Merging Backgrounds with a Pictorial

Hello and Welcome

It is my turn to host the Technique Lovers Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers today.

I like to try and think of ways to use what we have and simple enough that everyone will be able to play along.

So here's what I came up with.  I'm calling it 'Merging Backgrounds'.

Just to help make it easier for those of us that are visual learners, I have included some pictures so you can see this simple, fun process.

I'm using some new stamps I just picked up from Magenta.

Step #1

I started with a piece of white cardstock and placed a rectangle mask from 

A Colorful Life Designs over that as I wanted to be left with a clean, white border.

(that step is not necessary but it is just my personal preference)

I used some Painter's Tape and masked down the middle and to the right hand side of

my card front.

Step #2

I got out the background stamp that I wanted to use on the left-hand side of my

card front that you see here.  I inked up the Large Floral Bkg stamp with some Bundled Sage  Distress Oxide ink and stamped.  

Step #3

Here's what it looked like after stamping.

Step #4

Next, I moved the tape to the left-hand side, covering up the flowers I just previously had 

stamped.  I got out my Urban Alphabet stamp and inked that up with some more Bundled Sage

DOX ink.

Step #5

Here's what it looked like after stamping the right-hand side.

Step #6

Remove the tape and Voila! you have merged your bkgs.

I replaced the acrylic mask and stamped the flowers down the middle using the same DOX ink.

I did heat emboss the flowers to help them pop.  It also helps to cover up any gap you may

have between the two different stamped background.  I sponged a bit more ink along

the edges to help define the stamped area.

To finish off my card, I die cut a frame and scored around the outer edges to give it more of a 'framed' feel.  I glued that directly onto a plain white card base.  

I cut my piece down, leaving the white border edge and then pop dotted it inside the frame.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

I hope you will try this out.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES

The Male Room- ANYTHING GOES

A Vintage Journey- Neutral Zone

My Time to Craft- SPRING FLOWERS

Supplies

Stamps- Urban Alphabet (Magenta); Thistle (Magenta); Large Floral Bkg (Magenta)

Inks- Bundled Sage DOX (TH)

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); clear eb powder; rectangle die (Spellbinders);

Cuttlebug; pop dots; ScorPal

Just Imagine

Good Morning

Meet today's card.  Not my usual kind of card but I love how it turned out.

A few weeks ago, I attended ScrapFest and picked up a few stamps by Lavinia.  They have a very whimsical, mystical look to them and I thought if would be fun to try them out.

So onto my card.

I began with a circle mask from A Colorful Life Designs.  I am loving all these masks and find I am using them all the time.  I attached it to my plain white cardstock with some low tack tape. I blended  inside the circle with some DOX inks in greens and blues, (all colours listed below), blending until the bkg was covered with ink.  Next, I placed the Flowers Gone Wild stencil from A Colorful Life Designs over the circle mask and sponged over it with some darker shades of DOX inks keeping the blues at the top and greens to the bottom.  I lifted some of the colour on the background by shaking on a bit of water and dabbing it up with a paper towel.  I love the interest it adds.

I placed the piece into my Misti and stamped the flowers and the fairy then heat embossed them with some clear powder to help make them pop.

I stamped the sentiment then added a doodled border to the pull the whole design together.

Finally, I mounted it onto a matching piece of coloured cardstock and then onto a plain white card base.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:
Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES
Little Red Wagon- EVERYTHING IS COMING UP
Time Out- PLAYFUL

Discount Code for A Colorful Life Designs

*Just use the code KarenFan10 to get a discount on stencils and masks.*

Flowers Gone Wild

Supplies

Stamps- Lunar Buds (Lavinia); Faith Fairy (Lavinia); Imagine (High Hopes)

Inks- Lucky Clover, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Black Soot DOX (TH);

Memento Black

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook); coloured cs

Accessories and Tools- stencil Flowers Gone Wild (A Colorful Life); 

Circle Mask (A Colorful Life); Misti (My Sweet Petunia); Micron Fine Line Pen (Sakura)

clear eb powder; Blending Brush (Dollar Store)

Creative Chaos

Hello and Welcome

Happy Easter.  Glad I some time to play today.  

The title of this card describes my 'crafting time' perfectly.....I get moments here and there to create and it is therapy but a lot of times that leaves my desk in chaos.

So onto my card details.

I began with a piece of acetate, rubbed on some Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick and Carved Pumpkin DOX and sprayed with some water.  I pressed that onto my heavy white cardstock.  

When that was dry, I placed it into my Misti, stamped the flower with black and then clear heat embossed it as I knew I wanted to watercolour the flower head and didn't want the black ink to bleed. 

Using some more DOX inks in the same colours, I rubbed the ink directly onto my non-stick craft mat and picked up the paint with a wet paintbrush to fill in the flower.

