Choose Happiness- A CAS Watercolor Technique Card

Hi Friends!

Spring as finally arrived so it seems appropriate for florals, butterflies and watercolor (after all, April showers bring May flowers, right?) :-)  

Lately, I have been showcasing one of my favorite retiring Stampin' Up! sets, Choose Happiness.  I love the flowers, delicate stem of leaves as well as the sentiments and bird in this stamp set and think that they pair perfectly with Papillon Potpourri. 

So sad to see the Choose Happiness set retire- it will be one that definitely stays in my collection :-)

 I decided to use the gorgeous PPA297 Color Challenge at Pals Paper Arts along with the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #64 “CAS Spring” Challenge and the Splitcoaststampers’CAS371 “April Showers”.

Again, if you have not had a chance to visit the above challenge sites, I highly encourage you to do so- tremendous artwork from the Design Teams as well as the galleries!!

"CAS" is short for Clean and Simple and it means different things to different artists.  To me, this card is CAS since it does not have many layers, uses basic techniques and is fairly simple to make :-) 

 To create this card:

De-static a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Embossing Buddy®, ink ands stamp the flower image three times and the butterfly twice using Versamark™ Ink, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Once the embossing powder has cooled, color the images with an AquaPainter™ and Stampin’ Classic Ink followed by the corresponding Stampin’ Write Marker (for additional shadows) – Daffodil Delight for the butterflies and Wisteria Wonder for the flowers.

Use the Elegant Butterfly Punch to punch out the butterflies and fussy cut the flowers- set the images aside.

The Smakin’ Acetate technique was used for the background: Cut open a clear envelope along one side and the top (so that it opens like a book), pat the Pool Party Classic Ink pad onto one side of the envelope, spritz the ink with water, close the envelope and smoosh the ink around a bit with the acetate, open the envelope, insert a piece of Whisper White cardstock into the ink and lift the paper.  Re-insert the paper back into the ink until you have the desired effect (*** TIP *** - clean off the envelope and save for a future use :-)).

Trim the background panel, decide where you would like the flowers to be, de-static the entire panel with the Embossing Buddy®, ink and stamp the branch image three times onto the panel (near where the flowers will be located) using Versamark™ Ink, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Repeat the above steps to heat emboss the verse from Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 9.

Once the embossing powder has cooled, color the leaves first with the Wisteria Wonder Stampin’ Write marker, spritz with water, lightly dry with the Heat Tool and then color with the Pool Party Stampin’ Write Marker.

Add a bit of distressing with the Timeless Textures Splatter stamp using Wisteria Wonder Classic Ink, mount the panel onto a piece of Pool Party cardstock, trim and adhere onto the Wisteria Wonder card base.

Add the flowers and butterflies to the card front (I like to use my Hot Glue Gun for this step) and add the Pearls to the butterfly centers to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Choose Happiness, Papillon Potpourri, Timeless Textures (all Stampin’ Up!), Scripture Collection 9 (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Ink: Versamark™, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder; Stampin’ Write Markers- Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder

Accessories:  Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Elegant Butterfly Punch, AquaPainter™, Clear Envelope, Water Spritzer Bottle

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by and visit- hugs to all of you and I hope you have a fabulous week, my friends!

One Layer Mixed Media Card- Congrats, You Did It!

Hi Friends!

I wanted to share one more card that I created this morning that is a bit different for me- this is a one layer card.  That’s right, no layering at all, just score your cardstock , fold and stamp on the front.

Sounds simple, right?  Well, for this shabby-chic, vintage, Mixed Media , have to lots of layers, etc. artist, trust me, it is not!  I truly admire those artists who can design Clean and Simple cards as well as One Layer Cards :-)

Why do it, you ask?  For me, I like to stretch myself and try different techniques and styles so all of my cards do not look the same- lol!  Plus, it makes life interesting to try something new...

