On the Picket Fence Blog Today!

Hello!

Find me over on the Picket Fence Blog today.  I'm sharing a technique to create dimensional embellishments out of Paper Glaze.   

See the full card over on the Picket Fence Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Singing in the Rain | Sweet Sentiment April Coloring Class

Hello!

Right now, I think we all can use a little at-home self therapy - some find it through escaping into a book or movie, cleaning, baking, gardening, or coloring,  I think in the last week, I've dabbled in each of these.  My favorite, by far though, is coloring.  It keeps me occupied for a few hours, and in the end I have something pretty and unique to share.  

As I was looking into my stamp stash for the perfect image to color, I realized I hadn't yet shared the April Coloring Class from Sweet Sentiment.  In April, Jammie has an adorable set called "April Showers" with the cutest little bunny, and some fun spring sentiments.  Of course I had to pick one of the snarky sentiments to use!  I realized, as I went to color my image, that a few of the markers that I needed were dry, and I would need to reink them before I could use them again - and of course I didn't have those reinkers.  So, I switched to Prismacolor Pencils this month, and colored up this sweet image.  

I stamped the image in Whisper Amalgam Ink, onto Sweet Sentiment Premium Coloring Paper.  Then I colored in the image with a light hand, and lots of colors.  Every few layers, I would use a bit of Mona Lisa Odorless Paint Thinner to blend, so that I didn't have to press too hard with the pencil and burnish the tooth of the paper too soon.  I finished the bunny with his umbrella, and sketched in a background.  The final step was to add raindrops over the whole image with a gray pencil, and white gel pen.

Once the image was colored, I die cut it out, and adhered foam tape to the back.  I stamped the Flannel Life stamp from FSJ, in Whip Cream Ink onto Banana Cream card stock, and glued that onto a white card base.  I stamped the sentiment in Versamark, onto River Stone card stock, and then heat embossed it in white.  That was adhered with more foam tape (double stacked on the portion over the flannel background, and single layer over the image).  A few clear drops from Nuvo were added for a final touch.    

If you'd like to get your own class kit, including this exclusive stamp set, you can find it on Jammie's website.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used**:

Use this easy list to find the products I used in my projects. 

(Contains affiliate links - where I earn a commission from purchases made from my links, at no cost to you. Your support helps me keep this blog going, and continue to create - Thank you! Affiliates and disclosures can be found here.) 

 Please note, when possible, I try to offer multiple sources for the items I use. 

Puddle Painting | Crafty Friends Blog Hop ft Pinkfresh Studio

Hello!

It's that time of the month again!  Time for another Crafty Friends Blog Hop.  If you have not joined us for one of our hops before, the Crafty Friends Blog Hop is a group of friends who have all shared some common crafty beginnings, and we hop each month with a spotlight on a company we love. 

Pinkfresh Studio has kindly given us a 20% off coupon for our readers to use in their shop over the next couple days.

The technique I used in today's card, is certainly not new, but it's a great way to entertain kids (or even yourself!) - at least until the watercolor paper runs out!  I am referring to it is Puddle Painting -  watercoloring, using a puddle of water and then pressing your paper into it.  The resulting backgrounds are great paired with bold sentiments, such as the Scripted Bold Sentiments stamp set from Pinkfresh Studio that I have used in my card. 

To create the background, make a puddle of water on a non-porous surface (I worked on my Glass Media Mat, but if you want to contain this with kids, a cookie sheet with a rim would work as well).  A puddle with more water will mix your colors a bit more on your paper.  Less water will give you more distinct colors.

Begin "dropping" color into the puddle.  I started with the lighter pink, and swirled my brush in the water a bit.  Then add additional colors - for the darker pink, I simply plopped my brush into the water and lifted it straight out.  The water will mix the color somewhat, but you will still be able to see that there are two shades that are slightly tone on tone. If you want a little less distinction between the colors, you can spray the surface of the puddle with water.  This breaks a little of the surface tension, and allows the colors to move into one another without fully mixing.

Once I had the color in the water, I simply pressed my paper against it to pick up the color.  After drying that layer with a heat tool, you can add more color to the puddle, and re-dip the paper to deepen the colors (my background was dipped 3 times).  If you want to change colors, or work on another card front while the first dries, simply wipe up the puddle with a towel, and start again. 

Once finished, allow the background to dry, then add your sentiment and embellishments.  I heat embossed my sentiment in gold, along with adding gold fashion pieces.  I matted the watercolor piece with white cardstock, and then added it to a top-folding white card base.  

As I said, this is a simple technique that you can do over and over to create a bunch of different backgrounds.  It's a great way to mass produce backgrounds for cards, or to have your kids involved in making cards.  

The next stop on the hop is Lydia, over at Understand Blue. 

For your convenience, here is a list of all of the stops today, just in case you get turned around.  

Sandi McIver

Sue Plote

Sara Sherlock (You are here)

Lydia Fiedler

Jill Hillard

Amy Kolling

Jenny Hall

Tanya Boser

Ilina Crouse

Maria Willis

Becky Roberts

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used**:

Use this easy list to find the products I used in my projects. (Contains affiliate links - where I earn a commission from purchases made from my links, at no cost to you. Your support helps me keep this blog going, and continue to create - Thank you! Affiliates and disclosures can be found here.) Please note, when possible, I try to offer multiple sources for the items I use. Products with two or more logos - underneath, or on the side, give you options of where to purchase, in case the item has sold out at one shop. To visit the first store, click on the photo of the item. To visit the second (or greater) source, click the logo for the second shop - you will still be taken directly to the product. 

**If a particular item I used was out of stock when I was preparing my post, or the item I used was discontinued, I have provided a link to a similar item - that is available - when a substitution would not affect the card design.

Pink and Gray Hello

Hello!

I have a pretty card to share today.  I used the WPlus9 Stamp Set Beautiful Bouquets:Dahlias to create this card, although you could easily substitute any pretty bouquet stamp. 

I stamped and heat embossed the bouquet onto the corners of a piece of Pale Rose card stock, using Rose Gold Embossing Powder.  I also stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto a strip of River Stone card stock.

I very lightly shaded the floral images with two colored pencils, and then applied foam tape to the back of the sentiment strip and attached that to the card front, and trimmed off the excess length.

Prismacolor Pencils Used:

Pink Rose PC1018, Nectar PC1092

 I adhered the card front to a River Stone card stock mat, and then attached the whole thing to a white top-folding card base. A few scattered self adhesive pearls completed the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Use this easy list to find the products I used in my project. (Contains affiliate links - where I earn a commission from purchases made from my links, at no cost to you. Your support helps me keep this blog going, and continue to create - Thank you! Affiliates and disclosures can be found here.)