Colourful Ferns

Welcome

I'm enjoying some time off and glad to be having some extra play time.

Here is a simple card I created using this beautiful fern background stamp and some Brushos.

So, I began with a piece of heavy white cardstock, positioned in my Misti. I rubbed it with my Anti-static bag and inked with some Versamark ink, then white heat embossed the ferns.

Using some diluted Brushos and a paintbrush, I added the background colour all around the ferns, adding some dark and light to look like shadows.  I love the way it turned out.

While that dried, I die-cut the sentiment 3 times and glued them together for stability.

I glued the sentiment over the fern bkg and simply mounted that onto a white card base.

Thanks so much for visiting today....so appreciated.

Supplies

Stamp- Fern Garden (Stampendous)

Inks- Brusho, Versamark

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); Celebrate die (MFT); white eb powder; heat tool;

anti-static bag, Cuttlebug

Celebrate Craft Stamper Magazine

Good Morning

Today, I have the pleasure of being the GD on the blog over at the Craft Stamper Magazine.

It is a real honor to be chosen and I have another one of my cards being published in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Here is the card I created for the blog post this month.

I began with a piece of Yupo paper and inked it up with different shades of Ranger Alcohol inks.

I used some blending solution to help move the inks around and distribute the colour.

I set that aside until totally dry which goes quickly.

Next, I positioned this wonderful Fern stamp inside my Misti then inked it up with some Ranger Alcohol Lifting Ink and stamped over my AI inked piece.  I repeated this process to get a good impression of my stamp.  When the piece was totally dry, I took a paper towel and rubbed to lift off the ink in the stamped areas.  

Love how this card just screams 'Spring'

I die-cut the sentiment 3 times and glued them together, then glued them onto my card front.

I simply mounted that 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.- WEDDING/ANNIVERSARY

Time Out- NATURE

Die Cuttin Divas- MASCULINE/ FATHER'S DAY

Unicorn Challenge- MEN/BOYS

Supplies

Stamp- Fern Garden (Stampendous)

Inks- Ranger Alcohol inks

Paper- Yupo; heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); Celebrate die (MFT); Ranger Blending Solution;

Ranger AI Lifting ink; Cuttlebug

With Sympathy

Happy Saturday!

Meet today's card. 

 I'm trying to create a few extra sympathy cards to have on hand although really hoping I don't need to use them.

I have been playing around with my Brushos and some new-to-me stamps and this is what I came up with. 

For those of you that are not familiar with Brushos, they are highly pigmented inks that are activated with water. 

I began by placing my heavy white cardstock into my Misti and positioned the Fern Garden stamp over that.  Then, I carefully sprinkled on some Brushos (Turquoise, Marine Blue, Leaf Green), being sure to distribute it evenly over the panel.  You can use a DRY paintbrush to help push the Brusho crystals around too.

When I was happy with the coverage, I sprayed my stamp with some water, rubbed over it with my finger to help distribute the water and stamped.  You may have to repeat this process if the water hasn't reached all parts of your stamp.

Now the important part....set it carefully aside and leave it to dry.  

When totally dry, brush away the excess Brusho crystals.  

I placed the dry piece back into my Misti and stamped the sentiment, heat embossed it with some clear powder to help it pop.

I simple mounted it over a plain white card base.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:
Simon Says Wed.- MASCULINE
Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES
Time Out- NATURE

Supplies

Stamps- Fern Garden (Stampendous); Scripted Bold Sentiments 2 (Pinkfresh Studio)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Brushos

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); Mister (TH); paintbrush

Flowers for You

Meet today's card.

First, I want to say thanks so much to Shery Russ from STAMPlorations for this great stencil included in a prize pkg. I won.  I just got a chance to play with it and this is what I came up with.

I began with a piece of heavy white cardstock and used my technique called Swipe Your Credit Card.  To see more, check out this post.

I rubbed some of my Distress Oxide inks onto a sheet of acetate, sprayed with a bit of water and dipped the edge of an old credit card into the wet ink then pulled that across my paper.  I love how you can leave some white untouched areas and put colour wherever you need it.

When that was dry, I placed the stencil over my inky piece and using a slightly darker shade of DOX ink, I blended over  the stencil.  Love how it turned out.

