Make it Monday #251: Gradient Watercolouring with Die Cuts - Sending Hugs

This week's Make it Monday over at Papertrey Ink is all about gradient watercolouring on die cuts.  Dawn did a great video illustrating this with her Ziggies:

So I grabbed my my Zig water brush pens.  (I bought the 24 pen set which is just the right amount of colours.)  I used some  Strathmore heavy weight watercolour paper and used my pens to add colour and then added some water with my Kuretake aqua pen.  (This one is my favourite.) 

I grabbed my Hexagon Cover plate and cut the watercoloured piece.  I then added some Tombo Mono Aqua glue to the back of the hexagons and carefully pushed them down on to my Recollections 110lb white card base.

I cut out a Make it Market Don't Forget to Write die cut using Smokey Shadow and sandwiched four cuts together to make it more substantial.  A little more Tombo Mono Aqua glue and some Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen on the die cut and that was almost it.

Can you see some of the shine above?  If not, enlarge the picture by clicking on it.

I added a stamped 'hugs' from Make it Market Don't Forget to Write with some of my faithful Versafine Black Onyx ink and my MISTI stamping tool.

I had a lot of fun with this technique so thank you to Dawn for inspiring us all!

Check out my stamp sale list here:

http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

Make it Monday #250 - masked backgrounds: hello

This week's Make it Monday over at Papertrey featured the lovely Laurie and masked backgrounds. I had fun creating a masked background using a wide washi tape and some Fresh and Avery Elle inks.

Unfortunately I removed some of the paper when I pulled off the washi tape which is why the border had to be cut down ... sacrifices were made!

I chanelled Laurie's scoring technique for the kraft card base and used a limited edition set (Iconic Images) and white ink for the bird.

I added a Smokey Shadow hello die cut stacked up with three layers and added it to the masked background.

I applied a liberal amount of Wink of Stella clear and then loaded up on Glossy Accents.

The cool thing about this is it makes the shine and sparkle of the Wink of Stella even more pronounced.  Hard to capture on camera, but I promise, it's there! :) 

(Click any of the images to enlarge and get a better idea of what I'm talking about!!)

Check out my stamp sale list here:

http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

May 2016 Blog Hop: miss you

This month's blog hop over at Papertrey is inspired by this gorgeous image:

artwork from the Sarah Langtry from Just the Bees Knees 

I took this stunning art work as my jumping off point to do some watercolour stamping with my Zig water brush pens.  (I bought the 24 pen set which is just the right amount of colours.)

I took a piece of Strathmore heavy weight watercolour paper and used my pens to scribble over a Rosie Posie stamp and then add some water with my Kuretake aqua pen.  (This one is my favourite.)

I stamped with a few different colours and layered the inks for some variation but kept it super simple and messy.

I heat set the ink before stamping one of the Botanical Silhouette anniversary set sentiments several times over (with my trusty MISTI) using Versafine Smoky Gray ink.  (Hands up if you love the saturation of colour that comes with Versafine inks!!  I love their onyx black for sentiments - such a nice deep colour!!)

Anyhow, the Botanical Silhouettes font reminded me of the 'just' portion of the inspiration pic.  I added some Wink of Stella glitter with the pen and lots of foam tape to mount it on a smokey shadow card base.

Happy hopping and if you need some stamp sets (or dies!), check out my stamp sale list here:

http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

Make it Monday#248 - ink blending with die cut masks

This week's Make it Monday is all about ink blending with die cut masks.  Love it!!  I grabbed my Bubble Talk dies and made a mask out of printer paper.

I kept it really simple and made the speech bubble nice and saturated for a nice backdrop to my card. I made two and added some Wet Paint die cuts to each of them, stacking them up with three or four layers of cuts to add some dimension.  I used some more of my repurposed perfume packaging for the 'love' die cut.  Love the pale peachy pink!

 This one was Fresh ink turquoise with a kraft card base.  And a close up:

That's it - super simple but effective!

Each card with its ink:

 

Inks used: Fresh ink in pool and turquoise

Thanks for looking!

Check out my stamp sets for sale here: 

http://cardsbycara.blogspot.ca/2016/05/stamp-set-sale.html

Stamp set sale!

I have many sets for sale as I'm trying to do a destash of my massive collection ... many sets are from the vault, meaning that they are no longer readily available and the price has jumped.

Just leave a comment with your email address and I will get back to you.

Prices in brackets are the original price.
See shipping and payment below list.

Papertrey Stamps and dies:
Background Basics: Vines – stamp set ($30 from the vault) --> $15 lowered to $12
Background Basics: Geometrics ($30 from the vault) --> $15 lowered to $12
Embellishments Coordinating dies ($8) --> $4
Stitches and Swirls - stamp set ($48 from the vault) --> $24
Bloomers stamp set and dies $20
Christmas Pointsettia dies ($8) > $5
Modern Basics stamp set ($48 from the vault) > $24
Damask Designs stamp set ($48 from the vault) > $24
Background Basics: Wrought Iron[/b] ($36 from the valut) > $24
Everyday Button Bits - images only - stamps $10


From other companies:
Hero Arts – Friends $5
Tim Holtz - Flights of Fancy $8

Shipping available to Canada, US and International based on weight:
One sheet (Canada $1, US $2, International $3.50)
Two sheets (Canada $1.50, US $3, International $6)
Payment via Paypal.
All sets have minimal staining, if any, come with labels and are from a smoke free, pet free home. :)

April 2016 Papertrey Blog Hop

This month's inspiration picture is very cool  over on the Papertrey Blog hop... I took the concentric overlapping circles and used those as my jumping off point.  I created some stencils with different size circles and used some makeup sponges (!!) and Avery Elle/Fresh ink for overlapping colours.  What fun!  I used shades of blues, teals and greens because they were calling to me from my wide array of inks. :)  Here are the colours I used:

Avery Elle: Aquamarine, Sea Glass
Fresh Ink: Pool, Blue Sage, Sicilian Blue, Turquoise

 A very simple card with an unusual layout in the corner on a piece of Kraft cardstock as my base.  I used lots of foam tape behind to make sure it was tacked down properly and a Hugs die using a perfume packaging that I loved the colour of ... :) It is a divine scent that I love called Sì from Giorgio Armani.   I just love it but only buy it when there is a special as it is not cheap ...  At any rate, the packaging is this pale peachy pink that makes me think of the amazingly talented Debby Hughes ... 

I layered multiple die cuts to make it more substantial and glued it on using my new favourite adhesive - Tombo Mono Aqua.  Clear and fab!

A bit of clear Wink of Stella on the die cut and that's it!  Well, I'm off to hop and take a look at everyone's wonderful creations.  Happy hopping! :)

CASology week 182: adore

This week's challenge over on the CASology blog is all about the word ADORE.  I decided to use this as my reminder to get some Valentine's cards made.

I grabbed some anaglypta wallpaper samples and used my PTI hearts coverplate.  I also cut out some red shimmer card stock and scrap black hearts as well.  (The black is actually packaging from some perfume - it had a nice texture and heft to it!) 

I added the hearts and stamped the sentiment multiple times with my trusty MISTI which worked perfectly with the ever popular Versafine Onyx Black.  If I had done this on my own, it would've never worked, especially stamping on textured wallpaper!!

 I made a few more Valentine cards - this one using the Gold Luxe pack from PTI.

The 'U' is stamped with Fresh Ink fuschia and some Versafine Onyx Black.  Lots of double and triple stamping with the MISTI, again!

And my last one was with some Avery Elle orchid ink and Bloomer bursts from PTI with the sentiment from the same company.  The sentiment is stamped in Fresh Ink fuschia and Versafine.

I raised this panel up with some foam tape to add a little texture to an otherwise incredibly simple card! :)

Thank you to CASology for getting me to get these Valentines done!! :)

Stamp-a-Faire - Mixing Colours: For you

For this challenge, Dawn challenged us to mix colours we might not usually mix or use.  I grabbed an old favourite I haven't used for a while, Round Repeats, and chose some colours from the Fresh Ink and Avery Elle pigment shades I have: Mint to Be, Pool, Sugar Plum and Turquoise.

I took a 110lb white Recollections wine bottle tag die cut and started stamping the various colours directly across from each other.

 I love this set because it is so simple but so versatile.  I wanted to make a wine tag for a card set I am gifting to someone.  They are such useful things to include in a set and so simple to make.

I did some selective stamping for the sentiment using the Hooray set - just a simple sentiment to make sure that the tag is versatile.

And here it is on a wine bottle just so you can see how it would look ... although this bottle is longer than most.  I got this in France when I was there - I've been to the vineyard in California but this is the original one back in Europe - Domaines Schlumberger.  Sooo delicious!

I am thankful to Dawn for pushing me to use colours I wouldn't usually use together ... it's always good to creatively stretch, right!

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If you have a moment, check out my gently used item sale *here*.  I have stamps, ink pads and other things too ...  even Papertrey products!

Stamp-a-Faire 2015 - Mixing Patterns: Hello

For this challenge, it was all about mixing patterns.  I had fun mixing different scales using some DCWV patterned papers and a piece of scrap paper from some Fresh cosmetic packaging (the hot pink strip).

I added dot roller glue all over the white linen card base and then added the strips, trimming off afterwards.  I die cut the Hello die four times using 110lb white Recollections card stock and then added the dark patterned paper to the top layer.

After the fact, I think that using hot pink under the black would've been a cooler effect but alas, it's done already! :)

This was a good challenge for me because I don't like to mix patterns and am always quite nervous but I did my best ... I "made it work"!

So, do you like to mix patterns and colours?  Are you more inclined to keep your cards simple?

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If you have a moment, check out my gently used item sale *here*.  I have stamps, ink pads and other things too ...  even Papertrey products!

Stamp-a-Faire 2015 - Unconventional Materials: Hello

I love the idea of this challenge - using unconventional materials for a card!  I once bought some bolts that looked really cool (tooth like edges) and used them on a card for my Dad but couldn't find them in my craft stash.  So I "made it work" and tried something else:

I used some Heidi Swapp gold mist to create my background ... usually I have such difficult doing this but did my best.  Then, I die cut the bird and used my unconventional material (can you tell what it is?)  I added a Modern  Basics sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

To do some 'recycling' of materials, I even used a Kate Spade hot pink post card I received a while back to do the die cutting!  Below you can see the unconventional material - do you recognize it?

If you guessed drywall tape, you were right!  It is a great lightly sticky mesh tape that die cuts beautifully and makes a great border too!
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If you have a moment, check out my gently used item sale *here*.  I have stamps, ink pads and other things too ...  even Papertrey products!