Wednesday 31 August 2016

Simple Rainbow Thanks

So, one of my favorite stamp companies, Your Next Stamp, is hosting the challenge this week over at CASology, so I decided I had to participate.  Also, it means that now I have one more challenge that I can enter weekly to inspire me to make cards.  This week's "Cue Card" was "stitch".  For this challenge, I stamped a panel using Your Next Stamp's Stripes and Stitching in rainbow colors, and then die cut the panel using Your Next Stamp's Stitched Rectangles, which I popped up with fun foam.





 I also used Your Next Stamp's Fancy Thanks die, which I cut three times and glued together to create a thicker sentiment.  I wanted even more dimension and some shine on that, so I added glossy accents.  I finished the card with a few self adhesive sequins, just to give it a little pop.  I'm not if this is what a clean and simple card should look like, but I think maybe it fits the bill.  One thing I didn't like about this card was that it ate up the last of my Tombow Mono Multi adhesive.  Now I need to go buy more...  *sigh*

Tuesday 30 August 2016

A Stitched Kraft Christmas

When I was going through my Mulberry Wood stamps from Crafter's Companion, I came across some adorable Christmas sets and realized that I'd better get a move on making some holiday cards!  It's closer than we think it is!  I wanted to do something a bit different, so I decided to stamp the image in white pigment ink (I used Close to my Heart White Daisy, but any will do) and color it in with my Prismacolor pencils.





I also used Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow stencil on the card base in the same ink, and to make a simple layer behind my image.  I used the same Kraft paper from Michael's for everything so that there was a sense of unity.  I finished the card with a faux stitched border using a Bo Bunny Stitches stamp.  I decided that I didn't want to add a sentiment to the front, and just kept it as it was.  I DID add little black dots to the eyes to make them pop a bit.  The white just didn't stand out enough.


I'm entering this in the following challenges:

SSS Monday Challenge: It's a Stitch Up!
SSS Wednesday Challenge: It's Hip to be Square

Sunday 28 August 2016

"Reel" Friends

So I was going through my stamps today so that I could do a little fall cleaning (what? So I'm behind like half a year.  Don't judge! 0_~ ), and I came across exactly what I said yesterday I didn't have: a fishing stamp.  I had totally forget about the Mulberry Wood fishing stamp that I had bought from Crafter's Companion years ago.  So of course I made a card.





This was a pretty basic one.  I stamped the card in My Favorite Things Black Licorice Hybrid Ink, and then colored my image using Sakura watercolors.  I then cut the image to 4 1/4 by 4 1/4, and mounted it on a water color background.  The sentiment was made by using the leftover watercolor background; I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and embossed it in white using Ranger super fine detail white embossing powder.

I'm entering this card in:

SSS Monday Card Challenge: Go Fish
SSS Wednesday Card Challenge: It's Hip to be Square

Saturday 27 August 2016

"Whale" be Friends Forever

Simon Says Stamp's latest Monday challenge is technically "Go Fish", but I don't have many fish stamps, so this whale card will have to suffice.  The stamp is one of Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life stamps, which has matching dies. The waves and the whale both come from this set.  I also used Your Next Stamps' Stitched Rectangle dies.




I kept the card simple and bright, with only some gold glitter marker and white gel pen for accents.  I mounted the die cut images onto a card base made from 110 lb white card stock using fun foam, and that completed my card!

This is for the following challenge:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Blog: "Go Fish

Friday 26 August 2016

Big Wishes with Close to my Heart Darling Dinos Stamps

ONe of the girls I work with was leaving to go back to school, so I made this card to wish her luck.  It uses Close to my Heart's Darling Dinos stamps, which I'm fairly sure is retired.  You can use any dinosaur stamps for the same effect!  So, I used my brand new Mini Misti that I recently received from Simon Says Stamp, and I have to say that it is AMAZING!  I really wish I hadn't waited so long to get one!  My images came out perfect, after I stamped them a few times with My Favorite Things ink.





