Impression Obsession Old Is New - Live With Passion

Happy Monday!  It's Old Is New day at Impression Obsession!  Today the team is using some of our well-loved older images on our projects.  I chose, surprise, one of our flowers, and a fabulous older clear stamp set with dozens of words to create endless expressions.

IO Stamps links:

Passion Flower H12007

Express Yourself Set WP22

World Needs D17288

In my Misti, on mixed media paper, I 'inked' the Passion Flower image, using pink and green Tombow markers on the petals and leaves.  I used a Dove Blending tool to blend the marker colors, and also added some more color.

I added colored pencil with my Polychromos, adding highlights and shadows, and emphasizing certain areas.

The verse is three words which I have chosen from the Express Yourself  clear set.  I love this set for the variety of phrases you can make with the dozens of words in the set.

Inside, I stamped the World Needs verse on some layered card stock.

I hope you are enjoying our Old Is New Feature.  We all have well-loved stamps that we sometimes neglect.  Let's get them out and get them inky!

You can find the other team member's links to their posts HERE.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Express Yourself Set WP22

Passion Flower H12007

World Needs D17288

Happy Thoughts Fall Card

Hi, and welcome!  

Today I decided to make a CAS card.  I have to say, even though CAS is not my go-to style, it is starting to grow on me, and I am enjoying the change now and then.  It is getting a little easier for me, but I still have to fight the urge to add 'just one more thing!'

 I used stamps from Hero Arts.  I thought it would be fun to stamp them on kraft card stock, and see what happens when I color with Tim Holtz distress inks.  It worked, and I like the effect.  It looks somewhat muted on the kraft, giving it a more fall feel, I think.  I used a Dove blender to 'watercolor' the ink onto the leaves.  

I used masking to stamp the leaf in square three times down my card, and added the same type of lines around the perimeter of the card using my brown micron pen to mimic the lines around the leaves.

A little soft shading with distress ink and my Clarity brush, and a verse stamped on vellum complete this CAS card today.

I made this card for these challenges:

A Blog Named Hero - Geometric (squares)
  
Stamp, Ink, Paper - Color challenge  

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge  - Autumn

Tuesday Throwdown - Add a border

http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/  - Sketch 260

So glad you stopped in today.  Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the challenge blogs for inspiration!

Blessings,

lynda

Back To School Challenge Card

The challenge theme on the Make My Monday Challenge Blog is 'Back to school.'  This stamp set by Unity Stamps, I love big books IB-663, was what I chose to use to make my card for this challenge today.

I stamped the books (the book stamp is just one stack of books with a heart on top) onto a white card, an inch or so from the right side of the card.  Then I stamped it a couple of more times on some scrap white card stock.  To color the books, I used Tombow markers.  I rubbed the markers onto my craft mat, and used a Dove blender to add the color to the books.

I fussy-cut the other stacks of books from the scrap piece, and added them to the card with foam tape for dimension, arranging them so that they looked like piles of books.  The verse is from the same set.  I used a Die-namics tag die from My Favorite Things to die cut the verse, which is from the same stamp set, and used foam tape on that as well.  I wrote names of subjects on the books with my Micron pens to make them look like text books.

I used a background text stamp from my stash to make a strip of text along the left side, and a strip of black card stock.  A few splatters from my brush with the yellow and black, and my card was finished.

In addition to the Make My Monday challenge , I am adding my card to these other challenges.....

Color Throwdown - Use yellow, blue, black, and white

Tuesday Throwdown - School spirit

It rained a little, and there is finally a cooler air mass moving in tonight, a much appreciated relief from the steamy, humid, hot days we've had too many of!  We will definitely sleep with the windows wide open tonight!

Thank you for visiting.  I hope you find some time this weekend to do the things you enjoy.  

Blessings,

lynda

 




 

Thank You Pussy Willows Card

Hints of spring abound, but still no sign of the pussy willows.  So, I thought I'd create my own.  I'm not sure if that's what this stamp from a Penny Black set I borrowed from a friend is, but they sort of look like pussy willows to me.  I took some artistic license in my coloring, because I really wanted to use these mauvy/pinky/peachy colors on my card today.  

