Merry Making Class

Hello there! I have been in the Online Card Class this week called "Merry Making" and it has been a ton of fun with lots of new techniques. I wanted to share a couple with you that have been my favorites of the classes.  Don't get me wrong, I love all the new things I learned and I even learned some new twists on old techniques. The thing about taking classes is that they make you look at things you already have in new ways.

Today's card showcases the technique taught by Jennifer McGuire on Day 4 and I love it.  While I might not want to do this too often, it is a fantastic way to use background or cover dies.  Since those dies are some of the most expensive, it's nice to have another way to use them. In her video, Jennifer used some Silver Shimmer Cardstock and I did that for the first one of these that I made.  For the second one that I am featuring here, I used Shimmer Vellum which is much lighter weight and easier to fold since my center line is very narrow.  I have several cover dies but this one in particular seems to be well suited for this style of card.  It is from Papertrey Ink and is called Cover Plate: Twist.  It's a favorite for sure and was one of my early purchases from Papertrey Ink.

This class was pretty inexpensive ($25.00) and you can take it any time. It's all done through videos you watch at home. There are three lessons each day featuring different techniques.  I have not seen this technique before and the material is copyrighted so I am not going to be listing the steps here but you can sign up to take your own class here: Merry Making.

I thought this would also make a wonderful wedding card and I will definitely keep it in mind.  We don't attend too many weddings but it's always good to have a card design in mind for those occasions.

For this card, when you untie the ribbon, you get to see the medallion that sits in the middle. When you open that, then you can lift the top folding card to reveal the interior of your card.  It's fun to have an interactive card to present.

I always really enjoy doing feminine cards for my girlfriends and there are usually a few challenges that do a Twelve Tags or Cards of Christmas with a feminine twist and I plan to pull this one out of my arsenal when the time comes.

I pulled out a piece of 12 x 12 Pink Shimmer Cardstock (Creative Memories) for this card but in the end I trimmed it down to regular A2 size. The shimmer vellum I have came from Create for Less and the color is Gold Leaf.  I have another color that is a bit more yellow that I am planning to try.  The panel insert is stamped using Sunny Studios Petite Poinsettias which has 2 different sized blooms and three leaves.  I normally would get my MISTI out and use it for any type of layered stamping, but I was doing a trial run to figure out colors so I just used my acrylic block with Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, and Autumn Rose Inks for the blooms and Ripe Avocado with Olive Twist for the leaves. The "Happy Holidays" sentiment is from a WPLUS9 Set called Holiday Boughs. Mine is stamped in Versamark and Heat Embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  This is still my favorite gold because it isn't too yellow or brassy.  I have a large container of it and whenever Simon runs a sale on it, I buy about 4 more jars.

When I first stamped these blooms, I was thinking I was glad this was just a test because I didn't get it lined up very well.  But once the ink was dried back a bit, I liked how it looked so I decided to use it.  I die cut that panel with a stitched rectangle die for adhering it to my card base.  The base panel of this card is 4.5 x 5.75 so it will need to be mailed in a 5 x 7 envelope. I always have some of those on hand for just such a package so that was no big deal to me. Like I said, I wouldn't do this special size or type of card often and you can find packs of 10 envelopes at Joann's, Hobby Lobby, Amazon and lots of other places. I also used a couple of other Simon Says Stamp Products including Stitched Circle Dies and the Simon Says Stamp Kate Snowflake Die that I cut from Gold Glitter Cardstock.  It is very delicate so be careful removing it from the die.

The thing I have enjoyed most about this class is that I didn't need to buy anything special to participate. I was able to use stamps and dies I already had on hand and encouraged us to look at those things in a new way.  I hope you enjoyed today's project and thanks for stopping by!

Here's a few views of the first card I made in this style.  I'll be back tomorrow with another technique!

Inspired By All The Little Things #32 & SSS Flicker Challenge #58

As soon as I saw the image over at Inspired By All The Little Things, I started trying to formulate an idea in my head.  In fact I have a few ideas so you may very well see more than one post for this challenge.  Everything about this image says "snowy winter scene" so that is what I wanted to convey in my card.

While I was checking out some of the other challenges yesterday I came across this card by Vika Salmina, a member of the My Favorite Things Design Team that was done for one of their recent Color Challenges.  The colors she used here completely influenced own my color choices.  I don't have any paper from MFT and only a few dies, but I immediately set out to grab what I did have in similar colors to this gorgeous card.

I used Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select White, Scarlet Jewel, Smokey Shadow, and SU's Smoky Slate cardstocks.  I also (don't faint here), actually used my Copic Markers to color with.  I KNOW!  The thing is, I feel like I've learned a little bit more about how to do it and was inspired to try again for a few reasons; Kathy Racoosin's current challenge (#thedailymarker30day), and a card I received in the mail from my scrappy friend, Barb Engler.  It was so beautiful and I know it was colored with Copic Markers.

