Hello fishy, fishy!

Hello!

How about a quick post today?  Sure here you go...  continuing with my postcards with a summer theme project...

This one is featuring Kyana from the new release by Sister Stamps and one of the dolphins from the Dolphin set.  Here's what I used:

• Distress inks to create the water & to color the sky
• Copics to color up the dolphin and Kyana
• Speech bubble dies for the speech bubbles
• Hand written sentiments inside the speech bubbles using a Copic multi-liner

Did you sign up yet for my 1000th post give-a-way?  If not click HERE to see what I'm giving away.

Thanks again for stopping by!!   

Water boy or Sky diver? Both!

Hello!

I've been having fun with my new crop of Sister Stamps images.  They arrived from Hanko Designs on Friday (Thanks Norm!) and I could not wait to ink them all up.  The DT did such a wonderful job with each of the stamps and one of the things I loved most was when they paired them up with the sea creatures from the earlier releases.  I wanted to do the same for this postcard and chose to use one of the dolphins.

The image on the left is Makai and the other is one of the dolphins from the Dolphin set.  They are both very happy to see one another.  The sentiment is an old one from AmyR for CC Designs and I used a Lawn Fawn hello die.   While I was coloring Makai up I thought to myself, Hmmm,,, he looks like he could be skydiving, sooooo...

Ok, so I love how this turned out!  What a difference to transform from one to the other.  I used a Copic black marker to color in a skydiving outfit for Makai.  The clouds were easily created with Distress inks and a cloud stencil.  Used a speech bubble die to cut out the speech bubble and lastly, I hand wrote the sentiment inside.  This is one versatile kid.  hahaha!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I've got something up my sleeve for the next post, hope you'll come by to see what it is.  TTFN!! 

More Underwater Fun

Hello!!!

Holy cow, it's July 1st!!  I cannot even remember what happened in June!  I wish time would slow down, because in no time it will be Dec!  Eep!!   Well I'm not inviting Dec in yet, let's just continue to enjoy July and the summer!  Here's the 2nd watercolor post card I made with the third turtle from Sister Stamps.  The stencil is the same, fyi the stencil is the same for all of the postcards, and I wanted to continue with the under water color scheme.

Sorry my photo skills for this one were way off!  It gets better, just wanted to show the single turtle... 

I colored this one with Distress inks too, looks much better.  I also spritzed some water drops, it's a pretty cool effect.  Last was adding another sentiment from the same Jillybean stamp set and using clear embossing powder to make it shiney.  I love the white border, makes it look like a snapshot.

Before I sign off I wanted to give a shout out to Sister Stamps!!  Hey ladies, congratulations on another amazingly kawaii release!!!   If you didn't notice yet, Jenny and the DT have been sharing the new adorable summer release images and I'm planning to head over to everyone's blog to catch up.  If you missed out head on over to the Sister Stamps blog.  I'll be back soon to share the rest of the postcards with my pre-colored images.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Distress Ink Water color fun

My mojo got a little jump start after I watched this video from Kristina Werner.  The video was a review on those popular new Zig Clean Color Real Brush water markers & the new release from Mama Elephant.  No, I don't have the markers, I don't think I need them and honestly I'm good with not having them, especially when I have spent a considerable amount of money on Copics.  But hey if anyone wants to send me some to test I wouldn't say no.  (hahaha!)  After watching the video I was inspired to try my hand at more Distress ink water coloring.  (I was also inspired by Eva's blog, she's been doing a lot with those adorable Mama Elephant stamps and water coloring with Distress Inks.)  A few weeks ago I purchased a stencil made by Hero Arts called large lotus pattern.  An idea popped into my head and I decided to run with it before it disappeared.

I cut down some Canson water color paper into 4 x 5 3/8 so that I could easily adhere them to A2 card bases.  Grabbed some washi tape, the stencil and some Distress Inks.  Since I had the turtles from Sister Stamps on the table I reached for those guys too.

As you can see I adhere the water paper to my board with some washi tape.  I made sure to tape over the edges to get a nice white border all the way around.  I stamped two of the turtles using Versafine Vintage Sepia, then I created masks of each.  In Kristina's video she mentioned Versafine was perfect for use on water color paper because it doesn't run.  A great tip to know!

Next thing to get washi-taped down was the stencil.  The stencil is much bigger than the paper, but it was ok because I had the edge of the paper covered with the washi tape.  No worries that I wouldn't get the effect I was hoping for.  Using the sponge tool I added color going from dark to light with the DI.  Here I used Peeled Paint, Mermaid Lagoon, Evergreen Bough & Tumbled Glass.  Once the colors were put down to my satisfaction I removed the stencil and because of the masks the turtles were saved!  (Yay!)

I used the lightest color, Tumbled Glass, and lightly went over the whole picture with it.  Next I used a few other DI colors to ink up the turtles.  I washed out the colors a little bit by spraying some water on a small paint brush and going over the whole picture with it.  Last I stamped the cute sentiment from Jillibean Soup (Item #jb0198) with Black Versafine ink and wet embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Once I removed the washi tape I was done!

I haven't mounted this one yet, I was thinking of maybe making it into a postcard instead.  They are sturdy enough and flat so they would definitely mail easily.  Something to think about.  I loved this technique, in fact, I loved it so much I ended up coloring 11 more backgrounds using different colored DI!  I have so many colors and with that awesome stencil I figured I could create a bunch more.  They make nice Aloha print backdrops, all I need to add are colored images and a sentiment.
Luckily I have a bunch of colored images handy (left over from the first 30 day coloring challenge) and can't wait to pair them up with a sentiment.  I'll be sharing those over the next few days.  Yay!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy Monday!!

