Let's Celebrate + more Masking!

Hi Everyone! Last week, I did some masking on the little envelopes. Today, I used masking again for a different stamp set and not for a one layer card. I usually like using masking technique when I need to make a one-layer card but it can be used to make your own customised embellishment / image.

This is a very simple care to make. The stamp set basically did most of the job for me! I prepared a masking for the bottle. Just one and that's all you need. I stamped the middle bottle first and then, the other two. I did not use any masking when I stamped the straws. I used watercolouring to colour the image. I just thought watercolouring might be a nice option to use since I'm trying to portray liquid anyways :D 

Add some glitters to the straw and that's it! I love you love it as much as I do.Oh and that pretty striped paper at the back is also from Create A Smile ;) 

All Create A Smile products : 

Message in A Bottle

Paper Packs

Follow Create A Smile on Facebook keep yourself updates on all the happenings and if you're an Instagram addict like I am, you can follow Create A Smile using this name : @createasmilestamps ! :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Marina

"Genie in a bottle" VIDEO tutorial & Good bye...

Hi everyone! Francine here with a video tutorial. 

Today, I’m featuring the newest Flaschenpost / Message in a Bottle stamp set. From this month, Create A Smile will have an English and a German version of each stamp set! Here is my card using the super cute genie and the bottle:

       

Watch the video below (or HERE) to find out how the card was created:

CLICK THE HD ICON IN YOUTUBE TO WATCH THE VIDEO IN BETTER QUALITY

Stamps: Flaschenpost / Message in a Bottle (Create A Smile)
Inks & other mediums: Black Hybrid Ink (MFT), Distress Inks (Ranger), Versamark, Copic Markers
Paper: white cardstock, teal cardstock (Bazzill)
Various: Mini Splats stencil (The Crafter’s Workshop), blending tools, tiny heart (MFT), 3D foam pads, tape, runner tape, gold gel pen, Stickles, trimmer, scissors

I only used 4 colors to create the rainbow splat. 

Sometimes, I use more colors or a different combination to get a rainbow but basically, you don’t absolutely need more than yellow, red and blue. 

To end up getting more colors with the blend, just overlap the colors slightly! 

It’s time for me to say good bye to Create A Smile! This was my last video as a video team member. Thanks SO MUCH Christine for the fantastic opportunity and for having me in the video team from the beginning! I’m going to miss you girl but I know we will keep in touch! <3

Francine  

Happy Mail!

Hey, stampers, Anni here!
I've got a card for you using the new cute set called "Post für dich" in German or Happy Mail in English.

The moment I saw the little snail with the envelopes I knew I wanted it to bring the mail to the bigger snail from the set Lovely Critters.

• Heat emboss the sentiment in white.
• Mask it off and add ink blending for the sky. Then mask off the sky and add more ink for the ground.
• Stamp, color and fuzzy cut the snails. Add some highlights with a white gel pen.
• Die cut a frame.
• Assemble the card.

• For the snails I combined Copics and colored pencils. This way you can lay down color fast with Copics AND add the details with the colored pencils - the best of the two worlds.
• With inkbleding you can create a background in no time! And I love the effect!

Create a Smile only needs just a few more followers on Instagram to reach 10.000! Isn't it fabulous? Are you already following @createasmilestamps? 

      

Ahoy, Little One Card!

Hello and happy Friday! 

Samantha here, and today I'm sharing a sweet little baby card! :)

    

When I sat down to create this card, all I knew was that I wanted to make it pretty, and with lots of pretty colors! And the boat image is just so awesome, I  knew I wanted to color it up! 

There are no real, 'rocket science' type of techniques in this card, I didn't reinvent the wheel! I just wanted to play with colors I love, and techniques I love! 

- on a piece of cardstock, use a stencil and blend Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers Distress ink

- once finished, add a few water drops to the stencil area

- stamp and color the image with your favorite coloring medium. For this card, I used copics!

- fussy cut out the image and pop up with foam tape on the background

- partially mask the sentiment and stamp in brown ink

I used the super sweet Underwater Love stamp set and the awesome Waves Stencil! 

Obvisouly, for a card like this, color is key! I used pinks and yellows, not because I know of a baby girl on the way, but because those are the colors I felt like using! By simply using greens, blues or grays, this could easy be a baby boy card! 

Did you know that there is a whole slew of products on the Create a Smile Stamps website that are on sale? Oh yeah!! Check them all out here, and shop with no guilt!! 

Thanks again for spending part of your Friday with me! I hope this enjoyed what you saw!

~Samantha

  

Birthday Happy

Hello crafters!! Angel here for the first time as a Design Team member. I was asked by Christine a few months back to be a part of her team but due to a death in my family I've been unable to create. I am so happy to be here and I am so thankful that Christine has allowed me the time needed to get back to doing what I love!!

I used the new Crokisses and Happy Days stamp sets. Both of these sets are amazing and can be used for so many different reasons! I can see them being a go-to set! 

I started with a piece of watercolor paper. The sentiment and flowers were stamped using Versafine black onyx ink and then sprinkled with clear embossing powder. I used by Kuretake Gansai Tambi water colors to color in the flowers and the happy sentiment. I used my paintbrush to make splotches around the images for more added color. I found a striped black and white piece of paper and a silver glitter paper in my stash to add to the left side of my card. To finish it off, I adhered a few different sizes of sparkling clear sequins to the card because I love sequins and I think they are needed on every card. 

