I'm taking some time this weekend to play over at Splitcoast Stampers' Virtual Stamp Night... I'm not doing all the challenges, but I picked a few that caught my eye, and the pace is so much fun (challenges are posted hourly, and you have a 45 minute time limit on each card). This was one of my entries, for a card with a kitchen or food theme. The stamp is from Biblical Impressions.
I'm pretty sure this is what my kitchen looks like right now.
The JustRite "direct to rubber" challenge sounded like a fun one.... Instead of using a single color to ink up your stamp, a direct-to-rubber technique involves inking individual lines or areas of your image using different inks or markers. Here's my card...
I used Marvy LePlume II markers to color the lines of the Morning Glory image (My Garden set), misted the stamp lightly before stamping to the paper, stamped, then blended the colors with a waterbrush. After the initial marker ink was dry, I added more color to the stamped images with watercolor and Inktense pencils, and reinkers. I added some dimension to the flowers by cutting along the edges of some of the flowers and leaves, then embossing from behind with a ball stylus.
The sentiment is from the Wedding Nested Sentiments set.
Thanks for stopping by!
This week's Sprinkle challenge over at the Flower Soft Forum (FSC23) is to use Flower Soft on your Spring-themed projects. We'd love to have you join us, wherever that theme takes your imagination! Here's my card, using a new Flower Soft product called Die Cut Dimensions. I've shared some step-by-step photos for creating the focal panel in a separate post below. All stamps are from Impression Obsession (Cover a Card Reverse Damask, Ordinary Things).
I used glass microbeads and Polar White Flower Soft in the flower centers to add texture and dimension.
If you'd like to join in on the challenge, pull out the Flower Soft - you might even win a prize! Post your Spring project in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keywords flowersoft (one word) and FSC23. We'd love to have you join us!
Thought I'd show some photos of the process of creating the focal panel on this card. You can find other card details by clicking here.
This concept is one I have used on many stamped images lately to add dimension... I'll share that in a tutorial another time. The bonus here is having the cuts already made for you!Earlier this month Skipping Stones Design released a sweet little collage set called Heartsong! SSD is more known for their witty sets, but they have some beautiful inspirational sets as well. Most of the images in this set have some kind of musical element in them. The bird image is my favorite! I watercolored the image with reinkers and Inktense pencils, and added to the scene with a retired Stampin' Up! stamp. 
I used Flower Soft to fill out the scene even more..... I used Sage, Light Peach, and Lemon first, then sprinkled on some Burnt Sienna while the glue was still wet. Here's a close-up on the branch:
Happy Monday!
Thought it would be fun to play some challenges this weekend! It’s been a while since I pulled out a House Mouse stamp, and the challenge over at the HM Challenge blog was to use a favorite HM stamp. Easy enough! Before I purchased this stamp I vowed to only buy the original Stampa Rosa House Mouse stamps, but when I saw this one (which was released after the images were licensed by Stampabilities) I knew I had to have it. Besides, it’s called “We’re Mint Tea Be Together”…. How cute is that?
(BTW, speaking of House Mouse stamps that aren't from Stampa Rosa, Joanna Sheen has a new batch of unmounted stamps releasing this weekend. *sigh* So much for resolve.)
I took my coloring cues from 2 different challenges. Last week's Make It Colourful challenge was to focus on shadow and depth (I missed the deadline, but I really appreciate the nudge!), and the Colour Create Challenge’s color combo is Strawberry, Chocolate, and Cream. I used reinkers for my base coloring then layered over that with Inktense pencils, using the Bark pencil to really deepen the shadows. Added a little dimension to the tea tag, and used some Martha Stewart glitter on the sugar cubes. The sentiment is from Impression Obsession.
One more challenge, and that is from the Shabby Tea Room, to create a card with a "keep warm" theme.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Just wanted to share a card I made with Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.... I've been working on some booth samples for them for an upcoming show. BTW, they are running a special right now..... for every clear set you purchase during the month of February, you will receive another set FREE! Making room for more sweet and sassy goodness, they are. :)
This cute little set is one of the sets on clearance, called I'd Pick You. My card is watercolored with reinkers and chalk inks, and I created a little scene behind the animals just for fun.
Have a great weekend!
The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to use cupcakes on our cards... because it's a cupcake kind of day! If you haven't browsed through the cupcake stamps at I.O., you are in for a treat, literally. There are so many fun ones to choose from.
Here's my card - this is one of the newly released stamps by Leigh Hannan called Beach Cupcake. The image is colored with Touch Twin markers and shaded with pencils, and tucked in behind a Shake-it Shaker Pouch (small oval). The filler is sand and shells that I purchased locally. 
I used 2 Cover-a-card stamps on the card, Wood Grain and Thick & Thin....the stripes reminded me of an old-fashioned bathing suit. The sentiment is called A Day at the Beach.
Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration -
Daniela @ For the First Time
Deborah @ Cards and Things
Jeanne @ Inky Paws
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Julie @ Out to Impress
Kathy @ Watermelon Sugar
Kelli @ I Made This Myself!
Laura @ Laura's Stamp Art Journal
Shirley @ Card Art, Etc.
Remember you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps! See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! We'd love to have you join us.
The Flower Soft team is hopping today... today we're sharing projects that feature new Flower Soft products! Quite a variety of new things to share, from neon Ultrafine Flower Soft to beautiful sets of pre-printed toppers- hope you like what you see! If you arrived here from Vicki's blog, you're on the right track. If you just happened to stop by, you may want to start from the Flower Soft Blog to make sure you don't miss a thing... because prizes are involved!!
For my cards today, I've used a new Sepia Topper set called Hearts & Flowers. These sweet little Charlie's Ark cards are soooooooo nice to work with, and you'll see from this post that you can add color to them or leave them uncolored (can you believe I left something uncolored?! I know...)
My first card is colored with Prismacolor pencils (the colors I used are below). I used a Sakura Stardust glitter pen on the flower's cellophane wrapper, and blended it with a blender pen.
I also added some dimension by cutting along some of the edges of the image and then embossing from the back on a foam pad using a large ball stylus. You can see some of that dimension here:
Here are the pencils I used - since the image is so soft, you can add a lot of color with a very light touch.
On the second card, I did use the Stardust pen again on the bow, but that's it. I also used a Spellbinders die to cut out around the image instead of using the card 'as is'. The sentiment I used is from Heart and Soul.
I used the same technique mentioned above to add some dimension to the piece, on the bow and the giraffe's little hooves.
As you make your way through the hop remember to comment on each and every post! There will be a prize winner chosen randomly among the blogs. One lucky blog hopper who comments on all the blogs will win a $50 Flower Soft gift certificate!!! The blog hop will remain open until Tuesday February 22nd. The winner will be announced on the Flower Soft blog on February 23rd.
P.S. If you're looking for more Flower Soft ideas, be sure to tune in to Flower Soft TV - a new episode is posted every Friday. You can also register at the FSTV site and have a chance at weekly drawings for free Flower Soft products!
Hope you have a special day, celebrating the ones you love..... and here's hoping you get fussed over, too!
Wanted to share a couple cards that use new Valentine stamps from Impression Obsession - both images were colored with Neopiko markers and shaded with Prismacolor pencils... found myself using the same color combo on both cards too. It was fun to pull a pop of teal in with the more traditional valentine colors. This is Summer Camper, and the sentiment is Relax and Enjoy (I love that one, and it's 50% off right now...)
For the bottom of the card, I used a corner punch to create the scallops, then scored between each one, and embossed with a large ball stylus around each curve to imitate the look of the awning on the camper.
Stamps used on the second card: Love Scale, You're the Best, Cover-a-Card Large Paisley, Gingham, & Dots.
Have a great day!
Just a few more items that I've added to my etsy store this weekend........ I made a few more sets of the dress form tags in purples and blues, and did a little destashing. Still lots of unmounted stamps and tags as well as cards.
....lemon yellow grosgrain ribbon has apparently been breeding on me....... and when was the last time I made a lemon yellow card? hm?
......more dress form tags (stamps from For the Luv of Art).......
.....and some unused duplicates from my collection of Neopiko-2 Markers. These are non-refillable but a nice and inexpensive alcohol marker. They have chisel and brush tips.
In honor of Valentine's Day, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is hosting their FIRST customer blog hop. The theme this month is "Love is in the Air". You can find all the details here - maybe you'd like to play along too!
My card isn't super Valentine-y, but it is love-themed! The main image is from the Poppies and Greetings set.... poppies are sentimental to me because California is HOME, and we have some sweet family memories of driving out to see the wildflowers before we moved overseas. Instead of coloring in a black-outlined image, I stamped the image in Yellow Ochre chalk ink and watercolored using Inktense pencils. The sentiment comes from the Birds and Roses set.
In the close up you can see the poppies better - I cut along the edges of some petals and embossed from behind to give the piece more dimension. There are yellow microbeads in the flower centers.
You can pop over to the Sweet 'n Sassy blog to find a list of all the hop participants...... thanks for stopping by!
This week's Sprinkle challenge over at the Flower Soft Forum (FSC22) is to use Flower Soft on your garden-themed projects. We'd love to have you join us, wherever that theme takes your imagination! I'd like to share one of my cards that went to CHA to hang out at the Flower Soft booth... this was made using the Charlie's Ark "In the Garden" Creative Kit - pre-printed art is not what I usually work with, but I have it, so I had some fun..... and I definitely put my own spin on it! 
I cut the partial oval in the topper with a Coluzzle template to create a window card, and I sandwiched a piece of acetate in between layers... so that oval goes all the way through! The card has a pocket inside, which you can see further down. I sponged on some clouds, using a scalloped circle as a mask, added a bit of shading here and there with a Sepia pencil, and sponged the edges... of course a boy doing gardening would have dirt everywhere, so I used Ultrafine Earth Flower Soft for dirt, and some Toffee in the flower center. 
I'll just share lots of pictures so you can see the details and dimension here... the kit comes with die-cut pieces and partial images that are meant for layering, which is fun. I used foam tape between my layers so they'd stand out more.
Here's the inside............ 
If you'd like to join in on the challenge, pull out the Flower Soft - you might even win a prize! Post your garden project in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keywords flowersoft (one word) and FSC22. We'd love to have you join us! 
