Timely Thanks

Hi everyone.  I struggle making one layer cards, but had a LOT of fun making this one ... and it even has a couple of mixed media techniques and products. :)

I started with a very fun and loose background using Brushos (dark brown, turquoise) sprinkled onto a brick embossing folder.  I sprayed with water and then pressed my card stock over top.  I love how the colours of Brushos flow.  I used my heat tool to dry, and then sponged over top with the clock stencil from Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo ink.  I stamped the sentiment in black so it would stand out over the dark brown stenciling.

This is a very easy card to make using just a few simple techniques.  And it's a great card I can use for one of the men in my life (I have several!). :)  Actually Jer saw this already and claimed it for himself. :)

I'm enter this into the CAS on Sunday Challenge #79 and AAA Cards Challenge #61, they are both looking for cards with Stenciling.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Thinking of You (Happy Little Stampers)

Paper:  White (Neenah)

Ink:  Brusho Colour Crystals (Dark Brown, Turquoise); Vintage Photo distress ink (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)

Accessories & Tools:  Brick embossing folder (Tim Holtz), water mister, Clockwork Stencil (Tim Holtz), sponge

Challenges:
CAS on Sunday #79 - Stenciling
AAA Cards #61 - Stenciling

You Inspire Me

Hi everyone.  Last card from my play date with some crafty friends a few weeks ago. I had to wait to post this one until it was received in the mail by my very good friend Nancy.  She is someone who inspires me all the time.  I knew that she would love this artsy and fun technique card. :)

This is another technique showed to us by Christine.  Not only did she demonstrate how to slowly add drops of alcohol inks and blending solution to Yupo paper and let them magically flow together (like the card above), but she also shared how to make landscapes using Yupo and AI's.  Didn't get a chance to try that, but Christine gave me a few pieces of Yupo so I could try it later.  Thank you Christine!

For the panel above, the colours were amazing and I thought they looked like an abstract painting.  I didn't want to cover them up at all, so simply added a white frame with a small stamped sentiment.  :)

The silver sentiment is a bit hard to read in the photo, but it plays off the silver fixative that was added to the AI panel.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!  :)

Edited to add:  Yupo is a synthetic paper that has almost a plastic feel to it. Very slick and lightweight.  The alcohol inks really spread well on this paper, but you can use it for a variety of mixed media products.  You can find Yupo on Amazon and also at Dick Blick.  I'm sure there are other places it is sold.  A friend also mentioend Tyvek paper .. so I think it's similar to that.  Hope that helps. :)

Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew - sentiment)
Paper:  White card base and frame (Neenah); Yuppo paper (plastic finish)
Ink:  Alcohol Inks:  Turquoise, Botanical, Silver Fixative, Blending Solution (Ranger); Delicata Silver (Tsukineko)
Accessories & Tools:  Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

You are in my Thoughts

Hi everyone.  Yesterday my dear sweet blogging friend, Karen of Serendipity Dragonfly, passed away.  We met about four years ago when we both joined the design team for the newly formed Addicted to CAS challenge.  Even after Karen left the team a few years ago, we always stayed in touch.

Karen was a very generous, caring, loving individual who always had something positive to say.  Even during her illness, her emails were always upbeat.  The news of her passing was a shock to me.

I made this card to send to her family.  Grief is such a personal experience and so I rarely post sympathy cards that I've made.  But since I knew Karen through on-line card making and know that several of you are also feeling the loss, I thought I'd share my card.

My heart goes out to her husband and family, including her dear sister, Val.  My deepest sympathy to all who knew and loved Karen.

