Faux Print Look

One of the things I enjoy doing is checking the blogs of artists whose work I admire. I appreciate their creativity, and learn from their generous sharing of knowledge.

I recently saw a blog post from a paper artist in Europe. Her style is so bright and fun, and she often uses paint to create the backgrounds for her stamped cards. I was intrigued by a card she posted recently, and she included a link to the artist's video that demonstrated the technique she used, called the faux print look.

Here is a link to her blog post: http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.com/2016/04/faux-print-look.html. And here is the link to the video tutorial she referenced: http://www.kimdellow.co.uk/2016/04/video-get-faux-printed-look.html.

I was impressed with how easy she made it look, and couldn't wait to give it a try. I got out the very simple supplies needed: cardstock, acrylic paint (the cheap craft paint works fine), and an old plastic gift card.

Following her directions, I spread thin layers of paint across the surface of the cardstock, leaving a white border around the edges. Because the paint is so thin, it dries very quickly. It is so easy to make several backgrounds at once and have some on hand.

I love the way it turned out! I wanted to use it in a card to submit for a Facebook challenge with the Unity Show & Tell group. This particular challenge was to use one of the "Unity Girl" stamps - there are so many, but I only have a few. I thought this particular one (Maple Girl) would look nice against the painted background. I stamped it with Ranger Archival ink - since the face is tilted slightly towards the right, I placed the image to the left of my painted panel. 

I also used a Unity text stamp (Vintage Handwritten) in the background, around the main image - to keep it light, I stamped off on scrap paper before stamping on the panel. The sentiment is from a recent kit called "Sometimes I Wonder". I stamped that on a scrap of white cardstock, and blended Distress Peacock Feathers ink over it to get that shade of blue. I trimmed it down with some old decorative scissors from Stampin' Up!, and stitched it down to the main panel. 

After trimming, the stamped panel seemed a little short, so I got some scrap lace trim out to fill up that extra space at the bottom. I figured that the sewing machine was the best way to attach it, so I used deliberately messy stitching and  black thread to sew it down and create a frame around the card at the same time. I glued it down to some mustard colored cardstock, and left it under a book overnight to dry completely.

After posting it in the Facebook group, I received several nice comments, so I thought I'd put it out here for everyone. I appreciate that others shared what they did so that I could learn and benefit from it!

Hope your week is going well - I know I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Immi

Quick Card

I'm popping in with a quick card this afternoon. We are enjoying a lovely spring rain outside, and it seemed like a good time to have a little creative fun.

This morning at church, I saw someone who can't be there very often, due to poor health. She was so excited to tell me that she's been feeling much better recently. I am happy for her, and thought she would appreciate a card.

I recently got a new stamp set from Unity Stamp called "Sometimes I Wonder", and this is the first time I've used it. It has several cute images - I especially like the bird I used for this card. The sentiment is also from Unity Stamp, and I thought it reflected her happiness and acknowledgement of God's healing.

This was a super quick and easy card. After stamping with black Archival ink, all the coloring is done with Stampin' Up! markers, and the flowered washi tape seemed like a great accompaniment. The washi tape is wrapped to the back of the white panel, and I used a corner rounder on the top edge. I mounted the panel to a blue card base and called it done.

Hope you have a good week!

Immi

Birthday Card

Sometimes I like to challenge myself to pull out something that doesn't get much use and have fun with it. Occasionally I do clean out products that I don't think I'll ever use again, but this was a flower stamp (Stampendous Fresh Bloom) I really do like. It's an outline stamp that would be pretty colored in, but I decided to make a colorful background and keep the flower simple.

With white cardstock as my base, I stamped the flower with Versamark ink, and heat embossed with clear powder. Using a foam blending tool, I blended several cheerful Distress ink colors on top. In addition to great blending, one of the cool things about Distress inks is the way they react with water. It's fun and unpredictable! So...after blending, I spritzed the paper with water. After waiting a few seconds, I blotted the water off, and was left with bleached-out areas. The embossed flowers preserved the white and stood out nicely against the colorful background.

The sentiment if from Altenew's Label love - stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I trimmed closely around the sentiment and mounted it on top of the stamped panel. To add a little more pizazz, I glued on a few sequins using Ranger's Matte Medium. I mounted the panel on top of some coordinatingl cardstock, and adhered the whole thing onto a white card base.

Make A Wish

I can't believe how long it's been since I put up a blog post - I've really neglected my poor blog! I thought I'd try to get back into the swing of things with a very simple card today. I apologize for the less-than-stellar photograph. I've got to figure out what's wrong with my camera, but until then I'm using my phone's camera.

This is a very easy technique I learned from a blog post by Jennifer McGuire. I stamped the background with Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue ink, using the Hero Arts Everything Flowers background stamp. Once that had a minute to dry, I used a Ranger blending tool and Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink. I blended the ink over the center of the stamped image, to lighten it and make it recede a little. The edges are left the original blue color.

This allows the sentiment to stand out more - I used a stamp from Altenew Super Script 2, stamping in Versafine Onyx Black and embossing with clear embossing powder.

I trimmed the stamped panel slightly and mounted it onto a turquoise card base.

Fun, and easy!

Happy crafting - 

Immi

Sharing Handmade Kindness

Hi there - long time no see! I am struggling to have much creative energy these days, but I don't want to give up yet. I have a card to share with you today.

This post is prompted by a well-known cardmaker, Jennifer McGuire. She is one of the best there is, and is always very generous to applaud others' efforts and to give of her talents. She has recently launched a new website, and along with that, a challenge for crafters to spread kindness by sharing something handmade. Each week in the month of November, she is planning to issue a different challenge.

This first week's challenge is to share something handmade with family or friends. I thought of this card I made a while back, and decided to send it to a lady who is a member of our church. Due to health issues, she can't get out as often as she'd like. I hope this will be a little ray of sunshine. Sometimes just to know that someone is thinking of you is such an encouragement!

Here's my card:

This design was inspired by this card. I didn't have the set she used, so I pulled out an old Stampin' Up! set called Bugs & Slugs. I enjoyed the process and I think many sets with small images could be used this way.

I hope your week is off to a good start. I'm looking forward to this month of gratitude!

Till next time, 

Immi

Unity Challenge Winner!

I've finally got a free day to get a quick post up to let you know that I won the September challenge over on the Unity blog! I was very excited to have one of my submissions chosen and also excited to get to choose some free stamps! I do love free stuff, especially crafting goodies!

I thought it would be fun to post pictures of the stamps I chose. I was  allowed to choose three larger sets and 10 Itty Bitty stamps. The larger sets had to be under a certain price point, but there are lots of great ones to be had. Here's what I picked:

Love these leaves!

Gorgeous flowers!

Fun to watercolor!

Cute!

More cuteness!

Postage Background

I pulled out some oldie but goodie stamps for today's card. I love the look of old postage, and have several stamps that look like postage stamps. I haven't used them in a while, and decided to make a background with them.

I started with a piece of white Bristol, cut to 4.25" x 5.5". I wanted to use muted colors so that none of the individual stamps would stand out, but blend together. I used some dye inks from Stampin' Up! that I've had since I first began stamping - Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Close to Cocoa, and Mellow Moss. I also used an ink Stampin' Up! produced together with Ancient Page called Pretty in Pink. The stamps I used are: French Postage by Paper Inspirations, French Post by Hampton Art, and Creative Block #13 by Stamper's Anonymous. I also used a stamp that is part of a set designed by Dawn Houser for Inkadinkado called World Traveler & Postage Mark as well as a stamp from a set by Stampin' Up! (the cancellation mark). 

Each stamp is stamped multiple times, allowing the images to overlap. I decided that the white of the background was a bit too stark, so I used Distress Antique Linen ink and a blending tool to tone everything down a little.

The sentiment is a new-to-me die from Savvy Dies called Hello Script. I cut it four times from some scrap brown cardstock and glued all the layers together to make it stand up a little from the surface of the card. After gluing it down with matte medium, I decided to add a few sequins from Doodlebug Design. They are also glued down with matte medium. I trimmed the panel slightly smaller and mounted it on a dark brown cardstock base.

I'm linking this up to the current challenge from Craft Stamper Magazine.

Till next time - 

Immi