Thinking of You

Hi there... Jennie here again guest designing for the month of February. Today I wanted to share card springy card using the stamp set:  Sunshine & Flowers.

I stamped the image using Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder. I colored in the image using Distress markers and generously sponged the background using distress inks. The sentiment is from Flower Blocks 2 and I finished it off by stamping the Friendship Script background over the panel and added a wooden veneer.

Here are the stamps I used:

 Sunshine & Flowers

Flower Blocks 2 

  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Blessings, 

Mini Canvas Tutorial

Greetings!  Kim here with a photo tutorial on how I created this mini canvas, featuring the beautiful Parisian Postcard stamp set.  This was super easy to create so let's get to it!

 I started with a mini canvas board (this is a thin, canvas covered board), sized around 4"x6".  I grabbed a Tim Holtz layering stencil and Wendy Vecchi white embossing paste.  Use a palette knife to apply the paste through the stencil.

 Here's what the paste looks like when you remove the stencil.  Notice that I didn't fill in every area; I really like that broken design look.

 Next, I used a combination of acrylic paints to add color to the canvas.  I used a light grey and blue color, keeping the darker color on the edges.

 Once the paint was dry, I used the stamps from the Parisian Postcard set to stamp all over the canvas.  I also used the Friendship Script stamp to add some text.  Note that I used Archival Inks for the stamping.  A dye based ink won't show up very well on acrylics and will not be permanent; Archivals is best for mixing with paint.

 I added a text circle, die cut from old book paper, and added it to the canvas (use Ranger Matte Medium to attach paper to a painted surface).  I also stamped a whole bunch of images on cardstock.  I kept all of my stamping in one color; Wendy Vecchi Potting Soil Archival Ink.  Thsi allowed me to add just a touch of color to the roses and butterfly, coloring with Copics.

 I also colored a few pieces of twill with Distress Inks.  Once the twill was dry, all that was left was assembly!  This process involves moving the pieces around, layering them, until you find a pleasing design.  I also added the sentiment, small gold dots (self-adhesive), and a few metal pieces from Prima. (I also added a touch of yellow paint to the background...this helped incorporate the yellow from teh flowers and butterfly).

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial!  Happy crafting!

Grow in Grace

 

Hi there and happy Saturday!  Here's to the weekend and hopefully more time for crafting!  Today I'm sharing a card I created for this week's sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers, which gave me a geat opportunity to combine a whole lotta Sweet 'n Sassy stamps along with some beautiful paper from Graphic 45 (Botanical Tea).

I started by very lightly stamping the Friendship Script stamp in the background of my main image.  I then layered the frame, and words, from the Seed Packet stamp set onto the background and adding some aging with my Pumice Stone Distress Ink pad.  I then die cut and stamped the butterflies (don't you just when there's a die to coordinate with a stamp?  Swoon!) from the Majestic Monarchs stamp and die set.  I colored the butterflies using Distress Markers and a water brush.  I finished by using the darling circle "long distance hug" and heart from the Vintage Postcard set.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and check out all of the those great vintage sets...love 'em all!!

Oh, look, Kim is posting and she's using silhouette stamps...Am I repetitive?  I just can't help it!  I love silhouettes and Korin has the best ones out there!!  Yippee!!

This is a card that captures a bit of the stamping and mixed media world and brings them all together in one spot!  I started to embossing a piece of kraft core Core'dinations paper and using a sanding tool removed a bit of the color so the kraft shows though (isn't that teal color delicious?)  Then I layered some vintage text paper, more embossed cardstock, and a polka dot flag on top of the card base. 

To create my focal image I grabbed a piece of canvas and sprayed it with Dylusions Ink Sprays (always start with a spritz of water so the colors are more fluid).  Once the canvas was dried, I stamped the Friendship Script very lightly in the background, using a grey ink, and then used the Nature Silhouettes stamps to add some flowers and the dragonfly (I again used grey and black ink for the stamping).  And...before adding the canvas, I frayed the edges just a bit.

Thanks so much for visiting the Sweet 'n Sassy blog today!  I hope you enjoyed my card!!

Happy Birthday Wreath

 

Hi everyone!  It's Kim here to share a birthday card I created using the Seasonal Wreaths set.  And the fun idea that popped in my head as I sat down to make my card...

I love all of the wreaths included in this great set (five in all!) but I was really drawn to the one made from small circles...it reminded me of those Christmas ornament wreaths you see from time to time over the holidays.  I just knew that I didn't want to color all those little circles so I grabbed my bag of Liquid Pearls and got to to work!  It only took a few minutes to fill in all of the circles with pink, silver, and yellow...and it took about 24 hours for all that liquid to dry!

Once the pearls were set I created by card using coordinating colors (the paper is from My Minds Eye) and a sketch from a recent Paper Crafts magazine.  I added the Friendship Script in the background along with some rhinestone bling!  I hope you enjoyed today's card and that you're inspired to think about coloring mediums other than markers...

Enjoy!

May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers

Greetings everyone and welcome to another fabulously **sweet** post!  Today I'm sharing a card I created after learning about a new technique at a recent Ranger training day (yes, it was fun!!)  This is called the gesso resist technique, shown on the background, and it's created by using gesso and Distress Stains.

I also created a  video on this technique, which you can see here, but the basic concept is that once the gesso has been applied to a surface, it will act as a resist when you put a water-based color over the top, such as Distress Stains.  Fun stuff, right!

Once my gesso and stain was dry, I distressed the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and used Archival Ink to stamp the beautiful floral image from the Wildflowers stamp set on top of the background design.  Oh, I did also very lightly stamp the Friendship Script stamp on the background first.  You can just barely see if behind the flowers...love the soft look of the text in the background! 

