Exclusive Daisy Set

I've been making an effort to colour up images that I'd previously stamped, along with using up patterned paper from my stash, which resulted in this somewhat *bright* creation this afternoon:

This is the Exclusive Daisy Set by Art Impressions that was available at Scrapbook.com for a limited time.  I coloured the image with Copic markers, and have seen so many pink/yellow combos lately, that I wanted to give it a try - which resulted in my vibrant creation.  And since I'm a matchy-matchy person at heart, I pulled out the Farmer's Market papers from Doodlebug to create my card.

I've also been wanting to use some of the interesting die sets from Art Impressions, most of which were created for mini journals, but work really well on cards.  The frame is from 5588 - Journal Oval Frames, and the banner is from 5809 - Decorative Journal Page 2.  The frame was layered twice for a little extra dimension, and the banner (with a sentiment from 5735 - Birthday Sentiments Set) was raised on foam adhesive.

Pink & Main Shaker

I just picked up some new goodies from The Papercrafter's Workshop, and quickly whipped up a shaker card using the A2 Shaker Cover (4.25x5.5"), and Diamond Confetti from Pink & Main.

I'm a patterned paper fan, and this is a great card design to show off those pretty papers that we all hoard in our stash!  I've used some One Canoe Two paper by Jen Hadfield from a few years ago - love this paper.

I cut my paper about 1/8" smaller than the finished card, put it upside down on the shaker cover, and attached the adhesive on 3 sides.  With the top end open, it's like a pocket - so I poured in some of the Diamond Confetti, along with some micro glass beads that I have, then sealed the top edge, enclosing all the confetti in my pocket.  I used some strong adhesive strips to attach it to my card base.

To create my 'present' design, I attached two strips of pink cardstock to look like ribbon on a gift, then glued on two die cut bows.  I stamped my greeting on a little tag, and tied it under the bow.  Done!

Rainbow Cupcake Kisses

My third card with the December Betterpress Society press plate, 'Cupcake Kisses', is a rainbow one!

I chose four colours of Distress Oxide inks, and blended them right on the plates, then pressed onto a Bisque Cotton Card panel.

I cropped my background to be 4 3/8" square, stitched it down to a black mat, and adhered the cupcake and sentiment with 3D foam adhesive.  The finished card is 5" square.

I also took some photos with it on a plain teal base before I assembled it, but I'm going with the busier rainbow striped background.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription through the Papercrafter's Workshop!

Easter Bunny Puppets

This is the cutest little puppet set from Art Impressions.  I wanted to make something for our neighbours, who have two little girls... and I thought of the 5869 - Easter Bunny Puppet Set, used as paper dolls.  I went to town, stamping and cutting out (with the matching dies), four bunnies, and enough bits and pieces to create about 8 or 10 different outfits.

I used the four new Basic paper packs from Ai - 6009 - Basic Green PP, 6010 - Basic Pink PP, 6011 - Basic Teal PP and 6012 - Basic Yellow PP, which are the perfect scale for tiny outfits.  I stamped everything in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and ran them all through my die cutting machine.  

Here's a sample of what they could look like assembled.  I left the bunnies and two baskets fairly plain, incase they want to colour them up.

Love You

A fairly quick valentine for my husband... I used the Block Letter Alphabet dies from Art Impressions, cut from some old Basic Grey papers that are favourites of mine!  Then added a Photoplay Say it With Stamps die, triple stacked with black cardstock for a little dimension, and added a few heart.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Shimmery Cupcakes

My Second card using the December Betterpress Society set, Cupcake Kisses is featuring a few new things.

I pressed the two plates onto Craft Perfect's Pearlescent Card in Blushing Pink without ink.  I was keen to try this out, and it worked beautifully on this cardstock!  I pressed the larger cupcake a second time, then fussy cut it, and adhered it over the double image with 3D foam adhesive.  The sentiment is one of four that come in the set, and was pressed onto a Bisque Cotton Card panel using Betterpress Black ink, and cut with the matching die - then adhered with foam dots.

The background swoosh was pressed onto a Bisque Cotton Card panel using Lisa Horton Crafts Cloud 9 metallic ink in Copper Pot.  This was my other new thing... I've been wanting some metallic inks for a long time, and this pressed beautifully!  This was a single pass through the machine, and it gave such a gorgeous result.

I stitched my panel onto a large rectangle of the Pearlescent Card with my sewing machine, and added a few irridescent Ballet Slipper jewels from Pinkfresh Studio.  You can get a subscription to the Spellbinders Betterpress Society by contacting the Papercrafter's Workshop. 

Sending Love

Pigment Craft Co. is no longer putting out new product, but I was able to purchase a number of their sets last summer, and am slowly working my way through them.  They have such a great vibe!  Today I pulled out the Sending Love stamps and dies, along with the Latte Hearts stencils.

Pigment came out with their own ink line which I've used today as well.

Waffle Valentines

I still love making valentines for my kids, even though they're grown... so I pulled out the Let's Toast and Waffle Lot stamp and die sets by Lawn Fawn for this year's versions.

Let's Toast comes with an add-on set that allows it to be interactive.  There's a little slot in the toaster, and a simple mechanism behind it that creates the pull tab.  I don't own the dies for the waffle set... so I stamped, coloured (with Copics) and fussy cut a whole bunch of the waffles and tiny berries.

The papers are all older Lawn Fawn, and I mounted everything on some kraft paper.  The inside says "You are waffly cute!"

