A friend like you

 I made this card quite a while ago when I was on my Round Repeats kick! I used it on a few projects recently that you can see HERE and HERE (scroll down to see the project that uses it). I don't know why I find it so gratifying, but it really is fun to play with. I did make a few backgrounds last week that made it into the circular file, but the process WAS enjoyable, just not the result! LOL! The possibilities are endless with all of the little details that are included in the set. 

 I decided on something clean and simple and use them horizontally rather than circles. I really like how the simple gold embossed knots look in the center. I chose a bright, summery color combination. It reminds me of Tropical Starbursts. he he. 

 The sentiment is gold embossed as well and has been a fast favorite since its release. It is from the set called Simple Sentiments: Friendship. 

Clean and simple, but with a few extra subtle details that make it feel special. This design would be nice to make a set of coordinated cards for a gift! Thanks for fluttering by!
P.S. I will be sharing a new design for The Challenge tomorrow so stay tuned!

Wish you the most beautiful day!

 Hello! I hope you all are having the most beautiful day! I had some time to kill the other day while I was waiting for my daughter's dance class to end so I decided to try my hand at the "no line watercoloring" technique. I have been playing around with the Beautiful Day stamp set in the last few days. I experimented with some Copic markers on a card which I will be sharing soon. The first time I used the set I opted to use the solid images which you can see HERE. I just love the versatility that you can achieve with each of the different types of images. I love it when I can stretch a stamp set!

 Because I was just experimenting, I did some simple stamping with a reliable layout. I was really just hoping to get something that I could make into a card if it turned out.

You can see some of the shading that I did here in this photo. I haven't done a lot of researching on the subject, but I think that most people just use one shade of color and blend it out. I decided to make things difficult and use three. I will try only using one next time. 

To begin, I taped my watercolor paper onto my grid paper and stamped the images using Vintage Photo Distress ink. I did some masking so that I could have a nice end result...if I made it that far. (wink) I chose two different aqua painter pens; a fine tip and a regular tip and in the end, I ONLY used the fine tip. I liked the control I had while working!

 You can see my process here. It really is so fun and relaxing to sit and work on a project like this. Four flowers was a lot of work, especially for my first time and I did find myself getting lazy toward the end. Shame on me! I actually like the way this looks over my finished card, so I am thinking that less is more in this case. I can't wait to try it again!

 Once I was finished with the flowers, I moved on to the leaves opting for three colors for these as well. The shading on them really does create some movement where their outline images gives none. That is really when you see the magic...once they start to come alive as the water and paint hit the image.

 At this point, I was just so happy that it actually worked, so I chose to add a simple strip of vellum with the sentiment stamped in black. I also added a few sequins as well as some Morning Dew Nuvo drops here and there on the flowers as well as the leaves. I made them small and realistic looking. I added some to the card I made using Copic markers and I made them bigger and more of an embellishment rather than a realistic looking dew drop. Like I mentioned, this was fun and I can't wait to try this more often so that I can get better and better. Thanks for fluttering by!

Just keep swimming!

 I might be *slightly* addicted to this Mermaid's Tail stamp set, but...I made this card for my daughter's Hope Squad group at school. so it's going to a good cause. I just love all of the cute, fun and silly sentiments that are included in the set. Once again, I was dreaming up this card while floating on a tube down the lazy river with my 3 year old on my lap as we soaked up the sun! The best part is when he falls asleep on me, even when we get splashed, and he just snoozes away! 

 It's no secret how much I LOVE my Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi Pearl watercolors! They have brought me so much joy! LOL! They really are so much fun to work with and provide amazing results. To begin, I diecut the mermaid's tail using the designer dies out of 140 lb watercolor paper and painted the entire piece with the blue pearl watercolor. I also embossed just the very end of the flipper using silver embossing powder because I knew the rest of the tail would be covered up with all of the fabulous seashells. 

 I created a beautiful panel of watercolor so that I could die cut the seashells. I didn't want all of the seashells to just be one color, so I made a point to overlap the dies onto two conjoining colors as I ran them through my Cuttlebug. I had a lot of fun adhering them to the watercolored tail diecut. After they were all on, I added some Rainbow Sparkle Jewels here and there as I have done in previous projects which you can see HERE, HERE and HERE. They are so fun to add to my projects!!!! I also added a little bit of glossy accents to a few of the shells as well. I didn't want to overwhelm the piece, but just give it some fun details. Since it is the main focus of the card, it does have more gems and embellishments than I would if it were mixed with other images.