The design of the card was one of those 'happy accidents.'  I got my big finger into some ink, and - plop - right along the right side of the image - after I had it all colored, of course!  So, what to do?  I just cut roughly following the outline of the right side of the stamped image, and cut that ink blob right off.  

Then, I used my new....drumroll.....wait for it....Clarity Stamps stencil brushes.... to make a soft haze of the ink along the actual card, right along where the right side of the aforementioned stamped image was cut.  You can see a youtube demo of these brushes HERE.

Then I adhered the stamped image panel onto the card, dusted some more color along the left and bottom side of the stamped image panel, and adhered it with craft foam and tape for dimension.  

I added the Penny Black Thank You and dragonflies from the salutations 30-014 set.  

I stopped myself there, but I really wanted to do more....but I am trying to stop sooner rather than later.  I'm beginning to appreciate the 'less is more' rule.  

Inks used are Tim Holtz distress inks in tattered rose, victorian velvet, bundled sage, and evergreen bough.  I used the Dove blender to color the images.

I am adding this card to the Simply Less is More blog challenge , where the challenge is to use three stamps, which I did.
Also to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog challenge , where the challenge is to make it girlie.  Hence...the pinkies.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

lynda

Technique Tuesday - Blending Colored Pencils

Everyone loves to learn new techniques, or brush up on techniques they may have forgotten about or need a refresher on.  That's why I'm going to dedicate Tuesdays on the blog for techniques.  Technique Tuesdays each week will feature a technique for stamping and/or scrapbooking.  
For our first Technique Tuesday, I'm going to show you a new technique I learned.  It is like the Gamsol colored pencil technique, which I taught at the store, but instead of Gamsol I am using Hero Arts Ultra Cleaner.  It's their clear design stamp cleaner.  I don't know how to do videos yet, so I had to take some pictures.  A couple are a little blurry, but you will get the idea.  This is the technique I used on the flower on the 8 x 8 scrapbook page I blogged about last week. 
 

Colored Pencil Blending With Hero Clear Design Ultra Cleaner

• Stamp image to be colored with permanent ink.  I use India Ink Black.

• Choose three colored pencils in graduated shades.  For this card, I chose a light orchid, medium lavendar, and deep purple.  And, yes, there is a difference in colored pencils.  I use Berol Prismacolor - it's an artist quality pencil, with a consistently soft lead for smooth color.
  

   




Color image lightly and completely with the lightest color (light orchid).

   

Add medium tone (medium lavendar).  Color part of the petal near where it attaches in the center with the medium tone.  Do not cover the entire petal.  Leave 2/3 of the petal with the light orchid.  Do not worry about the 'line' between the two colors.  We will blend that in the last step.

  




Add the final darkest shade (deep purple), using just a small amount where the shadows would be.  The petals underneath, and the place where they meet in the center would be darkest.  Again, do not worry about the unblended lines. 

  



Blend shades with a blending tool (I use a Dove Blender pen but instead of the Dove blending fluid, which won't work with colored pencils, I filled it with Hero Arts Clear Desing Ultra Cleaner).  You can use blending stumps or tortillons. I find the Dove Blender works really well, as the tip is firm and will not mush quickly.  Also, I don't need to keep dipping the tip into the fluid to use it.  I used an eye dropper to fill the pen with the ultra cleaner.

• To blend, start at the lightest part of the design (petal) and rub the fluid into the pencil pigment.  You will see it liquify and blend like magic.  Pull the light color into the medium and darker color.  Keep doing this till all the color is blended nicely.  You can clean the tip of the blender by rubbing it on scrap paper.

That's it.  It's easy, fun, and very elegant.  I learned this technique on the Hero Arts Blog.  If you haven't joined yet, be sure to check it out
http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/.


This is the finished card:

The flowers were "colored" using this technique.  I stamped the flower frame once on the aqua cardstock.  I stamped the flower portions three times on white cardstock.  I colored the flowers with the blending technique, cut them out in sections, and layered them with foam tape.  I distressed the card layers, punched the bottom of the green layer, punched the butterflies, and added gemstones. The purple strip behind the frame image is from the frame stamp.  I just stamped the background portion onto the strip.
 
This is the stamp I used, Hero Arts CG116, Thinking of You.


Hope you liked this Technique Tuesday.  Stop back often to check out other fun things I'll be doing on the blog.