Poinsettia Card with Glossy Accents

Hello!  I am sharing a Christmas card today that goes with several challenges.  I love it when all of these help me finish a card fast.

I stamped the poinsettia and did some very simple coloring with alcohol markers.  I then applied a thick coat of glossy accents and let it dry before fussy cutting.  

I then used a sketch to create my layout, and used other stamps from the set to do some background foliage and then sentiment.  I also edged the white panel with blue ink.  I think you don't notice this detail on the card, but I think it looked unfinished without it!

Supplies: October Afternoon Boughs and Berries stamp set, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Hero Arts Soft Pool shadow ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Ranger Glossy Accents, American Crafts Let it Snow paper pad, Gina K Designs Christmas Pine cardstock.

I would LOVE to participate in the following challenges:

Rudolph Days February

Merry Monday Shimmer and Sparkle

Tuesday Morning Sketches #392

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge

Thank you so much for your visit today!!  I hope you have time for stamping today!

You're a Rare Bird

ETA (3/8/17) So proud to announce that my card was chosen as a Top Pick at Great Impressions this month!  Thank you!

Hello!  I have a card to share for the Great Impressions sketch challenge this month. 

I colored my parrots with alcohol markers.  I tried several color combinations before I came up with this one.  I used papers from one of my first patterned paper purchases. Inside, I stamped, "You are a Rare Bird."

Supplies: Great Impressions Parrots #G370S, You are a Rare Bird #E892S, Memento and Versafine black inkpads, Spectrum Noir markers (and one copic), Nuvo Crystal drops, DCWV Citrus Matstack,  Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Quick Happy birthday card

Hello everyone!  I do thank you for stopping by! I have a quick share for a card I was able to make in a hurry thanks to the inspiration of several challenges.  I love it when it works out.

The stamping is second generation.  The chevrons are actually printed on acetate and layered over colored cardstock.  These bright colors are fun for teens.

Supplies: Gina K Designs Made with Love stamp set, GKD Lipstick ink and cardstock, We R Memory Keepers Clearly Posh acetate pad, Nuvo Crystal drops

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

ModSquad Challenge - Geometric

Double D Challenges - Chevron

StampTV MIUM I can see clearly

Freshly Made Sketches #278

More Faux Bleaching with Distress Oxide Inks (and my Lilac experiment)

Hello and thanks for coming by!  I have a couple more cards today made with my Faux Bleaching technique tutorial for Distress Oxide inks.  If you haven't already, I would be thrilled if you checked it out.  

This card was made with Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink (it is a greenish grey) on dark grey cardstock from Michael's.  

The fern sortof looks like it has been x-rayed.  I think it is really pretty with the light blue papers.

The second card is the Tea Dye Distress Oxide on Kraft paper from Michaels.  I do really love that color variation.  If I had used a touch more water, it would have been more white.

I have been trying to use a lot of patterned paper and even some older brads that are so pretty!

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Flora and Fauna Sheet, Sentiment Sheet 3, Distress Oxide Inks,   My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pads Follow Your Heart - Be Amazing, The Sweetest Thing - Bluebell, Stella and Rose - Hattie, My Mind's eye brads, Versafine Smokey Grey ink for sentiment, Recollections Cardstock. 

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

Tuesday Throwndown - Favorite Embellishment

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!

Here are a few more combos that I tried, but have not made anything with:

Wilted Violet

Peeled Paint

This was a different one, Worn Lipstick on orange.  When I did Orange Marmalade ink it looked much more bleached on orange cardstock.

The blues, I mentioned yesterday, I did not get great results with.  Maybe I need to keep trying.  These are stil pretty, just not so bleached looking.

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As an aside, I saw a youtube video where they showed how to force branches to leaf and flower early, so I took some cuttings of my lilac bush to give it a try.  I will give you an update if it ends up doing anything! (The little faux flowers were some little school project one of the boys did for Mother's day,  I never throw stuff like that out!)

Whoa!  If you have read this far, I thank you!  I love it when you can take time to comment and will try to visit your blog too!

Tutorial - Faux Bleaching (or Watercolor Stamping) with Distress Oxide Inks

My craft area is a disaster -- and that is a good thing. I have been having so much fun playing with a technique I think I discovered (I certainly haven't seen anyone else posting it) for my new Distress Oxide inks.  I am not one to jump on the bandwagon, but this is SO. MUCH. FUN. I just have to share it.

Watercolor stamping is an awesome technique and I am using the same steps with the Distress Oxides to get a Faux Bleached look, or a Ghost-Stamping look -- you decide.

