Fabulous Finds Friday: The Cats’ Meow

Today, I’m obsessed with cute cats.

Here are two quick and easy cards using two different kitties:

I love this playful cat set from Waffle Flower. Above is just one of the cute kitties from Flora Cat Play.

I die cut the Stitched Journal die from Lawn Fawn then painted a soft blue watercolor wash rectangle. I stamped the kitty in black VersaFine and lightly colored in the images with a bit of grey. Gel pens added color to the cat’s flowers and a Wink of Stella added a touch of glitter.

The background was stamped in Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink using images from Spellbinders Designer Series Feather stamp and die set. When everything was dry, I mounted the cat panel with foam dimensional tape.

I’ve always loved Laurel Burch designs, so I was delighted to find that Stampendous! has licensed her images for stamps. This was also fast and easy, and came about as I was playing with the stamp, testing it out. (This cutie is from the Indigo Cats set.)

I stamped the cat on watercolor paper with VersaFine black ink, then colored with a mix of Ranger Distress yellow and mustard markers (which I first scribbled on my palette, then picked up with a watercolor brush.)

I added some color with sparkly gel pens. I did a light wash of blue watercolor around the cat and decided it needed more interest, so I used the stencil that comes with the stamp set to add a bit of Ranger Distress blue ink. I trimmed the panel, edged it with black permanent marker and attached it to a top-folding yellow 4Bar card. A few sequins finished the deal.

Have a great weekend! Meow!

Stamp, Color, Cut with Spellbinders

Today I’ll show two cards (that I teased in my last post) using the lovely floral bouquet from Spellbinders’ Designer Series Feather from the Earth Air Water Collection by Stephanie Low. (There’s also a cool feather in the set, which has stamps and coordinating dies.)

I stamped the bouquet in VersaFine black ink (from Imagine Crafts), then painted using various markers. (And cut it out with the matching die.) To get my color, I scribbled the  markers on a palette, then picked up the colors using my water brush. (I use this technique a lot when I want a watercolor look without a heavy saturation of water.)

When using markers, I use a variety, including Ranger Distress Ink, Faber Castell’s PITT Artist brushes, Tombow markers, etc. I also will dab water-based ink pads on my palette and pick up the color with the water brush. The sentiment was cut using a Technique Tuesday die from the Celebrate set.

Here’s a variation:

The components are mostly the same, but the frame is from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for coming back!

 

Fabulous Finds Friday: Spellbinders Magic

I am always amazed and awed at the variety of styles Spellbinders presents each year. Here are a few catches from the latest release.

Love the soft watercolor look of these stamps …

… and the tiny details on stamps such as this one below:

… not to mention this pretty watercolor look:

And for something different, the mixed media stylings of the delightful Seth Apter:

Stay tuned for an upcoming project using THIS new Spellbinders stamp/die set! Have a great weekend.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Concord & 9th

One of the pleasures of attending an industry craft show is seeing new products and meeting new people. One of my favorite finds this time has been the stamp company Concord & 9th, which is less than two years old.

I am inspired by the company’s unique and innovative dies. I’ll try to explain two of them — the Happy Card Frame Die and the Love Notes Envelope die.

The Happy Card Frame die, with its interchangeable components, offers so many creative possibilities.  The smaller die frame has a gap in it where there is no cutting blade.  After you cut out the frame, the card portion is still attached. Then you add an insert die in that gap (in the above card the insert is the “happy.” There is also a pretty flower, which you’ll see in a minute). You line up the sides of the insert with the gap in the frame. When you run the die through again, with that extra piece in place, you cut out the sentiment and it is attached to the frame. Cool, huh?

But don’t listen to me … check out the excellent video  here!

(Again, check out the video.)

Both cards also use the coordinating Happy Words stamp set.

Here’s the die set using the flower insert  (flip the die around so the connection is now at the top of the card instead of the bottom):

There are so many other ways to mix and match the components (see the video!) For instance, you can also cut out that portion of the die and use it separately:

Pretty sweet, eh?

Stay tuned for a sample of the Love Notes Envelope Die — it’s a good one!

Thanks for checking in.

 

Fabulous Find — Lawn Fawn

I’ve always been a fan of Lawn Fawn stamps and dies, but the latest entries are sending me over the moon!

I love this pop-up box die:

The box folds flat to fit into an A2 envelope. Genius!

Here are some other fun finds from Lawn Fawn:

Clever dies to create boxes and stitching guides….

… and just overall cuteness…

Thanks for checking in!