Sending Good Thoughts Your Way!

 Hello, friends!  I am back to share another card that I had the pleasure of creating with the gorgeous Brighter Days Ahead Stamp Set from Prickley Pear Stamps!

Similarly, to the last card that I created, I stamped the image at the base of a vertical panel and I colored the image in with Copic markers.  I used the same mask that I used on the last card and I covered the stamped and colored image so that I could ink blend a beautiful daytime sky with Distress Oxide inks. 

Once I was happy with the sky, I heat embossed the sentiment on a coral panel of card stock and backed it with yellow.  I layered my landscape on the same colors and adhered them to the card base.  Just before adding my sentiment panel to the card, I added a loopy nest of gold thread behind it with mini glue dots.  Lastly, I popped the sentiment panel up with foam dots.

I really love how easy it is to change the look of this stamp set just by changing the color palette.

I hope you love this card as much as I do!  Please make sure and head to the shop to check it out! 

Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with me today!

Xoxo, Kim

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Let's Sleep Under the Stars!

Happy Monday, friends!  I hope your week is off to a great start.  I am so excited to share a card that I made for the brand-new release from Keep It Simple Paper Crafts - Lumberjack!  I seriously keep thinking that they couldn't do better, but each release just blows my mind!  This one is my favorite without a doubt!

When I saw the tents in the Lumberjack Collection Die-Cut Pieces and the sentiment, I knew that I wanted to ink blend a night sky and create a scene.  I don't know about you, but I have always struggled with ink blending.  I have never been happy with my finished result.  I have tried tons of different bases, but still never loved the result.  A short time ago, I saw a random post on Facebook about using Bristol Smooth Cardstock and how amazing the result it, so I headed out to my local craft store and picked some up.  Truly a game changer!  

I started out with a base of Bristol Smooth and I lightly blended Black Soot Distress Oxide Ink over the entire panel.  Next, I blended a band of Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Ink through the middle of the panel in a wave shape and added some Fossilized Amber to the upper right corner.  I blended some Faded Jeans along the bottom, but I wasn't happy with the color, so I blended Chipped Sapphire over the top of that.  Lastly, I went over the upper left corner with more Black Soot to make it stand out. 

I spritzed the panel with water, let it sit for about a minute, and laid a tea towel over the panel, using very light pressure to lift the water.  I did this about four times from different angles, and the last time, I zapped it with my heat gun.  I pulled out my splatter box and splattered some watered down Stampin' Up White Shimmer Paint over the panel and set it aside to dry. 

I die-cut some grass strips from green paper and then I added some flicks with my Copic markers for added texture.  I also trimmed down some of the die-cut embellishments so that there wasn't quite as much white border.  I added some flicks using the same Copics to the base of the fox and rabbit.  

I layered the ink-blended panel over a holographic cardstock panel (I LOVE THAT CARDSTOCK) and adhered them both to a navy-blue card base.  I arranged my scene and then adhered the elements down to the ink-blended panel. Lastly, I embossed the sentiment from the Lumberjack Camping stamp set in silver on navy card stock, layered it on holographic cardstock, trimmed the ends and adhered to the card front, followed by a loopy bow of navy and silver thread. 

I hope that you love this card as much as I do!  Head over to Keep it Simple Paper Crafts and check out the new Lumberjack Collection!  I promise that you will fall in love with it!  The Design Team will be sharing projects all week long, and you won't want to miss a single one, so you can come join us in the Keep It Simple Paper - Inspiration Facebook Group to be sure to catch them all! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, Kim

 

Altenew Academy - Creative Coloring with Erum: Day 6

 Hello, crafty friends!  Happy Monday.  Today, I am sharing a card that I made for the day 6 lesson of Altenew Academy's Creative Coloring with Erum.  Better late, than never!  

This lesson was all about adding faux dimension to your image to create a one-layer card.  For those of you that don't know, watercoloring is my nemesis.  I try and fail repeatedly, but I am determined to learn. 

For this card, I stamped the outline image from Altenew's Fairy Tale Rose stamp set on my watercolor paper.  I used Versafine Black pigment ink so that the water would not cause it to smear.  

Once it was dry, I broke out my Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils for the first time to color my image.  Can I just say that these pencils are a dream?!  The pigments are so vibrant, and you only need to lay down the slightest amount of color.   For this project, I used Crimson, Heart Beat, and Fresh Lemon.  Working one petal at a time, I added just a small amount of pigment and then blended it out using a water brush.  I really struggle with controlling the amount of water, so I found that the water brush really helped. I squeezed a small amount of water out and tapped it off on the back of my hand and then painted over my petal.   Once, my petals were finished, I moved on to the leaves and stem, following the same process using Shadow Creek, Grass Fields, and Limeade.  Once my image was dry, I went back in and repeated the process where I thought more color was needed. 

When my panel was dry, I added a watercolor wash in Sea Glass to the background of the panel.  I was really nervous doing this, as I was afraid I would ruin my image, but it worked.  I chose to use the Aqua colors for my background, as blues are complimentary colors to the yellow.  This really allows the yellow shades to stand out.  Once that was dry, I masked my image and I laid down a stencil and using my ink-blending tool, I added Sea Glass and Ocean Waves inks over the stencil.  Once I was happy with the color that I laid down, I peeled off my stencil.  

Now for the REALLY scary part - adding the dimension to this panel that I worked so hard on using alcohol ink markers.  For this, I used two colors of gray - one light and one dark.  Starting with the lighter shade, I added tiny flicks of color around my image, heavier on the undersides of petals and leaves and in corners where a shadow would be.  Shadows and highlights are a real struggle for me - I never seem to know where to place them, so I fake it and stick to the general rule of under sides for shadows, and top sides for highlights. I worked in small areas and went back in and added the darker gray shade and then went back over it with the lighter shade to blend it together.  I ended up with a few shadows in the wrong places but, oh well!  

Once I was pleased with my shadows, I added some drops of water and set the panel aside to dry.  While I waited, I embossed my sentiment from the Altenew Storybook Sentiments stamp set on a strip of vellum.  Once the panel was dry, I placed the vellum where I wanted it, folded the ends over and adhered them to the back of the panel.   I then attached the panel to my card base.   Lastly, I added some clear sequins to the front of my card. 

I see all of my mistakes so clearly when I look at my card; however, I am very pleased with the result.  This card contains a lot of firsts for me - using the pencils, adding the watercolor background after creating the image, and stenciling over the image.   All of these were intimidating for me, but I am so glad that I powered through! 

Key Learnings:

• Use a very light hand to lay down the pigment with the watercolor pencils.  This will help avoid harsh lines or very vibrant colors (unless that is what you are trying to achieve).
• You can always add more color, but you can't take it away.

Products Used:

• 
  
• Recollectiond 110# Card Stock:  White
• Arches 300gsm/140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper
• Vellum
• Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils:  Crimson, Heart Beat, Fresh Lemon, Shadow Creek, Grass Fields, Limeade
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Sea Glass, Ocean Waves
• Altenew Fairy Tale Rose Stamp Set
• Altenew Storybook Sentiments Stamp Set
• Stampin' Up Basic Masks
• Gold Embossing Powder
• Versafine Ink Pad:  Black
• Stampin' Blends (Light and Dark):  Smoky Slate
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins
• Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool

Thank so much for stopping in!  Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts. 

Happy stamping! 

Altenew Academy - Creative Coloring with Erum: Day 4

 Happy Thursday!  I am so excited to share my latest card made for the Day 4 lesson if Creative Coloring with Erum. 

In this class, we focused on ink blending and the watercolor drip method.   I have always been in awe of Erum's watercolor backgrounds, so this class was perfect for me! 

I began by stamping my images and then because I didn't have coloring stencils for this stamp set, I actually used the masking stencils to add color to the images using my ink-blending tool.  I then fussy cut the images, as I did not have dies. 

To create my background, I added a watercolor wash to the top of my panel of watercolor paper.  I then allowed (in a controlled manner) the ink to drip down the bottom of my panel.  I then added some ink splatters using the darkest pink shade.  When my panel was dry, I added some gold ink splatters using the Altenew Metallic Watercolors and followed up with a black fine tipped pen to add some more "splatters". 

I adhered my floral images using foam tape and added some loops of gold thread behind my sentiment before attaching it. 

Lessons Learned:

I need to work on controlling my water, as that is a struggle for me.

