The World Is A Better Place

Hi Friends!

As I mentioned in previous posts, I enjoy participating in online challenges created this card for Ann's #PP498 “Fun & Fancy Folds” Challenge at The Paper Players using the retired Stampin’ Up! People Like You stamp set.

This is another stamp that I have not used in ages and thought it would be perfect for this special fold challenge.

I modified the SC67 Sketch from Splitcoaststampers a bit for the layout (the #2 panel is a bit larger than the original sketch) and am also participating with The Flower Challenge #46 “Summer/Winter” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to visit the above challenge sites yet, I encourage you to do so, gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

Score and fold a 5 ½” x 9 ¼”piece of cardstock at 2 ½” on both ends. Fold the panel to create the gate fold.

Emboss a 4 ¼” x 5 ¼” piece of white cardstock with a French Script embossing folder, cut into two panels and mount onto the front folds.

Add a strip of black cardstock to lengthen the front panels and square up the edges (you may not need to do this, but unfortunately I did, lol!) :-)

Ink the People Like You stamp using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, stamp onto a piece of white alcohol-friendly cardstock and color the image with alcohol markers. Add a few white highlights to the flower centers using an extra fine white paint pen.

Die cut the floral panel with a stitched rectangle die, mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge. 

Adhere the panel onto the front of the card to overlap the front panels.

Stamp Sets: People Like You (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Memento™ Tuxedo Black; Arteza™ Alcohol Markers- Aqua, Bright Pink, Light Gray, Black, Green; Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Gemini, Jr.™, Dies- MFT Rectangle Stitched A2 STAX Set 1, Tim Holtz™ Alterations™ Sizzix™ French Script Embossing Folder

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I hope all of you have a fabulous week!

Just Believe- My Grace is Sufficient

Hi Friends!

I am finally having a chance to upload some of the cards that I designed recently and this card uses a set by Altenew, Just Because and a verse from the retired Verve stamp set, Scripture Medley 4.  

I am still working on inking up stamps that I have not inked before- this is only the second card that I have created with this image from the Just Believe stamp set and I do not recall ever inking up this particular verse sentiment from the Verve set.

This was a very simple card to design- I stamped all of the images in a black archival ink and colored the florals with alcohol markers.  

Once I was satisfied with the colors, I used a clear glitter pen on the petals of the flowers and an extra fine white paint pen to add highlights.

Trimmed the panel and mounted onto black cardstock before adhering to a white card base- quick and easy!  Compared to my normal layering, distressing, etc. style, this is Clean and Simple (CAS) for me.

I wanted to participate with a few online challenges so I am linking this card to the Retro Rubber Blog Challenge #134 “Spring Flowers” and the CAS on Friday #179 “Use Your Fav Flower Stamp”- this Altenew floral stamp set is fast becoming one of my favs and the main floral panel is all one layer :-)

The Retro Rubber Challenge Blog requires that you use stamps that are at least a year or more older- the Altenew, Just Because set is from 2018 and the Verve Scripture Medley 4 stamp set is from 2017.

Stamp Sets: Just Because (Altenew), Scripture Medley 4 (retired Verve Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Markers- OR1, LG3, CG1, CG3, DP2, DP3, VB2, AP2, BGR1; Spectrum Noir™ Glitter Pen, Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: MISTI™ Stamping Tool

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- hugs and I hope you have a blessed week!

Thoughts & Prayers- Nothing is Worth More than This Day

Hi Friends!!

Woohoo! I had a chance to create another Clean and Simple (CAS) Mixed Media card using an alcohol ink technique on vellum last night. One thing I forgot to do was work in a well ventilated room- lol! I must remember that for the next time :-)

I created this card for the August CAS Mixed-Media challenge and chose to use vellum versus Yupo® paper (I have the Yupo® as well as Glossy cardstock but neither one was in the area where I actually stamp right now, so I pulled out a piece of vellum instead) and the Simon Says Wednesday "Splatter It" Challenge.

My design style normally does not lean toward CAS cards but lately I have been trying to participate in CAS challenges and force myself to think CAS.  I am having so much fun with this style and who knows? I may be converted soon- lol!!

If you have not already had a chance to visit the above challenge sites yet, I hope you will do so- wonderful inspiration from their Design Teams as well as in their galleries!

OK, I have to admit, this card was an experiment so I did try a few different things ( I refused to give up :-)) :

1). Using alcohol inks for the “smoosh” technique (***Note- epic fail on vellum but it is part of this card ) place a few drops of Ranger® Adirondack™ Alcohol Inks- Ginger, Latte and Terra Cotta onto a silicone craft mat, spritz with alcohol blending solution and lay the piece of vellum into the ink. Immediately lift up the vellum, allow the inks to merge and blend.  The problem I had with this method on vellum was that I had too much of the ink on the mat (and too similar of colors) so the colors became one brown color (I decided to wipe it off the vellum and start over...)

2). Using  Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Markers, color with the large flat nib back and forth over the panel- GB5 Yellow at the top, OR1 Orange in the center and the DG4 at the bottom. Once the marker has dried (only a few moments), spritz a bit of alcohol blending solution over the panel and allow that to dry.

3). Trim the vellum, de-static the alcohol marker ink side with an Embossing Buddy®, stamp the tree from Thoughts & Prayers using Versafine™ Onyx Black Ink, apply Clear Embossing Powder and carefully heat set with the Heat Tool.

