watercolor with markers

I have a small class this week and this is one of the cards we will do. I can't remember who explained this technique, but it was one of those light bulb moments for me. I stamped the image on watercolor paper with stazon ink. Then I used my SU markers to highlight basically only the areas that are already shaded on the image. Then use an aqua painter to pull the color and spread it around on the image. Depending on how much ink you laid down originally, your image can be very light or very vivid. The rest of the card is pretty simple -- adding some sponging, ribbon and glitter.

Supplies (all SU)
stamps: morning soft, stem sayings
ink: jet black stazon, brilliant blue, old olive
paper: watercolor, whisper white, old olive, brilliant blue
other: sponge, aqua painter, horizontal slot punch, royal blue grosgrain ribbon, dazzling diamonds glitter, dimensional foam tape

Thank you for stopping by.

perhaps in the meadow

Another brisk day here, but mostly cloudy. But I'm not complaining, because it isn't hot. I don't like hot.

My card today was created for a challenge on the Our Creative Corner blog. The challenge is to use Basic Grey designer paper on a card and a randomly picked participant will get a $15 gift certificate from Jacksonbelle Embellishments. If you have ever checked out my gallery on SCS, you will see that I am basically a stampy stamper rather than a scrappy stamper. In more simple terms, I have an extremely difficult time (low level panic - yikes) using designer paper on my cards. I think I'm going to mess up my pretty paper, or pick a couple that don't match and ruin my card. I know it's unreasonable, but I have a fear of failure. So, needless to say, this wasn't an easy challenge for me, but I guess that's what makes it a challenge.

I chose 2 pieces of Basic Grey Perhaps paper from a 6" pad. Using In the Meadow stamp set by Lizzie Anne, I stamped on both pieces. I wanted a little bit brighter color than what was in the paper, so I colored the flowers with artichoke, rose red and burgundy markers, misted and stamped. I also stamped the dandelion in caramel randomly on both pieces. The edges of the dp are sponged in chocolate chip and the sentiment is stamped on vellum, because I really didn't want to cover the image with card stock. I trimmed the vellum with deckle scissors and then used some antique gold brads to hold the vellum in place. I stapled a small piece of twill on and attached this piece with dimensional foam tape.

I dug in my button jar for some brownish buttons, added some crochet cotton and attached them with glue dots. Although this card looks like it could be done in less than 30 minutes, it seriously took me well over TWO HOURS!

Supplies
stamps: in the meadow (Lizzie Anne)
ink: chocolate chip, creamy caramel, bravo burgundy, rose red, always artichoke, jet black stazon
paper: bravo burgundy, vellue, dp (Basic Grey Perhaps)
other: brads, buttons, twill, staple, sponge, large corner rounder, piercing tool, brown crochet cotton.

I'm so glad you stopped by today.

butterfly blues

Happy Saturday. Today is one of those gorgeous summer days where the temp. is about 75, a nice breeze, mostly sunny. It's so nice to have the windows open and feel the breeze.

Today I made a card using my favorite color - BLUE! This is actually a triple challenge card. I incorporated yesterday's limited supplies challenge and today's inspiration challenge on SCS, as well as a sketch challenge on the Innovative Stamp Creations blog.

Yesterday I went to a local art supply store and bought a bunch of prismacolor pencils to fill in the missing colors that match SU's color palette. So it seemed like a good idea to use them on my card today. I started by stamping the butterfly from the ISC friends set with black stazon ink on a piece of vanilla card stock and then coloring them with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. Then I sponged the edges with brilliant blue ink and mounted it on a black card base.

For the strip across the center of the card, I scored the vanilla piece every 1/2" on my scor-pal, sponged the edges and mounted it on black. Then I added some black brads on one end, and mounted this piece on the card.

For the main image, I used my cuttlebug with a butterfly die on a piece of cereal box chipboard. I painted this with broken china distress crackle paint. When it was dry, I sponged over it with brilliant blue ink, because the paint wasn't the right color of blue. I then edged it with silver Krylon leafing pen. The build-a-brad in the center uses an image from flair of summer (ISC). I punched a scalloped circle with a giga punch from Marvy Uchida and edged the scallops with the silver leafing pen. The circle and the butterfly are both attached to the card with dimensional foam tape.

Supplies:
stamps: friendship, flair of summer (Innovative Stamp Creations)
ink: brilliant blue, jet black stazon
paper: basic black, very vanilla
other: prismacolor pencils, gamsol, piercing tool, black brads, build-a-brad, crop-a-dile, cuttlebug, cb butterfly die, giga scalloped circle punch (Marvy Uchida), silver Krylon leafing pen, dimensional foam tape, scor-pal, sponge

I'm so glad you stopped by today. Enjoy your weekend.

birthday candle

A second post today. By the time I finished this card last night (or early this morning), it was well past midnight and I knew I wasn't up to posting it. This is a card I created for the Rubbernecker blogger challenge posted on Jeanne's blog each week. This is another sketch challenge. It was a long card, but I decided to smoosh it down into a normal A2 size.

I recently purchased some stamps from Rubbernecker and am slowly getting ink on them. The candle and the strip along the bottom are both part of those stamps from Rubbernecker.

I started by stamping the candle with adirondack pitch black ink on GP white card stock and coloring with copic markers. Since my selection of colors in the markers is somewhat limited, I chose my card stock colors to match the image after it was colored. I used my newest nestabilities dies, petite ovals/scalloped ovals in my cuttlebug to cut out the image piece. I sponged the edges with ballet blue and added some faux piercing. The turquoise grosgrain was just stapled on.

I chose pumpkin pie ink and card stock for the lower strip and made the scallops with a corner rounder with the guide removed. Some sponging with chocolate chip ink and more faux piercing accented this piece.

The sentiment is from say it in script by Lizzie Anne designs, stamped in the same black ink, although I think a greeting in chunkier letters would have been more appropriate to match the candle. I added some more faux piercing and attached the candle oval with dimensional foam tape.

supplies
stamps: candle, decorative strip (Rubbernecker), sentiment (Lizzie Anne)
ink: adirondack pitch black, ballet blue, copic markers
paper: Georgia Pacific white, ballet blue, tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie
other: cuttlebug, nestabilities petite ovals, staple, turquoise grosgrain ribbon, dimensional foam tape, sponge

I'm so glad you took the time to stop by. Have a great day.

Watercolor with ink refills

Happy hump day! I can't believe I'm posting so early in the morning. But last night I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Monday's technique challenge on splitcoast was to watercolor an image using ink refills (or re-inkers). I'd never done this before, so the results I got weren't the best by any means. I used my aqua painter and the amount of color you get is rather astounding -- very vivid. Because the colors I used were some darker ones, I think it was too much color and I didn't know at the time (although I do now - ha ha!) that you can remove some of the wet ink with a tissue or paper towel.

The image I used is called sunflower group from Local King Rubber Stamps. They have some wonderful images. If you haven't already, you might want to check them out.

I stamped the image using black stazon on watercolor paper. Then I used mustard and chocolate for the flower centers, olive and artichoke for the stems and leaves, and pale plum, perfect plum and eggplant for the flower petals. I like how it turned out, even though the colors are too dark.

I used my large corner rounder and then sponged the edges of the mustard and watercolor paper with eggplant ink. I decided to leave the one edge un-inked. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not. I added the brads and used my crop-a-dile to make holes for the ribbon. I just thought I'd do something a little different with it.

Since I'm very much a 'design as I go' sort of person, I still didn't have any sentiment on this. I was pretty sure what I wanted, but couldn't seem to find my paint prints set. I spent at least 15 minutes looking for it. I finally found it and then realized it was going to be a pretty tight fit, but decided to squeeze it in there anyway. Wouldn't it be great to have some of our favorite words and phrases in several sizes of the same font?

I attached the image panel using some dimensional foam tape.

supplies
stamps: sunflower group (Local King Rubber Stamps), paint prints (SU)
ink: jet black stazon, more mustard, chocolate chip, old olive, always artichoke, pale plum, perfect plum, elegant eggplant
paper: elegant eggplant, more mustard, watercolor
other: large corner rounder, aqua painter, piercing tool, mustard and black brads, crop-a-dile, eggplant grosgrain ribbon, sponge, dimensional foam tape

Thanks for stopping by.

Gina K cards

Hello. Since I promised to show you the cards that I did for the Gina K Designs release party on splitcoast, I guess I better follow through on that. I used the same stamp set for both cards -- peace & comfort. These challenges were both sketches.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I don't often use designer paper, but I used it on both cards. On one it was a requirement to use two different pieces of designer paper.

The images were colored with markers and then misted with water before stamping. I'm sorry, but I don't remembera all the supplies that I used, so I'm not going to give you a recipe. All stamps are Gina K Designs.














