Love is Kindness

My latest project is a set of cards and a mini frame using the Love is Kindness stamp from the Occasion catalog.  I stamped all the images with tuxedo black ink and colored with blendabilities.

The first one was colored with melon mambo (light, medium and dark), light old olive and light smoky slate blendabilities.  The patterned paper is from the Stacked with Love designer paper stack.

Next card was colored with medium coastal cabana, light old olive and light smoky slate blendabilities.  The background was stamped with Hardwood background stamp using crumb cake ink.  I added the bermuda bay sequins trim and Retro Fresh washi tape.

The last card was colored with light and medium melon mambo, light old olive and ivory blendabilities.  The background was stamped with Dictionary background stamp using crumb cake ink.  The ribbon and doily are from the Artisan Embellishment Kit.

And finally, the framed art was colored with light and medium rich razzleberry, light old olive and ivory blendabilities.  The frame is from Michaels.  Don't you just love it?  It's $2.00!!  I also got a round, square and oval for two dollars each.

Thanks for stopping by.  Except for the frame, you can get all the supplies I used from my website HERE or click the items below.

Cheers!!!

irene

Clear Block Stamping - World of Dreams

Today I’m sharing my swap card from our latest group meeting.  Talk about daunting, we had 50 participants!  I think that’s the most swap cards I ever had to do.  I initially planned on doing a holiday card but after the final count was announced, I decided to start working on my cards using products from the big catalog instead of the Holiday catalog.

I used a simple technique called clear block stamping.  Basically, you tap your clear block directly on the ink pad, mist it with water and stamp directly onto your cardstock.  When I got bubbles, I slid my finger back and forth on the block to evenly spread the ink.  For my background, I stamped the clear block using three different colors – lost lagoon, hello honey and tangelo twist.  

Ideally, since you spritz water to your block before stamping, you would use watercolor paper for this technique but I didn't have enough watercolor paper for 50 cards so I used whisper white card stock.  I was careful not to spray too much water so there was only minimal warping.

The image and sentiment are from Stampin' Up’s World of Dreams stamp set and were stamped using tuxedo black ink.  I added the washi tape from the Sweet Sadie designer washi tape set.  I was quite pleased with how the card turned out.  And, no two cards are exactly alike.

Sadly, we had quite a few participants who didn't make it to the meeting so I’m left with about twelve card fronts.  If you want one for your sample board or just want to see it in person, email me your mailing address and I’ll send you one.  Remember this is just a card front not a full card but you can easily turn it into a card if you feel like it.

Have an awesome day!  Cheers!!!

irene



All supplies used are available HERE

Got Bleach?

Yap, who needs ink when you have bleach!  It's a long weekend and I was excited to fill in the extra hours with some crafting goodness.  This is a technique I wanted to try for a while now and few weeks ago I remembered to get bleach so I can finally give it a try.  I had to force myself to walk away after five cards, so much fun!!!

I grabbed my pack of new In Color cardstocks to see how they react with bleach.  As you can see from the picture above, the results from each color were quite different.  I used all the new colors on my cards except hello honey because the result with hello honey was more like a watermark effect and not a distinct impression.  I was surprised that bleach doesn't work with black card stock.

First up is the blackberry bliss card.  The card base is crumb cake.  Love how the hardwood background turned out with bleach.

Next one is the mossy meadow card.  I stamped directly on the card and rubbed the edges on my bleach "pad" to get the distressed look.

Up next is the first lost lagoon card.  The base card is lost lagoon.  I stamped directly on the panel and dragged the edges on the bleach "pad" to get the matted look.  I added the twine to separate the sentiment.

On the second lost lagoon card, I used basic black cardstock for the card base.  This is the only card where I used ink for the sentiment.

And lastly, my favorite!  You'll notice that the images on this last card are sharper than images on the first four cards.  Why, you asked?  I started a new "pad" and inadvertently added less bleach than before.  The base card is blackberry bliss.  I love these three colors together - blackberry bliss, tangelo twist and mossy meadow.  The flower and leaves were stamped with bleach then fussy cut.

Here's the how to:
I placed four layers of folded paper towels inside an old SU stamp container and poured the bleach, this is what I kept referring to as my bleach "pad".  Don't soak the paper towels, start by adding a quarter cup of bleach. You can always add more if that's not enough to get a good impression.  Check out the side by side comparison, can you tell which one used more bleach?

Finally, the group shot.

One last thing, my hands needed extra moisturizer after handling all that bleach.  I think I'll lay off bleach for a while.


Cheers!!!

irene



Here are the supplies I used.  You can get them from my Online Store or by clicking each item directly.

Bloom With Hope Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$17.00

Let Your Hair Down Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$9.00

Perfect Pennants Clear Stamp Set

$21.95

Hardwood Clear Stamp Set

$13.95

2-1/2" Circle Punch

$16.95

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

$16.95

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

$4.95

2014-2016 In Color 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Crushed Curry Baker's Twine

$2.95

Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine

$3.50

Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments

$4.95

Elegant Butterfly Punch

$15.95

Small Butterfly Punch

$15.95

Trust in God Note Cards

Today I'm sharing the note cards I made for my son's Confirmation teachers.  I knew I wanted to use Stampin'Up's Trust in God stamp set.  I wanted to give them at least five cards each and there's four of them - so twenty cards with not much time to get them done.  The Watercolor Wonder Designer Note Cards were the prefect solution to my dilemma

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I got them done pretty fast.  I heat embossed the sentiments with either black or white embossing powders. I purposely kept the embellishments to a minimum.  I was quite pleased with the results and more importantly, the recipients love them.

I just realized there's one card missing.  Oh well, too late now to take a picture.  I've given them away!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Cheers!!!

irene

Trust God Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$14.95

Watercolor Wonder Designer Note Cards & Envelopes

$12.95

Girl You Are Fab

Here's a quick and super easy card for those days when you are in a hurry.  I thought some of these journaling tags from the Retro Fresh Designer Journaling Tags would make cardmaking super easy..... and I was right!

I have one more stamped hardwood background leftover from my previous projects and a few red-stamped and die cut star bursts.  So this is just a matter of laying them all out on a pool party card stock and adding some blings.  Tip:  When I stamp images or bakgrounds, I always do more than one, in case I messed up.  If I don't messed up, I'll have extra stamped images for another project or a second card!

I sent this card to my upline, the fabulous Patty Bennett!!  She is truly a wonderful person, inside and out, and I'm blessed to be under her wing.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Cheers!!!

irene


Stampin'Up Products I Used:

Starburst Sayings Clear-Mount Bundle

$38.95

Hardwood

$13.95

Retro Fresh Designer Journaling Tags

$4.95

Hardwood Frame - You Make the World a Better Place

Hardwood background stamp, my other favorite stamp from Stampin'Up's 2014 Occasions Mini Catalog!  This card was not what I had in mind when I decided to make a frame using the Hardwood Background stamp.  I love this paper from Fresh Prints Designer Paper Stack, it looks like wall paper when paired with the Hardwood background.  What do you think?  I love what I made so far and then I hit a wall!  I tried different layouts, embellishments, nothing works for me.  So the frame sat on my desk for almost two weeks.

I was playing with another card when these elements fell into place.  I finally came up with a layout I can "live with".  LOL!!!  I love this sentiment from the Starburst Sayings stamp set and the matching framelits dies.  I wanted the sentiment to be in red but not a solid red that's why I cut it up.  I don't remember piecing a sentiment before and doing so here, made all the difference.  I really like how this turned out.

Here is the full card.  I LOVE it.  Sponging the edges of the frame gave it some dimension, pretty neat effect!

Thanks for stopping by today.  To get more details on the supplies used here, click the product links or visit my store HERE.

Cheers!!!

irene



Here's my supplies list:

                           
Starburst Sayings Item #133182                            Starburst Framelits Dies Item #132967


                           
Hardwood   Item#133035                       Fresh Prints Designer Paper Stack  Item#132996

Inks:  Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red
Cardstock:  Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White
Embellishments:  Baker's Twine, Pearls

Sponging Technique

I recently re-discovered this embossing folder by Darice called Dandelion buried in my stack of embossing folders.  The inks I used for my best friend card were still out on my work table so I used them to sponged the embossed images - primrose petals, summer starfruit and gumball green.

Amazing how the same inks yielded a very different outcome.  The card made with the sponging technique turned out nice and soft, don't you think?  In contrast, the best friend card made with painter's tape technique was bold and bright.

If you haven't tried these techniques, give 'em a shot and see how your color combination turns out.

Thanks for stopping by.  I really need to get busy with my holiday cards, Christmas is just around the corner.

Cheers!!!

irene