Here comes the cupcake tower..

Greetings craftites!

Today, I wanted to share a card I made with the new Hampton Arts Clear Happy Birthday stamp set.  I stamped the image with Memento Black Ink onto regular Neenah 110 lb index paper (this is not the same as the solar white Neenah).  I then, using a Spellbinder die, created the frame, measured the inside dimensions, and cut the cupcake tower to fit ontop the lattice frame but appear to be within it.  I colored using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and finished up with Glossy Accents on the icing, and fruit.  At the end, I used Tonic Nuvo drops at the frame intersections to simulate pearls.  Here is the completed card:

As always, I love your feedback to help me better my card making abilities.
Have a crafty day!

Mike

Clowning Around Part II

Hello fellow craftites!  I am in love with this MFT Stamps Clowning Around stamp and had to share another card I made for my beautiful niece.

I started with Canson XL watercolor paper, and stamped with GinaK Black Ink.  I learned to allow the ink to dry at least an hour and it is fine for either watercoloring or Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers.

Using Spectrum Noir markers, I colored our clown stamp.  Once dry, I used liberal amounts of Spectrum Noir clear sparkle and then used a touch of Glossy Accents on the nose, bowtie, buttons, and flower.

I decided to finally use a Sizzix die in a large label type shape and well, you can see the results below:

Thanks for looking and I wish you well.  Have a crafty day!

Mike

Here kitty kitty, here kitty kitty...Laurel Birch is in the house

Hello fellow craftities.  Today I want to share with you two cards I made from the Stampendous Laurel Birch cling stamp set.  My wife loves cats, all kinds of cats, and when we saw these stamps at a recent stamp show, I saw them fly into the basket faster than you could blink your eye from cat dander...

With zig markers in the house now, this was the perfect opportunity to practice using Bristol smooth paper.  I have a lot of learning to do but I hope you enjoy my first attempts.

Thanks for looking and as always, I welcome your feedback to become a better crafter.

Happy crafting.

Mike

Clowning Around

Greeting my fellow craftites!

Today, I want to share a card made with the exciting (for me at least) MFT Pure Innocence Clowning Around stampset.

I colored the clown with Spectrum Noir alcohol pens and used Spectrum Noir glitter pens on the hat, bow-tie, suspenders, gloves and balloons.  It is a bit busy, but I think it conveys a fun busy.  The card front is attached to purple card stock, also from MFT.

Thanks for looking and as always, I appreciate your feedback.

Happy crafting.

Mike

Happiest of Peonies by The Ton Stamps

Hello fellow craftites!

It has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened.  The Easter bunny brought me a set of Zig Clean Markers and I have been playing.  As a result, I want to share my latest cards.

I decided to create a quartet of cards featuring the Happiest of Peonies stamp set made by the amazing Effie Cho.  Using watercolor paper (smooth side) each card was stamped with Versamark Embossing Ink and then embossed with Rose Gold embossing powder by The Ton Stamps. The peonies were colored with the Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers in purple, light pink, dark pink, and yellow. I then used Tumbled Glass distress ink for the background.  Since I was not sure how these would be used, I created three sentiments for each card to be applied as desired.

Hope you like them.

All in all, it was a very pleasurable and fun project.  Thanks and have an amazing day!

Garden Fresh - Is it spring already?

Fellow craftites!  Good morning again.  The other day I broke out the Wendy Vecchi Stamp-It Stencil-It set Garden Fresh that I picked up at Stampfest last month.  I must say I really like to vintage feel and look to this stamp set.

Using Ranger Archival Ink, I stamped the flower on some Bristol Smooth paper (I planned to water color the stamp).   The 2 cards below were water colored with  Kuratake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Paints and then framed with a new frame die from Gina Marie Designs.

The next card, I used the included stencils and with distress inks, colored the flowers in about three minutes in total.  Talk about knocking out a pretty card quickly!

I finished off the cards with some Nuvo drops. (I need to work on my alignment, that is for sure-lol).  Thanks for  looking and I hope you enjoy.

Happy Crafting!

Mike

Lawn Fawn Happy 7th Birthday

Hello fellow craftites!  Today I wanted to share a simple but fun card using the new Lawn Fawn Year 7 Birthday stamp set.

I started out by cutting two circles of different sizes.  On the smaller circle, I took the three piece candy stamp and stamped in red, yellow and green Memento inks.  I stamped the Pinata on some Neenah 110 lb Index Card stock (this is thinner than the Solar White 110 lb card stock but also much cheaper).  I wanted to go festive so I used the fluorescent colors from Spectrum Noir, BP5, FL2, and FL3.  I die cut the pinata out and mounted with foam squares on the small circle.  I then mounted the small circle onto the larger circle with foam tape squares also.

Then I stamped the year 7's greeting- hope your birthday is a SMASH!  I love this greeting.  Using Tombow mono multi glue, I added the large circle to the card base and attached some sequins with Ranger Matte glue.  The card looked okay at this point and I realized it needed balloons. I stamped from balloons from the Lawn Fawn Party Animal set and colored them the same as the pinata and attached.

Last but not least, I covered the pinata and balloons with a Spectrum Noir clear glitter pen.  I hope you enjoy it.  A simple but fun card.  I plan to make some more for my birthday card stash!

Happy crafting to you!
Mike

Dogwood Flowers Prayer Card

Greeting fellow craftites!

Today I wanted to share a card made with the new Heartfelt Creations Dogwood Flowers stamp and the Hero Arts/SSS Prayers stamp and die set.

I stamped all the various dogwood flowers using Tsukineko Brillance Pearlescent Coral and then cut them out using the matching dies.  I then used some green watercolor inks from Local King Rubber Stamps for the leave stamp and also cut out with the matching dies.

Using a finger dauber, I dipped into the Pearlescent Coral and did the edges of the flowers.  I then dipped another dauber in Tsukineko Brillance Crimson Copper and touched the tips of the flowers.  I used a tool kit to round the flowers and then touched some white glue to the tips and added a touch of iridescent glitter.  I then finished each flower with some Simple Simon Says seed beeds in a golden finish.

I stamped the card using a sentiment from the Hero Arts Prayers and Hugs set and finished the card with a pink ribbon and a few Nuvo pink glitter dots.

The card was a lot more complicated for me but I truly enjoyed the task and am appreciating the Heartfelt Creation stamps.
 As always, I welcome your feedback to continue to make better cards.

Hugs to all and keep crafting.
Mike

Poppy Love with The Ton

Greetings fellow crafters.  It has been too long.  I received the new Poppy Garden Cling Background Stamp a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share this amazing stamp! (Like all of Effie's stamps, especially background stamps, the end result is always one of beauty).

For both cards, I stamped in Versamark on Bristol Smooth cardstock and used the Rose Gold Embossing Powder.  I was wowed!  Videos just do not do it justice.

I then used Akashiya Sai watercolor pens and a waterbrush to move the color. For the banner, I had leftover paper and colored it to match the card and stamped Happy Birthday with Versamark and then used the Rose Gold Embossing Powder from The Ton.

For the second card, I repeated the process but focused on the orange pen.

For both cards, I finished with Nuvo Moonstone drops.  They look like gentle kisses of dew on the poppy petals.  If I can create cards list his,  just imagine what you could do!

Thank you for looking at my blog today and I cannot wait to share my next project, Dogwood Flowers!  Oh yeah!

Mike.