A Wish for Peace

One of my stamping friends ordered this stamp set, and was looking for ideas for using it.  This is one that I came up with:

Stamp: A Wish for Peace
Cardstock: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist
Ink: Marina Mist, VersaMark
Accessories: White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Tinsel Trim, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Perfect Polka-Dots Embossing Folder, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

And the other one:

Stamp: A Wish for Peace
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Marina Mist
Ink: Night of Navy, Marina Mist, So Saffron marker
Accessories: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Basic Rhinestones, Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Smooch Pearlized Top Coat (on church steeple), Frost White Shimmer Paint (used with Aqua Painter for snow in foreground), Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (sponged lightly over all), sponges

Camera settings are still in the experimental stage, but getting better, I think.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Shimmer Paint and Mist Comparison

Just a quick post today about the differences between the three Stampin' Up! Shimmer Paints.  In the picture above, I stamped a sample of each (ink the stamp by dabbing a sponge dauber in the shimmer paint and then dabbing it on the stamp), and also made a sample of cardstock sprayed with home-made shimmer mist, using the three shimmer paints.


Making the mist is easy - all you need is a small mist sprayer, some rubbing alcohol, water and the shimmer paint.  For my bottles*, which are 0.25 oz., I filled them about ¾ths full of alcohol, added a tiny bit of water, and then 3-4 drops of the shimmer paint.  I didn't measure anything, but I'd estimate it's about a 7:1 or 8:1 ratio of alcohol to water.  Shake well to blend before you spray.  I love that I can turn any color of cardstock into shimmer paper!  Woohoo!!!!

As you can see, the Frost White and Champagne Mist made the best shimmer mist (in my opinion), but the Platinum inked the stamp the best.  It seems to be thicker and more opaque.  They are ALL gorgeous in real life - the picture doesn't do them justice!

Also, these Shimmer Paints are only available in the Holiday Mini Catalog, which ends January 4th, so if you want them, you better get them while you can!  Click on the catalog on the upper right to order!

* I'm using empty hand sanitizer spritzers I got at the 99¢ Store in a 2 pack.  (It's not the gel-type sanitizer; it's liquid spray.)

Still Grateful

I wasn't really sure where I was going with this card when I started.  Today is the Marker Club meeting, and I wanted to show the gals how to get a watercolor look, so I did the usual marker 'direct to stamp', then misted the stamp with water and stamped on watercolor paper. Meh, it looked okay, but not fabulous.  Next I tried misting the paper before stamping on it. *yawn* Still not fabulous.  Then I tried misting after stamping.  Yet again, not really the look I was going after, and I was getting tired of wasting the watercolor paper on experimentation.


I then stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock, grabbed my little spritzer bottle with the alcohol/Shimmer Paint mixture and tried spritzing the stamped image with it, and holy hannah! The colors intensified and absolutely popped!  That was what I was looking for!  The fine shimmer adds a bit of magic, as well.  You can really see it in the close-up photo below.  (As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge for more detail.)

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree (115026), Grateful Greetings (116511) 
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip (102128), Very Vanilla (101650) 
DP: So Saffron Patterns Designer Series Paper (112152) 
Inks: So Saffron Stampin' Write Marker (105114), Real Red Stampin' Write Marker (100052), Really Rust Stampin' Write Marker (100073), Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker (100071) 
Accessories/Tools: Frost White Shimmer Paint (116854), Chocolate Chip Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon (111849), Very Vanilla Neutrals 5/16 Inch Brads (112534)

JOY (ful) (ous)

It occurred to me when I was playing around with the Big Shot and the Joyful Sizzlits die that I should have gotten the Many Thanks Sizzlits die, too.  It has 'thank' and 's' and 'you'.  Between the two, I could have spelled 'joyous'.  Or 'shout thanks'. Or my son's name 'josh'. Or 'flush'. Or 'santa'. Or....(hehehehe, it helps to be a Boggle Master).  I see all kinds of possibilities with these dies! :-D 

I thought the flower stamp in the Baroque Motifs set was a close match to the flowers on the embossed piece, so I made my own DP by stamping them on the white cardstock using the Platinum Shimmer Paint with a sponge dauber to ink the stamp.  Me likey!

See my post here for some tips on embossing with the Petals-A-Plenty Impressions folder.


Stamps: Delightful Decorations (116517), Baroque Motifs (113490)
Cardstock: Bravo Burgundy (105123), Handsome Hunter (105122), Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Handsome Hunter Classic (105215)
Accessories/Tools: Platinum Shimmer Paint (116807), Sponge Dauber (102892), Clear Circle Rhinestone Brad (113144), Ornament Punch (116794), Silver Elastic Cord (109866), Whisper White Organza Ribbon (114319), Joyful Sizzlits Die (115973), Holiday Windows Movers & Shapers dies (116821), Movers & Shapers platform (114506), Big Shot Die-Cut Machine (113439), Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions embossing folder (116824), Paper Cutter (104152)