2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 5 | Winter's Beauty

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

Hindsight is one of those super fun things where you consider what you would do differently if you could go back to a certain point, knowing what you know now.

For example, if I could go back to when I created this year's collection, knowing what I know now, I probably would include at least one Holiday Get Well Card. Because 'Tis the Season, right?

My co-workers are sick, my daughter is sick and shockingly, I'm feeling rather stuffed up. So if I had the opportunity to go back, today's card would be a festive get well card. Sorry about your Yuletide illnesses.

But that's the thing about hindsight. We can't go back. We just keep moving forward and work with what we've got; shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Today's card features the Sketched Flowers from Simon Says Stamp. I stamped this image with VersaMark ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, then heat embossed it with Lawn Fawn's Gold embossing powder.

The greeting, stamped the same way, is from CTMH "To You and Yours, Seasons and Nature".

I then coloured all the images with Copic markers. I wanted to keep all the colours on the very cool side of the spectrum to create a beautiful winter bouquet.

I know that there have been many people saying that using Copic markers with a heat embossed image will ruin your nibs. Maybe. Perhaps it *might* ruin your nibs. I have personally never had a problem and I love the way the image looks afterwards. I won't tell you to do it, but I don't think you should let someone else tell you not to do it either. You need to do what you are comfortable with. Just be careful.

I created a splatter using the "Perfect Gold" Perfect Pearls, and trimmed about a half an inch off the top to add the golden strip and the black piece.

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.

Think this card looks familiar? That's because I did a blog and a video of this design last year for a YouTube tutorial using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. You can check out that video here!

2018 Sporadic Fall Series | ft. Lawn Fawn Reveal Wheel and Pick of the Patch

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

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. The cold I mentioned in the last post lingered for-ev-er!! I actually had to take sick time off work, and that is not something I like to do. Today, however, I took a couple days off - just because. It's quiet at work, so the timing was optimal.

Anyway, today I thought I would share a fun fall card using the Reveal Wheel die set, the Pick of the Patch pumpkin add-on die and the Pick of the Patch stamp set.

I stamped all my images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured them with Copic markers.

I wanted to do something a little different, so instead of setting the add-on die in the reveal wheel set using the little puzzle piece notch, I eyed out the distance and turned the die upside down. This allowed me to have the pumpkin right side up, but at the bottom of the card so it could still be in the patch.

To create my background, I used some Distress Inks to create my night sky. I mixed up some Perfect Pearls in the perfect pearl colour with water and splattered that on the panel to get some shimmery stars. I also splattered some clean water on the panel for some variance.

I used one of the grassy borders to cut some of the Knit Picky paper down to make my base.

Once the panel was completely dry, I stamped my greeting with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with detail white embossing powder. I assembled my Reveal Wheel mechanism and added my critters and grass.

I adhered another piece of the Knit Picky paper to my standard A2 sized card base, then adhered my Reveal Wheel piece on top.

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.

Tropically Beautiful Day | ft. Altenew "Totally Tropical" and Tombow Dual Brush Markers

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

Today I wanted to share a card with you that is a little out of my comfort box. If you've been reading or following on YouTube for any amount of time, you know that I love me some stamps to colour. I love making little scenes and doing all the cute little things that brought me to this community.

Today's card is a little different. Today, I'm working with a layering set by Altenew. I love their stamps, especially the floral ones, what I don't love is the price here in Canada. The exchange is just craziness! But I couldn't stop myself with this one!

To begin, I cut down a piece of Strathmore 140lb cold press watercolour paper and put it in my MISTI. I selected two shades for each flower, a lighter for the solid and a darker for the more detailed layer.

I positioned the solid stamp where I wanted it and closed the door to the MISTI, I then coloured directly on the stamp with the Tombow Dual Brush marker, gave it a little spritz with my Distress Sprayer and closed the lid.

At first I wasn't thrilled. But I've said, time and again, that if you keep going, you'll probably like it when it's done. I repeated this process for each of the flowers. I gave the panel a bit of time to dry, not completely, just so it wasn't really wet anymore, then positioned the more detailed stamp over top of the original solid image.

