Three Shades of Blue

Those of you who know me well know that blue is definitely my favourite colour.  Here are some gorgeous shades of blue:

I created an alcohol ink background on Yupo and let it dry. I then placed the wildflower stencil over top and using a small sponge dauber, dipped into blending solution, blotted off the excess blending solution, and then pounced the dauber over the stencil to remove colour. Make sure all areas are done before removing stencil. I didn't get a very good impression of the stenciled flowers so replaced the cleaned and dried stencil and went around the openings in the stencil with a fine blue marker to give them definition.

I did a heat embossed sentiment on a scrap of vellum, die cut a wildflower out of a scrap of cs, wrapped the vellum around the panel, and bordered in a leftover bit of navy cs before adding it to a white card base.

Off it goes to these challenges:

Just Us Girls "Three Shades of Blue Colour Challenge"

AAA Birthday "A Stencil Background"
 

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #394 

  

Supplies:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - white and navy cs, vellum, Yupo
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, blue fine line marker, various blue alcohol inks, alcohol ink blending solution, Tim Holtz wildflower stencil and die

A Masculine Landscape

The Male Room is asking for a card with a landscape suitable to give to a male recipient.

I went with a simple fir tree die over a blue background.

The background is blue alcohol inks on Yupo. The trees are die cut in white with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment on the snowbank.

It's bordered with a white deckle edged panel and mounted on a shimmery blue card base.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Colonial Blue, blue alcohol inks
Paper - blue shimmer and white cs, Yupo
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box Alpine Trees die, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders deckle edge die

Twofer Hearts

Finally getting cards finished for Darnell's second Twofer Challenge:

A friend had asked me to make five Valentine cards for her, one of which is one of my "twofer".  I then had the idea for the second card but only just got it finished - darn those Winter Olympics as they are so addictive they've eaten up a lot of my free time!  But since it's not a Valentine, it didn't matter.

The heart die I used creates a beautiful background of lots of heart shapes linked together.  When you cut it, all the little interior hearts come out of it, giving you many tiny hearts for other projects.

The background for the Valentine was made by sprinkling red and pink Brushos on coated cs and spritzing with water.  I then die cut the hearts background out of cream shimmer cs and glued it down.  I die cut one large cream shimmer stitched heart and popped it up on top with fun foam.

I made the second card for one of my sisters.  She is the most incredibly supportive and encouraging person, and I often forget to tell her how much I appreciate her.

The background is purple and blue Brushos sprinkled on Yupo and spritzed with water.   I stamped the branch and sentiments with Staz-On and added three of the tiny cream shimmer hearts that came out of the background die cut on the first card.  The cardbase is the same cream shimmer cs as the hearts.

Darnell's Twofer Challenge is a great way to get more out of our products and to see ways to use the same thing to make cards for very different occasions.  

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI sentiment (1st card); SU World of Dreams, River City Rubber Works (2nd card)

Ink - Archival Red (1st card); StazOn black (2nd card)

Paper - cream shimmer cs, white and coated cs (1st card); cream shimmer cs, Yupo

Size - A2 (1st card); 4.5" square (2nd card)

Accessories - red and pink Brushos, stitched heart die cut, SSS stacking hearts die (1st card); blue and purple Brushos, SSS stacking hearts die (both cards)

Straight from the Heart Friend

Time to remind you that you only have until February 24th to link up your CAS Watercolour cards.

Even though it's February, the theme "heart" need not refer to Valentine's Day.  For my reminder card, I made a friendship card for my best friend:

She truly is a wonderful friend who's seen me through my best and worst times, even to the point of taking time off work and flying 3,000 mil es with me when my mother passed away two years ago so that I wouldn't be on my own.  So this Kay Foley sentiment stamp is perfect for a card for her.  I sent it to her for Valentine's Day, with a Happy Valentine's Day sentiment stamped inside it - I firmly believe we should celebrate more than just our spouses or partners on Valentine's Day.

Blue is my friend's favourite colour (one of the many things we have in common) so I did a blue background by sprinkling blue Brushos on Yupo and spritzing with water.  I got some nice puddling, and then sprinkled a bit more to get some grains of Brusho that didn't dissolve.  I then let it air dry.

I stamped a wonderful Kay Foley friendship sentiment that has the word "heart" in it, using black Staz-on as I wasn't sure if it would smudge on the Yupo.  I trimmed it down with a stitched rectangle.

I used a cream shimmer cs for the card base and also to die cut a few tiny hearts and a fleur de lis border.  It's fancier (or maybe just more feminine) than most of the cards I make these days but I think that suits a Valentine.

We'd love to see your heart-themed watercolour cards but please be sure to keep them clean and simple!

Exciting News!!!

Starting March 3rd, 2018

 

 

Loll and Bonnie who run the CAS Mix Up and CAS Watercolour challenges are starting a new challenge - CAS Christmas!  Be sure to check back on March 3rd for the first challenge and participate to get those Christmas cards made throughout the year!

Supplies:

Stamps - Kay Foley

Ink - StazOn Jet Black

Paper - Yupo, cream shimmer cs

Size - A2

Accessories - blue brushos, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangle die, little hearts out of another die cut

Shades of Blue

My regular readers will probably already know that blue is my favourite colour.  So I had to enter the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge:

I decided to play around with blue alcohol inks and ended up making two cards.

The first one is just blue alcohol inks on Yupo and the second one has some silver mixative added in.  To keep the blue theme on the first one, I bordered it with navy, and to draw out the silver mixative in the second one, I bordered with silver. 

In both cases, I added a die cut Tim Holtz tree and decided to put the sentiment inside rather than cluttering up the front.

I hope I'm not the only one writing blog posts in front of the Winter Olympics!!

Supplies:

Ink - various alcohol inks in shades of blue

Paper - white, navy, and silver cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - silver mixative, alcohol blending solution, Tim Holtz tree die

Alcoholic Delphiniums

It's August 1st so time for the new CAS Mix Up challenge.

I'm a very keen gardener and one of my favourite flowers is the delphinium.  I love the beautiful shades of blue, mauve, purple, and pink that they come in.  When I came across the Memory Box Delphinium Circle die, I had to buy it.   Here's my card:

I chose all the delphinium-like colours amongst my alcohol inks and smooshed them on a piece of Yupo.  See Loll Thompson's video tutorial for information on the technique.

I die cut a large circle out of my piece and then die cut the Delphinium Circle from the centre of that.  Then I die cut an even larger stitched circle out of white cs.

I also die cut the Delphinium Circle out of a scrap of cs to use as a mask over the white circle so that I could figure out the placement of my stamping.  I have the discontinued Ranger Big and Juicy Hydrangea ink pad - a wonderful mix of the same blues and mauves, so used that for my stamping. The flowers are the closest thing I have to delphiniums that would fit with the die.  They are stamped in a mix of first and second generation inking.

Three little co-ordinating gemstones give a bit of sparkle and the whole panel is popped up on fun foam.

This is the second card I've made with the Delphinium Circle die - I'll post the first one after the recipient receives it!

Nancy of Scandinancy Creates is the host for this challenge and Trina of My Crafting Closet is this month's Guest Designer after winning the June challenge with her beautiful sailboat card seen here.  There's also great inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and some links to video tutorials using alcohol inks.  So head on over to CAS Mix Up and be sure to link up your card by August 24th.  Please remember to keep it clean and simple, and include some stamping as well as alcohol inks and one other option from our list on the right side of the blog.

Supplies:

Stamps - Lavinia flower, unknown sentiment

Ink - Ranger Big and Juicy Hydrangea; various blue, pink, and mauve alcohol inks

Paper - white cs, Yupo

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - Memory Box Delphinium Circle die, Lil Inker stitched circle die, fun foam, blue and mauve gemstones

Stenciling with Alcohol Inks

Another day of great crafting with three friends yesterday - Loll (Stamping with Loll), Christine (It's a Card Day's Night), Nancy (scandinancy creates), and I are spending five days together having our own mini card-making retreat.  Yesterday Trina Pham (My Crafting Closet) joined us for a few hours.  It was so great to meet another Vancouver area stamper!

We did various things with alcohol inks, including Nancy showing us her technique for using alcohol inks and a stencil.  She gives detailed instructions here.  And here are my results:

I used the TCW Poppy Garden stencil and lots of vibrant colours of alcohol inks.  The inks bled under the stencil more than I expected, so Nancy suggested going around the edges of the stencil image with a fine point black marker.

The resulting piece was perfect for dividing in half for two different cards.  The first one has a small heat embossed vertical sentiment, then second has a black border and die cut sentiment.  Both panels are popped up on fun foam.

I'll be back with a couple of tags we made tomorrow.

Supplies:

Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow small vertical Happy Birthday

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, alcohol inks

Paper - Yupo, white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - TCW Poppy Garden, clear embossing powder, Tattered Lace Happy Birthday die

Smooshed Sea

Christine Alexander (It's a Card Day's Night) and I spent yesterday at Loll Thompson's house playing with acrylic paints, small canvases, various techniques.  One of the techniques left a ton of paint on the craft table.  So we took various types of paper (watercolour, Bristol, cardstock, Yupo, etc.) and smooshed them in the leftover paint.  Here's a card made using one of my pieces:

I used a piece of Yupo to mop up a mixture of blue acrylic paint that had been spritzed with water.  I got a lovely background that seemed much like the sea.  So when I saw that the new Addicted to CAS challenge is "seaside", it seemed the perfect piece to incorporate into a seaside-themed card.

