Card Tutorial, Fun Techniques, Holiday, Quick & Easy

Spooky & Festive

September 28, 2021 R'Chel Leave a comment

This week we started exploring some Halloween cards with the Festive & Bright Bundle and also brought in the spider web as a guest star from Frightful Tag dies.

This is a card that combines a lot of fun techniques, looks like you spent hours on it, and comes together super quick so you can make several in one sitting. I love it when that happens!

Crumb Cake is what I chose as the card base, with Very Vanilla writing panel and card front. You can see I used a Basic White Envelope as I need to place an order and restock my Very Vanilla envelopes. whoops! It’s ok though as the spider web is white so coordinates just fine.

The hats die from Festive & Bright Bundle is stamped along one side of the card front. Affix the card front to the card base and then die cut both layers with the right side of the hat die from the Festive Finishes Dies. I love how thoughtful Stampin’ Up! was with these dies. You can use the right and left sides together to create a stand-alone die cut, or use use one to create an edge!

While I was die cutting the card edge I also cut a matching piece out of scrap paper to use as a mask. The edge of the writing panel on the inside was masked with this scrap and blending brush used with Cinnamon Cider and Cajun Craze to give some depth and shading to the edge before it was adhered to the inside of the card.

The spiderweb was cut from Basic White and I gave it a shimmer with some Wink of Stella. Alternately you could cut this piece from some shimmer card stock. Spooky is one of the sentiments in the Festive & Bright bundle and it’s stamped with Versamark on a piece of Basic Black cardstock from my scrap bin. I chose gold embossing powder, but it would also look great with any of our metallics or white. Affix the sentiment to the spider web and then a couple of dimensionals on the back side of the spider web hold it up off the card to give some shadow behind it.

I gave the hats and brooms a bit of color with Crumb Cake light and dark Stampin’ Blends and then added a few touches of shimmer with Wink of Stella (because isn’t everything better with WoS?)

That’s it! The Live tutorial is up on My Inky Paws Facebook page, and start to finish with me chatting is only about 27 minutes. Told you it was a quick card! Supplies list is here.

Thanks for hanging out with me! Happy Crafting to You!!

Artistic, Card Tutorial, Fun Techniques

Spotlight on Spotlight Technique!

September 20, 2021 R'Chel Leave a comment

Spotlight Technique is one of those that every papercrafter should have in their arsenal. It’s beautiful, memorable, and simple – Trifecta!!

I love big stamps for Spotlight. Alternately, several smaller images stamped together, butterflies for example, make stunning Spotlight cards. When working with large stamps (Daisy Garden is about 5 inches x 6 inches) I use my Stamparatus for this one so I can line up the images perfectly. In case I have to reink and go back over the image in places it makes it a snap and turns out perfectly. For a Spotlight card you’ll need 2 identically stamped card fronts. Stamp with a dye ink (Memento Tuxedo Black) if you’ll be using alcohol ink markers, and stamp with a solvent ink (like Stazon) if you’ll be using dye inks for coloring.

I don’t like to waste my images so I’ll usually color one entire front. I like using the Stampin’ Blends as they do blend well together, both within the Light/Dark set for each color as well as with other colors. Once one stamped card front panel is colored then choose where you wish to cut it. There are many ways to do this. The example I have here is a sunbeam cut. You might choose to cut a section horizontally, vertically, or create multiple sunbeams on the diagonal.

Mount your black and white image to your card base. Apply dimensionals liberally to the back of your colored and cut section and then line it up with the background image. The results are always stunning, and take very little time to create. I can’t wait to see your Spotlight cards too!

Have fun with this technique. You can find the supplies I used for this card here (I used Stazon & Stampin’ Write Markers for this card): https://s.tamp.in/BesF8j You can catch my Live teach and watch it done in Memento with Stampin’ Blends, too: https://fb.watch/88LbNi-B18/

Come on over to the My Inky Paws FB page and give me a Like and Follow for more Cards & Coffee Live Tutorials.

Teamwork

Crafting Retreat with Watercolors!

September 11, 2021 R'Chel Leave a comment

This last weekend we had a mini crafting retreat with as many of the Inky Paw Posse as could make it. I was playing with a variety of colors but concentrated mostly on what I could utilize in conjunction with the Blackberry Beauty Suite. I got what I wanted and am now ready to embrace these rich fall colors. I needed to take some time to get my color palette adjusted. Normally I lean towards the cool colors of winter and spring. Not your typical winter colors of red and green. I express winter with blues, silver, pinks and purples. These colors flow easily into spring pastels and with them I am in my comfort zone. Fall is difficult for me. It’s hard for me to let go of the colors of growing and promise and succumb to the rich dark earth tones. Even though I know that the wheel turns, I always fight autumn. Admittedly I did start off with some of my comfort colors and worked into the fall colors.

Each of us worked on different projects even though each was working with watercolors. I walked everyone through 2 different technique bases. The first was a more traditional watercolor on watercolor panels using markers, ink spots, ink pads, and re-inkers. Additionally I presented tissue paper watercolor which creates beautiful mounted and embossed panels that really are stunning as standalone art-cards. This process takes several hours, so the entire procedure will have to be a topic for a later blog post. We all went to our (socially distanced) space and let the creative juice flow!

It was great to see how each found a specific technique within the wider genre that spoke to them and explored it. I enjoyed looking over from time to time with admiration as each got comfortable and then started exploring and pushing beyond what I taught. I love that! While I realize my role within the team is as leader I prefer to think of myself as cheerleader and mentor. It excites me when my teammates spread their wings, experiment, and discover.

Heather was working on panels for Christmas Cards and she did some gorgeous work with a variety of reds and greens. I can’t wait to see how she uses these pieces and I’ll get her gallery updated once she gets her cards completed.

Same technique using front & back of the paper

Katie was up for the whole weekend so we got to work together longer. She made some really cute Halloween cards with her vivid watercolors and a couple of retired Halloween stamp sets as well as the current Pansy set. Even my 10 year old nephew, Franklin (camera shy of course), got in on things. He’s very creative and painted some panels that are very super-hero reminiscent.

Cole (adverse to photos also) didn’t join us for this session though I was flipping through the watercolor paper and discovered some nice butterflies he’d stamped and used watercolor pencils on. After consulting with him we decided to spritz them with shimmer paint water and let the colors run. The final cards look very vintage!

Artistic, Card Tutorial, Fun Techniques

Just Breathe

September 3, 2021 R'Chel Leave a comment

A Sunday Cards & Coffee Live tutorial from Stampin’ Stuff with My Inky Paws Facebook Page.

This card was actually created at the same time as Missing You at Home. As I was die cutting that card I was seeing this one come together in my head. That’s kind of a thing with me and it’s both a blessing and a curse. Oftentimes I look at a stamp set (or a die set) and a card pops into my head fully formed right down to the embellishments. That card has to get out of my head, aka become physically crafted, before I can move on to see other possibilities. Does this happen to you, too? I’d love to know it’s not just one of my (many) idiosyncrasies.

So….as did MYaH, this card started out with 3 successively smaller die cuts using Diorama contour nesting dies on 3 colors of card stock. I used Pacific Point card stock for the card base and did a front only embossing with the paint texture embossing folder. I like the paint texture as it lends itself to many different applications (and I could digress and expound on its virtues for a whole post…maybe I will, but not this one…)

The trees are punch art in two colors of card stock using the Evergreen Border punch. One of the stamps in the Evergreen Elegance Stamp Set is a small tree that is just the right size for adding some texture (I used Evening Evergreen ink) and giving it more of a tree-look rather than just plain cardstock paper-doll-type trees.

The why of this card (which maybe should have been the intro of this post) and the reason I couldn’t get it out of my head is this: I have a couple sisters, and we are ALL workaholics. We all have different careers (though 2 of us had the same for awhile) and we basically hand ourselves over completely to our careers. It’s how we’re wired. I was one of the 2 of us with same job and in a sudden moment of clarity, inhaled one day and looked around me and basically said “F this S, I’m going back to working for me,” and so here I am. I have always definitely liked my boss and working conditions better when I am self-employed but I’m no less a workaholic than when I am paychecking in my more traditional career path.

But back to my workaholic sisters. One in particular….she needs a break. She needs a real vacation. She’s not going to get it, and so when I cut out those cardstock diorama pieces I saw an island. With this card I created her an island surrounded by deep blue water with peaceful forests of trees to get caught up in. She can keep this on her desk and go there in her mind when she can’t physically get away from her work life.

As is my personal signature, the envelope and the inside of the card are stamped with a small grove of trees from this set. I never leave an envelope naked as I feel the joy of receiving a card should start the moment it touches the recipients hand with just a hint of what waits inside!

I hope this card inspires you to create and I’d love to see your cards and hear their stories, too!

Come on over to the My Inky Paws FB page and give me a Like and Follow for more Cards & Coffee Live Tutorials.

Artistic, Card Tutorial, Fun Techniques

Missing You at Home

September 2, 2021 R'Chel 1 Comment

A Sunday Cards & Coffee Live tutorial from Stampin’ Stuff with My Inky Paws Facebook Page.

While the subject matter might be a touch melancholy (for when aren’t we a little sad when our loved ones are away) this card is a fun one to create by channeling the joy they bring you into the image!

This card started out with 3 successively smaller die cuts using Diorama contour nesting dies on 3 colors of card stock. The image was stamped from the 2021 Fall Sale-a-Bration Feels Like Home stamp set (free with $50 purchase.) Sentiment is also from Feels like Home and punched with 1-1/2 inch circle punch.

I love the Diorama dies for their versatility! We’re not going to let the part we cut out go to waste either. Next time we’ll make another card using those pieces.

In coloring this card there are any number of ways to approach it. I chose a subtle colored pencil palette to just bring hints of color that tied in the cardstock diorama tones – enough color to draw the eye to the image without getting fussy over the shading.

Dyeing seam ribbon is one of my favorite “prep” things to do, and so I gently spotted damp seam ribbon with a few of the colors (use your markers for this) used in the focal image. As the ribbon dries the ink travels and blends and softens in tone. You can create the perfect ribbon for any project this way.

As is my personal signature, the envelope and the inside of the card are stamped with the coordinating pot of flowers stamp from this set. I never leave an envelope naked as I feel the joy of receiving a card should start the moment it touches the recipients hand with just a hint of what waits inside!

I hope this card inspires you to create and I’d love to see your cards, too!

Come on over to the My Inky Paws FB page and give me a Like and Follow for more Cards & Coffee Live Tutorials.