July Techniques ~ Thumping

July is Here already!! Wow, this summer is going fast!! With a new month, comes a new set of challenges. I got to choose the challenges for our CCEE group this month, so be looking for different techniques each Monday.Since one of my favorite techniques is Thumping, what better way to start off the month. *grin* Thumping is so easy and it gives your image nice depth. Check out the THUMPING tutorial on SCS. Beate explains it better than I could. If you would like to see what the other girls have done, check out our CCEE Stampers Blog. We'd love to have you participate too. Just make a card using the Thumping technique and post a link in the comment section of our CCEE blog. If you post it on SCS, put CCEEC in the keyword section so we can see what you've done!! Now to the details of the card...I inked up my this gorgeous Penny Black Hibiscus image in More Mustard, and thumped portions of the flower in Really Rust. I colored the leaves with Old Olive and then thumped them with Always Artichoke. To get the best effect, I spritz my image with only two spritzes of water using the Judikins Extra Fine Mist Spritzer. I found that this bottle gives the finest and most even water distribution.I added a touch of sparkle to the flower with Frosted Lace and Copper Stickles. The sentiment is Everyday Whimsy by Wordsworth. I love the font! I added some faux stitching to the corners with a SU Chocolate Chip Marker, and covered my middle panel with this fabulous thread woven ribbon by May Arts. I had never seen it before. My friend Lori sent it to me, and informed me that Michelle at Stamper's Dream should have it in her store soon. I LOVE this stuff. It looks like burlap or even mesh, but it's really soft. All my edges are ink distressed with Ranger's Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, and I slightly distressed the edges with my bone folder. The panels are also each lifted with Scotch Mounting tape. Supplies: Stamps - Hibiscus (Penny Black), Everyday Whimsy (Wordsworth)Paper - 29th Street (My Minds Eye), Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up) White (Papertrey)Ink - More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive, Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up), Frayed Burlap Distress Ink (Ranger)Accessories - Frosted Lace and Copper Stickles, Judikins Fine Mist Spray Bottle, Brads (Making Memories), Ribbon (May Arts), Nestabilities, Scotch Mounting Tape

Quilt inspired!!

I am soooooo excited!!! I haven't participated in an SCS challenge for so long and haven't even had the energy to stamp until I saw the inspiration challenge tonight. There is actually a short story behind this.

A dear, dear friend and neighbor passed away 3 years ago of ovarian cancer. We walked 2 1/2 miles 3-4 days a week together until she just couldn't do it anymore. In that time we grew very close. The sad part is, we hardly ever talked until she was diagnosed (she lived two years with the disease). And she lived right across our rural street. But God had a plan. I won't go into all that, but let me just say, I was very blessed by her. Well, she had a goal to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren before she passed. We talked about her progress often. To my surprise, a few weeks before she passed, she presented each of my children with one too. My daughter still sleeps with hers, and my son has carefully stored his. You see, he used to take care of her dogs when she couldn't and he even wrote a poem about their relationship which was read at her funeral. So, when I saw these quilt pieces, I was immediately reminded of that dear, dear mentor and friend.

Okay...now, on to the card. It's 4" x 8", and I thumped again....it's a terrible habit I have. I inked up the whole image with SU Pretty and Pink, colored the stems and leaves with Always Artichoke, and thumped with Rose Red and Choc. Chip. All the edges are ink distressed with Ranger Walnut Distress ink. The yummy paper is the new Sultry Basicgrey, and the sentiment is from Inque Boutique. The flower image is from Paper Inspirations. You can find the paper, wide olive grossgrain ribbon, and flowers at Stampers Dream!! And believe me, Michelle has a huge variety to tempt you with. I also faux stitched around the pink panel.

Supplies:
Stamps - Watercolor Pressed Flowers (Paper Inspirations)
Memories (Aged and Elegant - Inque Boutique)
Paper - Basicgrey Sultry, SU Chocolate Chip, Papertrey White
Ink - Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Ranger Walnut Distress ink
Accessories - Wide olive grossgrain ribbon, Judikins fine mist Spray bottle, sponge, mat pack, piercing tool, scotch dimensional tape.

Spritzed Cone.....A Ways to use it Challenge

I was sooooo excited when I saw the ways to use it challenge on Splitcoaststampers today!! Julia is encouraging everyone to just *spray it* since April is fast approaching!! Well, I LOVE spritzing my stamps with water after coloring and thumping.

Here's what I did for this card....First I inked up my Paper Inspirations Brushed cone flower stamp. I don't think they're normally red, but I was in a *red* mood today. I'm really happy with the colors!! Actually irl the cone is a much richer chocolate and the reds are deeper, but I'm not a pro at photography!! Anyway, back to the details. I inked up the whole image in Cranberry Crisp, and colored over the cone with my Choc. Chip SU marker, and the leaves with my SU Always Artichoke.

The thumping I referred to is just randomly dropping the marker in strategic places on the image. I usually drop it in the middle a couple of times, and around a few edges. It gives the image more depth. (I used my SU Choc. Chip marker this time) I then spritzed the image three times with a fine mist spray bottle (it's very important to use a fine mist spray, otherwise the colors will bleed into each other too much and you'll get mud. Believe me....this was my second attempt with this image. My spray bottle decided to have an attitude the first time I tried!! My first resulted in mud!! LOL) and stamped it on watercolor paper. I also Ink distressed the edges of each layer a tad with Ranger Walnut Distress Ink.

The butterfly image is a Hero Arts stamp from their clear design Thinking of you set, as is the sentiment. I colored it with copics and it's stamens are just the edging of black SU grossgrain ribbon. I liked the richness of the SU choc. chip wide satin ribbon as the backdrop for the Rusty Pickle Twine ribbon!! I loved the contrast of the two. That's why I added the Robin's Nest Pebbles too. Elegant with rustic!! The papers are Memory Box Flirt!! LOVE them...I have them all!! The Frame is from a Memory Boutique Hardware Kit.

If you haven't checked out Michelle's new store home....you need to!! It's gorgeous!!! Organized!! and best of all........it has TONS of GOODIES!! Just click on the pretty Stamper's Dream button on the right!

Supplies:
Stamps - Paper Inspirations Brushed Coneflower, Hero Arts Thinking of you messages
Paper - SU Choc. Chip, Creamy Caramel, Memory Box Flirt, Watercolor
Ink - SU Choc. Chip, Cranberry Crisp, Always Artichoke, Ranger Walnut Distress Ink
Accessories - Nestabilities petite ovals, SU satin ribbon, Rusty Pickle ribbon, Robin's Nest Pebbles, brads, fine mist spray bottle, scotch dimensional tape

Thumping?

Have you ever thumped? If you haven't, you should!! And that's exactly what I did with this card! Thumping is one of the simplest techniques and it gives such depth to an image.
1. Ink entire image with Cranberry Crisp
2. Color stems with Always Artichoke marker
3. Color center of bloom with Choc. Chip marker
4. Randomly drop (thump) Choc. chip marker over image. I usually glide it along some of the edges too.
5. Spritz the stamp 2-3 times with a fine mist spritzer.
6. Stamp image on selected colored CS

I decided not to use any dp, or bg stamps with this card. I only ink distressed it with Tim Holtz's Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. The top left corner was created by cutting a 7/8" square of river rock, a 1" square of Cranberry Crisp, and a 1 3/16" square of Always Artichoke. I then used a 1" circle punch to make the curved center. I used Tim Holtz's Retractable Craft Pick for the piercing!! It's so cool, because you can make the piercer as long as you want to, and then retract it back inside. Love it!!
Ink, markers stamps and paper are Stampin' Up. The sentiment is by SunSpirit Studio that you can find at www.starvingartistamps.com

Supplies:
Stamps - Stampin' Up, SunSpirit Studio
Paper - Cranberry Crisp, Always Aritichoke, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink - Cranberry Crisp, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Accessories - Tim Holtz Retractable Craft Pick, SU Mat Pack, 1" Circle punch, decorative brad, brads, SU Choc. Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponge, Corner Rounder, SU slot punch, Dimensional Tape, Water Spritzer