Lawn Fawn "On the Beach" | Have a Relaxing Birthday

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Well it's summer time now. My kids are all off school, and for the most part seem to be under the impression they can play video games or sit in front of a screen all day long. That is not the case. Last night the two older ones sat down and had to write out a step-by-step checklist of their chores. Sure, the chore is "do the kitchen" but what exactly does that entail? They sent in their lists last night, where they will be consolidated and finalized today (for each of their chores, not just the kitchen) then laminated as a checklist, so we don't have to continually send them back to rewash a dish, or actually wipe down all the baseboards in the bathroom when cleaning the floor. It'll be good to have everyone on the same page regarding our expectations. It'll definitely make for a smoother summer, and hopefully instill some good habits for their futures.

Today I have a (mostly) single layer birthday card, that can be used for either as either a masculine or feminine (which is always handy) using Lawn Fawn's "On the Beach" stamp set.

To begin, I stamped all the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock then coloured them with Copic markers and masked them off. I used the negative space of a circular mask to allow for ink blending.

I used my dollar store (FTW) blending brushes along with Distress Ink to create a soft sandy/beachy background for this guy to be hanging out on.

Once I peeled the masks away, I put the panel back into my MISTI and stamped the greeting. I then adhered this panel to a piece of patterned paper and mounted the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Clearly Besotted "Pretty Pansies" | A Floral Thoughts Birthday Card

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

So y'know the other day when I said I had so much more time to myself and I was looking forward to getting more posts and videos done? Well as it turns out, I've just been making cards; it hadn't even occurred to me until late last night as I was dozing off to sleep that I should probably be blogging as well. LOL, I guess I have been so excited about this uninterrupted time that I've just been making and finishing off half done cards like a crazy lady.

So today, when I sat down and logged into my computer for other reasons, it struck me that "While I'm here.....", so today, I wanted to share this lovely birthday card I created for my sister-in-law back in January, featuring Clearly Besotted's "Pretty Pansies" stamp set.

To create this card I cut down a piece of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and put it in my MISTI, I stamped the larger image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink then turned the paper and stamped again.

I coloured all the images with Copic markers, you'll notice the bottom image has a darker blue halo than the one on the top. As it turns out my B000 and BG0000 both decided to dry right up after finishing the top image, so I had no choice but to go darker for the bottom. Because of this, I opted to have the greeting heat embossed on a piece of vellum to place over the lower image. I felt this would tone it down and make it less noticeable.

I then adhered the panel to a piece of coordinating cardstock and then mounted the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. To finish off the card, I added some crystals from Pretty Pink Posh in both blue and purple because I gotta have me some shine.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Always be a Unicorn | ft. The Greeting Farm Stamps

Hello, everyone. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I have a new card for the Monochrome Monday series, even though it's a little early. I was late on the last one, so I think this makes up for it!

The Greeting Farm stamps are relatively new to me. I don't have many of them but the ones I do have I'm very happy with. I'm in this encouragement card phase right now, and I'm not sure why. Generally my cards reflect my frame of mind, so maybe I need some encouragement in my life, or maybe one of you out there need some encouragement, either way - I gotta do what's going on in my head.

I recommend watching in HD over on YouTube!

I hope you like today's card (and video) and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think!

Here's a little lesson about glitter pens!

Spotlight Stamping | Beautiful Thanks ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Normally I won't post using the same stamp set two days in a row, but the Rose Wonder was still out on my desk and I did say I was going to use it more often and two in a row is better than three in a month right? Maybe not, but I was so in love with how this card turned out that I had to share it right away.

This card could work for Valentine's Day, but I decided to turned it into a Thank You card, though you'll never really know that because I didn't put a greeting on the outside. Just a sentiment of thanks on the inside. Either way, this card can work for any occasion.

To begin, I used the MISTI and stamped the rose with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I stamped it twice to get a good impression, something I seem to struggle with when using large stamps.

I then used a rectangle die from Spellbinders to cut out the centre. I adhered the centre piece down to a piece of black cardstock, cut slightly larger and used my Copics to colour the smaller panel.

I added a second piece of black cardstock to the front of a standard A2 sized card base and mounted the uncoloured frame to that. I then used some super strong two-way tape to add the smaller panel, making sure that my lines matched up.

To finish off the card I used my clear Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen over the coloured petals. I made sure only to do two passes with the glitter so we don't have issues like we talked about a couple weeks back. I decided it needed just a little something more, so I added a few clear drops from Pretty Pink Posh to look like water drops on a couple of the petals.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and now on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Heart Day Series | Window Panel ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I have the final card in this year's Happy Heart Day series. I've had this Rose Wonder set by Stampin' Up sitting in my craft room forever. Well not really forever, but for a very long time.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom why I don't use it more. The rose is perfect for so many different occasions, not to mention how great it is for practicing shading and colouring in any medium imaginable.

To begin, I used one of my rectangle dies from Spellbinders to cut a window out of the front of a standard A2 sized card base as well as from the piece of glitter paper that is the frame on the front. I used some post-it tape to line the glitter paper with the card base, and hold the die in place to cut them at the same time, this way the window lines up perfectly.

I then trimmed down a piece of acetate to match the size of the outer edge of the frame and stamped the rose with StazOn ink with the MISTI. I had to stamp it a couple of times because my ink pad is on its way out; even then there were a few places that the impression wasn't awesome, so I used a smooth surface black pen to fill in those areas.

I adhered the acetate to the back of the frame then mounted that to the front of the card base, so the entire front of the card is a window.

I stamped the "Love" with CTMH Tulip ink, again using the MISTI as this is a dye ink and doesn't give the best impression the first time around. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for the "with".

I wanted to provide a better picture of how this card would look if it were standing partially open, as cards tend to do when we display them.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and now on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Floral Thoughts Series | Watercolour Birthday ft. Clearly Besotted "Fresh Flowers" and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today, I wanted to share a birthday card that I had created for my Grandmother. She loves florals, so I had no option but to choose Clearly Besotted. Their floral collection is like nothing I have ever seen before. The detailed designs lend a sense of realism, while still giving us all the space we need to colour using any medium we like.

She also loves watercolour, so I opted to use the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers as my medium for today.

To begin, I stamped this floral image from Clearly Besotted's "Fresh Flowers" with Antique Linen Distress Ink on Strathmore 140lb cold press watercolour paper. I chose to use Antique Linen for my stamping because I wanted to do a "no line" watercolour. Distress Inks will react with water and the lines will fade away when you apply the watercolour to an area. I suggest using the MISTI or another stamping tool because of the texture of the paper, you'll want to get a good impression.

I then used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, applying the colour only where I wanted the darkest areas to be then using clean water to pull the colour out towards the edges of each petal. It's important not to work in areas that are right next to each other so they don't bleed together.

Once the image was completely dry, I used my white gel pen to add highlights to the ends of the little stems (?) in the centre of each flower.

My greeting, from CTMH "Cursive Birthday" set is stamped with CTMH Gypsy pigment ink. I added a scattering of coordinating sequins across the panel and adhered the watercolour piece to a slightly larger piece of purple cardstock. Then I mounted the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Clean and Simple Winter Birthday | ft. Distress Oxide Inks

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I have a clean and simple masculine birthday card, this card can be recreated in pretty much any palette. The Holiday series may be over, but winter is in full force here in Calgary, so I thought a winter birthday card would be appropriate.

I was really, really on the fence about the Distress Oxide inks, but I really try to give things a fair shake and try them out before I judge them. So I picked up a couple of oxides and at first I didn't see what the big deal was. I have most of the regular Distress inks, so why would I need the same colours in another formula?

But the more I used them, the more I liked them; especially for backgrounds. They blend so incredibly smoothly that I find myself reaching for them more often than my beloved Distress inks. And that's saying something.

To begin, I cut down a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock and masked the top and the bottom. I then used the Broken China and Salty Ocean Distress Oxide inks to blend my background with the darker being more towards the lower left side. I used the Distress sprayer to spritz clean water over the ink and get a nice splatter look. It's almost like a snowstorm.

Once the panel was completely dry, I used my MISTI and stamped the tree as well as the greeting with CTMH Archival ink. I prefer to use archival ink over the Distress Oxides as it is waterproof and won't run if the ink is still a bit damp.

I mounted the panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base, then added some blue enamel dots to finish it off.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays Series | Watercolour Trees ft. Stampin' Up "Lovely As a Tree"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I have surprisingly few Stampin' Up sets considering how lovely they can be. I find myself very torn on them. They are either completely elegant or far too basic for my tastes. This particular set, "Lovely As a Tree" is by far one of my most favourites. The trees can be used with any palette and various mediums to create the most beautiful cards for any occasion and they are excellent for masculine cards; an area in which I struggle.

This card took me a couple tries to get the way I wanted, and even then I'm sure I could play around with it some more to get it absolutely perfect.

To begin, I cut down a piece of Strathmore 140lb cold press watercolour paper and put it in my MISTI. I then positioned the tall evergreen stamp starting with the far right tree. I used my Distress markers to colour directly on the stamp then spritzed it with a very fine mist of water and held the MISTI lid shut. I found that if I held it shut for about 30 seconds, the ink would transfer and give this very loose look to the image.

I repeated this process with the tree on the left. I let them both dry completely then repeated it again with the tree in the middle.

I stamped the greeting from Hero Arts "CL722" using the same markers as I did with the trees, but did not spritz the water. Because of the texture of the paper, I had to restamp the greeting several times to get a good solid impression.

