Stampfest at Lynette's September 7, 2026

Don and I enjoyed Labor Day at Lynette's place. We always have such a good time together. The weather was perfect...with a cool breeze coming through the open windows. 

Lynette and I had a bunch of fun techniques to try. Our first project was inspired by a collage-y card made by a member of  the Facebook group, "Come crafting with Natasha"...as in Natasha Foote.

You can click on any image and a larger version will appear.

We created a background using Stampin Up! celery ink with a sequin waste stencil (circles), Distress Abandoned Coral ink with a stencil from Lynette's stash and Distress Squeezed Lemonade.

Then we stamped images in Versafine Onyx Black ink using:

BoBunny Mixed Media stamp #2604841: circles and perpendicular lines

Stampin' Up! Avant Garden: twig

and an unknown butterfly stamp.

The flowers were made by dry embossing white cardstock with the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.

Then Lynette die cut the flowers with a Sizzix Tim Holtz Big Flower Tattered Florals thick die. 

The center circles were cut from rose cardstock using two punches: 3/4 inch and a 1/4 inch.

Our Bird with Tickets cards were  inspired by a Zoey Scarpelli card seen on the Stampers Anonymous Instagram.  We stamped Hero Arts H2141 Manuscript Backgroundscript background stamp twice to fill the panel using Distress Hickory Smoke ink.

We ink blended with Distress Vintage Photo ink and the sequin waste circle stencil at the top left and bottom right of the panel. We also ink blended the background panel with Distress Vintage photo, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey and Gina K's Blue Denim.

Lynette used a Stampers Anonymous bird stamp, inked with Hero Arts Brilliance Mediterranian Blue ink. Then to get the design on her bird, She used a clear Hero Arts background stamp on the table and pressed her inked bird to it, creating the design...a technique known as "kissing". 

Tickets were made with clear stamps of unknown manufacturer.

The small heart is an old Stampin' Up!wood mounted stamp from 1994.

Our Butterfly card was inspired by Des Papillons by Gervaise found on Pinterest and also on Canalblog/Scrap Photos

https://gervaisescrap.canalblog.com/albums/cartes_14/photos/114512694-sam__3_.html?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic

Lynette developed a technique for our background by...

swiping an inkpad on a craft sheet, 

spritzing it with water 

then dipping a scrunched strip of bubble wrap in it 

and tapping it on a layer of watercolor paper.

We ended up liking SU Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore inks. If you look closely you will see the Distress Broken China, which has a more muted tone-a more gray blue color.

Used Versafine Onyx Black for the stamping:

Compass from Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints Strip Travel Cling Rubber Stamps thmb008

Hummingbird from Stampin' Up! Bloomin' Marvelous

Tiny script wood stamp from Stampa Rosa@TinCanMail, 2000

BoBunny mixed media-3 circles

and Bo Bunny Airmail Stamps-the number 23.

We also made five additional watercolor panels, 3 x 4-1/2 inch size which will be very handy for making other cards.

Our next project was about creating a watercolor look with stamping. We referred to

Beth's Paper Cuts YouTube, Avant Garden Sale-a-Bration set ~ Beth's Paper Cuts from Jan. 25, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYlVmbDbod0&t=219s

Beth also has a blogpost for this, Avant Garden ~ A card all about Sale-a-Bration

https://bethrush-bethspapercuts.blogspot.com/2017/01/avant-garden-card-all-about-sale-bration.html

Beth stamped on SU shimmery white cardstock saying it would hold up to watercoloring better than plain cardstock. We did not have the SU shimmery white cardstock, so we used watercolor paper. 

For our first try, we stamped  the flowers on dry watercolor paper, let it dry, then used a waterbrush to "paint" over the color hoping the color would spread a bit. We did not get much activity with the waterbrush.

Above is our second try. First we spritzed the watercolor paper with water, then stamped the images. As you can see, we have more movement of water. I'm not sure I like this better.  As I worked on this blogpost, I found that Jackie Bolhuis created thisYouTube, Simple Stamping Techniques--Watercolor Look  in Jan 15, 2013. I would like to try that. 

However, her success may relate to using a water based marker pen (She used Stampin' Up! markers) instead of an inkpad. I really like the softer look as the water moves the color on her panel.

 

Here we are in Lynette's stamping room.

Thank you for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Stampfest at Lynette's July 23, 2026

Don and I visited Lynette on Thursday, July 23. We had a great time visiting! We took a walk to a favorite little restaurant for lunch. The weather was so pleasant...not too hot! Then Lynette and I had a productive stamping session. We enjoyed making quilt style cards, an impressive style one layer card and fun collage cards.

For our Quilt Look cards, we followed the YouTube tutorial by Jacque Williams

from September 7, 2022

Three Easy Ways to Create A Quilting Effect with Paper!

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AruyIo_KxDw&t=198s

This card tutorial starts at about the 7:42 minute mark.

Lynette found the perfect paper for this technique from a 12 x 12 paper pad. It had one inch rows of different designs. We each needed a 3 inch square for this technique. We cut that square in half vertically and horizontally. That gave us 4 pieces, each 1-1/2 inch square. We rotated each square to get a new design. We used a piece of blank printer paper as our base, adhering the 4 pieces to that. The center where the 4 squares meet need to be even. It's ok if the sides are not even. Any uneven part on the side can be trimmed. Once our 4 squares dried on the printer paper, we trimmed and ran that piece thrrough the cuttlebug in an embossing folder. Lynette had a great "quilt look" embossing folder! We mounted our "quilt piece" onto dark green cardstock...then onto a cream card.

For our One Layer cards we followed the YouTube tutorial by Justine Hovey

from June 7, 2026

These One-Layer Cards Are Fooling Everyone (Here's How I Made Them)

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZT8KDvw4aw&t=298s

This card tutorail starts at about the 9:13 minute mark.

We used Lynette's pretty outline flower stamp.  For this technique the flower has to be just an outline. We will be ink blending over the flower, but with the bloom part masked, so it remains white. We stamped the flower on the left side of a white card with Versafine Onyx Black ink. It needs to dry thoroughly.  

On a separate piece of printer paper, we stamped the flower and let the ink dry thoroughly. Then fussy cut out just the bloom part to create a mask. Lynette did that! She's excellent at fussy cutting! She added removable tape runner dots to the back of the flower and placed it over the flower to mask it before we added the blue ink blending!

We tore a piece of printer paper large enough to cover the right side of the card. Placed that on our card where we wanted the card to be white. You can tear the paper to whatver shape/design you like. Then we ink blended the left side of the card, where the flower is stamped and where the blossom is masked. The home made mask worked very well. No curling up as we ink blended. Lynette used Distress Faded Jeans ink. I used Gina K Turquois Sea ink.

Lynette's collage cards

For our collage cards  we were inspired by Sherry Roth's Stamped Treasures blog

from June 17, 2026

Have Scraps? Try This!

LINK: https://stampedtreasures.com/have-scraps-try-this/

We used old book paper, vintage look yellow vellum with advertisements, printed tags from a 12 x 12 printed paper pack, and some other odds and ends.

We stamped some images and text with Versafine Onyx Black ink, Distress Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso. 

All our cards were fun to make. It's especially fun working with Lynette, who is very creative and artistsic and is very welcoming!

Thank you for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Collage Flower Cards

Made this collage flower card a few months ago, after being inspired by a beautiful card received from a friend. I had so much fun making this that I made several variations. My friend's card had a similar layout including the circle of twine stapled and the banners and leaves coming from the flower.

 

Picture shows stamps used for the background. They were from the following stamp sets: 

Stampin' Up:  Looks like spring and Itty Bitty Background

Hero Arts: E2305 Window Screen Background

The leaves were cut with Spellbinders Autumn Leaves 9 cutting dies that I found on clearance from Hobby Lobby for $5.27.

Inks:

Distress Gathered Twigs, Pumice Stone, Antique Linen

Gina K Sea Glass or Ocean Mist

Stamps:

Stampin' Up: Roses in Winter, Letters from Friends-postage stamp

Gina K Tropical Blooms (happy birthday)

Inks: 

Gina K Sea Glass, Ocean Mist, Tranquil Teal

Stamps:

Gina K Friendly Silhouettes (friend)

Stampin' Up!: Roses in Winter, Antique Collectible (thimble)

Inks:

Gina K Ocean Mist, Blue Lagoon

Stamps:

Stampscapes-Tree Trunk Trio-088F

Gina K Tropical Blooms-flowers

Inks:

Distress Brushed Corduroy. 

Gina K Sea Glass, Blue Lagoon

Gina K Tropical Blooms-flower: Stippled flowers (happy birthday)

Stampin' Up: Botanicals-script, Antique Collectibles-perfume, Friendship's Journey-key, Office Ephemera-cancellation stamp

Stamps by Judith-sprig C-20

Inks:

Gina K Ocean Mist, Kraft

Distress Hickory Smoke

Marvy Black

Stamps:

Gina K Flower Builders-flowers, leaves and sentiment

Stampin' Up: Botanicals-script, Letters from Friends-postage stamp, Friendship's Journey-key, Office Ephemera-cancellation stamp

Inks: 

Gina K Ocean Mist, Jelly Bean Green

Distress Antique Linen, Pumice Stone

Thanks for visiting. 

Peace and all good!

Wild Wacky Women Birthday Cards

I made 3 birthday cards for my dear friends who have April birthdays. They came to my house on Easter Monday for a birthday breakfast brunch! It was fun to visit and relax and eat together. 

I used scraps of watercolor paper from my stash for 2 of the cards. You can see the texture in this close up.

For the 3rd card I used Ranger Inkssentials Specialty Stamping paper.
The label says matte coated cardstock. 

Here is a close up of the Inkssentials paper--it is very smooth.

I used Jane Davenport watercolors to paint the yellow, blue and green stripes. Once that was dry I used distress hickory smoke and salty ocean to stamp some background stamps from a Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous set called  Bitty Grunge CMS089. 

On a separate piece of paper with Versafine Onxy Black ink, I stamped the lady, a Dawn Houser Inkadinkado stamp (number listed on stamp 8340 N). I used my new  Beautique oval brush to add distress squeezed lemonade ink to cover that layer. This brush worked well. I bought a set of 3 from Amazon.  The happy birthday stamp is from Stampin' UP! from 2001! I added some fun fur yarn as an accent.

On the inside I used an old Annette Allen Watkins stamp for the "wishing you" sentiment. On the top part of the inside, I stamped a favorite stamp, They who are wild and wacky women, a Suzy Toronto/PSX stamp.

You can always click on an image to see a larger view.
Thank you so much for visiting!
Wishing you Spring Happiness!

Friendship Cards on Wrinkle Free Distress Backgrounds

Here are cards made with some wrinkle free distress pieces 

from last Sunday's blog post.

I have been wanting to use my new friendship stamp called Heart of Friendship by Stampendous.

I thought a collage-y card would look nice on the background with this sentiment.

If you know me, you know how I love the collage-y look.

Here's a closer look. You can always click on the image for a larger view.

Used a "ribbon like" mesh as a stencil, sponging with mowed lawn.

Used picket fence stain on a Rays stamp from Stampers Anonymous Bitty Grunge CMS087 

in the upper left corner but this did not show up well. So, I dried it with heat tool 

and stamped over it with Frost White Color Box pigment ink.

Hard to see in the photo.

Stampendous Heart of Friendship  stamped in peacock feathers

Michael Strong's mini cloisonne heart in broken china.

Used fossiliaed amber for:

Stampin' Up's postage stamps from Travel Post

Stampin' Up's key from Antique Collectibles

Stampin' Up's ledger script from Office Ephemera.

Used distress tool on edges and sponged with broken china

Added fun fur yarn and attached to white card

in which the edges were sponged in broken china.

The distress background piece for this card was a little small

so I added a black layer underneath, trimming the border with a Fiskars border punch-Rope.

Used the "ribbon mesh" stencil sponging with mowed lawn.

Stamped Rays stamp from Stampers Anonymous Bitty Grunge CMS087

in Frost White Color Box pigment ink in center.

Stamped both the 

Stampendous Heart of Friendship

and

Michael Strong's mini cloisonne heart

in mowed lawn.

Used fossilized amber for:

Stampin' Up's cancelled postage stamp & ledger script from Office Ephemera

Stampin' Up's hotel oval from  Travel Post.

Used distress tool on edges and sponged with mowed lawn.

Added fun fur yarn and attached to green card.

Thanks so much for visiting!

March 30 Stampfest with Linda

My friend Linda spent the day with me Wednesday. We had a great time visiting and stamping.

This card design was inspired by Nadine's Wahine Inks card which I saw on Pinterest.  I used the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder just on the right side of the front. After trying various flower stamps in various inks, we chose this Rubber Stampede stamp called Solidago Sprig. Linda spritzed the rubber with water then colored on the rubber with Staedtler Aquarell crayons. Then she stamped the flower. We punched a butterfly and added some gemstones to it. Added the sentiment on a layer of white, adhering with dimensional foam. Our first 2 cards (above) are single layer card, just the white cardstock.

For these 2 cards, we embossed and watercolor stamped on a 4 x 5.25 inch white layer and attached that to a navy blue card. You can see variations in the watercolor flower stamping. Sometimes the first stamping was faint. So we tried again. I kind of like the look of a shadowy background.

Stamps: Rubber Stampede, Great Impressions
Inks: Versafine black onyx
Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolor Crayons

Linda had previously stamped the center flower with Stampin' Up's petal prints with a watercolor technique. I added the rest of the stamping and sponging, making it a collage-y lady card. Sponged the background using "sequin waste" as a stencil.
Distress inks: festive berries,twisted citron, dried marigold, ripe persimmon,
vintage photo-lady, crushed olive-leaf.
Stamps: Inkadinkado-Dawn Houser, Stampendous, Stampin' Up

Thank you so much for visiting!

Lady Face Cards

After seeing Dina Wakley's YouTube, Learn to Draw Artistic Faces
and borrowing Jane Davenport's book,
Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces from the public library
I started sketching faces...
on the back of envelopes, on scrap paper, everywhere.

For these cards, I made a few sketches on white cardstock,
added some color with colored pencils and markers, then cut them out.

 I used Lynette's Stampin' Up! Notably Ornate Set
and added some of my own stamps to create some simple vintage, shabby-chic cards.

 

Used wrinkle free distress backgrounds from my stash
sponging additional color on them.

Stamps:

Stampin' Up! Notably Ornate, Friendship's Journey, Antique Collectibles, Letters from Friends,

Hero Arts
Dawn Houser

Distress Inks
mowed lawn, festive berries, spiced marmalade,  fossilized amber, wild honey, pumice stone, brushed corduroy

Colored pencils & Distress markers