I then stamped some script along the sides then stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink and white heat embossed it.  I added some white paint splatters then simply mounted it onto a heavy white card base.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES

Seize the Birthday- SPRING

STAMPlorations- NEVER ENDING/ANYTHING GOES

Supplies

Stamp- May Flowers Always Line (Stampendous), Script (Prima)

Inks- Seedless Preserves, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans 

DOX (TH); Versamark

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Peeking Dahlias stencil (STAMPlorations);  Misti (My Sweet Petunia); white eb powder; old credit card;  Mister (TH); heat tool; white acrylic paint; paintbrush

Pretty Poinsettia

Hello and Welcome

I just picked up this wonderful background stamp from Stampendous and just had to play with it.

I love the collage style it has and this card came together quickly which is great for this time of year.

I began by placing the stamp inside of my Misti, inked it up with some Versamark ink and stamped onto my heavy white cardstock.  I then heat embossed it with some white powder.  

I like using the heavy white instead of watercolour paper as I find the ink sits on the surface and pools a bit better rather then blending in.

Next, I took some red Brushos and sprinkled it just over the flowers then sprayed with water to activate the colour crystals.  Like I have mentioned before, less is more when working with Brushos as they are highly concentrated.  I let that dry a bit then sprinkled on some purple Brushos over the other areas and sprayed with water again.  I let it dry a bit then using a wet paintbrush, I applied some more red to the flowers to help make them pop.

When is was all fully dry, I mounted it onto a plain white card base.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Simon Says Wed.- CHRISTMAS

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES

Supplies

Stamp- Poinsettia Collage (Stampendous)

Inks- Versamark; Brushos

Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)

Accessories and Tools- Misti (My Sweet Petunia); white eb powder; heat tool; paintbrush

Joyful

Good Morning.

Here is a simple card I made while playing with my Distress Oxide inks and a credit card.  

I showed some cards I had created on my blog months ago about how to do this technique but I will give you a short review.

To see the original post go here.

I used a heavy weight cardstock instead of watercolour paper so the ink would sit on top of the paper and not soak in.  I rubbed the Oxide ink directly onto my non-stick craft sheet, sprayed with water and dipped just the edge of my credit card into the ink and then dragged it across and down my paper.

 

When it was dry, I placed the piece inside my Misti to stamp the flower and add the sentiment.

Thanks so much for coming to take a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES

Use Your Stuff- ANYTHING GOES

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING STAMPED GOES

Crafty Cardmakers- FLORAL DELIGHT

Supplies

Stamps- Agapanthus Cluster (Stampendous); Agapanthus Long (Stampendous);

Fill Your Heart (Rubbernecker)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean

Distress Oxides (TH)

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- Misti; credit card; Mister (TH); non-stick mat (TH)

Paint Your Dreams

Hello and Welcome.

Just popping in with a super quick, simple card today.

I think this card was so inspired by my need for Spring to arrive.

Can you believe that I went with green and not blues?!!

I began creating my card front by masking off the top and bottom portions as I wanted to keep the stenciling to the center area of my paper leaving some white space top and bottom.

I rubbed Peeled Paint over my stencil with a sponge applicator then removed it.  I stamped the clock face (an old stamp with no name on it) off to the side for interest.

Next, I placed the flowers into my Misti, inked them up with black Memento and stamped over the stenciled bkg.

I added some black paint splatters for interest as well.

That's it.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says- Make Your Own Bkg.

Little Red Wagon- GO GREEN

Stamping Sensations- ANYTHING WITH FLOWERS

Dragonfly Dreams- FLOWERS

Supplies

Stamps- Life is Art (Stampendous); Dans la Nature (Carabelle); Meadow (Inkadinkadoo)

Inks- Tuxedo Black Memento; Peeled Paint (Distress)

Paper- heavy white (local store)

Accessories and Tools- Misti; Stencil- TCW; inking tool (TH); ScorTape; paint brush

Lovely Silhouettes- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Hello and Welcome.

Time for another theme at the 

CAS WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE

I just love silhouette stamps, so I was excited to see our theme this month and I had just picked up this lovely set from Simon Says and wanted to play with it!

I began making my card by masking off the area on my card front using Painter's Tape.
I stamped the thistles using my Misti and Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  I then clear heat embossed them so that there would be no black bleeding into my background when I added the watercolouring.

Leaving the taped mask in place, I watercoloured the background using Distress inks and a wet paintbrush.  Just press your ink pad directly onto your acrylic block or non-stick pad and pick up the colour using a wet paintbrush.
I did some stenciling using drywall tape just on the blue area to add interest.
After removing the painter's tape and to help pull the whole thing together, I doodled a border around the watercoloured area.  I stamped the sentiment then splattered some white acrylic paint over the bkg. for further interest and texture.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.
Hope you will come and play along with us.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed- ANYTHING GOES

Shopping Our Stash- FAVOURITE SEASON
(summer)
Addicted to Stamps and More- MAKE YOUR MARK

Craft Stamper Magazine- ANYTHING GOES STAMPING


Supplies
Stamps- Dans la Nature (Carabelle); Little Note (Stampendous)
Ink- Tuxedo Black Memento; Peeled Paint, Salty Ocean Distress (TH); Versamark
Paper- heavy cs (local store)
Accessories and Tools- drywall tape; white acrylic paint; Misti; clear eb powder;
fine line black marker; paintbrush

Watercoloured Roses

Good Morning.

Meet today's card inspired by this beautiful basket and the challenge at Splitcoast.

Here is what I did.  

I began by stamping the roses onto a piece of watercolour paper with Versamark ink and white heat embossed them.   Using my Zigs, I did a loose watercolour on them by putting down a bit of colour then pulling the inks into the stamped image with a wet paintbrush.

Next, I pressed some Distress ink directly from the pad onto my non-stick craft sheet and used the wet paintbrush to fill in the background.  There was some leftover ink on my sheet when I was done that I didn't want to waste, so I sprayed water over it and pressed my whole card front into the wet ink.  It gave a lovely texture and added depth to the whole piece.

I stamped the sentiment from Stampendous using my Misti and Tuxedo black ink.

I scored my card front (sorry, it's a bit hard to see in the photo) and then glued the piece over that.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Time Out- INSPIRED BY WORDS

A Vintage Journey- USE A QUOTE

Just Add Ink- CHOOSE TWO

(flowers, watercolour)

The Crafty Addicts- ADD A SENTIMENT

Have a great weekend and thanks for coming to visit.

Supplies

Stamps- Flower Path (Stampendous); Bamboo Roses (Altenew)

Ink- Peacock Feathers Distress, Tuxedo Black (Memento), Versamark

 Paper- Canson 140lb watercolour

Accessories and Tools- Misti, white eb powder, heat tool, paintbrush, Zigs, non-stick craft mat (Ranger),

ScorPal, ScorBug

Happy Wishes- CAS Watercolour Challenge

Welcome.

Time for another card for the 

CAS Watercolour Challenge.

This month is an easy one....flowers.  

I just picked up this sweet Blossom Bunch stamp last month at Scrapfest and wanted to play with it.  One of the reasons I liked it was all the open space on the flower petals which makes it ideal to do a loose watercolouring on.

I began by stamping the flowers onto watercolour paper then watercoloured the petals using my Zigs and a wet paintbrush.  When they were dry, I fussy cut them out and set them aside.

I die cut the stitched frame using my Cuttlebug and added some blue gingham paper behind the frame.  I think the gingham always adds such a fun and summery look.

Next, I stamped the sentiment using my Misti then popped the flowers in behind the frame.
Added some black pearls to the flower centers.

Also adding my card to these challenges:

The Crafter's Cafe- BIRTHDAY

The Crazy Challenge- MONOCHROMATIC

A Bit More Time to Craft- ANYTHING GOES

Monochromatic Magic- MONOCHROMATIC

Please come and play along with us this month.  

Supplies

Stamps- Blossom Bunch (Stampendous), Fond Expressions 2 (STAMPlorations)

Ink- Memento black

Paper- Canson 140lb watercolour

Accessories and Tools- Misti, black gems, Cuttlebug, die- MFT, Zigs, paintbrush, pop dots

Hope for Spring

Happy Friday.

I was happy I had time to play with a new sentiment stamp that I just picked up from Stampendous.

I wanted to make it the focal point of my card so here is what I did.

I began by placing the flowers by Magenta into my Misti.  I colours them with my Zig markers, sprayed with water and stamped.  

Next, I used my Misti again to stamp the sentiment with Memento black ink then clear embossed.  

I also stamped the sentiment in the background but heat embossed it with white powder.

I rubbed Squeezed Lemonade and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks over my card front to help reveal the sentiment in the background and to pull all the colours together.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says Wed- Fantastic Florals

A Bit More Time to Craft- ANYTHING GOES

Sweet Stampers- ADD A SENTIMENT

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

Supplies:  stamps- Stampendous, Magenta/ ink-Distress, Memento/ wh eb powder/ heat tool/ MISTI/ Zig markers

The Flower Challenge- Blue and Yellow

Good Morning.

