Rainbow "HI" Card

 Hi friends and welcome back! I'm sharing an easy and fun card featuring stamps from Ink Blot Shop! This card features simple watercolour and heat embossing.

I heat embossed the Stars and Stripes Background onto a piece of watercolour paper in Gold. Using a rainbow selection of Ranger Distress Oxide Inks, I quickly coloured in each stripe.

I found a piece of patterned vellum in my stash and decided to gold heat emboss the "HI" from the Giant Solid Greetings Stamp Set. 

I used a simple heart die to cut out the sentiment. I decided to use one of the leftover strips from the focal panel. I used a teeny-tiny heart die and cut out a few different colours. I added these as small embellishments.

I foam mounted the rainbow panel onto an A2 card base, foam mounted the vellum sentiment and used liquid glue on the tiny, embellishment hearts.

And the card is done!

And I still have the pretty little rainbow strip left over!

Thanks for dropping by! Have a great day!

Laurie

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge....Diecutting!!

 Well, hello there!! I'm really not sure how many subscribers I have left here and that's understandable and okay.  I've been so very absent here. I apologize and will try harder.  I don't have any other excuse except I'm super lazy.  I actually love sitting down and writing blog posts but when you don't actually HAVE to do it (ie. design teams), it just seems easy to ignore/forget about it! Anyway.....

I'm entering the current Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which is all about die cutting!! If you know me or follow me on Instagram, you'll know that die cutting is my all time favourite thing to do so I just had to enter this one!

I love making cards but I've discovered that I can take all the same supplies and techniques and turn paper into home decor pieces! I actually have a bunch of framed "paper pieces" throughout my craft room!

I've used the Lovely Envelope Die Set from Altenew to create this floral filled envelope. I used water colour paper and used Distress Oxide Inks along with the "smooshing" technique. For the sentiment, I used the You Matter Die from Simon.

Once all the pieces were put together, I adhered everything onto a 5X7 piece of ivory cardstock embossed with the Geo Screen Embossing Folder from Spellbinders.

This is just an inexpensive frame. The panel is quite dimensional so I had to really push it in there but it worked!!

I love the way it looked and it is on my wall now!  

I do apologize for the photos. It was a little late and I was having a bit of trouble not catching the glare of the photo frame.

Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you found a little inspiration :)

Laurie

Monochromatic Card ft. Ink Blot Shop

Good day!! I hope everyone is fairing well these days!!  I don't know about you but my mental health is taking a beating these days. While all I want to do is ignore the goings on and live in a tiny bubble, I know that isn't possible. Thank goodness for my craft space is all I can say!

Todays project may reflect slightly on my mood.

I decided I wanted to try to create a shadowy and slightly dark scene using my Cool Grey Copics. This stamp comes from the Landscape Border Stamp Set from The Ink Blot Shop.  I used C9 all the way to C1.

Now while I wanted a "darker" scene, I also wanted to add some brightness to show hope and happiness! I took a couple of the single, flower images from the Botanical Border Set and coloured 2 in grey and 1 in bright yellow (Y17, Y15, Y13). The tiny, yellow flower made me so happy, I decided to add a little yellow heart as part of the sentiment!

The sentiment comes from a mini set called Spaced Out Greetings. I love the fact that it is so spaced out because you can easily cut each word apart and place where desired!

I trimmed around the tree, border stamp and foam mounted it to a white card base. I also foam mounted the sentiment. To make the yellow bit pop a wee bit more, I added some sparkle pen and Nuvo Crystal Glaze.

When I started this card, I thought maybe it would be a little too sad but in the end, I think it is quite happy! Thanks to that hopeful, yellow flower!

Thanks for stopping by!  Take care!

Laurie

Release Day at Ink Blot Shop!!

Hey, friends!  Today is a day filled with cuteness over at the Ink Blot Shop!! This months release is not only super adorable but super versatile!

Here's just one of many projects I made with this release!

I combined two of the new sets to create this pocket tag. That adorable girl is from the Little Sweeties Stamp Set (I LOVE this set!!) and it's paired up with the new Little Notes Set. What is so incredible about Ink Blot Shop stamps is that they work so well together!!

I think this little tag would be great for a teacher gift or even as a bit of encouragement for a student!

I hope you get a chance to check out all the wonderful new products and are able to pick up something special for yourself!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Laurie

Ink Blot Shop - Spotlight Technique!

 Hello, friends! It's been awhile, right?! I hope all is well wherever you might be! I've been ignoring my blog for so long but am going to try my best to start posting more!!

I recently had the honour of making the Ink Blot Shop design team! I'm very excited because Tifany, the owner, has some of the sweetest and UNIQUE stamps and stencils out there!! So, I thought we'd kick things off with one of my fave techniques...the spotlight technique!

