Sensational Sunday Inspirations - Watercolor Distress

Good Morning Stampers!

Welcome to the Loves Rubberstamps weekly Sensational Sunday Blog Hop! The Design Team has created some gorgeous projects for your Inspiration. Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, each stop will have a full list of links. One of the Design Team posts is the hop's Sensational Sunday Sweet Spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to be in a monthly drawing for a $20 Loves Rubberstamps Gift Voucher! We will draw the winner of the Voucher the 1st Sunday of each month from all the comments left on the design team blogs! Remember, you have until 8:00 pm CST Saturday to leave your comments!

Before you hop along with the Design Team Ladies I wanted to let you know that we are doing our FIRST FACEBOOK PRIZE GIVEAWAY  this week! We are giving away a set of the Tropical Gelatos Color Kit:

Check out our FACEBOOK PAGE for details on the drawing :) We will be drawing our winner later tonight at 9pm Central time!

We have also posted a DT call for our January through April Session and would love to have you apply so check out the details! We will have the call open through November 18th.

Now onto my project that I created for you today :) When I went to my craft room I had a project in mind that I had planned out and was prepared to create .... until I sat down....then I was like...ehhhh...I don't feel like doing that. LOL! Do you ever do that?

Last night while at work, once we slowed down, I started watching a few you-tube videos about watercoloring with Distress Inks and thought you know what...I want to try that! I have the whole set of distress ink markers and had yet to really use them, outside of one or two here or there. So that is what I ended up doing for my project! I just decided to try something new for me (both watercoloring in general and using distress inks for more than just sponging backgrounds) and I just had some fun!

For my card I was totally inspired by a video I watched done by K Werner Design. Here is a link to the video.  For my card I love Sunflowers and had these big beautiful Sunflower stamps from the Sheena Douglas collection. I thought they would look so pretty done in this style of card. So I inked up the stamps using versamark ink and then stamped them onto Strathmore 140lb Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper. I really like this watercolor paper it is pretty smooth. I then used white embossing powder and embossed the flower heads. I looked all through what stamp sets of mine that were easy to get to (I need to organize and get in my craft room still :( ... and I could not find any silhouette leaves to use for the background. So I pulled out my Tattered Angels stamp set called Flowering Vine and used that which I think turned out really pretty!

Here is a closer look at my Sunflowers:

I used the Tim Holtz Distress Ink Markers to color the flowers. I scribbled some of the marker color onto my craft mat and then spritzed some plain water separate and then watercolored onto the paper. The colors I used were: Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, and for the flower centers - Gathered Twigs and Vintage Photo. I love the detail in the flower centers with all the little flicks of white from the embossing powder.

For the background color of the card I used my large Pumice Stone Distress Pad and smooshed it onto my craft mat twice and then spritzed some water onto it and watercolored the background. Pumice Stone, when watercolored, takes on a really cool look...it has some areas that look almost purple and I also had some areas that looked like they had kind of a green tone. So I really loved it. Then what I decided to do before my card front was dry was spritz the top using Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels. Here is a picture from the side a little so you can see this beautiful shimmer the gold gave to the card. This shimmer covers the whole card front so it is really pretty in real life:

I decided to use a Tim Holtz key for my "sentiment" for now because I wanted more of a generic card that could be used for a Sympathy card, birthday, thinking of you and the key just seemed perfect! Here is a closer look:

I liked how the key was not really silver, and not really gold but had some tones of each and since it just says "Life" it would be good for a variety of occasions! If you look at this picture you can see the kind of purples, greens, and grays colors that the pumice stone seemed to create! All in all I really love how this turned out! Thank you to K Werner Design for a great tutorial! I do have to say that after watching her videos and many of Jennifer McGuire's on watercolor backgrounds with Distress Inks.....I may have found my new favorite thing....so be prepared to see me do this a lot - LOL....you may ban me from you-tube watching in the future! :D

Now let's hop along and see what the Design Team ladies have in store for you...

Laura - Loves Rubberstamps Blog - You are here...

Dangina
Joni

Nina

Nikki

Lydia

Blankina

Thanks for stopping by!

Laura!

I will be entering this into the following challenges:

Paper Creator's Crafts - Anything Goes
Di's Digi Designs - Colors of Autumn
Treasured Times Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes
Vandicrafts' Artistry Challenge - Anything Goes
ShowCASe Your Style - Tic Tac Toe - Twine, White, Emboss
Inkspirational - Shine
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Dragon's Lair Challenges - Autumn Colors
Moving Along With The Times - Sparkle & Shine
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Try It On Tuesday - Colors of Autumn
Timbro Scrap Mania - Sparkle

I have used the following products on my card:

White Embossing Powder (unknown store brand)
Stampin Up Very Vanilla and Early Espresso Cardstock
Strathmore 140 lb Watercolor Hot Pressed Paper
Tattered Angels - Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist

Sheena Douglas Sunflower Stamp Set

Tattered Angels Screen Prints Flowering Vine

Versamark Stamp Pad

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Markers

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pumice Stone

InLinkz.com

Next Stop....London!

Hi Stampers!

Hope that your weekend is going well so far! This is my "Friday" at work so I am excited about that! Then I have 4 days off! YAY! I can work in the store and get some crafty stuff in :)

Today we have our weekly Saturday Stunner from Jacqueline Smith! She always has projects that are like mini works of art with the different textures and layers that she does. They are so fun to see!

If you remember last week Jacqueline graced us with a beautiful Paris themed creation that she created as a memento for her trip that she got to take with her son (lucky her!) Well she is continuing her mementos with this London themed project which she also got to visit!

The first things that just grabbed my attention was that stunning looking background! The colors are gorgeous! Jacqueline used a technique called Simple Batik to create it. The image she used is the London Background stamp from JustRite Papercrafts. We will be getting more from this line, including this stunning stamp, this week or early the following week. I think this technique is absolutely gorgeous with this image and Jacqueline chose the prettiest colors.

That beautiful London Telephone Booth is from the JustRite stamp set called London Greetings which Jacqueline stamped in memento tuxedo black ink before coloring with her prismacolor pencils. She does such a gorgeous job coloring with those, it always makes me want to dust mine off and practice my coloring! Looks so pretty!

If you haven't had a chance to play in our challenge this week, you still have a few days.. and it is Anything Goes so it is a fun one! Also be sure to get your comment in on the Sensational Sunday Inspirations post because tomorrow we draw our candy winner and you don't want to miss your chance!

Have a great weekend all!
Laura

Dryer Sheet Flower

Hi Stampers!

It's Tuesday which means a new Loves Rubberstamps Challenge! I have to say WOW! Last week we had 133 entries! How awesome!! It was so fun going and visiting each of the entries because we have so many talented players joining us. This week we are to use either Dies or punchies somewhere on your project. I used both on mine :)




For the card base I used a Stampin Up! Heart Border embossing folder and embossed it in sections to cover the front. My popped up white layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder that features a bird and some leaves. I embossed the bird a second time and cut it out to pop it up on a dimensional. I had to improvise and add a "wing" because I accidently got some blue ink on his white body that I had on my finger from dying my flower. I suppose it was fate since the blue I used is the Peacock Feathers Distress Ink by Tim Holtz- LOL! Maybe he thought he was a peacock! Soooo to create his little wing I used the smallest petal from the Stampin Up! Blossom Builder Punch :) Before popping this white layer on dimensionals I punched the edges using the heart border and heart border corner punches from Stampin Up!.

My sentiment is stamped with my new stamp set Shabby Chic Autumn Leaves from JustRite Papercrafts. I love the script on this set!

Now.... My flower is made from a used dryer sheet! I had seen this tutorial on splitcoaststampers quite awhile ago and had tucked this away in my "things I must try" file in my brain and so here it is...My very first dryer sheet flower! I actually LOVE how this turned out! Here is how I created mine...

I made two layers of each size circle that I used. The sizes of these are: 3", 2 1/2", 1 7/8", and 1 1/4". After cutting them out of my dryer sheet I just took my Distress Ink Pad and laid a circle on top and then smooshed it down with my ink blending tool. Then I laid it out to dry. I cheated a bit and heated up my heat tool and blew some hot air on them just a tad because I didn't want them to burn or melt.  I then added ice stickles around the edge of the top circle for each sized layer. After they were dry I just stacked them on top of each other and finished with a pearl brad and added little half pearls around it for the center.

I mounted my flower on top of a couple of flourishes I cut out of green glitter paper using My Favorite Things Fancy Flourish Die-Namics Die.

Here is a closer look of my Dryer Sheet Flower...





I hope you like it! I will definitely be making more of these as I do laundry about everyday - UGH - LOL! At least I will have something fun about laundry now! I hope you have a chance to play along with us this week! Have a great day!

Happy Stampin'
Laura

I will be entering this in the following challenges:

The Cheerful Stamp Pad - Challenge 51 - White as Snow
The Crafty Bloggers Network - Challenge 7 Flowers
Incy Wincy Designs - Something New - stamp set & my first dryer sheet flower
Make My Monday- Dry Embossing
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Embrace The Old - Embossing Folders & Old Used Dryer Sheet
The Crazy Challenge - #136 No Designer Paper
 Use Your Stuff - The Circle Game
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Dream Valley Challenges - #48 - Anything Goes
CraftyMess Challenges - #24 - Show some sparkle/bling
Sweet Stampin' - White + One Other
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challege - R#105 - Something New - Dryer Sheet Flower Technique
Stamping With The Dragon - Anything Goes
Stampin For the Weekend - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts Friday Challenges - Challenge #148 Something New
Little Miss Muffet Challenges - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - Emboss It - Anything Goes
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Inky Impressions - Challenge 91 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - New Something - New Technique - Dryer Sheet Flower & New Stamp Set
Stampavie & More - Challenge #184 - Blue & White

Grid Technique in Monochrome!

Good Afternoon all!

I am super EXCITED for today's new Loves Rubberstamps challenge because, not only is it fun, BUT we start the search for our September Guest Designer! I know we will have some amazing entries because our players each week do some G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S work! Can't wait to start seeing the entries :)

If you want to try out here are the details...

Our Guest Designer will create projects for our weekly challenges for the month of their term. You will have your work showcased on the Loves Rubberstamps challenge blog along with the design team samples, on our facebook page, and possibly in our store as samples. Term will be 4 - 5 weeks depending on how many weeks there are in your month. The only requirement is you HAVE to use stamps from companies that we carry in our store on your projects and they have to be in their current line, no retired images. Even if we do not have that particular image in stock, as long as it is a current one we can order... you can use it.

As a guest designer you will receive a 20% discount off any stamps that we carry in the store during your term!

If you want the chance to be our guest designer for the month of SEPTEMBER just play along in one of our weekly challenges and put GDT after your name next to your entry. We will be accepting applicants in this week's challenge and next week's and will announce who the Guest Designer will be on August 21st. We will be looking for entrants who stand out through any of the following... awesome coloring skills, paper piecing, great use of color, creativity, outstanding design, and just pure genius :) Hope you will try out for a spot!

Now speaking of this week's Loves Rubberstamps Challenge...this week we are playing BINGO! I love Bingo! There is a casino about 45 miles from us that has BINGO sessions and my husband and I used to go on Sundays. You payed $25 to play 17 games that payed out $500 to win. We didn't win very often but it was fun. In fact... I ended up getting myself a BINGO bag that said.... "How come everyone ELSE gets to yell BINGO and all I ever get to yell is "Oh S%#T" ... probably not the most appropriate but it was funny. It would give the elderly ladies a giggle :) 

The challenge is to create a card that features the three elements from our Bingo Card that creates a straight line. Here is our Bingo Card....

The line that I used for my card was - Monochromatic Color Scheme, Flowers & Buttons or Brads! Here is my card...

I used the Crafter's Companion Daisies from the Paint Fushion line from Sheena Douglass. I colored them with prismacolor pencils on Stampin Up's Sahara Sand cardstock and then clear embossed them to make the colors pop. I fussy cut them out and popped them on my background that I created using the grid technique. LOVE THIS! I also created the background for this week's Splitcoaststampers technique challenge. You were to go to their resources page...type in background... and then use of the techniques to make your card. I mentioned in another post that I usually end up creating my own backgrounds over using designer paper...not because I don't like it...just the opposite...I LOVE it and I am a paper hoarder because I love to look at it, over and over - LOL!

I hope you like my card today and will join our challenge!

Here are some other challenges that I will be entering this card in:

Splitcoaststampers - TLC389 Blissful Backgrounds
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash - Monochromatic
Tuesday Alchemy - Bingo - Line Created - Ribbon or Bows, Your Choice & Buttons
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Lollipop Crafts - Monochromatic
The Shabby Tea Room - Soft Neutrals

Happy Stampin!
Laura

A Little Sass!

Yay! I still have the internet! Miracles never cease :)  Now I get to play catch up on all the things that I couldn't do while it was down! I don't know how I functioned without it, it was like the stone ages at my house - LOL. The saying "Don't know what you got until it is gone" is the truth...even when it comes to things like the internet!

Today I created a card that is for this week's Loves Rubberstamps Challenge, to create a card that features a red,white and blue color scheme. This week we will be giving away another $25 gift voucher for use in the store so play along!

My card uses the super cute Sassy Emma from the Sugarplums collection by C.C. Designs. I colored her using my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers and then used prismacolor pencils for her skin. I used the Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock that is designed for use with Alcohol Ink Markers. This makes a huge difference when you use markers like these. I hand wrote the "USA" on her shirt with a red gel pen. The Celebrate saying and the Firework Images are from a retired stamp set from Cornish Heritage Farms called America the Beautiful created by the talented Kim Hughes who is the designer for Paper Smooches stamps!

I created my own background using the inlaid embossing technique and the Snowburst Embossing folder from Stampin Up!. The red circle with stars around is a Spellbinders Nestibilities - Star Circles that we just got in this weekend and will be available in our store later today!

I hope you like my card! Come play along with us in the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge :)

Happy Stamping!
Laura

My Sunday Shares - June 10th

Good Afternoon Stampers!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend...mine is just starting so I treated myself to sleeping in this morning :) You have to do that every now and then I think! I have a LOOOONG list of things I need to get done around the house today...mow the yard, dishes, laundry, dust...well you get the jist of my day...all of the not so fun house chores...BUT after I am done I am going to go play in my stamp studio...I am looking forward to THAT!

Today's shares will be a little different. I didn't have much time this week to look around the galleries or do my company searches so I decided today to share some cool you tube videos that I have in my "favorites" with you, instead of cards today.

Today's videos are all created by Darlene Devries of DarleneDesign.com. She posts a new video on you tube about every Wednesday. I was searching around about creating with copics on you tube one day and came across this video she did. I loved the look of her card using copic markers on patterened paper. She uses Stampin Up! supplies but you could easily use any light colored scrapbook designer papers or stamps for this technique.

     

The second video I want to share with you is one about creating a card using multiple embossing powders. This card is really pretty! Not only does this video have a beautiful project...it also had a COOL TIP on how to create smaller frames with your layer dies. Doing this doubles the sizes of layers you can get out of your layer dies!!

     

I thought the idea of tracing the outside of your die and then cutting it out with your scissors was genius. You can get 2 sizes of layers for each die! This would work with many die brands too. Perfect for when you want just a very subtle layer.

This last video I will share with you really showcases the way Darlene colors with her copics. I really loved this method and thought that it is a great way for beginners to achieve the professional looking blends with copics. This card that she creates using a Hero Arts cupcakes set showcases this coloring style perfectly. Plus I love cupcakes :)

  

I hope you enjoyed today's shares. If you want to check out Darlene's other videos...and believe me she has a LOT of great ones... you can visit her you tube channel - darlene003

We will be starting to stock the copic markers at Loves Rubberstamps soon! YAY! I am excited for that! Hero Arts is also on our list of suppliers that we will be adding in the future too :)

Happy Stampin Everyone!
Laura

Faux Patina....Sunflower!

Looking for this week's Loves Rubberstamps Blog Challenge? Go Here: April Showers

Hi Everyone! Hope your day has been a good one! Today's card was really fun for me to make! I used a technique that I had never tried before and thought it turned out really pretty!

The Technique I used on the background is called Faux Patina and I saw the tutorial on splitcoaststampers. I used different colors than in the tutorial so it would qualify for this weeks color challenge (CC372) on splitcoaststampers... using More Mustard, Pool Party, & Early Espresso. The thing about color challenges sometimes is that I would probably NEVER have chosen these on my own but after making this card - I love them together! This would be a great color combo for Fall projects too.

The colors I used to create the Faux Patina background on this card are: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Always Artichoke & Early Espresso

The stamp that I used is one of my favorite flowers... SUNFLOWERS! This sunflower is from the Paint Fushion Collection by Sheena Douglass from Crafter's Companion.

I colored my flower by sponging on ink. I used More Mustard on the petals, Early Espresso in the middle. I used pool party in the middle of my leaf and then always artichoke and sponged the edges with early espresso. I did two layers of the sunflower and popped them on dimensionals to give it more of a 3D look.

The layout for my card is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #238

After making this card I played around with the Faux Patina Technique and tried using a few different color combos and thought they all turned out pretty neat in their own ways. Just remember to use:

1 - A light base color
2 - A blue color
3 - A green color
4 - A brown color
5 - then versamark random areas and gold emboss

Here are the other color combos I tried left to right:

1 - More Mustard, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olove & Chocolate Chip
2 - Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Pear Pizazz & Soft Suede
3 - Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso

Hope you will try this technique!
Happy Stamping! - Laura

Cracked Glass - Cozy Christmas Lodge

Good afternoon stampers!

Today's card will be another one that I designed for my Christmas card class coming up. It uses the GORGEOUS stamp set Christmas Lodge that is in the Holiday Mini. The layout and basic design was inspired by this card I saw created by flowerbugnd1 on splitcoaststampers. I changed the colors of mine and used the cracked glass technique on my card as well. Here is my version:



I really love the cracked glass technique with this stamp set! I really love how the lodge looks like a vintage old photograph cracked with age using the sahara sand cardstock as a base. To get this look I stamped my lodge with early espresso on sahara sand, filled in the snow with a white gel pen and then sponged the edges with chocolate chip ink before doing the cracked glass technique.

If you want to try the CRACKED GLASS TECHNIQUE here is what you do:

First you will need a versamark pad, Stampin Ups! Glassy Glaze (retired now) or you can use UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) or regular clear embossing powder (you will just have to use more layers) and then you will need your heat tool.

1. After you stamp and color your image, stamp the whole panel with the versamark ink pad.

2. Completely cover the panel with your embossing enamel or powder. Shake off excess and heat with the heat tool. If you are using glassy glaze or the UTEE the first heating will look lumpy and it will look like spots are missed. Don't worry about it!

3. As soon as the powder is melted, stamp the whole panel again with versamark ink. Cover your panel again with a new layer of embossing enamel or powder, shake off excess and then reheat. This time it will be much smoother and even looking.

4. If you are using the UTEE or glassy glaze you need to do only 2 or 3 layers of embossing powder. IF you are using the regular clear embossing powder you will need to repeat the versamark and then emboss with new layer of powder a total of 4 or 5 times to get it thick enough.

5. After you get your last layer of embossing powder done - stick the panel in the freezer for about 2 minutes. This makes it hard and it cracks easier. It may curl a little bit but that is OK because when you crack it, it will straighten out.

6. Remove it from the freezer and start bending it where you want the cracks to be. Keep going until it is cracked how you like. You can sponge over the top with a dark ink like, early espresso or chocolate chip and it kind of fills in the cracks to give it a more aged look. I didn't do this on mine because of the darker background I stamped on, but it works good when you do this technique on white or very vanilla.

7. After your done cracking your piece, layer and add to your card :)

Hope this makes sense! There is a picture tutorial and a video posted on splitcoaststampers on how to do this technique also which you can see here.

Here is what I used on today's card:

Stampin Up! Stamp Sets: Christmas Lodge

Paper: Stampin Up! Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Stampin Up! Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Versamark Ink Pad, Glassy Glaze (retired), White Gel Pen, heat tool, Big Shot, Perfect details texturz plate, texturz silicone rubber pads, sponges, dimensionals

Weathered Stone Technique

Evening All!