I wanted to make a scene card, but Darling Dinos pretty much just comes with 3 dinosaurs and some sentiments, so I decided I was going to make my own sun using a circle die.  Yeah.  Only that didn't work out quite so well.  I made a large smudge as I was tracing!!!  But, I was too lazy to stamp the images again, so I just decided to go with it, and hid the smudge by making the sun into a stylized swirl with extended rays and then adding some plants to the foreground.  I also added little dots to the image so that it matched the stamp dinos.

I colored everything with my alcohol markers, a mix of brands including Copics, ProMarkers, and Fake Shinhan markers from ebay (which are cheap and work great, btw).  I don't have the exact colors, because I just blend as I go with whatever looks right.  I finished the card with the Big Wishes sentiment from the Darling Dinos set and cut the front panel with the Your Next STamp rectangle dies.  The card was begging for some dimension, so I mounted the panel on some fun foam.  Tada!  All done!

Sunday 21 August 2016

Stamp of Approval - Thanks

So I wanted to make one more card for the Lovely Notes Stamp of Approval box.  If you'd bought the Lovely Notes SOA box, you can post any projects you've made on her blog for a chance to win the next SOA box coming out in September.





I wanted to try something more loose than what I'd done, so I stamped some butterflies on water color paper in Distress Ink and they spritzed them with water.  I added a few random splatters of Distress Ink for interest.  After that, I stamped the same butterflies in Versamark ink and embossed them with Wow! Clear Holographic Glitter Embossing Powder.  I finished the card by embossing the painted Thanks sentiment from the SOA box, and mounted it onto my butterfly panel, which I cut using a stitched border die.  I'm very happy with how this one came out!


Challenges:

One Layer Cards

I don't know why it is, but I rarely seem to do one layer cards.  I think part of it is that I was always afraid that the color would bleed through to the inside of the card, but it seems to be okay as long as I don't use Copics.

With that in mind, today I thought I'd pop outside my comfort zone and make a few one layer cards.  The best thing is that they didn't take me long at all.  Fair warning: one of these is a CHRISTMAS card!!  I know, right?  It's not even September yet, but there you go.


Card #1 - Stamp of Approval





I used one of the butterflies from the Butterfly Notes set and stamped them in rainbow color across the middle of a top-fold landscape card.  I used the "Thanks" and "a Note to Say" sentiment from the same set and Voila!  All done!


Card #2: Your Next Stamp





For this card, I folowed the above , but instead of a butterfly, I used my Thumb.  Then I stamped one of the faces from YNS's Create a Character stamp set.  I used the same sentiment from the SOA Butterfly Notes set.  I didn't bother to color the eyes white, but you totally could.


Card #3:  Stamp of Approval





And now the Christmas card!  This one was done using the Wonderful Wreath set.  I stamped the wreath three times, once in CtMH Champagne, then in Pear, and then Topiary.  Basically, beige, then light green then dark green.  I stamped some pine cones in brown and the berries and the ribbon in red.  I wanted something to make in sparkle, so I dragged something from my stash that I hadn't used in a long time:  Stickles!  I coated everything that was red in Christmas Red Stickles.  And that finished my card!



Saturday 20 August 2016

YNS and SOA

I've got two more cards to share with you today, one using goodies I recently got from Your NExt Stamp, and one using goodies from Catherine Pooler's Stamp of Approval.

Your Next Stamp






I made this card for the Sketch and Color Challenge #46 up at Your Next Stamp.  I used two sets that co-ordinate very well with each other, Maki a Wish and Soy Awesome.  I followed the sketch of the challenge (but switched up the placement of a few elements), and colored my images using my Prismacolor pencils.  I used a bit of random paper from my stash (I feel like I'll never need to buy paper again, my stash is THAT out of control).  I white embossed the sentiment onto grey card stock and added a little fishtail.  I attached everything with fun foam to add dimension.  Finally, I finished the card by coating the soy bottle in a think coat of Glossy Accents.


