Tie It Up

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog has a "Tie it Up" challenge for this week.  One of their vendors, May Arts, makes twine and threads for use in cards & scrap booking.  I'll just confess to you all right now that I don't particularly care for the "messy thread on a card look", but I sucked it up and managed to get a tiny bit of iridescent thread on this card along with some pale blue sheer ribbon for this challenge.  It probably won't ever be my first choice, but I'm okay with what I have today.

I always like pale blues and purples for winter cards.  Just the very nature of the color makes it seem colder somehow.  You know-- they are "cool" vs "warm" colors.  I have been wanting a chance to play with some of my stamps and dies while I'm still trying to figure out my Christmas Card for this year and today was as good a day as any.  I've finally decided that I may have a large variety of different cards instead of mass producing just one card.  I don't have a MISTI, so that will suit my needs and my personality better.  I have trouble copying even one card so I really can't imagine doing 50 of them.

I had previously experimented with some paint spatters on card stock and I repeated that today using a soft blue card stock with some Copic White which is an opaque white paint that you can use with markers of the same brand, but I was trying to mimic snow.  That was okay, but still really wasn't the look I was going for.  In hindsight, I needed a smaller paint brush with longer bristles.  I'm going to have to go back later and try that now that I've thought of it.  I also tried several different embossing powders as well and this card uses Opaque White Embossing Powder from Judikins.  I used my the May 2015 Card Kit Stamp Set, "Congratulations", to make my snow.  One of the stamps in that kit is for confetti or champagne bubbles (I think) so I tried that for my snow.  I didn't have anything that was smaller for the background, so I went with what I had.

I was really wanting a bit of shimmer or sparkle to my snow, but none of the embossing powders I tried gave me the correct look, so I used the white in the end.  I'm actually thinking that I will mix a bit of clear embossing powder with some white and try that but I have no idea if that will actually work.  I've been saving an empty embossing powder jar to check, so I'll let you know in a future post. *Ü*

I always kind of agonize over the backgrounds for my cards, but once I get something that I like pretty well, then it's full speed ahead.  I have several snowflake dies and punches in a large variety of sizes that I have planned to use for winter or holiday cards.  There's Rylynn, Eliza, Alexis, & Kate which are all Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Dies. There's also three different Martha Stewart Snowflake Punches.  I figured I would have all the sizes and variety that I might need.  Two of the punches are Arctic and Alpine, but I have no idea what the third one is called.  I only used four total on this card and two of them are the small punch sized snowflakes.

I stamped the sentiment from Big Scripty Greetings - Holiday, in Versamark on 40# vellum and heat embossed it.  I also put Versamark all around the edge of the vellum and heat embossed it with Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder from Judikins.  I had already tried Diamond Sparkle, and Ranger Holographic Embossing Powders.  I attached the greeting and the snowflakes using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  The Multi Medium dries to a matte finish and doesn't show under vellum although I do try to place it behind other elements.  I dotted that adhesive all up and down the top, bottom and sides of the greeting panel and it doesn't show anywhere.  For the very last snowflake I put on the card front, I tucked a bit of iridescent thread under the center and attached it to the upper left corner of my front panel.  After that I tied the small sheer blue bow and put that on with a glue dot.  Multi Medium Matte would have worked fine, but I didn't have to babysit a glue dot.

Once I achieved the snowy background I wanted, the rest of the card went very fast.  I die cut the background using the Scalloped Stitched Rectangle from the Sunshine Layers Dies by WPLUS9 Design Studio. The snowflakes are all cut from White Shimmer Card Stock.  I have a few variations on this theme that I'll be trying over the next couple of weeks and I'll post those as I complete them.

Thanks so much for looking.  I hope you have a great day!

PS:  I just went back and tried the Copic White Paint with a small scoop of Perfect Pearls in it, making spatters with a #2 Script Brush.  This works very well. You can control the size of your spatters by how near or far the tip of the brush is to your paper.  I actually did my spatters onto my paper over my trash can to try to keep the mess contained.  You could use a box or some old newspapers as well.  The blue card stock is two different colors, but I like the effect in both cases.

Wonderful Watercolor II

I made another card today for the Wonderful Watercolor Challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  Since I just went into a ton of detail yesterday, I am going to try to keep it simple today.

The card base is made from a pale pink card stock cut to 4.25 inches x 11 inches and top folded at 5.5 inches.  The Green is Wild Wasabi cut into the scalloped & stitched panel using the Sunshine Layers Die by WPLUS9.  The background panel was water colored using Abandoned Coral and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks then cut with the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.

The floral branch is from the same Clearly Besotted Beautiful Friend Stamp Set I used yesterday and then cut with the Beautiful Friend Coordinating Dies.  Using Distress Markers I colored the flower first using Abandoned Coral for the base layer of color.  Next I added in more color with Worn Lipstick marker.  The leaves were all colored with Mowed Lawn Distress Marker.  After coloring the image I applied Wink of Stella in clear on the flowers and leaves. The greeting is made from 4 die cuts stacked and glued on top of each other for added dimension.  The floral branch was adhered to the background panel using Ranger Multi Medium Matte as was the sentiment and the sequins.  The rest of the pieces where adhered with my ATG Gun. 

After I assembled the card, I decided I wanted some sequins for that touch of whimsy.  This card uses Pretty Pink Posh Watermelon 6mm cupped and an 8mm green from the Go Green Collection.

