Holly Collage card

 Here is my last card made with the Photoplay holly/berries stencils!  

I wanted to try using just a portion of the stencil on my card, so I concentrated on one corner, allowing the inks to fade out around the edges. (Inks are Mowed Lawn and Worn Lipstick Distress Oxides).  I die cut my panel with this wonderful die from The Greetery, and then created my collage with a cluster of pine and berry diecuts.  I used a little Crushed olive ink to shade a portion of my tag, and added the "merry" die from Photoplay's Say it With Stamps line, cut in the wonderful No Shed Glitter Paper in a lovely rich red.

I used the same melon-y pink shade of cardstock for my base, and now have another Christmas card in my stash!  You can find the Photoplay products at the Crafter's Workshop.

Photoplay Say it With Stamps

 For my recent Demo Days presentation at the Crafter's Workshop, I used several of the Say it With Stamps sets from Photoplay.  Here are a couple of cards using the Peace/Joy set:

Even though it's intended as a holiday set, I wanted to show that it could be used for "more".  I blended Wild Honey, Picked Raspberry and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide inks on white cardstock, then die cut the mat background piece from it.  I layered Peace cut in black on top, and adhered it to my card base with foam adhesive.

And here is a more typical Christmas card, with the words cut from some gold metallic cardstock, and layered on mats cut from the same kraft paper as the card base.  The phrases are stamped from the coordinating stampset that includes the ampersand.  Lawn Fawn's Sparkle paper is shining from behind.

All products can be found at the Crafter's Workshop!

Watercolour Wednesday & a challenge

I am combining two challenges from the Papercrafter's Workshop from this week - to use a circle, and to use a bunny on your project.  I am also casing Kendra's amazing bunny wreath from the Watercolour Wednesday video on the Art Impressions blog:

 Kendra's was a little different - a smaller circle and fewer colours.  I put my own spin on it by creating more of a scene in the middle, and since my masking fluid was clogged up, I just went with a wreath of plain greenery.

I stitched my scene to some green cardstock with my sewing machine, and added a few white sequins.

Watercolour class, anyone?

I am teaching a Beginner's Ai Watercolour class on October 20th at The Papercrafter's Workshop in Stouffville, Ontario - and would love to have you come and play with these fun stamps!

If you've never tried them before - or if you own a few, but don't know how to start, this class is for you.  Art Impressions line of watercolour stamps is based around flowers & greenery, and they have a wide range of different containers to choose from.  Here are the two cards we'll be making:

There will be an advanced class happening in the afternoon... more on that in a day or two.  Check out The Papercrafter's Workshop website here for more details.

Let's Toast Father's Day

I picked up this cute set of Lawn Fawn stamps & dies last week, so couldn't wait to pull them out to make a card.  Here's what I made my husband for Father's Day using "Let's Toast":

 I love that the dies include the little slits for the toast to pop out of!  I bought the Pull tab add on, also - so you're going to see a lot more of this stamp set in the future.

You can find the stamp/die set, plus the pull tab add-on at The Crafter's Workshop in Stouffville!

Whimsical Ai Watercolours

I really love the direction that Bonnie Krebs is going with her Watercolour Stamp line for Art Impressions.  When she first introduced the Fairy Doors and Hobbit Door sets, it really sparked something in me creative-wise, and her newest WC Elves Set is no exception:

 I was going to try doing these just using Sepia, for a monochromatic effect, but a few weeks ago I tried a scene using mostly Sepia & African Violet... and really loved the look.  In addition to Sepia, there is a brown tone here, but you get the idea.  The limited palette was wonderful to work with.

 On this card, I drew in my own version of the Fairy Doors (mainly so that I didn't have to mask!), and added in the stepping stones from the Cobblestone Set.  I worked really hard on my shadows in this one, and trying to achieve more of a depth of colour.  Stay tuned, as I hope to do a few more scenes around this theme.

If you are in Canada, you can order the Art Impressions Watercolour stamp line from The Crafter's Workshop... AND if you're in the Greater Toronto Area, you can join us this Saturday, March 2nd at The Crafter's Workshop for an "Open Studio" day - come and bring your own projects and supplies, whether it's watercolours or Copics to colour, I will be there working on my own creations, but will be happy to demo or help anyone who wants it.  Sheri & Alexis will be on hand for colouring tips and inspiration as well - sign up is here to reserve your table space.  Hope to see you there!

Mini Bunny/Easter cards

I don't generally create Easter cards, but I was playing around with some quick scenes using my Art Impressions Watercolor stamps, and came up with these little bunny cards.  Perfect for a quick note, but would also work well as little Easter cards:

Each card is just 3x3".  Stamp sets used are WC Bunny Set; Flower Set and Foliage set.  Markers are Marvy & Tombow.  Patterned paper is Close To My Heart; *If you are in Canada, you can purchase Art Impressions Watercolor stamps & Tombow markers at The Crafter's Workshop - check out their new online store!

Art Impressions Tag Watercolour

I have some brand new Art Impressions products to share today - and can I just say how much I love this new stitched tag die?!  It's a great size to paint a scene like I did, or to stamp a great image.  The set includes a bunch of different sized tags and a variety of little accent dies - like the little punched circle that I cut out of pink cardstock.

I've used several Art Impressions stamp sets from their Watercolour line: WC Little Girls Set; WC Boat Set; WC Sitting Places Set and Living Water Set.  The sentiment is brand new also - from Ai's WC Sentiment Set 2.  *If you're in Canada, you can get Art Impressions stamps at The Crafter's Workshop (they've just launched their online store!  Check it out.)

Ai Watercolour LOVE card

This is the third card that we are making at my Ai Watercolour Beginner class this week... and it's perfect for a valentine, wedding card, mother's day card or for anyone you love.

I used my Art Impressions Block Letters Die Set to spell out the word "LOVE" and placed them upside down on some Washi tape to secure them, and using a ruler to keep them even.

Our class is using WC Foliage Set 2 and WC Flower Set 2, so using a selection of stamps from each, I stamped them in clusters, starting with the flowers, and filling in around them with greenery, until I got the effect I was looking for.  I placed my alphabet dies on top of the floral background, securing them in place with the Washi tape, and ran it through my die cutting machine.

                            

Here are all three of the cards that we'll be making in the class, and if you visit my blog again tomorrow, I'll show you what I did with the leftover "LOVE" pieces.  You can find all of the Art Impressions products used in my projects at the Crafter's Workhop - they have a wonderful new online store that's up and running this week!

Ai Watercolour Class Cards

I am teaching my first of two beginner classes tomorrow, using the Art Impressions Watercolour stamps, so I thought I'd share two of the cards we're making.  The class is focusing on using WC Foliage Set 2 and WC Flower Set 2, so we are doing two different floral pots:

 Both cards are using pots from the WC Ornate Container Set.  I've used a selection of markers from both Tombow & Marvy

 There are still spots left in my Tuesday evening class - click here if you're in the GTA and are interested in having a crafty evening!  *And... did you know that the Crafter's Workshop has an online store open for business?  Check them out!

Happy stamping!

A Sketchy Saturday Valentine

I am using Laurel's Sketchy Saturday sketch for a valentine card today.  I just bought this 1canoe2 plaid paper at The Crafter's Workshop... and I'm a little obsessed with it.  I wasn't thrilled with the card I made with it yesterday - but this one I really like.

 For the little strip down the middle... I was searching through my stash, trying to locate my vellum, and came across this 12x12 sheet of rust coloured mesh?  I only vaguely remember getting it, and had never cut into it!  It fit perfectly with the vibe that I wanted for this.  I used my Cricut to cut a heart from the metallic rose gold paper, and die cut the word from some older paper.  I used my stapler to attach the mesh strip .

 I'm trying to get better at staging my photos this year... improving the lighting, and trying a few new angles.  Here's my attempt at a flat lay shot, too:

Laurel will have a new sketch up again tomorrow, I'm sure, but for now, I'm happy to have my first valentine ready to go.

Ai Watercolour Wooden Door - Fantasy version

This week I am teaching classes at The Crafter's Workshop in Stouffville, and we are using the Art Impressions Watercolour set: Wooden Door (Sku #4702).  The stamp itself has snow on the roof, and a snowy tree that leans up against the door.  Part of the class is to show how you can use your sets for more than what they're intended for - so I've done up samples for other seasons.  When I began to create a spring version, I decided to do more of a fantasy scene - more like the Hobbit Door set, or the newer Fairy Tree.  After stamping and painting the door and some flowers around it, I added a grassy mound overtop, making it look like a Fairy door.  I used the cobblestones from the WC Cobblestone Set (Sku #5018) to add to the quaint theme.

 Here's a closeup of the door:

Seasonal Watercolours

Two more watercolour cards today, using the Art Impressions Watercolour stamp sets: the barn and truck are from WC Truck Mini Set; and the trees are from WC Tree Set 1.  The tree branches in the truck bed are from the WC Branches Set:

 I used my Marvy African Violet marker to draw in the hillside and snow mounds, then painted in the mountains and added a setting sun and some whispy clouds.

 I used my sewing machine to add some zigzag stitching to the background papers, stamped my sentiment and popped up the image with some pop dots.

 For my second card I created a spring version of the truck, making a grassy meadow, and adding  some purple flowers with the tiny flowers from the original Flowers Set.

My upcoming class at The Workshop in Stouffville is showing how to use the same stamps to create scenes for different seasons, so I'm going to take these along as examples.

Art Impressions Wooden Door class

I have another Art Impressions Watercolour class coming up at the Crafter's Workshop in Stouffville, Ontario in a few weeks (October 16th & 19th you can sign up online here!), so I thought I'd share what we're going to be making.  We'll be doing two cards, both with "Wooden Door"- and the set is included in the class fee, so you get to take it home with you.  At first glance - this looks like a holiday stamp set, but we're going to see just how versatile these stamps are when you change them up a little, since we're going to do both a fall & winter/holiday version.  Here are the samples:

Our first card is following pretty much how the set was designed to be used - a wintery doorway, with a wreath and a covering of snow.

 For the fall version, we'll be using the same doorway, switching up the colour palette with some fall foliage, and a pot of flowers instead of the wood pile.  *We're going to be doing a third project, too - that will be a surprise.  Hope to see you at the Workshop - spots are filling up fast!

Ai Wishing Well watercolour

I painted up a bunch of Art Impressions watercolour images earlier in the summer, and have been trying to get them all made up into cards.  Here is WC Wishing Well Mini Set:

If you live in the Greater Toronto area, you can find a huge selection of the Ai watercolour stamps at the Crafter's Workshop in Stouffville.
Stamp set is #5012 WC Wishing Well Mini Set by Art Impressions; Tombo & Marvy markers; Cardstock and patterned paper are Close To My Heart; Sentiment is Verve.

Tiny Townie Rachel Loves the Rain

Another Stamping Bella sample... today's stamp is Tiny Townie Rachel Loves the Rain.  She was another sweet one to colour, and I again used the Lawn Fawn Rainbow papers.  I added a little zigzag stitching with my sewing machine and a few YNS Gumdrops to finish her off:

Stamping Bella

I was asked to make some card samples for The Crafter's Workshop using several Stamping Bella stamps that I'll be sharing over the next little while - and they were so much fun to colour!  I love bright colours when I'm cardmaking, and I was using the new Lawn Fawn Rainbow papers - so I was in heaven.  Here is Edna Loves Ice Cream: