Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: something new

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: something new with W+9

I almost ordered the W+9 set with the giraffe (wild one?) but for some reason I opted for the giraffe one from Art impressions instead. I think SSS had them both in stock, and I can't remember my reasoning, anyway those are still on their way to me, so couldn't have used them anyway.

Sorry no W+9

For the something new I used a Marianne Design stamp (Eline's brush), which I bought today, so really new :-D
The ladybug or ladybird, depending on where you live, is a stamp from  Gingersnaps (Bugga-Boo's)
and it's new to me, I bought it off a second hand website, but on doing a search for it I came across a blogpost from 2009,not new in the crafting world, just to me, but still cute!

I inked the brush stroke stamp with Distress inks (mermaid lagoon and mowed lawn as in sky and grass) spritzed it with Perfect Pearls mist and then Stamped it.

The girl was stamped with Memento on Neenah classic crest cardstock and coloured with my Spectrum Noir markers. I raised her with foamtape and then added  grass at her feet to ground her. Ladybugs usually have brown or black bellies, but it being a costume I felt red was nicer ...

Then I thought I probably shouldn't mess up all this work  by trying to stamp a sentiment on bumpy watercolor cardstock, so I decided to diecut a Simon Says Stamp (small hello) die and I had to  position the plates carefully as I didn't want to squish her, literally, poor thing ;-)
but it worked!
I adhered some blue cardstock, similar to mermaid lagoon onto the cardbase and then mounted the watercolor panel with foamtape also.
I only placed the insert for the "e" as I wanted the bold color to come through as much as possible.

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: something new, see this

Lawnscaping Challenge #121: winterwonderland

Lawnscaping Challenge #121: winterwonderland

For my card I used the bunnies from Lawn Fawn's Hello Baby as snow bunnies.
I used the Lawn Fawn Finley's ABC for the word snow , which I diecut from the cardpanel.
The "let it" is from Avery Elle (let it snow stampset) and I partially stamped that.

The bunnies are stamped with Memento tuxedo black ink, the little one directly on the cardpanel, the mother on Neenah Classic

crest cardstock, why? because I messed up the  stamping of "let it" and had to cover it up ;-)
I wanted the mother on the  diecut window as she looks down and the little one looks up, so I used her to cover up my booboo, ssshhht don't tell anyone ;-) I fussy cut her out and went round the edges with a Memento tuxedo black marker and then adhered her on top  with some glue.
I mounted the cardpanel with foamtape and then adhered a piece of blue glitter paper on it and then attached the panel to the cardbase.
I was planning to use white glitterpaper, but that was boring, then light blue and it made the blue look dirty, as if I hadn't washed it properly, you know what I mean? so a nice bold blue that picks up the whole card I think, maybe snow isn't that deep a blue, but hey, I love it !
I colored the bunnies with my Spectrum Noir markers.

For more information on the Lawnscaping Challenge #121: winterwonderland, see this

there's a video, but it's only about cutting the foamtape (without headaches), not the whole card.

Edited January 18th:

My card was chosen in the honorable gnome section

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: something new with Tim Holtz

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: something new with Tim Holtz

For my card I've used Distress inks by Tim Holtz (cracked pistachio, peacock feathers and mermaid lagoon) and one of his bird crazy's and watercolored him also with Distress inks (ripe persimmon, picked raspberry and squeezed lemonade, diluted with perfect perals mist)
For the sentiment i've used a Simon Says Stamp die (relax) and I used double sided adhesive from Elizabeth crafts to make the black cardstock into a sticker.
To apply the sentiment I've used the negative part of the black cardstock and lined it up, then just placed the letters into the openings, much easier than trying to  line it up or draw a pencil line etc.

The inked background is sponged with Distress inks and the mini blending tools, also from Tim Holtz, then I splattered some left over perfect pearl mist, white Distress spray stain and tranished brass which is the new bit to me, I got it last month and honestly the most challenging about using this spray is getting the plastic seal thingy off ;-)
The bird looks a little (di)stressed to me, and that's why the sentiment.
I have a friend going for a new job and he's quite anxious about it, so on the inside I will write something like"..it's just a new job"...not sure yet how to formulate ;-)
I fussy cut the bird and the quiff and legs were to challenging for me, so I cut them off and them stamped the bird on the cardbase, giving him back his limbs and hair.
I stamped with StazOn to be able to do the watercoloring. Mounted him with foam tape.

I choose opposite colors on the colorwheel so the bird and the background complement each other.

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: something new with Tim Holtz, see this

watercolor color and mix chart

i'm not sure what it's called officially, but we had to do these at art school ( in Italy) and they help you learn to understand  your medium.
As watercolors are transparent, you can overlay them easily, but some colors are treacherous and will bleed no matter what.
two colors laid on top of each other might look completely different depending on which color is on top or at the bottom.

