COLORING DSP WITH STAMPIN' BLENDS

 

Some of my Stampin' Blends markers were scattered about on my desk, so I decided to put them to use.  I didn't stamp images to color this time . . . instead, I cut up a pretty piece of True Love designer paper which provided a LOT of floral bouquets that I can use on cards.

The colors that I worked with are:  Highland Heather, Night of Navy, Granny Apple Green, Pink Pirouette, Calypso Coral, and Daffodil Delight.  While I still have plenty yet to color, look at what I have ready to use:

Aren't they gorgeous?  Take a look at the first completed card featuring my colored bouquets:

Stampin' Up! products featured on my card include:

Stamp Set:  Very Versailles

DSP:  True Love

Cardstock:  Highland Heather, Whisper White

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Sahara Sand, Highland Heather

Stampin' Blends:  Highland Heather, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green

Punch:  Story Label

Embossing Folder:  Painted Texture 3D

Accessories:  Stampin' Dimensionals, Baker's Twine, Wink of Stella

The printed design on the True Love designer paper is so easy to color and cut out with scissors, and the Stampin' Blends make the colored designs look printed with the easy shading that can be accomplished with the markers.  I know some people don't enjoy coloring, but I find it very enjoyable and relaxing.  All of the coloring shown in this post was completed in one evening.

The glimmer from Wink of Stella doesn't always show up well in photos but, in the above photo, you can see that it added a lot to the flowers.  Besides adding glimmer, I think the Wink of Stella sharpens colored images.

Now tell the truth . . . are you ready to grab a handful of Stampin' Blends and start coloring?

"TASTEFUL TOUCHES" & FRIENDS

So maybe stamp sets don't really have friends (besides the stampers who use them), but that's what I'm calling the other products that I used along with Tasteful Touches to make this card.  Those "friends" are as follows:

In Good Taste designer paper

Gold Brushed Metallic paper

Dragonfly Garden stamp set

Stampin' Blends markers (Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Real Red, Daffodil Delight)

Sprig punch

Pool Party cardstock

Vellum cardstock

White cardstock

Wink of Stella

Although I like (and own) a lot of floral stamp sets, there are some that are simply a dream to color.  I don't always have time to dedicate to coloring, but when I do . . . I don't want to stop.  The floral image in Tasteful Touches is a fantastic flower for coloring and also for cutting out by hand.  This stamp set is one that every stamper should own!  It has beautiful sentiments, great background and "filler" images and, of course, what I consider a perfect flower because it's not too small, not too big, and just . . . well . . . perfect.  When it comes to coloring, I usually go for a water brush or Blender Pen and ink, but this time I used Stampin' Blends and wondered why I don't use them more often.  They're dreamy!

I already had some dragonflies stamped, punched, and colored (for the Easter cards I plan to make) so I gave one of them a place on this card but, as you can see, the one stamp set (Tasteful Touches) and a piece of In Good Taste designer paper would have been enough to give this card texture, bright color, and dimension. 

Stay tuned because I'll have another card in a couple of days that features these same pretty flowers.

APPLE BUILDER PUNCH + HARVEST HELLOS

 

I haven't had a lot of time lately for stamping, but I treated myself to a card-making session last night.  It was so enjoyable!  I actually made this card three times before I got it the way I wanted, but any stamper knows that sometimes that's the case.

For my card, I used Stampin' Up!'s Apple Builder punch:

and Harvest Hellos stamp set:

I've had these products for a couple of months, but this was the first time that I've used them.  The apple punch is a keeper, and I love the size of the apple!  Of course, being able to use the same punch to create a pumpkin and jack-o-lantern is a bonus!  I kept my card clean and simple and was quite pleased with it:

Product details for this card:

Stamp Set:  Harvest Hellos

Cardstock/Paper:  White, Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Watercolor Paper, Berry Delightful

Ink:  Granny Apple Green, Real Red, So Saffron, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Black

