Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Happy Blog-A-Versary!

Today marks my 4th anniversary as the Twinkling Paper Studio Blog.  For this auspicious occasion, I thought I would share some of your favorite projects of mine from the past year and tell you a bit about who and what occasions they were made for.

This post will upload automatically while my husband and I are away for a short vacation but I didn't want to miss this occasion. 


This card was made for Tasnim Ahmed at Altenew.  This card features Altenew's Perfectly Perfect Stamps and Dies with a few little bits of Wings of Hope scattered into the bouquet.  I used reinkers to watercolor the blooms and leaves with some ink blending and gold spatter on the background.


This card was made for one of my Sisters-In-Law for a birthday card.  She loves Watercolor like me!  The large stamp is an old Stampin' Up one that I unmounted and put on Cling Foam.


This card was made for Nicole Picadura at Altenew for taking time out of her busy schedule to Observe my class for my Altenew Educator Final Certification Challenge which was to teach a class.  The Card features Altenew Monochrome Washi Tape with the Fantasy Floral 3D Die.


This card was made for Virginia Lu thanking her for being my coach and champion during the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  I used the Altenew Glitter Flurries Washi Tape and Fantasy Floral 3D Die.


A card made for a girlfriend who enjoys my work and also happens to love pink as much as I do.   This card features Papertrey Ink's Coverplate: Twist, Delicates Dies (the flowers) and a greeting from Friendly Flowers Stamp Set.


This is one of a set of Cards made for the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop and features an alcohol inked background with a sentiment from a Papertrey Ink Stamp Set.  The Art Deco style tree is from Poppy Stamps.


I love incorporating Gold Alcohol Ink into my backgrounds and apparently so do you all.   I also love the die from Gina K Designs as well as the Butterflies that you can find in the Gina K Designs Warm Spring Wishes Stamp and Dies Collection.  This card was sent to one of my girlfriends.


This card was made with my Sister-In-Law, Vickie, in mind.  This cover-plate die released earlier this year from WPLUS9 and she loved it.  Who better to receive the first card made with it?   She also likes pinks and rose colors so I made this especially for her.  The circle die and the butterflies are from Gina K Designs. 


Another card made with an alcohol inked background and Gina K Designs supplies.


Just another card for a friend.  This particular card is one of my favorites!  I love all the emerald, pool, green and gold colors.  With the heat embossed elements, it is just so elegant and rich!  More Gina K Designs products shown here.


This card is 4 x 7.5-inch card made for one of the Keeping Christmas Hops.  I really like this non-traditional size and I think this will be a great card for one of the guys in my life. The dies I used on this card are from Simon Says Stamp and Spellbinders.


This card was made for Jennifer McGuire, who just happens to have the same birthday as me. This is the Simon Says Stamp Leafy Frames Stamp Set and the butterflies are once again, from Gina K Designs Warm Spring Wishes stamp set.  They are my favorites.


This card was made for my cousin, Gary, and his new bride, Rhonda.  Gary is the cousin that I am closest to.  This card features Papertrey and Spellbinders products.


A birthday Card for my Grand-Daughter-In-Law, Lexi. This card features Gina K Designs Petals and Wings stamps, dies and inks, the Edger die is from Altenew.


This card is in a bag of goodies that I am making for a girlfriend.  I absolutely love how the background came out on this card!  The stamps are from The Greetery while the Inks are Altenew.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I think it is easy to see that my favorite companies are Altenew, Papertrey Ink, Simon Says Stamp and Gina K Designs.  A new favorite that just started is The Greetery.  Be sure to check out all of these companies if you aren't already familiar with them.  You'll find links in my sidebar!

Thanks for being one of my visitors over the past 4 years!  I appreciate all of you and especially when you take time to comment on a post.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Keeping Christmas July 2019 Edition

Not long ago, I spent a few hours playing in the studio with my Alcohol Inks and some Yupo paper and some glassy cardstock.  I wanted to try out a technique that I saw Jennifer McGuire do, where she used a protractor with some inexpensive felt to make a few alcohol inked backgrounds: Video Here.   I wanted to try my own version of this particular technique to get some multi-colored ombre backgrounds.  At that time, I only had a long acrylic block so I tried that and it worked pretty well.  The blue painter's tape works great for securing the ends of whatever you are using to make a background; felt or a baby wipe.  I actually like both of these techniques very much. I did not have any felt, so I grabbed a few baby wipes, unfolded them and stacked them, letting them dry to use as my felt.  I got the idea from another of her videos where she made her own ink pad using baby wipes.  My method is kind of a cross between the two things.  I can use reinkers or alcohol inks to create my background panels or stamped designs.  Since I like to use both, coated cardstock and Yupo paper, I get different results from each.  You just have to play around to see which thing works for which technique. That is how I ended up with my backgrounds.  Truly, all I'm ever doing is playing with colors and paper to see what results I get.  There's just no way to control what happens.


Here is a close approximation of the blank panel I started with for these cards.  I made this one, especially so I could show you what the background panels looked like with only the color on there.  I used a Stencil Pal with a couple of dried baby wipes to put the color on the glossy cardstock along with a bit of Gold Alcohol Ink, then kind of squiggled the Stencil Pal up and down slightly to get the zig-zag sort of look.  So this is very close to what my other two panels looked like when I started.

I have an older Anna Griffin Flourish Die that for some reason, makes me think of a fancy sleigh when I turn it sidewise.


When I put this first card together, I put the scroll flourish a little higher so that I would have room to add the poinsettia at the bottom, but I wasn't too crazy about the look so for the other card, I left it off completely.


I love it when I can mix whatever product with whatever other product to get a result I love.  In this case, I used the W+9, Be Merry Stamps and dies for the sentiment.  I heat embossed it onto Stamper's Select Vellum and colored the backside of the banner with a Copic marker in BG49.  I wanted to stay with the fun and non-traditional color palette, so I die cut the holly leaves from Gina K Designs, Blue Lagoon Cardstock.  The dies are called Jolly Holly from Spellbinders but I don't think they are available any longer.  I like them because they can also be embossed for more dimension.


I used Lucy's Glossy Eggshell Pearls for the berries and clear tack foam tape for the vellum sentiment panel.  I'm not a huge fan of the clear tack foam tape, but it worked pretty well in this case.


As you can see, there's a ton of dimension on this card.  Since the edges hang off, I will put it in a 5 x 7 padded envelope when I mail it, but I do love the bright fun color scheme.

Since I had a lot of backgrounds already made, I decided to do a couple of other fun color combinations for you. 


Green and Gold with Pink Berries is always fun, especially when you might be expecting red berries.  I'm sure I'll do some red ones before Christmas, though!  The background is emerald green with gold alcohol inks.


It is really hard to get a good picture of the backgrounds, so I took a slightly different angle and focus on thi8s image to give you a better view.


I think in this pink and gold, you can see the gold a little bit better in the background.  The cards are all the same design, I just changed up the background with each card.  I also tried a variety of things to create the berries from Nuvo Drops to actual little pearls.  I love the glossy pearls from Little Things From Lucy's that they carry at Simon Says Stamp.


Here's the whole group of six cards that I made for today's Keeping Christmas Blog Hop Post. There are lots of stops along the hop, so be sure to visit all of the other blogs and leave a little love for everyone in the comments section.

Anita Madden (Off This Month)
Vicki Finger (You are Here)
Nancy Guse (Off this Month)

Here's a little reality check for you - There are only 4 more Keeping Christmas Hops left this year so you better start trying to get some cards put together for your stash.  Come December 1st, you'll be ready to go.  

Friday, July 19, 2019

Altenew Educator "Love & Friendship" Blog Hop + Giveaway

Welcome to Altenew Educators Blog Hop!   Welcome to today's Altenew Educator Certification Program Blog Hop brought to you by Altenew and those of us who have been Certified through this fantastic program.  We are celebrating "Love and Friendship".  We were asked to use one of our favorite sets for our project.  My first two cards feature Beautiful Day, which was my first Altenew Purchase and how I became an Altenew Fan!

If you’ve been following along, you’ve just arrived from Nenette S. Madero's blog. If you find a broken link, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the Altenew Card Blog.


I had this stack of background papers sitting on my desk that I had pulled out so I would remember to use them, so I wanted to very closely match the colors in that paper to my stamping. Today's project was created using the gorgeous Beautiful Day Stamps and Coordinating Dies with a technique that I developed, called Watercolor Detail Stamping.  For those of us who might not be as good at watercolor painting, this is an easy way to get the look of watercolor without the actual time and intensity involved.  

I start by stamping the images with Versamark and then heat embossing them with Antique Gold Embossing Powder onto Cougar Super Smooth Digital White #110 Cardstock.  You can use watercolor paper, but I wanted to prevent the continual spreading that using watercolor papers allows.  Basically, I wanted to contain the spread of color so I used cardstock which restricts the flow of water somewhat.  The heat embossed edges also help to contain the color.  


For the colors, I use my MISTI to stamp in each layer of color. Starting with the most solid image in my lightest shade, Rose Quartz, I stamp that in without any water misting since it's the base layer and the other colors will go on top of that. For the leaves, I used Frayed Leaf on a couple and Sweet Leaf on the others as my base layer color. 

For the second layer, I used the little water bottle that I keep on my desk.  It's an empty bottle from a previous product, but it has a very fine mist, so it works perfectly for this.  I can also use it to put a bit of water on my pan watercolors if I want to add spatters or do occasional watercolor.  The secret is finding a bottle that has a very fine mist.  For the second layer of the blooms, I inked up with Baby Pink Ink.  Holding my water bottle about 2 feet above the inked up stamp, I spray a light mist onto the stamps, then stamp it onto the paper.  If you do it too close, it will be too wet, so start light and go with additional layers of color if you want deeper tones.  This lets the first and second ink blend seamlessly.  I stamped the second layer of color for the leaves using Forest Glades Ink.  Again, I held my water bottle about 2 feet above and gave it a very light mist, then stamped the images.  

For the next color on the blooms, I chose Pinkalicious and did it the same way.  The final layer on the blooms was inked up with Puffy Heart.  I usually let each layer sit for a couple of minutes before stamping the next layer.  Once the stamping is done, I set it aside to let it dry.  You can easily see that there are no harsh lines between the color changes.  This technique works perfectly with Altenew's layered floral stamp sets and Crisp Inks.

While I waited for those to dry, I did a bit of work on my background paper.  I spritzed it with some gold shimmer mist and then some clear sparkle shimmer mist I let that dry and then, used my Finetech Gold Watercolors to create some spatter on the background piece.  Setting that aside, I went back to my stamped images that were now dry, and gave them all a liberal spraying of shimmer mist and let that dry before die cutting the images with the coordinating dies.


I also die cut the background panel using a basic stitched rectangle die.  Because I didn't want to cover up the design, I tried my arrangement several ways to see which was going to work best and then die cut it accordingly.  I mounted that to a top folding horizontal card base and worked with my elements until I had a pleasing arrangement.  

It was very important to me to have a nice balance and blend of color between the stamped elements and the beautiful watercolor look background paper.  I didn't want to take anything away from either of them.  

My second card features some of the stems and blooms from my initial Watercolor Detail Stamping but I used Corals instead of Pinks.   I started by stamping Pattern Play - Diamond Stamp Set onto a piece of Bristol Smooth Cardstock with Versamark and heat set it using Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  


I blended a line of Fresh Lemon Ink across the panel diagonally, from bottom left to the upper right-hand side.  Next, I used Rubellite Ink across one corner, blending into the center diagonal bit of Fresh Lemon Ink.  It was my first chance to try out the new Taylored Expressions blending brushes which are so fantastic you can't believe it!  I have another brand and these are superior!  Next, I used Autumn Blaze Ink in the opposite corner, blending toward that center diagonal line once again.  As I often do on many of my backgrounds, I gave it several good spritzes of shimmer mist and set it aside to dry.  This also gives that center line an absolutely seamless blend.

Once the background panel was completely dry, I die cut it with a stitched rectangle die.  Then I added Nuvo Dream Drops to each of the center points across the design in the color Cloud Nine.  This color picks up the colors underneath and so it looks like I have little bits of iridescent pink or orange pearls at each of those points.  I absolutely love the Nuvo Dream Drops and I am hoping they come out with additional colors this year.  

Once the Nuvo Dream Drops were dry, I figured out my arrangement and then starting placing all of my elements.  I again used Little things From Lucy's Glossy Porcelain Pearls for the center of the blooms.  I love how vibrant this card turned out!  


My last card for today's Certified Altenew Educators Blog Hop was created with Gilded Ombre Washi Tape, a sentiment from Beautiful Day and the Fantasy Floral 3D Die Set.  I applied Washi Tape on a 5.5 x 8.5 panel of white cardstock, then rotated it and did it again, so that the purple met in the center.  I am a huge fan of the Altenew Washi Tapes and this is a favorite.  I have all of the gilded ones and as always, they are my favorites!  I die cut half of it for a background panel, and then die cut the leaves randomly from the piece of leftovers.  I already had the two bottom layers of the bloom in two shades of purple, so to tie everything together, I cut the top layer from some gold foiled cardstock.  One of the really neat things about this die set is that while you can stack them exactly where all of the layers line up, you don't have to.  This helps to vary the look from bloom to bloom if you want more than one. 

The Altenew Educator Certification Program really helped me to stretch and explore beyond what I thought my style was.  I can easily do elegant designs, but I continue to explore the more artistic styles and techniques learned in the classes.  Beginning now through 7/21/2019, you can get class bundles at a discounted price of 20% off.  I always find Altenew Academy Classes to be well worth the money spent and very reasonably priced at around $10.00 or less.  They are self-paced, with lifetime access, so you can review a lesson at any time.  

To celebrate AECP blog hop and encourage people to join in the AECP program, we'll discount the following bundles by 20% from 7/19/2019 to 7/21/2019. Banner attached.

https://altenew.com/products/aecp-level-2-class-bundle
https://altenew.com/products/aecp-level-1-class-bundle


Prizes/Giveaway

Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Blog by 7/26/2019 for a chance to win. Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 7/30/2019.

Hop Order: 

Vicki Finger (You are here)

Your next stop along the hop is the talented Nandini Karmarkar!  There are many stops along the hop to enjoy, so don't forget to check them all out and be sure to comment for a chance to win one of the giveaways!

If you'd like to see all the projects on Instagram, here's that list for you.
@altenewllc
@yesvirginialu
@altenew_planner_girl
@_michelleomurray
@maryam_crafter
@irenemcbeatle
@notableink
@terismailbox
@fd92354
@treasuresinletters
@mylittleatticstudio
@vicki.finger
@crownfocus
@sevenscrafts
@penningtoncreates
@glitternswirls

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