I started by selecting similar cardstock colors for my project. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Smokey Shadow, Stamper's Select White, Scarlet Jewel and SU!'s Smoky Slate.  Next, I stamped my selected images from WPLUS9's Winter Pals Stamp Set in Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink (Copic or other Alcohol Marker friendly) onto Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  I made my white card base (also Stamper's Select White), a Scarlet Jewel Background Panel and a Smokey Slate panel that was just a tiny bit smaller. Next I cut three of the stitched circles frames from #140 Watercolor Paper using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Circles Dies. I also cut another solid stitched circle using an in-between size from the MFT Stitched Circles Stax from the same paper to be my background "snow". It needs to be slightly larger than the opening so that you can put it behind the circle frame.  I cut this circle again with the "slope" die which is part of the Mama Elephant Landscape Trio Die Set. Last but not least, I cut three of the banners from the Paper Clippings: Joy to the World Detail Dies and layered them together for a thicker element.  I also glued the circle frames together in this way and then spritzed all of these pieces with shimmer spray.. These would be pieces to help build the scene on my card so I set them aside to dry while I did my coloring.

I colored in all the images using Copic Markers in Cool Grays with the exception of the obvious bits of color on the accessories. Mostly I stuck with C1, C3 and C5 along with colorless blender. I also used C7 on the Penguin. One of the things I have learned by observing lots of Copic Coloring is that I tend to be a bit heavy handed.  So I worked very hard last night to use a delicate touch and I felt like I did much less blending than usual with great effect.  I'm so happy with how these turned out that I am planning to Copic color something again soon!

Once I had the stamped images colored, I die cut them using the Winter Pals Coordinating Die Set. I added a few little details with a Black Polychromo Pencil.  As you can probably tell, I am trying to use all the supplies I have in my studio.  I don't need to use them all at once, but I love finding new ways to use "old" tools.  Marika Rahtu made that technique famous with her gorgeous images and tutorials.  If you haven't seen them, you can check out her YouTube Channel HERE!

I mounted the Scarlet Jewel panel to the white card base with a slightly smaller rectangle of black fun foam behind it. The one I used here came from Darice and is 3mm thick - about 1/8th inch. This makes the whole panel nice and stable and great to build onto.  Next I adhered the Smokey Shadow panel on top of that using Scor-Tape and then started adding my elements to the card to create my scene.  I used Thin 3D Foam Squares to adhere nearly everything.  In some places I used a double thickness but I even used a triple thickness in one place so that everything would lay flat and stable (the little girl bears' head is so far off the card base, it actually required regular thickness x 2).  The sentiment is from the What The Doodle Ornament Stamp Set and was stamped using Scarlet Jewel Ink with Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder over the top.  I love that little pop of color on the banner and the dimension achieved by stacking the die cuts. A few sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh finished off this card.

There were so many little details to create this and it was definitely one of my more labor intensive cards, but I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.  I'm planning to branch out into a slightly larger image for my next Copic Coloring project. Be sure to check out all the beautiful projects at both the Simon Flickr Challenge and Inspired By All The Little Things. If you've stayed with me through this whole post, thank you so much.  Every kind and encouraging comment is read and very much appreciated.

Simon Says... Anything Goes

I always enjoy playing in challenges that are "anything goes" because sometimes it's hard to make what I'm currently working on fit into a specific theme. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog has an "Anything Goes" theme this week, so I'm all in.

The first time I saw Dawn Woleslagle make a card with one of the April 2016 WPLUS9 releases, I was enchanted! The set I'm talking about is "Freehand Florals". Last year, during Jennifer McGuire's Kindness Campaign, Dawn had hand illustrated a set of note cards that were auctioned off to raise a bit of money for the campaign which is an organization that works to stop bullying.  If you were online or on Instagram at that time, you saw them. This stamp set is based on a similar style design but keeps the integrity of Dawn's hand drawn set unique.

Freehand Florals by Yana Smakula

If  you've been around the Papercrafting world much, then you have seen Dawn's work and know that she is an incredible artist.  The first video of her I ever saw was one using her "Unforgettable" Stamp Set and she was showing how you could watercolor it. That one little YouTube video spawned my whole desire to learn how to do enough watercolor to not be ashamed of the cards I sent in that style.  Dawn also creates Fine Art Watercolor Paintings that she sells and did a fantastic class on Watercolor Techniques over at Online Card Classes. To say that I admire her work would be an understatement.  I'm actually in awe of her awesome talent but the thing that most impresses me about her is that she shares her techniques with other paper crafters and makes them seem achievable.  I doubt that I will ever be successful at freehand watercolor, but I can sure do a watercolor look thanks to her.

Then last month, my friend Yana Smakula, created a card using this same set that was absolutely stunning.  You can see that video here.  After that, my ship was sunk until I was able to get this set.  I've played with it a little, but yesterday I sat and devoted my entire day to attempting to make my card look as nice as Dawn's and Yana's.  I started by stamping the base layer of the roses and larger leaves onto Stamper's Select White #110 Cardstock and die cutting them. I watched Dawn's video several times to make sure I knew how to stamp each layer in the proper place and continued with my stamping.  A lot of the time, layering stamp sets are as much about the selection of ink colors for the various layers of one bloom as it is about knowing how to stamp it correctly.  When I got my first layering set this year, I sat and played with color combinations to find some that really work for me, so I already had this part figured out and had stamped roses in several color families the day before.

