Monday, February 15, 2021

The Flower Challenge #53 Reminder

Hi everyone.  It's already half way through February and time for the reminder post for The Flower Challenge #53.
I used a new stamp and new die on my card above.  The roses are actually a stamp (Peony Bouquet from Simon Says Stamp), even though it looks like a stencil (and they do sell a stencil with this design as well).

I inked all the roses with Picked Raspberry distress ink and stamped onto mixed media paper.  I wiped off the stamp and then added Mowed Lawn distress ink on the leaves and stamped again to finish the image.  I used my water brush to move colours around.  I added some Candied Apple and more Picked Raspberry ink to add shading  Wild Honey distress ink was used to add the centers of the flowers.  I thought the card looked very flat, so cut a rectangle from the center, added a white card stock backing slightly larger than the image; then popped up on foam over top of the card base.

The sentiment is a die (Happy Birthday Friendship Script from Memory Box).  Die-cut from black and added Crystal Glaze over top to give some shine and dimension.  Then adhered the die-cut to the center of the card.

Close-up ...
I hope you'll check out the challenge blog to see the amazing reminder cards from the talented Designers.  

Hope to see you in the gallery

Since I used a new stamp and die, I'm entering this card into NBUS Challenge #23 (never-before-used-schtuff). :)



Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Picked Raspberry, Mowed Lawn, Candied Apple, Wild Honey (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   water brush, rectangle die, Happy Birthday die (Memory Box), Crystal Glaze (Nuvo)

Challenges:

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Penny Black - For You

Hi everyone.  Happy Valentine's Day!!  Hope you are all having a wonderful and relaxing day.  

Penny Black has a new release "Daydream" with went live yesterday.  This is the first image I'm playing with (...For You).  These mice are so adorable carrying the beautiful rose.  Smiled the whole time I was making this card! :)  I wanted to have the mice standing on something fun, so added a chain of hearts (heart image from Huggable) for them to run across.   Both cards are watercoloured with a mix of Distress Inks and Dye Inks.

Close-up ...
You can see the shimmer of clear Wink of Stella on the hearts to add a little sparkle. :)

Next card is super CAS.  I just used the rose from the same image above ...
This rose is so gorgeous, I wanted to show it all by itself.  I then fussy-cut and popped up on my card front that has a wonderful sentiment from one of the other new sets - Smiles.

I'm sending this card over to The Flower Challenge #53.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!!

Smiles (30-802)

Stamps:  For You (Penny Black); Smiles (Penny Black); Hearts (Huggable - Penny Black)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Distress Inks:  Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Rustic Wilderness (Tim Holtz); Granny Smith Apples, Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:   Clear embossing powder, heat tool, water brush, Clear Wink of Stella

Challenges:

Thursday, February 11, 2021

February's Zoom Fun!

Hi everyone.  Yesterday was the monthly Zoom call with my Crafty Friends. :)  We tried out a few more sponging techniques that everyone seemed to enjoy.  These are just two of the card samples I made for the call.

Starting with a technique from a recent Kristina Werner video.  Not sure what she calls this, but I would say it's like a sponging bleed through a stencil.  I have enjoyed trying bleeds from watercolouring, and this is similar in look.

Used a beautiful stencil (Festive from Tim Holtz), along with my blender brushes to add different colours of distress ink over the stencil (Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Forrest Green, Rustic Wilderness, Gathered Twigs, Chipped Sapphire).  With using the really small brushes to get into tight spaces, I didn't have to do any masking - bonus!

Removed stencil and then used the blender brushes to add a very soft "haze" over each of the stenciled images in the same colour ink.  This blending fills in most of the white space and softens the overall look.  LOVE IT!

Close-up ...
Added a few extra details such as white paint pen to add snow to the pinecones, holly, and leaves, crystal glaze to the berries; stamped the sentiment (Big Scripty Greetings Holiday - Simon Says Stamp) in Chipped Sapphire ink, heat embossing in clear.  I thought it didn't stand out enough, so used the small tip of the crystal glaze to draw over the sentiment.  To finish, I splattered "falling snow" using diluted white acrylic paint.




Here's the second card I made ... can you tell I'm still happy to be making Christmas cards??!! :)
I'm really happy with how this turned out as well.  Used a stencil from Kaisercraft (Poinsettia), and the same technique as above.  Used a silver metallic pen to add dots to the centers of the poinsettias, and pencils to add veins to the poinsettias and holly.  Just adding little details makes a big difference.  I die-cut "noel" (from Memory Box - retired) from black card stock four times and layered them together with glue.  I covered the stack with Versamark and heat embossed with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) three times to get this beautiful, glossy finish.

Close-up ...
Thanks for stopping by to take a look.  I hope to post more sample cards soon, as well as the cards I made yesterday.


Stamps:  Big Scripty Greetings Holiday (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Night of Navy card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Forrest Green, Rustic Wilderness, Gathered Twigs, Chipped Sapphire (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Festive stencil (Tim Holtz); blending brushes, Posca white acrylic paint pen, Crystal Glaze (Nuvo), clear embossing powder, heat tool

Stamps:  None
Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Candied Apple, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories: Poinsettia stencil (Kaisercraft); blending brushes, silver metallic pen (Pilot), watercolour pencils (Derwent), Noel die (Memory Box), UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), heat tool  

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Twofer #35 Challenge

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing two balloon cards for the Twofer #35 Challenge.  This is my first time making slimline cards and I had fun with more room to play on the card, but photographing them is difficult.


Remember to create ...
Today I'm using a balloon stencil (Big Balloon Stencil - My Favorite Things).  I created my happy birthday card by sponging six balloons in the colours of the rainbow, overlapping them slightly.  The die-cut Happy Birthday is from Memory Box.

Close-up ...

For my Baby card, I used just one balloon.  Started by sponging a plaid background (Plaid Layering Stencil - Tim Holtz).  I sponged my one balloon first with picked rasberry ink (which was used for the plaid background as well, and then shaded with Seedless Preserves.  These colours work well together - who knew??!! :)  The sentiment is also from AliExpress.

Close-up ...

Since this is the first time inking up the plaid stencil, I'm sending this card over to the NBUS Challenge #23.

I hope you'll come join in this very fun challenge!


Card #1 - Happy Birthday Balloons
Stamps:  Scripty Words (AliExpress)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Broken China, Wilted Violet (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Big Balloon Stencil (My Favorite Things); blending brushes, black fine marker, Happy Birthday die (Memory Box)

Card #2 - New Baby
Stamps:  Scripty Words (AliExpress)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)
Accessories:  Plaid stencil (Tim Holtz); blending brushes, Big Balloon stencil (My Favorite Things), black fine marker

Challenges: