Card-io Stamps: Bugs and a Field of Wild Flowers!

Good morning crafters! Martina here, this month looking at some designs using some beautiful Card-io stamps. We used some different sets of these in Lisa's last class and all had fun creating our own take on the designs. One of the best things about Card-io stamps is that they all work together, whatever the sets you choose, and the more you have the more quirky little additions you can make!

Today I am looking at how you can use a stamp press to enhance your designs, making full use of the silhouette images in some of the sets and making your life easy along the way! It really doesn't matter which stamp press you use, mine is an older MISTI, but some of the newer designs (such as the one Lisa is stocking called 'Press to Impress') make this a little easier to do and are much cheaper than mine was!

To begin with I chose a 6x6 card blank and masked off a border to the left and a section along the bottom (I did this before putting in the press). I then used a Distress Tool and some Bundled Sage Distress Ink to add some green to the left-hand corner that I had created. I worked from my mask outwards, allowing the ink to fade as I got further out. Once I was happy with the effect, I moved my card into the stamp press and held with magnets.

Now to start building a picture...I started with one of my favourite stamps from the Backyard Blooms Set - the foxglove. Now there are a couple of ways you can do this next bit, depending on how precise you like to be. Me, I like the colours to be exactly on the right 'bit' of the flower, if you're not bothered about that, you can apply ink directly to the stamp for quickness and then simply stamp down into position. My preferred option is to pick up the stamp with the press in the position you want it on your card and then use whichever pens you have to colour one section. I used Distress Markers and coloured the stem green at first, stamped it and then coloured just the petals with purple before stamping again. The press makes this possible as the stamp and card do not move, so you can add colours, details, shading etc. as you like! Pukka! LOVE IT! It also makes you look good, with minimal effort... 

Now to repeat the same wherever you want the flowers, building a picture. It is also a good idea to use  a 2nd generation of ink to create foliage in the background (you can still put your stamp in position on the press and then either use a lighter pen, or press down onto some scrap paper first and then remove to stamp properly.

I kept building till I was happy with my 'field', before removing the card from the press and the masks.

 I edged my stamped section with some dots and dashes using a Micron Pen, before adding a sentiment to the bottom of the card from a Hobby Art Set.

Now to add some quirky bits! I love the bugs from Card-io and there are some different ones in different sets to choose from. The ones I have used here are from the Backyard Blooms and Pleasant Pastures Sets ( I need to add the Bugs and Snails Collection to my stash in the very near future!) Once I was fully 'bugged', my card was finished. And for a change - all in just one layer! Finally, I can send a card with a normal stamp and not a large letter one! This is a VERY rare thing...

That's all from me this week, I will see you next week for some more Card-io fun...

Lisa's next workshop at Grove Green will be on Sunday, August 20. Places are still available and all the information is HERE.

Love,

Martina

xxx

    

Polkadoodles Butterfly Swirls

Hi everyone, Julie here, I hope I find you well today?

For today's card I used Polkadoodles stamps and cutting dies and the Crafter's Companion
Regency Swirls 3D embossing folder, so a mix of Lisa's June and July classes.

I cut a piece of super smooth card to the width of the embossing folder and applied Versamark embossing ink to the embossed side of the folder before putting the sandwich through my die cutting machine. I sprinkled the embossed card with WOW! Clear Gloss embossing powder and heat set.

I next applied Spun Sugar Distress Ink with a mini ink applicator, the raised areas with the embossing powder resisted the ink and remained white. I  also cut down silver Mirri card and a coordinating piece of blue card - I used the small script stamp from the Polkadoodles Belle Papillon set to randomly stamp in Spun Sugar Distress Ink at the top and bottom edges of the blue piece of card to add a little  interest - for my matting layers.

I stamped the butterfly from the Belle Papillon set and the flower sprig from the Polkadoodles
 Bella Fleur set twice with Onyx Black Versafine ink, heat setting with clear embossing powder, painting them with watercolours, then die cutting the pieces with the coordinating dies Butterfly 1 and Flower Branch.

I chose the sentiment 'Have a fabulous day' from the Belle Papillion set and stamped and heat set this as well, leaving a bit of room around the edges so I could die cut the stamped piece of card an with a oval cutting  die. I added some dots around the edge of the sentiment with a black Archival Pen to highlight and die cut a scalloped oval just bigger than my sentiment in the leftover Mirri card to mat and layer this onto.

Time to put all the pieces together, with
 a little ribbon and pearls to the spine of the card and Glossy Accents to the centres of the flowers to make them pop............

That completes my project, I hope you like it.

Lisa's next workshop at Grove Green will be on Sunday, August 20. Places are still available and all the information is HERE.

See you next week!

Love, Julie x

                   

                  

Butterflies and Sparkle - a Perfect Combination!

Good morning all! Martina here with a bright and sparkly post this week, using some old favourites of mine. It's a quick post too, as tomorrow is class day with Lisa B and I am getting prepared...if you like pretty then it is certainly the class for you!

My first step was to cut a piece of card to the size I needed for my card blank. Using Cracked Pistachio and Milled Lavender Distress Ink I created a blended background.

Now to add some layers.......

 Using a light coverage of the Milled Lavender Ink, I stencilled through the Imagination Craft's Mosaic Sun Stencil. Using the Cracked Pistachio I stamped the text stamp from the Artistic Stamper Encyclopaedia Botanica Set along the right-hand edge, (grab a bargain with this set currently at 46% off on the website!)

Using the same set I stamped some of the butterflies onto some more card with Black Memento Ink. I coloured the petals with the same Distress Inks as before and cut out. I also cut into the wings and shaped with an embossing tool to give dimension.

Here, once again, I apologise. I seem to be losing my marbles lately and forgetting to photograph some of the stages while I'm making things. I think I get a bit lost when I'm playing!

 To explain...

I wanted the Mosaic Sun Stencil detail to pop a little more in the background, so I replaced it on the card and used some Lavender Sparkle Medium with Cut and Dry Foam to foil over it all. I only used a small amount, as I did not want to flood the topper. Using the Imagination Modern Flowers Stencil, I then added some flowers across the page using Lavender and Sage Green Sparkle Medium. The final details were some words from the Artistic Stamper Set Botanical Plate 3 Set (again at 46% off!),  some Perfect Pearls and of course, my 3D butterflies!

Quite a quick and simple card, but one for a person who likes sparkle I think. 

Lisa is taking bookings for the next two workshops at Grove Green. You can find the information about them HERE and there are a couple of places available on Friday's classes, information HERE.

She is taking the mobile shop to the Barton's Point Model Flying Spectacular - admission FREE -  this Saturday & Sunday, July 8 and 9. She'll be demoing on both days, so if you fancy a fun family day out, that's the place to be!

Thank you for reading and I hope to see some of you tomorrow at class!

Love,

Martina

xxx

   

  

PolkaDoodles Thinking of You........

Hi everyone, Lisa here again with another scheduled post and another of my sample cards for June's classes. I used stamps from the Belle Papillon and Bella Fleur sets and the coordinating Birdcage/Bird die set.

For the background I lightly blended Tumbled Glass Distress ink over white card, then applied white gesso through the That's Crafty Bubbles Dinky stencil.

I stamped the images with Onyx Black Versafine ink, heat set with WOW! Clear Gloss embossing powder and coloured them with watercolour pens.

I die cut the bird and the cage before stamping the die cuts with the coordinating stamps from the Bella Fleur stamp set. 

                              

I'm taking bookings for the next two workshops at Grove Green. You can find the information about them HERE and there are still places on the July classes.

That's all from me for this week, take care and I'll see you next time.

Hugs, Lisa B xx