Punch/Dies:  Apple Builder, Tasteful Labels

Embossing Folder:  Brick & Mortar

Accessories:  Blender Pen, Sponge Dauber, White Baker's Twine, Wink of Stella

The apple and leaf images were stamped on Granny Apple Green cardstock using Granny Apple Green ink and then the apple image was stamped again onto Real Red cardstock using Real Red ink.  The apple stem image was stamped with Early Espresso ink onto the same color cardstock, and then the punch was used to cut those images.  Wink of Stella was used on the highlight lines on the apples.  The front of the card was embossed, and then I adhered the designer paper to the bottom half of the card front.  After stamping the sentiment on a scrap of Real Red cardstock, it was die-cut and adhered to the top left of the card.  It was a circle shape, but I trimmed the part of the circle that extended beyond the top of the card.  I assembled the apple pieces and decided on the placement of them.  Before adhering them into place, I used Soft Suede ink to stamp the twisted sprig image.  I know that image is more appropriate for pumpkins, but I couldn't resist using it.  

Coloring the apple slice was a bit tricky.  Leaving it white with a red peel added nothing to the card!  After playing around with how to color the image and which colors to use, I found that I had the most control of color with the Blender Pen and ink.  I used Real Red for the peel, So Saffron for the white area, and the core portion was a mix of Sahara Sand and So Saffron--with an Early Espresso colored seed.  It's amazing how coloring the image really brought it to life.

I don't know how this stamp set and punch didn't turn my head before, but I thoroughly enjoyed working with the two.  I hadn't planned to use a sentiment from the stamp set because I didn't pay much attention to them but, after taking another look, I discovered that I love that they appear to have been typed on an old typewriter.  [squeal]

So there you have it.  A fun and cheery card that's perfect for any time!  

SEWING PROJECT: WIP BAG W/VINYL FRONT

What's a "WIP" bag?

It's a work-in-progress bag that holds all (or most) of the items needed to complete a project, and the bags that I made have a quilted back and see-through vinyl front.  

I've made 5 of these bags so far, but the two that I'm sharing today were made for my mother and sister.  They're my fourth and fifth versions and, while I'm pretty proud of how they turned out, I don't share them as an example of perfection because they are NOT perfect.  Sewing is still new to me, and sewing vinyl is a tricky thing.  And . . . anyone who has sewn binding knows that it's one of the most dreaded parts of a project that requires it.  

First up is the bag that I made for my mother:

The bag is approximately 12" x 13" with a zippered top to keep items securely inside.  As I mentioned already, the front is see-through vinyl so that the contents can be easily seen without opening the bag.

From the angle of the above photo, you can see down into the bag.  I machine-quilted the back, and you can get a glimpse of the vinyl front.

The second bag (below) was made for my sister:

Again, the back of the bag was machine-quilted.

Of course, a sweet little card was made for my mother and sister, and I tucked the card inside their bag.

The card was kept very simple.  I used a blending brush to apply Balmy Blue ink to the center of the card front.  The stamped images are from the Quite Curvy stamp set.

What do you think of these bags?  They really are quite handy!  I've been carrying one with me when I take my husband for his chemo and infusion visits and have enjoyed having something to do while I wait in the car.

FREEHAND RAINBOW HELLO

This post will be as short and sweet as the card I'm sharing today.  It was a fast one to make, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process--which was 100% freehand with a Tombow calligraphy pen, Stampin' Up!'s Watercolor Pencils, and a Blender Pen.

I began by using a pencil to write H-E-L-L-O and then traced the letters with my Tombow permanent ink pen.  Although the pencil lines were no longer visible, I used an eraser over the letters to make sure they were gone since I wasn't sure how they'd react with the Blender Pen.  And then the fun coloring began.  In each letter, I mixed two colors, and the neighboring letter included a "rainbow progressive" color from the previous letter.  Once the coloring was complete, I used the Tombow pen to write "Oh" and "there".  As you can imagine, the card looked quite plain.  The addition of the tiny triangles and dots added just enough pizzazz, and I kept them to the right of the card since I wanted to use twine on the left edge.

This may have been my first try at freehand text on a card, but it won't be my last.  As a matter of fact, I look forward to creating a set of cards similar to this one.

What are your thoughts?