Splattering, Spritzing and Smooshing

Hello, I know it has been such a long time since I have posted on my blog but I wanted to share what I created this week using the current challenge at Stamps and Stencils where they ask us to use some splattering, spritzing or smooshing. I have created a post it note holder for my craft room with some of my favorite colors and words to inspire me, I also used one of my favorite folds, the easel.

It started with a 5 1/2 inch square of water color paper, I used distress inks in peacock feather, squeezed lemon and cracked pistachio which I smooshed onto a palette of acrylic and after spraying with water I took the acrylic and smooshed it around the paper until I was happy with the colors.

After my water color had dried I used crackle embossing paste through a heart Heidi Swapp stencil, I love the look of crackle especially after dusting it with the cracked pistachio when it dried. There is light stamping in the background with Bo Bunny and Prima stamps using Archival watering can ink. I also tried Autumn's technique and stamped the butterfly and flowers in the lower corner with Perfect Pearls.

My patterned paper is from an old Memory Box pack and my art words are a Stamplorations stamp. After stamping it in Versafine onyx black I trimmed the phrases apart and adhered them to the canvas. I also used some varigated twine , a miniture clothespin with a flower glued to it and a dragonfly from Frilly and Funky with the clasp snipped off. I also found a chipboard piece that blended in perfectly with the colors, I added a bow and clear button.

I hope you enjoy my post it note creation and will check out this fun site.

Stamping with Distress inks

The challenge for July at Stamplorations is to use stamps and distressing. I took it in the direction of using distress inks, I find when using the ink to stamp it gives an uneven distressed look to my images. I did a smoosh water color effect on water color paper for my tag and after it dried I started stamping my flowers and leaves. These are all from one of the newest set at Stamplorations which I just ordered, it is called Frames and Flowers. I also stamped and fussy cut some of the flowers so that I could layer them and create some dimension.

I love this layout and it is courtesy of this week's sketch challenge at The Paper Players .

For the inside I placed two of the foliage stamps on my block and created my own corner embellishment.

Although I am cutting it close on both of these challenges, you still have a couple of days to enter, why don't you join me? Thanks for the visit, hope to see you again soon.

CASEing Virginia Lu

Hello everyone, are you having a great week? We have been enjoying a few days of cooler temps, which I love!!! Windows open, birds singing in the tree outside and me crafting away--a perfect day.

In between working on an order for some requested items, I decided to create one more card for the 

June Caseploration challenge at Stamplorations   , this time CASEing June's guest designer, 

Virginia Lu. Her card is gorgeous and I love everything about it.

I was inspired by the vellum, her embossed flowers and the washi tape on her sentiment.

I used Ranger's platinum embossing powder to emboss some of my favorite images, they are from an older retired set by Stampin' Up "Botanicals".

I colored them with alcohol markers from the back side of the vellum, I added a couple of patterned papers for my backdrop, love the script paper. 

Be sure to stop by the Stamplorations Blog where they are celebrating their 2nd birthday with loads of inspiration, new stamps and prizes. I will soon have my very first Stamploration stamps as I placed my first order today. If you order at least $22 --- free shipping, I am always drawn in with free shipping, lol.

Thanks for taking a look at my card, have a great rest of the week and may you find something here to inspire you.

Happy Birthday and a CASE

I am love with watercolor smooshing and this is the technique I used to create my background for this card. I used distress inks for this, you simply stamp the pad on an acrylic block, craft mat or some other non porous surface-spritz with water, then taking a piece of acetate or anything similar smoosh in the wet ink. Place the acetate with the ink however you want it on your paper (I used watercolor paper for my card). After placing the color , I heat set the first layer, then smooshed more ink and dried until I had the look I wanted. I love the dried water spots this creates. I hope I haven't confused you too much, just google this technique or look at YouTube.

My inspiration comes from this card by Vicki Dutcher at All I Do is Stamp , I love the CAS look of her card and took my inspiration from the water colored background and her layout, I did flip flop my sentiment and main image on my card, Thanks Vicki for always inspiring me with your cards. I am entering this in the Caseplorations June challenge at Stamplorations --- CASE one of the DT members cards and tell who and how.

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I am also entering it at Addicted to Stamps in their Challenge #149 Clean and Simple where they are celebrating their 3rd birthday.....Happy Birthday.

Check out both of these challenge blogs, so much fun and loads of inspiration.  

Off to finish watching the US Open golf match and see if my fave wins, Thanks for stopping in.

Graphics and Washi Tape....

Good morning, hope you are safe and sound wherever you are reading this.

We had thunderstorms and rain all night and it continues this morning-prayers

to those in the path of all of the tornadoes.

This is my card for Sketch #10 at Stamplorations.

They have two bi weekly sketch challenges each month

along with a themed challenge each month. I try to play in all of these each month, if you do you are put in the draw for a monthly prize. I was lucky enough to win in the random draw last month and received this great stash of washi tape which I used on my card.

I used a cut file of doodled borders from Silhouette which I turned into

a printed image--- I increased the size of my lines and turned them 

black. I was able to angle them to match the sketch and then cut my 

card stock which is Hibiscus Burst by Papertrey Ink...I then

added two of the tapes and pink gems by Want 2 Scrap.

This is a bit more of a graphic style then I usually do, but love

the way it turned out. It would be a quick set to 

create....just change the sentiment.

Hope you will stop by and check out this fun challenge site....

I think you will love playing there as much as I do.

Have a good day!

Time to play along at one of my favorite challenge blogs, Stamplorations where the themed monthly challenge for April is "Stamps and your favorite Technique".

I love playing around with digital images in my designs and one of my new fave 

things to do at the moment is a water colored background.

That is just how I created this card front, using Beccy's Place   images, "Poesy" and "Happy Birthday" which I laid out in my Cameo software and cut .

I went for a loose water colored effect on the flowers as well as the background with Distress Inks. This came together quickly and I love how it looks.

I added a few enamel dots by Stampin' Up.

This will also be entered in Beccy's April Challenge.

Be sure to stop by at both of these sites for a visit.

Thanks so much for stopping by.....Hugs......

Sketch #9- Stamplorations!

Happy Day, although it is a bit chilly here in Virginia, the sun is shining brightly.

I created this card to send to the Newsome family --for more information about Lauryn

and her fight against Leukemia...click here to see my post and to enter for my blog candy. 

I am using the sketch for the first part of April at Stamplorations . 

They have two sketch challenges and a themed challenge each month.

Be sure to stop by for a visit.

I had been wanting to use this stamp cut file from Silhouette and couldn't believe my luck

when I saw the sketch. I pulled in the digital  "Wild Rose" image

from Doodle Pantry which I colored after cutting with Spectrum Noir

markers adding some stickles for shine.

Have you ever made a flat card, I hadn't until now but I purchased a set of flat cards and envelopes

by DCWV and found them while looking through my stash and the yellows were

perfect together as was the piece of mulberry paper I found.

Will try using these again in the future for a flat and easily sent mailed card.

Again I will remind you to check out my Card Drive post

for Lauryn, and if you would please keep this sweet 2 year old

in your prayers.

Hugs......

Vintage Vogue and Violet

Hello all, sharing my card using Sketch #8 at Stamplorations . 

The background was made by stamping and 2nd generation stamping with SU's 

Vintage Violet and flowers from Vintage Vogue.

I had a hexagon cut file that I cut the other day in Vintage Violet and it

worked beautifully with the sketch. I stamped a variety of 

Thank you stamps- all Stampin' Up on my strips and added

champagne pearls from Want2Scrap.

I stamped two more of the flowers and a sentiment from Gifts

of Kindness on vanilla card stock for the inside.

Well, better get back to the laundry.....have a great week.

Stamplorations Sketch #7

I made a card for Sketch Challenge #7 at Stamplorations  using this fun sketch.

Using the Silhouette Cameo, I cut a floral border at the top and bottom

of a piece of ivory card stock. I then took distress inks in

peeled paint, mustard seed and worn lipstick which I sponged

over the cut border. I used both the negative and positive

parts of my cut, popping the negative up with foam dots.

My image is from an older Stampin' Up set , I colored

it with Spectrum Noir and Distress markers.

I stamped another image from the set in Versafine vintage sepia

for the inside of my card.

I added pearls to the border and butterfly on my tag from Want2Scrap.

If you aren't familiar with this fun challenge site, I hope this

will give you the nudge to go check it out.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit!

Sketch Time with Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Hello all.....

