Hello From the Pellet Factory

Today's first design team project is for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog where we are highlighting the "Smooshing" technique. I will also be entering my card over at Try Stampin' On Tuesday since I used both their sketch and their "Crazy Critters" theme.

To make the "smooshed" water color background, I used 2 colors of Brusho watercolor crystals on my craft sheet and sprayed a water based shimmer spray over top to activate the colors. I then picked up the colors on a 1/4 sheet of watercolor paper and used my heat tool to speed up the drying process between layers.

This quipy stamp set from Art Impressions is called Guinea Pig Out...the inside sentiment is something that all guinea pig owners will totally understand, because while they are super cute and sweet...piggies produce ALOT of waste for being such small creatures, lol!

I colored the cute piggie using Prisma colored pencils and mounted him with foam tape over an oval that I detailed with black pen faux stitching and watercolor splatters.

Until next time~

Go Ahead - Make a Splash!

Can you believe that it's May 1st already? And it's finally beginning to feel like spring where I live -thank goodness! Today's design team project was made using the "embossing resist technique" for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog. 

I took my embossing fluid ink pad directly to the paper through the stencil that I had taped down over my white A2 card base...after gently pulling the stencil up, I immediately sprinkled the clear embossing powder over top and then heat set it.

Over top of the clear embossing, I blended 3 different Distress Ink Colors then buffed off the clear so that the resist really popped! I colored the digital mermaid stamp using Sharpie and Bic alcohol based markers and cut it out using my Scan N Cut. Then I added the pale blue twine behind the image, splashed on some Sparkle Silk and used foam tape to pop her up. The wave strip is dry embossed and sanded, so this card has a nice variety of textures to it.

Until next time~

Donut Worry!

Today's design team project is for the April Mix It Up Challenge where it's "Anything Goes" and the optional technique this month is bleaching. Here's where I have to admit that I do NOT have a single drop of bleach in my house, lol...so my card doesn't fit the technique category this time... sorry!

Instead, I stamped the donuts with Versamark ink on glossy card stock and then ran my brayer over top using a rainbow ink pad to get a look that is similar to a bleaching technique.

I colored the kitty and donut using alcohol markers like Bic and Sharpie...not too shabby for office supplies! My daughter and her husband moved into their first home this weekend and I made this card for her - to help her smile through all the stress of the move...'cuz donuts and kitties are two of her favorite things! Needless to say, she LOVED it!

Until next time~

Hummingbird Wishes

Today's card was designed for this month's optional challenge of "Make Your Own Background" over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and is a soft, subtle example of making your own background using the chalk marbling technique.

 Here is a great video (but it's not mine!) that explains the chalk marbling process...enjoy. There's just something so magical and mysterious about pulling the paper back out of the water...you never know what you are gonna get, lol! 

All the images came from a beautiful stamp set that was a freebie from one of my recent crafting magazines from Great Britian and were stamped using Memento Black ink and coloring was done with Prismacolor pencils.

Sequins in two colors and a "happy" diecut from aqua glimmer paper complete the front of this A2 card. Until next time ~ happy crafting!

Welcome 2018 - Happy New Year!!!

Today's card was made using digital stamps for the January masking challenge at the MIUCB.

The masking technique I used simply involved covering over the area the sentiment was printed in with 2 mini Post-It notes to protect the area while I splattered on the FSJ Silk in 4 glittering and metallic colors to mimic confetti.

The outside digi sentiment is FREE from Create With TLC . The little girl I bought from The Greeting Farm and colored with Chameleon pencils. 

The inside sentiment is a retired stamp from The Angel Company.

Blessings to you in 2018 and may you have a healthy and safe new year~

Fancy Folds: Making an Envelope Punch Board Handbag

Today's design team project for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog was made for the December monthly challenge of Fancy Folds. You can play along and see the other designer's projects here on the challenge blog.

The pictures have highlighted some of the tools that I used to make this cute little handbag but to really understand how it was made, just click on this You Tube link from the Paper Pixie to watch how it is done step-by-step. Her video is easy to follow and is exactly what I did to make mine from a 12 x 12 sheet of paper.

Stampin' Up Envelope Punch Board

Score Buddy

The patterned paper, lace and flower accent that I used for mine came from Itsy Bitsy. I used SU! Tear & Tape for the body of the purse and the Best Glue Ever to adhere the embellishments. The last step involved some die cutting and heat embossing to make the metallic gold greeting medallion.

I don't usually make too many 3D items, but this was alot of fun and very easy to do, so I will be exploring lots more ways to use my envelope punch board for things other than just envelopes, lol. Until next time, happy crafting~

A Sparkly Love Anniversary Card

Today's card was designed for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog November Design Team with the optional technique of "Stenciling" using the sketch from Sunday Stamps as my inspiration. It will also be entered @ Crazy 4 Challenges for "Using Pink" and @ heARTful Stamping for "Anything Goes + a Stamp". 

The first step in making this card was to stencil the polka dots design on the front of an A2 sized horizontal top folding card made from Bristol cardstock for it's sturdiness qualities and ability to take the wetness from the gel medium well. I used Frog tape to secure it to my work mat and then used a palette knife to evenly spread the matte gel medium across the stencil on the card front. I then carefully pulled the stencil off and sprinkled the crystal glitter all over the wet gel. I also rinsed the gel off the stencil right away! I then set this aside to dry while I worked on the other parts of the card.

 I stamped and heat embossed the blooms from Close to my Heart in Silver Pearl powder, colored them with watercolors and cut them out using the matching die set once they were completely dry.

Using the sketch as my guide, I trimmed the vellum layer and added the washi tape banner. The "love" was die cut from some DCVW holographic paper I bought at a stamp and scrap store while we were on vacation in Bermuda.

There is so much sparkle and shimmer on this card -I just LOVE it, lol! As you may be able to see here, I even added clear wink of Stella to the blossoms.

Once everything was assembled, I wrapped the silver thread around the card front 2 times, tied it in a bow and secured it with a mini glue dot. The bloom was adhered with foam pop dots, but everything else is glued flat.

Inside, I stamped the sentiment in London Fog Memento ink and added the embossed and die cut blue bloom. This card will be going out in the mail to one of my sister-in-laws and her hubby in the next few weeks.

Until next time~

Tranquil Pines for a Peace Filled Holiday Season

Today's card is my October creation for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog where "anything goes", but we also have an optional theme of "Watercolors" this month and I used sketch #340 from Try Stampin' on Tuesday where the optional theme was "Petite Patterns".

This card is made on a top folded vertical white A2 card base and the pattern papers from my stash were chosen for their colors and because of the "Petite Patterns" they showcased -I think they came from SU.  The metallic layer is a pretty platinum and I think it came from Creative Memories at one time. The stamp set is another oldie from Stampin' Up too. As you may be able to tell, I have had a hard time parting with these gorgeous holiday stamp sets over the years, lol. It's hard to make holiday cards when it is still so hot outside, but I know that if I don't start now, I will never get them all done!

Since the technique of the month at MIUCB is watercoloring, I tried out something that I've been wanting to do for quite a while now...I applied the Distress Ink colors directly from the inkpad onto the stamp, stamped it onto the watercolor paper and then blended the ink like watercolor paints using a waterbrush. I was really pleased with how nicely the ink moved on the watercolor paper and love how it turned out!

Then I re-stamped the image using Versamark ink and heat embossed it using Holographic powder to give it a gorgeous sparkle and shine. I then watercolored the sky and the shadows using Distress Inks.

I love how the inks watercolor blended so nicely, yet still maintained a good bit of the images stamped details!

To stamp the sentiment, I used a post-it note to mask off the bottom of the saying before I inked it up so that I could capture just the first line for the card front...trimmed it out and popped it up with mini foam dots. I wish the photo would capture the sparkle better, but you can catch a glimpse at the top of  the largest pine in this picture.

Inside I masked the sentiment again -doing the reverse this time and masking the top part so that I could stamp only the bottom two lines and watercolor washed a little blue behind the dove. The embossing I did on the dove tells the story of why I now have ordered myself a Stamp-a-Majig after 15+ years of having resisted doing so, lol. The re-stamping with the versamark was much harder to line up than the card front because I didn't have the edges of the paper to use as my guide -hence it is waaay off, lol! Oh well, it just adds to the hand-made charm of the card and makes it look like the dove is in motion, right? - at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it, lol!

Until next time~