Floral Thoughts Mini Series 3 | ft. Clearly Besotted "Fresh Flowers"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I have a couple new-to-me things going on in the card. An image I've never used before and a technique I am still learning and playing around with.

I have another "Thinking of You" card today, which I'm sure comes as no surprise. At the moment these are my favourite cards to create, perhaps because they are so versatile. This was also the first time I pulled out the bluebells image from Clearly Besotted (I assume they are bluebells. That's the way I see them.) I felt they would work perfectly for this week's Fusion Challenge.

Since learning the shadowing technique (I'll create a post about it later), I have been trying to incorporate it more and more into my colouring, especially with florals. I absolutely love single layer cards that look as though there are multiple layers.

To begin, I stamped the bluebell image from Clearly Besotted's Fresh Flowers stamp set on to Copic friendly paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

I masked off the image and sponged Tumbled Glass Distress Ink through a damask stencil starting in the upper left corner and pulling the ink lightly down towards the bottom right.

I removed the mask and then coloured the image with Copic markers, because these flowers are smaller than many of the other images by Clearly Besotted, I only used two shades of blue and two shades of green for the flower.

I then used a W5 and went around the image where the shadows would lay if my light source were in the upper left corner of the panel. I used a very light hand for this, as the W5 marker is rather dark and I wanted to keep my shadows thin. I went over the shadow area again with the W3 marker, making the line just a touch thicker.

I covered the blossoms quite liberally with clear Wink of Stella, but once again my camera has failed to do justice to the amount of shine this pen gives off.

The greeting is also stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, to ensure that I didn't have different shades across the panel.

I then mounted the panel on a piece of soft blue card stock and wrapped them with the twine.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Fusion Card Challenge: Something Blue

Floral Thoughts Mini Series 2 | ft. CTMH Hawaiian Hibiscus

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Not that I really ever really need a reason to make a card, because let's face it; I do it all the time, every day anyway, I wanted to create something that would reflect the personality of the person I intended to send it to.

A friend of mine just recently got some not awesome news from her doctor, and I wanted to create something that really was "her". She is the bubbliest, most happy person. Always has a smile on her face and a friendly word for everyone, and I wanted to do something that not only captured that, but reminded her of it as well.

To begin, I created a few masks of both the flowers and set them aside. I then stamped the images on Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock. After stamping the images, you *must* wait for the ink to dry. I  have tried a few different archival inks and they all need a bit of time on this cardstock. Probably because of the ultra-smooth texture of the paper.

I then used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to colour in each of the flowers, I was really just playing around with the different combinations to see (for myself) what worked and what didn't.

I then stamped the Recollections ColourSplash "Thinking of You" greeting with one of their ombre inks and added a few sequins to finish off the panel.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Floral Thoughts Mini Series 1 | ft. Clearly Besotted

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Welcome to the first day of my Floral Thoughts Mini Series! At this point I don't know how many cards will be in this series, but the thing is, I really (REALLY) love Clearly Besotted and floral images and "Just because" cards, so I figured I would make a mini series that will go on until I've moved on to something else.

I mentioned before that I recently got a nice little Clearly Besotted haul, and I cannot stop using them. I really can't say or recommend them enough.

To begin, I stamped the floral image from Clearly Besotted's "Friends Forever" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on to Copic Friendly Paper. I also created a mask for the image using 2" post it tape.

I masked off the image and sponged Antique Linen Distress Ink with a random stencil (sorry, don't know which one or where it came from). I then removed the mask and coloured the image with Copic markers.

I then covered the flowers with clear Wink of Stella. I used some twine from my stash and wrapped it around the card base and then tied a knot.

I stamped the greeting in Memento ink as well so that the blacks would match. I had considered using sequins or enamel dots across the space, but it started to look way too cluttered and ultimately I'm very happy that I left them off.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Time Out Challenge #57

"May all your Weeds be Wild Flowers"

Clean and Simple | ft. Clearly Besotted - Miniature Florals Collection II

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today was one of those days where not only the idea but the execution of this card came in a snap. I just got a nice sized haul of Clearly Besotted floral stamps and was itching to use them.

When it comes to floral images, this is the company to go with -- in my opinion. They have nice thin lines so whether you are stamping in black or embossing the lines of the image don't overpower the project.

I also find the flowers to be quite realistic, and with only a little Googling it is easy to find samples of the flowers in order to colour it as it would be in life.

To begin, I stamped the image using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink on Copic friendly paper. I also created a mask with a sticky note and cut it out.

