inky birthday wishes

Yes, I had to do some more Distress Ink Lifting!

Here is a close-up to show the shimmer & sparkle of the stamped images and the shine & dimension of the multi-time heat embossed die "happy".

I stamped some smooth cardstock using flowers and leaves from the Winnie & Walter In Bloom - Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya stamp set using Versamark Ink.

I heat embossed the panel using sparkling clear embossing powder.

Then I applied the Distress Ink Lifting technique to the panel.

Full details on this technique, along with links to the tutorial where I learnt it, can be found here.
My card is 6 1/2 x 6 1/2" ... I just couldn't cut my panel down to a "normal" size.  To make it into a top fold card, I cut two panels, scored the back one at 3/4" and adhered them together using a strong liquid adhesive.

I cut a small piece of vellum so that the sentiment could be attached without distracting too much from the background.  I heat embossed the "birthday" onto the vellum using white embossing powder, the stamp is from the Winnie & Walter A Tree For All Seasons stamp set.

I die cut the "happy" to go with the "birthday", using the Winnie & Walter In A Word - Happy Cutaway.  I heat embossed the die cut four times using white embossing powder to give a lucsious, glossy finish.  I squished the happy into my Versamark Ink Pad thoroughly each time before applying the embossing powder.

Distress Inks used include Faded Jeans, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon.

I am going to enter my card in the following challenges:

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Winnie & Walter Blog

Belated 2nd Birthday Bash Challenges

W&W - Create Your Own Background Challenge with Gayatri

- I used stamps to create my background,

W&W In Bloom - Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya

W&W - Two Challenge with Shay

- I used two different stamp sets to create my card,
W&W In Bloom - Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya (flowers & leaves)
W&W - A Tree For All Seasons (birthday sentiment)

W&W - Floral Challenge with Lydia

- I have used lots of flowers and leaves to create my background,

W&W In Bloom - Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya

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Crafty Gals Corner Blog
Challenge #60 - Anything Goes

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Simon Says Stamp Blog

Work It Wednesday February - use something floral

My floral is the stamped flowers & leaves.

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Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge Blog
Simon Says - Anything Goes


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sparkling facets

Here is a sparkling hello card that I hope will bring a smile.

Here is a close-up to show the sparle of the faceted panel and inlaid facets.

The faceted background is the Cover Model - Multifaceted Cutaway by Winnie & Walter.

I die cut the panel in white cardstock then flipped it onto some Press N Seal.

I took a marker and identified which pieces were going to be each colour of the rainbow, removed the outline panel, coloured each piece then painted on liquid adhesive to each one so that I could apply the glitter.

  

I adhered the outline panel to a piece of black cardstock, cut down to have a 1/8" mat, then came the fun part, inlaying my rainbow of sparkling faceted puzzle pieces!!!

I confess that I was a bit heavy handed with my adhesive, to I had to trim EVERY piece so that they would fit back into the outline panel ... a lesson to remember for next time.

The plain outline needed a little more pop, so I cut another piece, added white glitter then adhered it over the top of the panel ... I LOVE all the SPARKLE!!!

I die cut 5 hellos using the Winnie & Walter In A Word - Hello Cutaway and layered them together for some extra dimension.  When I went to adhere it, I thought it needed a bit more pop and to be separated from the detailed background, so I added some foam dots.

All the glitters were American Crafts WOW!
and included white, Cherry, Carrot, Canary, Citron, Marine and Muse.

This card is 4 1/2" x 5 3/4", a bit smaller than my usual card but it sure has the pop of a 5x7.

I am going to enter my card in the following challenges:

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Winnie & Walter Blog

Belated 2nd Birthday Bash Challenges

W&W - Two Challenge with Shay

- I used two different die sets to create my card,
W&W In A Word - Hello Cutaway
W&W Cover Model Multifaceted Cutaway

W&W - Inlaid Die Cutting Challenge with Mayuri

- I inlaid all the facets into the multifaceted panel

One day I am going to count just how many of those facets there are in that panel!

W&W - Rainbow Challenge with Vanessa

- my background is a sparkling faceted rainbow

... I always think of my high school science teacher when I work with rainbows, he taught us the easy way of remembering the order of the colours when we were learning about light, diffraction/refraction etc.  Here is goes "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" ... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet - my rainbow had purple instead of indigo & violet.

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Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge Blog
Simon Says - Anything Goes


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It's time to check out the Paper Smooches March Release Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally Week on the Paper Smooches Blog.

Kim and the DT are sharing fun and fabulous projects using the

one new stamp set and five new dies from the March 2016 release,
 

CREATIVE INSPIRATION

CRAFTY TEMPTATION

AND the chance to WIN
one of FOUR $25 Paper Smooches gift certificates too!!!

AWESOME!!!

