Altenew

Peony Scrolls

August 7, 2017

Hi there! I’ve got a quick card to share today using Altenew’s Peony Scrolls stamp set. Their beautiful flower images are pure joy to color and I decided to use Chameleon pens on this one. Funny enough, one of the pens is called “Peony Pink” and it does closely match the color of peonies, so that’s what I used on the flower.

I’ve played around a little bit with these pens before, mostly coloring small images. This was the first larger image I’ve colored with them and it takes a bit of patience. If you’re not familiar with these pens, they give the ability to transition easily from a light to darker shade of a color by fusing the ink with colorless blender inside of the pen. You do have to constantly fuse the ink though as you’re working on small sections of an image and that takes a few seconds. That’s where the patience aspect comes in.

I used “Green Apple” on the leaves and then added a light blue shadowing around the flower with a Copic B000 and colorless blender to soften it out. You can’t see it in the photos, but I also added clear Wink of Stella to the tips of the petals and leaves for a little shimmer.

I die-cut a Hero Arts thanks sentiment from a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock that I sponged with Distress Oxide ink in Twisted Citron and spritzed with a spray bottle. To make the sentiment show up a bit more, I die-cut the sentiment again from black cardstock and slightly overlapped the two. I also added a light gray shadow under the sentiment once I had adhered it with a Copic W3.

To finish the card, I stamped the small portion of the sentiment from the same Hero Arts stamp and die set and adhered a few flat-back pearls around the image. The patterned paper mat is an Anna Griffin paper that has the same color scheme.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

Lawn Fawn

Ahoy, Matey!

August 4, 2017
Lawn Fawn Scalloped Pop-up Box card die, Lawn Fawn Ahoy Matey stamp set

Happy Friday! I’m excited to share this little box card I made using the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Pop-up Box card die. I’ve had this die for a couple of months and I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by it. I watched a few Lawn Fawn videos on how to put it together and it’s a good thing I did. There’s no way I would’ve figured out the little tricks to it, so I highly recommend checking out their instructions.

This was a little (a lot) time consuming, but so worth it in the end! I used the Lawn Fawn Ahoy, Matey stamp set and coordinating dies and a tiny little shark in the very front of the scene from the Lawn Fawn Duh-nuh stamp set. All of the images are colored with Copics and the clouds in the background are die-cut using the Lawn Fawn Simple Puffy Clouds dies.

I’ve got 5  layers in the card that I die-cut using the MFT Ocean Wave and Scenic Safari die-namics and inked with Distress inks.

I’ve got a lot of patterned paper in my stash and I found the FancyPants “Down by the Shore” 6×6 paper pad to go perfectly with my theme. I’ve cut out flowers from these papers on some of the flaps and the front of the box for a little tropical feel.

On the back of the box, I’ve left a blank area to write a little message to the recipient. This is a little idea that Kelly Alvarez from Lawn Fawn suggested and I think it’s a great one to keep the message private, but still be able to display this card on a desk, etc.

The whole concept of this die is just fantastic! It folds flat to fit in an A2 size envelope. I found that the weight of the cardstock you use for the box is pretty important. If it’s too heavy, the box may not fold flat. If it’s too light, you may get cracking along the score lines of the flaps. I had to construct 2 of these boxes before this one to figure out what weight worked best and I found a medium to lighter weight kraft cardstock to work quite well.

Here’s what the front of the card looks like folded up:

 

There’s so many different themes and scenes you could make using this die, so I know I’ll be having fun with this again in the future!

Hope you enjoyed today’s card and hope you have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Avery Elle

G’ Day, Mate!

August 2, 2017

Hi there! My card today features another exclusive stamp set designed for EllenHutsonLLC in their United We Flourish campaign, this time from Avery Elle, and it’s called G’ Day Mate! I fell instantly in love with the images in this set and while I have quite a few koala stamps, these are some of my favorites.

I started out by die-cutting a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of cardstock using the center circle portion of the Avery Elle Horizontal Stripes Elle-ments die to use as a stencil for the background. I positioned the die on the cardstock piece so that the center circle was towards the top of the cardstock and centered left and right.