Thanks for stopping by.

Hi everyone. This weekend I was very productive in my stamp room. Friday evening, there were two release parties on the splitcoast members forums -- Hanna Stamps and Gina K Designs. They are always a lot of fun, with challenges, contests, prizes and chatting.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be on line for either because I had a Stampin' Up! workshop. But when I got home, I checked out the challenges and over the weekend, I was able to do them all.


Here are the cards I made for the Hanna Stamps challenges. Since I only have one stamp set from Hanna Stamps, I had to get creative. The first challenge was to use colors from my bedroom. OK, that's easy. My favorite color is blue and my house (my whole house) is decorated in blue. I used the hat box to make the flower and leaves.

stamps: but I need it (Hanna Stamps), Bloomin' Beautiful (SU)
ink: adirondack pitch black, ballet blue
paper: GP white, ballet blue, basic black
other: copic markers, 3/4" circle punch, flower punch (EK success), rhinestone, sponge



The second challenge was to use stars - stamps, punches, etc., but you had to have at least one star on your card. So here's my starry card. I stamped the background using some of the small stamps in the set and stamped the letters on star punches to make the word 'wish'.

stamps: but I need it (Hanna Stamps), bold line alpha lower (SU retired)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: basic black, summer sun
other: large star punch, page pebbles, ribbon, white gel pen, brads






The next challenge was to have fuzzy things on your card. I used velveteen paper and felt flowers. The clothesline poles are made from toothpicks that I cut the pointy ends off.

stamps: but I need it (Hanna Stamps)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: basic black, gable green, print pack, velveteen (yellow, blue, pink)
other: felt fusion, toothpicks, brad









The fourth challenge was to use at least two punches on your card. I used a plain circle, a scalloped circle and a flower punch.

stamps: but I need it (Hanna Stamps)
ink: adirondack pitch black
paper: basic black, real red, GP white
other: copic markers, red grosgrain ribbon, 1-3/8" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, flower punch (EK success), rhinestones










And the final challenge was to be inspired by some flannel pajamas. Since the weather we've been having certainly doesn't call for flannel pj's, I created a template for a summer nightie. This card has no stamping on it. The lace is sewn on.

stamps: none
ink: none
paper: white, dp (stack ??)
other: ruffled lace, sewing machine, thread, buttons, crochet cotton


I'm so glad you stopped by. I will post the cards from the Gina K challenges in another post.

Stained glass window

Hello. Today's inspiration challenge on splitcoast was some stained glass windows by Frank Lloyd Wright. I knew right away what image I was going to use. I recently purchased several stamps from Rubbernecker that are stained glass images. I knew the desert cactus was perfect.

I stamped the image on Georgia Pacific white card stock with adirondack pitch black ink and colored it with copic markers. Since the shading on stained glass pieces is done by different colors of glass, coloring the image was quite easy. After it was all colored, I simply coated the entire image with versamark and clear embossing powder and heated it, so it really does look like stained glass. I cut out the image and layered it on black and rust. And I really felt that it needed no other embellishment.

Supplies
stamps: desert cactus (Rubbernecker)
ink: adirondack pitch black, copic markers, versamark
paper: Georgia Pacific white (Walmart), basic black, really rust
other: clear embossing powder, heat gun.

Thanks for stopping by today.

a double challenge

Hello. I surprised myself and stamped 2 cards today. However, you only get to see one now, because I'm charging my camera battery and can't get a picture of the 2nd one until that's done. This card follows the sketch challenge for this week on splitcoast, but I also needed a card for another A-Muse-a-palooza challenge, this one using some glitter or bling.

I decided to start with some glittery designer paper from a stack by Die Cuts With a View and build the colors around that. The under layers of black just make a nice frame for the rest. The two colors I chose to emphasize are regal rose and soft sky.

I stamped the tiger lilies from Rubbernecker with black stazon on regal rose and colored them with markers - regal rose and just a bit of apricot appeal near the center. The flower centers are coated with crystal effects and dazzling diamonds glitter.

The sentiment from A Muse is also stamped in black stazon.

I added white dots with a gel pen and glued the ribbon across the seam between the two colors of card stock. The image panel is raised on dimensional foam tape.

