Friend Shaker Card

Hi there!

Today I'm sharing my favourite type of card to create - an encouragement card. Life is hard and everyone has challenges or obstacles they are facing. A handmade card and some simple words of encouragement can go a long way towards putting a smile on one's face and brightening their day!

The card I created features the lovely Anemones Stamp Set and Window Frames Die by Pretty Pink Posh. I stamped the flowers and leaves using Tsukineko Versamark Ink and embossed them using Lawn Fawn Gold Embossing Powder. I then watercoloured the images using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers - #042 Turquoise Green and #043 Olive Green and set them aside to dry.

For my background, I used Lawn Fawn Vanilla Malt cardstock. It's very difficult to see in the photos, but I embossed the cardstock with the Stampin' Up! Tufted Dynamic Embossing Folder to give the background a beautiful 3-D impression.

Next, I die cut the window frame, applied Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Inks to the piece that cut out and adhered it to my A2 sized notecard. I then adhered a piece of acetate to the back of the opening and applied foam tape around it. I dropped in a bunch of sequins from Craft Medley and secured the panel to the notecard.

Next, I adhered the flowers and leaves using Lawn Fawn Glue Tube and 3-D pop dots to the centre flower for added dimension.

I die cut the scripty Friend word from black cardstock using the Friend Duo Die-namics die by My Favorite Things. The smaller sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp You Got This stamp set which I white heat embossed on black cardstock using Ranger White Embossing Powder.

As a finishing touch, I added Ebony Black Nuvo Drops to my flower centers. I just love how the black gives it that elegant look!

And that's my completed card for today. I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial and thank you so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Splash! Birthday Cards with Distress Oxide Inks & Glossy Cardstock

Hi folks,

Today I'm sharing three birthday cards I created using a fun technique with distress oxide inks, glossy cardstock and micro glaze. These cards were inspired by Jennifer McGuire and the techniques I learned can be found in her video here. I first watched this video when it was released back in March of 2018 and I was so eager to try this technique that I rushed to purchase the inks, paper, glaze and the Avery Elle stamp and die set.

Now. Just because I get excited about trying something new, doesn't mean I get to it right away. I think a lot of crafters are like this. Sometimes things sit for a while until we find the time, the mojo or have a reason to create a card with that specific product. Fast forward 10 months later and I finally had an occasion to create a card for using this stamp set.

Here's a look at the stamp set and dies from Avery Elle. Aren't they so clever and creative?

The technique I'm sharing today is specifically for creating the swimming pool on these cards. In her video, Jennifer uses Ranger Alcohol Ink Cardstock. I used Ranger Gloss Paper. Both are glossy papers and work really great.

There are multiple ways you can apply colour to the glossy paper as Jennifer demonstrates in her video. For all three of my swimming pools I used the same method. I pressed four colours of distress oxide inks onto my craft mat, Cracked Pistachio, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon. Next, I spritzed them with water and then using the "kissing" technique I created layers of colour, making sure I dried between each layer.

The swimming pool on my first card had the most layers hence why the colours look more bold and marble like. The second and third cards have a more softer appearance because I used less layers. Once the backgrounds were fully dry, the paper looked dull and had a foggy look to it. And that's where the Tim Holtz Distress Micro Glaze comes in. 

Using a Mini Ink Blending Tool I applied a thin layer of the glaze to each of my backgrounds. The paper was then instantly restored back to its original glossy finish and you could see all the layers come through. It was like magic! I then used a clean cloth to wipe away any excess glaze.

Once my backgrounds were done, I set them aside to dry and started stamping the images from the Splash! set onto white cardstock using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink. I don't know about you, but I just get a kick out of those sunbathing ladies! I think they're so cute! :) I did some very basic Copic colouring and then cut out the images using the coordinating dies. 

Using the large swimming pool die, I cut out the pool from my backgrounds. The die cuts out the pool shape and the pool ledge. Using the same die, I die-cut it two additional times, this time on white cardstock so that I could stack additional ledges together to create a more realistic dimensional look.

On two of my cards I did some light ink blending to the card base with distress oxide inks. On my  white card I used the Stampin' Up! Brick Wall Embossing Folder to mimic the look of patio stones around the pool. 

I then adhered the swimming pool and all my images to the card using my Lawn Fawn Glue Tube and pop dots. On the first two cards, I stamped the sentiment directly onto the card base using Versafine Onyx Black Ink. I applied Ranger Clear Embossing Powder, shook off the excess, and heat set it until melted with my heat tool. For my last card, I stamped the sentiment onto black cardstock using VersaMark Ink, applied Ranger White Embossing Powder and heat set it.

Lastly, I added some Studio Katia Clear Drops on my first card and Nuvo Crystal Clear Drops on the second card.

I hope you enjoy today's inspiration and that you have a wonderful day!

