Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Hello friends.  I'm glad you stopped by!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Friends.

I'm so thankful for you!

I've used this lovely Unity stamp and inked it with markers

I find this stamp colors so easily!

The little thistles are actually purple.

My camera is playing tricks!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Flowers of the Fall (Unity), Thanksgiving (Northwoods)

Ink:   Brushed Corduroy, Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac, Crushed Olive, Picked Raspberry, Aged Mahogany (DM), Cajun Craze (SU)

Paper:   Neenah, Cajun Craze

Other:  Double Stitched Oval Die (MFT), Oval Framelit Die (SU), Fall Leaf EF (Darice)

A Garden of Flowers

Hi there.  I'm glad you could stop by!

I love this flower set from MFT!  There's so many flowers and ways to do them.

I've inked three of the flowers with markers and planted a little garden.

I won't have to worry about watering this one.

I was actually trying to follow the MFT sketch challenge but

I've missed the deadline on that.

But I think I've made it for their Color Challenge 125

The Flower Challenge #36

Lots of wonderful inspiration at both these challenges!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Flower Silhouettes, You Wow Me (MFT)

Ink:   SU Markers (Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Island Indigo)

Paper:   Crumb Cake (SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 Series)

Other:  Subtle EF (SU)

Amaryllis with Penny Black

Hi there.  I seem to be featuring Amaryllis flowers this season.

Here's one done with a Penny Black Brush Stroke Stamp.

I've used my MISTI to ink this stamp with Distress stains and markers.

After stamping each color, I moved the ink around with a water brush, 

adding more ink as needed.

The sentiment is embossed with gold.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge
ANYTHING GOES: OPTIONAL WINTER OR CHRISTMAS

Penny Black and More
*****Traditional Christmas Colours******

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Amaryllis, Season's Wishes (PB)

Ink:   Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn (DS & DM), Barn Door, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Black Soot (DM), Encore Gold

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 series), Neenah

Other:  Gold EP (SU), Double Pierced Rectangles Die (AE)

Another Amaryllis

Hello friends.  I'm so glad you stopped by.

I am really enjoying this Technique Tuesday stamp!

(First I used it here.)

This time I colored the flowers in red.  I had just received a 

Candied Apple Distress Marker and it was perfect for getting a good

rich, red color.

I placed the stamp in my MISTI and inked the flower with Distress Markers

and used a damp water brush to move the ink.

After it dried, I layered colors directly with markers and water brush.

The wash was done by pulling colors from the flowers

to the surrounding areas.

I used a sentiment from the same set.

I had some narrow glitter frames left from my last class and

used one to add a little sparkle to this card.

It celebrates a special day for a very special person.

I'll enter at The Flower Challenge #26

I'd also like to enter at

Craft Stamper Magazine Take It Make It Challenge

ANYTHING GOES

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Amaryllis (TT)

Ink:   Festive Berries, Candied Apple, Barn Door, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint (DM), Versafine Onyx Black

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 series), Dazzling Diamond Glimmer (SU), Neenah

Other:  White Gel Pen

Perched Hummingbird

Hi there.  Welcome to my blog!

Using inking stamp with markers, stamping, watercoloring, and die cutting.

Here's another card that I've inked with markers.

I've used my MISTI so I could ink one color, move the ink with a damp

water brush and stamp again if needed.

It's easy to stamp with different colors using this method and 

when the water makes you lose the lines, stamping again brings them back.

There's still time to ink up a stamp with markers and two other kinds

of mixed media and join in at CAS Mix Up.

Challenge ends on the 24th.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Perched Hummingbird (IO), Beautiful Day (ALT), Flower Sparks (PB)

Ink:   DM (Brushed Corduroy, Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot), DI (Brushed Corduroy)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 series), Neenah Solar White 110 lb.

Other:  Stitched Square die (SSS)

Fall Tree

Hi there.  I hope you've had a great weekend!

I placed this oldie but goody tree from Stampin' Up! in my MISTI

and colored it up with Markers before stamping.

The leaves are so small that I barely touched them with a damp waterbrush.

Then I did a light wash for the background.

I'm so ready for Fall!

I see signs of color in the trees but not too much.

And it's still hot and humid.

Good weather to stay inside and play!

This card does double duty.

Loll's CAS Watercolour Challenge

and

I inked the tree with markers for

CAS Mix Up

My Mixed Media are inking with markers, stamping, heat embossing, watercoloring and die cutting

There are so many beautiful cards in both galleries!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Thoughts and Prayers (SU), Snippets (PB)

Ink:   DI(Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed), DM(Brushed Corduroy, Ripe Persimmon), Whisper White (SU)

Paper:   Crumb Cake (SU), Neenah, Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 series)

Other:  Waterbrush, MISTI, Stitched Rectangles die (SSS), White EP (SU)

Gnome Fun

Hi there.  This week has flown by!

My friend Nance (Soul Stampin') came to spend a day crafting

and she brought me this stamp.

Isn't it adorable?

The swing reminds me of the swing at my grandparent's house

when I was growing up.

It was big enough for two people and often my

aunts would pair up to swing.

Sometimes my brother and I would climb aboard and we could

swing so high!

I put the stamp in my MISTI and inked it with markers, doing

small sections at a time then moving the colors with water.

I pretty much colored it like the package showed.

Since it's an outline stamp, I swiped some ink from the markers on my palette

and picked up color with my water brush to fill in.

I pulled some color from the design into the background for 

a light wash and picked up some color from the palette as needed.

I almost didn't catch that caterpillar on the branch.  Isn't he fun?

I love the sentiment but know that we can't always do what brings us joy.

Sometimes we have to do the other stuff and get our joy from doing a hard job well.

CAS Mix Up: Ink Stamps with Markers

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Gnome on a Swing (Stamping Bella)

Ink:   Distress Markers (Brushed Corduroy, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Hickory Smoke, Pumice Stone, Blueprint Sketch, Tumbled Glass, SU Brown Sugar

Paper:   Watercolor (Strathmore 140 lb. cold press), Neenah

Other:  Foam Sheet

Serendipity Thistle

Hello friends. I hope you are having a great day!

I was playing with this beautiful Serendipity Thistle stamp for last month's class

and had an extra that I stamped different color dots on trying to decide 

which color to go with.  I ultimately decided on the pale yellow,

but liked how it looked with all the different colors.

The thistle stamp, which includes the butterfly,

was so easy to ink with markers.

The MISTI is such a great tool for this technique!

I die cut around the bottom and put the design on a piece of

mauve cardstock.  It looked like it needed a little something else,

so I scored the bottom of the mauve piece.

Serendipity has a blog hop on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Mary always has some good sales and if you comment

on all the blogs of the Design Team, you get a chance to win a 

gift certificate to Serendipity.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Thistle (Serendipity), Tulips (Technique Tuesday)

Ink:   Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Markers  (Picked Raspberry, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Spiced Marmalade), SU Marker (Cajun Craze)

Paper:   Neenah, Sweet Sugarplum (ret. SU)

Other:  Scallop Borders 2 (PPP from Serendipity), Simply Scored (SU)

Inking with Markers for CAS Mix Up

Hello friends.  I hope you are having a fantastic day!

It's time for a new challenge at CAS Mix Up

Using stamp inked with Distress markers, regular stamping, die cutting and stenciling with embossing paste

This month I'm the host

One of my favorite techniques is to ink my stamps with markers.  With all the stamp positioning tools available, this is easier than ever. You can add one color ink to one section, stamp and ink up another section with a different color.  It's the perfect technique for flowers, birds and butterflies, but 

don't limit yourself to them.  I can't wait to see your mini masterpieces!

This card was so quick!

This sweet little Unity stamp was in my NBUS box.

I put it in my MISTI, got out some Distress Markers,colored the stems and lines 

with a brown marker and stamped on Neenah card stock.

I could see spots I missed so added ink in those spots, stamped and moved

on to the flowers choosing colors for each one.

For each of the flowers, I inked with the lighter color then "thumped" 

with the darker color.

My friend and fellow CASsette, Joanna always inspires me with her

unique CAS Mixed Media style and I love how she adds frames to some of her cards.

So I've CASEd her.

So I cut down the other part of the die cut to make a frame, (this die is cuts an 

inside-outside piece) and added it at an angled it behind the design.

I used my favorite stencil and some embossing past for texture.

Check out the fabulous designs by the Design Team joined by our

Guest Designer Chrissie (Simpy One of a Kind).

We have some video tutorials at the challenge site to give you more ideas.

I'm looking forward to seeing your cards made by inking up some stamps with markers.

Hope to see you at CAS Mix Up!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Flower of the Fall (Unity), Enjoy (PB)

Ink:   Distress Markers (Brushed Corduroy, Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry), SU Marker (Cajun Craze)

Paper:   Neenah, Cajun Craze (SU)

Other:  Texture Scraped Paint Stencil (MB), Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi), Double Pierced Rectangle Die (Avery Elle)

Red Delight for CAS Christmas

Hello Friend. I'm glad you could stop by.

There's still a week left to join in at CAS Christmas 

where Loll has chosen our challenge.

The Design Team along with our fantastic Guest Designer, Marina (My Perfect Life)

have some beautiful poinsettias to share with you at

the challenge site.

The AAA Card Challenge  is

To make this card I used a Penny Black Brushstroke stamp 

placed it in my MISTI and inked it up with mini ink pads and markers.

First I stamped with Spun Sugar, went over the ink with a damp

waterbrush and stamped again.

I repeated this using Festive Berries ink.

When I was pretty well satisfied with the petals, I inked the stem with

a Peeled Paint marker then edged the stem with Pine Needles.

I pulled color out of the flower for the wash, then dropped in

a bit of Twisted Citron ink smooshed on my palette and picked up

with a wet water brush.

Finally, I inked the petal details with a Barn Door marker,

stamped and blended.

I used a Stitched Arch Die to cut the image

and a larger die from the same set for the frame.

The top die cut layer is on foam for added dimension.

