Goodbye Blooming With Kindness

At the end of May I held a Hello/Goodbye Party here to say goodbye to retiring products and hello to some new ones. This is one of the make & takes I had for my guests using one of my favorite retiring stamp sets...Blooming With Kindness.

I used a monochromatic color combo here...Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe & Watermelon Wonder. The new In Color Watermelon Wonder card stock is pretty close to the Calypso Coral card stock. I first had created another card shown below.

This one has a Calypso Coral embossed background and a Watermelon Wonder mat for the stamped panel. The top card shown above also has Watermelon Wonder mat for the stamped panel but I used Crisp Cantaloupe for the embossed background layer. I decided I wanted a little more contrast so I went with the second card for the make & take.

Here's a look at the two cards together...

The pretty Blooming With Kindness stamp set, the color of Crisp Cantaloupe and the Spring Flowers Embossing Folder are all now retired and no longer available, but the pretty Dotted Lace Trim shown above in Tip Top Taupe is available in all the new In Colors...including Watermelon Wonder. 

Daydream Medallion Wishes

I really love the fun layered flowers you can create with the Daydream Medallions stamp set and it's coordinating Floral Framelits. I am sad to see the stamp set go, yet excited to see what possible new stamp set will be in the new catalog to coordinate with the framelits since they are not retiring.

I used the retiring 2013-15 In Colors here as well as the Blooming With Kindness set for the sentiment. That's another great set...I will especially miss the pretty sentiments in that one. Don't you just love the pretty silver embellishment on the center of the flower? It is one of the Something Borrowed Embellishements available in the Occasions Catalog.

I've used the Daydream Medallions set quite often for scrapbooking...it makes such pretty embellishments for any page. Here are a couple favorites...

I used the Dots Decorative Mask to create the polka dot background. See the entire layout here.

The Sycamore Street DSP from 2013 SAB had a floral design that cut out perfectly with the smallest floral framelit...loved that! See the entire layout here.

Here's a card made using the same colors along with the die cut center from Sycamore Street DSP.

Itty Bitty Banners and the coordinating Bitty Banner Framelits are also retiring. More here.

This pretty set of flip cards fit inside the coordinating box with belly band. I just love how these layer to create beautiful accents or focal points. More on this project here.

I think this is the first creation I made back when I first got this set...see more here.

What are you sad to see retiring?

Color Me With Blooming Kindness

Here's a card I created using the Blooming With Kindness stamp set.

To add interest, the main panel was cut into 1 inch strips after stamping.

The color combo of Blackberry Bliss, Cajun Craze & Crushed Curry comes from the Color Me Autumn Washi Tape pack...which I used on both the inside of the card and on the front along with Blackberry Bliss Stitched Satin Ribbon.

If you have wondered why I have not posted in a while, scroll on down to see some photos of what has been keeping me busy.

Thanks for visiting!

Grungy Eleanor Thanks

For this card I created my own DSP using the stamp sets Everything Eleanor and Gorgeous Grunge.

I used the color combo of Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana & Crumb Cake. The "Thank You" sentiment is from Blooming With Kindness and is stamped onto a die cut from the Apothecary Accents Framelits. I popped it up using some Stampin' Dimensionals and added a couple Basic Pearls.

Thanks for visiting today.

Multi-Color Embossed Mixed Bunch

Have you ever wished you could emboss a detailed design using multi colors of embossing powders and be able to designate where each color would go on the design? Check out this multi-color embossed flower using the Mixed Bunch set to see what I mean...

It is super easy to get this embossed multi-color look using White Embossing Powder and your new Blendabilities Markers! All you need to do is emboss your line art design on dark card stock with White Embossing Powder...then just color away using the brush tip of your Blendabilities! How easy is that?!

Using dark card stock, such as Basic Black shown on my sample, hides any accidental "out of the lines" occurrences...so no worries about being super precise. Using line art verses solid images works better because using bolder images may show your brush strokes. Here's my finished card...

To color my flower, I used the medium shade from each color set...Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Coastal Cabana & Pumpkin Pie. Because I was coloring over the white gloss of the embossing powder, the colors appear more pastel in tone. I even colored my Basic Rhinestone center using my Pumpkin Pie Blendability...I love being able to add jewels and pearls to match my projects. I first saw this technique shared on Mary Fish's Blog, and was super excited to try it. Hope you like this technique as well!

You are now able to order each of the color sets used on this card, plus Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight & the six color Skin Tone Assortment! If you haven't order these yet...you are missing out on a lot of coloring fun! Check out my Online Store to learn more.

Everything Eleanor Birthday

This card uses the technique emboss resist to achieve a really pretty background. The final result looks kind of like batik or tie dyed fabric.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper and stamped the swirl image from Everything Eleanor in VersaMark and then embossed it in Clear Embossing Powder. Then, spritz the paper with water and proceed to sponge on several different colors. Depending how much water used, the colors will start to softly flow and blend together. I used these four colors:

• Pear Pizzazz
• Coastal Cabana
• Strawberry Slush
• Calypso Coral

Tip: certain colors do not look good when blended or mixed together. The Pear Pizzazz for instance looks great blended with the Coastal Cabana, but if mixed with the other two colors would appear brownish & muddy. I made sure to sponge the CC next to the PP and not the other colors. 

Continue to sponge on color and spritz on more water to get the desired effect. Keep some paper towels handy to blot up any extra water and to also wipe up extra ink off the embossed areas when finished. After I was finished sponging on my color, and then wiping down the embossed areas,  I heat set it with my Heat Tool to help dry the paper. Then I added a few of the smallest flowers from Everything Eleanor inked in Coastal Cabana. 

I couple pieces of scrap sponged with the same colors, stamped with a couple of the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri and punched out with their coordinating punches finishes off the card. I was inspired by this very pretty card and video by Cindy.  

Have you checked out this weeks Weekly Deals yet? If you don't have the Secret Garden Framelits yet...I highly recommend them! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Thank You, You're Lovely (but this weather is not!)

This pretty, springy card is perfect for any occasion...like when you are in the middle of yet another blizzard and want to see some pretty flowers!  The past few days here in Michigan we've finally had a taste of (almost) Springlike weather...it's been in the mid 40's and sunny, and the mountains of snow were finally starting to melt. Now this morning it is gloomy and snowing, and we're expected to get at least 6 inches before it's done. The roads are really icy and all the area schools are closed. I'm thankful I don't have to go anywhere today! I've been working on some pretty spring decor items, so I plan to finish that today while dreaming of Spring flowers.

The pretty image from the You're Lovely set (FREE during SAB) was stamped in Black Stazon and then watercolored with my Aquapainter and ink. You could stamp the sentiment as shown above, or right onto the label itself. I kept this card fairly simple and easy to put together as it was a Make & Take at one of my recent events. To add a little more detail to this card an embossed background would be pretty.

Thanks for visiting me today...check back soon to see the Spring decor set I've been working on.

Supply List:

• You're Lovely Wood-Mount Stamp Set
• Blooming With Kindness Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• So Saffron 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Calypso Coral 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Island Indigo 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper
• Tea Lace Paper Doilies
• Jet Black StazOn Pad
• Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad
• So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad
• Gumball Green Classic Stampin' Pad
• Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
• Versamark Pad
• White Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Deco Labels Collection Framelits Dies
• Aqua Painter
• Gumball Green 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

Easy Watercolor Background Tutorial

I shared a card here on Friday and have since gotten several emails asking exactly how to do the background. It's a really fun technique to play around with and very simple to get beautiful results. I'm not really sure what it's called...so I'm just going to call it the watercolor background technique. I took photos of each step to show you exactly how to do this.

Step 1: Gather supplies. For this project I used:

• Acrylic Block I
• Stampin' Write Markers: Calypso Coral, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzazz & Old Olive
• Whisper White card stock cut 5 1/2" x 4
• Stampin' Spritzer filled with water

Step 2: Swipe markers across acrylic block to create strips of color, blending each color into the next as shown below.

