Sending Smiles

Meet today's card.

I am having fun using this new stamp from Penny Black called Blossom Branch.

It is a pretty one.

I began by masking the edges of my card front with some Post-It Tape, I like the look of a crisp, white border.

I placed the flowers into my Misti, coloured them with my Tombow markers, sprayed with water and stamped.  I repeated that process building colours as I went along.  I find it works best if I start with the lightest colour first and add darker colour after that. 

I dried the piece then watercoloured in the background using some Worn Lipstick Distress ink.  I just rub the ink pad directly onto my non-stick craft mat, spray with water and pick up the colour.

I splattered with some water over the whole front to lift the ink as well.  Distress inks work so well for this technique.

I placed the sentiment from the PB set called Smile Today and stamped that using some black Memento ink.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Time Out- SPRING

Crafty Friends- FLOWERS

Penny Black Saturday- ANYTHING GOES/SPRING FLOWERS

Supplies

Stamps- Blossom Branch, Smile Today (Penny Black)

Ink- Tuxedo Black Memento; Worn Lipstick Distress (TH); Tombow markers

Paper- heavy white

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); Mister (TH); Post-It Tape

Bonsai Trees

Happy Saturday.

I love to look and see what kind of Inspiration Challenge is happening over at Splitcoast Stampers.

Today, we were being inspired by the Smithsonian Galleries.  I came across a lovely Bonsai tree for sale and decided to use this lovely stamp from Technique Junkies with this 'bonsai' looking tree on it for my card.  

As I was trying to figure out what kind of background I would stamp it onto, I remembered that I had an inked up a piece of Yupo paper with alcohol inks.  It reminded me of a cloudy night sky, so

I placed the inked piece into my Misti, masked the stamp (this stamp also has the image of a giraffes which I didn't want for this card), and stamped using Archival black ink.  I moved the piece inside my Misti and stamped the tree again moving it down slightly to overlap the first one.

I cut a square frame to place over the stamping and I liked how it really helped to draw the eye in.

I stamped the sentiment and put it all together.

I hope you find some inspiration around you.

Thanks for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenge:

Simon Says Wed.- SPARKLE AND SHINE

(shiny Yupo paper with the alcohol inks)

Shopping Our Stash- YO DUDE

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES

Supplies

Stamps- Savannah Giraffes (Technique Junkies); Art Journey

Inks- Archival Black (Ranger); Tuxedo Black Memento; Alcohol inks (Ranger)

Paper- heavy white; Yupo

Accessories and Tools- Misti; Blending Solution (Ranger); die- MFT; Sharpie Markers

For the Birds- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Hello and Welcome.

It's time for another card for the 

CAS Watercolour Challenge.

Our theme this month is 'bird'.

I am using these great stamps from Frog's Whiskers Ink of the cranes.

I love the silhouettes they create.

So onto my card.

I die-cut a piece of heavy white cardstock using a die from MFT then I inked up the background with Distress Oxide inks and a piece of acetate. I rubbed the ink onto the acetate, sprayed with water and pressed onto my paper.

Next, I placed the piece into my Misti and stamped the bird silhouettes with black Memento ink.

After I was done inking my bird background with the DOX, there was still quite a bit of ink left on my sheet of acetate that I didn't want to go to waste, so I grabbed an extra piece of cardstock and pressed the ink onto that to create a watery looking piece to mount the birds onto.

In the top corner and on one side you will see where I did a bit of stenciling to add some interest.  I just used a baby wipe and rubbed over the ink already on my paper.  It lifted the ink in some places and deposited it in others and I was left with the impressions.  

I hope you will come and play along with us.

Thanks for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers- WATER

Crazy for CAS- STENCIL

Stamps & Fun- MAN/BOY

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING GOES STAMPED

Supplies

Stamps- Flying Crane, Standing Crane (Frog's Whiskers)

Ink- Tuxedo Black Memento; Distress Oxide (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feather; Blueprint Sketch)

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- Misti; stencil-Leaves (STAMPlorations); script (TCW); piece of acetate;

In and Out Diagonal Stitch (MFT)

Shaped Cards- The Flower Challenge

Good Morning.

Time for another card at

The Flower Challenge.

Our theme this month is shaped cards which I had a lot of fun with.

I decided  to create a hexagon shaped card so I looked online and found a 4" pattern to use for my card design and printed that out to use as my pattern.

I cut out the shape onto my heavy white cardstock, then masked the edges to leave me with a nice clean, white border.

I added some stenciling first with Peeled Paint Distress ink, then stamped the clock face and the other elements using the same ink to create my collage style background.  By stamping and stenciling all with the same colour, it is a great way to feature more of your stamps on one card.  I sponged all around the edges to help accentuate the shape of the card.

