Constantly Stamping

Global Design Project #GDP025 Color Challenge

It's the first week of the month and that means we have a color challenge this week over at Global Design Project challenge blog.

I really love these colors together. I think they are very sophisticated. Here is a quick photo tutorial on how I created this card. I started by stamping the flower from the Birthday Blooms stamp set on Shimmery White cardstock with the Basic Gray Archival Stampin' Pad. I didn't want to fussy cut around all of those little flowers/leaves, so instead of cutting a mask, I painted Art Masking Fluid over the flower. Make sure it is completely dry before you move on to the next step.

To keep the entire surface clean I used sticky notes to cover most of the card front.

I used a stamp positioner to stamp the chevrons from the Work of Art stamp set in both Basic Gray and Smoky Slate ink. I removed the sticky notes and then used an AquaPainter to splatter Smoky Slate ink on the background. After the splatters were dry I used an adhesive eraser to remove the art masking fluid from the flower image.

The masking fluid slightly discolored the flower, but it doesn't show after you watercolor it. I stamped a second flower, water colored it, and fussy cut the larger rose and leaves. Then I attached it on top of the original flower image. I stamped the sentiment from the Birthday Blooms set in Basic Gray ink.

I trimmed down the panel and attached it to a Basic Gray card base. I thought it needed something more, so I cut a small strip of silver glimmer paper to go down the left edge. Finally, I added some silver sequins to finish the look.

I hope you will check out what the other talented designers have created for this fun challenge and play along this week over at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

 

 

 

Fancy Friday Blog Hop...Least Used Color Challenge

Welcome back to our Fancy Friday Blog Hop. This month we have an interesting challenge...use one of our least used colors. I decided to focus on purple since that seems to be the color family I neglect the most. You may see me add it in as an accent color on a whim, but it is almost never my go-to color for cards. I think that is funny because purple was my favorite color when I was a teenager. I have been in so many challenges lately where my colors, stamp sets, layouts, etc. have been dictated...it was refreshing to make something that I love.

I was looking back at some of my projects and I almost never use Elegant Eggplant or Rich Razzleberry. So I decided to incorporate them into my card. I added in some Blackberry Bliss to round out my purples.

I also wanted to try something a little different. In the annual catalog Stampin' Up! says that the Shimmery White Cardstock is a great option for water coloring, so I thought I would give it a try. The shimmery white cardstock does react a little differently than regular watercolor paper, but in many ways I like it better. First of all, the shimmery white cardstock is really smooth, so the stamped images are really crisp and clean. Secondly, it accepts the water/reinker mixture well and doesn't pill like regular cardstock. Thirdly, the colors stay vibrant. Finally, it has a very subtle shimmery coating and it gives your finished projects just a hint of glimmer.

I started by creating the background by just dropping watered down reinker onto the cardstock. I made a huge mistake and didn't tape it down to anything, so the paper curled and the water & ink made a great big mess. Thankfully I had a paper towel close at hand and I was able to clean up the disaster. That resulted in some fun paper blot patterns from the designs in the paper towel. Then after everything dried, I went back in and added more color. After that I  put water droplets all over the background and then mopped it up with a clean paper towel. I love, love, love how it turned out, but it sure was messy. I stamped the flowers from Best Thoughts on Shimmery White cardstock as well and just painted them with the Aquapainter and reinkers. Then I fussy-cut them and attached them to the card front with dimensionals. Finally, I used a uniball signo white marker to add back the white hilights to the flower stamens. The sequins were just some clear ones (Darice) that I purchased at the craft store. They have just a hint of pink, so they were perfect for this card.

I hope you like today's card. I can't wait to see what the other Fancy Friday team members have created. Now be sure to hop on over to visit the incredibly talented Krista.

 

 

 

Birthday Blooms Card from NewChannel5's Talk of the Town

Yesterday afternoon I received a text from fellow SU demonstrator (and neighbor), Julie Salva asking me if I would be willing to take her segment this morning on a local program called Talk of the Town. Unfortunately, Julie came down with a little stomach virus and wasn't sure she would be up to the task. She has been appearing on Talk of the Town for the past several years and all of the staff on the set are very fond of Julie. If you don't know Julie, then you are missing a treat because she is one of the most personable, funny, and interesting people you will ever meet. No pressure there...LOL! The segment was only about 4 minutes long and in reality it felt like two minutes. So that meant the card I presented needed to be super simple. Julie had already told them she was doing a birthday card, so I needed to stick with the plan. Here is the card we made.

I will add a list of products used at the bottom of this post, just in case you want to make one too.

Here are a few shots from the studio taken by my BFF, Nancy Brown. Nancy is always so supportive of my stamping and I was thrilled that she could come along for the ride. Thanks Nancy!

Waiting during the news segment for my presentation to begin.

Me and Lelan talking about birthday cards.

   Me showing Lelan how to make a birthday card.

You can see the full segment on my Facebook page. I think it went fine except where the stamp slipped out of my hand, but I managed to recover without too much of an issue.

SUPPLIES

Birthday Blooms - 140658

Soft Sky Stamp Pad - 131181

Basic Stamp Pad - 140931

Soft Sky Cardstock - 131203

Pink Pirouette CS - 111351

Birthday Bouquet DSP - 140557

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack - 133787

Rhinestone Basic Jewels - 119246

Pool Party 3/8" Glitter Ribbon - 140561

 

 

 

 

Global Design Project #GDP024 CASE the Designer

We are CASEing this card by the amazing Michelle Last this week at the Global Design Project challenge blog. I love Michelle's stamping/paper crafting style and I have been a big fan of her blog for the past few years. I had an opportunity to meet Michelle in Orlando, FL at Leadership Convention last year. She is very nice and super talented, and I am so excited to CASE one of her cards.

I decided to keep the exact same English Garden DSP that Michelle used on her card, but I switched up the focal panel and put it on the right-hand side. I added a little sparkle to the Whisper White cardstock by tapping a Gold Wink of Stella pen with a bone folder to create splatters before adhering it to the card front.

Lately, I have had spring on my mind and you may have noticed that the selection of Easter stamps is a little slim, which makes a sad. However, I love this sentiment from the Suite Sayings stamp set so I stamped it with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I also wanted to keep with the butterfly theme, so I used one of the Butterflies Thinlits to die cut some gold glimmer paper. Instead of making a shaker card, I saved the sequins for the outside for a little extra bling. NOTE: I picked up this little trick from the gals in one of my BFF's classes...use Mini Glue Dots to attach sequins...it works perfectly and you can't see them. AWESOME! Thanks, ladies!

Be sure to visit the Global Design Project challenge blog and see all the amazing projects created by our talented design team made up of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the globe.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, you can order your supplies in my online store here.

 

 

 

 

 

Artisan Design Team Blog Hop...Hand Painted Birthday Blooms

Welcome back to another 2015-16 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team blog hop.  If you are already going through the hop, you should have just arrived here from visiting my very good friend, Cindy Schuster. When you leave here you will travel on to visit Inge Groot. For this hop we are featuring the projects that will appear on the Stampin' Up! Facebook page later this week. I started by stamping the flower image four times with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on thick Whisper White cardstock. Next, I used one of my favorite techniques...I painted the flowers with reinkers and an Aquapainter filled with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. The flowers are Rose Red with Daffodil Delight centers. The leaves are Mossy Meadow and the stripes are Marina Mist.

The sentiment and frame are die cut with the Tags & Labels Framelits. The twine was made from strands of the White 1-1/4" June Ribbon. I love how it is thicker than baker's twine and has an organic feel to it that is similar to the linen thread. However, it is a bit fuzzy, so it helps to give it a little haircut to trim away some of the fibers before putting it on your card.

The Artisan Design Team will be hopping again in a few weeks, so be sure to check back often. Inge Groot is next on our blog hop so be sure to head on over and check out what she and the the rest of the Artisan Design Team team have in store by clicking on the button below.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR DEMONSTRATOR!

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here. Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES

 

Birthday Blooms - 140658

Aqua Painters - 103954

White 1-1/4" Jute Ribbon - 137904

Whisper White Thick CS - 140272

Basic Black CS - 121045

Memento Tuxedo Black Pad - 132708

Daffodil Delight Reinker - 119672

Rose Red Reinker - 102109

Mossy Meadow Reinker - 133651

Marina Mist Reinker - 119787

 

 

Sale-A-Bration 2016 International Stampin' Up! Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us today for a Sale-a-Bration International Stampin' Up! Blog hop. You may be just starting here or have come from Lynsay Mahon's blog. We have and incredible group of talented Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who want to highlight some of the new 2016 Sale-a-Bration items so that you can be inspired and decide what you would like to earn. At the moment you are currently in United States of America and you will be visiting different countries from around the world. My name is Connie Collins and I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Nashville, TN.

 

Sale-A-Bration is that magical time of year that you can earn amazing free products with a qualifying purchase. There are so many wonderful things to choose from this year, but I decided to focus on the Metallics Glitter Tape. It is one of the newest items available for free through March 31, 2016. The great thing is that you get gold, silver, and white...so you don't even have to choose.

 

 

I created the background on this card using the gold glitter tape. I was able to die cut the butterfly and the sentiment with the gold glimmer paper and it is a perfect match.  I also created lots of splatter on the card with a gold Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (#141898).

 

I was having so much fun with this tape that made a second card.

 

 

For this one I just put a strip of the tape down the side of the front panel. Sure, you could use card stock for this, but honestly, it was so easy because I didn't have to add any adhesive and it isn't bulky. The rose was die cut from gold glimmer paper using the Rose Garden Thinlits Dies (#140619). I cut two and pieced them together to fill up the card front.  The sentiment is from another Sale-A-Bration stamp set, Botanicals For You (#141237). I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder.

 

Thanks for visiting my blog. Now, be sure to visit the other fabulous Stampin' Up! demonstrators on our International Blog Hop. Using the list below you will be able to hop around all our blogs and be inspired with Stampin' Up! products. Please feel free to leave comments as we all love to hear from you.

Tami White
Kylie Bertucci
Bibi Cameron
Bruno Bertucci
Rose Marie Coleman
Tanya Boser
Katina Martinez
Allison Okamitsu
Shannon Lane
Julie Kettlewell
Lynsay Mahon
Connie Collins (you are HERE!)
Sarah Berry

 

 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you live in the United States, you can order your supplies in my online store here.

 

 

 

 

Global Design Project #GDP023 Theme Challenge

We have a theme challenge this week over at the Global Design Project challenge blog.

I really never thought that I would consider a balloon card a challenge, but this week I struggled a little more than usual. I almost always try to do something different or unexpected with my projects, and let's face it, it is really hard to come up with something that hasn't been done a million times. So, what do I do when I get stuck creatively? I start small. In this case, I began by putting all of my energy into making the balloons. I got out my new Balloon Bouquet Punch and got busy punching out some Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper.

I thought it would be great to give the balloons some dimension, so I used the round end of my AquaPainter and my Stampin' Pierce Mat to round the edges of the balloons. Then I lightly sponged some Early Espresso ink onto the edges.

Then I decided to add some small flowers punched with the flower from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and the tiny flower on the Tree Builder Punch. That was cute, but I still wanted more, so I used the precious little bow die from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits and die cut some silver glimmer paper. For each balloon I used one complete bow and then I cut the loops off to create a super fancy bow.

After I finished the balloons, then I knew exactly where I wanted to go from there. First, I stamped the birthday greeting from the Birthday Blooms stamp set in Watermelon Wonder ink. Then I decided on the placement of the balloon embellishments and used a t-ruler to mark some pencil lines from the balloons to the bottom of the card front. Then I used the fine tip of a Mint Macaron marker and made the hand-drawn strings. You want to do this before you emboss the background. Then I assembled my card and added some rhinestones for even more sparkle.

I hope you don't mind the lengthy description of my creative process, but I know that everyone needs a little help breaking out of the creative hum-drums every so often. This doesn't always work for me, but it usually helps.

Be sure to visit the Global Design Project challenge blog and see all the amazing projects created by our talented design team.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, you can order your supplies in my online store here. Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

 

Timeless Elegance Valentine

A few weeks ago the Fancy Friday team had a No Red/No Pink Valentine Blog Hop. I made this card for that challenge, but ended up using another card for the blog hop instead. Today's card is a little bit of a stretch for me because it is so frilly. I haven't used this much lace, ribbon, and bling on a card in a l-o-n-g time.

The Timeless Elegance designer series paper is absolutely stunning and to tell you the truth, it has been sitting in my stash basically untouched. Normally, I would choose red, pink, or even yellow to color this paper, but with that being off the table for the challenge, I decided to use Mink Macaroon instead. Actually, I only used some Mint Macaroon Dotted Lace Trim. The flowers were colored with  Soft Sky reinker and an AquaPainter filled with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. You see, when you put Soft Sky ink on Very Vanilla (the background color) the slightly yellow tint mixes with the light blue to create Mint Macaroon. Color Theory 101: yellow and blue make green.

To go along with the vintage feel of this card I used the My Valentine greeting from the Bloomin' Love photopolymer stamp set (#140643). I borrowed the sweet little butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set from the annual catalog. I couldn't help but feel this card was needing even MORE BLING so I hand placed the rhinestones in a swirl pattern and on the butterfly.

The black lace on the top and bottom of the panel is more of the Timeless Elegance DSP. Maybe it is because I just finished binge-watching twelve seasons of NCIS, but I definitely think that Abby Sciuto would approve of this card...what do you think? LOL!

I hope you and your loved ones have an amazing Valentine's Day! Hugs!