Floral D

 I had fun experimenting with my Betterpress plates last weekend, and wanted to try doing two-toned pressing using my Floral D and Sentiment press plate from Spellbinders.  It worked really well!  I inked the D in Faded Jeans Distress Oxide, and the words in Hickory Smoke - then carefully nudged the words into place beside the D.  

I've used a Pebble Cotton Card panel, and matted it with a couple of colours that coordinate with my background paper (old One Canoe Two!).

I can't help myself, and have to add something to each of the flower centers... so this time it was tiny white pearls.  The flowers are coloured in with Copic markers.

All things Betterpress can be ordered from the Papercrafter's Workshop!  Happy pressing!

Another Floral J

 I created a second version of my Floral J and Sentiment press plate card - exactly the same design as my previous post, just with a different colour theme.  Here is the bright version:

Background paper is Simple Stories, Colorvibe.  Frame is Stitched Scalloped Rectangle die from Pinkfresh Studio.  Stargazed ink by Pinkfresh Studio.  Pebble Cotton Card panel, Floral J and Sentiment press plate and Holiday Blooms dies all Spellbinders.

Everything can be found at the Papercrafter's Workshop!

Just a Note

 Today I'm using the Floral J and Sentiment press plates from Spellbinders - and one of my new obsessions is the Pebble Betterpress Cotton Card Panels.  As opposed to the White (Porcelain) or Bisque (Cream) card panels - this is just the barest hint of grey!

I started by cutting my 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card panel in half - I was able to get two of these out of one piece!  After some careful alignment, I pressed the two plates using Pinkfresh Studio Stargazer ink - which has become another obsession of mine - the navy ink on the Pebble card panel is just perfection.  I adhered it to my Simple Stories Colorvibe Bold card base, and added a Stitched Scallop Rectangle die frame (doubled up for some extra depth!) in navy.

I pulled out my Holiday Blooms die set from Spellbinders, which is intended to be a Christmas set - but works beautifully here, to create a little floral spray across the bottom.  The sprigs are cut from some silver glitter paper, all the rest is just regular cardstock.  To finish things off, I added some silver rhinestones to the smaller flowers, as well as all the flowers that decorate the J.

All my supplies are from the Papercrafter's Workshop - they have all things Betterpress (and everything else) that you need to put your creations together.

Delivering Happiness

I had a fun Betterpress session this weekend (is it just me, or does everyone like to press a TON of stuff at one time??), so will be sharing lots of projects over the next few weeks.  Here is the Floral D and Sentiment press plate from Spellbinders.

I started by doing some Distress Oxide Ink blending on Bisque Betterpress cardstock - this is such great cardstock for blending!  I used Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade and Peacock Feathers, overlapping just a little to achieve the great blended tones.  I sprinkled a little water over the whole panel to add a little more interest.

I pressed the D and sentiment using Black Betterpress ink, then ran it through my Big Shot using the Hemstitch Rectangle die for the diecut detail, then adhered it to my black card base with 3D foam tape.  A few white Liquid Pearls were added as the centers to the flowers.

The Papercrafter's Workshop is my go-to store for all things Spellbinders! (Okay, for all things, really...).  Their selection is great, and their shipping is fast.  Stay tuned for more Betterpress cards!

Tulip Trio

 I'm enjoying painting many of the Art Impressions flowers lately, especially tulips, it seems!  This little pot of them if from 5870 - Peeking Bunny Set that was recently released.  I stamped the pot three times in a row on my Ranger Distress Watercolour paper - using the colours that they are painted in.

The pots are stamped in N52, painted with 947 & 969.  The greenery is all 126/349/177.  The tulips have two colours each: 606/565, 725/626, 933/725.  N52 was painted as the ground, 493 as the background, and 565 was used throughout for shading.

I added "Spring" from 5867 - Mini Easter Sentiments, and sewed it down to a medium brown cardstock.  The finished card is 3 1/2" x 7 3/8".

Quick Easter cards

 I have always been a patterned paper fan, and Art Impressions has some of the prettiest paper packs around - today I am using 5742 - Easter PP along with the sweet bunny outline die from 5869 - Easter Bunny Puppet Set.

Since I wanted the papers to shine, I just used the die from the puppet set, starting out with a shaker card. 

