Turnaround is Fair Play

Just a quick post today to mention a great stamping concept. The “turn-around” stamps from Concord & 9th are brilliant. With four turns of the stamp you have a fast-and-easy image.

The concept is so unique (it helps if you have a stamp positioning tool). You ink, stamp, then rotate your card and do it again… four times. I have only just begun to explore these stamps … and want more!!!

That’s it for today … told ya it was quick!

Foiled Stamping

Let’s get right to the point — stamping and foiling are a dynamite combination! Especially with the Gina K ®Designs Stamp’nFoil™ material from Therm o Web.

The new Stamp’nFoil™ system combines stamps, inks and foil designed by Gina K.  Start with the Foil-Mates™ Detail Sheets, which have pre-printed toner-based designs. (Toner is what allows the foil to adhere.) Add colorful stamped details over the designs, place the foil on top, and run it through a heat-activated laminator. Ta da! Foiled and stamped designs.

But enough chatter, let’s get right to the samples.

Check out the foil elements on the cake, gift and balloons and banner.  (The background is another Gina K. Designs/Therm O Web product that has toner-based designs.)

Here’s how it works:

See how I’m stampin’ over the printed designs? Then I die-cut the images.

And here’s a close-up:

It’s a foilin’ good time!

Happy Birthday Balloons

Balloons are such happy things! I’ve been having lots of fun with this Balloon Bundle die set from My Favorite Things (see this post for another use).

This card base was leftover from some of my watercolor experiments (so I’m not sure which watercolors I used!). The open cake is an old one from the late, lamented Stampa Barbara. The gemstones, I believe, are from Hero Arts.

Hope your day is as happy as these balloons!

Shop ’til You ….

…. Can’t stop making these adorable shopping bags from Hero Arts!

These are made using the Fancy Dies 3-D Shopping Bag.  As you can see, I couldn’t stop making them! The bag is open enough to let you add things, but not so puffy that it won’t easily slip into an envelope.  I love that you can put anything in these bags!

Check it out:

For the background, I did a soft watercolor wash using Hero Arts’ liquid pigment watercolors. The greenery was created from Spellbinders’ Fern Dies. The dots are Nuvo crystal drops.

For this card, I first stamped Hero Arts’ Floral Mandala Bold Print in Unicorn White onto the gray cardstock. The flowers are from Hero’s Coloring Layering bird CL866, and the stems are an older stamp from Art Impressions F3022.

This one is a particular favorite — I love the ombre bag and the balloons!

The paper for the bag was colored using Ranger Distress Oxides; the background is Lawn Fawn’s Quilted Backdrop die, and the balloons are from My Favorite Things,  the Bundles of Balloons card kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Layering Card

Layering dies are among my new obsessions. Here’s a quick card made with  the Thoughtful Expressions Layers of Floral dies from Spellbinders:

The vertical sentiment is from Stampin’ Up!’s Vertical Greetings set.

Thanks for stopping by to take a quick peek!

Elephants on Parade!

Sometimes the best way to try new products and techniques is by making tags. These were fun and easy!

I started by playing with Hero Arts’ new liquid watercolors (check out the great video in the link) in Strawberry, Moss and Indigo (the only three colors I have, but see how nicely they mix and play together?) . These come in a dropper bottle and are highly pigmented.

I used the watercolors to create a large background sheet (which I cut into tags), but they are also great for coloring individual images. I dropped some watercolors into a paint tray, let them dry, and keep them handy on my desk. They re-activate with the touch of a damp or wet brush.

Once the paper was dry, I stamped and white embossed a portion of Hero Arts Bold Prints Floral Mandala background.

The larger pink elephant on the left is a punch from EK Success; the smaller elephant is a Hero Arts layering stamp (which has a matching die). The balloons on the large pink elephant is from Stampin’ Up!’s Balloon Builders set (if you can’t find it, there are several other great balloon stamps on the website!).

So much fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Fabulous Finds Friday — Eastern Beauty

Who doesn’t love a stamp and die set with versatility? Not me! And that’s exactly what I love about the beautiful Eastern Beauty stamp set (and matching dies) from Stampin’ Up!

