Hi everyone. Today sharing a card that is not the norm for me. I don't usually use soft colours like these, but I'm really happy how it turned out. I started with the die-cut sentiment. Cut it several times and stacked them with glue. The top layer has a soft wash of Cracked Pistachio on top. I rarely use this colour ... not sure why ... it's really beautiful!
I thought the shape of this beautiful orchid was perfect for snuggling up to the sentiment. It's heat embossed in silver and watercoloured using distress inks. I kept the leaves and stems in the same cracked pistachio, so wanted something soft to go with it. Here's where I ended up making my own colour. I started with a first layer of Victorian Velvet, but it seemed dull against the green, so I layered Worn Lipstick on top, which added a bit of brightness. Squeezed Lemonade was used for the center of the flowers, which also added brightness.
Here's a close-up ...
This card was made for the fun of creating with no challenges in mind. I've had both the die and the stamp for a while and it's my first time using them. :)
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Stamps: Happy Together (Penny Black) Paper: White card stock card base and die-cuts (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media card front (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series) Ink: Versamark; Distress Inks: Cracked Pistachio, Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick, Squeezed Lemonade (Tim Holtz) Accessories & Tools: So Many Thanks die (Penny Black), silver embossing powder, heat tool, water brush
Hi everyone. Who knew there were burgundy Calla Lilies??!! I googled and there they were. :) I wanted to play along with STAMPlorations January CAS Challenge with an option of using Burgundy. It was a challenge for me because I don't have any burgundy ink.
I used these pretty Calla Lilies that I already had in my UFO box. They were watercoloured yellow and I didn't end up using them several months ago, so pulled them out and went over the yellow with Aged Mahogany and then a layer of Wilted Violet. In the end, I think it's a pretty good shade of burgundy.
Simple CAS card with fussy-cut flowers, stamped sentiment and a little sponging to ground the flowers.
Hi everyone. Just sharing a quick only layer card that I made in about 5 minutes. No kidding! Used painter's tape to adhere my card to my mat, placed a large bloom stencil over top, with two of the sides hanging over the card and secured it with more painter's tape. Then sponged with two shades of distress inks, blending more colour to create a dark center.
This is a great way to use only a portion of a large stencil to create a CAS design with lots of white space. A simple black stamped sentiment finishes this one layer card.
I'm adding my card CAS Stencil gallery. The challenge is still open for a couple of days. Come play along! :)
Stamps: Happy Messages (Stampendous) Paper: White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.) Ink: Distress Inks: Abandoned Coral, Barn Door (Tim Holtz) Accessories & Tools: Bloom stencil (Mayco), Sponges
Hi everyone. Back with a reminder for the CAS Stencil January Challenge. Make sure to check out the challenge blog to see the beautiful reminder cards from our talented Designers.
I started by sponging over a honeycomb stencil onto regular card stock. This is from my stash, so not sure the colours I used for sponging, but most likely Distress Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed. I only wanted the center to be sponged and so faded out as I got towards the edges.
I used a NBUS stamp set that I bought from AliExpress. I stamped the image in Versafine Black (Permanent ink) onto a scrap piece of mixed media paper. I set the colour with my heat tool and fussy-cut the image. The image is watercoloured with zigs and popped up over the sponged card front. I stamped the sentiment from the same set.
Here's a close-up ...
Here's a photo of the inside of the card. I used more stamps from the same set. The honey jar was stamped on a piece of scrap mixed media, fussy-cut and glued to the inside of the card.
I hope you'll come join us for the very first CAS Stencil Challenge. If you haven't played along yet, there's still lots of time. Challenge closes January 24th at midnight PDST.
Stamps: Get Well Soon (AliExpress) Paper: Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White (Neenah 110 lb.) Ink: Versamark Black; Zigs; Distress Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed (Tim Holtz) Accessories & Tools: Honeycomb stencil (cut with my Silhouette Cameo), sponge, water brush, heat tool
I had a piece of silver heat embossed rubber band design in my stash. Smooshed it with blue magicals and die-cut from a NBUS die that I bought from AliExpress. I also die-cut a second "JOY" from silver foil card stock, along with small layering poinsettias. Glued the two "JOY" die-cuts together with the silver foil in the background, off-setting it slightly from the top layer of blue. I popped it up on foam and added a layered poinsettia. Three small glitter balls were added to the center of the poinsettia to finish. QACAS (quick and clean and simple) card that was fun and easy to make.
Here's a close-up ...
... and an even closer look ...
I hope you'll check out the challenge blog to see the reminder cards from our Guest Designer, Kaj (Kajcyika Crafts), and our wonderful Designers. Then come play along. There's still a week left before the challenge closes on January 24th at midnight (PST).
Paper: Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); Silver Foil card stock (SU!); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.) Ink: Versamark, Lindy's Magicals Accessories & Tools: silver embossing powder, rubber bands, brayer, heat tool, water mister, JOY die (AliExpress), Poinsettia Parade die (Simon Says Stamp), mini silver glitter balls
Hi everyone. Sharing watercoloured card today of a NBUS (never before used schtuff ... as Dolly would say) stamp. This is from Serendipity. Very simple card with the stamped image watercoloured with distress inks and fussy cut. Created a peek-a-boo window card with a sky background and popped the image over top. I added wink of stella to the snow for a bit of sparkle but it doesn't show in the photo.
I hope you'll have time to check out the reminder post on the challenge blog to see new, inspiring cards from our Designers and Guest Designer, Janet. Then come play along!
Stamps: Cardinals (Serendipity Stamps) Paper: Mixed media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White card base (Neenah 110 lb. card stock) Ink: Distress Inks: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Broken China (Tim Holtz); Real Red (SU!) Accessories & Tools: Water brush, Clear Wink of Stella
Hi everyone. Today is the reminder post for CAS Mix Up January Challenge - Bokeh.Nancy is hosting this challenge as her final month at CAS Mix Up! We will miss you Nancy!
I love the look of this wonderful photographic technique. For my card above, I started with a very small strip of leftover yupo with alcohol inks that I had in my stash. It was JUST wide enough to fill the background for the square peek-a-boo window. I knew I wanted a black silhouette die-cut to place on top, so looked through my dies and found this darling cupid that I received as a gift from a very sweet friend. Thank you BozenA! This goes with the bokeh background perfectly and so does this sentiment that I tend to use a lot (love it too!).
To remove colour from the alcohol ink background to create the bokeh design, I started with my alcohol lift pad. I've had it for a while, but not used and it was already dry. Apparently that happens so you need to order re-inker for it (which I had). I added the reinker, but it was still going slowly. I folded up a paper towel and placed it in a small container and poured in blending solution. Picked up some of the solution with a finger dauber, dabbed off any excess and then sponged through a circle stencil. It worked great!! I will probably use this more than having to buy alcohol ink lift re-inker all the time. That's just my experience ... you need to decide for yourself..
Here's a close-up of the card ...
Sweet! Right??!!
Please check out the reminder post on CAS Mix Up challenge blog to see the reminder cards from the rest of our Designers, along with our wonderful Guest Designer, Viv.
Then come play along. Hope to see you in the gallery!
Stamps: Many Everyday Sentiments (Hero Arts) Paper: Yupo; White card base (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Black (SU!) Ink: Alcohol inks Accessories & Tools: Blending solution, finger dauber, Circle Stencil (AliExpress), Stitched Window die (AliExpress); Cupid die (gift from a friend - unknown)
Hi everyone. Today I'm sharing two cards using gilding flakes on Penny Black's Berry Bramble and First Waltz images.
I have some heat and stick powder from SU! for years and never used it. I saw a video about using it with gilding flakes and wanted to give it a try. Got together with my friends Susan, Christine and Trina and we all played with the heat and stick powder. It worked great!! It's one of the best products for gilding flakes that I've used. The card above is the Berry Bramble image, which is a very versatile image that may be used for many occasions. I think this is very elegant and beautiful. The gilding flakes do all the work! :) They look best on black, although you can use other colours.
Here's a close-up ...
I finished the card by adding a birthday sentiment heat embossed with gold tinsel embossing powder. I love the sparkle of this powder, but it doesn't photograph well.
I did a second card using the First Waltz image. Again, I'm so happy how this turned out ...
This time I used gilding flakes called Red Speckle and it's mostly silver. I used silver tinsel embossing powder for the sentiment. Next time I will stick with plain gold and silver embossing for my cards. :)
Hi everyone. Welcome to the start of the 2019 Twofer Challenges. I'm sure you can guess what the prompt is for this month ...
Please create two cards using the prompt in the badge above,
and following the rules in the badge below.
I used this fun stamp set from Jane's Doodles to create my two cards. I used a piece of left over sponged leaves for my backdrop, stamped one of the birds in Versafine black ink, watercoloured using zigs and fussy-cut to pop up on top. I used a sentiment from the same stamp set for a fun and colourful birthday card.
Here's the close-up ...
For my second card, I took four of the fun bird images and stamped them in a soft brown to create my background. The same bird as card #1 was stamped again in Versafine black ink, watercoloured with zigs in rainbow colours, fussy-cut and popped up on top of the background. I added a small mask and a little bit of sponging to ground the image. And used one of the sentiment stamps from the same set to create a friendship card "You are the Best!"
Here's a close-up ...
Come check out the challenge post to see the awesome bird cards from our Designers and Guest Designers, Izzy (Izzy Scrap), and Sonja (Visiting Oldpunks). Then play along. The challenge is open for two weeks, closing end of day on January 24th.
Stamps: Free as a Bird (Jane Doodles) Paper: Mixed media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.) Ink: Versafine Black (Tsukineko); Sahara Sand (SU!), Distress Inks: Mowed Lawn, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers (Tim Holtz); Zig markers Accessories & Tools: water brush, leaf stencil (Carabelle Studios), sponges, masking tape
I started with a paper towel background from my stash ... bright blue and a little purple. I stamped the image in black and clear heat embossed. The design is intricate, so using the black ink gives me all the details. Heat embossing in clear sets the design. If I used Versamark and black embossing powder, I would loose some of the detail.
I painted the image with metallic acrylic paints (green, light blue). I used a water brush to dilute the paint as it was being added. I stamped the image on my card front as well as on a second piece of mixed media paper. Both were painted with the acrylics and then I used a damp paper towel to lightly swipe over top to enhance the black heat embossed lines. The separate dragonfly was fussy-cut ... just the top wings and body. I then added crystal glaze to the body and let it dry before adhering on top of my card front dragonfly. :) Hope that makes sense. You'll see in the close-up below, the two sets of wings which add a lot of dimension to this otherwise one layer card.
I finished by stamping the dream sentiment in black and heat embossing in clear so that it matches the dragonfly image.
Here's a close-up of the shimmer from the pearlescent paints ...
Stamps: Libellule Origami (Carabelle Studio); Dream (AliExpress) Paper: Bristol (Strathmore 2-ply 400 Series) Ink: Black (Memento); Pumice Stone Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) Accessories & Tools: clear embossing powder, heat tool; Pearl Emerald Green and Pearl Turquoise acrylic paints (Lumiere), water brush, Crystal Glaze (Nuvo)
Hi everyone. Welcome to the very first CAS Stencil Challenge. This is a CAS (clean and simple) card only challenge using stencils. Please follow the challenge theme for using either a technique or product with your stenciling.
We're staring off with an easy challenge. Most of you that have used stencils, have done so with sponging. Create a CAS card with sponge stenciling and come join us in the gallery!
I have a short video on this technique for those that are interested. Click below or check out the video on YouTube HERE.
If you found the video helpful, please give me a thumbs up on YouTube!
Thank you!
Starting off with the card at the top of this post, this is the one I made during the filming of the video. I love this pretty large flower stencil and have used it many times. I finished the card by stamping a sentiment and heat embossing in gold. In hindsight I wish I had used a larger font so it stood out more. :) I finished by adding an antique frame die, sponged on the edge with twisted citron ink.
I made three more cards using the sponging technique from the video, which I will detail below.
A modern, masculine card ...
On the card above, I simply sponged one colour of distress ink (pumice stone) over a leaf stencil. I added a card front with a peek-a-boo window, stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in copper, and added a die-cut leaf sprig which has been embossed with several layers of copper and frantage copper embossing. Love the texture from the frantage!
And a fun artsy card ...
On the card above, I sponged two colours of distress inks (spiced marmalade, picked raspberry) through the Happy Flowers stencil from STAMPlorations. I removed my stencil and using a fine tip black marker, outlined the images free-hand. You could also leave the stencil in place and trace around the images if you want. For the finishing touch, I splattered some diluted black acrylic paint. I didn't realize how much I had diluted it until I ended up with these HUGE splatters. :) In the end, I really like the look and think it suits the flowers. I used a black die-cut thank you to complete the design.
And, finally, the last card ...
Using the same leaf stencil as the masculine card above, I sponged with a mix of blue and green distress inks. Added a silhouette leaf die-cut and sentiment banner with white heat embossing.
I hope you'll join me and the wonderfully talented design team for our first challenge. We're excited to get going and hope you are excited and want to play along! Hope to see you in the gallery!
Card 1: Stamps: Sentiments (AliExpress) Paper: Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White card base and frame (Neenah 110 lb. card stock) Ink: Distress Inks: Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn (Tim Holtz); Versamark Accessories & Tools: Lovely Large Flower stencil (Studio 490 - Wendy Vecchi), sponges, Antique Frames die (Penny Black), Prismacolour pencils, gold embossing powder, heat tool
Card 2: Stamps: Many Everyday Sentiments (Hero Arts) Paper: White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock) Ink: Pumice Stone Distress Ink (Tim Holtz); Versamark Accessories & Tools: Leaf stencil (Carabelle Studio?), sponge, Meadow leaf die (Memory Box?), copper embossing powder (Ranger); Antique copper Frantage (Stampendous), Stitched Square die (gift from Bonnie)
Card 3: Paper: Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White card base and frame (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Black (SU!) Ink: Distress Inks: Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn (Tim Holtz) Accessories & Tools: Happy Flowers stencil (ARTplorations), sponges, fine tip black marker, diluted black acrylic paint for splattering, Thank You die (?)
Card 4: Stamps: Thoughtful Messages (Simon Says Stamp) Paper: White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Black (SU!) Ink: Distress Inks: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers (Tim Holtz); Versamark Accessories & Tools: Leaf stencil (Carabelle Studios), sponges, Little Leaf die (Sizzix), white embossing powder, heat tool