I then cut a piece of white cardstock 4″ x 5 1/4″ and taped the die-cut cardstock piece over the top. I airbrushed using Copic markers in Y11, Y23, YR01 and R21    .

Next, I die-cut a piece of patterned paper with the Horizontal Stripes Elle-ments die and trimmed it off at the top and bottom removing several stripes since I just wanted a portion of it across the card. I lined up the patterned paper around my airbrushed circle and adhered it in place.

I stamped and colored the koalas with Copics and die-cut around them using the coordinating dies that come with this set. They’re adhered with dimensional adhesive for extra interest.

 

I then finished the card with  a die-cut sentiment using the Avery Elle Sentimental Strips Elle-ments dies.

Hope you enjoyed and if you like this set which also includes a really cute platypus and kangaroo, don’t forget to pick these up soon before they’re gone!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Oh, Happy Day!

July 31, 2017

Hi there! What could be happier than a tiger and a monkey playing? My card for this Monday features some of my new goodies from the latest MFT release and obviously, I’m on a monkey kick right now.

I started by die-cutting a piece of Neenah cardstock and a piece of MFT patterned paper using the MFT Blueprints 31 die-namics. This is the only Blueprints die-namics set that I own as of now, so I do use this one a ton, but it’s very versatile. I’d say, an excellent buy.

Next I Copic airbrushed the cloud background using the new MFT Mini Cloud Edges stencil with B000 and B00.I then stamped the sentiment from the MFT Handwritten Happiness stamp set.

I colored the image with Copics and die-cut around it using the coordinating die-namics to this set and then adhered it using dimensional adhesive. I love how popping up the image creates a little shadow and makes it look even more as though they’re swinging in the air.

I hope this card brings a smile!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lawn Fawn

Limited Edition Lawn Fawn Stamp Set

July 28, 2017

Hi there! My card today features a really cute Lawn Fawn stamp and die combo set called Love Ya’ Bunches and it’s designed exclusively for EllenHutsonLLC. The store has teamed up with several stamp companies in their “United we Flourish” campaign and once these sets are gone, they’re gone, so check them out soon if you’re wanting them.

I’ve used MFT Stitched Dome Stax and Frames die-namics on this one and I started by die-cutting a piece of white cardstock with one of the larger Stitched Dome Stax dies for the background behind the monkeys. I sponged the entire piece with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Wild Honey and then taped a Hero Arts Swirl stencil over the top and inked with Memento Potter’s Clay.

Next, I cut a piece of jungle patterned paper for the mat on the card (this is Paper Studio brand from Hobby Lobby) and adhered this and my inked dome die-cut centered left and right on the card and about 3/4″ below the fold line of the card.

I cut a piece of kraft cardstock 3 3/4″ x 5″ and die-cut using a smaller Stitched Dome Stax die than the one I used on the background about 3/4″ from the top edge and centered left and right. I then die-cut a Stitched Dome Frame from dark brown cardstock and adhered this around the opening.

Before I adhered the kraft cardstock to the card, I die-cut a few leaves from the MFT Wild Greenery die-namics set and adhered them on the dome background and stamped a sentiment from this set on the kraft cardstock above the dome cut out. Then, I applied dimensional tape to the back of the kraft cardstock along the edges and a few pieces around the dome opening and adhered it to the card.

Now the really fun part! Coloring monkeys! I used Copics on the stamped images and then die-cut them with the coordinating dies in this set. The monkey tails are designed to wrap around the vine. Too cute! I adhered the monkeys and vine with dimensional adhesive so they look like they’re coming out of the jungle background.

I finished the card off by stamping another sentiment from this set on dark brown cardstock using versamark ink, heat embossing with fine detail white embossing powder and die-cutting around the sentiment with an MFT stitched sentiment strip. I added a few more leaves around the dome opening with the same Wild Greenery die-namics set.

Hope you enjoyed my swinging monkeys and have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Clearly Besotted

Dolphins are Awesome

July 26, 2017

Hi there! I’ve been posting a little sporadically this past week because I was on vacation swimming with dolphins! What an amazing experience. I thought a dolphin card was in order today.

