The Hunger Games - Catching Fire - Card & Cake

It was my good friend Shari's birthday very recently, and we were going to see The Huger Games- "Catching Fire", movie for her birthday, which is what inspired me to make her card and cake to match the theme ( even though circumstances have prevented us from seeing the movie, twice... which I still haven't seen yet!).

I used the humming bird from elements of style, embossed with gold on black card stock. For the ring I just cover enough black card stock with gold embossing to punch 1 1/4" circle + 1 3/4" circle.
The "Happy Birthday" is from Sassy Salutations, also embossed in gold.

I cut a sheet of white A4 copy paper in half and trimmed to fit inside the card , to resemble a book. I also pierced several hole in the centre and sewed some white cotton through it, again going for the book look, and having a few pages allows plenty of room for everyone to sign the card too.

I'm trying to show you a good shot of the flames.  this pictures showing how shiny they are as the crystal effects reflects the light.

To make the flames I used an Aqua Painter to paint a basic flame shape with gold shimmer powder on to a silicone mat.
Then I added a blob of Crystal Effects in a very basic crescent shape. Then I dipped a tooth pick into some Crystal Effects that I had added some Pumpkin Pie ink refill (to make it orange) and dragged the crescent blob of Crystal Effects into the shape of a flame, the more I dipped the tooth pick into the orange Crystal Effects, the deeper the colour of the flames become. I left them over night to dry, then peeled them of the silicone mat and arranged them on the card before sticking down with a two way glue pen. 

This is my mocking jay made of fondant icing that I coloured yellow and a little bit of orange.

This is with one coat of edible Antique Gold paint...

Two coats...

& Three coats.

I made a chocolate mud cake and covered it with dark chocolate ganache. I've never made ganache before and think next time I would prepare it earlier to allow it to set better.

I was really starting to run out of time at this point, but had managed to make flames for the cake too. I just cut the flame shapes out of fondant icing that I had added yellow & orange colour to, stuck them together, then painted a little bit of maple syrup on the top then sprinkled with red sugar.

Slapped the mocking jay on top and it was done (you can even see where my fingers hit the ganache  as I tried to carefully place the mocking jay into the centre of the cake).

 The Hunger Games Cake,  just in time for catching fire.

The gold looks different in different light.

Lemon Meringue Pie: November 2014
Wonder what will happen this year....

Under the Sea -sponging

I recently participated in a small group swap, relating to the new catalogue & products.

I don't have a lot of really new stuff yet (only things I have borrowed from my friend. Thanks Shari).

So I seen some under water pictures & thought I'd try it out with Stampin' Up's stamp set "By the Tide".

Stamp sets: By the Tide & Sassy Salutations.

I prepared my Whisper White card stock with an embossing buddy.

Ink up the coral stamp from "By the tide", in Versa Mark.

Then add Calypso Coral ink.

Stamp onto card stock.

Clean the stamp & repeat first with Versa Mark then with summer starfruit ink.
Remember to make sure your stamps are clean before using them on your Versa Mark ink pad.

I used the top & tail of the lobster stamp at the bottom in Gumball Green, with the intention of resembling  grass & sea weed.

I used the speckled stamp from "Gorgeous Grunge" in Versa Mark, to add bubbles to the scene.

Sprinkle with clear embossing powder.

Use the heat tool to set.

Stamp the sea horse from "By the Tide" in the Versa Mark to colour process, using Daffodil Delight & Strawberry Slush.

Stamp the fish in Versa Mark, & Island Indigo.

Add more embossing powder.

Heat to set.

This is just to show you the stamps & colours I used.
Gumball Green, Island Indigo, Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Summer Starfruit, Calypso Coral & Versa Mark.

 I used a mask to create the surface of the water & Horizon of the sky, by tearing a piece of paper in half.
If you use the top piece for the water & the bottom for the sky they should almost match up.
Ink colours for the water: Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise & Pacific Point.

I started with Pool Party ink, sponging down in a sweeping motion to avoid messing up the torn paper mask.
You can work your way into the centre using a circular motion.
The clear embossed stamps will resist the ink.

Next colour, Tempting Turquoise. Again use a down ward sweep when sponging over the mask. Try to concentrate this colour under & around the Pool Party, as the water deepens( you can use a circular motion when your not sponging over the mask). Remember to tap off the excess ink before applying to the card stock to avoid the grainy look of the ink. This helps to keep the sponged ink looking soft & smooth.

Pacific Point is the deepest of the blues, so it help the water to become deeper too.
Sponge around the bottom & the edges in a circular motion.

You can always go back & add more of the lighter blues to help them blend together.

Use the other half of the torn paper mask to place at the water surface & sponge the sky in Marina Mist ink. 

This time sweep the sponge up to avoid messing up the torn paper mask.

Try to concentrate most of the colour at the top & around the edges. Think of the real sky, it's always a deeper blue high & above, but much lighter on the horizon.
I stamped my sentiment here, but forgot to take a photo....Oops..

Mount onto Pacific Point & Baked Brown Sugar card stock.

I attempted to bleach the fish (with bleach in my aqua painter) so that I could add another colour. But I think the bleach in my aqua paint was running out, & I had none left.

Same with the sea horses. Although you might be able to see the blue is lighter in the sea horses.

Stamp the words from "By the Tide" in Baked Brown Sugar ink onto Baked Brown Sugar card stock.
It helps if the Brown Sugar card stock is wider than the card stock of the water scene.

Tear the bottom corners off to create the rocks at the bottom of the water/card.
I liked mine to over lap a little bit, once on the card.

Mist with water to help soften card stock.

Crumple card stock by screwing it up until your happy with it.

Sponge a little Baked Brown Sugar ink onto the cs rocks.

Glue the cs rocks onto the card.

Rock & Roll the shell.
First ink up the shell in Crisp Cantaloupe ink, then roll edges of the stamp onto the calypso carol ink pad.

Rock & Roll Shells.
I'm not sure if you can see properly in the photo, but the shell is darker on the outside.

Fussy cut the shell.

Spritz with some shimmer. I used White Frost. Let it dry.

Glue the shell onto the card. I liked the idea that it looks like the bubbles are coming from the shell.
Oh...I also added a pearl to the shell later, but forgot to take a photo of that too... Sorry.