spotlight on water bleaching

Call it what you want - water bleaching or ghosting - taking advantage of the amazing properties of Distress Inks by making them disappear by painting with water is just one more way to make cardmaking magic! Check out my tutorial over at STAMPlorations today.

STAMPlorations inspiration #77

I've a twofer fer ya today - one card for two posts! It's one of those kind of days ;)
Here's the card. And you can find more fabulous inspiration from the DT here.

I used the fantastic Born to Roam set and did some water bleaching. If you'd like to find out more about my card, check out my tutorial over at the STAMPlorations blog on my Spotlight post this evening ;)

I'm sharing my project at:
A Blog Named Hero - Tone on Tone
Cards and More - Use Lots of Color (I used LOTS of blue and gray)
Inspired by All the Little Things (finally playing along with that shabby blue look) - #16

The Challenge - Masculine (got that retro feel going on)

Appreciate your stopping by today!

have a smooth 18th

I cannot believe DD is turning 18 this week. Geez, I must be old! Wanna see her card? Totally inspired when I saw this card of Kristina W. I was. DD is a smoothie queen. And we're planning cocktails for her party ;) But alas, I have no blender stamp. Time to think outside the box.

I googled "blender cartoon" and found an image. Printed it on printer paper and using the old fashioned scribble-pencil-on-the-reverse-then-trace-image-onto-CS method to get the blender onto my panel which I'd die cut with Winnie and Walter Audrey Essentials. Copic colored it pink cuz DD dreams of owning a pink Kitchen Aid one day!

Then I cut the image out of the printer paper and used it as a mask before I stamped the random drink images from SSS Adult Beverages on my BG using Avery Elle pigment inks. I used an exacto knife to cut out the pitcher and turned it into a shaker filled with Lucy's Sparkly Shaker collection.

My sentiment is a mix of computer-generated, Dymo label and a vellum heart topped with MFT Bottle Cap Numbers. They are such a versatile size to have.

Hope DD will enjoy this. I had fun making it.

I'm playing at:
AAA Cards - there's a huge birthday bash going on right now

Seize the Birthday - I've even got the topping of dimension!

And I originally planned to use a portrait design for my card like this MFT Sketch Challenge, but ended up going landscape and thus changing my sentiment design. Still hooking up.

Hope your week is off to a good start. I'll be birthday party prepping all week!

stencilling for CASology

Here's a card for the current CASology challenge. The sweet Shelly of  Sweet Greetings is guest designer and she does CAS so well! So much goodness in the gallery too.

Here's my contribution.

Created the inked piece first using STAMPlorations Bubble Stencil. First I sprayed gold spray ink through it. Then I sponged yellow, pink and blue Distress inks after offsetting the stencil slightly. Then I used Avery Elle  and PTI speech bubble dies and cut my inked panel and white CS. Stamped the sentiment from Mama Elephant Love Quotes on the bubble and the birdie on my card base. Doodled a ribbon for the birdie to perch on and gave him some rosy cheeks as a finishing touch.

Another shot so you can get the full Heidi Swapp gold effect!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

more purple today

Had some fun with purple and pink Distress Inks yesterday. And while the purple ink was out... I made a card for the Winnie and Walter Rerun Challenge for May too, where we are to use the wonderful Addie's Garden stamp set.

I was totally inspired by the lovely floral cards Aga M. has been creating lately for Altenew. I stamped the various images directly onto my cardbase using Dusty Concord and Bundled Sage Distress Inks and Hero Arts Field Greens. Then I messy watercolored bits of the images with Gansai Tambi watercolors. The hydrangea in the foreground is popped up on foam. The sentiment is from Winter Woodland. There are even some tiny green splatters adorning the card, but you can hardly see them in my photo :(

I'm sharing this card over at the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday for April where it's all about Flowers. And at Craft Stamper's Take it Make it for May where it's Anything Goes. Happy weekend-here-we-come to ya!

happy purple sandie!

Yep, it's about purple today on the blog!

First off, I'd like to wish Sandie of London Days a wonderful (and belated) 50th birthday! Sandie, you are such an asset to the cardmaking world. Thanks for all you do. Hope this next year brings you all you wish for.

In honor of Sandie, the ladies over at TimeOut are having a special challenge. The theme is Sandie pure: CAS and Purple! This is my contribution which is enroute to Sandie as we speak.

First off I inked up a scrap of CS with Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves. Flicked some water at it, dried it and die cut a circle from it. Using Essentials by Ellen Up the Happy, I heat embossed the butterflies in black on my cardbase and the sentiment in white on the circle before giving it a spritz of Perfect Pearls/water mixture. Ta da! See all that shimmer?

