April Leading Lady Rubeena Naz | Take One

Today we are excited to introduce our April Leading Lady, Rubeena Naz.   Ruby caught our attention by participating in our challenges and sharing her projects on our join in to win page and in social media with her stylish and sensational projects.  Ruby is one of those incredibly kind, supportive and talented crafters that make our community such a joy to be in. 

Over the next few Saturdays in Ruby will be leading us on a journey of her own design and imagining.  Make sure to visit her blog, A Rare Ruby, to see more from her and for a chance to win a giveaway! 

Please give Rubeena a big round of applause to welcome her as she steps onto the stage for her first performance as our April Leading Lady!    

Good morning! I am so excited to share that this month, I will be a guest designer for Winnie & Walter as their April Leading Lady!

I received the invite from the awesome Shay a few months back and, of course, I had to say yes! What a wonderful opportunity to be featured on their blog, among their talent, and to be able to show off how I use Winnie & Walter products! Shay is the sweetest! Thank you so much for asking me. I am truly humbled. Because she's the sweetest, Shay is offering my blog followers a $30 Winnie & Walter gift card as a giveaway. You can see the details of the giveaway at the end of this post.

A bit about me: I'm 31 and have been crafting for less than two years. Professionally, I'm a crisis worker in an emergency room so crafting helps to relax me! Lately, I've been practicing different types of watercolor products. I have a tendency to add depth or dimension to my cards. I am currently on the Design Team for The Ton and Coffee Loving Cardmakers (and we JUST had the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, for which Winnie & Walter was a Super Sponsor so thanks to Shay for being so giving!)

Every Saturday this month, I will be showing off some projects using Winnie & Walter products. Today's focus will be on color palettes and how specific color schemes can inspire your projects. I'll share projects using one of my favorite combinations: black, white, and gold with a touch of color. 

For the first card, I wanted to create my own background using In Bloom: Addie's Garden.

I wanted the focus to be on white and black and then add a little bit of color and gold. To begin, I took one of the large floral images and stamped all over my card base with a Copic-friendly black dye ink. Next, I stamped the image on masking paper so I could mask the flower in order to stamp leaves behind it. I stamped a flower and two leaves on separate white card stock, which I would fussy-cut. However, before I cut it, I die-cut the word 'hello' using In a Word: Hello Cutaway partially through the flower. I die-cut the word 'hello' four more times from black card stock so I could stack them together for dimension (remember how I love that?). I added a strip of gold glitter card stock so I could add my touch of gold on this card. Using a light pink Copic marker, I added my touch of color on the floral image. I fussy-cut around it and added some foam tape behind it carefully. I arranged the 'hello' with the floral image and matted it down over my black and white background. I got a little excited and started adding white and gold splatters and dots. Some of them were accidental, but I think it adds a lovely touch.

For the next card, I went a little more bold and did absolutely no stamping! One way to add color is using stencil. There are a few ways to use stencils, but I used embossing paste here.

I just want to add that the scallop frames from the Essentials: Audrey Cutaways are my favorite dies recently! To begin, I die-cut gold glitter card stock using the larger scallop frame and die-cut heavy white card stock using the smaller frame. I knew I wanted to add my color using the Scenery: Pattern of the Rings Creative Screenings stencil. I arranged the stencil diagonally over the smaller scallop frame and taped it down on all sides with blue painter's tape. I used white embossing paste mixed in with drops of Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink reinker. I added the paste over the stencil and added splatters of white and gold watercolors over it. I carefully removed the stencil and cleaned up my mess before it dried.

I die-cut the word 'thanks' from In a Word: Thanks Cutaway from black card stock four times and stacked them for dimension using glue. Once the embossing paste was dry, I arranged the small scallop frame over the large gold glitter frame with foam tape. I mounted the word 'thanks' over the embossing paste using glossy accents.

For the next set of cards, I wanted to share how I used the In a Word Cutaways. I also love the word dies that Winnie & Walter carries. They are super fun to use! If you've seen my work, you know that I have a habit of creating sets of cards. I die-cut watercolor card stock three times using the larger scallop frame from Essentials: Audrey Cutaways. I added my color first - a minty green, dark pink, and bright yellow. Next, I knew I had to add black and gold.

For the first card, I stamped the stars from Wishing You with Evelin T Designs (which was a free set for limited time during the Winnie & Walter 2nd birthday bash release) with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I die-cut the word 'happy' from In a Word: Happy Cutaway from the embossed sheet and also black card stock multiple times. I stacked them all together using glue and matted it down over the watercolor frame. I stamped 'bright, brilliant birthday' from Wishing You with Evelin T Designs using waterproof black ink. I finished it off by matting down the frame over a white card base.

This is a really easy way to create cards quickly. For the next card, I decided to use double-sided adhesive sheets. I cut out a part of the adhesive sheet, enough so that I could die-cut the word 'hugs' from In a Word: Hugs Cutaway.

I removed one side of the adhesive and attached white card stock over the sticky side. Since adhesive sheets are flimsy, it's harder to use dies with them so adding card stock to one side makes it sturdier. I die-cut the word and then used glossy accents to glue the card stock side over the watercolor frame. I carefully removed the top layer to reveal the adhesive and added black glitter on the bottom side. I cleaned up the excess and then added gold glitter on the top side. I smoothed it out to remove strays. Then I added the sentiments 'sending you' from LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T Designs and 'wherever you go' from Kindness with Evelin T Designs. I matted down the scallop frame over my white card base.

For my last card, I did something similar but only used gold glitter on the die-cut word from In a Word: Love Cutaway. The sentiments are from Wishing You with Evelin T Designs.

So there you have a few projects showing you how you can design your projects with a color theme in mind.

Thank you SO much for stopping by! I hope you were inspired by today's projects!

Winnie & Walter is generously offering a $30 gift card to my readers so be sure to visit me at A Rare Ruby to enter to win! :)

Essentials: Audrey Cutaways	In Bloom: Addie's Garden	Kindness with Evelin T Designs	LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T Designs	Scenery: Pattern of the Rings Creative Screenings	In a Word: Hello Cutaway
In a Word: Thanks Cutaway	In a Word: Happy Cutaway	In a Word: Hugs Cutaway	In a Word: Love Cutaway

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