Evening Tea with The Stampsmith

Hi Dreamers!

Wow, the weather here is unreal!  70 degrees yesterday.  I wanted  to share another of my Sunday Evening Tea projects today.  I used a stamp set from The Stampsmith called Sunday Evening Tea and it comes in a full sheet of unmounted rubber.  Here is today's card.

The image is stamped with Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink and die cut.  The image is layered onto a dry embossed piece of Blush Blossom CS.  

The Sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly

This  really is a  charming set.  See my other posts using this set here.  

You can see another of my cards made with stamps from The Stampsmith in the new issue of "Just Cards" Volume 25.  I used one of the Audrey Hepburn photo stamps.  Yummy!

Have a great day!  Love ya.

Karen

Peacocks on Parade

Hi Dreamers!
The Blockheads' Design Team is celebrating the launch of a new release.  We have each used the same set and created some fun projects.  Check out Colleen's projects here and here and here.   And see Leigh's Twilight Serenade.  The set will be available for purchase next week!

Can't you just see all the "scope" in this set!!??  I spent the last two days or so creating some projects that I'm proud as a peacock over.  LOL  I started with the large background stamp.  Which, by the way, is  perfectly sized to fit a 4 x 5 1/4" layer.  I used a few different techniques for coloring the backgrounds, but all the images are stamped with pigment inks and heat embossed.  Here is the first project.

Start with white CS and stamp the large background feather image with Emboss It ink from Ranger (or other clear embossing ink).  Heat emboss with gold embossing powder from Ranger.  While the embossing powder was still hot, I sprinkled a bit more onto the image and heated it again.  Trim down, punch upper and round the lower corners of the stamped piece.  Round the corners on two layers of cardstock.   I added three different ribbons to the tag, brads, and safety pins.  I made the rosettes with ribbon by gathering the long edges and pulling the threads tight.

Start by adding Antique Linen Distress Stain,  Forest Moss and Broken China Distress Ink Reinkers to a craft sheet (or plastic bag).  Spray a bit of water onto the inks.  Place a piece of Watercolor paper on top of the inks and pull down on the paper.  You will get really cool bands of color.  Now, don't wipe off the craft sheet yet!!!  We will use the ink for the background for the single feather.  Add more water and smush a piece of white Cardstock around in the ink.   Stamp the two images with Indigo VersaColor pigment ink and heat emboss with Clear Embossing Powder.  Layer with Teal CS and add a sheer teal ribbon.  I added some Silver Stickles too.

On the last two cards, the images were stamped first and then the backgrounds were colored.  I stamped the background image with a multi-color VersaColor pigment ink pad (could substitute a Brilliance multi pad on sale now). I mixed Gold and Clear embossing powders in a small container and then sprinkled onto the stamped image- heat emboss.   Trim.   Using a Distress Tool, add Peeled Paint and Broken China Distress inks.   Wrap a piece of  ribbon around this piece and layer.  To make the peacock, use same two Distress ink pads to ink up the stamp.  Apply the Peeled Paint first and lightly go over the stamp with the Broken China.  Fussy cut Peacock and add to card front.

On the inside, stamp the Peacock again and the sentiment.

For the Purple Card stamp the background stamp with Indigo VersaColor pigment ink and heat emboss with blue embossing powder.  Add the Distress inks with the distress tool to color the cardstock - Peeled Paint,
Dusty Concord, and Milled Lavender.  Layer with CS and add a ribbon.  Oh boy, was that fun.

****All the linked items are available at Blockheads Paper Arts.*******

My Peacocks are also entered in the
Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge: Anything goes
Whimsy: emboss it
Do you stack up;:favorite color-Aqua

Well, hope you enjoyed the Proud as a Peacock sneak peek!!  Have a great day! Love ya.
Karen

Sweet Baby Card

Hi Everyone!
Hope you week is going good.  I am trying to get ready for a Stampin' Up Party I am having on Thursday.  Not sure what kind of nibbles I will serve.  Maybe cheese and crackers-a couple ladies are bringing wine-Yum.  And, then maybe something sweet for those who would like coffee instead of wine.  Have to clean the house a bit too.  But, I am still taking time out to do a quick post.   LOL  Today, I have a very sweet baby card I made for a friend.  The stamps are from Sweet n' Sassy.

The image is colored with Copic Markers.

 I used a Spellbinders die and added a sheer pink ribbon.  And, here is a look at the inside.

The baby carriage is from Endless Creations, and the sentiment is from Blue Ridge Impressions.
Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp: mother/special girl
Paper Sundaes: Feminine flair
Paper Creations: spring
Just Some Lines: Spring cleaning (I used CS and stamps more than 6 mths old)
Okay I gotta run!  Have a great day. Love ya.
Karen

Baby Bud Fairy Card with Green Background

Hello Dreamers!
Happy Friday!  Hope you are having a great start to the weekend.  Today I have another all occasion card to share.  This card is made with a Baby Bud digital image.  Just love those Baby Buds.  This pretty fairy card went to my girlfriend in her card order.

The digi image is colored with Copic Markers.  I used Spellbinders to cut out the circles.   I added some gems for accents.   Here is a closer look.

Ain't she sweet!!???  So, I just have to enter her in a few challenges

Fussy and Fancy: fairies
Totally Papercrafts: favorite things- my fav's are Baby Bud designs, and coloring with Copics
Do you Stack Up: go green
Simon Says Stamp: mother's day or for a special girl -this card is for my BF's granddaughter.
Crafty Purple Frog: pink and girly
Card Making Mamas: a colored image and green
Paper-Crafting Journey: Anything goes
Samuel Taylor: butterflies
Paper Shelter: anything goes
Pixie Cottage: things with wings
Whimsy Stamps: no sentiment

That's all for now!  Enjoy your weekend!!  Love ya
Karen

Blockheads Badge Contest!!

Hi Dreamers!!
Blockheads Paper Arts is offering a chance to win stamps and a gift certificate!!  All you hve to do is add the badge to your side bar and add your link on the Blockheads Design blog.  Here are all the details!!

Simply add our Blog Candy Banner to your side bar for a chance to win the free stamp of the week. The stamp changes each Sunday evening after winners are selected. For now we want you to have a roughly 1 in 10 chance of winning. So if we get 20 particpants we'll select 2 names winners and if there are 30, we'll select 3.

To add our banner to the side bar on your blogger page, simply enter design mode and click to add a widget. Select the HTML/JavaScript widget type and enter the following code into the Content Box (Title is optional):

Get the code here.

That will add the banner, which links to our blog.

Once you've done that add your link with the "add your link" button on our blog page.

Here's how you can win an additional $10 gift certificate:

If you are one of the random winners and the link you've submitted by clicking the "add your link" button goes directly to a post on your blog with this banner and some nice comment about Blockheads with a link to our web page http://www.blochkeadstamps.com, you will also be eligible to win an additional $10 gift certificate. I'm only asking for truthful comments so if you've ordered from us you can say what you liked about our service. If you haven't ordered from us your comment can simply be that you like a particular set of stamps or item we carry. Feel free to add any pictures of our products from web site in that blog post and link directly to them.

Only one gift certificate will be given away weekly so if multiple winners have linked to such a post, I'll pick one of them to win the gift certificate.

My Comment:

I shop at Blockheads Paper Arts frequently.  Blockheads carries original artistic stamps in unmounted rubber or on cling.  They also carry a few other manufactures' stamps, like Lost Coast Designs.  The selection of inks and reinkers  is second to none!!   The service is super fast.  My items usually arrive within three days of ordering!! 

And, I bet you would like to see a card.  Well, let me see what I can come up.  I did not plan anything for today.  Imagine you are listening to the Jeopardy theme music while I look for a card.  

Okay, I found one!  This card was published in the March issue of Vamp Stamp News.   The stamps are from the Daisies half sheet.

PS: Check out my Publishing Page which I have just updated.


Good luck on the drawing.  I hope you win!!  Have a great day!  Love ya.

Karen

New Blockheads Technique Challenge-Bleaching

Hello Dreamers!
The March Technique Challenge at Blockheads Paper Arts is under way now and will run until March 21st.  Design Team Member, Leslie, came up with a Bleaching Technique to challenge us.  See Leslie's post here.  The complete instructions for this fun technique can be found on the Blockheads web page here.  I made three projects with the Bleach Technique and will show you two of them today and the third next week.

I did a little testing before I started my projects.  The top sample is Mat Board (the kind used for framing).  The second is a cardstock that has a different color on each side.  The bleached end is on the right; the reverse side on the left.  The last sample is Navy textured cs.  I decide that I liked the results of all of the samples.    Since the Mat Board turned out so well, I thought it would look cool if I applied the bleach directly to some pale blue Mat Board.  And this is how that turned out.  Love it.

For  project number one, I used the pale blue Mat board for the background and the Navy CS for the main image.  And, I thought since I am using Mat Board, why not make wall hanging type projects?  So, that is what I did as you will see.

Materials list:

Stamps: 

   Inspired By Nature

   Backgrounds and Borders (Script)

Inks:

   Dragonfly Black Pigment - Color Box

   Stormy Sky Distress Ink - Ranger

Black Embossing Powder

Papers:

Light Blue Mat Board

Navy Textured Cardstock

Other:

Sheer White wide ribbon

Frame-5 x 7 black

Clorox Bleach

Stamp the large flower from the Inspired by Nature stamp set with black pigment ink and heat emboss with black embossing powder.  I applied the bleach to the inner row of petals with a Q-Tip.  I let is set there and did not rub too much.  The CS kind of disintegrated from the bleach.  I decided not to color the bleached area because I liked the way it looked.

I cut out the flower and stamped the Script stamp with Storm Sky ink onto the bleached light blue Mat Board.   The ribbon was tied around this layer.  I layered this unit onto the second piece of bleached mat board.  I adhered them with Fabri-Tac glue.

I really like the way this turned out and it is going in my living room.  The frame can hang or stand and I think I will put in on one of the end tables.  (My living room is blue and white with yellow accents.)

For the second project, I went with the Brown Mat Board.  I used the same stamp set- Inspired By Nature.

Materials List:

Stamps: 

   Inspired By Nature

Inks:

   Dragonfly Black Pigment - Color Box

   Markers:

Terra Cotta, Pesto, Wild Plum, Raisin Adirondack - Ranger

Angel pink - Memento

Black Embossing Powder

Papers:

Brown and Black Mat Board

Other:

Burlap 

Twine

Stick

I applied the bleach with a Q-Tip and the paper turned yellow.  I colored the bleached area with the  Markers.  I layered onto  black Mat Board, added lots of burlap and twine.  I went out in the yard and grab a small stick.  I used the stick as a hanger: glue six pieces of twine to back and tie the pieces around the stick- trim twine.

Now, let's see what you can come up with using the Bleach Technique.  To enter the challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate paste the HTML code to your post and Linkup on the Blackheads blog.  (Instructions on the instruction page.   Can't wait to see your project!!
Have a great day!  Love Ya.
Karen

Fairy and Bird All Occasion Card

Hi Dreamers!
Just had to get one more post in today.  Had a great day hanging out with my dear friend, Reem.  Coffee and chatting.  So fun!   This card is a sweet little all occasion card made with a digital image from Meljens.  The image was colored with Copic Markers.

I used a bright orange CS and some fun DP from KI Memories.  

Fun Challenges:
Meljens Challenge: Orange and Meljen's image
Cheerful Stamp Pad: land of fantasy
Cupcake Craft: Yellow and Red
The Pink Elephant: at least 3 layers
Simon Says stamp: Anything goes

Okay, I really need to get something made for dinner.  LOL.  Have a super evening.   Love ya.
Karen