Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Watercolor Birthday Wishes


Well, I really lucked out......after my stampin' stuff was sent to Tennessee, my Watercolor Wishes Card Kit was delivered, so I'm not totally bereft of stampy fun. It contains everything I need to whip out a cute card.

Which is a good thing, since I needed to send a card to my friend Dawna for her birthday. I didn't realize until after the fact that it was a huge milestone birthday, or I would have made it a lot more fitting for the occasion.......like stamping fifty candles, or sumpin'.

So, Dawna dear, I hope you had a wonderful celebration that was befitting the occasion! Love you!

Smiley from Millan.Net

Monday, July 13, 2015

Watercolor Thoughts


This is numero four-o of the cards from the last class. Now that all my stamping stuff is packed away, it may be a while before I have anything new to show you. And trust me, it's killing me to not be able to create anything besides piles of stuff to pack, donate, or throw away! I will be soooo glad when this move is over.

For this card, we used the watercolor bleed technique using Aqua Painters. Holding the heat-embossed image upside down, we wet a few petals at a time and then picked up a drop of ink and touched it to the "top" of each petal (which was actually the base of the petal). The ink bled down and gave the appearance of depth and shadow. It's a technique I still need to master, but it I have fun doing it!

Recipe:
5-1/2 x 8-1/2" Whisper White Thick Cardstock for card base, scored at 4-1/4"
4" x 5-1/4" Farmer's Market DSP for background
3" x 4-1/8" Perfect Plum cardstock for mat behind image
2-3/4" x 3-7/8" Watercolor Paper
5/8" x 3-3/8" Champagne Glimmer for mat behind greeting (it's retired, but you can sub Gold Glimmer)
1/2" x 3" Very Vanilla for greeting

1. Rub watercolor paper with embossing buddy to remove static, then stamp flower with VersaMark ink. Cover with embossing powder, tap off excess and heat with heat tool until melted and shiny.
2. Place a drop of ink from the refill bottle in the lid of the matching ink pad, or use a plastic lid to hold ink.
3. Turn flower upside down, wet a few petals at a time with aqua painter, and add a tiny drop of ink from lid to base of petal, letting ink run down toward tip of petal. Go lightly - you can always add more! Do the same for the leaves. Color stem (no need for bleed technique here).
4. Make a light wash with So Saffron around flower to give it a glow.
5. While image is drying, cut doily in half and adhere to back of Perfect Plum panel.
6. Stamp greeting in Perfect Plum on Very Vanilla strip, cutting banner ends by hand or with a punch. Adhere to Glimmer strip with Tear & Tape adhesive.
7. Fasten DSP to front of card base. Fasten image to Perfect Plum mat, and adhere both to DSP on card base.
8. Place dimensionals under greeting and adhere over image.


STAMPS: You've Got This, A Dozen Thoughts
INK: Perfect Plum, Perfect Plum Ink Refill, Pear Pizzazz Ink Refill, So Saffron Ink Refill, VersaMark
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White Thick Cardstock, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Watercolor Paper, Farmer's Market DSP, Champagne Glimmer - retired
ACCESSORIES: Tea Lace Doilies, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Aqua Painter, Tear & Tape adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Hello, Sea Turtle!


Here's a cute card that would work for a male or a female friend! This is number three of the four cards we made in my very last class in San Diego.
Smiley from Millan.Net

We first stamped the turtle (From Land to Sea) in StazOn on watercolor paper and used Blender Pens to color it. After stamping the card base in Pool Party with the coral image from By the Tide, we cleaned it off and stamped it again (in Soft Suede) on coaster board. The spatters from Gorgeous Grunge were added on the top half of the card base. Pool Party and Bermuda Bay were sponged around the coaster board, leaving the center lighter. The turtle was then cut out and popped up on dimensionals, and the greeting was stamped in StazOn. Two mats were used behind the image, Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay. To finish it off, we added a line of tiny pearls to look like bubbles coming from the turtle.

Recipe:
5-1/2 x 8-1/2" Pool Party cardstock, scored at 4-1/4" for card base
2-7/8" x 4-1/4" Bermuda Bay cardstock, for mat behind
2-3/4" x 4-1/8" Soft Suede cardstock, for mat behind
2-5/8" x 4" Coaster Board
Scrap Watercolor Paper to stamp turtle

Using Pool Party ink, stamp By the Tide coral on bottom of card base front and Gorgeous Grunge spatters on top.
Sponge Pool Party lightly over coaster board, adding Bermuda Bay around edges. Stamp coral at bottom of coaster board with Soft Suede ink.
Adhere coaster board to Soft Suede, and then Bermuda Bay mats, then fasten to card base.
Stamp turtle in black StazOn, color with So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, and Soft Suede using blender pens. Cut out and use Stampin' Dimensionals to pop turtle up on left side of coaster board. Stamp greeting on lower right.
Add tiny pearls for "bubbles."

STAMPS: From Land to Sea, By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts
INK: Jet Black StazOn, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay
CARDSTOCK: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Coaster Board
ACCESSORIES: Pearl Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Butterfly Hello


That post title makes me think of butterfly kisses, where you flutter your eyelashes on someone's cheek or nose. Did you ever do that when you were little? We did that and Eskimo kisses, where we rubbed noses, too. Okay, enough of the trip down memory lane, lol.

We made this card in the Thinking of You class a couple weeks ago. (There are two more to share, so be sure to check back in a few days.)

This used the Watercolor Wings stamp set and the Bold Butterfly Framelits dies, which you can purchase as a bundle and save 15%.

We stamped the butterfly first with Daffodil Delight, then with Blushing Bride, and finally with Calypso Coral. I know it says Two-Step stamping in the catalog, but it's really three steps, if you want to use all the layers of color.

The great thing about this bundle is it coordinates with the Butterfly Thinlits Dies, so you can add a layer of lacy butterfly overlay if you want, which is exactly what we did with vellum. Mr. Big (the Big Shot) really got a workout that day, because we also used the Greeting Thinlits!

STAMPS: Watercolor Wings
INK: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White Thick Cardstock, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, White Vellum Cardstock
ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits, Butterfly Thinlits, Greeting Thinlits, Brick Wall embossing folder, Pearl Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Perfect Pennants meets Bohemian


I loooove the color combination in the Bohemian DSP, and created this card features the colors and the yummy new Corrugated Paper. The corrugated texture is amazing - just the right amount, and the pack contains both Kraft and White, so the possibilities are endless!

This was one of the cards we made in my last class, the theme being "Thinking of You." In addition to the corrugated paper, we use the Metallic Foil Doilies. Just needed 1/4 of a doily per card, so one pack would go a long way. (There are six each of large gold and silver, and small gold and silver.)

The Banner Triple punch made short work of the banners. We punched both at the same time! The Perfect Pennants greeting was colored with Rich Razzleberry and Island Indigo markers to match the DSP.

Recipe:
5-1/2" x 8-1/2" Rich Razzleberry, scored at 4-1/4" for card base
4" x 5-1/4" Kraft Corrugated Paper
1" x 5-1/2" strip Bohemian DSP for banner
1-1/2" x 5-1/4" strip Bohemian DSP for banner
1-1/2" x 4" Very Vanilla for greeting
1-3/4" x 4" Rich Razzleberry for mat behind greeting

STAMP: Perfect Pennants
INK: Rich Razzleberry and Island Indigo Stampin' Write Markers
CARDSTOCK: Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla, Bohemian DSP, Kraft & White Corrugated Paper
ACCESSORIES: Metallic Foil Doilies