Ninabrook January DT Project

Hi folks,

I'm so pleased to be sharing the project I created for Ninabrook Paper Crafting as their Guest Design Team Member for January!

For my project, I created two 12x12 pocket pages using the Limelight collection by Kaisercraft.

This collection consists of beautiful patterns amid some burlap paper patterns and vibrant green foliage. The charcoal accents and inspiring sentiments made it perfect for documenting these photos of our family outing. 

The Kaisercraft Limelight Bundle is available at Ninabrook for only $11.99. You may find it by clicking here.

Other supplies used:  

12x12 Pocket Page, Wildflower Ephemera and Wildflower Stickers by We R Memory Keepers

Rhinestones by Queen & Co.

Metal Brads with Nuvo Drops

Cardstock by American Crafts

Adhesives by Scrapbook Adhesives

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Dude Masculine Card

Hi folks,

Today I'm sharing a super quick masculine card I created for one of my daughter's friends who was celebrating his 18th birthday. 

For this card, I started off with an 8.5" x 11" sheet of Lawn Fawn Storm Cloud cardstock, which I trimmed to 4.25" wide x 11" tall and scored in half to make a top folding card.

I then applied my Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Powder Bag to the entire card base to prep it for embossing. I stamped the Simon Says Stamp Diamond Pattern Cling Stamp to the front of the card using Tsukineko Versamark Embossing Ink, and heat embossed it with Ranger Silver Embossing Powder. The silver look reminds me of a steel plate.

I'm a sucker for a nice word die that has a shadow and CZ Design has several that I love. This is the CZ Design Dude Wafer Die. I die-cut the main word with black cardstock and the shadow with white cardstock. I glued the two together and adhered it to the center of the card on an angle using pop-dots to add dimension.

Finally, I heat embossed a sentiment from the My Favorite Things Anything-but-Basic Friendship Stamp Set using Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger Black Embossing Powder. I then added foam adhesive to the back and adhered it underneath the "Dude" on an angle.

And that's it! I think this card took all of 20 minutes to complete. Once in a while it's nice to make a card that doesn't require any colouring or a lot of stamping. The "Dude" die is so versatile and can be paired up with lots of different sentiments. I plan to also use it on cards for my girlfriends.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Dry Embossing with Stencils and a New Year!

Hello and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that 2019 brings you peace, joy and good health! While I believe that January 1st represents fresh starts, I admit I'm not one to make resolutions. Rather I tend to look at a new year as more of an opportunity to set some achievable goals for myself. To me, resolutions are firm promises you make when you are determined to do or not to do something. With resolutions they seem more set in stone and you tend to go "cold turkey" with them, whereas goals are more malleable and can be achieved gradually hence making them more realistic. When it comes to crafting I've set some goals for myself this year. I want to become better at watercolouring, explore mixed media, blog more, participate in challenges and apply to a design team for one of my favourite stamp companies.

Speaking of favourite stamp companies, today I'm sharing a card using the Anemones Stamp Set by Pretty Pink Posh. But before we get into that, I just want to mention that I recently purchased a colour wheel and I love this thing! For two reasons. One, it helps me with mixing paint colours and two it tells me what colours look good together. For example, did you know that red-orange is a complementary colour to blue-green? I didn't, but now I do and those are the colours I chose to create today's card with. Without my colour wheel, I probably would never have paired these colours up, but I'm sure glad I did because I think they look awesome together!

I started by creating an A2 sized note card from Coastal Cabana cardstock by Stampin' Up. I trimmed a card panel to 4" x 5.25" from white cardstock and dry embossed the Simon Says Stamp Square Dance stencil onto it using a Spellbinders Embossing Pad and my Big Kick. The result is this beautiful but subtle textured background. I then foam mounted the panel onto the note card using white fun foam.

Next I stamped the anemones and leaves onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth Watercolour paper (non-textured side) using Versamark Ink and heat embossed it with Lawn Fawn Gold Embossing Powder. Using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, I watercoloured the images using #023 Scarlet Red, #042 Turquoise Green and #043 Olive Green. Once they were dry, I adhered them to my panel using tape runner adhesive and 3-D pop dots.

For my sentiment, I gold heat embossed the word "bestie" from the CZ Design Besties Stamp Set onto white cardstock. I then used the coordinating die to die cut it. I attached small pop dots to the back of the word and adhered it over the flowers. On a piece of black cardstock, I stamped and white heat embossed the words "You Are My" from the Besties stamp set using Ranger White Embossing Powder, trimmed the strip using the thinnest of the Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banners and adhered it just above the word "bestie". For the finishing touch, I added Onyx Crystals by Studio Katia to the centers of the flowers.

And that's my completed card! I'm really loving the look of dry embossed stencils as a background. Stencils are very inexpensive and I love that there are many uses for them. Thanks for taking the time to visit and I hope you have a great day!