Circles All Around

I was inspired by the Simon Says Stamp Monday Going Around in Circles challenge  that I made another card for the challenge. This one was made with foiled alcohol inked Yupo paper circles.

Not wanting to waste any of the awesome yellow, orange and blue coloured background that was left after fussy cutting out a stamped lifted design in the making of this card, I used a glue pen and added some gold foil accents.

Next, I used a variety of circle punches (3/8", 1/2", 3/4" & 1" sizes) to punch out circles. After arranging some of them on a 3 4/2" x 5 1/2" white card base, I adhered them at different level using glue, Glue Dots, and Foam to give them a variety of dimensions.

I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Script Thanks from Black Bazzill cardstock and adhered it to the card. Then, I stamped "a bunch" from a Winnie and Walter stamp set. To finish the card off, I doodled a double ring of faux stitches around three of the circles using a 05 Micron pen.

Thanks to Simon Says Stamp Monday Going Around in Circles challenge as it sparked some great ideas and I had circles of fun.

TTFN,

A Little Bird Told Me

Happy Monday! Today I am up on the Magenta blog with a card featuring no line pencil crayon colouring on kraft. I have wanted to give this technique a try for some time as I have always been inspired by Debby Hughes' wonderfully coloured creations. If you haven't seen her creations or card making videos, be sure to check out her Blog and/or her YouTube channel and you will be in for a treat.

I used the cute Magenta spring Flowering Nest - Nesting Bird stamp for this card. Because the image is 2.75” x 3.25” in dimension, I went with a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" kraft card base. I positioned the cardbase and the stamp in a MISTI stamp positioning tool and stamped it with VersaMark ink two times to give a clear enough outline to follow for colouring. Then, I coloured the image using Staedtler colouring pencils, working from light to dark colours. As the colouring progressed, the VersaMark ink virtually disappears as it blends in. Once, I was happy with my colouring, I splattered a watered down mix of white acrylic paint. Once, that was dry, I stamped the A Little Bird Told Me... sentiment with VersaMark ink and heat set it with gold embossing powder. It appeared a little light on the kraft so to make it stand out a bit more, I took a sharp dark brown pencil crayon and added some shadows to the lettering.

Using pencil crayons is a fun and relaxing way to colour a stamped image. I particularly love the soft look it creates on kraft paper. I hope you are inspired to give this technique a try. 


TTFN,

*****

Magenta products used:

Flowery Nest - Nesting Bird

A Little Bird Told Me...

Circles of Fun

I had created an alcohol inked circles background a long time ago but had never used it for anything. When I saw this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Going Around in Circles challenge, it tweeked my memory and I went in search of it in my future use folder. I decided to turn it into this thank you card as an entry.

I added a Tim Holtz butterfly by stamping it with white pigment ink. When it was dry, I found it to be a tad too light and the ink had taken on some of the colour from the inks below, so I went over the image with a white pen. I mounted the panel onto a white cardstock background and adhered a Simon Says Stamped Painted Thanks die cut from white Bazzill cardstock.

The original background panel was created on Yupo paper using Tim Holtz Alcohol inks (Watermelon, Sunshine Yellow & Raspberry) and the mini Ringer stencil from Tim Holtz Stencil Set 7. I did some colour mixing in an alcohol ink storage tray to create the shade of colours that I wanted. Then, I used a paint brush and painted each circle of the stencil in a somewhat random design and I painted all the diamond shaped spaces in yellow. I was so pleased at the time with how it turned out. Now I am even happier with the finished creation!

Be sure to check out the other Going Around in Circles inspirational creations from their design team and from other participants.

TTFN,

Alcohol Lift Ink Cards

Hello Crafty Mates!

Today, I am sharing two cards made from my first experimentation results using alcohol ink stamp lifting. My colour combo choice was inspired by last week's Color Throwdown colour combo #539. I knew that that particular colour mix would be a tricky challenge with using alcohol inks as there was the potential to make mud but I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and play to figure out a way to make it work.


This first one is a CAS version.

After adding Tim Holtz Alcohol inks in Sunshine Yellow, Valencia, Turquoise, and Pool mixed with Alcohol Ink Blending Solution onto 5x7" Yupo paper, I let it dry. Next, I used the Simon Says Stamp Emma Background stamp in my MISTI along with Ranger Alcohol Lift ink to stamp on the Yupo paper. Then, I switched out the Yupo for my 4 1/4" x 6 5/8" Neenah 80 lb Smooth Solar White cardstock base and stamped the lifted image onto it. Then, I reinked the stamp with the Lift ink and repeated the stamping on the Yupo background and then back onto the card base. That is where using a MISTI is invaluable in allowing perfect restamping positioning! Lastly, to finish the card off, I die cut the sentiment using the Simon Says Stamp Script Thanks combo wafer die using vellum for the background and four layers of Bazzill black cardstock for the inner Thanks piece and adhered it to the card.


The second card is a stepped up mixed media version of the first card's design using the stamped Yupo piece.

