Stampfest at Lynette's May 26, 2025

Yesterday Don and I visited Lynette for the first time since my knee replacement surgery two months ago. We had a great time visiting. Enjoyed lunch at LongHorn's. Later we all enjoyed Phigment wine, cheese and crackers and chips and salsa for our supper. Lynette and I both loved the Rosemary Flatbread crackers from Aldi-they came in a box.

Lynette and I each made three cards. We found great card samples online, with BIG THANKS to...

Rachel Tessman of Stamp Your Art Out

and

Seeka of Sky Paper Scissors.

 

Note:  you can always click on an image to see a larger view of it.

We used directions from Rachel Tessman's Layering Leaves Square Column Fold Card blogpost. She listed the sizes of the various papers on that blog.

The card base is 5-1/2 x 10-1/8" scored at 4-1/4", 5-3/4", 7-1/4" and 8-3/4".

For the brick dry embossed panels, you start with 3 pieces: 

  2 of them are 1-3/8" x 5-3/8" 

  and

  1 of them is   1-1/8"   x 3-3/4".

We used Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Bricked embossing folder, after cutting the pieces.

We drew our own vase, using Kraft paper for it. Then Lynette stamped a texture stamp with GK warm cocoa ink on it.

The die cut leaves we used were from Lynette's stash.

I stamped a sentiment from Altenew's Leaf Canopy set on the banner of my card.

 

For our second card...

we found A Hidden Scenery Z-Fold Card on Rachel Tessman's blog. I tapped the "Page Down Key" three times to arrive at two photos of this card. She used beautiful printed paper from SU's December 2023 Paper Pumpkin Kit. She has a link there which leading to her Sept. 13, 2023 Autumn Hidden Scenery Z-Fold cards. There you find her directions for this style of card:

Card base  5-1/2 x 8-1/2"

Score at 2-1/8" and 4-1/4"

For the small aqua folded card that is attached later cut layer:  5-1/2 x 3"

For the white layer on the front and inside, cut two:  2-1/2 x 2-1/8"

We stamped our own design on our white cardstock base using Stampin Up's Spring Garden. We stamped the stems in GK's Jelly Bean Green and the flowers in SU's Yo Yo Yellow. For the cloud background, we used Lynette's cloud stencil with Distress Tumbled Glass ink and a blending brush. It was very fun to customize our card design, but if you have printed paper like Rachel's that would be very pretty too.

We used a word art stamp from the Stampin' Up! set called Natural Beauty for the outside of the small aqua folded card. You can write a note inside or you can use a stamp for the inside, like Lynette did.

This card is attached on the left side only. The fold part slips undereath the right side of the folded card to keep the z-fold part tucked inside. Rachel shows exactly where to add foam tape to the back of the folded card in her YouTube, December 2023 All The Best Paper Pumpkin Kit: First Set of Alternate Projects

Lynette added two yellow butterflies to the inside of her card to enhance the scene!

Our third card was inspired by Seeka's April 11, 2022 blogpost on Sky Paper Scissors. We used Gina K's inks. From the bottom up: Key Lime, Lucky Clover and Sea Glass. I think I started using my green blending brush at first, so the top layer is rather green-ish! 

Lynette die cut all the Gina K Botanic Duo flowers/leaves. She used her Cuttlebug, with dies facing up, the cardstock on top of the dies AND a piece of bubble wrap on top of the cardstock. Then the B plate on top of that. In the past I had trouble getting these dies to cut completely. She had no problem. I'll give her method a try the next time I cut these at home.

Lynette also cut stitched circles from Vellum and a smaller one from cardstock. She did not attach her die pieces, putting everything aside for later. That's why I only have my card photo.

A great big THANKS to Rachel Tessman for her wonderful blogposts. Loved your Layering Leaves Square Column card and your Hidden Scenery Z-Fold Card.  You have such an artistic eye for color and design. We really appreciate your sharing the blogposts with us!

Thanks also to Seeka for her Sky Paper Scissors blogpost on ink blending and Gina K's Botanic Duo dies. What a beautiful layout! Love the use of the Vellum circle under the white cardstock circle. Thanks for sharing beautiful cards with everyone.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Saran Wrap and Cereal Bag technique, Scrunch First

 

Wanted to try Saran Wrap technique with some darker colors, maybe for guy cards. Used Canson watercolor paper 140 lb/300 g, 9 x 12 inch size. I cut that in half.  On the left, I taped the watercolor paper down by the edges with old washi tape. I neglected to tape the watercolor paper down on the right.

Spritzed the watercolor paper with water. Then added Jane Davenport Brights Palette watercolors, Fairytale, Frida and Ink colors, spritzing when needed to keep the paints wet.  

LEFT PANEL: This time I scrunched the Saran Wrap before applying to the top of the wet paint. I liked the results better when scrunching the wrap first...more dramatic lines created. 

RIGHT PANEL: Using the same cleaned cereal bag, I scrunched it first then applied to the wet watercolor panel. I taped it down with washi tape instead of placing an old heavy book on top.

You can see the difference between how the Saran Wrap, left and the Cereal bag, right create patterns in the wet watercolor paints. I like both looks. The cereal bag is more eco friendly, as it is being reused when the cereal is gone and it can be reused multiple times.

I cut a 3-3/4 x 5 inch panel and placed it on top of a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" white card base to get an idea of how this would look. I'm thinking it would be a nice birthday card for a guy.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Saran Wrap Technique Again, Slight Variation

 

On these panels, I used a thinner Canson watercolor paper, 117 lb/250 g/m2. It comes in a 5.5 by 8.5 inch tablet. I taped both layers down with Scrapbook.com Mint Tape, re-using it from the other day. I spritzed the paper with a fine mist of water. Then I randomly added Jane Davenport Brights watercolors to the wet paper. I spritzed if the paint started to dry. 

Then I scrunched both the Saran Wrap-Left, and the cereal bag-Right before placing on the wet watercolor paint. I placed an old book on top of the cereal bag because the scrunched part wanted to unfold. The Saran Wrap's scrunched part remained in place after placing it on the wet watercolor paint.

I was inspired to scrunch the plastic wraps before placing them on top of the wet watercolor paint as shown in this YouTube: Watercolor Techniques - Plastic Wrap by Ms. Covart from March 7, 2017. I like this more dramatic design created with this method of scrunching the plastic film before placing it on the wet watercolor.

...and I'm very happy to re-use the cereal bag. It cleans up easily with plain water.

Thank you for visiting!

Peace and all good!

More Wrinkle Free Distress

Here are results from the Wrinkle Free Distress technique from yesterday. I used Gina K's inkpads, smooshed on the white section of my glass mat, spritzed with water and dipped watercolor paper in it multiple times. Used Canson watercolor paper, 140 lb/300 g/m2 cut into smaller pieces. At first I started with these inkpads: bubblegum pink, light orchid and wild lilac. But then I added passionate pink too. 

You can see how the ink colors move when water is spritzed on them.

You can see how the lighter weight Canson 117 lb/250 g/m2 watercolor paper really curled up. I used a full size, 5.5 x 8.5 inch piece. 

I placed a eyedropper bottle on top to flatten it a bit as it dried.

I hope to make some cards with these panels!

Thank you for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Saran Wrap Technique

An artist friend shared a panel of her Saran Wrap technique recently. After seeing her art, I just had to try it. 

 

On my first attempt, I cut watercolor paper into smaller pieces. Then with a brush I wet the watercolor paper panels with plain water. Then added these watercolors, Mystic, Frida and Butterfly from my Jane Davenport Brights watercolor palette. Placed Saran Wrap over and made wrinkles in the Saran Wrap with my finger.

Note: you can click on any image to see a larger version of it.

After it dried, I did not get many "wrinkle lines" as you can see in the results. My panels curled and since they were not taped down, the Saran Wrap shifted. 

