All new products!

I've been so busy playing with new toys that apparently I haven't had time to post any of my creations! Another endeavour that has been taking up my time is the annual Night Market season here in Sechelt, BC. It runs every Thursday night from the middle of June until the end of August.

This card attracted a lot of lookers and sold pretty quickly. It uses my favourite technique of watercolouring, and features a Hostess Set from the 2012-2013 Catalogue called Summer Afternoon. Very appropriate for the season!

Everything on this card is new - except the Watercolour Paper. The base of the card is a new In-Colour, Summer Starfruit. The Designer Series Paper is Comfort Cafe. The wooden-looking frame highlighting the image is cut from the wonderful Natual Composition Specialty paper. It's very cool with glossy, raised patterns printed on heavy-weight natural paper. I cut the shape using a Framelit from the Labels Collection.

The image was stamped on the Watercolour Paper using Black Staz-On ink and watercoloured with markers.

Still playing with watercolour!

I think I got a little carried away with this one! While I love this stamp from the Peace Within set on its own, I was picturing it with a mountain scene behind it. And of course, I couldn't resist adding some water. Since I was using watercolour paper, I thought I would try using my Aquapainter and some Basic Grey ink to draw some mountains. Now, I have to say in my defense that I have never called myself an artist! Think I need a little more practice.

More Watercolour!

When I first saw this stamp in the Summer Mini I immediately pictured a watercolour background for it. My Aquapainter is always on my work table, filled and ready for use. It's fast becoming my most used tool! And the Framed Tulips embossing folder makes the perfect frame for any work of art.

The first step was to stamp the sailboat image on Watercolour paper using Stazon black ink. I use Stazon because it is water proof and won't run when I use the Aquapainter. Next I started building the background by just picking up the ink with the Aquapainter and creating shapes for the grassy hills. I add more ink and darker shades of ink wherever I want shadows or just more visual interest.

And this is what I ended up with!

This is what I used:

Stamps: Sail Away

Ink: Stazon black, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Watercolour paper

Accessories: Aquapainter, markers, Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, sponge dauber

It's very easy to create a watercolour background using the Aquapainter. Hope you will give it a try!

Time to tidy up!

Every once in a while I just have to spend some time tidying up my work space. Whenever I do this I always unearth some "treasures". These treasures are bits and pieces left over from other projects. Or, they could be from projects I started and then for one reason or another, never finished. It's not always easy getting the vision in my head to translate to the cardstock, ink and stamps.

I don't even remember what vision I had when I stamped these images from the Inspired by Nature set. I think I was trying to create a watercolour effect. That effect is created by inking the stamp first - I used markers (Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Soft Suede) because I wanted the different colours - then spritizing with a little bit of water from a spray bottle, and stamping on watercolour paper. When I first looked at these, they didn't look very watercolour-y! So I took my Aqua Painter and smudged things around a bit. I love my Aqua Painter!!!

It still looked a little blah. So I did a watercolour wash to create some sky and grassy areas. This is a very, very easy technique. I took a Marina Mist marker and, using the brush end, scribbled it onto the lid of a stamp set. This leaves behind a pool of ink that I can then dip my Aqua Painter into, and then just wash it across the paper. The beauty of this technique is that you don't want it to be an even coat of colour. I love creating darker and lighter areas. It creates more interest in the overall picture, I think. To do the grassy area, I used the same technique with a Pear Pizzaz marker. It was a bit tricky doing this in the small spaces between the long blades of grass that I had originally stamped. But, again, with watercolouring, all you need is a hint of the colour and texture.

Once I had my masterpieces done, they needed to be framed! And it just so happens that there were some perfect frames in the pile on my worktable. I had used the Top Note die and the Big Shot to cut out the centres for another project. The cardstock had first been embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I always save the "frames" that are left over. (Hate throwing away something that can be put to use!) Since these were in Old Olive, they were a perfect fit to frame my watercolours! The framed images were then mounted onto a Soft Suede base.

For the sentiment, I used a sneak-peek stamp set, called Four Frames, a hostess set called Occasional Quotes and the Decorative Label punch with Very Vanilla cardstock. I used a Soft Suede marker to colour around the edge to make it look like it was layered.

OK, after all that, do you finally want to see the completed projects? Here they are:

 
Hope I've inspired you to take a look at all the bits and pieces laying on your workspace!

Time for a picnic!

We have had some absolutely gorgeous days here on the Sunshine Coast! So when I was looking at my stamp collection the other day, I came across a set that I have had for a while and never used. Sometimes I see a set in the catalogue that I just have to have. Then, once I have it I can't seem to get inspired to use it.

That was the case with the set Studio Sketches. Oddly enough, it was a rainy day that finally inspired me to use this set. I had a day off from work. It was a cold, grey, rainy day and I thought the only thing to do was stay inside and stamp. I must have been wishing for nicer weather, because all of a sudden this design just popped into my head!

