New England Stamper

Shimmery Blue Birds

Today's color challenge on Splitcoast was a stretch because it included Pacific Point.  This is not a color I would ever chose, but that's what challenges are all about, right?  The three colors are:

Pacific Point, Baja Breeze and Garden Green.

I used a sketch by Vicki Chrisman for the layout of the card and a lovely Artistic Outpost image from a sheet called BlueBird.  The main panel was created in the following steps:

1. The vanilla base was brayered with Cloudy Blue ink (Adirondack).
2. The botton of panel was sponged with Lettuce (Adirondack), Peeled Paint (Ranger Distress Ink), Garden Green (Stampin' Up!).
3. The top of panel was sponged with Baja Breeze, Brilliant Blue and Night of Navy inks (all SU).
4. Blue Bird image (Artistic Outpost) was stamped with Night of Navy craft ink (SU) and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.
5. Celery Shimmerz was painted over the entire panel.  (I'm still loving my Shimmerz!)

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it didn't take long at all.

The rest is pretty straightforward - the baja breeze panel was dry embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and sponged with garden green ink.  A couple of strips of c/stock, ribbon and some vintage buttons.

Here's a close-up so you can see the shimmer!

 

Recipe:

• Stamps: BlueBird (Artistic Outpost), En Francais (Stampin' Up!)
• Paper: Garden Green, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, strip of patterned paper (Memory Box)
• Ink: Cloudy Blue & Lettuce (Adirondack), Peeled Paint (Ranger), Baja Breeze, Garden Green, Brilliant Blue, Night of Navy classic inks, Night of Navy craft ink
• Accessories: Celery Shimmerz, velvet rickrack (Making Memories), clear embossing powder (SU), vintage buttons, linen thread (SU)
• Tools: paint brush, heat gun, embossing folder, brayer, sponges

Thanks for stopping by!

Flourishes Featured Stamper

I was so happy to see on the Flourishes blog this morning that I'd be picked as one of their Featured Stampers!  Check it out here.  And check back at their blog on Friday for a special surprise!

Valentine Series

A friend asked me to make her a series of Valentine cards, so this is what I came up with on Saturday afternoon.  All the cards use the same base and main image: 4.75" x 4.75" Fabriano watercolor cards and Large Scroll Heart by Stampington.

I stamped each heart with white craft ink on pink pirouette c/stock, heat embossed them with white embossing powder and cut them out.  As you can see each card is different but the basic layout is the same.  I used Stampin' Up!'s En Francais b/ground stamp and Baroque Motifs on several of the cards.

I hope she likes them.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Got Shimmerz?

I finally got my hands some on Shimmerz from my local scrapbook store and these little pots of bling are awesome.  They are super shimmery, water-based paints, which can be used on paper, glossy paper and non-porous surfaces.  What I like is that they're are pre-mixed, unlike Twinkling H2Os or Pearlex Powders.  I paid $3.95 per pot, I'm not sure how this compares with other places, but I'm happy with my sparkling investment. 

Here's a little tutorial on how I used Shimmerz on this this card:

1. Spritz a watercolor paper panel with water.

 

2. Use a wide watercolor brush and apply a thin layer of Shimmerz paint, just like a watercolor wash.

 

3. Allow to dry for about 5 minutes and enjoy the sparkle!

 

4. Rip around the edges of the panel and stamp background image with regular dye ink.

 

5. Sponge around panel with Distress inks.

 

6. Ink flower image with always artichoke and bravo burgundy markers and stamp onto piece of very vanilla c/stock.  Color with dye inks and an aquapainter.  See how flat the image is!

7.  Once dye inks have dried, paint the flower petals with Shimmerz to bring them to life.

 

8. Cut out flower and add to watercolor panel with dimensionals.

9. Finish Card.

 

Recipe:

Stamps: Thank You (Flourishes), All Holidays (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: watercolor paper, very vanilla, flocked paper (Doodlebug)
Ink: always artichoke, bravo burgundy, old olive, regal rose
Accessories: vanilla hardware (SU), Pink Shimmerz, ribbon
Tools: paint brushes, small oval punch

Have a wonderful weekend!