I coloured directly on with the darker shade, spritzed again and closed the lid. I then repeated the process for the other two flowers.

Once the panel was dry, I scribbled each of the darker shades on to my acrylic block, added a bit of water and used a paintbrush to splatter the colour over the panel.

I allowed the panel to dry again, then prepped it with my powder tool and stamped the greeting from Simon Says Stamp "Beautiful Day" stamp set with VersaMark ink, and heat embossed with detail black embossing powder.

I then mounted the panel to the front of a top folding standard A2 sized card base. The colours I used are: Blue - 452 and 443, Purple - 603 and 636, Pink - 743 and 755.

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.

Sympathy Silhouette | ft. Distress Inks

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

We all have our favourite types of cards to make, I seem to go through phases - aside from whichever season or series I'm working on, I find I typically make a lot of birthday cards to fill in the spaces but every so often I find myself making a lot of sympathy cards - or "thinking of you" cards that can be used as sympathy cards.

I find them calming and comforting when I'm not feeling very awesome.

To begin, I used Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to create my background. I then splattered it with clean water and patted it dry with a clean paper towel.

Once the background was completely dry, I used the floral silhouette stamp from CTMH "Paper Garden" with archival ink. I prefer to use archival ink because it is waterproof and won't bleed if the background isn't actually completely dry.

I stamped the greeting with the same archival ink and then mounted that panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base (this time in black). To finish off the card I added a few mini diamonds to brighten it up a touch and to add a bit of embellishment because I just can't stop myself.

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.

Hippie Hello | ft. Forever In Time "Sunshine Daisies"

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

You know how your Mom or you Grandmother would have different decorations for each season? Different framed pictures on the walls, different throw pillows and colour schemes depending on the time of the year? Just to keep things fresh. Well, I've decided that it's time for that to be me.

I recently had my first Dollar Tree experience, I couldn't believe I had never been there before. I got an entire set of Autumn dishes (large plates and bowls) for like $20!!! For eight place settings!

Last week, my Mother and I were back at Dollar Tree looking for a set of Winter dishes (because why wouldn't I buy another set?) and I came across a set of clear stamps by Forever In Time. I had used their embellishment products before because they are super inexpensive but I had no idea that they made stamps. So I figured why not? At $1.25 for the set what did I really have to lose?

I started by stamping out the largest daisy with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then did the medium size, then the smallest. My intent was to create a patterned paper for a background.

It wasn't until they were all stamped out and coloured with Copic markers that it struck me as a very "Hippie" background. I then did something, that I had never even considered before.

I coloured the background with Copic markers. I know that seems pretty common, but I'm kinda cheap and the idea of using a Copic (not cheap) to fill in such a large area was somehow terrifying to me. But I am sooo glad that I did.

Once the entire panel was coloured I remembered I needed a greeting. So I prepped the whole piece with my powder tool and stamped the "hello friend" from Stampendous in VersaMark ink and heat embossed it in white. Now typically, that's where I would leave it, but even with the contrast between the white and the colours the text seemed to get lost. To solve this, I took my 0.3 Staedtler pigment liner and carefully traces around the embossing to make the letters really pop.

I created a splatter looking using a bit of watered down Copic Opaque white and a clean brush. On the front of my standard A2 sized card base, I sponged on some Broken China Distress Oxide ink just around the edges and then adhered my hippie panel to the front.

I wasn't really expecting much from this stamp set, I expected a low quality that didn't hold the ink very well that I would probably end up tossing. But I can honestly say that I have paid more for other "more popular brands" that frustrated me to no end. These worked better than I had ever thought. They certainly aren't perfect, but considering I paid $1.25 for a set of 10 stamps, I'll definitely purchase any others that I happen to come across.

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.

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

Hello Halloween Series | Mini Shaker ft. Mama Elephant

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

I cannot believe we're already ending the first week of October. I love fall and I'm always aghast at how fast the season goes. I'm nearing the end of my Hello Halloween series and working like crazy on Christmas designs.

When you really think about it, crafters are living in the future. The kids weren't even back to school yet and I had already been putting in a couple weeks of Halloween designs, by the time Halloween hits I'm hoping to have my Christmas cards done so I can start working on Valentine's Day.

LOL by the time Christmas arrives I'll be all Christmas'd out and working on Easter. It never seems to stop and the more we do this, the more time we feel we need for each season. Maybe after Easter, I'll start next year's Halloween cards. The cycle never stops!

And I love every minute of it.

To begin, I stamped the three little mice from Mama Elephant's "Meowlloween Extras" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and cut them using the Brother 2 Scan N Cut. Then coloured them with Copic markers.

For my panel I sponged on Shabby Shutters Distress ink using a light hand in the middle and making it darker in the corners. I used clean water to create the splatter look, then when that was dry splattered again with Copic Opaque White and again with black ink.

Once that was completely dry, I used a small square die to cut three windows; and stamped the greeting from an older stamp set (long since lost the packaging, but I want to say it's an Inkadinkado set, not entirely sure). I popped the panel up on foam tape and created a mini shaker behind each window. I mounted that piece on some Recollections Halloween cardstock.

I ran the three mice through my little Xyron "X" sticker maker and adhered them straight to the panel, and mounted the whole thing 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 any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

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!!

Hello Halloween Series | ft. Mama Elephant "Meowlloween" Slider

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

Today's card, inspired by Elizabeth Stewart, was so much fun to make! It also allowed me to make a starry night background which is one of my favourite things to make.

I love that more companies are making dies that allow interactive cards to be so easy!

To begin, I sponged Blueprint Sketch and Seedless Preserves Distress inks randomly on my panel. I then went over them with Dusty Concord, Hickory Smoke and Black Soot to darken them up. I used more of the darker colours around the edges until I got the look I wanted.

I then splattered the panel with clean water and set the piece aside to dry.

I used a Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside border and Grassy border dies to create the layers for my foreground. I sponged on Forest Moss and Gathered Twigs Distress inks to make the grass look old and dead, then set those aside to dry completely.

Once the sky panel was dry, I used Copic Opaque White to splatter on some stars and then set that aside again to dry.

For all my little tombstones and the kitty witch, I stamped them with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured them with Copic markers. I cut the tombstones out by hand, and used the Brother 2 Scan N Cut for the kitty witch. I didn't want her to be in two separate pieces and the Scan N Cut makes this so much easier!

I then went back to the sky panel and used the longer straight slider die from Lawn Fawn's "Slide on Over" die set.

Then I was able to put the pieces together. I popped the sky panel up on some foam tape, and made my kitty witch into a penny slider. Once she was in place I adhered the sky panel down on some black patterned cardstock on the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

Next, I adhered the hillside down, leaving room near the top so I could slide some of the tombstones in behind it. I cut a slit with my craft knife and slid one of the tombstones in so it would give it some dimension without adding more bulk to the card.

For my grassy layer, I only added adhesive to the very bottom strip and tucked the rest of my tombstones in behind it.

My favourite part of these types of cards is just watching the entire thing come together and then letting the little witch slide back and forth across the panel. So fun!!

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, you can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Muse Challenge

#235 inspired by Elizabeth Stewart

My inspiration came from the witch flying over the graveyard. Fantastic design from Elizabeth this week!



Thank you all so much for your votes! Your support and encouragement mean so much to me!

Splattered Butterflies

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

I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately, and when that happens I turn to pinterest. I mean if I'm going to be awake anyway, why not spend my time looking at stuff to inspire me? Now that I think about it, that may not be the best way to help me sleep, but I still think it's a great way to spend some quiet time.

There has been a whole lot of splattering going on on the boards lately. So I figured, why fight it?

To create today's card I began by die cutting the butterflies out of 140lb cold press watercolour paper. I then used a couple shades of blue to create a splattered paint look on them.

I stamped the greeting with Golden Glitz Delicata ink, and covered it with a strip of paper to protect the area. I then used the same colours from the butterflies, though more concentrated to create splatters on the panel.

Once that was completely dry, I adhered the butterflies in place using Ranger's Multi Medium Matte.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp: Wednesday Challenge - Make it Girlie