Unexpected color combo

This summer has been super busy! Because my kids are so talented, I've been running them to music camp and play rehearsals. Not to mention taxiing them to friend's houses, and to work. So I find myself with these little pockets of time to work on designing cards between dropping them off, and picking them up. Often times, I have to leave in the middle of making a masterpiece. 

While I'm gone, you'll find my desk with a half-made card on it. But before I go, I try to lay out all the elements so that I don't forget where I was intending to go with a project. I'm so scatterbrained that if I don't do this, by the time I return to my desk, I'll have forgotten all my design elements. Getting older stinks!

I've never used Pink Pirouette with Tangerine Tango before. But when I was pulling paper out of my cabinet, I dropped some and these two colors landed next to each other. I loved them together! So I had to put them into a card. 

The bee was cut from vellum and I dry embossed the back of the wings to make them white, and bump them out a bit. I also colored the back of it's body with Crushed Curry (my new favorite yellow). Again, Backyard Basics Framelits made cutting him out a breeze!

Happy stamping!

Peek a boo

Clean, simple lines. Crisp colors. And great use of negative space! I have to admit, I love this card! And I love how easy Backyard Basics Framelits makes cutting the butterfly out. Sometimes it's all about the tools. And that is the case here. 

For the sentiment, I inked up my stamp once and then stamped it three times without reinking. I love how it looks like it's flying off the page. Just like the butterfly. It gives the card a sense of movement.

Happy Stamping!

Masking tape is the secret

A little bit of masking tape and some glossy paper equals some serious bang! This card whipped up so quickly and I think it's awesome! I love it when a tiny bit of effort pays off in a big way. 

The paper piercing adds texture and whimsy. Again, a little bit of work brings a lot of personality to this card. 

Happy stamping!

Faux linen

I tried a new technique today with limited success. It's the faux linen technique. I used a sanding block and layers of ink, but I'm thinking I may have needed a coarser grit sandpaper. In any case, I still love how this turned out!

A couple of butterflies were all that was needed to give the card an extra bit of texture!

Happy stamping!

More vellum

Here's another card that we will be doing for Stamp Camp! My BFF loved the last card that I did with vellum, so I came up with this with her in mind. I love how such a simple technique can have such a huge impact! 

When coloring vellum, just be gentle with your markers. There are little cracks that can rough up your marker tips. And you run the risk of poking holes if you are too aggressive. 

Happy stamping!

Mystery ink

Don't you hate it when you make a mistake? Me too! And here's an example of such a mistake. I had painstakingly sponged the perfect balance of Tempting Turquoise, Riding Hood Red, and Daffodil Delight onto my card stock. I had blended and blended until I had bits of purple and orange peeking through. Then I had spritzed just the right amount if water onto my work and had created just the perfect watermarks all over the place. And finally, I had waited patiently while all that water dried. It was a thing of beauty. 

And then it happened. Early Espresso ink  somehow appeared on my work! I don't even know how it happened! But there it was, staring me in the face. And there was nothing to do but start again. 

So that's what I did. Repeated all of my steps. Did it all over again. And I was extremely careful. I kept all Early Espresso ink far, far away. Well, until it was time to stamp my focal image and sentiment. 

Thankfully, the ink stayed where it was supposed to this time. And I love this card!

Happy stamping!

Crisp and clean

They say that less is more. Sometimes I try to use this concept when designing cards. I have to admit, I have a hard time with it. I'm not sure if I'm just not confident enough in my design, or like it or not, I love cards with lots of stuff! In any case, I tried my hand at keeping things simple today. No ribbon, no sponging, no embellishments. Just clean lines, good design, and a little whimsy.

And you know what?  I have fallen in love with this design! Perhaps I've conquered my fear of "less"? Only time will tell…

Happy stamping!

The ocean is calling

Stamp Camp is in eight days, and I'm nowhere near ready! This is the first of 10 projects that we will be creating. I was going for the look of a porthole, and I think that I nailed it! The sponged water, coral in the background, and the fish swimming by, they all make me want to take a trip to the ocean. How about you?

Happy stamping!

Mall stamping

At the end of every school year you'll hear me saying, "I can't wait for summer vacation! Our schedules will finally slow down." Somehow, I must trick my brain into thinking that this ever happens! But inevitably, every summer, things are crazy and I'm running around more busy than I was during the school year. And so it has come to this. I'm sitting in the food court of the mall finishing the card for today's blog post. You may wonder why. It's a long story. 

