Faith-dex Card: Pray without Ceasing

Happy Friday! Today I have a kind of simple but really beautiful faith-dex card.

I used a Heidi Swapp faith-dex die cut and the new Sweet N Sassy Stamps Pray Without Ceasing set. While I love the bigger sentiments for their versatility in card making, I really love the more wordfetti type sentiments as they are so comforting. My favorite is “He bends down to listen.” It makes me think of a father getting right down on the same level as his child to make sure he is present in the conversation and the child knows he is there, listening, and ready to act as needed. This one really gets me in the feels!

I used water color paper to cut out my card, I used the blending brushes on my desk with the Mosaic Stencil – I didn’t add ink to them just used what was left from other projects. I used Distress Oxides to stamp up my wordfetti in in a reverse rainbow and then I felt it was too simple (haha) so I dug through my stack of already colored images and found a leaf set from Botanical Branches which I cut apart to balance up my card. On the back, I added a scripture from the Pray Without Ceasing set for me to memorize:
1 Peter 5:7 – Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I love how this turned out. It isn’t my usual bright color set which is a nice change. I hope you are inspired! Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Lyn

Roses for a Technique Challenge!!

Tags

Bible Journal, SplitCoast Stampers, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Technique, Watercolor

Happy Monday!! I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend – mine was filled with mom time and it was wonderful! Today is my day to host the Technique Lover’s Challenge at SplitCoast Stampers. In honor of Mother’s Day, or Spring, or proms, or anything that makes you think of roses really, I wanted to try a watercolor rose technique. I found a tutorial from Jenna at ScribblingGrace.com that shows how to do simple Roses with Watercolors. Though the tutorial is based on Bible journaling, this technique is perfect for cards too. She is super sweet and really walks you through the steps.

After creating my background, I pulled out my new Sweet ‘n Sassy Set called Pray Without Ceasing. I love it. It is beautiful and is chock full of lots of encouragements and reminders that even our smallest prayers are heard!

After playing around with this, here are a few tips….
– Any watercolor should work even distress inks watered down. I grabbed a cheap set of metallic water colors I got from Michaels for $5. Just remember you need a lot of more concentrated color to begin with.
– Grab a bigger piece of watercolor paper if you have it. That way you can practice a few times and just keep going on the sheet. Then you can cut it down and make a few cards with the result.
– She mentions in the tutorial that she dips her paint brush in the water between certain layers. I had a hard time managing the water flow when I did this so I recommend either skipping that step at first or making sure to tap the excess water off on the side of your jar.
– Have fun and don’t get too worked up over the process. I found that even the roses I didn’t love, didn’t look too bad after I added the leaved and sentiments were great cover ups 

I can’t wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by – now head over the challenge and join in 🙂 Technique Lover’s Challenge at SplitCoast Stampers

Hugs!
Lyn

SNSS God is Good

Today I am sharing several projects using Sweet N Sassy’s God is Good set. This set is the first set designed by team member Deidre Carson and it is from the January release and it is so, so sweet! I really love that is can be used in a variety of ways – Bible journal, greeting card, memory-dex…

For my projects, first I have a couple of memory-dex cards. I created backgrounds by ink smooshing then inking through a stencil. I inked my floral image on top of the background then colored them with Polychromos pencils. I added sentiments – which are perfect for memory-dex cards as they are straight from the Psalms and are just so beautiful. I love them but what do you think?

My next project is a card. I created an ink blended background then added a cover plate die over it for some texture. I created a panel strip with the image from God is Good and a sentiment from The Future. I colored my image with Polychromos pencils.

I so enjoyed creating with this set today! I think you will love it too!

Thanks for stopping by – I hope you were inspired!
Lyn

SNSS – New Mercies

Today I pulled out my mini art journal and played with the new set called Good Morning. I think this set can be used for a lot of occasions – I can’t wait to play with it some more.

I inked my background with Distress Oxides, then added texture with Texture Tiles 1 (my go to!!) I used the clock from Good Morning to add a little more texture. I used a the Landscape Silhouettes (seriously versatile set!) to create my farm. I colored the rooster with Copics then used my Polychromos pencil to add some shading. I used Distress inks for the sun. I inked up the words I wanted for my sentiment and cut them out individually. I really love how it turned out!

This mini journal has been so much fun – one because it is small and perfect to create in and two because the page sizes are card sized meaning any of the pages could easily translate into a great mixed media card.

I hope you were inspired today! Thanks for stopping by!

Lyn

SNSS and Coffee Loving Cardmakers Team up for a Blog Hop

How about a collaboration? Yes Please!!

Welcome to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers + Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Collaboration Blog Hop! We’re so excited to be teaming up with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers design team to bring you some caffeine inspired fun… Oh yeah and there is a PRIZE (ding, ding, ding!!) Leave some love at each stop as you hop about for a chance to win a $25 gift code to the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps shop.

OK – Let’s make sure you are in the right place (what? I sometimes need someone to keep me in line 🙂 ) You should have gotten here from Esther’s blog. If you already started but got a little lost, you can always head to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog for the complete hop list. IF not, start at the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Blog to make sure you don’t miss anything!! (btw – you won’t want to miss anything).

I have a couple of projects to share today. The first one is an art journal page – this is in my mini watercolor paper journal (4″X5.25″). I used Distress Inks in shades of green and blues to create a forest scene. I spritzed it a little and when it dried, I added some trees from the Thrill of Hope set and texture from Texture Tiles 1. After a few white paint splashes, the background was complete. I Copic colored my coffee drinking gnome from Winter Gnomes and added a Hi-larious (and oh, so true) sentiment from Coffee Talk 2 on strips of cardstock to finish it off. This one makes me smile out loud!

My next project is also a journal page but this one is not a true journal. I accidently purchased my yearly calendar only to find out it started last July (ughh!) I started cutting out the un-needed months and then decided that I would use all those extra pages for fun journal projects instead. If the calendar info shows through, it is only added texture – woo hoo! Lemons into lemonade – amiright?

I added a light layer of gesso, then added distress oxides for my base colors. I added a layer of stenciling over it then added texture using the new Texture Tiles 9 (did I mention that I loved this one?) I Copic colored the girl from Walk Humbly then several of the cups from Coffee Talk (decorated with some of the little images in the Walk Humbly set.) I added the sentiment (from Coffee Talk) directly to the page but fussy cut the girl and the cups. I glued the girl down, then cut slits into the coffee part of the cups so I could “stack” them up and place them into her hand – Woo, it’s a 3-cup day? Must be Monday, or Tuesday, or….

I hope you are having fun and were super inspired here! All that coffee definitely leads to creative fun in my house! Now for more inspiration, head on over to Lee Ann’s blog and you will not be disappointed .

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Lyn

SNSS Begin Again

This weekend, I took my inspiration from my desk 🙂 Meaning, there was versa mark, embossing powders and “watercolors” and the Sweet N Sassy stamp set Begin Again. These butterflies are so beautiful and have so many possibilities!

Here is what I came up with…

First – a set of cards. using  the big butterfly, a rainbow of Brusho colors (one at a time) and gold embossing powders. My mom is going to love these! She is always asking me for greeting cards and these should be perfect for any occasion.

My second project is a mixed media look. I used Distress inks, the smaller butterflies, clear embossing powder, and Psalm 23 to add to the background.

My final project is a Bible Journal card using a card I had previously done and the small butterfly and sentiment in silver – I love this simple card!

I hope you were inspired to play – embossing powder can be super fun and add a lot to your projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lyn

SNSS – Getting Digi With It!!

So I am absolutely loving this months’s new clear stamps at Sweet N Sassy Stamps. They are truly beautiful!  But…Have you seen all of the fabulous new digital stamps in the shop? They are so much fun to create with! Last Friday night I printed up a couple pages of them to just sit and color over the weekend. I didn’t quite get them all colored but I did enjoy the relaxing process of just coloring for the fun of it. Today’s projects are what I came up with for the completed coloring.

I shared on the VIP FaceBook page my coloring pages (here they are for reference.) I got all of the top page (a background page) colored (with pencils) and the bear doctor (with Copics). I got most of the fairy colored too but not all so she will have to come out another day.

I decided to create some thank you cards for some healthcare workers who are so tirelessly working through the current pandemic. Adding the background page using the medical “stuff” from the Healthcare Bears digi and sentiments from the Healthcare Bears digi set and the Nurse Bear digi set (she is FREE) made some simple but awesome cards. I just chopped the page into four pieces and that was that… Fun right??I had a great geli-plate mixed media page sitting in my stash that I thought would go with my doctor bear from Healthcare Bears so I fussy cut him and made a mixed media card…I also colored up the new GG (stands for God’s Girl) with pencils. This one is called Love the Word and she would NOT be denied! This project makes me smile OUT LOUD! After I colored her, I wasn’t sure what sentiment to add, whether she should be a card front or a journal card and I finally decided I wanted her in my Bible. It is a much bigger Journal card than I usually make but that is totally OK! I added a sentiment from God is For You because I thought that it was perfect for both my image and the times we are in.