It was the background stamping that Dawn had shown in her video that really made me nervous. I had never done that before. I have a couple of  Dawn's Floral sets and she always gives you filler flowers to use for this purpose.  Freehand Florals is no exception but it is the first time I've attempted to actually use some of them. I should probably remind you all that I only started thinking of myself as a stamper in the last 6 months or so.  Before that, I was a card maker but I pretty much used only die cuts.  I still love die cuts, but stamps (like watercolor) have won my heart!

It's always a little scary to stamp directly onto a panel that will be showing on the front of your card and I wasn't happy with my first two attempts but truly, once I tried to do it for real, it couldn't have been any easier and I wonder what took me so long. Finding a balance is important and I felt my first two tries had too much filler in them but I wanted to get a feel for what I could accomplish with those stamps that seemed similar to what Dawn created so I kept stamping on those to perfect my skill using such small stamps and let me tell you, they are tiny! I never dreamed I could do so much with them.  So on my last try, I scaled it way back and had a good idea of what I'd add and how much when I started stamping on that panel. I feel my balance is perfect.  There is more texture without filling up all of the white space and I'm thrilled with how my card turned out.  I'm anxious to try again with some pink roses.

The colors I used here are Papertrey Ink's Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold and Bright Buttercup for the blooms; Rose Quartz from Altenew and Berry Sorbet from Papertrey Ink for the Rose Buds, Puffy Heart and Cosmic Berry Inks (from the Altenew Rose Petal Collection) for the pink filler flowers, Vintage Jadeite and New Leaf for all the larger leaves, and Aqua Mist for the smaller vines of leaves all from Papertrey Ink.  I LOVE Altenew's new colors, the Rose Petal Collection in particular.  I love Pinks with a blue undertone and these fit the bill perfectly.   For my card Base, I used Lemon Tart Cardstock from Papertrey Ink.  To finish my card I stamped the greeting onto the Tag Sale Quilted Banner Die and heat set it, then mounted it on Thin 3D Foam Squares.

As I said, I'll be entering this card over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog. I will also be sharing this over at Word Art Wednesday where the theme is always Anything Goes. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. I truly cherish those kind and encouraging comments you leave for me. Have a great Sunday!

Color Throwdown Challenge #283 with Ranunculus

I've been practicing for a few days with a new-to- me technique so I haven't gotten anything posted since Monday. Last night I sat down to get started on today's project and I got far enough along that it didn't take too long to get it finished up this morning. For today's card, I am playing over at the Color Throwdown Challenge #383 which is yellow, orange, green and white.  I knew I had the perfect Stamp to participate in this challenge. I love the bright summery colors in this inspiration image.

I started by heat embossing the WPLUS9 Beautiful Bouquet Ranunculus with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder on a Canson Bristol Watercolor Panel.  I've really learned how to control the amount of water I use in order to get the look I want in Watercolor.  I'm probably not doing it right technically. but I'm okay with that.

To color my image, I used a combination of Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens in Bright Yellow, Orange, May Green, Green and I used Festive Berries and Mowed Lawn Distress Markers for a few of the leaves and the berries.  I am so satisfied with the results of these two mediums and I think learning to watercolor has given me a new appreciation for colors outside of the blue based tones I love so much. Yellow or orange is not the first choice I would normally make when doing a bouquet, but I love how this came out.  I actually only have one orange in my colors, so I'm glad it worked out.

For the sentiment on this card, I used one of the greetings in the Tulip Time Stamp Set from Papertrey Ink.  I die cut the panel using a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle in the largest size and mounted it to an A2 card base made from Simon Says Stamp 100# Orange Peel Card Stock.  I don't normally buy orange card stock but it was one of the colors in the Simon Says Stamp Rainbow Pack which has two sheets each of several different colors.  Once the water coloring was completed, this was a quick-to-assemble card.

Have a great day everyone!  I love comments if you'd like to leave one for me.  I have more projects coming up this week, so I will be back soon.

One Last Valentine

There is so much fun going on over at Papertrey Ink again today as they continue with the reveal of the 9th Anniversary Products that will go live for ordering at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on February 15th.  The challenge I'm creating for today is "Create Along With Us".  We're supposed to pick something from one of the design team members as our inspiration and make our own project. I chose Erin Lincoln who designed two new Cover Plate Dies: Scroll Frame and Pretty Frame.

There are so many gorgeous things coming on the 15th.  I love Peonies and there is a new stamp set with coordinating dies called Peonies on Parade that is just beautiful.  I can hardly wait!  There are also pre-stamped coloring images available for either watercolor or Copic markers if that is what you'd like to do.  You can choose which paper you like; watercolor paper or Stamper's Select White for your Copics.  Be sure to check out Nichole's Blog for a sneak peek.

Obviously I can't get these new dies yet, but I could use a different Papertrey Ink Cover Plate. I chose Cover Plate: Deco for this card. 

I have really struggled to make a Valentine's Day Card for my husband this year. I've felt like everything I've made has been too feminine but I'm pretty happy with the card I designed today.  I love die cut inlay but sometimes it can be a challenge for me to find something that isn't too tedious to work with. I find this one pretty easy and the more you do it the easier it gets. I could have kept this card completely clean and simple but since I am not mailing it, I went with a tiny bit of dimension. 

