A Sketch in Black and Gold

I'm cutting it close today, but I've completed a handful of challenges this weekend, just in time for our week-long stay away from home.  For this CAS Colors & Sketches challenge, I chose to feature gold and black.  "Breezy Waves" is a Memory Box die, which I've used for the curved feature.  I also wanted to use the bleach technique, so I tested some black cardstock and found that it bleached to a pretty gold.  The image is "Poppy Poem" from Penny Black, which I stamped and embossed in white before bleaching with an aqua pen, and then layered with the gold cardstock I used for the curves. (There wasn't really any room for a sentiment after all that...I wish there were more vertical sentiment stamps!)

It's That Time of Year

I don't send Halloween cards, and I rarely send even autumn cards...but I made some pumpkin ones today.   The "squash"  trio was created with three different stamps and some bleach in an aqua painter.  I'll use the card for a  member of our church congregation.  The delicate pumpkin diecut is fun to use two ways: light-colored diecut on a dark background or a dark diecut on light background. 

Tuesday Cards

These were cards that started with a stamped image I knew I wanted to alter with bleach.  The image is from Memory Box. (Only when I looked at the cards on the monitor did I realize that one of the dry-embossed layers is upside down--at least in relation to the other.)

Freshly Made with Bleach

Bleach is a fun element to add to rubber stamping, but the results are often unexpected.  The key: try it out ahead of time.  When I made this card for Freshly Made Sketches 224, I liked the look of Stampin' Up's Pleasant Poppies, but thought that bleaching them out would be even better.  Bleach turned the Lost Lagoon cardstock pale pink.  That discovery necessitated a change in the "accent" piece between the top layer and the base card.  The "hip hello" die is from PoppyStamps. Dry embossing the top layer adds just a little texture.  The printed mini clothespin is from Stampin' Up. 

Back into it....with the bleach technique

It's a Bleach Challenge by Blockheads Paper Arts.  My image is from Penny Black; the black cardstock is from Bazzill, the orange paper is from Authentique; the watercolor pens are from Stampin' Up and ribbon from American Crafts.