Celebrate

Hi everyone!  I am sharing a card that I created a watercolor bg for.

I painted a random design on my watercolor paper with just clear water then added some color with my paintbrush and reinkers. I then spattered some ink over the watercolored bg to have some darker spots.  I painted on a scrap piece of watercolor paper with my paintbrush and reinkers and then die cut and stamped my butterflies.  After adhering the butterflies to the card I accented their bodies with black pearls and added iridescent sequins.  

Here are the SNSS products that I used:

         

Poppies for Grandma

Hi everyone!  Today I am sharing a card with you that I created for my grandma's birthday which is coming up soon.

I used a paintbrush wet with water to "paint" a rectangle onto watercolor paper.  While the paper was wet I painted my background with blue and purple reindeers.  Once the bg was dry, I stamped my poppies with black ink.  I then finished off the card by adding sequin accents and my sentiment.

Here are the SNSS products I used on my card:

  

Catch a Wave

Summertime has arrived so I decided to share a card I created with this super cute Summertime Rhubarb set.

I colored the image with copics, sponged some clouds in the background, and added stickles for some sparkle on the waves.  I added a bow in the corner and a sentiment from Wish you were here to finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

   

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

Hello, Sweet Friends!  Today we are featuring many of the masculine stamp sets at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamp Store with a "Let's Hear It For The Boys" Blog Hop.  With Father's Day being just a couple of weeks away, the Design Divas have decided to pay special tribute to the special men in our lives…both young and old.  Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has so many fabulous stamp sets that are perfect for creating those challenging masculine cards that we need…AND stamp sets that you would not think of as masculine, but can be made so depending on the colors and design.  Get ready to be inspired by these sweet, talented ladies and hop along with us by clicking on the links below.  Be sure to leave a little love behind as you hop from one fabulous blog to the next, and...

Let's Hear It For The Boys!

Today I am sharing a Father's Day card that I made for my Dad:

I colored the image from the Hole in One set with copics and used some crystal effects on the golf ball.  I layered some grass die-cuts on top.  I then embossed the front panel to resemble a golf ball and die cut a circle out of the center to frame my image.  I chose to recess the image rather than to adhere it on the top to give a little bit of dimension to the card.

Thanks so much for joining us today!

Why not head on over to the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store and grab a stamp set or two to honor those special men in your life!

Here are the Sweet N Sassy products used on my card today:

Acrylic block stamping

Hello everyone and Happy Memorial Day!  Today I would like to share some ideas with you on how to create some watercolored backgrounds using dye based ink and acrylic blocks.  You can use ink pads or markers on your blocks to create this look.  I am going to show you how I created the cards below.

Here are the supplies you need:

Start out by adding color directly to the block either by pressing an ink pad onto it or by coloring on it with your markers.  I am showing both ways below.

Next, spritz water onto your inked block.  How much will depend on the type of paper you use.  For the ink pads I used watercolor paper and on my marker example I used Stampin UP whisper white.  I generally spray it 3-4 times.  Below is how the block looked after I sprayed it with water.  See how the ink beads up.

Then stamp onto your paper with the block and let the ink absorb into your paper

This is a very easy technique to do and your results will vary each time you do it depending on the colors and paper you use.  You can combine using markers and ink pads which is what I did on my example below.

Here are the SNSS products that I used on my cards

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Friday Feature- Birthday Word Art

Every Friday, Sweet N Sassy Stamps features a stamp set and offers that particular set at a discounted price for the week. This week's featured set is a great set called Birthday Word Art. It is a wonderful set to have to create birthday cards for everyone on your list. Two of my daughters had multiple birthday parties last weekend to attend so I used our featured set to create cards for them to give to their friends. Here are 2 of the cards I created.

This first card is actually a gift card holder.  I created the cupcake template myself by drawing the cupcake and then tracing the outline on a 4.25 X 4 inch folded card.  The ivory strip along the bottom of the inside of the card was adhered only on the bottom and sides leaving the top open so that the gift card could be placed inside.  

The second card was created for a 12 year old boy.  That is a tough one for me.  It could not be too busy and I was not allowed to add any bling- gasp!  I spattered red ink on my bg panel and then stamped my sentiment in black.  I added a black strip of paper on the bottom to draw attention to the sentiment and added stars using the You're a Star stamp set and coordinating Star Dies as accents.

Here are the SNSS products used on my cards:

Be sure to stop by the Sweet N Sassy Stamps blog to see some more wonderful samples created by other members of the DT.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello everyone!  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.  I hope that you are enjoying your day and that you are being spoiled by your family.  I can tell you that we are being spoiled by the beautiful weather we are having in Buffalo this weekend.  This is probably the nicest mother's day weekend that I can remember.

So after all the April showers we all know comes May flowers.  I think my favorite stamps at Sweet N Sassy stamps are the floral silhouettes and we certainly have some great ones to choose from.  I choose to make a Mother's Day card using the Wildflowers set.  Take a look.

I colored the stamp with dye based markers and spritzed it water a couple times before stamping on 90lb. watercolor paper.  You can use regular cardstock which I tried also but I liked how the watercolor paper looked better.  I accented the flower centers with stickles and finished off my card by adding rhinestones and taffeta ribbon.  The sentiment is from Precious Poppies which I believe is out of stock right now but if it wasn't for my mom I would have used one of the sentiments from the Wildflowers set anyway.

Thank you so much for stopping in today, have a wonderful day!

Paris in the Spring

Hi everyone!  I hope that you are enjoying warmer weather in your neck of the woods.  I think that spring has finally arrived in Buffalo where I live and I am so thankful!  Anyway, I have a card to share with you using Sweet N Sassy Stamps Parisian Postcard today.

I showed the ladies at a card class I taught a couple months ago how to create a collage type look and about 2nd generation stamping.  This is the card that they made.  The main image was stamped with black versa fine ink (which I really like for intricate images and silhouettes) and then the smaller images around the panel were stamped on scratch paper first with gray versa fine and then stamped on my image panel (second generation stamping technique).  The papers are from My Minds Eye and the edges were distressed a bit with scissors.

Here is the stamp set that I used on my card:

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for the April release blog hop.  The DT has some wonderful samples to share with you and there will be a chance for you to win some Sweet N Sassy goodies.  See you then!

Emboss Resist Silhouettes

Hi everyone!  On Friday, Sweet N Sassy Stamps released some fabulous new stamp sets and dies.  I unfortunately was not able to share any samples yet using the new stamps because we had water damage due to an ice dam resulting from the harsh winter we have had.  The floor in my office/craft room now needs to be replaced so it might be a little bit before I can do much crafting.  If you have not had a chance to check out the new release, be sure to go and take a look:

SNSS March Release

However, before you you go I do have some cards to share with you.  I taught a couple card classes last month and I was finally able to take some pictures so I will have some creations to post on my blog over the next couple weeks until I can get back in my craft room.

I taught the emboss resist technique to the ladies who attended my class.  It is not a difficult technique but gives a soft pretty look.  Here are the 2 cards that we made using my favorite Long Stem Silhouettes set along with Keep In Touch Too.

This is using Stampin Up Wisteria Wonder

This card is in Stampin Up Pistachio Pudding

Here are the Sweet N Sassy Stamps that I used on my cards

Long-stemmed silhouette tutorial

Hi everyone!  Today I am sharing a tutorial with you using a technique that I demonstrated at a stamping convention in Syracuse a couple years ago.  It is easy to do and gives you beautiful results.  You will need large post it notes, various dye based inks, sponges or daubers, and stamps of course.

I masked off about a 2 inch section using post it notes.  I used grid paper to help make sure I lined it up straight.

I then sponged ink in Memento tangelo, dandelion, summer sky, and danube blue.  I chose these colors because they resemble a sunrise to me.  You can choose whatever colors you like and I have a a few other examples of other combos below.

Here is what it looks like when you remove the post-it notes

I then stamped the flowers 3 times positioning them a little lower each time in versa fine black

To achieve a softer watercolor type appearance I then spritzed water over the paper.  Because I used a dye based ink the ink was removed from the water.

 Here are some examples of finished cards below

 Here is the Long Stemmed Silhouettes set which I used on my cards