Another Beauty of The Season

Here's yet one more card I made using our Beauty of the Season stamp set.  This one features stamping AND embossing... all on watercolor paper.  It makes for great texture.  The embossing folder is from our Holiday Catalog and it's called Filigree Frame.

I stamped inside the card and on the envelope, as well.  The cardinal is the state bird for our state of Illinois.  We often enjoy seeing them in our back yard.  They are beautiful.

This one was colored with inks and an Aqua Painter.   I used the medium marker from my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities to color the berries on the envelope.

Here are all 3 of the cards I've made (so far) with this beautiful stamp set.

Isn't it nice to think about a little Christmas when it's so hot outside right now?

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- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

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Time Out for Chrismtas...with a Striped Ribbon

I've been working on my Christmas schedule for 2014, so let's take some time out today to look at a card I've made for Christmas, as well as take a peek at what I have scheduled for my Christmas classes.

I'm using a brand new stamp set, called Beauty of the Season.   It's from our upcoming Holiday Catalog, which goes live on August.28.  This is a gorgeous stamp set!

The beautiful cardinal was stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with inks and an Aqua Painter.  I used the medium Cherry Cobbler marker (Blendabilities) to color in the little berries on the envelope.
My color story:
Always Artichoke
Cherry Cobbler
Soft Suede

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- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

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Coloring Techniques, Part 11

Woo hoo!  We're ready to begin the last section of my technique journal today.  I hope you're learning a lot from what I've shared.  I also hope that you will try some or all of these techniques, then leave me a comment about it. 

I actually have TWO versions of today's technique.  It looks beautiful both ways!
Version 1:
Stamp the image with VersaMark Ink and then heat emboss using white EP.  Once it cools, color in the image using our Chalk Marker.

Version 2:
Begin the same as Version 1 and then color over the Chalk Marker using our new Blendabilities.

Here are the cards I made to showcase both versions:

To get the touch of color on the flower on the envelope, I used a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge.  The flower is from the Hostess set, I Like You.

So leave me a comment and tell me which version you like the best.  I love them both and think each one creates its own unique and beautiful look.  I decided to keep any sentiment and/or message just on the inside and let the front showcase the beautiful image.

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Coloring Techniques, Part 10

Today, we'll be completing Part 2 of my technique journal.  This coloring technique involves using our fabulous new Blendabilities.  It does involve some skill to color with the Blendabilities, but it is easy to learn how to do it.  It mostly takes jumping in and experimenting to find the look you like.  I've found that I like starting with the darkest color first and working toward the lightest shade of the trio.  Here's my page.

Here's a card I made using this gorgeous flower.

The leaf sprigs are from our new Flower Frenzy Bigz Die.  Are you wondering about that embossed border all around the top layer of the card?  It's a sneak peek at a new embossing folder that will be coming out in our new Holiday Catalog.  I love it!  I've spritzed the entire card front with a shimmer mist.

Speaking of our new Blendabilities, I've shown you all the first set of colors that we could purchase.  Since then, all the other colors have become available.  Take a look and leave me a comment about which one is your favorite.

... and we have several neutrals as well, that can be used in any way you can push your imagination.  Some of the skin tones are great for highlighting darker colors, too.

That's it for section 2 of my technique journal.  Come back as we travel through section 3.

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Coloring Techniques, Part 6

We've finished the first section of my Coloring Techniques journal, so today let's get started on the next section ... coloring techniques with markers.  There are so many ways to use creative coloring techniques.  I'm focusing on just 5 to highlight for each section.  I may go back later and add more to my journal.  That's the great part about putting them all in a journal.  They're organized, ready for easy reference, and you can easily add more pages at any time.

This technique is so easy and so much fun!  You simply stamp your image onto black CS (looks best on black) using VersaMark Ink, then heat emboss using white EP.  After it cools, color over the white EP using our new Blendabilities!

Here's a card I created using this technique.

Come back for my next post where we'll be working with vellum. 

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Some of My July Projects, Part 2

I'm home this morning, instead of at church, because my leg pain has prevented any meaningful sleep for about 3 days now.  I will think of stamping goodness and take my mind off from the pain.  Actually, it's better right now than it was all night, but I am a bit wiped out.

So, let's continue today with more of my projects that I've been making in July.  Today's post features shades of Coastal Cabana and Hello Honey with a couple of cute gift bags.

I cut off the edge of my Chevron bag to create a clean edge, folded it over, and tucked a folded doily (spritzed with Coastal Cabana reinker/alcohol mixture) beneath the flap.  I wrapped Baker's Twine around the folded over edge and tied a pretty bow.  The lucky recipient can just slip off the Baker's Twine to open it and not have to tear into the bag.