Leaving the piece in my Misti, I stamped the grid and circles with more Carved Pumpkin.

I added some stenciling using the Happy Dots (love that stencil for adding a bokeh look to bkgs.) and the Simple Grid from A Colorful Life Designs.

I had some ink left on my mat so I used that to add some splatters then stamped and embossed the sentiment.

I mounted it all onto a plain white card base.

Here are the stencils I used:

Discount Code for A Colorful Life Designs

*Just use the code KarenFan10 to get a discount on stencils and masks.*

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- SPRING MOD BOARD

Addicted to Stamps and More- MAKE YOUR MARK

Use Your Stuff- EASTER/ SPRING

Craft Stamper Magazine- TAKE IT, MAKE IT STAMPED

Supplies

Stamps- Creative Chaos (Visible Image); Wanderlust (Studio Light); 

Patio Stone (Designs by Ryn)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; DOX- Carved Pumpkin, Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick (TH)

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); stencils- A Colorful Life Designs;

non-stick craft mat (Ranger); paintbrush; makeup brush

Single Poppy- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Hello and Welcome

Time for another card for the 

CAS WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE

This month our theme is Poppy.

So onto my card details.

Last month, I was so lucky to have won a gift certificate to buy some goodies from Visible Image Stamps.  I have had my eye on this poppy set called Creative Chaos for awhile so was thrilled to pick it up.

I began with some heavy white cardstock and applied some Twisted Citron and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide inks along the right side using the Acetate Inking technique.  I stamped the circles, also from that set, over the inked area to add interest.  

I placed the dried piece into my Misti and stamped the Poppy with some Tuxedo black Memento ink and clear heat embossed it as I wanted to do some watercolouring and didn't want the inks to bleed.

I rubbed some more of the Distress Oxides inks onto my acetate sheet and picked up the ink with a wet paintbrush to watercolour the flower head.

I stamped the sentiment using my Misti again and simply mounted it all onto a white card base.

Thanks so much for coming to take a look.

I hope you will check out the beautiful poppy cards our DT's have created.

Supplies

Stamps- Creative Chaos (Visible Image); Life's Path (High Hopes Stamps)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron, Broken China DOX (TH)

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); paintbrush; acetate sheet

Flower Trio- The Flower Challenge

Good Morning and welcome.

Time for a reminder card for 

The Flower Challenge

This month we are using a simple sketch as our inspiration.

So this is how I created my card.

I began by masking the left side of my white card front with some Post-It tape.  I inked up my Wanderlust stamp and pressed it over the masked area.  I removed the tape and then scored along the edges of the stamped area with my ScorPal to use as the first panel.

The smaller purple panel was a piece of leftover Yupo paper that I had inked with some Alcohol inks and Blending Solution.  I cut it to size and glued it onto a piece of white cardstock for stability.

Next, I placed the piece into my Misti and stamped the sentiment with more of the blue Archival   ink.

Lastly, I stamped the flowers with some Versamark ink onto more leftover Yupo inked paper and then carefully white heat embossed them.  I say 'carefully' as your Yupo will warp and bubble with too much heat.  I like to get my heat tool really hot then make passes over until the eb powder is melted.  I fussy cut out the flowers, then attached them to my card with some pop dots.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Hope you check out the amazing cards our DT's have created.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- NO DESIGNER PAPER

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES

Just Us Girls- OFF THE EDGE

Supplies

Stamps- Wanderlust (Studio Light); sentiment- SSS Sketched Flowers; Fabulous Florets (SU)

Inks- Alcohol (Ranger); Archival (Ranger)

Paper- Yupo; heavy white

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); ScorPal; tape for masking;

heat tool; white eb powder; pop dots

Note Card and a Short Pictorial

Hello and Welcome

I was playing with some more of the HP Photo Paper I got from a friend and my Distress Oxide inks and remembered this time to take pictures of the process so you could give it a try.

It is easy and fun to do.  As you apply inks, you are left with a chalky looking piece until you wipe it all down with a baby wipe and the magic appears.  The colours become brighter and more vibrant.

From what I have read, this only works if you use the Distress Oxide inks because of their unique properties.

So here we go....hope you enjoy will give it a try.

STEP #1

Here is how I began.
 On the left hand side you will see the piece of photo paper I used. 

On the right is a piece of acetate that I inked directly with my Blueprint Sketch DOX ink and gave it a spray of water.

STEP #2

I took the inked piece of acetate and pressed it directly onto my photo paper.

STEP #3

I repeated that process again but this time adding some Peacock Feathers DOX ink.

STEP #4

I kept building the layers of colours by adding some Lucky Clover and Bundled Sage DOX.

STEP #5

When it was dry, I stamped some Graffiti down the left hand side using more Blueprint Sketch DOX.

You can still see how chalky the piece looks.

STEP #6

Ok, here comes the fun part.  

Take a baby wipe and wipe off the whole piece and watch the colours emerge.

I cut the piece down to use for my card as I decided to make a note sized card.  I'll keep the other half for another time.  

To complete my card, I die-cut the Olive Branch and glued that onto the front and stamped the sentiment using my Misti and some Memento ink.

I hope you enjoyed this short pictorial and thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Seize the Birthday- ANYTHING GOES

The Male Room- SPRING

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES

Simon Says Wed.- NO DESIGNER PAPER

Supplies

Stamps- Graffiti (Kaisercraft); Bright Idea (Technique Tues.)

Paper- HP Photo; heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Inks- Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers, Lucky Clover, Bundled Sage DOX (TH);

Tuxedo Black Memento

Accessories and Tools- Olive Branch die (Poppy Stamps), Misti, baby wipes;

acetate sheet; Cuttlebug; Tombow Aqua glue

Meadow Clover

Hello and Welcome.

This is today's card inspired by a piece of inky Yupo paper I made awhile ago.

So onto my card.

This piece has been in my stash for awhile.  I like to do a bunch and put them away for future use.

I began with a piece of Yupo that I applied some Alcohol inks with Blending Solution to help move the inks around.  I love watching the magic of the inks move.  I did rub on some blue foil that stuck to the wet areas of the inks that added a bit of a shine.  I cut the larger piece into a small panel and adhered it to a piece of white cardstock for stability.  

Next, I die-cut the clovers with more white cardstock and glued them to the front of the inked panel.

Love how the white just pops against the inky bkg.

I took a piece of matching blue cardstock and ran it through my Cuttlebug in a plaid embossing folder to add some texture to the main panel.  

Lastly, I pop dot mounted the AI piece over the embossed bkg then onto a plain white card base.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Work It Wed. March- SPRING FLORALS

CASology- BURST

CAS on Fridays- SPRING

Supplies

Stamps- None

Inks- Alcohol inks (Ranger)

Paper- Yupo; heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Blending Solution (Ranger); Blue Foil; 

Meadow Clover die (Poppystamps); Plaid eb folder (Echo Park); Cuttlebug

Rose Garden- The Flower Challenge

Good Morning

It's time for another fun theme at 

The Flower Challenge

This month we are challenging you to create a card using this simple sketch.

Please be sure to check out all the great cards created by our DT's.

So onto my card.

I had a piece of Alcohol inked Yupo that I thought would make for some beautiful roses so I die-cut the roses with some heavy white cardstock first then cut again with the inked Yupo.  I carefully glued the die-cut pieces back into the white outline and set them aside.  (I should mention that I did modify the die by cutting it down a bit before adding it to my card.)

Using my Grid embossing folder, I embossed the long panel of the sketch you see to the left side.  Since I was leaving my card white, I wanted to add as much texture and interest as possible. 

Next, I die-cut the Swirl Square twice and glued them to another piece of cs to use as the smaller piece on the sketch.  I love how they look.

I then glued it all together as per the sketch, pop dotted the roses and added some little pearls as the finishing touch.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies

Stamps- None

Inks- Alcohol ink

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Swirl Squares die (Penny Black); EB grid (Darice); 

Rose Cluster (Kaisercraft); pop dots; sm pearls; Tombow Mono Aqua glue

Red Poppies- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Hello and Welcome

Time for another fun theme at the 

CAS WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE

So pull out your poppy stamps and come play along with us.

This month, we welcome our Guest Rachel from Creating Paper Hugs.

Please be sure to check out the wonderfully done creations by the DT's.

So onto my card.

I began with a piece of heavy white cardstock.  I stamped the outline portion of the Altenew Poppy stamp with some black Memento ink.  I decided to watercolour my poppies using some Brushos so I sprinkled a bit onto a palette, added some water to dilute and picked up the wet paint with my brush.

Love the vibrancy the Brushos give.  

To add interest, I used the Chain Weave stencil placing it over he poppies then rubbed on some Weathered Wood DOX ink to the background just around the flower.  It still kept my card clean and simple but added the bit of contrast I wanted to better show off the poppies.

I then splattered with more diluted ink then stamped the sentiment using my Misti.

I glued that onto a piece of red cardstock and then onto a plain white card base.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES

Try it On Tuesday- USE A STENCIL OR 2

Work It Wed. SSS- SPRING FLOWERS

Supplies

Stamps- Treasure the Moments (Impression Obsession); Painted Poppy (Altenew)

Inks- Weathered Wood DOX (TH); Brushos

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook); red cs

Accessories and Tools- Chain Weave stencil (A Colorful Life Designs); paintbrush; 

Misti (My Sweet Petunia); sponging tool; plastic palette

Discount Code for A Colorful Life Designs

*Just use the code KarenFan10 to get a discount on stencils and masks.*