Beautiful Birthday

Hello and welcome back!  I've had a bit more fun playing with the new Beautiful Day stamp set, using it to create a birthday card with lots of vibrant colors.

The butterfly and leaves were stamped on Neenah Solar White card stock, colored with Copic Markers and fussy cut (naturally, I bought the dies separately and they arrived the day after I made this card LOL!).  After adhering to the die cut circle, the piece was set aside as I made the card base. 

The bright pink card stock was trimmed into two pieces, embossed, layered on the white card base, then the black and white striped patterned paper was added down the right side.  I used my Misti to make sure I stamped my sentiment straight, then the butterfly piece was added.  Shimmer was added to the butterfly, and finally sequins and Nuvo crystal drops in both white and bright pink.

I'm entering my card into the 4 challenges below linked below.  Be sure to head over there and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!

Just Us Girls #436

 SSC #176

 

 STB - Vibrant Colors

SSS Wed Challenge - Sparkle and Shine 

As always, thanks for visiting!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Beautiful Day (Simon Says Stamp), Happy Birthday Gorgeous (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Doll Pink (SSS), Black & White Basics paper pad (MFT)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  Copic markers, Spring Flowers embossing folder (ret. SU), Layering Circle Framelit (SU), Hero Arts Ultrafine Clear Embossing Powder, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins, Tonic Nuvo Simply White and Shocking Pink Crystal Drops, and Aqua Shimmer pen
 

Florals and Butterflies

Hi there!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers and I am hosting this week.  We're going to watch Blackberries Growing in the Meadow Under a Soft Sky using the colors Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow and Soft Sky.  The dessert option is to add butterflies to your card.  I've made two cards this week since this is one of my favorite color combinations.

I'm also excited to finally reveal that I have the honor of becoming one of the newest members of the Dirty Dozen Design team at Splitcoaststampers!  Whoo hoo!  Each month for the next 6, we twelve "dirty girls" will create projects for monthly themes, as a thank you to all the Fan Club members at SCS.  If you've never been to SCS, use the link above to check it out.  It is an amazing, supportive community of paper crafters with daily challenges, tutorials and so many resources.

Now on to the two cards made for the Color Challenge this week!

For this first card I started with a watercolor paper panel, heat embossed the two solid butterflies, spread clear water on it, then dropped in the Soft Sky and Blackberry inks to create the soft background.  When dry I flicked Soft Sky and Blackberry inks, plus Ranger Pearl Metallic Acrylic paint and gold from the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors paints.  I still had gold on my paintbrush, so I decided to go all around the edges of the panel to really help it stand out.  When the paint dried, the sentiment was heat embossed with gold ep.

The flower and leaves are layered stamps, and I purposely omitted the solid base image, instead just stamping the outline and "shadow" stamps.  Then, using a damp (not wet) paint brush, I gently pulled color down into the highlighted areas from the inked shadows.  Kind of a fake water colored look if you will!  The rest of the process to put the card together is pretty self explanatory.

For this card, I started with a watercolor paper panel, spread clear water then dropped in a bunch of Soft Sky ink.  I let the water move it around then helped by tilting the panel, then drying with a heat tool when I was happy with it.  Next the fern was inked up in Mossy Meadow, spray with a mister then stamped repeatedly on the panel.  Pearl acrylic paint was splattered on the panel, then once everything was dry the sentiment was added using my Misti.

Next I cut the sold butterfly image from vellum, then used a Blackberry marker and a waterbrush to paint the backside of the vellum.  I've never tried that before and was shocked to watch the vellum curl up as the fluids dried, but I flattened it out by placing it under a huge pile of heavy magazines.  The top layer was die cut from white glitter paper, adhered it to the flattened solid layer, then added to the watercolor panel adhered to the base, along with some sequins.







As always, your visit is so appreciated!  I hope you'll join us for the Color Challenge this week!

