Inspiration Team — dies

September Stamps of the Month - Galaxy Stars 0

Hi crafty friends! Lauren here with a fun card using the star stamps from the Stamp of the Month set from September! The stamp club subscription is 5.00 per month, and you get a really fun, exclusive stamp design in your mailbox each month!

I started off with a piece of aqua pigment paper, and masked off a strip across the middle with purple tape. I taped it all down really well because I didn't want the paper to curl or buckle when wet! I wet the exposed strip in the middle generously with clean water, and started dropping aqua pigments directly from the bottle in the colors Blue, Yellow and Pink. I dropped quite a bit of each color and gently swirled them with a brush so that the edges blended, but not to the point of all the colors muddying together. It was kind of a soupy mess at this point, so I confess my confidence was not high! But it was worth it in the end. I used a heat tool to dry it completely.

Then I used surface ink in the color "locomotive" with a blending tool to blend dark areas all around the edge and through the middle as well, then removed the purple tape. There were a couple of tiny areas on the edges where some color had slightly bled, since I used SO much water and liquid pigment, so I just used a black marker and a ruler to make the edges of the galaxy strip nice and clean.  I squished a little bit of Alabaster ink onto an acrylic block and used a wet paintbrush to flick white spots all over.

When everything was dry, I wiped an embossing buddy over the whole card surface. With the embossing ink, I stamped the solid star around the edges of the galaxy strip, and then embossed the stars using the Sterling embossing powder. I stamped the star outline with Raven ink to fill in the rest of the card. For the sentiment, I cut 3 layers of Raven cardstock with the "Congratulations" die, and one layer in the Sterling glitterstock. I adhered the black layers together and then the silver layer on top, and glued the thickened sentiment onto the card front. I stuck the whole piece onto a mat of Raven cardstock to finish it off. 

Have you ever had a project that you weren't so confident about during the process, but that you ended up loving at the end?

Post your projects with the stamp of the month to social media, and don't forget to use the hashtags #BrutusMonroe and #CreateYourOwnEnding!  

Space Inspiration Box 0

Hi,

Today we are using the collage stamp from the Space Inspiration Box. By stamping the image multiple times a full background has been created. Just keep in mind that most stamps can be used to create backgrounds.  Masking tape is necessary to create this background though.

Color in the newly created background using water based markers and add a die cut greeting (hello by Brutus Monroe, coming soon to the store). The greeting is anchored by layering two strips of coordinated colors. The first strip and the card base layer is foiled using toner sheet and Deco Foil.  As always, add a few bubbles to finish the look.

Show us your foil creations on Brutus Monroe Facebook Fan Page.

Enjoy

Hello (Birthday Memories Stamp Set) 0

Hellooooo Peeps!

Having fun today with some stencils, stamps, dies and ink here. Brutus Monroe has so many items to create with I am always excited to sit down and create.

This card is made by cutting two layer one pieces of paper in Alabaster and color of your choosing. Die cut three holes in the white layer one, then lightly mark on the colored layer one where the holes are. Now using three different stencils from the vast selection at Brutus Monroe, stamp through the stencils the areas that will appear through the holes with raven ink. This creates a different background for each hole.

Now stamp the fun figures from the Brutus Monroe Birthday Memories Stamp Set onto a piece of Alabaster card stock. Color them in using the Style File Markers and cut out.  Place one image in each hole making sure you are happy with the placement. Stamp the sentiment windows with the Hello stamp added.  Color each one in also and cut. Arrange to your liking the sentiments with foam dots to add dimension. Finally, layer onto card base.  Add embellishments as desired.

This card can be used for many occasions depending on the sentiment added. All ages will love receiving it.

Please share your creations at Brutus Monroe Facebook Fan Page.

Enjoy

Palm Tree Pop Up with Brutus 1

Gang,

As promised last week, here is another fun project using Brutus Monroe and Karen Burniston dies. This week Brutus felt he needed a vacation because he works so hard producing great products for all his followers. How can anyone say no to such a cute dog! So here is our interpretation of what a vacation for Brutus the dog would be like in card form.

