Seahorses and Seashells

Keeping to the sea life theme I have created a third card, this time focusing on the By the Tide stamp set. This one features the seashells and adorable little seahorses. I changed the colour up a little and used more warm greens and orange hues vs the cool aqua and turquoise shades in my two previous cards.

I again made the background paper using inks applied directly to a clear stamping block; spritzed with a bit of water and then stamped off onto white cardstock. Any bare spots were filled in with lighter shades of ink using a sponge. Note I made two background pieces 9 approx. 4" x 5" in size so the inside can be finished to match the card front.

Next I stamped the coral in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder. To highlight the embossed area I added a little Brown Sugar to the centers of each coral with a sponge. I then stamped the two seahorses towards the right of the card directly onto the background and coloured them using Copic markers. I added shadow shading to create a little depth and white gel pen highlights for added definition.

I didn't plan the layout of the card ahead of time, so when I decided I needed a third seahorse to the left, on top of the coral, I opted to stamp this on a scrap piece of cardstock, along with the seashells. Once these were coloured they were cut out/fussy cut. The sea horse was glued directly onto the card front where as the seashells were formed using a stylus on the back and then attached with a bit of foam tape to keep the 3D effect in tact.

The card front was trimmed to 4.75" x 5" and attached with foam tape onto a coral coloured mat measuring 4" x 5.25". My card base is ivory this time, not bright white. Finishing touches consist of several randomly placed pearls and little bit of twine tide to the right side of the card.

The inside was finished to match with a personalized message using several different sentiment stamps, choosing only the words I needed.

I had a strip of leftover background paper which I attached to the envelope flap for a cohesive finish.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections ivory and white, Bazzill peach/coral
Stamps: By the Tide, Handbill Headlines, Edgy Eloquence, feeling Sentimental - all SU
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Mint Macaron, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake,
        Baked Brown Sugar, Tangerine Tango - all SU, Versamark, Memento - Tuxedo Black
Alcohol markers: YR04, YR02, YR24 (sea horses), YR000, YR00, YR02, BG10, BG13 (seashells)
                             C1, C3, C5, C7 (shadows) - All Copic
Misc.: white embossing powder, twine, various sizes of pearls 1/16", 1/8", 3/48"),
           foam mounting tape, sponge, water spritzer

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Under the Sea Shaker Card

If you recall, the card I shared in my previous post was finish on the inside to match the front of the card. In order to create the writable white/negative space I masked my cardstock when I created the background. Well the mask turned out rather lovely and would have been a great waste to throw away. I decided to use it for the background of a seaside shaker card instead.

To recap, the background was crated by using plain white cardstock and 5 ink pads in teal and turquoise shades. I inked up my largest clear stamping block. Applying the ink pads direct to the stamping block. I then gave it a little spritz with a little water mister and then randomly stamped onto my white cardstock until no ink remained on the block. The areas not fully filled in where finished by sponging with a little of the two lightest ink colours.

Next I stamped the coral image in Cajun Craze and embossed using iridescent ice embossing powder. using Versamark I stamped the jellyfish (upside down) and embossed with white embossing powder.

On a scrap of white card I stamped the turtle image and coloured it using Copic alcohol markers. The image was then fussy cut and attached to the background with foam mounting tape.
I then cut clear plastic to slightly larger than my background. Next I cut 4 strips of 1/4" thick foam mounting squares from a full sheet to create the edging on the shaker. II added my filler and attached the clear plastic to seal in the contents.

Using Cajun Craze I stamped a textured image all over brown cardstock and then cut an opening slightly smaller than my shake in the center to create a frame. the frame was trimmed to 4" x 5.25" size and adhered over top of the shaker, which was then glued to the card front.

I had a little piece of coral (tree die cut) left over from the last project so decided to add it to the card front along (and inside) with a few randomly placed pearls.

I finished the inside to match the theme, by sponging the edges of my white cardstock in the teal/turquoise colours, adding a second frame and another piece of coral.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections white, Bazzill coral
Stamps: From Land to Sea, By the Tide, Timeless Textures, Remembering Your Birthday - all SU
Ink: Tuxedo black - Memento, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Lost Lagoon, Island indigo,
       Tempting turquoise (all for the for background), Cajun Craze - SU, Versamark
Alcohol markers: Old olive, light and medium - SU Blendabilities,
                             YG25, Y21, Y32, Y35, YR24, 100 - Copic
Die: Beautiful Branches Thinlits - SU
Shaker filler: peal blue, pearlescent pink and pearl sequins, clear micro beads, pale blue sea glass
Misc.: white embossing power, iridescent ice (SU) embossing powder,clear plastic sheet, foam mounting tape, 1/4" foam squares, water spritzer, sponges

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Under the Sea

Do you ever have buyers remorse when it comes to stamping supplies? I don't often because I generally procrastinate quite a long time before committing to buy. And honestly I haven't bought many supplies that I regretted buying later on. what I am referring to is more the kind of guilt you develop over buying stamps and then having them sit on a shelf for a very long time without ever seeing ink. The kind I had an abundance of this weekend.

