Make It Monday #157 DIY Cover Plates

Thought I'd try my hand at the Make it Monday over at Papertrey Ink. I used the Leave it Be stamp set along with the sentiment from Bold Bouquet. Don't even say it... I know that sentiment is stamped a little crooked. It's killing me but after fooling around with this card for way too long I decided I could live with it LOL! The person this card is going to won't give a fig if he even notices. What he will notice is my tip of the hat to mon artiste preferre- Henri Matisse. As soon as I saw the Leave it Be stamp set I had to have it - I saw the one leaf image that is so reminiscent of his cutouts it was a done deal for me. I like how my card turned out - despite my sentiment crookedness. :-) Alright - gotta run. Saturday is waiting ;-) Have a good one

Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge

wow... it's been a while since I last posted. Life's been too busy. But the other day I thought I'm going to make something for this blog hop! The challenge is to incorporate anything with high gloss into your project.  I hadn't gotten to try a new die I'd gotten from Papertrey - the Text Block: Birthday die. I'd seen so many cute creations with it and I had a little time to sneak in a card.
So here's what I came up with. Now I am sure I could've used Glossy Accents on that die. But I decided to drag out my UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder). It's easy to use and I wanted to get a real thick glossy diecut. And the UTEE certainly will get you that - although at a certain point you risk it cracking. I just inked the whole thing up with Versamark and then had at it with the UTEE. I think I did three coats.
The background polka dots were done with PTI's Polka Dot Basics - stamped with Versamark and then embossed with regular clear embossing powder.
I decided I'd like another bit of gloss so I inked up a piece of black cardstock - just around the edges to create a frame-  for the background - more UTEE.
And the shine.
Can we talk about it?  It reminded me of the patent leather shoes I had as a kid. They were sortofa requirement back in the day. Not sure if little girls still wear them - but gosh they were cute shoes. All shiny- throw in the gloves, the hat, matching coat and the purse.. well back in the day you had to have it all to be prepared for church on Sunday. I'll have to dig up a pic or two of that.
Here's a closeup. I found it hard to get a good pic of that shine but here's another attempt

(pardon my hand) Now there you go. Glossy, shiny... looking a little liquid.
Okay. I gotta get moving for the day. It's snowing outside as I type here. Yet it is Spring. (I keep saying it so it must be so!)
Have a wonderful day!