At school we were supposed to make a grid, but nowadays I just wing it. If i had made a

grid I would have known all the 36 Distress refills I have were not going to fit, I did switch to a smaller brush in an attempt to make it all fit, but I missed out on 3 colors, not the most important ones, so I'm fine with it (grey and black oh so maybe just 2 lol)

I did the same with my Talens ecoline I have 18 of the 48 colors in the range and I have 36  of the 60 Distress re-inkers.

It's important to use the re-iners, undiluted as that will give you the most true color.
I was pondering whilst doing this, that maybe the Distress markers or any other watercolor marker might also work and then you could use a ruler to make nice straight lines, if you're ocd like that, I'm not, that's why I just wing it lol....

It takes a lot of calculating and a lot more time to make the grid in pencil, but ofcourse it looks much neater and at school we had to, I hate have tos ;-)

Normally , like with the Talens I would go in rainbow order, but for the Distress inks I followed the color chart from their website. with 60 colors you need a big big square of paper!
this is an A3 size paper or 30x40cm and it only fit half of the re-inkers, so...beware before you begin.

If you can use a big flat brush, it makes it easier to go straight and you don;t have to dip your brush as often and you get the neatest line.
i think for the long side of the paper it took just1.5 drops of re-inker and one for the short side, not too much.
 Some colors go further with the same drop as the flow better on the paper, you'll see some are dryer it seems. I think it has to do with the pigments.

You do one side first, I'd suggest the short side if you're winging it, if you measured it doesn't matter as you already know how it will fit.

let it dry completey, preferribly overnight or 24 hours if you can.
It must be completely dry before you add the crosslines.

I know Distress reactivates with water , or moisture, but I had little problems. I was quite surprised really.

Less is More Challenge #257: Neutrals

Less is More Challenge #257: Neutrals

I made my card with kraft cardstock panel and a beige/offwhite card base
I used a butterfly die from Simon Says Stamp and the sentiment is from Technique Tuesday as is the stamped butterfly ( fabulous by Ali Edwards).I stamped those with Versamark, for a tone on tone look and I splattered white ecoline from Talens over the top. 
I used the positive from the diecut as an embellishment.
Mounted the cardpanel with foamtape for dimension..


I thnk it would also look cool without the splatters and additional butterflies, just the opening, certainly more CAS, but hey it ended up this way lol



For more information on the Less is More Challenge #257: Neutrals, see this

AAA cards Challenge #55: glitter

AAA cards Challenge #55: glitter


As you might know I love glitter, it makes me smile! :-D
it does, it's such a happy medium...lol...

For my card I used a die I bought second hand, so I don't know which brand it is, I tried looking it up with a search engine, but couldn't find it, sorry.
I die cut him (the caterpillar) from a cardfront, that is slightly smaller than the base; then I diecut him out of glitter paper, several times, so I could make a rainbow

critter.
I put some tape on the back of the cardfront and placed all the little diecuts in rainbow order. I wanted his head black, so I started there. I used the points of his antennas from the white cardstock to make him eyes, little pupil with a marker. Stuck the eyes to the glitter with Aleene's fast grab tacky glue.

The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp (birthday balloons) and I stamped it with Versafine black onyx.
Mounted the cardpanel with some foamtape, for a little dimension. The Dutch sentiment is from Joy! crafts (6410/0010)

For more information on the AAA cards Challenge #55: glitter, see this




edited 04-01-2015: found the die it's from Poppy stamps/Memorybox and it's called cute caterpillar

Inkspirational challenge: something new

Hello there, I’d like to say I’m so honoured to be a guestdesigner for Inkspirational challenge blog!

The theme is “something new”

I’ve used two new (to me ) stampsets.

For the Thanks, i’ve used Uniko (all occasion sentiments #6) and for the monster and other sentiment are from Creat a smile (big time)

Also new to me are the Spectrum Noir pencils and I thought perfect to try on this challenge.

I only have the florals and the marine set as I first wanted to see if they are for me and I got these off a secondhand site otherwise I might have gone for the essentials and primary.

My arthritis sometimes is a spoiler, I love watercoloring and my Spectrum Noir alcohol  markers as they have a low impact, they slide just over the paper, if that makes sense, to put down pencil, you have to push a bit more  and it takes longer, and holding a pencil a  long time turned out not to be a good idea ;-)

But I think the coloring looks OK, a rainbow” thanks” and a purple monster with some shading.

To blend I used my alcohol marker blending pen and then layered another layer of color.

I free handed the moon or planet the alien is standing on.

Wiggly eyes as monsters need wiggly eyes and a few iridescent sequins as stars.

I didn’t want to fill in the whole background, because I think the elemens stand out now, and might dissapear otherwise.

Since shooting the video I’ve learned you can use My Favourite things hybrid black ink on both Copic (or alcohol) markers and with watercoloring. I’ve ordered it, still waiting for it to come in, but I’m very excited about it.

That way you can make one layer cards with two mediums.

For more information on the Inkpsirational challenge, see this