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

Release day...

I have a couple of projects to share with you with Papertrey Ink's new releases! All of the new stamps and dies you see here today in this post will be available tonight at 10pm EST at PapertreyInk.com. First up, I used the new Inspired: Lord and Bloomin' Cute stamps and dies.

The Cover Plate: Center Stage was used in the background, then I did some ink blending behind the cover plate die on the card base with Bright Buttercup ink.

If you would like to read see my process with this card, I have a few how-to photos over at Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog. I really like how this one turned out, aren't those flowers adorable!

Trust in the Lord card:

STAMPS: Inspired: Lord, Bloomin' Cute

INK: Bright Buttercup, Green Parakeet, Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist

PAPER: White, Lovely Lady

DIES: Inspired: Lord, Bloomin' Cute, Cover Plate: Center Stage

OTHER: ink blending tool.

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Next up are the new Script Swirls: Birthday stamps. I used a Tag Sale: Quilted die for the background. 

The circular text was stamped with Tropical Teal, then I used the other stars and curved shapes to fill in with some fun color! What a fun stamp set this is!!

Happy Birthday Tag:

STAMPS: Script Swirls: Birthday

INK: Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, Lovely Lady, Bright Buttercup, Green Parakeet, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Stormy Seas

PAPER: white

DIES: Tag Sale: Quilted

OTHER: twine.

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I will be back with a few more projects soon!
All of these new stamps and die collections that you see here will be available for purchase tonight at 10pm EST on March 15th at PapertreyInk.com! Visit the rest of the Papertrey Ink design team to see more with these products:

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

Introducing Stitched Trays & More...

Do you like to hand sew? If "sew", we have a fun group post for you today!

Papertrey Ink has some fun new dies coming out on March 15th that allow you to stitch a square tray like the one I've done here and also a rectangle tray. I've used the Stitched Tray: Square Dies, the Stitched Tray: Square Trim dies and the Stitched Folk Flower dies here on my tray. The square trim dies allow you to cut the trim that wraps around the edges. I actually cut an inside piece from Sweet Blush felt, a middle piece out of cardstock that helps the tray be a little more sturdy, then a bottom tray piece from Berry Sorbet felt and layered them all together when sewing up the tray bottoms and sides.

The flower was stitched into place on the Sweet Blush felt before I put the 3 layers together to create the tray. As I mentioned above, I used a cardstock piece in between the tray layers to make it more sturdy, and actually the cardstock helped with the sewing. It made it easier for me to find the holes.

The flower was stitched a little bit differently than the samples you might see by Erin Lincoln (she will have some videos on putting these together on Nichole Heady's blog!). I just started stitching and went with it. I hope you enjoyed this post!

Folk Flower Stitched Tray:

DIES: Stitched Tray: Folk Flower, Stitched Tray: Square, Stitched Tray: Square Trim

OTHER: white floss, Berry Sorbet/Sweet Blush/Aqua Mist/Harvest Gold felt.

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Visit the rest of the Papertrey Ink design team to see more with these new stitching products! All of these new products that you see here will be available for purchase at 10pm EST on March 15th at PapertreyInk.com!

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

Super Heroes and Stars...

The Papertrey Ink team is back again with another group post full of inspiration for you! Today we have superheroes and stars, what fun!

I've used the older Dress Up Dolls stamps and dies with the brand new Dress Up Dolls: Superhero stamps and dies to create this "super birthday" card! Excuse my coloring, I'm not very good at Copics yet and only own 6 colors of them! lol. However, I don't think the little boy who receives this one will mind too much!

I've also used the Sentiment Splits: Curve Vertical dies (turned on its side) and the Comic Strip Patterned Paper.

Super Birthday card:

STAMPS: Dress Up Dolls: Superhero, Dress Up Dolls

INK: True Black, Enchanted Evening

PAPER: Comic Strip

DIES: Dress Up Dolls: Superhero, Dress Up Dolls, Sentiment Splits: Curve Vertical

OTHER: Copic Markers.

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Next up is a gorgeous stamp and die set called Paper Clippings: Congratulations! The die is cut from white cardstock and placed over a gray cardstock from my stash, then added some stamped and die cut stars and enamel dots.

Super quick and easy!

Congratulations card:

STAMPS: Paper Clippings: Congratulations

INK: Green Parakeet, Pure Poppy

PAPER: white, gray

DIES: Paper Clippings: Congratulations

OTHER: enamel dots.

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Visit the rest of the Papertrey Ink design team to see more with these products! All of these new stamps and die collections that you see here will be available for purchase at 10pm EST on March 15th at PapertreyInk.com!

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

Sweet Inspirations...

Today we have a group post for you to introduce some of Papertrey Ink's new products coming out on March 15th at 10pm EST! On my first card, I've used their new Just Desserts Sentiments stamps, the Sprinkles on Top stamps and border dies, and the Frosted Borders dies.

The card is supposed to be shaped like a cake. Does it look like a cake? Ha. :) I trimmed it down to 3.5" x 5.5".

I added the Frosted Borders dies to the top of the cake and a flower made with the Bitty Bouquet stamps and dies. The bottom border is stamped and die cut with Sprinkles On Top stamps and dies.

Birthday Cake card:

STAMPS: Just Desserts, Sprinkles on Top, Bitty Bouquets

INK: Stormy Seas, Green Parakeet, Pure Poppy, Sweet Blush

PAPER: white

DIES: Frosted Borders, Sprinkles on Top

OTHER: clear sequins - Pretty Pink Posh.

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Here is the Just Desserts stamp set on a tag. I used the Tasting Tag die in the background and just covered up the holes in the tasting tag with a sentiment from Just Desserts.

The cake and the berries were a lot of fun to add layers of stamping! I "kissed" the Lovely Lady layer (darker pink) cake stamp with the sprinkles stamp in red ink, then stamped it onto the tag to get the sprinkles right on the darker pink layers.

Celebrating With You Tag:

STAMPS: Just Desserts

INK: Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, Sweet Blush, Scarlet Jewel, Green Parakeet, True Black

PAPER: white

DIES: Tasting Tag

OTHER: clear sequins - Pretty Pink Posh, twine.

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Last, I used the Frosted Border dies on the edge of the front panel, along with the Big Birthday Candles dies (number 11) and the Best Birthday dies (balloons). I cut the balloons 4 times from different papers and added the different colors into the centers of the balloons.

My daughter has a birthday party to attend today, so I made this card for her friend's 11th!

Happy 11 card:

STAMPS: Just Desserts Sentiments

INK: Tropical Teal, Lovely Lady, Sweet Blush

PAPER: white, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise pattern pack, Raspberry Fizz pattern pack, Tropical Teal pattern pack

DIES: Frosted Borders, Best Birthday 

OTHER: none.

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Visit the rest of the Papertrey Ink design team to see more with these products! All of these new stamps and die collections that you see here will be available for purchase at 10pm EST on March 15th at PapertreyInk.com!

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

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

Introducing What the Doodle: Feather and Keep It Simple: Encouragement...

Today marks the beginning of the March reveal for the new products coming out at Papertrey Ink! I get to show you a couple of fun things today, the new What the Doodle: Feather stamps and dies, and the Keep It Simple: Encouragement stamps.

On the first one, I stamped and heat embossed the feathers around the edges of the card, then painted them in with watercolors (just on regular cardstock).

"Hang in there" is from Keep It Simple: Encouragement stamps and "friend is from the feather set.

Hang In There card:

STAMPS: What the Doodle: Feather

INK: Versamark, New Leaf, Enchanted Evening

PAPER: white, Summer Sunrise

DIES: none

OTHER: watercolor paints, white embossing powder, clear sequins.

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Next is a card set. I first stamped and heat embossed the two feathers, then colored them in with Copic Markers.

Then I added some ink blending in the background with Aqua Mist ink, and a sentiment in Tropical Teal from What the Doodle: Feather over the top.

If you like to color, this is a great set! I loved working with it!

Hello Friend card set:

STAMPS: What the Doodle: Feather

INK: Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal

PAPER: white

DIES: none

OTHER: white embossing powder, Copic Markers, clear sequins.

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On the last card, I used the What the Doodle: Feather die cuts to trim some feathers from Papertrey Ink's Sheer Basics Vellum. Then I dipped the ends in gold embossing powder and heat embossed them. I trimmed a few little cuts into the feathers to give them a bit more definition.

The white splatters are made with white watercolor paint and water mixed together, and I just sprinkled them over the top with my paintbrush.

Hello card:

STAMPS: What the Doodle: Feather

INK: Versamark

PAPER: Smokey Shadow, Sheer Basics Vellum

DIES: What the Doodle: Feather

OTHER: white embossing powder, gold embossing powder, twine.

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There are also some beautiful feather papers coming out as well, but I didn't receive them in time to use them for my post. Everything you see here that is new will be available on March 15th at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink. Visit Nichole, Betsy and Melissa to see more fun new things coming soon!

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

Revisited: Fancy Folk Art...

Each month on the 1st, the Papertrey Ink team revisits an older stamp set to give you fresh ideas of what you can do with it! Today we are using the Fancy Folk Art stamps and dies. I have one card three ways for you today:

1. a one-layer card (simple),
2. a card using the dies and an extra technique for the sentiment (intermediate),
3. and one with extra dimension, ink blending in the background, and splitting the sentiment (advanced). 

You can use these same tips with any stamp and die set, however, to step up your cards!

1. First is the one-layer stamped card or "simple" version! 
Everything is stamped directly onto the card base with Fancy Folk Art.

The leaves are stamped in Stormy Seas ink and the flowers with Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal and Bright Buttercup inks, then the sentiment over the top.

Nothing wrong with this one, but let's see how we can "step it up"!

2. Next is the "intermediate" version! 
I added a couple more steps in my process to add extra dimension. The big floral piece is die cut and stamped first, so I could raise it up off the card with pop dots. Then I placed the die cut directly onto the card and actually stamped the sentiment right over the top (before raising it up!). It did stamp through the holes of the die cut onto the card base. The die cut was then adhered with pop dots to help it stand off the card, and I also stamped and cut out another banner to place over the top.

Can you see the dimension of the die cut that is standing up off the "intermediate" card? I love dimension!

Now should we "step it up" a bit more? :)

3. Last is the "advanced" version: 
I will call the last version of this card "advanced", just because it has a few more steps to creating it, but I really think the extra steps give it a bit more "WOW" factor and detail to look at! What do you think? Which version do you prefer?

The floral is die cut and stamped, but before adding it to the card with pop dots, I did some ink blending in the background with a sponge and Aqua Mist ink. I really love how the soft aqua brings out the teal and red! It also brings out the white banner and white edges around the die cut, which really makes it pop. When placing the die cut on the card, I adhered it on an angle. This way I didn't cover up the two tulip shapes. The slight tilt of the floral piece makes a huge difference!

The sentiment stamp was cut apart! (YES, I cut the stamp!) I wanted to stamp only the "many thanks" separately in Aqua Mist under the die cut. You could also mask off the banner if you'd like. I don't mind cutting my stamps apart, because they can be put back together very nicely on the acrylic block. I stamped the banner in black and cut it out and added it over the top of the floral piece. I've also added the clear sequins as another detail that adds sparkle and catches the eye, without taking the attention away from the pretty floral.

I hope you enjoyed these tips for adding more detail and color and "stepping up" your card designs!

Visit Betsy, Dawn, Heather, and Melissa for more Fancy Folk Art ideas!