I stamped a very old PSX sentiment on it, trimmed it down, and added it to a white card base.  I had a leftover piece of sprayed cs (sprayed very appropriately with the Mr. Huey's spray called "Shell").  I cut the base of the shells out of the lighter spray area, and then the top outlines of the shells out of the more solid-coloured areas.  Glued them together and then attached to the card, and it was done.

I'm linking it up to Addicted to CAS:

and to CAS Mix-Up:

For CAS Mix Up, I have stamping, smooshing, and, for my choice, die cuts.

I hope you like it. 

Supplies:

Stamps - PSX

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - white cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - blue acrylic paints, Elizabeth Craft Designs seashell dies, Mr. Huey's "Shell" spray

Something Old, Something New...

A couple of SCS challenges sparked today's card:

Ways to Use It WT617 = Something Old, Something New....
Free for All F4A359 = "I'm Dye-ing" - use a die on your card

Here's the card:

For the Ways to Use It challenge, I have:
something old = the sentiment stamp
something new = new Ranger Archival Library Green ink pad
something borrowed = the tree die that I borrowed from Loll Thompson
something blue = blue alcohol ink

The background is blue and green alcohol ink smooshed on Yupo. The tree die that I borrowed from Loll before Christmas is fabulous for layering over interesting backgrounds. I might end up buying it as I like it so much and really should return it to Loll!

I'm also linking up to CAS Mix Up where the January challenge is "stamping + liquid colours + your choice from their list of options". My liquid colour is the alcohol ink and my choice is the die cut. Go to CAS Mix Up here if you want to join in.
 

Supplies:

Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Library Green, blue and green alcohol inks

Paper - white cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz tree die, fun foam

CAS Mix Up Liquid Colours

Welcome to the first CAS Mix Up challenge of 2017!  We are challenging you this month to use "liquid colours" on your card:

I chose alcohol inks for my card:

I chose alcohol inks as my liquid colours (using Loll's "Alcohol Inks with Yupo" technique - see her video here for details).  My sentiment is stamped and my choice of other element is die cutting.

I used a new die I just purchased and added a sentiment - definitely a Clean and Simple card!

Head on over to CAS Mix Up for inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Trina.  You have until January 24th to enter.  Please remember to keep your cards clean and simple, and include liquid colours, stamping, and something from the list of choices given over at CAS Mix Up.

Supplies:

Stamps -  A Muse sentiment

Ink - Memory Box Cottage Ivy, various alcohol inks

Paper - white cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - Memory Box trees in a stitched rectangle die

Trees Two Ways

I'm still making Christmas cards!  Very last minute I know!  Here are a couple with trees as their theme.

SCS's Free for All challenge is to make a project with something wood. Real wood, wood texture or stamp, or a tree or branch image. I've got embossed birch trees and stamped fir trees.

I used the technique that I've seen on SCS where you add colour to the debossed side of the embossing folder and then stamp an image on it. Then put your cs into the folder and run it through the Cuttlebug or Big Shot.

I added a snowy bank, two die cut deer, and a die cut sentiment.


And a totally different tree:

The SCS Ways to Use It challenge is "Sing, Sing a Song" - be inspired by a song. I chose "O Christmas Tree".

I used Loll Thompson's alcohol ink smooshing technique with various green alcohol inks and Yupo.  See her video here (go to the 2:20 minute point).  Loll uses glossy cs, but the technique is the same with Yupo.

I had a negative left from a Tim Holtz Christmas tree die cut so layered it over the Yupo. I stencilled some snowflakes around the tree and added the sentiment "O Christmas Tree". It's popped up on fun foam for dimension.

Supplies for Card One:

Stamps - SU trees

Ink - SU Pool Party, Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - white, brown, and grey cs

Size - A2

Accessories - SU embossing folder, Impression Obsession deer dies, Tim Holtz winter die, foam tape, fun foam

Supplies for Card Two:

Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy, various green alcohol inks

Paper - white cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz tree die, Memory Box snowflakes stencil, Aleene's glitter snow paste, fun foam

Christmas with a Bit of Orange

The October challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round is "use a little or a lot of orange on your Holiday project".

Here's my entry:

I dropped bits of red, orange, yellow, and green alcohol inks onto Yupo paper, and then added a bit of silver mixative.

I die cut "merry" out of silver cs and twice more out of scrap cs, gluing them together to give dimension, then added a matching border, and stamped and heat embossed "Christmas" underneath.

