Crocus by AALL & Create

HEY FRIENDS! I’m back today with some news. I was invited to be a guest designer for the next three months over at AALL & Create. They sent me a fabulous box of products including stamps, stencils, dies, and washi tape that I’ll use for design team projects in the coming months. I see lots of mixed media projects in my future!

So today I’m getting my feet wet with a relatively simple project featuring the Crocus clear stamp. However, I’m coloring the viola image from the set because it’s one of my favorite flowers. Plus, I see an opportunity to finally put to use one of my fluorescent Copic markers to create that divine shade of purple.

As always, I’ve linked the supplies below with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

Today’s Project

Rowhouse Greetings | Crocus by AALL & Create

Today’s project features:

I looked at several images of violas for inspiration and settled on one which of course I can’t find now to show you! But I loved that each set of petals was different, ranging from a deep vibrant purple at the top to a bright but delicate yellow at the bottom.

Purple is a tough color to create with Copics and there are few good color combinations that result in a deep rich color. When I’m stuck on a color combination, there are two Copic artists that I automatically go to for help – Faye Wynn Jones and Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek). The final combination was one featured by Elaine in a Stamping Bella video.

I stamped the Viola image on a Copic friendly paper using Amalgam Ink in Obsidian by Gina K. Designs [SSS | SBP | GKD]. Generally, I use Hammermill 100 lb. Smooth Paper, which has become hard to find now that it’s the preferred paper for foiling. So if you find a supply, grab it!

I colored the image with Copic markers (see list below) and take a look at the combination for the top petals! I finally got to use the fluorescent purple Copic marker that has been languishing in my set since I bought it. In general, I don’t like the fluorescent markers, but when used in conjunction with other markers, FV2 and FB2 can be used to create rich, vibrant purples and blues. In my opinion, they are the only two worth having.

Rowhouse Greetings | Crocus by AALL & Create

After the coloring was complete, I stenciled lightly around the edges of the card using the Lotza Dots 6×6 stencil by AALL & Create with Distress Oxide Inks in Antique Linen [SSS | SBC | SBP] and Vintage Photo [SSS | SBC | SBP].

Next, I added the Viola word stamp from the set using Versafine Ink in Onyx Black [SSS | SBC | SBP]. I lined up the stamp using my Misti and the Misti Clear Alignment Panels from Taylored Expressions. I love these alignment panels because they make it super easy to stamp sentiments straight on the first try!

Rowhouse Greetings | Crocus by AALL & Create

So that’s it for me today! Talk to you soon!

Rowhouse Greetings | Nancy Sheads

Supplies

COPICS: BV29, V09, V17, FV2 (top petals); B60, B63, B66, B69 (middle petals); Y32, Y35, Y38, YR04 (bottom petals); YG03, YG17, YG67 (leaves)

[Compensated affiliate links used when possible. In addition, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.]

Better Together by Colorado Craft Company

HEY FRIENDS! More clean and simple projects as I work through my stash. Today project features another Anita Jeram stamp from Colorado Craft Company – Better Together. I love these images. They’re easy to color and can stand alone as the central image without further embellishment. As always, I’ve linked the supplies below with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

Today’s project features:

Rowhouse Greetings | Better Together by Colorado Craft Company

So this card is pretty straightforward. I did the usual – stamp the image on a Copic compatible paper using Amalgam Ink in Obsidian by Gina K. Designs. The image was colored with Copic markers (see list below). Once the coloring was finished, I ink blended the sky and grass using Catherine Pooler Designs inks in It’s a Boy and Lime Rickey using a domed foam blender. I liked the effect, especially for the sky since it gave the impression of clouds. After the ink dried, I stamped a sentiment from the Wishing You Happiness stamp set using Versafine ink in Onyx Black.

That’s it for me today! Talk to you again soon!

Rowhouse Greetings | Nancy Sheads

Supplies

COPICS: W0, W3, W5 (mouse); T0, T1, T3, T5 (squirrel); E50, E51, E53, E55, E57 (rabbit); E07, E09, E08, E11, E13, W1 (fox); C00, C0, E1, E53 (possom); YG03, YG17, YG67

Rowhouse Greetings | Better Together by Colorado Craft Company (color map)

[Compensated affiliate links used when possible. In addition, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.]

Nostalgic Season by Catherine Pooler Designs

HEY FRIENDS! So today I have some crafting news as well as a new card!

So my news is that I applied and was accepted as a new Design Team member over at ScrapbookPal.com, an online craft supply store located here in the United States. They carry a wide variety of the latest stamps, dies, and inks. If you are a Copic marker enthusiast, they have great prices on the markers AND the refills. So take a look, especially if you need Copic supplies.

Saturday was my first project and blog post for ScrapbookPal.com and my project featured the Nostalgic Season stamp set by Catherine Pooler Designs. For that project, I used the coordinating dies and the coloring was all done using Catherine Pooler inks. Since the stamps were still sitting on my crafting table, I decided to make another card, this time using my Copic markers to color the outline images. As always, I’ve linked the supplies below with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

Today’s project features:

Rowhouse Greetings | Nostalgic Season by Catherine Pooler Designs

This was one of those late night projects that just sort of evolved along the way. I started by stamping the border from the Garland Borders stamp set across the top of my card with Amalagm Ink in Obsidian by Gina K. Designs. I colored the border image with Copic markers (see list below). I was going to use the multi-layered stamps in the Nostalgic Season set for the stockings, but realized that I didn’t have any ink pads that would coordinate with the colors I used in the border. At that point I decided to just use the outline stamp and color the stocking with the same pattern that I would have gotten if I had used the layering stamps.

Those of you who have been with me for awhile know that I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler, so I was a little apprehensive about coloring the stockings freehand. But to be honest, it’s not a difficult pattern to replicate and I think I pulled it off pretty well! I used a white gel pen to complete the design.

I knew I wanted to color the sentiment so I had to use a Copic safe ink rather than Versafine, which is my usual go-to for stamping sentiments. I created a gradient effect on the letters by shading from dark (at the base of the letters) to light using R14, R24, and R46.

Rowhouse Greetings | Nostalgic Season by Catherine Pooler Designs

Hope you enjoyed today’s project!

Rowhouse Greetings | Nancy Sheads

Supplies

COPICS: YG03, YG17, YG67 (leaves); BG72, BG75 (holly leaves); R14, R24, R46 (berries); Y32, Y35, Y38 (flowers); BG72, BG75, YG03, YG17, YG67, R14, R24, R46 (stockings); R14, R24, R46 (sentiment)

Rowhouse Greetings | Nostalgic Season by Catherine Pooler Designs - Color Swatch

[Compensated affiliate links used when possible. In addition, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.]

Holly Berries by Hero Arts

WELCOME BACK! Today Hero Arts published their 2021 Holiday Catalog with the full release of their stamps for the holiday season. So for today, I’m featuring one of the new stamps – Holly Berries – available as a clear stamp with coordinating die. You’ll see in the directions below that I didn’t have a coordinating pattern paper so I made my own using a Hero Arts background stamp and ink blending with Distress Oxides.

As always, I’ve linked the supplies below with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

Today’s project features:

Rowhouse Greetings | Holly Berries by Hero Arts

Step by Step for Holly Berries

Rowhouse Greetings | Holly Berries by Hero Arts

Hope you enjoyed today’s project! See you again soon!

Rowhouse Greetings | Nancy Sheads

Supplies

COPICS: R24, R37, R39 (holly berries); YG03, YG17, YG67 G28 (holly leaves); G20, G21, G24 (mistletoe leaves); BV20 (mistletoe berries) E23, E25 (branch); BV20, BV23 (shadows)

Rowhouse Greetings | Holly Berries by Hero Arts (Color strip)

[Compensated affiliate links used when possible. In addition, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.]

Slimline Holiday Cards featuring Scrapbook.com

Scrapbook.com

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS! So I’m back today with something a little different for me. Yes – I’m still making holiday cards – afterall, it is Christmas in July — but I tried my hand at slimline holiday cards.

I was asked by Scrapbook.com to make a few cards featuring their exclusive papers, stamps, and other supplies. Their Christmas in July Sale is going on now with thousands of items up to 50% off! So it’s a great time to start planning your holiday cards and stock up on supplies.

I have three cards for you today featuring products that I received from Scrapbook.com (items marked with an asterick) as well as products that I purchased personally. As always, I’ve linked the supplies below with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

CARD 1

Size: 8.5″ x 3.5″

Rowhouse Greetings | Scrapbook.com

Featuring:

For Card 1, I cut a piece of Neenah 110# cardstock to 8.5″ x 7″ scored at 3.5″ as the card base. I adhered a piece of red cardstock from the *Smooth Cardstock Paper Pad – Slimline – Christmas to the card base using *1/4″ Double Sided Tape.

I cut a piece of white cardstock to 8.25″ x 3.25″ and set it aside until it was time to assemble the layers. On the far right side, I stamped two of the images from the Wordfetti – Holly Jolly stamp set in Cardinal Red Hybrid Ink using my Misti. Leaving the stamps in place, I stamped the images again using Versamark ink, covered the images with clear embossing powder, and heat set the images.

