Rose Garden

Hello and Welcome.

Meet today's card inspired by a lovely Victorian Rose Garden I visited on the weekend.

This stamp is actually called Marigolds but they really reminded me of an open rose so I went with that plus I love the open area for watercolouring.

I began by masking the edges of my card front then placing the stamp inside my Misti, inked with Versamark then stamped and white heat embossed onto watercolour paper.  I masked the first flower and repeated that process.

I coloured in just the base of the flowers using my Zigs then using a wet paintbrush, I pulled the colour into the rest of the flower petals.

I stamped the sentiment from Daisy Bucket then sponged in the background using Peeled Paint Distress ink and a sponge applicator.

I think the pink makes for a bright summertime card.

Thanks so very much for all your sweet, kind comments and for the visit.

Adding my card to these challenges:

STAMPlorations- ANYTHING GOES/NEVER ENDING

Make My Monday- SUMMER BRIGHTS

Fashionable Stamping- MAKE IT FEMININE

A Bit More Time to Craft- ANYTHING GOES

My Time to Craft- SUMMERTIME

 

Supplies

Stamps- Marigold (STAMPlorations); Enjoy the Moment 

(Daisy Bucket...no longer in business but you can sometimes find them on Ebay)

Inks- Versamark; Tuxedo Black Memento; Distress (TH)

Paper- Canson Watercolour paper 140lb

Accessories and Tools- MISTI; white eb powder; Zig markers; paintbrush; sponge applicator;

 heat tool; painter's tape

Do a Double Take

Good Morning.

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting and TLC Challenge at Splitcoast.

I am calling my challenge:

Do a Double Take
 The challenge is to use 2 different stencils on top of each other for your card.

I came up with this challenge after playing with my stencils and my Distress Oxides to see how well they would layer over one another.  I was very pleased with the outcome.

So onto my card.

I began by inking the back of the Mini Harlequin Circles stencil using Peeled paint, sprayed with water and pressed onto my paper to create a monoprint.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with monoprinting, it is another way to use your stencils. Ink is applied directly from the pad to the back of the stencil, sprayed with water and applied to paper.

When that was dry, I laid the Mini Circle Grid onto my paper and this time, I stenciled it using an applicator tool as you would with any stencil.  

I stamped some Graffiti down the left side using more of the Broken China then sponged the edges with that colour too to help tie it all together.

I stamped the flourish just off the edge of my card front leaving enough room to stamp the sentiment.

You can easily stamp over the Oxides which is another reason I just love using them.

I hope you get a chance to try this technique out.  It is a great way to get more mileage using your stencils in a different way!

Thanks for the visit...very appreciated.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More- MAKE YOUR MARK
Craft Stamper- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES
Mixed Media World- ANYTHING GOES
Love to Create- ANYTHING CREATIVE/MIXED MEDIA GOES
Simon Says Mon.- STENCIL IT

Supplies

Stamps- Art Soul (Hampton Arts); Flourish (Technique Tues. sorry, discontinued); 

Graffiti (Kaisercraft)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Peeled Paint, Broken China Distress Oxides (TH)

Paper- Heavy weight white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- Misti; stencils..Mini Harlequin Circle, Mini Circle Grid (TCW); mister (TH);

sponge applicator (TH)

Music of Life

Good Morning.

Meet today's card that uses my favourite colors and my favourite Distress inks.

I'm was inspired by the Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoast.

I began by placing my Unity flowers inside my Misti, inked with Faded Jeans Distress ink and stamped.  I repeated that process to give a deep, rich colour then clear heat embossed.  

Next, I inked the flower using London Fog Memento ink and stamped in the background to give a sort of shadow effect.  You can just faintly see them behind the first flower stamping.  I inked over the whole piece using more Distress ink and a blending tool.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink then white heat embossed it to make it pop.  Really great saying from Rubbernecker.

Lastly, I randomly stamped the text in the background to help add interest and break up the look of the flowers a bit.  I added some light to the flower heads by coloring in with a white gel pen, splattered with white acrylic paint and white heat embossed the edges.

Well that's it.  Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

 Addicted to Stamps and More- MAKE YOUR MARK

Daisy Chain- MONOCHROME

 Monochrome Magic- ANYTHING GOES

 Supplies

Stamps- Insightful Meadows (Unity); Sentiment (Rubbernecker); Text Bkg (Hero Arts)

Inks- Faded Jeans, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers Distress ink (TH); Versamark

Paper- heavy weight white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- Misti; white eb powder; white gel pen (Ranger); heat tool;

 sponge applicator; white acrylic paint; paintbrush

Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day!