I am so happy to be joining in this week's sketch challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 and their wonderful sketch for this week which is sponsored by Doodle Pantry  

where I have been guest designing with my old team for the past few months. This will be my last month with the team and I will miss working with Laurie's beautiful images. Some of my older followers may remember that I also was on the design team for the original SSW and many of the great ladies that I worked with are still on the team, so it was a joy to use the sketch to create my card for this week.

Be sure to stop by the blog at Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 to see what the team

has created for your inspiration and enter your card for a chance to win

Doodle Pantry images. Also be sure to enter your card into the 

monthly challenge at the Doodle Pantry blog and Challenge #44
for a chance at a store gift certificate and if you use an image from
DP, you will get this month's featured set free.

For my card I used two new sets: Tweet Birdhouses and Tweet Birdhouses
SVG e-cuttable shapes.
I combined the digital papers from the set, using them for my background
papers and for the paper piecing of the birdhouse. I used makers to color
the printed birdhouse. I created the banners in the Cameo which is also
how I cut out the birdhouse and papers. I added flowers which are
a Silhouette cut file along with a punched Martha Stewart butterfly.

I added a flower punch border and another of the butterflies to 

the inside of my card.

I am also entering my card into the challenge: Stamps and Spring

at Stamplorations  -- Love this challenge blog!

Hope you can stop by at the above blogs and take a look and join

in the challenges for this week.

Happy day.........

Feathers at Stamplorations

Here it is the end of the month and I am just now getting my card

posted for the Stamps and Feathers January challenge

at Stamplorations . 

This is from their blog :

Put your own spin on this month's theme -- as long as you use stamps in your projects (as opposed to projects without stamping whatsoever) and you include an element that you associate with "feathers" -- feather stamps, designer paper with bird or feather designs, feather or bird stickers, die-cuts, or embellishments -- we'd love to see them! 

For my card I used the feathered quill from Doodle Pantry's set

Pen and Ink . 

I have had this in my head for most of the month and just couldn't seem to get it made. That ever happen to you?

I used Spellbinders Fleur de Lis dies along with a lovely text paper from Glitz's

"French Kiss" paper pad with the notebook paper from Basic Gray's Manilla pad.

:

For the inside I used the very same quill image, I did increase the 

transparency level to lighten it so that anyone writing on the inside

could see their words more clearly.

Loved making this one....

Be sure to stop by at Stamplorations and look around, I have entered

all three of this month's challenges and I am keeping my fingers

crossed that I might be lucky enough to win some of their fun stamps.

If not, may just have to do some shopping.

Be sure to bookmark them and join in next month, I plan to!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for 

taking the time to stop by, hope to visit with you soon.

Muse + Sketch

Hello all!

What do you get when you cross these Muse inspiration cards with this sketch

 from Stamplorations? 

My Card.....

I loved the text background and the colors red, blue and green on Jackie's cards

and the sketches are always so much fun at Stamplorations.

I stamped my text background using "Vintage Backgrounds" from Gina K Designs.

By placing a piece of paper to mask the bottom  when stamping a second time I had a happy

accident with the unevenness of the text, Love this.

I used a flower cut file along with the butterfly from Silhouette.

I really like the way using different scraps of card stock I was able

to make the butterfly wings and leaves pop.

My flower is from MME's Lost and Found pad.

I sponged these with Fired Brick, then using foam dots

to give each layer dimension.

The Thank You is a rub on from Making Memories.

Hope you like this one as much as I do, had

so much fun creating this!

Happy Day, I am off to brave the cold this afternoon as

Rick and I and some friends are shooting in

a Sporting Clays tournament today.

Thank goodness for insulated underwear and

hot hands, brrrrrr!

Stamplorations Sketch

Hey guys, I am cutting it close but have been thinking about entering the challenges this

month at STAMPlorations so even though I am later than I would 

have liked to have been, I am still posting my card.

This is for the first biweekly sketch challenge.

 

It gave me a reason to look at my stamps and find something

to use. This is from a set from TPC that I picked up and am just now inking.

How wonderfully they stamped with such clear images.

I fussy cut and used pop dots to raise the one balloon as well as my green hills 

which were cut with the snow dies from Papertrey Ink.

I used my Specturm Noir markers to color the balloons.

So much fun!

Here is a side view showing the dimension.

I hope to enter their other two challenges this month as well, be sure

to stop by and check it out.

Happy Weekend!