My 13 year-old daughter, W, is experiencing community theater for the first time. And she landed the role of Patty in Grease! Way to go W!!! So now I'm stuck driving 40 minutes into the city so that W can attend rehearsals. Because it's so far to drive, it doesn't make sense for me to go home, so I've been spending countless hours sitting in my car. Waiting.

Tonight, it was time to leave for rehearsal, and I hadn't quite finished today's card. So, I gathered up the supplies I would need to finish it, dropped W off, and drove to the mall. I felt like a criminal smuggling my scissors into the mall in my purse! But a crafter's gotta do what a crafter's gotta do.  

And here's the finished product! I just might be taking more cards to the mall this summer while I wait for W. beats sitting in the hot and stuffy car!

Happy stamping!

Coloring the back side of vellum

Color and texture are two of my favorite mediums to work with. Color catches your eye and draws you in. Texture just makes you want to reach out and touch a card. This card scores big on both counts! 

I ran a piece of vellum through the Big Shot in the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. Then I used Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Pool Party, and Wild Wasabi to color the back side of the vellum. This technique softens the colors. I sponged some Calypso Coral and Chocolate Chip ink onto the edges of the River Rock card base. 

A bit of ribbon, and a popped up sentiment were all that was needed to make this card complete! I love how the vellum cracks in places and adds even more texture to the party!

Happy stamping!

Bird in the rushes

I only had a few minutes to throw a card together today. I knew that I wanted to make some pretty paper by coloring an acrylic block with markers, misting the block with water, and then stamping. Which I did for the background paper. And then it dawned on me that I could use the same technique for a punched out bird! Genius, if I do say so myself!

This card whipped up in just minutes, but still looks like a million bucks! I love it when that happens. 

Happy stamping!

Dawn 'til dusk

A few days ago I made a day and night version of the same card idea. I really liked the concept of day and night, so I decided to play around with it some more. I came up with a dawn 'til dusk theme. I used the background colors to tell that story. The pinks and oranges of a sunrise. The yellow sun in the heat of a July day. Green, as day becomes night and the air starts to cool. And finally blues as the sun sets and it becomes night. And all the while, life goes on. The birds feed on the flowers' nectar, and the butterflies hurry on their way. 

I'm still loving stamping blended colors with an acrylic block! I roughed up the white edges of my stamped art with a distressing tool. And added a bit more texture with the cross stitch on the top and bottom. A sentiment from Sprinkled Expressions finished this little gem perfectly! 

Happy stamping!

Summer Silhouettes, two ways

Oh my, I love these beauts! Playing with ink can lead to some pretty sweet eye candy! I have to be honest, I keep whipping out my camera just to gaze at these cards over and over again! Clearly I have issues. 

I love the acrylic block stamped backgrounds using the technique from yesterday's post, but what I'm crazy about on this card is the dry embossing! I even embossed that teeny, tiny 3/4" circle sentiment. I know adorable, right?!

I loved that card so much, that I decided to make day and night versions. Here's the night version. I used the collage technique to tone down the bright background, and I didn't use Melon Mambo, because that color is bordering on neon!

Some polka dotted black ribbon helps to pull off the "night" feel without taking itself too seriously. I can tell that I'll be playing with different color combinations in future posts! 

Happy stamping! Oh! And a big thanks to a stamping friend who tried out this technique and sent me a picture of her beautiful project! I love to see what you are working on!

Versatile acrylic blocks

What would I do without my acrylic blocks? Of course they are just the thing for stamping with clear stamps. But they are also perfect for creating gorgeous backgrounds!

One of my favorite techniques is using my Stampin' Up markers to color them. I just ink up any old block with whatever colors suit my fancy. 

Then I get them super wet by misting them with water. If I'm working with card stock, I use tons of water, say 10 squirts. If I'm using watercolor paper, I use less water. In this example I was using card stock, so I drenched the block. 

Then I stamp it onto a piece of Whisper White card stock. I press down with force to help squish the color around. 

Sometimes I let it air dry, but when I'm in a hurry, I use my heat gun to speed up the process! And voila! A stunning bit of background just waiting to be stamped upon. 

Tomorrow I'll post some cards that I made using this technique. Give it a try!

If at first you don't succeed...

Ever had the experience of being stuck for a creative idea? Of staring at your stamping stash and not being inspired at all? Of having multiple false starts on a project? Yeah. Me too! I'm not going to admit to you how many false starts this card had. 

