Quick and Colourful Card!

Hello friends and welcome back! It's Laurie with you today to share a super simple, quick and fun card with you today! I've been on a bit of a diecutting kick lately so there is no stamping on todays card!

I've really been enjoying playing with my Distress Inks lately. Lots of layering of bright, cheery colours to create fun backgrounds.  So this is where the card started:

This background was created using the "ink smooshing" technique. Simply press your ink pad onto a slick surface, spritz with some water and smoosh your cardstock into it! So easy! Make sure each layer is dry before proceeding to the next colour. 

I wanted to mute the background slightly so I decided to use a stencil and some white gesso.  I lined up the  Blossom Stencil to the right side of the panel and added a light layer of the gesso. 

You can see that this still lets the colour shine through while giving texture and pattern. Next I worked on the sentiment.  I decided to use the amazing new alphabet dies...Lemon Alphas Cool Cuts. I adore these dies. So cute and so versatile!

I kept it simple and used the word smile. I heat emboss a small scrap of cardstock with gold embossing powder and cute the letters out. The shadow part of the letters was cut out of plain, white cardstock and layered up 3 times for a little dimension.

To put the card together, I first started by trimming the colourful background to 5X3.5 inches and foam mounted it to a white A2 card base.  I added the "smile" die cuts towards the centre of the Blossom Stencil.

It was at this point I decided to add 2 circle die cuts from the Stitched Circle Dies. This seemed to ground the sentiment.  I then used the heart dies from the DIN Lang Postage Cool Cuts and cut them from the same gold embossed cardstock.

When using the ink smooshing technique it's always important to dry between each layer of colour! If you layer upon wet colour, you will end up with yucky colours!

Also, if you don't have gesso, white acrylic paint will work. Just make sure you use very little or you'll cover up too much of the background.

Don't be afraid to try new things! Play with colours! And incorporate some of your other crafty stash into your cardmaking!

Lemon Alpha Cool Cuts

Blossom Stencil

DIN Lang Postage

Stitched Circle Frames

Thank you so much for dropping by today!! Until next time :)

Laurie

 

Gel Printing with Stencils

 Hello friends and Happy New Year! Laurie with you today sharing a fun technique using stencils. I'm not sure if you're familiar with a Gel Press but it is a super cool tool to help you create mono prints. It's basically a gelatin plate that you can apply paints, inks and stencils to. By applying these mediums and placing a piece of paper over top, you can achieve amazing "prints" or "pulls". It's called mono printing because you will never get the same background twice. I'm VERY new to this tool and am still learning but what I know so far is that it is SO MUCH FUN!

I really wanted to use some of my favourite CAS stencils along with the Gel Press to create an interesting and fun background. My original plan didn't involve making four cards but it worked out in the end.

First thing I did was create a simple background. I placed a light pink and white paint onto the press and spread it out using a brayer.

I then placed a stencil over the gel plate and added a darker shade of pink paint. I spread the paint over the stencil with the brayer then removed the stencil. I placed the same paper over top and pulled.

I took the next stencil and yellow paint and repeated the process.

The paint dries very quickly because it's such a thin layer so this goes fast! I used quite a few stencils and different paint colours. This is what I ended up with:

I always use white paint last to lighten and break up some areas. I didn't use the Gel press for the white circles. I love the grungy, imperfect look of this. But what comes next increases the beauty of this background!

To bring out some of the details of the stencils, simply use a white gel pen and a black pen. Simply trace certain areas as well as add random dots and line!

Before:

After:

These sketchy dots and lines add so much!! Because the background is quite busy, beautiful but busy. This is where I decided to cut it up and make four cards.

I used a couple different dies and got four different panels. I made 2 white card bases and 2 ivory card bases to fit these panels. I used a kraft layer on two of the four cards and used foam adhesive to adhere the pretty background panels.

This is a very neat trick!! Instead of stamping a sentiment directly onto a panel that has a lot of texture and risking a poor image, you can use tissue paper!!! Simply use a permanent ink and stamp slowly. Try not to wiggle the stamp too much as tissue is slightly slick.