Today's card is one that features a new technique that I call Weathered Stone. It is really simple to do and looks very cool! To do the technique all you do is take a Crumb Cake ink pad and swipe it across the front side of a textured impressions embossing folder and then place a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock inside the folder and run through the Big Shot. This transfers some of the ink into the flat areas around the raised design creating a weathered stone look! Has a very vintage look. LOVE IT! The color ink and cardstock is important. There is a more subtle version of this technique called Bisque Pottery that uses Sahara Sand ink on very vanilla cardstock. So try both styles! Here is my card using this technique:



Doesn't that look neat? It really reminds you of old stones that have that algae and aged look from being in the elements for years. Here is a close up of the technique:



The butterfly that I used on this card is from the Strength & Hope Set. This is a special set you can purchase to help combat breast cancer. For every stamp set purchased Stampin Up! donates $2.00 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. So if you haven't got your set order it now because it is only available until August 31st! You get a gorgeous stamp set and you know that your purchase helps go to fighting this horrible disease that affects so many families.

Strength & Hope Stamp Set Wood Mount - #118100 $17.95 & Clear Mount #123660 $13.95:


Here is what I used on the card:

Stampin Up! Stamp Sets: Strength & Hope, Elements of Style, Four Frames, Pocket Silhouettes

Paper: Stampin Up! Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Stampin Up! Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper textured impressions embossing folder, big shot, basic pearls, edge distresser, decorative label punch, sponges, dimensionals

Frame Illusion Hydrangea

Good Morning everyone!

One of my favorite Hostess sets in the current Idea Book is Because I Care. It features this stunning hydrangea flower stamp. I haven't played with it for quite awhile so I thought I would break it out and make a few things with it. Here is one of the cards that I made with it...



This card is made using the Frame Illusion technique that I learned how to do from a super talented lady named Michelle Zindorf. She is an amazing artist and creates very easy to follow tutorials on her blog. She posted a tutorial quite awhile ago on this technique which you can see here.

I think I haven't played with the Because I Care stamp set very much because the flower to me seemed a little intimidating to color. The way I did mine for this card was super simple! I inked my stamp with versamark and then the flower head I inked with Elegant Eggplant. I then used my Old Olive marker to ink the leaves and stem and then stamped it in the center of my panel. I then clear embossed the flower. Then I colored my leaves and stem using my old olive marker. I used a blender pen and perfect plum ink to color the flower head. Because the blender pen fades out when it starts running out of ink it created the shading and hue changes for me. I then went over the whole thing with a versamarker and clear embossed again. That is it! I used the flourish from Elements of Style on my frame. The rest I just followed Michelle's tutorial. I did use a chocolate chip marker for my shadow because I don't have the soft suede but the rest is pretty much the same. Be sure to check back tomorrow when I show you my second card that I made with the Because I Care Stamp Set! Have a great day!

Here is what I used on my card:

Stampin Up! Stamp Sets: Because I Care Hostess Set, Elements of Style

Paper: Stampin Up! Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla, Whisper White

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Elegant Egglant, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum, Early Espresso

Accessories: Stampin Up! Versamark, Versamarker, heat tool, clear embossing powder, post it notes, Scallop Oval punch, large oval punch, dimensionals, sponges, ruler, stampin write chocolate chip marker

Springtime Vintage Country Quilt

Good evening all! I love the quilted cards and as soon as I saw the Springtime Vintage Designer Series paper in the Occasions Mini I knew I wanted to do a quilt card with it! Here it is:



If you want to try a Quilted Card this is how you do it:

Take a card front size 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of white card stock. Cover the card stock with assorted squares punched out of designer series paper. I used the 1 1/4" square punch. Make sure to offset the squares for each row. Then when your paper is covered cut out the quilt using the TOP NOTE DIE. Then I embossed my quilt with the petals-a-plenty embossing folder to make it look extra "quilty" That's it! Very easy and looks very cool!

I layered mine on a piece of bravo burgundy that I also embossed with the petals-a-plenty embossing folder.

Here is a full on look at the "quilt" so you can really see the embossing folder impressions:



I loved it! Very easy card and looks really pretty!

Here is what I used:

Stampin Up! Stamp Sets: Elements of Style

Paper: Stampin Up! Crumb Cake, Bravo Burgundy, Springtime Vintage DSP, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Whisper White

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Early Espresso

Accessories: Stampin Up! Big Shot, Petals-A-Plenty Embossing folder, Top Note Die, Very Vanilla Ribbon, 1" & 1 1/4" circle punches, dimensionals, sponge

Re-inker Splash Rose Mojo172

Good evening all! I designed this card for this weeks MOJO MONDAY sketch challenge #172. To play along just click on the Mojo Monday blinkie on the right side bar! I used a few different techniques on my card. I used the re-inker splash technique to color my rose. The rose is done in Baja Breeze on shimmer white. I also used a fun new technique called inlaid embossing. That is the white piece with baja breeze colored hearts. Check below my card for descriptions on how to do both types of techniques!

Here is the Mojo Monday Sketch #172


Here is my card:



Here is how you do the Re-Inker Splash:
Stamp your rose in versamark on shimmer white paper. Then emboss with white embossing powder. Lightly spray the flower with water until it beads. Then using a few drops of re-inker and your aquapainter gently touch the wet areas of the flower and watch the ink spread out. Keep coloring until you get the look you want and then set it aside to dry. Once dry cut it out and apply to your card.

Here is how you do inlaid embossing:
Take your base piece of cardstock and cut to size. Using punches, punch desired shapes in a different color from the base and glue the punchies to the base in a random pattern. Then run through the big shot in an embossing folder. I used the square lattice one on my card. Trim off any extra punchies hanging over the side.

Here is what you will need to make this card:

Stampin Up! Stamp Sets: En Francais, Fifth Avenue Floral, Short & Sweet

Paper: Stampin Up! Baja Breeze, Shimmer White, Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Early Espresso, Baja Breeze & Re-inker

Accessories: Stampin Up! Aqua painter, word window punch, two step bird punch, sponges, Heart to Heart punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, dimensionals, big shot, 2-way glue pen

Spotlighting - Elements of Style

Evening everyone!

My NEW Stampin Up! catalog came today!! YAY! I haven't opened my box yet because I am waiting until after I get this post done and supper made because I will be looking at it for hours - LOL! For my June technique class we will be doing a technique called spotlighting so I started to play with the technique. Spotlighting is where you have a black and white image or any other color you want and only color a small section. Here is a card that I made using the Elements of Style stamp set and the new cherry cobbler paper - yum! I love the new colors!



My spotlight on this card is done using the butterfly punch and then popped up on pop dots to match the section of the image that I colored. The embossing folder is sqaure lattice from the summer mini. I was inspired by a card done by Karen B Barber on splitcoast.

Here is what I used to make mine:

Stamp Sets: Elements of Style

Paper: Stampin Up! whisper white, cherry cobbler, basic black

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in basic black, ruby red, old olive, chocolate chip

Accessories: Stampin Up! square lattice embossing folder, butterfly punch, dimensionals, slot punch, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, 1/4" basic black grosgrain ribbon

This will be one of the cards we will make at my June Technique class! It will be a fun class also featuring reverse spotlighting, faux wood, & punch art dog cards! See my event calendar for full details here! Come join us!

Frame Illusion - Elements of Style

I love this new stamp set that is featured in the SUMMER MINI CATALOG called Elements of Style. I finally had a chance to play with it. I follow a blog done by a very talented lady named Michelle Zindorf. She does some amazing cards and creates a step-by-step tutorial to show you how to do them. One of my favorite cards she did was one that had a frame illusion. It looks like a painting in an ornate wood frame and appears to pop right off the page. When I saw this stamp set in the mini I knew I had to use it to make a card like that! Here is my card....



I love how it turned out! I decided to use a technique called poppin pastels to color my hummingbird. I stamped it in versamark and then rubbed pastel chalk over the versamark. It really grabs the colors of the chalk. I then cut it out and popped it on dimesnionals. The rest of the card is completely flat! How cool is that?

To see how this card is done and to see my inspiration check out Michelle Zindorf's tutorial - click here

My card uses all stamps from the Elements of Style stamp set. With my card I wanted my flourishes to stay on just the "frame" part and not carry over to the canvas so when I inked those in versamark I had a post it note covering my "canvas".