This, to me, always packs a punch! And in this example, it's so easy.  I started by making a 4X4 inch card base. The layer on top was cut to 3.75X3.75. I stamped this cute floral image from the Botanical Border Stamp Set across the bottom of the layer. 

I took a couple of heart dies and cut out three different spots of the image. All I had to do was colour in the heart themselves. I used alcohol markers to do this.

I glued down the stamped panel to the card base. You could inlay the coloured pieces with a flat adhesive but I chose to pop them up. I took the same heart dies to cut out some craft foam. I adhered the foam hearts in place on the card, then glued the coloured portions on top. This extra step really makes a statement!

The sentiment comes from the same set. Now, because I just couldn't resist, I added a generous helping of Nuvo Crystal Glaze to each heart. That shine is everything!!

I hope you enjoyed this simple spotlight technique! Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you back here soon!!

Laurie

Just a Random Update!

 Hey, folks!! Just wanted to pop in here as it's been about FOUR MONTHS since I've posted anything! Thank you for sticking around.

I just really wanted to give you an update on the status of my life. Like everyone, this pandemic has taken its toll. Luckily, my physical health along with literally everyone I know is fine. Mentally however, it's been a bit of a struggle. 

I guess it's been about 6-8 months since I stepped down from almost all the design teams I was a part of. While every one of the companies was fantastic and I loved everything about them...I was done. My creativity went on an extended vacation. It was time to give myself a break.  

I had been on various design teams for the past 6 years and honestly, it can be a full time job! Which is fine if that's actually your job, but I also work outside the home. My weekends were spent in the craft room frantically coming up with card designs, taking photos, editing photos and writing blog posts. I literally had 5 out of 7 days where something had to be published and shared. 

Now, onto social media. Ugh, what can I say? This past year has been an absolute shit-show and it really hasn't gotten any better. Most design teams communicate through "private groups" on Facebook. Which means I HAD to go on there to communicate. Which in turn led me to start scrolling through all the garbage people were posting. Which then led to a deep disgust for the people of earth. Instagram is a bit better and I have to say that's where most of my designing opportunities came from. I've also "met" some truly amazing people and crafters on that platform. But I've also come across some very fake people. And these are the people that ruin it for me. With all that being said, I am still a part of the Create A Smile Stamps Design Team (which I love!), so I do have to go on FB. Usually, it's a quick check in with the DT group and a mixed media group I'm a part of.

Mixed media, you say?! Yes, that is my new love. And the best part of that is I already had most of the supplies needed!! I've dabbled in a couple of mm canvases but mostly play in my art journal. While making cards is fun and I still do enjoy it, working in my art journal really gets the creative juices flowing! You get to play with papers, paints, pastes, stencils! And you can get messy. You can layer and layer and make mistakes and fix them. And the most important part...it means something. It's art. Everyone of my makes, I would feel proud to throw into a frame and display. I just have never felt that way about my cards. Not saying that a handmade card isn't a work of art, it's just very different. 

You can almost tell what kind of mood I was in when each of these were created! I put it all out there when I make a page and that's exactly what I love about mixed media and my art journal.

As I mentioned, I'm still a part of Create A Smile Stamps DT. I love Christine and the laid back vibe of the team not to mention the fantastic products.  Here's a couple cards featuring CAS:

And that is what's going on with me!! I know it wasn't a quick update and there was a lot of rambling. Trust me, I could've said A LOT more hahaha!

If you're reading this, thank you for sticking around. I do want to start posting here more frequently and I promise I will try!

Hope you are safe and well, my friends!

Laurie

Tweet! Tweet! (Create A Smile Stamps)

 Hello and welcome! Today I've got a fun card to share with you featuring some masking, colouring and stencilling!

This card features three of the adorable bird images from the From My Nest Stamp Set. I started by stamping the little bird, masking him off, then stamping the larger two birds beside him. After removing the mask, I appears that the little guy is standing in front! Oh, the magic of masks:)

I coloured the image with Copic markers. The birds turned out a little darker than I wanted but I just went with it.

To create the small background, I used the largest oval in the Basic Ovals Stencil. I positioned it onto a white card panel that was trimmed slightly smaller than an A2 card base. 

I used a light blue ink to add the "sky". I made sure to use heavier pressure on the outer edges and lightening things up towards the centre. With the oval stencil still in place, I added a snowfall stencil that I had in my stash and applied embossing paste over top.

When both stencils are removed, you have a perfectly ink blended, snowfall oval!!  I had some die cut leaves in branches in my "unused die cut container" so I decided to add them here for a bit of interest.

I stamped the sentiment (from the same set), foam mounted the birdies and then foam mounted the panel onto a white card base. I was going to add details like shimmer and white gel pen, but for some reason decided against it.

Thank you so much for stopping by! See you soon!

Laurie