A couple of party pals

The Party Pals stamp set and die combo was one of the items I received in my prize package from Taylored Expressions back in September. I've only had a chance to make one card with it so far, but I think it's a pretty cute card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Party Pals stamp and die combo (Taylored Expressions), Birthday Balloons (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bermuda Bay, watercolor pencils
Accessories: Washi tape (Paper Pumpkin kit), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, Word Bubbles Framelits dies, Dimensionals

What do you think? I colored the characters with watercolor pencils, adding Wink of Stella for a little sparkle, and used a strip of washi tape to ground them and give them a place to "stand." The sentiment fit perfectly in the word bubble die, and the tone-on-tone stars add a festive detail without distracting from the focal images.

I had to play around for awhile before I settled on this layout, but I love how the card ultimately came together. Thanks for stopping by!

Let's be mermaids!

A few months ago I "discovered" the Essentials by Ellen products on ellenhutson.com. So far I've only purchased stamps and dies from the product line, but I've really enjoyed using them. I think my favorite is the Mermaid's Tail stamp set. It has a large detailed mermaid tail image that you can use for a variety of different techniques, as well as some really great sentiments. I used that set to make a couple of fun mermaid cards during my birthday craft retreat.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Mermaid's Tail (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock
Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Mermaid Mix sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

This card has a really clean, one-layer design and uses limited supplies, but I absolutely love the way it turned out. To create the multicolored mermaid tails, I carefully tapped my Bermuda Bay ink pad on just the fin part of the stamp, Pool Party on the lower part of the tail and Lemon Lime Twist on the top part of the tail. I stamped the image in the upper left corner of the card, re-applied the ink, rotated the block and stamped the image again in the bottom right corner.

I stamped the sentiment (which I love and heartily agree with!) using Bermuda Bay ink and scattered a few sequins around the mermaid tails. I wanted to add a little more sparkle, so I used my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to paint over the fins scallop shapes on the tails. It's hard to see when you look at the card straight on, but it has all kinds of sparkle when you tilt the card to catch the light.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless noted):
Stamps: Mermaid's Tail, Otter Ware (both Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Claypso Coral, Lemon Lime Twist, Tranquil Tide, Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: 4mm and 6mm sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Aqua Painter, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

For this card I used just one color for the mermaid tail stamp: Bermuda Bay. I stamped the image at the top of a panel of white card stock, and to add more color to the card, I stamped some seaweed and a seashell along the bottom of the panel using Lemon Lime Twist, Tranquil Tide and Calypso Coral. (The inner parts of the Calypso Coral images were colored with an Aqua Painter brush.)

Naturally, the card needed some sparkle, so I added three clear sequins. I also gave some shine to the mermaid's tail, this time with a Gelly Roll pen. It has a bit more of a silvery look than the Wink of Stella, but it still adds a fun detail and finishing touch.




Thanks for stopping by -- and let's be mermaids!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had every intention of having at least one or two blog posts already done by this point in the week. But with work, a couple of evening plans and general exhaustion - yesterday I was so tired I dozed off in the early evening and didn’t wake up until 10 to eat dinner - I obviously haven’t accomplished that goal. But today I want to share my heartfelt wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for all of my blog readers and crafty friends, and however you are spending the day - traveling, feasting, working or relaxing - I wish for you an abundance of blessings and many opportunities to share them with others. Have a safe and happy holiday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with Distress Oxide inks, Part II

As promised in my last post, here are the rest of the cards I made after my first play session with Distress Oxide inks. While the last batch had a birthday theme, most of these cards focus on elements of nature.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Under the Sea (Heartfelt Creations)
Paper: Mint Macaron card stock, copper foil, 110-lb white card stock (Recollections)
Ink: VersaMark, Distress Oxides: Walnut Stain, Broken China, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint (Ranger)
Accessories: Under the Sea dies (Heartfelt Creations), clear detail embossing posder, Go Green sequins (Craft Medley), Tide embossing folder (Lifestyle Crafts), iridescent sequin assortment, copper trim, Dimensionals, water spritzer

The Broken China (blue) and Fossilized Amber (yellow) colors of Distress Oxide inks combined to make a minty color on parts of the background for this card, so I used a Mint Macaron card base embossed with a wave patter. To pick up the brown tones I used copper foil to mat the panel and to make the focal image. (I stamped on the foil with VersaMark, embossed it with clear powder and then die cut the image.) I wrapped a piece of copper trim -- stretched out to give it a nautical feel -- around the panel and added a few sequins to look like water drops.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: Soft Sky, Lemon Lime Twist, vellum card stock; 110-lb white card stock (Recollections)
Ink: Soft Sky, Distress Oxides: Faded Jeans, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint, Broken China (Ranger)
Accessories: Butterflies Thinlits dies, Bold Butterfly Framelits dies, Large Scallop Edgelit die small butterfly punch, burlap trim, 4mm clear droplets (Pretty Pink Posh), Go Green and Rhythm 'n Blues sequins (Craft Medley), Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), Glue Dots, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

For this card I used Framelits to cut and punch basic butterfly shapes out of the Distress Oxide panel. Then I cut the detailed pieces out of vellum for the two larger butterflies and layered them together.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Inside and Out Birthday (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade, Dapper Denim card stock; white 110-lb card stock (Recollections)
Ink: Dapper Denim, Distress Oxides: Faded Jeans, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber (Ranger)
Accessories: Pansy punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Flower Fair Framelits dies, White Perfect Accents, clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, burlap ribbon, Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), Dimensionals, water spritzer

For the flowers on this card, I punched out two shapes from each color for each flower. I bent up the petals a bit on one flower of each color and then layered it on the same color flower so the petals overlapped. It's hard to see in this photo, but I also used my clear Wink of Stella pen to add a touch of glitter to the the Crumb Cake center of each flower as well as the edges of the petals.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Basic Black card stock; 110-lb white card stock (Recollections)
Ink: Journaling pen, Distress Oxides: Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Faded Jeans (Amber)
Accessories: Up and Away Thinlits dies, Iridescent Sequin Assortment, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

So I know a hot air balloon isn't really a natural element, but the clouds in the background are, right? The multi-colored Distress Oxide background works great here behind the detailed hot air balloon die cut. I didn't want to detract from the balloon, so I kept the rest of the card simple: a few die-cut clouds, sequins and a hand-drawn border.

All in all, I had a lot of fun experimenting with my Distress Oxide inks. I did have to work on letting go of perfection. (I am not good at practicing. If I can't do something perfectly right away, I often convince myself that I can't do it and just give up. It's silly, but my mind seems to work like that sometimes.) But once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed it.

When I made these cards I only had six colors of the Distress Oxide inks. Since then I've bought a couple more, and I think I'll keep adding to my collection! Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with Distress Oxide inks, Part I

OK, I know my blogging has been sporadic for the past month or so. October was crazy busy, and I kept waiting for things to quiet down a bit. I told myself that November would be better. Well, it has been a little quieter in terms of commitments and activities, but now I've got loads of crafting to do to get ready for the holidays. Soooo ... maybe it will be quieter in January? At any rate, I have a mess of projects to share, so I just need to start cranking out some blog posts. They may be shorter than usual, but at least they'll be out there. And if you ever have questions about something I don't explain, just leave me a comment.

Now, in my post about my Second Official October Craft Weekend, I mentioned that I had cards to share from my first play session with Tim Holtz's Distress Oxide inks. I didn't specify that said session was back in July. July, people. It's almost the middle of November, and I'm finally getting to these cards. Sigh. But I digress. I actually ended up with seven cards, so I'm going to share three today and four in my next post.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Whole Lotta' Happy (WPlus9 Design Studio)
Paper: Ballet Blue card stock, white 110-lb card stock (Recollections)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Distress Oxide: Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Faded Jeans (Ranger)
Accessories: Streamers embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), Balloon punch, clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, white crochet thread (DMC), Dimensionals

Since this was my first time playing with Distress Oxide inks, I used scraps of cheaper white card stock for my experimentation. I'm not going to attempt to explain what exactly I did -- it's a combination of ink, water and a heat gun -- but I found some helpful videos online. My results were mixed: Some of the pieces I really liked, and some were pretty ugly. But even with some of the pieces I didn't really care for, I was able to punch and die cut various shapes. That's what I did for this card to make the balloons. Then I just added strings and a sentiment banner and adhered everything to an embossed card base.