Shout Out to Sheetload

Have you discovered Sheet Load of Cards yet?  I've used several of their layouts now and really like them.  The idea behind Sheet Load is to make a batch of cards each month following their sketch.  What's so cool is that they provide a cutting guide so that you maximize your  supplies and cut down on some of the work.  Plus there are lots of cute samples in each edition to inspire you.  Each month they have great prizes - this month they're giving away some stamps by C.C. Designs.  Check out the January edition.

Here's the card I made with January's sketch:

Today's Featured Stamper on Splitcoast is Lori Craig.  Check out her awesome gallery and blog.  I based this card on one of Lori's for the Featured Stamper Challenge.

I know the stitching is a little wavy, but I've decided to call it rustic!  You can't really see in the photo (we have no light because we're in the middle of another snow storm), but I spritzed a watercolor panel with water and gave it a wash with soft sky reinker. 

The bird from SU's Spring Song was colored with reinkers and an aquapainter. For the sentiment, I isolated 'friendship' from Spring Song's larger sentiment and called it good.

Here's a close up and the recipe:

Recipe:

• Stamps: Spring Song, Toile background
• Paper: chocolate chip, bordering blue textured, watercolor paper, patterned paper from Scenic Route
• Ink: stazon, chocolate chip, baja blue, reinkers: so saffron, baja blue, brocade blue, old olive, pumpkin pie
• Accessories: twill tape, so saffron button, barely banana brads, linen thread
• Tools: sewing machine, aquapainter

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your MLK day!

Silver Train Birthday Card

I hardly had anytime to do anything today because my little girl is sick, but I did manage to stamp a super quick challenge card.  Today's Splitcoast Color Challenge colors were Kraft, Not Quite Navy and Baja Blue - just perfect for the masculine birthday card I need on Thursday.  [Note: my husband just informed me that the ribbon and button make it too girly - looks like I'll be making a more manly version in the morning!]

I broke open Happiness is a Journey stamp set, which I'm ashamed to say, I haven't used.  I bought it six months ago and I haven't made one card with it yet - yikes!  The train was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in silver.  The baja blue c/stock was run through the Big Shot in an embossing folder and swiped with night of navy ink.

Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

• Stamps: Happiness is a Journey
• C/stock: kraft, baja breeze, night of navy, kiwi kiss
• Ink: Versamark, night of navy
• Accessories: kraft taffeta ribbon, button bouquet, silver embossing powder
• Tools: Big Shot, embossing folder, heat gun, photo corner punch, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy stamping!

Origami Box

Happy new week!  I hope you all had a good weekend.  We had another winter snow storm in the North East this weekend - I'm done with winter already!

I thought I'd make a cheerful project to brighten up this cold, gray day and take part in today's Technique Challenge, which was to make an origami box.  I love to make these boxes and when I first started making them several years ago, I used this tutorial by Nicole Heady. It's a great photo tutorial - check it out.

I used some new designer paper, Raspberry Tart, from the imminent catalog (how can I wait another week?), a new stamp set called Sweet Stems and the coordinating Embosslit Sweetest Stem.  There are two pieces regal rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the top of the box and a piece of kiwi kiss satin ribbon covers the seam. 

I used a 12"x12" piece of patterned paper for the lid and the base was a 11 3/4" x 11 3/4" piece of regal rose textured card stock.  The textured  card stock is slightly easier to fold than regular card stock and looks pretty too.

Here's a close up of the lid:

The regal rose scallop was cut out using the Big Shot and Scallop Die #2, the white circle with the Coluzzle and the Sizzlet was run through the Big Shot too.  I stamped the coordinating Sweet Stem flower on white c/stock, colored it with markers, cut out just the petals, attached them to the die cut and embossed flower (the Embosslit) and applied Crystal Effects.

Here are some views of the inside of the box.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Sweet Stems, Fundamental Phrases
• Paper: regal rose, kiwi kiss & whisper white c/stock, Raspberry Tart designer paper
• Ink: Stazon, regal rose, markers: regal rose, pretty in pink, white gel pen
• Accessories: 5/8" regal rose grosgrain ribbon, kiwi kiss/very vanilla satin ribbon
• Tools: Big Shot, Sweetest Stem Embosslit, Scallop #2 die, Coluzzle, crystal effects, bone folder

Thanks for stopping by!

Pumpkin Poppies

It's been a busy week with a few unexpected interruptions, so I had to combine some challenges rather than doing them individually, which I had originally hoped to do.  The challenges for this card were Splitcoast's sketch challenge and Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration .  The sketch challenge in particular was a stretch for me, but I loved the colors Kristina chose.

The flower is from Flourishes' Poppy Patch set and the sentiment is from Impression Obsession.  The poppy was stamped with really rust and always artichoke ink and watercolored with pumpkin pie and old olive inks.  The poppy center was colored with a chocolate chip marker and blended with an aquapainter.  River rock ink was used around the poppy for shadow.

I used the color spritzer tool over the two main panels with apricot appeal and close to cocoa markers to tone down the white watercolor paper.  All edges were sponged with Linen Distress Ink to give the bright card stock card a softer look.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Poppy Patch (Flourishes), sentiment by Impression Obsession
• C/stock: pumpkin pie, baja breeze, chocolate chip, watercolor paper
• Ink: markers: really rust, always artichoke, apricot appeal, close to cocoa, chocolate chip.  Ink: pumpkin pie, chocolate chip, old olive, river rock, Linen Distress Ink
• Accessories: old olive brads
• Tools: color spritzer tool, sponge, Big Shot, embossing folder

Thanks for looking!

Tacky Glitter

The Try a New Technique challenge on Splitcoast today was Tacky Glitter.  You place lines of sticky strip onto your project, remove the red liner and sprinkle with glitter - it's one of those techniques, like glitter window, that's really easy but always gets a wow.

I'm not sure the card I came up with is a wow - I'm very on the fence about it - I think it's too busy.  It's for my friend Kim's birthday next week - I hope she likes it. 

I cracked open another new Flourishes set called Spring Ephemerals - it's a silhouette stamp set with some gorgeous spring flowers, including bleeding hearts and forget-me-nots.  The bleeding hearts were stamped onto patterned paper by Memory Box - one of their 6" x 6" packs called Sprout - using black craft ink and so was the sentiment from the SU set Upsy Daisy.  You can't see them very well in the photo, but the two strips of tacky glitter are above and below the main image.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Recipe:
Stamps: Spring Ephemerals by Flourishes, Upsy Daisy by SU
Paper: rose red, basic black, Sprout by Memory Box
Ink: black craft ink
Accessories: flat backed pearls from Pretties Kit, wide organdy ribbon, dazzling diamonds, sticky strip

Love You Much

Stampin' Up!'s promotion this month  is the Love You Much bundle, which includes the Love You Much stamp set, Candy Lane designer paper and coordinating Heart to Heart punch.  The price is $41.48 before tax and shipping, which is 20% off the retail value of the bundle.  You can order the bundle online through my SU website or drop me an email.

This is one of the first cards I made with the set - how cute are those bird?  I also used my new BIG SHOT (yeah, Santa was good to me!) to make the scallop shape using the Scallop #2 die.  The card measures 4.25" x 4.25".

Recipe:
Stamps: Love You Much
Paper: riding hood red, very vanilla, Candy Lane designer paper
Ink: Stazon, bashful blue marker, riding hood red
Accessories: bashful blue taffeta ribbon, filigree designer brads, bold brights brads, dazzling diamonds
Tools: Big Shot, Scallop #2 die, coluzzle cutting system

Have a great day!