For the sentiment, I used the “Merry Christmas” sentiment from the Merry Sentiments stamp set. I just wanted the word “merry” so I cut the stamp so that I would just have the one word (gasp!). I lined it up using my Misti and inked it with Cardinal Red Hybrid Ink. Again, I stamped the image using Versamark ink, covered the image with clear embossing powder, and heat set it.

For the stenciled layer, I selected a sheet of gray cardstock from the *Smooth Cardstock Paper Pad – Slimline – Christmas and adhered it to my craft may using repositionable tape. I placed the *Vintage Floral Stencil on top, centering the portion that I wanted over the paper, and secured it in place with Mint Low Tack Tape. I applied Ranger Embossing Paste through the stencil with a palette knife and then smoothed the surface using a craft scraper.

After the embossing paste was dry, I trimmed the stenciled panel to 3″ x 6.75″ and assembled the layers as shown using *1/4″ Double Sided Tape. For the sentiment, I used the Merry Christmas Sentiments Die Set to cut the word “Christmas” from a piece of red foil cardstock and adhered it to the front of the card.

CARD 2

Size: 8.5″ x 3.5″

Rowhouse Greetings | Scrapbook.com

Featuring:

For Card 2, I cut a piece of Neenah 110# cardstock to 8.5″ x 7″ scored at 3.5″ as the card base. I adhered a piece of gray cardstock from the *Smooth Cardstock Paper Pad – Slimline – Christmas to the card base using *1/4″ Double Sided Tape. I cut a piece of white cardstock to 8.25″ x 3.25″ and set it aside until it was time to assemble the layers.

I selected a piece of pale gray cardstock from the paper pad and trimmed it to 3″ x 8″ and secured it to my craft mat with repositionable tape. I centered the Vintage Floral Stencil and secured it to my craft mat with Mint Low Tack Tape. Then I used a blending brush to stencil the pattern with *Pine Premium Hybrid Ink.

I selected a piece of red cardstock from the paper pad and die cut the sentiment using the Merry Christmas Sentiments Die Set. I lightly ink blended *Pine Premium Hybrid Ink along the bottom of the words and then covered it with *Cardinal Red Hybrid Ink. I applied Versamark ink to the die cuts, covered them with clear embossing powder, and heat set the sentiment. I assembled the layers as shown, glued the sentiment in place and added gold metallic sequins from 28 Lilac Lane.

CARD 3

Size: 3.5″ x 8.5″

Featuring:

Card 3 was actually the first card that I made. Since it was my first time creating a slimline card, I had to get used to the proportions and layout. Again, I cut a piece of Neenah 110# cardstock to 8.5″ x 7″ scored at 3.5″ as the card base and adhered a piece of dark green cardstock from the *Smooth Cardstock Paper Pad – Slimline – Christmas to the card base using *1/4″ Double Sided Tape.

I cut a piece of white cardstock to 8.25″ x 3.25″ and set it aside until it was time to assemble the layers. I selected a piece of green cardstock from the paper pad and trimmed it to 3″ x 8″ and secured it to my craft mat with repositionable tape. I centered the Vintage Floral Stencil and secured it to my craft mat with Mint Low Tack Tape. Then I used a blending brush to lightly stencil the pattern with *Pine Premium Hybrid Ink.

I die cut the main sentiment from white cardstock using the Mirthful die set by Penny Black. I used a blending brush to ink blend *Cardinal Red Hybrid Ink along the bottom of each letter. Since the letters are separate, I was able to arranged them vertically on the front of the card. Along the bottom, I selected one of the sentiments from the *Merry Sentiments Stamp Set and used my Misti to stamp the text with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set the sentiment.

Afterwards, I assembled the layers as shown.

TIPS

  • When stenciling, I find it helpful to apply repositionable tape to the back of my cardstock and then stick it down to my craft mat. Then I hold the stencil in place using Mint Low Tack Tape. When using texture paste, I apply it using a palette knife and then smooth the surface using a craft scraper. When stenciling with ink, you can use either blender brushes or an ink blending tool.
  • Since red and green are complementary colors, you can use green under red (and red under green) to deepen the color. That’s how I created two shades of red and two shades of green using only one ink pad in each color.
  • I apply clear embossing powder on die cuts to get a dimensional glossy finish. I find this much easier than using Glossy Accents or a similar products. And there’s no lengthy drying time which is an added benefit!

That all from me today! Hope you enjoyed today’s projects! A special thanks to Scrapbook.com for supplying some of the featured products!

Rowhouse Greetings | Nancy Sheads

SUPPLIES

[Compensated affiliate links used when possible. In addition, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.]