Stef


Product details
Card 1
Stamps: Beautiful Day-flower  and sentiment (Altenew) and Beautiful Day-butterflies (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:    Neenah Solar White, Soft Sky, Ranger watercolor
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Soft Sky, Versamark
Other:  Beautiful Day companion dies, Hero Arts White and Altenew Antique Gold embossing powders, Gansai Tambi Starry Colors metallic watercolor paints, Ranger Pearl Metallic Acrylic paint, sequins

Card 2
Stamps:  Butterfly Basics (SU)
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Canson XL, Vellum, White Glitter (SSS)
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky, Mossy Meadow, Versamark
Other:  Bold Butterfly Framelit and Butterfly Thinlit (both SU), Stitched Rectangle die (SSS), Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear and Spring Meadow Mix sequins, Ranger Pearl Metallic Acrylic Paint

Gull Friend

Hello friends!  Today I am sharing my second sample for April's CAS Watercolour challenge, where I have had the great honor of being a Guest Designer.  This month the theme is Bird.  I've added a link to the challenge below, so do be sure to check it out and hopefully join in the challenge!

CAS Watercolour April 2018

I don't have many bird images but the February 2018 My Monthly Hero card kit featured the delightful Spoken Bird stamp and die set, so I decided it would work perfectly for this challenge.  I actually ended up using the dies to create silhouettes from card stock rather than the stamping the images.

I chose a panel I had previously created with Distress Oxide Inks, where the ink was applied to watercolor paper, sprayed with water, dried with a heat tool then repeat to get fabulous designs and color mixes.  I liked this panel because of the variety of green colors.

My husband kindly pointed out that the bird on my card is not a Gull but I informed him that she was simply saying hey to her friend, which happened to be a Seagull.  At least that's the story I had in my mind when I made the card!  For the first half of the sentiment, I stamped it on a piece of white card stock, then partially die cut with a circle die.  Since I wanted this to be a word bubble but don't own any dies like that, I hand cut the rest of it to create my own.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  And thanks to CAS Watercolour for asking me to be a Guest Designer this month, it was such a treat!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Spoken Bird (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Black, Canson XL watercolor
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black; Distress Oxide inks:  Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers
Other:  Spoken Bird matching dies, Wonky Rectangle die (SSS), Layered Circle framelit (SU)

Flourish Birthday

It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Karen is hosting tonight and she has chosen the lovely color combination of Powder Pink, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip, with a dessert option to watercolor.  Now, if  you follow my blog, you know I love to watercolor but for some reason my water coloring mojo left me as I tried to create a card for this challenge.  So I passed on dessert and instead went with a long neglected die set to create my card.

The Flourish Thinlits from Stampin' Up were used to cut the vines and flowers from Wild Wasabi and Powder Pink.  I used a Wonky Rectangle die to cut the white card base, worked out my layout with the Flourish die cuts, then adhered them to the panel.  An aqua shimmer pen was used on the flowers, then large pearls added to the centers.

The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink, then trimmed down and mounted on slightly larger Powder Pink rectangles.  I added a few more pearls as a final bit of bling.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link to SCS above, so be sure to head over there and check out the Color Challenge, and hopefully join us this week!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Happy Birthday Gorgeous (SU)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White and Desert Storm, Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi, Powder Pink
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Other:  Wonky Rectangle die (SSS), Flourish Thinlits (SU), Basic Pearls, Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen, Sizzix Precision Base plate

You Bring Sunshine

Hello friends!  I'm excited to be guest designing at the CAS Watercolour challenge for the month of April!!  I was thrilled when Loll emailed me to ask, and of course I couldn't say yes fast enough

CAS Watercolour April Challenge

With the April theme of "Bird" I knew I had to use this little chick (ETA: or maybe a baby duckling?).  I adore the umbrella and boots, and that she seems to be so enjoying those April showers!  After stamping on watercolor paper, I used Distress Inks to brightly watercolor this cutie.

I painted each part of the image separately to keep the colors from running (mainly because I tend to be a sloppy painter!), then let everything dry before applying very watered down Peacock Feathers in the background around the chick and the umbrella.  The raindrops coming from the sky were stamped as an afterthought, and I added the same colors as the puddle, then covered all the drops with a crystal glaze.