On the cover we have Brutus from the Brutus and Friends stamp set colored with StyleFile Markers gazing out the porthole of his cruise ship. Porthole made using two sizes of circles with small detail holes punched to create the rivets of a porthole. To make it look rusty we embossed randomly using Brutus Monroe Penny embossing powder to create the rust look. The island scene through the porthole was created by fussy cutting a mountain and stamping Brutus Monroe Surface Inks to complete. The background layer is texture paste through a tropical leaf stencil. Sentiment is stamped in Raven Detail Ink and attached with foam tape. Die cut leaves were added to help ground Brutus. 

The inside of this Brutus on Vacation card is all about the unexpected but super fun pop up die scene using the Karen Burniston Palm Tree Pop-up die set. This complicated looking die is easy to assemble by following the simple step by step instructions on the Karen Burniston web site how to videos. Once the pop up is created sentiments and embellishments can be added as the crafter wishes.

We hope this card inspires you to use a Karen Burniston pop up die along with Brutus Monroe stamps and inks. Please share those creations with us at Brutus Monroe Facebook Fan Page.

Enjoy

Brutus Monroe with Karen Burniston Dies 0

Hi Crafty Friends,

Starting today for the next few Sundays we will be using Karen Burniston Dies along with our Brutus Monroe products. We are having a great time creating with all of these wonderful products. Today we are using the Woodland Animal dies and Brutus Monroe Forest Background stamp. Karen Buniston dies integrate well with Brutus Monroe stamps and inks. 

This card is perfect for sending to that special someone you are missing. It shows a squirrel feeling "blue" because he misses you. The squirrel was created by die cutting him in shades of blue. These dies are a great option when you just do not have the time to color a card but need to get it in the mail quickly. Mixing it with a colored background adds dimension to the project. This Forest Background was colored using water color markers making the squirrel the focal point of the card. The sentiment was stamped in Raven Detail Ink on a banner. The card front was layered onto coordinating colored paper to complete a simple card. (Twine and sequins added for some additional embellishments)

Share your creations mixing products from multiply companies on the Brutus Monroe Facebook Fan Page.

Enjoy

Fish Bowl Shaker Card 0

Welcome back! Last week was Release Week here on the blog and there were so many fabulous projects made with the new stamps! I showed the projects I created and gave an overview of them in my last post, but today I want to take a closer look at this fun shaker card that I created with the WAVES background stamp and the FISH BOWL set that I used along with the new COORDINATING DIES for the fish images. 

I started this card by stamping the WAVES background onto a piece of white cardstock with EMBOSSING INK and then embossing it with ICICLE EMBOSSING POWDER. Then, using a mix of light blues and green Distress Inks, I blended over the waves to add color. I also used the same ink colors on the outside frame of the card that you see around the front. 

To create the shaker part of my card, I took a piece of white cardstock and measured around each side to leave a nice thick border, and then I used a craft knife to cut the square out of the middle. This created a frame without having to use a die. I cut a piece of acetate that would fit over the window of the frame and glued it down. Then, over the acetate, I added some kids craft foam cut down to size. This gave some dimension and a place to hold all the shaker goodies inside. Once I had the frame filled with sequins and beads, I added some more adhesive around the edges, and placed my card base with the waves over top, sealing in the shaker elements. 

To decorate the front of the card, I grabbed my FISH BOWL set and stamped out a number of the fun images. Then, after coloring them in with my Prismacolor pencils, I used the new FISH BOWL COORDINATING DIES and cut out the images by running them through my Sizzix. Sure beats fussy cutting! 

For the sentiment I used the NAUTICAL DOODLES stamp set and picked the sentiment that read, "Let your dreams set sail". I stamped and embossed the sentiment on a strip of vellum using the ALABASTER EMBOSSING POWDER. Then, I just arranged all the pieces on the front of my card and glued them down. 

This was such a fun card to create and I can't wait to send it off to a friend. I always get excited when I can pull off a shaker card because I seem to have problems with shakers! 

Until next time, 
Marie Nicole

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