4). Using the Big Shot™ with the MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX, cut the frame from Basic Black cardstock and adhere the vellum panel to the frame.  Mount the entire frame onto a piece of So Saffron cardstock (I had this piece in my stash already die cut with the same rectangle die).

5). On a piece of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the sentiment from the retired Summer Afternoon stamp set with Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink at the bottom, trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  Adhere the entire background onto the white card base and add the vellum panel.

6). Die cut the cat from Basic Black cardstock with the Poppystamps™ Sitting Cat Die (I also had this die cut ready in my stash)- mount onto the card front with dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Thoughts & Prayers, Summer Afternoon (current and retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black; Alcohol Inks, Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Markers- GB5, OR1, DG4

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Vellum

Accessories/Tools:  Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rectangles STAX Dies, Poppystamps™ Sitting Cat Die, Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

Thanks again for stopping by- hugs and I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!

Cocoa's Heart- I {Heart] You :-)

Hi Stampers!

Today I am posting on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps blog and wanted to share a fun Valentine’s Day card that I created with a few more of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (SNSS) Digital Stamps- Cocoa’s Heart and Valentine’s Day Greetings.

Did you know that Sweet ‘n SassyStamps has over 200 exclusive digital stamp images (also known as “digi’ or “digis”) in the online store?  Are you intimidated by digi stamps- you do not need to be...they are so easy to use and you can print them out and color them just like a normal stamp image.

One thing I personally love about digi stamps is that you can re-size them to fit your design plus they do not take up the space in your craft room :-)

I decided to use the Splitcoaststampers’ SC568 Sketch Challenge  along with the Just Add Ink JAI294 "Add Something New" Blog Hop (both of these digital images are new to me :-)) for inspiration.

I hope you will find the time to check out both of these challenge sites as well as the SNSS Blog Post :-).

To create this card:

Insert the digital images for Cocoa’s Heart along with the sentiment from the Valentine’s Day Greeting set ( I cropped and re-sized the sentiment).   

Print the images out onto a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" Whisper White cardstock and color the Cocoa’s Heart image using Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Markers along with a Faber-Castell® Pitt Penn marker to add the checked border. 

Fussy-cut out the heart, mount onto white cardstock and fussy-cut around the heart to create a white border.

Add additional shimmer to the heart using an AquaPainter™ with Frost White Shimmer Paint over the entire heart (but not Cocoa) and add Crystal Effects® to his nose (both are a bit difficult to see in the photos).

Emboss a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock with the Happy Hearts Textured Impressions™  Embossing Folder and layer onto Basic Black cardstock.

Add the embossed panel to the Whisper White card base, layer the black and white polka dot background and add the Cocoa's Heart and Valentine's Day Greeting sentiment using Stampin' Dimensionals®.

Use the Owl Builder Punch to punch out two little hearts from Melon Mambo cardstock, layer onto on

Another view trying to show the shimmer :-)

e another and add to the banner along with the Rhinestone to finish off the card.

This was a fun card for me to create- I hope you will try some of the digital images for yourself- if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comment area :-)

Stamp Sets:  Cocoa's Heart, Valentine's Day Greetings (both digital images from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Ink: Printer Ink, Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Markers- Blender, BP6, DR5, PP5, BGR3; Frost White Shimmer Paint, Faber-Castell® Pitt Penn marker

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo; retired Neutrals Background Paper

Accessories: Big Shot™ , Happy Hearts Textured Impressions™  Embossing Folder ,  Punches- Owl Builder, Hexagon; Rhinestone, AquaPainter™ 

Hugs and have a blessed week, my friends!! 

JUN15VSNH- Clean and Simple Apple Pie :-)

Hi Again Stampers!!

This Clean and Simple (CAS) card was created for the Splitcoaststampers’ Virtual Stamp Night JUN15VSNH “Bake Up Some Happiness” Challenge (see details here and gallery here). Now we all know that baking apple pie is definitely not Clean and  Simple- lol!!

I used a free digital image from Free Vintage Digi Stamps (“A is for Apple Pie”) along with the Home Sweet Home image from the retired My Digital Studio (MDS) to create this "hybrid" card. 

This is the orig image :-)

Again, if you have not had the chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit the Splitcoaststampers’ site- tremendous inspiration from all!

To create this quick and easy card:

Open MDS and position the digital images onto a blank 8.5x 11 document.  Open up a square punch element to crop the image, color fill with Whisper White and print out the document using black ink.

Use a Faber-Castell® XS Black Pitt Pen to create cross-hatching in the background to fill-in the void from the digital punch and color the focal image using Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Pens  and Stampin’ Write markers (the cross-hatching is difficult to see in the photo but it is there:-))

Trim the images and mount onto Real Red cardstock.

Trim a piece of Whisper White cardstock and mount onto a piece of Real Red cardstock, trim again and mount this background panel onto the Night of Navy card base.

Adhere the focal image and sentiment to the card front and add the Real Red punched heart (from the Owl Builder Punch) to finish off the card.

Quick and easy- I am starting to love this one hour time limit  :-)

Stamp Sets: Home Sweet Home (MDS), free Vintage Digi Stamp- A is for Apple Pie

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Stampin’ Blendabilities Light Smoky Slate Marker; Spectrum Noir™ Alcohol Markers- CT2, CT3, DR3, TB5; Faber-Castell® Pitt Pen XS Black Marker

Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Real Red

Accessories: Owl Builder Punch

Thanks again for visiting-only two more Virtual Stamp Night cards to go!