After the watercolored panel dried, I used a stitched rectangle die to trim it down, then layered that on a slightly larger piece of bright yellow card stock.  I used my Misti to stamp the sentiment so I could be sure it was straight and centered, then added the watercolored panel.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link to the challenge above, so be sure to check out all the beautiful DT inspiration and join us this month!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Showers and Flowers, Choose Joy (both SSS)
Paper:  Bright Yellow, Ivory (both SSS), Arches cold press watercolor
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black; Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Abandoned Coral, Ripe Persimmon, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Peacock Feathers
Other:  Stitched Rectangle die (SSS), Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze

One of a Kind

Hello friends and welcome back!  This is my final post as a guest designer for Just Us
Girls.  It's been such a fun ride and I so appreciate the amazing and supportive Design Team, they are the best!  This is Wild Card week and the theme is Clean And Simple.  I hope you'll be able to join us this week!

Just Us Girls

 
I'm also joining two other challenges, the wonderful sketch challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches, and the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge.

CAS Colours and Sketches #265

SSS Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes

The latest card kit from Simon Says Stamp has a beautiful stamp set with all sorts of butterflies and wonderful sentiments, so I really wanted to use one of those butterflies for my card today.  I used Copic markers to color it, then fussy cut it out since the companion dies are not yet available.  My caveat about the coloring is that I am just learning how to use Copic markers so there is very limited and basic (aka learner LOL!) color blending; the rest is simply colored in with colors that complement the patterned papers.  I love the rainbow designs of the Lawn Fawn patterned papers that were included in the kit and used one of the designs for the banner.

While this card is CAS, I still wanted to add some interest on the card base, so I used a die to emboss a scallop design onto the front panel.  Next, the scallop square die cut was adhered with foam tape, then the heat embossed sentiment and the butterfly were also added with foam tape.  A bit hard to see in the photos but I added a layer of sparkle with an Aqua Shimmer pen on the butterfly and the sentiment strip.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated.  I've added links to all the challenges above, so please be sure to head over there and check out all the amazing inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Beautiful Day, Kind Flowers (both SSS)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Surf Blue (SSS), Black, Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow 6x6 paper pack
Ink:  Hero Arts Intense Black, Versamark
Other:  Copics, Layering Squares Scallop framelit (SU), Scallop Stitched Rectangle die (MFT), Wow Super Fine White Embossing Powder, Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen

Beautiful Day

It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Robin is hosting this week and she chose the very Spring like colors of Daffodil Delight, Pink Pirouette and Old Olive, with a dessert option of flowers.


I'm also joining the current challenge at The Paper Players, where Claire has given us this wonderful sketch to work with:

PP 386

I started by creating my own background with a Gingham stamp, inked with Pink Pirouette and stamped on a panel of the same color.  That and a strip of green from a paper pack were added to the base as was the sentiment circle that was die cut and trimmed off on the one side.  One of the banners was also created from a piece of the patterned paper and the white card stock banner was embossed with the Layered Leaves embossing folder.

The leaves and butterfly were stamped on watercolor paper, colored with Distress inks and fussy cut, then added to the sentiment circle.  I added a bit of Aqua Shimmer to both for some pretty sparkle.

The final touches were to wrap the entire card front with a Daffodil Delight ribbon and add three Nuvo drops in a bright yellow.

Thanks so much for visiting it's always so appreciated!  I've added links to both challenges, so be sure to head over there and check out all the wonderful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Beautiful Day, Choose Joy (both Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Pink Pirouette, Spring Market 6x6 paper pad (Carta Bella), Ranger watercolor
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Pirouette; Distress Inks:  Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
Other:  Layering Scallop Circle framelit, Layered Leaves ef, Daffodil Delight 1/8" grosgrain ribbon, Tonic Nuvo Dandelion Yellow Crystal Drops and Aqua Shimmer pen

Get Well Wishes

Hello and welcome back!  It's time for a new challenge at Just Us Girls, where I've been thrilled to be a guest designer for the month of March!  This week it's a beautiful photo challenge that offers so many spring time possibilities.  Check it out!

Just Us Girls #433 

I'm also joining the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, because this week the theme is Floral Frenzy and I'm all about florals this week!