Are you wondering how I made the flower?  I kind of made it up as I went along:)  I punched about 6-8 layers of Crushed Curry, using our Blossom Flower Punch.  Then, I got out my new Fringe Scissors and, while constantly turning each flower around, I started cutting slits into it, cutting each punched flower 1 layer at a time.  Then, I stacked them all up, pierced a hole through the centers, and attached it all with a brad.  It starts looking cool when you fluff the daylights out of it.  Because the center shows a bit, I used one of our smaller Antique Brads in the center.  Wouldn't this make a great little gift for someone, with a treat or small something inside?

I used my Blendabilities to color the cotton ribbon, creating an ombre effect.  I spritzed the bag, using my reinker/alcohol (Coastal Cabana) mixture.  Wondering about that crazy little flower?  I punched 3 Coastal Cabana flowers with our Pansy Punch.  I folded each one and attached each flower, back to back with just a section of another flower, until all 3 were attached.  Once it dried (used Liquid Tombow to hold them together) I scrunched it a lot, opened it up, scrunched it a bit more, opened it up and 'arranged' it the way I wanted it to look.

... and here is your sneak peek for my next couple of posts where I'll continue to share more details on each project.

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- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

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Dip, Dye, Emboss, Spritz and Glitz, Part 3

Happy 5th!  It's actually my birthday today and I am spending the weekend with my sweet Olive Jane, ending with a party tomorrow with all the grandkids.  Isn't that the best birthday ever!  Before I get into my celebrations, let's get back to a little stamping!

Here we go with 3 more pages from my techniques album.  These 3 pages are all quite unique and all super fun to create.

Page 5:
Using our Hexagon Framelit as a mask, spritz watercolor paper with reinker/alcohol mixture.

Page 6:
Color Simply Pressed Clay flowers and buttons using reinker/alcohol mixture to spritz.  Let dry.  Repeat spritzing until you get the depth of color you like.

Page 7:
Use Blendabilities to color wooden elements, Vintage buttons, clear buttons, pearls, rhinestones and Antique Brads.

Come back soon for part 4, as our series continues.  Have a great day.  

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Dip, Dye, Emboss, Spritz and Glitz, Part 2

We've been having such a busy summer this year.  After Bill's accident, I have worked on learning a new way to try to keep organized and still get everything done that I need to do.  It works... most of the time.  I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with the boys.  They are a constant delight.  Let's hope I can keep Bill feeling better so things continue to look up a bit for us!  The accident was a bit of a wake-up call to us that we'd slipped way too far from what we should have been eating.  I've been dedicated to changing that... for both of us.  Because of it, I'm feeling better, have more energy... and have lost 10 pounds!!!  Gotta love that!

I'm thrilled to say that I've actually been able to work in my studio a few minutes each day this week and then, after dinner last night, I worked the entire evening until bedtime in my studio.  It was glorious!  I'm big into working on all things spritzed, dipped or dyed right now, so I am kind of going around with greenish, blueish, yellowish, orangeish, pinkish hands... hee, hee, hee.  That's the life of an artist... and I love it.

Now... back to my little series I started sharing with you in my last post.  Let's take a look at the next 3 pages from my techniques album.

Page 2:
Ombre technique, using Blendabilities markers, then spritzing with shimmer.  This gives a graduated dark to light shading of color on the ribbon.  (Tag is just for display.  It was spritzed.)

Page 3:
Ribbons are colored with an Aqua Painter dipped into a reinker/water mixture.  The cotton ribbon takes much more time and effort to color, because it doesn't take the color very fast.  There is a type of coating over the ribbon.  It is pretty and, I think, worth the effort.

Page 4:
Dipping Technique:  
1st ribbon:    
  Dip into reinker/water mixture.
2nd ribbon:   
  Dip a little longer into the same mixture.
3rd ribbon:   
  Leave in same mixture for 5-10 minutes. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back soon for part 3, as our series continues.  Have a great day. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Playing Around With My New Blendabilities

I've been playing around with my new Blendabilities and oh, is it ever fun!  It's an entirely new way of coloring and it is beautiful.  Here are some samples of the same flower, each one colored with a different set of Blendabilities.  So far, I think my favorites are Cherry Cobbler and Rich Razzleberry, but that may change when I order the next batch of available colors.  Which one do you like the best?

Other than the set of 6 skin tones, all the other markers come in sets of three --- a light, a medium and a dark.  Each flower I've shown here has been colored using all 3 markers in the set.

 

I'm not sure there are actually green flowers like this one, but I wanted to try every color.

I added some orange highlights to the center of the green flower.  The other flower centers are done with shades of yellow.

These are all the colors you can get right now.  I've shown all but the skin tones.  You can actually use those to highlight other colors, as well.  Demonstrators can now order the next batch of colors (available to you in August), so I'll soon be sharing more ideas and more gorgeous colors with you.

Here are some other examples, including one for 'what NOT to do' in your coloring.

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