I started with the "create" sentiment from Stampin' Up's Layered Labels set. And then I got stuck. I couldn't get the colors right. I didn't like the layouts I was working with. So I stepped away for a few hours. Did the dishes. Watered the tomatoes. Read a book. When I returned to my crafting table, fresh ideas started pouring out of me. Things started clicking and I had a finished card in less than 15 minutes! Sometimes walking away does the trick! 

Paper piecing and piercing

Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference. When my husband brings ice cream home for the girls. A squeeze of lemon in my Diet Pepsi. Discovering a new flower has bloomed in the garden. 

And in the case of this card, it's all of the paper piercing. I had the card all laid out, ready to adhere everything together, but there was just something missing. I tried adding a patterned paper background, but that wasn't it. I thought about sponging the edges of all the pieces, but I had already fallen in love with the clean and simple look of the card. 

And then I spied my paper piercing tool! Ta-da! Just the thing it needed. I wanted to give the card a bit of texture, so I poked holes from back to front, instead of the usual front to back. Now I can't stop running my fingers over the bumps! 

Positively feminine

If you know me, you know that I am most definitely NOT a girly girl. Pink has never graced my bedroom walls. Frills and ruffles make no appearances in my wardrobe. Make up only comes out on special occasions. 

But every once in a while, some sweetly feminine paper catches my eye and inspiration follows. I've had this Stampin' Up Designer Series paper for years, and I'm nuts about it! Alas, it's retired and I'm down to scraps. I wanted a way to showcase this gorgeous paper, but was having trouble because I loved each pattern, but only had bits and pieces of each. That's when paper piecing came to mind. The perfect technique to utilize bits and pieces of pretty paper!

The flower is made from just three punched Blossom flowers. I crumpled each one up into a ball, and rolled it around in my hands until they were next to unrecognizable. I was then able to peel each petal into two layers keeping the center intact. I glued each flower together and added a button center. Super cute!

The background is the focal point

Yesterday I posted about a new technique I stumbled upon. I fell in serious love with, not only the process of making the paper, but the results as well! So today I was on a mission to showcase that awesome paper in a few cards.

I don't think that I have ever used a particular paper as the focal point of a project. But after discovering this fun way of playing with ink and water, I can see that I will be cranking out loads of water misted, embossed papers in the very near future! Here I kept the designs and embellishments minimal so that the gorgeous background paper could truly sing!

Making a mess

I was playing around with my embossing folders and stumbled upon a super cool technique! I'm not saying that no one else has discovered this trick. I'm sure there are many videos out on the "interwebs" that showcase this idea, but I just was playing and had a great outcome. 

First, I inked up an embossing folder (I used Vintage Wallpaper, now retired) with Soft Suede ink. I inked the side that was recessed, not raised. 

Then I took the brush end of my Island Indigo marker and randomly added a bunch of color. 

Next I misted a ton of water onto the inked side of the embossing folder.

I gently dropped a piece of watercolor card stock onto the ink. (I tried it with regular card stock with a different result. More on that later.)

I put it through my Big Shot as usual. 

I carefully removed the watercolor card stock. 

Then I used my heat tool to quickly dry my work. I used a baby wipe to clean up my embossing folder. Easy peasy! Here are two pieces. Each time they come out a bit differently. Love them both.

Here is a piece of Very Vanilla card stock with the same technique. It takes the ink differently. But I like the look of this too! Tomorrow I'll be posting a card that I made with my newly embossed paper!

Sweetly sponged

I keep trying to pry myself away from sponging mountains, but I'm having a hard time. They are just so beautiful and fun to create! But today I forced myself and came up with an adorable card with no mountains in sight. Of course, there is a bit of sponging (I couldn't help myself!), but it's minimal and really helps set the scene. Butterflies and a bunny never made me so happy!

Obsessed with Serene Silhouettes

Clearly I have issues. I made three cards before the one I've posted for you. I was disappointed with all three! And I can't quite put my finger on why. They were OK. Just a little meh. Maybe the colors were a little off. The stamping was a bit messy. I don't know.

But I couldn't stop making cards until one made me a tad giddy. The minute I picked up Stampin' Up's Serene Silhouettes, something clicked and all made sense in the world! I LOVE this stamp set. And if course this set is just begging for a sponged background! Which is fine by me. It's my go-to technique of late.