Anyway, this card was designed using the Splitcoaststampers’ CC577 Color Challenge along with the MIX166 “Outside the Foolish Box” Challenge, TLC580 "Hellos and Goodbyes" Challenge and the  C4CA38 April 2016 Cards for A Cause and the One Layer Simplicity #26 “As You Wish April ” Challenge. 

If you have not had a chance to visit the above challenge galleries yet, I encourage you to do so- it always amazes me how many different cards can be designed with one color, sketch or theme challenge!

To create this card:

Using sticky note paper, create a rectangle mask on a folded piece of retired Naturals White cardstock.

Create additional masks for the moon/sun and hills, use a Sponge Dauber to apply Pool Party and Pink Pirouette to the sky area and Mossy Meadow to the hills.

Remove the masks and de-static the cardstock with the Embossing Buddy®.

Ink the locomotive image from Traveler with Versamark™ and stamp onto the card front, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Repeat the above steps with the sentiments from the soon to be retired set, Bravo.

Add shadows with the Tip Top Taupe Stampin’ Write Marker and white highlights to the train with the Chalk Marker (retired).

Finish off the card by adding a few birds to the sky with a Faber-Castell® XS Black Marker.

Stamp Sets: Traveler, Bravo

Ink: Versamark™, Mossy Meadow, Pink Pirouette, Pool Party; Stampin’ Write Marker- Tip Top Taupe, retired Chalk Marker; Faber-Castell® XS Black Pitt Pen Marker

Paper: Naturals White

Accessories: Paper for masking, 1 ¾” Circle Punch

Thanks again for stopping by!!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

The Most Important Shot- The Golf Club and Grunge Elements

Hi Friends!

Today I am sharing my weekly card post on the Artistic Outpost (AO) blog – and this Mixed Media card was created using the new AO Spring 2016 Release stamps, Grunge Elements and The Golf Club.

FYI- I am also linking this card to the Splitcoaststampers’ MIX36 “Anything Goes” Challenge as well as the F4A238“Good Sport” Challenge.

 I hope you have a chance to visit us at the Artistic Outpost blog as well as the other challenge galleries – wonderful inspiration from all!

To create this card:

De-static a piece of Basic Black cardstock with the Embossing Buddy®, stamp the sentiment from The Golf Club with Versamark™ ink onto the prepared cardstock, heat emboss with Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder and once the embossing powder has cooled, trim and set aside.

For the background panel, add Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains (Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade) to a craft mat, lay a piece of watercolor paper face down into the ink, lift from the mat and spritz with water.

Lightly dry the panel with the Heat Tool, stamp the various Grunge Elements images with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Ink to “age” the paper.

Close-Up of Grunge Elements Background

 Use a 1 ¼” Square Punch to punch out the entire background and mount onto 1 ⅜” squares of Basic Black cardstock.

Adhere the layered background squares onto the Whisper White card base and add the stamped advertising images from The Golf Club.

Apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Crazing Medium over the entire panel and set aside to dry (you can speed up the drying process carefully with the Heat Tool but I have found that the medium crazes better when allowed to air dry).

Ink the woman golfer image from The Golf Club with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink,  stamp onto Whisper White cardstock and apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Ink over the image (again, to “age” the paper).

To finish off the card, fussy-cut out the golfer and use dimenstional foam to adhere her to the card front along with the heat embossed sentiment.

Grunge Elements

Stamp Sets: The Golf Club, Grunge Elements (Artistic Outpost)

Ink/Mediums: Stāz-On® Jet Black, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Mowed Lawn and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Stains, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Ink

The Golf Club

Paper: Watercolor, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Square Punches- 1 ¼” and 1 ⅜”

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

Bear Hugs- You're So Sweet

Hi Friends!

I had a chance to create another quick card this evening and decided to participate in the #60 Bear Hugs Challenge at What Will You Stamp? (a new challenge site for me)  along with the Stampin’ Celebration SC127 Sketch Challenge and the Splitcoaststampers' CC579 Color Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to check out the above sites, I encourage you to do so- wonderful samples from all!

I love this sweet bear set, but must confess, I truly struggle with designing "cute" cards...