SSS Wed Challenge - Floral Frenzy

I just received the lovely Even More Spring Flowers stamp set and knew I wanted to us it for this week's Just Us Girls challenge, based on the pretty Primroses in the top right picture of the inspiration piece.  I stamped the images on Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor paper with Antique Linen so I could do some no-line water coloring.  I primarily used Daniel Smith watercolor paints, which I have only used a couple times and found that I had to due multiple layers to intensify the colors.  While I didn't achieve the intensity in color that I was hoping for, I realize I'm still experiencing a learning curve with this medium and I still like how it turned out.

After the watercolored images were dry, they were die cut with the companion dies and set aside while I prepped the card base.  A panel of Sea Glass card stock was die cut with the striped cover die then adhered to the white card base.  The leaves and one of the flower images were adhered to the base, then the remaining flowers and leaves were layered with foam tape.  The sentiment from WPlus9 was added in two parts, both popped up with foam tape.

A shimmer pen was used on the flowers and the word "wishes", which can be seen better in the photo above (yah, I was finally able to get one that actually showed the shimmer that looks amazing IRL!).  Clear sequins and gold drops were then added to finish things off.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added links above to both challenges so I hope you'll be sure to check them both out!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Even More Spring Flowers (SSS), That is All (WPlus9)
Paper:  Ivory, Sea Glass, Black, Arches 40 lb Cold Press watercolor paper
Ink:  Antique Linen Distress Ink, Versamark, Hero Arts Intense Black
Other:  Bold Stripes Cover Up die (MFT), SSS and WPlus9 companion dies, Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder, #4 round Silver Black Velvet paint brush, Daniel Smith watercolor paints, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins, Tonic Nuvo Bright Gold Crystal Drops

CAS Tulip Queue

It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  This week Pam is hosting and she has chosen the lovely combination of So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz and Marina Mist, with a dessert option of an Easter or Spring theme.  I hope you'll be able to join us this week!


I'm also entering my card into a couple of other challenges.  For CAS473 "Oh, Happy Day" at SCS, the challenge is to show something that makes you happy, and tulips definitely make me happy!


And for the CAS Watercolour Challenge, the theme this month is "Garden".

CAS Watercolour - Garden

I stamped my tulip garden on watercolor paper with Antique Linen Distress Ink in order to do no-line water coloring.  In hind site, because I have only done no-line one other time, I should have used a less detailed stamp, because I did end up not being able to capture all the detail on a few of the tulips.  But you don't grow if you don't try new things, so I certainly learned some things in attempting this!

I used a mix of watercolors from my Sakura Koi pocket sketch box and Daniel Smith watercolor palettes, first painting the flowers, stems and leaves with a #4 round paintbrush, then changing to a #8 round for the background and the garden "dirt".  I had the panel taped down to minimize warping and let it completely dry before removing the painter's tape.

After stamping the sentiment and die cutting the panel, it was added to a Marina Mist card base.  As final touches, shimmer was painted on the flowers with an aqua shimmer pen and three small Nuvo Morning Dew drops were added around the sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I hope you'll use all the links above to check out these wonderful challenges and hopefully join in!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Tulip Queue (Penny Black), Happy Birthday Gorgeous (sentiment) (SU)
Paper:  Canson XL, Marina Mist
Ink:  Antique Linen Distress Ink, Archival Basic Gray (SU)
Other:  Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box, Daniel Smith Watercolor Palettes (Simon Says Stamp), A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 1 die (MFT), #4 and #8 round Silver Black Velvet paint brushes, Tonic Nuvo Morning Dew Crystal drops and Aqua Shimmer pen.

Hoppy Easter

Hello friends!  I hope you've had a good weekend!  I finally was able to get the Flowers and Showers stamp set inky and came up with an Easter card, complete with a bunny!

I started by stamping then masking the bunny so I could stamp that cute boot image behind.  I used my Prismacolor colored pencils to color both images and the dirt, then masked off everything so I could use a cloud stencil for the sky and then do some simple sponging to create the green hills.

I used gray and black pencils to create shadows on the bunny.  I was a bit concerned that I had gotten the shading a bit too dark when I used Gamsol to blend the two colors, so I wiped off the stump tool used to blend, added a bit more Gamsol and was able to blend it out a bit better.  With the coloring and sponging complete, the panel was added to the card base over the vertical strip of patterned paper then the sentiment was popped up with foam tape.  Clear droplets and a pompom for the bunny tail finished things off. 

I used the current sketch challenge at Stamp Ink Paper for my design inspiration (and I'm joining the challenge just under the wire!).  I've added a link below so do be sure to head over there and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!

SIP 141

Thanks for visiting!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Showers and Flowers (Simon Says Stamp), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Surf Blue (SSS), LiveMore patterned paper (Pinkfresh Studio)
Ink:  Versamark Onyx Black; Hero Arts Intense Black ink (used for the sentiment); Twisted Citron DOX ink; Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress ink
Other:  Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Cloud Stencil (MFT), Clear Droplets (PPP), Darice Pompoms, Glossy Accents, Sakura White Jelly Pen, Gamsol

Spread Your Wings

Hello again!  It's time for a new challenge at Just Us Girls, where I am guest designing for the month of March.  This is Color Week with the gorgeous palate of Turquoise, Brown and Khaki.

Just Us Girls

My first attempt was to make a masculine card with lots of brown and kraft, but somehow it just didn't have that somethin'-somethin' I was looking for, so I started over, this time doing an ink blended background in turquoise hues of Distress Oxide Inks.  After blending the colors, going from a green blue to turquoise to a blue green, I splattered the panel with water drops and diluted white gouache, then sprayed it with shimmer spray.  That give it that "somethin'" I was looking for!  After that dried, I heat embossed images from the Come Fly With Me stamp set on the panel. 

Using a Misti, I first stamped the images in Early Espresso Ink, then stamped over the top of that with Versamark, then heat set it with clear embossing powder.  This worked really well on plain card stock, but the shimmer spray and gouache cannot be fully covered so it softens the look of the embossing, which I was fine with.

The panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle die, wrapped with some Baker's Twine and adhered to a slightly larger piece of white card stock.  The whole thing was added to an Early Espresso card base with foam tape, then I added a few white Nuvo drops.


Thanks for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link above to the Just Us Girls blog, so I hope you head over there to check it out and hopefully join us this week!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Come Fly With Me (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Early Espresso (SU), Neenah Desert Storm and Solar White, Bristol
Ink:  Early Espresso, Versamark; Distress Oxide:  Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon
Other:  Hero Arts Ultra Fine Clear Embossing Powder, Stitched Rectangle die (SSS), Tsukineko Sparkle Shimmer Spray, White Gouache, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Tonic Nuvo Simply White Crystal Drops

Sweet Pea

Hi there!  I hope your week is going well so far!  I wanted to watercolor a spring image and found just the right one in my stash of Suzy's Watercolor Prints.  This lovely image of Sweet Peas just made me smile.

I used Distress inks in Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry to water color the flowers, and Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint for the leaves and stems.  When those images were dried I took a large round paintbrush and covered the background with very diluted Peacock Feathers.

After the panel was completely dry it was die cut with a stitched rectangle die, then the strip of vellum with the heat embossed sentiment was wrapped around and the panel mounted to the bright pink card base with foam tape.  I love this sentiment, it's from such a special set from Hero Arts with wonderfully inclusive and uplifting messages!


Next I used an Aqua Shimmer pen to paint some shimmer on the edges of the sweet peas, then added Nuvo drops and sequins as a finishing touch.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I'm joining three challenges with this card.  I've included links below, so be sure to head over all three challenges and enjoy all the amazing inspiration!

PPA 384

TFC #18

SSS Wed Challenge - Girl Power

Stef




Product details
Stamps:  You Are Love Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Doll Pink (Simon Says Stamp), Vellum, Suzy's In Full Bloom Watercolor Prints (SSS)
Ink:  Versamark; Distress Inks:  Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Peacock Feathers
Other:  A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 1 (MFT), Wow Super Fine Opaque Bright White embossing powder, Simply White Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops, Spring Meadow Mix sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen