Sending Love Your Way ft. Craftin Desert Divas

Hi and welcome! It's almost the end of February, but there's still a little time left for you to join Craftin Desert Diva's social media challenge. I was inspired by the snow scene and the rose from the mood board (shown below), so I decided to create a card with white layers and the Tweet Valentines digi stamp.  

I've also used one of the dies in the Stitched in Circles set to create a wreath, and embellished it with some small pearls. I colored the image with Copics and added a coat of Wink of Stella and glossy accent for some extra shimmer and shine. I finished the card with a simple handwritten sentiment. It's pretty CAS, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Challenges Entered:

SSS Wednesday: ATG

You Rock, Dad! ft. Winnie & Walter

Good morning and welcome! Are you ready for some rainbow madness? I have been crafting for about 3 years now (I actually started paper crafting when I was around 8 or 9, but it's only been 3 years since I came to the states and discovered the world of photopolymer stamps, die cutting machines, Copic markers, and now, ZIG brush pens.) but I'm really not sure about how I would describe my cardmaking style. One thing I know for sure though, is that I love bright, vibrant colors. And that's what today's card is all about! 

I don't know if my dad, or any dad honestly, will appreciate such a colorful card. But when I saw this mohawk (?) little bird and the shades, I was inspired to create a card with a cool vibe. (if that even makes sense, LOL) 

I thought it would be pretty interesting to have him be the center/focal point of a rainbow spiral background. So after my thick layer of embossing paste has dried, I watercolored the embossing paste with my ZIG brush pens. Yes, you heard it right. I didn't blend colors with my distress inks (although that was my original plan) but watercolored it with ZIG. Now, I don't know if somebody else has already come up with the same idea, but this seems like a pretty innovative use of the ZIG markers to me. I'm so glad I tried it out because this method definitely gives you more control on where to apply the colors (v.s. sponging distress inks). And with traditional watercolor, you probably won't be able to get such vibrant colors. Anyways, I was just really impressed with the results.
All the colors I've used are listed below (from purple to pink. counterclockwise): 82, 80, 84, 30, 32, 33, 40, 47, 41, 53, 50, 52, 70, 23, 20, 22, 24, 222, 21, 25, 27 


I decided to cut my sentiments up and scatter them across the entire card front. "DAD" was handwritten with a black gel pen, "thank you" is from In Bloom: Julie's Roses set, "so birdy much" from the So Tweet set, and "YOU ROCK" from My Precious set. The variation between each font type and size definitely adds some more interest to the card. I think it even creates a mixed media kind of feel. 

After stamping and heat embossing each of the sentiments, I sponged them with distress inks so they match the rainbow spirals. The colors I've used are listed below, from left to right. 
" You Rock" banner: Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Carved Pumpkin
"so birdy much" banner: Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers
"DAD" banner: Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral


I couldn't finish a card without adding some embellishments and sequins, especially when it's a super fun and colorful one like this. :P I hope this rainbow card has brightened up your day, and thanks so much for stopping by! 

Challenges Entered: 

STAMPlorations Theme: Retro / Winnie & Walter 3rd Birthday Bash: Three Challenge (I used 3 stamp sets: So Tweet, In Bloom: Julie's Roses, My Precious) / Sequin Challenge / Bright Colors Challenge / Mood Board Challenge (Inspired by the bright, cheerful colors) / Cute Critter Challenge / Stencil Challenge / Pattern Making Challenge



SSS Wednesday: ATG

Love You Deerly ft. Poppystamps

Hello! I've seen so many lovely Valentines card on blogland lately and, not surprisingly, the majority of them are pink and red and filled with lots of hearts. So I thought about making something a little different. Today I'd like to share with you a not-so-pink-and-girly Valentines card.

This adorable deer image is from Poppy Stamp's Holiday Hoopla set, which I colored with my Zig brush pens. (Body: 64, 61, 72, 69. Blush: 29. Scarf: 27, 31) Then I used Memory Box's Cross Stitch My Heart dies to create a window for the small scene. The "I Love You" sentiment is from My Favorite Thing's Essential Sentiments set, and I wrote the bottom "Deerly" sentiment myself. 

I created the woodland scene by first embossing a watercolor cardstock with Stampin' Up's Woodland Textures embossing folder, and then coloring it with my Zigs brush pens. (Trees: 75, 96. Background: 34, 22) It's hard to tell from the photos, but the embossed details are actually quite amazing in real life. I hope you have enjoyed my not so traditional Valentines Day card. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Challenges Entered: 

Poppy: Hearts Aflutter / Memory Box: It's All About Love / Addicted to CAS: Wood

HLS CAS: Blue / HLS Watercolor: ATG (Dies) / AAA Cards: Watercolor

MTF Color Challenge #64 / Paru's Challenges: Love / SSS Wednesday: ATG

Love You So Birdy Much ft. Craftin Desert Divas

Hello! I'm sharing a card I made for Craftin Desert Diva's February Social Media Challenge. I was inspired by the red color scheme and hearts so I decided to use the love Birds digi stamp and colored it with Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens. I've also used the Stitched in Circle dies to create a framed scene.