I added a piece of teal shimmering tape down the right side and popped the watercolour panel up on foam tape and adhered it to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

Depending on your preference, you could do this with any palette so long as the colours blend nicely together. You wouldn't want to use colours that would muddy up the image when the mix.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Muse Challenge #242

Inspired by Ardyth

 Thank you all so much for your votes and support. I really cannot tell you how much it means to me.

Happy Holidays Series | Yeti, it's Cold! ft. Lawn Fawn "Yeti, Set, Go"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Well, winter has finally hit us here. It's cold and snowy and the roads are just crazy. It happens every year. As soon as the snow hits the ground, people forget how to drive. It never ceases to amaze me.

Today I want to share the third card in my Happy Holidays Series, featuring two sets from Lawn Fawn. Both are older, but still wonderful!

To begin, I stamped the red portion from Lawn Fawn's "Argyle Backdrops" using Tulip ink from CTMH, I used the MISTI as this is one that will need to be stamped a couple times to get a good impression.

Once that was dry, (it takes a bit, especially when you stamp two or three times) I stamped the stitching from the same set using CTMH Archival ink. This black ink gives a nice impression, and if the red dye ink is still a little wet it won't bleed.

I then stamped the Yeti from Lawn Fawn's "Yeti, Set, Go!" set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I masked him off and stamped his earmuffs and the trees around him. I cut him out using the Brother 2 Scan N Cut, which is way faster than fussy cutting him with scissors.

I coloured him with Copic markers and popped him up on some foam tape. I then cut a banner piece out of dark green cardstock by Recollections and white heat embossed my greeting.

I used the same green cardstock to create a border for my panel and adhered all the pieces to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Addicted to Stamps and More

Anything Goes Challenge

Happy Holidays Series | Spinning Bear ft. Lawn Fawn "Beary Happy Holidays"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Welcome to the second card in this year's Happy Holidays series. Today, I wanted to share a sweet little spinner card that I created using the skating bear from Lawn Fawn's "Beary Happy Holidays".

The 2017 fall and winter release from Lawn Fawn is amazing. They have certainly outdone themselves with the stamp sets this year. Even during the sneak peak I had so many ideas, how could I resist this adorable bear? And he's not alone in the set! So much fun ahead!

To begin, I cut down a piece of shimmering cardstock to the same size as a standard A2 card base. I lined it up with the front and ran both layers through my die cutting machine with a scalloped circle die at the same time. This ensures that the opening will match up perfectly when the card is put together.

I then removed the front shimmering panel, prepped it with my powder too and used my MISTI to arrange all the snowflakes and the greeting. I stamped them with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with silver detail embossing powder.

Since none of these snowflakes are repeated, this is an easy card to mass produce.

I stamped the front and back portions of the bear on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and used the Brother 2 Scan N Cut to cut them out. I coloured the images with Copic markers.

To create the spinner, I put a piece of super strong two way tape in the middle of each half, I then placed a length of "Unique Ultra Fine Invisible Thread" through the middle. I added more adhesive so that all the edges would be completely stuck together and put the two pieces together.

I added adhesive all over the back of the front panel and used my craft mat to line up the loose ends of the invisible thread to make sure the bear was suspended in the middle. Instead of cutting off the tails of the thread, I lay them back and forth over the adhesive, so they won't go anywhere. I then put adhesive all over the front of the card base, and stuck the two pieces together.

When the card is standing upright, the bear hangs nicely in the middle of the opening. You can wind him up so when the recipient opens it, he'll spin around for a super fun surprise.

Typically I'd photograph the card standing up, but I didn't like the shadows, so flat it is. You could also create a light scene inside the card so that it is visible through the opening when the card is standing.

Unique Ultra Fine Invisible Thread is a nylon so it is stronger than normal sewing thread and basically clear which makes it just perfect for this type of card. I picked up mine at my local fabric store for less than $3. Considering the spool has 500 yards, I'll probably never need another!

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies

Challenge #8

ABC Christmas Challenge

W is for White and X Marks the Spot

Coloured on Kraft | Troll Party ft. Your Next Stamp "Insanely Happy"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I'd like to share this super cute birthday card I created using the "Insanely Happy" stamp set by Your Next Stamp. This is a new (to me) stamp company with super cute images and clever sentiments. Given the popularity of the Trolls movie that recently came out, I thought that this set would be a perfect one to start with.

The images can work for both a boy or a girl; don't have to be for birthdays and are super fun to colour.

To begin, I created masks of all the trolls in the "Insanely Happy" stamp set by Your Next Stamp. I then used the MISTI to stamp the two outer trolls, masked them then stamped the third, masked her and finally the last troll.