Supplies:
stamps: lilies (Rubbernecker), sentiment (A Muse)
ink: jet black stazon, regal rose, apricot appeal
paper: basic black, regal rose, soft sky, dp (DCWV)
other: white gel pen, ribbon (Michael's), crystal effects, dazzling diamonds glitter, dimensional foam tape

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Just a quick post

Hi. I hope you're enjoying Father's day with your family or friends. I managed to get two cards done today for a couple of A-Muse-a-Palooza challenges.

I used cuttlebug embossing folders on both cards and inked over the embossing to highlight the raised areas. The only stamping is the sentiment on each card.

The first one is an inspiration challenge and the 2nd is a sketch challenge.

Card 1 supplies:
stamps: sentiment (A Muse)
ink: jet black stazon, petal point chalk ink (Colorbox)
paper: black, white
other: cuttlebug, cb perfectly paisley embossing folder, piercing tool, dimensional foam tape



Card 2 supplies:
stamps: sentiment (A Muse)
ink: basic black, purely pomegranate
paper: purely pomegranate, groovy guava, apricot appeal
other: 1-3/8" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, cuttlebug, cb textile hearts embossing/die combo, black marker, white gel pen, sponge

I'm so glad you stopped by today.

chocolate flowers

I hope you are having a great weekend. We had a mostly beautiful day, just a short thunderstorm late this afternoon and then the sun came back out and there was a rainbow.

Did that title get your attention? Would those be great? Well, today I have some chocolate flowers to show you. But... it's not what you think. They are made from designer paper that is looks like chocolate frosting - YUM!

This is the card that I made for my sweet DH for father's day. It was a very easy and fast card. The front of the card is vanilla with 1" strips of dp glued along all 4 sides. Then I stamped the sentiment and two chocolate chips in the center and pierced around the block and around the chocolate chips. That's glued to the chocolate chip card base. DONE!










Now the inside of the card is a bit more complicated, but still very easy. I started by cutting a 12" piece of designer paper into 4" squares. You use 7 of them for the flowers. Here is a tutorial. I used my large oval punch to punch off one end of the folded squares to form the petals. This helped to make them even.

Supplies
stamps: sentiment - all year cheer II (SU), chocolate chip (?)
ink: chocolate chip
paper: chocolate chip, very vanilla, dp (Michael's)
other: piercing tool, large oval punch

Thanks for stopping by.

double inspiration

Happy Saturday. It still feels like Friday, but it is after midnight. If you haven't seen Michelle Zindorf's blog lately, you really need to check it out. She's been posting some awesome stuff with tutorials on how she created each project. This week's inspiration challenge on splitcoast was posted a bit early and when I saw it, I knew that I wanted to try Michelle's technique. This is the card I came up with. It also fits the limited supplies challenge.

I started by stamping the flower in adirondack pitch black ink and coloring it with copic markers. Then I went over it with a versamarker and clear embossed it.

Next, I stamped the large swirl from nature silhouettes I (Innovative Stamp Creations) in really rust craft ink and clear embossed it.

Then I stamped the squiggly line from bold basics with garden green craft ink and clear embossed it.

I then sponged over most of the card with sage shadow, then added some really rust, chocolate chip and garden green.

Using a black pigma marker, I outlined the left and under sides of all the images. Using a white gel pen, I outlined the upper and right sides of all the images.

Next, I tied knots in some black hemp and attached them to the card with copper brads.

I then mounted this piece on a black base. It seems like a lot of work, but actually didn't take me that long.

Supplies
stamps: oriental gardens, bold basics (SU), nature silhouettes I (Innovative Stamp Creations)
ink: versamarker, sage shadow, chocolate chip, garden green classic & craft, really rust classic & craft
paper: basic black, very vanilla
other: copic markers, clear ep, heat tool, white gel pen, black pigma marker, copper brads, black hemp, sponge

I'm so glad you took the time to stop by today. Have a wonder filled weekend.

a sketch challenge

Good morning. Another lovely day here. Today is the sketch challenge on splitcoast. Since it was posted early, I was able to get a card made before I went to bed. I used another of my new stamps from Rubbernecker called columbine stem.

One thing that does not come easy for me is using designer paper, so lately I've been pushing myself to use it. I still use it pretty sparingly, but I am managing to get it on a few cards. On this card I used a piece from my Basic Grey 6x6 Perhaps pad. I punched two edges with my spiral punch and glued it to a piece of black.

The columbine is stamped in pitch black adirondack ink and colored with copic markers. For the page pebbles at the top of the card, I stamped the leaf area of the flower three more times, colored them and punched 1/2" circles. Covered with page pebbles, they look like designer brads.