You are in my thoughts, dear my friend.  xx

Stamps:  Full Bloom (Penny Black); Thinking of You (Happy Little Stampers)
Paper:  White card base (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 400 series)
Ink:  Stampin'write markers:  Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Wisteria Wonder, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories & Tools:  water mister

Watercolour Splash Daisies

Hi everyone.  Quick post today.  I wasn't planning on being in the studio today.  I had scheduled a day of cleaning the house -- boring! :)  But when I saw THIS BEAUTIFUL CARD from OH Babs, I had to pull out my same daisy stamp.  Thanks for the inspiration Babs! :)

I used a Splash Watercolour background (done in antique linen and brushed corduroy distress inks) ... this time using mixed media paper.  Click HERE to see my video tutorial on this easy and fun watercolour background technique. :)  It worked great with the mixed media paper, just need to use a LOT less water then when using watercolour paper. :)

Then I used watercolour spritz technique to stamp my daisies.  I inked up the daisy stamp with my distress inks, lightly sprayed with water and then stamped over top of my dried, splash watercolour background.  Stamped the sentiment and voila, card was done.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Stamps: Upsy Daisy (SU!); Heartfeld (Penny Black)
Paper:  White card base (110 lb. Neenah Solar White); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 400 series)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry, Vintage Photo (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  water mister

Sparkle Christmas

Hi everyone.  Today's card is for the latest Merry Monday Challenge #196 - Black, White, Gray/Silver.  Awesome colour combination ... I just had to play along. :)

I used a NBUS stencil from STAMPlorations for the dotty Christmas tree.  This stencil makes a very cool, modern Christmas card.  First I sponged with Delicata Silver ink.  Love this ink --- so pretty.  Once dry, I placed the stencil back over top of the silver and spread with Glass Bead Gel.  It dried and created the most sparkly design. LOVE IT! :)

Here's a close up.  Hopefully you can see a bit of sparkle with the glass bead gel ... so much prettier in real life.

A simple black sentiment banner with silver embossing was added at the bottom. Easy and quick card (except for the time to dry the glass bead gel). :)

This colour combo makes beautiful and elegant cards.  Come join in ... the challenge is open until Sunday morning.

Thanks for dropping by!

Stamps:  Christmas Greetings (SU!)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Black (SU!)
Ink:  Delicata Silver (Tsukineko); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Christmas Tree Stencil (ARTplorations from STAMPlorations), sponge, Glass Bead Gel (Golden), palette knife, silver embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool

Challenges:
Merry Monday #196

More Copper with Alcohol Inks

Hi everyone.  Hope you aren't sick of seeing my copper cards. :)  This is another one that I started last Saturday when friends were over crafting.  We added alcohol inks to our copper metal die-cuts and then blotted up with a bit of paper towel.  It is even prettier and shinier in real life. :)

LOVE this large maple.  I made it as a sample to show the girls, but then didn't end up making any more as I used one of those wafer thin dies to cut the copper and it was a PITA to get it cut out. :)  But I made darn sure that I used it after spending lots of time fiddling with it.  Love the vein embossing and how it took the alcohol inks (I used just yellow and red).

I also like it over top of a wood embossed background.  And happy with how it looks with the black sentiment border embossed in white.  Easy card to put together since the maple leaf was already done. :)

Since it' a CAS card and it has some Yellow --- the optional element for STAMPlorations March CAS Challenge, I'm heading over to enter there.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Bloom Sketches (STAMPlorations)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Black (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark;  Alcohol Inks:  Poppyfield, Honeycomb (Ranger)
Accessories & Tools:  Copper Metal sheet .005 thickness (K&S Precision Metals), Large Leaves #2 Die (Cheery Lynn), Woodgrain embossing folder (Sizzix), white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
STAMPlorations March CAS Challenge - Yellow

Splash Watercolour Background Tutorial

I'm here with two cards I've made with the Splash Watercolour Background technique and a video tutorial on how I do this technique. :)  This is a very easy and quick way to make watercoloured backgrounds.  I love the randomness of this splattered look with lots of visual texture.  Make sure to use watercolour paper for this technique.

After finishing the background, I die-cut the fern leaf, brushed on lots of water and then randomly dropped in different shades of green ink.  Once the fern was dry, I diluted a small amount of gold acrylic paint with water and splattered over top.

This is also a reminder that we are half way through the month for the CAS Mix Up March Challenge - Watercolouring.  There's still over a week left to play, the challenge closes on March 24th.  Come join the fun! :)

The video on Splash Watercolour Backgrounds is below, or you can watch it on YouTube by clicking HERE.  It's very short (2:25) and I show lots of examples of cards I made using this background technique.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch the video and I'd appreciate a "thumbs up" if you find it helpful. :)  Thank you!

For my second card, I have used the same Splash Watercolour Background, this time using three colours of ink (Antique Linen / Brushed Corduroy / Peeled Paint).  I stamped my image first in archival black ink (waterproof), then added the background layers.  I blotted the blooms with paper towel after each layer of splashing so it was very light then I watercoloured over top with my pinks and yellows.  To finish I added splatters on top with diluted ink and a large brush.

Fern Hello
Stamps:  Where the Heart is (Simon Says)
Paper:  White cardbase (Neenah); Watercolour Paper (Arches 140 lb. cold press)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz); Re-inkers:  Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Garden Green (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Pair of Ferns die (Cheery Lynn), water mister, waterbrush, gold paint (Lumiere)

Thinking of You Daisies
Stamps:  Daisy Thanks (Stampendous); Thinking of You (Happy Little Stampers)
Paper:  Watercolour Paper (Arches 140 lb. cold press)
Ink:  Black Archival (Ranger); Distress Inks:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Water mister, waterbrush, Corner rounder (We R Memory Keepers)

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up March Challenge - Watercolouring

More Fun from Saturday

Hi everyone.  Sharing another card I made after my fun day of playing with some crafty friends a couple of days ago.  Shirl brought some Aged Copper Frantage.  So cool!!  I sprinkled some over versamark stamped spots and heated.  There's bits of green in the embossed background, but hard to see in the photo.  Very subtle, but really beautiful.  I didn't want to cover it up, so I added a small die-cut to one side and then a strip at the bottom, which has a copper embossed sentiment (plain copper embossing powder was used).  Thanks so much for bringing this Shirl! xx

Another masculine card for my stash, although I have the feeling Jer might claim this for himself. :)

I used a couple of snippets (one for the leaf sprig, and another for the sentiment) of some lovely striped (subtle) black card stock I got from my friend Christine.  I'm heading over for some fun at the Playground.

Stamps:  Fun Birthday Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers); Gorgeous Grunge (SU!)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Black (gift from Christine)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Meadow Leaf die (Memory Box), Aged Copper Frantage (Stampendous), Copper embossing powder (unknown), heat tool

Challenges:
Snippets Playground - Week 220

Fun in the Studio

Hi everyone.  Yesterday was a fun day in the studio as three crafting friends come over for a day of experimenting with products and techniques.  Susan and Christine have been over several times before, and yesterday we were joined for the first time by Shirl.  We had a wonderful day of crafting fun and friendship.

We don't make cards, instead we share products that we've bought and what we've learned using them.  And then we all have a try at it ... some work, some don't. :)  We each end up with lots of backgrounds or embellishments to make into cards later.

Yesterday, we made some copper embellishments using two different techniques. We heated some copper metal die-cuts (will be made into cards later), and also added alcohol inks to plain (unheated) copper.  Above is a maple leaf from plain copper, embossed with a script font with three colours of alcohol inks poured over top and blotted with paper towel.  Thanks to Christine for bringing the embossing folder and alcohol inks.  Love these colours (shell pink, eggplant, and terracotta) together on the copper.  A heat tool dried and set the inks.  I used a dotty stamp from SU! and copper embossing powder to create the background and stamp my sentiment.  This is headed to a dear friend that is retiring at the end of March. :)

We played with a few other things yesterday.  We did some watercolouring with pastels that Christine brought; I heat embossed some aged copper Frantage from Shirl (to be made into a card later); shared the ghosting technique; tried the rubber cement resist technique and discovered masking fluid was easier to use for this; and we all made some Splash Watercolour Backgrounds using a technique I'll be sharing in a video in the next couple of days.  :)  All-in-all a productive and fun day!

Thanks for coming by for a visit!

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge and Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)
Paper:  White (Neenah)
Ink:  Alcohol inks by Ranger (shell pink, eggplant, terracotta); versamark
Accessories & Tools:  copper sheet (.005 thickeness metal copper sheets from K&S Precision Metals), Nested Maple Leaf die (Spellbinders), Script embossing folder, heat tool

Poinsettia x 3

(Coloured with Distress Markers)

Hi everyone.  I got this beautiful poinsettia stamp just before Christmas.  I had to have it after seeing these beautiful cards done by my friend Toni (Frankie Helps Craft).

I wanted to experiment with different markers on Mixed Media paper.  Mixed Media takes water, but you use less than painting on watercolour paper.  And it absorbs the colour slower, so you have more time to move it around.

All three have the image heat embossed in silver, and I only used a waterbrush with my markers to colour the images.  So relaxing and fun to do.

I'm happy with how they all turned out and I would recommend using all three different markers (distress, zig, stampin'write) with Mixed media paper.  They each have a little different look.  The photo above shows the image using distress markers.

The second card (below) uses Zig Clean Color Brush markers.  They work wonderfully with mixed media paper and the colours are vibrant.  The only negative is the red colour that comes in the set of 48 markers.  The red turns pink when is diluted with water... it has nothing to do with the mixed media paper, just the markers themselves.  I wish their red marker was red.  :)  Of course, I could have mixed in some brown to try to get a red, but I just wanted to simplify my colouring this time.  And I can always buy a different shade of red, but wanted to use just from my set of 48 I purchased.

(Coloured with Zig Clean Color Brush Markers)

The last card is done with stampin' write markers.  They also worked really well on the mixed media paper.

(Coloured with stampin' write markers)

If you have a chance, try out some Mixed Media paper.  It's fun to work with and is great for watercolouring and watercolouring techniques (remember to use less water).  Just something different, and it's price point is in-between regular card stock and watercolour paper.

This is my first time inking up this beautiful stamp, so I'm entering Darnell's NBUS Challenge #6.  I have LOTS more NBUS items in my studio, so hope to make a few more cards before the end of the challenge on Mar. 10th.  Thanks for this wonderful challenge Dolly (aka Darnell) ... it really helps me to show some love to my neglected purchases.  :)

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Create a Poinsettia (Stampendous)
Paper: Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 Series)
Ink: Distress Markers (Ranger); Zig Clean Color Brush Markers (Kuretake); Stampin' Write Markers (Stampin' Up!); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Silver embossing powder (Ranger); Heat tool; Waterbrush; Glossy accents for holly berries; clear glitter glue for mistletoe berries

Challenges:
NBUS #6

Spring Showers

 

Hi everyone.  I've had a lot of time to play in the studio this week.  I hope you're not getting tired of seeing my posts! :)

I have made a few cards lately with acetate smooshing. LOVE this technique that I saw in a video by Laura Bassen.  It's basically smooshing with a bit of control.  And I do love to be in control.  :)

I decided to see if I could acetate smoosh with inka gold ... and I could! :)  I'm happy with how this turned out.  This is done on mixed media paper, which I think looks the best, but it also works on regular card stock.

I have had this umbrella die for YEARS ... and I'm pretty sure it's the first time it's made it onto a card.  So I'm heading over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #6.   And since there's a spring-themed challenge at Time Out, I'm heading there as well.  Plus I used a snippet of smooshed background and silver card stock for the umbrella, so going to play at the Snippets Playground.

This is another example of a CAS Mix Up card that fits the March challenge - Watercolouring.  I used stamping, Inka Gold acetate smooshing and Inka Gold smooshing (umbrella); plus heat embossing (sentiment).  A lot going on in this little card that is very CAS. :)   Hope you'll join us!  :)

Stamps:  Fond Expressions2 (STAMPlorations)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 Series)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Inka gold wax paste (Violet and Turquoise), acetate sheet, water mister, palette knife, Petite Umbrella die (Memory Box), silver embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool

Challenges:
NBUS #6
Time Out #51 - Spring
Snippets Playground - Week 218
CAS Mix Up March Challenge - Watercolouring

STAMPlorations CAS Challenge Guest Designer

Hi everyone.  Today I'm honoured to be the Guest Desiger for STAMPlorations March CAS Challenge - YAY! :)

Here's is the challenge.

