Saturday, March 28, 2015

Be You (TIFUL) - My Favourite Things Sketch Challenge




Hello!

Here's Sketch Challenge number two for this weekend, and this one is for My Favourite Things.



I think sometimes card makers don't really stamp a whole lot as we all tend to get carried with different techniques and pretty patterned papers.  For this one, I just felt like stamping!

Inside, outside, sentiment, focal - it's all just stamping!  SO FUN!



I chose one of my favourite Stampin' Up! colours for this - Crisp Canteloupe - both for the ink and the paper.  I also used Calypso Coral for the darker tones.

Crisp Cantaloupe is just one of those really pretty colours that looks amazing when paired up with a nice, bright white.

I used the Flower Patch stamp set,, and what an awesome set!  There are 19 different stamps in the set and they can all be used together or seperately.  To complete the sketch challenge, I used some velum and added three enamel dots from Simple Stories and just a few Basic Pearls, also from Stampin' Up!. 

This was an easy card to make - quick and fun!


Well, that's it for now!  Hope you enjoyed it!

Beth

Card Size

Finished card: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"

Some of what I used...

Flower Patch by Stampin' Up!
Crisp Cantaloupe Card Stock by Stampin' Up!

Ranger Craft Sheet
Fiskars SureCut Paper Trimmer
Martha Stewart Score Board
Scotch Brand ATG Tape Gun - Simon Says Stamp

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Happy Bird-Day - Another Paper Smooches Challenge





Hey everyone!

Well, it's time for another Paper Smooches Challenge!

I'm having so much fun with all of these challenges lately.  When you're given parameters to adhere to (although loosely), you're really challenged to sometimes think in ways you wouldn't normally think.

This is the first sketch challenge I've done, and I really found myself having to work at this.  It was great though - I was totally absorbed in what I was doing, and before I knew it almost 3 hours had gone by.

Crazy!



When I sat down to do this one, I was already tired after a week of work, and it was 7:30 at night.  Not my most creative time of the day to be sure.  But, one thing that I really loved doing was looking through old stamp sets looking for things I could use.

I went through about three or four different ideas and designs before settling for this one.  I pulled out an old Stampin' Up! set called Mixed Bouquet for the polka dots and large flowers, and incorporated this adorable (but crazed looking) bird with his little party hat from Paper Smooches.

Again, I really had a hard time because I still only have 2 Paper Smooches sets!  (I fixed this problem today though... )

I also used Green Apple and Khaki card stock from Simon Says Stamp (LOVE the green apple!!!), as well the very sweet floral paper from Momenta.

Nothing on this card "really" goes together, but I think that's part of the charm of it.  It's just a fun, playful card.

For the inside of the card, I used the same stamp I used on the front from Stampin' Up!.



I completed two - count' em - TWO sketch challenges so far this weekend, so keep an eye open for the second!

See you next time!
Beth


Card Size

Finished card: 5" x 5"

Some of what I used...

Birthday Buddies by Paper Smooches
Copics - Y17, E31, G07, YR07, B05
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Ranger Craft Sheet
Fiskars SureCut Paper Trimmer
Martha Stewart Score Board
Scotch Brand ATG Tape Gun - Simon Says Stamp



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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Maisey and Madeline and my card was featured!





Hi everyone and happy Tuesday!  

Isn't this cutest image?  I just love it!  

Maisey and Madeline have it goin' on!  This is another Stampingbella stamp set - adorable image, fun to colour, and I love the font used for the sentiment.

I coloured this image with Copics, but I'm looking forward to having another go at it as soon as my birthday present arrives.  Yup - it's Happy Birthday to me week and I'm pretty sure my sweet husband ordered this for me:


I can't wait for it to arrive!

I loved using copies for this though, because you can get such full colours and great shading with them.



There are a few colours I wished I'd had while colouring it, but I'm really pleased with the way it looks.

I added some Liquid Pearls to the image as well, as you can see here:


Liquid Pearls are a fantastic finishing touch.

For the inside, I have a small sheet of Tim Holtz watercolour paper that I had painted pink using distress inks, and I've kept it for punching shapes.  I punched out a few hearts and added them.

I also got some exciting news this morning!

One of my cards was featured on the Lawn Fawn Challenge Blog!!!  What a great way to wake up this morning!  Here's the card that was featured and I'm so happy!



That's it for today!  Hope you're having a great Tuesday!

Beth



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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Ranger Watercolour with Distress Inks





Well, it's Sunday afternoon and March Break is pretty much over.  It's also time for another Lawnscaping Challenge!  Today, the sun is shining and it's really a beautiful day!

All this sunshine must be making me feel colourful because I've come up with a really quick little card full of bright, summer loveliness.

For this card you only need a few simple tools:

- Watercolour paper
- Ranger Distress Ink or any watercolour paint
- Water spritzer
- Acrylic Block



Use your acrylic block as a vehicle for laying down your ink on the paper in a blocky pattern.  You could switch this up to be any pattern or shape you want.  If you're not happy with the intensity of the colour, just put some more down to get the results you're looking for.

Once you've got things looking the way you like, let it air dry, or blast it with a heat tool (which is what I do because I don't have the patience to wait...).

Once it's completely dry, trim your work down to the size you want, and adhere it to the rest of your project.  I used two different layouts and I like them both!



I love the bright colours of this card and the airy feel it has.  I didn't include a sentiment in either version of these cards.  To be honest, I haven't decided who I'm sending them to or for what purpose. I can add a sentiment later once I know, or I can use it just to write a note to someone.

This would be a great design to use to create a set of cards to give as a gift as well!

Well, that's it for now.  Check out the video below to see how I put it all together from start to finish.  The colours made me feel like adding some Cuban music for you to enjoy.  :)






Have a great day!

Beth

Some of What I Used...

Find me on...

My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube
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Saturday, March 21, 2015

Paper Smooches Challenge - Missing You!



 It's another card challenge, and this time it's Paper Smooches SPARKS.  You can find great Paper Smooches products here!

To be honest, I don't have a lot of Paper Smooches products.  In fact, I have exactly two.  Kind of sad, actually.  Having a very limited choice meant that I really had to stretch my imagination.

I tried about six different things before I came up with this design, but I'm pretty happy with it!

The 'Miss you' sentiment is the Paper Smooches part called Sentiment Sampler, and the flowers are from Hero Arts.  After searching the actual stamp for a name, I came up with nothing.  It doesn't appear to have a name.

Anyway, I stamped all the images in Versamark and heat embossed them in white.  I used  Evergreen Bough Ranger Distress Ink for the colouring, added some rhinestones from Stampin' Up! and clear Wink of Stella to highlight the petals, and some black Liquid Pearls for the 'faux brads'.




For the inside I edged my card stock in the same ink, stamped the flower in the corner, and used Mama Elephant's Happy Everything for the "sending" part.




Voila!  Done!

I think the most difficult part of this whole project was getting good photography!  This colour just doesn't photograph well.  It doesn't help that my natural sunlight in my favourite photo spot was fading either.

That's it for now!
Beth



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Friday, March 20, 2015

Quick Cards - Thinking of You Florals



Hello!

This afternoon I did a quick card.  This is something I've wanted to start adding to my blog and YouTube channel for awhile, so keep your eyes open for more Quick Cards!

I love all the techniques I use, but sometimes it's nice to just stamp.

You can get all sorts of great results with stamps and ink.  For this card I used a stamping off technique.  To do this, you ink up your stamp, then stamp it off on a piece of scrap paper, leaving a lighter, fainter image.  I either didn't stamp off, stamped off once, or twice.  Each time I got varying strengths of colour.

This card has 4 layers including the card base.  Each layer has a different border thickness which provides visual interest.  It means that your eye constantly has something different to look at, which also means it holds your attention longer.

Because the card base is black, for the inside of the card I chose to add a piece of Soft Sky card stock to mimic both the colour of ink and one of the layers.  I kept the same image, the small flower and stamped tone on tone, which gives you a bit of a watermark appearance.  Tone on tone simply means that you use the same colour for both the ink and paper.



Check out the video below to see how all of this was done.



Take care!
Beth


Card Size

Finished card: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"

Find me on...


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Smarty Cat Sends Warm Fuzzies



 Hi again!

I came up with this card for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  The inspiration is 'animals' and I knew right away that I wanted to use Smarty Cat.

When I purchased this stamp set, I did so thinking that it would be fun to use on kraft card stock with Prismacolour pencils, especially white, so the design of the card came very easily.

Once again, I thought I'd love to narrate the video while I was doing it, but before editing, it was an hour long.  Maybe I just talk too much, but I can never seem to get a short enough video without doing a bunch of editing!

Smarty Cat is another stamp from Stampingbella, and I seem to be on a Stampingbella spree lately.  It's hard not to though - they're such awesome designs!



In the video I mention that the kraft paper is cheap stuff, and it is super inexpensive (Recollections brand from Michael's).  It's great paper to colour on though.  However, it's quite flimsy so if you're looking at using it for a card base, you might want to think again.  It is a nice dark kraft though, and takes colour really well.  It was perfect for this card because it's so light it doesn't really add any weight to the card at all.

The set does come with its own sentiment, but I chose not to use it.  Instead, I used one of the sentiments from Hero Art's Everyday Sayings.  This is a great set to have on hand because it has a variety of sentiments in different fonts.

Smarty Cat does come with his own toys.  His ball of yarn, a toy mouse, and a fish skeleton were perfect to complete the inside of the card.



Up next is the video, which I hope you'll watch.  I added some cool music to it this time while I coloured instead of talking.  (Cool tune called Sanskrit which comes built into iMovie)

Enjoy the video, and I hope you'll subscribe!




See you next time!
Beth


Card Sizes

Finished card: 5" x 6-1/2"
Kraft layer: 4-3/4" x 6-1/8"
Black layer: 4-7/8" x 6-1/8"

Some of what I used...

Smarty Cat by Stampingbella
Prismacolour Pencils
White
Black
Pink
Magenta
Light Aqua
Light Umber
50% Warm Grey
30% Warm Grey
Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen (available almost anywhere)
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Momenta A2 Circle Embossing Folder
Ranger Craft Sheet
Fiskars SureCut Paper Trimmer
Martha Stewart Score Board
Scotch Brand ATG Tape Gun - Simon Says Stamp













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