I am lucky enough to have a a great husband who fully supports my creative en devours. So much so he gave me card Blanche this past week to spend whatever I thought was sufficient on SU supplies for my birthday. After placing my order I went to my craft room and started tidying so I could have a clean work surface for when my new treasures arrive.

To my utter dismay I discovered quite  a few stamps sets from my last order, about 4-5 month ago, that haven't been touched. So in order to rectify this situation I have challenged myself to use each and every one of these sets before I can touch my birthday order.

This lovely under water card and matching envelope is the first creation of this self-challenge.

I started by creating the water background using plain white cardstock. I gathered 5 ink pads in teal and turquoise shades. Using my largest clear stamping block as my canvas I randomly stamped each color directly onto the block and then gave it a little spritz with a little water mister. I randomly stamped onto my white cardstock until no ink remained on the block. The areas not fully filled in where finished by sponging with a little of the two lightest ink colours.

I repeated this on a second piece of cardstock to create my envelop liner and also masked a 1" wide strip on the flap of my envelop to create a matching border.

Next I stamped the jelly fish image (upside down to mimick plant life) several times using Veramark and white embossing powder. I then added the coral image once for a bit of texture. The turtles were stamped three times onto a scrap piece of white card and coloured using Copic alcohol markers. All three turtles were fussy cut. Two turtles were shaped a little from the back using a stylus and then attached to the card front with foam tape. I cut 2 trees with the die from coral coloured card and trimmed them to fit into the comers of the card front, reserving the scraps. Note for added dimension the coral was attached by trimming foam tape into very thin strips

Using the same technique as for the background I coloured another piece of cardstock 5.25"x4" in size , masking the center area (approx. 4.5" x 3") to keep it white for a personal greeting. I then attached the third turtle and left over scrap of coral and stamped the birthday greeting in black.

Lastly I trimmed the second piece of cardstock I had coloured to create the card liner and glue it into the envelope.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections white, Bazzill coral
Stamps: From Land to Sea, By the Tide, Remembering Your Birthday - all SU
Ink: Tuxedo black - Memento, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Lost Lagoon, Island indigo,
       Tempting turquoise (all for the for background), Calypso Coral - SU, Versamark
Alcohol markers: Old olive, light and medium - SU Blendabilities,
                             YG25, Y21, Y32, Y35, YR24, 100 - Copic
Die: Beautiful Branches Thinlits - SU
Misc.: white embossing power, foam mounting tape, water spritzer, sponges

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Bird Crazy Vacation

My dear sister is going on vacation in a few weeks to Costa Rica; the lucky girl.
So with that in mind I created this "Bon Voyage" Bird Crazy card.

To created the background I sponged the sky and then watercoloured the ocean and beach. Once that was dry I stamped on the clouds and sun.

The bird and accessories were stamped on desperate paper and watercolours. once dry I cut them out using the coordinating dies. To create the look of glass on the lenses of the sunglasses I used Ranger's Glossy Accents.

To finish I added the sentiment on a little banner with inked edges and placed a few random turquoise iridescent sequins pieces on the water. I also aged the card a little with a light sponging of Soft Suede.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollection white, SU watercolor paper
Stamps: Bird Crazy, Crazy things, Bird Talk- Tim Holtz, Sprinkle of Life, kinda Eclectic - SU
Dies: Bird Crazy, Crazy Things - Tim Holtz
Ink: Various SU colours - Strawberry Slush, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Hello Honey, Basic Black, Craft White, daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip
Misc.: Ranger's Glossy Accents, Sequins, sponge, watercolor brush

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Watercolor wings over-sized card

After playing a little with these gorgeous butterflies I thought they would be best served on a  larger canvas than normal, so opted for a 5.5 x 8.5 (A7) card. This size really allows for great flow without the card seeming too overcrowded.

