DT Tips: Achieving a Watercolored Look with Stamped Images...

Welcome! I've had some questions on this previous post of mine on how I blended the bird to get the watercolor look, so I created a video for you today with a new card and the technique of stamping images and blending them to make them look watercolored. I hope you enjoy watching it, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Here is the video tutorial, and I apologize that the video is so small! I can't seem to figure out how to make it bigger on my blog. Please click HERE to watch it at over at Papertrey Ink's YouTube channel! Thanks!

The stamps used on this card are The Sweet Life, Spring Woods stamps and dies (bird and branch) and Bold Blossoms (sentiment). Have a creative day!

Watercoloring stamped images...

Happy hump day! Spring break is over for us, thank goodness. Ha. I love my kids, but honestly being with them for 10 days was exhausting. lol This week is flying by! Catching up on cleaning the house (I like when it stays clean for more than an hour!), laundry and some assignments. Yesterday I had a post due for Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog, and I felt like painting with watercolors. I started with some flowers and branches...

Then I wanted to add a pretty bird, so I used the Spring Woods stamp set, stamped it with Aqua Mist and Tropical Teal (it is a 2-step stamp), then added a tiny bit of water over the top to blend it to make it look painted.

Would you have guessed that the bird was a stamp? So easy, right!

Swing by to see the full tutorial and finished card at the Weekly Scrapper blog! I'll be back with more projects either today or tomorrow! :)
Danielle

Make It Monday Video Tutorial: Ink Blending Over Embossing...

Happy Spring! I'm up with today's Make It Monday video #243 at Papertrey Ink this week, and I thought I would show you a technique of ink blending over a heat embossed/stamped image, like I did here on these two cards! It creates a pretty dimension to the design! You can try it on a whole background, part of a background like I did here, or maybe just on a focal point.

For stamps on these two cards, I've used the new Bloomin' Cute flowers and dies, the Bloomin' Cute Sentiment dies, the Background Basics: Text Style stamps, and the You've Been Framed: Oval stamps and dies.

Isn't it funny how different a design can look by simply using different colors?

Visit Nichole Heady's blog to see the video tutorial on these two projects! Thank you for stopping by today. Send me a link if you give this a try, would love to see how it inspired you!

My girls are off for Spring Break all this week, so I'm off to try to figure out how to keep them busy all week. :) Have a great one!

Danielle

Pretty Pink Posh: March Product Release...

This month I was asked to participate in the March product release for Pretty Pink Posh! They sent me some fun stamps and dies, and here is what I came up with! I used their new Scallop Circles die set and the Birdie Friends stamp set and coordinating dies. I also used my MOST favorite thing that PPP carries - their Clear Sequins!

The Scallop Circle dies have a pretty "stitched" look to them that creates a nice finished look, love that. I did some ink blending in the background, then die cut the stamps, nest, leaves and branch and stamped them. The birds, nest and branch were colored in with Copic Markers: Y15 (birds), R20 (nest) and YG11 (on branch). The background paper is by Papertrey Ink's Vintage Linens paper pad and the inks used were: Tropical Teal, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy, New Leaf and Dark Chocolate by Papertrey Ink.

There are two $25 gift certificates up for grabs today by Pretty Pink Posh! Swing through each blog and leave a comment. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 3/14/2016. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog and will be picked randomly along the blog hop. 

P.S. If you enjoy my cardmaking style, I would love for you to check out my online card class called Cards With Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures and Embellishments over at Craftsy.com. Right now I can offer you 50% off my class, and if you are new to Craftsy, you have a chance to win $1000 for your favorite charity by signing up for any class right now through Sunday, March 13th. 

Or if If you’d like to try one of the other awesome Craftsy classes at a discount, you can view them HERE. Thank you SO much for swinging by today, have a blessed day!

Now get to hoppin' for your chance to win:

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Laura Bassen

Heather Hoffman

Amy Kolling

Yana Smakula

Joni Andaya

Liz Sarkisyan

Melania Deasy

Nichol Spohr Magouirk

Lisa Elton

Danielle Flanders (you are here)

Yuki Yoshioka

Joy Taylor

Nina-Marie Trapani

Gayatri Murali 

Julia Altermann

Yoonsun Hur

Carissa Wiley

Cards With Dimension: Embellishments...