I'm also sharing this card at:
Seven Hills Crafts - Embossing (I used the Lil Inker Stitched Circle die)
Week 2 of the CASometry challenge at Anna's blog (I'm using Up the Happy for five cards)
Use Your Stuff - #222 Heat Embossing
WOW Embossing Powder May challenge

You can hook up a card for Sandie's birthday until May 30th. Hope all this love makes ya happy, Sandie :)

STAMPlorations inspiration #76

It's inspiration time again at STAMPlorations and I was inspired by my teamie Shirley's card for the last inspiration post! She pulled out the Artsy Border Maker stamp set and created a masculine card which inspired me to pull it out and make a feminine card.

And I even stamped on a piece of PP! *high five* for using it up!

Stamped on the B side of some October Afternoon Christmas PP using cheery tones of Avery Elle pigment inks and most of the borders from the set. Easy peasy. I wanted to use the sentiment from Strong Women, so opted for a die cut sun and a couple clouds to emphasize the "world" idea.

Makes me smile. Hope it will make the recipient smile too. Be sure to check out the rest of the team's creations here, and don't forget to leave a comment.

I'm heading over to:
Little Tangles -

and Craft Stamper's May Take it Make it

leftovers

Whether in the kitchen (to DS' chagrin) or in my craft room, leftovers never get thrown away! So after I'd finished this card, I decided to put the leftover bits and pieces to work framing a lovely sentiment.

I heat embossed the sentiment from STAMPlorations Strong Women gold and ever-so-lightly inked some Spun Sugar over it. Then I took a gold gel pen and drew a wonky frame.

I adhered the leftover Savvy Stamps Floral Blossom die cuts in a cluster in the lower right corner, adding a couple sequins for shine. The corners of the frame got a sequin leaf topped with a die cut leaf from the leftovers!

I'm joining the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday gallery and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where it's all about Flowers this month. Have a fabulous, flowery weekend!

mix it up

I'm mixin' it up for the challenge over at The CLASSroom at Ellen Hutson. We're to use product from #essentials by ellen and Savvy Stamps. I had these adorable little blooms from Flower Blossom Set 1 just waiting to be used. And don't they look sweet paired with that happy sentiment from Up the Happy? I think it works great for a birthday card!

I die cut the blooms, leaving them in the negative to make lightly inking them with Distress Inks (Pink Lemonade, Worn Lipstick, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Shabby Shutters) easier.

Then I worked on arranging them, took a photo to remember where I wanted to place them, stamped my sentiment in Versafine Smokey Gray and then adhered the blooms with some going off the edge. Trimmed the edges. Then added the butterfly "up" top cuz it just felt right!

I'm also sharing this card at:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Flowers
Cards in Envy (must be flat for mailing) - Just us Girls
CASual Fridays - celebrating their 5th Birthday Girl

Double D Challenge - Birthday/Mother's Day with this inspiration (yay for pink tulips!)

ETA: I'm back to add this to one more challenge I just found out about (thanks, Lindsey). Have you seen Anna's CASometry Challenge 2. This challenge is about using one stamp set for five cards. I'm going to give Up the Happy a good workout! Have a great day!

STAMPlorations inspiration #75

Ready for more (and I think the last) Easter egg dye project. And here come the Groovy Shoes again too!

Heat embossed the sentiment, randomly stamped the shoes around it and then added the Easter egg dye to give it all a groovy psychedelic feel! Even the strip of washi is kinda retro!

Check out the beautiful inspiration over at STAMPlorations today and why not join us in one of the various challenges - trying out a Spotlight technique, CASEing Shery's card, the monthly challenge which is Anything Goes, or how about either CAS or Mixed Media - whichever is more your style!

charming purple graduation

Squeak, squeak. Hear me squeakin' in under the buzzer for this week's Curtain Call challenge?

Time for a graduation card. The gal's colors are purple and white. Her mom is a seamstress. So when I saw that Curtain Call photo, I knew I had to give it a go. Various PPs (mostly Basic Grey), an MFT die and a PTI sentiment die played the main roles. Used a Lil Inker stitched rectangle die on my cardbase and a Winnie and Walter scalloped rectangle (which I then dry embossed with some dots) for the background elements. Doesn't it have a comfy, fabric-y touch?

Thanks for looking. Hope your week's off to a good start. Mine is after a fabulous, sunny weekend which even included a wine wagon ride!