Celebrating with this card for my husband and the fun of trying a new technique.

The technique I used on this masculine card is called 

Sanded Pencil Background

For this technique, you first lay a stencil over your paper.  They suggest using watercolour paper but I just used a heavy weight cardstock for mine.  Next, spray your paper with water then using a piece of sandpaper, rub the sharpened tip of a watercolour pencil over the sandpaper above the open areas of the stencil.  It will drop shavings from your pencil into the wet paper and leave you with wonderful blend of colour.  I used a stencil that was tiny so not all the open areas got colour on them but when I lifted up my stencil, I noticed there was still a lot of colour left on the top so I gave it a quick spray of water, turned it over and pressed that onto my paper creating a Monoprint with the stencil.
(STENCIL MONOPRINTING is when the stencil is inked, sprayed with water and pressed onto the paper)
Great....2 techniques with one process!!  Gotta love that.

When that was all dry, I stamped the clock face and the sentiment using Memento black and clear heat embossed it.  I added a small black gem to the center of the clock face for interest.
I sponged the edges of my piece with Distress inks to help pull all the colour together.

Thanks so very much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:
Simon Says Wed.- EMBOSS

HLS June CAS Challenge- SMOOSHING
(I smooshed my stencil onto my paper)

Open Minded Crafting Fun- JUST ABOUT TIME

Monochrome Magic- ANYTHING GOES


Supplies
Stamps- Weathered Clock (Hampton Arts); By the Sea 2 (Gina K)
Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Prismacolor Pencils
Paper- heavy white cs (local store)
Accessories and Tools- Mini Tile  Texture (TCW); clear EB powder; black gem; heat tool,
sandpaper, mister (TH)

Reflections on a Rainy Day

Happy Saturday!

Time to have some fun.

Meet today's card.  

Just playing around with some Distress inks and a great scene stamp.

 Recently, I saw the challenge at Technique Junkies that showed how to do a 'drip' technique on your card.  I really wanted to give it a try using this great stamp from them.  So here's what I did.

I wanted to give the scene a reflective look, like it was a rainy day.

I placed the stamp inside my Misti, inked with Tuxedo black ink and stamped.  Leaving the stamp inside my Misti, I shifted the paper slightly and then inked the stamp with Salty Ocean Distress ink and stamped again.  I shifted the paper one last time and did a final inking with London Fog Memento.  The whole image looked blurred but wait....

At this point, I changed the technique a bit but did keep it a 'drip' technique as I didn't have a dropper on hand and not enough re-inkers to use.

So, I took a very wet paintbrush and dripped water down from the top of my card front.  I pressed Distress ink onto my non-stick craft mat and picked up some ink with my wet paintbrush and touched the water lines to give the appearance of rainfall.  The colour stays right where you have added the water.

I continued that process until I was happy with my colour drips then splattered to add to the rainy effect.

Now here's the final step.....again, get a very wet paintbrush and go over your stamped image to blend out the stamping lines and add to the reflective quality of your stamping.  The blurriness will remain but it will look more artsy and lend to the rainy feel.  Added a few splatters to look like raindrops.

Have a great weekend and thanks so very much for coming by and taking a look!

Adding my card to these challenges:

 Technique Junkies- DRIP TECHNIQUE 

Craft Stampers Magazine- TAKE A STAMP/ANYTHING GOES 

The Male Room- OFF THE EDGE 

(I dripped off the edge)

Addicted to Stamps and More- ANYTHING GOES

Supplies

Stamp- Watercolor NY (Technique Junkies)

Ink- London Fog, Tuxedo Bl Memento; Blueprint Sketch, Shaded Lilac, Peacock Feathers

Stormy Sky Distress (TH)

Paper- heavy white cs (local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI, paintbrush

Wish Big- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Hello and welcome to another card for the 

CAS Watercolour Challenge.

This month our theme is Summer.

This is what I came up with.

I began by stamping this great image from Technique Tuesday onto a heavy white cardstock.

I clear heat embossed it to prevent it from running when I dipped it into the inks.

Next, I pressed some of my blue Distress ink pads directly onto my non-stick craft mat, sprayed with water and dipped my stamped piece into that.  

There was still ink left on my mat, so I used a wet paintbrush to add more colour to the washed bkg.

Next, I die cut the frame and the opening with my Cuttlebug then using my Misti, I stamped the sentiment and the birds onto the frame.  

I cut my stamped piece small enough to fit inside the cut away area and pop dotted it into place.

