Slimline Floral Notes

So happy to be pulling out some older product from my craft room!  This one is a favourite of mine, it's the Floral Notes stamp and stencils from Pinkfresh Studio.

I stamped the slimline image in grey Archival ink, which gave an overall softer feel that I love.  I used the coordinating stencils with five Distress Inks (Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold, Pink Raspberry, Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn) to add in the blended colours.

I spattered the image with silver metallic paint, and added the silver die cut Serenade Sentiments by Spellbinders, and a few gems. 

Peacock Slimline card

 I've been playing with the May Betterpress Society press plate this week, which is called "Peacock".  My first card is a slimline:

I used 4 Distress Oxide inks to ink up the plate: Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers (of course!) and Twisted Citron.  After pressing the bottom image, I repositioned the plate and inked it up a second time to get the feather image at the top of my card.

There are two sentiments that come with this set, so I inked one up with Betterpress Black ink, and ran it though my machine again.  I used two Art Impressions Slimline dies taped together to create my blue frame, that I layered with a second frame to give it a little more dimension.

I finished off with a few irridescent gems for a little bling.  You can sign up for a Betterpress Society subscription through the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Harvey's Birthday

 What do you do for a 5-year old's birthday card when you don't own any truck, digger or Paw Patrol stamps??  You dig out your dies and make a name card.  He's just learning to read, so I know he'll like seeing his name on the card.  I used some old Basic Grey papers, and the Stitched Slimline and Block Letters die sets from Art Impressions:

Peace on Earth

 I have a wintry slimline card today, for the upcoming Watercolour Weekend post on the Art Impressions blog, which you could easily recreate with just a few stamp sets.

I cut out several hillside shapes from scrap paper and used them as masks to do some ink blending.  For the top layer, I used yellow and orange inks to blend a setting sun, and then used a lilac and a blue ink to do the sky around it.  With the second mask in place, I coloured the two houses from 5370 - WC Village Set in N55, and used my stamp positioner to make them look like they are 'just over the hill', then softly blended ink to hilight the hill edges, and did the same for the bottom hill.  I used the trees from 5010 - WC Tree Set 1, 5372 - WC Mini Foliage and 4960 - WC Fir Trees Set in #177/249, and stamped them with masks in place, to appear over the hills.  I used the tree top from the Fir Trees Set to stamp the large foreground tree, and added a trunk and shadow under it.  I added snow to the house roofs and painted them in using #969/856.  The deer from 5427 - WC Silhouette Deer where stamped in #N25, and the sentiment from 5566 Christmas Sentiments was stamped in black ink and decorated with a few tiny sparkles.  The panel was cut with 5463 Slimline Dies and mounted on a dark green panel with 3D foam adhesive. 

My inspiration for today's card came from a beautiful card made by Karen Orme - I loved her design, and wanted to recreate it using Ai supplies!  Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday to see what Tricia & Dot have to share.

Chrysanthemum Slimline

 I have a slimline card to share today using the Chrysanthemum Slimline stamps and stencils.  This is such an elegant stamp, and makes up so quickly.  I had fun mixing ink colours on the blooms:

I gold embossed the Perfect Sentiments stamps and cut them out with the matching die, then added it to the card base with some foam adhesive.  The Slimline Stitched Scallop frame was layered onto several other cardstock die cuts to create a fairly substantial frame, and a couple of gold pearls finished it off.

All supplies are from Pinkfresh Studio.

Slimline Gazebo

I ended up painting two of the same cards for the this week's Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog.  I started on Ranger watercolour paper, as I wanted the bright white base, and wasn't happy with how the colour was bleeding when I added water.  So I switched over to Canson XL Watercolour paper and began again.  I persevered with both paintings - and ended up being quite happy with each of them!

I stamped the 5362 - WC Gazebo Set image in the new #N79, and then die cut the coordinating die from masking paper - which I placed over the image.  Using the tiny foliage from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set and #249, I stamped in the foliage behind the railings.  Then with the lavendar stamp and #565, I added the flowers on top.  To create the hillsides, I used the bushes from 55372 - WC Mini Foliage in #177, stamping them over the mask, and then pulled out the colour with a damp brush.  I painted in the suggestion of a sky with #493, and then removed the mask.

The roses from 5258 - WC Flower Set 4 were stamped on either side using #676.  Greenery from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #249 was stamped around them, and the vines from the same set were stamped up and around one of the posts, and spilling over the roof line.  The tiny flowers from 5009 were added to create little clusters of flowers along the vine in #606.  I used the 5018 - WC Cobblestone Set to add the stones out front in #N79.  Shades of #969 were painted on the roof, and as the wood floor, and I used a fine marker to suggest wood shakes and planks.  #565 was painted around the interior of the gazebo to add the shadows, and under all the eaves and woodwork.  The tiny grass from 5372 was stamped in #177 around the gazebo and stones, and then the colour was used as a wash to paint in the grass.  I added some N79 to the white areas of the sky to add some shape to the clouds.  The images were die cut using the 5463 Slimline Dies, and the sentiment is from the Exclusive Hydrangea set.  I added a little bling to finish them off!

Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday, to see what Dot & Tricia have to share.

Cape Cod Scene

 Hello Ai Watercolour fans!

I've combined a couple of the newly released sets in my slimline project today.  I began by stamping one of the 5524 - WC Cape Cod Houses to the right of my scene using Tombow #565/969 onto some Canson XL Watercolour paper.  I used a pencil to sketch out where my horizon would be, and then placed the two shoreline stamps from 5523 - WC Bait Shop on either side, using the same markers.

I picked one of the medium sized images in the 5466 - WC Lighthouse Set and placed it on the shoreline behind the house, and added 5415 - WC Rocks Set to the foreground.  With my scene set, I started to add colour, picking it up off my palette.  A wash of #158 was added to all the grassy slopes, and shades of #992/969/N57/565 coloured in the shoreline and rocks, with deeper tones in all the crevices and shadowed areas.  I used #569 for the house, keeping the left side brighter, and the right more shadowed, and added #N57 to the roofs.  I created a weathered red shade by mixing #856/969 and added the red touches to the lighthouse, chimneys, door and boat.  I used a Navy Twintone marker to draw in the window panes and darken the lighthouse windows.  #593 was painted in the sky, leaving some white to suggest clouds, and it was painted in as the water as well.  I used the trees, grass and foliage from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage to add a few shrubs and trees.  

I always finish up by adding more shadows to the buildings, rocks and lighthouse, as well as some darker shades to the clouds.  A last minute addition (after the card was assembled!) was to add the 5473 - WC Seagull Set image in #N57.  I cut out the image with the 5463 Slimline Dies, and used the two largest dies to cut a thin grey frame to adhere on top.  I glued it all down to a red card base.  Be sure to check out the Art Impressions blog this Saturday to see what Dot & Tricia have to share.

Conga Line!

 I am so excited to finally own one of the Anita Jeram stamp sets from the Colorado Craft Company.  She is the illustrator of the much loved children's book "Guess How Much I Love You", and her drawings are adorable.  This is "Conga Line" that I've painted up for my niece's birthday:

I used my Gansai Tambei watercolours, adding layers to build up the colours.  I'm still a bit new at this, but hope to paint this image many more times.  It made the perfect slimline card.

Happy Birthday, Allie!

New Ai Foundations Stamps

 If you're a fan of the new Foundation line of Watercolour stamps from Art Impressions, you'll be excited to know that there are 3 new sets releasing on the Ai blog today!

I'm excited to share a slimline card using the new 5469 - WC Foundations Watering Cans:

With a large image like this one, I like to use my Misti, to ensure that I get a complete impression of my image.  I die cut my Canson XL Watercolour paper, lined up the image in my Misti (leaving enough room for the sentiment at the bottom), then coloured the entire stamp in Tombow Dual Brush Marker #969 Chocolate, and #565 Deep Blue, and stamped it.  After pulling out the colour from the stamped images, I picked my colour palette of #757 Port Red, #528 Navy, and #565 to paint in the watering cans, adding layers of colour where they would be darkest at the edges, and leaving highlights in their middles.  I used the same three colours along with #761 Carnation to stamp my flowers, then used #177 Dark Jade and #126 Light Olive to add in some foliage.  The stamp sets are numerous - so you can see them listed below.  I added a few small branches in #969, and painted in the post in a combo of #992 Sand and #969.  I added some grass in #177, and painted in a watery shade of #528 to suggest a sky.

The sentiment from the Exclusive Hydrangea Set was gold embossed on vellum, and adhered across the bottom, after I had matted the image in coordinating cardstock.  Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday, to see what Dot and Tricia have to share, too!

Deck the Halls

 Here's the second card that I put together this week using Berry Merry, Winter Sprigs and Falala from Pigment Craft Co.  I'm using up some old CTMH paper that I've had for years, and I really liked how this sentiment worked on a slimline card:

Ai Foundations Chairs

 I'm sharing a slimline card today that will be on the Art Impressions blog on Saturday, using the 5432 - WC Foundations Chairs set:

This is the perfect stamp for a slimline or even a mini-slimline card.  I began by colouring up the stamp in #969 Chocolate/#565 Deep Blue and stamped it using my Misti - this worked really well for such a large image, as I was able to give it even pressure, and if I'd missed a spot, I could've gone over it a second time.  I placed the image slightly right of center, as I planned to add the sentiment and a pumpkin to the left side of the card.  *I purposefully left the lower corner of the bench uncoloured when I stamped, as that left me enough room to stamp the pumpkin from 5426 - WC Veggies just in front of it.  I used my stamp positioner to place it, as well as the possum from 5425 - WC Peeking Animals in one of the pots.  I partially painted the three chairs in #346 Sea Green, #606 Violet and #443 Turquoise which helped me know how to place my flowers and foliage in the pots by balancing out where the colours would be.  I used the Daisy Bunch from Flower Set - 4052 in #993 Chrome Orange, the small dots from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set in #443, and the vines and grasses from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #249 Hunter Green.  To brighten things up and fill in any gaps, I used the tiny sprig from set 5009 in #126 Light Olive. 

I finished painting in the 3 chairs, and added several shades of #969 to the bench.  Pots were painted in #947 Burnt Sienna, #N55 Cool Grey 7 and #228 Gray Green.  To finish off, the spiky flowers from 5258 - WC Flower Set were added in #606, and the branch from 4964 - WC Branches set was added to two pots.  Shadows were added with #565, and the background was done in a wash of #228.  The pumpkin was painted with layers of #993/933/947.  The sentiment is from the Exclusive Daisy Set, and the dots were added with a fineline marker.  Be sure to check out what Dot & Tricia will be sharing on Saturday for the Watercolour Weekend!

Skiing By!

 I was lucky enough to get some Happy Mail this week from my lovely niece... gifting me this sweet stamp and die set from Pinkfresh Studio, called Skiing By!  I used a card by Nicky Meek that I found on Pinterest as my design idea, with my own spin on it:

There is minimal colouring required on the critters (so cute!) and they cut out so perfectly with the dies.  The set even includes the mountain and hillside dies, so other than my Copics, some ink blending on the sky and a little glitter - it came with everything I needed.

This will work perfectly for a holiday card for some of my friends that don't celebrate Christmas.  Cute and wintry.  I am entering this into the Pinkfresh Studio October challenge, using just the colours this month!

Last of the new Art Impressions release!

 It's been a great few weeks slowly releasing the new Art Impressions Watercolor stamps on the Ai blog.  We've reached the end!  The last 4 sets will be available for purchase on the Ai website (here!) today.  I made a slimline card using two of the new sets:

There are 3 new Silhouette sets, this is 5428 - WC Silhouette Horses, and the fences are part of 5416 - WC Vintage Car Set.  The barn is from the previously released 5262 - WC Mini Cabins Set, trees are 5372 - WC Mini Foliage, and the fence is from 5371 - WC Barn Set.  The rocks are the new 5415 - WC Rocks Set.

I started by stamping my barn and fences, to determine where everything would go, and then I sketched in the mountains, hillsides and driveway.  I then painted them all in with a light wash, as I knew I'd be stamping overtop, and didn't want to have to paint around the small images.  With my stamp positioner, I added in the two horses, being careful to place the slightly larger one in the foreground, and the smaller horse slightly back.  I added in the rocks and trees, darkening them with several different colours.  To brighten things up, I added grasses and a few dots of yellow as wildflowers, and painted in the barn.  Finally I used my #565 Tombow to add shadows where needed.

By the way, these are very well behaved horses that don't leave through the open gate...

Check out the Ai blog, to see what Dot, Tricia and Bonnie have to share!

Crazy Birds Slimline

 This stamp set never gets old!!  I needed a masculine birthday card, had this background ready to go, and thought of the Tim Holtz Crazy Birds stamp set from a few years ago (five? eight?).  Those fun little birds look great coloured rainbow style, so I pulled out my Copics and got to work:

The background is Distress Oxide Inks blended on a Pinkfesh Studio stencil, and the die/sentiment are Photoplay's Say it With Stamps line.

I stamped off a whole bunch of the Crazy Birds while I had them out... so you'll be seeing a few more from me this summer.