Head on over to the
Paper Smooches Blog

and get hopping now,
GOOD LUCK :)

Here are some links to their store if you want to check out other crafty delights they have to tempt and inspire:
 

a mosaic filled with love

How is this for organised?

I plan on using this 5x7" card for my Mum on Mother's Day.

Here is a close up so show the texture and dimension.

I took a 12x12 sheet of green textured cardstock and kept cutting leaves using the Winnie & Walter - In Bloom - Maggie's Roses Cutaways until I had used it all ... I had lots and lots of leaves.  I put some of the two-leaf pieces aside, then trimmed the leaves apart from the rest, so that I had a collection of leaves in three sizes.

Next came the rose - I cut the largest roses (both the detailed and solid dies from the W&W cutaway set above) in red and white several times as I wasn't sure whether I was going to layer them and if so, how.

Then came the fun part - my goal was to make a background using a single rose surrounded by a mosaic of delicate leaves.  In preparation for assembly, I took some Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue and added a tiny dollop to the back of each leaf, at the top where the veins start and to the back of some of the solid roses & solid leaves (single & double leafed).  When left to dry without being adhered to anything, this adhesive becomes repositionable, so my die cut pieces become lightly adhesive.

I placed the rose and feature leaves in place then started putting the leaves around them, working from the feature pieces outwards and over the edge of my 4 1/4" x 6 1/4" panel.  Yes, it took a while to get them to fit together without huge spaces or being too close together, but it was worth every second (... a true labour of love).  AND I used every leaf too!  Once I was happy with their placement, I adhered the rose and solid leaves in place, then lifted each leaf, one at a time and adhered them in place, using the same Tombow Mono, which becomes a permanent adhesive when pieces are layered together.

Once all the pieces were adhered, I trimmed the overhanging leaves with scissors and matted on to white then red cardstock, then adhered it to a white 5x7 base made from the same textured cardstock.  (I use Helmar 450 Quick Dry, a clear liquid adhesive when adhering mats and panels to cards, as it gives me a little time and wriggle-room to get the layers aligned before it dries permanently in place.)  

I cut the word "love" using the same red cardstock as the rose using the Winnie & Walter - In A Word - Love Cutaway.  OK, I confess, I cut several, several in red, several in white and several in black, as I was going to layer some together for more pop.  It didn't matter which colour I tried, the leafy background was a little too distracting, so I cut a narrow strip of vellum to place behind it and I think it looked pretty layered together, subtle, without distracting from either the background or sentiment.  What do you think?  I just placed some small dollops of Tombow Mono Multi behind the sections where the "love" was, so that the adhesive wasn't visible through the vellum and the vellum lifts a little at the edges giving it some delicate dimension.

I matted inside the card too.  Apart from looking pretty, it adds weight to help the card stand tall without bending or bowing.  

I hope you enjoyed my mosaic filled with love :)

Ingredients:

Winnie & Walter - In A Word - Love Cutaway

Winnie & Walter - In Bloom - Maggie's Roses Cutaways

American Crafts Textured Cardstock

Vellum

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

Helmar 450 Quick Dry Liquid Adhesive

I am going to enter my card in the following challenges:

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Winnie & Walter Blog

Belated 2nd Birthday Bash Challenges

W&W - Create Your Own Background Challenge with Gayatri

- I created my background by using die cut leaves to make a mosaic

W&W - Two Challenge with Shay

- I used two different die sets to create my card,
W&W In A Word - Love Cutaway and W&W - In Bloom - Maggie's Roses Cutaways

and I used two different colours, (red and green, white is a freebie)

W&W - Over The Edge Challenge with Kelly

- my leaves go over the edge on all sides of card panel

W&W - Floral Challenge with Lydia

- I have used a rose with many, many leaves

PS - W&W will be giving away a Guest Star spot for their next release.  They will be choosing their winner based on the entries submitted for their Belated 2nd Birthday Bash Challenges.  A minimum of four projects must be entered in different challenges for their consideration, so I'm heading off to work on some more challenge entries.

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PaperCrafter's Corner Blog

Magazine Monday's - Week 134

 

I was inspired by the floral background and large title.

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Simon Says Stamp Blog
Work It Wednesday February - use something floral

My floral is the rose with lots and lots of leaves.

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Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge Blog
Simon Says - Anything Goes


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Crafty Gals Corner Blog
Challenge #60 - Anything Goes

Distress Ink Lifting

I had so much fun trying the

Distress Ink Lifting technique shared by Jennifer McGuire on her blog
I know I will be using it again and again.

I matted my stamped panel then inked the cardbase using the same ink.
The Stampendous Magnolia Rose is quite a large stamp
and it fits on the 6x6 base perfectly.

I think I may have used the opposite side of the white cardstock base to the one I used for the stamped panel, as the ink looks slightly different, even though they're the same colour => something to keep in mind if you try this technique.

Here is a close-up so that you can see the sparkle from the Wink of Stella over the stamped image.  It really adds extra pop to the coloured image against the background.  I think it blends the inks a little more too.

Here is another panel using the same stamp, technique and inks, each time the result is unique. 

From my experience I can say:-

• this is an exciting technique, once you try it, it will be one you will use over & over again
• super saturate your background with Distress Ink, when you think it is saturated, give it another good inking
• make sure you get plenty of ink in ALL the tiny gaps between the embossed image 
• work as fast as you can, the more the ink dries, the less it reacts and the less it blends ... I had heat embossed four images in readiness for my 1st attempt, loved it so much that I thought I would get organised and inked up the other three panels and I super saturated them.  Sadly when I went back to them the next day it didn't work!!!  A quick check of Jennifer's video tutorial reminded me that I had to do everything while the ink was still wet => lesson learned!!!

INGREDIENTS

• Smooth white 285gsm cardstock
• Stampendous Magnolia Rose Cling Stamp
• Versamark Ink
• Clear glitter embossing powder
• Heat Tool
• Zig Watercolor BrusH2O detailer
• Zig Wink Of Stella Clear Glitter Brush
• Mini Distress Inks:
• Faded Jeans - background
• Worn Lipstick - flower petals
• Peeled Paint - leaves & stems
• Spiced Marmalade- middle of the flowers
• Barn Door - berries
• Dusty Concord - bow
• Perfect Layers Ruler - to cut the white mat around the stamped panel

I am going to enter my card in the following challenges:

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PaperCrafter's Corner Blog

Magazine Monday's - Week 133

   

The colours are gorgeous ... the darker blue sure looks like Faded Jeans Distress Ink that I used for the background of my stamped panel - what do you think?  The flowers are really pretty too ... the petals luscious,just like the ones in the Magnolia Rose stamp I used.  And the last piece of inspiration is the white edged squares, just like the layers under the image panel of my card.

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The Daily Marker

Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenge
#thedailymarker30day

I used the exciting Distress Ink Lifting technique to colour my image and card panel.

The Details of Kathy's challenge can be found HERE if you want to join the colouring fun.

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Simon Says Stamp Blog

Work It Wednesday January 2016

The challenge is to try something NEW.

I used a NEW stamp and a NEW technique.

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Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge Blog
February 2016 Challenge
The challenge requires the use of loose glitter, embossing powder and/or flocking.
I have used embossing powder to heat emboss my stamped image.
There is glitter in the embossing powder for some extra sparkle.
If you want to become a SNS Featured Artist, you must use an SNS image
=> I will be checking my stash to see what I can create with them later this month.


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Distress Ink Lifting - Inspired by Jennifer McGuire

I confess

I'm a terrible stamper

and

I have very limited experience using heat embossing, distress inks and colouring.

Kathy Racoosin's 4th 30 Day Coloring Challenge

has inspired me to practice my stamping so that I could colour along with her challenge this month.  I've been inking up my stamps with my new-to-me Versafine Onyx Black ink using my Fiskars Stamp Press and stamping on watercolour paper, ready for some colouring with Distress Inks and watercolour paints.

Well, today that all changed - they can be coloured another day!!!

Have you seen this "Distress Ink Lifting" post and video by Jennifer McGuire?

I was so excited after watching her in action and seeing the results.

So, today I took another brave pill and tried my hand at a little heat embossing and just had to share my first attempt at Distress Ink Lifting.

I took the Stampendous Magnolia Rose cling stamp and stamped it using Versamark Ink on 285gsm smooth white cardstock then applied embossing powders (two images in clear with glitter, two in white).  After noticing some extra sparkle on my 1st image, I realised that I had forgotten to "powder" the cardstock beforehand, so that was fixed for the other three images.

Following Jennifer's technique I took my Faded Jeans Mini Distress Ink and saturated the entire panel with luscious blue ink.  (I only have a few inks in my stash, so I will definitely be adding some more vibrant colours like the Blueprint Sketch that Jennifer used.)
important update
DON'T ink your background until you are ready to "lift" the ink
from the within the stamped image!!!  This technique will
not work if you let the ink dry.

 Next came the water ... and I forgot to take a photo.  I touched my water brush into each of the petals, leaves and bows, where I wanted to "lift" the colour in preparation for colouring.
This photo shows the "bleached" areas of the image and the start of my colouring where I used the water brush to add Worn Lipstick Mini Distress Ink into the petals.

 Mini Distress Inks used:

Faded Jeans - background

Worn Lipstick - flower petals

Peeled Paint - leaves

Spiced Marmalade- middle of the flowers

Barn Door - berries

Dusty Concord - bow

And here is the finished panel, 

with a touch of Clear Wink Of Stella sparkle over the "coloured" elements of the stamped image.  

I wish you could see it in real life, I am so excited with the the result, learnt a lot for my 1st effort and look forward to working on the other three panels I have ready and waiting over the weekend.

AND I will make sure that I colour the stems green next time, not sure why I got them confused with the ribbon ... I will try "bleaching" them with some water and adding some green tomorrow, not sure how the Wink Of Stella will affect things, so it will be another good learning experience!

Thank You for taking the time to read to the end of this very long post.
I really enjoyed this technique and hope you like it too.

I have linked my work to Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

#thedailymarker30day
The details of Kathy's challenge are linked above and HERE is the link to the post where you can link your colouring projects and admire the creations shared by others joining the challenge.  You are sure to be inspired.

HAPPY COLOURING :)

A Valentine Anniversary

We have some friends celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day this year and what better way to celebrate their special day than with a lovebird shadowbox card!

The cool thing about shadowbox cards is that they fold flat for mailing and open up into an exciting dimensional scene - WOW!

I used my Silhouette Cameo and the 

5x7 Love Birds Shadow Box Card

cut file by Daniela Angelova from the Silhouette Design Store

Here is the back of the card

I used my clear Wink Of Stella to add sparkle to the red panel, to all of the hearts in the patterned paper and the sentiments on the back of the card... the sparkle really is quite lovely but quite challenging to photograph, all I can say is I AM ADDICTED to Wink Of Stella SPARKLE!!!
It was such a PLEASURE to colour the sentiments and cut panel using the LUSCIOUS brush tip.

PS - I have to confess that this would have looked much better

if I had used smooth cardstock, so I will remember for next time.

Ingredients:

cardstock - American Crafts Textured Cardstock

patterned paper - Kaisercraft XO Collection - True Love 12x12 paper

celebrate - Paper Smooches - from the Birthday Words Dies set

love - Winnie & Walter - In A Word - Love Cutaway

SPARKLE - ZIG - Clear Wink of Stella

I have entered my card in the following challenges:

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PaperCrafter's Corner

Magazine Mondays - Week 132

Here is the magazine cover for this week's inspiration

  

Apart from being inspired by the magazine photo, in honour of Valentine's Day, this challenge also requires the papercraft project to include the colour red and / or a heart.

I was inspired by the mainly white with a pop of red and the snake-like scrolls of the swirling armbands.  Her folded arms on top of her head & the red stripes the magazine name are mimicked by the red arches the love birds are sitting on.  The red hearts are actually the negative space of the white front panel, there is a heart in his wing and I also added some tiny white hearts.
Love this inspiration, hoping to get some doodling action happening this weekend too.

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Crafty Gals Corner

Challenge #58 - Sweethearts (Use a heart)

This week the challenge is "Love is in the air!" - just add a heart to your project, it doesn't have to be a Valentine's.

My entry is a Wedding Anniversary card for some friends who were married on Valentine's Day thirteen years ago and it has several hearts, both cut out hearts and heart shaped negatives.

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The Daily Marker
Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenge
#thedailymarker30day
It's probably stretching things by calling my Wink Of Stella SPARKLE "colouring", but it is the first colouring I have done for the month and I look forward to using it to add finishing touches to stamped & coloured images over the coming days, now that I have some Versafine Onyx Black Pigment Ink Pad ready & waiting for a watercolour workout.  I was excited to see Wink Of Stella used for ink blending recently and I'm looking forward to giving it a try too.



The Details of Kathy's challenge can be found HERE if you want to join the colouring fun.

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Kathy's 4th 30 Day Coloring Challenge has STARTED on The Daily Marker

EVERYTHING

you need to know about Kathy's

4th 30 Day Coloring Challenge

can be found HERE, on her Day One post
on her blog, The Daily Marker

ALL colouring projects you create for the challenge can be linked to her Day One post.

I hope to be adding some colour to my day, every day this month ... so, given that it is nearly 9pm Monday Feb 1st here, I had better get moving, NOW!!!

#thedailymarker30day

Paper Smooches Feb-16 release DT Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally Week on the Paper Smooches Blog.

Kim and the DT are sharing fun and fabulous projects using the

one new stamp and five new dies from the February 2016 release,
 

CREATIVE INSPIRATION

CRAFTY TEMPTATION

AND the chance to WIN
one of FOUR $25 Paper Smooches gift certificates too!!!

AWESOME!!!

Head on over to the
Paper Smooches Blog

and get hopping now,
GOOD LUCK :)

Here are some links to their store if you want to check out other crafty delights they have to tempt and inspire:
 

It's nearly time to COLOUR YOUR WORLD ...

with

Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker 

and her

30 Day Coloring Challenge

from 1st Feb to 1st Mar 2016

#thedailymarker30day

While we are all getting prepared, Kathy has a fabulous giveaway on her blog.

Looking forward to seeing you there each day for the challenge

and

DON'T FORGET TO ADD
    SOME COLOUR TO YOUR DAY :)

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