Challenges: 

CAS Christmas

AAA Cards

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Red Delight, Festive Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Onyx Black (Versafine), Spun Sugar, Festive Berries, Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, Twisted Citron (DI and DM).

Paper:  Mixed Media (St.), Pearl Textured (Coredinations), Neenah 

Other:  Stitched Arch STAX (MFT), Gold micro beads.

Bejewled Love and Laughter

Hello my friends.

I hope you are having a day filled with love and laughter!

This is a one layer card for

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

and my goodness, what a wonderful array of cards are in that gallery!

I popped this Penny Black Brushstroke Stamp into my MISTI

and inked it with mini distress ink pads and markers.

After the first stamping, I moved the color around a bit with a damp Aqua Painter.

Then I stamped again.

Added some more color where I wanted it darker and stamped again.

A sentiment, splatter and a painted strip across the bottom finish the card.

I'll take this over to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

   

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bejeweled, Special Wishes (PB)

Ink:   Distress Inks (Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint), Distress Markers (Same colors plus Festive Berries), Early Espresso (SU)

Paper:  Watercolor (Arches HP)

Other:  MISTI, Ruler (to guide for painted strip)

Full Bloom Wisteria

Hi peeps.

It's almost time for the Wisteria to bloom around here.

That's what this Penny Black stamp makes me think of.

This is such a versatile stamp!

I used it HERE for a Christmas card.

We used this stamp for a card at class last weekend.

This little image was from a test piece.

The Flower Challenge was on my mind, so I cut a piece of the image

and used that sketch.  It's one of my favorite layouts.

I hope it's OK to add the sentiment.  I knew this would be perfect for my DB & SIL 

for their anniversary.

Here's the card we did in class.

Using the MISTI makes inking this a breeze!

I raided my butterfly box so they could add a little something extra to the card.

I tend to do this little butterfly in multiples to have on hand.

Colored with Rich Razzleberry is my favorite, but they had many choices of colors.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Full Bloom (PB), Beautiful Butterflies (PTI)

Ink:   Concord Crush (SU), SU Markers (Lavender Lace, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz)

Paper:   Neena (110 lb.), Concord Crush, Whisper White (SU)

Other:  Stitched Shaped Framelits (SU), EF (retired SU. Can't remember the name.)

Using Markers for CAS Mix Up July Challenge

Time for a new challenge at

CAS Mix Up

This month's challenge is....

Using Stamping, Inking with Markers, Dry Embossing, Die Cuts and Watercolor

One of my favorite techniques is to ink a stamp with markers.

I love that I can get different colors on one stamp and it has the watercolor look.

This time I lightly spritzed the stamp with water after using my Stampn' Up! markers

and stamped on Mixed Media paper.

I used an Aqua Painter to add bits of color and smooth where needed.

When the stamped image was dry, I wet the background and added bits of ink

for a washed background.

The background is embossed on some watercolor paper and the frame was die cut

with a MFT Stitched Frame Die from a piece of "wood" cardstock 

that I've beenhoarding for a few years now.

The design is popped up on foam for added dimension.

Our CAS Mix Up Design Team has some

astounding inspiration pieces to show you.

And our Guest Designer this month is Colleen (One Smile Lifts a Spirit).

Her card here was our Pick for the May Challenge.

I hope you'll check us out at 

CAS Mix Up

I know we'll have another fantastic gallery of 

Clean and Simple Mixed Media cards.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Sweetest Sound, Special Wishes (both PB)

Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)

Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore), Watercolor (Strathmore 140 lb. cold press), Wood (?)

Other:  Woodland EF (SU), Aqua Painter, Stitched Rectangle Frames Die-Namics (MFT)

Hot Summer Flowers

Both of the Penny Black Challenges this month are related

Penny Black Saturday Challenge August

HOT SUMMER COLORS

and

Penny Black and More

SUMMER FLOWERS

When I saw these challenges  

I thought of this NBUS flower stamp.

And I colored this Summer flower hot!

and

Addicted to Stamps #157

MAKE YOUR MARK

I inked the stamp with Stampin' Up! markers using

Tangerine Tango, and Garden Green.

Then I "thumped" the flower head with a Real Red marker

and stamped it on hot press watercolor paper.

I used a damp Aqua Painter to move the colors around a bit 

and do a light wash around the flower.

After stamping the sentiment, I used my wet brush to pick up

some ink from the lids and flicked it over the design.

I did it again on Whisper White

When I tried to move the color on the cardstock, it wasn't pretty.

It kind of muddied up.

So I took the Tangerine Tango marker and drew the lines back in.

Then I sponged a bit of blue around the flower

and flicked some ink over it all.

I made the first card a little bigger than the normal size.

It will go to someone extra special ;)

I'm really glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

    **********

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Dreamy (Penny Black)

Ink:  SU Markers (Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Garden Green), Soft Sky, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry

Paper:  Watercolor (Arches hot press), Real Red, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango ( SU)

Other:  Aqua Painter (SU), Scallop Trim Corner Punch (retired SU)