After removing any excess Alcohol Lift ink from the Emma Background stamped image, I buffed the image with a piece of paper towel to deepen the contrast with more ink removal. Next, I fussy cut out the design and added Prima turquoise foil to the areas of the alcohol ink that were still slightly tacky. I popped it up with some fun foam cut slightly smaller that the design shape and adhered it to the Yupo paper and a 5 x 6 1/2" kraft card base. Then, for some detailed embellishment, I hand cut and mini circle punched a small piece of felt and added it along with jewels in the colour combo's colours in orange, yellow and blue to match. Lastly, to finish this one off, I used the Simon Says Stamp Painted Thanks wafer die, layered four die cut pieces made with Bazzill black cardstock and adhered it to the card.


This close up shows the foiled detail a bit better.

This was the colour combo inspiration photo.

I am entering these cards into the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #121 Die-ing for Creativity challenge and the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge.

I hope you like this initial attempts. As I mentioned earlier that I knew the colour combo would be a tricky one to work with using alcohol inks, I didn't stop at creating one coloured Yupo base. I ended up making three so I look forward to creating more cards from them and sharing them with you in the future.


TTFN,

Hoppity Easter - An Easter Bunny Blog Hop

***UPDATE: This card appeared in the Spring 2020 edition of Creative Scrapbooker Magazine.

Welcome to the next stop on the Easter Bunny Hop! "An Artsy Egg-stravaganza" of inspirational creations brought to by a variety of mixed media artists organized by Cathy Frailey (owner of Bleeding Art challenge blog).

Cassandra here, joining in the Easter hoppity fun with this mixed media card that I created by upcycling two sizes of paper clips into some cute little bunny faces.

I started by creating a brayered acrylic paint background on a 6 1/4 " x 4" Strathmore 400 series Mixed Media paper using Dina Wakley's Heavy Body paint in Sky and Lime.

Next, I added some sparkley pattern texture with Vicki Boutin's Creative FX Iridescent glaze through a Hero Arts Flower Background stencil. Then, I added some white paint splatters with Elmer's White Opaque Painters marker by depressing the tip several times until the paint begins to flow and then gently taping the marker with a finger over the background to distribute the splatters.

While the background was drying, I got to work on the bunnies. I used a folded and gel medium glued piece of recycled white tissue paper as I fashioned it over the paper clips allowing the silver metal to show in desired places to create the bunny outline definition. Once they were dry, I trimmed them to the metal's edge, added a small piece of pink felt for the noses along with three pieces of thread as whiskers, used a Dina Wakley Magenta Scribble stick and a waterbrush to give the inside of the ears a little colour and then, drew in eyes and the under part of the nose.

Next, I trimmed a piece of Creative Scrapbooker's Super Stock as the card base allowing for a 3/16" border and folding it in a tent style. I used Ranger Multi Media Matte gel to glue my distressed edged background piece to the card front. While that was drying, I trimmed a piece of pink cardstock into a long sentiment strip and stamped it with a CTMH Some Bunny Loves You sentiment in a Misti using VersaMark ink and Simon Says STamp Fine White Embossing Powder. After heat setting it and trimming each end, I folded it to create a sentiment banner. Lastly, I adhered the three paperclip based bunnies and the banner to the card and it was done.

Supplies: 400 Series Mixed Media paper (Strathmore), Super Stock cardstock (Creative Scrapbooker Magazine), Dina Wakley Sky and Lime Heavy Body Acrylic paint, Dina Wakley Magenta Scribble Stick, Multi Media Matte gel (Ranger), Flower Background Stencil (Hero Arts), Vicki Boutin Creative FX Iridescent glaze (American Crafts), white Painters paint marker (Elmer's Products), sentiment stamp (CTMH), VersaMark (Tsukineko), Fine White Emboss Powder (Simon Says Stamp), pink cardstock (The Paper Company), black pen (Staedtler), Candy Pink felt (Creatology), paperclips, tissue and black thread (misc.)

I can't help but smile when I look at this card. I hope it brings you some joy too!

Now for my blog's hop giveaway... a $15 Gift Certificate for Simon Says Stamp (my favourite online crafty store)!

To be entered into my blog's Easter Bunny Blog Hop giveaway draw, you simply have to be a follower of my blog or become a follower and leave a comment below on this post. You can gain an additional entry by also following me on Instagram here. Giveaway closes Saturday, April 27th at 11:59 PM.

For your next stop on the Easter Bunny Hop, please head on over to Whimsy Chic Paper Crafts.

If you are just beginning on the Easter Hop with a visit here on my blog, below is the full list of all the inspirational Easter Hop talent in hop order:

It's Oddly Appealing

Paper Mache Patch

Psychotic ramblings of a Serial Scrapper

    

Kelly Parker Designs

Georgia Girl In Maine - Amylove

Matter of Crafts - Jessica Larios

Priya Satish

LeeAnn McKinney Mimis Crafty Abyss

The Crafty Moussekateer

Life in a Snapshot

Juli Loves Paper

Scrap Savvy Creations (you are here) 

Whimsy Chic Paper Crafts

CMP Designs

A big thank you goes out to Cathy for organizing this hop. Be sure to visit all the hop stops for some awesome Easter themed mixed media creations and be sure to leave some love!

Happy Easter!

TTFN,