Friday, May 22, 2020

creating a clear card with nuvo drops

Have you ever made a see through card? Acetate makes it really easy and I think adding Nuvo Drops makes it extra cool!
First let's chat about acetate for a second...

 I've tried a handful of different acetates for creating clear & shaker cards and so far my favorite is the Essentials by Ellen Crystal Clear Plastic Sheets. It's comes in 8-1/2 x 11 sheets which is perfect for cutting into cards. The weight is also heavy enough to be a card base but not so heavy that you can't cut with a paper trimmer or die cuts. And it cuts cleanly, with no ragged edges, which not all acetate does.
To create this card, I used low-tack tape to mask off a rectangle on the front of my acetate card. Then I applied Nuvo Crystal Drops in a rainbow and spread them with a squeegee.

 The Nuvo Crystal Drops are opaque on cardstock but are more transparent on the acetate. When I write a message on the inside of my card, it will show through just a bit creating a fun look!

 You can see more about the making of this card in my quick video tutorial...
By the way...if you are here for Ardyth, Kathya & Jenny's celebration video hop, there are lots of great prizes so leave a comment on my YouTube video to be entered to win!

 And you can find the whole hop list on Ardyth's blog.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly

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Wednesday, May 20, 2020

rainbow word card with essentials by ellen

It seems that I never tire of creating handmade cards with rainbows! I love rainbow stamps, rainbow die cuts, rainbow colors of ink...the list could go on but this card didn't actually start with a rainbow product, it started with this rainbow saying.

 Gratitude is always a good idea but lately the practice of "counting my rainbows" seems extra important. And I thought it would make an encouraging card saying, especially when paired with a unicorn!
To create the rainbow striped letters, I started by applying some Stick Adhesive to the back of piece of white cardstock. Stick It is great for making die cut "stickers" because it is extra thin and dies will still cut cleanly.

 I die cut the adhesive backed cardstock with The Stamp Market's 1/8 Quick Strip die. All The Stamp Market's Quick Strip dies are super handy to have but if you don't have a die that cuts strips, you could also use your paper trimmer.
Next I used Copic Markers to color the strips.

 Then I applied the strips onto a lightweight piece of printer paper in rainbow order. I used the printer paper as the base so it would still be easy to die cut through the stripes & their printer paper backer.

Aren't the rainbow striped letters cute?!

I die cut the rest of my letters from black cardstock and used a glue pen to adhere the saying to the front of a white card.

Finally I added a very simply colored little unicorn.

Hope your day is full of rainbows to count! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly
supplies:
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Thursday, May 7, 2020

rainbow sentiment strip card

Do you ever sit down to create with absolutely no idea what you are going to make?
I sat down to play with no plan to create and ended up creating a rainbow of sentiment strips just for fun. 

 Then I liked them all together so much, I created this card...
A little bit more about creating this card...

 I didn't have the rainbow cardstock on hand that I wanted, so I cut the strips from white cardstock with The Stamp Market's 1/4" Quick Strip Die. I love this die for sentiment strips and easy stripes!

 Then I colored the strips by just swiping my ink pads across them.
After the ink was dry, I stamped the little sentiments from The Stamp Market's Ton of Type set in clear embossing ink, added white embossing powder and heat set.

 I adhered the rainbow strips onto a 4 x 5-1/4 piece of light blue cardstock. The cardstock is Bazzill's Icy Mint but I think it is the perfect light blue to pair with rainbow projects.
I trimmed the excess strips off and mounted the panel to a white card.

 Finally I added the white "hello" die cut.
Hope your day has rainbow! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs!
Carly
supplies:
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Tuesday, May 5, 2020

how to create an easy handmade card set with the stamp market

With Mother's Day coming up and social distancing still in effect, it's the perfect time to create & send the gift of a handmade card set!
Want to hear the story of how this set was made? Well I sat down with The Stamp Market's Sending Bunches Of Love stamp set and had so much fun creating, I ended up with a BUNCH of cards that coordinated.
I hadn't actually intended to make a set of cards to give as a gift but it just worked out! Here are a few easy things I did that made these cards the perfect set...
  • I used the same color palette on all my cards.
  • I also used the same stamp as a focal point on each card even though the card design & techniques varied.
  • I made some decorated envelopes by stamping the flowers on the flap of the envelopes.
  • And I bundled the cards & envelopes together! Easy peasy!
Here's a little bit more about each card...
This card uses one of my very favorite stamping techniques, faux watercolor. You ink your stamp with water-reactive inks and then mist with clean water before stamping onto watercolor cardstock. 

 While the ink was wet, I used a paint brush to spread the color. And after it was dry, I put it back into my MISTI where the stamp was waiting, and I stamped the image again in Navy ink over the Bubble Gum.
These cards use the same faux watercolor technique but with more colors of ink. And only adding the Navy stamped-second layer on the second card.