I tied some hemp along the right side of the image panel and raised the panel on dimensional tape.

Supplies
stamps: columbine stem (Rubbernecker)
ink: Adirondack pitch black
paper: basic black, groovy guava, more mustard, Neenah classic natural white, dp (Basic Grey Perhaps)
other: spiral punch, 1/2" circle punch, page pebbles, copic markers, 1/16" punch, natural hemp, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you took the time to stop by. Have a wonderful day.

painted leaves

My friend, Jeanne, over on splitcoast just came out with her own line of rubber stamps. When I saw them, I knew that I wanted them. I bought 3 and they came in yesterday's mail. So of course, I needed to play with them.

The Rubbernecker blogger challenge this week is to use paint on a card. You know how you just have to have something and then never use it? Well, that was the case with my distress crackle paints. Some time ago, I purchased several bottles, but never used them. So, the challenge gave that little push I needed.

I started by cutting a piece of cereal box chipboard the size I needed for the stamp I was going to use. Then I painted it with dried marigold distress crackle paint. While the paint was still wet, I inked up the leaf stamp with really rust and pressed it into the paint. When it was finished drying, I layered it on black card stock and added eyelets, ribbon and white dots.

Then I used my cuttlebug and nestabilities circles to cut a circle from Basic Grey dp and one from black. I then ran the dp through the cuttlebug again in my tiny mosaics embossing folder to give it more texture.

The card base is randomly stamped with the same image. And the tab is punched from mellow moss with my round tab punch and then just a portion of the leaf stamp is stamped on it in always artichoke. The large image panel is raised on dimensional foam tape.

Supplies:
stamps: just leaves (Jeanne Streiff collection - Rubbernecker)
ink: really rust, always artichoke
paper, really rust, basic black, mellow moss, designer paper (Basic Grey - sugared), cereal box chipboard
other: dried marigold distress crackle paint (Ranger), crop-a-dile, black eyelets, black grosgrain ribbon, round tab punch, cuttlebug, nestabilities circles, tiny mosaics embossing folder, dimensional foam tape, white gel pen, black marker

I'm so glad you stopped by today.

Bloom with Abandon

I love that phrase. It brings to mind a field of wildflowers in a multitude of colors and no set pattern. Although formal gardens are beautiful, I love the freedom inspired by a field of wildflowers.

Last night I made my final card for the Kim Hughes blitz at Cornish Heritage Farms. This challenge was to combine Kim's stamps with other CHF stamps.

I started by inking the shady daisy backgrounder with purely pomegranate ink and stamping on vanilla card stock. Then I inked the scratched grid backgrounder with not quite navy and stamped it right over the top of the first one. I like how you can change the look by stamping two or three backgrounds over each other.

Next, I stamped the largest stamp from nature silhouettes three times in elegant eggplant ink. And then the largest stamp from silhouette blooms I several times in taken with teal ink. I layered the piece on purely pomegranate and tied an eggplant grosgrain ribbon around it. In the upper left corner, I added a double photo corner punch of eggplant and taken with teal, accented with three black brads and raised on dimensional tape.

My intention with the sentiment was to stamp it directly onto the panel, which I did in eggplant ink. And guess what? It just sort of disappeared into the image, not literally, but it just didn't stand out. Soooooo... on to plan B! I pulled out a piece of vanilla and stamped it in teal, layered with teal and added a cut down version of a photo corner, with three white faux brads made with a white gel pen. I attached it with dimensional tape, but wasn't happy with it. Then inspiration struck. I pulled out the same large stamp from silhouette blooms I, inked it in pomegranate, stamped off once, and with some scrap paper protecting the lower portion of the card, stamped it on the sentiment panel. Woohoo! I love it!

Supplies
stamps: shady daisy, scratched grid, silhouette blooms I, nature silhouettes, sentiment - the rummage bin (all Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: purely pomegranate, elegant eggplant, taken with teal
paper: taken with teal, purely pomegranate, elegant eggplant, very vanilla
other: photo corner punch, white gel pen, black brads, eggplant grosgrain ribbon, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you took the time to visit today. Now, go on and Bloom with Abandon!

But I need it...