One layer cards are hard but they really can make pretty cards. Try stepping back from all the layers and embellishments and just create what ever your heart desires. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm glad to be back and can't wait to continue creating! 

Angel

Guest Designer May Park #2: Watercoloring (+ Video)

Hello lovelies!

Here we are with a new fantastic and inspiring post from the cardmaking super rockstar May Park. If you missd her first post, you can find it here.

 

May just has fantastic design skills, you should check out her Blog and IG account (where you will also find some of the cutest cats ever ever! She has two beautiful kitties that you will love). 

Now, let's see what May has up for you:

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Hi, crafty friends. Today I have a fun and colorful watercolor card. If you want to see my previous guest project that I made using Copic coloring, please click HERE.

I'm totally in love with the cute critter images from the Doctor's Helpers stamp set and couldn't resist creating a stamped background for my project today. Then I did some watercoloring which is I'm so obsessed with lately. 

I'd love for you to watch my video tutorial as I shared lots of tips and tricks in the video. You can watch it here or in HD on YouTube. Hope you find it helpful.

How to Make a Get Well Card using Watercoloring

1. Stamp the images from Doctor's Helpers with Hero Arts black ink on a piece of Arches cold pressed watercolor paper.
2. Watercolor the images with Guretake Gansai Tambi 36 color set.
3. Mount the watercolor panel on a A2 sized top folding card using foam tape.
4. Stamp the sentiment from the set in black on a piece of kraft cardstock, die cut it with oval die from Stacked Pierced Ovals, pop it up on the card front using dimensional adhesive.

4 Watercoloring tips I learned from my practices

• You may need to use a smooth side of your watercolor paper to get a good stamping impression. Otherwise stamp the images multiple times on a textured side to get crisp lines of your images. (For mutiple stamping, I used the MISTI stamping tool to get my stamps positioned in a same place.)
• Watercoloring in two ways: add intense colors first with less water and spread the colors by adding more water. The other way is to color with light color first with lots of water for the base coat. Then add more colors later for shading.
• Use clean water and paint brush to fix your watercoloring mistake and pick up the colors using some paper towel.
• Cold Pressed watercolor paper is easier to fix the colors compared to hot pressed watercolor paper.

I'm not telling you these tips would work for all of you as I'm not experienced in watercoloring but just taking baby steps for it. If you have any tips or suggestions on watercoloring, please share with me in the comments below.

That’s all I have for today! I hope you enjoyed seeing my watercolor card and got some inspiration. Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy crafting!

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I would like to say a HUGE thanks to May for being our Guest, even taking the time to make videos, bringing so many tips and inspiration our way! May, you ROCK!

If you loved May's project let her know by leaving her a comment or visiting her blog and suscribing - you won't regret that!

Have a great day everyone!

Easter Wishes

Hello Crafters!

It's Kelly here and I'm bringing you a pretty but colorful Easter card today!

I wanted a background that had a watercolor feel without the watercolor process. I decided to see what  could do with my distress inks. 

I started by lightly rubbing on Abandoned Coral distress ink with an ink blending tool to the bottom right of the card. I tried to be random about how far I went out into the card and in what areas. I added a little bit of Carved Pumpkin for some variation. I wanted the background to be a bt more interesting so I used one of the smaller sentiments in the set to stamp a pattern using a dye ink that matched. I did both first and second generation stamping to add to the dimension. I created my sentiment by mixing the large "Wishes" with the smaller simple Easter. I love that Happy Days set. It's the perfect sampler for all holidays and occasions!! After I stamped the sentiment I outlined it with my white gel pen to help it pop from the background. 

I stamped that super cute bunny on a separate piece of paper and colored him up with some Copics. I kept the colors pretty light because Spring tends to lend itself to lighter colors and I didn't want to distract from the pop of color in the background. I finished the card off with a few sequins and a coat of Wink of Stella on his belly and ears. 

Your focal point doesn't have to carry all the color. Try mixing it up and letting your background shine. If you feel like a background needs some added interest try adding text or a repeat pattern in tone on tone. It adds some oomph without stealing the show. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Supplies;

Eggstaordinary Egghunt Happy Days Sweet Nectar Dye Ink Sunset Shimmer Sequins Sparkling Clear Sequins 4mm Tangerine Sequins Memento TUXEDO BLACK INK PAD Full Size me-900 Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad ABANDONED CORAL TIM43188 Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CARVED PUMPKIN Ranger TIM43201 *Crafter's Companion EXTRA STRONG PERMANENT TAPE RUNNER 379719 *Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets *Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL Applicator Foam IBT23616 *Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING FOAM REFILLS Applicator Tool Refill IBT23623 Ranger MINI ROUND FOAM REFILLS for Mini Round Ink Blending Tools IBT40972 EK Success WRITING PEN FINE TIP 55-30080 *ZIG Wink of Stella GLITTER CLEAR Brush Tip Marker 025320 Copic Sketch Marker R00 PINKISH WHITE Pale Pink Copic Sketch Marker R20 BLUSH Pink Flesh Skin Copic Sketch MARKER C5 COOL GRAY Grey Copic Sketch MARKER C3 COOL GRAY Grey Copic Sketch Marker C1 COOL GRAY Grey

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