The background was created with the Smakin' Acetate technique (I am addicted- lol!)....

Cut open a clear envelope (or transparency sheet) and gently press the Hello Honey Classic Ink Pad directly onto the acetate (not the whole pad only partial areas), press the envelope together, smoosh the ink around a bit, re-open the envelope and press a piece of Whisper White cardstock down onto the ink on one side of the envelope.

Once the ink dries, use the Big Shot™ with the retiring Honeycomb Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss the panel.

Trim and mount onto a piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Basic Gray, trim and mount onto the Hello Honey card base.

Emboss a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the retiring Chevron Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, trim and mount onto a piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Basic Gray cardstock and adhere onto the card front.

Ink the large bear image, the honeypot and the sentiment with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock. 

Stamp the skirt image onto a piece of retired Moonlight Designer Series Paper using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Bear Hugs Framelits™ to cut out the bear and honeypot images (fussy-cut the skirt image).

Color the bear with an AquaPainter™ and Basic Gray Classic Ink and fold up the arms.

Use an AquaPainter™ with Lost Lagoon Classic Ink to color the skirt and lower part of the honeypot adding shadows to both with the Stampin’ Write Lost Lagoon Marker.

Color the honey with the Hello Honey Stampin’ Write Marker and add Crystal Effects™ over the honey (set aside to dry).

Trim the sentiment, create the banner points with the retiring Hexagon Punch, mount onto Lost Lagoon cardstock, trim and create the banner points again with the punch and add a strip of Basic Gray cardstock (also creating the banner points with the Hexagon Punch- I am going to miss this punch in the catalog). 

Wrap a few pieces of the retired SAB 2015 In-Color Thick Baker's Twine around the sentiment and set aside.

Mount the bear, sentiment and honey pot using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Add the two Lost Lagoon buttons (with separated and knotted Hello Honey Thick Baker’s Twine in the center) to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Bear Hugs

Ink/Mediums: Stāz-On® Jet Black, Basic Gray, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon; Stampin’ Write Markers- Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon; Crystal Effects™

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon

Accessories: Big Shot™, Bear Hugs Framelits™, Honeycomb and Chevron Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders, Clear Envelope, retired SAB 2015 Hello Honey and Lost Lagoon Thick Baker’s Twine, retired SAB 2015 Lost Lagoon buttons

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Trust In the Lord - A Mixed Media Butterfly Card

Hi Friends!

This is the second Mixed Media card I created last night (well, actually early this morning ) using the Stampin’ Royalty SR326 “Butterflies” Challenge along with the ColourQ CQC338 Challenge , Simon Monday “Butterfly Beauty” Challenge and the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media April "Wings" Challenge.

 

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

To create this card:

De-static a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Embossing Buddy®, ink the Swallowtail image using Versamark™ Ink, stamp onto the prepared cardstock, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Once the embossing powder has cooled, color the image with an AquaPainter™ and Calypso Coral Classic Ink followed by the corresponding Stampin’ Write Marker (for additional shadows) and the retired Coastal Cabana Stampin’ Write Marker (I substituted retired Coastal Cabana for Cool Carribean).

Use a Faber-Castell® Black 1.0 Pitt Pen Marker to fill in the dark areas on the wings and carefully fussy cut the butterfly.

De-static another piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Embossing Buddy®, ink the flourish image from Timeless Textures with Versamark™ Ink, stamp onto the prepared cardstock and re-ink (stamp repeatedly), apply Stampin’ Emboss® Gold Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Ink the sentiment from Trust God with Versamark™ Ink, stamp onto the lower portion of the background panel, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Trim the background panel, stamp the small splatter stamp from Timeless Textures with Calypso Coral Classic Ink (stamping off before stamping onto the background).

Mount the panel onto the Calypso Coral card base and adhere the butterfly onto the card front (I used Hot Glue to mount the body, dimensional foam under the right wing, gently folded the left wing to the back of the card and adhered to the back).

View of the wing wrapped to the back :-)

Brush Clear Wink of Stella® onto the wings to finish off the card.

This is the first time I have inked the actual Swallowtail image (all of my previous cards with this image used the digital version).  I love this image and am so sad to see it on the retiring list along with the Trust God stamp set- so if you are in love with these two stamp sets as much as I am, now is the time to get yours before they retire forever!

Stamp Sets:  Swallowtail, Trust God, Timeless Textures

Ink: Versamark™, Calypso Coral; Stampin’ Write Markers- Calypso Coral, retired Coastal Cabana; Faber-Castell® Pitt Pen 1.0 Black Marker, Clear Wink of Stella®

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral

Accessories:  Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® Black and Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by and visit- hugs to all of you and I hope you have a wonderful day, my friends!

CAS Butterflies- A Sketch, Theme and Color Challenge

Hi Friends!

I had a chance to create a few quick cards this evening/morning and for this card, I decided to use Sandy's PP291 CAS Butterflies Challenge at The Paper Players along with the CYCI#116 Sketch Challenge at Can You Case It? and the Splitcoaststampers’ CC566 Color Challenge for inspiration.

I hope you will take the time to visit the above challenge sites- so much inspiration!

To create this card:

I used the Smakin' Acetate Technique to create the background panel- cut up one side of a clear envelope (or transparency sheet), open like a book and gently press the Melon Mambo Classic Ink Pad directly onto the acetate (not the whole pad only partial areas).

Add the Pretty In Pink "ink" with the Stampin’ Write Marker (I was too lazy to go into my “stock” craft room to get the ink pad :-))

Press the envelope sides back together, press down to smoosh the ink around a bit, re-open the envelope and lay a piece of Whisper White cardstock down onto the ink on one side of the envelope.

Press another piece of Whisper White cardstock into the ink on the other side of the envelope and set aside for a future project (love that this technique gives you two backgrounds).

Once the ink has dried, ink the sentiment from the Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) Scripture Collection 9 using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto the panel.

Add a few splatters using the small splatter stamp from Timeless Textures with Melon Mambo Classic Ink and Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink.

Use the Big Shot™ with the My Favorite Things® Blueprints 13 Stitched Rectangle Die to cut out the panel and mount onto the Whisper White card base with dimensional foam.

De-static a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Embossing Buddy® and stamp the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri with Versamark™ Ink. 

Apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Color the butterflies with the Stampin’ Write Pumpkin Pie Marker and use the Melon Mambo Stampin’ Write Marker to add shadows to the center of the wings.

Punch out the butterflies with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and adhere to the card front.

To finish off the card add antennas to the butterflies with an XS Faber-Castell® Black Pitt Pen Marker.

Stamp Sets: Papillon Potpourri, Timeless Textures (both Stampin’ Up!), Scripture Collection 9 (ODBD)

Ink: Versamark™, Stāz-On® Jet Black, Melon Mambo; Stampin’ Write Markers- Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, retired Pretty In Pink; Faber-Castell® XS Black Pitt Pen Marker

Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Blueprints 13 Die™, Elegant Butterfly Punch; Clear Envelope

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- you are all such an encouragement to me!  Hugs and have a great week!!

Artistic Outpost New Release March 2016- Part 2

Hi Friends!

Today I am sharing another card I designed using The Golf Club and Grunge Elements  stamp sets from the  Artistic Outpost March 2016 Release in the reminder blop hop we have scheduled for today :-)  

I will also be linking this card to the Splitcoaststampers’ MIX36 “Anything Goes” Challenge along with the Free For All F4A238 “Good Sport” Challenge (playing a bit of “catch-up” with the SCS Challenges) :-)

In the future, I will feature this card as one of my blog posts at the Artistic Outpost  (FYI- I post on the AO Blog every Saturday) and at that time I will give detailed instructions on how to create this card :-)

In the meantime, I hope you will take the time to stop by the Artistic Outpost to check out the rest of the Design Team Projects and hop along with us at the individual blogs :

     * Shari * Avril * Terry * Tracy * Lisa 
* Julie (you are here)

Grunge Elements

The Golf Club

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

A Friend Loves At All Times- using Toilet Paper for a Paper Cast :-)

Hi Friends!