Last, I placed this Magenta flower stamp into my Misti, inked with Black Memento ink and added the sentiment for my finished card.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Hope you will join us for some fun.

Adding my card to these challenges:
Allsorts- SPRING FLOWERS or SHOWERS
Craft Rocket- FLOWERS

Supplies

Stamps- Clover Silhouette (Magenta); Weathered Clock (Hampton Arts);

Script (PB); Mixed Media Elements (STAMPlorations);

Enjoy the Moment (Daisy Bucket)

Ink- Tuxedo Black Memento; Peeled Paint Distress (TH)

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- pattern from online; Misti; sponging tool (TH)

Special Friend Birthday

Hello...meet today's card.

I am playing with some new stamps from Penny Black.  

My first time playing with this wonderful stamp called Blossom Branch and I love it.

To create my card, I placed the stamp inside my Misti and coloured using my Memento and my Tombow markers directly onto my stamp.  I sprayed with water then pressed onto my paper.  I repeated that process, adding more colour where I wanted it to look like shading.  My Misti is an invaluable tool for using this kind of technique on a card.

After that was dry, I stamped the sentiment from the PB set called Grateful Heart using black Memento ink and clear embossed it to help make it pop.  I stamped it a bit over the inked image to help pull the whole design together.

When I was done, I looked at my card front thinking that it needed something more, so using a fine line marker, I added little dashed lines around the flower centers and splattered with black ink.  So much better as the black seemed to be what it needed to help ground it all.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More- MAKE YOUR MARK

As You Like It- FAV COLOURING MEDIUM

(I love using my Memento and Tombow markers especially to colour

directly onto my stamps.  Since they are waterbased, I can spray them with water 

to get the look of a watercoloured image which I love the look of)

Crafting With Attitude- ANYTHING GOES

Penny Black Saturday- FLOWERS/ANYTHING GOES

Supplies

Stamps- Blossom Branch, Grateful Heart (Penny Black)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Tombow and Memento markers

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); Mister (TH); clear eb powder; heat tool;

fine line black marker; paintbrush

Watercolored Birthday Greetings

Hello and Welcome.

Today, I have the pleasure of being the Guest at

Craft Stamper Magazine.

Here is the card I created for the theme 'Take a Stamp'.

I began by watercolouring the background with some of my Distress Oxide inks.  To do that, I pressed the pads directly onto my non-stick mat, sprayed with a bit of water and picked up the colour with a paintbrush.  I also used my 'acetate inking' technique to add colour to the background.

To see how I do that, go here.

Acetate Inking

When I was happy with the inking, I stenciled with some Black Soot Distress Oxide ink and then stamped the clock face and the birthday greeting.  

BTW....my husband loved his card.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to CAS- BUBBLES

Addicted to Stamps and More- MAKE YOUR MARK

Aud Sentiments- HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Seize the Birthday- VIBRANT BIRTHDAY

Supplies

Stamps- Birthday (Studio G); Weathered Clock (Hampton Arts); 

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Distress Oxide (Peacock Feather, Fossilized Amber, 

Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean)

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- acetate sheet; stencil(TCW); paintbrush; non-stick craft mat (TH)

Mister (TH)

Sweet Flowers

Good Morning and Happy Saturday.

Meet today's card....just me playing around with my Distress Oxide inks again.

Slight addiction.

I began by stamping these beautiful coneflowers which has been in my collection for years not seeing the light of day, with Versamark ink then white heat embossed them to one side of my white card front.

I wanted to create a background using some of the wonderful reds and oranges so here's what I did.

I used a piece of acetate, rubbed on some Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide ink, sprayed with water and pressed onto my white piece of cardstock.  I repeated that process using some Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick and Fired Brick.  I like to dry each layer in between with my heat tool.

When I was happy with the colour coverage of my cardstock, I did a bit of stenciling using some drywall tape and stamped a bit of script around the edges just to add further interest and depth to my piece.

Lastly, I stamped the sentiment from Rubbernecker and mounted the whole thing onto a card.

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for coming by to take a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES

Crafty Catz- SPRING COLOURS/ANYTHING GOES

SumMore Fun- MOOD BOARD COLOURS

4 Crafty Chicks- FLOWERS

Supplies

Stamps- Brushed Coneflowers (Paper Inspirations); Friendship Message (Hero Arts); 

Sketch Poppies sentiment (Rubbernecker)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Distress Oxides; Versamark

Paper- heavy white

Accessories and Tools- Misti; white eb powder; heat tool; drywall tape; sponge applicator;

sheet of acetate; Mister (TH)