Gina K's Mandala Maker Stamp set from Mona

My dear friend, Mona, recently sent me a package of stamping goodies including but not limited to Gina K's original Mandala Maker stamp set and Fancy Phrases stamps and dies.

I used Gina K's original Wreath Builder stencils, both the 3-3/4" and 4" versions. You can see in the photos, the 4" wreath builder extends almost to the edge of a regular 4-1/4" by 5-1/4" card.

I also followed Jennifer McGuire's Kaleidoscope Cards YouTube as I worked. She was very helpful in deciding which stamps to use! I followed her blue and green color scheme at first to get me started. It was very relaxing to make these mandala cards.

I added notes to my image for future reference. I marked the center of my card by taking the ruler and matching opposite corners. I stamped twice for most of the images to get good color coverage. 

I used all of Gina K's aqua/turquoise inks in this mandala...from the center outward: Sea Glass, Ocean Mist, Turquoise Sea, Blue Lagoon, Tranquil Teal. I had already stamped and die cut the Gina K Fancy Phrases Happy Birthday sentiment (Thank You Mona!!). Maybe I should have stamped it in Tranquil Teal instead of Versafine Onyx Black ink? I added Gina K Disco Balls sequins on some of my cards.

I'm glad I marked the ink colors used on this one...Gina K's Light Orchid, Sea Glass, Lovely Lavender and Medium Orchid as shown. I probably would not have remembered them!

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Stampfest at Lynette's, January 27, 2022

My friend, Lynette and I had a blast stamping last Thursday, Jan. 27. We explored masking and ink blending with brushes. We followed YouTube tutorials as we worked on our cards and layers. We used my new Gina K Friendly Silhouettes stamp set, except for the musical notes background in the first card. 

For this card and the six rectangle card below we followed Jennifer McGuire's YouTube,  Masked Background Techniques - Easily Achieve Amazing Results! Since we did not have the Gina K masking magic, we used post it notes plus some old post it tape Lynette found in her stash.

Starting at the bottom using blending brushes we applied Gina K turquoise sea ink then lucky clover ink. We did go back and add fresh asparagus at the top, just as in Jennifer's demo. 

We stamped a musical notes stamp (from Lynette's stash) with tranquil teal ink. Then we heat set the ink, just as Jennifer suggested. When that was dry we removed all the masking. 

We did place a strip of post its on the bottom of the rectangle before stamping with Versafine onyx black using a Gina K Friendly Silhouettes stamp. 

We did not have Gina's four rectangle window die to create our masking rectangles. We improvised by masking the area by hand. We used a piece of cardstock measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches. I placed this layer on some scrap paper. Then with a ruler, I drew guidelines on the scrap paper to help with placement of our masking.  

As you can see in the photo on the left, my rectangles on the bottom layer are "off". Lynette's card on the right have nicely aligned rectangles because she used a long strip of narrow post it tape so she could easily keep everything in alignment. 

We added color with blending brushes using these Gina K inks in the rectangles working left to right--

top layer: passionate pink, sweet mango, wild dandelion

bottom layer: powder blue, turquoise sea, grass green.

Then masking each rectangle carefully, we stamped with various images from the Friendly Silhouettes set using Versafine black onyx ink, just as Jennifer did.

For the card above, we used an oval die to cut out a mask in cardstock.  Then starting at the bottom and working our way upward, we blended with  wild wisteria, passionate pink and bubblegum pink. We did not add a text stamp background as Jennifer's card. 

Stamped one of the Friendly Silhouettes stamps by Gina K with Versafine onxy black ink before removing the mask. 

We followed the Jenny Card Designs YouTube: How To Ink Blend A Sunset Into A Night Sky | Gina K Designs Natural Silhouettes for this card layer. Starting from the bottom, we used these Gina K inks: wild dandelion, bubblegum pink, wild wisteria. Then for the blue we used distress blue denim because I do not have the Gina K blue denim. 

For the trees, I used Gina K's Friendly Silhouettes with Versafine onyx black, just as in all the rest of the silhouette stamping.

Thanks to Jennifer McGuire and Jenny of Jenny Card Designs for their clear and helpful tutorials which made our card making day very fun and productive!

Thank you for visiting!

Peace and all good!

More Inside Shadow Box Beach Cards

 

Here you see the fronts of two Inside Shadow Box cards that I made. I found a "new for me" Hero Arts Stamp & Cut set called Beach Please (DC238) at JoAnn's on clearance for $6. Used that on the card front.

I stamped the images with distress black soot and colored with coloring pencils. Here is a closer look at one of the fronts of the cards. You can always click on an image to see an enlarged view.

Here you see the inside of one of the cards. Both cards are the same inside-an Inside Shadow Box card. I followed Jennifer McGuire's instructions.  

For the water scene inside, I cut a separate panel, which goes behind the oval cut out. Used my Misti and stamped the waves (Hero Arts Color Layering Waves CM316) with Gina K's inkpads, stamping with the lighter blues and going to the darker:

ocean mist

turquoise sea

blue lagoon.

The cloud is stamped in distress broken china.

The islands are stamped in Stampin' Up! wild wasabi. I used the 2 smaller cloud stamps for this, stamping the bigger portion once and the smaller portion (for dimension) a couple times to make that a darker green.

For the sand, I applied oxide antique linen ink with a blending brush. Left a little white before I reached the waves. Stamped some dots in distress tea dye ink with a Judith peg stamp. Afterward, I noticed that the Beach Please set HAD a stamp of 4 tiny dots that I could have used!

For the boat, birds and sentiment, I used distress black soot.

I stamped the chair in Stampin' UP! peekaboo peach ink multiple times using my Misti. Then I fussy cut and glued part of it to the oval opening.

Footsteps are stamped in distress tea dye ink.

The "Thinking of you sentiment" is from an old (2012) Hero Arts set called Everyday Sayings, CL342.

Thanks for visiting. Peace and All Good!

Flower Sketched on Watercolor Backgrounds

I find so much inspiration online.

Fell in love with Tracee Murphy's Poppies Watercolor and Ink.

Saw it first on Pinterest, but the pin was bad. 

So I searched for the correct image and pinned it here.

On the watercolor base I tested Portfolio Binny Smith watercolors that Lynette gave me.

She found them at a garage sale!

After the watercolors dried, I used sequin waste as a stencil and sponged with broken china ink.

Added white acrylic paint to the top portion using a paint brush.

Wasn't happy with the look, so I placed sequin waste over the wet paint, 

then rubbed with a cloth to remove some white paint. 

I drew the flowers with a Sakura fine tip marker. 

Used Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers to outline them.

Stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment with Versafine black onyx ink.

Here is another background layer. I like to make multiples when I have the watercolors out. Notice the warping of the paper.

In the card above, I tried Jennifer McGuire's method to attach the watercolor layer to the card base. I cut a piece of craft foam slightly smaller than the  watercolor layer. The craft foam is about 2 mm thick. I was happy with the way the craft foam layer helped to flatten the warped watercolor layer.

Click here to see Jennifer's YouTube tutorial showing how she uses craft foam instead of foam tape to attach large layers to cards. She demonstrates how the mail processing machines added wrinkles to the large layer that had been adhered with strips of foam tape.

I used Scrapbook Adhesives super high-tack tape on both sides of the foam to attach it between the watercolor layer and the card base. Jennifer advises that any strong double sided adhesive will work. She shows a couple of methods to attach the craft foam in her video.

Materials used:

Portfolio watercolors: 620 cadmium yellow, 136 phthalo blue, 375 sap green

Distress inks: broken china, Versafine black onyx

White acrylic paint

Sequin waste

Jane Davenport mermaid markers: pirate's gold and seaweed

Sakura microperm ultra fine 05 pen

Hero Arts stamp

Craft foam, 2 mm thick

Scrapbook Adhesives super high-tack adhesive tape

Thanks for visiting! 

Wishing you love and peace!