Prima/Pink Paislee #watercolorfun week...

Hi, everyone! Prima and Pink Paislee have teamed up this week for a fun "Watercolor Inspiration Week". Today is the last day and was my turn to post, but there's also more to see over at the Prima blog as well. They'll be posting their projects today and Monday!

When I opened the box of Prima goodies, I couldn't believe my eyes! Such fun products to work with, and they blended amazingly with our products, especially the Color Wash line. Prima sent lots of things that could be colored too...resin pieces, canvas borders, canvas shapes, chipboard, etc. I thought I was going to make cards at first, but then this layout happened to evolve as I was playing around with everything!

A layout with no photos? YES! Every layout doesn't have to be full of pictures to express what you are feeling. Journaling is important too. Right now I am feeling so grateful for everything in my life, so happy. I wanted to journal about getting older and how my views of life are changing. I just love how it turned out. The journaling reads,

"All of my happiest moments have been with family and those I love-

dear friends I grew up with, getting married, having my girls, 

and watching them grow and experience the world.

Seeing things through their eyes keeps me young, happy, alive...

What I am discovering as I grow older is that happiness is love-

giving and appreciating life and those around me. Seeing joy in those I love. Danielle"

It looks kinda artsy, doesn't it? But to be honest, I really didn't do much to make it look this way. The 12x12" background paper started out like this.

It's from the 12x12" Color Wash paper pad by Pink Paislee. The only mist splashes I added were the dark blue spots, made with Heidi Swapp's new Navy Color Shine. (After I added all of the other elements. To make the splashes, I unscrewed the cap and pulled out the tube, then just flicked the end of the tube with my finger onto the page.)

The canvas butterflies and banner by Prima started out like this...

I used some Heidi Swapp Color Shine on them, and when you spray them, a design magically appears! How cool is that!! This is new Color Shine in Blush. Love it.

I also did the same thing with the Canvas Borders by Prima...

And the resin (I went crazy with the pink!)...

I stitched on Pink Paislee’s Color Wash Watercolor Tags and added some of the Color Wash Chipboard Title Stickers. Love how the chipboard is multicolored, so I didn’t do anything to that. Just stuck it on – it’s self adhesive! I left the tails from the stitching on the tags. The canvas banner is misted with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Navy.

On the top, I added a Prima flower, pearls and a canvas banner of theirs that I stenciled on to fill in that upper corner.

Stop by our Facebook page for a giveaway. Here is Prima's Facebook page for their giveaway, and Prima's blog for lots more inspiration!

Studio Calico's October card kit, Antiquary...

It's that time again when the Studio Calico card kits (and all the other fun kits) are available - up for preorder at noon today. I used the main card kit, Antiquary, and the card kit add-on, Athens. Really loved the typography in this month's stamps!

On the first card, I loved the blue cardstock that came in the kit, so I stamped the big "happy" in Aqua Mist ink (by PTI), with another sentiment over the top in Ocean Tides. I stamped the flowers from the Athens add-on and colored them in with Copic markers.

The next card was stamped several times with Versamark ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. I had an old gold mist in my stash by Tattered Angels that I just painted over the top with a paint brush. I wanted a warm color to go with the pretty autumn patterned papers in the kit.

The flower was die cut from vellum with Papertrey Ink's Lovely Layers dies. Love those gold buttons!

On this card, I used one of Shanna Noel's cut files, the Antiquary Thankful cut design with my Silhouette Cameo machine to cut it out of paper from the kit. I used ink refills by PTI to paint the background in Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold and Classic Kraft (red, orange, yellow and brown) with a sentiment stamped from the kit on the bottom.

And after I trimmed out the background for the card above, I had a little piece of cardstock left over with the "ends" of the painted brush strokes - loved how it looked, so I used it on another card.

Added some stamped hearts in matching colors and then stitched a bit.

Here I stamped the "thank you friend" in all different inks. Makes a quick, easy card. And it's fun to boot! (The twine is from my stash, not in the kits.)

You can use a circle punch to add some patterned paper to your cards by just punching a circle, trimming it in half and add a little hole to tie on a piece of twine.
Next up are a couple of teacher cards stamped with the apple from the stamp set!

On this one, I simply stamped the background with the apple. These stamps are two-step, so I stamped the outline in one color and the inside of the apple in another.

I used a Papertrey Ink die to trim the polkadot paper into a scallop: Edgers #4.

My favorite paper in the whole kit was this gray floral. I wanted to use it, but not cover it up too much, so this one has a simple design across the top.

The banner was cut out with the Bountiful Banners die. You can't see it well in these pics, but I shaded the banner with a blue Copic marker...from top to bottom so it kind of has an ombre effect on the banner. I think I may have used these gold dots on almost every card!

Last up is a fun one with the fruit stamps in the main card kit. I added the large leaves from the Athens add-on. The wooden buttons in the kit are to die for also!

You can see that I stamped the inside of the fruit separately and cut them out, then stitched them down the center.

So there you have it! 8 cards this month, and I could have kept going if I had more time in the day. Such fun stamps this time. I just got a peek of next month's card kit and you are gonna LOVE it with a capital L! I can't wait. These kits are getting better and better, I tell ya. Studio Calico is really listening to our feedback about what we as card makers want to see. :) Grab a kit today!

create a flocked look...

I'm up today with my very first Make It Monday video at Papertrey Ink. Hope you'll stop over and check it out!