Happy Tuesday, and thank you for stopping in today! When I first began to create cards, I was more of a scrapbooker and hadn’t really dabbled in stamping all that much. This meant that I started to see my scrapbooking products in a whole new light…on cards! My style was very layered, and I loved to use embellishments! Embellishments were my absolute favorite thing. They added that touch of detail to my cards, a slight bit of dimension and extra interest that I didn’t feel a flat card could offer as well as an embellished card. My style is still very layered, and I love to use embellishments, but I like my cards to be clean looking as well, with a bit of white space.

Embellishments I love to use include, but aren’t limited to, chipboard elements, tags, rub-ons, sequins, ribbons, brads, rainstones, enamel dots, twine, etc.

For today’s card, I found a Heidi Swapp Washi Tape booklet in my stash that I hadn’t used yet, a Crate Paper tag and rub-ons, some Heidi Swapp chipboard pieces, enamel dots, and twine. I chose some of my favorite washi tapes from the booklet and attached them to a piece of white cardstock, then trimmed it down and rounded the corners. I added a “love you” rub-on to the tag. I stamped “Friend” on the card in Stormy Seas ink by Papertrey Ink from the Bitty Bouquets stamp set and “just thinking of you” with the Mat Stack 2 Collection stamps. I used a little hole punch to punch little notches for the twine. This way the twine will stay put while wrapped around the front piece.

When mixing embellishments, here are some tips: look for colors that complement each other (mix at least three for more interest!) and use different sizes of items – something small, something medium, and something larger in scale. Here the washi tapes add pattern and scale. The tag is the large item, the patterns are medium, and the enamel dots and text are small. It gives the eye so much detail to see! The black twine adds contrast to the lighter colors, which also keeps it interesting. Different shapes are good as well; see how the roundness of the enamel dots give the card softness from all of the hard edges?

Balancing the colors around the card in a triangle will also help you achieve success with embellishments. I have the aqua color spread around the card with the dots and washi tape. And I also have a triangle of black by using twine, tape, and sentiments in black.

If you are interested in learning more about my style of card making, I have an online class that I recently filmed here in Denver with Craftsy.com called Cards With Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures and Embellishments. I have seven video chapters on adding dimension to cards, and working with embellishments is just one of the chapters, with three lessons in each chapter! Since March is National Craft Month, they are hosting a fun promotion for the next two weeks. Everyone who is new to purchasing a Craftsy class right now will be entered to win a $1,000 to donate to your favorite crafty charity. If you’ve been thinking of trying an online card class, now is a great time to give it a try! AND…as a special blog reader, I get to offer you 50% off! Click the link above!

If you'd like to try one of the other paper craft classes at a discount, you can view them HERE. Have a crafty, creative day!

Danielle

More stenciled cards...

Today I chose to just sit and play. I haven't done this in ages...just creating for fun, not for work, while listening to audios on things I've been wanting to learn about myself. Feels so good to take time for me and just let out my creativity. Does that make sense?

The Modern Stencils Collection by Papertrey Ink was used for the backgrounds with the same technique I shared in my post over at Scrapbook Expo. The stamps I've used are Bitty Bouquets and Big Birthday Wishes.

On this one, I used Aqua Mist ink in the background with Tropical Teal ink on the "Enjoy". The stencil looks great in a lighter color than your focal point, but in the same color family.

What are you doing today? I hope you have an opportunity to take time for you and get into your happy place! xo We all need that so much, and that's what cardmaking does for me.
Danielle

Make It Market Mini Kit: Color Pop Florals...

Welcome to day 8 of Papertrey Ink's anniversary festivities! Today we have a new mini kit to show you that will be released on Feb. 15th at 10pm EST called Color Pop Florals by Betsy Veldman. It's gorgeous!

On the first card, I used the background paper from the mini kit (gray linen). The pre-printed papers have white spaces where you place the flowers, so if you need a tiny bit of help figuring out where to place everything, it gives you a design to go by!

You have four different options with these pre-printed papers:
1. You can stamp the flowers directly onto the paper,
2. You can die cut your own flowers and leaves to add over the top with the stamps and dies in the kit,
3. You can die cut the preprinted flowers from the papers in the mini kit, or
4. You can use the stencils in the mini kit over the blank flowers!

On this card, I chose to die cut the preprinted flowers and adhere them to my card over the white spaces -the design has already been done for me, the hard part is just choosing the colors to use for the flowers! The larger flowers are popped up with dimensional adhesive. The "Celebrate Today" is also die cut from the dies in the mini kit.

Gray Celebrate Today card: 

STAMPS: none

INK: none

PAPER: Make It Market Mini Kit: Color Pop Florals

DIES: Make It Market Mini Kit: Color Pop Florals

OTHER: sequins - Pretty Pink Posh.

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The second card also uses the preprinted papers, but this time I stamped the flowers and leaves directly onto the paper with the Color Pop Florals stamps. I used Sweet Blush and Raspberry Fizz inks for the flowers and for the leaves, Stormy Sea and True Black.

The "Celebrate Today" is die cut from Aqua Mist cardstock with the dies in the mini kit. Which card do you prefer? They were both so quick and easy. Love that!

Celebrate Today card:
STAMPS: Make It Market Mini Kit: Color Pop Florals

INK: Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz, Stormy Sea, True Black

PAPER: Make It Market Mini Kit: Color Pop Florals

DIES: Make It Market Mini Kit: Color Pop Florals

OTHER: sequins - Pretty Pink Posh.

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Visit the rest of the team to see more with this mini kit! These products will be available on Feb. 15th at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink!

Amy Sheffer
Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Creative Cardmaker: Stitched Banners...

Want a quick and easy way to add a focal point to your card? Create a stitched banner! If you have a sewing machine at home, you can make a stitched banner in a FLASH!

The papers I used were from an older Studio Calico card kit, but you can use any scraps you have on hand! The butterfly punch is by Martha Stewart and the stamped saying is from the Make It Market mini kit: Lovely Laurels by Papertrey Ink.

The center butterfly is punched out to create a negative look, and the front panel of the card is popped up slightly. I always like the balance of something being centered on the card, yet the randomly placed butterflies add a little bit of unexpectedness to it as well.

You can read more info about this card and the stitched banner technique over at the Weekly Scrapper blog! See you again tomorrow with another Papertrey countdown post! 

Introducing Dress Up Dolls...

Today we have a sneak peek of a new ongoing series by Betsy Veldman for Papertrey Ink called Dress Up Dolls. I have made a quick Easter card with the new Dress Up Dolls: Basics stamps and dies and the Dress Up Dolls: Easter stamps and dies.

I've used a Fabulous Frame die with gray cardstock, the Limitless Layers 1.5" Squares dies to trim out the smaller square, the Sweet Life rose and the Bold Blossoms stamps and dies for the leaf. The butterflies are trimmed from the Beautiful Butterfly dies from vellum. And of course, I used the new Dress Up Dolls products on the bunny. Excuse my Copic coloring, I'm not very good at it!

Happy Easter card:
STAMPS: Dress Up Dolls: Basics, Dress Up Dolls: Easter, Sweet Life, Bold Blossoms
INK: Tropical Teal, Lovely Lady, Raspberry Fizz, True Black, Stormy Sea, Vintage Jadeite, New Leaf
PAPER: white, gray, vellum
DIES: Dress Up Dolls: Basics, Dress Up Dolls: Easter, Fabulous Frames, Limitless Layers 1.5" Square, Sweet Life, Bold Blossoms, Beautiful Butterflies
OTHER: Copic markers, mica flakes, sequins, seam binding.
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Visit the rest of the team to see more ideas with Dress Up Dolls. These products will be available on Feb. 15th at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink!

Amy Sheffer
Ashley Cannon Newell
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Phillips
Nichole Heady

Creative Cardmaker: Liquid Gold Gilding...

Happy Tuesday! Today over at Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog, I have a step-by-step tutorial for you on using Liquid Gold Gilding paint on cards with a quick and easy design. These cards literally took me only a few minutes and don't use many supplies at all...one sentiment stamp, paint, paintbrush, an old pencil and a black ink pad. Stop over to read more!

We have a snow day today, so I'm getting started on my Papertrey Ink goodies for this month that will be released on February 15th! Check out these pics of Kati with our neighbors! :) The girls are thrilled to get a day off today! We've gotten over a foot of snow, and it's still coming down. Enjoy your day!

Design Team Tips: Black, White, Gold, and Stormy Sea...

Hello! Lately I've been noticing a trend in black and white backgrounds! I decided to create some stamped backgrounds, combine them with a touch of gold, and add a bit of Stormy Sea cardstock as well. These are so fast to make, and using a black and white combo really takes the guess work out of creating a color palette! Easy peasy!

Both of these cards were stamped with Bold Blossoms stamps in the background. On this card, I used the Enclosed: Leaf die to cut two items: one (outline) from the Luxe Gold Adhesive paper and one solid piece for the background from Stormy Sea cardstock. I placed the gold paper over the top.
The vellum butterfly is cut out of the Sheer Basics Vellum with the Cover Plate: Bitty Butterflies die.  The saying was stamped with Bitty Butterflies.

The Love card also uses the Bold Blossoms stamps in the background of the card with the Framed Love die cut from the Luxe Gold Adhesive paper again, like the first card. The sentiment is stamped again with Bitty Butterflies stamps (link above).

Gold, gray, black and white really makes for an elegant color palette, with not much thinking involved when it comes to choosing colors that go well together. I hope you'll give this color combo a try! Have a great weekend!

Stitched Sentiments Revisited...

Today the senior design team members at Papertrey Ink are revisiting an older stamp set today to give you new ideas for using it! The stamp set we are using today is called Stitched Sentiments, which you can find HERE in the Papertrey Ink shop! Do you have this set? It's one of my absolute favorites!

I've paired Stitched Sentiments stamps with the Life Is Beautiful dies for these cards today.

To create each of these cards, I've cut a panel of white cardstock, stamped the stem, flowers and sentiments with Stitched Sentiments, then wrapped the panel with twine. I used the Life Is Beautiful dies to cut out the back panel of the butterfly in patterned paper, then the front of the butterfly in vellum.

The stamped panels are then backed with patterned paper. On this teal card, I used paper from the Vintage Linens Patterned Paper Collection.  I actually started with the patterned paper in mind that I wanted to use first, then pulled my colors for the stamping from the papers to get a cohesive design. A few gold sequins add a little sparkle and finish off the card.

Here is a different color combo, but same design. I used the Vintage Linens Patterned Paper Collection again for the back of the butterfly and the floral background paper.

The vellum butterflies are just adhered in the centers.

Last, a soft gray one made with the Stormy Sea + White Patterned Paper Collection and Stormy Sea cardstock and inks. I also used a new ink color called Lovely Lady. This time I stamped the stem above the butterfly instead of below it. Which do you like better?

The Stitched Sentiments stamp set comes with other sentiments also, so you could easily use this design and change out the sentiments to create birthday cards, love and thank you's as well. I think I may make a few card sets with other sentiments and put them up in my shop!

Be sure to visit the other ladies to see more with Stitched Sentiments: Betsy, Dawn, Heather and Melissa. Happy New Year!!!

You card set:

STAMPS: Stitched Sentiments

INK: Lovely Lady, Stormy Sea, Pure Poppy, True Black, New Leaf, 

Melon Berry, Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist

PAPER: Stormy Sea cardstock and patterned paper, Vintage Linen Patterned Paper, 

vellum, Tropical Teal Patterned Paper

DIES: Life Is Beautiful

OTHER: twine, sequins.

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Creative Cardmaker: Gold, vellum and layers...

Happy November! I can't believe it's November already...oh my! I have another quick card tutorial up for you at the Scrapbook Expo blog. Swing by to see how to make this card!

I've used Gossamer Blue's gorgeous Gramercy Road line. I couldn't help but to pull it out for fall again...it's perfect in every way!! Don't you just love that gold embossed floral paper?! The sentiment is stamped with Papertrey Ink's Basket of Blessings stamp set in Dark Chocolate and Classic Kraft inks. I'll see you soon. Be sure to check out my SHOP tab at the top of my blog, I'll be adding new things here and there! Happy fall!

Danielle

Creative Cardmaker: Quick cards in a pinch...

Today is another Creative Cardmaker post over at The Weekly Scrapper! I'm showing a quick way to create birthday cards in a pinch..."repeat a sentiment". Super easy, and you can die cut the words ahead of time to have on hand. I'm always in a pinch for a birthday card at the last minute, so here's a quick idea.

Stop over to The Weekly Scrapper to read more about these cards. I used the Wet Paint III stamps and dies by Papertrey Ink and several of their cardstocks and clear sequins by Pretty Pink Posh. Have a good day!