Lovely Lattice with Brusho Card

I have 1 more Brusho card to share with you today.  This one uses an emboss resist technique with a stamp set from our past Sale-A-Bration --- Lovely Lattice.  Enjoy!  And don't forget ... 1 more week until the new catalog goes live!  I already know what I'll order next. 

I did an emboss resist on the inside of the card, as well, and I added a bit of Brusho to the envelope to coordinate everything.

We won't have Brusho in the new Annual Catalog but we will have Pigment Sprinkles and they'll come in 6 Stampin' Up! colors --- Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Gorgeous Grape, Mango Melody and Melon Mambo.  I think these colors are a perfect variety and will be a fabulous opportunity for producing even more creative projects.  I love that they have an inside lid with holes for easy sprinkling onto your project.

If you did not get a copy of the new catalog in the mail from me, I will have some here in my studio later this week that you can stop by and pick one up.

On a personal note ...
We had the privilege of attending the memorial service of a dear friend this weekend.  She raised a family that was the picture of a Norman Rockwell painting / Dick and Jane story book.  What an honor to have known her for so many years.  We lifted our voices in praise to God for letting us share in the life of such a fine Christian woman.  Besides her family, music was such an important part of her life and it was evident in the beautiful singing in which we shared with so many music lovers in attendance.  We were reminded to live our lives to the fullest and be the best example we can be for our family, friends and loved ones.  We'll miss her very much.

UP NEXT:

June 10 -- Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / $18. 
Pay to register by June 3
We'll be making some more beautiful cards and enjoying using some fun, new products.  I'll have a couple of really fun ways to use the Stamparatus to share with you, as well as a new fun fold card design.   I hope you can join us.

SAVE THE DATES: 

June 23 --- 2:00-5:00 / Get ready for fun!  

Summer Open House / New Catalog Party

June 28-20 --- 8:00-5:00 Friday / 8:00-Noon Saturday

MY ANNUAL GARAGE SALE

I'll have lots of stamping and paper crafting products for sale.

Come and find a good bargain!

 RETIRING PRODUCTS

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LISTS:
     Occasions Catalog Retiring Products List
     
     Annual Catalog Retiring Products List

Lots of products are already sold out so shop now if there's something you still want to try to get.  Be sure to check out the Clearance Rack, too.  You'll find lot of great bargains. 

Ink On TIEF Technique

If you're one of my regular customers, you should have received your brand new annual catalog in the mail this week.  Isn't it great!  You can start ordering from it on June 4!  Now, on to today's card project.

In case you don't remember what the 'TIEF' stands for, it's Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  I have a really fun technique to share with you today, using a TIEF and ink.  Here it is! 

I inked the bumpy side of the TIEF with Lovely Lipstick and ran it through the Big Shot with pink CS and this is the result.  I love it!  It gives a really unique look to the embossed layer of the card.

I hope you'll give this technique a try.  It's really fun and super easy.  When you're finished, just run the TIEF under the faucet and rinse it clean.  Pat it dry with a paper towel and let it finish air drying.

UP NEXT:

June 10 -- Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / $18. 
Pay to register by June 3
We'll be making some more beautiful cards and enjoying using some fun, new products.  I'll have a couple of really fun ways to use the Stamparatus to share with you, as well as a new fun fold card design.   I hope you can join us.

SAVE THE DATES: 

June 23 --- 2:00-5:00 / Get ready for fun!  

Summer Open House / New Catalog Party

June 28-20 --- 8:00-5:00 Friday / 8:00-Noon Saturday

MY ANNUAL GARAGE SALE

I'll have lots of stamping and paper crafting products for sale.

Come and find a good bargain!

 RETIRING PRODUCTS

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LISTS:
     Occasions Catalog Retiring Products List
     
     Annual Catalog Retiring Products List

Lots of products are already sold out so shop now if there's something you still want to try to get.  Be sure to check out the Clearance Rack, too.  You'll find lot of great bargains. 

Last Ditch Effort Leads to a Great Discovery

Oops!  I meant to share this particular post with you some time ago.  I guess it's better late than never.  My great discovery happened way back in December.  I was trying to finish up some more Christmas cards and became frustrated by how long it was taking me to peel off the adhesive-backed strips of gold foil from our Timeless Tidings card kits.  These kits were beautiful and I really wanted to make some more cards from them but I was running out of time. 
At the same time, we had workers running about as we were undergoing our water damage repair and my studio renovations.  This was frustrating and distracting to my creative mode.  I thought the kits would keep me going until I could have some peace and quiet to do my own designing and creating, but I was so frustrated with this adhesive situation.  I kept thinking ... if only there was something you could swipe over the adhesive to collect all the stray pieces.  And that's when my discovery came to be.  I used a lint roller!  Yes, a lint roller.  I was a happy camper!!!
Here are the cards.  Remember this kit?  It was so pretty!

See the pieces that were still stuck in the foil strip.

Check this out!  Roll the lint roller across the back and the stray pieces came away ... almost like magic.  It does not hurt the adhesive either and it still adheres to your card perfectly.

Now, the strip is perfect and ready to go on a beautiful card.

Yes, I collected a lot of these stray pieces.

I hope we get another beautiful kit for next Christmas ... and, if it has any strips like these in the kit, I will have my lint roller ready:)  File this technique away for future use.

UP NEXT:

May 13 --- Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / $18.
We'll be making 3 beautiful cards ... with watercoloring and trying fun, new techniques using the Stamparatus and we'll try THREE fun 'tricks' with embossing folders.  It won't be all Brusho for this class but it will be all fun! 
REGISTRATION CLOSED.

SAVE THE DATES: 

June 23 --- 2:00-5:00 / Get ready for fun!  

Summer Open House / New Catalog Party

June 28-29 --- 8:00-5:00 Friday / 8:00-Noon Saturday

MY ANNUAL GARAGE SALE

I'll have lots of stamping and paper crafting products for sale.

Come and find a good bargain!

RETIRING PRODUCTS

 CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LISTS:
     Occasions Catalog Retiring Products List
     
     Annual Catalog Retiring Products List

Lots of products are already sold out so shop now if there's something you still want to try to get.  Be sure to check out the Clearance Rack, too.  You'll find lot of great bargains.

Stencils, Masks, Spritzing, Daubing and More ... It's All Fun!

I have a card to share with you today where I used my Brusho Crystal Colour and a stencil for some creative fun.  There are many ways you can use stencils/masks in your projects.  Gee, if you'd like to learn more about some of these fun techniques, I just happen to be having a class on Saturday, March 18 and I'd love to have you come and join us.  We'll be using stencils creatively.

For this card, I covered my watercolor paper with an old Stampin' Up! (retired) stencil.  Then I sprinkled 3 of my Brusho Crystal Colour powders over the areas where I wanted to add the design.  (You only need a teeny tiny bit of the powders.)  Then I lightly misted over it with a fine misting bottle.

After removing the stencil, I let it air dry.  I then took another piece of watercolor paper and just added powders and water mist, until I got a nice effect.  I let this one air dry, too.  When it was completely dry, I punched out the butterflies, using 2 sizes of punches.  I punched 2 extra of the larger butterflies --- one for the inside of the card and one for the envelope. 

Adding the black layers behind the stenciled piece and behind the butterflies really makes the colors pop.  Please note --- This is not really intended to be a perfect design.  It's just to give a fun, random effect of adding colors to your project... more of an abstract art style.  It is super fun, too!  Once the butterflies were punched out, I added shimmer mist to them to give them a beautiful shimmer.  Love it!!! 

In my next post, I'll be sharing some hexagons in bright blues and greens.  See you then!

My next classes and events:
Monday, March 13 --- 
Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / Beautiful Spring cards / $15.00 / Pay to register at least 2 days prior to the class.  See sneak peeks on left side here.
Saturday, March 18 -- 
Saturday Stampers / 1:00-4:00 / Using stencils creatively (on cards) / $20. / Pay to register at least 2 days prior to the class. 
See sneak peeks on left side here.
Sunday, March 26 -- 
Spring Open House Party / 2:00-5:00 / a 'no fee' event / RSVP by March 24 and I'll have a special gift just waiting for you.  Come and join us for an afternoon of creative fun! 

Special Reminders:
As always, you must pay to register at least 2 days prior to each class.  If you are using a coupon, you still need to register at least 2 days prior to the class and present the coupon at that time.  I need it for tax records, please.
See the left side of my blog for sneak peeks on upcoming classes and events.  Class schedules and descriptions can be found by clicking on 'my classes' at the top of my blog.

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

- Click on the tab at the top to see my class schedules. 

- Look on the left for sneak peeks and registration policies. 

- Please sign up to follow my blog and/or leave a comment. 

- Come  back often for more creative inspiration. 

Dip, Dye, Emboss, Spritz and Glitz, Part 7

Are you ready for the last of the series from my techniques album?  Have you tried any of the techniques yet?  If you do, I hope you'll share what you create.  Today, let's finish off the album with some more beautiful techniques using watercolor papers.

Page 17:
Stamp images onto watercolor paper.  Spritz with water and then Vanilla Shimmer Mist.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Let dry and then brush off the salt.  This makes a unique background that is a wonderful surprise each time you try it.  I'll have more fun examples of this technique in some of my upcoming posts.

Page 18:
This next technique is so much fun and comes out a little different each and every time you do it.  Create a unique background using an embossing folder.  Ink the label side of an embossing folder with 3 complimentary shades of ink (using sponges to apply ink).  Spritz folder with water.  Lay watercolor paper onto the wet side of the folder.  Close folder and press evenly.  Remove paper and spritz with more water, if needed, to even out the color.
Optional:
Add shimmer by spritzing with shimmer mixture.
WARNING:  This technique is rather addictive because it's so much fun!!!

And that's our album.  After all those wonderful pages, I couldn't leave the back cover plain.  I stamped it, spritzed it with water, let it dry and spritzed it again with shimmer.  Pretty!!!  (It's even more striking in real life, but you'll just have to come and see it to believe it.)

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back soon for more fun design techniques and inspirations.

- 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 6

Today, we've reached the next to the last of our series on pages from my techniques album.  Today's pages showcase a little embossing, a little sponging and a couple of ways to use our reinkers.  These are some of my absolute favorite pages in the entire album!  Here we go!

Page 14:
3 Embossed Clothespins:
Attach Sticky Strip to front of mini clothespin, then cover with embossing powder and heat emboss.  I used Pool Party, Gold and Silver EP for my 3 mini clothespins.  It takes longer to emboss this way, so be patient.  The results are worth the wait.
Sponging:
Sponge 3 colors of ink onto Shimmery White CS.  Blend, using a circular motion.  Stamp desired image over the sponged background.

Page 15:
Use a reinker/alcohol mixture to spritz paper doilies.  Let dry and apply a second spritzing if you desire a deeper shade.

Soak mini clothespins in a reinker/water solution to color them.  Allow to soak for at least 10 minutes.  Place on paper towel to dry.

Page 16:
Cover a doily with Versamark ink.  Then cover it with EP.  Heat emboss.  Here, I've used Early Espresso, Silver, and Gold EP.  I love them all.  They are gorgeous!

Additional fun:
This page is NOT in the techniques album, but we used it at my class.  The flowers, obviously, could not be smooshed into an album. 
Use the reinker/alcohol mixture to spritz filter paper flowers.  Let dry and apply a second spritzing if you desire a deeper shade.
Optional:
Add more texture and shades of coloring by lightly brushing the tips of the flower petals with an ink pad.  BE GENTLE WITH YOUR INK PAD, AS THE FOAM IS A LITTLE DELICATE.
Give added glitz by spritzing with a shimmer mist. 
In an upcoming post, I'll show you how I used some gorgeous filter paper flowers in a bouquet.

Come back soon for part 7, as we wrap up our series.

- 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 5

Did you even know you could emboss ribbons?  Well, you can!  Are you ready for 3 more technique pages?  Let's jump right in and see what else we can create with my techniques album.  Today is all about silver and gold and a bit of glitter glitz. 
 
Page 11:
Embossed ribbon --- Stamp with Versamark Ink and emboss with Silver EP.  I've shown each ribbon using the design in opposite directions, just to give you more ideas of how it will look.  Our cotton ribbon is perfect for this technique!

Page 12:
Embossed ribbon --- Same technique as page 12 but with a different color of EP.
Stamp with Versamark Ink and emboss with Gold EP.  Again, I've shown each ribbon using the design in opposite directions, just to give you more ideas of how it will look.

Page 13:
Dip lower edge of ribbon into Crystal Effects.  Then dip into glitter.  This is messy, but fun... and pretty.
3 Glitter Clothespins:
Glitter/Crystal Effects / Black, Silver, Gold Glitter ---
Cover clothespin with Sticky Strip, dip into glitter and press glitter into the tape.  Coat with Crystal Effects and let dry overnight.  This keeps the glitter from flaking off the project.  I love the look!

Come back soon for part 6, as our series continues. 

- 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 4

Today, let's look at 3 more techniques from my album, including ribbons and watercolor paper.

Page 8:
Fraying ribbon:
Cut ribbon in half and pull threads to fray the loose edges on the cut side into a fringe.

Trim off edges on both sides of ribbon and pull threads to fray into a fringe on both sides of the ribbon.

Pull threads to fray just the bottom edges of ribbon into a fringe.  Vary the length of the fringe by how many threads you pull.

Page 9:
This page is one of my absolute favorites and it's so simple to do it --- creating a beautiful background using watercolor paper.
Spritz the entire page first with water, then spritz small sections at a time with various colors of reinker/alcohol mixture.  Spritz with more water, as needed (for desired amount of blending).  For added shimmer, spritz again with shimmer mixture.  I've used reinker/alcohol mixture from all 5 of our new In Colors.  For this technique, use at least 3 colors.

Page 10:
Ribbon flower using a Sticky Round and ribbon.  Tie a knot in one end of the ribbon.  Press it down onto the center of the Sticky Round.  Leaving the ribbon on the ribbon spool, keep twisting and pressing the ribbon down as you go around the circle.  When you reach the edge of the Sticky Round, cut the end of the ribbon and tuck it under the back of the circle.  Use to decorate 3-D projects, scrapbooking projects and/or card making projects.

Come back soon for part 5, as our series continues.  

- 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.