I Miss You Card

Here is another card I made for the current Unity Stamp challenge. For the first card, see this post.

The image on this card is from a Unity stamp set called Truly Rest. The sentiment is from Blossomy Condolences.

Feathers are very popular right now, but they're not really my thing. I probably would not have purchased this set - I got it after winning a drawing, and stuck it away, not sure how to use it. As I looked through my stamps with the current challenge colors in mind, this one jumped out at me and I thought it was a great time to give it a try.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Memories Artprint Brown, feeling that brown would be better than black for the look I wanted. Before the ink had a chance to dry, I sprinkled clear embossing powder over it and melted it with a heat tool. Using my favorite coloring technique, I combined Distress inks with a wet brush to add the color to the feathers and the background.

I used a die from Quickutz Nesting Circles to cut out the image,planning to layer it on a larger circle, using another die from that set, but then I spotted a small doily in my stash. It was just the right size, so I added some color to it with more Distress ink, diluted with water. I used a little adhesive just in the center to hold the two layers together, and stitched around the circle with my sewing machine and tan thread.

I chose some papers from a 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye called Reunion to layer behind my image, taking my cue from the card layout in the challenge. All the papers were darkened around the edges with Distress ink and a blending tool.

I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of watercolor paper, using Versafine Sepia and embossing with clear powder. After trimming it and cutting a notch in the end, I mounted it at a slight angle towards the bottom of the card front. I had a piece of string sitting on my work surface, so I colored it with a little Distress ink & water, then tied it into a double loop bow. I glued it down with some matte medium.

Everything was mounted on a card base made from cream cardstock. I'm going to be sad when all this cardstock is gone - it's old school Stampin' Up! cardstock that they discontinued many years ago.

I've decided that I like this feather image more than I thought! This challenge gave me just the push I needed to make it work.

Here is the challenge image that inspired the card:

I have one more card connected to this challenge to share with you in a few days. Hope your week is going well!

Immi

Fall is in the Air

This is the time of year when I wish I still lived in Minnesota. Fall was my favorite time of year there! Relief from the heat and humidity of summer, the pleasure of pulling out favorite sweaters to wear, stunning fall colors as the leaves turned, and of course, the Minnesota State Fair!

I was inspired when I saw the current challenge on the Unity Stamp blog - the colors are perfect for fall themes.

I enjoyed pulling out some stamps and playing around with inks and paper to come up with something that fit the challenge. I plan to share a few cards spread out over multiple blog posts that I will be linking to the challenge.

First up:

I used a stamp set from Unity called Shrooms. The image and sentiment are both stamped with black Archival ink on watercolor paper, I added color to the mushrooms with a variety of Distress inks and a wet brush. I also added some splatters of wet ink. I figured since these are rather whimsical, the colors don't have to match what you'd find in nature - why not have some fun with it?

I cut the stamped paper into a banner shape and roughed up the edges with a Tim Holtz distresser tool. To add a little additional color, I inked up a blending tool with some Distress ink. Beginning from the outside, I blended color onto the paper, making the edges darker and leaving the center of the panel lighter. 

Now for some fun layering papers. I chose some 6x6 papers from my stash and cut another banner shape slightly larger than my stamped panel from a blue print. I used a little adhesive just in the center to keep the two pieces from shifting, and stitched around the edges using my sewing machine and tan thread.

The rust stripe also got some additional color around the edges with Distress ink and a blending tool, then the stitched banner was adhered to the top. I pulled out some very fine variegated thread and a metal button to dress up the top, taping the thread down on the back side of the panel. I chose a cream cardstock for the card base, creating a side-folding card.

Here is the challenge image so you can see what the original inspiration was.

I hope your week is off to a good start! I'll be back soon with some more cards for this challenge.

Immi

Unity Stamp Challenge

The current challenge at Unity Stamps is about to end, so I'm barely going to get this posted in time to participate.

As shown on their blog, here is the starting point. Participants can choose to follow the color scheme or layout as loosely as they like. I thought the color scheme was great, and I liked the card layout as well. I recently purchased the stamp set (Butterflies & Sunbeams) featured in the layout, so I decided to use that.