I used different shades of purple for these butterflies. To be honest I tried several different combinations to see which blended the best, this is why the butterflies are different colours. Still nto sure which I like best.
The top one consists of Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss and Elegant Eggplant. The Bottom butterfly is Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum and Blackberry Bliss. Each butterfly is trimmed with a row of 5 rhinestones that I coloured with alcohol markers to match.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections - white
Stamps: Watercolor Wings - SU, Watercolor Wash background - SU, Gorgeous Grunge - SU, Tin of Cards (sentiment) - SU
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Delightful Dijon - SU, Tuxedo Black - Memento
Alcohol markers: Copic - RV34, V17
Misc.: foam mounting tape, purple and pink sequins, rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Father's Day Angelfish

With Stampin' Up's new catty coming out this week I need to make some room for new stamps in my oh so tiny craft corner. So this last weekend I spend some time organizing and purging a little.
This led to an old SU stamp case full of un-mounted Club Scrap stamps. I had removed these from the wooden blocks about 2 years ago with every intention to mount them on EZ mount next chance I got. Apparently now was that time.

This lovely little angelfish called out to be used and what better opportunity than on a great Father's Day card for my dad.

I honestly had no specific idea or technique in mind when I started. I grabbed several items and several inks and just started to play.

I brayered the background in Pool Party and then stamped the speckles in Island Indigo.
I sponged a sandy ocean floor in Sahara Sand and added the seaweed using Mossy Meadow.
I then stamped my fish in Tangelo Twist and misted everything with a little water for a watercolour effect.

Now I am not a very patient person. So once this was more-or-less dry, I stamped  various circles (made from scrap rubber) in white. Note I used a slightly most baby wipe to smudge and lighten the white pigment ink a little (rub in circular motion). Once everything was dry I re-stamped the fish in Tangerine Tango for a little more definition. Then for some sparkle I used a bit of PSX Diamond Sparkle. Just enough sparkle to "glitz-up" the card, but not too much so that it's still a masculine enough card.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections white
Stamps: Angelfish - Club Scrap, Build a Blossom - SU, Gorgeous Grunge - SU, Crazy About You - SU
Ink: Tuxedo Black - Memento, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Sahara Sand, Mossy meadow, Tangerine Tango, Tangelo Twist, White Craft pad - SU
Misc.: foam square (to mount the panel onto my card front) PSX Diamond Sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Pretty Butterfly

I think I may be developing an addition to butterflies. I cannot seem to get away form them.
My next view cards all seem to have at least one colourful "flutterby."

I only have a few Blendabilities markers, so am somewhat limited in colour choices at the moment. I therefore attempted to watercolour my butterfly and flowers.

As you can see the results are somewhat mixed. I love the purple and blue combination and the butterfly turned out ok, but am not too happy with the flowers. The colour was at one point too intense that I opted to tone it down a little with a white chalk maker. Not sure if I succeeded though.Over all the card is still pretty though so I thought I'd share it. It's also the first time I used these border stamps and I haven't seen too many creations with them yet.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections white
Stamps: Papillon Potpourri - SU, Bordering Blooms - SU, Butterfly Basics - SU, Gorgeous  Grunge- SU
Ink: SU - Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point, Mossy Meadow , Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc.: foam mounting squares, white chalk marker, pearls.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Butterfly Framelits

I love the Butterfly Framlits from SU. When I first saw them I knew I had to have them. I ordered them, got my package and set them aside. I used them once on my spring basket and then forgot about them.

I decided it was high time I put them to good use, especially as I need to be able to justify buying the new coordinating dies in the upcoming catty.

So I made a few cards this week. Here is my first card featuring these lovely dies.

I trimmed 2 pieces of white card to 4" x 5.25" and cut the large butterfly from the center of one.
I then coloured the butterfly die cut piece with my SU markers (Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cobbler),  sprayed it with pearl glimmer mist and set it aside to dry.

I then took my second piece of cut card and watercolored it with Tangelo Tango and Hello Honey.
I also sprayed it with a bit of the pearl shimmer mist and set it aside to dry.

Once both where dry I glued the negative butterfly cut cardstock on top of the watercoloured piece and then glued the coloured die back into the opening.
I mounted it on my card front with foam for a little dimension.

My sentiment was stamped with StazOn black on glitter vellum.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections
Ink: StazOn black, SU - Tangelos Tango, Hello Honey
Markers: SU - Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbles
Stamp: Wonderful Words - SU
Die: Butterflies Thinlits - SU
Punch: 1" square (to make banner tail)
Misc.: scrap of vellum, 5/8" wine coloured organza ribbon, gold sequins, foam mounting squares, pearl shimmer mist