I applied Wink of Stella clear glitter to some of the embossed streamers to add a little sparkle. An easy peasy -- but still fun and festive -- birthday card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turquoise, Ballet Blue card stock; 110-lb white card stock (Recollections)
Ink: Distress Oxide: Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, Broken China (Ranger); white gel pen
Accessories: Balloon punch, Arrows embossing folder, white crochet thread (DMC), Go Green sequins (Craft Medley), Dimensionals, Glue Dots

Here's another balloon card, but with the "fancy" piece as the background. I did a little blue color blocking with the Distress Oxide inks, so I used similar card stock colors for the balloons but with opposite shades (light balloons on the darker background and dark balloon on the lighter background). I layered the panel on blue card stock, added a bow and a few sequins and used Dimensionals to attach the piece to an embossed card base.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Birthday Balloons (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight card stock; 110-lb white card stock (Recollections)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade; Distress Oxide: Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Broken China (Ranger)
Accessories: Stars, Banner Framelits dies; Merry Minis punch pack; clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen; Mini Dimensionals; Mono Multi liquid glue

I think this is my favorite card of this bunch. I love all the stars and the bright colors. (Tempting Turquoise is a hard color for me to use, but I think it's perfect here with Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight.) I was also really pleased with how the background piece turned out for this card.

The stars did need a little twinkle, so I broke out my trusty Wink of Stella glitter brush pen.

I painted all the die-cut and punched stars with a few coats of glitter to give them some good sparkle. I love a little sparkle!

Funny side story: For my birthday, one of my good friends gave me a dishtowel that says, "Dip it in glitter. It will be fine." I love it! I don't use loose glitter too often, because it can get messy, especially with two cats around, but controlled glitter, like glitter glue or pens, is fab.

That's it for Part I of my first experimentation with Distress Oxide inks. Stayed tuned for the next four cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Last two card sets

I've been sharing the card sets I made as prizes for my cousin's baby shower, and I have two sets left. Unlike the other sets, these cards included stamped greetings, so each set has four different cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Jar of Love
Paper: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Peekaboo Peach card stock; Neutrals Designer Series Paper (DSP) stack
Ink: Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Peekaboo Peach, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Everyday Jars Framelits dies; Pool Party thick baker's twine; yellow and peach floss (past Paper Pumpkin kits); Brights, Subtles, In Color enamel shapes; clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen; Dimensionals; Mono Multi liquid glue; Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch; Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

I started by choosing an image to use with each sentiment and then stamping, die cutting and assembling the jars using the color combo of Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight and Peekaboo Peach. I had a hard time deciding on a card layout that worked with each of the jars, so I settled on something simple: I used a neutral Smoky Slate card base with a strip of Smoky Slate text-printed DSP. Behind the bottom edge of the DSP on each card I adhered a strip of scalloped card stock in the same color as the twine tied to the jar. I rounded the corners of the card bases, placed an enamel dot in the upper right corner and added a bit of sparkle by applying clear Wink of Stella glitter on the stamped images.

The second card set is a little more bright and bold. I also ended up with a "bonus" card that I used as a birthday card for my stash.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Sprinkles and Smiles (Penny Black)
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock, Fiesta Forever card stock stack (DCWV)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Ray of Sunshine cutting plate (Taylored Expressions), Starburst and 2" circle punches, gold sequin trim, iridescent sequins (unknown), Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), gold/white twine

I bought the Ray of Sunshine die at the stamp expo last summer, and this was my first chance to try it out. I used the die to cut five pieces of bright card stock with tone-on-tone patterns. I mixed and matched the pieces and adhered each background to a white card base.

