Enjoy the Little Things

Yesterday was a very thoughtful day.  I was able to enjoy a day all to myself, which is quite rare in itself.  I had grand plans, a bit too grand, but decided to change them all around and enjoy it differently. This was one of my moments spent, a very indulgent chunk of time working ink all over this lovely card.

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I was given some new paper and brushes for my birthday, so of course I had to get to work using them.  I took this beautiful paper to the brink of maximum absorption.  Sometimes it just takes more time to get the colors just the way you want them.  If you were to smooth your hand over the top of this card you would feel the difference in texture.  The edges of course kept their very smooth surface, but the inked area is actually raised up.  Cool, right?

I did start with the embossed phrase first.  Then I worked around the edges and started in with all of the color mixing.  This copper embossing powder is so fantastic, I absolutely love the color.  It gives a much more masculine feel and goes better with my kind of color pallet ideas for sure.  So, I basically just embossed my sentiment and then went to town on the ink til I was happy.  And I am so happy, so very happy with this one.  I tend to do my best work when I am creating for someone in particular, especially when that someone is my husband.  What more can I say?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

I am Much More Me When I’m With You

What do you do with a huge pineapple stamp?  Well, just about anything you want I guess.  I loved it, but probably had more questions than answers.  This is definitely one of those answers.  I asked my daughter to pick out a stamp from my stash of new product and give me a color.  She chose light green and this stamp.  Sometimes you just need a nudge in the right direction to get moving.

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Yesterday, and well into the evening, I spent my time helping a good friend with a wedding photo shoot.  You never know how much you are needed, but judging how tired I am today, it would have been so hard for her without me.  And of course we had an absolute blast.  We work nearly seamlessly together, another plus.  I thought this would suit us nicely.

I went with light water color washing using only two colors.  I wasn’t sure how they would blend in the middle, hoping it wouldn’t make some kind of brown.  It turned out great.  I opted for minimal distressing and one single stamping.  The leaves needed a bit, so I used my aqua painter to blend them a bit, but left the pineapple pattern alone.  I stamped it again on the inside, but more in the corner for more interest.  Good stuff there!

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The tags & labels framelit set fit perfectly around the sentiment and provided the perfect place for my favorite ribbon.  A few of the new enamel dots found there way as well.  The card front and inside panels were both layered with an additional piece of pear pizzazz card stock and the front was popped up with dimensionals.  There you go!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Layering Love

Summer is here and it seems like love is everywhere.  How fun is that!  I wanted to capture some of that carefree spirit that summer can bring and had a fun time giving it a try.

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I must admit, I have been enjoying my water coloring quite a bit, but it is still my favorite medium right now.  I thought I might use a die cut on this image and layer it, but I forgot about that until I started typing.  I was wondering why I left the image off center like that.  I then remembered my original plan.  Well, I am okay with how it turned out.

It began with stamping the sentiment in versamark ink and then embossing with white embossing powder.  The next step was to create some kind of heart over and around the words.  When that was done I stared at it for a while trying to decide on a background color. My oldest daughter suggested tempting turquoise since it felt like summer.  That went with my plans, so I went for it.  I kept the color the strongest in the corners and painted towards the heart.  I was trying to create a lighter area around the heart to make it look like it was floating a bit.  That worked pretty good.  Wish I could make a more balanced heart, guess that is why I love die cuts and punches so much.  They correct my work some…

In the end I was happy with the result.  I went ahead and did a touch of blending along the edge of the heart and the blue background.  This provided a bit of a border and gave some cool layering effects.  I went back around the lettering with a wink of stella brush which gave a bit of shadow, but also made the image appear almost blurred.  Interesting, but I still went with it.  I left it a single layer on the card base of watermelon wonder and there you go.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Layering Love with Dapper Denim

When I got done complaining that they were changing out the square framelit set with another one I was pleasantly surprised.  Coordinating scalloped squares, how very thoughtful!  This also helped me not be so sassy about the wonderful scallop circle punches being retired.  There are always adjustments when it comes to new catalogs, products and plenty of favorites retiring.

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The card front was stamped with the Brushstrokes background stamp using the new dapper denim in-color.  I then spritzed it with water until the ink started to move around, let it sit for a bit, dabbed it with a paper towel and then dried it with my heat tool.  All done!

A quick stamp, but a lovely one, cut out with a new framelit, echoed with some more dapper denim in a scalloped framelit and layered up on dimensionals.  Of course I had to use more of that new wonderful ruched ribbon.  Dangerous stuff there.  I can usually control my ribbon purchasing for me and my club ladies, but I don’t know about this time.

The inside was stamped with a bunch of tiny little anchors to fill opposing corners.  It is also part of the same stamp set, which has several fabulous sentiments to be enjoyed.  I think today is a wonderful stamping day.

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Have a creative day!

Moana