Here's my interpretation:

I stamped the heart & butterfly image on watercolor paper using Black Archival ink. The coloring was super simple with watered down inks and a paintbrush. The inks I used on the butterflies are Distress Picked Raspberry and Dried Marigold (I combined the two for the largest butterfly.) The heart is a combination of Distress Spun Sugar and Tea Dye. The ink splatters are Picked Raspberry & Dried Marigold.

Once that was dry, I stitched the panel to a piece of black paper with gold script I had in my stash. I didn't do the neatest job the first time around on the stitching, so I went around again, deliberately making it look at little wonky. Now no one can tell where I messed up the first time!

The card base is white cardstock, stamped repeatedly with one of the sentiments from this stamp set, using Creamy Caramel ink from Stampin' Up! Between the black paper and the card base, I layered a piece of pink patterned paper from a 6 x 6 Colorbok pad called Light Bright.

The sentiment at the top was stamped on a scrap of watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I used some of the Picked Raspberry & Dried Marigold to color it, and stitched one end with black thread. I notched the opposite end, and used Distress Black Soot to go around the edge.

I hope your week is going well. I'll be back at work beginning next week - this summer has flown by!

Till next time,

Immi

Birthday Card

Three of my grandchildren have birthdays in June - keeps us busy attending parties, but we love to participate! I thought I'd share a card today that I've made for one of those birthdays - my soon-to-be 3 year old granddaughter.

This card features a stamp set from Unity Stamps, located in Minnesota. These little chickies are so cute! I stamped the chicks and the sentiment block on watercolor paper with Archival black ink. I used a small watercolor set from Koi to do some simple coloring. 

Since these are small images, I decided to make a tag from the watercolor paper. I used my grandmother's pinking shears to cut the bottom, then layered it onto a slightly larger scrap of purple cardstock. (I always save my scraps until they're teeny-weeny!) I cut the hole reinforcer from a scrap of blue glitter paper from DCWV, using a die from the Framelits Tag Collection by Sizzix. The yellow ribbon is from my stash.

I used some patterned papers for layering from a couple of 6x6 paper pads. The pink/orange is from Happy Day by My Mind's Eye, and the green is from Light Bright by Colorbok. I had half a doily sitting on my work surface, left over from another project, so I thought it would be fun to include that as well.

For the card base, I used a piece of Stampin' Up! Tempting Turquoise. The holes were cut using a border punch called Swiss Cheese by EK Success. 

Although it doesn't show up well in a photo, I also used clear Wink of Stella to add some sparkle to the chickie's hats and some of the stamped embellishments in the sentiment block. On top of that, I put a coat of Glossy Accents. In the light, it shows up well, very sparkly and shiny.

The starting point for this card is the current challenge on the Unity Stamp blog. I thought the colors in the inspiration photo were so cheerful!

Till next time,

Immi

Distress Watercolor Card

I had some fun trying out a new stamp set from Unity . I particularly like the designs of Phyllis Harris - they are sweet and whimsical. They are also great for coloring techniques. I am such a beginner at coloring of any type; some artists are quite skilled!

I stamped my image on some watercolor paper, using Archival Gray ink which does not bleed when wet. It also provides more softness than stark black. Using several shades of Distress Inks, I would rub the ink pad onto my Ranger craft sheet, then apply to the paper with a wet brush.When I had all the coloring done, I mounted the panel onto a blue patterned cardstock, leaving a wider margin on the right hand side. I tied some thin brown twine twice around both papers and tied it in a simple knot.

Before mounting this panel onto the striped paper, I added several strips of 3M foam tape to the back to help even things out since the twine added some bulk. Then I stamped my sentiment directly onto the striped paper with Hero Arts Black ink. Everything was mounted onto a kraft cardstock base.

Below is the inspirational image from the Unity website; I chose to try to follow this color scheme and will like this up to the current Unity challenge.

Inspiration Image

Till next time,

Immi