Super Saturday at Magenta: Sandpiper's Reflection

 This post is also at Magenta today. You can see that here.

When I saw the new Magenta stamp with the Sandpiper and his reflection, I thought he looked like he thought his reflection was a friend there in the water.

After die-cutting the panel with the Dainty Dashes Stackers frame from Penny Black, I lightly added some Distress ink using the ink that was already on my brushes. I feel pretty sure looking at the brushes that it was Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers. I blended the colors through the stencil TM286.

I stamped the image using Versafine Clair Acorn ink. Since it is a pigment ink I was able to sprinkle gold embossing powder on the reflection part of the image. I colored the bird's belly with colored pencils. I'm pretty sure there are no sandpipers with blue coloring, but I liked how it looked. At the end, I stamped the sentiment and embossed with gold and matted the panel and added it to a base card.

Magenta Products used:

0831.N Yellow Legs Bird and Its Reflection

07.976.G Hello!

TM286 Wavy Lines Stencil

Other Products used:

Penny Black 51-636 Dainty Dashes Stackers

Distress Ink: Mowed Lawn; Peacock Feathers

Versafine Clair ink: Acorn

Ranger Gold embossing powder

Prismacolor Pencils: PC105 Cobalt Turquoise,

Scholar 344 Terra Cotta

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Super Saturday at Magenta - Distress Ink Blending and Lifting

 I got this adorable new stamp from Magenta of a crow sitting on a wire, and he looks like he is blowing bubbles. I decided for his background to try and blend some Distress Inks and do some ink lifting. You can see my post on the Magenta blog here.

I love how it turned out! I die-cut a panel of white 80# cardstock with Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles. Then I blended Distress Inks in Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers and Wilted Violet onto my panel

You can see my blending is not perfect. It's not necessary for it to be perfect to work well for this technique, but it's best to lay down a lot of color.

I placed the stencil "Fantasy" onto the blended panel and pressed a baby wipe onto it. This is a new to me technique for ink lifting and there is a lot less control with it. You just have to like what you get, and I did. The result looked like a suggestion of leaves and rain to me.

I stamped the bird stamp in black and added the sentiment. I then matted the panel onto a slightly larger piece of So Silk Glamour Green and adhered it to a base card.

Here is most of what I used to make this card, details below.

Magenta Products used:

0837.K Bird Silhouette on Wire

07.969.F have a Beautiful day!

TM169 Fantasy Stencil

Other Products used:

Distress Ink: Twisted Citron,

Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Spellbinders S5-308 Hemstitch Rectangles

80# & 110# Neenah Solar White Cardstock

So Silk Glamour Green Cardstock

Super Saturday at Magenta: Floral Wreath Stencil

I'm over at Magenta with this post, and you can see it here.

 I have been having a lot of fun with stencils lately and I especially love a nice wreath. This Floral Wreath from Magenta is lovely and you can use the center to stamp a lot of different sentiments.

I cut a panel from white 80# cardstock using the Penny Black Zig-Zag stacker die. Then using brushes I blended Distress inks through the stencil

This is everything I used to make this card. It was so quick and easy and I think it turned out beautifully.

Magenta Products used:

TM261 Floral Wreath

07.971.F Sending hugs

Other Products used:

Distress inks: Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers,

Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn

Small blending brushes

Penny Black 51-714 Zig-Zag Stackers

Versafine Onyx Black ink

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Super Saturday at Magenta: Masking Stencil Distress Blending

 Hi everyone! I'm over at the Magenta blog with this post today and if you like, you can see it here.

I used just the outside or frame part of the Magenta MC48 Duo Texture mask set to blend Distress ink into a very cool design.

I put the stencil onto a panel of 80# cardstock and started blending. I added a circle mask that I punched out of masking paper using a 1 1/4" circle punch. I placed it to the right of the image to represent a rising sun, and continued to blend the ink, trying to keep it relatively light.

I stamped the Magenta Miscanthus image with Versamark ink and embossed in gold. The sentiment was added last in Onyx Black Versafine ink, and the panel was cut using The Greetery Crimped Frame die. Finally the panel was matted with So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock.

Magenta Products used:

MC48 Duo Texture Mask

0647.K Miscanthus

07.969.F have a Beautiful day!

Other Products used:

Distress ink: Picked Raspberry

Versamark ink

Onyx Black Versafine ink

Ranger Gold Embossing powder

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die

Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock

So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock

Super Saturday at Magenta: Card Exchange and Distress Blending

 Hi Everyone! I'm over at the Magenta blog today with this post, and you can see it here.