There are so many ways to use this release, which also has some lovely coordinating paper. The card above was created using a piece of the coordinating paper for a background. Then I used several dies to create the embellishment (trimming some pieces to create a design.) The sentiment is a die cut from Technique Tuesday.

Here’s another card that uses just the flower-like die and a stamped background using the images from the matching stamp set:

To create the above card, I stamped the rings from the Eastern Beauty set in various colors of ColorBox’s Stephanie Bernard inks. Two of the three flowers were cut from cardstock I had painted using Purple Flash and Aqua Flash from Plaid’s delightfully shimmery Folk Art® Color Shift™ paint. Love the subtle shimmer! And the leaves are from a Tim Holtz /Sizzix punch. Here’s a closer look:

Stay tuned for more ways to use this set!

 

Fabulous Finds Friday — Foil Follies

In my last post, I showed off some of the fabulous foils from Therm O Web’s new line of designer foils and foiling products.

This time I used some mixed media products. First up, these pretty roses:

I used the TOW iCraft® deco foil™ transfer gel as a paste, spreading it over the rose design from a Plaid garden (59794) stencil set.  When the gel dried, I applied my foil as normal. Here is a detailed photo:

 

(Yes, I got a little messy with the medium!)

This was a different look:

I wanted a more subdued, aged look, so for the above card (which is a 4Bar size, 3 1/2 x 4 5/8, folded) I brushed on the Rebekah Meier Mixed Media Medium (a light coat using a dry brush) then pressed on it a piece of her Mixed Media Transfer Foil (Patina — love this color). Because the medium dried relatively quickly, I was able to achieve the distressed look. The sentiment and cardstock are from Therm O Web’s Gina K.™ Designs line.

There’s more foiling to come, including how to use of the “waste” foil.

 

 

Fabulous Finds Friday: Foiled Again!

I’m loving the new mixed media material offered by Therm O Web,  in collaboration with designers Rebekah Meier and Gina K. Designs. I’ve been a foiling fool! For these cards I’m using just about everything in both of these newly launched lines — the foiling sheets, the pre-made foilable cards, the embossing paste, etc. I especially love the collection of toner-base, ready-to-foil sentiments and backgrounds. These are so easy to use, and great if you don’t have a laser-printer to create your own foil-able prints.

This photo (Ugh! I should have re-shot it!!) doesn’t do justice to the lovely shine of foil, so here are some close-ups:

These cards used the Gina K.™ Designs Foil-Mates™ backgrounds and sentiments. Because these are printed with toner-based ink, all you have to do is cover with foil and run it through your laminator. I die-cut the sentiments using  the gina k.™ designs oval single stitch die set, from Therm O Web and created specifically to match the Foil-Mates™ sentiments. (I love the bonus shapes found there, too!)

 

Here’s another one using red foil on the striped background.

I’ll have more examples in my next post — including ways to use the “waste” from the foil!

In the meantime, check out these websites: www.RebekahMeier.com, Gina K. Designs and www.thermoweb.com for more ideas. And this fab foiling video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votcAZg1XHk&t=25s

Thanks for stopping by!

A Rainbow of Birthday Wishes

Would you believe I never made a shaker card? I don’t know what took me so long! But with this Birthday Wishes die from Simon Says Stamp, and some Distress Oxide inks from Ranger, it was a perfect storm.

I LOVE these Distress Oxide inks. I love the colors, I love the way they blend, I love the way they react with water, I love everything about them.  I used Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick, Cracked Pistachio, and Broken China. After blending them on my card stock, I spritzed a bit with water and dabbed off the water with a paper towel, leaving those cool spots. There just wasn’t enough sparkle, so I added some Ranger Perfect Pearls. 

I added some foam tape to the die cut and sprinkled some small sequins (I think they are from Sulyn). I was tempted to add more sparkle, but decided to keep it simple.

Here is a more detailed shot:

This was a very good play day!

Thanks for stopping by.