Stamp-a-faire 2017 - Day one

Over at Papertrey Ink, the inspiration is flowing from all the amazing artists!

I started out using the colours and inspiration pictures to create some cards for the Take 10 challenge.

 Here is my first choice:

inspiration source: Sunda Studio via Fivestar Branding Agency

I use a lot of turquoise and teal but rarely the yellowy orange shade so thought I would go out of my comfort zone.  That is why I like these kinds of challenges - they really push me!

 I did not love the layout I created for the butterflies but will still post .. I did some ombre stamping of the middle butterfly for a varied look of inking.

But then, after I finished the images I couldn't figure out where to put the sentiment!! Awkward placement perhaps, but ah well ...

Next I took a Soft Stone card base and used the same ink colours for a different look with Bold Bouquet.

 A bit of foam sheet and sentiment and that's it! :)

inspiration source: Sostrene Grene

For this black and white combo, I immediately thought of my PTI patterned paper. I love the linen texture and all the designs!  I popped a striped piece up on a foam sheet and added a Wink of Stella shimmered hello die cut. Super simple but great for a more masculine feel!

I fell in love with this inspiration pic!! I never love my watercolouring attempts but just went with it and let the ink and water move as it wanted to.

inspiration source: Wildfield Paper Co. & Callie Hobbs Photography via StyleMePretty

I took two Strathmore watercolour pieces of paper and used my Zig brush markers for colours and a paintbrush.I added a sentiment to each with some Fresh ink pigment (Provincial Grey).

It's hard to tell but I used Tsukineko Shimmer spritz and then blotted some off to add some water droplet effects.  Love the shimmer it adds!!

(mounted with foam sheet onto Enchanted Evening card base)

I got a perfect impression with the sentiments because I restamped multiple times with my trusty MISTI tool.  Otherwise it would not have been such a saturated sentiment on textured watercolour paper!

(mounted with foam sheet onto Soft Stone card base)

I'm looking forward to the rest of the challenges and will be adding some more cards to my stash as the weekend continues.  I have a packed weekend as it is so won't be able to participate in real time but I'll catch up!  

Happy stamping and hopping!

SAF 2016: Masterpiece Inspirations

Red Poppy, Georgia O'Keefe

I took my inspiration from this gorgeous poppy painting by the talented Georgia O'Keefe.  I white heat embossed Delightful Dahlia stamps on Strathmore cold press watercolour paper.  I mixed some deep reds with my aqua brush and filled in the flowers.

 I die cut the flowers and added green leaves stamped with Avery Elle celery.

 I popped these up on foam tape and added them to a woodgrain card base.

I watercoloured a piece of Strathmore paper die cut with a double ended banner and stamped the Don't Forget to Write sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black.  This was also popped up on foam tape for some dimension.

If you are looking for some gently used stamp sets, take a look here - new ones have been added.
http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

SAF 2016: Drips and splatters

Lizzie Jones showed some awesome techniques for drips and splatters and I had fun with this card, despite me not gravitating towards the 'haphazard' look:

I took a piece of Strathmore cold press watercolour paper which works perfectly for techniques like this - it's nice and thick.

I grabbed my basic set of watercolour paints from Michaels and started flicking in different colours - yellow, orange and red.

I added a black die cut from Don't Forget to Write and a sentiment stamped with Versafine Black Onyx.  As a finishing touch, I glittered the die cut with my Wink of Stella pen in clear.  The panel was foam mounted to an Enchanted Evening card base.  This messy technique was lots of fun!  Thanks, Lizzie, for all the tips!

If you are looking for some stamp sets, take a look here - new ones have been added.
http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

SAF 2016: Watercolour like a Master

The uber talented Kay Miller did a fabulous video on how to stamp and watercolour.  She made it look so easy ... I had quite a time with this one but just went with it and decided to post my rather un-masterful creation!!

I cut a panel of Strathmore 300 series cold press paper for my watercolouring.  I grabbed one of my favourite sets - Natural Beauties and stamped it using yellows and oranges from Studio Calico dye inks.  I added some smaller flowers in pinks and then leaves in a mint colour.

I used my aqua brush to move the colour around and heat set it several times between layers.  I then added the detail stamp using Versafine Smokey Gray ink.  I splattered some Heidi Swapp Gold Shine Spritz all over and misted the panel as well.

I added a Fillable Frames sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black and foam mounted the panel onto a piece of woodgrain card stock in white.  Lots and lots of foam tape to flatten the watercolour paper down!!

Even though I am not loving this card, I decided to post it anyways ... maybe I will try my hand at this technique again tomorrow ... we'll see if I have time.


Have you ever used woodgrain card stock?  It is beautiful and the texture is sooo nice!!  I bought and split two packs (the dark chocolate and white) with a friend.  I bought it here at LCI Paper.  I am thinking of getting the grey next ...

Check out my sale of stamps and dies here:
http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

Papertrey Ink June 2016 Blog Hop

                                                                                        artwork from Yellena James

I just love this month's inspiration picture over at Papertrey Ink.  I cut it down to the wire with my entry but here it is:

Whew!  Got it in 3 minutes before the deadline ... I was busy all day and didn't have a chance to make anything but when I got home, I thought I'd try anyhow!

So I took a piece of woodgrain card stock as my base and then my trusty Strathmore heavy weight watercolour paper.  I used some basic watercolours and just painted a messy array of colours taking my inspiration from the pic above.

I meant to use the Circle Coverplate but didn't realize until after I was done that I had grabbed the chevron instead! :(  Since I cut with the sandwich cutting DOWN, it was quite a surprise when I saw what I had done ... but I went with it in the interest of time and proceeded with my card ... :)

I took some Sticky Dot paper and adhered it to the front of a piece of white fun foam and die cut with the Hello die.  I then added Rock Candy Distress Glitter (subtle but sparkly) and a few dots of Tombo Mono Aqua to adhere it to a piece of Linen Texture vellum. (click the picture to enlarge)

I dabbed some Tombo Aqua glue behind the die cut but then remembered that the best thing about this thicker weight vellum is that even dot glue runner doesn't show so I added some to the sides to adhere it better.  Score!

So, that's it .. my super simple card.  Off to hop and check out all the other creations.

Make it Monday #251: Gradient Watercolouring with Die Cuts - Sending Hugs

This week's Make it Monday over at Papertrey Ink is all about gradient watercolouring on die cuts.  Dawn did a great video illustrating this with her Ziggies:

So I grabbed my my Zig water brush pens.  (I bought the 24 pen set which is just the right amount of colours.)  I used some  Strathmore heavy weight watercolour paper and used my pens to add colour and then added some water with my Kuretake aqua pen.  (This one is my favourite.) 

I grabbed my Hexagon Cover plate and cut the watercoloured piece.  I then added some Tombo Mono Aqua glue to the back of the hexagons and carefully pushed them down on to my Recollections 110lb white card base.

I cut out a Make it Market Don't Forget to Write die cut using Smokey Shadow and sandwiched four cuts together to make it more substantial.  A little more Tombo Mono Aqua glue and some Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen on the die cut and that was almost it.

Can you see some of the shine above?  If not, enlarge the picture by clicking on it.

I added a stamped 'hugs' from Make it Market Don't Forget to Write with some of my faithful Versafine Black Onyx ink and my MISTI stamping tool.

I had a lot of fun with this technique so thank you to Dawn for inspiring us all!

Check out my stamp sale list here:

http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

May 2016 Blog Hop: miss you

This month's blog hop over at Papertrey is inspired by this gorgeous image:

artwork from the Sarah Langtry from Just the Bees Knees 

I took this stunning art work as my jumping off point to do some watercolour stamping with my Zig water brush pens.  (I bought the 24 pen set which is just the right amount of colours.)

I took a piece of Strathmore heavy weight watercolour paper and used my pens to scribble over a Rosie Posie stamp and then add some water with my Kuretake aqua pen.  (This one is my favourite.)

I stamped with a few different colours and layered the inks for some variation but kept it super simple and messy.

I heat set the ink before stamping one of the Botanical Silhouette anniversary set sentiments several times over (with my trusty MISTI) using Versafine Smoky Gray ink.  (Hands up if you love the saturation of colour that comes with Versafine inks!!  I love their onyx black for sentiments - such a nice deep colour!!)

Anyhow, the Botanical Silhouettes font reminded me of the 'just' portion of the inspiration pic.  I added some Wink of Stella glitter with the pen and lots of foam tape to mount it on a smokey shadow card base.

Happy hopping and if you need some stamp sets (or dies!), check out my stamp sale list here:

http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

Stamp-A-Faire 2015 - Patterns challenge: wish & love you so much

For this challenge, it was all about card patterns as inspiration.  The first one looked like a great one  to start with:

I took the Chevron cover plate and cut some heavy Strathmore watercolour paper.  I kept the whole thing intact and did some watercolouring with my Zig Real Brush pens - love these!!  I scribbled a bunch of ink on my clear block and then took an aqua brush and did some messy watercolouring in rainbow order.

 When I first got my pens, I did some work on labeling the tops using a hole punch, some glue and then Glossy Accents over top for a hard durable finish.  This was a great idea that Jennifer McGuire had - brilliant, really!  She went a step further and did one side solid colour, the other side watercolour but I kept it simple.

Of course, when I was trying to get this picture with my camera phone, I proceeded to knock the whole pack over and had to put them back in ... classic, right?! :)

After watercolouring, I kept the pieces together and dabbed some Tombo Mono Aqua glue on the back of the cut outs and adhered them to a second card base so I can make another card later.  Super simple but a great way to use the scraps!

I die cut a Harvest Berries leaf sprig in polka dot patterned vellum and a grey Wet Paints die cut with a gem for some bling.  (note: I took creative liberties and didn't add twine or string like the sketch had ... hope that's ok!)

edited to add: I forgot to add pictures of the inside of the card ... I did a simple ombre stamped sentiment (Fresh Ink Fuschia and Sugar) with some stars in the background with Provincial Gray ink:

 And a close up:

Before moving on to the next challenge, I decided to try another pattern and took this gorgeous understated one from Heather as my inspiration:

I took a Kraft card base and added a piece of DCWV foil patterned paper to the edge.  Next I went back to my Perfect Pearls powder in Perfect Pearl using Sketched Shapes and Versamark.  I brushed on the powder and wiped away the excess with a used dryer sheet - this works really well!

I added an Enchanted Evening die cut using Scripted and then stamped the sentiment in Versafine Deep Lagoon which is a great saturated navy colour.

You can see the shine a bit better above - Perfect Pearls are a great medium and very easy to use!

So, how is your creating going today?  Are you losing steam?  Keeping up?

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If you have a moment, check out my gently used item sale *here*.  I have stamps, ink pads and other things too ...