On my second attempt at Saran Wrap Technique I taped two larger pieces of watercolor paper to my glass mat with Scrapbook.com Mint Tape. Note that on the right one, I used a breakfast cereal pouch. I learned about that on a YouTube, What can I use instead of plastic wrap in watercolor?... by Liz Chaderton Studio. She talked about how to use a cereal bag at the 3:19 mark in the timeline.

I tried to take a photo of the opened cereal bag. It's difficult to see on the white part of my glass mat.

Above you can see the result of the Saran Wrap layer on the left and the cereal bag layer on the right. I scrunched up the cereal bag before placing it on the wet watercolor. Then added a heavy book to weigh it down.

Here is a picture of my Jane Davenport Brights Watercolors.Colors used for the panels above are...

Left: Buzzy (yellow), Jimminy (lighter green) & Mermaid (green blue). 

Right: Best Friend, Fairytale, 70s Eye Shadow, and a little Mermaid.

I cut the panels and plan to make cards. Here is what they may look like. I probably will add a white leaves die cut, like the first card. I am thinking of using these as Thank You cards for my neighbors and friends who have been so sweet to me for the past 4 weeks while I recover from knee replacement surgery.

Thank you for visiting.

Peace and all good.

Wrinkle Free Distress April 2025

 

I was inspired to make some wrinkle free distress backgrounds recently after running across a beautiful card by Jung Ahsang from 2015! I used watercolor paper, cut to about 3-1/4 by 4-1/4 inches. I dabbed distress inks onto my glass mat-in the white section, so I could see the colors: picked raspberry, worn lipstick, scattered straw and ripe persimmon. NOTE: initially I used spun sugar, but subbed worn lipstick instead. Spritzed the inks with water. Then dragged the watercolor paper through it to pickup color. You can go back and add more color if desired. 

Allow the paper to dry. You can use a heat tool to speed up the drying time. Used Versafine onyx black to stamp the images.

Flowers from Crafters Square, a gift from Lynette! Belated birthday stamp from DeNami Design. I don't know if they are in business anymore.

Flowers from Crafters Square (again). This time I added leaves to change it up a bit.

Leaves from Pink & Main, a gift from Mona!

Happy Birthday from Gina K's Happy Hydrangea small stamp set.

For my last card, I used an old Stampin' Up! inkpad called positively pink. Used Gina K's Mandala Maker for the flowers and "leaves". 

Happy Birthday from Hero Arts A2153.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and All Good!

Beach Cards, April 2025

My beach panels were inspired by Jackie Bolhuis' Beach Themed Cards Here. I love the look she creates with the Stampin' Up! Oceanfront stamp set. But I don't have that set. So I tried to re-create it on watercolor paper cut to about 3 x 4-1/4 inches. I wet the paper first with a round paintbrush. Then I pressed inkpads directly onto my glass mat-the white section. Used a round paintbrush dipped in water and picked up color and added it to my watercolor paper. Card on left started with Gina K sea glass for the sky and ocean mist for the water. I changed to ocean mist for the sky and turquoise sea for the water on the center and right panels. Used Gina K sandy beach for the land. Used Stampscapes Gulls-302A, Cattails-016B and Reeds Lg.068D with Distress ground espresso. I forgot to add the sun like Jackie did. 

You can always click on an image to see a larger version.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Stampfest at Lynette's March 11, 2025

Lynette, Don and I spent the day together at her place on Tuesday. We had a great day visiting, enjoying a delicious lunch at Naf Naf's and at the end of the day, enjoying some wine, cheese and crackers and chips and salsa! 

Lynette and I always have a great time stamping together! Tuesday was no different! Above you see three of the four card designs we made.

This card was made by Lynette a long time ago. It's such a pretty card that we decided to try and make one like it. The green ring was made from the outer petals of Stampin' Up's Summer Sunflower stamp. The butterfly and script stamps were part of Stampin' Up!'s Botanicals.

We decided to use the flower from Stampin' Up!'s Botanicals. For the flourishes we use a clear Rhonna Farrer? stamp from Lynette's stash. Used a clear circle stamp with lines made by Kelly Panacci called Memo.

We cut a circle mask from thinner paper with a circle punch. Stamped the Summer Sunflower stamp with distress peeled paint over the circle mask to create border of  "leaves". Then stamped Kelly Panacci's circle lined stamp in the center with distress peeled paint ink. Using what was left after punching the circle, we masked the green leaves area and stamped the Botanicals script in distress candied apple. 

Stamped the flower from Botanicals in distress candied apple. Stamped the butterfly from SU's Botanicals with candied apple on separate cardstock to be applied with foam tape after all was done. Used blending brushes to add candied apple and peeled paint to the background. Used foam tape apply our butterflies.

These cards were made with Lynette's My Meadow stamp set by Stampin' Up. Lynette found a similar My Meadow card on from Pinterest. (We were unable to find the source of the Pin.) We used watercolor paper and Gina K's inks, starting with moonlit fog for the gazebo, warm cocoa for the tree trunks. We used an aqua painter/water brush to blend the ink right after stamping to give a watercolor effect. We learned this from Jackie Bolhuis' YouTube 

https://klompenstampers.com/stampin-up-card-ideas-feel-like-an-artist/

which you will see more in the next card. 

We used GK sea glass for the pond (I think), moonlit fog for the bridge, jelly bean green for the leaves and grassy meadow. Not sure which green for the flower leaves. The flowers were stamped in cherry red, wild dandelion, sweet mango and wild lilac. The stones by the pond were stamped in soft stone. We used colored pencils to add a little extra color and for a little shading too.

After beginning and finding that the brown tree trunks bled into the green leaves, I started to use a heat tool to dry my work with the aqua brush before stamping the next item in this fun scene.

The two cards above are made with Stampin' Up's Snow Front, a scene type of stamp set. We used the Jackie Bolhuis technique from her YouTube linked above. I added one of Lynette's sentiment stamps for the thinking of you card I want to send.

We used Lynette's old wood mounted Stampin' Up! Tulip set for these four card panels using Gina K's cherry red and bubblegum pink inks for the flowers. For the more solid leaves we used Gina K's jelly bean green. For the accent lines stamp on the leaves, we used fresh asparagus ink. 

We really enjoyed "going back in time" using the old wood mounted stamps! Always enjoyed Stampin' Up's definitely decorative two step stamps. This one was surprisingly easy to match up. 

Thank you for visiting!

Wishing you peace and all good!

Stampfest at Lynette's January 17, 2025

Don and I visited Lynette Friday, January 17, 2025. We walked to Sugar Bowl restaurant, enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather. Two of us had the delicious Hobo breakfast skillet and one had a big hamburger meal with fries. Plenty to eat and lots of leftovers to bring home.

Lynette found a great card idea created by Ceal Pritchett for My Sweet Petunia. Lynette used her Waffle Flower Postage Collage Die to make two postage layers. We then cut the individual "stamps" by using scissors to cut on the perforation lines. Voilá 6 stamps for each of us. We decided we could each make two cards.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Nature Walk, Botanicals, French script and postage cancellation

Unity - a butterfly collage stamp, and stamps from her stash

Inks: Gina K warm cocoa for the script, Versafine onyx black

Colored pencils

We had so much fun making flowers on watercolor paper at our May 7, 2024 Stampfest that we 

re-visited Amy William's technique Water Coloring Made Easy! This time, we used Lynette's watercolors from her stash. She had made a palette of dried tube watercolors on a plastic covered tray with round "wells". It worked great with a waterbrush...and we used an old rag to absorb extra water from the brush when needed.

Lynette's four panels are first. Then the next image of five panels is mine. 

We were inspired by some Pinterest pins to add more to the stems this time...extra lines and dots and lots of little leaves. We plan to add the panels to a card base.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Peace and all good!!