Experimenting with Markers

Hi everyone.  I sent this off to my dear friend Jules (Crafted by Jules) for her birthday.  Hopefully you'll receive it soon Jules, but for now ... you'll get to see it virtually. :)

Happy Birthday Jules!!

This card is a little experimenting I did with the Watercolour Spritz technique. Usually a silhouette stamp is used for this technique, but I used an outline stamp this time.  I coloured the outline stamp with markers, using colours that I wanted to use for my image, spritzed with water and stamped onto watercolour paper that already had a splash watercolour background done in two shades of yellow distress inks.  Click HERE to see my tutorial on making Splash Watercolour backgrounds.

The images created a wonderful outline for me to watercolour.  I learned that I should use a lighter version of the colours so that they blend into my watercolouring to create a no-line look.  But other than that, I'm happy with how it turned out.  I used a brush and more distress inks to watercolour the petals of the flowers, adding shading to create a dimensional look.  I then splattered lightly with both green and bright orange inks.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Stamps:  Blooming Garden (Penny Black); A Little Sentimental (Clearly Besotted)
Paper:  White card base (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Watercolour panel (Arches 140 lb. cold press)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Festive Berries, Barn Door (Tim Holtz); Old Olive (SU! -- used for the sentiment)
Accessories & Tools:  water mister, paint brushes

Snowflakes and Brushos

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing two cards that are very similar.  Different dry embossed backgrounds, but same techniques, stamps and products.

I will keep one for my Christmas card stash and donate the second one.

I used some dry embossed backgrounds given to me by my good friend, Susan.  I think I've had these for a couple of years.  I'm just a little slow at getting to things sometimes. :)  Anyways, I think they make a great background for my snowflake tags.  Lots of white space (which I love), along with some fun products and techniques ... Brushos over top of heat embossing.

Here's the second one ...

I still struggle with photographing anything that is heat embossed ... and silver seems to be the most difficult of all.  Probably being on the vellum banner adds even more challenges for my camera (and me). :)

I used snippets for the tags, snowflake die-cuts and vellum banners, so I'm heading over to play at the Snippets Playground.  Di is back after a fun-filled vacation where she met up with Darnell and several crafting friends.  I'm sure Parsnip is glad she is home. :)

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Snowflake Background (Hero Arts); Handy Christmas Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  White card base (Neenah 110 lb); Mixed Media tags (Strathmore 140 lb.); Silver Foil (SU!), Vellum
Ink:  Versamark; Brushos:  Turquoise, Ultra Marine
Accessories & Tools:  Clear embossing powder, heat tool, water mister, silver embossing powder, embossing folder backgroundss (gifted); Marianne snowflake die (Simon Says), white ribbon, silver cording

Challenges:
Snippets Playground - Week 239

No Reply Blogger Notice

Hi everyone.  A few of my blogging friends have recently done posts on a common problem faced by many bloggers.  I thought I'd join them to pass along info on how we can be better connected.

Do you get comments on your blog without a return email address??  Lots of times I get comments from people and it has their name, but the email address is "No Reply Blogger", or it comes in as "via blogger.bounces.google.com".  There is no way to return those comments directly.

I like to followup up with people that send me comments.  Mostly because I really appreciate them taking the time to send me a message, but it also gives me the opportunity to get to know people a little better.  Sometimes it's just to share a mutual appreciation for each other's work, and sometimes it is the start of a good friendship.

Many people that leave comments don't even realize that they come up as "No Reply Blogger".  They assume their their email is being included, but a lot of the time it is not.

If you want to find out how your comments come through to others, leave yourself a comment on one of your blog posts (you can delete it afterwards).  It will send you an email and you can see for yourself if your email address is included.

If your email isn't included you can EASILY change this.  It's in your Blogger Profile.  Open your blogger dashboard (the place where you start posts, etc.) and you will see your profile picture at the top right.  Click on your picture and a drop-down menu will appear, click on "Blogger Profile".  It opens with your profile picture, list of blogs you follow, etc.  At the top right is an "Edit Profile" button ... click on it. It has a list of items with check boxes. Make sure the line "Show my email address" is checked and then hit the "Save" button at the very bottom to save your changes.

A simple fix to keep us all better connected.

Thank you and have a great day!

Stencil Monoprint and More

Hi everyone.  I'm back with more sunflower stenciled cards.  I'm having fun trying all different techniques with my sunflower stencil.  Still have a few more to try. :)

Today is the stencil monoprint technique.  This is where ink is added to the stencil itself.  You can press with inks pads onto the back of a stencil, or use sprays, paints, stains, etc.  Spray with water to activate the inks, then flip it over onto a piece of mixed media or watercolour paper.  Press and blot with a paper towel or cloth to keep the open areas of the stencil free of colour.  After the colour has been pressed into the card, you pull the stencil off and then blot one last time to absorb any excess diluted ink.  This is a way to colour the background of your card front, leaving the stencil image free of colour.

My dear friend, Lee-Anne (Creatively LA) has a wonderful video tutorial on this technique.  Click HERE to watch ... you'll be so glad you did as she explains the technique and shows a few different products that you can use.

I used three colours of distress inks for my monoprint (squeezed lemonade, abandoned coral and worn lipstick), sprayed with water, pressed onto watercolour paper and ended up with this beautiful print.  All that was added was a stamped sentiment in brown ink, which was clear heat embossed to make the colour a bit stronger.  Easy and quick card to make.


Here's a stepped-up version ...

I used the same three inks, but must have sprayed more water as they blended and combined so you mostly see the coral colour.  After it dried, I added the stencil back over top and lined it up with the image from the print.  I spread a layer of embossing paste and let it dry.  It adds a lot of depth and texture to the card front.  This time I added a vellum banner with white heat embossed sentiment.

Hard to photograph this card as it is so light ... but (hopefully) you can see the texture.

Two ways to stencil monoprint, the first card using just the negative of the stencil ... and the second card using both the negative and positive.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Sentiment (Cosmos - Technique Tuesday); Sentiment (The Big, the Bold, the Happy - Winnie & Walter)
Paper:  White card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Watercolour paper (gift from my friend Christine)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Abandoned Coral, Worn Lipstick, Vintage Photo); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Mini Joyful Sunflower stencil (The Crafter's Workshop); water mister, Embossing Paste (Dreamweaver), palette knife, clear embossing powder, white embossing powder, heat tool