After the flurry of Christmas cards, it's time for some flowers and thoughts of the garden which is now buried under the snow.
 It's time for another challenge at 

THE FLOWER CHALLENGE.

This month our theme is blue and yellow.  

Sunny and bright are a good thing at this time of year.

I began by stamping the flower from Stampendous onto heavy white cardstock with black Memento ink then I sprinkled on clear embossing powder and heat set.  The embossed edges of the stamped image help resist the paint.  Next, I  painted it using diluted Brushos.  It is easy to get lovely colour variations with the Brushos just by varying the amount of water you use.  

For the background, I sponged my card front with Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink then I stenciled using some drywall tape and the same colour.  It gives a faint pattern and interest to the background.

I stamped the sentiment from the Penny Black with Memento black then fussy cut out the flower and pop dotted it over the bkg.

I added some black gems to the flower centers to add more interest.

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

I hope you will check out the challenge and come play along with us!

Supplies:  stamps- Stampendous, PB/ ink- Memento, Distress/ drywall tape/ sponge applicator/ black gems/ Brushos/ paint brush/ cl embossing powder

Cozy Christmas Wishes

 Morning.

Meet today's card.

I pulled out this Stampendous stamp that I have had for years and thought it was time to make a card using it.  Love the sweet, vintage look it has.

I began by masking off my white cardstock using Painter's tape and stamped the image using black Memento ink.  I colored the girls using Copic markers and sponged on some Distress inks around the images.  To add to the postcard feel, I stamped the Penny Black script faintly in the background.  It really helped to add further interest to the overall design.

 I splattered with white acrylic paint then added some Wink of Stella to their faces which unfortunately doesn't show up in the photo.

Lastly, I mounted the stamped image onto a piece of maroon paper that I had silver embossed on the edges.

 Adding my card to these challenges:

CAS on Sunday- CHRISTMAS

Shopping Our Stash- WARM AND FUZZY

Addicted to Stamps and More- ANYTHING GOES

Time Out- CHRISTMAS/SHIMMER

52 CHRISTMAS CARD THROWDOW- GLITTER

Fantasy Stampers- VINTAGE

Thanks so much for taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- PB, Stampendous/ ink-Memento, Distress/ silver eb powder/ wh acrylic paint/ Copic markers/ sponge applicator/ Painter's tape/ Wink of Stella

OLS28- STENCIL

Good Morning.

June has arrived already so are you ready for a fun challenge??

This month it is my turn to host the  
OLS (One Layer Simplicity) Challenge.

The challenge is to create a one-layer card using a stencil.

This is the card I created for the challenge and I used drywall tape as my stencil.  It is really great to use as it has a sticky side that holds to your cardstock very well.

I began by masking off the edges of my card, then I stamped the flower from Stampendous using Memento black ink.  I used some diluted Brushos to loosely paint in the petals.  

When that was dry, I stenciled the background using the drywall tape, then stamped the sentiment from the Penny Black set called Treasured Sentiments.

To add a bit more interest and depth, I splattered some diluted black acrylic paint randomly over the background.

 

The really nice thing about making a one-layer card is that it is super easy to mail...no extra postage.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to CAS- PETALS

CASology- CAS

Simon Says- ANYTHING GOES

I hope you will join us this month and play along.

Supplies: stamps- Stampendous, Penny Black/ Brushos/ paint brush/ drywall tape/ ink- Memento/ bl acrylic paint

Birthday Wishes

Morning.

I send more birthday cards then any other type of card, so it's great to have some extras on hand and ready to go.  I love sending them and hopefully they will bring a smile to the person receiving it.

So, let's get to today's card.

I began by creating a piece of marbled paper using alcohol inks.  It is so super easy and fun and you get different results every time.  To see a link to the tutorial go here:

Exciting Marbling

I stamped the large hydrangea flower (one of my favourite stamps) onto the marbled paper using Memento black ink.  I then watercolored it using Brushos mixed with a drop of water.  It is so fun to paint with and you can easily get such great shading using them.  

Last, I stamped the sentiment from Verses in the bottom corner using black Memento ink again.

 Adding my card to these challenge:

Seize the Birthday- FLORALS 

Addicted to Stamps and More- CLEAN AND SIMPLE

Craft Stamper- SPRING FLOWERS

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

Hope you have a great weekend.  Looking forward to lots of sunshine and warmer temps this weekend!!

Supplies:  stamps- Verses, Stampendous/ alcohol inks/ Memento bl/ Brushos/ paint brush

Purple Beauties

Good morning.

This morning I am playing along with the challenge at Splitcoast; create a purple birthday card.

I took out one of my favourite flower stamps from Stampendous and inked it up with black Memento ink.  I stamped the hydrangea onto my cardstock and did a loose watercolor using Brushos.  

I was all ready to stamp the sentiment on the card front, then I dropped the inked stamp and smudged my paper.  All was not lost though.  I cut out the flower and pop dot mounted it to my card front instead which I liked better as it added more dimension and interest....happy accident.

I die cut the front panel using a stitched die from MFT and added the sentiment.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Simon Says- ANYTHING GOES

Just Add Ink- NATURE 

Crafting With Friends- ANYTHING GOES

Have a great week and thanks for the visit.

Supplies:  stamps- Rubbernecker, Stampendous/ Brushos/ Memento bl ink/ paint brush/ stitched die- MFT/ pop dots

It's A Wonderful Life

Happy Friday!

Today, I am playing along with the challenge at Splitcoast called Pick a Movie.

Since I am totally in Christmas mode, I chose my favourite movie for the holidays called It's A Wonderful Life.  For anyone that has never seen the movie, it's about a man named George who feels that his life is worthless and through the help of an angel, he finds the true meaning of Christmas is family, friends and home.  That's what I tried to depict in my card.

I began by stamping the main image and wanted to give it a hand-painted feel so I used my Brushos to paint it instead of using ink on my stamp.  I just sprinkle a bit on my paint palette then add a bit of water and apply with a paint brush.  The image is part of a larger stamp but I cut it down using the stitched frame die from MFT and pop dot mounted it over an embossed frame on the card front.

The sentiment is from Hero arts and is stamped using Memento black ink.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Little Red Wagon- SNOW MUCH FUN 

The Male Room- THEME CHRISTMAS

Addicted to Stamps and More- CAS

City Crafter- WINTER

Card Mania- CHRISTMAS

 Crafty Creations- HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.  

Supplies:  stamps- Stampendous, Hero Arts/ Brushos/ paint brush/ Memento bl/ pop dots/ stitched die- MFT/ Cuttlebug

Life Collage

Morning.
 Just me playing with some new stamps and I make a collage card.

I like the look of monochromatic cards and used some Memento grey ink to create that look.

I began by stamping the tape measure background from the Darkroom Door.  I think I will have fun with that stamp especially for creating the look of collage cards.  Then, I stamped the flowers from Magenta to the side using my MISTI.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in black but the card needed something more, so I scored a border around the outside edge to finish it off.  Much better.

Adding my card to these challenges:

Less is More- MASCULINE

Addicted to Stamps- ANYTHING GOES

Crafty Catz- ANYTHING GOES

Crafting With Friends- ANYTHING GOES


Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Magenta, Darkroom Door, Stampendous/ Memento bl and grey ink/ ScorPal/ MISTI

Hello Hydrangea

Happy Saturday.

I really love how this card turned out using Brushos to watercolour my flowers.  I was surprised at how easy it was to get the colour variations that I wanted for the flowers.

Playing along with the Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoast and this Pinterest photo:

 

This card also gave me a chance to use my new MISTI.  Wow...amazing stamping product...LOVE!!

Sometimes, when stamping onto watercolour paper, the lines are not clearly stamped because of the texture of the paper.  By using my MISTI, I was able to ink my stamp a few times and stamp a perfect, dark black impression.  

 

I began by stamping the flower with black Memento ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  By embossing it, the raised areas act like little dams to hold the colour while painting.

I sprinkled a bit of purple and blue Brusho onto my acrylic block and picked up the colour using a wet paint brush and applied to my watercolour paper.  I found it helpful to wet the area that I wanted to paint with water first to help the colour blend when applied.

 When my paper was dry, I stamped the sentiment with more black Memento ink. 

Adding my card to these challenges:

Just Us Girls- SUMMER

Simply Papercraft- ANYTHING GOES

Sister Act- ANYTHING GOES

Cute Card Thursday- SUMMER COLOURS

Our Creative Corner- WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE

(garden)

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

Supplies:  Stamps- Technique Tuesday, Stampendous/  MISTI/ heat gun/ clear embossing powder/ Memento bl ink/ Brusho/ paint brush