SIP #138 Card Maker's Choice with My Monthly Hero February 2018 Kit

Hello and Happy Tuesday!  Jeff and I had a wonderful anniversary weekend and honestly I hated for it to end.  But... all good things must come to an end and so do weekends! lol  Monday was back to work as was Tuesday but I did have a little crafty time because as usual Tuesday means it's time for another Stamp, Ink, Paper Design Team project!  This week is my very favorite challenge of all challenges..... Card Maker's Choice!  I have to chuckle at the Challenge Graphic since it says Make a card using your favoirte stamp set, ink colors and paper.  I mean seriously can anyone have a favorite?  I love them ALL!!  

Well I do have a favorite new set because I just received the February Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit and since Jeff and I love birds.. it's going to be a favorite for sure!

Since these birds are mostly sihouettes and not a lot of stamp detail, I decided to use the Baby Wipe Technique to achieve the muted colors.  I folded up some baby wipes and dotted on a few reinkers and used it as a stamp pad.   I love the blue and greens achieved in using this technique.  For the front panel, I used a piece of watercolor paper and used the distress ink smooshing technique to achieve the background.  The distress ink colors were Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and Mustard Seed.  It's a bit hard to see the yellow in the photograph since it's pretty light but in person it really looks pretty.  I stamped the  "Sending You Sunshine" sentiment from the kit in the upper right corner using SU Crushed Curry Ink.   I added the panel to one of the Dark Brown Woodgrain Card bases that was in the kit.  The cool bird's nest was from a die in the kit and was cut out in Crumb Cake cardstock and I sponged some Crumb Cake Ink onto it to add a little dimension and interest.  The limb was inked with markers so that I could achieve the green and brown exactly where I wanted them.  I used the coordinating die to cut out the limb and adhered it to the front panel with Tombow Multipurpose Glue.  I also adhered my bird's nest at the very top and very bottom with Tombow, allowing the middle slit to open so the birds could be tucked into the nest.  The bird on the left side as glued with Tombow and the bird on the right was adhered with a Dimensional.  I finished this with three SU Glitter Enamel Dots in Yellow.  This was fairly simple but so pretty.

Thanks so much for stopping by!   Blessings, Tina

GIU Post #3 - Everyone You Meet!

Hello and Happy Hump Day!  I am really enjoying my Growing In Unity week!  My next card uses one of my all time favorite Unity Stamp Co. stamps... Everyone You Meet!  Actually it's my favorite quote/saying and something that I really try my best to remember.  

For my stamped panel, I used the watercolor smooshing method to apply my color.  I started with a piece of Bristol Smooth Cardstock.  To apply  Peacock Feather and Picked Raspberry Distress ink, I  smooshed the mini cubes directly onto the wax paper and then misted it with my Distress Sprayer.  I then misted my Bristol Smooth Cardstock and pressed the wax paper ink side down onto it.  I used a heat tool to dry it and then reapplied the inks until I was happy with my background.  Once I had the panel completely dry, I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Black Onyx Ink and then clear heat embossed it. I used a bit more of the Picked Raspberry as well as Peeled Paint Distress Ink and an Aqua Painter to paint in the flowers.  My Stampin' Up! Lots of Labels Dies were used to cut out the sentiment and then cut another larger label out of Tempting Turquoise Cardstock.  I tied a piece of Black and White Gingham Ribbon around the Turquoise Label and then attached the sentiment label over it with foam tape.  My card base is 110# Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock that measured 11" x 4 1/4" and was scored at 5 1/2" for a top folding note card.  I used a We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper to cut the rounded corner on the upper right and lower left corner.  My patterned paper measured 4" x 5 1/4" and was rounded the same as the card base and adhered with Fast Fuse.    I also used Fast Fuse to adhere the label layers since it is a strong adhesive and holds well.  I finished this one off by adding some Lucy's Little Things Rainbow Jewels onto the cardfront with Multi Medium Matt adhesive.   I think it turned out super cute and I hope you liked it!  

Remember at the end of the week, I will be drawing 2 winners that have commented on my posts.  I hope you are feeling lucky!  Blessings, Tina

SIP Challenge #117 Watercolor with Lawn Fawn Pumpkin Spice!

Hello my friends!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend and survived Monday!  I had a busy Monday but still made time to head out for lunch for my favorite drink.... coffee!  And what kind of coffee says it's fall... Pumpkin Spice Latte of course!  This week's challenge over at Stamp, Ink, Paper is a Watercolor Challenge and I made it all about Pumpkin Spice Latte!  lol

The background in this week's challenge banner inspired me to do some distress ink smooshing onto watercolor for my background!  

I started with a 5 1/2" x 3" panel of watercolor paper that was sprayed with water.  I smooshed some Tim Holtz Mustard Seed Distress Ink onto a piece of acetate and sprayed it with water and then pushed it around onto the watercolor paper.  I followed the same technique but with Spiced Marmelade and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, drying between each layer.  A Distress Splatter Brush and some more of the Rusty Hinge Distress Ink thinned out with water added some dark splatters.  Next I stamped my Lawn Fawn Cup and shaker onto Bristol Smooth Cardstock with Versafine Black Onyx Ink and then dried it with my heat cool.  Distress Inks in Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain were used to color in the coffee and the cup.  A small amount of Scattered Straw Distress Ink  was used to highlight the edges of the whipped cream.  I used a stiff brush to brush on a little bit of the Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto the whipped cream and inside the shaker for the Pumpkin Spice.  A Zig Marker in Medium Gray and a wet small brush  highlighted the metal ring of the shaker.  I attached the cup and shaker to the watercolor panel with foam squares.  I used a little more of the Walnut Stain Distress Ink with a wet brush under the cup to ground it.  Clear Wink of Stella was brushed onto the Whipped Cream.  Some FSJ Journey Glaze was brushed all over the cup and the shaker.  (I LOVE the Journey Glaze.. it's the one thing I never want to run out of!)  I used my Misti to stamp the sentiment onto the bottom of the watercolor panel with more of the Versafine Black Onyx Ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I used some scraps of Woodgrain DSP onto the top and bottom of the panel and then attached it all to a piece of Patterned Paper from my stash that I felt matched the colors well.  I added a few Pretty Pink Posh 4mm sequins to finish it off and then attached it to a card base of 110# Neenah Classic Solar White Cardstock.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll stop by and pick up a Pumpkin Spice Latte today!  I know I will! 

Blessings, Tina

SIP #79, Anything But Christmas! Theme Challenge

Hello!  Hope your week is off to an awesome start!  It's hard to believe that this Sunday will be Christmas Day!  This month has flown by!  This week at Stamp, Ink, Paper we have an Anything But Christmas Challenge!  How easy is that??  If you haven't finished your Christmas Cards by now, just give up like I did!  lol  Seriously this has been a terrible month for me.  I had strep throat one week, pneumonia the next week and last Friday I was back at the doctor and was diagnosed with acute bronchitis!  All I can say is what I have gotten done, was done, and what was left won't get done!  My body has definitely told me to take it easy!   Well, back to this week's fun challenge, here's the challenge badge with link to the SIP Challenge Blog!

So since I've been so sick and unfortunately been out of work way more than I should have, I made a card for my sweet assistant, Nikki.  She has taken on a lot of my work these past three weeks as I'm super grateful for her!

Now I have to tell you that I am in love with this Distress Ink Watercolor Smooshed Background.  I was lucky enough to be the winner of 2 classes from Online Card Classes in the Facebook group Stamp Junkies.  One of the classes I took was called Background Check and it has some fabulous background techniques.  The classes were donated by Jennifer McGuire and she has been such an inspiration to me since I've been making cards.  I believe I have seen every video that she has ever put on Youtube!  I had heard her mention the classes but had never really checked them out.  Well let me tell you that they are definitely wonderful and video and information packed.  There are so many downloadable resources and I definitely believe they are well worth the money if you are looking for something like that!  I'm sure I'll purchase classes in the future now that I realize how much information and access you get!    Ok, so on to my card.  I made this background with Ink Smooshing Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks onto Watercolor Paper.  I loved it so much that I didn't want to cover much of it up so I kept this one really simple.  I used Mama Elephant Basic Creative Cuts Dies to cut a pretty scallop panel from the watercolored background.  I used the Simon Says Stamp "You Matter" stamp set and coordinaing "You" die for my sentiment.  The "You" was cut out of SU Basic Black Cardstock twice and then glued together before placing on the card front for more dimension.  The "are pretty amazing" sentiment from the You Matter stamp set was stamped in Memento Luxe Tuxedo Black Ink and then clear embossed.  I used my Misti to stamp to make sure that it got good coverage and was lined up exactly where I wanted it.  I didn't want to take a chance of messing up my gorgeous background.  Once I had the sentiment on, I added 3 black enamel dots and added a few splatters from some Distress markers.  I mounted my panel on a Basic Black A2 cardbase and then added three loops of black baker's twine around the top portion of the card and tied it into a small bow.  I absolutely adore how it came out and hope you love it too!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings, Tina