Join Me on My Porch, Art Impressions

Hello!  I'm on the Art Impressions' blog to kick off the latest Ai challenge featuring Stripes and Circles.

For our Stripes and Circles challenge I'm using the beautiful new Front Porch Circlet Mini TryFold.  I wanted to do something a bit different with this Circlet and decided to make a cute tag!

Since I wanted the images to be stamped crisp and clear, I used Strathmore Bristol Smooth card stock.  To step it up even a bit more, I pulled out a couple of my long neglected Watercolor Sets and stamped a wreath around the first two circle images.   I wasn't totally certain how this would work with the water color stamps, but I have to say it worked great!  I stamped each image onto a piece of Bristol Smooth using Versafine Onyx Black in, which is waterproof.

After stamping each image, I stamped the wreath using the techniques that Bonnie teaches in her watercolor videos.  To color the images I scribbled each marker color onto my pallet and used a barely damp paint brush to color each one.  (The markers I used are listed at the end of this post.)

I then used the awesome new Tag Stitched Dies set to cut each one into a tag shape.  I used the reinforcer die from this set to cut the shape to go around the tag hole where the ribbon is.

Here is a view of the second layer:



And the third layer.  (FYI, I have a yellow front door on our home!:)

I love the sentiment:  "No matter where you go, you can always come home."  Sweet!

I love how this came together.  It would be perfect to give as a card, or tied onto a package for a pretty gift tag.  Of course, you can make this as a mini Tryfold following the directions on the back of the packaging.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing my different take on this Circlet.  I can't wait to see your creations linked up for the challenge on Art Impressions' blog!  I also have more details and photos there too.   Happy crafting!

Markers used:

Marvy LePlume II:  Olive Green, Leaf Green, Ochre, Yellow, Magenta, Sapphire,

Manganese Blue, African Violet, Brownish Grey

Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush:  Fog Gray, Dark Brown, Deep Brown

AECP, Seasonal Scene Building

I have a card here today for another class in the AECP.  This card is inspired by the lesson in Irresistible Inking Techniques where you create a background for your scene.  You can check out all the fabulous classes in Altenew Academy HERE.

I purchased Altenew's Kind Words set right after it came out.  I can't believe this is the first time I've used it.   It has the most beautiful sentiments along with some beautiful starry stamps.  I thought a starry night time background fit perfectly.

I inked the Distress Oxides onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper using the lightest color in the center and working out to the darkest.  I kept blending the inks with the foam blending tools until I was happy with the look.  I wanted to keep the background kind of uncluttered, so I placed the stamp where I wanted it, spritzed some water into my palm and used my fingers to scatter the droplets around.  By having the stamp in place, it kept that area free from the water drops that I felt might distract from the sentiment.

Once the card was thoroughly dry, I used my anti-static powder bag and swiped it all over the card to minimize the stray embossing powder bits.  Using my MISTI, I positioned the stamps and picked them up with the door.  Next I stamped with Versamark clear sticky embossing ink, added white embossing powder and heat set it.  I repeated these steps to add another layer of white embossing powder for dimension and a more solid coverage.  

    

The Fine Frames Cover Die is awesome!  This is the first time I've used this one too.  It cuts many frames in one pass, some thinner than others.  I used one of the wider frames to help me position the thin frame straight.  I adhered it with Collage Medium as it will dry with a matte finish and won't show if any seeps out.  I added foam tape to the back and adhered it to my top folding A2 card base.

As a finishing touch, I used a white gel pens to add tiny stars.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look.  I really appreciate it!

Carol :)

Supplies:

Altenew Kind Words

Altenew Fine Frames Cover Die

Distress Oxide Inks:  Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Shaded Lilac

Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail White Embossing Powder

Ranger Distress Collage Medium - Matte

Honey, Be My Valentine!

Hello to you all! I thought I'd share a few details about my card for Honey Bee Stamps in my blog today.  This little Mae the Mouse is totally adorable and can be used for so many different occasions. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, she's sending Valentine hearts to you!

I stamped Mae (click on any of the links to be taken to the HBS shop) and the rose in Copic safe ink onto Neenah Solar White 80# card stock. It only took a few Copics to color her and the rose, which is good since I've just recently began acquiring these and my collection is a bit limited. Too bad mice aren't this sweet and cute in real life--right?! Haha!

I stamped her bow with Spun Sugar Distress Oxide ink.  I die cut Mae, the rose, and bow using the coordinating Mae the Mouse Honey Cuts. For the background layer I used a piece of pink card stock cut to 4" x 5.25". I used Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar Distress Oxide inks to stencil the hearts with one of the stencils from the Fall Showers Backgrounds stencil set.  I faded out my inking towards the bottom of the stencil for the lighter hearts.

I used the scalloped stamp from the Background Builderset and the coordinating Honey Cutto create a cute edge on the bottom of the pink layer.  I stamped the XO on a ¾" strip of card stock with Spun Sugar Distress Oxide using my MISTI and stamped three times to get the shade I wanted.  I also inked a 1" strip with Worn Lipstick, layered it under the sentiment, then cut it using the scalloped edger piece from the Banner Builder Honey Cuts.  I popped this up with foam tape and adhered.

(Funny side note:  I made this card the first week of January.  I had photographed it and edited the photo--had it all ready to post.  I had shown it to my daughters too.  They loved it! :)  Probably a good week or more later, I happened to glance at the card.  To my HORROR I saw this sentiment and it said OX OX OX!!!  LOL!  I had put it on upside down!  Have you ever done anything like this?  I was lucky enough to get it off without damaging the rest of my card thankfully!)

I used some of the many sentiments from the Brie Minestamp set to add this greeting on the inside of my card.  I stamped it, and the rose, using Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a look!  I hope the rest of your week is fun and crafty!

Carol :)

Rooted in Love, Art Impressions

Hello!  It's Monday and that means it's time for my post over on the Art Impressions blog!

Today I have a card using the Tree Twist Ties set.  This card was really fun to create.  All of the directions for scoring and stamping are on the back of the packaging, which is very helpful.  My supplies are listed below.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  If you would like to see more photos and details of how I created this card, go over to Art Impressions blog and check it out.  I'd love to know what you think!  Have a wonderful week!

Supplies:

Art Impressions Tree Twist Ties

Art Impressions Card and Envelope pack

Doodlebug Designs Down on the Farm 6 x 6 paper pack

My Favorite Things Cloud Stencil

Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide

Ranger Distress Blending Brush

AECP, Irresistible Inking Techniques

I have another card in my progression of classes for the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  This one is for the class called Irresistible Inking Techniques in Altenew Academy.

All four lessons of this class are great ways to use your inks in different ways.  For my card here I combined two techniques.  One from Lesson 2 called Painting with Ink Pads and the other from Lesson 3 called Stamp Block Inking.

I began by stamping one floral from the Botanical Garden set two times using waterproof ink.  I like Versafine Onyx Black.  I then smooshed my inks onto my glass mat and used them along with a few colors from the Altenew Watercolor 36 half pan set.  All of the colors I used are listed below under the supplies list.

This photo shows the yellow flower.  I started by added a very light yellow base layer of paint.  I added more intense yellow where I wanted to emphasize the shadows and add the shading.  I watercolored the purple one in the same manner.  After the flowers were dry I fussy cut them, which was very easy with the shape of these.

My next step goes like this:  1) Smoosh your ink pad onto a stamp block (any size/shape will do--just depends upon the look you want and your design), 2) spritz the stamp block with a bit of water, 3) pick up the stamp block and invert inked side down and smoosh onto your card stock.  Let it sit there a few seconds, or more and then pick it straight up.  You can let your card dry naturally, or use your heat tool to speed up the drying.  This technique is really fun!  I like to get several pieces of paper, different sizes/shapes of stamp blocks and just experiment.  No two will be alike and there's no wrong look--they will all be so pretty!

For the finishing touch I added purple splatters to the panel after it was dry.  When the splatters were dry, I stamped the sentiment from the Altenew Extra Special set with Versafine Onyx Black ink.   I then layered it onto some green card stock from my stash and adhered that to a top folding A2 card base.  I used my fingers to curl the flowers just a bit and added just a bit of glue to the center of the flowers to retain the dimension.  I also added a few drops of Nuvo Jewel Drops in Pale Periwinkle.  It was hard to capture in the photo but I added some clear sparkle to the shadowed parts of the flowers with a Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen.



Thank you so much for stopping by!  Let me know if you've tried this technique, or plan to!
Happy crafting!

Carol :)

Supplies:
Altenew stamps:  Botanical Garden; Extra Special
Altenew Watercolors 36 half-pan set: Citrus Burst, Fresh Lemon, Iris Fields, Deep Iris
Altenew Crisp Dye Inks:  Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf
Nuvo Jewel Drops Pale Periwinkle
Versafine Onyx Black ink

Honey Bee Stamps "Brie Mine" Blog Hop Day 1

Hello everyone!  Welcome to Day 1 of the Honey Bee Stamps Brie Mine Blog hop!  I'm so glad you've stopped by!  Be sure to leave a comment here, and on each blog along the way, for your chance to win one of two $30 Honey Bee Stamps gift certificates! Winners will be announced on  this page of the HBS blog on February 1st.  The complete hop list is at the end of this post, if you get lost.

