Alex’s Almond Blossoms

Welcome back to my blog!  I’m featuring another one of the beautiful new images recently released by Alex Syberia Designs in the form of digital stamps!  If you haven’t ventured into that world yet you really should!  Not only are the images super affordable, but you have the option to manipulate and play with them to create a myriad of designs and layouts!  Once you’ve created a design you like, just print, color and go!  For today’s card I chose the trio of Almond Blossoms, printed it in a size to fit an A2 card and got busy!  

 I started coloring the flowers with Zig markers, then realized that I hadn’t printed on Bristol Smooth card stock which is my go-to for Zigs and water.  So I used my Prismacolor pencils to fill out the rest of the blossoms.  Next time I’ll leave a little more white space!  

How about those stamen?!   I made them by dotting Glossy Accents to the ends then sprinkled on black glitter!  I love how the light catches them!  I fussy-cut the blossoms then put them aside in order to create my background!  

On a panel of Bristol Smooth this time, I sponged a thick layer of Fossilized Amber, Scattered Straw and Lemonade oxide inks, then deepened the edges with a layer of Aged Mahogany and Worn Lipstick.  You can see my favorite script-y stamp which accents the side and of course, my lovely spatters of black!  I attached this panel to a white base card, put some foam tape under my blossoms and added that to the background!  Finally, one of the great sentiments from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips was the last touch!  Oh!  I can’t forget my pretty little gems which add a little sparkle!  I hope you like my card and I hope you’ll go on over to Alex’s Etsy shop to see which designs will spark your creativity!  Thanks for visiting!  

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AlexSyberiaDesign May Digi Stamp Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Welcome to a very exciting event!!  I am privileged to guest design along with a stellar group of designers in celebration of the newly released Alex Syberia Designs plus a blog hop and giveaway!  I’ve been a big fan of Alex’s images for quite some time as you know if you follow my blog!  I’m a bit flower-crazy and she is all about flowers!  My card features a spankin’ new design called Full Bloom which I printed out in a 4X6 size thus getting two big images on one sheet of cardstock.  I spent a happy time coloring these luscious blooms with Copic markers.  As always, I use many colors so I can’t provide a list of those for you.  I also regret not remembering to set up my camera to either snap many progress photos or make a video!  

I did get a shot of this stage of my card! After coloring Full Bloom, I decided to fussy-cut it in order to mount onto a stenciled background.  As you can see, I ended up cutting the yellow blossom completely off the main panel because I wanted to fit it onto an A2 card and create a layer with it!  BTW, I don’t know where I got my leaf stencil but I do love the added foliage it provides for my flowers!  

After adhering my main image to the stenciled background, I put several strips of foam tape onto the back of the big flower and arranged it over the others.  I love that that particular flower was complete so that it could be the star of the show!  

A friend recently gifted me with the wonderful new sentiments and die from The Ton called Easy Expressions; I love the double font styles in this set and especially the little pop of black it provides against my floral background!  

I think this may be one of my favorite designs by Alex; those dainty little flowers are so sweet and the petals on all three blooms are perfect for coloring!  Now, onto the details of the blog hop and Giveaway:
To celebrate this release, Alex is giving away 7 $10 gift certificates.
Please leave a comment on each of the participating designers’ blogs/IG accounts in this blog hop by 05/22/2020 for a chance to win.
Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs/IG accounts listed below and will be announced on Alex’s blog on 05/23/2020.    Please join us in the celebration and increase your chances of winning by taking a peek at the other creations made by the team!   Alex Syberia
Amber Rain Davis
Hannelie Bester
Nora Niskanen
Ilda Dias
Natasha Vacca
LauraJane
Jenny Colacicco
Yasmin Diaz
Tina Wilstrup
Rebecca Rapanaro
TaeEun Yoo
Jyoti Adhikari
Colleen Balija
Sandhya Iyer
Deborah
Nicoletta Porcu
Sharon White
Elena Cazares
Bonnie Crane
Melissa Goodman

 

 

Unity Stamps In This Together

As I write this blog post, it’s officially been about four weeks since Vermont’s Stay at Home order in the face of a global coronavirus pandemic.  What an unprecedented, unsettling and bizarre time this is and it’s impact affects us all.  Since I’ve quit working and have so much extra time to spend in my stamp room, I’ve made a concerted effort to mail out many cards to encourage my family and friends.  It’s a small thing but if one of my cards brings a smile and a moment of joy then goal accomplished!  A number of stamp companies have created special sets that feature nurses, doctors, essential workers and sentiments that express our gratitude and admiration for them.  Other stamp sets are filled with beautiful images and encouraging words, like this one from Unity Stamps called In This Together.  

The beauty of this set is that it’s a digital stamp which means after my purchase, the company sent me a file in an email which I then downloaded to my computer.  I printed out the images onto regular card stock and then colored and cut them out. I just bought a laser printer so that I can print the images onto heavier card stock and watercolor paper and can’t WAIT to create watercolor cards with this set!  

In the meantime I spent a very happy hour or so coloring this beautiful blossom with Prismacolor pencils, adding many layers of color!  I had a panel of watercolor paper upon which I’d tried out my new Tim Holtz Alterations Collection-Mixed Media 2 die.  Some of the pieces didn’t pop out but I didn’t mind the look.  I layered it over a panel of lavender card stock, mounted my fussy-cut blossom using foam tape and then adhered it all to a base card of white card stock.  The final touch was to sponge a little lavender ink around the sentiment which came with the set and attach it to the panel along with a few iridescent sequins.   

This is another card using In This Together; this time I printed out the panel with both the blossom and sentiment all together.  I colored the flower with Copic markers, adding many layers of many colors as I always do, then added an array of dots inspired by Alex Syberia!  See her gallery of “dotty” cards here!  

I felt my card needed just a little extra “something” so pulled out a small embossing folder and added this lovely raised detail to the bottom left and top right corners!  Perfect!  

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these and will be inspired to use your stamps to create encouraging cards as well.  Thank you for visiting!  

Stampendous Cling Garden Mum

I wasn’t planning to write a blog post about this card- okay, actually, it never occurred to me to write a post!  I just pulled out this gorgeous new stamp set by Stampendous and went crazy with it!  But someone requested a post to describe how I made this so here I am!  I’ll try to remember to at least snap some photos of the process the next time I make a card!  But for today I’ll just explain my process!

The name of this set is Cling Garden Mum and it comes with a beautiful flourish stencil and some gorgeous samples depicted on the back of the packaging!  I was so inspired by the samples!  To begin my card, I taped the stencil to a panel of watercolor card stock and sponged on Broken China distress oxide ink.  The next step was to heat emboss the giant mum directly to the stenciled panel using black embossing powder.  I decided to use my Bister watercolor powders to fill in the blossom; the depth of color is determined by how much powder and how much water you add!  I tried to create shading with the use of both!  

When the flower was colored in I decided to add the row of flourishes down the right side; to do that, I stamped them in Versamark then heat set them with clear embossing powder.  I then sponged a layer of Black Soot distress ink over the whole panel, trying to stay away from the blossom.  This, of course, made those flourishes pop!  If you look at the top left you’ll see where I stamped on a scripty stamp using a little water then removed the dampness with paper towel.  This left a faint impression for yet another detail!  

My card looks far more complicated than it actually was!  To finish it off, I trimmed down my watercolor panel and adhered it to a base card of textured aqua card stock then added the sentiment strip.  I like how this pops against the colorful background!  

I typically keep my inside panel quite basic with a sentiment or a coordinating strip of patterned paper as a band at the bottom, but this time I went all out!  I used Technique Junkies Zinnia’s with Monarch stamp in Hickory distress oxide ink right over the stenciled pattern which I did first!  I heat embossed the sentiment onto a scrap of pink then cut it with a label punch.  I think I can still write a message inside despite all the other stuff going on here!  I had so much fun making this card and hope I’ve inspired you to play with your own stencils and stamps!  Thanks for your visit!  

New Lesia Zgharda Stamps!

 I’ve long admired the stamps and coloring by Lesia Zgharda, marveled at the precise and delicate detail of each image and have been enamored by their whimsical charm!  I don’t know why it took me so long to place an order but I finally did and just received my package from the Ukraine today!  (Am I the only one who gets a thrill knowing my mail has come from so very far away?!)  I pulled out my Prismacolor pencils and chose three shades of green plus the white to get started, copying Lesia’s style!  

I just love this sweet image which is actually two stamps!  Lesia’s cards are typically made with kraft card stock and coloring on the slightly rough surface gives the pencils some “tooth”!  I finished by mounting the kraft panel to a white base card which nicely accents the white highlights!  I stamped another Lesia sentiment in the center to complete my card which is appropriate for any person or occasion!  

After making two green wreaths I thought a purple one would be pretty and so it is!  I used my blender pencil to smooth out and blend the colors more on this card.  The sentiment is from a Stampendous set called Cling Garden Mum and is just a wee too big for the space but I still love it!  

This up close shot shows the smoothly blended pencil achieved by using the blender pencil.  

I’m not loving this third card but really enjoyed the creative process!  The stencil is part of the Stampendous set I mentioned above and I placed it over the panel then lightly brushed white distress oxide ink over it all.  After heat-setting the design with clear embossing powder it left behind a glossy, opaque impression which I feel overwhelms the delicate leaves.  I liked the gray tones of it though, so mounted the panel onto a gray textured base card.  A different look, for sure!  

My final and favorite card using the beautiful Eucalyptus Wreath was also colored in three shades of purple.  I added Crystal Effects as an added detail which I think is lovely against the organic card stock!  This time, however, I stenciled the background first, again using white distress oxide ink.  I just love how delicate it is and what a lovely backdrop it is for the bolder wreath design!   

Just look at that shine!  The sentiment on this card is from Studio Katia‘s Blooming Bunch stamp set.  I’m so happy with how each one of these cards turned out!  I hope you’ll go to Lesia Zgharda’s website and see all the wonderful images, cards and tutorials she shares there!  Perhaps you’ll be inspired as I was!  

I leave you with this final photograph of my favorite card.  Thank you for visiting!  

I’m Baaaack!!

It’s been such a long time since I’ve posted here but the new year is a great time to start afresh!  A friend recently asked me to make her bridesmaid-request cards and we had fun sharing inspirational ideas from Pinterest!  She wanted each card to be personalized so I created the wording on the computer then printed each one out.  I created three designs for her to choose from!  The first card was made with the main image from Simon Says Stamp’s Beautiful Flowers.  I inked up the stamp with Stampin Up’s Not Quite Navy and stamped it on the top and bottom of a panel of white card stock then created a watercolor effect with a damp paintbrush.  A white card base kept the overall design sweet and simple!

For her next option, I used a new set from Stampendous called Wild Rose Cling and it’s simple spray of blossoms was stamped with black ink onto two corners of my panel.  I colored the wild roses with Copics, making the leaves two shades of blue and finally, added a dotted background with a gray Copic marker after outlining the overall design with the same gray marker.  I mounted this to a base of navy card stock which made the white really pop!

The third and last choice was created using Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers again, but this time I created a border at the top and bottom of the card using permanent black ink, then colored with Copic markers, trying to feature reds, pinks and a hint of blue.  I added a layer of navy behind the colored panel then mounted that to a white base card,

This is the final card made for her matron of honor and three bridesmaids; I added more red and a hint of red/orange ink to the blossoms to deepen the colors and then outlined the images with a gray marker to ground the design.

The two junior bridesmaids will receive this card in the mail, asking them to join the wedding party; I’m not sure how old the girls are but I think they’ll feel very special to be asked to participate and also to get their own personalized request card!  I enjoyed spending time just coloring and creating in my stamp room to fill this order and hope to share more cards with you soon!  Thanks for visiting!