Sunday, March 1, 2015

Giggle Greetings Cheese & Gamsol

Hi again everyone!

This weekend my husband and I decided to go across the border and head off to Buffalo.  I got a tip on a store that I really wanted to visit.  So, wallet in hand, we set off for Buffalo Stamps & Stuff.

What a fantastic store!  I could have spent the better part of a day browsing and buying, but I limited myself to about an hour, found some great things, and forced myself to leave.

I'm proud to say that I was the first person to buy Lawn Fawn's Hybrid Black Liquorice ink from them.  Yay me!

Ok.  Back to today's card...





Prismacolor pencils definitely aren't new to me.  In fact, I'm on my second set of them and I absolutely love them.  LOVE them!  The colour goes down like butter on silk - I'm not kidding - and the colours are beautiful and vibrant.

I wanted to pair them up with the Giggle Greetings stamp set from Stamping' Up! and use Gamsol to blend the colours.  This is such an easy technique and I swear it makes even the worst colourer a master artist.



The stamps themselves are a little on the cheesy side (Get it?  Cheesy?  Did you look at the photo???).

This is a 4x4 card, and I'll list the exact measurements below.  Because there are 4 images in the set, this makes a perfect little set to box up and give as a gift.  This one however, is going to good friend of mine who has a birthday coming up in the next couple of days.

I've mixed Neenah Solar White 110 lb and 80 lb card stock with Stamping' Up! Coastal Cabana, and the adorable yellow polka dot is from Lawn Fawn's Sweater Weather pack.  These colours together couldn't be any more perfect.

The inside of the card was created by masking off just the candle portion of the stamps with medical tape, and inking only that part.  The sentiment, Have a Great Day, is from Hero Arts, Friends.



I hope you'll watch the video to see how you can master this technique, and please stay tuned for 3 more of these great little cards.



And as usual, please give me a thumbs up, subscribe and share with all your friends!  It makes me happy!

See you next time!
Beth

Card Sizes

Card Base:  4" x 8", scored and folded at 4"
Yellow:  3-3/4" x 3-3/4"
Coastal Cabana: 3-1/4" x 3-1/4"
Image: Trim to make you happy

Some of What I Used...

Find me on...

My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube



Posted by at 3 comments:

Monday, February 23, 2015

Something's Coming!

Hey everyone!



If you've been keeping up with my videos, you'll remember that I posted a Stamping' Up! haul video about two weeks ago.  There were a couple of stamp sets that I was really excited about, and I said that I had some great ideas.

Well, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with one of them, and I'll have mini series using one set and one technique, creating 4 different cards that could be bundled into an adorable gift set.  I've done some trial runs and I'm so happy with the results!

Maybe I'll even throw in a card box!

Stay tuned!  This is going to be fun!
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Love Life

Hi everyone!

This weekend I had planned to play around with Ranger Distress Inks, so that's exactly what I did.  I love these inks!  They're like little dynamos - ready for anything you throw at them.  The list of things you can do with them is endless (almost... they won't scrub the floor for you).

The end result for this one had me pleased as punch, as my grandmother used to say.  I was thrilled with the colours, and the simple, straightforward image is fun and sketchy.




For this card I used another one of the stamp sets I got for free when I purchased a bunch of supplies from Stamping' Up!.  I swear I'm having more fun with the free ones than the ones I paid for!

This is a set of 4 stamps called "A Happy Thing"; a lemon, a bird and two sentiments.  You can find it in the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue which is valid until March 31st, so if you're loving this set as much as I am (I love the "Love Life" sentiment!), you'd better get a move on!


I used the Ranger Distress Inks to do a little watercoloring, which is one of the great things you can do with this stuff.  It behaves just like real watercolours.  Ranger's craft mat is a great tool for this technique, because you can put the ink directly on it, get it wet, then wipe everything off with a paper towel, cloth, baby wipe - anything works.

There are two types of watercolour paper that make me really happy.  Strathmore is a very well-known paper with great qualities, and I highly recommend it.  I use it a lot.  Strathmore has an off-white colour, and that's where the Tim Holtz Watercolour Card Stock comes in.

I had read about online and watched a few videos where it was used, so I thought I'd give it a try.  The main thing that drew me to it was the fact that it's white instead of off-white.  It comes in a package of 20 sheets and it really is white!  The quality of the paper is really good.  It doesn't pill or get fuzzy like some I've tried.  I was really happy with it, and use it often.



The nice thing about it is the size.  The measurements are 4-1/4 x 5-1/2".  Ranger also has a larger sized paper as well in case you're planning a larger card.


So if you want to see how I made this "watercolour" card using distress inks, check out the video below!

See you soon!
Beth




Some of What I used...

Stampin' Up! Basic Grey Card Stock

Find me on...

My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube

Posted by at 6 comments:

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Cheerful Critters

Hi there!

I came up with a snowy card for a snowy day, today.  It's been snowing like the dickens since sometime in the middle of the night which has made the driving atrocious.  I had to go out today, and there were those who insisted on driving about 10 km/hr and those who raced down the road at 80.  I'm not sure which is worse!

