Adding stenciling to Jennifer McGuire foiling

As I have mentioned here on my blog before, I was incredibly lucky last year to receive a kindness package from the one and only Jennifer McGuire. I have taken one of her foiled sentiment cards today and added some colour over the top.

I used the Hero Arts Large Lotus Pattern stencil with some Mermaid Lagoon distress ink. I didn't use the whole stencil - I used the largest lotus in the top left corner of the card, and then rotated the stencil to put the same pattern in the bottom right.  A few enamel dots were the finishing touch.

It is so difficult to photograph foiling, but you can see in this photo that the foiling is a gorgeous pool/turquoise colour - so beautiful! I am so grateful to Jennifer for sharing her talent and her love for papercrafting, and for her never ending encouragement of other crafters.  Jennifer, you are the best!

Thanks for visiting :)

Instagram hop!

There's a hop of a different kind happening today - not a blog hop, but an Instagram hop, to celebrate an Instagram milestone for Jessica Frost-Ballas - 2000 followers! Jessica asked me to join in, and of course I said yes! Huge congrats to Jessica, and a big thank you to her for asking me to be a part of the hop :) 

This looks watercoloured by hand, but it isn't! It is a cling mount stamp set from Rubbernecker Stamps, called "Flowers in the Breeze", and it was a Kris Kringle gift from a Fusion challenge team mate, Shannon Jaramillo - thanks, Shannon! 
I used a combination of Stampin' Up inks and Tombow markers for the stamping. I did add a little bit of water to soften a couple of the flowers and leaves. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp "Big Scripty Greetings", stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and then clear embossed. I used a Hero Arts "Envelope Pattern" background stamp stamped in Soft Pool Shadow Ink on the pool background.

 The hopping crafters were given this colour palette to play with:

I hope you will all hop along - you can go and visit Instagram to do so.

 My username is emellell73, and Jessica's is JessicaAFrost. Come and hop along!

Jessica's blog post is HERE -  she has a bunch of prizes to give away to people who comment on blog posts and Instagram posts in the hop - check out her blog for more details of the giveaway ;) 

Thanks for visiting :)

Rainbow hexagons

Hi, everyone!  I have a one layer rainbow card to share with you today.

I used two stamp sets from Simon Says Stamp - "Perfect shapes" and "Big scripty greetings". I also used 12 different Hero Arts shadow inks - yes, twelve!

 And I also have a video to share with you today!

I will be sharing this card at "The Friday Mashup" (I went with the birthday theme, but no stencil),

Thanks for visiting :)

A Blog Named Hero loves Simon Says Stamp!

I have a post over at A Blog Named Hero today - here's a sneak peek:

Please come and visit A Blog Named Hero to check it out! 

Thanks for visiting :)

Fusion - Pretty in Pink

Hello, and welcome back to another Fusion challenge!

 Make sure you check out the Fusion challenge blog for more inspiration!

Thanks for visiting :) 

Three cards from one background

I'm here today to share three cards I made using my all time favourite Hero Arts background stamp, along with a new favourite sentiment stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.

This month, our challenge theme at A Blog Named Hero is A bit of Sparkle. I've added some sparkle with some Pretty Pink Posh sequins, but there is also some shimmer on the patterned panel - a liberal dose of Perfect Pearls mist over the watercoloured cardstock gives some elegant shine.

I made the coloured panel by white heat embossing the "flower dot pattern" background stamp from Hero Arts onto some Canson watercolour cardstock (unfortunately, that stamp is discontinued, but there are lots of other Hero Arts background stamps that would work well). I then added some dark pink and some royal blue Gansei Tambi watercolour and let it blend a bit, before spraying the entire panel with Perfect Pearls mist.  I then cut the piece into three using a couple of Lawn Fawn dies, and added them to some white cardstock from Simon Says Stamp. I stamped the sentiments (also from Simon Says Stamp) using my MISTI, to make sure they were stamped straight, and to allow me to stamp multiple times to get a nice crisp black sentiment.   

I love being able to make multiple cards at once - making three did not take much more time than making just one!

 Please join in with our month long challenge at A Blog Named Hero, "A bit of Sparkle". You will find the Inlinkz in the first post of this month HERE.

Thanks for visiting :)

Love you elephant!

After trying some no-line colouring yesterday, I thought I would try again with different cardstock. It was a fair bit more difficult to get a good blend with the Copics on this cardstock (white Knight) than with the cardstock I used yesterday (Stampin' Up heavy weight Whisper White). But I'm still happy with the result:

I had to use some of these very cute Doodlebug heart shaped sprinkles - they were a gift from my friend and A Blog Named Hero Facebook team mate, Niki Garcia - thanks so much, Niki!

 I will be sharing this card at Addicted to CAS (Bloom), CASology (Valentine), CAS on Sunday (Valentine) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (One Layer).

 Thanks for visiting :)

No-line colouring

I find the technique of no-line colouring intimidating. There, I said it.  But I know I'll get nowhere if I don't practice. 

Quite honestly, I was pretty pleased with how this little elephant turned out.  I love how soft the image is with no lines! (I originally thought that this photo was out of focus - lucky the sentiment is nice and crisp!)

 I will be sharing this card over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, where the theme is "one layer".

Thanks for visiting :)

Floral background

I just got a delivery this morning of some heavier weight Whisper White cardstock from Stampin' Up (thanks heaps, Sue!) But, seriously, why did it take them so long?
Today, I decided to have a go at the sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch - using a background stamp would have been fun, but I wanted to use the "Birthday Blooms" set from Stampin' Up that I just got.

I stamped in Hero Arts Wet Cement shadow ink, and then coloured using Copic markers.  Now, before you say that Shadow Inks are not Copic friendly - I know! I didn't want the image lines to be crisp, I wanted them to be soft and not harsh at all, so I went with a pale ink that would bleed a little bit with Copics. I like the soft feel it gives.

Thanks for visiting :)

A bit of sparkle

 Another card with a little bit of sparkle today, to share over at the A Blog Named Hero Facebook page. 

 Thanks for visiting. 

Fusion - Paper Hearts

Hello, Fusion fans!

 Make sure you visit the Fusion challenge blog to check out the other design team members' creations, and join in with your own!

Thanks for visiting :)

A bit of sparkle at A Blog Named Hero

I have a post over at A Blog Named Hero today, for our brand new challenge, A Bit of Sparkle!

Here's a sneak peek:

I've made a video, too! So make sure you visit me at A Blog Named Hero!!

Thanks for visiting :)

One layer masked rainbow

I'm on a bit of a rainbow kick at the moment - might be because I watched a heap of YouTube videos by Laura Bassen this morning! LOL! 

 I used some Lawn Fawn dies, masking paper, Distress Inks, a sentiment from Avery Elle "Handwritten notes", and some Pretty Pink Posh sequins.

I used the awesome sketch at CAS(e) this sketch for this card.  I will be sharing this card at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - the theme is Anything Goes.  I'll also be sharing it at the AEI*heart*U challenge, the theme of which is "friendship". And I'll be linking up at Just Add Ink #296....Just Add Nature. 

Thanks for visiting :)

A couple of rainbows

A few week ago, I painted some watercolour cardstock with a rainbow of Distress Inks.  Today, I was completely lacking any cardmaking mojo, so I pulled out one of these pieces, and made a couple of cards:

I made this one first - I die cut one of the stitched cloud border dies from Lawn Fawn onto the watercoloured piece, as well as on white cardstock.  I adhered them together to the card front, and added a sentiment from Hero Arts "messages with flourish", and a few sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

 

 For the second card, I added a vellum window on the bottom half of the card, with the rainbow adhered to the inside of the card.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle "so happy".

I will be sharing one of these cards at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - the theme is Anything Goes. 

I'll also be sharing the 2nd card at the AEI*heart*U challenge, the theme of which is "friendship" 

And I'll be linking up at Just Add Ink #296....Just Add Nature - as that's where rainbows come from!

 Thanks for visiting :)