Today is my day to host the technique challenge at SplitCoast Stampers. I decided on a tone on tone background using a stamp, stencil, embossing folder, etc., Versa Mark, and Clear Embossing powder. It is a clean and simple look with some texture to keep it interesting. Both cards use the new Background Builder Funky Borders Set
My first card is a Mothers day card. I used the borders to create a background then added a floral image from In this Together which I colored with Polychromos pencils. The sentiment is from Favorite Mom – a digital set.
My Second card is an encouragement card using the Funky border background and the image from Walk Humbly which I also colored with Polychromos pencils (when they are on the desk…).and the sentiment is from Faith Phrases inked with Versa Clair Nocturne.
I hope you are inspired and I would love if you joined the Technique Lover’s Challenge at SplitCoast Stampers this week.
Today I have a couple of cards using the new Birthday Guy Stamp set from Sweet N Sassy. This is the stamp of the month for May so you can get it free with a $65 order.
I made the cards clean and simple(ish) because the sentiments are so bold, they can really carry the cards. However, I decided to add a little texture to the background with embossing folders.
First, I used the new digital paper called Man of the House and embossed it with a birthday embossing folder and then added the sentiment as my focal image. The texture is subtle but it adds the perfect touch.
My second card uses a geometric embossing folder. I added Versa Mark to my folder before I ran it through the machine, then I added black embossing powder when it came out. It is a little messy but that is part of the fun of this technique. I added the sentiment onto a scrap background sponged a little of the same Distress Oxide colors onto the embossed piece to tie them together. That is all there is to this one. I love the black and white color scheme on this one.
I hope these inspire you to grab out those embossing folders (if you’re like me, you may need to dust them before using haha!)
Today I have a fun shaker card. I have been playing with Sweet N Sassy’s Be Uniquestamp set and dies all month and trying to come up with different looks/techniques so they are “unique”.
When I saw the little flower dies I thought that, while I wouldn’t want to fussy cut enough flowers for shaker piece, die cutting them would be perfect for shaker pieces! I grabbed a background card from my stash that used the Grunge Grid stencil and I built everything around that and the idea of shaker flowers haha!
I used Distress Inks in Worn lipstick, Squeezed lemonade, and Broken China (Those were the first blue, pink, and yellow inks I saw.) I stamped all my images on watercolor paper using VersaClair and water colored with the Distress Inks. When I needed orange, purple, and green, I mixed them up with the three colors I had.
When I had it put together, I decided it would be a birthday card so I grabbed a simple sentiment from the Lots of Love set and heat embossed it in white on a black cardstock. It is simple but it is super fun!
Here are the others from this month 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are inspired to try different techniques and stretch your stamps a bit! Lyn
Today’s card uses last month’s “water color” challenge technique at Splitcoast (originally found HERE). Essentially, you add some water based ink (I used Distress Inks) to a craft mat, spritz it, and then use that to “ink up” your stamp. Best of all…you do not have to be exact about this! This technique is so addictive and fun that I have been trying it with lots of different stamps just to see if they work haha!
My card uses a bunch of left over color paper cut into strips for the background then I “water colored” the unicorn from the Be Uniqueset using colors similar to my scraps. I did a little bit of shading with color pencils, fussy cut it out, and adhered it to my card with foam tape. I added the sentiment from the set to finished it off. I think it is pretty cool looking but what do you think?
Thanks for stopping by – I hope you try out the technique!
My last cards for the fun SNSS birthday month use the Gnomie Christmas Digital Set. These little gnomes are so cute!
My first card is a mini card (2.25″x4″). I colored the image with Copic markers, fussy cut it, and popped it up with fun foam. I used a simple sentiment from the Stamp of the Month Mini Tag Sentiments, It is the perfect size for a gift tag but I think it could be a fun mailed card too.
My second card uses a watercolor background from my stash (extra points for this one!). It uses the Folk Art Snowflakes Set embossed over a distress ink blended background. I colored the image from the Gnomie Christmas Digital Set with Copic markers, fussy cut it, and adhered it onto a white band with the sentiment on it. I am loving the colors on this one :).
I hope you have enjoyed this fun birthday month with Sweet n Sassy and were inspired along the way! Thanks for stopping by today!
Today I am hosting the Technique Lovers Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. My challenge is to create a tag shaped card. I hope this is a great technique for the upcoming holidays but I needed a birthday card first so that is the theme I went with for my project today.
First cut out 2 tags…I used a tag shaped die for my card, but you can cut the corners off of a rectangle and create your own tag shape.
On one of the tags, score across the top just below the corner.
