Stuck on Nautical

I'm loving all the nautically-themed products in the Summer Mini! It could be because I now live so close to the ocean. But, even when I lived in the land-locked prairies, I was drawn to anything to do with water, whether it was lakes or oceans. I attribute this affinity to my paternal grandmother who was Norwegian.

The stamp set The Open Sea, pairs well with the Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper to make manly-themed cards. Add a bit of Baker's Twine and the possibilities are endless!

Here is my first attempt with all these products:

This is what I used:

Stamps: The Open Sea, French Foliage (for the splatters), Teeny Tiny Wishes (for the sentiment)

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Confetti Cream (crumpled and crimped until it split into layers), Nautical Expedition DSP

Ink: Not Quite Navy

Accessories: Modern Label punch, sponge, crimper, White Baker's Twine (rolled over the Not Quite Navy stamp pad to pick up some colour), Cutter Kit (has a tool that easily roughs up the edges, which is what I did on the main image panel)

All these nautically-themed products from the Summer Mini Catalogue are available until August 31, 2011. To check them out just click on the image of the Mini on the right hand side.

Strength & Hope

One of Stampin' Up's mandates is "Making a Difference". In this year's Summer Mini-Catalogue, $2 from the sale of each Strength & Hope stamp set is being donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I used the butterfly image from this set to make a birthday card for a co-worker. She likes colour so I used Concord Crush, Old Olive and Regal Rose.

Three stamp sets went into the making of this card: Strength & Hope, Swirls & Curls Verses (Level 1 Hostess Set from the Summer Mini) and Vintage Vogue for the vine and flower images.

Cardstock: Old Olive, Concord Crush, Whisper White

Ink: Concord Crush, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Basic Black and tiny bit of Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, marker, Dimensionals

To see more about this stamp set and the Making a Difference promotion, just click on the image of the Summer Mini Catalogue to the right.

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!