This is another card done for a challenge. Thursday evening, Hannah Stamps had a release party. Although I totally missed the party, there was still time to do the color challenge, using chocolate and cream. Since I only have one set from this company, I was somewhat limited in my choices of stamps. I chose to use stamps other than the main image. I stamped the two shoes in a row, well actually two rows, using Adirondack espresso ink and then colored them with copic markers. I used chocolate chip as an accent layer and close to cocoa for my card base. The designer paper is retired SU. I used both sides of the paper. I cut 2 squares and then cut them in half diagonally and just flipped one triangle over on each end.

I popped up the sentiment and the large felt flower with the button, which is a little hard to see. Don't you just love how rich these colors are?

Supplies:
stamps: But I need it (Hannah Stamps)
ink: Adirondack espresso, copic markers (E13, E27)
paper: chocolate chip, close to cocoa, very vanilla, dp (SU)
other: buttons (my stash), felt flower (Creative Impressions), brown crochet cotton, dimensional foam tape

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

A fun pop up card

Happy Saturday, everyone. We certainly had some violent storms here today. We had some golf ball size hail. I'd never seen hail that big before. Usually it's about the size of a pea. Of course, when all the sirens went off, we all just gathered around the TV and watched the storm out the windows. I love watching storms and my daughter is just as bad.

Saturday is the day for the inspiration challenge on splitcoast. I was happy to see it posted early last evening and I went right to work. I had made a pop up flower earlier in the week, but had not put it into a card and when I saw the inspiration, I knew it was perfect.

To create the four panels, I inked up pretty petals background in garden green. Then using a moist tissue, I removed the ink from the butterflies and flowers and then colored them with rose red and brocade blue markers. I misted the stamp and then stamped it on vanilla card stock. I wanted to use bashful blue to back the panels and found a piece already cut that was just the right size. So I cut the panels to fit that piece. After gluing the panels to the bashful blue, I used the fine tip of my brocade blue marker to drawn around the panels for just a hint of shadow. I put two strips of green galore behind the panel to add a bit of contrasting color.

The large flowers are made using a flower from mixed bouquet and a smaller flower from bodacious bouquet. Each flower is inked in regal rose and then rose red, using the rock n roll technique. The larger flower is stamped 3 times for each flower. The smaller flower is done the same way for the top layer, but underneath that layer it is stamped twice in rose red. When I cut them out, I left just a tiny border of the vanilla card stock. For the center of the flowers, I used some clear baubles I found in the candle department at Michael's. The front flower is raised for added dimension.

The sentiment from it's your birthday is stamped in garden green ink on green galore and punched out with my key tag punch, and popped up.

The really fun part of this card is the inside. This is called a 7 flower pop up. So fun and actually quite easy to make. It is made up of 7 flowers. You start with 8 petals, cut one out and overlap one, so you end up with a bowl shape with 6 petals. By gluing certain petals together and then to the inside of the card, when you open the card, the flowers open up like a big blossom.

If you would like instructions on how to make this flower, go here. I was surprised how easy this was to make. The one thing I did differently from the tutorial is to use a large oval punch instead of cutting out each flower. I started with 4" squares of designer paper, and after folding according to the directions, I put the folded paper into the punch so that the point was out of the punch, but up against the end and used just one end of the punch to punch and form the petals. This way, all my flowers were identical in size and shape.

supplies:
stamps: pretty petals, bodacious bouquet, mixed bouquet, it's your birthday (all SU)
ink: garden green, regal rose, rose red
paper: regal rose, bashful blue, green galore, very vanilla, dp (Michael's stack)
other: large oval punch, sponge, baubles, key tag punch, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you had time to stop by today.

Hello butterfly

Happy Friday. Today was hot (85) and stormy. Windy, thunderstorms and even hail for a few minutes. Before the storms came through, I went out and picked some asparagus and made some soup - yum.

And then I did another challenge for the Kim Hughes blitz over at Cornish Heritage Farms forum.

I really had to stretch on this one, which was to use stamps with wings. Although Kim has a number of bird stamps, the tiny butterfly and a tiny dragonfly from Nature Silhouettes are the only Kim Hughes winged stamps that I own. So I took that tiny butterfly and randomly stamped it in versamark on glossy white card stock. Then I heat set it and brayered cool caribbean ink over it. I used it for the main image, the butterflies and the accents in the lower right corner.

For the main image I used a stamp from nature silhouettes, which I colored with markers, misted with water and stamped. Then I ran it through my cuttlebug and a nestabilities oval and added scalloped ovals in white and brilliant blue behind it. The sentiment from silhouettes blooms I is stamped in brilliant blue.