For this I used my ink, a mini mister, a chunky or silhouette style stamp and some darker colored cardstock.  Lots of combos to play with there.  (Please click on the photos to enlarge them for detail.)

Ink up the stamp with Distress Oxide ink.

Using a spray bottle that applies a mist, spray with water 3-4 times, until the stamp looks like this.  This step is variable, you can decide to add more or less to get a more of less flowing image.

Stamp onto your cardstock.

This is the result right after you stamp.  You will be able to see the color of the dye part of the ink prominently -- but that will not last as it dries.

Here is the result when it is almost dry.  Most of that dark halo of dye ink will eventually completely disappear, depending on how much water you added.

Every time I did this, I said, "ooOOOoo!"  Lol.

Now, I found this worked with nearly every color of the inks BUT I did have trouble with the blues.  I also found that you get a better result on darker cardstocks, so it if doesn't look right, see if you can go darker with your cardstock color.  

Tim Holtz did show in a CHA Demo video that you can stamp your image and then spray the whole cardstock with water to get other effects, however, this Faux Bleaching look with Distress Oxides really is much much cleaner looking AND the water you stamped with moves in a controlled manner  after you stamp to give that lovely watercolory image that I find really awesome.

Here are two projects I made with the technique.

This was Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink on Gina K Passionate Pink cardstock.

And this is one of the FUN surprises - Fossilized Amber on Gina K Wild Dandelion Cardstock.  The yellow ink turned a lovely pink!  I have no idea how, but that is so cool!

Supplies:  Distress Oxide Inks by Ranger/Tim Holtz, Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Flora and Fauna sheet, Just a Note sentiment, Crate Paper DIY Shop patterned paper, KI Doilies patterned paper, Versafine Smokey Grey ink (for sentiment), Spellbinders Oval and Scalloped Oval dies, Avery Elle Wonky Rectangles Dies, Vellum and Embellishments from my stash.

I have a few other cards I have already made with this technique I will probably share tomorrow, along with my experiments for this technique on all colors of cardstock.

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by! I hope you will leave a comment so I know you were here.

I would love to enter these cards into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Florals

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Masculine LOVE Card

Hello and I hope you are doing really well.  I have a masculine LOVE themed card, it can be a Valentine design, but also can be used for other occassions, like an anniversary or birthday, for a special man in your life.

I did use two colors of ink on the stamp, red on the top and burgundy on the bottom.  It was fun to use two colors to get the brightness of the red with the burgandy that matches the paper I wanted to use.

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Cupid's Arrow stamp, Versfine Satin Red and Crimson Red ink, My Mind's Eye Happy Camper 6x6 paper pad, MFT Pierced Square dies, heart gems from my stash.

Please enter the Just for Fun Rubber Stamps February Challenge - Sweet Things.  It doesn't have to be a Valentine to go with the theme!

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Just for Fun Rubber Stamps will be in Rockford Illinois on March 4-5 and Wilmington Delaware on March 18-19.  Check out the Show Schedule here.

Stamping with Distress Oxide Inks

Yes, I have yet another card with my Distess Oxide inks.  I am really starting to get excited about them, AND I haven't found a home for them in my small craft area so they are sitting right out in the open - ready for me to stamp.

I stamped right onto my ocean mist cardstock.  Then, I just spritzed it a little with water.  If you look closely, there are a few places that look a bit oxidized and a few water splotches.  I like it.

I also stamped the focal point with a second generation stamping with the Oxide ink.  

I had a little mesh bag leftover from a party favor, and I cut it up with my paper trimmer to set under the focal point before finishing the card off with some Nuvo drops.

Supplies: Gina K Designs Sending Love stamp set, Distress Oxide Broken China Ink, Versafine Onyx Black, Gina K Ocean Mist cardstock, Spellbinders Lacey Circles and Scalloped Circles dies, Vellum, Nuvo Glitter drops Blizzard

I would love to play in these challenges:
StampTV MIUM Main Images
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes

Distress Oxide Ink background experiment

Hello and Happy Saturday!  I am back with a fun background made with my new Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks.  After my learning experience with these inks yesterday, I had an idea about what would probably work for me.

This background was made by smooshing the paper into the ink/water mix on my craft sheet, and drying. Then I used a large brush to pick up individual colors of inky water and tapped the brush so that large drops of the ink fell onto the paper.  I do really like the this background so I just added a little bit of a sentiment and left it alone.

The matte look of the background is pretty cool. I really feel like these new inkpads give a look of paint, but with some dye added that allows for effects.  So far, I am pretty happy with my purchase, although I don't have any place to store them yet!

Supplies: Distress Oxide inks Cracked Pistachio, Faded Jeans and Broken China, Verve Stamps Brighter Days, Versafine black ink, Hero Arts Soft Pool ink, Spellbinders Scalloped labels one.

I would love to participate in this challenge:

Tuesday Throwdown Say it with Words

Thanks for coming by to look at my experiments!

To see all my posts using Distress Oxide inks, click here.

To see my tutorial for a Faux Bleaching look using Distress Oxides, click here.

Distress Oxide Ink Experiments - Floral cards

Warning, wordy post!!

I had pre-ordered the entire set of Distress Oxide inks after seeing some of the demo videos Tim Holtz did at CHA.  At first I had to sigh, how can there be yet another Distress line!?  Even seeing the neat backgrounds Tim was making, I would not have picked them up, but when I saw that you could stamp with them and some other things, I thought that I would spend my Christmas money on them and see what I could do.

I got them on Monday!  When I first started playing with them, I was getting a little frustrated that I couldn't get the background results I had seen in the demo.  After watching them again, I really think this is because I do not have a spray bottle that sprays big drops of water (like the distress one, I only have the mini misters.) I am going to get that soon to see if it makes a difference.  Yes, you can get those big drops using your hand or a brush, but the process of drying the background with a heat gun AND holding a brush and having water nearby was too cumbersome.

Here are my very first experiments: 

(Please click on any of the photos to enlarge them.)

Like I said, I would not be happy with getting these if I could only do backgrounds, so I decided to not only make the background but also stamp over it with the Distress Oxide inks.  Even the sentiments are stamped in the Distress Oxide inks.  This first one turned out well, I think.  The background was made with Cracked Pistacio, Broken China and Faded Jeans in lots of layers -- drying in between.  I stamped with the Faded Jeans.  You can definitely see the chalky Oxide look to the surface.  It is pretty neat.

The second card I am not really happy with.  The green color of the flower silhouette was not dark enough to show my image well and it oxidized more as it dried, making it even more blurry looking.  I thought I would share it anyhow. I would have been more happy with it had I used the Broken China to stamp with instead of Peeled Paint.  The background was made with Broken China, Peeled Paint, Cracked Pistachio and a little Vintage Photo.

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Flora and Fauna Sheet, Sentiments 3, Distress Oxide Inks, MFT Pierced squares dies, Elizabeth Designs embossing folder.

I would love to participate in the following challenge:

SimonSaysStamp Fantastic Florals

Thanks for stopping by today!  I will have another Distress Oxide project to share tomorrow.  See you soon!

To see all my posts using Distress Oxide inks, click here.

To see my tutorial for a Faux Bleaching technique, using Distress Oxides , click here.  

More Camellias

I have another card here with this Camellias stamp, which is so pretty, but this time I colored it in shades of lilac.  (The first card is here.)

I did my standard trick in the background.  Since I did not have the right color of purple cardstock, I used a darker one and put vellum over top.  It is a good trick that often works out.

The card front could be used for any occasion, but I want to use it for a Valentine, so I stamped on the inside with light ink and then over top with a love sentiment.

Supplies:  Power Poppy Simply Camellias stamp set, Short Stacks stamp set (for sentiment), Memento Ink, Hero Arts Soft Lilac shadow ink, Spectrum Noir Markers (if I find my scrap of paper, I will come back and list the marker names here), Cuttlebug embossing folder, Gina K Wild Lilac cardstock, Spellbinders Labels 18.

I would really love to participate in these challenges and hope you will check them out, too!

ModSquad Challenge - Texturize

Cards in Envy - Be My Valentine

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to visiting your blogs too!

Easy Cat Valentine

ETA 2/14/17:  I am flabbergasted this morning as I see that this card was chosen as a favorite at Tuesday Morning Sketches, Color Challenge Favorite at SplitCoastStampers, and one of the Top 3 at Tuesday Throwdown!!

Wow!  Thank you so much.

Hello!  Hope you are well today! I am back with another Valentine.  By this time, I have sworn solemnly that I will start earlier next year on my Valentines!

This one was super easy to do once I had worked out what stamps to use.  They are from several different sets, and I am not sure what set the little heart is from!  The inside was fun enough for me to take a photo.

And I am including this close up just because it shows that heart sequin is actually red!

Supplies: Gina K Designs Stately Flowers 6, Better with You, Heart Unknown Gina K set, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles, Versafine Ink Black and Red, American Crafts Twine, glittered heart is a piece of confetti I saved, paper is unknown.  

I would love to enter these challenges!

Gina K MIUM
SplitCoastStampers Color Challenge 

Tuesday Throwdown HeartStrings

Tuesday Morning Sketches #389

Thank you for stopping by!!!