Add glue or tape to the top piece (above the score line) and add the unscored tag on top. Technically, you now have a tag shaped card.
Now you decorate!!
You can add the hole and ribbons and/or emboss, color blend, stamps, JUST have fun!! For my card, I did some watercolor ink blending on Bristol Cardstock, embossed it with a birthday embossing folder, then added a color hole at the top with ribbons.
I popped up a Birthday Word Die (cut out of a panel of strips of color cardstock) and a “Wishes” sentiment from the Joyful Day set (I also added a sentiment from this set to the inside). To finish it off, I added a “tag” tag using the Mini Tag Sentiment and Die bundle.
Now I can write a not on the inside and still pop it on the package to help decorate it.
Inside the card:
I hope you are inspired – jump over and join the challenge at Splitcoast Stampers!
Sweet N Sassy Stamps is celebrating 15 years this month and there is a month long celebration going on. Today there is an awesome digital product release which includes 5 new digital stamp sets, 1 printable, and 3 digital paper packs!
I have two cards today using the new digital set called Celebrate with Cake.
My first card uses the cake. It is simple Copic colored card but it has dimension and even a little bling with some “flame” shape gems.
My second card is a “background” card. I added the confetti and megaphone in a couple of spots on my card then I added a sentiment. I cropped out some of the confetti and copied and pasted it all over the remaining background. I colored everything with Copic markers, mounted it on a black background, and then onto my card base. Another clean and simple card but so much fun!
Thanks for stopping by! That’s all for today! This weekend there is a stamp-a-thon going on over at the SNSS VIP Page. Come on over to join the fun!!
For today’s cards, I have two versions of a stamped image. I created a lavender looking flower arrangement for the focal points using the Foliage Silhouettes set. Both are somewhat clean and simple.
Today’s is my day to host the Splitcoast Stampers TECHNIQUE challenge. It is a twist on an older technique. I stumbled on this fun tutorial from Betsy Veldman found HERE and loved her results. For the challenge, we are going to create our own backgrounds using COLORED salt – not plain salt!
The colors really create a fun look in the end! BUT let me warn you on this…you MUST trust the process. I played around with several watercolor panels and thought none of them had worked. I stepped away and let it dry and then decided to make 3 cards – It is super fun but it is a bit messy so if you don’t like inky fingers, consider gloves. 🙂
Here is my second card – It turned out looking like a galaxy which is what I hoped would happen, so I added a little scene using the Over the Moon Set. Then I added a sentiment from the Happy Everything Sentiment Strips.
Here is my last card – It turned out looking like a beach which is how I laid it out so that is good haha! I added a bird from the Scene Silhouettes Wetlands then since it was on the desk, I added a sentiment from the Happy Everything Sentiment Strips.
For my project today I had a playtime “what should I do to it next” type day… I am not gonna lie when I tell you this turned into an all day play so this clean and simple card has a lot of hours put into it. That means it will have to be sent to just the right person haha – do you do that?
First I created the background by stamping the flowers and leaves from the Happy Scarecrowset. I decided I didn’t want a fall card so I pulled out a color wheel and put together a fun non-fall color combo. I really love these colors together! I love being able to stretch my stamp sets this way!
I decided to color with pencils (part of the reason it took so long right?!) so in order to save time, before I started coloring, I went ahead and cut my panel down to a little smaller than card size so I could mount it onto a black panel a have a border.
As I was coloring all of the flowers, I thought it would be more dramatic if I colored in the background so I grabbed my pencils and went to work… I wanted it to blend well but I don’t have great luck with Gamsol and my Polychromos so I grabbed out my Vaseline. It is a trick I learned somewhere along the way and I love it. Just dip a Q-tip into the Vaseline and start blending (not a lot is needed and you can get more as you need it). If you need to go back in to create a shadow, you can did the pencil into the Vaseline and use it that way too.
After I colored it , I decided to create an Ecplise card so I die cut the word Friendout (yes, I die cut it after all that coloring!) Keep all the pieces – it will be important! I cut out the word several more times on to black card stock and glued them all together into a stack.
I mounted the background onto the black panel and then fit everything back together. First, put the original die cut into place and glue down all of the inside pieces (inside of the r, e, and d.) Then pull out the word and glue it onto the black stack and then fit it into place over the inside pieces which are now recessed and the word it standing out.
I added a sentiment from the new Happy Everything Sentiment Strips and put it on a white card. It really turned out great – The colors are a lot richer than they look in the picture and I see this color combo again in my future!
I hope you are inspired and thank you for stopping by!!
My Purple House 