Papertrey Tuesday: Ink Blending on Colored Card Stock

Hello, and welcome to my blog today! Are you enjoying warm spring weather where you are? I hope so! It's so nice I just want to be outside. But I took time to play along today with Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink.

Melissa's cards were soft and beautiful and her video showing ink blending on colored card stock inspired me to try it. 

I went soft with my colors too, I can't quite get the edit right, the contrast is not really this deep. 

Loved using the Peonies on Parade and the Stitch In Time stamps and dies. I inked in Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, and Vintage Jadite onto pale yellow card stock. 

When I held my panel over the gingham DSP, I knew I had the best choice for drawing the eye to the sponged design and classic sentiment. 


Just like Melissa's card, I added a fluffy bow using seam binding.

Thanks for visiting today. Hope your day is fabulous!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Take Out Thursday: Something New!

 Welcome to Take Out Thursday 

When I serve up something simple and easy.

Take out a stamp set for a spin, spice it up.

One of my reasons for Take Out Thursday is to use a 

set or product without having to re-invent the wheel.

Take Out food is not gourmet, it is fun! 

Designed to get you out of the kitchen quickly.

I am a bit late posting today, so I'll keep this short. My Take Out today is N-B-U-S, aka never been used stuff! 

I'm loving  two new sets from Papertrey Ink,  Garden of Faith Sentiments and Fence Line: Spring. 

The fence has a neat two step image that is very easy to match up and gives many color options. I stamped the florals and fussy cut them to assemble the scene. And those cute boots and tiny bunny! (sigh)

My inspiration for the rest of the card came actually from my kitchen. Aren't those fresh flowers beautiful? 

I think the Consider the Lilies and coordinating sentiment "& how much He cares for you" are beautiful too. 

Thanks so much for your kind visit today! 

Papertrey Ink April 2018 Blog Hop

For a couple of weeks I've been looking forward to the Blog Hop at Papertrey Ink.

The inspiration photo is beautiful and I love so many things about it. What's not to love about gorgeous tea cups, especially if you're a tea lover like me? 

I was inspired by the stacks of cups, soft colors, subtle textures and elegant filigrees. 

In stamping terms I saw layers of pastel colors and textures,  soft florals and gold embossed accents. 

I began with watercolor paper, and placed a wet wash of aqua, pink and pale yellow with Kuretake watercolors for the background. I spattered inks and added gold paint spatters from the watercolors set. 

When it was dry, I stamped using images from Farmers Market Florals, and cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die. The roses in this set can be easily stamped in layers and have a lovely watercolored style. The sentiment was stamped, die cut and embellished with flowers and gold embossing. 

The flowers take on different hues based on the watercolor under them, even though they were all stamped the same ink colors. I'd never tried using an under layer of watercoloring before, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I love when that happens! 

I'm so glad you've stopped by and I hope your visit left you feeling refreshed. For more inspiration, visit the blog hop to see many lovely creations!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Farmers Market Florals, Stitch In Time Stamps and Die set; Sentiment from SSS

Paper: Neenah Solar White,

INK: Versamark, W Plus 9 - Shell Pink, Little Piggy, Flamingo, Lake House, Ocean Drive, Sea Breeze, Queen Bee, Beanstalk Dye Inks

Accessories: Kuretake Watercolors, Gold Embossing Powder, gold cord, yellow Nuvo Drops

Spot Color Word Die Cuts

Well, it's Tuesday. How are things going for you today? Are you getting crafty?

Here I am with my Make It Monday card for Papertrey Ink. Our challenge from Betsy is to Spot Color Word Diecuts. It's like highlight coloring on a die cut with the rest of the image in black and white surrounding it.

Had I ever heard of this before? No. Did I learn something new? You bet! Out of my style zone ?  Most definitely. Graphic is the one style I avoid - but I had so much fun experimenting with this technique. 

Now it's time for you to see what you think. 

I didn't have a PTI line image except flowers, so I stamped these adorable owls since they seemed a good fit for this technique. For the die cut, I used the thanks from PTI's Bold Borders: Diagonal die. I did the highlight coloring with Copics and Distress Markers. Here's a close up so you can see the detail. 

I'm sure you can imagine me wondering which embellishments to use (sequins, anyone?)  I ended up deciding the googlie eyes were a perfect accent right in the center of the card. 

I placed the owls on a background panel made of Distress Oxide inks that had been spattered, and I rounded the corners for a playful effect. 

Thanks for visiting me today. Thanks for OWL you do, too!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: MFT - For Owl You Do

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Pool Party

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black; Distress Oxide Inks - Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers

Accessories: Papertrey Ink - Bold Borders Die: Diagonal, Corner Rounder

Amazing YOU: A birthday card

Hi, how are you doing?

I am playing catch up here on the blog this week. Don't know how it's gotten to be Thursday already! I missed my Wednesday What I Love post, so how about if I combine it with Take Out Thursday? 

However I decide to call it, I have a special card to share with you today. 

I made this background a few months ago, and it's been sitting on my craft table.  I loved these roses and the technique of wet on wet stamping with the Vintage Roses set from Altenew. I stamped in layers and did some spattering with inks and gold watercolor. 

The die cut sentiments (from Stampin' Up!) are mounted on a vellum strip. I embossed the You in gold at the bottom for an ombre look. 

I embellished further with a bow and clear drops. 

Have you noticed that my style changes often on these posts?  I've been looking at some posts from my old blog and it reminded me how often I made cards with a Shabby Chic style. I love clean and simple. I love cute. I love layers, and I love this feminine look. 

This was such a fun card to make and I hope my dear friend will like receiving it for her birthday. 

Thanks so much for your visit today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Papertrey Tuesday: Harvest Gold

Hello, I am glad to be back to posting. How's your week going?

I didn't stamp for almost a week. That's OK, I was having a fabulous time with my friend, Susan and her husband who visited us in NC from Chicago. We enjoyed good meals, exploring the area and our lake together, and long conversations! It was wonderful to talk and to spend time talking STAMPING in my craft studio, in the car, over breakfast.  Well, you get the idea! 

Whenever I've not stamped for a few days, I find limiting my choice of supplies helps to re-start my mojo. I only knew I wanted to make a card using the BOLD striped pattern of the Harvest Gold Bitty Big DSP. I adore yellow and this color rocks it! Happens that I had a few scraps on my desk from last week's card and voila! Here's my new card. 

I used the stamps and dies from Stitch In Time Borders and Fresh Bouquet. 

The Penned Elegance sentiments are my newest go-to and here's a tip for making it easier to use them. 

First and most important, I DID NOT SEPARATE the dies. I die cut all the sentiments at once, then created a template to use for stamping the images. I tuck the die cut into place and use the MISTI to line up the stamp, then ink it and stamp. 

Here's what the template looks like, with the wonderful friend sentiment tucked in.  In ten minutes I had all the sentiments die cut and stamped, ready to use. The template will help me identify the words and hold the die cut in place for stamping. 

I'll be back tomorrow. For now, here's a cheer for stamping friends! Hugs to you all. 

Susan and me on my back porch

Take Out Thursday: No one Else Like You

Hello, and welcome to my weekly post called

Take Out Thursday 

When I serve up something simple and easy.

Take out a stamp set for a spin, spice it up.

When I began this feature I wrote that one of my reasons for Take Out Thursday is to use a set or product without having to re-invent the wheel. "Take Out food is not gourmet. Not perfection.Designed to get you out of the kitchen quickly."

Today's card is a perfect example. I found a sentiment that is so unique and I bought the No One Else Like You set from W Plus 9  because I wanted to use those words. The set and dies are perfect for quickly putting together a thank you card with a BOLD look. 

The letters are already spaced for you in the die to make lining them up easy. I die cut the letters from the white panel, and then inlaid the dark letters that had been previously die cut. They look somewhat wonky because of my camera angle, but trust me, they are straight!

I stretched a frame die by just using part of it on the sides. I wanted to use a bold striped navy paper but had none, so in a sense, I made my own.

Remember when I said there would be some excitement for me later in this week? I want to tell you about a dear friend who loves stamping. Susan and I met at our first SU convention in 2008. For several years afterwards convention was our time to meet and we became the best of friends even though we lived several states away from each other. 

My friend Susan and her husband have made a trip to visit us for a couple of days arriving today. I'm so excited! 

The stamping community is so amazing. That includes all of you, dear friends. There is no one else quite like you. A big hug and thanks to you from me. Have a great weekend. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!