Since I already had the image colored and the background water colored, it took only a little time to assemble everything. 

Have a great day!  Leave any questions or comments below and thanks for stopping by.   

Wonderful Watercolor

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Wonderful Watercolor. This is such a huge trend right now in the paper crafting industry and it's also one that I personally love.   

My favorite medium for watercolor by far is using Distress Inks either in the form of Distress Markers or Distress Re-Inkers mixed with a bit of water.  Pearlized water can be made made by adding some Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder or you can use Tsukineko Clear Shimmer Spray.  I have a few colors of the Perfect Pearls but I really only ever use the Pearl Colored Pigment for this technique.

All 57 (the current #) Distress Inks were formulated by Tim Holtz and Ranger to activate or reactivate with water, even after they are dry. They are non-toxic, fade resistant, and water based. They work great for hand coloring line images, or giving an authentic vintage feel to your other projects. They come in Ink Pads, Markers and Re-Inkers.  All of these are available at Simon Says Stamp. 

For this card I had a background panel on hand from when I took my Online Card Class - Watercolor -- Exploring Mediums.  This particular panel was done using Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors on a Canson Watercolor Paper in 140# weight.  I have the set of 36 which includes two different colors of gold pearlescent shimmering paint and a white pearly one as well.  There are smaller sets available in 12, 18 and 24.  I treated the paper afterward with a Tsukineko Shimmer Solution misting a light layer a couple of times so it didn't warp my paper.  This particular water color paper is a soft ivory color vs. some papers that are whiter and brighter.  I like both options.   

I wanted a teal color with a bit of a bluish green all tangled together for this background.  I was trying to see if I could maintain 2 separate areas of color but with no hard lines.  It's hard for me to be patient and let the water do it's work, but I did succeed here and on a few other panels as well. Since I didn't want hard lines,  I just used a bit of paper towel to pull up the extra color and moisture as the colors were drying.   It's a good idea to have a bit of paper towel or tissue along with a bit of water when you sit down to watercolor.  You can fix virtually any mistake made in your watercolor by adding clean water to the "messed up" area and sopping that up with a bit of tissue or paper towel until it's clear again. I get outside the lines from time to time and this is an easy fix so far.  I'm sure it helps that my canvas is small.  

The Scalloped Stitched Rectangle panel I had also done previously using Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tools and Island Indigo Ink.  Like always, I hang on to spare parts & pieces to see if I can use them on something else at another time. 

The Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles I use on almost every card I make in one size or another.   I like to buy dies that I know I will use over and over and this fits the bill for me.

The floral image is from the Clearly Besotted Beautiful Friends Stamp Set and was stamped using Versamark with Simon Says Stamp Gold Ultra Fine Detail Embossing Powder and heat set.  I normally use clear embossing powder, but I wanted something a bit different and the gold adds a touch of elegance. This set also has the Beautiful Friends Coordinating Dies.  I used the Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Broken China for the flowers and Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles for the Leaves. Gathered Twigs colored the branch.  I applied my color directly to the image in very small areas one at a time and blended that color out using a Water Brush.  I always pull or push the color in the direction that the leaves or petals are going.  After it's dry I go back in with another layer or two (or three) to add depth to my color for a true watercolor look and feel.  My last layer is usually some Wink of Stella or a solution of Perfect Pearls.

My husband and I traveled this past weekend so I took some images with me to color. Since the water was contained in the handle of my brush and the color was contained in my markers, I had no problems doing this in the car as long as we were on the interstate. Curvy, hilly, rural Missouri roads would not be conducive to success, so I didn't attempt it.  While I do have other mediums available to use, this is hands down, my absolute favorite! The transparency achieved with Distress Inks is just beautiful and second to none.   

Wink of Stella comes in approximately two dozen colors but you could go broke trying to buy and keep one in each color.  Since I'm adding color with markers first, I only have the Clear Wink of Stella brush pen.  From time to time I also use a Water Brush with some Gold Shimmer Spray in the barrel for coloring, but I normally only use Clear Shimmer Spray.  You can also use any of the shimmer sprays you may already have on hand. You just need to play a little bit to find out what your spray does with your type of color and get predictable, repeatable results.  When I searched for shimmer mist at Simon Says Stamp, it popped up 62 of them.  Use whichever one you like and gives the results you want.  

I used a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Sending & Wishing Die Set for the "Sending" greeting.  The "love" die came from a different set by Little Yellow Bicycle.  For a final touch to my card, I cut some of the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Shapes - Hearts & Stars Die with some Gold Glittered Card Stock scraps.  I assembled the card panels to the ivory card base using my ATG Gun.  I've mentioned before that you cannot move anything with this adhesive on it once you press down, so make sure you have your image lined up on the panel.  I do get one a bit crooked from time to time, but as has already been said, "It's Handmade, not Hallmark".  I think people care more about actually getting a card than they do about whether or not it's a fraction of an inch crooked.   The ATG Gun is a very cost effective adhesive but not suitable for everything I do. The hearts were adhered using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  If a bit oozes out from the side of the embellishment, it dries to a matte finish and is invisible.  It is a great, very strong adhesive for any type of embellishment.  

I have several projects on my To-Do-List right now, so I'll be back soon with another card.   Thanks for looking and feel free to leave a comment. It always means a lot to me when people take time to comment.