Matthew 28:19-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is such an awesome reminder that we are to not only to witness to the non believers but to grow in our own faith as well; and in doing so we are rewarded with the knowledge that God is with us ALWAYS until the END! What a comfort in the face of the fears we are now experiencing…Do not fear! God is with you ALWAYS! Not just in the good times…ALWAYS!!

I hope you are inspired today to try dome new digital stamps. They mix great with clear stamps and are lots of fun!!

Have a great day!

Lyn

Sweet N Sassy Stamps May Blog Hop – Take me to church!

Welcome to the Sweet N Sassy Stamps MAY 2020 Release Blog Hop! 

You should have arrived here from Lee Ann‘s page. If not, jump back there so you don’t miss anything. Hop along to all of the blogs (listed below just in case something goes wrong along the way 🙂 ) for even more inspiration with the May stamps. Leave a little comment love on each stop along the way by Tuesday May 19th at 10:00 pm for a chance to win a $10 gift voucher to the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps shop. One lucky comment from all the comments along the hop will win a $10 gift voucher to the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps shop. Winner will be announced on the SNSS blog, on Wednesday, May 20th

Hop Order:

Sweet ‘n Sassy Blog
Julee Tilman
Ceal Pritchett
Diane Zechman
Esther Asbury
Jane Bosi
Karen Decknick
Lee Ann Barrett
Lyn Tomlin – THAT’s ME!
Sheri Gilson

 

This month I am featuring My Father’s House. I love this set. It has 3 churches and words to build a sentiment. I really wanted to show how this set could be used for multiple projects. Not just Bible journaling (though I did do a journal card for my Loved Bible). I created 3 projects all simple and vintage-y in feel but all for very different reasons!

For my first card, I created a simple Bible journal card. I stamped the image on watercolor paper in Gina K Amalgam Ink then colored it with Copics. I used Distress Inks for the background and Hand wrote a sentiment from Hebrews 10:24-25.

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

I LOVE this reminder to encourage one another and not give up on our faith!

For my second card, I decided to do a little masking… I used watercolor paper then stamped the wedding couple from Happy Couple. Then I masked them off and stamped the church from  My Father’s House. Since the distress inks were on my desk, I decided to watercolor my image… creating a little scene. Now I have a wedding card for my stash!

For My final card I went for a Christmas card – yep – Christmas in May! My stash is getting built today!! I did some more masking on this one. I stamped the wreath from Home For the Holidays and the tree from Winter Wonderland then my church. I used my copics to color a wintery scene (It wasn’t quite what I was hoping for but I am still liking it. I used the sentiment from Born This Day.

So there you have it Three cards featuring the same stamp but in very different ways! I love that I could use so many out of season stamps on this one. It is always fun to stretch my stamps sets as much as I can – I hope you are inspired to do so as well!

NOW head over to see what Sheri has created for you!!

If if you get the opportunity to craft with some of these great stamps (or any other SNSS stamp) we would love to see what you create on our SNSS VIP Group Facebook Page; Or tag your creations with #snss or #sweetnsassystamps on Instagram.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lyn

SNSS – Praise the Lord!

“Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!”[Psalm 150:1-6]

I am trying very hard to (and I encourage you to as well) find something to Praise God for everyday! We are so blessed even in dark times! I have a picture a friend made me that says what if tomorrow we only had the things we thanked God for today… In those terms my list of praises is really long! How about yours?

Today I a get the opportunity to provide the challenge for the Creative Worship Facebook Group for the next two weeks. My challenge is to create an insert. I have a fun video HERE showing how to create a “watercolor look” using alcohol inks and vellum. I created a whole page insert but for this challenge you can create any kind of insert you want. A tip in, a journal card that you tape in with washi, just have fun!

NOTE: I mentioned that I create a word file and turn the box white so it won’t show up on my print out – this only works when I am printing on white (sorry!) I would actually click “no outline” for this!

I would love you to try the vellum technique I shared, but I don’t want you to have to get any new supplies so work with what you have and just insert it into your Bible. I hope this will be fun for those who still aren’t as sure about coloring directly into their Bibles as well as those brave enough to just jump right in 🙂

The supplies I used are:

• Strathmore Inkjet Vellum
• Alcohol Inks (I used my Copic refills but any alcohol ink should work) AND Alcohol blend (I started out with copic blender solution, but switched to a spray bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol)
• I colored my image with Polychromos color pencils
• Digital stamp – Melody of Love
• Clear Stamp – Women of Praise
• NOTE: Ink – I used Versafine, but after letting it sit to dry it spread a bit so I recommend you use Versafine  ONLY if you want to heat emboss it. Otherwise use Archival ink or something similar.