I created a fun background that reminds me so much of bubbles. I have used this particular Cuttlebug embossing folder for so many projects, mostly sports related. I actually experimented a few days ago with dry embossing acetate. I kept the panel that I am hoping to incorporate into a design, but for today, I did the dry embossing with vellum! Absolutely delightful!

 I really liked how it looked over the top of the Aqua Mist card stock but knew that I could create even more dimension with some ink. I sponged some Broken China Distress Oxide Ink onto the BACK of the vellum piece. The result is fabulous! I think I will be revisiting this idea in the future. I was hesitant to have the oxide ink on the front of the vellum, but I will experiment and see if it dries well. I turned it over and adhered it to the base I created using the Aqua Mist card stock. 

 You can see the depth that it gives that panel! So beautiful!I used Scor Tape along the edges, which is a fabulous adhesive to adhere vellum. I attached it slightly crooked and was pleased to see that I was able to lift it and reposition it, which came in handy later, too!

 I hadn't given enough thought to the sentiment before I added the vellum piece to the card front, but I was happy that the vellum was easily lifted so that I could adhere the sentiment. I chose to stamp the sentiment onto a strip of acetate using black StazOn ink. I wanted it to have a floating quality and not have any bulky sentiment strips! I just love how it turned out. 

I added a few more rainbow sparkle jewels, some Morning Dew Nuvo Drops, and a few Sparkling clear sequins here and there! I was pleased with the simplicity but awesome sparkle! 

I couldn't ignore the inside and I just HAD to add a shrinky dink sentiment. I thought the "Seas the Day" sentiment coordinated nicely with the sentiment on the front. It warped a little bit but I liked the wavy look that it added to the card. I may have gone a *little* wild with the embellishments on the inside, but these are for Jr. High kids so I am sure it will be fine! (wink) Thanks for fluttering by!

ALOHA!

 We've been spending A LOT of time at the water park! It's the only way to enjoy these scorching hot days and still be outside enjoying Summer! As we have been having fun, I have been equally inspired while we are there! Let's just say there is a sea of inspiration (pun totally intended! ha ha) While we were there the other day, there was a mom sitting on the side of the kiddie area where I was sitting watching my 3 year old. She had on a darling hat with pineapples across the front that said "Aloha". I wanted to make a card just like it! I sat and tried to discreetly look at the color pattern...I'm sure she thought I was a total creeper! After all that inspiration stalking, I couldn't remember the last color when I went to make the card! I actually didn't make the colors exactly the same anyway...I like my combination better. 

 To begin, I stamped out each of the different pineapple colors using the Some Like It Hot stamp set and then used the coordinating dies to cut them out. I spritzed each one with Shimmer Spray and let them dry. After that was done, I worked on die cutting the letters to spell A L O H A. I used a SUPER old Cuttlebug letter die cut collection called "Olivia". I think I have used it once, so I was happy to use it again and I think I'll use them again in the near future. 

 Each letter is stacked three times and glued together and then adhered to the stamped pineapple diecut. I also added a little bit of Wink of Stella to the tops of all of the letters for some added shine. You can see them all stacked here and a little bit of the sparkle on the pineapples and letters. 

 I adhered all of the pineapples onto a panel of Stamper's Select Cardstock that is cut to fit onto the navy card base. The card was specifically sized to fit into the handmade envelope that I made using some old Martha by Mail templates. These are the same envelopes that I used for THIS project. I used to create my own envelopes on a regular basis, but somehow fell out of the habit. It probably had something to do with crotchety old mail people and their lack of imagination and love for snail mail (which is completely ironic), but I don't want to get into that now! LOL! 

The envelope and liner were both traced onto coordinating pattern paper and then cut, folded and then adhered together. 

I couldn't resist adding just a few limited edition mermaid mix sequins to the front of the card as well. Thanks for fluttering by!

Let's be Mermaids!!!

 How fabulous is this new Mermaid's Tail stamp set?!?! I am completely IN LOVE! I have been absolutely enjoying making bright, fun, and summery cards! As soon as the mailman rang my doorbell with my package from Ellen Hutson I had to play... immediately! Like it says; I'm done adulting...especially with new stamps to play with! ha ha! I shared a sneak peek of this card on Instagram yesterday and I mentioned that it was proving difficult to photograph.

I FINALLY ended up with the best pictures I could get around 6:40 in the evening, which seemed late to get the best light, but it was the best I had all day. I have taken a boat load of pictures of this card!

 To begin, I stamped the mermaid's tail in Versamark ink onto Hawaiian Shores cardstock and heat embossed it using gold powder. After that was done, I used the coordinating designer dies to cut it out. I set that aside so that I could work on a few more elements that I had in mind for this design. I realized after I placed my order, that the stamp set didn't come with any aquatic sea plant images. I don't have anything that would work very well either. I decided to create my own seaweed-esque plants myself. 

 I used a piece of 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper and painted both sides of it green using the fabulous (and addicting) Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi pearl watercolors. I painted enough of the paper so that I could cut strips in varying sizes to create the seaweed. I twisted the strips while the paper was still wet from the watercolors so that I could manipulate it into the desired shape. Once they were the right size, I snipped the tips at a sharp angle to make them look a little more realistic.

 I set those aside to dry and got to work on the background. I had watched a video on Jennifer McGuire's blog on water stamping with distress oxide inks and since I just got some, I was dying to try. I used the Glorious Petals stencil from Hero Arts for the actual "water stenciling". I made a card a few days ago using the same technique and the image came out much crisper. I actually didn't mind in this particular case because I didn't want it to compete with the fabulous design on the Mermaid's tail. After that had dried a bit, I added a spritz of shimmer spray like Jennifer had done in her video. The result is spectacular!

 I ended up adding a few more colors of pearl watercolors to the piece of watercolor paper I had been using for the seaweed. I used the seashell die cuts to make an assortment of shells. Because they had the pearl shine, I decided to add some Glossy Accents like I did on THIS card because I liked the effect so well. Once all of my bits and bobs had been created, it was time for the fun part; assembling it all.

 Originally, I had planned on having the mermaid's tail splashing off of the card horizontally, so I heat embossed the sentiment accordingly. I then changed my mind and decided I liked it vertically; as though the mermaid was taking a dive into that glorious ocean. I really liked how the rainbow background ended up looking like a sunset with a deep ocean underneath. I love surprises like that! So...the sentiment is a little off, but I like it anyway!

 I used Tombow Mono Multi to glue the paper seaweed down as well as a few mini glue dots as it would allow. I used a few heavy things around my desk to place on the seaweed so that the glue would dry without is springing back off of the card. The funnest part was adding in all of the seashells, sequins and dew drops. I just HAD to get the mermaid mix sequins! They are INCREDIBLE and they are limited edition, so grab 'em while you can! I also added a light layer of wink of stella to the tail as well! I "may" have been singing "I'm so shiny" from Moana while I was putting this all together! LOL!

To finish it off, I just COULD NOT resist making a little shrinky dink tail! Can you blame me? I mean, look at this cute little thing! LOL! I stamped it in black Palette ink onto the shrinky dink sheet, colored it in a rainbow pattern using Copic markers and then let the heat tool work it's magic! I glued it to the inside of the card with the "just keep swimming" sentiment as well as a few sequins (of course). I also gave the inside a generous spritz of shimmer spray as well. (that's why it appears like the sentiment is grainy, but it's not) I created this card for a friend who has had a particularly bad week and I am certain this will cheer her up! That's what I love about this crazy business!!! Thanks for fluttering by!

The Challenge #91 Sending you Sunshine!

