Inspiration Team — create your own ending

Brutus Monroe Rustic Balcony 0

Hi there!  It's Saturday and that means I get to take over the Brutus Monroe blog!!!  (insert evil laugh!!)  :D  Just kidding!  It's a thrill and an honor to be a part of this amazing team and to share my creations using some pretty awesome stuff!!  Today I'm featuring a smallish stamp called  Rustic Balcony but it packs a classy punch!  I heat-embossed the balcony in black onto a piece of watercolor cardstock then got busy with my Zigs!  It only took a few minutes to watercolor so I moved right on to the next step!  Using a stitched oval set of dies, I cut the watercolored panel first then another larger oval of black.  I decided to feature Tim Holtz' 3D Textured Impressions Botanical background on my white base card and I think it beautifully sets of the dark, crisp lines of Rustic Balcony!  

Before mounting the ovals to the base card with some fun foam, I added a couple red brads for accent.  I then heat-embossed the Hello sentiment onto a scrap of black and placed it over the main image.  So quick, so elegant!  

For my second card, I embossed Rustic Balcony in gold onto a piece of watercolor cardstock and decided not to color it in.  Instead I fussy-cut it, then sponged some Broken China distress ink around the edges and set it aside to create the rest of my card!  This beautiful laser-cut piece was in my paper stash from a wedding invitation which I of course, saved!  I added another piece of patterned paper to fill out the other side and attached it to a white card base.  The "friend to friend" sentiment is from an old Stampin' Up set and I embossed that in a row onto a narrow strip of white, and used it to cover up where the two patterned papers met!  

I mounted the balcony with foam tape; a couple of die-cut gold foil leaf sprigs and a few random sequins added the final details to my card and I love how it turned out!  One small stamp set yielded two very elegant cards!  Another similar stamp is  Rustic Door and that one's on my wish list!  Brutus Monroe has a wide variety to choose from so be sure to visit the store or website to find YOUR style of stamps!  Thanks for visiting!  

Dragon Kisses 0

Hello everyone! Aletha Jane here with a little more Brutus/Monroe inspiration to add to the amazing creations by our talented Inspirations team. 

For my project I decided to use the new “Dragon Kisses” clear stamp set. I love all this in the mythical and magical realm. Dragons are included!

I stamped one of the dragons with our Raven Ink for alcohol markers. Love this amazing ink! It loves water and alcohol! You will love this ink so much that we suggest getting the Raven re-inker.

My next step was the coloring. I did use markers in my stash, but I cannot wait to work with Brutus/Monroe’s alcohol markers.

I used our Foundation Oval dies for my cute dragon. And I also cut another die, the next one up, in our Raven 100# cardstock. 

To finish my birthday card I trimmed some designer paper, from my stash, down to the right size, and edged those with more Raven cardstock. All pieces were then attached to my card base with our craft glue. The last three things were stamping the sentiment, trimming that with Raven cardstock, added black flat-back pearls and glitter pens from my stash. 

Thanks so much for stopping by our Brutus/Monroe’s Inspiration blog. Check back every day for more inspiration from our team. On Wednesday, July 18, we will have an inspirational blog hop. You'll not want to miss that! 

A Rose Is A Rose... 0

 Hello, friends!  This is Sharon and I've been a part of the Brutus Monroe team for almost two weeks now and having so much fun creating cards with their great stamps and products!  But I wanted to branch out a little and make something different!  I walked around AC Moore yesterday, looking at the bare wood items meant for crafting with but just wasn't inspired.  Thankfully, when I got home I came across this old frame which I'd tucked away to DIY back to life and had my AHA! moment!  Beginning with the frame, I tapped the Sidewalk ink pad all over the front of it and noticed it stayed wet on the smooth surface so immediately sprinkled on some clear embossing powder then heat-set it!  The color is fairly light, so I rubbed on more Sidewalk over the embossing and then set the color with my heat tool.  Voila!  I love the textured surface it made!

Notice that beautiful embossed background!   First I spritzed Brutus Monroe's  Vintage Tapestry embossing folder with Wagon Surface Spray and then Sidewalk Surface Spray and ran a piece of watercolor cardstock through my Cuttlebug.  The colors are divine and I can't wait to get more of them!  The photos don't show it, but I also brushed Wink of Stella glitter all over the surface after!

At this point I'd decided to use the rosebud and leaves from Stampendous' Rose Garden set which I stamped out, colored with Copics and die-cut, then added Wink of Stella clear glitter to the buds.  Now what to do with the mat??  I used my favorite script stamp and Raven Detail ink  to stamp it onto the mat; bummed that my script overlapped a little in some places, but that's ok!

Next I used the I Love You stamp from Conservatory of Quotes and heat-embossed it in white onto a strip of black paper, then adhered it to the embossed panel.  The final step was to place my blossoms and leaves then put it all together!  Just look at all the different textures going on!  This came together fairly quickly and I'm really pleased with it!  Be sure to take a peek at the Brutus Monroe website to see the many fabulous products they have!  I'll be adding to my stash, for sure!

Real Unicorns Have Curves 0

Brutus/Monroe has done it again…creating some of the most irresistible clear stamps that are available in our creative world! That’s my opinion and I ain’t going to change it.

Today I have chosen one of the cutest rhinoceros that I have ever seen in my long career as a designer. And she wants to be a unicorn. Isn’t that the sweetest? The stamp is “Unicorn Curves.” I think she did a pretty good with his bandages.

My first step was stamping Unicorn Curves with Brutus/Monroe’s Raven Ink. This ink is perfect for just stamping, leaves a crisp impression. It can also be used with your alcohol markers. I was sold when the instructions mentioned “can be used with alcohol markers”. Anytime I see that phrase, it will soon be in my arsenal.

I completed my coloring with Copics, but I will soon have my stash of Brutus/Monroe’s Brush Stylefile Markers. They do look yummy.

I completed the coloring and then added the sentiment “Real Unicorns Have Curves” and stamped it with the Raven ink. I trimmed to my desired size and layered it with the purple and black cardstock from Brutus/Monroe’s Collection of 8.5 x 5.5 cardstock. My last step was the little glitter bauble from one of the monthly card kit subscriptions. FYI…Brutus/Monroe’s monthly subscriptions are amazing and you receive a lot of goodies for your stash. 

Please come back tomorrow. The Brutus/Monroe’s Inspiration Team is having a color themed blog hop. We hope you don’t miss out on all the inspiration that will be available. This Inspiration Team is very talented and I am honored to be on this team.

Brutus/Monroe’s Supplies
Unicorn Curves – 3 x 4 Clear Stamp
Raven Ink – Detail 2 x 2 Ink Pad
Stylefile Markers – 72 Piece Set
Collections Cardstock – 100# Cardstock

Monster Hugs!!! 0

Hi Friends Waleska here, to share a very cute and lovely card with one of my favorite monsters from the Monster Party set.  All the monsters on this set are so much fun and perfect for many different occasions if you want to make someone smile...

CARD DETAILS:

To create this card I die cut a window on the front panel.  I then spray Oz Surface spray on another piece of cardstock and glue it to the back of the window.  I stamped the monster with Raven Ink and color it with markers.

I then adhere the cute monster to the center of the sprayed area and added some little hearts around the image.  I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Raven Cardstock with Alabaster Embossing Powder.

I used Lunchbag cardstock as my card base.  I hope you like this cute happy card and be inspired to use this set to make someone smile!!!

Have a wonderful Weekend Friends!!!

Waleska

Brutus Monroe Supplies:

Life is Short... 0