Roses For You

I like to have cards on hand to send when I need a quick thank you card or I hear someone is having a bad time.  I used the master board idea to make these.  Here are two of the thank you cards that came out of the effort.  I ended up getting 12 cards from one master board.

The process was pretty simple and I really liked the outcome.  I started out stamping the rose, leaves and little circles from Simon Says Stamp's Roses for You set all over a piece of 9 x12 sheet of white watercolor paper.   I used Canson 90 lb. watercolor paper from Micheal's,  Versafine ink and white embossing powder.  

Next I took out my Ranger Distress Inks and smooched them onto my craft mat.  I added a little water to each color to make them softer.  Then I put the color on randomly using a water brush.  The colors I used were Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio and Evergreen Bough.  Once the background was finished, I painted in the roses and leaves using the same colors but didn't water them down as much so the colors would be more vibrant.  I added Festive Berries, Wild Honey and Mowed Lawn to the color palette to change the flowers/leaves up a bit. It didn't take a lot of time to do this and I found it very relaxing and fun!  Here is how the master board looked when it was finished.

Here is a close up, I avoided painting in the little circles so there would be pops of white throughout.

I then cut the master board into 12 pieces 2"x 4 1/2".  I cut a mat out of white card stock using the Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangular Stax from My Favorite Things.  I used my cutter to cut a 1 1/4 x 4" rectangular opening in the mat 5/8" from the right side and from the top. I stamped random sentiments in black and then attached the layers using foam tape.  To finish the card off I added little translucent drops using Nuvo Jewel Drops.  I like the way they catch the light.  

And here is the inside...  

I hope you like my cards today.  I have another version of the same design that I will share tomorrow.

Have a happy creative week!
Janet 

Hog Heaven Inchies

I have a quick post for you tonight with an inchie card!  Everyone who knows me, knows that I like inchies...a lot.  I've been making cards with them for years!  I think the reason I like them so much is that they focus on my stamps from a different perspective.  They allow me to highlight areas that might not get as much attention otherwise.  For the inchies on this card, I used the Hog Heaven set from My Favorite Things.  It is so cute (I know...you hear me say that every time I use a Birdie Brown set)!  

I started by punching a 1" square in a scrap piece of card stock to make a window.  Next I stamped the images that I wanted to use.  Then I took the window and held it over the stamped images, moving it around until I found the perfect area to highlight. I then traced the outside edge of the window very lightly with a pencil to mark the portion that I wanted to use for my inchie.  I colored the area inside the pencil square with Copics and then cut each square out on the pencil line. 

To give the inchies more substance and to make them stand out and really pop I glue them onto 1" square pieces of black chip board.  It makes the inchies look so much better.  I cut these from a 12" x 12" sheet, but if you don't like cutting or you want them very precise you can buy Inchie Arts Art Squares from Ellen Hutson.  The little flower that comes in the Hog Heaven set is the perfect tiny little embellishment for each square!

I used MFT's Stitched Scallop Basic Edges 2 for the black panel underneath the inchies and MFT's Lucky Prints Paper Pack for the pink part.  This is a thank you card, so I only inked up part of the "I'm TICKLED PINK for you" sentiment.  I stamped it and made a flag for the front of the card and tied a little bow using thin black silk ribbon from May Arts.  The card still needed something so I added a 1/4" strip of Silver Sparkle card stock from MFT along the edge.  Inside the card I used the Hog Heaven sentiment that says, "Thank you SOW MUCH"!

Thanks for visiting, Make time to stamp!
Janet
  

Butterflies & Watercolor

This is the second project inspired by my friends.  This time it was Judy who helped me along!  She showed me a watercolor butterfly card that she'd made and I just loved it, especially the butterfly!  She used the new butterfly dies from MFT...Flutter of Butterflies.  There are two different sets that go together, one is solid and the other is lace.  What she'd done is cut a solid one in white and then a lace one in black...glued them together and used Copic Markers to color in the spots on the butterfly in different colors!  A simple idea with a big impact...and what's even better...you can make the butterflies match ANYTHING!!  I loved it and was really happy that I already had those dies!  Judy also covered the entire butterfly with Crystal Lacquer.  I loved that too, but had to get these card in the mail so I didn't have time to do that.  I had some watercolor backgrounds left over from the day I played so I cut those up to use with the butterflies.  It was fun to play with the colors and make them match!  Here is how they came out...

