Wishing You A Happy Easter

 Hey Stampers,

Happy Monday. Yesterday I played around with something new to me, ink blending with Distress alcohol inks. I made a few simple backgrounds using a blending tool with felt. It was fun to see what several colors added together looked like. I only have a few inks so my palette was somewhat limited. I need to watch a few videos to see what other techniques work. 

After playing around with the alcohol inks, I went back to the familiar and made a card for this week's Paper Players Challenge. Anne Marie has a fun sketch for us. I pulled out the stamp sets from the latest Gina K Designs kit and some SU papers and made an Easter card.

 

I started with some SU papers, Whisper White and Basic Black card stock and a couple of patterns from the Designer Series Paper Sampler from last year. I cut the background paper and the black mat using the GKD Master Layouts 1 dies. The flower is stamped with GKD Black Onyx and colored with Polychromos colored pencils. I used gamsol and blending stumps to help with the shading. The sentiment is from another GKD stamp set from the same kit release. It is stamped with Black Onyx and cut out with a flag die from the GKD Master Layouts 4.

The stamp sets have birthday sentiments, but I wanted to use this card as an Easter card so I used a sentiment from the GKD Easter Blessings stamp set, which is the third stamp set from the kit. I added a smaller poppy flower and this time used the solid stamps with Passionate Pink ink for the flower and Soft Stone ink for the leaves. Using the Master Layouts 1 dies set, I cut the white panel and a Rose Red mat.

 

Back to the alcohol inks, here is a card one of the backgrounds that I made. This is the GKD Easter Blessings stamp set. I added many Pretty Pink Posh gems around the card. I think I'll send this one to my mom.

Thanks for checking in. Have a wonderful week!

Colleen

Supplies

Gina K Designs Forever Flowers, Lace Flowers and Easter Blessings stamp sets, Master Layouts 1 and 4 die sets, Forever Flowers dies, Black Onyx and Passionate Pink inks, Faber Castel colored pencils, gamsol, blending stumps, SU Whisper White, Basic Black, and Rose Red card stocks, SU DSP sampler, Misti, Gemini Jr

Tim Holtz Distress alcohol inks, blending tool, felt, Yuppo glossy paper, GKD Black Onyx ink, Easter Blessing stamp set, Master Layouts 4 die set, Pretty Pink Posh gems, GKD Heavy Weight white card stock, Misti, Gemini Jr

#Friends

 Hello and Happy Sunday,

I read this Jennifer McGuire post and watched the video a few evenings ago and decided to give it a try using some background stamps and stencils that I already have. I had a ton of fun, got very inky fingers and made about 6 backgrounds. Some turned out pretty well, others, not so much. 

Here are two cards that I made using a couple of the backgrounds that I liked.

For the blue card, I used the Altenew Swiss dots background stamp and on the jungle card, the very old SU Leopard Print background stamp. The large polkadots are made using another very old SU stencil. I did use Distress inks as Jennifer recommended. I only have ink cubes, hence the inky fingers. Also, she recommends using the new domed sponge applicators and I only have the flat ones. After finishing the inking with the stencil on each, I used a large Altenew round blending brush to brush on some background color, this time using a couple of Gina K regular size dye ink pads.

In Jennifer's instructions, she shows that the technique can be done with either white craft ink or with VersaMark ink. On the blue card, the Swiss Dots stamp is stamped using Hero Unicorn craft ink. On the yellow card, the Leopard background stamp is stamped with VersaMark.

Here are each of the cards. The jungle card uses this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout. The bottom is made using a Taylored Expressions grass border die cut from SU black card stock. The images are from Lawn Fawn, colored with Copics and cut out with their dies. I heat embossed the sentiment.

 

On this second card, I used a large flower die. I cut it 3 times from white card stock and glued it to the center of the card. The sentiment is stamped with GKD Black Onyx, a few times to make it nice and dark, then heat embossed with 3 layers of clear EP. Using a N2 Copic, I shaded over the scored lines in the flower and used BV06 and Y04 Copics in the center of the flower. The sentiment and the butterfly images are from the SSS Beautiful Butterflies stamp set.

After playing with this technique, I decided to order some domed applicators and, of course, while I was on the SSS site, I ordered some of the newly released stamps and stencils. I couldn't resist! I'll try this again when my new goodies arrive, and I do have a few more backgrounds that I can use on cards from this first attempt. 

Have an awesome Sunday! Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Lawn Fawn Wild for You and Critters in the Jungle stamp sets and dies, Altenew Swiss Dots Background stamp, Stampin' Up Leopard Print Background stamp, Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies stamp set and dies, large flower die, Stampin' Up large polkadot stencil, Distress ink cubes, Gina K Designs dye ink pads, Tim Holts ink blender and foam pads, Taylored Expressions Grass Border die,  GKD  layering weight white card stock, SU Black card stock,  GKD Black Onyx ink, Hero Arts Unicorn white craft ink, VersaMark, clear embossing powder, Wagoner heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, Pretty Pink Posh gems, Copics, GKD Master Layouts 1 and 2 dies, black and gold sequins, Connect liquid glue

You've Always Been a Good Egg

 Hello,

Continuing with Easter cards, I have another one that I made using an older wood mounted stamp from my stash. I'm loving how colorful this turned out too. 

This stamp is from Stampassions and it's called "Egg on Your Face, " LOL. I stamped it in GKD Black Onyx ink onto white card stock and colored it with Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils and used gamsol and blending stumps to get the shading. The center greeting is from the SSS Some Bunny stamp set.

This card fits into two challenges, the current Retro Rubber Challenge is "anything goes" this week, and the As You See It Challenge has an Easter theme this week. I'm sure this stamp is at least 20 years old, fitting for the Retro Rubber challenge.

After coloring the image, I cut it out with the GKD Master Layouts 1 dies using black card stock for the mat. The card base is SU card stock.

The inside image is also from an older wood mounted stamp from Hero Arts, circa 1993. Again, stamped in GKD Black Onyx ink and colored with colored pencils and gamsol. The greeting is from the SSS Some Bunny set.

Thanks for looking in. Happy Hump Day tomorrow!

Colleen

Supplies

Easter wood mounted stamps from Stampassions and Hero Arts, Simon Says Stamp Some Bunny stamp set, GKD Layering white and black card stock, Master Layouts 1 dies, Black Onyx ink, SU pink card stock, Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils, gamsol and blending stumps, Pretty Pink Posh pink gems, Connect glue 

Some Bunny

Hello peeps,

I have a couple of cards that I made for the new Paper Players Challenge. This week Ann has the monthly CAS challenge and her theme is animals. Since it's Easter card season, I used the opportunity to use my favorite bunny stamp.

This is an older wooden stamp from 1993 from a company called PSX, and I've used it many times over the years. As this is a CAS challenge, I kept things pretty simple, although one of the cards does have a couple of layers. I made the card with the black scalloped layer first and then decided it was maybe not CAS enough, so I made another without layers.

For the non-layered card, I used an older MFT stitched die to make a frame for the bunny. The small black flowers are made with a Taylored Expressions flower border die. I cut a few of the flowers apart so I could add them to the layout. The sentiments are from a SSS Easter set.

The images on both cards are stamped in GKD Black Onyx ink. I colored the carrot with Copics. I like the added color with the black and white theme.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

PSX Easter Stamp and Simon Says Stamp Some Bunny set, Gina K Designs white and black card stock, Black Onyx ink, Copics, My Favorite Things stitched die, Taylored Expressions Flower border die, Kat Scrappiness Slimline scalloped border die, VersaMark, SSS white EP, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr. 

Never Surprised

 Hi peeps,

This is my second post today.

I have another card to share that I made yesterday using Jen's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the colors from The Color Throwdown. 

My card is a small square that is 4.25 x 4.25 inches and I've used mostly dies to make it with just a stamped greeting in the center. I started by cutting out two squares in two shades of green card stock and a mat in gold card stock using the GKD Master Layouts 4 dies set. I ran both green squares through the Big Shot with the SSS Detail Swirls Plate and then cut them diagonally. I cut the small gold mat and white square with the smaller dies in the GKD ML4 die set. The greeting is from the PinkFresh Studio Every Good Thing stamp set and it's stamped in GKD Prickly Pear ink. 

I cut the PinkFresh Studio Leafy Circle die twice from the dark green card stock and once from the light green card stock and glued them together with Connect glue, slightly offsetting the light green one. The heart and clover dies are older Taylored Expressions dies.

On the inside, I've used the larger GKD square dies along with a greeting from a SSS stamp set and another die cut clover.

Thanks for checking in. Have a good afternoon!

Colleen

Supplies

Gina K Designs white, Prickly Pear, Grass Green and Christmas Pine card stock, Master Layouts 4 dies, Simon Says Stamp Detail Swirls Plate and Best Friend Ever stamp set,  PinkFresh Studio Every Good Thing stamp set, Misti, Big Shot, Connect glue, SU mini Dimensionals

Thank You

 Hello peeps,

My sister and I are currently visiting my mom in Northern California. My sister drove south from Portland, OR and I drove north from Encinitas, Ca to spend Mom's 85th birthday with her. We've been having a good visit. As both my sister and I are paper crafters, we each  brought supplies to play with while here. 