A few days ago, I had cut one die from Gray Card Stock (SU's Smoky Slate) and one Stamper's Select White and interchanged the pieces on each other to create these background panels. I've already used the other one in a card but I had this one left.  I like the really clean graphics of today's card for my husband. It's nice without being too frilly or girlie looking.  While the background is very soft and muted, I wanted a pop of color for the actual focal area of the card. Using the Papertrey Ink Boutique Borders: Love Stamp Set I stamped my main sentiment on the largest heart cut from a scrap of SU! Cherry Cobbler Card Stock and heat embossed it using WOW! Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder.  I cut all of the hearts using the Little B Stitched Hearts Designer Die Set.  

On the small hearts I stamped the solid hearts using WPLUS9's Little Bits Stamp Set which has a variety of sizes of hearts and stars in it.  It's a handy little set to have for accents on any kind of card you might be making.  My final touch was to stamp and heat emboss the little flourish from the PTI Holiday Photo Finishers Stamp Set using the same WOW! Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder as the rest of the card. Then I assembled it all onto an A2 Smoky Slate Top Folding Card Base using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I trimmed about 1/8th of an inch all the way around the background panel so that it would show the gray card base. The two smaller hearts are popped up on foam squares for a bit of dimension.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I love comments if you'd care to leave one.  Have a great afternoon and I'll see you soon!  

Lucky Stars

Over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog this week the theme is "Something New" showcasing WPLUS9 Design Studio products if you have any.  This gives me the opportunity to play with some standard favorites and a new stamp set I got recently that I haven't had time to play with called "Lucky Stars".

There is something to me that is magical about a night sky, especially at dusk.  I love it in the warmer months when it gets dark enough to see those first stars sprinkling the sky with their tiny beams of light.  If you don't live near a city, the stars are so incredibly bright in the night sky. When we travel up north to the family farm, that's one of the things I enjoy seeing most.  I also love to see shooting stars.  At home, we live about a half a mile outside of city limits, but still in a subdivision with lighting requirements, so it's not as dark as it is further away from town.

I started making my cards by ink blending a couple of background panels using Night of Navy and Blackberry Bliss SU! inks with a Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool; one to stamp directly onto and the other to die cut a background.  Both background panels were sprayed with a solution of perfect pearls and left to dry while I figured out the rest of my design.

For the first card, I arranged my greeting and some of the decorative elements on my craft mat and then picked them up with my largest acrylic block which is approximately 4.25 x 6 inches.  I stamped them using Versamark and heat set it using Metallic Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder from WOW!  The color of this embossing powder is a bit warmer than Silver and I love the sparkle it gives like the stars twinkling at night.  It was the perfect choice for these cards.  Next I die cut that panel with the WPLUS9 Scalloped Stitched Rectangle from the Sunshine Layers Designer Dies Set.  I had previously cut a Twist Cover Plate Die from some Eggplant card stock so I adhered that to the front of my top folding A2 sized Wisteria card base. Then I adhered the stamped, die cut panel on top to complete that card. I pretty much use the Scalloped Rectangle or the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles to die cut all of my card front panels.  They are basics that I use over and over.

For my other card, I die cut the panel with the WPLUS9 Starry Background Die. This die cut doesn't cut an outline, but it cuts different sized stars in your background panel. It's a smaller die so I just repositioned it and cut my background panel twice to get the full effect. Next I layered that over a piece of shimmery white card stock that had been treated with Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz.   I stamped the greeting and the shooting star using Versamark onto a piece of Eggplant Card Stock and heat set it using the WOW! Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder and then cut the tag using the Love Showers Designer Dies. I love the tag in this die set and use it all the time for gift tags or other kinds of tags.  It's a fantastic size and big enough to hold a nice sized greeting being 3 inches wide and slightly taller than 4 inches.

I wanted my star shaped brad to match exactly, so using a pair of tweezers to hold it I ran it across my Versamark Ink Pad and then dipped it into the same Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder and heat set it.  To make the moon, I cut a circle from a circle die and then cut a smaller circle lined up inside of it to make the shape of the crescent and went over it with my Wink of Stella Clear Shimmer Pen.  Both of my card stocks are very heavy and when I tried to cut the stitched rectangle it did not cut through both layers so I had to use my Tim Holtz Scissors to finish the cuts.  Then I assembled all of the pieces onto a top folding A2 Wisteria Card Base using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I set two large acrylic blocks on top while it dried for a couple of minutes.  These cards have pretty minimal layers which makes for easy mailing.

I hope you enjoy these cards that feature WPLUS9 Design Studio.  Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back with another WPLUS9 product in my next post.

Mondo Magnolia

Today's card was created partly at the request of a follower on my blog and partly from my need for a card that follows a neutral color theme.  My follower wanted to see one of my florals done in cream color which is no small task when it comes to me and watercolor.  I have a hard time leaving enough "white" space all of the time, but I know this about myself so I started in with that fact in mind.

I have a few thank you cards to make now that the holidays are over. I stamped the Mondo Magnolia, designed by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson, using Versamark and Simon Says Stamp Ultra Fine Gold Embossing Powder and heat set it.

