Feel Good Cards, Just For Fun Cards

I Love You More Than Coffee

Sky

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Happy Monday!  Another Monday, another coffee-themed card.  🙂

Today’s card uses the Perfect Blend stamp set from Neat and Tangled.

I began by stamping the coffee cup and saucer image onto a piece of Neenah Solar White 80# Classic Crest cardstock in Copic-friendly Hero Arts Intense Black ink.  I did some quick coloring  using BV11 and BV for the cup, and C1 for the shading around the cup.  I also used a Copic Multiliner pen to fill in the saucer line which is actually two fine lines very close together but which I had trouble getting to stamp as two separate lines. I then stamped the brown coffee and hearts image in Hero Arts Cup O’ Joe ink and fussy cut around the saucer.

I took a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock and trimmed it with the largest die from the My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched Rectangles die set.  Using a foam blending tool, I blended a very soft cloud of Shaded Lilac Distress Ink around the center of the card.  It’s so soft that it was very hard to photograph!  To create a splatter effect over the purple halo I also sprinkled some water over the card, let it sit for a few seconds, and then dabbed it up with a paper towel.

Using a Misti stamping tool, I stamped the sentiment in Versafine Black Onyx ink, and then stamped the set of hearts in Altenew Lavender Fields ink.

Finally, I popped up the saucer and mug using foam tap and then adhered the card front to an A2-sized piece of Recollections gray kraft paper which I in turn adhered to an A2-sized card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Encouragement Cards

Have Courage

Sky

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Hi there!

Today’s card uses the Have Courage stamp set from Neat and Tangled.

I started by stamping the largest ginkgo leaf image onto a piece of A2-sized Canson XL watercolor paper, and the second largest image onto separate piece of watercolor paper, using Versafine Black Onyx ink.  I did some very basic watercoloring using Mission Mijello Gold watercolors (Yellow Ochre, Permanent Yellow Light, and Hooker’s Green), adding the yellows first, and then dropping in just a hint of green near the stems.  In fact, it was such a small amount that it’s hardly noticeable in the photos.  When the paint was dry, I cut out the smaller image using a Brother ScanNCut2 and set it aside.

I trimmed the card front using the largest die from the Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Rectangles stamp set and then treated the entire piece with an anti-static powder tool.  I stamped the sentiment in the same black ink and then poured Hero Arts clear embossing over the top of the sentiment and heat it with a heat gun.  I really like using this clear embossing powder over black ink as it gives a less shiny finish and is not as messy as black embossing powder.

I popped up the smaller set of leaves with foam tape and then adhered the card front to an A2-sized piece of Recollections kraft cardstock.  Then I adhered the whole thing to an A2-sized card base to finish of today’s card.

Thanks for visiting!

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Encouragement Cards, Feel Good Cards

Don’t Give Up

Sky

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Hi there!

Today’s card uses a few products from Simon Says Stamp as well as a few colors of Nuvo Shimmer Powder.  I’m really in love with these powders and am having a great time playing with them!

I started by stamping the Center Cut Heart background stamp using VersaMark ink onto a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper.  I poured Hero Arts white embossing powder over top, tapped off the excess, and hit it with my heat gun.

I then used painter’s tape to tape down the background to a flat surface.  Using a flat paintbrush, I added clean clear water all over the card, getting it quite wet.  I also had a mister on hand, ready to add more water as needed.

I gently tapped some Cherry Bomb powder into the heart area, and then added a bit of Catherine Wheel powder around that.  Then I added Solar Flare powder to the corners.  Using a small round 4 paint brush, I gently moved the colors around to overlap them slightly and too make sure that the entire panel was covered.  The Catherine Wheel color has a mix of colors in it, so it provided a nice transition between Cherry Bomb and Solar Flare.  I misted a bit of water onto the panel when I wanted to lighten the color, or to move the colors around.

I also splattered a bit of Gansai Tambi Yellow Gold watercolor onto the panel while it was still very wet.  The gold bloomed into the rest of the inky water and adds additional shine.

While the background was drying, I heat embossed the sentiment, from the You Got This stamp set, on a piece of yellow-orange Recollections cardstock.

I trimmed the background to 4″x5.25″ and adhered it to an A2-sized card base.  Then I used foam tape to adhere the sentiment and that finished up today’s card.

Thanks for swinging by!

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Feel Good Cards, Just For Fun Cards

So Good To See You

Sky

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Happy Friday!

Today’s card uses the small Good to See You stamp set from Neat and Tangled. I had a vision for how I’d use this set but I ended up with something completely different.  I hate to give up on a card!

I started by trimming a piece of Neenah Solar White #80 Classic Crest cardstock with the largest die from the Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Rectangles die set.  Then I stamped the flower image twice, at 2 o’clock and 8 o’clock, using Copic-friendly Hero Arts Intense Black ink.  I used a Misti Stamping tool to do this, rotating the card 180 degrees so that I didn’t have to re-position the stamp.  I also stamped the image twice more onto scrap pieces of the same cardstock.

I did some very quick and simple Copic coloring using RV17 and RV69 for the flowers, and YG17 and YG23 for the leaves.  I filled in the very small circles around the flowers using RV11.  I cut out the two flower bunches that were stamped on scrap cardstock using a Brother ScanNCut2 and set them aside.

I heat embossed the sentiment using VersaMark ink and Ranger Liquid Platinum.  Then I adhered the cut leaves using foam tape for some added dimension.

Last, I adhered the card front to an A2-sized piece of Recollections kraft cardstock, and in turn adhered that to an A2-sized card base, and that finished up today’s card.

Thanks for coming by and I hope you have a great start to your weekend!

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Feel Good Cards, Love Cards

Miss You

Sky

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Hi there, I hope your week is going well!

Today’s card features the Center Cut Kaleidoscope background stamp and the Miss You die, both from Simon Says Stamp.  I also used, for the first time, Nuvo Shimmer Powder which has completely enchanted me!

To start, I stamped the background stamp in VersaMark ink onto a just-larger-than A2-sized piece of Canson XL watercolor paper.  I poured Hero Arts white embossing over top and hit it with a heat tool.

I taped the background down to a flat surface using painter’s tape and then liberally spritzed it with clean clear water.  I used a flat wash brush to spread the water evenly and then started tapping Nuvo Shimmer Powder over it.  The color I used is Atlantis Burst which has several shades of green and aquas as well as a beautiful blue-green shimmer.  When adding the shimmer powder, a little goes a very long way and you truly just want to barely tap the side of the bottle to get a little puff of powder to fall onto your paper.  Once the powder hits the wet paper, the color starts moving.  When it stalled, I helped it along by adding additional spritzes of water and, occasionally, used a Pentel Aquash water brush for more targeted adjustments.  My goal was complete coverage, but I wanted to maintain some variation so I tapped more powder in several areas to intensify the color.

I set the panel aside to dry for a few minutes before I got impatient and helped it along with a heat gun.  When it was dry, I used a very slightly damp paper towel to gently buff the heat embossing to restore it to white since some of the color from the powder had settled on top.  Then, to flatten the panel which had warped a bit, I sandwiched it between two pieces of copy paper and ran it through my Big Shot machine.

I die cut the sentiment from a piece of scrap Recollections 110# cardstock.  Before I separated the sentiment from the negative cut, I colored it using a Copic marker (BG49).  I find it easier to color sentiment die cuts when they’re still sitting in their negative cut.  I used even strokes to go over the entire sentiment area, as if I was just coloring a rectangle, which results in a more even layer of color than if I were to follow along the lines of the sentiment.

I also die cut a stitched circle, out of the same white paper, using the fourth largest die from the My Favorite Things Inside and Out Stitched Circle die set.  Then I adhered the sentiment.

To finish up, I trimmed the background to 4″ by 5.25″ and adhered it to an A2-sized card base.  Then I adhered the stitched circle with sentiment to the center and that completed today’s card.

Thanks for visiting and happy crafting!

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Birthday Cards

Wishing You A Happy Birthday And Many More To Come

Sky

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Hi there, I hope you’re having a great week!

Sometimes, when my mojo is lacking and I just want to play with color, I fall back on a big sentiment that can stand on its own.  Today’s card uses the Wishing You stamp set from Mama Elephant which has a beautiful scripty sentiment and a number of supporting smaller sentiment stamps.

I started by trimming an A2-sized piece of Canson XL watercolor paper using the largest die from the Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Rectangle die set.  Then I stamped the sentiments using VersaMark ink and heat embossed them using Hero Arts white embossing powder.

I used a foam blending tool to blend three colors of Distress Inks at a diagonal, blending the colors into each other.  The colors are Ripe Persimmon, Carved Pumpkin, and Squeezed Lemonade.  I used a very slightly damp paper towel to wipe away any ink that was sitting over the embossing, to restore its bright white.  Then, I flicked clean clear water onto the panel and let it sit for about 10 seconds before dabbing it up with a paper towel.

Finally, I adhered the card front to an A2-sized card base and that finished up today’s quick and easy card.

Thanks for coming by!

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Thank You Cards

Thanks

Sky

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Hi there!

Today’s card uses the Center Cut Flowers background stamp from Simon Says stamp, as well as the Big Thanks dies from Honey Bee Stamps.

I started by stamping the background stamp in VersaMark ink onto an A2-sized piece of Stratchmore Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I poured Hero Arts white embossing powder over the top, tapped off the excess, and hit it with my heat gun.

Then I began coloring the flowers and the leaves.  I used three water-based Tombow Dual Brush Pens: Deep Magenta (685) for the flower petals, Light Orange (025) for the centers of the flowers and the small circles, and Light Olive Green (126) for the leaves.  I added bits of color to the areas of the images that I wanted to be darker, and then used a Pentel Aquash brush to pull the color to fill in the rest of the image, much like watercolor.

For the sentiment, I die cut the word from a piece of yellowish-orange Recollections cardstock, and the shadow from a pieces of scrap white cardstock.  I adhered the two together using a Zig 2-way Glue pen.  I’m finding the Zig glue pens to be very useful when I need to add liquid adhesive to an intricate die cut.

To finish, I adhered the card front to an A2-sized card base, and then adhered the sentiment.

Thank you for coming by!

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