Using ink blending to color my images was a very quick and easy technique to get beautiful results

Adding the gold splatters made all the difference to the background.  It was a bit bland, but when I added the splatters, it really popped. 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# White Card Stock
• Arches 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper
• Altenew Darling Rose Stamp Set
• Altenew Label Love Stamp Set
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink: Fresh Lemon, Pinkalicious, Rubelite
• Altenew Permanent Black Ink
• Altenew Metallic Watercolor Pan:  Enchanted Gold
• Altenew Metallic Thread:  Enchanted Gold
• Foam Tape
• Mini Ink- Blending Tool

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! 

Happy stamping! 

All About Layering 2 - AECP Level 1

Today, I am sharing my project for the All About Layering 2 course for Altenew Academy’s Altenew Educator Certification Program.  As with All About Layering 1, I really loved this course, as I have a lot of layering stamps and I am really trying to master the use of them.  Nicole continues to share some really helpful tips and tricks for using the layering stamps, along with some amazing inspiration.  For this project, I took my inspiration from the beautiful layers used in Debby’s card in Lesson 3.  

I find myself dreaming of spring on a daily basis, so I wanted to make a card using a color palette that reflected that. For my project, I used the beautiful Build-A-Flower: Cora Louise Peony stamps and dies along with the Golden Sunset and Green Fields color families. This set has quickly become one of my all-time favorites, as it is truly suitable for any occasion. 

I started by stamping the outline image in Snapdragob Crisp Dye Ink. I decided against using black for the outline image, as I wanted a soft, dreamy look.  I stamped the solid image in Sunny, the detail image in Chamomile, and the center image in Marigold.  I actually stamped several flowers at one time, as I wasn’t sure how I was going to use them, but I did know that I wanted to layer them on my card front somehow. 

Next, I stamped the outline of the leaves in Evergreen Crisp Dye Ink, followed by the solid image in Frayed Leaf, and the detailed image in Forest Glade. Again, I stamped multiples of the leaves since I didn’t know how many I would need.  I then die-cut the images using the coordinating dies and set them aside. 

On a piece of 4.25” x 5.5” Neenah White 80 # card stock, I added Sunny ink to the lower portion using my ink-blending tool.  Again, I wanted a soft look, so I tried to use a light hand, and added ink gradually.  I know that I could have used colored card-stock to achieve a similar effect, but I really feel like the ink blending adds more depth.  

I took another 4.25” x 5.5” panel of white card stock and used a beautiful border die to die-cut the lower portion of the panel.  I then added my die-cut flowers and leaves (I did not adhere them yet) until I was happy with the placement.   I then snapped a photo so that I could refer back to it when I was ready to adhere the flowers.  I added a very light layer of Sunny ink using my ink-blending tool to add a bit of depth to the main card panel.  I adhered the die-cut panel to my ink-blended panel, and then I adhered the leaves and flowers using Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue.  

I adhered some gold card stock to a Foam Adhesive Sheet and die-cut it using the “Thanks” sentiment from the Signature Words Die Set.  I cut a panel of vellum down to 1” x 4.25” and I adhered my sentiment  to the vellum.  I applied a very light layer of glue to the vellum where it would be covered by the sentiment and adhered it to my card panel. Lastly, I added some Gold Gilded Gems to add a bit more dimension.  I placed the two largest dots where they would also help hold the vellum in place.  Once finished, I adhered my card panel to my 4.25” x 11” card base.

I cannot even tell you how happy I am with this card.  The photos really don’t do it justice!

Key Learnings;

• Practice makes perfect!  Each time I use the layering stamps, I get faster and better at lining up the images
• When ink-blending, a light hand is key.  You can add more ink, but you can’t remove it.  

Products used in this card:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock - White
• Neenah 80# Card Stock - White
• Recollections Gold Shimmer Card Stock
• Vellum
• Altenew Build-A-Flower: Cora Louise Peony stamps and dies
• Altenew Signature Words Die Set
• Stampin’ Up Quite Curvy Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Sunny, Chamomile, Snapdragon, Marigold, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glade, Evergreen
• Tim Holts Mini Ink-Blending Tool
• Stampin’ Up Foam Adhesive Sheets
• Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue
• Stampin’ Up Gilded Gems

As always, thank you for stopping by.  I hope you found something to spark your creativity!  Please feel free to leave a comment!