Inky Backgrounds with Altenew!

Hi!  I played with my Altenew Sketchy Cities America stamp set for the Altenew Instagram video challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and got super inky with it (and now that Will Smith song is stuck in my head….waaaaah)!!  I couldn’t decide what kind of inky background I wanted so I created three!  And  yes, one is a holiday card but that background was singing christmas carols to me so I just had to do it!  hehe  Do you have a preference over these inky backgrounds behind a gorgeous New York City skyline?!

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create a cardbase out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
2. Create a frame using the stitched rectangle die from the Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts out of Canson 90lb Cold Press Watercolor Paper
3. Stamp the New York City skyline from the Altenew Sketchy Cities America Stamp Set with Versafine Smokey Gray Ink and heat emboss with Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
4. Create a mask for the Altenew New York City skyline and a circle out of Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper
5. Mask the cityscape and create inky backgrounds with the following Distress Inks:
   1. Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
   2. Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord, Antique Linen
   3. Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Dusty Concord
6. Stamp a sentiment with the Papertrey Ink Signature Christmas Stamp Set, Winnie & Walter The Big The Bold and The Happy and Altenew Sketchy Cities America Stamp Set using Versamark Ink and heat emboss with Hero Arts White embossing powders
7. Mist some water on the inky background with a Ranger Mini Mister filled with water and Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz
8. Adhere the card together using foam tape and double-sided adhesive
9. Embellish/Fill with some Pretty Pink Posh Sequins (8mm Sparkling Clear, 6mm Sparkling Clear, 4mm Sparking Clear, 6mm Winter Snow Mix), Doodlebug Lily White Sequins and Simon Says Stamp Snowflake Sequins
10. Scrub really hard to clean those inky fingers that will take days to go back to normal flesh color!  haha

I will be submitting these cards to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog | Use Your Favorite Technique and/or Product.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and Happy Crafting!

Pretty Pink Posh: Watercolor Blog Hop – Smile

Hi!  I am so stoked that I was able to find some time to create a second card for the Pretty Pink Posh Watercolor Blog Hop!  There are so many amazing entries and I am so floored by the talent that is out there.  All of the wonderful entries have really inspired me to give watercoloring another go.  I’m still trying to get the hang of watercoloring so please don’t judge me too harshly!

I am in LOVE with Phyllis Harris illustrations and am so happy that she designs for Unity Stamp Company.  I decided to try my hand at watercoloring one of my favorite images of hers.  What do you think?

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create an A2 card base out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
2. Use the Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts to create a frame out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
3. Cut an A2-size rectangle out of Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper
4. Stamp the girl from the Unity Stamp Company Face the Sunshine Stamp Set with VersaFine Vintage Sepia and heat emboss with clear embossing powder
5. Use Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (071 Flesh Color, 021 Light Carmine, 091 Light Gray, 050 Yellow, 052 Bright Yellow, 041 Light Green, 044 Deep Green, 065 Mid Brown) to watercolor the stamped image
6. Wash the sky and grass with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, respectively
7. Stamp the sentiment from the Unity Stamp Company Insightful Meadow’s Stamp Set with VersaFine Vintage Sepia
8. Adhere everything together using the Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots Tape Runner
9. Embellish with Pretty Pink Posh Sequins (6mm Sparkling Clear, 4mm Sparkling Clear) using Zots Bling Dots
10. Send a bit of happy mail to a friend and spread a little sunshine in their life!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and I hope you get a chance to hop along with Pretty Pink Posh!

Happy Crafting!!

Pretty Pink Posh: Watercolor Blog Hop – Delightful Dahlias

Hi!  I have jumped on the Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush craze and am so excited that they came in time for me to participate in the Pretty Pink Posh Watercolor Blog Hop!!! I ended up ordering the 36-color set from Amazon and they were delivered within the same day as when they shipped!  Gotta love Amazon.  See below for a thank you card that I made for my neighbors using these newly-acquired markers.  I gotta say that they are AMAZING!  I love how vibrant and easy they are to use!!

See below for steps to reproduce:

1. Create an A2 card base out of Neenah Solar White 110lb. Cardstock
2. Use the Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts to cut a stitched rectangle out of Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper and wash with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink
3. Use the Mama Elephant Thanks Script Creative Cuts to die-cut the sentiment
4. Stamp the dahlias and leaves from the Papertrey Ink Delightful Dahlia Stamp Set with Versamark Ink onto Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper and heat emboss with Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
5. Use Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (022 Carmine Red, 070 Orange, 050 Yellow, 052 Bright Yellow, 041 Light Green, 047 May Green) to watercolor the stamped images and fussy-cut
6. Adhere everything together using the Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots Tape Runner
7. Embellish with Pretty Pink Posh Sequins (6mm Sparkling Clear, 4mm Sparkling Clear, 6mm Tangerine, 4mm Tangerine, 6mm Marigold, 4mm Marigold) using Zots Bling Dots
8. Marvel at how vibrant and easily you were able to blend the color on these flowers!!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and I hope you get a chance to hop along with Pretty Pink Posh!

Happy Crafting!!