Clean & Simple Card Class 3

I mentioned last week that I enrolled in the Clean & Simple Online Card Class 3.  I didn't have the opportunity to participate while it was "live" but I'm happily playing catch up now.

Each day showcased three different techniques.  I'm an avid card maker but am finding that these techniques are stretching my abilities (and sometimes my patience) but I'm determined to make a card using each one of their ideas.

Day One was titled Faux Effects.  The techniques included Faux Metal, Faux Layered Die Cuts and Faux Letterpress.  Of the three, the faux letterpress was most definitely my favorite.

Here are my "takes" on their examples....

Faux Metal ---  These cards gave me fits but through no fault of the technique.  I started stamping with pigment inks which ended up smearing because I didn't give them time enough to dry.  Then I miss-stamped a sentiment.  Then I smudged ink from my thumb onto a wonderfully finished card.  I swear I made eight card fronts to get these two.  I do love the idea of stamping in embossed areas but struggled with getting random circles/hearts to appear balanced.

Faux Layered Die Cuts...or in other words, inlaid die cuts.  My first card was a bit of a cheat in that I have a heart die that basically does all of the work for you.  I ran the die through my die cutter three times using three different colors of card stock.  Then I cut the negative from a piece of white cardstock and pieced it all back together like a puzzle.

My second card uses the technique demonstrated in the class.  The two clouds and sentiment are inlaid into the blue cardstock.

At this point I decided to ditch the inlays and layer my scraps in the traditional fashion.   My next three cards were created in this way.

Faux Letterpress ---  This one was definitely my favorite.  I created three almost identical cards because I loved how the first one turned out.  The technique is simple....after stamping your images, go back over them (slightly offset) with a white pigment ink.  The results are just beautiful, more so than my photo indicates.

I can definitely see myself incorporating all three techniques into both my cards and scrapbook pages.  Next up in JulieWorld ---Day Three.  I'll post my examples once I'm finished.  Thanks for stopping by!!!