Running With Scissors…

I’m besotted with the new Halloween sets Anna Wight designed for Whipper Snapper!  After I made my first card with them I couldn’t wait to make the next several and then time got away from me…I didn’t do much stamping this week…lots going on…end of summer activities.  How sad to see the summer go but the new season has lots to look forward to, not the least of which is the chance to slow down a little.  Hmmmm…I wonder when that’s going to happen?

I did find time today to make this card with its very simple stamping and a little fun in the design.

The Spooky Expressions set is all about Halloween sentiments and sayings but there are some pretty darn cute images in it, too.  I just love those toothy grins!

I used two coordinating sheets of designer paper and punched 1 3/8″ circles from the design in one of the sheets.  The cats are positioned so the pattern in the paper gives the impression of hair standing up on their backs.  They’re all mounted on little cut up pieces of foam mounting tape and the white outline helps them to stand out a little more, too.

The Fun Fibers and star snaps make their appearance every year at Halloween but the scallop border is my new Martha Stewart punch I hope to use often.  Isn’t it great to have all these fun things to play with?

I hope you’re having a good Labor Day Weekend.  This is the big one that wraps up the summer so I’m going to try to make the most of it.  Enjoy!

• Stamps:  Spooky Expressions by Whipper Snapper
• Paper:  Lovely Lilac, Basic Black, Whisper White by Stampin’ Up!, My Mind’s Eye Kaleidoscope series designer paper
• Ink:  Palette Noir
• Accessories:  Star Snaps, Fun Fibers, 1 3/8″ circle punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

I know…the frame pales in comparison to the little girl it was made for.  This is Emily, my friend’s granddaughter.  She keeps me company on my desk at work where all I have to do is glance over at her and my load is suddenly lighter.

My project came about after I watched this video tutorial created by Flourishes’ Nancy Kirk.  It was very informative and I highly recommend it.  I came away quite inspired!  The tutorial is all about using Polished Pigment Powders.

To clarify:  Polished Pigment Powders are not the same as Twinkling H20’s.  The end result is the same, but the product used to achieve that result is in a different form.

• Twinkling H20’s are solid cakes of ready-to-use paints — just add water.  They’re watercolor paints with mica chips added for sparkle and sheen.
• Polished Pigment Powders are little pots of pure color.  If you were to remove every other ingredient from a pot of paint, this is what you’d have — pigment powder.  That’s why they’re referred to as pure color.  The Polished Pigment Powders also contain the mica chips that set them apart from ordinary pigment powders.

One benefit of the powder form is mileage.  You can cover a lot of distance with a little bit of powder, which made them ideal for painting my frame.  I spooned some powder into the lid of a plastic butter tub and mixed with Simple Solutions 2.  The directions say 1 part powder/2 parts Simple Solution but I didn’t measure — I just added solution until the consistency looked right.

The colors I used are from my collection.  Similar colors can be found here at Flourishes.  The chipboard flower is from Stampin’ Up!.  It’s kraft, or cardboard, color but the Polished Pigments painted over it flawlessly.  The ready-to-alter white frame was purchased at my local scrapbook store.  The photo size is 5 x 7.  Other details of the frame are as follows:

• Designer paper — BasicGrey Sultry 6 x 6 pad
• Cardstock — Stampin’ Up! Purely Pomegranate (retired, trimmed with Fiskars scallop edge scissors)
• Letters — Curlz Monogram Kit (stamped, cut out, then traced on one side with pink marker, colored over with Sakura Stardust clear glitter pen)
• Butterfly — Flourishes Butterfly Moments stamp set (brown embossed then painted with Twinkling H20’s)
• Accessories — Ribbon, rhinestones from Flourishes, button from my vast collection

Since I had a little paint left over from the frame I decided to finish it off with a card:

I painted a Cuttlebug embossed background and cut it into a circle with a Spellbinders die.  The card has mostly all the same ingedients as the frame — the designer papers are from the same Sultry pad.  I added copper pearls to match the copper cord which ties the tag to the ribbon.  The tag is stamped with a word and flower from Fantasy Floral Garden.