This particular card stock is the Canson XL 140# Water Color Paper.  I don't have much of this left and I probably won't buy it again simply because I prefer the soft white of the Canson Bristol Water Color Paper that I buy from Amazon or Hobby Lobby with a coupon.  I also have some Fabriano Water Color Paper for my upcoming Watercolor Class that I will be taking at the end of January and it is also more cream colored than white.  I really love the soft white of the Bristol Paper that I have been buying.  I can actually buy it from Amazon.com for less than I pay with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby.  You can see it here: Canson Bristol 96# 11 x 14 - 25 Sheets.  I know enough about what I am doing most of the time not to need the 140# version which will take a great deal more water than the Bristol does.  With practice, you just learn to work in one area at a time and do your painting in multiple layers so the paper will not pill. There are a few places that make brighter white water color paper, but for card making, I'm good with what I'm currently using.  If I ever get to a point where I'm trying to do fine art prints, I'll invest in better paper (*smile*).

Using a water brush with a Tim Holtz Distress Marker in the color Antique Linen I colored the flower.  I tried to keep the left side of the petals slightly darker by putting no color at all on the right side and trying to keep a bit more of the super sheer cream.  Antique Linen is just the palest hint of a color.  I tried a couple of other colors, but they just weren't the correct color family.  I have a beautiful Magnolia Tree in my yard that we got a couple of years ago.  We had so much rain last spring that even though we had lots of blooms, they didn't last long.  Sometimes they didn't even last a half a day before they got pelted by the rain and knocked off.   I did get to study and enjoy the blooms for those few hours that the sun was shining.  I feel like my color is a very accurate representation of the color of my magnolia.  I would like to have a Tulip Magnolia with its lovely pink blooms, but I think we'll see if we can keep the one we have alive first.

Once I was finished water coloring the bloom, I went over it all with my Wink of Stella Clear Shimmer Pen.  Once that was done, I cut the panel with the Sunshine Layers Scalloped Rectangle from WPLUS9 Design Studios.  I applied that to an A2 Top Folding Card Base that I made from SU! Crumb Cake card stock.  I die cut the Mama Elephant "thanks" sentiment and attached it to my scalloped panel using Ranger Multi Medium Matte which finished this card.

I'm anxious to try to color the Altenew "Magnolias for Her" image using a similar technique (you know--a light touch) and that will most likely be my next project as I need a few more thank you cards.

I try to make cards that are appealing but not overly fussy; Classic and Elegant is my goal.  I hope you enjoyed this super simple card and if you did, please feel free to leave me a comment.  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon.

Today's card came from an idea that I saw on Pinterest and is somewhat inspired by Joanna Gaines, The Magnolia Mom.  You might recognize the name from HGTV's Fixer Upper.  She does such a lovely job on all of the homes she decorates and they are heavily influenced by chalk and distressed looks.  I personally don't like the look of brand new furniture that has been sanded to make it look distressed, but a lot of the things she does with metal and chalk boards, etc. is pretty fun and since it isn't my furniture, I like it!   So when I saw this style of a card on Pinterest, I pinned it to come back to later. This is the inspiration card created by Betsy Veldman for Paper Trey Ink.

Betsy has a video for this on YouTube so I watched it a couple of times. I don't have the same stamps that she does, but she gives a couple of tips on how to find a style in something you already have which is what I did on my card.

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of cardstock in Lost Lagoon which is the perfect green chalkboard color.  I do have some black chalkbooard paper, but I want to try this technique a few more times before I try it on that paper.  

I had one more Christmas card to make that I will be hand delivering later today and I didn't start on this until kind of late last night.  So with the lateness of the hour, I didn't really look through my embellishments to add anything.  But I'm okay with the Clean and Simple style of my card.  

I selected a flourish from an unknown maker set I already had.  I'm pretty sure it was a Fiskars Stamp Set but the packaging is long gone.  I stamped the flourish in Versamark on the top and bottom of the cardstock and then the greeting that came from the WPLUS9 Holiday Greetings Stamp Set. I put my greeting at an angle as Betsy did.  I sprinkled it with white embossing powder and heat set it.  

Next I took a White Prismcolor Pencil, my see-through ruler and following the line of text on the bottom of the greeting, made my bottom "banner" line.  Then I moved my ruler up, keeping my angle identical (which I could see through my clear ruler) and made the top banner line.  I loosely colored in some of the white on the banner around the greeting to make it seem like chalk dust.

I went all around the edges of the card stock piece with a sponge dauber, using the Lost Lagoon ink in a circular motion just to add some depth to that panel. Next I took a piece of dry paper towel and just tapping it onto my craft white ink, gently swiped areas of the card to make that seem like chalk dust as well.  I took a couple of the smallest snowflakes from the Simon Says Stamp Lots of Snowflakes and added a few in here and there with Versamark and heat set them with white embossing powder as well.  Once I had that done I cut that panel with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle and adhered that to my card base.  I cut a Simon Says Stamp Eliza Snowflake and attached that to the card, trimming off the excess from behind with a pair of scissors.  

I'd like to try this card again after Christmas using my Craft White Ink and clear embossing powder to see if I get a better quality embossing.  I think my white embossing powder is not a fine detail powder, and I know my clear is so I will try this again when I have a bit more time to put into it.  

My card is not as good as Betsy's, but for the time I had, I think it looks pretty good.  Also, I don't always get something right the very first time I try, but I had enough right here to go ahead and finish it.  I know my friend will really like it as she likes the distressed, vintage look and feel of things.

Have a great weekend everyone and I'll be back soon with another project to share with you.  

Just for Laura

I have a scrappy friend who lives in Belgium and is at University studying to become a Kindergarten Teacher.  She has a huge following, especially on YouTube where she has more than 8500 subscribers for her more than 120 videos.  She is only 18 years old but has been making cards since she was 12 years old.  Her's was one of the first YouTube videos I watched when I started making cards this past Spring and I've followed her ever since.

Now that my friend has started college, there are many projects to make as part of her education and she doesn't have as much time as she did before so she is taking a break from weekly videos and blogging.  I still haven't mastered shaker cards which was the first video I saw her do. But I still remember the sound of her voice as she told us on the video that the card she had made was going to be the one she gave to her parents because she adored the cute little critters. Subsequent videos with critters are among some of the best she has done and she is the queen of shaker cards!  She is also known for her love of and ability to duplicate soft colors. 

Because of her love for critters, I wanted to create a Christmas Card for her this year that had little critters in it.  I'm actually hoping to make another one with critters for my grandsons this year.  I have a cute idea for a little deer.... 

I started by stamping the little penguin on Canson 140# Water Color Paper from the WPLUS9 Winter Pals Stamp Set with my lightest gray ink, Smoky Slate, and heat embossed him with WOW! Pearl Embossing Powder. When you use the Pearl, it picks up the underneath color - so paper color or ink color.  With dye inks, you have to be really quick with the embossing powder, but you can do it.  I just stamp each item one at a time so I can get the embossing powder on there and then I heat set everything all at once.  For the little bear and the sled, I stamped in Sahara Sand Ink with WOW! Pearl Embossing Powder as well.  The little pond was first stamped with Versamark and then heat set using Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder. I also went over the little pond with a swipe of Versamark so it would take the Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder over the whole surface to make it seem icy.  I used the companion dies for all of the cutting.  I detest "fussy cutting". Some people actually think it is therapeutic, but I am not one of them. 

Once I had all of my Copic coloring finished and everything cut out, I used Simon Says Stamp Surf Blue Card Stock to cut Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle panel for my card front.  I stamped the "Merry and Bright" from the Mama Elephant Jingle Greetings Stamp Set and heat embossed it using WOW! Metallic Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder.  The Platinum color is a bit warmer than Silver.  This Mama Elephant handwriting belongs to one of the owners of Mama Elephant and it is my favorite!  I have several Mama Elephant word dies in the same font.   

I still don't feel very comfortable with Copic Coloring but I think these little critters are pretty passable. Copics are another medium that you have to learn to walk away from for a bit to see how the color comes out.  Since they are alcohol based, they dry pretty quickly allowing the color to absorb into the paper.  I used C1, C3, C5 & C7 to color the penguin and W1, W3, & W5 for the bear. Surprisingly, I did not use any black on the penguin except for a black glaze pen on the eyes. 

For the white parts of the face I used a tip to tip technique using a colorless blender with C1 for a minimal amount of gray shadow.   I used clear Wink of Stella on the white parts after he was colored.  When I first started the penguin, I was pretty sure that I had ruined him with my first strokes of the gray, but it came out alright in the end.  Copic Markers come in two types -- Sketch and Ciao.  I have all Copic Ciao Markers but I see most people using Copic Sketch Markers.  I do not know what the difference is.  Some people used to say that Ciao Markers couldn't be refilled, but they can, so I still don't know the difference.  I've had my markers for several years so I guess it just not that important to me to know the difference.  Way back when I got mine, I got what was recommended by a couple of guys that were Certified Copic Instructors. I don't use mine often enough to feel the need to know.  I much prefer watercolor for most of my images but I couldn't get these little pals colored in a way that I liked, so I switched mediums.  

The theme this week at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Blog is "Let it Snow" and I'll be entering this card.    

Hello Sunshine

Today I wanted to make a card for a specific friend and also to participate in a Challenge on the WPlus9 Design Studios, LLC Blog.  I have a few of their products and several more on my wish list.  The only requirement for the challenge was to use at least 1 of their products.

This card uses one of my absolute favorite products and it is one I use over and over again.  It is the Sunshine Layers Designer Die Set.  It has the Scalloped and Stitched Rectangle Panel that I use on a lot of my cards as well as the Inner Rounded Corner Die, a Sunshine, the word Sunshine, two Clouds, a Rainbow and a couple of Raindrops.  Everything is the perfect size and scale for A2 cards.  I don't have the companion stamp set, but it is on my wish list.  I've used it several times here on my blog and for many cards that never make it to my blog.  Particularly the scalloped rectangle is a must have for me in card making.

I was playing around last night with several of my ink pads and I sort of stumbled onto something that I really liked.  I had pre-cut a few panels of 4.25 x 5.5 inch 110# card stock in ivory.  I was planning to do some ink blending so I didn't want to catch the edges with my Mini Ink Blending Tool and tear or bend my paper so I used the heavier card stock.  It seems like I really go through the Watercolor Paper lately but I knew I wasn't going to use water with these panels. So as I was blending some inks on a background panel, and I had one of those happy accidents where you have something you were not intending, but you like it, so you set it aside for another project.  It was that kind of a deal.  Each time I would glance over at this, I got a definite image in my head of what this could easily become so I came back to it first thing this morning.

All of the inks I used for this are Stampin' Up! Ink Pads.  I started in the center of my panel with So Saffron which is a soft yellow.  Next I added some Crisp Cantaloupe and worked it around the yellow center.  I didn't actually think it would be so orange-y because I was using such soft colors but the more blending you do, the more intense the color becomes.  These particular colors reminded me of a sunrise and of my friend who has such a sunny disposition.  I am not really a morning person....

I have a scallop border die that cuts wherever you want it to.  It also came from Stampin' Up! and I've had it for quite a while.  It is very plain but I like clean, graphic lines.  I cut one to be the edge of my card, but since it reminded me of a balloon valance, I cut another one to make it seem more like a curtain over a window where the sun was coming up.  Now granted, a window frame die would have furthered this idea, but I don't have one, so I just winged it.  I think most cards require us to visualize more than what is actually on a card and this one is no exception.

I also used the Painted Hello Die with this card and some Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen on the sun, the clouds and the words.   These supplies are available from Simon Says Stamp or you can get the Sunshine Layers Set directly from WPlus9.

This is all pretty standard stuff in the world of card making, but I hope you enjoy this card today.  I know the person I made it for will definitely enjoy it.

Dawn Woleslagle, the owner of WPLUS9, just posted a new technique video, so I'm off to see what that is all about.  Let me know if you'd like a link to her YouTube Channel.  Her videos are awesome!

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.   

Water Color for Card Makers - Day 3

Yesterday was Day #3 of my class.  We've done Watercolor Markers, Watercolor Pencils, Traditional Watercolor and Watercolor Crayons.  We'll have a wrap up day next week so I have time to practice techniques before then.

I did finish this super simple card from the Elephant I painted yesterday plus I have a few others assembled and will have more before Wrap Up day next week. This elephant was painted with traditional watercolor and I finished off the card with some "paint" spatters by mixing the color with a #2 Script Brush and tapping it off on to my background.  The script brush works really well for this because it has long bristles.  To keep it off the elephant, I used a mask cut from Post-It Tape.

I have a gorgeous card I am making out of this painted panel.  The stamp set is Persian Motifs from Altenew.  The photograph was taken before I did any work on the background.  Altenew has several sets of stamps that are line images for painting or coloring, so I have a few sets put on my wish list.  They also have the coordinating dies which is really nice.

This morning I sat down to try a couple of techniques from Wednesday's class which use Watercolor Pencils and a Wink of Stella Brush Pen.  This image was completed using Distress Markers in Spun Sugar for the cheek and ears with Pumice Stone for the Elephant's body.  I also have a floral image that I colored with Distress Markers and Perfect Pearls Solution and I hope to get a card made in a day or two.

For class on Day #3, I used my watercolor crayons to create a soft, striped wash of color, so I wanted to use that with Miss Ellie here.  That was a super quick way to create a background for a card and I'm pretty sure I will use it again and again. You simply color across the background in the color or colors of your choice and then apply water using a wide brush.  Mine is a traditional paint brush that has a chisel tip and is 3/4 inch wide.  There's a Tim Holtz Wide Water Brush available at Simon's or you can pick one up at a local arts and crafts store.  It took much longer for that background to dry than it did to create it.

Once my image was dry, I cut it in a circle using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Circles Die.  Next came a layer of pink cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Squares and then I cut the striped panel with the next size up Stitched Square. My top folding card base is made from SU! Pink Pirouette.

I want to show you this card with the background painted in on the oval panel.  I used the same shade of pink and green that I used for the flower to do the soft background.  I love that it uses the same colors in softer tones.  This card is not quite finished as I need a greeting or sentiment on it.  But the hardest part is done.

For me, heat embossing the images with clear embossing powder is a total winner.  It helps you to "stay in the lines" to keep your image really clean.  I love that I learned how to make these beautiful watercolor backgrounds.

I'll be doing more practice with the techniques I learned this week but I wanted to go ahead and wrap up this post before it gets any longer.  *Wink*

Day 2 Results

Today I have Part II of a post about the Watercolor for Card Makers class I'm in this week.  There's a lot of "homework" so to speak with this class.  After all, you can't expect perfection if you don't practice.

So far, I have not found the traditional watercolors to be nearly as transparent as Distress Markers and Water Based Inks, but I haven't tried nearly all of them. I'm simply trying to learn to use what I already have on hand.  Since I am not doing Fine Art Paintings, I think the ones I currently have will be more than adequate. Again, these are my observations and opinions only.  Everyone needs to use what works for them.  I feel like traditional watercolors are just a bit milky and I prefer the transparent color of water based inks and distress markers.

I think Sakura Koi Tube Watercolors might be a good option to try, but I don't have any plans to purchase those.  I'm fine with the options I already have.  A method not explored so far in this class is using water based re-inkers to paint with.  I have a few of these around in some of my more used colors like bright pink, some sea blues, a leafy green, a purple and a coral.  To use these, just touch the dropper from a re-inker to your acrylic block and add a mist or some drops of water to dilute it to the strength of color you want.   These are completely transparent.  You can also use a solution of perfect pearls to add water and shimmer to the color and or to your card stock.  I've also found that by using my reinkers, the color is in a shade I already like vs. a traditional pallet where I have to mix my own color or I have several colors that haven't been used at all.  Since I don't come from an art background, mixing colors isn't as easy as it might seem.  I seldom get the color I was going for, but watercolor is very inexpensive, so I haven't lost more than a penny or two.

Today's class used more traditional water colors and some that I was only made aware of fairly recently.  I have a traditional watercolor set like the ones we used in grade school that is made by Loew Cornell.  There are 36 different little cakes of color and you can always mix your own colors if you're in to that sort of thing. I am not, but I did mix some greens today. This set contained a purple, so that is what I went for today!  I haven't swatched my watercolors yet, but I may consider doing this once class is completed.

Peerless Watercolors are completely new to me in the past month or two.  These look a lot like paint chips but there's only one color to a small sheet.  Most people swatch these and cut a 1 x 1 inch square of that color with the swatch for reference. When they run out of that color, they just cut another 1 inch square and put it in their swatch book.   The color is extremely highly concentrated and activates instantaneously with a touch of a damp brush or a water brush.  Just touching your damp brush to the "paint chip", you can take it directly to your watercolor paper and begin painting.  You might want to consider a more permanent paint pallet for tube watercolors so you can mix your own colors.  I use the same thing Kristina Werner does which is a laminated sheet of white card stock.  Mine is about 5 x 8 inches which is good for the number of colors I normally use and you can get a really accurate picture of the color when it's on the white background.  Mine has really thick lamination on it so I can run it under water to clean it off.   If you could see how messy my studio is right now, you would know that I need sturdy because I have a tendency to push things aside when I am in the middle of a project.

There are things like watercolor cube trays with lids for anyone working on large scale items who need the same paint color through a work of art or who need to store or transport watercolor without it dripping everywhere. I seriously had no idea all of these accouterments existed!  My grandmother taught herself to watercolor with the 99¢ crayola variety watercolors several (15 or 20) years ago. They didn't have much money, so that's what she used. Her grandmother was a semi-famous artist from Tulsa and it was something she wanted to learn so she did.

I have traditional watercolors in two different kinds (found here and here), Distress Markers, Watercolor Pencils and SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons which aren't even available anymore.  Simon Says Stamp has a set of 15 available here that includes a brush.  As always, you can also use a Water Brush.

I have a few traditional brushes (Size 3, 4, 6 & 9 round) that mostly came in this set from Ranger that are fine quality for the things I am doing.  I have just a couple of others including a size 2 script brush and one that is 3/4 of an inch wide for simple color stripes or washes.   I tried both and for me, I think the Water Brush was easier with less drying time.

It's been so much fun this week to get to use supplies that I already have but didn't necessarily know how to use. I've learned so many techniques.  I also learned that water color is far more about the impression of light, shadow and texture than about actually being able to draw well. For me, this class is a total winner.  

I wanted to take a photo mid-process so that you could see my board that I tape watercolor paper onto, and how truly small an amount of color it takes for watercolor.  Dawn Woleslagle, owner of WPLUS9, did a vintage storybook painting with the Unforgettable set that she designed and I have wanted to imitate it since then. I used traditional Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors for this.  For the gray of the elephant and the ground around him, I used #20-Black with a whole lot of water. For the pink of the cheeks and inside the ears I used #32-Red.  For the balloon I mixed the #50-Pale Aqua with a hint of #63-Persian Blue.  Just four colors in total.  The nice thing about this set is that you can remove the little pans of color to keep only what you are using near you.  The rest of them can stay out of the way.  The colors are highly concentrated pigments so I'm pretty sure I have enough paint here to last for the rest of my life and then some!

For this card, I stamped my images in SU! Smoky Slate and heat embossed in Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder.  You have to work very quickly to be able to get any embossing powder on the super fast drying ink, but I did manage.  That process makes watercolor simple for anyone, not just me.  It helps keep the water where it should be and doesn't let it creep beyond the outline of the image.  For me and watercolor to get along, this is a must do step!  It also helps to choose an image that will be simple to paint or color.  I have never really appreciated line images before now and I can't wait to check my stash to see other stamps that I can use.

I haven't completed a card yet, but I did use my Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen on the balloon. Today's class used Watercolor Pencils with Wink of Stella to color the images. I haven't tried that yet, but it's on my list to try this week.

There are still several mediums that haven't been explored in this class such as Brushos, Color Crystals, Dr. Ph. Martins Liquid Watercolors and I'm sure there are others that I've never heard of yet. If I haven't talked about it or mentioned it here, then I am not aware of it yet.  I'm a card maker rather than an artist so I don't really need more options.

I had another class today so I'll be back with more insights and observations in my next blog post.