I masked off the image and sponged Milled Lavender Distress Ink using a damask stencil, darker at the top and fading as it moves down the panel.

Once that was dry, I removed the mask and coloured the image using copic markers. I used my glitter pen to colour in the centres of the flowers, but the glitter doesn't really show up on camera. (Sad face).

I then mounted the panel on a slightly larger piece of lilac cardstock and then on to a standard A2 sized card base.

I opted to not include a greeting this time, as it looked out of place and threw off the balance of the card.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Time Out Challenge:

CAS with the Optional Twist of Purple

Masculine Birthday | Ships Away

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I have a masculine card for you. With all the pretty floral stamps and designs, I find it very difficult to make a masculine card.

I can spend hours on pinterest trying to find inspiration when it comes to a more "manly" card, even then I'll still stare at my paper wondering where all my creativity went.

When it comes to masculine cards, I tend to find that simpler is better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are men out there that love the glitter and the sparkle and the sequins, but for me I think clean and simple is better.

To begin, I masked off a 3/4" strip and sponged a medium blue for the upper line. I then masked that off and left a 1" space to sponge in a darker blue. After those were dry, I masked and sponged with the darkest blue.

Once those were completely dry, I heat embossed with black the ship image and the Happy Birthday Greeting.

I trimmed the panel down to 4x5 1/4" and rounded the bottom right corner. The matte was cut down to 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" and then this was put on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Technique Tip - Distress Ink Lifting

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are all having a great day.

Today I have a technique for you all. Distress lifting. Many of us have seen the bleaching technique, where you "paint" bleach (yes, bleach. Like clorox.) onto coloured cardstock and it bleaches out the colour, either altering or lightening it.

I personally think that this creates some beautiful projects, but I have a toddlers and having containers of bleach in my crafting space -- a space she just loves -- is not something I feel comfortable with. I'm sure many of you can relate.

At some point or another, we have all used the splatter technique, where we take clean water on a brush and splatter it on the project, let it sit for a few seconds then pat it dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. You can see this in the lower right portion of this project.

The lifting technique is done much the same way, but with more control and less splatter. As you can see in the flowers.

I have found that this works best with Distress Inks by Ranger. Their reactivation properties are just one of the many reasons we love this product so much.









To begin this project, I used clear embossing powder and heat set the floral images in the top left corner of the panel.

Next select your distress colours. In the example above I used Black Soot and Hickory Smoke to create an ombre effect from top to bottom over the panel. Use a very liberal hand. I know that most of my blog talks about using a light hand and a gentle touch -- forget that. Just for this technique. It applies the rest of the time.

In the example to the right, I used Carved Pumpkin, Dried Marigold and Fossilized Amber the same way.

Using a paintbrush appropriate to the size of the area you want to lift, apply a layer of water to the area. Allow it to sit for 30-45 seconds, then pat dry with a clean paper towel or a cloth. Then move on to the next area.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to do multiple areas between patting dry.

If you are doing multiple cards with different colour palettes, make sure you clean the water in between.

If I had not cleaned out my water between these two cards, the orange would have muddied and left brown spots instead of lighter orange areas.




If the area you lifted isn't the shade you want, you can always reapply the water and lift again. That is the beauty of Distress Inks. You can also reapply the ink to make it darker again if it went too light.

 I haven't tried this with other water based inks or markers, so I cannot say if it would work the same way. If anyone else has tried this with a different watercolour product, I would love to hear about your results.

In this example I used Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon and just a bit of Salty Ocean at the bottom.

This ended up being my favourite out of the bunch. Because of the intensity of the darker colours, I did have to go back and reapply water a second and in some cases a third time to get the shade I wanted.

I found I got better results with darker colours than with lighter ones, likely because there was increased room to create contrast.

To finish the cards, I loosely covered the floral areas with a piece of scrap paper and used the splatter technique for the lower portion of the panel.

I then set them all aside to dry.





I used white embossing powder on vellum to create the greeting banners. To adhere them down, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte behind the embossing to hide it, and wrapped the right side of the banner behind the panel and taped it in place.

I had mentioned in another post about gluing dots of dried glossy accents down instead of applying them directly to the piece. I do this, especially on watercolour pieces, because of the reactivation properties of the ink. If you apply glossy accents right on top of Distress ink, it may pick up the colour while drying. But if you make the dots and reapply them later they won't do that. At least in my experience.

Here is a final example for you, using Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade.

As you can see, the impact of the lifting isn't as intense as the blue or black examples above. Still pretty just not as intense.

















I hope you enjoyed today's technique and the card examples and are inspired to create something of your own.

Please leave your comments below, I love hearing from you. And don't forget to follow this blog by clicking the blue button to the right!

Hope to see you again soon.

Mother's Day 2016 Series - Card 11

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

You may remember this image from the Apple Blossom Birthday post from a while ago, I have a slightly different take on it for today's card. I can honestly say Clearly Besotted is fast becoming my favourite floral stamp company.

I went with softer colours today to show a much more delicate side of the Zig Markers (surprise! using them again).

To create this card, I began by prepping the watercolour panel with my powder tool and heat embossing the floral image in white embossing powder. I wet each of the areas and dropped in colour from the markers to create an incredibly soft look.

To create the halo around the image, I wet the area in sections and dropped in Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

The greeting banner is heat embossed with gold on a strip of vellum. To finish off the panel I used a scattering of pearls.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Mother's Day 2016 Series - Card 10 | ft. Clearly Besotted Stamps

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

The inspiration provided by Michele Ferguson (you can see her card at the bottom of the post) was wonderful. I love the potted flowers, and after I started I just couldn't stop. If one is good, then three must be better, right?

Moreover, I can't seem to get enough of either the florals by Clearly Besotted or the Zig Markers. They blend so amazingly, and the colour they give off when mixed with water is beyond anything I could have imagined when I first read about them.

If you haven't tried them out, I highly recommend picking up a couple. Unlike Copics (also wonderful) you can get various shades with just one marker.

To create this card, I began by stamping the vases from Lawn Fawn's "Our Friendship Grows" stamp set. I then masked them off and stamped each of the floral images from Clearly Besotted's "Miniature Florals Collection" using CTMH Archival Black Ink on 140lb cold press watercolour paper.

I coloured them with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. I forgot to write the colours I used down. Sorry, guys!

I stamped the greeting using the Archival ink as well, to ensure that the blacks matched. I mounted the panel on a standard A2 sized card base using super sticky tape.

To finish it off, I added clear Wink of Stella to the petals of the flowers. Unfortunately, the picture didn't pick it up. But in real life, it is SUPER shiny.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Muse Challenge #164

Inspired by Michele Ferguson's Beautiful Card:

Mother's Day 2016 Series - Card 9 | ft. Lawn Fawn Stamps

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

For some reason sunflowers always remind me of Moms. I don't know why. Perhaps because they are so bright and cheerful, and those are the best memories of Moms. Standing tall, watching over us and smiling down.

Last year every Mother's Day card I created had sunflowers. Those aren't available here, as I didn't start this blog until October of last year. If I do find pictures of them, perhaps I'll post them.

To create this card, I began by stamping the Lawn Fawn floral images with CTMH Archival Black ink on 140lb cold press watercolour paper.

I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to colour the image. Bright Yellow and Lemon Yellow for the petals, Deep Green for the leaves and the stem, Dark Brown for the centre of the flower and the pot was coloured with Brown and Orange to create a terracotta colour.

The soft blue halo around the flower was done by wetting the area and dropping in Tumbled Glass Distress ink and allowing it to air dry.

The greeting (also Lawn Fawn) is heat embossed with gold embossing powder on a strip of vellum. I added the ribbon down the side and the scattering of sequins to finish off the card.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Mother's Day 2016 Series - Card 8

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Welcome to the eighth installment in the 2016 Mother's Day series. Apparently this one is sneaking up on me as well. I can't believe it is less than a week away. Luckily I'm on the ball for this one, and I have a few ready to go for you.

I borrowed this die set from a friend last week, with grand ideas on what was going to happen. This was not one of those ideas. This sort of just happened. (And to be honest, I have not yet completed a single one of those grand plans.)

To begin, I used Distress Ink on some heavy-weight Bristol Smooth cardstock. For the rose, I used Worn Lipstick and for the leaf sprig I used Mowed Lawn, then die cut them out. I used the positive portion of the die cut (negative? The part you would normally throw in the recycling) as a stencil to shade directly on the card panel. I used Spun Sugar and Twisted Citron.

Once they were dry, I adhered the die cuts over the shaded area to create a dimensional two-toned rose.

The panel is a shimmering white cardstock. I really like this cardstock as the Distress allows for the shimmer to shine through. The greeting is stamped using Memento Tuxedo black ink.

To complete the card, I added a scattering of soft pink sequins across the panel.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of our own.