Here are close-ups!  When I was making the watercolor backgrounds, I wasn't sure if I liked the graininess of the paint but I really like the effect it gives on these cards

Thanks so much for visiting. hope you are having a good week!

Janet

Supplies Used:
Card stock:  Strathmore Watercolor paper, Cougar Opaque 80 lb, assorted colored card stock for matting and die cut words
Dies:  MFT Flutter of Butterflies - Solid & Lace, Lawn Fawn Hugs die, Lawn Fawn Thanks die, MFT Blueprints 13 and Blueprints 20, Stampin' Up small circle punch to cut corners of watercolor paper & mat
Paints:  Koi Watercolors set of 24
Miscellaneous: Assorted Twine

Cracked Crazy Birds

I find making masculine cards a challenge.  I tend to buy cute or pretty stamps and they don't work on "guy" cards.  This week, I needed two thank you cards for men that I don't know very well.  I had been thinking about a technique using my Crazy Bird stamps and Pan Pastels and I had one of those "Aha"moments...I realized that the Crazy Bird stamps would be perfect for the thank you cards!!  Everyone loves them and they are definitely not feminine!!  The technique I wanted to try was to use Versamark Ink and Pan Pastels to add some texture to the birds while coloring them. I got out a bunch of texture stamps...crackle, numbers, swirls, harlequin, chicken wire and a word stamp.  First, I stamped the birds with Ranger Archival black ink, then I masked the eyes and beaks and stamped a pattern/texture onto each bird with Versamark Ink.  I took my brightest Pan Pastels and colored the birds.  When you color over Versamark with Pan Pastels, the stamped areas get much darker so the patterns although subtle, looked great!  Here are the two cards that I made.

I didn't want the sentiment too mushy because like I said, they are guys and I don't know them very well so the outside says, "Life is tough..." and on the inside, it says, ...Kindness matters.  Thank you".  Short and to the point!  You can see the crackle texture on the blue bird much better than on the red bird but it is on both of them.  Here's a close up of the red bird card.  You can see the crackle a little better here...

I wanted to make a little scene for the bird to stand in, so I used the new MFT die-namics called Rolling Hills.  I love how you cut the fence and then cut another fence out of green and use the waste for the grass to glue below the fence!  It is so cool.  I know I'll be using this die a lot!

I used Pan Pastels to color the sky.  I used Pthalo Blue Tint and Violet Tint.  The leaves are another one of MFT's Die-namics called Wild Greenery.   Here are some of the texture stamps I used.  I found that I got the best results when using stamps with smaller less dense textures...although I really like how the bird with the numbers came out.  Here is a sampling of the texture stamps...

I put Crystal Laquer on the birds eyes to make them shiny.  I love how the shiny eyes catch the light...I just love these birds, they make me laugh!

I hope my cards inspire you to get out your stamps and play!  
Thanks for stopping by to take a look :)
Janet

Heartfelt Thanks

Hi,  I came across this card and realized that I hadn't posted it yet.  I used it as a thank you card but it would also make a good Valentine's Day card!  I used an Impression Obsession die called Heart Stems.  To make it look more like a bouquet, I cut the stems out of various colors.  I also cut some out of white card stock so I could layer the stems to make some of them thicker.  Then I cut the stems out of a craft card stock background to build the bouquet on!!

Thanks for stopping by today,  have a good weekend!
Janet  

Birdhouse Buddies

I recently got my first order of stamps from Purple Onion and I adore them!  Stacey Yacula draws the cutest little animals.  You can't help smiling when you look at them!  The single flying bird on this card is called Robin and the two sitting on the branch are Star and Sky!  Aren't they perfect with this little birdhouse from Marianne Designs?  This was such a fun card to make :)

I stamped the birdhouse on watercolor paper, colored it and then used the die to cut it out.  Then I stamped the branch onto white card stock and colored it.  

Did you ever have one of those serendipitous moments when you find a new technique by chance?  Well that happened to me with this card.  I have been looking at Pan Pastels and finally bought a few.  The Pthalo Blue Tint is wonderful for adding skies to stamped scenes so I rubbed some onto the background of this card.  I thought there was an awful lot of plain space and wanted to zip it up a bit so I got a stencil, some ink and a sponge and started rubbing the ink onto the background over the Pthalo Blue Tint pastel.  When I lifted the stencil the magic happened!!!  The light purple ink was there but rubbing the sponge over the stencil removed some of the blue pastel so there were subtle white spots there too!!!  I hadn't expected that and I got so excited that I kept moving the stencil and adding more...then I went and got a light blue ink and kept going.  It was so much fun, I know I'll be trying this for a background again!  It was really fun to lift the stencil and see what was underneath!  If you try it, I'd love to know how it works out for you and to see what kind of a look you get so please send me a link!

Next I sprayed the background with Krylon clear matte spray to prevent the pastels from rubbing off.  Then I hung the birdhouse from the branch using foam tape to 3-D it.  Next I stamped and colored Robin, Star and Sky using Copic markers and attached them with foam tape.  Look at Robin flying near the birdhouse...the sizes couldn't be more perfect together...right???!!!

Sorry the next picture is a little blurry. I thought it was better than this.  I already mailed the card so I can't take a clearer picture.  I still wanted to post a close up picture of Star and Sky...they are soooo cute!!

Here is the inside of my card.  I'm still hooked on using coordinating washi tape to decorate the inside of my cards.  Fast, simple and cute.  Gotta love that!

Thanks for stopping by.  Please post a comment and let me know what you think of my background technique.  I like hearing from you!

Janet 

Supplies Used
Cardstock: Canson Aquarelle watercolor paper, Cougar Opaque white, Stampin Up Almost Amethyst, Black Linen
Stamps:  Purple Onion Robin, Sky and Star and Perch and Marianne Designs birdhouse/die, Stampin' Up Wonderful Words
Copics:  C00, C01, C03, C05, C07, R29 I think E51 and E53 on the faces but put the markers away before listing them so I'm not 100% sure
Reinkers: (used to watercolor the birdhouse) Tsukineko Poppy Red, Peony & Chartreuse and Stampin Up Sahara Sand
Ink Pads:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Almost Amethyst and Bliss Blue
Miscellaneous:  white twine, The Crafters Workshop stencil by Julie Balzer #361 Tiny Circles, Pan Pastels Pthalo Blue Tint, Krylon clear matte spray.

Thank Ewe

I'm still having fun with my Lawn Fawn Critters on the Farm stamps.  Just when I go to put them away, I get another idea.  I had already colored the little lamb and I thought how cute he'd be jumping over the fence...then I thought about vines and flowers on the fence and I had to make a card to see what it would look like!  I made a small version of an easel card. 

When I was looking for a link to the stamps, I found out that they are on sale at Markerpop.com, so if you NEED them...you could get on sale.  The dies are on sale too, but they are out of stock right now :(

To make the lamb look more like he is jumping, I put a double piece of foam tape under his face and front legs, a single piece under his middle and glue dots under his tail and rear legs.  I took a side view picture...not sure if you will be able to see it clearly enough but it gives the effect that I was looking for!

Here's a pic of the card open.  I made the message on my computer.  I found a cute font called "KG Somebody that I Used to Know".  After I printed it out on card stock, I used a Spellbinder labels die to cut it out.

  




































Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good weekend!
Janet

Supplies Used:
Card Stock: Cougar Opaque white, Stampin' Up DSP
Stamps: Lawn Fawn: Critters on the Farm
Dies: Lawn Fawn: Critters on the Farm & Spring Showers, 
         CC Designs: Cutters Leafy Branch, Spellbinders: Labels 16
Copics: W-1, R27, YR24, Black
Prismacolor Pencils PC1063 Cool Grey 50%, PC1094 Sandbar Brown, Black 
         & Gamsol for blending 
Miscellaneous:  Pan Pastels: Phthalo Blue Tint, Bright Yellow Green Shade, 
           Perm. Green Shade; Small flower punch 

Kindness Matters

Another "Thank You" card!  I've had a lot to be thankful for lately!  For this one I colored a Magenta butterfly with lots of Copic BG colors (see image below), they blend together beautifully!  I didn't like how the sentiments looked when I stamped them straight, so I curved them on the block so they would stamp alongside the trail of hearts.  I liked that much better.  Silly little stamps kept popping off as I was about to stamp and that about drove me crazy so I ended up putting little cuts along the bottom of the rubber and that made it curve better and stay on the block!!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Magenta butterfly

Cardstock:  White Cougar Opaque

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black and Versafine Black

Copics: See photo below

Miscellaneous: Stampin' Up heart punch, Black Sharpie pen, sequins, Stampin' Up pearls

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a happy day :)

Janet