Please come join the challenge with your summer card.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to CAS- CHEERS
Simon Says Wed.- EMBOSS
Addicted to Stamps and More- ANYTHING GOES
City Crafter Challenge- FRAME IT

Supplies

Stamps- Big Wish (TT); By the Sea 2 (Gina K)

Inks- Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Stormy Sky, Peacock Feathers Distress (TH); Memento bl

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI; In and Out Diagonal Stitched Rect (MFT); clear eb powder;

heat tool; Cuttlebug; non-stick craft mat (TH)

'Orange' You Glad it's Summer- The Flower Challenge

Good Morning.

It's time for another card for 

The Flower Challenge 

Our theme this month is Anything Goes.

Here's what I came up with.

I began by die-cutting the Wonky Stitched Frame using a heavy white cardstock.  

Since I wanted this great sentiment to be the focal point, using my Misti, I stamped the saying with Memento black ink then clear heat embossed onto the die-cut panel.  I find the ink really pops if I heat emboss it and there is no chance of me smearing the ink when I add the watercolouring.

Next, I stamped the flowers around the edges using my Misti and I coloured them in with Zigs and a wet paintbrush.  I like to place a bit of colour right at the base of the flower and then use the wet brush to pull the colour into the petals.  

While that dried, I stamped my background using the Arty stamp inked with orange dye ink.

I thought it made an interesting frame for the main panel.

Please come and play along with us.

Thanks so very much for the visit.


Adding my card to these challenges:
 Simon Says- EMBOSS IT
Addicted to Stamps and More- ANYTHING GOES
City Crafter- FRAME IT

Supplies

Stamps- Arty (Kaisercraft); Beautiful Moments (Close to My Heart); Flora Bella #1 (Prima)

Ink- Tuxedo Black Memento; Zigs;Carved Pumpkin Distress (TH)

Paper- heavy white cs (local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI; clear embossing powder; Wonky Stitched die (Avery Elle); 

paintbrush; Cuttlebug

Repeat After Me

Morning

Meet today's card.

I wanted to play with some Lawn Fawn die inks I picked and try a technique.

The technique I tried from Splitcoast Stampers is called Smack Down.  

I did a variation of that technique to create this super easy, quick card. 

I began by inking up the leaves with Manatee grey ink, stamped and then stamped again and again without re-inking my stamp.  It created a shadow like effect.  

I repeated that process using Peacock then Mermaid blue ink.  

I placed my card front into my Misti, inked the sentiment with black and stamped.  I then embossed it with clear embossing powder to make it pop.

I added a few Nuvo drops to add interest and done.

Thanks again so very much for coming by and taking a look.

Have a great day!!

Adding my card to these challenges:

CAS on Sunday- USE A REPETITION IMAGE

The Male Room- OFF THE EDGE

Addicted to Stamps and More- INSPIRATION

Brown Sugar- ANYTHING GOES

Supplies

Stamps- Silhouette 6 (Impression Obsession); Beautiful Moments (Close To My Heart)

Ink- Tuxedo Black Memento; Manatee, Peacock, Mermaid Dye (Lawn Fawn)

Paper- heavy weight cardstock (local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI, clear eb powder, heat tool, Sea Breeze Nuvo Jewel Drops

Flower Lanterns

Happy Saturday.

Playing with some a new stamp from Penny Black today.

I find the Chinese Lantern flowers to be quite fascinating to see growing in the garden.  Their bright orange pop of colour and their unusual shape just hanging there really makes for a beautiful plant.

I began my card by placing the Flower Lanterns into my Misti, then proceeded to colour the flowers using my Tombow markers.  I started with a light yellow, coloured directly onto the stamp, sprayed with water then pressed onto my paper.  I repeated that process using an orange then a hint of red just at the base.

The sprays of water help the colours to blend into each other.

I used the same process for the leaves only using shades of green.

When dry, I inked up my Script stamp with Versamark ink and stamped randomly over my card front.  I sprinkled on some white embossing powder and heat set to add some interest to the bkg.

I stamped the sentiment from the Sentiment Collection and then I sponged the card using Distress inks and an inking tool.  

To help add further interest, I stenciled in the bkg using some drywall tape and more of the same green Distress ink.

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

Creative Fingers- ANYTHING GOES

Penny Black and More- ANYTHING GOES

Watercooler Wednesday- FEMININE ANYTHING GOES

Supplies

Stamps:  Flower Lanterns, Script, Sentiment Collection (PB)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black Memento; Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn Distress (TH), Tombow Markers,

Versamark

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI, drywall tape, white and clear Embossing powder, heat tool,

 Mister (TH), inking tool (TH)

Natural Beauty- The Flower Challenge

Good Morning.
It's time for a new card for
The Flower Challenge

 This month's theme is Anything Goes.