I used my floral fantasy embossing folder on the chocolate layer. The butterflies and word window punches are all punched from the stamped glossy card stock. I sponged the edges of the butterflies with brilliant blue. Brown brads accent the word window punches and the oval panel is raised on dimensional foam tape.

I really love these colors together.

supplies:
stamps: nature silhouettes & silhouette blooms I (Kim Hughes - Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: versamark, cool caribbean, tempting turquoise, brilliant blue, chocolate chip
paper: tempting turquoise, chocolate chip, whisper white, glossy white, brilliant blue
other: cuttlebug, floral fantasy cb embossing folder, nestabilities ovals, word window punch, butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), brown brads, piercing tool, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you took the time to visit today. Enjoy your weekend.

Another sympathy card

I made this card for another of the challenges on the CHF forum. This one is a sketch challenge.

I started by creating the background. Using the direct to paper technique, I dragged pale plum, creamy caramel, sahara sand, ruby red, vanilla craft and white craft. The white toned down the brightness. Then I stamped the narrow fern with artichoke ink and the dragonfly in burgundy. I then stamped the large plants in chocolate craft ink and clear embossed them. The vertical strip is pierced and layered on vanilla. The sentiment is stamped on a piece that was cut off the background and punched with my large oval punch, popped up and backed with another oval.

The flower is made up of a scalloped circle punch in cameo coral, a large felt flower, a punched flower in cameo coral and a prima flower and is attached with a brown brad.

Supplies:
stamps: nature silhouettes, silhouette blooms I (Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: pale plum, creamy caramel, sahara sand, ruby red, vanilla craft and white craft (SU), jet black stazon
paper: very vanilla, groovy guava, cameo coral, cranberry
other: large oval punch, piercing tool, mat pack, clear ep, heat tool, scalloped circle (Marvy Uchida), flower punch (EK Success), prima flower, felt flower (Creative Impressions), brad, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you stopped by.

CHF release blitz

Good morning. I stamped last night. Seems like it's been forever. I just received two of Kim Hughes' sets from Cornish Heritage Farms so I could play in the release blitz going on right now in the CHF forum. There is chatting, challenges, prizes... who doesn't like prizes?

The first challenge was a limited supplies challenge combined with a color challenge. I struggled a bit with the colors - they are so 70's - orange, lime green, chocolate and cream. I tried 3 times before I liked the image, which is simply several images from the Nature Silhouettes set. On one, I inked it up with green galore and then used a chocolate chip marker to go over the stems before stamping. The chopped off corner wasn't planned. I tried a funky fold on the corner, but then realized that there was stamping on the back that would show, so I ended up cutting off the corner instead. I like it. Just goes to show that sometimes something that doesn't work out right can actually make a better card. I used my crop-a-dile to punch two holes right along the cut edge and added the orange gingham ribbon. I was happy that the bow turned out on the first try. The layers are orange and chocolate and the image panel is popped up.

The sentiment is part of the set and is stamped in chocolate chip.

For the background, I repeatedly stamped one of the images in green galore and added a row of orange buttons from the stash in my button jar.

supplies:
stamps: nature silhouettes (Kim Hughes - Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: green galore, only orange, chocolate chip
paper: green galore, only orange, chocolate chip, very vanilla
other: orange gingham ribbon (Michael's), orange buttons (my button jar), crop-a-dile, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you took the time to visit today. I hope you have a wonderful day.

sympathy in blue

Today I needed to make a sympathy card and since natural beauty was still out on my table, I decided to use it.

The flowers are stamped in black stazon on vanilla and colored with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. Then I cut the ovals and circles using my nestabilities in my cuttlebug. The front oval was sponged with brilliant blue ink and layered on the black.

The turquoise circle is embossed with swiss dots embossing folder and layered on the black scalloped circle. I added white dots in the scallops with my white gel pen.

The background was stamped with pretty petals background and then sponged along the edges and the I dragged the inked sponge across the card from each edge to tone down the brightness. The sentiment is from warmest regards and stamped in black stazon.

Supplies:
stamps: natural beauty, pretty petals, warmest regards (SU)
ink: jet black stazon, tempting turquoise, brilliant blue
paper: very vanilla, basic black, tempting turquoise
other: cuttlebug, swiss dots embossing folder, nestabilities circles and ovals, brayer, sponge, prismacolor pencils, gamsol, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you took the time to stop by. Have a great day.