I embellished the card with pink droplets and the silver heart sequins from Sweet Sixteen sequin mix. They are both new products that have just been released. 


I finished the card by handwriting my sentiment with Copic Multiliner and also added some shimmer to the heart and birds with the Wink of Stella brush. I hope you'll join our monthly challenge, and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges Entered:

Paru's Card Making Challenges: Love / Winnie & Walter 3rd Birthday Bash: Three Challenge (3 pink droplets) / Sequin Challenge / Bright Colors Challenge / Cute Critter Challenge

 SSS Wednesday: ATG

Moon Girl ft. Craftin Desert Divas

Today I'm sharing my second card using Craftin Desert Diva's Dreamland set. This is a more CAS card and it's inspired by DreamWorks logo. 

I first heat embossed the "Follow your dreams" sentiment repetitively so it forms a platform for the girl to lay on. Then I colored it with Zig Clean Real Brush Pens. After that I stamped and colored the girl and the star. The moon was handrawn with a black jelly roll pen. I finished the card by adding some shimmer with the Wink of Stella brush. I hope you enjoyed this CAS card, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Challenges Entered:

Happy Little Stampers: Watercolor ATG

Dreamland ft. Craftin Desert Divas

Hello! Are you excited about Craftin Desert Diva's February release? Today I have a card featuring a new set---Dreamland. Aren't the images just adorable?!

I stamped and heat embossed all the images on watercolor cardstock, and colored them with Zig Clean Real Brush Pens.  Then I cut them into different sized hexagons and adhered them to the card front. 

Colors I've used:

GIRL 

Hair: 67, 61   Skin: 71, 69   Blush: 220

Pajamas: 803, 83, (81 shoes)   Background: 302, 36, 31

SHEEP

Fur: 91, 90   Face: 69, 71 Fence: 52, 61, 72   BackgroundL 47, 40

GEOMETRIC

Red: 24   Orange: 52   Yellow: 50   Pink: 25, 200   Coral: 220, 222

MOON & STARS

Moon: 50   Hat: 22, 47   Stars: 51   Background: 37, 32

TEDDY

Body: 62   Hat: 50, 41   Background: 22, 24

I embellished the card with some sequins and rhinestones and also added some stitched lines with Copic Multi-liner. I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creation, have a wonderful day!

Challenges Entered:

Happy Little Stampers: Watercolor ATG

Love You More Than Coffee ft. STAMPlorations

Hello there! Have you joined our Love TAGplorations event yet? Here's another card to get you inspired...

I decided to make a more mixed media feel kind of card, so there's embossing, loose watercoloring and ink splattering in the background. The stencil I used is called Rows of Hearts. The coffee image is from Good Books and Coffee set and I white heat embossed it on vellum. I created my sentiment by using Stampin' Up's Labeler Alphabet set, and I've also stamped a complementary greeting on the inside. I hope the pun is obvious enough ;)... and thanks so much for stopping by!

Challenges Entered:

STAMPlorations: ATG

You're My Forever Love ft. STAMPlorations

Hello and welcome! Today's the first day of our Love TAGplorations blog hop over at STAMPlorations! Simply leave a comment along the blogs you visited or join our linky party for a chance to win prizes!

 I love using word dies on my cards and so I decided to make them the focal point of today's card. For the background, I used the Forever word die and die cut it repetitively until it has filled the entire card panel. 

Then I carefully transfer and piece the die cuts together on a sheet of adhesive, so that none of the little pieces will fall apart. (As you can see, I ended up creating a black background for my card, but the process is the same as the one shown here.)

I decorated my tag by applying a thin coat of texture paste over the Zen Hearts stencil. Once it is dry, I applied Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, and Festive Berries distress inks for the ombre look and spritzed some pearlized water for some shimmer and shine. The love die cut I used here is from the Peace Love Joy word die, but it would probably be more convenient to use the newly released Love word die. I've partially embossed my word die cuts with silver embossing powder so they match the ribbon I tied on the tag. I then stamped "you're my" from the Fond Expressions 2 set on a strip of black cardstock to complete my sentiment.

Finally, I embellished the card with some sequins and that finishes off the card! I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creation and are inspired to join our linky party. Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges Entered:

STAMPlorations: Theme & Sketch (used the sketch in the horizontal direction) / STAMPlorations: CUTplorations (Inspired by the pink colors and diagonal lines) / STAMPlorations: ATG


Paru's Card Making Challenges: Love / Cards in Envy: Be My Valentine

Happy Little Stampers: ATG with Dies / SSS Monday: Use Your Favorite Tool (Dies)