The wine and bread image is from the set Studio Sketches and the cherry blossom branch is from the set Easter Blossoms. I stamped them with Staz On ink on Stampin' Up's watercolour paper. Then I coloured them using markers and an Aqua Painter. For the cherry blossom branch I coloured the flowers first with Blushing Bride and then used Regal Rose to add darker areas. On the wine and bread image I used Cherry Cobbler for the wine glass and bottle, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede for the loaf of bread, Marina Mist on the other bottle, Pear Pizzaz for the tops of the two bottles and the label on the blue bottle and So Saffron for the label on the wine bottle.

To create the background I used a technique called Watercolour Wash. It's very easy to do. I used markers - Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzaz and Marina Mist - and scribbled with them on a clear acrylic block. Then with the Aqua Painter, I picked up some of the colour and  just "washed" it across the paper. To create the darker areas, I simply picked up more of the colour and washed it over top of the first layer. The cool thing about watercolouring is it doesn't matter if some of the white shows through. It just adds to the effect.

I trimmed the image to fit inside the Very Vanilla layer that had been run through the Big Shot with the Framed Tulips embossing folder. The raised, embossed border was sponged with Crumb Cake. The card base is Soft Suede.

Hope the rest of the country will soon enjoy picnic weather! In the meantime, stamp and watercolour yourself a picnic scene to brighten your day.

Holiday a la Carte

The eagerly awaited Holiday Mini Catalogue has so many gorgeous stamps, ribbon, Designer Series Paper and even fabric that it is hard to keep my wish list from growing! If you are a fan of vintage or love the Christmas cards you remember from childhood, you will love the stamp sets in this catalogue. I had to order a few and then it was tough decided what to try first.

I finally decided to show you what I did with one of the stamps from the a la Carte collection. This is an assortment of single stamps that are very affordably priced and ideal for stampers at all levels. This stamp is called Christmas Postcard and is perfect for my favourite technique of watercolouring.

Stamps: Christmas Postcard
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake and markers in Cherry Cobbler, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, River Rock, Old Olive and Always Artichoke
Other: Victoria Crochet Trim, Newsprint DSP, ticket corner punch

Click on the Holiday Mini on the left to go to my Stampin' Up web site, then click on Shop Now to place an order on-line. Or contact me if you would like to know how you can get some of these gorgeous products free by hosting a work shop!

Check back for more Holiday Mini projects and have a Very Stamping Day!

Summer Mini Catalogue now available!

Just had to do another post tonight to let you know the new Summer Mini Catalogue is now available. Just click on the picture to go to my Stampin' Up web site, then click on Shop Now and you can view this catalogue as well as all the other current catalogues.

If you would like to book a workshop and earn free product and cool hostess gifts, contact me to set one up for you.

You can also order on-line through my Stampin' Up web site.

The first thing that caught my eye and that I just knew I had to have was the Elements of Style stamp set. It is gorgeous and has so many possibilites! Here is the very first card I created with this set. I can't claim it as an original design. It is a total CASE (Copy And Share Everything) of a card done by Heather Mills in the Shabby Chic style.

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Sanded Background Stamp
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand
Ink: Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa and markers in So Saffron, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Very Vintage Brads, Scallop Border Punch, Word Window Punch, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Linen Thread, Bone Folder, sponges
Technique: watercolouring, distressing, sponging

I stamped the flower image using Close to Cocoa Classic Ink on Sahara Sand cardstock. With the markers, I scribbled them on top of a plastic stamp case and picked up the colour with the Aqua Painter. This makes the colours very subtle, like watercolour painting. It's also easy to build up shading with this technique.

To do the distressing, I used the Bone Folder to rough up the edges and create the folds and tears. Using a sponge dauber, I dragged the Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon across the Sahara Sand ink pad to dirty it up a bit.

I love this look and this stamp set. Check back to see what else I've done with it!

Does the cyber-world really need one more blog?

Apparently! So here I am.

I am a Stampin' Up demo and also work in the photo lab of a pharmacy chain store. Stamping has been my creative outlet for almost seven years now, and I am still excited when the new catalogues and minis come out. I love all the techniques I have learned through the years, but my all-time favourite is watercolouring. I think it's because I've always wished I could be an artist. That's the appeal of stamping to me - it makes my feel like an artist. So I'd like to share with you my latest attempt at being an artist. This was inspired by a design I saw on Splitcoast Stampers.

The stamp set is Peace Within. I embossed the image on Kraft card stock by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then Chocolate Chip Classic Ink. Then I bleached the areas I wanted to colour in, except for the chair. On the chair I used the white watercolour pencil.

My preferred method of watercolouring is to use the markers and scribble them on the lid of a stamp case and then pick up the colour with an aquapainter. Markers used for this were Not Quite Navy, Summer Sun and Old Olive. The centres of the flowers were done with a white gel pen.

The image was matted on Whisper White CS and the bottom edge punched with the new Scallop Trim Border punch from the Sale-a-Bration mini. That was matted on Summer Sun and the base is Old Olive.