I want to take a few minutes to talk to you about the Magenta Card Exchange. It's hosted by DT member Mariëtte van Leeuwen on the FaceBook page Magenta Style - Passion Studio. It's a page for people who are passionate about Magenta, and a place to share and view cards made with Magenta products. Here is my exchange card this month

The Card Exchange will be taking a brief hiatus for the Summer (as usual) but will start back up in the Fall. I really hope you will join us. It's an amazing way to meet fellow card-makers all over the world. You send a card to the name and address you are given, and you will also receive one from someone completely different. I have had several really enjoyable conversations over FaceBook Messenger with card-makers who have received my cards. It's so rewarding to discover how much we all are alike. I have met the most remarkable people through this craft.

I was very much thinking of the Ukrainian people when I made this card. They are in my heart. I have followed a card maker from Ukraine, Yana Smakula, for many years, and I cried when I read her first post after Ukraine was invaded. She still posts on her blog and Instagram, and most of her posts start with "We are still ok." or "we are safe." I hope she and her husband and mother remain so.

To make this card, I used the Magenta TM277 stencil and blended Distress Ink into the square. I stamped the Magenta Graceful Tri-Petals stamp (one of my favorites) and used Prismacolors to color in the petals and leaves. I stamped the image once more onto my panel and embossed in gold; then added the Peace sentiment and embossed that in gold as well. I die cut the panel with the Greetery Crimped Frame die.

Magenta Products Used:

0810.P Graceful Tri-Petals

07.956.F John Lennon Peace Quote

TM277 Square Silhouette

Other Products Used:

Distress Ink: Mustard Seed, Speckled Egg

Prismacolor Pencils: PC1032 Pumpkin Orange,

PC1003 Spanish Orange, PC912 Apple Green

Ranger Gold Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Curious Metallics Super Gold cardstock

Celebrating Heart Happy Birthday

 I had a birthday card to make and decided to use the Magenta Celebrating Heart stencil to start with.

I die cut my panel to size using the Greetery Crimped Frame die. I then blended Festive Berries Distress ink through the stencil. I applied some small amounts of water with a brush onto the heart to add texture. I have used this stencil before for a card and you can see that post here.

I used the die cut sentiment Happy Birthday Poe Script by Poppy Stamps. I tried using different red cardstock and nothing matched properly. I used black and found it too stark. To get the proper color of cardstock for the sentiment, I decided to ink up a panel with the Festive Berries ink.

I used a brush to blend the ink, and it was just a matter of getting it to the right shade.

I added some water spots and also sprayed it with Sheer Shimmer Spritz from Tsukineko for a little extra shine and sparkle.

When I mounted the sentiment works, I backed the red with the black I had already die cut for a little bit of a shadow.

Magenta Products used:

TM138 Celebrate Hearts Medium

Other Products used:

Festive Berries Distress ink

Poppy Stamps 2437 Happy Birthday Poe Script

The Greetery Crimped Frame die

Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Ranger Black Alcohol Ink cardstock

Leaf Burst Birthday

 I recently needed to make a guy birthday card, and was looking through my stencils to make a background. I pulled out the Altenew Leaf Burst stencil to make this simple but pretty card.

On a white panel I blended Distress inks through the stencil. This color palette is one of my favorite blends.

While I had the inks out, I made 3 of these panels for future cards, and die cut them using the Greetery Crimped Frame die.

Last, I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday Brush Script out of silver holographic cardstock, also from Simon. I affixed the sentiment to the center of the card. It's really bright and pretty in real life.

I matted the panel with So Silk Glamour Green cardstock and mounted it to a white base card.

Products Used:

Altenew Leaf Burst Stencil ALT2192

Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday Brush Script die sssd112116

The Greetery Crimped Frame die

Distress inks: Twisted Citron, 

Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

April Cards for Charity: Thank You - Distress Blending

 The second batch of cards I have done for my friend's Church's charity are Thank You cards. Once again I made 5 cards each of 3 different color combinations.  I used the Simon Says Stamp stencil ssst121467 Peony Bouquet. Trust me, pretty much whatever you do with this stencil will be beautiful.

I blended Distress inks through the stencil for the flowers and leaves using both large brushes and the small iCrafter brushes. 

These are all of the colors I used on the cards

The backgrounds using this stencil always turn out so beautifully. I die cut each panel using the Greetery Crimped Frame die, and I chose a coordinating color of cardstock for the card mat.

I cut out the sentiment for each using the same color as the mat. The Thank You sentiment die is from Simon Says Stamp CZD74.

Each of these panels will be mounted onto base cards that are printed with the charity information by church volunteers.

Products used:

Distress inks: Wild Honey, Crackling Campfire

Speckled Egg, Mustard Seed, 

Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers,

Twisted Citron, Peeled Paint

Simon Says Stamp Stencil ssst121467

Simon Says Stamp Thank You die CZ074

The Greetery Crimped Frame die set

PTI Terracotta Tile cardstock

So Silk Fairly Blue cardstock

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

April Cards for Charity: Happy Birthday Distress Blending

 Once again I have made some cards for my friend Pam's Church's charities. The request this time was for Some Birthday cards and some Thank You cards. I did the Birthday cards first. Since they prefer to get 15 of each design, I try to keep them fairly simple. It still took me a lot of time to make 15!

I elected to make 5 each of 3 different color schemes. Those buying the cards are told that since these are handmade cards, there will be some variances.

For each of these panels, I used the Simon Says Stamp Geo Leaves stencil ssst121473, and three colors of Distress inks. I used brushes to apply the inks through the stencil, trying to blend them as I went along.

I like this stencil for Birthday cards, because it looks celebratory to me; sort of like leaf confetti.

I like using the small Make Art metal platform when I use stencils. The magnets hold my project in place very well.

This blend is one of my favorite Distress blends of all time: Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, and Wilted Violet.

Making these backgrounds was fun, easy and relaxing. I think backgrounds like this could be used for a variety of purposes.

I chose a color of mat for each blended panel and die cut the sentiment out of the same cardstock. The purple and blue sentiments are from So Silk cardstock, so they are shiny on their own. The orange one is from PTI cardstock, and looks very matte. Since this is a Birthday card, I wanted it to have a bit of a sparkle, so I colored over the sentiment with a Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.

Products Used

Distress Inks: Speckled Egg, Mustard Seed,

Twisted Citron, Abandoned Coral,

Wild Honey, Peacock Feathers, 

Wilted Violet

ssst121473 Geo Leaves Stencil

sssd112116 Happy Birthday Brush Script die

The Greetery Crimped Frame die

So Silk Fair Blue Cardstock

PTI Terracotta Tile Cardstock

So Silk Passion Purple Cardstock

Wink of Stella clear glitter pen

Cards for Charity: Happy Birthday with Distress Blending

 I received a call that more cards were needed at my friend Pam's church charity card sales; especially Birthday cards and Sympathy cards. We're making 15 of each design of cards now, so it's quite a production.

I made Birthday cards first, and the goal is to choose a design that can be easily duplicated. Church members will mount my cards onto base cards that are stamped with their charity's information, so I only needed to make the tops.

Since I have been in a creative funk lately, I had been passing the time by blending Distress ink through stencils. It's fun to try out different color combinations.

 This is my favorite method of sparking creativity. I'm playing with my art supplies, and creating very fun backgrounds by just blending beautiful colors. What could be more satisfying?

I made 5 each of 3 different colored backgrounds. People who buy these cards are told that since they are handmade, there will be variations.

I made a prototype card, and once I was happy with it, I started making all the parts, starting with the stenciled blends. 

I started with my favorite Distress trio to blend, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, and Wilted Violet. The stencil is Ornamental Fans from Gina K Designs, and is hands down one of my favorites. In the above photo (nothing is stuck down at that point) you can see that I cut the panels with the Greetery Crimped Frame die (the middle size) and I put a strip of the mat cardstock on it as I was cutting it so that it matches up with the crimps on the panel.

I decided to cut out ovals of vellum to go behind the sentiment so that it didn't get lost in the busy backgrounds, and it took two ovals for each card to look the best. This great birthday sentiment is a die from Elizabeth Craft  Designs. There is a thin mat of black behind each stenciled panel, and a larger mat of a coordinating color.

Once I cut out all of the pieces for the 15 cards, I sat at my desk and listened to an audio book while I put them together. The time went by so fast when I was making these, that they were done before I knew it.

Once I lined all 15 cards up, I was so happy with them! I loved making these, and I might make more to send out myself.

Products Used:

Gina K Designs Ornamental Fans Art Stencil

Distress Inks: Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet;

Speckled Egg; Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed

Elizabeth Craft 1439 Happy Birthday Small die

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die

Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies

Hero Arts DI198 Infinity Nesting Rectangle Dies

Translucent Vellum

PTI True Black cardstock

PTI Tropical Teal cardstock

Stardream Fuse Fairway cardstock

Stampin Up Cajun Craze cardstock