Thanksgiving Sprig Cards

I keep my cards simple when I make more than a few. This year's Thanksgiving card was inspired by a beautiful card by Debbie Gaudin shared on the Gina K Designs & StampTV Friends Facebook Group. Thank you Debbie for such beautiful inspiration!

I cut a circle mask and then I stamped freehand using Gina K's Grateful Greenery Mini set.  The stitched circle is from Gina's Master Layouts 5.

Inks:

Gina K grass green, fresh asparagus, honey mustard, turquoise sea

Distress gathered twigs, brushed corduroy, wild honey, fossilized amber, twisted citron

The brown sprig is from Gina K's Original Wreath Builder set.

Thanks for visiting. I am so thankful for family and friends and for just being alive!

Halloween Cards 2021

Happy Halloween!

Used the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Snarky Cat Halloween set, along with old book paper, stencils, distress inks and a favorite Hero Arts stamp & cut set, Ribbon Messages, for my friend's Halloween Birthday card!

I played with various stencils using distress carved pumpkin and crushed olive inks. The cats were stamped in Versafine onyx black ink, fussy cut and sponged with distress wilted violet. Cats eyes colored with yellow colored pencil.

You can always click on any image to view a larger size.

Used various colored pencils to add a touch of color inside the card.

Hope you are having a VERY FUN HALLOWEEN!!  Stay safe and ENJOY!

Stampfest at Lynette's, October 29, 2021

 

My friend, Lynette, and I had so much fun stamping together yesterday. We explored the Gina K technique of Stencils as Embossing Folders and the Laser Cut Wood Technique. I brought a bunch of stencils from my stash and my the Gina K Joyful Holiday Kit which includes the Perfect Poinsettia set. 

Using white cardstock measuring 4 x 5.25 inches, we scored it at every 1/2 inch as shown. For our first two cards, we applied ink directly from the inkpad to the scored paper piece, starting with distress pumice stone, then adding distress stormy sky over that.  

To emboss with the Cuttlebug, we placed a tan rubber cutting mat on the thickest "A" plate. Then we placed our scored layer face down. On top of that we placed the stencil. Then we added 2 cuttlebug B plates on top. Then we added some paper shims. When at home I use a piece of cardboard Cuttlebug packaging that came with one of my larger embossing folders. You need some some pressure when running the layers through the Cuttlebug, but not too tight to break anything! Just enough pressure to get an impression. 

After removing the cardstock we swiped across the paper with more ink. I think for these first 2 cards we used stormy sky distress ink.

For the next two cards, we used distress pumice stone first, then distress worn Jeans before and after using the stencil with the Cuttlebug.

I wanted to try this Fleur de Lis stencil. 

Used distress antique linen on the scored paper first. Then added distress scattered straw. Once the stencil was embossed with the Cuttlebug I swiped the paper with distress wild honey.

Here you see we switched gears...we were trying to imitate a beautiful card made by Debbie Cowles on the Gina K Facebook group.

Lynette's card looks much more like Debbie's card!  Used one of the stamps in Gina K's Perfect Poinsettia set.  Lynette stamped the flower in shaded lilac, but after inking the stamp she spritzed a little water on it before making the impression. She stamped the stem and leaves, from Stampin' Up's Definitely Decorative Tulip set, in SU's certainly celery ink. For the flower center she stamped another flower stamp using distress chipped sapphire ink. She was not quite finished with making this card. The panel is just sitting on top of purple cardstock from her stash.

I had to try something different and did not do so well, especially when I mixed up the greens! I stamped some trailing leaves and individual leaves from Gina K's Sketched Flowers set using Gina's lucky clover and SU's certainly celery. I need to make some large poinsettias to cover up my mistakes!  May also try Lynette's water spritzing technique on watercolor paper to get that gorgeous dreamy look that  Debbie Cowles created. 

Lynette and I had the best time stamping together and just hangin' out for the day. God has blessed me with a dear friend in Lynette! Hope you are able to spend time with dear friends! Thanks for visiting and stay healthy and be safe! Peace and all good.