I am so excited to finally jump on the Oxide ink bandwagon and get inky! Today's new sketch for The Challenge made it possible for me to show off a fabulous oxidized background! I love the result! I can see why these inks are so addictive! I only bought a handful of colors because my birthday is in a few weeks and I wanted to give people ideas of what to get me! Ha ha! Today's design was made using this week's challenge for The Challenge. You can check it out HERE. You can also see the other designers below.                                  
     

Anita Madden

Claire Broadwater

Kim Heggins

Lee Ann Barret

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger

I started my design by cutting a 4 by 5 1/4 inch piece of Stamper's Select White cardstock. I used two colors of oxide inks to blend onto the paper; Spiced Marmalade and Fossilized Amber. After I had it blended like I wanted, I stamped a few of the images from the Hello Sunshine onto the background using a combination of water and more ink for a nice layered effect. I also spritzed the entire piece with some water for extra oxidization.

The sunshine sentiment is die cut 4 times out of black cardstock using the Sunshine die and then glued together. Once that was done, I set it aside to dry while I worked on the rest of the card. I cut a piece of white cardstock that would fit the beginning of the sentiment as well as the die cut sunshine portion. I stamped "sending you" in Palette Black ink. The white piece was adhered to a strip of yellow and vellum cardstock for some added interest and to fit the parameters of the sketch. I used my Wink of Stella pen to add sparkle and I also added some Glossy Accents over the entire "sunshine" piece for a fabulous shine! It looks so amazing on the card. I realized mid way through my die cutting that I had forgotten to save the dot for the "i" so I used a drop of ebony black Nuvo drops which was the perfect touch to fix my mistake. It added just the right amount of dimension and shine. I added the entire focal piece to an A2 black card base.

The finishing touches include the two "hello" and "hiya" sentiments stamped and heat embossed added to the card. I usually like to do something clever or unexpected when there is a little detail like this on a sketch challenge. While it isn't super clever, it does add an extra element of whimsy. I also spritzed the sentiment panel with a few markers for some "scattered sunshine" if you will! Ha Ha! A trio of gold sequins finish the design! Thanks for fluttering by!

Treats for someone Sweet!

 How many of you knew this was coming? LOL! So far I've made carrots, strawberries and now watermelon wedges! I knew when I saw the carrot treat box die that I would definitely get my money's worth because the creative possibilities are endless! I experimented with different techniques to achieve the look of an actual watermelon, but ultimately decided on this. I woke up this morning and noticed that the new Color Throwdown Challenge was up and so I quickly finished my project so that I could play! How fitting is this photo??? LOL!

 I was only planning on one, but then when I imagined how cute a half circle of melon would be, I got to work and made 2 more. I actually have 3 people who I wanted to give a little treat to anyway, so I'm excited to have this project done!

 As I was digging through my stash of stamps to find the perfect sentiment, I was thrilled to find that the So Sweet stamp set that was released at the same time as the carrot treat box die, had some fabulous sentiments that work year round! They also coordinate perfectly to fit inside the included tag dies as well. I die cut my tags out of true black cardstock and then heat embossed the sentiment using pink embossing powder. My daughter was looking through my stash the other day and mentioned that I never use pink...she was thrilled that I used it here!

 To begin, I die cut 6 of the carrot treat box die because you use two pieces per box. I added some 1/8 inch scor tape to the tabs to connect the pieces together and then got started with my sponging. 

 I used Fired Brick at the point and then blended in some Worn Lipstick as I worked my way up the box. I ended so that I could leave enough white space like a real watermelon has. I then blended in the cracked pistachio at the top. I expermented with a few water splashing techniques but decided that I liked just spritzing the water directly onto the paper using my spray bottle. 

 I was so excited to make the watermelon seeds! I knew that I could make some very realistic looking seeds by using some Ebony Black Nuvo Drops. I had done some direct to paper seeds on an earlier attempt and realized that they are just too tempermental to risk on something that takes a lot of time. I decided to just make them on some plastic so that I could create them just as I wanted. I ended up making a whole army of seeds! LOL! I needed 12 for each box so I ended up making A LOT because they didn't all end up looking like seeds. 

 I adhered the seeds before I assembled the boxes so that they could dry flat. I used Tombow Mono Multi Glue because it dries clear. That is always a plus! 

I picked up some boxes of Sour Patch watermelon candy at the dollar store which worked out great because they are packaged in a cello bag inside the box. I simply took them out of the box, folded them in half and then stuffed them inside. They barely fit! Whew! I added the gingham ribbon and tag to finish them off! I had so much fun putting these together! Thanks for fluttering by!