With sympathy and Hello Friend

My friend is going through a tough time ... she lost her dog last week and this week her cat passed away ... : - ( So I wanted to make her a second card to show her my love.  I made a simple card with my new favourite embossing folder - Craft Concepts' hexagons.  Love this!!  Thanks again, Gayatri, for the kind gift.

I stamped the outlined peony from Pretty Peonies in Vintage Cream ink before embossing but it is really hard to see.  I used the 'with sympathy' sentiment from Peaceful Garden - I just love the font used in this set.

I used Pear Fresh ink to stamp the outline peony around the outside of the card base before popping the spring moss embossed layer up with foam dots.  A super simple card with 'may peace fill your soul this day' stamped on the inside.  Oh, and I swiped some Vintage Cream ink around the outside of the Spring Moss panel.

My next card is for a dear friend and I went a little crazy with the Glossy Accents as you can see by the milky areas.  Ah, well ... I decided to embrace the imperfection!

I used my Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp with white ink (Colorbox Frost White) and then stamped the Think Big sentiment over top with black ink (Memento Tuxedo Black).

I cut out the hearts with my Wplus9 Hearts and Clouds dies and then filled in the space with Glossy Accents after I backed the negative space with some polka paper from my stash.  I think this was from a Making Memories wedding paper pad.

Supplies:
With Sympathy
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI Spring Moss
Stamps: Pretty Peonies, Peaceful Garden
Ink: PTI Vintage Cream, Fresh Pear
Misc: Craft Concepts hexagon embossing folder, foam dots

Hello Friend
Paper: Staples 110lb white, Gina K grass green, Making Memories wedding paper pad
Stamps: PTI Think Big, Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp
Ink: Colorbox Frost White, Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc:  Glossy Accents, Wplus9 Hearts and Clouds dies

Papertrey April Blog Hop

From Nichole Heady's post on this blog hop:
We are excited to get back to our inspiration challenges for the blog hop each month.  For the month of April we wanted to focus on fun florals, damasks & polka dots.  Throw in the fun color scheme, and you have a recipe for the perfect project.  Use the inspiration piece as a jumping point for your color scheme, pattern combinations, overall design or whatever else inspires your creativity.

So I took the patterns, colours and feel of the inspiration picture as my jumping off point.


Meet card number one:

I inked up SU's Manhattan Flower embossing folder with some Jenni Bowlin cotton candy ink.  I ran it through letterpress style which gave me a nice inked up impression that I cut out.  I then used the new File folders edgers die from PTI to cut the Hawaiian Shores cardstock and stamped a sentiment from Pretty Peonies.  I used the Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp as my background with some Jenni Bowlin speckled egg ink to add interest.  I took a piece of pink ribbon I got for free in my last Ellen Hutson order and cut slits to slide it through.  Some foam dots to pop up the flower and that's it.

Meet card number two:

I used the same letterpress technique as I did yesterday and inked up my herringbone embossing folder with some Steel Blue Fresh ink.  I trimmed it down and adhered it to my white card base with some Tombo Mono Multi glue.  This stuff is awesome and works great for textured paper like embossed cs.  I then added the strip of Hawaiian Shores card stock that I stamped with a small Turning a New Leaf stamp in Colorbox Frost White.

I added selectively inked Wonderful Words additions sentiments and a fussy cut Pretty Peonies flower.  Man, do I ever have to practice my fussy cutting! :)  I popped up the sentiment strip as well as the flower with some trusty foam dots.  What would I ever do if I ran out?  Gasp!

Meet card number three:

I had some issues with the edgers dies but decided to just leave it so pretend you don't notice, ok?  I used some Eclipse masking paper from my last Impress order.  Handy stuff!

I stamped the flowers in Jenni Bowlin cotton candy and speckled egg.  Then I used Wonderful Words additions and Pretty Peonies for the sentiments in Memento Tuxedo Black.  I stupidly decided to stamp polka dots in Jenni Bowlin malted milk but hated the look so I swiped some gesso on top to mute it a bit.  Not perfect but too bad!  I went with the imperfection ...

Ok, card number four, here we go:
For this one, I was inspired by the bolts of fabric and decided to cut down strips of card stock and stamp them in different patterns.  So a damask, stripes, flowers, and polka dots.

I edged each of them with their ink to give them a bit more definition and then adhered them with Tombo Mono Multi.  Yup, that stuff works fabulously!  Here I was adhering it down onto textured card stock since I impressed the Damask Designs pattern into the card base.  Hard to see but adds a little je ne sais quoi in person.  Promise!

 A simple sentiment in black and that's it!