Trim around the sentiment...it doesn't have to be perfect. You will need Gel Medium to adhere it. 

Because I used acrylic paints for my background, they are not going to smudge as they are permanent. Apply gel medium, lay the tissue over top and apply a thin layer over top. The tissue paper virtually disappears into the background...cool, right?!!

I didn't add any sentiments to the smaller cards. I'll wait for a specific occasion when I need them!

I just love how these turned out!

Snow Dance Stencil

Blossom Stencil

Petals Stencil

Heart Rays Stencil

Huge Polka Dots Stencil

Focal Point Stencil

Scalloped Rectangles

Stitched Circle Frames

Don't be afraid to try new things! Also, while I used acrylic paint on my Gel Press, you can use your ink pads or reinkers! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you got inspired and maybe learned a new tip or trick!

Laurie

Let's Try Something New!!

Hello and welcome!! It's Laurie with you today to share something a little different. I've recently dived in to the world of art journaling and thought I'd use some fabulous CAS products to create a page!

What's great about art journaling is that as a cardmaker you likely have everything you need to get started! There are products on the market specifically made for art journaling but I wanted to show you that you can start with what you have!

I don't even own a proper art journal. I use inexpensive note books that I found on Amazon. These ones were made to fit into a travellers note book. You can even use an old book that you have lying around!

I started by ripping pages out of an old book and gluing then down with Matte Medium Gel. I put a layer of glue on the page, place the paper and apply a thin coat over top. This will seal everything nicely!

After apply a thin layer of Gesso (primer for paper), I scribbled some colour using Derwent Inktense blocks. Please use whatever colouring medium you have!!!  I sprend the colour around using a very wet brush.

You can still the paper peeking through and that's exactly what you want!  Now, it's time to add some stamping! I chose stamp sets that were more graphic for this. This will add more texture and interest to the background!

I used the Hocus Focus which unfortunately is discontinued. But check out the Bujo Basics or Loops of Love sets..they would be perfect here! I also used the Basic Circles Stencil along with a black watercolour pencil to trace some circles around the page. NOTE: for your stamping, you want to use a waterproof ink if you're adding more medium over top. I used Ranger Archival Ink.

After adding a bit of water to the traced circle to blur the lines, I added a little gesso into each circle to lighten them up. A bit of watered down, white acrylic paint would work here as well.

To add even more texture, I used the Blossom Stencil along with white embossing paste to 3 out of the 4 corners of the page.

This is quite subtle but adds a lot of texture and visual interest.  Now, onto the focal point. To brighten this page up, I coloured up a couple images from the Pure Poppies Set in a vibrant pink/purple colour. 

The sentiment was made using the Clear Letters Set and the Cherry Lowercase Alpha Dies. A good alphabet stamp set and die set is a must in any craft stash! 

I glued the flowers down first using regular white glue, then added the sentiments around them.

Because it's hard to stop adding details, I used a white gel pen on almost everything and added a few hearts here and there! I also used the Mix & Match Patterns Set to add a border!

And that's the finished layout!!!

It's always fun to try something new! It's also easy to get caught up and want to purchase "all the new things"! But take a look in your stash before purchasing anything, you likely already have products that will work just fine!

Art journaling is messy. And that's part of the fun but a silicone craft mat will be your best friend!

If you don't have and alpha stamp or die set, that would be the one thing I recommend! The sets I used here are perfect for this application. They are the perfect size!!

Last but not least...have fun! What I've learned about art journaling is that it's not supposed to be perfect! It's about experiementing and adding layer upon layer of paints and papers and pastes!!

I did purchase the Gesso and Matte Medium especially for this craft. Everything else I had on hand. Shop your stash!!

There is always a fun challenge going on the blog which you can find HERE!! Also, please use the hashtag #createasmilestamps when sharing your creations on social media. We love to see what you create!

Mix & Match Patterns

Pure Poppies

Cherry Lowercase

Clear Letters