Something New for You

Hello Friends!  Hope you're all doing well today on the 3rd of July.  Probably in the middle of celebrating the birth of our country or getting ready to do that tomorrow.  I had planned on sticking with the Inked & Tiled set for a while, until I was wandering around YouTube yesterday morning.  I found a new video by Tina Zinck that just put me in a creative mood.  She makes some of the most gorgeous backgrounds on her cards and truly inspires me.  It's so funny - after watching the video, I went downstairs and did my version of recreating her cards.  I came back upstairs after I was done and had to laugh at myself.  I stopped when I liked the look of the cards, but totally forgot to make about half of the stamped layering that Ms. Zinck added to make her cards so fabulous.  So, I guess you're getting my very pared down version of her cards.  I thought my cards were fine until I checked back on the video.  Whew, what a huge difference! If you want to see what truly inspired me, here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYe3u6rlR4o  You'll see what I mean about pared down if you check her video out.  😁

What really attracted me to her cards was her technique of using ink and Blending Brushes to color a full sheet of Basic White cardstock.  So that was the part I focused on.  These are the four cards that I made out of that one piece of cardstock.  If you want to make this, start with these colors: Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, Flirty Flamingo, and Azure Afternoon.  These are in the Brights color category.  Blend on the colors in that order so you're going pretty much light to dark.  You want all of the white to be covered with color.  Make sure you tap or brush off before going to the paper so there aren't large dark splotches.  Even with doing that, I still had some rather dark areas of Azure Afternoon on my cards.  

The layering cardstock on these cards are the same as the background ink colors.  My favorite of all the cards is the one with the Flirty Flamingo layer.  Not sure why I like it the best, but I do so that's the one I have extra pictures of here.  Please remember that all of the cards are basically the same.  They are just layered on different colors of cardstock, so they seem to look quite a bit different. 

 

After adding on the colors with Blending Brushes, the full piece of Basic White cardstock was cut down to four pieces that measure 5" x 3 3/4".  At this time, all the stamping was done on the individual pieces.  I didn't have the foliage set that she used, so I improvised with what I do have.  I used Lighting the Way (page 24) for the taller greenery stems.  These were stamped on with Shaded Spruce ink.  The bushier branch is from the Botanical Layers (page 107).  It's stamped with Old Olive ink.  This one looked way too heavy, so I off-stamped before adding to the card.  As you can see, 2nd and 3rd generation stamping were added to fill in a little.

I thought it would be fun to add the little lightening bug to the cards.  They were stamped with Basic Gray to be not quite as dark as black.  The little 'light' was stamped with Lemon Lolly ink.  I remembered I had some watercolor Pearl Ex from ages ago.  This was added over the 'light' to make it shine brighter.

I couldn't find the exact sentiment I wanted to use, so I stamped the 'hello' from the Wonderful Thoughts set (page 41), and the 'friend' from a sentiment in the Inked & Tiled set (page 95).  Basic Gray ink was used to stamp these, then they were snipped out close to the sentiment to add to the cards.  Since the 'hello' was on such an angle, I just followed that when cutting.

When adding the sentiments to the cards, some pieces were attached flat with adhesive, and some were attached with Dimensionals to give the card some additional interest.  Each card was handled differently in this aspect and also the placement of the sentiments.

For the last bit of finish on my cards, the pretty Iridescent Rhinestones were added.  I love these for the sparkle effect they give, and also the fact they seem to match just about anything!  

Now that my cards are finished and I checked back to see what Tina did, I wish I had paid more attention to her cards.  For a collage look, all the added stamping and embossing on her cards are perfection.  I just might need to go back and make another set of cards following her directions better.  😁

Thank you for spending some of your time with me today.  I hope you like this technique of making your own backgrounds.  And also my pared down version of Tina Zinck's cards.  They were so fun to create.  Can you just imagine this technique used with some colors for fall?  Oh yes, this is something I don't want to forget about!

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy stamping and creating!

Sharon

Lighting the Way Foliage Card

Greetings Friends!  Glad you stopped by today.  I'll be sharing a really gorgeous card with you today.  Well, at least I think it is.  I saw these colors used together on a card that I believe Mary Fish made.  Who would ever think that Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, and Pretty Peacock would turn out to be fabulous complimentary colors?  I don't think I would have ever thought to put these together - well maybe in the fall.  And this would be a great fall card!  But instead, I'm using it for right now!  Let's get to creating this card together.

We'll start with a base of Very Vanilla cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half.  Next, cut another piece of Very Vanilla that measures 3 5/8" x 4 7/8".  This is what we're stamping on.

Using the largest branch stamp from the Lighting the Way stamp set (page 24), ink it with Crushed Curry then stamp it close to the left side just at the bottom.  Next ink the 2nd largest leafy branch from the set using Cajun Craze ink.  This is stamped just to the right of the previous branch.  Stamp it just a little lower than the first one so it will be going off the bottom of the cardstock.  Ink up the Crushed Curry stamp again and stamp to the right, leaving a space for another branch between and continue to stamp lower than the last branch.  Ink up the Cajun Craze stamp again and stamp at the right edge.  Now take the 3rd leafy stamp from the set.  Ink it with Pretty Peacock ink and stamp it in the center of the bottom of the card.

Here's where I went off-script from Mary Fish's card.  I added a small amount of Pretty Peacock ink to the bottom edge of the card front.  Using a Blending Brush and a very light touch, just blend in ink lightly on the bottom edge of the card.  The color barely comes up the sides maybe an 1".  I can't stress a light touch enough!  That means inking the Blending Brush then going on scrap paper to take off most of the ink before you even touch it on your card.  Better to have to add more color to get it dark enough, than trying to figure out how to get the color lighter!!

At this point, I decided to add a sun to the card also.  I die-cut a 1 1/2" circle from a piece of scrap computer paper.  This is partially laid over the top corner of the card.  I used a Blending Brush and Crushed Curry ink for the sun.  Reminder, this again needs a light touch on the ink!

Next comes the layering.  Pretty Peacock cardstock was cut to measure 3 3/4" x 5".  The stamped Vanilla layer is attached to this using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  Then a layer of Crushed Curry was cut to measure 4 " x 5 1/4".  This was also attached to the other layers with the Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  I'm getting tired of calling it Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  I'm going to refer to it as "green glue" (because it has a green cap) from now on.  

After attaching these three layers together, a 6" piece of the new 2023-2024 In Color 3/8" Textured Ribbon in Copper Clay was attached across the card near the bottom edge and taped on the back of the layers.  These layers were added to the folded Very Vanilla card base.  For this step I used Dimensionals.  I love how this new In Color ribbon blends so nicely with the Cajun Craze ink.  

For a sentiment, I chose this one from the new Circle Sayings stamp set (page 17).  This is stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock with Pretty Peacock ink.  I had trouble finding a new die set that fit this stamp correctly, so I pulled out the Stitched Nested Labels that are retired.  I liked the look of this one.  It's die-cut, then the Blending Brush with Crushed Curry ink was barely blended on the edges.  The sentiment was then attached with Dimensionals.

The bling used here was sort of a surprise to me.  I had the 2023-2024 In Color Dots sitting on my work table.  This uses the Wild Wheat color gems and I love them with this card!

You know me, after making one card, I had to sit down and make another.  This one has just two changes.  Yes, I know, always tweaking my cards.  

The sentiment was attached to this card straight on.  Not sure which way I like it better.   What do you think?

The other change was using the Copper Clay 2023-2024 In Color Dots.  Which do you think work better?  I think I'm leaning towards the Wild Wheat accents for this card.  Or should I have gone with a gold or maybe a bronze-y or coppery color instead??  Help me out here with your thoughts.

