Happy Saturday!
It's been a day of catching up with homework for Stretch Your Stamps 2. I've created six cards but am only blogging about the most recent lessons from days 5 and 6. If you'd like to see my cards from days 3 and 4, you can click on my Flickr Photostream - located over on the sidebar. ------>
There was some wonderful inspiration for days 5 and 6! Jennifer McGuire shared a really fun technique on day 5, using different colors of embossing powder. Here's my card, inspired by hers:
It's a very clean and simple card but the multiple embossing looks so cool! See?
I used a floral stamp from the Clearly Besotted set called, Fresh Flowers.
And then, on day 6, there were cards and a video from Laura Bassen - love that girl! She is such a delight and so talented! Here is a card inspired by her:
I did a lot of water coloring on this one.
Used totally different colors than Laura did and my design is nothing like hers, so I don't really know how this even came about - ha! The pretty butterfly is from the brand, new stamp set by WPlus9 called, Flora and Fauna 2.
Debby Hughes shared a card on day 6 too and boy, oh, boy was it a beauty! I used her same design but I stamped on vellum instead of wood paper.
Those flowers are also from Flora and Fauna 2. Such a beautiful set!
I love white embossing and coloring on vellum!
I just realized I've been using lots of blues and purples lately - hmmm? Oh, and the sentiments on my cards today are all from the Friendship Messages clear set by Simon Says Stamp. I use it all the time - love it!
Sure feels good to be caught up with class - hate being behind in my homework!
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! Thanks for the visit! ♥
Hello!
Today I wanted to share another card created for Stretch Your Stamps 2.
This one was inspired by Laura Sterckx. She created a beautiful, pink, ombre background that I fell in love with! Here's my take:
I used the Delicate Pattern cling stamp by Penny Black. It's such a pretty stamp! I white embossed it before adding two shades of blue; Sea Glass and Surf Blue from Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment is from a set called Inside Out Sayings, also from SSS. I white embossed that onto a piece of vellum and added a few blue sequins and silver thread to finish the card.
Thanks for your visit! I hope to be back after work later tonight with a card from day 3! ♥
Hey there!
I'm back again today with more homework from Stretch Your Stamps 2. The second day of class was filled with more inspiration for using our background stamps.
Remember back when we were all excited about Perfect Pearls? Well, Jennifer McGuire created a gorgeous card using them and I couldn't wait to pull mine out again and play!
The Hero Arts Tiny Star Background was stamped with VersaMark then brushed with a few different blue and purple colored Perfect Pearls. I die-cut the large, Puffy Star from Lawn Fawn and the die-cut, "hello" is from Simon Says Stamp. I coated it with VersaMark then clear embossed. I did this three or four times to create more dimension. I added a few die-cut Mini Stars from SSS and brushed those with a Wink of Stella pen. Here's a close-up so you can see the pretty shimmer from the Perfect Pearls.
Since I had that lovely star all cut out, I thought I might as well make another, simple card.
The die-cut "you" is from the Small Love You Die by SSS and the rest of the sentiment is from their Tiny Tag Words set.
I stamped the sentiment just a bit too far to the left, so to correct it, I added a couple of exclamation points.
I go back to work tomorrow after a couple days off. Hoping I can still keep up with the homework from class! Sure is enjoyable having more time to create! Can you say, "retirement?" Wishful thinking!
Thanks for stopping by! ♥
Hi again!
I don't think I've ever written three blog posts in one day so this is a first. If you missed my first two cards from class earlier today, you can see them here.
I really wanted to create one more card for today's homework from Stretch Your Stamps 2 class. That's because I can NEVER resist CASEing a card of Shari Carroll's! Her style, talent, colors, ideas, etc. truly inspire me!
She shared a fun, watercolor technique using Distress Inks, water and a reverse background stamp.
Here's mine:
The background stamp I used is from Hero Arts. It's an old favorite of mine and I still love it. It's called, Dot Flower Pattern. I used Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks.
The smallest butterfly is from a Martha Stewart punch and the two layered ones were cut from the Butterfly Drift Die from Simon Says Stamp. The thanks sentiment die-cut is also from SSS.
I can't wait to wake up in the morning and check out day two of class!
Thanks for the visit! ♥
Hey there!
I'm back with another post but this time to show you my homework for day 1 (so far) for the newest online card class, Stretch Your Stamps 2.
The lessons today were about using background stamps. There were some fabulous videos and fun techniques to try! I loved Kristina Werner's background, watercolor technique and couldn't wait to try it.
I started out with a beautiful, Hero Arts background cling stamp called, Flower Wallpaper. It was white embossed onto watercolor paper, then I used the technique of spot watercoloring, or spot highlighting with watercolors, using my Peerless Water Colors. Here's my panel before cutting it for my cards.
Now, this would make a gorgeous background for a card but this class is all about stretching your stamps and using them in new and different ways. Soooo,
I used the Big Hello Die from Simon Says Stamp and cut it from my panel to use on this simple card. I covered the die-cut in Glossy Accents and it looks really cool in real life! Do ya see the, Just sayin' sentiment? That actually comes with an exclamation point, so I masked it off before stamping, then added a little apostrophe so it would work with my hello.
I had more of the panel left, so I created another card. Yay - two cards using the same, colorful piece - love that!
This time I used black cardstock to cut the hello, and again, added lots of Glossy Accents. Here's a close-up of this one:
I'm loving this class already - they are so worth the money! I'm hoping to be back again later with at least one more card from today's lessons. (Shari Carroll created an amazing one that I want to try!)
Thanks for stopping by! ♥
Hi and happy Monday!
I have another card to share using one of the stamps from the recent SSS release, Teacher's Pet.
For this card, I used the Alphabet Background Cling stamp. I decided to stamp it, using Hero Arts' Soft Granite Ink, onto Simon Says Stamp's Smoke Cardstock for the card base. Love the tone-on-tone effect.
I cut two tags, with Simon's Medium Tags Dies, out of their Smoke and Fog cardstock. One of the tags was stamped and white embossed with a dotty stamp from their Ice Cream Dream clear stamp set. I stamped the sentiment onto the other tag. It's one included in their Friendship Messages set.
To finish off the card, I added a couple of strips of cardstock, some little punched hearts and silver thread.
I'm excited to start the newest online card class! Stretch Your Stamps 2 starts today. You can still register for this class and work at your own pace because you get a lifetime access to all the lessons and videos! These classes are well worth the price and I always learn so much from the talented teachers and guest artist.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you get some time this week to play with inks and stamps! ♥
