Lilac- I Will Never Leave You

Hi Friends!

I am sharing another card today that uses one of my neglected stamp sets- Lilac from Technique Tuesday along with a verse sentiment from Fear Not (Stamp Simply).

I have owned the Lilac set for at least a year or more and this is the first time that I have had a chance to ink it up.  My mother loved lilacs and when I saw this image, I knew I would have to add it to my stamp “collection”. 

I am still working through the Splitcoaststampers’ Sketch Challenges and used the SC183 Sketch for the layout on this card.  I decided to create a portrait version and my layer for #4 is a bit smaller so you can see more of the lilac image :-)  Plus I added a ribbon/bow at the bottom to balance out the card.

I am also participating with the Double “D” 05/06 “Lavender-Lilac-Purple” InspirationChallenge (I was inspired by all of the beautiful flowers and especially the lilacs) and the Word Art Wednesday #438-#439 “Anything Goes” Challenge.

The lilac image was heat embossed with clear embossing powder and colored with water-based markers. Distress Oxide ink was used for the background and the panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle die.

The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto black cardstock and die cut with a stitched rectangle die.

The background panel of white cardstock was embossed with a script embossing folder and all of the layers were mounted onto black cardstock.

A bow of black seam binding was added before mounting the main focal image panel was adhered to the card front with dimensional foam.

A clear glitter pen was used to add shimmer to the petals and an extra fine white paint pen to add a few highlights to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Lilac (Technique Tuesday), Fear Not (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Old Olive; Tim Holtz™ Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide;  Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, retired This and That Epic Day Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Gemini, Jr™, My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 1 Dies, Darice™ Script Embossing Folder, Embossing Buddy®, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™, ½” Black Seam Binding

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit- I hope you will stop by again soon!  Hugs, sweet friends!

I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you as healthy as possible with social distancing.  Hopefully, soon we can get back to a new “normal” , but until then, I have been stamping more than ever.  

Unfortunately, I am finding it difficult to set aside the time to post to my blog :-)  I have over fifty different card designs to post and am still working on inking up images that have been neglected and/or never inked before.  Plus, while I have the neglected stamps out, I am making several different card designs with each set.

Today I am sharing a card using the Pretty Peonies stamp set (SugarPea Designs) along with a verse sentiment from Fear Not (Stamp Simply).  I find this verse to be such comfort, especially during this time in our lives. 

This is the first time I have had a chance to ink up the Pretty Peonies image (I have had this set in my stash for almost a year) and for this card, I used the SC281 Sketch Challenge from Splitcoaststampers for the layout.  This sketch was from 2010 and I am so thankful that the SCS challenges do not expire :-)

In addition to using the neglected floral stamp, I was able to incorporate several patterns of the retired Domestic Goddess designer paper from my stash.  While it will most likely take the rest of my life to use up all of my supplies, I am having fun creating and even with just a little bit of paper, etc. on the cards, I am making some progress, lol!

In addition to the sketch challenge, I am playing along with the Simon Says Wednesday “Flower Power” Challenge, the Word Art Wednesday#436-#437 “Anything Goes” Challenge and the Tic-Tac-Toe #061 Challenge.  I was able to use almost every square on the tic-tac-toe board (except “pink”) and that is if faux stitching is allowed for “stitching”. 

If faux stitching does not qualify as "stitching", this card uses the following rows for the Tic-Tac-Toe #061 Challenge- top row across (Markers- Blooms- Ribbon/Twine), the middle row down (Blooms- Designer Paper- Layers) and the far right row down (Ribbon/Twine- Rectangles- Red).

This card was a bit time consuming due to all of the layers but very easy to create:

Stamp the images and sentiment with archival black ink onto white cardstock and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Watercolor the floral image with water-based markers (drying the layers in between and being careful not to "scrub" the paper).  

Once you are satisfied with the watercolor, use a clear glitter pen on the petals for a bit of shimmer.  

Stencil the background behind the floral with distress oxide ink and die cut the image with a stitched rectangle die.

The background layer was dry embossed with a retired embossing folder (love using my stash!) and all of the rectangle/oval layers were mounted onto black cardstock before adhering to the card base.

A bit of silver cord (twine) was looped behind the oval sentiment to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Pretty Peonies (SugarPea Designs), Fear Not (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Bermuda Bay, Poppy Parade; Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide, Spectrum Noir™ Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Coastal Cabana, retired Stampin’ Up! Domestic Goddess Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Gemini, Jr.™, My Favorite Things Dies- Stitched Oval STAX, Stitched Rectangle Set A1 STAX, retired Square Lattice Embossing Folder, AquaPainter™, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Memory Box Heartwood Stencil, Stencil Brush, retired Silver Cording

I have been very busy creating cards and will try to post more frequently, but I must be very slow at the posting stage (it takes me at least several hours to create a blog post with the photographing, etc.) :-)

I have not monetized my blog since I prefer to keep my art as a hobby and not a business.  I love the friendships I have found with those of you who share the same passion and hope that my cards and blog posts inspire you to create. 

I have tried to simplify the steps in my blog posts, but I know some of you are new at cardmaking, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- your visits are so encouraging to me!  I am planning on posting a few more cards throughout this week (The Card Concept's new challenge will start on Wednesday) and I hope you will have a chance to stop by again soon!  Hugs, sweet friends!

Living Water- I Will Never Leave You

Hi Friends!

I am back to share another card that I had a chance to create recently using a few current stamp sets along with some of my retired papers.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am making a concentrated effort to ink up some of my stamps that have not seen ink in a while as well as use some of my other supplies.  At this point, I am concerned that I could stamp many cards every day for the rest of my life and possibly not use up all of my paper, lol! 

The problem is that the manufacturers keep making pretty papers and I need to stop buying!  Some women buy clothes, shoes and jewelry and some women buy art/craft supplies (I fall into the latter category for sure)!

Also, as mentioned before,  I am going to simplify my normal “step by step” process so I can post the numerous finished cards I have ready to share.  If you have a question on any of the steps taken to create this card, please ask in the comments and I will give you more details.

The main focal image on this card is from the current stamp set, Living Water from Divinity Designs LLC and the sentiment is from the current Stamp Simply set, Fear Not (one of my favorite stamp sets for sentiments lately).

I have not inked up the Living Water image in quite while and while I had the stamp set on my craft table,  I stamped several of this image for future cards. 

Many of you that follow my blog know that I am slowly working my way through the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenges (in my personal effort to create a card for each of their 790+ sketches ) and I used the SCS SC376 Sketch for the layout.

In addition to the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge, I am also participating with the Color My Heart Color Dare  # 384 “Greys + 2 Colors of Your Choice” Challenge (I chose Green and Light Aqua Blue) and the Word Art Wednesday #430-#431 “Anything Goes” Challenge.

To create this card:

The image and sentiment were both stamped with an archival black ink onto white cardstock and the Living Water scene was colored with watercolor pencils and water-based markers.

I had the embossed gray background in my stash ready to go and all of the layers were mounted onto black cardstock.

I did use a clear glitter pen over the water (but it is a bit difficult to see in the photo) and I have added all of the other supplies, etc. below.

Stamp Sets: Living Water (Divinity Designs LLC formerly Our Daily Bread Designs), Fear Not (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black; Stampin’ Write Coastal Cabana Marker; Derwent™ Watercolor Pencils- Silver Gray and various other grays, Emerald Green, Sap Green; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate (all Stampin’ Up!); misc. green plaid designer paper (not sure of manufacturer)

Accessories: Gemini, Jr™, Spellbinders™ Stately Circle Dies, Square Lattice Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder (retired SU!), AquaPainter™, Heat Tool, Silver Cord, Rhinestones

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I hope all of have a great week, sweet friends!