SkyPaperScissors

Thank You For Helping Me Grow

March 29, 2018June 23, 2018 SkyPaperScissors

I just love the look of watercolor, don’t you? I love the soft and loose feeling of it, but I have a really hard time achieving that look. I’m a complete amateur when it comes to watercolor. So, I like big stamps which are easy to loosely paint, like this bunch of flowers from the Fleur 1 stamp set by Pinkfresh Studio.

I started by stamping the floral image with Versafine Black Onyx ink onto Canson XL watercolor paper. Versafine is watercolor-friendly, so I knew the ink wouldn’t bleed when I added water. I also added a sentiment from Hero Arts.

Then I taped down the panel to a board with painter’s tape, to prevent it from warping as I painted. Using a few colors from a small set of Windsor & Newton Cotman pan watercolors, I very loosely painted the flowers and leaves, intentionally going outside of the lines. If you’re like me, ignoring the lines is not easy! I used Alizarin Red and Purple Lake for the flowers, and Sap Green for the leaves, applying the wet watercolor directly to the dry watercolor paper. Once those were dry, I wet down the area around and among the florals and dropped in a bit of watered-down Cerulean Blue.

Once everything was dry, I removed the painter’s tape and cut down the panel using a Stitched Rectangle die from My Favorite Things. Finally, I glued the card front onto an A-2 sized card base.

The closeup photo shows just how messy it is, but I’m happy with it.

Thanks for visiting!

Encouragement Cards, Just Because Cards

Make Waves

March 28, 2018March 28, 2018 SkyPaperScissors

Happy Wednesday, we’re halfway to the weekend!

I finally had a chance to play with the beautiful Mermaid’s tail set from Ellen Hutson. I combined the tail and the sentiment from the set with die cuts from Hero Arts’ Coral Fancy die set.

I started by die cutting all of the seaweed and coral pieces out of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock. I pieced the die cuts back into their negative spaces which helped hold them in place while I blended Ranger Distress Oxide inks on them. For the seaweed I blended Peacock Feathers with Lucky Clover. For the orange coral I blended Carved Pumpkin with Spiced Marmalade, and for the light coral I blended Antique Linen with Tattered Rose.

For the mermaid’s tail, I inked up parts of the stamp with Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide, and others with Lucky Clover Distress Oxides so there would be some color variation. Because these inks stay wet longer than dye inks, I was able to sprinkle the image with clear Hero Arts embossing powder and heat emboss it to add a bit of shine before I die cut it.

For the background I used Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper. This paper is the key for me when blending regular Distress Inks. I have never been able to get a smooth and soft blend on Neenah Solar White. Bristol Smooth paper has a coating which keeps the ink from setting as quickly so there’s time to move it around. No more harsh lines!

I blended a very little bit of Peacock Features and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink (not Distress Oxide) onto the card front and then sprinkled drops of clean clear water over it. I let the water sit for about five seconds before dabbing it off with a paper towel and then trimmed the finished card front to just smaller than an A2-sized card.

Then it came time to assemble the card. I created a composition that I liked and adhered everything, except the tail, with Ranger Multi Medium Matte glue. Since some of the pieces were layered on top of each other, I used an acrylic block to hold everything down while the glue dried.

For the tail, I used glue underneath the wider part of the tail, but towards the tip I added some foam tape for dimension. I let part of the seaweed and mermaid’s tail hang off the top of the card, and I trimmed off some excess seaweed and coral from the bottom of the card.

To finish, I stamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black ink and then adhered the finished card front to an A2-sized card base with foam tape, for additional dimension.

Thanks for visiting!

Animal Cards, Thank You Cards

So Very Grateful… Hummingbirds!

March 27, 2018June 23, 2018 SkyPaperScissors

On Sunday I finally made time to swatch out the Peerless Watercolors that I’ve collected. I have two sets now, the “Complete Edition” which has 15 colors, and the “Bonus Pack” which has 40 additional colors. I swatched them onto 2-inch squares of watercolor paper so that I could keep them in coin pages, as suggested by Jennifer McGuire here.

