Hey there!  Happy Wednesday all!  It's my turn for the Groovin' with the Go-to Gals post over on the Paper Crafts Connection blog today.  I'm talking all about a trend I've been noticing in some of the newly released product....weathered wood.  Hop on over to the Paper Crafts Connection blog where I share some product picks and inspiring photos of this trend. There might also be a *ahem* giveaway. :-) 

Here is the card I created that incorporates this weathered wood trend, as well as a quick how-to to get this look.  

It's pretty easy...just a little acrylic paint (two colors) along with a wood grain impression plate. (or another embossing texture/tool of your choice)  You could really achieve lots of different looks with this depending on the paint colors as well as the cardstock base color that you choose.  I'm looking forward to playing around with this idea a little more.

So here's how I got the look....I started with a piece of kraft cardstock.  I used a foam brush to brush on some blue paint.  I left some of the kraft cardstock showing through in areas.  

I let the blue dry completely, then brushed over it with white acrylic.  I let that dry as well.  I'm impatient by nature, so my heat gun helped speed things up a bit.  :-)

I then ran my painted cardstock through my Vagabond with Papertrey's Woodgrain Impression Plate.  After that I took my refill bottle of Copic Colorless Blender and squirt a little onto a paper towel and rubbed over the painted/embossed cardstock.  It worked great to remove areas of the paint.  You can expose the layers of paint and cardstock below depending on how much you rub over it with the Colorless Blender solution.  You can remove as much or as little as you like, depending on the look you're going for. 

Sanding will give a a similar result, although I sometimes struggle with sanding...it usually does more harm to my cardstock by tearing/pilling it before I achieve my desired effect.  The blending solution left my cardstock untouched and only worked at eating away the paint.  The paint did get a bit gummy as I was rubbing over it, but once it dries completely, it's perfect!  

Kind of a fun discovery! I added some stamped florals over the top with red ink for a little extra somthing.

Thanks for stopping by...don't forget to hop over to the Paper Crafts Connection blog!

Welcome to the last day of the Papertrey 5th Anniversary celebration!  Today the team is featuring projects using the anniversary set.  This year's set is called Pretty Peonies and it is SO pretty!  (Visit the Papertrey Ink website or Nichole's blog to see if you qualified for this year's set or how you can begin working towards earning next year's.)  

I created two cards with this new set.  First up is a very soft card using a technique I've been playing around with a bit.  You've probably noticed that lately I've been having fun playing with my inks and getting different intensities of color by "stamping off" onto scrap paper before stamping onto my project.  I used a variation of that technique on this first card.  I used Berry Sorbet ink and inked up that pretty poeny stamp, then stamped off onto scrap paper.  I then went back and rolled the edges in the ink again before stamping it onto my project. The effect is a pretty shaded look.

I love that big "happy" stamp from the set as well as the coordinating smaller sentiments.  Everything on this card is from the new Pretty Peonies set.  

My second card is also done up in pinks, but it's a ltitle more vibrant than the first.  I just can't help but think pink when I think of peonies.  

For this card, I used some Dearest Jane patterned paper and stamped the peonies in shades of pink, then stamped the coordinating outline image using with Versamark, and heat embossed it with white powder.  It gives a pretty, lacey look.  After the embossing was complete, I want back and used my ink blending tool to add some Sweet Blush ink to the background.  That pretty label is also from the new Peony set.  

I hope you enjoyed today's peek at the new anniversary set!  You can check out the rest of the team's creations using the links below...

• Ashley Cannon Newell
• Danielle Flanders
• Jess Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Maile Belles
• Nichole Heady
• Lisa Johnson
• Dawn McVey
• Debbie Olson
• Heather Nichols
• Melissa Phillilps
• Michelle Wooderson

Supplies not linked:  Pretty Peonies stamp set