I removed all the masks and coloured the images in with Prismacolor Premier pencils (you can see my review of those here). I'm still having trouble with natural skin tones when using the coloured pencils, so colouring these trolls was super fun!

I used three shades for each of the different colour skins, four shades for each of the hair and two shades for all of the clothes. Typically, I would use more shades for the clothes but these are very small areas and don't require as many shades to get a good blend.

Once I was certain I liked the colouring, I put the panel back into the MISTI and stamped the greeting. All of the stamping was done using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Not because it's required, but out of habit.

I then traced the "Have An Insanely" portion of the greeting with my Quickie Glue pen by Sakura and sprinkled Lawn Fawn's fine Prisma Glitter over the letters. Since the Trolls movie, all trolls must have glitter! Sadly, the writing is obscured in the picture, but in real life it sparkles and you can read it. WIN!

To finish it off, I used the Imaginisce i-Rock heat tool to add the coloured embellishments around the greeting. I've had this tool for ages, and I keep forgetting that it's around. Then adhered the kraft panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Seize the Birthday

Kraft Card Base

Sympathy Silhouette | ft. Distress Oxide Inks

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

A while back I did a comparison between Distress Inks and Distress Oxide Inks (you can see that post here, Distress Showdown) and I showed the most common uses for my current collection of regular Distress inks and how the Oxides compared.

This was the first time I stamped over a Distress Oxide background, and I'm beyond impressed with the results. I cannot believe how crisp the images turned out, with the help of the MISTI, of course.

I have been holding off on getting more Oxides because I didn't know if I really wanted duplicate inks that didn't come in the mini cubes taking up space - as we all know the space we have is precious. This really tipped the scales for me, and I have a list going of my most used Distress inks that I want to get in the Oxides. I was so pleased with how the background turned out and the crisp stamping on top that it is definitely worth the space they large pads will take up.

To begin, I sponged Salty Ocean and Broken China Distress Oxide inks over my panel to create a very subtle ombre look, with the darkest in the lower left corner. I then used my Distress Sprayer to spritz water over the panel, let that sit for about 20 seconds then blotted it dry with a clean paper towel.

Once the panel was completely dry, I put it in my MISTI and stamped the floral silhouette from Inkadinkado and the greeting from (Recollection, I think) with CTMH Archival Black ink. I did notice that the Archival ink stayed wet a bit longer than it normally would, as though the pigment in the Oxides created a barrier. So stamp with caution! Wait until it is dry before touching. Smearing is likely to occur.

Once the ink was dry, I used a piece of black twine to create a bow. I would love to find twine that doesn't have all these little hairs sticking out of it. I love twine, but I do not love this.

I then mounted the coloured background to a piece of black cardstock, then adhered the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I then used my Nuvo Crystal Drops (gloss) in Ebony Black to add a bit of detail. The more I use these drops the more I absolutely love them (foreshadow - review/comparison coming soon!) I'm less happy about the 24 hour cure time on the drops, but frankly the finished product is well worth the wait.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Anything Goes

Rustic Thanks | ft. Lawn Fawn "Stitched Leaves" Dies

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Remember when we all first started out and punches were like the coolest thing? Punches and stickers and those scissors with the funky cutting edges. Today I wanted to share a card that doesn't have any image stamps or colouring.

Today's card features the "stitched leaves" dies from Lawn Fawn and two paper punches. One from Martha Stewart and the other from Recollections. Sometimes it's fun to take a step back from everything we do right now and try something that we would have done years ago.

To begin, I die cut all of the leaves using Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Leaves" dies out of Kraft cardstock by Recollections. I also punched out four of the daisies (Recollections) and three of the leafy fronds (Martha Stewart) out of the same cardstock.

I then used Distress inks and CTMH pigment inks to add some colour to the leaves. For the pigment inks I used a finger dobber as I wanted a more stippled look instead of the smooth blend that I get from the sponging tool and the Distress inks.

I set those aside to dry, and used the finger dobber and CTMH pigment inks on the front of the card base to add some additional colour and make the background look a little out of focus.

Once that was dry I arranged my leaf pieces the way I wanted them and adhered them in place using liquid adhesive.

I then stamped the greeting from an old Recollections set using Gathered Twigs Distress ink in my MISTI (just to ensure that I got a good image).

To finish it off, I added a bow with natural twine.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Muse Card Challenge

Challenge #239

Inspiration card by Stephanie Lanzalotto

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Monochrome

 Thank you all so much for your votes and support!

Technique Tip | Adding Gilding Flakes After Colouring an Image

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

For last week's product review, I discussed the Nuvo Gilding Flakes by Tonic Studios. In that post, I briefly touched on a fun technique where you add the flakes after you've coloured an image. I had promised a card using this technique but then I got sick and my daughter got sick and my other daughter got sick and frankly it was a whole sickly mess.

Today I have that card for you. I'd like to walk you through my process and discuss some of the things that I learned along the way.

There are a few things you're going to need:

• MISTI - I can't line up a stamp to save my life after it's been stamped. Even the clear ones, so the MISTI has become an invaluable tool. If you are able to do this with an acrylic block then I envy you.
• Heat embossing supplies - Powder Tool, Sticky Embossing powder by Ranger, Gilding Flakes and a stiff brush
• Swiffer or Duster cloth to catch all the stray flakes and dust
• Images to stamp and colour
• Colour Medium of your choice - I'm using Copics

To begin, I stamped these leaf images from Inkadinkado using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I arranged these cling stamps in my MISTI so that after stamping I could turn the panel upside down and stamp the images a second time with without having to move them. I then coloured them with Copic markers.

After the images were coloured, I prepped the panel with my powder tool and returned it to the MISTI. I inked up the stamps using VersaMark ink and used Sticky Embossing powder by Ranger to cover the lines of the original stamping, and used my heat tool to melt the powder.

As you can see from the little leaf on the right, my stamp moved slightly and I despaired; I had originally thought to toss the panel and start over but then I thought that this would make an excellent practice piece - because you can never have too much practice when it comes to a new technique. Moreover, I'm a big fan of trying to save the card - so on I trudged.

The trick with this powder is to not over heat it. If you do the powder it will lose it's stickiness and defeat the purpose. This happens here too as you'll see in the next photo, but again - I trudged on.

I added my Sunkissed Copper flakes, patting them down with my finger to ensure they were sticking to the embossing, I then use the stiff brush (mine is from Faber-Castell, but you can use an round stiff brush) to burnish away the extra flakes.

Don't forget to breathe softly during this part. These flakes are light as air and one sigh will have flakes floating about your work space like metallic snow on a clear day.

Once the flakes had been swept away, I was left with this beautiful panel. The light is tricky in my craft room, but they really do shine.

On the right middle leaf you can really see how the stamp had misaligned and the gilding did not cover the original ink lines. You can also see on the same leaf how I had over heated the sticky powder and it no longer was sticky. Again, I thought to toss it. But all experiences are learning experiences in the craft room, and frankly I was very pleased with how the rest of the leaves turned out.

I used a finger dobber and sponged in Weathered Wood Distress ink to fill in the white space between my leaves. I prepped a piece of vellum and heat embossed my greeting using Copper Embossing powder by Recollections.

I added some glue drops behind the letters and wrapped the band around my panel. This mostly covered up the errors that I made on this card. As I looked at it, I actually liked that worn look that my errors had resulted in. To me, it created this rustic finish which worked for the card. If this were not a fall card I likely would have started new.

I mounted that to a piece of green cardstock and then adhered the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

Somethings I learned:

• Make sure your cling stamps are actually stuck to the MISTI door. That's what happened with the one leaf. It wasn't stuck properly and that's why it moved. Had it been a clear stamp, I could have lined it up more easily but as a cling I had to roll with it.
• I would have done one leaf at a time. Heat embossed, applied flakes then burnished them away and moved on to the next. I think the reason I over heated some areas was because I did the whole panel at once.
• It would totally have been possible to skip the initial stamping - just gilded from the beginning and then coloured the images in, but I was concerned about what the flakes would do to the tips of my markers. While I'm certain I would have been very careful, I find it best to play it safe - especially when it is a technique that I am not familiar with.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. If you have any further information regarding this technique, please drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

International Sloth Day | ft. Lawn Fawn "Hang in There"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

One of the endless questions I get as a mother of a five year old, is "What's your favourite animal?" or colour, or shape, or letter, or number; the list goes on and on. Anyone with kids will tell you that the barrage of questions never stops. It's true. Their little minds are growing so fast and they seem to pull the information in like a sponge. For me, I get the same questions over and over as though maybe I wasn't telling the truth the whole time. Who knows?

For the record, my favourite colour is coral, my favorite shape is an oval, my favourite letter is a "g", my favourite number is 32 and my favourite animal is a sloth.

I recently read about fossils of a new giant sloth species that were found and this thing was the size of an elephant. An elephant. Think about that for a moment. A friggin' elephant.

Yesterday, was international Sloth day, sadly today's card is a day late, but better late than never. And really, is the sloth going to complain about it being slow?

To begin, I cut the scalloped layer using MFT Blueprints die-namics #27 out of some heavyweight green cardstock. I then trimmed down a piece of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock to fit within the stitched area of the scalloped piece.

Using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I stamped the sloth image from Lawn Fawn's "Hang in There" set and added the little leaf cluster three times. I created masks for all of the images and used the negative space from a circle die cut to sponge Cracked Pistachio Distress ink around the image. I then used the positive of the circle to mask that off, and sponged Twisted Citron around the rest of the panel.

I used a bamboo background stamp from Hero Arts in the MISTI with the same Distress inks to get the jungle impression.

I removed all the masks and coloured the image in with Copic markers. I then adhered my panels together and mounted them to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Freshly Made Sketches

Challenge #309

Crafting with an Attitude

Challenge #32

Hello Halloween Series | Watercolour Pumpkin Patch ft. MFT's "Witch Way is the Candy?"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today is the last (official) card for this year's Hello Halloween Series! Part of me is glad that it's over, it's been a long road, and another part of me is sad because I keep getting inspired by all the amazing work I'm seeing this year. So don't be too surprised if another couple cards pop up over the weeks to come.

To begin, I stamped the two pumpkins from MFT's "Witch Way is the Candy?" set with Antique Linen Distress ink on Strathmore 140lb cold press watercolour paper. If I were to redo this card, I probably would mask off the front pumpkins - I had thought that the water and other inks would lift the lines out completely but they didn't. But the more I look at it, the more "artsy and rustic" it felt and I really fell in love with it.

I then used Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade and Carved Pumpkin Distress inks to paint the pumpkins. I used just a bit of Scattered Straw to pull out the highlights. For the stems I used Forest Moss and Gathered Twigs.

After that was completely dry, I used very watered down Gathered Twigs for the ground and then added more pigment to create the shadows. The darkest shadows are made with Ground Espresso.

Once that was completely dry, I wet the area above the pumpkins with clean water and dropped in Weathered Wood and a bit of Faded Jeans to create the rest of the background, letting the water pull the ink away from the pumpkins and fade out.

The greeting is stamped from Verve's "Autumn Splendor using Forest Moss Distress ink, using the MISTI so I could ensure a good impression.

To finish off the card, I mounted the watercolour panel to a piece of dark green cardstock then adhered the whole lot to a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

MFT Color Challenge

Challenge #79

Muse Challenge #238

Inspired by Kim Heggins

I pulled my inspiration from her colours and the crisp clean greeting at the top. And Halloween. YAY!

 Thank you all so much for your votes and support!

Hello Halloween Series | ft. MFT's "Witch Way is the Candy?"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I wanted to share a card that uses one of the smaller stamps in the set. I've been challenging myself to step away from that big main awesome stamp that is always there and use the smaller "scene builder" stamps as my focus.

Today, I chose the bat from MFT's "Witch Way is the Candy?". This is an older set, that due to popular demand was brought back this year! I got mine when it originally came out, so I don't have all the new sentiments and greetings that were included in the new release; "witch" kind of makes me sad, because MFT has some amazing sayings that can fit in almost any card for any occasion.

To begin, I trimmed a piece of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock down to 5 1/2" x 3 3/4" and stamped the Bat from MFT's "Witch Way is the Candy?" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, masking to allow overlap and coloured them with Copic markers.

I then stamped the greeting from the same set with Memento ink as well. I used the Spectrum Noir Clear Overlay glitter pen to make all the bats shine and used Glossy Accents by Ranger on their eyes. I then sent the panel aside to dry completely.

On the right side of my standard A2 sized card base, I used the stripe border stamp and the MISTI to create a fun border. This could also be done with a spooky fun washi tape.

Once the top panel was dry, I popped it up on some foam tape and adhered it to the left side of my card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

CAS on Friday Challenge

CAS(E) this Sketch!

Challenge #243

Hello Halloween Series | ft. Newton's Nook "Boo-tiful Night"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

So our winter weather has let up a bit, and while the thermometer outside says that it is colder than yesterday, it certainly doesn't feel like it. Without the crazy winds it feels rather nice. Oh, don't get me wrong - those kids were still bundled right up we just weren't as sad about it.

Today is the 9th(!!) in the Hello Halloween Series for 2017 and today, I'm using a stamp set that took forever to get my hands on. I've ordered from Simon Says so many times and I've never had issues. Not with their pick times or items being out of stock or shipping or anything. And they are by far the best site I have found for any card making supplies.

But isn't it just the way it is that when I order something I reeeeeallllllyyyy can't wait to get my hands on, THAT'S when the post moves so slow. By no fault of the site it took three extra weeks to get here. I was done the vast majority of my Halloween designs before customs decided to let this one through. Now, in all fairness I did order a stamp cleaner so maybe it was the bottle of chemicals that held it up? Who knows?

Either way, it took forever and the second it arrived I literally dropped everything to sit down and play!!

To begin, I stamped the large jack-o-lantern and kitty image and the greeting from Newton's Nook "Boo-tiful Night" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured it with Copic markers.

I then masked off the image and sponged Gathered Twigs Distress ink for the ground and Dusty Concord with a bit of Chipped Sapphire for the sky. Once that was completely dry I splattered with Copic Opaque White to create some stars.