Stamp of Approval









I used the Butterfly Notes and the Lovely Flowers stamp sets from the Lovely Notes Stamp of Approval collection for this card.  I simply stamped a background of various thank you sentiments using Close to my Heart inks onto white paper. I then stamped 3 butterflies (using two tones of ink to give some dimension) onto white card stock and fussy-cut them out.  Can I just stop a minute here to say how much I despise fussy-cutting??  Yeah.  Moving on.

I stamped the main Thank You sentiment from the same collection and them mounted everything thing using fun foam, and the butterflies were mounted so that their wings are higher than their bodies.  The gold shiny strip along the side in metallic washi tape from the Dollarama.  I finished off the card with a few enamel dots.  Does anyone other than me always have trouble finding the right places to put enamel dots and sequins?  I love them when other people use them, but I just can't get them to work right...

Challenges:


Sketch and Color Challenge #46

You're Lovely - Using a Shaped Die as a Border

For this card, I wanted to do a border on my card, but I wanted something a bit different.  A while ago, I had bought the Sizzix Birch Leaves from Amazon (who consistently sucks away all my money), and never really used it for anything, because for the life of me, I could NOT figure out what I would do with a 5-6 inch leaf die.  Well, I wanted to get some use out of it, so when Simon Says issued their Wednesday challenge "Make it to the Border", I knew what die set I was using.




I took a piece of white 110lb card stock and cut it down to 4 1/4 by 5 1/2.  I folded it in half, and then cut the leaf shape into one side of the card.  I placed a sheet of patterned paper behind it.  Of course, I later realized that the paper was patterned on both sides and I had to add another piece of white paper behind it!

I then used the Lovely Flowers stamp set and matching dies from Catherine Pooler's Stamp of Approval box.  You can't buy these stamps right now, but they'll be available for purchase on her site at a later date.  I stamped the images in various Close to my Heart colors, die cut them, and then arranged them on the front of the card.  I stamped the sentiment in black and then coated "lovely" in Glossy Accents.  I finished the card off by putting Wink of Stella on some of the flowers.

If you want to see how to make your own Wink of Stella, check out my YouTube video here.

This card is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make for the Border

Monday 15 August 2016

Let's Chill - Stamping a Scene within Another Image

When I first seen what the challenge was for Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge, Summer Fun, I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use: Hers Art's Let's Chill.  However, as I was hunting for that stamp set, I came across another of Hero Art's stamp sets called LOL, and instantly an amazing idea popped inside my head; I was going to create a scene that would show up as a tropical beach picture on a smartphone!




I stamped the little scene onto Canson XL watercolor paper using the tree and bird from the Let's Chill set, and colored it using my Zig markers.  I then stamped the phone from the LOL set onto black cardstock using Versamark ink and embossed using Wow's Metalic Silver embossing powder.  I then fussy cut the outside AND inside of the phone (which was actually REALLY simple), and glued it to the scene.  I cut around the scene to make it a die cut piece.





To finish the card, I partially die cut a piece of green cardstock using my Your Next Stamp Stitched Rectangles, and stamped tone on tone with the Stamp of Approval Lovely Lattice background stamp.  I white embossed the Let's Chill sentiment on to black cardstock and adhered my pieces using un foam for dimension.  I finished the little bird by adding a glare to his sunglasses as well as some shine with Glossy Accents.


I'm entering this in Summer Fun at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog here.

Sunday 14 August 2016

Coloring on Vellum


I wanted to show everyone how I did the rainbow colored vellum technique that I used in my Wild card for one of the SSS challenges, so I made a little process video for YouTube.  I made this card using the Silly Monster Rockstars and the Stripes and Stitching stamp sets from Your Next Stamp.




You can see the video tutorial here:




I'm also entering this card into the Let's Go Wild challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog here.  After all, I think my Rockstar is pretty wild!

