Retreat Cards

I spent a few days making cards at my last retreat!  I got to spend 4 days and 3 nights with a fun group of ladies and getting creative, and messy..  Most of these cards were made with water color papers and Tim Holtz Distress Inks, and one set with the Distress Oxide Inks.

This set is Distress Inks (with an ink blending tool) on watercolor paper, then I used a background stamp sprayed with water.  The tress and black ink are from Stampin Up!



This set is also from watercolor paper, and the butterfly is the Swallowtail from SU, the bottom was the first generation water stamping, and the top one is second generation without re-wetting the stamp.



These are all the same technique, and all SU stamps for the trees and black ink.







This one was my favorite of the bunch, such pretty colors!



I took a break from watercoloring and used some plain white cardstock and Papertey Ink stamps fro the argyle.



Back to watercolor..  This next set is watercolor paper with Distress Inks, and then dry embossed.  The black cardstock was cut with my Cricut.



The butterfly is an SU die.



This butterfly was from the Cricut.



These I lifted the idea from Pinterest.  The leaves are Papertrey Ink, and the butterflies are Hero Arts.



These are also lifted from Pinterest.  The stamps are Altenew Vintage Roses.



Hero Arts hydrangea colored with copics, background is SU.



Butterflies are Hero Arts, backgrounds are stencils and Glimmer Mist, and Tim Holtz heat embossed clocks.



These are the Distress Oxide Inks.  I followed a tutorial by Jennifer McGuire on YouTube.

Swallowtail by Stampin Up!

I just got this stamp just a few days ago from my friend Kim and have already put it to good use!  Most of these are lifts of another card, by technique or by material, that I see on Pinterest and I am not really good at keeping track...

This one I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, and used Distress Inks with water to color the image. I stamped the white cardstock layer and card base at the same time, then added the black layer.




This one I inked up the stamp with Distress Markers, spritzed with water and then stamped.




This is the thumping technique, which is pretty simple but has a complicated looking effect.  I thought mine wouldn't turn out that well but I was pleasantly surprised!  Basically you ink up your stamp and then thump 3 or 4 coordinating colored markers all over the image and then stamp. I used a light colored Memento ink and Distress Markers, going from lightest to darkest.  Easy peasy!




For this one I used clear embossing ink and powder on white cardstock first, then used Distress Inks and the blending tool to ink over the design in varying colors, or embossed resist as it is called.  I spritzed it with water at the end for the light dusting of water splotches.




This one was kind of a fail at what I was attempting, but it turned out ok.  It is a single layer card and I used the embossed resist technique as well.  I wanted to color in the design with Distress Markers, which I did, and then wipe it off for a clean finish.  Well, when I wiped it off the ink smeared.  So I just went with it and smeared it all. Not what I intended, but...!,




These ones have a lot going on.  I first stamped the image using the thumping technique the same as before, then I used a mask of the same image and stamped the backgrounds over the top so the butterfly would remain clear.  The brown of the background images, the music and wheat and text, was a bit harsh next to the butterfly, so I decided to do the backgrounds a little differently.  I put the butterfly mask back down and inked each image with a similar color around the edges, and then softened the whole thing with a little bit of brown.







This one is my favorite, and an entire creation of my own.  I started out by seeing another card with the clouds and grass done with Distress Inks and a simple paper mask.  I tore two ends of a piece of paper in a loosely straight line for the grass, and then cut scallops on two ends of another scrap for the clouds.  I inked each end with the blending tool and Distress Inks in varying layers in blue and green for the grass and sky, and then used the wheat background stamp over the top in varying shades of brown Memento Inks.  I had no idea where this card was going, and was just creating backgrounds to see how they looked.  At first I had thought of putting some sort of sign or fence post to hold a greeting, because something wood grain seemed appropriate, but that would cover up too much of the pretty background.  I decided to use a die cut greeting, but none of the ones I had would fit, being as they were too large.  I recently Got a Cricut Explore machine and have used it exactly zero times, so I can't even tell you what I cut.  I pushed the add text button and typed "Hi."  I have no idea what font it is, and just sized it to fit 4 on a sheet with enough room to be die cut later.  The brown part is the die cut, the negative of the letters.  It started out as white cardstock, which I ran through my Cuttlebug.  First with a circle die and then with the wood grain embossing folder, and then heavily inked up with Distress Inks in Frayed Burlap.





After all that I sprayed it with water, and then with an Adirondack color wash spray in Raisin I think. When it dried, I used the white Distress Marker on the raised areas, and then put a piece of white cardstock underneath.  The little butterfly is a Stampin Up punch, and the color is Worn Lipstick Distress Ink on white cardstock.  I inked the scrap of paper, sprayed it with water to make it splotchy, and punched it out after it dried.  This card was by far more labor intensive than the rest, taking about 2 hours to make 4, but turned out so pretty!

Fall retreat cards

I spent the weekend at a scrapbooking retreat in lovely Fort Flagler State Park the first weekend in November, and made cards for a few days.  I have had the pleasure of going there for the last 6 or 7 years with 30-40 ladies twice a year, and just love it.  Usually I make pages, but decided to do these instead because my stash of cards is dangerously low!  Plus I wanted to get out *all* of my inks and stamps and just play.  Just about all of these are lifts from Pinterest or other ones I have seen on the Hero Arts blog or Jennifer McGuire's website (love her!).  She is probably single handedly responsible for my love of Distress Inks.  She had an incredible video tutorial collection a year or two ago that has some amazing techniques on how to use them.  There are 27 videos but trust me, it will not be a waste of your time!!

This first set uses a flower stamp and a text background stamp, both from Hero Arts.  I stamped the text first after blotting the image a bit so it wasn't solid, then stamped the flower.  I sprayed the stamp with water first to make it watercolor-ish, and all of the inks on these ones are from Tim Holtz.  I used my ink blending tool to color the card base with the same color that I stamped the flower in, and around the edges of the white cardstock, then mounted it.  Add a sentiment with a punch from various stamp sets, some half pearls, and voila!




These ones are super simple, a single layer, and I love how they turned out.  Inspired by this.  I stamped the flowers in various Memento colors using a Gina K set, and various sentiments.  Done!




Here is another single layer card, easy peasy.  Inspired from here.  This is another butterfly stamp I use a lot, and Memento inks.  Then I fussy cut around the open edge with scissors.




This one turned out just like I wanted, and was so pleased.  Inspired by this.  I masked off the white cardstock with two pieces of black paper, stamped the text and rubbed 2-3 colors of Tim Holtz Distress Inks over that with the blending tool.  Once the black paper masks were removed, it left that nice crisp design down the card.  I believe the leaf is a Close to My Heart one, I borrowed it from my friend so am not positive.  I used brown cardstock to mount it, and added more pearls.




I kept seeing these triple stamped cards, and wanted to try it.  Inspired by this.  You can find a tutorial here.  I colored the images with Copic markers and mounted it on black cardstock.  Make sure you use the right ink for your images when coloring with these markers, or it will smear.  Memento Tuxedo Black is what I used.



I thought this donut stamp was just too freakin' cute.  These were a combination of 3 or 4 coffee/tea stamp sets I have.  I dry embossed the red background with my Cuttlebug, cut the scallop and circles with my Cricut, and then colored and fussy-cut the images. 




This butterfly stamp is one of my favorites, and I use it a LOT.  The background was done with a swirly stamp in grey ink, then the butterfly.  I inked the butterfly with the main color of Distress Ink and then just brushed the edges with another color and sprayed with water before stamping.  This is on watercolor paper.




This one is pretty simple too, and looks so nice.  I punched the base with a border punch from Fiskars, then inked with Distress Inks.  Then the same color was used on the flower, with green on the stem.  I also sprayed the stamp with water first.




I purchased this large background stamp on the way to my retreat, and was so excited to use it.  It is such a funny thing, but I see it on a lot of cards and I am more of a flower stamp girl, but really wanted this one, and after seeing it used several times I could see how versatile it was!  I stamped the text first after blotting it, then the background with Distress Ink and water.  I softened the edges and colored the greeting strip with the ink blending tool and more Distress Ink.  The butterfly was stamped, cut, colored with Copics, then covered with Crystal Effects.




This one turned out so puuuurty..  Inspired by this.  I punched a circle out of white cardstock, 1 3/8" I believe, and then used it as a reverse mask.  I inked over it with Wild Honey, one of my favorite Distress Inks, then removed it.  The dandelion is from the same Gina K set as the cards a few pictures up, and sentiments from PTI.




Ahhh, this picture just makes me happy.  I remember my first time using a Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad, and I was sooooo disappointed.  Now I just LOVE them.  I tried to use it the traditional way, and was super unsatisfied at how the images turned out.  I wanted them crisp and clean, and that is just not what these inks are about.  After watching tons of videos  and techniques, I use them all the time, for so many things!  Inspired by this.




I used this large background stamp and heat embossed it with clear powder. I inked over the image with the blending tool, and then wiped it off to remove any from the embossed area. It was mounted on black cardstock, add some twine and a sentiment.




Here's that gorgeous butterfly stamp again!  I stamped the image on a Post-It note and cut it out very carefully around the edges to create a mask.  The center one was stamped first, and then I positioned the mask over the image exactly, and stamped the butterflies to each side.  Once the mask is removed, the images are all nicely stamped with no overlap.  Color with Copics, add the sentiment, background stamp and some Rock Candy Stickles, done!




I get so much mileage out of this stamp!  I stamped, colored and cut them all out to use on these next few cards.  The background papers are from a 6x6 pad, but I dont remember what one, I think it was Basic Grey.  The white background is cut with a Nestabilities die in the Cuttlebug and stamped with a ledger stamp and the edges inked. 



Thanks for taking the time to look!

Stay calm and craft on...

Hand rolled cardstock flower tutorial and some pretty tags

I was at a fun scrapbooking retreat a few weeks ago, and decided to take a break from making pages, and try something new.  Do you ever have one of those ideas in your head, and sometimes they turn out and sometimes they don't?  Fortunately, this one turned out just like the idea in my head, and I was so pleased!  I used a combination of ideas from Jennifer McGuire and Tim Holtz to make these tags and flowers, and love them.

First, I started with some DCWV white core cardstock, although I am not sure what the color purple is called.  I tore some random sized spiral shapes from the cardstock, one for each flower.  Some had thinner or thicker spirals, and some had more laps around the circle, if that makes sense.  That way all the flowers I made were varying in width, thickness and density. 

I spritzed each spiral with a mixture of Perfect Pearls powder and water like this, on a craft sheet.  They now make the spray already combined, but I just do it the old fashioned way by mixing the powder and water in a spray mister I already had.




And then I crumpled them up while they were wet, and then flattened them out to dry.  I used my heat tool, but you can also just let them air dry.




Once they were dry, I used a Quilling tool to roll the flowers up.  I always thought you were supposed to start rolling on the inside, but after watching a few how-to videos, I started on the outside like they did.




Once the layers are all rolled up, not too tightly, it looks like this.  This is the time to do any adjusting, to get it looking how you want.  I gave it a slight backwards twist just to loosen the center a bit, but don't over think it.  They are all going to look differently, and that's ok.




Once it is arranged how you like, slide it off of the tool, and flip it over while keepig a good grip so it won't unravel.  Now you can see why it is a good idea to start on the outside, because when you get to the end, you are left with a little flap that was the center of the spiral.  Place a glue dot right on it, and then cover the base of your flower.




Voila!  Now there is a nice neat base for your flower to sit on :)  It is still a little loose, so handle it carefully. 




Once the flower is complete, I used Glossy Accents as another adhesive.  Place the nozzle down in the center and give a little squeeze, and maybe a few small squirts inside any of the other loose petals.  It doesn't take long to dry, and once they are all finished they will be nice and stable.



For the purple flowers I didn't put anything in the centers.  They looked just fine how they were.  For other ones I put jewels, half pearls, or white flower stamens that I found at Michael's.

These tags started as plain white, but were super easy to decorate.  I started by dabbing colors of Tim Holtz Distress Inks on my craft sheet and adding a few spritzes of the pearlized water.  For each tag I used a few different shades of the same color for some variation.  I rubbed the tag around in the ink and then set it aside to dry, or use the heat tool again.  Once it was dry, I rubbed the edges with one of the same color of inks, using the foam ink blending tool.  Lastly, I inked up a large background stamp with another of the same shades, and lightly pressed it on the tag. 

For all of these tags, I cut some leaf shapes out of the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cartridge in varying sizes, from white cardstock.  My favorite is Neenah, it is great for stamping, inking, and Copics, all of that.  Using the same technique, I inked and sprayed them and added a few pearls and ribbons.  All done :)

My latest flower creations!

How do you turn plain white cardstock into gorgeous flowers?  Let me show ya!  I found these VIDEOS the other day, and I used the technique in the second one, since I don't have any Glimmer Mist.  I cut a bunch of flowers using my Cricut and the George cartridge (the flower on the bottom row almost to the end, with the shift button and the shadow blackout button pushed), enough to make 12 flowers.  So 24 large, 24 medium, and 12 small shapes. 

I colored them using Tim Holtz distress inks, 2-3 colors of ink per flower.  After spreading the ink directly on a craft sheet and spraying water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder, I just swiped the flowers around in the mix.  This is what they looked like after I crumpled them up and let them dry.






I assembled them and put either pearl beads or rinestones in the middle, and here they are.  Aren't they pretty?  I think so too, but they needed one more step...





I painted some Glossy Accents on the tips of each petal and then shook on some Diamond Dust.  They now have a 'sugared' look, so very cool!





These are so fun to make, and I will be doing more!  This set is in my Etsy Shop and the sale will be going to my 3day walk fundraiser  ;)