Sunshine Silhouette Card

 

Made this sunshine card after seeing Gina K's Sunshine Silhouette - 5 Minute Cards YouTube. This was fun and quick and easy! I didn't use the dies to cut the layers. Just cut "freehand" with my Fiskars cutter. 

I masked the bottom portion as shown by Gina. Using her Sunshine Stencil and a blending brush, added distress scattered straw ink first, working around the edge of the sun and the rays and getting lighter further out. Then I added spiced marmalade ink to get some contract at the edge of the sun and up into the rays slightly. Gina described and demonstrated this method of adding color in the great video. I did not have the ink colors she used.

I do not have the Gina K's Wild Blossoms stamp. I tried to arrange a few sprigs stamps in the Misti. Stamped a sample, but it did not look great. Luckily I found an Inkakindado Meadow stamp that I stamped with Versafine onxy black ink. 

I like how Gina used a 1/8 inch strip of black cardstock at the masking line. I glued it with some nice thick white glue from my stash. I had put the glue in a small bottle with a needle nose tip. However the tip always gets clogged and I have to play with getting the glue to flow. 

Happy birthday stamped in the Versafine black onyx ink using a Stampabilities stamp.

Thanks so much for visiting! Peace and all good!

Time to Coast Cards

 

I had so much fun making these seaside cards with Gina K's Time To Coast stamp set and her cool window dies from the Master Layouts 5 die set.  

This was my first card. On a quarter sheet of white cardstock, I stamped the lighthouse with my Misti using Marvy #1 black ink for all 3 cards. The lighthouse, clouds and rocks are one stamp. 

I should have cut out a mask for the clouds and lighthouse before blending the colors of the sky!

I used sticky notes at the horizon line, to separate the sky from the ocean.  Using blending brushes, I added ink to the sky starting at the horizon and going upward with the following: 

distress spiced marmalade

distress scattered straw

Gina K ocean mist

Gina K blue lagoon

distress faded jeans at the top. 

For the ocean I covered the sky at the horizon using sticky notes, applying distress oxide salty ocean with a blending brush.

Then I colored the lighthouse red and the tops of the rocks grey using "Simply" Daler Rowney colored pencils. 

Used black cardstock to frame the lighthouse piece and then attached to a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" white card.

For this card and the next one, I made a mask to cover the clouds and lighthouse, so my clouds stayed white. I also used sticky notes at the horizon line to mask the ocean. 

Using blending brushes, I added ink to the sky starting at the horizon and going upward with the following:

Gina K wild dandelion

Gina K ocean mist

distress faded jeans.

For the ocean I used distress salty ocean (not the oxide this time). 

In addition to the "Simply" Daler Rowney red and grey colored pencils used in the previous card,  I also used a Jane Davenport colored pencil called "ink" to add shading to the clouds where there were "lines". 

I made the window using white cardstock and Gina K's faux woodgrain technique explained on  her  Sunset Window Scene with Master Layouts 5 - Stamp and Chat Live Replay. The woodgrain appears almost like magic! Love this technique.  For the window, I used distress pumice stone on a quarter sheet of cardstock to create faux woodgrain. Then I cut Gina's frame and rectangle from the Master Layouts 5 dies set. 

For the scene behind the window,  I used the same method for the sky previously described, except I used these colors:

distress dried marigold

distress scattered straw

Gina K ocean mist

distress faded jeans

I used a Faber Castell #152 colored pencil to add blue to the ocean. 

I followed Gina's Creating an Ink Blended Window Scene - Stamp and Chat Live Replay very helpful for details in positioning the window over the scene as well as Gina's blending ideas. 

Used Gina K's scalloped rectangle (3.85" x 5") from Gina's Master Layouts 4 die set to cut the blue layer behind the window.

Thanks for visiting! Peace and all good!

Fluttering Fall Stamp and Stencil Bundle

I treated myself to Gina K's Fluttering Fall Stamp and Stencil Bundle. Found Gina's YouTube tutorial Washi Tape Background Technique and a Fluttering Fall Card Idea very helpful. Gina gives excellent advice on cutting the stencils out first and using removable tape to keep the cutout in place on your work surface. Then it is easy to center the stencil. I kept my flowers simple-using only 2 ink colors, a light color first, with the larger stencil. Then a darker color for the smaller stencil. I omitted the circle oval and the dotted center stencil parts as shown in Gina's video only. This was a totally new technique of adding color with the stencil. I look forward to using more of the stencil parts next time.

Instead of using Gina's washi tape background, I made a faux woodgrain background that I learned from Gina's Creating an Ink Blended Window Scene - Stamp and Chat Live Replay. Scroll to about 18:31 minutes to see how she swipes an inkpad over scored cardstock to look like planks of wood. I used white paper and distress antique linen ink on this card.

For the butterfly I used distress shaded lilac, distress wilted violet, distress and a Gelly Roll 08 white pen for the dots.

For the leaves and twig: GK jelly bean green, GK honey mustard

The sentiment is from Gina K's Original Wreath Builder stamp set. 

Butterfly:  GK sea glass and tranquil teal

Flower same as above, but added dots with Gelly Roll 08 white pen.

Leaves: ink blended the GK jelly bean green first then added a touch of GK tranquil teal to give the leaves a two-tone look, see minute 44:00 in her YouTube video.

Sentiment; Love and prayers, are 2 stamps from Gina's Fluttering Fall Stamp set. 

Butterfly: distress mustard seed and dried marigold

Woodgrain:  distress weathered wood

Butterfly: distress spun sugar, GK bubblegum pink

Thank you stamp is from Hero Arts Message Circles LP114

Woodgrain: distress tumbled glass

Flower: GK wild dandelion, honey mustard

Single pair of leaves from GK Sketched Flowers

Enjoy and shadow die from GK Time to Coast Kit

"because it's the day you were born" sentiment from GK Enjoyable Greetings

Woodgrain: distress pumice stone

Thank you so much for visiting! Stay safe and healthy!

Peace and all good!

Wrinkle Free Distress Panels From My Stash

 Ran across some wrinkle free distress panels and made birthday cards with them, attaching to a dry embossed panel of cardstock.

 

Cuttlebug embossing folders: Birds and Swirls, Diamonds in the Rough, Victoria

Ink:  Marvy # 1 Black. I don't have a list of the inks used for the wrinkle free distress technique because these panels were from my stash.

Stamps: Penny Black 4271L winter ledge, 3880K fantasy (tree), Hero Arts DC184 Ribbon Messages Stamp & Cut

Thanks so much for visiting! Stay healthy! Peace and all good!

Sponge Dab Background

I made my own background using the same ink colors to stamp the main layer which are: 

Stampin' Up! hello honey, wild wasabi and distress crushed olive. I dabbed them on with an oval sponge from my stash.

Here is a photo to give you an idea of how I added color with the sponge.

For the front of the card I used Gina K's Sketched Flowers. In addition to the inks for the background, I also used distress brushed corduroy for the center of the flower and Versafine onyx black for the sentiment. I stamped off on the wild wasabi to get the softer green leaf vines.

Used my "Sponge Dab" technique for this new home, torn pocket card for our new neighbors. I include 2 inserts, tucked into the pockets: one with my information and one for our neighbor to complete and share if desired. More details on my other torn pocket cards here and here. They are very fun to make! 

Inks: distress mustard seed, spiced marmalade, twisted citron, mowed lawn; Marvy #1 black

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Good Neighbors, Hero Arts H2945 Happy, Happy, Happy and ledger stamp. The addresses and info have been blurred.

Thanks for visiting. Peace and all good!

Wreath Cards with the Original Gina K Wreath Builder

Here are five wreath cards I made using Gina K's original wreath builder templates. You can use either a 4 inch square or a 3-3/4 inch square of cardstock to make these wreaths. I used a 3-3/4 inch square for the cards with the black framing layer. For the cards without black, I used a 4 inch square of cardstock.

I was inspired by Gina K's  recent Stamp & Chat Live Replays:

Making a Multi-color Wreath in Only Four Turns with the Wreath Builder

and

Mandala Making Tips and Tricks 

Stamps: Gina K Original Wreath Builder, AltenewWildflower Garden, Stampabilities, Hero Arts

Thanks for visiting! Peace and all good!