Hope you like the new color combo used on these cards.  I was very surprised by how much I liked these colors together.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

If you're planning on ordering soon, please use the Host Code shown at the top of this post.  You know I truly appreciate you supporting my business.  You're what keeps me going with the creating and crafting, then sharing these cards with others.  Thank you so much!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Sun Prints Card

Oh dear, here we go again.  It's so hard to say good-bye to so many of my favorite products.  Today's post revolves around the lovely Sun Prints Designer Series Paper.  The organic look and colors of all these prints remind me of blue batik patterns that I love.  And do you remember doing sun prints on specialty papers when you were a kid?  I always thought it was so cool how the sun could bleach out the paper and leave this awesome design behind.  That's what these papers remind me of on the blue side.  The other side has cute little prints in Gray Granite.  Together it's just awesome, and that's what I'm using for today's card.  I thought the blue and white would work both for ladies and men and I needed a slew of cards for the shut-ins this month.  This is just one of the card designs I'm working on.

It's all in blues with a little white and silver thrown in for an interesting accent.  Here's how it's made.  Start with a card base of Night of Navy.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  Next is a layer of Basic White that measures 5 1/2" x 4".  This will fit right up to the top and bottom edges of the card, but with navy showing on both sides.

The Sun Prints DSP is the next layer.  I chose the print that has white fern-like sprigs and maybe dandelion stems on a mottled blue background. It measures 5 1/4" x 3 3/4".  It's attached to the Basic White layer with adhesive.  Then these layers are attached to the card base with adhesive also.

The leafy branches are from the Lighting the Way stamp set.  I stamped it in Night of Navy ink on Basic White.  The I used the coordinating die to cut it out.  The Lighting the Way Bundle is in the January-April Mini Catalog.  Unfortunately, the 10% off the Bundle price is gone at the end of April.   But I'm so happy it's carrying over into the new catalog and I can continue to share it with you.

Can you see the other two die-cut stem pieces?  They are much more prominent in real life.  First, I chose the skinny branch from the Harvest Dies.  This is such a wonderful basic branch to put behind other stems for a filler.  Alas, it is being retired.  This time I used some Silver Foil Paper to die-cut the branch.  

I also cut two butterflies from the same Silver Foil Paper.  Can you see the embossed detail the dies make when cutting?  I like having that extra detail on them instead of just being flat.  The butterfly dies come from the Meadow Dies.  These are also a carry over to the new catalog.

The second stem is cut from Vellum Cardstock.  This is one of the leaf dies from Poppy Moments Die set.  It has the look of a fern type of leaf to me, so it was the best choice for what I wanted to do.

First the silver branch was attached to the card front near the left side.  Then the vellum fern was attached over a little to the right of the branch with the stems coming together.  Lastly the stamped branch was attached on top of the others.  The two butterflies were attached with Dimenisonals.

The last thing I did was add a sentiment.  And wouldn't you know it, none of my other pictures actually show the sentiment on the card?!  At this point I wasn't even sure I was adding a sentiment.  That's why my pictures are bare.  But I did decide a sentiment was needed to fill the space.  I used a piece of Basic White that measures 3/4" x 2 1/2".  The sentiment comes from the Happy Labels stamp set.  It's stamped with Night of Navy ink.  The coordinating Happy Labels Pick a Punch was used to make those notches on each end.  The label was attached to the card front using Dimenisonals.  It's positioned just slightly over the stems to bring them all together.  Remember to go to the top of the post to see the totally finished card.  Guess I didn't have my mind fully in gear when I was taking the pictures.  So sorry!

The countdown is almost done.  May 2nd the new catalog goes live and we can order anything from it we want.  Woo Hoo!  As demonstrators we were only allowed to purchase certain stamp sets.  I wasn't a huge fan of the ones available, so I'm still playing with my old stamps.  It's time to bring on the new!  I can hardly wait to order.

Thanks for being here with me today.  I appreciate the time you take to visit.  You mean the world to me.  Remember if you're one of my customers, start looking in the mail for the envelopes I'm sending out.  And thank you for all your good wishes on my birthday yesterday.  You are a true blessing to me!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon