A Little Wine

The card I have for you today uses a mix of products. It is a special card that I designed for my husband for our anniversary.

I knew that I wanted to use my Wine & Cheese stamp set from TPC Studio (no longer seems to be available) and also use my Mini Bricks stencil from Crafters Workshop so that I could create three dimensional bricks with Molding Paste.

I started by using my Staedtler Flex Curve ruler to form an arch on a piece of Watercolor paper. I traced this to use as an outline for stamping.

Using my MISTI, I first stamped a clump of grapes and then stamped grapevines around the top of the arch, using Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink. I used archival ink because I wanted to watercolor.


After stamping, I used my ruler again on a piece of Sahara Sand card stock. Then I used my Molding Paste to add some bricks to the page. I set this aside to dry overnight. I did not want to use my Heat Tool with this because it would bubble.

Meanwhile, after heat setting my stamped images, I used my Derwent Inktense Pencils and a water brush for dipping into water as I worked, to color in the grapes and the grapevines.

Next, I stamped a wine bottle and two glasses on watercolor paper and also colored them in the same way. I fussy cut these.

I stamped the sentiment on watercolor paper and die cut it using one of the Apothecary Accents framelits. I inked the edge using Rich Razzleberry ink.

Once my bricks were dry, I used sponge daubers and Smoky Slate, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake and Tip Top Taupe to color them.

I trimmed my arch for the grapevines and adhered it with Dimensionals to the matte with the bricks. This was adhered to a thin Rich Razzleberry Matte and then to a Mossy Meadow card base using Fuse Fast adhesive.

I used more dimensionals to attach the wine bottle, glasses, and sentiment to the front of the card. I accented the highlights on the bottle, the glass stems and the grapes with my Wink of Stella pen.

After regretting not inking the arch that the grapevines were on, I carefully inked it, using Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake inks, once the card was made by carefully masking areas as needed. I also "dirtied up" the white background so it didn't look so white.

Showing the dimension.

I was pleased with how this all came together and it is quite close to the "vision" I had for this card!

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Delightful Dahlias

Where does the time go?? I see that the last time I posted was March 6 :(

I had been working on projects for my stamp group that I could not show you at that time and then I got sick with a cold that kept me down for over a week. Finally, I am feeling like myself again and can get back to working in my craft room!

One of the projects that I couldn't show you before were some thank you cards for my stamping group. I gave my MISTI quite the workout in creating them!

The card design is cased from demo Elizabeth Holloway. She has a video on her blog to show how she creates the card. I did mine slightly differently.

I decided to use the Note Cards that Stampin' Up! sells because I wanted a smaller size so that I could use the Mini Treat Bag as an envelope for the cards.

Secondly, I opted for Watercolor Paper instead of Whisper White because it showcased the technique better. I also opted to fill my Stampin' Spritzer with rubbing alcohol instead of water so that the cards dried quicker.

To begin with, I used my MISTI tool to stamp a dahlia (from the gorgeous Regarding Dahlias stamp set) on each watercolor matte using Versamark. I made sure to stamp on the smooth side of the paper so that my stamps would look and stamp better. I then heat embossed each matte using White Embossing Powder.

Back to the MISTI to stamp a second dahlia on each matte; I heat embossed each matte as before.

Next, I filled my Stampin' Spritzer 3/4 full with rubbing alcohol and added about 14 drops of Coastal Cabana Ink Refill. I shook the spritzer to mix the color evenly.

I placed one of the watercolor mattes in my spray booth (a large box from a pair of boots) that helps to keep the spray from going everywhere in my craft room!

I held my spray about 5 inches from the card and spritzed a few times to get some light coverage on the card. As I sprayed, the flowers were revealed. I repeated the process with each watercolor matte.

Because I was using rubbing alcohol, the cards dried fairly quickly but I sped up the process a bit by using my Heat Tool.

I then used a Sponge Dauber with Coastal Cabana and rubbed in a circular motion out from each flower's centre to add a bit more color to the flowers. They contrasted nicely with the spritzed background.

I replaced the watercolor matte in my MISTI and arranged the Thank You sentiment on the lid. I stamped it with Smoky Slate, two times, re-inking the stamp each time. Only using the MISTI could I stamp the sentiment twice in exactly the same spot! I stamped twice because the watercolor paper tends to absorb the ink and I wanted the sentiment to be a bit darker without resorting to a darker ink. The Smoky Slate looks lovely with the Coastal Cabana.

After stamping each matte, I then adhered each to a Coastal Cabana matte using Fuse Fast. I wrapped each matte with Basic Gray Baker's Twine.

Finally, I adhered each matte to the note card.

What do you think? I love how they turned out!

I hope you'll try this technique and then drop me a link to show me YOUR creations!

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Butterfly and Broken Bokeh

Had a glorious day babysitting my granddaughter today! She was good as gold and we finally got to have some time in the craft room together.

I had bought some foam egg cut-outs and foam sticker shapes at Dollarama and Raine really enjoyed decorating four eggs with the stickers.

I thought that she would probably only stay at the task for about 15 minutes but it was closer to 45 minutes by the time she was finished!

She enjoyed being a "big girl" and sitting up on my high chairs to work on her eggs. Of course, she had to bring one of her stuffed animals up with her to add to the fun!

I snapped a few photos but they aren't great–so hard to get good pics with my phone when she's always on the move!

Anyway, I got to craft a bit later this evening. My card is a CASE of Colleen's creation on One Smile Lifts A Spirit.

If you read my post, Bokeh Technique and Sneak Peek from 2015 Occasions Catalog, you may remember this image of the very first watercolor and bokeh background that I ever created:

Back then, I thought this background too bright and colorful to be used in any project but for whatever reason, I still hung onto it. When I saw Colleen's technique, I thought that it would be a way to use this piece successfully.

I chose to use a Whisper White card base and layered both a Basic Black and a Tempting Turquoise matte on it. I then cut my bokeh background in strips of 1 1/4", 3/4", and 3/8" and inked the edges with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I used Dimensionals to adhere the strips to the card front, separating them by about an 1/8."

My MISTI came in handy when I stamped the sentiment from the Painted Petals stamp set. I used Jet Black Stazon ink and it took three inkings and stampings to successfully stamp this image; without the MISTI I would have been tearing my card apart to re-stamp it!

I used the Butterfly Thinlits to cut a butterfly from Basic Black and then used Versamark and Iridescent Emboss Powder to heat emboss it. I adhered it to the card using glue dots and then added some rhinestones down the middle.

A few sequins, some from my stash and some from Pretty Pink Posh, adhered with Crystal Effects, and my card was complete!

Have you ever created a card background that you thought was a little too overpowering? Perhaps you could use this technique to save it!

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My Least Favorite Card To Create

Though I am always excited to be creating a new card, I dislike having to make a sympathy card because it means that someone is hurting. This time, the father of the Head Customer Service Manager at Walmart passed away.

Because Michelle is such a special person who is always striving to be cheerful and encouraging, even under the most trying of circumstances, I wanted to create a special card to give to her.

I decided to use the Painted Petals stamp set along with the coordinating Designer Series Paper, Painted Blooms.

I cut a standard card base from Rich Razzleberry and a matte from Blackberry Bliss. I cut a piece of Vellum Card Stock and a piece of the DSP to 5 1/4 x 4."

I used my new MISTI (Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented–more on this tool in the future!) to position my sentiment from the Love & Sympathy stamp set and stamped it using Jet Black Stazon ink. I next stamped the stems of the flowers in Wild Wasabi and the blooms in Rich Razzleberry.

Once the ink was dry, I used some Crystal Effects along the left edge to attach the vellum on top of the DSP. I knew the adhesive wouldn't be seen because I was going to attach a strip of card stock down the left side of the card front. I adhered the DSP to the Blackberry Bliss matte using Fuse Fast adhesive.

The Decorative Dots embossing folder was used to emboss a 1 1/2" strip of Rich Razzleberry card stock. I wrapped a piece of Mossy Meadow ribbon around it and adhered it on the back using Sticky Strip. I then tied a small piece of ribbon around the existing piece and knotted it. I secured the ribbon to the front of the embossed strip using a couple of glue dots.

I placed three Candy Dots down the top right side of the card front and added some Crystal Effects to the underside of the vellum, beneath the Candy Dots, to further secure the vellum to the card front.

I adhered a matte of Naturals White card stock to the inside of the card and to echo the front design, I stamped three tiny flowers.

Drop me a line below to let me know how you like the card! Also, please let me know how you like the scrolling list of products used compared to the large gallery display of products I was using previously. I thought that the scroll takes up a lot less space while still allowing you to view all the products used.


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Stampin' Up! Sale-a-Bration Surprise!

Just when you thought Sale-a-Bration couldn't get any better, Stampin' Up! goes and releases four new products for you to earn for FREE with a $60 order! (Click on the pictures for a closer look.)

And what a wonderful selection of products they have added!

There is a thank you stamp set that lends itself wonderfully to coloring with Blendabilities. Check out the wonderful card on the brochure that has been colored–isn't it gorgeous?

For the many fans of the 2014-2016 In Colors, there is an accessory set that contains both thick Baker's Twine and buttons in the In Colors. How nice will those be to embellish your projects?

A second stamp set contains a lovely selection of florals and another butterfly that coordinates with the Elegant Butterfly Punch!

Lastly, is a 6 x 6" pad of Designer Vellum. You get two pieces of each of the 12 designs–WOW! These will be wonderful to layer on card fronts. And did you know you can color the vellum with Blendabilities??

These FREE products will be available for you to add to your $60 order starting on March 1 but they will only last until the end of March when Sale-a-Bration ends.

Contact me TODAY to place your order!

Irresistible Petals, Bold and Bright!

A bitterly cold, cold day today. If the wind hadn't been blowing so hard from the north, it would not have been so bad but if you were caught out in the open, it was UGLY!

A simple little card for you today, in a long and narrow format. The card base was cut from Whisper White to make a 8 1/2 x 3 1/2" card.

I cut a strip of the striped pattern from the Irresistibly Yours Papers, available for free with a $60 order during Sale-a-Bration.

I used Post-Its to mask off each stripe as I worked, using Sponge Daubers, to ink up the stripes in Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Bermuda Bay. I used Fuse Fast to attach the strip to the bottom of the card front.

The Best Year Ever Accessory Pack supplied Crushed Curry ribbon that I adhered across the top of the striped paper strip.

To match the stripes, I stamped three flowers on Whisper White using the Petal Potpourri stamp set. I punched them out with the coordinating Flower Medallion Punch.

I used Blendabilities markers to color white buttons from the Neutrals Designer Buttons to act as centres for the flowers. They were adhered with a glue dot and the flowers were popped up with Dimensionals on the card front.

The sentiment was stamped on Whisper White using the Regarding Dahlias stamp set. It was punched out with the 1" Square Punch and then popped up with Dimensionals on a Basic Black punch from the Postage Stamp Punch.

To complete the card, the sentiment was adhered to the card front using a Dimensional.

I used bright, happy colors to brighten my day and distract me from the cold outside. I hope this card brightens your day as well!

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Watercolor Workout

Today was a day that made me happy because I got to play in my craft room all day! I put on my Creative Mozart music (supposed to be good for creativity) and set out to create some new watercolor backgrounds.

I decided to try out some watercolor brushes, rather than use my Aqua Pen because I wanted a larger brush. Obviously you get what you pay for . . . I picked up a pack of brushes at Walmart and as I painted, I kept losing bristles on the paper! I guess I'll have to invest in some better brushes if I want to keep creating these types of cards!

To aid me in my quest for watercolor mastery, I purchased an online course from Online Card Classes. The class I got is called Watercolor For Card Makers. I have taken a course from this site before and it is well worth the fee!

For my class, it is an independent study as the real time class has already run. However, for $25, I get 11 lessons with printable PDF's for each as well as 5-6 videos per lesson showing the techniques for each lesson. I also get access to the forum and gallery and have lifetime access to the course and videos! I can even download the videos or I can watch them on the web.

I'm definitely going to enjoy working through the lessons as they not only work with real watercolor paints but inks, distress inks, markers, and pencils. There are several different teachers as well so you get to experience a number of different styles of watercolor techniques.

Today, I played with getting my paper sufficiently wet to allow me to have a proper flow for the paint to move around and blend.

I used Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry ink refills along with my new, albeit cheap, watercolor brushes! I had time to create three backgrounds. One, I probably will not use at all, the other I may use and the other I will share with you on the card I created!

After my watercolor background had been created and dried with my heat tool, I cut it down to 4 x 5" and to make the colors really pop, I cut a thin black matte 4 1/8 x 5 1/8."

I cut another matte, slightly larger at 4 3/8 x 5 3/8" and inked the edges with Melon Mambo, using a sponge dauber.

Using Jet Black Stazon ink, I stamped the sentiment from the Lovely Amazing You stamp set. I punched a tiny heart from Silver Glimmer Paper, using the now retired Small Heart Punch, and adhered it with a glue dot near the sentiment.

I cut a set of leaves out of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper using the Flower Frenzy Bigz L Die and adhered them to the left side of the watercolor using glue dots. The Pansy Punch and the Petite Petals Punch provided flowers from Silver Glimmer Paper which I colored using Blendabilities.

For the flower centres I used rhinestones and a Faceted Vintage Button; all were colored with Blendabilities. The larger flower was adhered with a Dimensional, the smaller flowers with glue dots.

I love the vibrant colors teamed with the sparkle from the leaves and flowers! I think that the glimmer paper reinforces the water droplet marks on the watercolor.

Some details:

What do you think? Leave me a comment below!

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Indescribable Gift

Got my Blendabilities out to color my card for today. I really wanted to color the apple blossoms (I think that's what they are?) from the Indescribable Gift stamp set.

After stamping the image on Whisper White with my Tuxedo Black Memento ink, I used my Pink Pirouette for the blossoms themselves and Wild Wasabi for the leaves. For the stem I used the two darkest markers in the Skin Tone assortment.

I chose to cut the completed image using the Window Frames Collection Framelits and cut a matte from Pear Pizzazz. (In retrospect, I should have cut the matte from from Wild Wasabi but in the end, I had three different yet complementary greens on the finished card!)

I chose a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" card base of Soft Suede. I then faced a bit of a dilemma. I wanted to use Pink Pirouette paper behind the blossoms and I wanted to emboss it but the embossing folder would have been too small. Too compensate, I cut strips of Pink Pirouette from the Subtles Core'dinations collection and embossed the strips using the Decorative Dots embossing folder. I then used the now retired sanding block to reveal the white dots on the card stock.

Since the blossoms that I had colored looked closer in color to Crisp Cantaloupe than to Pink Pirouette, I chose to ink the edges of the embossed strips with Crisp Cantaloupe ink, using a Sponge Dauber.
I adhered the strips to the card base using Fuse Fast and trimmed the excess using my scissors. I then adhered both Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbons, now retired, in between the embossed strips.

I used Dimensionals to mount the Pear Pizzazz matte and the colored blossoms and then stamped the sentiment on Calypso Coral card stock using Versamark. I heat embossed it using White Stampin Emboss Powder and punched it using the Modern Label Punch. The edges were inked with Soft Suede.I adhered the sentiment using Dimensionals to complete the front of the card.

I cut a matte from Naturals White card stock for the inside of the card and used Soft Suede to stamp a portion of the blossoms in both the top left and bottom right corners, stamping off first. Edges were inked using Calypso Coral ink and the matte adhered using Fuse Fast.

I chose the colors of this card because they make me think of Spring. Hopefully, it isn't too far away!

Do you find that you are stamping in Spring colors to beat the winter blahs right now? Drop me a comment below to let me know!

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Painted Blooms Valentine

It was a strangely quiet day at Walmart today, as our Credit/Debit machines went down about 1:30! They still weren't working properly when we closed at 6:00. Apparently this was a Canada-wide problem and some other stores in the area were also having intermittent problems. Pretty hard for a lot of people when most people don't carry cash anymore!

A quick little card for you tonight!

I cut a square card base from Wild Wasabi and used Fuse Fast to adhere a matte of one of the papers from the Painted Blooms Designer Paper—a lovely pack of paper!

I adhered a strip of the White Jute Ribbon and topped it with a strip of Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon. I trimmed the ribbon at each card edge.

I cut a smaller square matte from Pacific Point card stock and embossed it using the Happy Hearts embossing folder. The edges were inked with Mossy Meadow. I adhered it to the card front using Dimensionals.

Using Pacific Point, I stamped the sentiment from Crazy About You on Whisper White and then die cut it using a shape from the Word Bubbles Framelits. I inked the edges in both Wild Wasabi and Mossy Meadow and adhere it to the top right of the matte using Dimensionals.

I utilized the Hearts Collection Framelits to cut one heart from the Painted Blooms paper and three from Pacific Point. I glued these together with the designer paper on top.

I used Versamark, Heat & Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds to create a glittery heart. I wound Wild Wasabi Twine around one side of the heart and tied a bow. Dimensionals were used to adhere the heart to the card front.

I die cut the word, "you" from Pacific Point card stock two times, using the Hello You Thinlits. I glued these together and then heat embossed the word with clear embossing powder a few times to get it really glossy.

Finally, I adhered the word to the heart using Glossy Accents.

I'm pretty happy with the way the card turned out even if it is a blue Valentine!

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Creative Blog Hop

Today I am excited to share with you because I was asked to take part in a Creative Blog Hop! Michelle Long, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator from Oregon, invited me to participate. You will definitely want to check out her post for the hop as she designed a lovely group of items!

Saturday was my day off so I had all day to play and create for this post. I chose to work with watercolor again; I am really enjoying the many different techniques available to produce watercolor effects with ink.

I started by selecting a piece of watercolor paper. I used washi tape to tape it down on my craft mat so it would not curl up as it got wet.

I wet the paper with clean water using a large, flat brush. I then dipped my Aqua Painter in either Blackberry Bliss or Old Olive ink refills and dropped ink or painted portions of the paper.

As I went, I blotted or added more ink to areas, depending on how it looked to me. I also spritzed water on it using my Stampin Spritzer. It definitely did not look the way I had planned it! However, I grew to like it more and more as I continued the process.

Finally, I decided I had laid down enough color so I used my heat tool to dry it before continuing.
I wanted to add a few water spots so I picked up some clean water with my hand and flicked it onto the paper. I let it sink in for a bit and then blotted it with a paper towel. I repeated this a couple of times until I was pleased with the effect.

I then flicked some ink drops of both Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive onto the paper for added interest. I dried the paper using my heat tool and then trimmed it to 4 1/8 x 5 1/8", preserving some of the un-inked portions of the watercolor paper.

I cut pieces of Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive ribbons and adhered them with Sticky Strip to the back of the paper, both in a vertical and a horizontal format. I then wove the strips where they met and then adhered the remaining ribbon ends.

I used the Pansy Punch to cut a flower from Rich Razzleberry and inked the edges with Blackberry Bliss. I cut two additional flowers using the Petite Petals Punch, inking them as well. I also punched a flower from Mambo Melon and inked the edges with (you guessed it!) Blackberry Bliss. I used a punch from the now retired Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to punch tiny flowers from Mambo Melon and Blackberry Bliss.

I used my Paper Blossom Tool Kit to shape each flower to make it more realistic. This set has been invaluable to me over the years and is always in my basic tool kit for card making. I adhered the parts of each flower using Crystal Effects.

I used the Bird Builder Punch to provide some greenery for the flowers, using the leaves and the bird wing to act as leaves. These were punched from Old Olive and inked with Mossy Meadow. They were also shaped with my Paper Blossom Tool Kit.

I attached the larger flower to the watercolor panel using a Dimensional and the smaller flowers were adhered with Crystal Effects. I also adhered the little leaves with Crystal Effects.

I added a rhinestone to the centre of each flower. To finish off the panel, I unravelled the gold thread from the Gold Bakers Twine and kind of shaped it into a pleasing shape. It was adhered in places with a little Crystal Effects.

The watercolor panel was adhered to an Old Olive 4 1/2 x 5 1/2" matte that had been inked loosely with Mossy Meadow.

I used Black Stazon Ink to ink the sentiment from Painted Petals on the 5 x 7" Mambo Melon card base and then adhered the rest of the card to it using Dimensionals.

To coordinate with my card I created a treat bag from the Painted Petals Designer paper, cut with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I assembled the bag quickly using Fuse Fast adhesive.

I used the Banners Dies to cut a banner from Old Olive and embossed it using the Designer Dots embossing folder. I inked it with Mossy Meadow.

Using Mambo Melon card stock, I cut the For You using one of the pieces from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I cut it three times and adhered the layers together to make thick letters. I adhered these to the banner using Crystal Effects.

I created another flower, using Mambo Melon and Blackberry card stocks and adhered it to the banner using a Dimensional. I then attached the banner to the treat bag using a clothespin.

As part of this Creative Blog Hop, I need to answer a few questions.

1. What are you working on?

In the next few days, I will be designing some Valentine treats for my Granddaughter, Raine, as well as planning my projects for the March session of my stamping group.

2. How does your style differ from others in your genre?

I'm not sure that my style differs from others but I do tend to use bold, dramatic color combinations and I tend to favor texture in the form of embossing, burlap, ribbons, etc. I like to try a number of different styles in card making rather than sticking with one particular style. At the present time, I am enjoying experimenting with watercolor techniques.

3. Why do you create what you do?

I enjoy the creative process and love to share it with others! What could be more fun than playing with color and paper and ribbons and ink and glitter? :)

4. How does your creative process work?

My creative process can be sparked in various ways. Sometimes (quite often in fact!) I am inspired by a particular color scheme and I create a project based on it. Other times, I may be project driven in that I may have to create a particular type of card–birthday, thank you, sympathy, etc. Still other times I start with a particular technique I want to learn and combine that with a pleasing color scheme to design a specific project.

I nominate Carrie Rhoades who will be posting projects on her own blog on February 16. I found Carrie through Pinterest. She has some amazing projects on her blog! In particular, I love the flowers she has created using the Bouquet Bigz L Die to adorn some of her projects so be sure to browse back through her posts to see these!

Be sure to visit Carrie on February 16 to view her special projects!

Thanks for visiting today!

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