Here are the colors I used on my card:

Flowers - done in crushed curry with blender pen, mellow moss & old olive (marker) on the leaves
Canvas - Sahara Sand - sponging around the edges in chocolate chip to soften it
FRAME - versamark flourishes then embossed with clear embossing powder, sponged close to cocoa first then chocolate chip on outside to darken, my shadow edge for the canvas is chocolate chip
HUMMINGBIRD - stamped in versamark then used Stampin pastels in summer sun, lovely lilac, ruby red, garden green

Here is a list of supplies used:

Stamp Sets: Elements of Style

Paper: Stampin Up! Basic black, Cajun Craze (new upcoming color!), Whisper white

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Sahara Sand, close to cocoa, chocolate chip, crushed curry, mellow moss, versamark

Accessories: Stampin Up! Stampin pastels, blender pen, dimensionals, clear emobossing powder, heat gun, sponges, chocolate chip stampin write marker

Hope you try one out!! Night all!

Faux Metal - Le Jardin Botanique

Hello Stampers!

Last night I demonstrated Faux Metal and some variations for May's technique class and here is one of the 4 cards we made. This uses the Faux Metal technique using silver embossing powder.



This card can be used for many different occasions. I love the faux metal technique, it really makes pretty cards and gives them an extra special punch. I got the idea for this card from a card made by ravengirl on splitcoaststampers. I used her layout but changed the colors and stamp sets used.

I will be posting the other cards we made at last night's class later this week. Be sure to check back and see some variations on the faux metal technique!

Stamp Sets: Stampin Up! Le Jardin Botanique, Friends 24-7

Paper: Stampin Up! Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip & Sage Shadow

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Accessories: Stampin Up! Scallop border punch, 1 1/4" square punch, paper piercer & mat, dimensionals, silver embossing powder, heat gun, chocolate chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon

Red Bird - Salted Background Technique

Afternoon everyone! Tonight I will be hosting April's Technique class where we will be trying a couple of baby wipe techniques and also a salted technique background. This is the card we will be making using the salted background technique.




Isn't that pretty?? I was inspired for the layout by a card I saw on the splitcoast stampers website. I love how it makes it look like a framed work of art!

To create the salt background here is what you do:
Take a piece of glossy white paper and spritz it with water. Using re-inker and your aqua painters, swish color around on the paper. Then you sprinkle it with salt, coarse salt works the best but I used just regular sea salt on mine. You can also use table salt if that is all you have. Then you let it dry, either naturally or with heat gun. Then brush off the extra salt. That is all there is too it!

If you want to make this card here is what I used:


Stamp Sets: Stampin Up! Bird On a Branch

Paper: Stampin Up! Creamy caramel (retiring July 1st),
whisper white, glossy white & basic black

Ink: Stampin Up! Classic ink pads in real red, stazon black, re-inkers in ballet blue & brilliant blue

Accessories: Stampin Up! real red & basic black ribbon, pop dots, sea salt, aquapainter

Baby Wipe Ink Pad Technique

Hi Everyone!

As I mentioned yesterday, of the techniques we will be doing in my April technique class coming up on the 28th is the Baby Wipe Technique. You can use a baby wipe to create fun backgrounds or a custom ink pad. Here is another one of the cards we will be making in class.

This card uses the BABY WIPE INK PAD technique. You take a baby wipe and fold it into a square. Mine was about 3 inches by 3 inches. You take re-inkers and place drops in a random pattern covering the square. Then you ink your stamp using your baby wipe ink pad. You will want to be sure to have your baby wipe on a hard surface like a plastic plate because it will bleed through.

This picture is taken from the side so you can really see the way the colors look from our custom ink pad.



I wanted to add a little bling so I used iridescent ice on the flowers which you can't see well from the side view so here is a front view so you can see the shimmer.



I wanted to play with our current in colors, so that is what I used on this card. The Rich Razzleberry & Melon Mambo will be becoming part of the core color line in the next catalog! I am excited because these colors are so fun to play with! If you want to try one here is what I used:

Stamp Sets: Stampin Up! Upsy Daisy

Paper: Stampin Up! whisper white, rich razzleberry, crushed curry, melon mambo, basic black

Ink: Stampin Up! Re-inkers in rich razzleberry, crushed curry, melon mambo, classic ink pads in rich razzleberry & crushed curry

Accessories: Stampin Up! Scallop Trim punch, key tag punch, white gel pen, versamarker, iridescent ice, dimensionals

Happy Stamping!