It was hard to photograph - there is actually a bit more silver in the background than it seems as some of it photographed as if it were just grey.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Christmas

Ink - ColorBox silver, various alcohol inks

Paper - white and silver cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - silver mixative, silver embossing powder, PTI "merry" die

Heartfelt Wishes for Loll

A few years ago I connected through SCS with the wonderful and talented Loll Thompson.  Because we both live in the Vancouver area, we started getting together to make cards, try out new techniques, share supplies, and most importantly, get to know each other.  We have become good friends and when Loll learned she had breast cancer, she shared the news with me and some other stamping friends, but wanted it kept fairly quiet.

Needless to say I made a couple of cards to send her while she was going through her treatment.  Loll has now shared her story on her blog so I have her permission to mention it and to pass on her encouragement to everyone to do their monthly breast self-examinations.

Here are the two cards I made for Loll:

 

The background was done as an experiment of marbling with food colouring dropped on top of soapy water.  I was hoping to use it for the CAS Mix Up marbling challenge but I didn't get a true marbled look so used it for a card for Loll instead as it's in colours she likes.  

I added some randomly-inked text (using Distress Old Paper ink), die cut with a stitched rectangle, added a die cut spray of flowers and some sequins, and stamped and heat embossed my sentiment in gold on vellum. 

Here's the second card:

On this one, I experimented with alcohol inks on translucent Yupo.  The alcohol inks spread out into larger circles than they do on regular Yupo.  I used a new die cut for the flower and my pierced frames to border it.

Loll titled her post about her cancer "Truly Grateful" because she had really good results from the surgery.  I'm also grateful to have her on the mend and facing a positive outcome for a full recovery.

Supplies:.

Stamps -
1st card - Inkadinkado script, Chocolate Baroque sentiment
2nd card - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink -
1st card - ColorBox Gold, Distress Old Paper
2nd card - Staz-on Black
 

Paper -
1st card - white cs, vellum, watercolour paper
2nd card - white cs, transparent Yupo
 

Size - A2

Accessories -
1st card - dish detergent, red and yellow food colouring, sequins, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle, gold embossing powder, Memory Box die, fun foam
2nd card - various alcohol inks, MFT pierced frame die, Memory Box flower die

Inspired by a Bowl

I was able to combine a couple of SCS challenges in one card today.  The Inspiration Challenge gave us a Pinterest site of gorgeous pottery bowls to be inspired by, and the CAS Challenge was "Christmas in July".  I chose this pottery bowl for my inspiration:



It immediately made me think of alcohol inks on Yupo so I started playing around and tried to mimic the design on the bowl - way more difficult to do than I thought. But I ended up with some nice pieces, one of which I turned into this card:

The pointy shape of the bowl made me think of a Christmas ornament - perfect for the "Christmas in July" challenge.

It needed to be a CAS card so I had to leave lots of white space.  But I also needed some way to "hang" my ornament.  So I dry embossed a holly branch on white cs and attached the ornament with gold cord, and popped the ornament up on foam tape.

A simple sentiment and a border of shimmery green finished it off.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Supplies:

Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment

Ink - Memento Bamboo Leaves

Paper - white cs, shimmery green cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - various green alcohol inks, gold mixative, Spellbinders ornament die, gold cord, Cuttlebug holly embossing folder, foam tape

Earth Day Tree

Splitcoast Stampers is celebrating Earth Day with some of its challenges.  The Ways to Use It challenge is "Plant a Tree" and the Free for All challenge is "Mother Earth".  I created this card:

I used alcohol inks on Yupo paper to create a background of earth and sky. I die cut a tree to go on top of my background.  The panel is popped up on a piece of fun foam for dimension.

Supplies:

Paper: cream and brown cs, yupo

Paper Size: A2

Accessories: alcohol inks, fun foam, Memory Box Coastal Tree die

Green and White for 52CCT (and St. Patrick's Day)

I had a wonderful crafty day last weekend with some friends at Loll Thompson's house.  Christine (aka calex on SCS) brought some Yupo for us to use with our alcohol inks.  I made a lovely piece of green and silver, and decided to use it for a card for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Green and White" colour challenge.

I dropped different shades of green alcohol ink onto my piece of Yupo and then added some drops of silver mixative.  I let the piece stand as the focal image of the card by bordering it with an inverted scallop die cut window.  Those inverted scallops remind me of the shape of a holly leaf so I used a holly-themed sentiment.

Seems appropriate to post this today as it's St. Patrick's Day!

Stamps: A Muse sentiment

Paper: white cs, Yupo

Paper Size: A2

Ink: ColorBox Evergreen

Accessories: various green alcohol inks, silver mixative, clear ep, Nesties inverted scallop die, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die