I Brake For...No Mixed Signals!

Hello IBFS fans! I'm excited to introduce myself to you! My name is Hannah, I'm new to the design team and I've got A LOT of great ideas to share with you! Today I'm showing you a card using the No Mixed Signals set.

This card I'm sharing is a card that I struggled a lot with but the struggle was SO worth it!

There are actually a lot of firsts for me on this card. This card marks the first time I figured out my Zig Real Brush pens. The first time I successfully got ALL of the LEDs in a card to light up. The first time I used lighting Gel to color my lights. This is also the first time I've posted for the I Brake for Stamp team! To say that I'm excited is an understatement.

This card was painted on Arches watercolor paper from Canson. I actually did my die cutting first, so that I could figure out the placement of my stamps. I stamped both the adorable snail and the sentiment, in StazOn black. I then re-stamped both stamps with VersaMark Watermark Ink, over that I poured some clear embossing powder (WOW! brand). Don't forget to de-static your paper before putting the embossing powder on!

Next, I painted my snail. Because my previous attempts at coloring with my Zigs were less than successful, I applied my color to a laminated sheet of paper, and then applied the pigment with a paintbrush. I had A LOT of control! This step helped me gain the confidence to use my Zigs, as intended, in the next couple of cards that I'll be sharing. If you struggle with these markers like I did, I do hope I inspire you to keep them and to keep trying!

My Zig color choices

When the painting was done, including the ground for the snail and the border, I punched holes out of the ends of the antennas. I know there are a variety of tools out there for this, but I used the Making Memories Hole Punch because it is what I have. Then I adhered the two front pieces of my card onto some Neenah Solar White Cardstock in 80lbs, after I carefully traced and cut out where the holes would be onto the backing piece. This made the front of my card extremely durable and secured everything together.

This Jellyfish Lantern stamp is also from IBFS!

As you can see in the above card, I CAN mess up Chibitronics lights. There were supposed to be 3 working LEDs up there, not two....and I was lucky I got two working for this photo. Fortunately, my husband alerted me to these, which were MUCH easier for me to work with: 

LilyPad White LEDs and copper Tape

A lifetime supply of copper tape and 10 LEDs were far less expensive than the Chibitronics set that I ruined, and they worked far better! 

In the Jellyfish Lantern set above, I tried to color my lighting with vellum that I had used yellow Copic Markers. The result was OK. But I got BETTER results on my snail using gels from a gel swatchbook for theatrical lighting. These can be purchased online if you don't have a lighting nerd husband like I do, he had one on his desk.

There is foam mounting tape between both the card base and the watercolored panel. I removed all of the backing of the tape, except for one small area where I decided to leave a pull tab. I put all of this together and viola!

I am so pleased with how this turned out!

I LOVE these designs by Carmen Medlin that are available on I Brake for Stamps, there are SO MANY to choose from! I Brake for Stamps has over 3000 images, there really is something for everyone! Please follow the linked image below to see all the amazing designs!

Thank you for visiting today! I hope I have inspired you!