Painted Cosmos Backdrop

 The Cosmos Backdrop was probably the 2nd press plate that I owned, and it is still my favourite one.

I pressed with Betterpress Black ink onto Canson XL Watercolour Paper, then pulled out my Gansai Tambei paints.

I need to paint more to improve my skills!  But am still pretty happy with this one.  I used a rectangle die to cut out the middle, then matted it with a slightly larger piece of black cardstock that I adhered back down with some thin foam adhesive.  

The sentiment is from the One Word Greetings Dies by Kristina Werner.

Floral J and Sentiment

I finished just under the wire to have this for the May Alphabet Soup challenge in the Papercrafter's Inner Circle Facebook group.  May was letters I & J.

This is the Floral J and Sentiment press plate - inked up with 3 Distress Oxide inks to create a rainbow ombre effect.  I used the Essential Arches dies to cut a little blue frame, and a larger orange arch for underneath.  The J panel is adhered with 3D foam adhesive.

I added a couple of flowers and some foliage from the Perfect Pies line, and added Wink of Stella to the image for some sparkle that doesn't show in the photos!  The paper is ancient Doodlebug, called 'Sunkissed'.  I love the summer vibe of this card!

H is for Happy Birthday cards

I am playing along with the Alphabet Soup challenge in the Papercrafter's Inner Circle group on Facebook.  This is H is for Happy Birthday.

I am using a pressed image of the Floral H and Sentiment Betterpress plates, pressed on watercolour paper, and painted in with shimmery metallic paints.  Happy to have another card that uses up some old papers.

Quick cards

This is definitely my most used product of the year so far!  This is the Thought You Knew press plate from Spellbinders.  Everyone that sees this sentiment smiles... sisters, brother-in-laws, friends... lots of uses for this!  Even my adult children will probably be getting one of these at some point.

I love that since the sentiment is the star of the show, that anything goes for the rest of the card.  It's been a great way to use up older paper pads.

Watercolour Tulips & Daffodils

I knew that I wanted to try painting this image as soon as I saw it, so I pressed a couple of them on some Canson XL Watercolour paper, and pulled out my Gansai Tambei set of paints.

 

This is the Yana's Tulips and Daffodils press & foil plate from Spellbinders.

Both versions are pretty similar, with slight variations.  This one has a softer background, and more red toned tulips.  I added some gold spatter, and a sentiment from the Golden Blooms set.

I stitched around the outside of the piece with my sewing machine, and added a few champagne pearls.

My second version has a moodier vibe, with a stronger background.

I went for more pink toned tulips, and used a sentiment from the Bouquet of Hugs set.

So much fun to paint!  You can find the set at The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Bright Daisy Trio

Still my favourite press plate!  This is the Daisy Trio by Yana Smakula for Spellbinders.

I was inspired by a stenciled daisy card by Mindy Eggen, loving her Distress Ink blend, and wanted to try something similar.  This first one is a blend of Dried Marigold, Abandoned Coral and Seedless Preserves.

I used a medium blue with the shadow stencil, that blended in so nicely with the background shades!

My blue card was pressed a while ago, using Pinkfresh Studio inks, but coloured in faintly with Spun Sugar Distress Oxide, plus Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint on the stems.

The sentiments on all my cards are the One Word Greetings Dies from Kristina Werner, cut out of white cardstock with a vellum halo.

And now for the grunge version!  I actually pressed this one first on a Cotton Card panel, which didn't give perfect coverage (but I still love how it turned out!).  So I splattered it with white paint and blue ink for an artsy finish.  My first card above, was pressed on regular cardstock, which gave that really wonderful ink blended background.

Trio of Tulips & Daffodils

I kind of went to town this week using the new Tulips and Daffodils press & foil plate from Yana Smakula for Spellbinders.  I made 3 cards, all with a very similar colour palette in three different ways.

My first card was foiled on some gingham printed Hammermill paper from Art Impressions, using Rose Gold foil.  This worked so beautifully!  I'm still pretty new to foiling, so when it works out this well, I'm just speechless.  I've really been wanting to try using the Ai papers, as I thought they'd be perfect for foiling.  The sentiment is from the Bouquet of Sentiments set, and I struggled to get this one to foil well.

Second card - just pressed with Betterpress black ink on regular cardstock.  Again, great image - and I coloured it with stencils/ink.  I added a little light blue ink in and around the flowers, probably wouldn't do this again, but it kept the background from looking too stark.  I cut it out with my Essential Arches dies, and matted it on some Ai patterned paper.  The sentiment was foiled in gold on the patterned melon coloured paper.

My third card was a bit of an experiment.  I wanted to press on some yellow cardstock, and do just a pale ink blend on the blooms.  I used Betterpress Saffron ink to press the image off center, and just lightly stenciled in the ink.  I used the Serenade Sentiments dies cut in metallic gold, and stacked with a second layer to add my sentiment across the bottom.

For someone who isn't a huge yellow fan, I've certainly been reaching for it lately!  But hey, daffodils...  Stay tuned, I may try some of the 'fantasy' coloured blooms that I've been seeing others do.  This collection will be available soon on the Papercrafter's Workshop site.

Yana's Tulips and Daffodils

Oh my!  This is one of the prettiest plates that I've played with in a while - Yana Smakula's Tulips and Daffodils.

I pressed it with Betterpress Black ink onto a Porcelain Cotton Card panel, then used Pinkfresh Studio inks with the coordinating stencils to add the colour.

I went in with a tiny brush to add extra shading to the daffodil centers.  The sentiment is from the Bouquet of Sentiments set in the same collection - die cut and popped up with 3D foam adhesive.

The collection will be available soon on The Papercrafter's Workshop website.

Thought You Knew/Craft Around

For those of you who attended the Craft Around event this past weekend with The Papercrafter's Workshop, it was a great day!  I taught one of the classes, showcasing the Betterpress with the Thought You Knew plate, and the A Banner Celebration dies.

At the event, attendees just made the green gingham card.

Everyone also practised doing an ombre watercolour effect, painting with Distress Inks.

This was a bonus card that I made for display.  Five cards were made by everyone, using a range of products from different companies.  If you're in the Greater Toronto Area, and are interested in attending - The Papercrafter's Workshop hold two of these each year.  Sign up for their emails!

Glimmered Thought You Knew

Pulled out my favourite new press plate, "Thought You Knew" - an exclusive to Crafter's Home stores.  This time I tried it glimmered with gold foil on a cream square, and it turned out beautifully!

I matted it with some gold cardstock, and adhered it with some 3D adhesive to a teal square.  The base paper is ancient October Afternoon paper - one of my favourite companies.

I used a couple of die sets from my stash to create the flowers, pulling out colours from the background, then used two pink Copic markers to colour in the heart.

You can find this plate at the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Petite Criss Cross

I recently acquired the Petite Criss Cross press plate from Spellbinders.  *I love anything sewing themed for cardmaking, and thought this would be a great background to coordinate with products that I already have.

I foiled the plate onto some pale peach cardstock with some copper foil, then added the smaller frame from Hoopla Oval by The Greetery.  I inked and spattered the frame a little to make it look more like a wooden embroidery hoop before gluing it down.  The floral bits are all from the Embroidered Blooms die set (also The Greetery) that I had cut out previously for a project - always happy to use up a few leftovers.

The hardware for the hoop was cut from some rose gold metallic cardstock, as was a halo mat for the sentiment.  The sentiment is from the You Are Everything Sentiments press plate, pressed in Copper Pot ink.

Thought You Knew!

I'm sharing my favourite new Spellbinders press plate today!  This is the 'Thought You Knew', which I purchased from The Papercrafter's Workshop.

I made two 5 1/2" square cards, using some ancient Lawn Fawn rainbow paper!  I pressed the plate onto some Prism Watercolour paper with Betterpress Black ink (a 3 1/4" square), then painted them in ombre fashion with Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers distress ink.

I used a fine paintbrush, and painted in the 'shadow' edges on each word, with the ink at full strength, and it really made the words pop!  Plus I used some glittery gold paint to paint in the heart.

I cut a slightly larger square of Brushed Gold Treasured cardstock from Spellbinders as a mat, and adhered it down to the card base, one of them on an angle.

The pressed images were adhered with 3D foam adhesive.  I've used two different floral stamp sets from The Greetery, Oopsie Daisy and Fleurs - both of which I had stamped and ready to go, to decorate my cards, and added a few iridescent pearls to one of them.

B is for Betterpress

I am playing along with the Alphabet Soup challenge on the Papercrafter's Inner Circle Facebook group.  Each month there will be 2 or 3 letters that you can feature in a project.  For January, I am doing B is for Blue, Best Wishes and Betterpress!

This is the Every Occasion Floral B and Sentiment press plate that came out a couple of years ago.  I have pressed it in Betterpress Black ink on watercolour paper, then used Distress Ink to paint in the florals.  I added some shimmery gold paint to the tiny leaves.

I die cut my image with Art Impressions Stitched Square die, and attached it to my base with 3D foam adhesive.  Before attaching, I had added both a dark blue and a shimmery ivory square mat, and wrapped some gold metallic thread around the entire card.

The finished card is 5 1/2" square.