I’ve used a similar technique as my last card with edge dies used as stencils and some Copic airbrushing. I used the My Favorite Things Ocean Waves die-namics and cut 2 pieces of cardstock slightly larger than my background piece. Then, I die-cut each cardstock piece with 2 different dies from this set right across the middle of the cardstock.

Before airbrushing, I stamped the dolphin and splashes from the Clearly Besotted Make a Splash stamp set and masked all of the images.

To get the variation between the waves, I used one half of the cardstock piece as a stencil and airbrushed the bottom wave with BG11, BG13 and BG 23. Then I  used the other half as a mask over the area I had airbrushed and repeated this process a little further up on the background piece for the top wave with BG49 and BG 15.

Once the top wave was airbrushed, I masked both waves and airbrushed the sky with Y11 and Y 21.

I colored all of the images with Copics and added a little white gel pen to the top of each splash. Once they were dry, I went over the top of the white gel pen area with glossy accents.

For the sentiment, I cut a small piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock and sponged Distress Oxide ink in Twisted Citron. I then used a spray bottle and spritzed the cardstock and let it air dry.

I die-cut the Taylored Expressions Hello Script die from this piece and from a piece of dark gray cardstock and adhered the 2 together slightly offset to give the sentiment a little more impact.

The patterned paper behind the background piece is from the Authentique Utopia paper pad.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Stenciling a Background with Dies

July 21, 2017

Hi there and happy Friday! On today’s card, I’m sharing a technique using edge dies to stencil a background. I used the My Favorite Things Grassy Fields die-namics and die-cut the edge of 4 strips of cardstock. Then, I cut a piece of Neenah Classic Crest solar white cardstock 3 3/4″ x 5″ and placed each die-cut edge of the cardstock pieces about 1/4″ from the edges of the Neenah cardstock. Once I had the die-cut cardstock pieces positioned, I taped them all together.

Before I stenciled the background, I stamped and masked the tiki and palm tree images from the My Favorite Things Tiki Party stamp set.

Next, I taped the Neenah cardstock to the back of the “stencil” and centered it so there would be a bit of white cardstock remaining around the edges.

I may have mentioned that I love airbrushing with Copics, so this is what I used with my stencil, but you could get a similar effect with sponge daubers and inks.

I masked off about 1/3 of the bottom portion of the stencil for the sand area and started airbrushing at the top with the lightest color working towards the darkest in this order: R21, R22, YR61, YR65 and YR16. I went back in with a little bit of the YR61 towards the top of the palm trees to break up some of the pink sunset.

Then, I masked off the sunset portion and airbrushed the sand starting from the top of this area with the darkest color working towards the lightest in this order: E43, E42, E41.  I shaded in just a little bit of the top line of the sand and added shading under the palm trees and tikis with E44.

 

I colored all of the images with Copics and then stamped, colored and die-cut a hibiscus and leaf from the set.

I used dimensional adhesive to adhere the hibiscus for a little dimension and finished off the card with a stamped sentiment from this stamp set.

I hope you enjoyed today’s card and technique! I can see using this with many different types of edge dies for some very unique backgrounds.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Clearly Besotted

You Turtley Rock!

July 17, 2017

Hi there!  So, I had a few practice watercolor backgrounds laying around as I’ve been working my way through the lessons in the online watercolor class I’ve been taking and I thought this combination of blues, greens and yellows would make a good underwater background.

I’ve used a mishmash of dies on this card and I started by die-cutting my watercolor piece with the smaller rounded rectangular die from the My Favorite Things Blueprints 31 die-namics. I used the larger rectangular die from this set to cut the dark brown mat for the background.

I’ve got a pretty neat technique on this card to share…Distress oxide inks on vellum! I wanted the seaweed and coral to be somewhat translucent, so I inked two separate pieces of vellum with a sponge dauber and the oxide inks. I used Twisted Citron and a little bit of Peeled Paint on the seaweed piece and Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade and Abandoned Coral on the coral piece. I then spritzed the vellum with water. Vellum bubbles up and curls when you get it wet like this and at first I was going to trash the whole idea, but once I die-cut the vellum, it was perfect for what I was going for on this card! I used a Sizzix Seaweed, Coral and Waves die set.

I adhered the seaweed piece to the background using a very small amount of glossy accents in a few places to let the vellum remain raised here and there.

Next, I die-cut the circle strip from the Blueprints 31 die-namics and embossed it with a Sizzix wood-grain embossing folder. I adhered this across the card using dimensional adhesive since it was going over the raised seaweed. Then, I die-cut a piece of kraft cardstock with the My Favorite Things Ocean View Porthole die-namics. This fit perfectly over the circular piece from the Blueprints 31 dies. I adhered flat-back gems with glossy accents on the holes in the Porthole.

I added the coral die-cut using a small amount of glossy accents again in a few places so it stayed a bit curled up.

To finish it off, one of my favorite animals in the world. I stamped this cute little sea turtle from the Clearly Besotted Cool Dude stamp set, colored him with Copics and cut him out with scissors. He’s adhered with a thinner dimensional adhesive.

I stamped the sentiment from this stamp set using the MISTI. This tool is so helpful when you’re stamping on textured cardstock. You can always stamp it perfectly a few times if the first try isn’t a good coverage.

Hope you enjoyed today’s card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gerda Steiner Designs

No lion, You are Fabulous!

July 14, 2017

Happy Friday! I was playing with more watercolor techniques, so today’s card is a combination of an orange and gold paint with a dry brush technique. The biggest thing I’m loving about watercolor is the feeling of no rules. At least, that’s how I approach it. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong outcome as long as YOU like the outcome and this applies to any creative endeavor. Art is in the eye of the beholder, truly.

I used these deeper yellow shades with this lion stamp in mind. He’s from the Gerda Steiner Party Animals stamp set. After I painted the background, I taped a Hero Arts Tribal stencil across it and inked just over the watercolored area with Memento Potter’s Clay ink.

I die-cut the leaves using the My Favorite Things Wild Greenery die-namics, inked all of the edges with Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and stamped the “no lion” with a Lawn Fawn alphabet stamp set.

I was pretty much terrified to stamp the large sentiment directly on the background knowing if I messed it up, I’d have to do it all over again, but the MISTI really helped out here. I was able to stamp it several times to get a nice rich black on top of the paint and the textured watercolor paper. Big sigh of relief when it worked out! The sentiment stamp is from the My Favorite Things Simply Fabulous Sayings stamp set.

I matted the watercolor cardstock on a cheetah print patterned paper before adhering it to the card base and then adhered all of the leaves.

Next I stamped and colored the lion with Copics and die-cut the image with the coordinating die to this set.

He’s popped up with a little dimensional adhesive to make him stand out more.

Hope you enjoyed today’s little adventure and hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

A Mermazing Moment

July 12, 2017

Hi there! My card today features my first real attempt at a watercolor background. I’m taking an online class taught by the incredibly talented Sandy Allnock at www.art-classes.com. I highly recommend not only the watercolor backgrounds class, but also her Copic classes.

There’s about 15 different techniques that she teaches in this class and the one I used on this card was a “splashy” watercolor technique using green and turquoise watercolor paints. It provided the perfect background for my little mermaid and turtle.

All of the stamps I used are from the My Favorite Things Mermazing stamp set. I colored the mermaid and turtle with Copics and added a little shimmer to the mermaid top and tail with clear Wink of Stella. I die-cut all of the images with the coordinating die-namics to this set.

For the seaweed and coral, I used 2 different Memento ink pads in green and yellow shades to add a little variation and I popped 2 of them up with dimensional adhesive.

I stamped the sentiment on dark brown cardstock in Versamark and heat embossed with fine detail white embossing powder. I die-cut the sentiment using the MFT Stitched Sentiment Strips die-namics and tucked it a little behind the seaweed.

A simple card, but not so simple. I’m enjoying the watercolor painting, but there is definitely a learning curve to it  and I’m glad I took a class to get my feet wet, no pun intended!

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!