Well, happy hopping!  Enjoy all the great eye candy on everyone's blogs.  :)


Supplies:
Love you forever
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI Hawaiian Shores
Stamps: PTI Pretty Peonies, Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp
Ink: Jenni Bowlin speckled egg + cotton candy, Memento tuxedo black
Misc: SU Manhattan Flowers embossing flowers, foam dots, PTI File Folders edgers die

Thank you
Paper: Staples 110lb white
Stamps: PTI Pretty Peonies, Wonderful Words additions (selectively inked), Turning a new leaf
Ink: Fresh Steel Blue, Memento Tuxedo Black, Colorbox Frost White, Jenni Bowlin cotton candy
Misc: Herringbone embossing folder, Tombo Mono Multi glue

You make me so happy
Paper: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Staples 110lb white
Stamps: PTI Pretty Peonies
Ink: Jenni Bowlin speckled egg + cotton candy, Memento tuxedo black
Misc: PTI File Folders edgers die, Eclipse masking paper

Thanks for everything
Paper: Staples 110lb white
Stamps: PTI Damask Designs, BB Circles, Pretty Peonies, Faux Ribbon
Inks: Jenni Bowlin cotton candy, soap powder, speckled egg; Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: PTI Damask Designs impression plate, Tombo Mono Multi glue

A card with a view - A Blog named Hero challenge

So I decided to participate in this challenge to create some cards with die cut windows.  What fun!

So here goes ... card #1:
I took the Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp
and stamped it with Jenni Bowlin speckled egg ink.  I then die cut the clouds with my new Wplus9 dies (Wplus9 Hearts and Clouds dies).   

I stamped Studio Calico grid pattern background stamp with Colorbox silver ink and inked up a HA Friends sentiment with Jenni Bowlin spice tin ink.  Finally, I mounted the front piece with  foam dots for some dimension onto an Enchanted Evening card base.  All done!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I did ink up the edges of the card front with the speckled egg ink from Jenni Bowlin to add a bit more definition.

Ok, card number two was really hard to capture on film  Not only are my photog skills horrible, the lighting is BAD in my place ... especially at night!  Enough excuses, let's see the card, right?

I took an Autumn Leaves card base (from a set I got at Walmart) and inked up the Studio Calico Alpha Pattern cling stamp with Fresh Tuscan Olive ink.  I then stamped the butterfly (PTI) in Fresh Lilac ink.

I die cut a double ended banner die (PTI) and stamped the sentiment from the Hero Arts Everyday Messages in Jenni Bowlin spice tin.  I filled in the space with a Versamark marker to define the area.

And here is my final card for this challenge:

I have a fabulous crafty friend who sent me this STUNNING hexagon embossing folder from Craft Concepts.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Thank you so much, Gayatri!  I inked it up with Fresh pear ink and ran it through my Big Kick.  I love the subtle letterpress technique it gives.

Then I die cut a heart from my new Wplus9 Hearts and Clouds dies and added a layer of Hawaiian shores cardstock that I had stamped with Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp in Jenni Bowlin speckled egg ink.  I added it behind with some Tombo Mono Multi glue (this stuff rocks!).  I stamped the xoxo from the Hero Arts Everyday Messages set using some Jenni Bowlin spice tin ink.  Some foam dots to attach it to my white card base and there you have it!

Supplies:

You inspire me
Paper: textured paper from stash, PTI Enchanted Evening
Stamps: Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp, Studio Calico grid pattern background stamp, Hero Arts Friends sentiment set
Ink: Jenni Bowlin speckled egg and spice tin, Colorbox silver
Misc: Wplus9 Hearts and Clouds dies, foam dots 

Just saying hello
Paper: Autumn Leaves kraft card (with matching envelope in set)
Stamps: Studio Calico Alpha Pattern cling stamp, Hero Arts Everyday Messages
Ink: Jenni Bowlin spiced tin, Fresh Tuscan Olive and Fresh Lilac
Misc: PTI Double ended banner, Versamark marker

xoxo
Paper: Staples 110lb white, PTI Hawaiian Shores, textured cardstock from stash
Stamps: Hero Arts Studio Calico lattice background stamp, Hero Arts Everyday Messages
Ink: Jenni Bowlin speckled egg and spice tin, Fresh pear ink
Misc:  Wplus9 Hearts and Clouds dies, foam dots, Craft Concepts hexagon embossing folder, Tombo Mono Multi glue

Fresh Inks - a product review

You know when you find something you love and makes your crafting even more fun?  Yup, well inks make me happy and pretty colours inspire me to create.

image from Impress Rubber Stamps

Now, don't get me wrong - I still love my Jenni Bowlin die inks (check out my post here for a product review about those) but when I want pigment inks, Fresh Inks are now my go to choice.  I purchased them from Impress Rubber Stamps and they have the full selection.  And when I mean full selection, I mean every single colour of the rainbow ....   41 GORGEOUS shades!!  Here is a pdf of all their colours.

Fresh Inks have vibrant colours and dry fast.  Excellent coverage for clear stamps and very little staining (more just a light tint and only with the darker colours).  I know most people say that staining simply shows that your stamps are well loved but after a traumatic experience with a beloved Papertrey floral stamp and Colorbox chalk ink, I have been slightly scarred! :-o

I have made colour swatches of the Fresh Inks I have so far and here they are:

Mmm ... I just love them all lined up!  I bought these when there was a sale at Impress.  Every once in a while, they have coupon codes and usually post them on their Facebook page as well. 

As for shipping, the great thing about this company is that they will ship to Canada and simply charge you the exact amount of shipping and it is very economical.  Score, right?

Oh, and btw, I am not getting any free product from the company for writing this ... just wanted to share a good find! :)

 Here are a few cards I've made using these inks:

 So what inks do you like and why?  Feel free to leave a comment ...