Watercolor Tulip Stencil Blessings

I was excited to see the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog.  This week's Wednesday challenge is to use stencils on your projects.  You can check out the challenge and cards HERE .   I am entering this card.  I love stretching my card-making supplies by using stencils, as well as stamps, to create my art.  

I had ordered this tulip stencil online, and didn't realize it was 12 x 9 inches!  I tucked it away, figuring it was much too large for a card, but could use it some time for a scrapbook page, or a bookmaking or journaling project.  As I was flipping through my stencil stock, there it was.  I thought, why not try it to see what I could do.  This is the result....

I used just a small portion of the stencil, focusing in on only three of the tulips.  I sponged Tim Holtz distress inks through the stencil on 140# cold pressed watercolor paper. Colors used:  started with spun sugar, then added some worn lipstick, and finally festive berries for the tulips.  The stems are bundled sage and peeled paint.  After sponging the color on, I then rubbed some ink on my craft mat, and with a watercolor brush, just brushed some extra color on for more defined shading.  I dried the petals with my heat tool before moving on to the background.  I did the background with the bundled sage and peeled paint, wetting the paper first with just water, then adding the greens, drying between applications.  Finally, I spattered plain water on the completed panel, which caused the water spots. 

The Blessings die is from Simon Says Stamp.  The whole die says Christmas Blessings, but I just used the blessings portion.  Again, stretching our tools!  I layered three die cuts on top of each other.  The top layer is a glossy black card stock.  The three black pearls at the upper left corner balances the black, helping frame the flowers.

The panel is layered onto black glossy card stock, then I cut down a foam craft sheet for raising the panel up and giving it dimension.  The card background under the panel was done with the same colors as the card, using the technique described above.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

     lynda

Sending Birthday Blessings Card

Today my card is all about black and white, and simplicity.  I used the Altenew Peony Scrolls stamps.  The images are embossed with black embossing powder, masked, and layered.  The third peony is dimensionalized with some foam tape.  The Sending die is from Simon Says Stamp, and is one of my favorites.  I have been using it a lot lately.  I cut it from black, attached that to the card, then in white, and slightly offset it.  It gives it a different look, and is quite nice in person.  Not so great in photo. 

This did not photograph very well.  The shimmer on the two flowers was done with a gel glitter pen.  It had started running out of ink in the second flower, hence the slightly lighter effect.  I chose to leave the third plain.

Hope you enjoy your day today.  I am going to concentrate on trying to shake this cough.  Vicks, vitamin C, and Emergen-C for me, and staying put with a book, rest, and some Zentangles and writing.

See you tomorrow with more cards!

Blessings,
     lynda 

Tunisian Influence Card

I have been fighting off the sniffles and sneezes for the past four days.  The dripping and sneezing had subsided, but today I started with a cough.  Ugh!  I decided I had better not go to Curves and spread my germs (you're welcome), so worked in my craft room for a while.  This wedding card is for my daughter's best friend, Sarah, her roommate when she was in college.  Sarah and Randy were married in November in the Mexican Riviera, and this Saturday they are having a reception for family and friends who could not make it to Mexico in November.  We are looking forward to the festivities.

I had been wanting to use my Peony Scrolls stamp set from Altenew, so I stamped up one of the flowers with my Tim Holtz distress inks.  I stamped it onto watercolor paper, and used a watercolor brush and ink from the pads to add shading and dimension to the stamp.  I punched the gold panel along the right edge with a Martha Stewart punch.  The cream and blue panel down the center of the gold panel is a die.  I gave the card dimension by raising the leaves with foam tape, and the flower as well.  The Happy Wedding verse is from the same stamp set, and is raised with foam tape as well.  Not to difficult, and lots of fun to make.  

I am entering the card in the Altenew card challenge for May, which is From Places Abroad - Tunisia. You can check out the challenge on the Altenew blog at http://altenewblog.com/2015/05/02/may-challenge-from-places-abroad-tunisia/ .

Here is the inspiration picture:

That's it for tonight.   Extra vitamin C, Vicks, and my box of tissues and I are heading off to bed!

I'll be back tomorrow with a couple more cards I need to take pics of.

Blessings,

     lynda  

CAS Card Floating Inlaid Die Cut

Greetings!  I spent last week in Buffalo, taking care of my granddaughters.  There is nothing like four and ten year old girls to keep this Nana busy!  It was fun, and I cherish spending time with my favorite girls!  I relaxed in the evenings by watching some UTube technique videos, so I've been anxious to try out some new techniques.  Now it's back home, and in my craft room.  I have made a few cards these past couple of days, and will be posting them this week.

This card is my take on the floating inlaid die cut technique that Catherine Pooler demonstrates on her video tutorial.  You can find the link on Catherine's blog here http://catherinepooler.com/2015/05/floating-inlaid-and-embossed-die-cuts/ .   I attached the die to acetate.

I did not emboss my die cut, rather I cut it from glossy black card stock.  I created the background using distress inks, sponged onto watercolor paper.  I love the way the black butterflies pop with the bright colors of the panel underneath.  

A simple verse by Verve finishes off this CAS card.  I left the card pretty plain, to emphasize the butterfly panel.  The die is from Simon Says Stamp.  I used this die on a card in this post as well 
http://www.paperartscafe.blogspot.com/2015/04/felt-with-heart.html .

I will be posting more cards this week, so be sure to stop back.  The weather is supposed to cool down again the rest of this week, so I will be doing some more creating in my room!

Blessings,
     lynda

Just Saying Hello Challenge Card

Weather here has been exquisite.  The temperature has been hovering in the high 60's and low 70's for several days now.  I have been taking full advantage, especially after our long, l o n g, cold, never-ending winter here!  Working in my garden has been taking up a good deal of my time.  I love planting, weeding, nurturing, and enjoying my garden.

I took a break this afternoon to do some stamping and playing in my craft room.  I was beginning to go into withdrawal!  For my card today I used Tim Holtz distress inks, the Painted Butterflies set from Altenew, the 'hello' die from WPlus9, and gold pigment from FineTec.  

I really had fun with this one.  I love the layering stamps, and this butterfly set from Altenew has several different butterflies in all shapes and orientations, each with layering options.  Distress ink colors I used are tumbled glass, salty ocean, and chipped sapphire; then I added some gold highlights with the FineTec Inca Gold mica pigments.  'Just saying' is from the same stamp set.
I created a background piece using the glazed glass background technique.  You can see Sandy Allnock's tutorial on this technique here:  http://sandyallnock.com/faux-glazed-glass-background-technique/ .  I used this technique on a card in my March 27th post HERE , where I used the Altenew peonies.  Here is a close-up of the background I created with this technique, which I used as a frame for the Just saying and from which I die cut the 'hello.'
I layered up hello by cutting and stacking three layers, then outlined the outside in gold.  I used foam tape to raise the Just saying panel. Finished with a spattering of the inks.

This card is for the following challenges:

Altenew's May challenge - From places abroad - Tunisia

Virginia's View Challenge # 14 - Layers and Dimensions

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Let's Get Sentimental

Faux glazed glass background piece

Close up of the background pieces for hello and just saying

Supplies 

That's it for today.  The sun is getting ready to set, so I think I will go outside for a bit and catch a glimpse.  I am still in awe of nature's beauty!

Blessings,
     lynda