Blossom and Grow

Morning.  Today's card was made using new stamps from Penny Black and Distress ink.  I decided to make a monochromatic card inspired by all the shades of green growing in my garden.

I began by inking up my large background stamp called Floral Tapestry with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Distress inks, sprayed with water to blend and stamped.  I wanted to add extra depth to the background so I inked up my embossing folder with more Peeled Paint, sprayed with water and touched my panel onto the wet ink.  You can see a faint hexagon impression in the background.

The oval panel was next.  I cut the oval using a Spellbinders Oval Die and stamped the flowers and sentiment from the Friendship Flowers set.  The oval looked too plain so I pierced around the outside of the oval then mounted it to my card front using pop dots.

 

Adding my card to these challenges:

 

Simon Says- ANYTHING GOES

 

Addicted to Stamps- ANYTHING GOES

 

Sister Act Card- ANYTHING GOES

 

CAS on Sunday- BIRTHDAY

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look...I truly appreciate it!!

 

Supplies:  stamps- Penny Black/ Distress ink/ Mini Mister/ embossing folder/ pop dots/ piercing tool

Summer Inspired

 

Happy Sunday.  Can't believe that June is almost over and we are into summer holidays here with a long weekend, the kids being out of school and loving the warm weather. 

I wanted today's card to reflect the feel of summer with it's colours and the images of the flowers.  I am playing along with the Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoast.  All the stamps I am creating with today are from Penny Black. 

 

I began my card by die cutting a circle to use as a mask for my main circle image.  I masked my paper then stamped the Mosaic flowers, die cut the circle and coloured with Copic markers. 

The main panel is stenciled on an angle for interest using Distress ink.  I added the sentiment from the Friendship Flowers set and pop dotted my circle to the card front. 

 

Also adding my card to these challenges:

 

Simon Says- ANYTHING GOES

  

 

Addicted to Stamps- ANYTHING GOES

 

 

Sister Act- ANYTHING GOES

 

 

 

Hope you can enjoy a wonderful summer's day.  Thanks so very much for popping by and taking a look.

 

Supplies:  stamps- Penny Black/ Copic markers/ Memento bl ink/ Distress ink/ stencil/ pop dots/ Spellbinder circle die

Summer Delights

Happy Summer!  Such a welcome time of year after the long winter we had this year.  This morning at Splitcoast the challenge was called Summer Lovin.  When I think of summer lovin, I think of being in the garden and enjoying all of nature's beauties.  I decided to do some watercoloring on this one.  

I began by stamping the hydrangea with a light grey ink.  I pressed my Distress inks onto my acrylic block, added water and used that to paint onto my flower.

(colours:  Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Shaded Lilac, Peeled Paint)

When it was dry, I added the black dots to the center of the flower petals and the sentiment from Rubbernecker.  

Also adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps- ANYTHING GOES

Less is More- WATERCOLOUR

Simon Says- ANYTHING GOES

Shopping Our Stash- COLOUR MY WORLD

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Stampendous, Rubbernecker/ Distress inks/ paintbrush/ acrylic block/ blackline pen

Wonderful Scrolls

Welcome....so happy you dropped in!  Meet today's card.  This scroll stamp was one of the first ones I ever bought many years ago.  It still continues to be a favourite and never goes out of style.  It makes for a great focal point or stamped as a background.  I love the stamps that stand the test of time.

I began by stamping the background using Tea Dye Distress ink and sponged some extra around the edges.  Then using the same colour, I stamped the smaller flourish over the top of the background.

Next, I stamped the large scroll with Rusty Hinge Distress ink to the side, the sentiment from Mama Elephant and then splattered.  

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says- YOU GOTTA HAVE FRIENDS

Seize the Birthday- ANYTHING GOES

CASology- CELEBRATE

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Technique Tues., Mama Elephant, PB/ Distress ink/ Memento Bl/ paint brush

Addicted to CAS- SUN

Happy Saturday.  This month, I have had the honor of being the Guest Designer at the Addicted to CAS Challenge blog.  This week the code word is "SUN".  Such a perfect inspirational word for this time of the year.  