Step 3: Lay the block onto Stampin' Scrub and spritz with water. I found that about 4-5 spritzes across the block was perfect...but this is really where you'll have to experiment to find the look you are going for.

Step 4: Pick up block and tilt slightly if you wish to blend colors further...it will look something like this.

Step 5: "Stamp" your background onto your base, being careful to lay it down straight. I left about a 3/8" border along the top (which will actually be the side of my finished card) Hint: press on the block and allow it to sit for a minute so the paper will absorb all the ink & water.

Allow the panel to dry before going on to the next step. I just kept making more back grounds and when I was done with that the panels were dry...so maybe an hour or so. Or if you are in a hurry use your heat tool to speed up the dry time. Hint: Create a small background, using this same technique & colors, on some scrap for any images you may want to stamp & punch out.

Step 6: Use post it notes to mask the edges of your watercolor background. Hint: if your ink pads are very juicy, you may want to also use some scrap paper over the post it notes so that the ink doesn't bleed through.

Step 7: Stamp your focal images first. I used the Papillon Potpourri stamp set with Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry & Island Indigo ink.

Step 8: Stamp your small scrap background to punch. I used Rich Razzleberry.

Step 9: Fill in with a swirl...I used the pretty flourish from Everything Eleanor inked in Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo & Coastal Cabana.

Step 10: Stamp En Francais over entire design. I inked mine in Island Indigo and then stamped it off once so it wasn't so dark. I also pressed in the areas that I wanted it to be a little darker.

Step 11: The best part! Pull off the post it notes to reveal your fabulous work of art! Proceed to embellish as you wish to create your finished card. Here's what mine looks like...

I used the Needlepoint Border to emboss my edges, popped up the punched out butterfly and stamped my sentiment, from Blooming With Kindness, in Coastal Cabana and adhered it to a base of Pool Party card stock.

I hope you'll give this technique a try, if you haven't already. I also hope you like this look because I'll be sharing several more cards I have created using this technique in the next couple weeks.

Eleanor's Secret Garden

Here is a card we did at one of my recent card classes.

The flower from Secret Garden was embossed in Early Espresso EP on Pink Pirouette and then water colored with Aqua Painter and Cherry Cobbler ink.

Stamps:  Everything Eleanor, Secret Garden & Blooming With Kindness
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler & Pink Pirouette
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler & Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Early Espresso Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter, Secret Garden Framlits, Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Basic Pearls

Here's the same card...different color combo.

Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy & Crumb Cake. With Baja & NQN retiring, I will miss using that color combo so much!

Thanks for visiting today. Have a nice weekend!

Mixed Bunch Medley

I really love the bright, cheery color combo of this card we made at my recent All Occasions Card Class...especially on a dark dreary morning like we are having today.

The base is Pool Party, the embossed Perfect Polka Dot layer is Island Indigo, the Mixed Bunch flower is Primrose Petals, as is the Stitched Satin Ribbon. The strip at left is Raspberry Ripple and the leaves were punched from Certainly Celery using the Bird Builder Punch.

The sentiment, from the Blooming With Kindness set was stamped in Raspberry Ripple ink. The small, scalloped flower is from the Hostess set Mixed Medley and was punched using the 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch which is new in the Holiday Catalog. The Basic Rhinestone center was colored with a sharpie.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Cherry Stippled Blossoms

I had been eyeing the Stippled Blossoms set since it first came out in the new catalog in June...I really, really tried to resist since I have so many floral stamps in my collection already...BUT, as you can see my resistance was futile! I'm sooo weak! Anyways... here is my first creation using this beautiful set.

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Blooming With Kindness & En Francais
Card stock: Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Old Olive & Always Artichoke
Accessories: Window Frames Framelits, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon & Victoria Crochet Trim

I got all my holiday decorating done over the weekend and the house feels so festive...it really put me in the Christmas spirit! Today I will be working on Christmas cards. Have a great day!