Art Impressions mini stamps

I’ve been pulling out my Art Impressions watercolor stamps lately and decided to take part in their current challenge, which is called “Itty Bitty” and the challenge is to use small stamps. You can find details of the challenge here.

I ended up making a clean and simple thank you card – this is smaller than usual as it measures less than 4 inches.

I used the following stamps to make this card:

Grasses:

#E-2428 Ornamental Grass and the grass stamp from the Mini Wagon set # 4875.

The flowers are from the following stamps:

#F-3012 Carnation, the orange flowers are from #4604 Spring Basket, the purple are #AAA-1368 Teeny Tiny flowers and the blue is from the Flower set #3 – #5008.

The sentiment is an old Papertrey stamp.

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

queen anne’s lace

Hello friends and welcome to another Wednesday showcasing some wonderful stamps from I Brake For Stamps. Did you ever set out to make a card but in the end had to switch gears and do something completely different?   It’s what happened to me with this card.  I had in my mind an embossed and heavily colored card but after several versions that just did not work out I decided to go in another direction.  Here is the card:

The main panel uses just one stamp – the very versatile Fennel Silhouette, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace.  It can be found on the IBFS store here.  I created the card by first cutting out a circle and sponging along the lower half with distress inks of chipped sapphire and faded jeans.  I masked off a few areas to create the hills in the background.  I used dusty concord ink (with a very light touch) for the sky after masking off the moon.  Once all the sponging was done I stamped the image  several times.   The same image was stamped in versamark to create the background paper as well. It always makes me happy to see what you can do with just one stamp!

Now, I did not stop there.  I always like to keep a bunch of simple cards made up for those times when you need something right away.  I made this series for what I call my “add sentiment later” stash.  Having these ready made cards are wonderful when you need a quick thank you, thinking of you, or just a blank card to write a quick note to someone. You can just pull one out, stamp a quick sentiment and you are good to go.   This bunch took me only about 10 minutes in total to make.

It’s a very simple technique.  A great tip here – most of you probably have different types of watercolor paper in your supplies.  Well, break out the cheap stuff for these!!!

Just cut a panel to whatever size you want.  The ones I made here are small – the front panel is 3″ x 4″ with the actual card only slightly larger.  Then take a narrow acrylic block and a rainbow type inkpad.  I used Kaleidacolor pads for these and since I have 5 different pads I was able to make 5 slightly different cards quickly.

Press the acrylic block onto the pad and get a nice coverage of ink.  Then spritz some water on the inked block and press it onto the paper. That’s it.

Do all the inking, spritzing and pressing at once.  It goes very fast and you end up with this..

From here I just lined everything up and stamped the Queen Anne’s Lace image onto the pieces and attached these to the card bases.  You can go a little further if you want by adding ribbons, embellishments etc. I stippled some additional color on one and I might add some pearls to another later on.   Just remember to leave some space for a sentiment to be added later.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Remember you can get 10% off your purchase at IBFS by using the code SAVE10NANCY.

 

 

Watercolor background with copics – – card #2

Edited:  The video tutorial for this can be found on the post HERE.

Hello friends! I’m so glad you stopped by today.  In the previous post I showed how I made a “Watercolored” background using copic alcohol ink with colorless blender and another with  regular rubbing alcohol.  The card I made from that post was created using the background made with the colorless blander.  Today’s card is made with sample that used the rubbing alcohol to make the background.  As I stated in the previous post using plain rubbing alcohol changes the color slightly.  The use of colorless blender tends to keep the color true – in that case it was a rich blue.  Using rubbing alcohol the color changed to purple hues.  It still came out great and here is the card I made.

I selected textured light purple cardstock from Bazzill to coordinate with the background.  Now, while these flowers are paperwhites, there is nothing in the world of creativity that says you have to stick with traditional colors!  I stamped the image again and colored three of the blooms –  I chose copic markers in the Y range (Y02, Y08, Y15, Y17, Y38, with just a touch of YR18 for shading).  Once I finished coloring I cut them out and popped them up over the original image.  Here is a closer look.

And I found the perfect yellow/orange satin ribbon in my stash.  I’ll add a sentiment later when I determine the recipient and occasion.

And since this is a winter bloom, I’m taking part in Power Poppy’s challenge this month – details can be found HERE.

Thanks again for stopping by today and I hope you will do your own experiments with different markers.