I attached the entire stamped piece with foam tape and then just added the sentiment, which is included with the Wildflowers set, also using foam tape for a bit of dimension.

Thanks so much for visiting today and I hope you enjoyed the card and technique!

Kim

Parade of Poppies

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy Friends!  Have you noticed how poppies are popping up everywhere? Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has several fabulous new poppy stamp sets as well as some old favorites that can be used in many different ways and for many different occasions  I thought I would share several cards made with these stamp sets with you today!

The first card uses the new Precious Poppies stamp set,  Mini Tags & Sentiments,  Mini Tags Die Set, and Friendship Script Background.  Although I love using my Copics, this card was white embossed on Kraft card sock and watercolored with reinkers.  The colors seem to get a little more vibrant on the Kraft card stock with this technique.

And speaking of vibrant, this poppy colored with Copics seems to be popping right off the card!  The Poppy Background stamp was used behind the lattice, and the large poppy from Precious Poppies was used in the middle.

The final card uses an old time favorite, Poppies & Greetings.  The image was stamped several times across the middle panel and colored with Copic Markers.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit with us today!  I hope you've been inspired by this Parade of Poppies!

Blessings to you....and have a wonderful day!

Hugs,

Cathy

God Bless You

Hi everyone!  My apologizes for the late post this morning.  Time got away from me! :-)  Did you all enjoy this week's DT Favorites Blog Hop?  Wasn't it filled with some many beautiful cards?  Love seeing all the different designs and those beautiful stamps.  My card featured Everyday Miracles but I thought today I'd share one of my other fav sets...Vintage Postcard.  Love the versatility of this set! 

For this card I also used the Friendship Script background set and then layered images from the Vintage Postcard set on top of the script.  Even the cute stamp cut out is from this set.  The little butterfly is from the Natures Silhouettes set.  Fun stuff!

Be sure to check out the DT's creations this week and share your favorite SNSS set with us!

Naught Changeth Thee

Hello, Jennie here and today I have a fun autumn card I made using Season of Change from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Pitt artist Big Brush pens (no ink pads, shock and awe I know!).  I colored directly on the stamp using two markers prior to stamping on white card stock.  I love the two-toned look on the leaves...  To add some filler to the white space I inked the Friendship Script Background with a light yellow pen.  The sentiment was inked with a brown markers and and some flecks by coloring with the same marker on my craft mat, spritzing with water and then flicking over my panel using a water color brush...uber cool technique, and a favorite!

Here is a closer look at the flecking:

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Blessings, 

Wishing You a Beautiful Day

Happy Monday everyone!!  Are you all enjoying your summer so far?  I am loving having more time to just hang out with my kiddies, without the pressure of school.  And having more time to craft for the pure joy of creating!!

Today's card actually came about after looking through a book that I purchased for my boys yesterday...a mini Smash book.  (Who has jumped on the Smash book bandwagon??)  I thought the Smash books would be a great spot for them to jot down some of their summer memories.  Both of them have already filled out a few pages and added some stickers. 

One of the Smash book pages was covered with a beautiful rainbow of colors that looked as if someone had watercolored right on the page.  When I saw the page I immediately imagined this card!

To create the card I used Distress Stains to color on a piece of sticky backed canvas.  Once the stains were dry (you can speed up this process with a heat gun), I stamped my images directly onto the canvas.  I started with the Friendship Script stamp, which I stamped in Pumice Stone Distress Ink and then I added a flower image, also stamped in Pumice Stone and Black Soot, from the Nature Silhouettes stamp set.  Next, I frayed the edges of the canvas by pulling out a few of the strings from each side of the sqaure.  My card was assembled and then I added this great sentiment from the new Make a Wish stamp set.

Super fun card to create and a super fun way to start the week!  How about you?  Have you tried out any of our Silhouette stamp sets yet?  They're great paired with colorful backgrounds.  Here are links to some of my favorites that are perfect for all of your summer crafty projects!
-Nature Silhouettes
-Together Silhouettes
-Serene Silhouettes
-Polka Dot Silhouettes

Enjoy your week!

Vintage Postcard Set

Hello! Monika here today, bringing you a mini note card set with a darling case. It's super easy and so much fun to make.

I decided to combine Vintage Postcard, Wildflowers, and Friendship Script Background clear stamp sets. My goal was to make the case from one 8-1/2" x 11" piece of card stock, and adjust the note cards to whatever size the case would fit. The case ended up being 4" x 4-1/2".

The front is decorated with designer paper from Victoria Gardens Collection by Echo Park, satin ribbon, Baker's Twine, and a hand-made felt flower. The leaves were punched with a Martha Stewart punch, the border punch is from Fiskars. I also used some pearls and added stitching to the top edge of the DP. The magnets for the closure are from Basic Gray.

For the 3-3/4" x 4-3/8" note cards, I just layered all the pretty images with SU! Rich Razzleberry, Blushing Bride, and Crumb Cake inks. On 2 of the cards, I used vellum. Stamped Friendship Script on the pieces with Crumb Cake ink... then sponged and distressed the edges. I used Tim Holtz mini staples to secure the vellum to the card. I did add tiny pieces of double sided tape here and there to make sure the edges were secured.

I also used Baker's Twine and pearls to decorate my set.

Hope you give this a try and surprise someone with this lovely set. There will be a tutorial coming on the case itself on our SplitCoast Member Forum at the end of March, so keep an eye out for it.

Thank you for visiting!

Monika

Friendship Script

I used the newly released Friendship Script on the four squares, stamping it so it read correctly. Middle image is Birds & Roses, also from Sweet ‘n Sassy, that I cut out using the oval Spellbinders and colored with prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits. I didn't like all the white space so I pulled out my distress inks and went a little distress ink crazy. Ribbon is made up of two different sizes then heated.

Hugs,
Amber Hillman