Love you bunches

Hello again,
     Recently I celebrated my birthday and one of the things I got from my good friend, Lynda Plecken
(http://paperartscafe.blogspot.com/) was a pad of  Bienfang 170# Canvas paper. Well, I was itching to try it out so I grabbed my stamps and inks and got started.
     First I took a piece of computer paper and stamped out the outline for what I was planning. Then using my MISTI, I stamped and masked until my card looked like my outline.
    

     I just love Altenew stamps, they are so versatile. I stamped the outline of the flower with Archival ink with my Misti, then used my Ranger distress ink to stamp and watercolor the flowers and leaves. I used Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick for the pink flowers and Barn Door and Fired Brick for the red, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss for the leaves. Then I used Stormy Sky to shadow.  Because of the texture of the paper stamping without water coloring left lines and dots in my flowers but after adding water they still had texture but the lines and dots were gone. I love the way it looks and I love this paper.

     I stamped the sentiment (Hampton Arts#jb0198) and added a few sequins. I'm very happy with this card and I will definitely be using this paper again.

     Products used:

Altenew Peony Bouquet

Bienfang 170# canvas paper 

Misti ( My Favorite Tool)

Hampton Arts #jb0198 sentiment

Inkadinkado masking paper

Ranger Archival and Distress inks

     I will be entering this card in:

Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge (My favorite tool) 

CAS-Fridays (CFC167 Pink, Red and White)

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge ( Fantastic Florals)

Thanks for stopping by.

God Bless,

Karen





One-Of-A-Kind

Hello,
    I've been doing a little experimenting, trying to see if I can make my own glimmer paste. I have some Dreamweaver's translucent embossing paste and I wanted to make a pretty textured background for my card. I took about a tablespoon of the paste and added some Martha Stewart green glitter, about a teaspoon. I didn't measure it, but when I mixed it, it was very green. I used a stencil and pallet knife to apply the paste to my card and let it dry. I was thrilled at the result. I will definitely use this technique again. the best thing is no glitter mess coming off the card.
 (for full instructions http://simplypaperaddress.blogspot.com/2017/02/be-mine.html)
     I stamped Altenew's One-Of-A-Kind mini flower on watercolor paper, colored it with my Zig clean color pens and fussy cut it out. I used a spellbinders die, and dimensional tape to pop-up the flower on the die. Then I used a 1" piece of white paper, stamped One-Of-A-Kind, and used my Ranger distress ink (Picked Raspberry) and my blender tool to color the strip and the edges of the frame. Then popped up the front panel on a white card with foam.

     Here's a close up of the glimmer

     Products used:

Altenew mini stamp One-Of-A-Kind

Dreamweaver translucent embossing paste    

Martha Stewart Malachite glitter

Spellbinders die

Joggles stencil#30-33714 (branches)

Bristol vellum surface paper By Strathmore

Core'dination cardstock

Craft foam

3m dimensional tape

     I will be entering this card in these challenges:



Altenew Feburary 2017 Inspiration Challenge

Make My Monday Shimmer and Shine Challenge

Sunday Stamps Sketch #146

Happy crafting!

God Bless,

Karen

      

Be Mine

Hello,


     I've been spending a lot of time in my craft room this past week, trying new techniques and some old ones that I've forgotten about. I was reminded of one that I used to teach years ago, by Vicki Papaioannou ( Birthday Card/ Aqua Flow pens/ Novo Glimmer Paste/video).
     I don't have any Novo Glimmer paste (http://goo.gl/1DZxhR) but I do have tons of embossing paste from my classes and some Farber Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel.
    I started by selecting the stencil I wanted for the background, I have tons of stencils so finding the right one took me a while. Once I had it, I cut my paper down to the size I wanted, because once the paste dries it would be impossible to cut on my trimmer. I used a 110lb cardstock for this to give it stability, but 65lb works just as well. I taped down my card stock, using Scotch removable Tape, I love using it because it doesn't stick to my card ever. Then I aligned the stencil where I wanted it, and taped it down. Using my pallet knife I applied the FC Glass Bead paste to the stencil in a downward stroke, using just enough pressure to apply the paste, then in an upward stroke in the same place. By doing this it fills in all the spaces you might have missed on the first stroke and gives a more even layer. Then I removed the stencil and placed it in a warm soapy water bath so the stencil would clean up easily. I removed the tape from my paper and move my background to a safe place to dry while I made my flowers.
     I stamped out my flowers using Altenew's Beautiful Day stamps, and Distress Ink. Then I fussy cut them out. By the time I was done my background was dry and I could put my card together.
     Using glue dots I placed my leaves where I wanted them on the background. then I cut a circle for the back of one of the flowers, to give just a little more dimension from the leaves. the second flower was popped up using dimensional tape. I cut a small banner of pink and stamped Be Mine from my Clearly Posh stamp set (POSH-CST-024). Then matted in pink and adhered it to a white card.
      I love the way the card turned out and will be using this technique more often from now on.
                                            
I've added this close up for a better view of the glass bead background shimmer.