I made a trip out to my local fine art supply store to get some Gamsol.  (Can you tell what might make an appearance in an upcoming video?)

For those of you who aren't familiar with Gamsol, I'll just tell you that it gives your coloured pencils a whole new life.  You'll just have to come back and check it out!

So here's today's card.  Isn't this adorable?  I had so much fun making this card I didn't want to stop!  I would have been perfectly happy just making a few more.  But, I got control of myself instead, and got ready to start editing my video.



This card really has a little bit of everything.  There's heat embossing, watercolours, Copic colouring, and fussy cutting (for those who enjoy fussing cutting!).

This stamp set called Cheerful Critters from Stamping' Up!, and it's a really versatile set.  It comes with 5 sentiments, but you could use any you have on hand and stamp them into the little signs.  You could also make yourself a bigger sign for the critters to hold if you needed.

It would be great for just about any occasion!  I think this is one of the happier sets I've seen.  And who doesn't love egg-shaped animals!



I gave this card dimension by mounting the bear and the bunny onto dimensionals, and then doing the same with the banner.  The dimensionals on the banner are only at the bottom, as the bunny and bear are already higher up.  This way, the dimensionals on the banner nestle in nicely beneath them.

And finally, here's the video!  Thanks for popping in!

See you again soon!
Beth


Some of What I used...

Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock

Find me on...

My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube
Posted by at 6 comments:

Monday, February 16, 2015

A Friendship Card - You Brighten My Day

Today is Family Day here in Ontario, Canada.  I thought this would be a great card to show considering the holiday.  It's perfect for a friend or family member.  I made this one for my daughter, Meaghan, since she really does brighten my day, each and every day.




This is a pretty simple card, and I've kept it plain with lots of white space because I wanted the colours and the sentiment to take centre stage without being crowded out or overtaken.  Cards with good white space are probably my favourite!

For this one, the list of materials is pretty short so it doesn't take a lot to recreate it.  You could use any stamp, although I absolutely love this set.  It has some great little images.  Check out the link below to have a look!

I've used dimensionals to give the lightbulbs some extra height and character, and I just love the finished piece!




Have a great day!

Beth

Some of What I used...

Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock

Find me on...

My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube
Posted by at 9 comments:

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Happy Birthday, Suz!

Hi there!

Today is my good friend Suz's 50th birthday.  She's such a wonderful person, full of love and kindness.  So, in honour of her special day I thought I'd do a birthday card.

I met Suz when I started teaching at the same school as her, and I liked her right away.  I was only there for six months before moving on to another school and a permanent contract, but we kept in touch, thankfully.






This card is really simple, although there are a number of steps.   I'm such a huge fan of grey and, well, any colour, really!

The great thing about this design is that you can change so many things - colours, shapes, stamps, font - anything would work.  Personally, I love these adorable sentiments from Paper Smooches.  The font is just a happy font, and brings a playful character to anything they're used on.  Love, love, love them!

If you're wondering about the embossing folder I used, it's by Momenta and is a brand I stumbled upon.  I was walking through Wal-Mart one day - and believe me, I'm rarely ever in that store, so this was a definitely a find - I decided to take a wander through the craft section, but I wasn't expecting much.

This particular Wal-Mart has an amazing craft department.  There are fantastic patterned papers, stamps, ribbon, and some really great embossing folders.  This one was $5.99 believe it or not, and that's the everyday price!

So, needless to say I grabbed a bunch of things.  The prices were just too good to leave them, and the papers (I used some in a few earlier posts) are absolutely adorable.




Have a great day, and Happy Birthday, Suz!

Beth

Some of What I used...

Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock

Find me on...

My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube
Posted by at No comments:

Post-It Note Holder

Hi again!

Today's project is a little different.  Although I love to make cards, sometimes I want to shake things up a bit and do something a little out of the card making box.

So for today, I chose to make a Post-It Note holder.  These are so cute, easy, and quick to make, and you can change it up and use any colour or style you can think of.



For this one I chose Soft Sky cardstock by Stamping' Up!®, and Neenah Solar White.  I added a circular embellishment with little tiny butterflies, but you can use any shape you want.  That's what so great about paper crafting - The sky really is the limit!

Here are the measurement you'll need:

  • Cut card stock to 6-1/4 x 3-1/4"
  • Score at 3-1/4" on both sides (meaning score it once, then rotate the card stock 180 degrees, and score again at 3-1/4")
That's it!  How much simpler could it get?



Check out my video to see how I made this one, and then let your imagination go wild!  Punches are a really useful tool what making things.  I used a circular and scalloped edge punch, but there are tons of different shapes and sizes you can try.  Check these ones out!

See you soon!
Beth


Some of What I used...



Ellen Hutsen - Neenah Solar White 80 lb Card Stock


Find me on...



My Stamping' Up!® Website
YouTube

Posted by at 1 comment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)