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

Published!

I am excited to share this card. I recently had the honor of having this one published in the August issue of Craft Stamper magazine. This is a UK publication, and I enjoy trying their challenges.

Here's my card:

This was done with stamping and watercolor. The main image and sentiment are from Your Wings Exist by Unity Stamps; the butterfly is from Inkadinakdo's Inchies; the flowers are from Hero Arts' Trees, Birds, & Messages.

Thanks for stopping by today to take a look. I got an email yesterday letting me know that another card I've submitted will be published in a few months. Once it comes out, I'll be able to share it with you.

Till next time,

Immi

Monochromatic Card

I spent some time this weekend working on a couple of monochromatic cards, inspired by the current Muse  #113 challenge.

I started with a smooth white cardstock panel, and several shades of blue dye ink. I used Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue, and Stampin' Up! Brocade Blue, Not Quite Navy, and Ballet Blue. I inked up some circle stamps from Hero Arts (Box of Dots) and an old Stampin' Up! circle that was part of a set of shapes. After stamping the circles, I used a hero Arts stamp called Silhouette Burst and stamped it three times with Hero Arts Black dye ink. At this point, I didn't really like what I had and I set it aside to work on something else. 

Later, I spotted a piece of vellum and tried layering it over my stamped panel. I thought it really improved the way it looked. I decided to try finishing the card to see if I could make it work out. I stamped the sentiment (Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Simple Sayings) with Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink and covered it with white embossing powder. I thought this particular sentiment went so well with the image which reminds me of a dandelion. I'm sure we've all had the experience of making a wish and trying to blow all the seeds off a fluffy white dandelion!

After melting the powder with my heat tool, I cut the strip with a notch on the end and stitched it along with the vellum on top of the white stamped panel. I pulled out my scraps and found three butterflies punched from various scraps of blue cardstock (using a Martha Stewart punch). 

I thought it would be good to gussy them up a little, so I chose a 7 Gypsies stamp set called Lillie that had a couple of different script stamps as well as a music stamp. I did all three butterflies with Stampin' Up!'s Not Quite Navy ink, and glued them down on top of the vellum. For a little extra touch, I coated all three with Glossy Accents - I hope you can see the shine. Here's a closeup:

I'm glad I didn't give up on this card (although I'm not opposed to giving up if it's clearly a lost cause!).

Here is the inspiration card that got me started:

Happy crafting!

Immi

Dot Flower Background

Here's the second card I made today (to see the first, click here).

This card uses the same background stamp - Hero Arts Dot Flower. This time, I stamped with Versamark on white cardstock and embossed with white powder. Then, I used Barn Door, Ripe Persimmon, and Wild Honey Distress inks, applied with blending tools. The embossing resists the ink and stays white - I really like this look! (Here is a link to the image that inspired me.) This was adhered to a white cardstock base.

Next I cut a couple of tags using Tag Collection dies from Alterations. I edged them with some Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers. I also used a couple of vellum die cuts from the Spring Greenery die from Alterations. The blue flourish behind the tags is cut from glitter paper from Die Cuts With a View, using a file that I downloaded to cut with my Silhouette Cameo.

The sentiment is from a small set (I don't remember the name), and is stamped with Versafine Black Onyx and embossed with clear powder. 

The glitter flourish and tag were glued down to the background with dots of Glossy Adhesive. (Before gluing the tag down, I tied a little bit of twine through the hole at the top.) I used a little Matte Medium from Ranger to attach the vellum leaves just at the base of the stem, and also used the same medium to glue down some colorful sequins. Everything was then weighted down under a book for a little while to be sure it dried in place.

I'm linking this card up with the Hero Arts Nature Challenge, the Simon Says Stamp Girly Challenge, and Virginia Lu's All Things Embossed.

Hope your week is going well!

Immi

Friendship Card

I had an unexpected day off due to bad road conditions, so I enjoyed some cardmaking time today. I have been experimenting with some dies I recently bought and thought I'd put the die cuts to use in a couple of cards. Here's one of them:

 I started with a piece of watercolor paper cut to 4.25 x 5.5. I inked up a Hero Arts background stamp called Dot Flower with several shades of pink and purple Distress inks. After misting the stamp with water, I set the stamp face up on my work surface and placed the paper on top. To ensure that the ink got into the paper, I carefully held in in place while rubbing over the entire surface and also giving it a few seconds to sink into the paper's texture. This made a pretty, multicolored background that is so easy to achieve. I used Extreme Adhesive to attach it to a green cardstock base.

I cut a scrap of lightweight pink paper I had and rounded the corners. Next I cut a piece of white cardstock a little smaller than the pink piece and also rounded  the corners. I rubbed Peeled Paint Distress Stain on my craft sheet and swiped the white paper through the stain to give it that green color. After setting it with my heat tool, I swiped it through the stain still left on the craft sheet. I really like the illusion of depth this creates. I also used the stain to color some white leaves I'd die cut from a Tim Holtz Alterations die called Spring Greenery. I tucked them behind both the green and pink papers and stitched around the edge of the green panel.

The sentiment and flowers are from Hero Arts Trees, Birds, & Messages. They are stamped with Black Onyx Versafine and embossed with clear powder. This layered panel and leaves were attached to the background using dots of Glossy Accents. I also put it under a book for a while to make sure everything stuck well.

I like the combination of colors, and this card fits with a couple of challenges currently going on. I'm linking up with Hero Arts Nature Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Just a Hiint of Clover.

Till next time,

Immi

Valentine's Day Card

I decided to do a little cleanup the other day in my studio. It gets messy really quickly in here! One of the things I chose to tackle was some paper that I use to cover my work surface when I'm using ink sprays. The spray tends to get all over everything, so I keep newspapers or large paper bags on hand to put under my project. I get some interesting colors and patterns as they get all dirtied up. I took some of those pieces and die cut them into flower and leaf shapes, using Tattered Leaves, Tattered Florals, and Jumbo Tattered Florals by Sizzix. But now I'm left with a pile of these pieces and need to figure out what to do with them.

I thought it would be fun to layer some of them on a card. I started with a piece of watercolor paper and some ink sprays, I used several shades of red and pink, along with some gold & bronze to create a background. Next I layered some decorative washi tapes over that, gluing them down since the adhesive on these tapes is not quite strong enough for the textured watercolor paper. I glued down a couple of flowers & leaves and set it all aside to dry between a couple of books to help keep it flat. (I keep waxed paper handy to prevent sticking when I use books as weights.)

I had a chipboard heart that I hadn't used on another project, so rather than put it away I decided to use it. I sprayed it with some inks, then put on a layer of Distress Crackle Paint in Clear Rock Candy. 

While that was drying, I decided which sentiment stamp to use - the one I chose is by Heidi Swapp. I added some additional stamping on the lower left since it looked rather bare, using French Post by Hampton Art and Flourish Wave with Hearts by Hero Arts. Next I added my sentiment.

Once the heart was dry, I attached it to the flowers, and rounded the lower right corner of the panel. I folded a heavy piece of cardstock to use as the card base, and rounded the lower right corner of that as well. I used Extreme Adhesive to mount the watercolor panel since it's so heavy.

I can't say that I got very far in cleaning up my space, but I got a little bit done and had some fun along the way.

Happy crafting!

Immi

White Stamping

I'm participating in the Craft Stamper Magazine's Make It Take It Challenge for December. The requirement is to stamp in white. I thought it would be fun to do a "chalkboard" card. This is a fun technique that's been around for a while, although I've just recently tried it. I always seem to get on the trend bandwagon late!

Here's my card:

"Chalkboard" Santa

I used a stamp set I've had for a long time from Stampin' Up! called "Christmas is Here". Before stamping, I prepped my cardstock (plain smooth black) with antistatic powder to help prevent embossing powder from getting all over. I stamped the image and saying using Hero Art's Unicorn White pigment ink. Then I poured white embossing powder over it and heat set it. After it cooled a little, I had some fun coloring the design with colored pencils. Then I used a foam pad dabbed with the white pigment ink to smear "chalk" over the surface of the stamped panel. As a final touch, I used a ruler to draw lines with a white pencil around the perimeter. I mounted the panel to some festive striped paper and then mounted it to a top-folding white card base.

It's been fun to do some experimenting with this technique lately. It's quick and easy  - I did quite a few gift tags for Christmas presents, too, with smaller and simpler designs.

I hope you are enjoying this special time of year!

Immi

Muse #93

I had fun this week taking inspiration from the card posted on the Muse blog.

I took away a couple of things from the original card: the simple shape of the tree and the "jewels" adorning it. 

Using Strathmore Bristol, I inked the paper with green Distress Inks, flicking some water droplets on top after heat setting it. I trimmed out my tree shape and set it aside.

For the background, I wanted to try to imitate a night sky. There are several good tutorials out there, and after watching a couple, I pulled out three shades of blue Distress Inks. These blend really nicely on the smooth surface of the Bristol paper. After heat setting, I decided to try to deepen the colors and was really amazed at how much more intense I was able to make it. I love the way that Distress Inks blend with each other!

I used a couple of different products to imitate the starry sky - the effect I like the most was simply dotting on Iridescent Medium by Liquitex.

I glued down some sequins onto my tree and was happy to find that I had a star shaped sequin for the tree top. The tree trunk was cut from some brown paper in my scrap drawer. Now that I think about it, the only stamping on this card is on the sentiment banner. I don't know the name of the set that the word came from, but the little red stars are from a Hero Arts set called "Birthday Messages". I used Stampin' Up! ink in Real Red for the stars and also to run around the edge of the banner.

Here is the original inspiration card:

Muse #93

I hope you have a great weekend!

Immi

Muse Challenge #92

Hello and Happy Wednesday to you! I'm participating in another challenge today from Muse. Here's my interpretation:

I was inspired by several things in the inspiration image (see below): the blue & green dots, the flowers, and the vellum sentiment strip.

For my card, I chose a flower stamp from Hero Arts. I used Hero Arts black ink and stamped several times on textured white paper. The paper is actually the back side of the cover to a pad of el cheapo watercolor paper. I used some of my trusty Stampin' Up! markers to color in parts of the flowers. The blue dots were made with another Hero Arts stamp and Brilliance Sky Blue ink.

I trimmed this panel down and added a thin strip of green cardstock to the right hand side, then set it aside while I worked on the sentiment strip.

I cut a piece of vellum and used Versafine Black to stamp the sentiment from Altenew. I really like the larger sentiments that are available these days and would like to add more of them to my collection. After stamping, I heat set it and then stamped again in Versamark. I poured clear embossing powder over that and heat set again. I was interested to see that the Versamark lightened the black ink so that my sentiment was now stamped in gray. That's not what I had intended, but I went with it anyway.

I wrapped the vellum strip around my flower stamped panel and taped it down to the back. Then I adhered the panel to a dark pink card base.

Here's the inspiration card:

Muse #92

Thanks for reading - I hope you enjoyed this! Till next time,

Immi

Challenge: Spots & Dots

I'm participating in the latest Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp: Spots & Dots. Now, I can't seem to help myself - whenever I think of dots, I usually turn to a Hero Arts stamp set I've had for a long time with 4 different sized circles. It's called "Box of Dots" and I bought it years ago when my husband and I were in San Antonio. I talked him into a stop at the famous Stamp Antonio store. (Side note - that made me wonder if they are still in business; apparently they closed in March of this year.)

Anyway, I always seem to gravitate towards bright colors when I use this set. For another challenge post where I chose to use this set, click here.

For this card, I stamped my dots in various bright inks from Stampin' Up! I also used another circle stamp (the one in yellow). I like the overlapping of the circles and the additional colors that result. The sentiment is (I think) a Heidi Swapp stamp which is meant to be stamped in a single line. I cut it apart so that I could stamp it as shown. I added a bow with sheer pink ribbon and mounted the stamped piece onto a turquoise card base. This one was pretty quick and easy, and I always enjoy using bright colors.

Happy crafting!

Immi

Mission: Stash Reduction

Do you remember the show "Mission Impossible"? At the beginning, Mr. Phelps would receive a message explaining the situation and prompting a decision whether or not to accept the mission. This is the scenario I'm imagining myself in right now...

"Good morning, Immi. You have before you a stash of paper crafting products. Some of these products were purchased for specific projects, never completed. Others were purchased on a whim, and now you can't remember why. Your mission, Immi, should you choose to accept it, is to reduce this stash. In order to accomplish this task, you will need a two-pronged approach. One, you must think of ways to use these products; two, you will need to get busy creating. This tape will self destruct in five seconds.....

Okay, so it's more than a little silly, but I really have been in the mood to do some stash reduction. I see this topic come up often on blogs, so I know I'm not alone in my struggle. When you've been crafting for a while, you tend to accumulate lots of "stuff". When the stuff starts to become stressful, it's time to clean house! That's the idea behind my plan to begin showing some of the projects I'm doing to work towards this goal. As I'm doing it, I also plan to work in sessions of taking a good hard look at what to keep and what to purge.

Here are some cards I made recently. These will go to Operation Write Home. As you can see, I used up lots of little odds & ends and had some fun at the same time. The tags used on these cards all came from the Dollar Spot at Target. The sentiments on the cards are from stamp sets made by Hero Arts with Operation Write Home in mind.

Add caption

I'll be back soon with more cards to share. Until then, Happy Crafting!

Immi