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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All The Pretty Horses

Hi there, friends!  I apologize for neglecting my blog for so long but I’m back today with some cards I made last fall but never shared here! Let me tell you how I got all these beautiful stamps!  My friend, Janice is an avid horse lover and has a nice collection of horse stamps! One of our daughters became a rider in the past year and I wanted to make her some horse cards so I borrowed one of Janice’s stamps!  It’s such a great design that I decided to look it up on ebay to see if I could find my own and was thrilled to see that the seller had not just one but three beautiful horse stamps by Coronado Stamp Company!  Each one was listed for $14 apiece and although that was a little pricey for me, I ordered one anyway.  I was shocked to get a message from the seller the next day saying she’d made a mistake and sent me ALL the stamps for the price of one and to keep them!  Uh, sure!!  😀  (P.S. I did offer to return the other two but she declined my offer.)  

Because it’s been a while since I made these cards, I’m trying to remember the process!  But it seems that I basically sponged panels of Bristol Smooth card stock with a variety of distress and oxide inks and then added spatters of water, white and or black paint.  Such an easy way to add beautiful detail and interest!  

I then stamped and heat-embossed the horses over the distressed panels after dusting them generously with anti-static powder!  

I am just thrilled with how striking each card turned out!  This is my favorite background with all the colors!  

I made this collection for Courtney and she loves them all; which one is your favorite?  

Can you see the faint geometric pattern in the background of this card?  It’s Altenew’s Pattern Play-Hexagon background stamp and I spritzed it with water then laid it gently onto the distress panel, removed it and patted the panel dry with a paper towel.  I think that adds a little extra to the card, don’t you?  I haven’t made anymore horse cards since these but it’s good to know I have some great stamps to work with when I do!  Thanks for stopping by!  

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!  

CopyCat Strikes Again!

Most stampers and card makers know that the term “CASE” means “copy and share everything” and I DO like to copy!!  I’m continually impressed and inspired by other’s work and today’s card is no exception!  Lauren Lovato is a designer for Brutus Monroe and she recently shared THIS card which I fell in love with!  I’m always drawn to watercolored, spatter-y backgrounds and leaves and sprigs are some of my favorite design elements!  Her card combined both so I had to CASE! (Technically,  I made this card prior to seeing Lauren’s aforementioned card!)  This was made specifically for my daughter’s birthday; Sara is an amazing poet and going to grad school this fall for Writing and Publishing.  I’m so proud of her for pursuing her goals and “following her bliss”!  

The very first thing I did was to heat-emboss in black this encouraging sentiment from Stamplorations into the center of a piece of Bristol Smooth card stock.  I then pulled out an old Stampin Up set called Remarkable You which I recently found on ebay and heat-embossed the leaves image using Versamark ink and then clear embossing powder.  

Next, I tapped out Fossilized Amber distress oxide ink onto my craft mat, spritzed with water and laid my card stock into it, then repeated that process with Mowed Lawn distress ink, and Forest Moss distress oxide ink, drying in between layers with a heat tool.  As a nod to the written word, I had to add the Dictionary background stamp by Stampin Up in black over the whole card front.  I rubbed off the excess inks with a paper towel to reveal the crisp white leaf outlines.  Lastly, I sponged Black Soot distress oxide ink around the edges then mounted the panel to a white card base.  I really, really love this card and Sara did too!  

  I think it’s quite ironic that I had just created the Follow Your Bliss card for Sara, and then saw Lauren’s card online!  Here’s my CASE of hers!  Again, I used Stampin Up’s Remarkable You leaves image and embossed them in black onto a panel of Bristol Smooth.  Using Zig markers, I began by scribbling a little Deep Blue into the crannies between the stems of the leaves, then moved and blended the ink outward with a water brush.  I did a section at a time, letting it dry in one area then going back in to add another layer of color and water.  

When the dark blue background was filled in, I used Dark Pink on the leaves and again, a waterbrush to move the ink.  Persian Green was then added to the leaves and blended with more water.  I like that the Pink and Green colors bled into the Deep Blue background!  I happily spattered on all three Zig colors and a little extra black then die-cut the circle of vellum, embossed the sentiment with black powder and attached it to my watercolored panel.  A few little jewels added extra pizzazz and a black card base finished my card!  Thanks to Lauren for her inspiration!  I hope you will take the time to view her creations on her Instagram page or blog!  

Stampendous Little Mushroom & Fern Garden

I recently received a big fat package of goodies from Stampendous and was so tickled to see these beautiful images!  I immediately got busy and have been making cards with Little Mushroom and it’s coordinating dies plus this amazing background stamp called Fern Garden!  I’m in love!!!   

The first thing I did was to ink up Fern Garden with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss distress oxide inks, then spritzed with a fine mist of water.  I stamped it out onto a panel of Bristol Smooth card stock, then stamped it again onto a second panel so as not to waste any of that delicious color!  

Next, I stamped the Little Mushroom onto another piece of Bristol Smooth and had so much fun coloring it in with my Zig markers!  I spattered droplets of water to create “texture” on the image then used the handy-dandy die to cut it out!  

Lastly, I added some bits of foam tape to the mushroom and attached it to the Fern Garden background then adhered that to a white base card.  I stamped the sentiment directly to the card front with Versafine Onxy Black ink.  This was a simple card and I just love the woodsy-ness of it, don’t you?!  

For my next card, I decided to play around with the Fern Garden background using the Floral Garden Embossing Powder kit which I also received!  It has twelve little containers of colorful embossing powders and little scoops for using with it.  I inked up Fern Garden with Versamark and stamped it onto a piece of Bristol Smooth then scooped the two shades of blue powder onto a section of the inked design, tapped it off and heat set it.  I did this again but used the two greens next!  

I inked up Fern Garden again with Versamark, then turned the stamp so the design was going in a different direction and stamped it directly onto the first heat-set layer of colors!  Again, I scooped additional colors of powders (orange, red and yellow) but this time I placed each color onto an area of the Versamark’d image, gently removed the excess and then heat-set them all at the same time.  I hope all that makes sense!  

The result of all that layering, scooping, heat-setting and repeating is quite vividly beautiful, I think!  I have a stamp set by Papertrey Ink called Meadow Greens with fern stamps and dies, so I stamped one out onto Bristol Smooth using distress oxide inks (Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn) then die-cut it.  I also die-cut a fern of olive green card stock and placed that beneath the stamped fern.  

To complete my card, I adhered the Fern Garden background panel to a white card base, added a little Vintage Note script stamp to the bottom then attached my ferns to the lower corner using foam tape for dimension.  The sentiment is from Pink Fresh Studio’s Let’s Flamingle set!  I had a lot of fun playing with the embossing powder kit and the Fern Garden background and have several ideas for more fun cards, so stay tuned!  Thanks for visiting!  

Card Collaboration!

Have you ever collaborated to make a card?! I recently did just that with three stamping friends and together we created this gorgeous card! Let me tell you about it! I started the card (see below) and mailed it to Lynne. No one knew who would get the card next and after we each added our touch, we snapped a picture and mailed it onward!

Lynne chose the perfect image to go with the soft spring colors!

I’m loving this more and more! That ribbon next to the burlap is so unexpected and such a lovely contrast of textures and styles!

Theresa was the last one to receive the card and said she was a but unsure of how to finish it with a bang! But she nailed it! I’ve never used micro-beads before and I love the additional texture they contribute to the card!

I love all the vertical lines in a row; the beads, the twine, the rose stem, the ruffle and the burlap. And Hope accents it all beautifully and horizontally!

Here’s a final look at our creation! I hope this inspires you to choose some friends to collaborate with too! Thanks for visiting!