Saturday 13 August 2016

Container of Candy - You're So Sweet

I couldn't really think of what to do for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog's Try to Contain Yourself challenge.  I was thinking to myself "Oh, well, I don't have a lot of container type stamps or dies", and I didn't really have it in me to build a container this week.  And then I mentally slapped myself upside the head.  Of course I had container stamps!  I just needed to think a little outside the box!  I remembered that I had a lovely stamp set from Your Next Stamp called  Coco - Sweet Treats that have candy containers.  Well, I used one of these stamps to create a shaker container for some "candy" sequins.




I stamped the candy dispenser onto white card stock and used an xacto knife to cut out the inside.  Then, I used my Copics to color in the candy dispenser, and then I added my sentiment.  I put some Studio Calico glitter tape behind the front panel and then used foam tape to make the shaker part and to raise up the panel.  I added my sequins and adhered the top piece to the card, and finished it off with some extra sequins as embellishments.

This is for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog's Try to Contain Yourself challenge.

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Wild for You

When I first saw the challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge blog, I was a little stuped at first.  The theme was Let's Go Wild!  I knew that I could use something like flowers or animals, but I really wanted to push it a little further.  That's when I found the "Wild" story stamp set by Ali Edwards in my stash from when you could test her monthly set for free ($5 shipping).  Well, frankly, I think that the $20 price tag on her 4x6 stamp set is waaaaaaaaay too high, but the Wild stamp set is gorgeous!  Of course, it's mostly relevant for scrapbooking, but there was this script-y wild in there that I thought was perfect, so I combined it with Hero Art's Operation Write Home Missing You stamp set to finish my sentiment.  So now it says "wild about you".  I also used the moose from the same set.





As you can see from the picture, I also went "Wild" with the colors, and gave my moose pink antlers using my ZIG markers.  I also used one of my favourite techniques, which is to color on velum paper.  It's nice because it gives you a pop of colors, but you can still see through to the background.  I wanted to give the card some texture, so I clear embossed "wild" over the black ink I had already stamped.  I also stamped the sentiment in the background of the white cardstock, but you an't actually see it...  A bit of a waste, really!  The cool blue die cut was cut from one of the dies that came in Catherine Pooler's Stamp of Approval box.  The ast box was absolutely amazing!

I'm entering this card into the SSS Wednesday Challenge Blog Let's Go Wild challenge.

Monday 8 August 2016

Thinking of You

I've got another floral card for you today, this one using Close to My Heart stamps and some old Recollections card patterned cardstock.  It's a pretty basic card, with stamping, a little bit of masking, and some paper layering, but I really happy with how it turned out.

 






I'm entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Fabulous Florals.

Sunday 7 August 2016

DeLIGHTful Birthday

One of the things I like so much about Your Next Stamp is their punny sentiments, such as the ones I used in this card from the Perfect Chemistry set.  I (mostly) followed the sketch laid out in their Sketch and Color Challenge #45 using random papers that I had lying around.  The card base is blue Recollections cardstock (that I have waaaaaaaay too much of, btw), which I spruced up with Catherine Pooler's Lattice Background stamp from the Lovely Notes Stamp of Approval box.





I colored the light bulb with my Prismacolors, and did a final coat of Wink of Stella.  Did you know that Wink of Stella takes a lot longer to dry if you put it on over colored pencil?  I suspect that if I hadn't used mineral spirits to blend my Prismacolors, it wouldn't have dried at all.  Anyway, that's pretty much my card.  If you haven't had a chance to check out Your Next Stamp's challenge, you should check it out now.

I'm entering this card in the Your Next Stamp Sketch and Color Challenge #45.

Saturday 6 August 2016

Let's Celebrate!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog is having their 6th anniversary, so their theme this week is all about... Celebrating!  This card was designed using SSS's Birthday Celebration stamp set, which you can get for free around your birthday.  I stamped the elephant onto Canson XL watercolor paper and used my Zig markers to color it in.  By the way, the Canson XL watercolor paper is FANTASTIC for Zig markers, which is great, because it's fairly inexpensive.  I then die cut around the elephant using journaling card sized die from Mama Elephant's Peek a Frame set.





