Creative Cardmaker: Drawing Inspiration from Scrapbooking Layouts...

Good morning! This week has FLOWN by, hasn't it? I can't believe it's almost the weekend again. Last weekend I had the chance to attend an amazing summit for Craftsy Instructors in Denver, CO! I really want the chance to tell you more about it, so I'll have to plan to write a little blog post about a few things I took away from it. It was so inspiring to be in the same room with hundreds of creative, like-minded people!! You can see a few pics from the 2016 Crafty Instructor Summit HERE on my Facebook page or HERE on my Instagram page.

Until then, I have a new card to share with you that I made for the Weekly Scrapper blog over at Scrapbook Expo. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out where to get inspiration...especially when life takes over and seems to get in the way of creative time. Ever feel that way?

One of the biggest things that inspire me are scrapbooking layouts! I used to scrapbook before I was a card maker, so I always seem to find inspiration and creativity in scrapbooking...whether it's a color palette, or a cool technique, or an overall design, or even just a little section of layering that looks amazing! There are so many ways scrapbooking layouts can give you ideas for your cards!

Pop over to the Scrapbook Expo blog to read more about what inspired this card - which layout I loved and how I drew inspiration from it - and to get more info on the supplies I used. Thank you for swinging by and saying hello! I hope you're having a great week!!! Happy creating!

Inspired by watercolors...

Hey, everyone! After my last post (Design Team Tips) and working with watercolors, I was very inspired to play around with them some more. Of course, Pinterest helps too with inspiration. I started a new "watercolor" board on Pinterest and just can't get enough of the watercolor look! And ended up making this....

To dress up the envelope, I used the Envelope Liner die by Papertrey Ink and die cut it out of watercolor paper. Then just painted lines on it with my watercolors. The watercolor paper I bought is called Artists Loft from Michael's, and I think it was only about $3 for 24 sheets on sale. It's much thicker than cardstock, making it great to work with when working with water. It doesn't warp like cardstock would. When dry, I tucked the painted envelope liner inside the envelope and adhered it. Love how this quick technique customizes the envelope to match the card!

Now onto the card. I was inspired by this image I saw on Pinterest. I started by penciling out my image onto watercolor paper. Excuse the photos, as I was taking them with my phone as I went.

Step 1: I drew my image in with pencil onto watercolor paper. (If you aren't a sketcher, you can always use stamps...stamp an image and paint them in with this same technique!) When happy with my penciled image, I start painting. I always start painting with a lot of water and a little bit of color. You can add deeper color as you go, but start off light at first for the base. Here I've used red for the flowers (when mixed with water, has a pink tint). I mixed blue and green to get this shade of teal for the banner.

Step 2: I've painted in the flowers and leaves very lightly. I've also taken a really light yellow and shaded around the entire image.

Step 3: I've added some darker shades of watercolor (using less water) over the top to add more dimension.

Last, a "Thank you" was stamped with Papertrey Ink's Think Big Favorites #2 after the card was dry.

I'd love to see what you are making with watercolors, please leave me a note if you do make something "watercolor" inspired!

Thank You Watercolor card and envelope:

(All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.)

STAMPS: Think Big Favorites #2

INK: True Black, watercolors

PAPER: Artist's Loft by Michael's Stores (watercolor paper pad), envelope by Papertrey Ink, white cardstock

DIES: Envelope Liner die

OTHER: none.

the white room challenge.

Is anyone out there a huge fan of HGTV (Home and Garden TV channel), like I am? One of my very favorite shows is called "Design Star". On this show several home decorating designers compete in challenges to see who will win their own show on the network. I love watching this show because the artists always have terrific ideas for decorating, color, and making unique things out of something ordinary. It really inspires me, even in my paper crafting.

One of the challenges I love every season on this show is called "The WHITE ROOM Challenge". Each designer gets their own blank white room to work with and a few basic supplies, like a small sofa and table. I thought it would be fun to take this idea, and use a blank white piece of cardstock to show you how you can transform it into something wonderful!

I started with a piece of white cardstock for each card, and set out to use my Clear Stamps from Pink Paislee's Indigo Bleu line. On the first card, I stamped with the doily image from the stamp set onto white cardstock in a random fashion.
Next, I heat-embossed the images with white embossing powder.

Now comes the fun part....adding color. I used a reinker called Aqua Mist by Papertrey Ink and a little bit of water to paint over the embossed images. I thought it would make it more interesting to do a stripe pattern, so I used a ruler and drew stripes with my paintbrush. Some of the greenish-blue color you see here is just because my paint palette had a bit of yellow paint on it when I was making my card. (I have since cleaned the palette off for the photos.) To get a deeper color, use more reinker and less water. To get a lighter color, use more water with just a tiny drop of reinker. You can go back and add more color as you go, making it as dark as you wish.

Next, I let my paper dry and trimmed it down. It would be pretty on a layout, but today I'm making a card with it. I made a little banner next with a Martha Stewart scalloped circle punch, some Indigo Bleu papers and Indigo Bleu die cuts from the Chat Clouds, stitching them together with my sewing machine.

I tore a little strip of Jacquard paper for the top, and then added the banner. The seam binding was spraying with Mint Chocolate Chip Chalkboard Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels. The button is from Pink Paislee's Indigo Bleu - Boutique Flair Wood Buttons. Last, the card base was made out of Indigo Bleu - Calico paper.

It looks complicated, but when you see step-by-step the process, it is really fun and easy to try creating your own backgrounds!

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I have one more card that I used the same technique with. This time I used the little stars in the Indigo Bleu stamp set. Here you can see I have sprinkled the embossing powder over the stamps, but haven't heated the powder up yet to melt it.

I stamped them, embossed them with white powder, and then painted over them with a yellow reinker called Harvest Gold by Papertrey Ink. I added some of the die cuts from the Chat Clouds again and a teal patterned paper from the Spring Jubilee line cut with a Layerz Mat Stack 4 die. A TIP: use a permanent ink like StazOn to stamp over the embossed images, so it doesn't rub off. I used the Super Stars stamp set sentiment.

Just look how it comes to life with color!

I added a Pink Paislee Boutique Flair brad to a regular paper clip from my office supplies. I just put it through the bottom of the paper clip and opened up the prongs on the back of the brad. I clipped off the ends of the prongs, because they were showing a bit. The paper clip is then just slid onto my card!

You could use this technique for any themed card or layout. Hope this has inspired you to run to your scrap area and create something fun today. If you would like to play along, link me up to your project! Visit the Pink Paislee blog all this week for more "white room challenge" projects.

Supplies used:

STAMPS: Indigo Bleu Clear Stamps by Pink Paislee, Super Stars by Papertrey Ink
INK: Aqua Mist and Harvest Gold reinkers by Papertrey Ink, Mint Chocolate Chip Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels
PAPER: white cardstock, Indigo Bleu papers - Jacquard and Calico by Pink Paislee, Spring Jubilee paper - Shindig by Pink Paislee
DIES: Layerz Mat Stack 4 die by Papertrey Ink
OTHER: Indigo Bleu - Chat Clouds (die cuts), Indigo Bleu - Boutique Flair buttons, seam binding, paper clip, corner rounder.

Fun with techniques.

I have a couple of springy cards today made with Lily Bee's Double Dutch stamps and the Victoria Park stamps using a technique that I've been really enjoying lately - embossing and using mist/ink to paint over the images!

To make these, I first used a cute border stamp from the Double Dutch clear stamps and stamped it three times on each card with white ink on white cardstock, then embossed the images with white embossing powder. It looks fab JUST like this with white on white! But I wanted to add color, so you could see the technique better. To add color to the cards, I sprayed some Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (Turquoise and Key Lime Pie) in a paint palette. I grabbed a paintbrush and brushed over the embossing with the mist! I love how this looks.

Then I stamped a floral border with the small flower image in the Victoria Park stamp set, and a sentiment in black over the top. Stamping layers really creates dimension without a lot of bulk. These would make adorable note cards for a gift set! Don't forget to stamp the envelopes too!

I often get asked on tips for bow tying, so here is how I make them...
I tie the bow, then pull the two ends to make the loops smaller, then I pull the bow tight again and trim off the excess from the tails. To get them to look fluffy like I have here, put a small glue dot in the center and pinch the loops together! This helps them stay nice and "poofy". Ribbon is by Papertrey Ink as well as the Spring Moss, Aqua Mist and True Black ink.

Live Laugh card set supplies:

STAMPS: Victoria Park Clear Stamps, Double Dutch Clear Stamps by Lily Bee Designs

INK: Spring Moss and Aqua Mist by Papertrey Ink

PAPER: white cardstock

DIES: corner rounder

OTHER:  embossing powder, Spring Moss and Hawaiian Shores ribbon by Papertrey Ink,  Key Lime Pie and Turquoise Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels, pearls.

Swing over to Lily Bee to see more fun springy cards by Julia Stainton and Patricia Roebuck!

Garden Variety continues.

Today we are back with another blog hop for Papertrey Ink. This time we're introducing two new stamp sets called Garden Variety II and Year of Flowers Titles. Our assignment was to find a photo online, in a garden center, or something in our homes that inspired us. I found this patterned paper by Crate Paper in my scrapbooking stash that really inspired me. I love, love the mix of colors, and the floral pattern is perfect inspiration for these stamps!

I sat down and made two cards with these sets inspired by this one piece of paper! The first one is a card made with Aqua Mist cardstock, stamped with the "roses" saying from Year of Flowers Titles, a sentiment from Garden Variety II, the rose stamp from Year of Flowers and the Turning a New Leaf die. I used a frame from the new Limitless Layers 3.5" Oval dies.

The second project is a gift card holder. I tucked a seed packet pocket into the Card Base-ics #2 die.

First I'll show you how I made these painted flowers.

I stamped the rose from the Year of Flowers stamp set in Fresh Snow ink onto a piece of vellum. Then I embossed it with white embossing powder. I took my plastic paint palette out and put one drop of ink from the Pure Poppy refill, Raspberry Fizz and Spring Moss reinkers into the palette. I started painting in the center with Pure Poppy, then painted the outer petals with Raspberry Fizz.

My paint palette still has a lot of paint on it from previous projects, but here you can see I only needed a tiny drop of ink from the bottle.

Now I used the Spring Moss reinker to paint in the leaves. You can add water if you want a lighter color, or just use it straight from the bottle for a deeper color. (Excuse the messy paint palette! I'm very bad about keeping it clean.)

When dry, I cut it out and placed it on my card. You can back the flower with white cardstock if you wish like I did here and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. White cardstock behind the vellum really makes the colors pop.

On the second project, I cut the gift card holder from the Seed Packet die with white cardstock. I used the new Seed Packet Frame 2 on the gray patterned paper and stamped the front with the Garden Variety 2 frame with Smokey Shadow ink. I added one of these painted flowers over the top.

I put a gift card inside. (A gift card to a garden center would be perfect!) Then I closed the top and tucked it into this larger die called Card Base-ics #2. The little seed packet is cute, but on the small side, so adding it to this more substantial base makes it a little larger.

What a fun (and pretty) way to give a gift card!

You can get these products on the 15th at www.papertreyink.com. Now stop over to see what the other team members made with these goodies:

Ashley Cannon Newell

Betsy Veldman  

Dawn McVey  

Erin Lincoln  

Heather Nichols  

Jessica Witty  

Lisa Johnson  

Maile Belles

Melissa Phillips

Nichole Heady

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Seeds That You Plant card:

STAMPS: Garden Variety II, Year of Flowers Titles, Year of Flowers

INK: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, Fresh Snow, Spring Moss, True Black

PAPER: Aqua Mist and white cardstock, Simply Chartreuse Pattern Pack

DIES: Limitless Layers 3.5 Oval, Turning a New Leaf

OTHER: vellum, Pink Paislee twine, white embossing powder.

For You Seed Packet Gift Card Holder:

STAMPS: Garden Variety II, Year of Flowers
INK: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, Spring Moss, True Black, Fresh Snow
PAPER: Crate Paper (floral), white cardstock, Lilybee Designs (gray), Simply Chartreuse Pattern Pack
DIES: Seed Packet 2, Card Base-ics 2
OTHER: vellum, white embossing powder.

 

creating with mists, paint and dimensional paste...

Today at the Pink Paislee blog, my assignment was "mixed media" - when I think of mixed media, I think of paint, mists, dimensional paint and creating fun backgrounds! :)

I worked with Pink Paislee's Mistable Mask and the Vintage Vogue line of Ephemera, Chipboard Pops, Paper Rosettes and Spool Buttons.

Love their new wood chip alphabet!

I call this layout, "Any Given Day". Any given day, Kati is always dressing up and ready for pose for me!

I also tried Dimensional Paint/paste with the same stencil by Pink Paislee and will show you how to create these neat backgrounds!

Check out the HOW-TO at Pink Paislee's blog!

(With Appreciation is a stamp by Papertrey Ink called Mixed Messages.)

Pebbles guest design work...

Recently I was asked to guest design for Pebbles, Inc., a division of American Crafts, and today I get to share my creations with you! I used mostly their Floral Lane line, right up my alley, and added a few items from The Mr. & Mrs. line. I REALLY enjoyed working with these products! The first layout was actually inspired by the "thank you" sticker. Of course it would be perfect for a card, but I wanted to use it on a layout! I love to write little notes to my girls on my pages. (Someday they will read them, and it will mean something to them. Right now, they are too little to care. lol)

(I'm not sure why Blogger is cutting off the right side of my page, sorry about that.)

I used a Papertrey Ink die (Spiral Notebook Page) to cut the little notebook shapes out of the patterned paper and ran them through the printer for the journaling. Also punched out a doily shape (Parisian Doily) from white cardstock and cut out the middle with a circle punch to add a little spot for the "thank you" sticker.

These are fall pictures, but they seem to work great with these papers none-the-less! I wanted to add a little detail at the bottom, so I stamped with Papertrey Ink's Everyday Button Bits stamp set.

Here is the journaling...

Next, I made another layout and wanted to include all of these fun patterns and colors from the papers! I saw a picture on Pinterest that really sparked my attention HERE. I decided to try it out on a page by painting the limbs of the tree on white cardstock, then I punched several circles from the papers. "You Make Me Smile Everyday"...

I love the dimensional stickers and gorgeous flower brads!! I stamped "happy, happy, joy, joy" with Papertrey Ink's Blooming Button Bits to add a bit of text to my page.

Here's a little thank you card made with the floral paper, a strip of the polkadot paper and some of the dimensional stickers. They are so easy, just peel and stick, and you already have dimension.

Thank you to Pebbles for having me as a guest this month! For a complete supply list and a chance to win some Pebbles products, stop over to the Pebbles blog!