You're SEW Sweet!

Happy Wednesday and welcome back! It's Laurie with you today sharing a card made using a couple of the latest stamp sets to hit the shop!

The idea for this card jumped out at me while looking at the button shaped flower from the Sewing Stamp Set. I thought "let's make an actual flower from this stamp"! 

I stamped out my little scene using the Sewing Stamp Set along with the new Solid Florals Stamp Set. These two sets work perfectly together especially for this idea! I used an ink specifically for no-line colouring but any light ink will work...if you're using pencils.

I chose a selection of pencils and started to colour. I will admit that as I started on the button flowers, I was less than impressed with my skills. But I persevered!

As you can see, I really have no real details here. But that's okay! You'll see how I fixed that! I wanted to add some colour to the background so I cut masks for the buttons and placed them overtop.

The bottom didn't require masks as I was blending green anyway.  I took a light blue ink and a blending brush and added a "sky".

I trimmed all around this panel. In the end, it measures about 3 X 4.25 inches. Now, for the sentiment.  I went through my stash to find a suitable sentiment. In the end, I created my own which is one of my favourite things to do especially when you have an amazing alphabet die set! In this case, I used the Cherry Lowercase Cool Cuts.

I cut the word "sew", then selectively stamped "you're and sweet" from the A Little Treat Stamp Set. You can also now see all the stitching details I added with a white gel pen. Maybe a little overboard but it sure jazzed things up! I cut 3 sets of letters for added dimension then glued them to the panel.

Before placing the panel onto a white card base, I took the same images and stamped with a light grey ink. This gives the look of a subtle patterned paper. Again, another fave technique!

I foam mounted the panel and called this card finished. I did play around with sequins and such, but in the end decided against it.

Solid image stamps, especially smaller ones are so great for techniques. From making your own patterned paper to no-line colouring to watercolour stamping. Play around and you'll discover so many possibilities!

A Little Treat

Sewing

Solid Florals

Don't forget about your smaller stamp sets! They are always full of amazing designs either to fill up some space or create entire focal images!

Thanks so much for stopping in! See you soon!

Laurie

Easy Watercolouring Using a Stencil!

Hello, friends and welcome!! Laurie with you today to share a super simple watercoloring technique using a stencil. This is one of my all time favourite things to do. I have zero drawing ability, even simple shapes are a struggle, haha! With this technique, it really does give the look of a hand painted masterpiece!

I made a card using this technique awhile ago and was asked how it was done so I thought today would be a great time to share! 

I started by cutting down a panel of Mixed Media paper to 5.25 X 4 inches. I picked Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive and Forest Moss as my colour palette.

Using the Ferns Stencil, I used the various leaves in the 3 different green shades and ink blended just like you'd normally do.

This is where it gets fun! First, blend out the images with a little water and paintbrush. Don't use too much water. This will soften the edges nicely. I smooshed the three same ink colours onto a palette and using a small paintbrush, simply added some of the ink onto the images. NOTE: my paintbrush was just damp, almost dry. This allows you to create some detailed lines.

You can see the difference these little strokes of colour make. The fern on the bottom right corner has only been blended out at this stage. But the fern I working on is much more detailed!

And that's the finished result! Although, at this stage, I thought it was a bit too stark. So, I used Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink to add some colour around the edges. This also gave it a more vintage look.

I carefully wet the edges of the paper then added the ink. Try not to get too close to the ferns or the colour will reactivate and start to move. A little is ok! 

I think this is much better. Now, let's finish up the card.  I used the Decorated Wishes-Mixed Add ons set for the sentiment. The "For You" happened to fit perfectly.

I used the Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink for the sentiment and added a few small hearts to act as embellishments.

If you're going to try this technique, my biggest tip is to not use too much water! You want to maintain the shape of your images and also have the control to add the details!

I used Distress Ink to stamp my sentiment. We all know that these inks are awesome at everything except stamping so use your stamp positioning tool so you can do multiple impressions!

You don't have to be an "artist" to get an artistic look! Just sit down and literally play with your supplies!

Ferns Stencil

Decorated Wishes Add-On

Thank you for stopping by!!

Laurie

Hello Friend..

Hello and welcome!! Laurie here with my first post as an official member of the Create A Smile Stamps design team! I was a part of the CAS Challenge Team last year and enjoyed every minute of it. I am beyond thrilled to be back and part of this team!!

For my first project, I went with more of an elegant, floral card.

I wanted to create something soft and pretty but also with a little shine.

I started by silver heat embossing one of the larger branch images as well as two stand alone blossoms and leaves onto a piece of mixed media paper. I kept the watercoloring very simple by using only two colours, one pink shade and one green shade.

I added a bit of water onto each section of the image, then dropped in a touch of colour. This is the wet-on-wet technique. When the colour is dropped into the water, it spreads and blends on its own. The hardest part about this in not to play around with it! Try to let it do it's own thing!

When the painting was done and everything was dry, I used my scissors to fussy cut everything out. Call me crazy, but i actually like fussy cutting!

I created a square card base that is 4.25 X 4.25 inches. I love clean and simple cards but I also love layers so I used a couple of the Cool Cuts Stitched Circle Frames. On the larger circle, I used the Diagonal Grid Stencil along with a light blue ink. This gave a bit of background colour as well as a bit of texture. I silver heat embossed the sentiment on the smaller circle as well as inked the frame portion in the same blue ink. 

I played around with all the elements and after deciding where everything should go, used a combination of foam adhesive and liquid glue. As a final touch, I added a few clear sequins.

I watercoloring is a little out of your comfort zone, try heat embossing the images! This creates a "well" so the water stays contained and your colours won't bleed! This is my favourite way to watercolour!

When it comes to all the Stitched Frame Dies in the CAS shop, remember that each die cuts two pieces! This gives you so many options when designing your cards or layouts!

Diagonal Grid Stencil

Very Cherry Stamp Set

Cool Cuts Stitched Circle Frames

Have fun, my friends!

Thank you so much for stopping in today! I hope you enjoyed today's card!

Be back soon...

Laurie