Once that was dry I stamped the bats with CTMH Archival Black ink. I chose this particular ink because I didn't want the images to run or reactivate the Distress inks, just in case they weren't completely dry.

I then matted the top panel with a piece of 65lb black cardstock and then adhered the whole piece to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Inky Paws Challenge #56

Selected as favourite by Design Team Member Diane! Thank you so much!!

Product Review Series | Watercolour Paper Comparison

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

A few weeks ago, I did a review on the paper types we crafters often use to create our cards or layouts, and a reader requested a watercolour paper comparison. So here it is! Thank you for the suggestion. I am very excited to get started.

Once again, this is a long one. I'd apologize, but I like to be thorough. I also added some fun math at the end!

Today I will be reviewing:

• Strathmore 140lb Cold pressed watercolour paper - this is my usual paper type.
• The Artist's Loft 90lb Cold pressed watercolour paper - a less expensive craft store brand.
• Winsor & Newton 140lb Cold pressed watercolour paper - a more expensive brand.

The test image I used today is the beautiful tulip from Clearly Besotted's "Forever Friends" stamped using the MISTI with Antique Linen Distress ink. I chose this ink to create a "no line" look as I thought the stamped lines would take away from what I'm really trying to showcase today.

All the images are painted using my Gasai Tambi 12 colour palette and my size 4 Prisma water brush pen. All images were allowed to air dry, I did not speed up the process with my heat tool.

Up first is the Strathmore 140lb cold pressed paper.

• Sturdy paper, doesn't require being taped down for an image like this one, probably a good idea to tape it down if you are doing a whole scene or using lots of water
• Lots of texture so when I stamped the image it took a couple of impressions using the MISTI to get it done
• Very little warping when water is applied. 
• Water seems to pull the colour across the area giving more of a "watercolour" look instead of just being coloured in.
• Paper flattens almost completely after drying
• Felt very confidant being able to add additional layers of colour without damaging the paper.
• Cost vs. Quality is excellent, comes in various sizes and is relatively inexpensive. About $20 CAD for a 15 sheet pad of 11x15"

Next is the Artist's Loft 90lb Cold pressed paper.

• Paper feels very flimsy and I had immediate concerns about stability
• Very little texture so it took the initial stamping of the image very well
• Warping with first pass of water on the paper, even in the small area of the petals
• Water seems to sit on top of the paper instead of saturating the area so the colour just sat there instead of wicking through the dampened area
• Paper did NOT dry flat
• Took much longer to dry
• Paper took damage after second layer of colour, pilling up and seemed to get mushy after the third.
• Incredibly inexpensive paper to purchase - less than $8 CAD for a 25 sheet pad of 12x9"

Finally the Winsor & Newton 140lb cold pressed paper.

• Very sturdy, despite equal poundage it felt thicker than the Strathmore
•  Nicely textured, took a couple impressions using the MISTI to get a stamped image
• Water stays where it is put and seemed to absorb straight down
• Layers, layers, layers - I felt incredibly secure about piling on the layers
• Almost no warping at all
• Paper dried almost completely flat
• Colour wicks across the dampened area beautifully
• Reasonable amount of drying time per area
• More expensive "high-end" paper. I paid about $12 CAD for a 15 sheet pad of 4x6"

Painting small images whether from a stamp or freehand is one thing, but we generally don't stop there. At least I don't. After the image area is completely dry, I like to create a halo around the image because I love that dreamy look.

I did that with each of these as well. And each performed about as I would have expected. After seeing how each paper reacted to my initial work, there were no surprises when I went on to add more water over a larger area. For each of these I did tape them to a board (I thought it best to give them all the a real fighting chance.)

Here are the pictures of each piece with the light blue halo. 

Strathmore with Halo

Artist's Loft with Halo

Winsor & Newton with Halo

Overall Impressions:

• Strathmore: For myself, I will be sticking with this for my watercolour paper. If the opportunity to try something new comes up, I will certainly not turn it away, but for my budget and my art room and the pieces that I typically create this paper is exactly what I need. It is an excellent quality for the cost, it takes layers like a dream, moves the water and paint the way I would expect and want; in the event that I mess up beyond being able to fix it, I'm not devastated if I have to toss it; aside from the amount of work that I just put in.
• Artist's Loft: This is definitely an instance of you get what you pay for. While I have many other Artist's Loft products and mediums - this paper is not something I would ever buy again. If my daughter decides she wants to watercolour paint, I'll let her use what I have left of this, then upgrade her to something else. My inability to comfortably add layers of colour to this, destroyed any illusions I had that I could find some use for it in my art room. 
• Winsor & Newton: This paper held up with multiple layers of colour, there was very little warping and zero damage. The colour moves across the page the way I expect it to when I think of watercolouring. That being said, for what I do, this paper behaved too much like the Strathmore for me to justify the difference in price. If you are a serious watercolour artist then this may be more what you are looking for, but then you would probably all ready have your paper of choice picked out.