I cut a piece of blue Michael's cardstock using the postage stamp die from the same set.  I stamped celebrate from the same SSS stamp set multiple times on a diagonal in Versamark ink and embossed using Wow! Clear Hologram Sparkle Embossing Glitter.  I then mounted my elephant panel onto this one using fun foam.  I mounted the works onto some Michael's 120lb card stock and added the celebrate sentiment to the top on a strip of black paper with white embossing powder.  I sparkled up the card with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents on the balloon and the hat.  And done!





I swear that it sounds a lot more complicated that it actually was.  This card was very easy to make, but I love the way it came out!

I'm submitting this to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog challenge here.

Friday 5 August 2016

Everything Grows with Love

I've wanted to try no line coloring for a while now, but I wanted to do it using colored pencils.  So tonight, I hauled out my Prisma Colored pencils and the Flower Trio stamp from Hero Arts.  I stamped the card onto some light blue card stock with Whisper ink from Close to my Heart.  I then colored the flowers using m colored pencils.  The Flower Trio stamp was great because it already had the dark and the light areas marked off (though I didn't follow this completely).  I colored the flowers AND the background, and also drew in some leaves at the bottom.



I finished the card by putting some iridescent paint through the Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow stencil, which added a great shimmer and texture to the card base.  The sentiment is from Close to my Heart, from a set that called Stuck on You that I believe is no longer available.  I gave some dimension to my card using blue fun foam.  Yes, blue.  I'm all out of white, and I'm ok with that lol.

I'm entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog: Fabulous Florals

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Piles of Smiles - Redux

I realized that I don't use my stamps enough, so I thought I'd create a card using a stamp set that I've used before (because, really, we spend so much for a stamp set that we really SHOULD be using it more than once).  I really like this stamp set that I got from Your Next Stamp (YNS) called Piles of Smiles, which comes with some fantastically cute pieces.

For this card, I made a blue base from Michael's cardstock.  I stamped my leaf stamps into a pile using (fake) post-it tape for masking, and then colored with my Zig Real Brush markers.  I should have used watercolor paper, but the paper was thick enough to handle the small amount of water I used with minimal pilling.  Then, I stamped the sentiment (Piles of Smiles) in Versamark and embossed it using Simon Says Stamp gold embossing powder.  I used fun foam to mount the 5 1/2 x 3 3/4 white panel onto my card base and added two little pearls near the sentiment.  I decided after I had taken the picture that I wanted to add Glossy Accents to the eyes.  This is the finished product:




I'm entering this into the YNS Color and Sketch Challenge for the color portion.  The card does have a bit of green in it, but green is a neutral, right?  No?  Pfft... Details...

Monday 1 August 2016

Love Our Adventures - New Technique for Me!

So I was watching one of my favorite YouTube crafters, Jennifer McGuire, and came across an excellent technique in one of her videos that I knew I wanted to use.  You can catch her video here.  I decided to use the same technique, but with a stamp and die set from Close to my Heart (CtMH) that I have.  (BTW, has anyone seen their Canadian prices lately?  Cracked!  I'm not paying $10.25 for an ink pad!)





So, I pretty much followed Jennifer's technique, but using my own stamps and dies, and instead of stamping on the inside of the card, I used my distress inks and some masking to create a water scene.  For the front panels, I couldn't find a background stamp that I wanted to use, so I used a Heidi Swapp stencil and sponged CtMH White Daisy pigment ink onto it.  I stamped the images with die ink, and then stamped them again with Versamark ink and clear embossed them (Again, following Jennifer's technique).  I then used glue tape to attach my images.  You can see a close up of the way the see through panel comes out below.




I think everyone should give this technique a try!  It's actually quite easy!