All of us on the design teams have been busy making our cards with this latest adorable release.  I have several cards to share today.  A new one, and then the others that I've shared on Instagram that you may have missed.

The list of products I've used for each card is just below the photo.  Click on any of the links to be taken to the Honey Bee shop and see all that's included.

Scallop Hearts Honey Cuts, Stacking Hearts Honey Cuts,  Brie Mine Stamps, 

Mae the Mouse Stamp Set and Honey Cuts

Mae the Mouse Stamp Set and Honey Cuts, A2 Double Stitched Frames, Silent Night Stamp Set,

Bee Bold Numeric, Stacking Stars, Donut Worry Honey Cuts

Mae the Mouse Stamp Set and Honey Cuts. Brie Mine Stamps, 

Postage Stamp Squares

Scallop Hearts Honey Cuts, Friendship Stamp Set

Piece of Cake Stamp Set and Honey Cuts, Bokeh Lights Confetti Mix

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed my creations!  Don't forget to leave a comment below for your chance to win!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Carol :)

HBS Brie Mine Blog Hop Day 1:
Honey Bee Stamps <<< start here
Brenda Noelke
Carol Hintermeier <<< that's me :)
Cathy Zielske
Emily Midgett
Galina Filippenko
Jo Ann Danchik
Kelly Tribout Latevola

Doggy Kisses, Art Impressions

Hello to you all!  It is Week 2 of Art Impressions Lots of Hearts challenge!  I've created a card for you that is all about sending love to someone that needs a Get Well wish.  Lots of hearts needn't be all about Valentines.

Here I've used the adorable Doggy Kisses set for my card.  There are three other sweet dog images in this set along with several sentiments too.  I colored this pup with my Copic markers as well as the hearts too.  The hearts are from the Cat Twist Ties set.  Love it when I can find something from another set to use on a card!

After I finished coloring, I cut out the dog with one of the Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched dies.  I then used some patterned paper from a 6 x 6 pack I got at Hobby Lobby.  It's a Valentine's themed pack, but I thought this paper was perfect for the bottom layer!  It doesn't really show in the photo, but I added some Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle to the hearts for that extra special touch.

As I always do, I so appreciate your stopping by.  I hope I've given you some inspiration to enter the Lots of Hearts challenge at Art Impressions.  I can't wait to see what you create!

Copic Markers:

R14, R21, R22, R29, R35, B14, B41, BG0000, E01, E11, E13, E15, E39

Supplies:
Art Impressions Doggy Kisses
Art Impressions Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Dies
The Paper Studio Vintage Valentine 6 x 6 paper pad
Spellbinders March 2018 Small Die of the Month (tag for sentiment)

Through Thick and Thin!, Art Impressions

Hello to you this fine Monday!  I'm on the Art Impressions blog today sharing this sweet card using the Under My Umbrella set.

I just love this set and this card would be perfect to send to that special girlfriend!

I colored the stamped image in with my Copic markers (listed below with all supplies linked).  I then stamped it again on some masking paper and fussy cut the mask out.  After placing the mask on the colored image, I used a stencil to add the raindrops.  To finish it up, I added some clear sparkle to the umbrella and a few other spots.

I have a couple more photos showing more of the process on the Art Impression blog.  I hope you will stop by and take a look over there too!  Have a wonderful, crafty week!

Copics used:

E00, E000, E01, E04, E11, E23, E25, E31, E33, E35, E47, E51, E53, E55, E57, 

C3, C5, C7, W0, W3, R11, R20, RV00, RV02, RV10, RV13, RV14, RV25,

 BV01, BV02, BV04, BV13, B00, B02, B34, B52, B63

Prismacolor Pencils: Rose, Violet Blue

Supplies:

Art Impressions Under My Umbrella

Art Impressions Rectangle Double Stitched dies

Honey Bee Stamps Fall Showers Background stencils

Distress Oxide inks:  Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch

Tim Holtz Distress Retractable Blending Brush

AECP Celebration: Stencil Techniques

Hello!  My post today is, finally, getting back to progressing through the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  

My cards today are to complete the Altenew Academy Celebration: Stencil Techniques class.  I took this class back when it first came out and have four cards in the gallery.  However, as part of the certification, we need to create cards for each class in each level.

This class is about different ways to use stencils and using die cuts for stenciling.  I do love getting out texture paste, tinting it with ink and applying it through a stencil.  That's what I did here for my first card.  I used Altenew's Leaf Burst Stencil and applied the texture paste I tinted with Altenew's Forest Glades ink.

I taped the stencil to my card stock and work surface.  I just
tape along one edge to create a sort of hinge--it helps when
removing the stencil.

Here is the lovely texture paste after I applied it.

I let this dry overnight and then cut the stenciled image down its center creating a piece that is 2-¾" x 5-¼".  I layered that with some black card stock and adhered it to a green card base.  I used a stamp from Altenew's Label Love set for the sentiment.  I wanted to keep the stenciled portion as the focal point, so I just added a few black sequins to tie in with the black layer.  Here is a close up of the wonderful texture!

I made a second card--because it was SO easy!!

I die cut the Layered Blossom Cover Die A to use as a stencil, placed it over a piece of 4-¼ x 5-½ inch card stock, then sprayed Altenew's Ink Spray in Ocean Waves over it--just a few spritzes is all.  For the sentiment I used their Happy Birthday Die.  I cut it from a piece of card I had heavily sprayed with the same Ocean Waves so it would coordinate.  I trimmed the sprayed panel to 4" x 5-¼", added foam tape to the back and put it on a folded card base.  Then I adhered the sentiment and added a few clear crystal drops for a bit extra.

Thank you for stopping by!   Carol :)

Vroom! Vroom! for Art Impressions

Happy Monday!  I'm on the Art Impressions blog today with this fun card using the Born to Ride set.

My card today features two of the images from this set.  I actually, almost, made a one-layer card!  A rarity for me!  Haha!  I've only been on a motorcycle once in my life and it wasn't in a side car like this.  She looks like she's really enjoying her ride though!







All of the details on how I made this card are HERE on Art Impressions' blog.  Thank you so much for stopping by!!



Supplies:
Art Impressions Born to Ride set
Art Impressions Circle Double Stitched dies
Distress Oxide Inks:  Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade, Gathered Twigs
My Favorite Things Radiating Rays stencil
Sponge Daubers
Glossy Accents
Gina K. Designs Amalgam Ink

Basket of Blessings, Art Impressions

Hello to you all!  Did you see the new Challenge 247, Pretty Pastels, over at Art Impressions?  It's all about pastel colors.  You can create any themed card using pastel colors--it doesn't need to be Easter!   There are two new Art Impressions sets for Valentines and Easter being released today.  My cards today feature the new Basket of Blessings set.  It is so sweet!

  I haven't used my Prismacolor Pencils to color in a long time so I pulled them out and got to work.  It really is so relaxing to color this way.  On some of the images I used Gamsol to blend the pencil shading.  I'll try to point out where I used it as we go along and look at my cards.

This first card uses the two larger rabbits in this set.  I created a flip (is that what it's called?) card with the boy rabbit on the inside.  This rabbit's dress is the only area of this image where I did not use Gamsol.

I found that I liked the results best by laying down some pencil with shading, using the Gamsol, then go back over the area with more shading and NOT using Gamsol for the final layer.

These photos show before and after using Gamsol.  As you can see, some colors become very vibrant using Gamsol.

   

I really like the texture the pencils have, especially for the furry bunnies.  I cut the images with Art Impressions Oval Double Stitched dies and layered on top of an embossed panel (a retired embossing folder from Spellbinders.)

My second card uses the flower filled egg image and the other sentiment that's included in this set.

I did use Gamsol with the pencils on this entire image.  This is layered with Art Impressions Oval Double Stitched dies on top of an embossed layer using Sunny Studios Dapper Diamonds embossing folder.

We hope you will join in our Pretty Pastel challenge--go to THIS blog post, scroll down to the bottom and add your link.  I hope to see your beautiful creations there!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Prismacolor pencils:

Goldenrod, Mineral Orange, Sunburst Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Jasmine, Canary Yellow, Olive Green, Apple Green, Light Cerulean Blue, Cerulean Blue, Pink, Deco Pink, Blush Pink, Carmine Red, 50% Cool Grey, 70% Cool Grey, 90% Cool Grey, 50% French Grey, 70% French Grey, Chestnut,  Dahlia Purple, White

Supplies:

Art Impressions Basket of Blessings
Art Impressions Oval Double Stitched Dies

Inky Antics Blending Stumps, Gamsol, Sandpaper Pointer Pad
Sunny Studios Dapper Diamonds embossing folder
Kaisercraft Bricks embossing folder
Spellbinders Dotted embossing folder