Virginia's View challenge...

Happy Tuesday! Do you all know Virginia Lu? She is an extremely talented paper crafter...if you've never seen her work, you must check out her blog and say hello! Every month she hosts a new challenge at her challenge blog: Virginia's View Challenge. This month she is hosting a Layers and Dimension challenge! Right up my alley! This goes perfectly with what my Craftsy class was all about, Layers and Dimension, so I was honored to make a couple of cards for her blog today.

On the first card, I have used a Maggie Holmes floral embossing folder to dry emboss the white cardstock in the background. I love the subtle texture it adds! I love dimension, but don't like overshadowing the focal point of the card, so a great way to add dimension and interest to your card background is with dry embossing. The two flowers were die cut and stamped with Papertrey Ink's Quilted: Spring stamp and coordinating die set. The "Hello" is cut with the Noted die by Papertrey Ink with Aqua Mist cardstock. 

Also, did you notice the dots on the hello? I added texture to that also with a Swiss Dot embossing folder by Cuttlebug. Dry embossing is so addicting, and you can emboss almost anything...even wood veneer like I mentioned in my Layers and Dimension class with Craftsy. Although this card is full of texture and dimension, it's very flat for mailing, and since the embossing is done on white cardstock, the design isn't overwhelming to the pretty layered, colorful focal point. The embossing adds to the design, but doesn't overpower it.

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Next, I created a watercolored stripe effect by cutting out a striped die cut to use as a stencil. To do this, I used the Cover Plate: Stripes Diagonal die by Papertrey Ink cut out of cardstock and placed it onto my card. Using it as a stencil, I misted over the open stripes on watercolor paper, then smoothed them out a bit with a wet paintbrush. When dry, I added a vellum panel to the center. I am just so addicted to adding vellum panels over the backgrounds to soften the whole look! You can see a bit of the stripes peeking out the sides. I've machine stitched the vellum at the top, then added a few more details. 

Vellum is another chapter that I included in my Craftsy class. There are so many things you can do with it to add dimension to your cards! Over the top of the vellum, I've added a Circle Scribbles die and another Quilted: Spring die cut that I've stamped. For a sentiment, I've cut a Big Hugs die and stamped a sentiment with Mat Stack 5 Collection. Small groupings like this on a card allow the design to have some "white space" around it and help keep the items on the card from feeling like they are floating away. This keeps the card feeling cohesive. If I were to scatter everything around the card, it wouldn't feel as clean and cohesive. The eye would have a hard time focusing on what's important on the card. Grouping everything together creates one focal point. Also, you can see that I have large, medium and small items on my card for varying scale.

Hope you enjoyed these tips on layering and adding dimension! Click the links above for 1/2 off my Craftsy class today, and stop over to Virginia's View challenge to enter a card in her layers and dimension challenge. You have until May 18th to enter, then two winners will be selected to win a $25 gift card to Simon Says Stamp. Have fun!!