Crazy Birds!

I haven't pulled out my Tim Holtz Crazy Birds set in years... but The Papercrafter's Workshop is giving us prompts to use our supplies that we have, and when I pulled out this stamp set, I found 3 of the birds and a bunch of accessories coloured and fussy cut - ready to go.  One of the prompts was to use 5 different pieces of paper, so I pulled out my Lawn Fawn Really Plaid Rainbow papers (also many years old!) and got to work.

Another new thing is a sketch challenge on the Papercrafter's Inner Circle Facebook group page, so if you'll scroll down, you'll see the sketch that got everything rolling this week.  I used to do sketch challenges quite often, so it was fun to get back to doing something I enjoy, and I've ended up with a couple of cards for my efforts.

You'll find links to the groups on the Papercrafter's Workshop website.

Hello!

This was the first Betterpress plate that I bought and pressed... and I love it!  

I pulled out some Distress Oxide inks and did a little rainbow ink blending, using Kitsch Flamingo, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn and Mermaid Lagoon and ran it through my Betterpress, then matted it on blue cardstock.  My white base is a coverplate die from Pinkfresh Studio.

I used Spellbinders' Floral Spray die set to cut out a bunch of flowers & foliage in matching shades, and added it to the bottom of my card.  Happy to have two of these in my stash!

February Watercolour Weekend

 Hello Ai Watercolour fans!

My first card today is intended to be for any occasion, but would work perfectly as a Valentine if you wanted it to!

I stamped the largest bike from the 5124 - WC Bicycle Set onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper using #N55, then added the heart balloon from 5722 - Birthday Journal Set above it.  I mixed together #565/249 to make an aqua shade that was painted onto the bike, and shades of N55 & black were painted onto the tires and handlebar.  A wash of #126/177 was added in to create the grassy ground, and using the bullet tip of #177, I hand drew in some longer blades of grass around the tires.  I picked up #443 from my palette, and added it as a wash to the sky.  The large floral from 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 was stamped with #565 to fill in the square basket, then softened with a damp brush to pull out the colour.  For the front basket, I used the heart circles from 4868, in #743 and the Daisy Bunch from Flower Set - 4052 in #676 to create the floral clusters, then filled around them with the tiny sprig from 4867 - WC Foliage Set 2 in #126 and #177.  My favourite stamp - the Mini Foxglove from 4052 - was stamped repeatedly in #565 to create the two taller flower stalks.  After softening everything with a damp brush, the small twig from 4964 - WC Branches Set was added several times with #969.  I painted shades of #743/676 onto the balloon, being careful to keep some areas lighter to suggest a rounded shape.  I used a grey Twintone marker to draw in the string of the balloon.  Layers of #992/969 were added to the baskets for a natural look.  I used the single stem from 4868 in #743/177 to place some flowers around the tires, and used the markers directly on the paper to suggest some tiny flowers.

My scene was die cut using the 5062 - Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies, and the sentiment from 5734 - Friend Sentiments Set was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I added a 1/16" dark grey mat, and adhered everything on an angle with 3D foam tape, to the background paper from 5955 - Encouragement PP.

I have been wanting to create a window card for a while, so my second card is a scene that I painted onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, starting with the 5577 - Stone Bridge Simple Scene In #N55, then added 3 of the 5789 - Hot Air Balloon Set images in various sizes so they would look like they were floating away into the distance.

Since I knew I'd be using a window, I kept my scene tall and narrow, and used the window die as a guide.  I painted in #443 as the sky, being sure to leave some fluffy white spaces above the hills as a bank of clouds, and then also painted the blue into the stream, keeping the center of it lighter.  The clouds had streaks of grey added to them to create some texture, and the stream had #565 added to the edges to darken it even further.  #177 was washed in on all the hillsides, getting a little stronger in tone in the foreground, with some #126 added in.  The pathway and banks of the stream were painted with #992/947, and tones of N55/565 were painted around the bridge and rocks along the stream.  I stamped the tree & foliage from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage using #969/177/126, and added the clump of shrubs along one of the hills using #177.  The balloons were painted with #565/533/743/993/991/126/443 with 992 on the baskets.  I added darker shades of each colour where the lines of each balloon were, to indicate the shape of each one.

This is what my painting looked like before it went behind the window.

There is definitely a bit of planning involved in a window card!  I cut three layers of the window from 5543 - Journal Template Die Set, and glued them together, as I wanted the frame to be sturdy, and stand out from the wall.  I cut a piece of gingham paper from 5955 - Encouragement PP to 4" x 5 1/4", then cut a rectangle with just enough overlap to be able to glue the 1/8" wide window onto it.  To create my embellishments, I cut out the three flowers from 5588 - Journal Oval Frames from watercolour paper, along with the leafy sprig from 5591 - Journal Rectangle Frames, then painted all of my pieces using the same Tombow colours as my painting.  I used tweezers and some liquid glue to attach everything to the background.

The painting was adhered to a piece of tan cardstock, by holding it behind the window to ensure it was placed correctly.  I added 3D foam adhesive to the back of my window panel, as I wanted the dimension it would give to have my scene appear far away.  As I said - lots of planning!  But I think the end result was worth it.  There is room on the lower right panel for a sentiment - I almost stamped one, but thought I would jinx my finished piece... but a word or phrase could be easily added.  My sentiment will go on the inside.  See you next month!