When I saw Sabrina's (Cook22)Try A New Technique TLC582 “Paper Cast” Challenge at Splitcoaststampers, I decided to give this fun technique a try and create a card :-)

After all, using toilet paper to create a focal image- who could resist? 

But, even after I created this Mixed Media card, I was not sure if should share it with all of you (after all, it is toilet paper), but here it goes....(no pun intended)  :-)

Yes, you read that correctly, you will need toilet paper for this technique- just plain regular toilet paper known as "TP" here in the U.S. (I used Charmin Extra Soft but you can use whatever brand you desire).  

Basically you stack several layers of the TP, press your stamp onto a clear block with the image facing up toward you (or use a wood mount stamp, lay the dry TP stack over your stamp and spritz the area of the image carefully with water (avoiding the edges of the TP), press the TP into the stamp and continue to press with a kitchen towel (I used a microfiber towel that I have in my stamping area), carefully lift the “paper cast” TP off of the stamp and set aside to dry.

Allow the paper cast to dry completely (I used a Heat Tool carefully to speed up the drying) and color if desired.  There are complete details here at the TLC582 challenge forum plus a video tutorial  :-)

This was the first time I had ever tried this technique, so I used six layers (as noted in the video) of the Charmin Extra Soft, die cut the TP with the Big Shot™ using the second to the largest My Favorite Things® (MFT) Stitched Rounded Rectangle Die before proceeding with the steps above to create my paper cast with the flower image from You’ve Got This.

After drying, a few of my paper cast layers separated, so I carefully removed them, colored the floral image with Spectrum Noir® Markers (DG2 for the leaves and BP6 for the petals) and I used the tip of a very fine paintbrush to add Titanium White Acrylic Paint to the flower center.

FYI- I did notice as I photographed the card that the ink on the flower petals bleed a bit when the alcohol markers dried, so I would recommend if using alcohol markers to avoid coloring up to the edges as I did.

Since I noticed several of the ladies in the challenge forum were mentioning that traditional adhesive was not recommended (it would tear the TP, etc.) so I decided to pull out my sewing machine and attach with a zig zag stitch.

I finished off the card with a heat embossed sentiment, added ModPodge® to the butterfly wings  (I mounted the sentiment and butterflies using craft foam and hot glue) along with pearls to the butterfly centers. 

***Please note *** I had the butterflies previously stamped and colored from a prior project, but the original black ink was very light so I used a Black Extra-Fine Point Sharpie® to darken the butterfly wing patterns before adding the ModPodge® and used a White Pitt Pen Marker to add the white highlights after the ModPodge® dried :-)

Close-up of the Paper Cast Floral image :-)

Not sure if I would try this technique again right away, but it was fun and the focal image is very soft looking and a bit fuzzy (difficult to capture in the photos)....

I am also linking to the Simon Says Monday Challenge "Butterfly Beauty" Challenge  as well as the Splitcoaststampers' MIX126 "What If?" ( to get over your fear and try something new....this paper cast technique was definitely new to me :-)).

I hope you will find the time to visit all of challenge sites (fabulous inspiration from all)! 

Stamp Sets: You’ve Got This, Blessed by God, Papillon Potpourri, retired En Francais background stamp

Ink/Mediums: Versamark™, Pear Pizzazz; Stampin’ Write Marker- So Saffron; Spectrum Noir® Alcohol Markers (DG2, BP6); Titanium White Acrylic Paint, Black Extra-Fine Sharpie®, Faber-Castell® White Pitt Pen Marker, ModPodge®

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rounded Rectangle Dies, Toilet Paper, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Note Punch, Pearls, Sewing Machine, White Sewing Thread, #2 Paint Brush

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- oh, and don’t forget, now you will need to stock up on your TP for the craft room- lol!!