I masked the edges of the front panel then placed my stencil on my card stock.  I then sponged on Ripe Persimmon, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink over my stencil.  I kept moving my stencil slightly after each sponging.  It gave me a lovely look of rays of sunshine coming down.  I sprinkled some water drops onto the ink for interest.  I removed the mask then stamped the sentiment and mounted the panel with pop dots.

I am also adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says- YOU GOTTA HAVE FRIENDS

Simply Create Too- YOUR SENTIMENT IS HIGHLIGHT

Brown Sugar- STRIPES OR DOTS

"Just Us Girls" Challenge- YELLOW, ORANGE, NEUTRAL

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Technique Tues./ stencil-Tim Holtz/ pop dots/ Distress ink/ bl Memento ink

Mixed Media

Just me here playing again.  This was a very simple card to make although you may think it looks more difficult then it is.  

The front panel on this card was truly a leftover.  While working on another card, there was ink left on my non-stick craft sheet.  Instead of wiping it off with a baby wipe to clean it up, I grabbed my mini mister and sprayed it with water then I dragged my paper through the wet ink to reveal a mix of colours on my paper.  I heated up my glue gun then added some glue lines onto my panel and when cool, rubbed some blue paint over the lines to blend with the background.  

The card front was created by inking up my Hero Arts stamp with the same colours as my panel, spraying with a generous amount of water and stamping.   Lastly, I added some splatters of blue, stamped the sentiment from Mama Elephant and mounted it with pop dots.  

I am adding my card to these challenges:

CASology- CELEBRATE

Keep it Simple- SPLATTERS

Craft-Room Challenge- SUN, SAND, SURF (I used the colours of water, sand)

Ladybug Crafts Ink- FOR HIM

Through the Craft Room Door- ANYTHING GOES

I so appreciate that you came by to take a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Mama Elephant, Hero Arts/ Distress inks/ glue gun/ black Memento ink/ pop dots/ paint

Saying Hi!

Morning.  This month I am the guest designer at the Addicted to CAS Challenge blog so I wanted to make another card for the 'TRANSPORT' code word challenge.

I began my card by applying Gesso over a stencil.  When dry, I rubbed Distress ink (Ocean Blue and Peacock Feathers) over the gesso being sure to keep the darker ink close to the top and fading the lighter out at the bottom.  I then took a baby wipe and rubbed over all of it to blend the gesso with the ink for a more 'cloudy' look.  

Isn't that little guy just the cutest!  I stamped him with Memento black then coloured with Copics and cut him out so I could pop dot him over the bkg.  Added the sentiment to the faded blue area.  

Also adding my card to there challenges:

Simon Says- STENCIL

Artistic Inspirations- ANYTHING GOES/SUMMER FUN

Eureka Stamps- FRIENDS

Love to Create- ANYTHING GOES

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- The Cat's Pajamas/ Gesso/ stencil-Tim Holtz/ Copic markers/ pop dots/ Distress ink

Mottled Background

Good Morning.  I am here again playing with inks and experimenting with techniques and colour combinations.  I was inspired by the challenge at Splitcoast this am.

I started by inking up my acrylic block with DYE ink.  I found that other types of inks didn't give me a very good effect with this technique.  I then dripped Blending Solution onto the ink.  The Blending Solution pushes the ink away so that when you stamp you get a lovely, sort of stone looking background.  When dry; it dries very quickly, I stamped the flowers then added the sentiment and added the twine.
I hope you get a chance to try this technique out.
 

Also adding my card to these challenges:

Keep it Simple- SPLATTERS

Addicted to Stamps- CAS

Just for Fun- HERE COMES SUMMER

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Unity, PTI/ Blending Solution/ Dye ink/ Memento bl/ twine/ acrylic block

Fern Printing

Happy Saturday!  Splitcoast Stampers is a constant source of inspiration for me and I love playing along with the challenges there.  This week there was a challenge to make a card showing other hobbies of interests we have other then cardmaking.  Well, I love being out in the garden so I decided to ink up some more of my ferns and using them to stamp with.  

So I laid my ferns in a box to confine the ink then sprayed them using Mr. Huey's spray ink.  I gently picked up the fern and pressed it onto my oval then lifted and pressed again.  I love the look of the ferns printed onto the paper...so natural and lovely detail.  I wanted to mount the oval onto an embossed background but wanted to keep the fern as the focal point so I partially embossed it then added the sentiment.  The twine keeps it all more natural looking too.

I am adding my card to these challenges:

Brown Sugar Challenge- SUMMER

Addicted to Stamps- CAS

Sister Act Card Challenge- ANYTHING GOES

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps-Printworks, ferns from the garden/ eb folder-SU/ twine/ pop dots 

Cardmaking Meets the Garden

Happy Friday.  As we move into the weekend, here is the card I made yesterday using ferns from my garden.  I was scratching my head when I read Virginia's View Challenge :

Virginia's challenge is to make a tag or a scrapling and incorporate a recycled element.  

My garden is over-run with ferns these days.  I love them but had to pull a few out.  It seemed like such a shame to compost all of those gorgeous fronds so I brought them inside to use for cardmaking- true recycling!!

I sprayed the fern with Mr. Huey's Spray ink then carefully lifted it up and pressed it onto my tag.  The background piece was embossed then splattered with more of the ink.  

That piece of burlap has been sitting on my desk for months so I decided to use it.  I think it adds to the natural feel of my card and I like the way the squares on the embossed bkg. mimic the look of the burlap.  Stamped the banner then mounted it with pop dots to the front of the tag.  

I am also adding my card to these challenges:

CASology- ANNIVERSARY

Keep it Simple- SPLATTER

Shopping Our Stash- SOMETHING SOFT

Addicted to Stamps- CAS

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Penny Black/ tag die-MFT/ string/ burlap/ Mr. Huey's spray ink/ Memento bl./ fern from the garden

Two-Step Stamping

Morning.  Today I am using a two-step stamp and a new technique to me on my card.  I love coming across some new ways to play with ink and paper.  

I will start by explaining how I did the background behind my flowers.  

I rubbed DYE ink onto my acrylic block by randomly pressing the ink pad directly onto my block.  I added a few drops of Tim Holtz Alcohol Blending Solution right onto the ink.  It reacts with the ink by pushing it away leaving some wonderful patterns behind.  Then I pressed my block directly onto my paper and let it dry so it would be ready for the next step...the flowers.

For any of you that have never used a two-step stamp set, they are wonderful especially for getting a watercolour look.  I took the solid part of the flower stamp and coloured it with Memento markers in a deep blue so it would stand out and the leaves in green.  I sprayed with water and stamped onto my inked background.  When that was dry, I inked the outline stamp with Memento black and positioned it over the solid image and stamped.  

The flowers I used here are from Rubbernecker Stamps.  They have a fantastic selection of floral two-step stamps that are easy and fun to use.  

The large bkg. is inked with Distress inks, sprayed with water and stamped for a more subtle, distressed look.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps-Rubbernecker, Mama Elephant, Hero Arts/ Memento markers and ink/ twine/ pop dots

Done with Love

Good Morning.  On today's card I am using up some scraps that are sitting on my desk.  The panel was made by using the Embossing Folder Stamping technique I showed on Saturday's card.  This time instead of using the piece as the background, I used it to border the edge of my card.  The black strip of cardstock helps define the areas.

The main panel picks up the same colours as the border.  I inked up the fern stamp with Distress Inks then sprayed with water before stamping for a watercolour look.  I added some splatters of paint then lastly stamped the sentiment....love that sentiment.

I am also adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says- MASCULINE

The Male Room- TREES and LEAVES

Addicted to Stamps- OUTDOORS

Sentimental Sundays- ANYTHING GOES

STAMPlorations- STAMPS and BORDERS

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.  I truly appreciate it!

Supplies:  stamps- Hero Arts, Inkadinkadoo/ Distress ink/ Memento Bl/ Eb folder/ paintbrush