With that done, I got down to making this card. I started by heat embossing the My Favorite Things Etched Flowers background onto Canson XL watercolor paper using VersaMark ink and Hero Arts white embossing powder. I used painter’s tape to tape the embossed card front down to my work surface. Using a flat brush, I wet down the surface with clean clear water and then painted the flowers and sky with Peerless Watercolors.

I did the same with the hummingbirds from the Pretty Pink Posh Hummingbird Thanks stamp set, heat embossing and then watercoloring them with the same supplies. To finish the hummingbirds, I used a black Sakura Glaze Gel Pen to add som”e color and dimension to the birds’ eyes and beaks.

The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp’s Stained Glass Love stamp set. The complete sentiment reads “so very thankful you are my” but I masked off the “you are my” so I could have this standalone sentiment. I stamped it using Versafine Black Onyx ink.

To finish, I trimmed the card front to just smaller than an A2 size, popped up and adhered the hummingbirds and sentiment using foam tape, and glued the card front to an A2-sized card base.

Thanks for reading, I hope you have a great day!

Animal Cards, Just Because Cards

Monday… It’s Gonna Be Okay

March 26, 2018June 23, 2018 SkyPaperScissors

I’ll just say it… I hate Mondays. Unless of course, I have the day off which today, I don’t. So in an hour, I’ll be sipping coffee and getting ready for the first of many meetings and wishing that my project at work could be finished as quickly as I can finish a card.

I’ve had my eye on the Blah Bunny and Blah Blah Blah stamp sets from Honey Bee Stamps every since I saw my first Amy Rysavy YouTube video which happened to feature these sets. Check out her post here.

I went a little out of my comfort zone by choosing purple and green for the background. I also get nervous about blending Distress inks because they’re not as forgiving as Distress Oxide inks, so I pulled out some Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper and found that blending regular Distress inks on it is a breeze. If you have trouble blending on other paper, even Neenah Solar White, give Bristol smooth paper a try.

After I laid down a light layer of color, I sprinkled some small drops of clean clear water over the card front, let it sit for about 10 seconds, and then dabbed it off with a paper towel for a splatter effect. Then I used a Wonky Stitched Rectangle die from My Favorite Things to finish off the background.

I stamped the bunny and her accessories using Hero Arts Intense Black ink which is Copic-friendly. I don’t have very many Copics so I did very basic blending, and skipped blending all together on the blanket layers, though I did try to add a bit of shadow under the bunny.

Finally, I glued all of the die cuts together and then glued the entire piece to the background. Then I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink. To finish, I adhered the card front to an A2-sized card base.

I hope you have a great start to the week!

Apology Cards, Sympathy Cards

I Am So Very Sorry

March 25, 2018July 16, 2020 SkyPaperScissors

I am in love with this Emma background stamp from Simon Says Stamp! It’s beautifully intricate but the way the pattern loosens at the edges is what I think sets this stamp apart from similar backgrounds.

I stamped the background onto Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock using VersaMark ink. I then poured Hero Arts white embossing powder over it, tapped off the excess, and hit it with a heat gun.

In contrast to the bright colors I used two days ago, I wanted to use some pretty blues and purples. I blended three colors of Distress Oxide inks (Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, and Faded Jeans), radiating out from the center of the pattern. I love that Distress Oxides allow you to quickly apply a rich layer of color. And, they’re so easy to blend!

With the background complete, I moved on to this beautiful sentiment from Neat & Tangled’s No Words stamp set. I trimmed a piece of vellum to be just wider than the card front and then stamped the sentiment in Versafine Black Onyx ink. Since ink won’t dry on vellum, I poured Hero Arts clear embossing powder over the ink and then heat embossed it. This seals in the ink and gives a bit of a dimension. Another option would have been to use VersaMark ink and black embossing powder, but I find the combination of black ink and clear powder to give more subtle and less shiny dimension. Since this is a condolence or apology card, I didn’t want too much shine.

I finished by laying the vellum strip over the card front and folding the ends of the strip over the back where I adhered them with a bit of tape runner adhesive. Then I glued the entire card front to an A2-sized card base.

The next time I use this background for heat embossing, I’ll be sure to use my anti-static pouch to prevent embossing powder from sticking to where it shouldn’t. But in my mind, handmade beats perfection.