For the Bride...

Hi!

Hope you're all doing well.  Today's card was created for my friend's bridal shower.  Of course I waited until that morning to put it together!  

I sure did use a lot of different elements here, most of it pink, paper and pearls.  Lots of dies, and a very cute Uptown girl image.  Instead of the cake I fun-cut the present and popped it in place.  First I wiped away the cake so there were no other lines showing.  Now it looks like Ava is presenting the presents on a platter.   Does that even happen IRL?  Maybe for the queen!  LOL!  

I had fun with the rolled roses, took me a couple secs to start them, then it was quick to roll. The pearls are all from stick pins.  I cut them from the pin with wire cutters and used 3-in-1 glue to adhere.  The pop of green is a nice subtle touch and it matches the smaller gift.  I did not mean to have 2 different pink colors for the roses,  I actually ran out of the darker pink, but I think the contrast adds a nice slight contrast.  Below is the inside panel.  

I mimicked some of the front in the corrugated panel, but because I was running out of time used watercolor paper to create another quick Distress ink watercolor piece.  The sentiment is from Walter&Winnie and I hand-wrote the rest of it. The W&W sentiment was inked, stamped and embossed with white then heat set.  The hearts were stamped using the same pink on top.  It's so pretty!  Oh and that dark pink heart is covering the B2B's name.  

We had a wonderful time at the shower.  It was a beautiful day, full of fun, laughter, naughty things that I won't mention, lots of food, great friends and family.  The B2B was beautiful and she enjoyed herself so much.  The bridesmaids did a wonderful job!  I can't believe the wedding is next weekend!!  Yay!!  I better plan better, going to make the card the night before!  hahaha!  Thanks for stopping by, have a great Tuesday!! 

Distress Water coloring

Hello!!

I'm pre-posting today because I'm still hanging out with the ohana.  I have a couple of water color Distress ink cards to share.  Seeing these cute backgrounds on Eva's blog (Hi Eva!) really inspired me to give it a try for a quick and easy background.  Thanks again for the inspiration Eva!!

This first one uses some fun Spring like colors.

I added the kawaii stars from The Greeting Farm a grouping of stars from La-La Land Crafts, and a Walter & Winnie sentiment.  All were inked with black Versafine ink and embossed with clear powder.  Here's the inside, just a simple detail, but totally cute and fun!

I'll write a message in white with my new white gel pen.  The next one is a simple Congrats card I made for one of my co-workers who just celebrated her 25th anniversary!!  Dang!!  I hope I'm there that long.  (lol)  She likes pastel colors and Hello Kitty so thought this was a fun card for her.

Sorry about the picture, I took it at work prior to giving her the card.  I added some of my enamel flowers and found that cute HK with a paint brush in my stash.  Thought it looked like HK just finished painting that.  haha!  I used another Walter and Winnie sentiment with Versamark and wet embossed it.  Loved the pretty brush strokes.  Sorry no picture of the inside, I just printed a nice sentiment on some paper and adhered to the inside.

Definitely going to do this kind of cardmaking again.  They make great quick cards for any occasion. Thanks again Eva for all the inspiration!!

Okie dokes, have a great Saturday doing something fun and relaxing!  Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges: TGF FFF - Spring colors

KBD - Challenge #32 Up in the Sky

Happy Aloha Friday everyone!

Today starts a brand new challenge at Kitty Bee Designs Aloha Friday challenges.  This is going to be another fun challenge!

CHALLENGE #32

UP IN THE SKY

Sponsor: Bugaboo Stamps

For the next two weeks we want to see anything that is up in the sky!  For all the details, head on over to the Kitty Bee Designs Aloha Friday Challenge blog and while you're there check out what my Bees teammies have created.  They are sure to inspire you as much as they inspire me.   We were lucky enough to get some adorable sponsor images to play with and today I'm sharing a card featuring Critters Balloon - Cat.  

I feel so sorry for this kitty!  Looks like he didn't know what he was getting in to when he hopped on that balloon!  Hopefully he doesn't let his claws out or he's a goner! hahaha!!   This card is all about the image and the clouds which were created with my new favorite Distress Ink pad color called Salty Ocean.  Using my cloud stencil I created these fast and easy clouds on to the white panel as well as the blue card.  Love the drama it creates.   The other thing I love about this card is that I added some shimmer to the finished card to seal in everything.

I know you can't really see it, but it's a pretty iridescent color that really brightens up the colors.  Been using it on a few other projects, and I love it.  Okie dokes, hope you'll have some time to come and play in the challenge, we'd love to see it.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a fabulous Aloha Friday and a terrific weekend!!

Leanne - DT

Kitty Bee Designs

With Heartfelt Sympathy

Morning!

Today's share is another CAS card made with Distress ink pads, black ink, a Spellbinder die and a piece of sheer ribbon.  As I mentioned the other day I've been in a funk with crafting and trying to get back in to it by going back to basics.  I've been having a lot of fun with that plan and hopefully that'll help me get my groove back.   Here's the card I made using a Rubbernecker background stamp (Wildflower BKG) and an AmyR Sympathy sentiment.

Sympathy cards are always so difficult to create, but when I do I try to make them as simple and serene as possible.  I think I accomplished that goal with this card.  

It's too bad you can't see the shimmer on top of the card.  It's really pretty because it brings out the tones in the colors beautifully.  I love how this one turned out and I hope it gives some comfort to the ones that receive it.  Will definitely add more like this one to my stash leaving off the sentiment.  Alrighty, have a great day everyone!!  Thank you for stopping in.