Sponged Serene Silhouettes

Today I'm sharing a very simple card using masking and sponging. It features the stamp sets Serene Silhouettes and the sentiment is from Sweet Essentials. This was one of the cards we made at our stamp club class in June.  I've posted the free PDF Class Tutorial HERE, if you'd like the supply list and instructions. The tutorial also includes two other cards.

I made several versions of the card using different color combinations. My favorite was the Pistachio Pudding/Marina Mist/Wisteria Wonder combination. The other two color combinations are Pink Pirouette/Strawberry Slush and Hello Honey/Cajun Craze/Baked Brown Sugar. All were stamped in Early Espresso. I also added some scoring above and below the sponged area to add some texture.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Butterfly Flower Fest

Here's a very simple card, but I love the doodle look and the fact that I can watercolor the image. The butterflies are from the Flower Fest stamp set, which I've been using quite a bit lately. I love the doodly openness of the images.

I stamped images with black Stazon and then colored the outer edges of the butterflies with Daffodil Delight. I added a pop of contrast with a couple of Poppy Parade scallop flowers from the Itty Bitty punch pack.

Hope that you're having a great day!

SUPPLIES

INK: Black Stazon, Daffodil Delight

SS: Flower Fest, Happy Watercolor (sentiment)

CS: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade (retired)

PUNCH: Butterfly (retired), Itty Bitty scallop flower, Scallop Edge

Accessories: Jewels-rhinestones

Visit my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Amy Hooks, to order supplies

So Very Grateful Mother's Day

Here’s another one of my favorite stamp sets, So Very Grateful, which yes, has also been retired. It’s such a cute set, and another great one for watercoloring. I did notice in the hostess section of the new 2014-15 SU catalog that there is a similar set called I Like You.

I had fun creating my own curved digital sentiment using a cute Google font called "Butterfly Kids" that looks like handwriting. I stamped my floral image using Stazon black and watercolored the flowers and leaves onto Whisper White CS and fussy-cut them, so that they could be dimensionalled onto the card front. I used my blender pen and reinkers for coloring, using Crisp Cantaloupe and Pool Party for the flowers, Pistachio Pudding for the leaves and Summer Starfruit for floral centers.

Thank you for taking time to stop by!

SUPPLIES:

PAPER: Whisper White CS, Strawberry Slush CS

INK: Black Stazon, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Pistachio Pudding, Summer Starfruit

SS: So Very Grateful, digital sentiment

PUNCHES: Scallop Edge

ACCESSORIES: Blender pen, jewels-rhinestones

Visit my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Amy Hooks, to order supplies

Masculine Ink Swipe

Here are my Father's Day cards from last month...better late than never.

 I used the Ink Swipe Technique for these cards. (Visit my Ink Swipe Medallion post for another example of the technique.) I used a couple of retired stamp sets, the Happy Father's Day sentiment is from the All Holidays stamp set, but I don't know the name of the background stamps...sorry! The only current stuff on these cards are the colors. They are the 2014-15 In-Colors: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist. I printed the DSP paper from MDS, coloring a grid pattern Tangelo Twist.

These are all about the same with a few minor changes. On the second card above I inked my craft sheet, spritzed the sheet with water and then stamped, whereas with the other cards, I inked my craft sheet, but spritzed the stamp instead of the craft sheet and then stamped into the ink.

 Both are fun, but I preferred the cleaner look. These make great one-layer cards. I love the bold black sentiment against the bright inked colors. It makes a great contrast.

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope that you have a great day!

SUPPLIES:

INK: Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist, Memento Tuxedo Black

PAPER: 100 lb smooth watercolor paper, Whisper White, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist, MDS DSP paper

SS: All Holidays for sentiment (retired), background stamp unknown

BIG SHOT: Stars framelit

ACCESSORIES: Craft sheet, sequins, water spritzer, jewels-rhinestones

Visit my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Amy Hooks, to order supplies

Floral Perfect Pennants

I love this sentiment..."Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful". When the Perfect Pennants stamp set came out I wanted to make myself a card using this sentiment. What a good reminder, right? It's good to be reminded to be thankful for all the wonderful blessings in our lives! I take so much for granted sometimes.
When I designed this card it was for a card class I had planned to teach last February, but life got busier with my family, and I felt the Lord saying it was time to step out of all the "extras" and concentrate on the wonderful family blessings He's given me in this season of my life. No regrets there!

I did get to teach this class at our Stamp Club at Amy's last month, which was a whole lot of fun (the ladies make the fun). I had the tutorial pretty much put together, so the club class was a good reason to finish it up. I've posted the free PDF Class Tutorial HERE, if you'd like the supply list and instructions. The tutorial includes two other cards, which I'll be posting pictures of in the near future.

Have fun!!

Ink Swipe Medallion

I pulled out an old stampset, the Medallion, so that I could play around with another watercolor trend in card making, the Ink-Swipe technique. Today's technique was given to me by my stamping, friend, Nan (Thanks, Nan!) at our last month's Stamp Club class. She shared how to ink up your craft sheet, give it a spritz of water and then use it as a stamp pad to ink up your image. I had better luck laying down my ink on the craft sheet like she suggested, but spritzing my stamp with water instead of the craft sheet, then placing it into the ink and proceeding to stamp on watercolor paper. Just my preference, as both ways turned out great.

One of the fun things about watercolor is you're always surprised. Ink and water never produce the same results twice. I love surprises!

So glad that you stopped by!

SUPPLIES:

INK: Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar

PAPER: 100 lb smooth watercolor paper, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar

SS: Medallion (retired, but use any large stamp), Sweet Essentials (use your favorite sentiment)

PUNCHES: Petite Petals, Itty Bitty punch pack-Scallop

ACCESSORIES: Craft sheet, water spritzer, jewels-rhinestones

Visit my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Amy Hooks, to order supplies