MMCC #23 - reminder

Have you given this month's MMCC a try yet?

This time I went all out with both "reflections" and "water", but only cuz I saw this fantastic video of Kelly L.'s and basically watercolored right along with her!

Here's my CASE of Kelly's card. Just switched out the images (ARTplorations Some Birds) and sentiment ( STAMPlorations Trendy Feathers 2).

TIP: I opted to use a stencil rather than a stamp for my silhouettes cuz I could flip it over to get a perfect mirror image for the reflection.

However, did you catch my boo boo??? How many birds in the sky? How many reflections?

Since watercoloring isn't too mixed media, I thought I would stencil the birds with acrylic paint. For a nice dark image with some texture and shine.  Then I thought I'd stencil the reflections with watered down black paint to subdue them. Those extra birds are actually blobs of (too) watered down acrylic paint that seeped under my stencil. Argh.

I did cover the water with Wink of Stella, per Kelly. Catch some of that sparkle in this photo?

So besides my sentiment stamp and ink I've got:
TEXTURE - the roughness of the watercolor, white gel pen and my heat embossed sentiment
DIMENSION - um, nope
TECHNIQUE - watercoloring, stenciling, heat embossing

I'm calling it diet mixed media. And I need lots more practice. But it really is a great technique you should try! Check out more DT inspiration and the gallery here.

spotlight on watercoloring

I'm over at the STAMPlorations blog with a Spotlight post for you about this card's journey and how I came up with what I'm calling "faux no-line watercoloring"! You can see where the journey began in this post.

If you're a fan of watercoloring but you haven't seen the series on watercolor which Sandy A. has done over at Ellen Hutson's Classroom, you should check it out. Here is a link to a video where she demonstrates feathering, basically applying a wash of color to your background.

And come by tomorrow to see how Kelly L. inspired me to create a "reflection" with watercoloring!

STAMPlorations #74

There's more inspiration for you today at STAMPlorations. I've used this set from the latest release

Strong Women

Kept the design straightforward with PP on my cardbase topped with an Easter-egg-dye-dip-dyed tag I had die cut with MFT Traditional Tags from watercolor paper. Added the sentiment, some washi and a teensy red heart to top it off.

Check out what the rest of the DT has created and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win.

CASEplorations May

Happy May Day! Even though my yard is full of Spring flowers, the weather still hasn't decided exactly what it wants to do.

We at CASEplorations, want you to CASE the flowery card from our fearless leader, Shery Russ, this month. It's even got a Mother's Day theme if you need to get a card made. You can check out Shery's card in her blog post here. Here's my CASE.

I stuck with the pink and yellow color combo, keeping yellow more prevalent cuz my Mom doesn't like pink ;) I love how pink and yellow mix to yield orange. Mom will like that little touch.

On watercolor paper, I first inked up my ARTplorations Daisy Dance stencil with Mustard Seed, spritzed it and "stamped" it. When dried a bit, I put the stencil down and sponged Worn Lipstick through it like normal. Removed the stencil and gave it a light spritz of water to mingle the colors a little bit.

Stamped the sentiment from Big on Words - Mom and the coordinating bloom from Bloom Sketches three times in black and added Black Soot splatters to my panel and cardbase.

Die cut the panel and adhered it.

We would love to see you CASE Shery's card and hook it up in the CASEplorations gallery this month. There are prizes to be had as always and the gallery is open until the end of the month.

I'm heading to the gallery at Addicted to Stamps and More with this card. It's Anything Goes!

And over at Mod Squad where the theme is Mother's Day.

Mixed Media Card Challenge #23

Ready for a new MMCC? This month's theme is a tricky one, IMO.

Trying to think outside the box, I went with the idea of sunshine reflecting off of glass!

I stamped Deep Red's NYC Times Square onto watercolor paper with Archival ink. Smeared some white acrylic paint onto the areas where I wanted the glare to be - the windshields and some of the buildings. Let it dry then applied some watercolor in backwards ROYGBIV manner. Let the panel dry and then added Glossy Accents over the painted areas which had resisted the watercolor. Ta da! Glare!

To finish off my mixed media card, I stenciled some embossing paste through a stencil (thanks Loll!) and added some checkered cab images (Artemio New York City) in black. My heat embossed sentiment is from STAMPlorations Artful Flutters.

Hope you like my take on "Reflections". Would love to see yours!!!! The gallery is open through May 25th.

I'm hooking up at the Anything Goes challenge over at SSS Wednesday Challenge. See ya there ;)