I hope you are inspired to try this technique. head over to the Creative Worship Facebook page and join if you are not already a member. They are a super encouraging and wonderfully caring group of believers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lyn

SNSS – Soooo Blessed!

WOW!!! I had the best weekend at Sweet N Sassy’s Creative Worship retreat! There was much learning and loving and a whole lot of Jesus! I still haven’t finished all my projects, but here are a few…

Friday I worked and then lead a demo on embossing. I showed lots of techniques and then went back over the weekend and made something out of each (even the one that was a “mess up” 🙂 .) If you didn’t get a chance to join in, the lives were all saved as were the music lists, etc in Unit 2. If you aren’t a member of the group – I really think you would love the love and encouragement you fin there… It is the Creative Worship Bible Journaling Group

Here is a quick look at the “collection”. I used Cheerful Hexies, Psalm 23 BG, Sweet as Honey, and Faith Wordfetti for the demo.The first faithdex card showed HEAT embossing on pigment ink, Distress Oxides, and Versa mark. It also showed that Distress oxides could be used through a stencil and embossed for extra texture and that embossing a outline stamp creates “walls” for your watercoloring. I added some interest with the Psalm 23 BG stamp in random places and added splatters of black and white acrylic paint and finished it with some sentiments from the Faith Wordfetti set.

This one was so busy with techniques, but in the end, it really worked and is a favorite!

Here is the close up of the bee that I inked up a second time and cut out and glued (just the body) on top of the original. Then I pulled the wings up a bit for dimension.I added my verse on the back so I could reference.

The second one showed that you could layer your embossing and stamp into the final layer for a wax seal look. I added some embossed patterned hexies and splatters with DOx inks I used and picked a simple sentiment. This will go in my Bible and I will journal on the back.

The third one is another faithdex card. I inked a hexie and then decided to do another direction so I started over with project two. But when it was time to show dry embossing, I grabbed this one back and ran it through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder. It was a mess, but I didn’t want to chunk it so I smooshed some inks all over it, added a layer of gesso to calm the inks (especially the original hexie I was trying to hide) added some spots of “texture” with the Psalm 23 BG stamp and some stenciled hexies. Then I found a BG I had created using the same ink colors I had pulled out for this one but in Distress Inks vs. Oxides – so they were bolder! I stamped the Psalm 23 BG on top, then stamped and embossed an outline hexie (two sizes). I fussy cut them and added them and a Faith Wordfetti sentiment and I was so please that it came together in the end!

The forth and fifth project showed a way to stretch that embossing folder; essentially using it as a stamp.

For this one, I inked up the back side (where the crosses stood out) with Distress Oxide, and closed the folder with my faithdex card lined up inside. I added a few patches of the Psalm 23 BG words randomly. I really liked it, but it was so simple – what to do? I grabbed a digi stamp called Old Rugged Cross sized it to the size I wanted and printed it and colored it with my copics. Then I fussy cut it and glued it to my card. I used my Bitty Minnie Alphas to stamp out part of Isaiah 53:5 and added a sentiment from Faith Wordfetti to my tab – This became my favorite!

The last one, I inked it up again with a couple colors, misted it, and closed my journal card inside it. It was so fun, I decided to finish it by adding a Cocoa Mouse digi image (colored with Copics) some washi, a sentiment from Faith Wordfetti and a sewn on ribbon (I had to dust off my sewing machine haha!) This card will be my first entry in my Loved Bible I am starting – so excited!

I am still working on finishing up the last few projects but here are a few other projects from the retreat.

A faithdex card taught by Amanda Ginn. I used Bitty Minnie Alphas and Chunky Alphas, and Faith Wordfetti and  The Good News (for the sun)

A vellum insert using a printable from Pile of Ashes and Lots of Alphas (just mix em up) – led by Amanda Hargrove

Clips and a tassel bookmark taught by Elizabeth Chu.

Watercoloring and stamping in Hymnals by Stephanie (IG Faith.and.creativity) I used Landscape Silhouettes, Scene Silhouette:Trees, Thrill of Hope (NOT just for Christmas :)) and Chunky Alphas

What a blessing this weekend was! I hope you are inspired by this projects as I was by the weekend! Now I need to go finish coloring and cutting flowers (Gail Bond at Patio Ponderings) and working on my gel prints (Colleen at Stir the Soul)

Thanks for stopping by!

Lyn