I love how sunny, fresh and spring-like this card is with this bright yellow sprayed background.  I used my watercolour sprays to create it, just adding the one shade of yellow.  Quick and easy and it adds a lot of visual texture. :)

I stamped the bloom and leaves onto mixed media paper, coloured with my Zig Clean Color Real Brushes, moving the colour around and blending with a waterbrush. Again, another easy technique!  I fussy cut the flower and leaves, and then popped them up over my torn vellum sentiment banner.

I hope you'll come check out the STAMPloration's March CAS Challenge and see all the beautiful cards made by the Design Team.  And I hope you'll play along.

And since I used STAMPlorations stamps, I'm linking up to the Never Ending "Anything Goes" challenge at STAMPlorations.

-----

Also, this card is another example of CAS Mix Up.  A CAS design with mixed media products or techniques and fits the March challenge of Watercolouring.  I have stamping, watercolouring (watercolour spray background + watercoloured flower with zigs) and "my choice" is vellum, heat embossing and fussy-cutting.

Edited to add:  Thanks to my wonderful friend Sandie's suggestion, I'm heading over to link up my Spring card at Time Out Challenges.  They are celebrating their two years --- congrats to them!  Their theme this time is Easter and/or Spring with the twist of masking. :)

Thanks for coming by for a visit!

Stamps:  Blooming Buds (dee's artsy impressions); Fond Expressions 2 (STAMPlorations)
Paper:  White card base and front (Neenah); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore); vellum
Ink:  Black (Memento), Zig Clean Color Real Brushes (Lemon Yellow, Orange, Light Green, May Green)
Accessories & Tools:  Yellow watercolour spray made from Liquid Concentrate (Dick Blick), waterbrush, clear embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
STAMPlorations March CAS Challenge - Anything Goes - optional twist: Yellow
CAS Mix Up March Challenge - Watercolouring
STAMPlorations Anything Goes
Time Out #51 - Spring

CAS Mix Up March Challenge

Hi everyone.  Today is so exciting!  Bonnie and I are launching our very first challenge at CAS Mix Up.  We hope you'll come check out the challenge and play along.

CAS Mix Up is all about CAS (clean and simple) design combined with mixed media techniques and products.  I do love techniques!! :)

The challenge has three parts to it.  For March, each entry must have stamping, watercolouring, plus a third item which is your choice (technique or product). There's a suggestions list over on the challenge blog to help you decide on a third item. Check out the right hand sidebar for the list and the rules for the challenge.

For today's card, I started with the soft, watercoloured background using the acetate smooshing technique.  I used subtle colours so that they didn't compete with my flowery branch, instead just providing a bit of interest for the background.  You can use watercolour paper for this technique, but for today's card I have smooshed onto regular white card stock.

I die-cut a long, leafy branch (which I split into two branches) from soft green card stock and then sponged green around the edges of the leaves to give them dimension.  Several blooms were punched from soft pink card stock, and then sponged around the edges with a darker pink.  For even more added dimension, I used my stylus and mat to shape the leaves and the flowers.  I pinched a few of the blooms to create "buds" and left some open, adding more interest.  The flower branches were arranged over the background so that the ends tucked underneath the sentiment banner.  Lots of fun to make.

My card has stamping (sentiment), watercolouring (background) and my third choice was die-cuts.  See, it's easy to play along. :)

I'm also excited to announce that my good friend Susan (Cardmaker's Garret) is our Featured Designer this month.  Welcome Susan!!  I hope you'll find some time to visit her blog and leave some love.

And please drop over to Bonnie's blog (Stamping with Klass) as well to see her beautiful CAS Mix Up card.

I hope you'll come play along with our challenge.  The link is open until March 24th so there's lots of time to enter.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  A Little Sentimental (Clearly Besotted)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink (SU!)
Ink:  Distress inks:  Tumbled Glass, Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz); Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Pear Pizzazz (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  piece of acetate, water mister, Lavish Branch die (Memory Box), Hydrangea Punch (Martha Stewart), sponges, stylus and mat

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up March Challenge - Watercolouring