This card I made for this week's Paper Players Challenge. Joanne has a very pretty pastel color theme this week. I didn't bring my SU inks, but I think the GKD colors that I used match fairly well for the challenge.

The background plaid is made with the PinkFresh Studio Simple Plaid stencil set and a blending brush. The flower wreath is another stencil set from PinkFresh called Known and Loved Layering Stencils. There is also a stamp set to match and a coordinating die.

I used the wreath stamp on the inside, but didn't color it.

I really love playing with these layering stencils. If you haven't tried them, you should.

Unfortunately for me, I have to head back home tomorrow and it's back to work on Monday. Thanks for looking in, and have a great day.

Colleen

Supplies

Known and Loved stamp set, layering stencils and die from PinkFresh Studio, Gina K Designs card stock in white, Lovely Lavender and Fresh Asparagus, and GKD inks in Lovely Lavender, Powder Blue and Fresh Asparagus, GKD Master Layouts 3, blending brushes, Misti, Big Shot, SU Dimensionals

Sending Aloha

 Hi peeps,

I hope everyone is having a great Saturday. I had fun catching up with friends who live in the Chicagoland area this morning via phone. It was quite the long call as we hadn't talked in almost a year! How does the time fly?!

When I first started out in my current career (30 years this year) I traveled quite extensively. Some years I would clock over 265 days away from home. One of the best parts of my territory was Hawaii, easy to get to from the west coast. One of the best parts is my Uncle and his family settled there when he retired from the Navy, so instead of having to stay in hotels, I always stayed with them. By then, their kids were all out of the house so I had my own bedroom and bathroom and I was met at the door every evening with a glass of wine. 

I had started my stamping hobby a few years prior and so I was always on the lookout for stamps when I traveled. There were stores around Ohau called "Made in Hawaii" and they had some beautiful hand made gifts. They also had wooden art stamps with Hawaiian images and I collected several over the years. Here's a photo of a few. I have many more. I picked these out because I used some to make the card in this post.

My friend, LeAnne, is hostess of the current As You See It Challenge. Her recipe for a masculine card includes neutral colors, twine, die cut and embossing folder. Now,  I certainly have many newer stamp sets that I could have used, but sometimes I like to open up my wooden stamp drawers and see what jumps out. Today, it was Hawaii. Maybe because I'm starting to want to travel? Who knows, but here's my masculine Hawaiian card using LeAnne's recipe. I've used Jacquuie's Freshly Made Sketch for the layout.

The background is ink blended using Distress inks in Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs. (While the iPhone takes pretty good photos, this one does not do justice to the blended inks. They are very shimmery with a warm gold under tone.) After the ink dried, I stamped the map image with GKD Charcoal Brown ink.  I used the GKD Master Layouts 1 to cut the stamped panel and the mat in brown. I used two EFs, first the SU linen folder and then the Tim Holtz Burlap. I stamped the other various images on a piece of GKD Sandy Beach paper then cut them out using a SU stitched rectangle die and cut brown mats for each piece. The twine is actually a piece of SU burlap ribbon that I cut down. The three stamped rectangles are popped up with SU Dimensionals.

I used the map again here on the inside of the card with the Aloha greeting. 

So who is ready for some Hawaiian sun? Hopefully, we'll feel safe to travel again in the not too distant future. Until then, we have memories.

Have a great rest of the weekend, and thanks for looking in.

Colleen

Supplies

Hawaiian themed stamps by ©RSP Honolulu Hawaii, Gina K Designs Sandy Beach and Charcoal Brown card stock, Charcoal Brown ink, and Master Layouts 1 & 2, Distress inks in Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Frayed Burlap, Tim Holtz Burlap embossing folder, SU Linen 3D embossing folder, Stitched Rectangle dies, SU Burlap ribbon, Dimensionals, Honey Bee Warm Wishes stamp set (sending)

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

 TGIF Peeps,

It's Friday! Yipee! 

I was very productive last night making cards and so I have two more to share with you all. Both of them use different color challenges.

This first one I made using the colors this week at The Color Throwdown blog. They are yellow, orange, green and white. I went for a Slimline card and used some fun stencils and dies from PinkFresh Studio.

The background is made using the Slimline Starburst stencil, blending brushes and Distress Oxide inks. The die is called Floral Harmony and I cut it out three times in three of the challenge colors then glued pieces in. Some the pieces are very tiny and it was sort of a challenge to do that part. I used the green and orange ovals to layer behind the yellow to pop up the oval in the center of the card instead of using foam tape. The greeting is from a SSS printed greeting bundle that I got several months ago. It's cut out with a GKD flag die. For embellishment, I added some bright green SSS sequins.

The second card uses similar colors and the challenge is from Sunday Stamps. Using Zig water markers, I applied each color to an acrylic block, spritzed it with water then "smooshed" it onto some Tim Holts water color paper. After drying the panel with my heat tool, I put it in my Misti and stamped the GKD Tulip stamp using black Star-On ink. The stamp is not as long as the panel so I made a mask for a few flowers on the end and then stamped the image again to fill across the panel.

The panel is cut out with the GKD Master Layouts 2 die and matted with black card stock. The greeting comes from the GKD set Welcome Home.

I added the SU orange twine and some SSS clear dots for embellishments.

I'd like to say that I'm going to be stamping more today, but my goal is to get my tax prep "stuff" gathered up and dropped off. Whatever you're doing, I hope it's more fun than that, LOL.

Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

PinkFresh Studio Slimline Starburst stencils and Floral Harmony die, Kat Scrappiness Slimline Layering die, TE blending brushes, Distress Oxide inks in yellow and gold shades, SU white, Only orange, Green Galore card stock, SSS greeting, GKD Master Layout 4 flag die, SSS green sequins, Gemini Jr, Connect glue

Gina K Designs Spring Tulips and Welcome Home stamp sets, GKD white and black card stock, Tim Holts water color card stock, Zig Clean color brush markers, acrylic block, Tim Holts Spritz bottle, Staz-on black ink pad, Misti, GKD Master Layouts 2 dies, SU twine, SSS clear glass beads, Misti, Gemini Jr, Connect glue

Best Wishes and Hey, Honey

 Hi peeps,

I had a very light day today for work. Love when that happens, especially when the past couple of weeks have been very busy with some long days. I have a couple of cards to share today that I made on Sunday afternoon that use this week's Paper Players Challenge sketch. Ann has a very fun sketch this week and I had a few ideas for it. Along with Ann's sketch, one of the cards uses the Have a Slice color theme for the current Sunday Stamps challenge.

Here are the cards together. The flower card uses SU stamps and papers. The bee themed card uses hero arts supplies from the Hero January kit.

For the SU flower card, I've used the very pretty DSP called Flower Field with the A Touch of Ink stamp set. I fussy cut the images after stamping. (wish these had dies!) The fussy cut images are glued to a double stitched GKD circle die, that is stamped with the small dots from the SU set.  I added a bow tied from red & gold Baker's twine. The sentiment is from the same stamp set and it's heat embossed in white EP and cut with a strip die that I notched one end to make a flag. The DSP is cut with the GKD stitched die from her Master Layout 2 die set. (I think I use this die on 90% of my cards now!) I added some small gold circles from SSS on the die cut circle for embellishment.

Here's the very simple inside, stamped with an image from the SU Happiest of Birthdays stamp set.

For the second card, I stamped the Hero Arts Bees and Flowers background stamp with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with white EP, then blended three inks over it with blending brushes. It is also cut out with the stitched die from the GKD Master Layouts 2 die set and matted with the other die in the set with gold paper. I used the Hero Arts Infinity Hexagon die set to cut the shapes from both the stamped panel and the mat, and then glued them to a white card base. Using the one of the same dies, I cut the hexagon from the top layer of the card base so that the bee can be seen through the hexagon. 

I stamped the small hexagon image from the Hero set on a white panel and cut it and a gold mat with the GKD Master Layouts 1 die set. The glittery bee is made by stamping the bee image wth black ink on some hero arts gold glitter paper. I wasn't sure it would work without smearing, but I heat set it and it seem to be permanent. I used the same sentiment strip idea on the outside of this card as on the first card.

On the inside, I added a friend for the glittery bee, this one stamped on yellow card stock, and a birthday sentiment.

I have a few more cards that I made in the evenings this week that I'll try to get posted in the next few days. Have a great Friday all, and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stampin' Up sets A Touch of Ink and Happiest of Birthdays, SU Flower Field DSP, Gina K Designs white and black card stock, Stitched Circle die, Master Layouts 2 dies, Wild Dandelion, Jelly Bean Green, Red Velvet ink, VersaMark ink, SSS white detail EP, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, SU Dimensionals

Hero Arts January My Monthly Hero kit set and dies, Hero Bees & Flowers Background stamp, GKD Amalgam Black, Black Onyx, Wild Dandelion, Prickly Pear and Honey Mustard inks, Hero Infinity Hexagon dies, GKD white, Wild Dandelion and Prickly Pear card stock, Hero glittery yellow card stock, GKD Master Layouts 1 and 2 dies, VersaMark, SSS white detail EP, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, SSS sequins, SU Dimensionals