My technique is to create a flocked "effect" in the background of my cards (without using any flocking), utilizing the Papertrey Ink Cover Plate dies and Fiber Paste by Golden. I cut the cover plate die out of cardstock and used it as a mask for the Fiber Paste.
I found the fiber paste at Michael's and thought it would work better than gesso. It's much thicker than gesso, and it was really great for this technique...dried quickly and it easy to work with. But you could certainly try gesso or any of the other types of paste they have in stock - molding paste, dimensional paste, etc.! (Use a coupon if you get it at Michael's - the Fiber Paste is around $16 if you don't use one.)

In the video, I'll also show you how to color your paste to match your cardstock, so you can do this technique with any color.

If you'd like to play along in this challenge, you will be entered to win a $25 Papertrey Ink gift certificate! Visit Nichole's blog for all of the information about the contest and to view the video. Supply lists are in the video as well. Thank you so much for stopping by, hopefully you are inspired to get crafty! ;)

P.S. I have a new Facebook page dedicated to my design work. Come by:  https://www.facebook.com/DanielleFlandersDesigns

release day...

I've got more new stamp sets and dies this month by Papertrey Ink to show you! These will all be released tonight at 10pm EST at www.papertreyink.com. First up is Polka Dot Parade #8 and the Boutique Borders: Christmas (frame).

The Boutique Borders: Christmas frame is stamped with Background Basics: Houndstooth. How cute is that little pumpkin! I used quite a few older products with this card too - see below for a full supply list.

Hey, Pumpkin card:
STAMPS: Polkadot Parade #8, Bitty Background Blocks II (dots),
INK: Classic Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Canyon Clay, Simply Chartreuse
PAPER: Rustic White, Classic Kraft
DIES: Notched Star Banner Die, Polka Dot Parade #8, Autumn Acorns (leaves)
OTHER: twine, pearl, machine stitching.

Next is Wonderful Words: Joy and another Boutique Borders: Christmas frame. Love this frame die. I cut the frame in Aqua Mist cardstock and stamped it, then used the Wonderful Words: Joy die cut over the top with a Paperclay button that I made here. Background paper is by Crate Paper.

Sentiment is just stamped on Rustic Cream cardstock (with Enchanted Evening ink) using the Wonderful Words: Joy stamps.

Joy is the Simplest Form card:
STAMPS: Wonderful Words: Joy, Boutique Borders: Christmas, Button Up
INK: Enchanted Evening, Aqua Mist
PAPER: Aqua Mist, Rustic Cream, White, dot patterned paper - New Leaf Pattern Pack, floral patterned paper by Crate Paper
DIES: Wonderful Words: Joy, Boutique Borders: Christmas, Buttoned Up 
OTHER: pearl by Melissa Frances. machine stitching.

Next is Holiday Home.
I used Background Basics: Stitching in the background with Classic Kraft ink, Bitty Background Blocks II in Dark Chocolate ink to make the dotty border, Background Basics: Houndstooth in Aqua Mist and the sentiment and home in from Holiday Home in Enchanted Evening ink.

The large snowflake is from the new Fancy Flakes dies and is glittered up with fine Prisma Glitter. I used Bitty Background Blocks II to make the dots.

From Our Home card:
STAMPS: Holiday Home, Background Basics: Stitching, Bitty Background Blocks II
INK: Classic Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate
PAPER: Classic Kraft, white
DIES: Fancy Flakes, Holiday Home
OTHER: chipboard by Crate Paper.

Next is Grand Ampersand and Holiday Cheer.

I used the Fancy Flakes dies to cut the snowflake, then inserted the snowflake die cut back in. The wreath is from Holiday Cheer. Added some pearls over the top! "From our Home" is from Two Feet Deep.

Merry and Bright card:
STAMPS: Grand Ampersand, Holiday Cheer, Two Feet Deep
INK: Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, True Black, Classic Kraft
PAPER: Classic Kraft, twine
DIES: Grand Ampersand, Holiday Cheer, Fancy Flakes
OTHER: twine

Here is Kid Kudos! The images in this set are SO adorable.

I used the Notched Star Banner Die collection to trim out the banner shape and then left it open. (Actually I was planning on using the banner on another card and had this sitting on my desk. Again, whatever is in front of me often gets put to use!)

I attached the tree  on the very top and bottom of the tree to "float" on the opening. On the inside, I stamped a flower from The Sweet Life and added a doily.

I stamped on the inside of the card as well to finish the sentiment. Had fun with this one, can't wait to give it to one of my girls (gonna have to make another one for my other daughter)!

In the History of Forever card:
STAMPS: Kid Kudos, The Sweet Life
INK: Simply Chartreuse, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate, True Black
PAPER: Aqua Mist, white
DIES: Kid Kudos dies, Notched Star Banner dies
OTHER: doily from craft store.

Last is Stained Glass. The cross was die cut from the Stained Glass dies and then stamped in Dark Chocolate. I tried using Zing embossing powders to color in the window panes. I used a glue pen to color in each pane and heat embossed them as I went. It's not an exact science...a little messy looking, but kind of cool and dimensional. I'd probably just color them in next time, but I ran out of time to do it over. Well, at least you get to see what it would look like with this technique. Boutique Borders: Sympathy finishes the card.

With Sympathy card:
STAMPS: Stained Glass, Boutique Borders: Sympathy
INK: Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate
PAPER: Aqua Mist, white
DIES: Stained Glass
OTHER: pearl by Melissa Frances, Zing powders in Mustard, Lavender and Powder.

That about wraps it up!