I will be entering this card in these challenges:

Altenew's February 2017 Inspiration Challenge

Allsorts challenge (Hearts/Flowers)

Make My Monday Challenge (Shimmer and Shine)

Addicted to stamps challenge(Holiday)

ModSquad Challenge (Text/urize)

Thanks for stopping by,

God Bless,

Karen

                                                

 

I Love You More

Hi all,
      Well Valentines Day is just around the corner and I find that I don't have many valentine stamps.
I searched through my stash and found these cute little Owls and a sentiment stamp from Impression Obsession that did nicely. Hope You Like it.

     I stamped the owls in brown Archival ink, masked them, then stamped the branch. I used a piece of vellum over it to position the branch. I had to stamp and move it a couple of times to get it right. (The vellum was placed over the image and then stamped until I was able to get the branch in just the right place). Then I positioned the sentiment stamp and stamped it in Archival black. I used my Prismacolor pencils to color the owls, and distress ink for the branch. Then a little edge of Tumbled Glass around the branch and Owls. Then using a Red Gelly Roll sparkle pen I wrote Happy-Valentines-Day-Be-Mine around the edge. I Matted in Red and attached to a white card.


Products used: Impression Obsession stamps- (Owls-E7760) and Sentiment (C14534-More Today)
                         Ranger Archival ink (black and brown)
                         Prismacolor soft core colored pencils
                         Canson watercolor paper
                         Gelly Roll sparkle pen (red)
                         Canson cardstock (red and White)
I will be entering this card in: Impression Obsession challenge(love is in the air)
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy crafting!
God Bless,
Karen

Black, White and a spot of Red

     Today's card took me out of my comfort zone, big time. I love to use lots of color on my cards and the challenge was to only use Black, White and Red. I think I dreamt about it last night, LOL, because when I got up this morning I knew exactly which stamps I was going to use to make it. I love the way it turned out and I think I will be trying this again soon.

Products used:
Altenew Stamp Sets( Beautiful Day and Peony Bouquet)
Ranger Archival Ink ( Black and Grey-Watering Can)
Ranger Distress ink (Fired Brick and Aged  Mahogany)
Ranger Distress watercolor paper
Hampton Arts sentiment
Canson red cardstock
Inkadinkado masking paper
Misti
     I started by stamping out the different flowers on scrap paper to get my positioning just right. Then I started stamping the first flower by using  Black to outline, then I used the Grey over the whole flower and stamped the shadows in Black, creating my focal point in the bouquet. I then masked it and stamped the second flower and the 2 smaller flowers in Black and the shadows in Grey. Again, I masked the Flowers and stamped the leaves in Black and masked them.
I stamped the rest in Black and then removed the masks. I was very happy with the result. I put down a light layer of Pumice Stone ink and water to give it depth and stamped, Thank You in Red. I finished by matting in Red.
I will be entering this card in these challenges:
                                        Make My Monday ( Black, White and a spot of Red)
                                        Addicted to Stamps and More (Anything goes)
                                         Tuesday Throwdown Challenge ( Anything Goes)
                                         Simon Says Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes)
Thanks for stopping by,
Happy Crafting.
God Bless,
Karen

To a special Lady

     I made this card for a very special Lady. She turned 80 yesterday, and she is my Sister-in-law's Mom. Many years ago even before my brother met his wife, I was on a ladies bowling league and she was on one of the teams; coincidently with my other sister-in-law's Mom. Small world. So we've known each other for a time. She's a great Lady.
     I wanted to make her a special card to let her know how much she means to me. One of my very favorite stamp sets that I got for Christmas was The Altenew Beautiful Day set. I just love it and have been using it a lot.  So here is the card that I made for this very special Lady.

 





     I was so happy with the way these blue flowers came out that I had to do a little on the inside too.

 

     Just a little to pull it al together.

Supplies used:

     Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp set

     Ranger distress Inks(Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint,

Mustard Seed)

     Canson Card Watercolor paper

     Inkadinkado masking paper

     I used my favorite stamp set with My favorite inks to create this card for one of my favorite people. 

I will be entering this card in: The Flower Challenge Blue and Yellow

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy crafting!

God Bless,

Karen

    

    

  

 

Happy Birthday

     My card today is for a very special young women. She is my son's wife and mother to my grandchildren. I've known her since she was a child of 12 and can tell you she is and amazing women. She takes care of a house, 3 kids, a husband, a cat and dog, she's a part time nanny and she somehow goes to college full time. I love her as if she were my own daughter and so I wanted to make her a very special card for her birthday.
     For Christmas my husband went all out and got me some amazing stamps by Penny Black, Zig clean color pens, and tons more. This card was made using some of them.
     Using Penny Black Slapstick/Cling #40-447 Poppy Gems I stamped with Versa Mark and embossed in black on watercolor paper. Then using my Zig pens I colored in the flowers in 2 colors using some black seed beads for the centers. I stamped the Happy Birthday from a  Stampabilites clear titles set. The butterfly is from Hampton Arts Cling,( Once upon a time springtime set). I added Light blue zig pen around the flowers, and fussy cut 3 butterflies for the front and inside the card.
     I hope she likes this card as much as I do.

I will be entering this card in these challenges:
My Favorite Things Color Challenge #61
Penny Black At Allsorts
Penny Black Saturday Challenge


Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Crafting!
God Bless,
Karen