Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Challenge # 214 and Envelope Swap

Challenge #214 Earth Day

The challenge this week is quite obvious by the title :)  You can see The Diva's challenge and everyone's entries here.  I haven't taken a look yet, but I'm sure they are wonderful as usual.

My entry is quite simple... I tried to use tangles I rarely use or have not used in a long time a  I had a lot of fun with it. 




Envelope Swap

I was asked if I wanted to participate in a painted envelope swap.  It sounded very interesting and challenging as I have never been involved in one or seen very many around.  So, I decided to go for it, and was actually surprised how much fun I had creating these envelopes.  There are a lot of pictures coming up, so you can skip them if you're not interested :)

Instead of using bought envelopes, I decided to make my own so they can be colorful all over.  So, I grabbed some Americana Satin paint and an old credit card and got color on both sides of printer paper (and 2 deli papers as well, just to see how they would turn out).


As you can see... completely random and... not pretty :)
Here are the same papers, now cut into the envelope shape from a template I created.  Once cut, I grabbed some of the stencils I designed and cut, and with a cosmetic wedge and some of the same paint, got some designs and shapes on top of the painted paper.

Starting to look a bit more interesting
with a stenciled layer
How they are looking now folded and glued.  You may see some others here as I was trying some with regular Americana acrylic paint (not satin).  I like the feel of the satin paint better, it feels smoother to the touch, so those are the ones I used for the swap.

Front of envelopes waiting for the next layer

Next each envelope was stamped with a couple of hand-carved stamps to add another layer, and a bit more interest (maybe too much in some cases :)).  Then I grabbed pens, brushes, H2Os, Inktense pencils and started playing.  This is what I ended up with.

Front of envelopes after all the playing -
deli paper envelopes are on the top (middle)
and the one on the bottom.

Some other views of the finished envelopes.



Instead of writing my name and information on the envelopes, I saved some of the paper each was created with, stenciled something on one side and wrote the info in the back.  

I hope you enjoyed looking at these colorful envelopes and cards.  It was my first try, but I really enjoyed the process and it worked well with my lack of time (a few minutes here... a few minutes there...)

21 comments:

  1. I really like your tree. The negative space works! Your envelopes look like you had loads of fun. Will you post pictures of those you get as trades?

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  2. Thank you so much, Duchess. I did have a lot of fun with the envelopes. Yes, I can post the ones I receive back - hopefully I will have everyone's name so I can give them credit :). I'm looking forward to see what I get back.

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  3. this almost fooled me at first.. the tree in the whitespace is so awesome and so well done. Its really pretty. I like it a lot.

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    1. Thank you so much, cubbyholes. I drew the tree so softly that sometimes I almost forgot about it and almost lost the branch :). Glad you can still tell :)

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  4. Now that's a wonderful idea of a tree! It's beautiful! And your envelopes are just breathtaking.

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    1. Thank you so much, penguinsandmore. I wanted to do something different :)

      I enjoyed making the envelopes very much. I almost started tangling on them, but then thought it was time to stop :)

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  5. A tree done this way is sooooo gorgeous! The envelopes are fantastic!

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    1. Thank you so much, Anne. I had a lot of fun with both :)

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  6. That tree is fabulous! Wonderful creations with the eps. as well, I used to do more of creating my own envelopes too! I need to get back to mailing things more...thanks for the step-by-step inspiration. How did you find that trading group if you don't mind my asking?...I understand if you don't have time to answer...: )

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    1. Hi Lynell, thanks for the wonderful comments. About the trading group, I'm actually not part of one right now, and this is a one-off, I think, from Mark Montano. Someone in one of my groups posted about an ATC swap a couple of months ago and I decided to do that; then I got contacted for this one. I decided to give it a try :) Let me know if you want to know more.

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  7. The tree is beautiful - great idea!
    And the envelopes are amazing as well - I love these colours!

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  8. Wonderful earth day tile. Love the envelopes and the description you gave.

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  9. OMG this is GORGEOUS!!! I've looked at all of the earth day challenge entries, yours is definitely my favorite! Absolutely love your interpretation of it. I was not at all pleased with the way mine turned out, it was much more beautiful in my head.

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    1. Yours turned out really beautiful! I loved it. Thanks for the kind comments; I'm always so inspired by everyone's entries and how beautifully done they are! :) Always something to aspire to :)

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  10. Your diva-tile is wonderful! I love the white tree and the nice patterns between the branch.
    And the envelopes are fantastic - so beautiful coloured. I would really love to get a letter in one of these envelopes ;-)

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  11. Simple my patootie! Simple gorgeous, maybe! Absolutely wonderful... and I love the envelopes too!

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  12. Lovely Earth Day, Marta and so fun to see the images about the envelopes!!! :)

    ~ Diane Clancy
    http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog/2015/04/my-diva-amanda-day-earth-day-4-challenge-entry

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