Watercolor background with alcohol ink

I love the look of watercolors, but I also just love using my copic markers – which are alcohol based. Both have a place in my craft room, but I often wonder, can I get the vibrancy that I get with copics by using watercolor, and can I get a soft watercolor look from using alcohol markers?

Well, yesterday I tried a little experiment…and I am thrilled at the way it turned out!  When I use my copic markers I always have a problem with getting a nice soft background and often I just either sponging some color on, which I usually end up hating, or just going without any type of colored background, which sometimes makes the card look unfinished.  I wanted to get a watercolored background look with my copic markers – so here is what I did.

EDITED:  The video tutorial for this can be found on this post HERE.

I stamped my image on copic x-press it paper using memento tuxedo black ink. I filled my aqua brush with copic colorless blender and scribbled some dark blue color (B69) on my craft sheet. I picked up the color from the craft sheet with my aqua brush and began coloring the background – starting from the center of the image and working out. I continued picking up color and working my way around the image,  Because the aqua brush is adding the colorless alcohol you can get a nice variation of color – and if you want more intense color just add a bit of color to the tip of the brush. I love the look it created.  Just a note:  if you want to devote one aqua brush for alcohol just mark the brush with a label so that it does not get mixed up with other brushes that are filled with water.

So, then I thought…that colorless blender from copic is rather expensive, what if I use just plain rubbing alcohol?  Would I get the same, or at least as good results?   I figured what have I got to lose?   So I just poured some 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol into another aqua brush and went to work,   I used the same image stamped on the same paper , same copic color (B69), and used the same technique.

Here is what I learned:

-Both the colorless blender and regular rubbing alcohol worked and provided a watercolored look,  However, using the plain rubbing alcohol I noticed that it caused the color to change.  With the copic blender the color stayed true to the shade of blue, although less intense because there was much more colorless liquid involved.  Using rubbing alcohol the color was not as intense and had more of a purple hue than blue.  This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing except if you were really looking for a blue color.  Here are the two pieces side by side  so that you can see the slight variation of color.

-Using an aqua brush  – I found the aqua brush very easy to work with doing this technique and on this paper (copic x-press it)  I merely had to pick up color from the craft sheet when I needed it.  I will have to try this technique on other cardstock and on watercolor paper in the future to see how they react.

-Copic Colorless blender costs about $11 for a 200cc bottle (at Oozak).  200 cc is about 6.8 ounces.  A bottle of 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol, 16 ounces costs about $2.20 at Walgreens. In my area the colorless blender is not available in local stores, only online.  So there is a significant difference in price and that may be a determining factor for you.  In my test the plain rubbing alcohol changed the color and its intensity. This may or may not be a good tradeoff – it all depends on your personal preference.  You can use the rubbing alcohol and test colors ahead of time to see how they work.

Now that I was finished with my experiment it was time to make a card!  I used the piece I made using the colorless blender for the background.

 

Once I colored the background I worked on the flowers – these are paperwhites and are a winter bloom.  In order to get some dimension I used grey copics (C1 and C3) for shading, Y08 for the centers, and YG03 and YG63 for the leaves.  The rhinestones used were already a light green, but I needed them to be darker so I colored them with  a YG97 marker.  The ribbon is a silk ribbon from May Arts and is absolutely luscious!  If ever I was limited to just one ribbon it would be these silks from May Arts.  They are expensive and I hoard my supply using them only for very special cards (this card will be going to my mom).  The scallop was done with an EK punch.

Because I used a “winter bloom” on my card, I am playing along with Power Poppy’s Winter Blooms Power and Spark Challenge. Details can be found HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

Watercolor Gate and testing watercolor paper

A few days ago we woke up to temperatures in the 20’s but today it is in the mid 70’s!  That’s how it is in northwest Florida. And because of the beautiful temperatures I am still in springtime mode with watercoloring.

I am really such a beginner at watercoloring, and while stamps help I struggle to control the water, often ending up with just blobs of color.  My craft room contains many different brushes, several different brands of watercolor paint and a variety of watercolor paper.  All range from the very cheap to the more expensive.  The biggest impact in helping me do better however is the type of watercolor paper.  I’ve found that the better quality paper will allow better control of the colors and blending.  Here is my unscientific test of two brands of watercolor paper.

The stamps are all from Art Impressions.  I used the same stamps, same brand of water based markers (although in slightly different colors) but two different watercolor papers. Here is what I used – the unfinished card on the left uses Artist Touch, the finished card on the right uses Saunders.

Artist Touch Watercolor (the small blue tablet) – 140 lb weight cold press made in China.  Twelve 4 x 6 sheets for $2 at Hobby Lobby (before coupons, taxes etc). Aside from the price I choose this because it is a nice bright white color and most watercolor papers are more off white.

Saunders Waterford – 140 lb cold press, 100% cotton made in England.  A block of twenty 12 x 9 sheets for about $30 at Dick Blick. I purchased this based on the recommendation from an online watercolor class I took.

The results?  While I like the bright white of the Artist Touch paper, I found it difficult to work with.  Even the smallest amount of water would spread the color around quickly.  I ended up throwing away two pieces before I was able to get one I was reasonable happy with. I was able to work much longer with color with the Saunders paper.  The card on the right with the Saunders paper was my first try – so there was no waste.

About the cost…while the Saunders paper is more expensive, let me break it down to what it costs for a 4 x 6 piece.  The Artist Touch paper breaks down to about $.17 per 4 x 6 sheet.  With Saunders, breaking down the price of the block of twenty 12 x 9 sheets works out to about $.38 per 4 x 6 piece.  While Saunders ends up being about double, I think $.38 for a card front is well worth it.  And I had no waste when I used this brand.

Now, I think the less expensive brands have a place in my craft room – I will use them for practicing and testing colors.  I also like using watercolor paper as card bases and using the cheaper versions will work just fine for this purpose.

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

watercolor fence and pot

Hello my crafty friends!  I’m breaking out my watercolor stamps.  I love these images from Art Impressions – they are easy to use and work up quickly.  The first card is a fence scene.

The fence was stamped using a sepia marker (all the markers used here are water based).  Then I added in all the foliage and floral stamps using different colors – and used an aqua pen to blend.

The next is a quick thank you card I made using the pot and more of the foliage and floral stamps from AI.  This one came together very quickly.  The sentiment is from Papertrey.

Thanks for stopping by today!

petunias times two

Good morning crafty friends!  Are you enjoying your spring?  Everything is bursting with color here in north Florida.  The azaleas are blooming all around with shades of pink, purple and white.  We’ve been busy over the past month – planting a vegetable garden (tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and onions). We’ve also added a new weeping plum tree and two hydrangea bushes.  I am looking forward to watching everything grow.

Here are two springtime cards using a lovely Petunia stamp from Creative Visions (found here) – this red rubber image comes in two different sizes.

On this first card I embossed the image in white and sprayed colorwash inks to get a bright watercolor effect.  The butterfly punch is from Martha Stewart.  The stitching on the white panel was done on my silhouette machine.

On the second card I take the same image and color it with prisma pencils and sponged with memento ink for the background.  The background paper is basic grey and the ribbon is from May Arts.

 

embossed watercolored background

Hello crafty friends!  Here is another watercolor card – a little different technique this time.

I stamped the background with versamark ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  Once that was set I sprayed two colors of Zia Color Wash Sprays over the embossed panel and let dry.  The same technique was used for the sentiment panel a swell.  Crochet thread was wrapped around the back panel before adding the sentiment.  If you look closely, there are tiny pearls on the scalloped portion of the sentiment.  The background is from Rubbernecker and the sentiment from Papertrey.  I used Canson 140 lb watercolor paper.

Having a fun time with my watercolors!

working with watercolors

I’ve been playing around with my watercolors and will be showing some of the things I’ve created.  Today is something very, very simple to do.  First, here is the card:

The simple but vibrant band of color on the side could not have been easier.  I took a Kaleidacolor rainbow inkpad – Desert Heat collection – and stamped the ink onto a long and narrow acrylic block.  With my mini mister I lightly spritzed water onto the inked block then pressed the block onto watercolor paper.  That is all there is to it!!

The stamps are from Technique Tuesday’s Greenhouse collection and were stamped with Memento black ink.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

season everything with joy

We made it through this weeks heavy rains and today the sun is shining bright with temperatures hitting 80.  We did not lose power or have any major road damage in our neighborhood and are very thankful for that.  Pensacola has some serious road wash outs and it will be awhile before things are back to normal.

So….I was checking out our tomato plants yesterday and they are doing well. Looks like we will have a nice crop – maybe  even enough to give to our neighbors!  And thought I would make this tomato themed card.

I colored the image with watercolors and it came together rather quickly.

Thanks for stopping by today!