A little bit of fun math, because why not. Given the prices at the time of this writing (above), I thought it would be fun to work out the cost of each 4x6" piece. 

• Strathmore: I can get 4 panels at 4x6" out of each sheet, that's 60 panels for each 15 sheet pad; as I mentioned I paid about $20 for it. That works out to about $0.33 per panel
• Artist's Loft: I can get 3 panels at 4x6" out of each sheet, that's 75 panels for each 25 sheet pad; as I mentioned this pad is about $8. That works out to $0.11 per panel
• Winsor & Newton: I got exactly 15 panels out of this 4x6" pad and paid about &12 for it. That works out to $0.80 per sheet

I hope you enjoyed this review. If you haven't all ready, please follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss any future reviews and projects, if you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View web version" first. You can also follow me over on Facebook. If you have any questions about this review or have an idea for a future review, please toss me a line in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you.

*disclaimer: I am not set products to review, nor am I paid to review them. I review the products that I find interesting and that I purchase myself, with my own money; I receive no incentive, payment or reward to do so. All reviews are based off of my personal experiences with them and are my opinion only.

Product Review Series | Paper Comparison

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I will be doing a paper comparison to show how the same images will look vastly different depending on the type of paper you use. I will show the finished card for each paper type. I will also discuss how the paper responded to the pencils and my impression of each.

I'm going to apologize in advance -- this is going to be a long post; hopefully it will help you choose the right paper for your project, and maybe be less afraid to try something new.

For the purposes of today's review, I will be creating three cards using identical methods and products. The only difference between the cards will be the type of paper used. In the top left I have Recollections Kraft 65lb cardstock. In the bottom left I have Staples 110lb cardstock, and finally on the right I have Strathmore Toner Grey 80lb cardstock.

The images come from Lawn Fawn's "Our Friendship Grows" stamp set, stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, using the MISTI. And the greeting comes from Lawn Fawn's "Party Animal" set, also stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

To colour each of the images, I used Lyra Rembrandt Oil based pencils. The technique I used to colour each image is exactly the same - despite the temptation to add more to certain panels. I'm sure you can immediately see why this temptation arose.

First up I have the Recollections Kraft 80lb Cardstock. I got this from Michaels Craft store. It comes in a pack of 50 for about $5.00. This is the only Kraft cardstock I buy and if you look back through previous posts, this is the one you will see when I use it.

At 65lbs it's a thicker paper. It takes stamping well, but I would certainly not use Copics on it. They bleed out almost instantly. However I love the way the pencils took to this paper. I find that Kraft lends a warmth to the piece as well as a rustic look. As it isn't white, the colours aren't as vibrant as you will see below, but there is a richness to them.

Next up I'm using the Staples 110lb cardstock. I get this from my local Staples for about $20 for a pack of 250. I use this for all my card bases as well as any time I'm colouring with Copic markers. This paper is incredibly sturdy and can handle layering very well.

While the pencils look for vibrant - remember I used the same pencils for all the cards - it felt unfinished, if I were going for a sketchy look this would be great, but I'm not. The surface of this paper is incredibly smooth and the pencils don't grip the paper very well. It was very difficult to not pull in additional colours to bring more life to the flowers.

Finally, I have the Strathmore Toner Grey 80lb cardstock. I got this pad of 36 sheets for about $13 at an art store in my city. First off, this is the thinnest 80lb cardstock I have even seen in my life. I honestly was very disappointed when I opened this package. My first thought was "well, this is never going to work", but as I had committed to a review, I trudged on.

I was terrified of tearing the panel, but the paper ended up being surprisingly tough; it isn't anything I would ever use as a card base, though. Cutting this paper was the same as cutting regular printer paper.

Then I started to apply the colour. Despite being very thin and relatively smooth, the pencils gripped this paper as well as on the Kraft shown above. This paper creates a lovely balance between the two others. Because of the light shade it still allows for the pencils to be vibrant as well as giving some of the warmth that Kraft lends.

When I looked at all three completed panels, the white just stared at me. It was a glaring contrast from the other two. To make it feel more complete I added the twine bow to the right side. I didn't feel that the Kraft or the Toner Grey needed this finishing touch, but I couldn't let that white be left in the cold.

I then matted each of them with a deep yellow cardstock and adhered them to standard A2 sized card bases.

I hope you like today's review. If you haven't all ready, please follow me over on the right sidebar, if you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View Web Version" first. You can also follow me over on Facebook. If you have any questions about any of the papers, or have a suggestion for a future review toss me a line in the comments section below, I would love to hear from you.