Spring is blooming and the poppies are such a happy, welcome sight.
I picked up this wonderful stamp back in April at Scrapfest and wanted to ink it up.

I began by masking my watercolour  paper with painter's tape.  Just a reminder, if you are using this tape remove some of the tack or it will tear your paper.  Nothing worse then finishing a card front, removing the tape and ripping the edges.
I inked my stamp inside my Misti with black ink and stamped.  I added clear embossing powder over the image and heat set it.  Next, I  coloured them using my Zigs.  I like to put some colour on the base of my flowers then using a wet paintbrush, pull the colour up into the top of the image.
I stamped the sentiment and then used some Distress ink to sponge the edges, removed the painter's tape and mounted the piece onto a red cardstock base.

Thanks so much for coming by to take a look.
I hope you will come play along with us.

Adding my card to these challenges:
Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES
Addicted to Stamps and More- CLEAN AND SIMPLE
Watercooler Wed.- ANYTHING GOES
A Bit More Time to Craft- ANYTHING GOES
Crafty Purple Frog- FABULOUSLY FLORAL

Supplies
Stamps- Sketchy Poppies (Frog's Whiskers Ink); Life's Path (High Hopes Rubber)
Ink- Tuxedo black Memento; Peeled Paint Distress (TH)
Paper- Canson 140lb watercolour
Accessories and Tools- MISTI, clear eb powder, heat tool, painter's tape, Zigs, paintbrush

Monoprinting and Flowers

Happy Saturday!

Meet today's card.  

Playing with a stencil and my new Distress Oxide inks.

I wanted to give my Oxides a try using a monoprinting technique.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results.  I found the colours were stronger and layered over one another so well.

So, for the monoprinted bkg., I rubbed the back of my stencil from The Crafter's Workshop with the Oxides, sprayed with water and pressed onto the paper.  I used a heavy weight cardstock but you could easily use a piece of watercolour paper.  Love the way the design transferred onto the paper.

It gave me this fun background design which was perfect to stamp onto.

I placed the piece into my Misti, inked up the flowers and stamped them to the side.  I stamped the sentiment and then to add more depth and interest, I randomly stamped the script.

Thanks so very much for coming by and hope you have a great weekend.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING GOES STAMPED

Time Out- QUOTE
As You Like It- FAV REASON FOR MAKING CARDS AND WHY

(I love creating personalized cards to give to family and friends, 
I also enjoy the creative process and playing with inks)

Stamps and Stencils- WORDS WITH MEANING

Supplies

Stamps- Wildflowers (TH), Journey (Impression Obsession), Script (Penny Black)

Ink- Tuxedo Black (Memento); Distress Oxides (Wilted Violet, Broken China, Peeled Paint)

Paper- heavy weight cardstock (local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI, Mini Tiny Circles stencil (TCW), mister (TH)

Summertime- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Hello and Welcome.

Time for another fun month at the 

CAS Watercolour Challenge

This month our challenge is all about summer.  

For me, summer is all about the beach and warm, sunny days.

This month we are joined by two great guests:
LeAnne Pugliese (wee inklings) and Ksenija (Sweet Kobylkin)

So onto my summer card.

I began creating the panel by inking up my non-stick craft sheet with Distress inks, sprayed with water and pressed my paper into the wet ink.  I used a heavy white cardstock that I get from a local store.

I used a wet paintbrush and some more ink to watercolour in some of the areas that didn't get inky and to add some extra visual interest, dots and sprays like the beach and sky would have.

Next, I placed the crane stamps into my Misti, inked with black Memento ink and stamped to create my scene.  I just picked these stamps up at Scrapfest back in April and thought they were perfect for this theme.

I stamped the sentiment onto my card front using my Misti again.

I mounted the piece on a dark blue cardstock, glued it down onto my white card front, then scored a line on either side to define the stamped panel.

Thanks so much for coming to take a look. 

Please come and play along with us.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says- ANYTHING GOES

Addicted to Stamps and More- CLEAN AND SIMPLE

Crafty Animals- ANYTHING GOES

Alphabet Challenge- 'F' FOR FEATHERED FRIENDS


Supplies

Stamps-Flying Crane, Standing Crane (Frog's Whiskers Ink); Many Thanks (Simon Says)

Ink- Memento black; Stormy Sky, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feather Distress (TH)

Paper- heavy white (bulk- local store)

Accessories and Tools- MISTI, ScorPal, non-stick craft mat (TH), clear eb powder, paintbrush