Challenge #279 here at cardz 4 galz, as chosen by Helen is to make your card Clean and Simple.

Having seen a tutorial a while back on Splitcoast Stampers, Faux Cyanotypes – SCS Weekly Inkling #1008, I had long been wanting to try this particular style card. You can’t get more CAS than the way this one is done in my opinion.

My biggest challenge was that I don’t have any square die sets, and the odd square dies I do have weren’t the right size. The punch I have wouldn’t cut properly so it is now in the trash. I chose and adapted a die that wasn’t right and fixed it so that it was okay. It was a bit fiddly but I made it work and I was only cutting the mask so not wasting card stock in the process. I did try it on scrap paper first though.

Once the mask was on the rest was very easy and fairly quick too. I used Blueprint Sketch ink and a brush to get the background, inking only lightly until I deemed it enough. Then using and old rubber stamp set by Darkroom Door I stamped one of the smaller bikes using the same ink but more coverage so it stamped darker. Using another stamp from the set I stamped the sentiment. You can imagine my annoyance when I realized that the stamp edge had created a nice blue line that was totally unintentional. Serves me right for not checking the stamp as I normally do.

What to do about it was my next question, particularly as this is a CAS design. I created another sentiment on a scrap piece and tried adding it, but it didn’t look right. I also considered adding a frame over the entire card, but without the right dies this was even more problematic and didn’t look good either. I actually set it aside overnight because my brain wasn’t giving me good solutions, other than starting again on a new card front. During the night I decided to try some bling to cover it up and this seemed to work and looks okay. Had it not been okay I would have made another one. Even though adding bling isn’t generally done with a CAS design, I don’t think it detracts from the design here. You’ll be pleased to know that I have now purchased a square die set and it is on its way to me as I type.

Now it is your turn to create and we look forward to seeing what you do. Have fun while you play. Thanks for joining me today, you and your time are appreciated.