The butterfly is adhered to the scallop circle with tacky glue and there’s a little strip of foam mounting tape under each wing to assure they remain slightly lifted.

I know some of the other Flourishes designers have been working with the Polished Pigments, as well.  See Susan’s card here and be sure and check with Julie and Faith, too.

Have a happy day!

It has occurred to me there’s much to be learned in a garden…

How to stand out in a crowd:

Seeing things in their best possible light:

And from more than one angle:

We’re reminded to embrace our differences:

Support our friends when they fall:

Tolerate the occasional flaw:

And always look for the inner beauty:

I’m wishing you a beautiful day.

Hello, friends!  This will be the last of the weekly coloring tutorials.  We’ve covered:

• Twinkling H20’s
• Watercoloring With Inks
• Three Step Poppin’ Pastels
• Sponged Watercolor Background
• Pencil Over Ink
• Watercoloring With Markers

All of these tutorials can be found here in the Coloring Today category.  There are certainly other methods of laying down color, some of which fall more in the technique category rather than actual coloring, and I’d like to share a few of those with you from time to time.  Rest assured they won’t require any contraptions or contortions to accomplish and the necessary supplies can be found in most stampers’ arsenals.

I haven’t ventured into Copic territory yet and Heaven knows there’s plenty of information available along those lines.  I’ve experimented with Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits but every meager bit of knowledge I have about that came from Kirsten’s excellent tutorial here.

Today we’ll be using one of my favorite coloring mediums, soft chalks.

Chalks are one of the easiest methods I know for shading images.  One color brushes over the other smoothly with a soft, feathered edge.  There’s no worry about smearing or dissolving inks.  You can highlight an area by rubbing it with your finger.  Errors can be erased.  They’re nearly failsafe.

There are 51 colors at my fingertips in this Stampin’ Pastels case from Stampin’ Up!  I used just two colors and one double-sided sponge make up applicator to color my flowers.

Begin by stamping three flowers in Chocolate Chip ink on scraps of Whisper White cardstock:

Apply Cameo Coral chalk to the flower petals.  Use a light touch and short strokes.  You can also use a patting motion to apply the chalk.  There’s no need to rub or scrub — it will just wear out your sponge and rough up your paper.  We’re going for a soft, hazy look.  Imagine pink cirrus clouds.

Apply Ruby Red for shading.  Concentrate some color in the flower center then pull some color outward — point the tip of your applicator at the flower’s center, then use light short strokes to brush the color toward yourself.  You’re pulling rather than pushing the color.  Imagine yourself brushing a speck of dust from a delicate surface.  Brush and lift at the end of the stroke.  Exact placement of color isn’t necessary — just bring some out from the center and brush along a few of the petal edges.  Don’t worry about obscuring the inner lines.  They’ll emerge refreshed once the spray sealer is applied.

You can use your finger to rub away color to create somewhat of a highlight in the broad area of the petal.  This would be a soft and subtle effect.  You can also use the eraser to remove color more distinctly.  I used it to remove some color from those petal edges that appear to be turned up.

Once the coloring is completed to your satisfaction, spray with a matte sealer.  Follow the directions on the can, applying three coats for best appearance.  It dries very quickly.  I always hold the image with tweezers and step outside to spray.

You can now cut out your flowers and place them on your card.  I dotted my flowers with Cinnamon Stickles and placed a rhinestone in the center of each.

If you want to color an area such as those little spots you can do so before spraying, either with a marker or by picking up a little chalk with a blender pen and using it like a marker on your image.  A blender pen will harden your chalks so be sure to touch it only to the corner or edge of the block.  A few swipes of the blender pen on scrap paper will remove the chalk and allow you to move on to the next color, if necessary.

For information on shading a background with chalks, please refer to this tutorial.

I’ve had this Stampin’ Up! Embrace Life set since it first came out and this is the first time I’ve used it.  I’d like to leave it on my table and create with it until I’m satisfied but I don’t know how much time I’ll have for that.  I’ll give it a try, though.  The papers and ribbon are retired from Stampin’ Up!.  They come and go so quickly but there’s always something new to look forward to.  The rinestones are from Flourishes.

I hope you found this information useful.  I’ve been asked about the chalks many times.  As always, practice makes perfect.  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

I’d like to introduce you to the unapologetically flouncy and flamboyant Zizi.  She’s dropped in from Rubbernecker just for fun and to shake things up a little bit.

Zizi is known by all her friends to be not only glamorous, charming, beautiful and witty but well traveled, wealthy and thin.  My Zizi also has a heart of gold, impeccable character and not a shred of vanity.  Well…maybe just a smidgen of vanity…after all, this is what she wrote inside the card:

Okay, so she’s unapologetically vain, too, but we all have flaws…

Zizi, as I’ve mentioned, is a beauty from Rubbernecker Stamp Co.  The sentiment is from Hambo stamps.  It’s one of their Fractured Funnies.  If you feel like a good time be sure and check out those Fractured Funnies.  Oh, my goodness, I just sit and laugh out loud whenever I visit that page!  They’re hilarious!  The sentiment I used today is mild on the laughter scale compared to most of them.

I watercolored Zizi using Stampin’ Up! markers, which I wrote about in this tutorial.  I gave her sparkly eyeliner using the Quickie Glue Pen and Stampin’ Up!’s Dazzling Diamond glitter.  She has a purple feather in her stylish hat, which is also adorned with a black self-adhesive rhinestone, though it’s not showing well in the photo.

Zizi was already colored and waiting for her card when my new BasicGrey Ambrosia designer paper pad showed up in my mailbox.  The colors and designs were perfect!  I was just beside myself.  I love these new papers so much!  Very different from the usual pinks, and since gray and I have a “thing” for each other lately, well…you can imagine my delight.  I was concerned that her organdy ribbon bow might be a little too big and blowsy alongside her delicate features but, heck, she’s Zizi — she can get away with things I wouldn’t dream of.

I trimmed my Zizi image panel so her hat bumps out the sides and top.  That allowed a smaller image and a little more design character.  In so doing I cut away the feathers which are part of the image — no matter since I was adding my own.

She’s mounted on a 2″ wide panel and a standard 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ card.  Here’s a peek at the way the papers are laid out:

I wrote down the measurements initially for my own reference but then I thought you might find them handy, too, in case you’d like to use the sketch — not that it’s so extraordinary, but it is quick and easy and a fun way to use those designer papers.  The main image panel is mounted just a little to the right, the bow to the left, and the rhinestone brads are centered across the bottom to balance out and “steady” all the movement going every which way on the card.

Have I gone on long enough about this, do you think?  I had so much fun making this card with all its parts, new and old, from the four corners of my stamp room.  It was just good, old-fashioned “playing with my stuff”.  Now that’s what it’s all about!

I hope you enjoyed the time we spent here together today.  I’ll be making every effort to get a coloring tutorial done for Monday if I can squeeze it in between grocery shopping, gardening, laundry, cleaning — all the weekend chores.  Those things are on the “need to do” side of the list.  Stamping and sharing are on the much longer but often neglected “want to do” side.  I “need” to get over to this side of the list more often.

Details are in a nutshell below.  Have a great weekend!

• Stamps:  Zizi from Rubbernecker Stamp Co.; sentiment from Hambo Stamps; feather from Stampendous (inside card — old and probably not made anymore)
• Paper:  Stampin’ Up! Basic Gray and Ruby Red; watercolor paper; BasicGrey Ambrosia designer paper from Flourishes
• Ink:  Timber Brown Stazon, Basic Gray, markers in black, Ruby Red, Really Rust, Eggplant and Pretty in Pink — all from Stampin’ Up!
• Accessories:  May Arts ribbon, black rhinestone and Quickie Glue Pen from Flourishes, rhinestone brads (maker unknown — they were a gift),  feather, glitter, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Loving flowers the way I do, this is one of my favorite stamps in Flourishes’ Summer on the Patio set.  Most images in the set come in two sizes and this is the larger of this particular stamp.  The smaller image allows more “play” room with the layout and Heaven knows this pretty Memory Box Grove paper deserves more showing off.  Today, I just wanted to play with the stamp, though.

I colored the flowers with SU! markers and the pitcher and background with soft chalks, then sprayed the whole image with matte sealer.  There are days I’m not inclined to do much in the way of embellishments — the paper and flower pitcher seemed enough with the addition of a sentiment and pretty ribbon.

A few folks have expressed interest in the Memory Box paper so I thought I’d include a photo which gives you a little sampling of each sheet in the Grove collection.  There are three sheets each of ten different designs:

Isn’t it pretty?  I need to run now, but there’s a summary of the details below.  Have a great day!

• Stamps:  Summer on the Patio, Summer Blossoms (sentiment)
• Paper:  Perfect Plum, River Rock, Whisper White, Memory Box Grove designer paper
• Ink:  Palette Noir, Perfect Plum, markers and soft chalks for coloring
• Accessories:  Ribbon, Scotch brand foam mounting tape, spray matte sealer

Surprise!  You might not have been expecting to see a Halloween card today…  Well, as it happens, Whipper Snapper is releasing two more of Anna Wight’s sets this very day and you know how I love to watercolor Anna’s images.  Doesn’t the ghost have the most lovely smile?  It looks to me like he’s been up to mischief.  He seems just a little bit too gleeful over a spell gone awry.

This card represents the set called Hocus Pocus.  All the characters have those big toothy grins, making them most endearing.  These are real happy Halloween sets.  I love them both!  The other new set is called Spooky Expressions.  You can see both sets here.  The rest of Anna’s team will be making cards with her new sets, too, and you can check them out here:  Pam, Jami, Carol, Trudee and, of course, Anna.

Since we’ve already covered basic watercoloring with inks, I thought we’d do some watercoloring with a slightly different means of applying the ink.  You may find this to be the easiest watercoloring ever.  It’s worthwhile to try several different coloring methods, not only for the various effects they provide, but because one of them may turn out to be just right for you — the one at which you excel.

These are the supplies I used for coloring my images –  just a few markers and a brush.  Of course, I also used water and watercolor paper.  The paper I use comes in a tablet and is 100% cotton 140 lb cold pressed grain fin.  My markers are Stampin’ Up! water-based markers.

Let’s get started by first stamping the image in Jet Black Stazon, which is a waterproof ink.  The witch’s legs and hat are separate images.  I stamped the hat first, masked it and then stamped the legs.

Use your marker to color a narrow line of black ink along the edges of the hat.  More color can be added later if needed so it’s best not to overdo it at this stage.  I prefer to approach small areas at a time because the ink is most workable soon after you lay it down.

Use a clean, wet brush to pull the ink from the edges to the center.  In this photo, the gray area of the hat is the ink that was pulled from the edges.  I wanted more shading on the right side of the hat, so I colored a little more with my marker.  It’s shown blended in the next photo.

In this photo I’ve finished blending the ink on the hat.  I softened the extra color I added and used the ink on the brush to add a little more shading to the left side of the hat, too.  Be careful not to pull the fresh marker ink all the way across the hat.  Just soften the color, then clean the brush and use the clean, wet brush to smooth back into the colored edge.

I’ve also added green marker to the edges of the hat band and black to the right end of the brim.

In this photo I’ve completed the shading and blending of the hat in the same manner as described above.  Then I went on to color the legs, socks and shoes.  I’ve also added a rather shocking green outline to the entire image.  Yikes!  It looks like she’s been electrified.  Let’s tone that down a bit.

Use your wet brush to scribble back and forth on the green edge to soften the color, then pull it outward from the image.  Be careful not to pick up any color from the image.  The entire background will have a greenish tint with more color concentrated close to the image. 

See the area immediately under the hat brim — the left side shows where I added a line of purple marker for some darker shading.  The right side of the brim shows what that line looks like after blending.  I did the same thing under the shoes which you can see in the photo of the finished card.

Wasn’t that fun?  I painted the ghost the same way, with Amethyst ink.  I went over his teeth and eyes with the Inkssentials white opaque pen and added Stardust Stickles to one tooth.  I edged all the white panels with ink directly from the pad to the paper, and decorated the background with some retired Stampin’ Up! Halloween papers.

The sign dangles freely from the ghost’s hands, tied through punched holes with the fibers.

This card was a lot of fun for a change.  Some stamps just lift your spirits and take your cares away.  I think I need more of that.  Don’t we all?  I hope you enjoyed today’s coloring.  Have a joyful day!

These are the last of the Flourishes cards for this week.  Both cards today were made with Summer Botanicals.

My pot of lavender was stamped in Olive Stazon and watercolored.  There’s something new and different giving texture and dimension to the card — the lavender blooms were made with Flower Soft.  Use it like Fun Flock by sprinkling over tacky glue.  There are lots of pretty things that can be done with this very interesting product.  Nancy Kirk has created a video demonstration here.

I also used the gorgeous Memory Box designer paper, Grove, in the background.  You can click here to see some of the other 6×6 packs of this line carried by Flourishes.  This is definitely some of my favorite new paper!

My next card uses a solid image flower which I colored directly on the stamp with markers.  The flower heads are all raised on dimensional tape.  That’s Harlequin & Accessories in the background and the sentiment is from Many Sentiments.  I applied Black Diamond Stickles to the flowers, including those in the background. 

For inspiration and some really wonderful samples by Flourishes’ other designers, please visit these talented ladies:

• Barb
• Faith
• Julie
• Linda  
• Susan 
• Sharon D.

Thank you so much for visiting with me today.  Now let’s get ready for the weekend!  Have a good one!

This cute little bouquet is courtesy of Flourishes’ new Summer on the Patio.  It’s just one of many fabulous stamps in the set.  Most of the stamps come in two sizes so this image can also be stamped in miniature.  I used the smaller version on the envelope and inside the card.  The BasicGrey Sultry paper, May Arts ribbon and rhinestones can also be found at Flourishes.  The sentiment is from Flourished Words.

This is one of those sets you can look at over and over again and always see a new possibility.  The stamps can stand alone or be combined…it’s absolutely wonderful!  This vase of flowers is darling, I think, but there’s a pitcher of flowers in two sizes that’s my absolute favorite stamp in the set.  I’m saving that for later…

I wanted to be sure and use some of the patio furniture this time around so I made this card:

One chair and one glass of lemonade.  Somebody’s feeling lonely.  The sentiment is from Open to Love and the designer paper is BasicGrey Scarlet’s Letter.  The foliage in the background is a stamp from Summer Blossoms, another new set this month.  The main image is simple with no shading or anything, but I did have fun making the patio floor with a stamp from Harlequin & Accessories.  The patio furniture is black embossed like wrought iron.  The set includes furniture in a larger size, as well – still small enough for cards but suitable for scrapbooking, too.  I used the smaller size for this card.

More samples with the new sets can be seen here:

I’ll see you again tomorrow.  Take care!

Flourishes has released three new sets again this month and I love them all so much I hardly knew where to start.  I’ve made six cards so far, a little sampling from each set, and I’ll be sharing at least two per day through Friday.  So that’s what this is all about — just sharing the love!

Today I have his and her cards.  The first is a sample from Summer Blossoms.  Even though the card has flourishy script, pearls and ribbon I think it works for a masculine birthday because of its simple design and lack of flowers, bows or other extra fluff.  It could go either way, really.

My next card is unmistakably girl — all soft pinks with ribbon, lace and pearls.  It opens on the side like a little book.  I combined one of the new Summer Botanicals flower silhouettes with several sets previously released by Flourishes — the script background is from Thank You, the flourishes are from Flourished Elements, and the sentiment is from Many Sentiments.  The paper is BasicGrey Two Scoops.  The pearls on both cards can be found at Flourishes here.

We have a new guest designer joining us this month, too!  Barb Schram will be with Flourishes for the next three months and I know you’ll enjoy her work.  She’s a sweetheart and we’re so happy to have her with us.  Each designer brings a different point of view to the table and it’s always fun to check out the samples.  You can do that here:

• Barb
• Faith
• Julie
• Linda
• Susan
• Sharon Doolittle

And, finally, a photo of all the new sets.  The first set shown is Summer on the Patio and I’ll be sharing samples using that set tomorrow.  Oh, my gosh!  What a fun set!  I can’t wait to see what the other girls have done with it!

Until tomorrow…have a great day!