Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday - Simply Zinnia

 Hello again, Today I have made a really orange card. Very unlike me as I'm not into orange very much. Fortunately, this is a soft orange called Calypso Coral and it's rather lovely. Using the lovely Simply Zinnia stamps, I started the same way as yesterday by covering a card mat with lots of the single flowers and a few leaves here and there using a very soft grey of Smoky Slate ink pad. I then coloured them all in using my Blends pens in the gorgeous colour of Calypso Coral and Granny Apple Green for the leaves. I love the name of the green! :)) Then I took another card mat in white and embossed it using one of the lovely trio of embossing folders called Basics 3D. I chose the one that looks like lots of flowers. I then die cut all of the flowers out of the first piece of card and mounted them onto the new card mat which was cut to size in advance. I used dimensionals, foam, double sided shapes. I added them all over the mat to give the effect that they are all floating. Another very simple technique only it takes a little longer. 

Watercolour Wednesday - Cheerful Basket

Here we are again on a Wednesday for the water-colouring. Now water-colouring isn't really my thing but I am trying really hard to learn as much as I can. Today's card was one that I knew how I wanted it to look but wasn't positive that it would work so with the Cheerful Basket stamp set I stamped the apples in Saddle Brown Stazon ink and the apples in Tuxedo Black Stazon ink. Then I had fun. I started by die-cutting the corner from a C6 white mat using the Split Card Textures die and got my son to choose a base colour. He chose Granny Apple Green. (Love It)!

I decided to emboss the green mat with one of the retired Meadow Moments Embossing Folders and added it to the Basic White card Base. I mounted the White die-cut mat on top of the green using Dimensionals to add another layer. After that I started to colour the apples and basket in. I like to use a block to add the ink to and by adding a few drops of water on top, mixed it and used it for colouring. I used 3 different colours for the basket with Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Soft Suede. The apples were a little different in as much as they are made up of so many different colours. I used, So Saffron, Granny Apple Green, Calypso Coral and Sweet Sorbet. That is a lot of colours but I think they look better in a multitude of colour. What do you think?

 

Here's my working on the apples, only problem is that I wasn't paying proper attention! Hearts instead of apples!!

Watercolour Wednesday - Cottage Rose

For today's card, I stamped the large image from Cottage Rose stamp set into the centre of a Basic White mat. I added the single flowers around the border but decided that I only wanted the one flower coloured in. I stamped an acrylic block onto the Highland Heather ink pad and using a watercolour brush, picked up the colour and washed it over the flower. I continued using the Granny Apple Green Ink Pad and coloured in the leaves too. I mounted the white mat onto Highland Heather card mat and then onto the Basic White card base. 

 

  

Throwback Thursday - Wisteria Wishes

 Thursday already! Where does the time fly? Today's card is another style that I like to do and it's simply stamping a background and then adding something to it as a focal point. Using Wisteria Wishes, I have done just what I set out to do. I think it's a simple and effective way to show  a card and the stamps that you used to its full potential. 

Enough of my banter... I used the gorgeous bright green of Granny Apple Green for the stems and a mixture of a very pale peach.. Pale Papaya, a bright yellow ...Daffodil Delight and and hint of peach with Flirty Flamingo. I used the light Pool Party Blend pen to give the background. The addition of the Pale Papaya ribbon and the sentiment in the same colour ink completes this one. 

 

  

                                                

Watercolor Wednesday - Pampered Pets

 This week's watercolour card is nothing like I had intended to make. My idea was a complete card front as a watercoloured image! Needless to say, that didn't happen!! Using the Pampered Pets stamp set I stamped the curled up cat and watercoloured him in using a soft grey and the basic grey ink pads. I stamped a block onto the pad and added a few drops of water onto it. I mixed it in then played. I didn't like my original 2 ideas and ended up with a simple mouse and hearts background. Using the Layering Ovals dies that have sadly retired, I die cut out the white and green mats. 

I wanted some ribbon to match the card base so I took some of the gorgeous Crinkled white ribbon and coloured it using a Blend in the same colour. Granny Apple Green, my favourite green next to Pear Pizazz which is a slightly softer shade. I coloured in the mice and hearts in the same way as before, using ink and water from a block. I wanted this to be a birthday card so I chose to use another stamp set called From All of Us.

For more information on the products that I used, please click HERE It will open up in a new window for you.

Throwback Thursday - Batik Bouquet

 My throwback Thursday card really has to be this one. One of the first techniques I learnt was making a one sheet wonder. I still love making them today.  I used only 4 of the stamps from the Batik Bouquet stamp set and stamped them in a pattern all over the piece of A4 white card and Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad. The light green is Soft Sea Foam, the bright green is Granny Apple Green and the purple is Highland Heather. I don't know what it is about green and purple but I really love seeing them both together. I die cut 4 of the flowers out from one end of the A4 sheet once they were all coloured using the Stampin' Blends pens. I fixed the stamped mat onto a piece of Granny Apple Green card and the both of them onto a Highland Heather card base. Before I adhered the mats to the card base, I added a length of white Baker's Twine and wrapped it around the mats. I finished off with sentiments from the Best Year stamp set. The label on the front was die cut from the Scalloped Contours dies.

For more information on the Batik Boutique stamp set or any of the other products I have used, please click HERE It will open up in a new page so you don't lose this page.

Throwback Thursday - Massive Thanks

Hello for another day of Thank You's. As it's throwback Thursday, I remembered some cards that I made several years ago. Unfortunately, I don't have them anymore so I'm unable to show you the ones that I made. This one though is continuing on in the simple effect theme I am into at the moment. I cut the mat to the size I wanted then starting at 1.5cm from the edge, I scored 5 times at every 0.5cm. Then flipped the card around and repeated the scoring. So litrally horizontal and vertical lines. You could extend the process by scoring all around but that would need a much bigger card base. Very simple? It most definitely is. 

The only thing I needed to do was to add an embellishment or two and messages to the card. It really was that simple. I used the new stamp set called Floating and Fluttering. I do really love butterfly stamps, There's something about a card with a butterfly on that makes it look so special. 

For more information on the stamps and dies, please click  HERE It will open a new window so that you don't loose your place on this one.

Watercolour Wednesday - Ornate Garden Suite

 For today's card, obviously watercoloured, I did a technique that I often do. I added some colours using the ends of the ink pads onto a large acrylic block. I used 5 different colours from pinks , lilac and greens. I spritzed a piece of watercolour paper with water and then spritzed the block and immediately the colours started to mix together. Wasting no further time, I wiped the block over the paper and allowed the ink to be absorbed and left it to dry.

Once it had dried I took the 2 words SO GRATEFUL and THANK YOU and stamped them quite closely to each other then cut them closer still. You can see how the colours have blended and given me such different shades on them all. I took a white mat and embossed it with the Argyle embossing folder from Stampin' Up! I decided to add dimensionals (foam pads) to the backs of the words and added a few of the small flowers from Ornate Thanks stamp set. I added a few more of the messages to the inside from the set and an other THANK YOU to complete it.
A very simple card that didn't take a lot of work but I am pleased with the result. I hope you like it too.