Simplicity

I am so blessed to have local stamping friends as well as my blog friends.

Several of us went to a recent stamp show and we've had a good time sharing our purchases.

This gorgeous conch shell stamp is one that my friend Jan bought.

I didn't even see this stamp at the show.

I'm glad she did!

I inked it with Sahara Sand and stamped on mixed media paper.

I added a bit of Blushing Bride with an Aqua Painter and

some bits of Crumb Cake reinker that had been diluted in my palette.

I loved the results and thought this wonderful sentiment suited the image.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is

ANYTHING GOES

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Conch Shell (Technique Junkies), Treasure the Moment (Hero Arts)

Ink:  Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride, Chocolate Chip (SU)

Paper:  Sahara Sand (SU), Mixed  Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Aqua Painter, Crumb Cake Reinker (SU)

Bells and Boughs for Rudolph Days

Rudolph Days runs from the 25th of each month until the end.
Thanks Maureen for hosting this challenge to help us
get those Christmas cards done on time!
The Design Team has some very lovely inspiration pieces.
Hope you'll check it out.

The Merry Monday team is taking a summer break,
but Lori has opened up a linky so we can keep the
momentum going on our Christmas cards.  You can post any Christmas card
using a previous challenge.  Challenge 193 was bells.  I had made 2 cards and used
this one for the Design Team and saved today's card for later.

Christmas Card Challenges is running 2 weeks this time.

Addicted to Stamps this week is ANYTHING GOES.


The bells were stamped twice with one cut out and placed on top with dimensionals.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs (retired SU)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Whisper White, Real Red, Gold Foil (SU)

Other:  Copic Markers, Blendabilities (retired SU), Clear Wink of Stella, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch (both retired SU), Holiday Words Script Die (Tim Holtz), Kars Snowflake EF (retired Cuttlebug)

Flourishes

I've really been enjoying this Flourish Thinlits Die Set.

I pulled it out to use on some pieces left over from this card we recently did in class.

Both of these cards used Distress Markers.

For coloring the die cut flower on the first card, I swiped markers on 
a laminated sheet and picked up the ink with a Blender Pen.

The stamp for the class card was inked with the same SU Markers.

The little butterflies were die cut from some Inka Gold smoosh.

Since my die cuts and butterflies were cut from snippets, I can skip over to 
Pixies Snippet Playground
It's such a fun place to play and thank you Di for the wonderful plug for our 
CAS Mix Up challenge.

The Simon Says Monday Challenge is
ADD SOME TEXTURE
I've got texture with the dry embossing and die cuts.
I hope that's textured enough.

 

   

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Enjoy (PB)

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz (SU), SU Markers (Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Gathered Twigs)

Paper:  Heavy Weight Whisper White (SU), Daffodil Delight (SU)

Other:  Flourish Thinlits (SU), Stitched Mats Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Flights of Fancy Die (Penny Black), Lattice EF (Darice), Inka Gold (Steel Blue, Platinum), 

More and More Markers

A couple of weeks ago I went to a local stamp show with my friend Ruthann.

We found some really nice stamp sets at the Inky Antics booth.

Ruthann bought this one and when she came to visit the other day, she brought it to share with me.  She even left it so I could play some more.

For the first card, I inked the stamp with Distress Markers and stamped onto 

Mixed Media paper.  I used darker markers to add some shading and 

a Water Brush to smooth out the colors a bit.  Some spatters and dots 

with a white gel pen finished the design.

(Mixed Media used: Stamping, Watercoloring with markers, 

Dry Embossing with die, Splatter and Gel Pen.)

This time I used VersaMark ink to stamp the flower and heat embossed

with white embossing powder.  It wasn't the best technique for

this stamp.  I used Copic Markers to add color.

I spread the sentiment out by placing it in the MISTI and inking 

each section separately with a Distress Marker.

After stamping each section I cleaned the stamp really good and

made sure it was completely dry before moving to the next.

Usually I'm too impatient and ruin the whole thing.

(Mixed media used: Stamping, Heat Embossing, Copic Markers, Die Cut)

This time I decided to give my NBUS Distress Crayons a try.
I colored the stamp with yellow and green and used the water brush
to soften the color a bit before I stamped.  I liked that it left a richer
imprint to the flower.  I added some shading with Distress Markers.
(Mixed media used: Stamping, Watercolor Crayons, Distress Markers, Dry Embossing.)

I think I like the last one the best.

The challenge at CAS Mix Up closes tomorrow.
There are so many awesome entries in the gallery!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipes

1st card

Stamp: Brushed Calligraphy #2 (Inky Antics)

Ink: Gathered Twigs

Markers: Distress (Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Milled Lavender, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Gathered Twigs)

Paper: Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Sweet Sugar Plum (SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other: Waterbrush, Stitched Square Die (Lil' Inkers, White Gel Pen

2nd card

Stamp: Brushed Calligraphy #2 (Inky Antics)

Ink:  VersaMark

Markers:  Copic (Y15, Y18, E27, YG03, YG63), SU (Chocolate Chip)

Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Whisper White (both SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  White EP (SU), Stitched Mats Rectangles Die (Lil' Inkers)

3rd card

Stamp:  Brushed Calligraphy #2 (Inky Antics)

Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)

Markers:  Distress (Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Gathered Twigs)

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Daffodil Delight (SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Distress Crayons (Brights: yellow, green), Waterbrush

More Copic Coloring on Vellum

Here's another card made from my play with Copic Markers and vellum.

As with the others, the embossed side (the side I did not color on) 

looked spotty.  So I used the butterfly "wrong side up".

I stamped the sentiment using MISTI on a snippet of Mixed Media paper,

embossed the bottom and popped it up with a rectangle of fun foam.

The base of the card is covered with a piece of Sale-a-bration vellum

that was cut 1/2" taller than the card and folded over the top to adhere.

Adhesive behind the design piece further anchors the card.

There's still a couple of days left to enter at

CAS Mix Up

Using Stamping, Copic Markers, Dry Embossing and vellum

Pixies Snippet Playground

Using snippets of Mixed Media paper and Vellum.

Cuttlebug Mania

All About Summer

Butterflies are one of my favorite things about Summer. Used my manual Big Shot.

The Time Out Challenge has this inspiration photo

Inspired by the white background, sampler on the wall, and bit of blue.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Antique Engravings (retired Hero Arts), Script Sentiments #2 (Inky Antics)

Ink:  Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb., Printed Vellum (SU SAB), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Copic Markers B21, B24, B26, Black) Floral Affection EF (SU), Assorted Moonstone Sequins (SSS)

Budding Poppies with Copics

I'm still playing with Copic markers.

I had this NBUS poppy stamp calling my name and thought I'd 
use those Copics of regular paper instead of vellum.

You can see I'm still into the reds.

Not much to say about it.  Just stamped, colored, fussy cut and
adhered it with dimensionals.

AAA Cards Challenge#69

My favorite stash is stamps.

Reminding you that there's still time left to join in at 
CAS Mix Up

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Budding Poppies (Technique Tuesday)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  Heavy Weight Whisper White (SU)

Other: Copic Markers (YR18, R29, R24, Black), Stitched Mat Rectangle Die (Lil' Inker), Fancy Lattice EF (Darice), Tuxedo Black Irresistible Pico Embellisher (Imagine Crafts), Fun Foam

At the Seashore

One of my birthday presents was a die set of shore birds.

(Thanks M. I love them.)

I put a few drops of re-inkers in my palette tray and added watered down

drops of color to wet Mixed Media paper to create the scene.

The little shore birds were die cut from snippets of mixed media paper,

and touched up with a bit more of the color.

I doodled with a white gel pen to add "foam" to the waves.

Simon Says Monday Challenge is

NAUTICAL/BY THE SEA

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is

CREATE A SCENE

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Fun Birthday Sentiments (HLS), Nature's Paintbrush (PB)

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede Re-inkers (Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Baked Brown Sugar)(all SU)

Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Baked Brown Sugar (retired SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Aqua Painter, Shore Birds Die (IO), White Gel Pen (I'm too lazy to go upstairs and see who made it)

Thank You

If you think this looks familiar, you're right!

I used the same set and technique as for this card.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and cards!

They helped to make my birthday a very festive occasion!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Persian Motifs (Altenew), sentiment from Budding Poppies (Technique Tuesday)

Ink: VersaMark, Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  Vellum, Whisper White, Heavy Weight Whisper White (all SU)

Other:  White EP (SU),Copic Markers (R35, R39, YG95, YG97), Stately EF (Craft Concepts)*, Assorted Moonstone Sequins (SSS)

I've wanted this EF for several  years now and couldn't find on in the US.  Finally found one in Australia that could be shipped to me. An added birthday present!)

Flora and Fauna 2 Reminder for CAS Mix Up

It's the 15th of the month and a reminder that
there's still time to join in at 
CAS Mix Up.

This time I used Distress Markers, Stamps, Watercolor, and Colored Pencils.

I inked the flower stamp with Festive Berries and stamped.

Then I moved the color around with an Aqua Painter and

added some shading and details with Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils.

This is a technique I learned during the Beautiful Details class at Altenew.

Marika (Me and Minime Crafting) taught the class.

I love all the details she adds.

I hope you'll come join us at 

CAS Mix Up.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Flora and Fauna 2 (Wplus9), Sprinkles and Smiles (PB)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Archival Tree Branch (Wendy Vecchi)

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Acrylic Paper (Stash), Basic Black (SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other Distress Markers (Festive Berries, Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade), Aqua Painter (SU), Faber Castell Polychromos Pencil (Alzarin Crimson), White Gel Pen 

Altenew and Copics for CAS Mix Up

We're working with markers at CAS Mix Up this month.

I thought I'd give my Copic markers a spin.

I hadn't used them in quite a while.

And this didn't turn out anything like I intended!

I stamped and embossed on one side of a snippet of vellum,
turned it over and colored with Copics on the other side.

When I flipped it over to look at it, I saw dots!

Has this happened to you?

I don't know if it's the vellum or the Copics or the user!

It actually looked better on the side I colored on.

So I used that side!

I'd thought I might be able to stamp over it and emboss with white powder,
but it's reversed.  So that didn't work.

After framing the image I adhered it to a piece of Fun Foam
to add dimension.

There's lots of gorgeous inspiration in the gallery over there
and we'd love to see what you do with your markers!

And since I used a snippet, I'm going to go visit
Pixie's Snippet Playground.
Looks like some hedgies have turned up to visit with Parsnip.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Persian Motifs (Altenew)

Ink: VersaMark, Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Vellum (SU)

Other: Copic Markers (R35, R39, YG95, YG97), Double Stitched Rectangle Die (MFT), Assorted Moonstone Sequins (SSS)

Little Seahorses

I'm wishing for a trip to the beach!

These little guys will have to do for now.

I die cut them from some old copper metallic paper in my stash and used the new
Stampin' Up! Seaside Embossing Folder.

The two seemed to go together perfectly.

I had found the chunky Frantage on sale and thought it would
work perfectly for the ocean floor.
I used a bit of Crystal Effects to stick the bits down.

Lots of texture, which I love.

Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge this week is
Red, White and/or Blue
I have just the blue and white.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
is inspiration this week.

I'm inspired by those waves!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  By the Tide, Happy Harmony (retired SU)

Ink:  VersaMark, Blushing Bride (SU)

Paper:  Heavy Weight Whisper White (SU), Pool Party Core'dinations, Copper (stash)

Other:  Swimming Seahorses Die (MB), Copper EP (SU),  Seaside EF (SU), Square Lattice EF (retired SU), Frantage (Stampendous), Dew Drops (stash)

Colorful Corner Garden

At CAS Mix Up this month

we're using Markers along with stamping and

another mixed media of your choice.

I hadn't used my Zigs in way too long.

So I got them out and had a wonderful time coloring with them.

I've used the Zig Markers, a  Stamped and Heat Embossed image, 

Waterbrush, and Vellum with more Heat Embossing.

I have been enjoying all the color going on at 
Virginia's View Challenge....

so I'm joining in there.

There are some awesome cards in both of these galleries!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Corner Garden (retired SU), Lots of Thanks (SSS)

Ink:  Whisper White (SU)

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Mixed Media (Strathmore), Vellum (SU)

Other:  White EP (SU), Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (Kuretake), Waterbrush (Tim Holtz), Fun Foam

Happy Independence Day

I found this stamp on a 70% off shelf.

I stamped it on a snippet of Whisper White with Real Red ink.

The stripes didn't stamp well so I used a marker to color them in.

Markers are good for fixing up what stamps miss.

Then I stamped the flag again in Dapper Denim and cut out the square with the star.

I stamped the star again with Whisper White and heat embossed it, cut it out and 

popped it in the square.

I felt like it needed a little bit more so I punched a  couple of smaller stars 

(more snippets) and added them.

Popped it on some embossed stars and it's ready to go to 

a young man that is about to graduate from Naval Basic Training.

And to wish all my American friends a very

Happy Independence Day!

and I'll pop on over to

Pixie's Snippet Playgound

since I used some snippets.

and 

CAS Mix Up

Using Stamping, Coloring with a Marker (stripes), Dry Embossing and Heat Embossing

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamp:  Stitched Flag (A Stamp in the Hand Co.)

Ink:  Real Red, Dapper Denim, Whisper White

Paper:  Dapper Denim, Whisper White (SU)

Other:  Lucky Stars EF, White EP (SU), Star Punch (retired SU), Confetti Stars Border Punch (SU)