Card for Visible Image DT: Dare To Swim

Hi and happy Wednesday!

Today I'm sharing with you a card I made using the new 'Dare To Swim' stamp set by Visible Image:


Aren't those stamps gorgeous!

I stamped the images on light blue cardstock, and coloured them with a few blue and green Promarker colours. The darker blue shades I inked with Distress inks.



For the white highlights I used a gel pen, and the white quote I stamped and heat-embossed on a piece of white vellum. Attaching vellum especially on a dark background is sometimes tricky as the glue dots may show through. The easiest solution is to fold the ends of the vellum strip on the back of the card and not to use glue on the card front at all.

The dark blue plants are die-cut using a Sizzis/Tim Holtz die from some time back. Before gluing them on the card front I added some lighter colours on the leaves (with a white gel pen and a light blue pastel pen). Done!


For more information on the lovely Visible Image stamp set please click on the picture below:
       

Wishing you a beautiful week!
Hugs,
post signature

Creative fun with Studio Calico February scrapbooking kit



Hi!
Last weekend Studio Calico provided lots of crafting ideas in their online Weekend Crop. There were fourteen challenges to play along, so I opened the February 'Confidant' kit that I had just received and made two layouts:

This first layout was inspired by Anna-Maria Wolniak; she introduced us to using various elements on the layout title. I composed my 'Love you my little sunshine' title from stamped words, the transparent 'Love' from the February kit, and a Dymo punched part.



The first layout was quite 'clean and simple', but for the second one I took out my acrylic paints and texture paste:


The fuzzy cut photo is from a few years back, and for highlighting it I added metallic yellow and red paints on the bottom left corner (love those 13Arts paints!). For the background bubbles I used white texture paste, and wrote the layout journaling on die-cut circles, as the challenge theme was 'using a non-journaling card for journaling'.


I still have some supplies left from the February kit, so maybe next weekend I'll have another look at the Crop Weekend themes.

Thanks for the inspiration, Studio Calico!

Wishing you a wonderful week, thanks for stopping by!
 

Mixed media Fireworks!

Hi!
Especially when the weather is grey, dull, and wet, you need to brighten the day with vibrant and bold colours! I played with the Imagine Fireworks! spray colours (that now also come in larger bottles) and made a bunch of cards using a fun and inexpensive masking technique:


The technique is similar than what I used for these die cut cards; this time I did not use my Big Shot but fuzzy cut the stamped masks with scissors. A step by step picture tutorial can be read in the Imagine blog, this link will take you directly to the blog post.


For this technique you almost any stamp images can be used. However, background stamps or stamps with lots of details are not the perfect choise as they would make the fuzzy cutting step too complicated.
I have used stamps by Hero Arts (Japanese dolls), Carabelle Studio (steam punk man) and Studio Calico (Girl with a striped dress).




Love the vibrant colours of the Fireworks! mists! They come with a hint of shimmer, providing a beautiful finish for any paper crafting projects.
 


Full supply list can be read at Imagine blog.

Wishing you a fun and colourful weekend!
Hugs,
post signature

Inspiration card for February TIMI: Do not hold back

Hi!
Craft Stamper February Take It Make It challenge is ongoing until February 22, so there's still plenty of time to take out your stamps, get your fingers inked, and play along!
All challenge details (including our amazing sponsor prize!) can be read here. And if you're looking for more inspiration I suggest you visit Craft Stamper blog one more time to see all the gorgeous DT inspiration projects made just for you!

Here's my inspiration card with black-and-white colours:


I love that image by VivaLasVegaStamps! He has such a mysterious look...
For colouring the image I used my Promarkers.
 

The background is made on basic white paper (bit thicker semi-glossy office quality); I started with inking the background with Black Soot Distress Ink, and once the entire paper was inked light grey, I adhered strips of torn masking tape on the paper. I continued inking, creating darker areas between the masking tape pieces.



Before removing the tape I stamped some pattern on the cardstock and splashed water on the inked surface (could not resist, it's my favourite technique)


This is a very easy way to create interesting backgrounds without any special tools. Love the outcome!


The quote text by Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz is heat embossed on the card front.

Simple design and easy techniques. But a project that was so fun to make!

Wishing you a lovely week. Hope you have time to create something fun.
Hugs,
post signature

Stamped card for February TIMI: So she did

Hi!
Last Friday was the kick-off for our Craft Stamper February Take It Make It challenge. 'Anything goes', as long as there's stamping somewhere on the project. Hope you play along!
Our generous sponsor this month is Seven Hills Craft, an UK based online only retail store specialising in importing quality craft products from the USA. Their product range is huge, and the web shop is really worth visiting!
One lucky winner will get a voucher worth £25 to spend in the web shop. Worth playing for, isn't it!



My February project was inspired by the new stamps I had ordered and just recently received from VivaLasVegaStamps:


In addition to the lovely Frida Kahlo stamp I used stamps from other manufacturers, too: Background flower stamp is from Stampendous, tiny flowers are from Stampin' Up! and the quote text from Dina Wakley Media/Ranger.
The face image is heat embossed and coloured using a few Distress ink colours and a water brush.



The flower patterned background is created on simple white paper: First, using the masking stamping technique I stamped the same flower repeatedly on the paper, and coloured the images with grey and black markers. Before attaching the background paper to the craft card base I inked the panel with brown and orange Distress inks.


For more February card making inspiration I suggest you hop over to Craft Stamper blog to see all the gorgeous DT projects as well as the long list of linked projects. I'm hoping to see your project soon among the entries, too!

Wishing you a great day,
Hugs,

post signature

Art journal: Darling You

Hi!
Have you seen all the gorgeous new stamps Visible Image has just released? If you have missed some, you can view the entire new collection here!
One of the inspiring new sets is Face It! that is perfect for cardmaking but also for art journaling. I played with the set and the face stencil last weekend, and made this painted journal page that :


There are several layers of acrylic paints and crayon colours on the page, and I really enjoyed the creative process. Painting a face has never been so easy! She has a serious face, and I thought the stamped quote was a perfect match to her expression:



Using the face stencil is super simple. The only thing that may require some attention is the positioning of the eyes, nose and mouth. The eye line divides the head in half (measured from the top of the head to the chin), and a common mistake is to place the eyes either too low or too high. My impression was that the stencil is indicating the face shape only until the hair line, so the eye line is above the center of the stencil. Once you have the eyes in place, the printed face image on the stamp set will help you in positioning the mouth/nose.
The below picture from WikiHow may be helpful:

If you're not creating a complete face (like on a card) there's usually no need to consider the positioning at all :)





Here are pictures of the Visible Image products I used (click on the pictures for more info):

        

Wishing you a wonderful week!
Hugs,

post signature