2 easy masking techniques for cardmakers + national ice cream day

Happy National Ice Cream Day! Today I'm celebrating with my ice cream friends Ben & Jerry, LOL! I'm also joining in little hop with some of my crafty friends and I've got two super easy masking techniques to share.

If you are hopping with us, you should be arriving from Ilina's wonderful blog (and if you would like to join us, you can start over on the EH blog).

Now when I say easy masking techniques, I mean so VERY easy! One is a quick way to make color blocked backgrounds like the Mint & Neapolitan ice cream inspired backgrounds I made. And the other is a little more like a masking cheat.

Here's quick video...

I love how these ice cream inspired cards came out! It was so fun to pair the Essentials By Ellen Little Lady & Little Gentleman with the sweet treats from the Catherine Pooler I Scream You Scream set!

Before you hop along to Jen's fantastic blog, we've got prizes! We are giving away $25 to the EH shop and $25 to the Catherine Pooler shop! To enter for a chance to win, make sure to leave comments at each stop along the hop! Two random & lucky commenters will win! Comment before Sunday, July 28th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified by email.

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you get to enjoy a little ice cream treat today!
Carly

supplies:

affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

Essentials by Ellen Little Lady stamps & dies

Essentials by Ellen Little Gentleman stamps & dies

Catherine Pooler I Scream You Scream stamps & dies

Distress Oxide inks Cracked Pistachio, Worn Lipstick & Walnut Stain

Avery Elle New Moon ink

Copic Markers E50, E51, E11, E13, E35, E37, E47, YR14, YR16, YR68, RV00, RV13, RV21, G0000, G00, BG34, B41, B32, B23, R27, R35, C0, C3 & C4

Purple Tape 1.5 inch

Purple Tape .5 inch

infinity shaker card

I'm over on the Neat & Tangled blog today with a super glittery, galaxy infinity shaker card! It might be a little over the top but I love it!

Come on by and check out the video!

Hugs!
Carly

handmade sorry cards with the stamp market

I have a confession...I've never sent an "I'm sorry" card but I probably should have! And now I have a few handmade sorry cards on hand just in case.

I was in a real "queen of hearts" mood when I made these black, white & coral-red cards!

This stamp is so sweet, I think it makes a perfect one-layer card just stamped in black.

I also like the playing-card look of stamping the hearts bottom to bottom. To add a little dimension, I added the die cut heart outline in black and stamped the individual "sorry" slightly offset on top of the coral stamped heart.

And finally I did a little free-hand stitching to add eye lashes to a die cut heart.

Thanks for stopping by!
Carly

supplies:

affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

The Stamp Market Sorry stamp

The Stamp Market Sorry stamp & die bundle 

Coral Cabana ink

VersaFine Onyx Black ink

Solar White cardstock

diy shaker pieces

I am hopelessly addicted to creating shaker cards and I'm always looking for fun pieces to add to them. 

Recently I've started using my small stamp images to create DIY shaker pieces and I've got a quick video tutorial for you today on how I put them together...

my tips for creating shaker pieces...

• this is a great way to use your small stamps!
• use stacked layers to keep shaker piece from turning over in shaker. I like to use 3 layers for my shaker bits with 2 layers of foam tape to create my shaker.
• I forgot to mention in the video but I apply Glossy Accents to the shaker bits taped to an acrylic block so I can set it aside to dry and keep crafting!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Carly

supplies:

affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

Essentials by Ellen Life's A Picnic stamps & dies

Essentials by Ellen Cooking Lady stamps & dies

Essentials by Ellen Speech Bubbles dies

Hero Arts Infinity Nesting Circle dies

Copic Markers E50, E51, E11, E33, R20, R32, R24, R14, YR68, YR16, YR14, YG01, YG11, B0000, B000, B00, B23, B45, BG15, V05, RV66, C0, C1 & C4

Acetate

Solar White Cardstock

Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen

Glossy Accents

Purple Tape

a fun way to use your cardmaking scraps

Are you looking for a fun way to use up some cardmaking scraps? I always am and I can't be the only cardmaker with lots of scraps leftover on my desk, right?!

I often have extra backgrounds. Sometimes I smudge some ink or just don't like what I've made. Sometimes it ends up being the wrong color. And sometimes I just get crazy making more backgrounds than I need because the technique I'm using is so fun (like alcohol inks or marbling). 

That's what this background is. It's a leftover from an afternoon spent having lots of fun with alcohol inks and alcohol pearls. And I think a great way to use up extra backgrounds (or backgrounds with a few small flaws) is to use them in shaker cards!

Using them as backgrounds for smaller shaker windows hides any flaws and is also just fun! Scraps of patterned paper make awesome shaker backgrounds too!

For this card, I had some adorable new Hello Bluebird goodies just begging to be played with. The "wild about you" die is perfect for a shaker window.

To pull the card together, I colored my jungle critters to match my alcohol ink background.

By the way if you are wanting to try making some alcohol ink backgrounds, EH is having a fab sale on a lot of cool goodies including alcohol inks and Copic Markers!!! Head over to Ellen Hutson to shop!

Thanks so much for stopping by & have a great day!
Carly

supplies:

affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

Hello Bluebird More Jungle Littles stamps & dies

Hello Bluebird Wild About You die

Avery Elle New Moon ink

Copic Markers RV02, RV10, YG01, YG05, YG11, YG41, BG11, BG01, BG05, B00, BV000, BV00, BV02, C5, C6 & C9

Ranger Alcohol Inks Wild Plum, Turquoise & Pistachio 

Ranger Alcohol Pearls Villainous & Tranquil

Solar White

Alcohol Ink Cardstock

Acetate

Foam Tape

2 ways to use layered stamps with the stamp market's summer stems

Today I've got 2 ways to use layering stamps like The Stamp Market's Summer Stems!

I'm often intimidated by layering stamps...the need for precision freaks me out! And so I find other ways to use them like using just the base layer to create a shadow/silhouette...

For this card, I stamped the base layer of the Summer Stems in embossing ink, embossed with white powder and then ink blended Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke over the top.

So easy and I love how velvety the Oxide ink looks!

Now emboldened by my success with the first card, I decided to give the layering of the stamps a try...

And I have to admit, it was SUPER easy to line these babies up! The Stamp Market has made it a breeze to get the layered look! If you've been wanting to try layering stamps (or have not had success in the past), start with this fab set!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Carly

supplies:

affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!

The Stamp Market Summer Stems

The Stamps Market All Lined Up

Brutus Monroe Embossing Ink

Brutus Monroe Alabaster Embossing Powder

Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral, Candied Apple & Hickory Smoke inks

Solar White cardstock

Blending Brushes

rainbow sentiment strips

I'm over on the Neat & Tangled blog today with two of my favorites, sentiment strips and rainbow!

Come on by and say hey!
Carly