite artists so when I heard that she was going to be one of the artists for the Koala T Crafts Challenges, I knew that I had to get on the DT and I’m so thankful that Jen chose me!

The theme for our very first challenge is red, blue, or stars.  At least one of those three things must be included in your project.  Here’s a look at mine…

I choose to use blue as my focal color with a paper that had red, blue, yellow, and brown polka dots.  I colored the image using the copic colors below:

This challenge runs through to the end of July so you have lots of time to link up your creations over on the Challenge Blog.  Make sure you read all the details when you get there.   If you aren’t sure how to link up a card without having a blog, read my post here for instructions!

I really hope you will join us for this fun challenge.  I’ll be back again soon with more crafty fun!

Visit our sponsor www.mybestiesshop.com during JULY and save 50% off most items with coupon code YOURSPECIAL50

How To Enter The Koala T Crafts Card Challenges Without Having A Blog…

Hello there, crafty friends!  Did you know that you can enter the Koala T Craft monthly card challenges without even having a blog.  It’s super easy.  All you need to do is use a FREE image hosting service such as Pixlady to do it.  Let me show you how.

1. Pixlady

Pixlady is a free image host that does not require an account.  Simply go to the Pixlady site and select “Choose File”.  Navigate to the photo of your card saved on your computer and select it.  Then click on “Upload” to upload the card to the Pixlady site.  Click on the name of the image to find your link.

Copy the link in the box marked “Share this image”.  That’s it!

See the Mr. Linky directions below to find out how you can now enter your card into the Challenge.

Mr. Linky Directions:

Once you have added your card to an image hosting site, it’s time to head on over to the Challenge Blog where you will find the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom of the challenge post.  Type your name and paste your URL in the appropriate places and select “Next” when done.

Next, put a checkmark in the box beside “Upload an image file from your computer”.

You can then click “Choose File” and navigate to the photo of the card saved on your computer.  Once you have selected the photo saved on your computer, click “Enter”.

Click “Done” and you have successfully entered your card into the Challenge.  You may need to refresh your page to see it on the challenge page.

There are many FREE image hosting sites on the internet that you can choose from.  I’ve listed a few more below.  Some require accounts and some do not.  Choose the site that works best for you.

Other Image Hosting Sites:

• Flickr
• Imgbb
• Ctrlq
• Free Image Hosting
• Post Image
• Pixabay
• TinyPic
• and more.

Hopefully this has helped you to understand how you can enter challenges in the future.  We, at Koala T Crafts Challenge blog, would love to see you join us!

Before you go, please take a few minutes to check out my blog.  I have tons of FREE Digital Sentiments for you to download for personal use.  I also share lots of fun cards and I even giveaway Blog Candy from time to time.  I have tons more ideas of where I’d like to take this blog in the future if there is enough .  It’s no fun sharing things if there is nobody around to enjoy them so I would love it if you would consider following my blog so I know you are out there.

Thanks so much and see you soon!

An Invitation…

Hello there, crafty friends!  I want to invite you, yes YOU, to join us over at the Koala T Crafts Challenge Blog for our new monthly challenge.  The theme for our very first challenge is red, blue, or stars.  At least one of those three things must be included in your project.  This challenge runs through to the end of July so you have lots of time to link up your creations over on the Challenge Blog.  Make sure you read all the details when you get there.  I really hope you will join us for this fun challenge.  I’ll be back on Wednesday to share with you what I made for the challenge.