For the focal point, I stamped four sentiments on white card stock and punched them out with a 2" circle punch. I layered each white circle on a starburst punch that matches the "frame" of the background. I added a length of sequin trim behind the sentiment and three individual sequins around the sentiment.

Here is the fifth card. For this one I decided to skip the sequin trim and instead added a gold bow to the focal layer and three sequins on the patterned paper. (I think I like this layout a bit better.)

I also painted clear Wink of Stella glitter over the yellow segments to add some fun shine:















Whew! Now that I've shared all those card sets, I can move onto other projects. And I actually have quite a few that I've been saving. Thanks for stopping by!

Cheery yellow coneflowers

I'm back to share the third card design I used for the card sets for my cousin's shower. This set of four (all the same design) features a simple yellow coneflower.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Art Definition, Beth's Coneflower (both Endless Creations), Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Crushed CUrry, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Daffodil Delight double-stitched ribbon, Stardust clear Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), 4mm and 6mm Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Simply Scored board, Dimensionals, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

I've looked at this coneflower stamp at several of the past rubber stamp shows I've attended, and I finally decided to buy it last summer. I also bought the definition background stamp, and I think they work so well together. I love this image stamped in yellow; yellow flowers always look so cheery.

For this card I stamped the definition on Whisper White card stock with Crumb Cake ink. I wanted to add some shading to the flower, so I inked the petals with Daffodil Delight and then lightly applied Crushed Curry along the edges of the petals. I did the same with the stem and leaves using Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive. (The center of the flower is Early Espresso.) Unfortunately, the two yellows were too similar, and I couldn't see the shading. So I accented parts of the flowers with a glitter pen:

I added three clear sequins around the stamped image and tore off the edges of the card stock to add a bit of a rustic look.

For the rest of the card I scored a border around the edges of a Crumb Cake card base. I used a splatter-type image to add a subtle background. I adhered a piece of Daffodil Delight ribbon just below the middle of the card front and used Dimensionals to attach the focal layer over the ribbon.

I was having so much fun playing with this stamp that I decided to make another design that I turned into a birthday card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Beth's Coneflower (Endless Creations)
Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, white gel pen
Accessories: Layering Ovals Framelits dies, washi tape (Stampin' Up! and Eyeloet Outlet), Crushed Curry baker's twine, Dazzling Metallics sequins (Craft Medley), paper-piercing tool, Stardust clear Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

I stamped the flower using the same technique as with the previous card. This time I die cut the flower with an oval die and added a scalloped Early Espresso oval behind the flower. I pierced a hole in each scallop to add an extra detail and then glued a bow to the flower stem.

For the card front, I placed three pieces of washi tape across a piece of Crumb Cake card stock. I adhered the focal piece over the washi tape and added three gold sequins. The background seemed a little plain, so I doodled a double border around the edges of the Crumb Cake card stock and then adhered the whole panel to an Early Espresso card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

My own Painted Harvest DSP

Last week I posted one of the card designs I used for the card sets I made for my cousin's baby shower. Today I want to share another:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Painted Harvest
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede card stock
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green
Accessories: Leaf punch, Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, polka dot Soft Suede ribbon, Dimensionals, mini Dimensionals

As with the previous card, I made four cards of this same design for one of the sets. I stamped a full sheet of Whisper White card stock with the sunflower, leaf and acorn images -- sort of like making my own Designer Series Paper (DSP) -- and then cut it into four 4" x 5-1/4" pieces. I adhered a piece of polka dot ribbon across each piece of "DSP" and then adhered them to Soft Suede card bases.

For the focal image on each card, I stamped a sunflower on white card stock and cut it out with a stitched circle die. I used Dimensionals to attach the circle over the ribbon and added two stamped and punched leaf clusters.

The cards seemed a bit unfinished to me, so I used a Soft Suede marker to doodle a border around the outside edges of the stamped layer. I think it works well with the rustic look of these images.

Thanks for stopping by!