 I cut the bunny out of the oval die cut (5065 Oval Double Stitched Dies), as well as the background paper, where I inlaid the gingham bunny - this isn't a necessary step, but I wanted the base to be as flat as possible, giving my shaker elements lots of room to move.  I glued on a piece of acetate, and rimmed the bunny with some thicker 3D foam adhesive, I placed the shaker bits on top of the bunny and attached the oval overtop.

I didn't have any white pompoms on hand, so I dug out some soft white yarn, and created my own by wrapping the yarn around a pencil, then trimming it down a bit.  They are the softest, scruffiest little bunny tails!  I really love how they turned out.

I was loving the bunny shapes so much, that I made a coordinating card with all three of my patterned papers, using my sewing machine to add some zigzag stitching, and of course... more bunny tails.

I also whipped up a quick placecard, as I thought he'd make some pretty cute Easter table decor!

The sentiments are both from the newly released 5867 - Mini Easter Sentiment Set.  

Best Wishes

 When Spellbinders came out with their alphabet press plates, I knew that I'd be grabbing a few.  This is the Every Oxccasion Floral B and Sentiment plate set.  I used Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide ink on the Betterpress cotton cardstock, then coloured in the florals with Copic markers.  Card is 5 1/4" square.

All-Spellbinders card!

 I have a Betterpress card today, using the Sealed Floral and It's Your Day Sentiment Strips press plates, pressed with the Betterpress black ink onto Canson XL Watercolour paper.  I painted them with 3 colours of Distress ink, added some silver paint spatters, a silver metallic bow, and finally a silver wax seal made with the Timeless Blooms seal.

SF Village & a Bunny card

  It's Watercolour Weekend time, and I have a couple of projects to share here and on the Art Impressions blog today.

First, something spring-like:

I stamped the bunny on a stump from 5737 - Bunny & Chicks Set in N57, as I wanted softer lines for my scene.  After masking him and the pot, I began building my bouquet, with all the flowers from 5794 Whimsical Flowers, and the leaves from 5795 - Berries.  After pulling the colour out of the lines with a damp brush, I built up the shadows & shading on the bunny using N57 - keeping most of him unpainted, as I wanted a white bunny, and did the same with the daisies, adding a little extra grey in some areas to indicate shadows.  I used #533 on the bluebells, which is a lovely lilac/blue colour, again adding layers of colour where I wanted it to be darker.  #565 was used for the foxglove-like flowers, and I used both #126 and #177 on the leaves, as I find two colours make them a little more interesting!

I mixed together #565 and #177 to create the blue/green shades of the pot, adding touches of the 533 and 565 as shadows.  For the stump, I used several shades of brown (992/969/947) mixing and layering them in the crevices to create the darker and warmer shades of the bark.  With the larger grass from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1, and #177 - I added in the grass, painting it out and adding it as a wash along the ground.  A wash of #493 was painted as the sky (it's very faint in the photo!), and I added a few dots to my scene using my black Twintone marker.

I cut out my scene using 5061 - Square Double Stitched dies, and my sentiment, which is from 5734 - Friend Sentiments Set, was cut with 5064 - Circle Double Stitched Dies.  Both were matted with some pale blue cardstock and added to my patterned background.

My second card has been in the back of my mind for a few months.  Last fall my husband and I visited Mont Tremblant, a ski resort just north of Montreal - and the 5746 - SF Village stamp reminds me so much of the village!  Scroll down and you'll see a photo that was my inspiration.

I stamped the Scenic Foundation onto my Canson XL watercolour paper using Tombows #969/565.  I picked my warm and bright palette of: #993/837/373/476 to paint the buildings, layering the colours to create darker, shaded sides and keeping the sunnier sides brighter.  #837 was also used for the chimneys.  Layers of #N57 were painted onto the planters, sidewalks and to create the cobblestones.  Several layers were painted to create the chalkboard sign.  I used #249 along with the leaves stamp from 4052 - Flowers set 1 as the shrubs in the planters, and the small green from 4867 - Foliage Set 2 to create the greenery in the flower boxes.  After softening them with a damp brush, I used the Bleed Proof White Paint to add dots that became flowers in the boxes.  The mountains and hillsides were suggested behind the buildings with washes of #565/177.  #565 was also used to add shadows under eaves, in doorways, on planters and in the windows.   A wash of #493 was added to the sky.  

I like to leave a little white space around my paintings, so I selected one of the 5063 Rectangle A2 Double Stitched dies to cut out my image, then mounted it with some 3D foam adhesive to my card base.  A few enamel dots were sprinkled around it.  Here's a photo of Mont Tremblant: