Get Well

I had me some fun with Gelatos on this one . . .

Gelatos are a very versatile medium . . . this is just one very simple way to use them:

1. Choose your stencil - one with fairly sturdy design openings is best.

2. Choose your Gelato colors - I used just two here, but more works too.

3. Scribble with the Gelatos over the back of your stencil.

4. Mist with water - a little or a lot, depending on the effect you're after.

5. Lay the stencil down over  a piece of watercolor paper, cover with a paper 

    towel, and press down to distribute the ink.

6. Heat dry, or let it dry naturally.

Done!  Depending on how much water you use, the colors can be saturated or watercolor-y, or everything in-between.  Easy and fun!

Cardstock:   Bazzill Ocean, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper,

                        Generic Vellum   

Stamps:       Art Gone Wild Oval Flower Frame 1

Inks:             Distress Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Hero Black

Colorants:    Gelatos Raspberry, Light Blue, Metallic Grape

Watercolors:  Inktense Golden Yellow, Field Green, Violet, Zig Real

                          Brush Yellow, Peach Pink

Emb Powder:  WOW! Clear Matte Dull

Dies:            Memory Box Stitched Rectangle Trimmings, Paper Smooches

                        Get Well Phrase, Papertrey Ink Sketched Shapes,

                        Impression Obsession Medium Butterflies                 

Stencil:        The Crafters Workshop Mini Herringbone

Doo Dads:    Five crystals, Wink of Stella Clear           

Thanks

One of our parishioners, a widow with scarce resources, was actually able to secure a new car and donate it to our parish to be auctioned off as a fundraiser.  Such an extraordinary accomplishment is surely worthy of at least a handmade card to say a wholly inadequate Thank you, Maria . . .

As it is over 90° outside, I opted for cool blues and greens for the colors.  As for the blue tulip, that is a rare color for tulips, but then, Maria is a rare individual in her own right . . .

Cardstock:   The Paper Cut Eames White, Strathmore #90

                        Watercolor paper

Stamps:       Hampton Art Large Handwriting, Vippies Dotty Snow,

                        Purple Daisy Sand, Lindy's Stamp Gang Tulip

Inks:             Distress Broken China, Mowed Lawn, ColorBox Gold

Colorants:    Various ink sprays in blues and greens

Emb Powder:  Ranger Gold

Dies:            Goodculler/Amazon Stitched Rectangles                       

Stencil:        Delta Thanks a Bunch

Doo Dads:    Adirondack Acrylics Stream          

Thinking of You

I was in a water color-y mood this time so I reached for my Inktense pencils and a couple of Zig Clean color Real Brush markers . . .

These flowers may be daisies or they may be sunflowers -  the stamp is retired and I can't find a name for it.  As this is a card for an early autumn birthday, I went with Fall colors.  But I think I'll go back to using Summer colors:  it's my favorite season and it's rushing by so quickly that I want to hang on to it for as long as possible . . .

Cardstock:   Marco’s Jute, Stedner Bright White          

Stamps:        Peddler’s Pack Four Daisies, My Sentiments Exactly

                        “Thinking of You”

Inks:               ColorBox Frost White

Watercolors:   Inktense Felt Green, Sun Yellow, Tangerine, Antique

                           White, Zig Clean Color Yellow, Orange

Emb Powder:   Sweet Stamps Detail White

Dies:              Lil Inker Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Yalatan/Amazon

                        Stitched Tags            

Doo Dads:    American Crafts Jute Green         

Birthday Blessings

More fun with textures . . .

 . . . a textured card base, a mini-patterned embossing folder, and a top layer stenciled with embossing paste - what more could a texture freak like me want?

Cardstock:   Bazzill Lemon Tart, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper 

Stamps:        Sizzix Angel set: Blessings

Inks:               Distress Carved Pumpkin, Brushed Corduroy

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:              Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Sizzix Angel set:

                        Blessings, Poppy Happy Birthday Background, Memory

                        Box Branching Out, Pippi & Isabella butterflies           

Stencil:          The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Ledger

Emb Folder: Cuttlebug Mesh

Doo Dads:    American Traditional 3-D Molding Paste

Ice Cream!

This one was a matter of taking a stamp image designed to depict one item and turning it into something else . . .

The top part of the ice cream cone is actually a cupcake image!  With my MISTI, I kept re-stamping the base and turned it into a cone.  I trimmed the sides into a long triangle and voila . . . a hand-wrapped sugar cone!

Cardstock:   Bazzill Lemon Tart, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper 

Stamps:        Sizzix Angel set: Blessings

Inks:               Distress Carved Pumpkin, Brushed Corduroy

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:              Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Sizzix Angel set:

                        Blessings, Poppy Happy Birthday Background, Memory

                        Box Branching Out, Pippi & Isabella butterflies           

Stencil:          The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Ledger

Emb Folder: Cuttlebug Mesh

Doo Dads:    American Traditional 3-D Molding Paste

Seas the Day!

Another rescue from my Scrap Stash . . .

I thought the background images looked like seaweeds, so that set the theme for the rest of the layout. I don't have (yet!) a die of a sea fan but I found that one of Tim's dies from his Holiday Greens set looked very sea-worthy to me, so that's what I went with.

Cardstock:   Bazzill Aqua, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper

Stamps:       Stamp Camp Shadow Weeds, Impress Seas the day!

Inks:             Distress Vintage Photo, Weathered Wood, Antique Linen

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:            Lil’ Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Tim Holtz Holiday

                        Greens, Love Nicole Nautilus, Scalloped Sea Shells                     

Doo Dads:    Perfect Pearls Mist Bronze

Celebrate

One of my favorite combinations:  black, white, Kraft, and a pop of color . . .

The word "Celebrate" got lost in the busy background, so I glued it to a scrap of black cardstock, did a free form fussy cut around it, and popped it up with foam dots.  This worked very well to make the word stand out.

To keep the jute twine from slipping down the sides of the card, I used a 1/8" hole punch to slightly nick each side of the card.  This gives a perfect resting place for the twine and assures that it will stay put.

Cardstock:   Marcos Jute, Generic Black, Bazzill White         

Stamps:       Just for Fun Alpha Sayings, Sweet ‘n Sassy Long Stem

                        Silhouettes

Inks:             ColorBox Frost White, Black, Distress Mowed Lawn,

                        Spiced Marmalade

Emb Powder:   Sweet Stamps Fine Detail White, Vippies

                             Transcendence, Judikins Detail Black

Dies:            Impression Obsession Congrats Word Set: Celebrate,

                        Sweet ‘n Sassy Long Stem Silhouettes

Doo Dads:    USArt Quest Crystal Effects: Opal Essence, May Arts Jute     

Thinking of You

There was a wonderful video recently posted on Splitcoast Stampers by superb artist Dina Kowal.  She used a die to deboss a bare tree image into watercolor paper . . . 

  . . . she then turned it over in order to expose the raised side and colored it with a white crayon in order to provide a resist.  After wetting the paper and sprinkling with blue, green, and yellow die powders, the result was a lovely watercolored look with a randomly white-edged tree sharing the focal point.

I had less luck.  So my version used molding paste to fill in the back of the tree so that it stayed dimensional.  Then I turned it over and used masking fluid to fill in the tree.  Then came some misting with water, followed by the die powders.  After they dried, I rubbed off the masking fluid.  I added white edging here and there to the tree with my Uni Posca white paint pen.

Dina’s version is simpler and far more beautiful, but as long as I don’t look at hers, I’m reasonably happy with mine!

Cardstock:   Bazzill Kachina, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper      

Stamps:        Stampin’ Up Thinking of You, Purple Daisy Sand

Inks:               Distress Peacock Feathers, Vintage Photo

Colorants:    Ken Oliver Color Bursts Pthalo Green, Ultramarine Blue,

                        Yellow Ochre

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:              Memory Box Tall Birch, Stitched Rectangle Trimmings,

                        Impression Obsession Birdhouse Set, Tim Holtz

                        Tattered Banners               

Doo Dads:    Uni Posca paint pen White           

August, Surf's Up, Beach

It's my middle brother's birthday in a few days and as he lives near the beach in Southern California, I thought a beachy-themed card would work . . .

After sponging on the background inks, I quickly sprinkled on some Epsom salts and let them soak up the wet ink for a nicely splotchy look.  When dry, I brushed off the salt, sprayed the wood grained panel with adhesive and added it over the background. 

Using a spray adhesive always leaves some of the stickiness along the edges of the cut out areas.  This is an ideal time to add a very fine glitter.  This takes care of the stickiness and also adds just enough sparkle to make things interesting.

Cardstock:   Bazzill Ocean, Neenah Quest Ivory        

Stamps:       Impression Obsession Summer: all text

Inks:             Distress Peeled Paint, Pumice Stone, Faded Jeans

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:            Frantic Stamper Woodgrain Card Panel, Joy Summer

                        Lovin’: Flip Flops, Love Nicole Nautilus Shell, Scalloped

                        Shell, Impression Obsession Sunglasses            

Doo Dads:    Epsom Salts,  USArtQuest Crystal Effectz Opal Essence