You can see more about the faux watercolor technique in this video.
To create the easy color blocking on these cards, I used low-tack purple tape to mask off the top of each panel. I used blending brushes to create the color-blocked border and then I stamped the flowers and sentiments in Navy.
This card is just a little ink smooshing with Citrine ink and then the flowers stamped on top in Navy.

And finally this card couldn't be more simple! It's just the flowers stamped in Navy with a Tropic Teal watercolored sentiment strip.

Check out The Stamp Market's latest stamps & dies HERE and if you can, don't forget to support small business!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you are staying safe & well!
Carly

supplies:
The Stamp Market Inks Bubble Gum, Coral Reef, Citrine, Tropic Teal & Navy
Bristol Cardstock
Blending Brushes
Light Mist Spray Bottle
Purple Tape
MISTI
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Thursday, April 30, 2020

4 simply stamped card ideas + pinkfresh studio april 2020 stamp and die release blog hop

I love creating simply stamped cards! For some crazy reason, a one layer card makes me feel like I've earned extra creative points, LOL! And I also love that a simply stamped card can highlight a stamp set you love and help you get more cards done (& hopefully sent)!

 Hopefully you are hopping along with us for the Pinkfresh Studio April 2020 release! You should be arriving my sweet friend Caly Person's blog (and you can find the whole hop list at the bottom of this post).

 Now let's talk stamps and cards! I am completely smitten with the gorgeous images and sentiments in Pinkfresh's Keep Going & Take Pride sets so I wanted to stick with some simple designs to feature them.
Can't get any simpler than this card, right? I just stamped the rainbow and the sentiment, gave the rainbow a quick bit of color with some Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and blended with a little water.


 For this card, I stamped the floral wreath in black and added a bit of color to a few flowers. Then I colored the center with black, let it dry and embossed the sentiment in white.
After stamping the flowers on watercolor paper, I colored around them with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and blended with water.


For this card, I used a circle template to create the design. You can see the process in this quick video...




Now before you hop on, let's talk about fun GIVEAWAYS!
  • Pinkfresh is giving away the WHOLE amazing release so make sure you sure you stop by their blog. And they are also running some great specials so you are probably going to want to shop!
  • You also have a chance to win $25 to the Pinkfresh shop by leaving comments here and at each hop stop!
  • Winners will be announced on the Pinkfresh Giveaway page on May 8th so please make sure to check there (winners have two weeks to claim there prize).


BLOG HOP LIST

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter


 supplies:
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Sunday, April 26, 2020

how to use extra card backgrounds

Looking for a way to use up paper scraps and extra card panels? Here's a quick look at my newly discovered process for getting more cards made from my extras!
Do you ever have so much fun stamping or die cutting or watercoloring, that you end up with more pretty card backgrounds then you actually need for a project? 

 This happens to me all the time and I usually put the pretty card panels in a pile on my desk, intending to use them later BUT then the next time I tidy my desk (a rare occurrence), the pretty card panels usually end up in my trash bin. Terrible, I know!
Recently after cleaning my desk, I challenged myself to actually use the panels but I needed to figure out how!

 I started by selecting just four panels from the pile so I wouldn't feel too overwhelmed. I chose four that I thought might look nice together.
Next I selected some stamps & dies that I had been wanting to play with more. This part was easy, I just pulled out my most recent stamps & dies from The Stamp Market. I knew they would work well together and I was excited to use them. I think it's always important to my creative process to choose products I feel excited and inspired by!

 Then I created little piles on my desk with the panel and the supplies I thought I might use with it. 
And finally, I made cards!

 This first background was created by applying drops of water & reinker to watercolor cardstock and blowing it around into splatters with blower tool (a technique I learned from the amazing Channin Pelletier).

 I used the "thank you" die to cut a window and backed it with acetate to create a shaker window. Then I stamped the coordinating "thank you" on the card front and topped it with a thin layer of Moon Dust Glitter Gel. (You can see more about a similar shaker card in this post.)
This background is one of my favorite ways to use glitter paste or gel. I used strips of low-tack purple tape to mask off a rectangle on white cardstock. Then I added color with ink blending and topped it with glitter paste.

 To this simple background, I added a layered butterfly. The top layer has the butterfly detail stamped on vellum and embossed with sparkly glitter powder.

This card started with another glitter paste panel but it had some extra ink and glitter smudged on the bottom so I used it as the background for a shaker card.

 I stamped the leafy vine first and then used the die cut flowers to create shaker windows.

And finally this background started as just a test with my rubber brayer. I love brayered backgrounds (you can see more about them is this post).
On the brayered background, I stamped the detailed butterfly layer using Party Pink on the top and Bubble Gum on the bottom. Then I added the butterfly bodies and embossed the sentiment in white.
I hope this inspires you to use up some of the extra card backgrounds and scraps you have laying around.
And hope you are staying safe & well! Hugs!
Carly
supplies:
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