Acrylic Block Stamping

The Group of Cardmakers are revisiting an old background technique - Acrylic Block Stamping.  

First up, a very basic way of doing it:

This is the original way I learned to do this - inking up a block with ink (in this case, with Distress Peeled Paint), spritzing with water, and stamping the block onto mixed media cs.  I used a block with a curved edge and grid lines on it to add extra interest.

I trimmed the panel, added a white die cut branch, popped it up on fun foam on a white card base, added a red sentiment, and embellished the branch with red Smooch for the berries.

For my second card, I used a different medium to colour the acrylic block - Twinkling H2Os watercolour paints.

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I spritzed the acrylic block with water, and then added my favourite shade of blue Twinkling H2O paint. I pressed it onto watercolour paper and let it dry. I then stamped the dragonfly and used a sparkly embossing powder, the colour of which is "marcasite" - not quite black, but darker than grey or silver, and with a lot of sparkle in it. I used the same powder on the sentiment. I added a shimmery black border and mounted it on a cream card base. For the third one, I used a technique I found on SCS (see here) that uses a coordinating colour of spray for the spritz instead of plain water. I used two Oxide inks - Broken China and Tumbled Glass - and smeared them randomly on a large block. I spritzed with Distress Blueprint Sketch spray and that started the two inks blending and moving. I wanted more movement so also spritzed with some water. Then I stamped the block onto watercolour paper. I love the blend of the blues and the variation in intensity! I die cut two reindeer out of off white cs (cutting each twice and gluing together for more substance). I trimmed the background panel, added the reindeer and a sentiment. There are lots more examples over at The Group of Cardmakers!

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment
Ink - Distress Peeled Paint, Memento Lady Bug
Paper - white and mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Winter Branch die, red Smooch accent ink, fun foam, acrylic block

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. dragonfly, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - Gina K ivory cs, watercolour paper, shimmery black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Stampendous Marcasite embossing powder, Twinkling H2O Blue Flame, acrylic block

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Simon Says Stamp sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Broken China and Tumbled Glass
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - acrylic stamp block, Distress Blueprint Sketch spray, MFT reindeer dies

A CAS Basket and a Mixed Media Background

Two very different cards today.  One a CAS card, and one definitely not CAS - lots of mixed media playing around.

For Simply Clean and Simple where the theme is "Baskets":

Stamped and coloured with coloured pencils and then centred in a snowflake frame embossing folder.

And for Try It on Tuesday "Make Your Own Background":

I had a piece of cardstock that I'd used to mop up leftover blue and grey ink after I'd done some smooshing.  I stamped a grid stamp and the Birthday Wishes sentiment on it trimmed it down to fit an odd-sized card base I had.  Then I took another bit of the same leftover ink on, stamped with various stamps (including one that mentions the dragonfly), did a bit of random stencilling with paste, and then layered the two background pieces, and topped with a stamped and fussy cut dragonfly.

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black basket, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Ultimate Crafts snowflake frame embossing folder

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps -
Ink -
Paper -
Size -
Accessories -

Neglected Dragonfly, Smooshed Birthday, and a Blue Heart

Diane and Darlene have started another new challenge - The Neglected Stuff Challenge.  A great way for me to dig out something I haven't used for years.  This month I went with a Tim Holtz dragonfly stamp that I've always really liked.  Why, then, did it sit unused for 10 years!!?  I actually did a search on my blog and the last time I used it was in 2015!

I started by smooshing a piece of mixed media cs with two Distress colours. Using the same colours I stamped a bit of subtle harlequin and mesh stamps to add interest and texture. Then I stamped the dragonfly stamp in black on top. And stamped it again on a scrap so that I could watercolour the wings (using the same two ink colours with Glimmer Spray in the place of water). I fussy cut the wings and popped them up with foam tape on top of the original stamping. I stamped a sentiment, die cut it with a banner die, smooshed it in the inks a bit, and popped it up with foam tape.

And a bit more smooshing on this card, for the AAA Birthday Challenge "Ink Smooshing".

I started by smooshing white cs into two shades of blue Distress ink and when dry, stamped some text on it.  Then cut out sections with two sizes of octagon dies and arranged them on an embossed background.  I die cut a leaf out of a green smooshed leftover background scrap and layered it on the octagon.  I spritzed two shades of Distress Mica spray on my craft mat and smooshed another piece of cs and cut the butterfly out of that.  I stamped the sentiment on bit of blue smooshed leftover scrap.

And a third card for today, so that I can enter it into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Hearts" before it closes.  A very quick CAS card compared to my first two cards on this post.

The image is stamped in royal blue ink and heat embossed.  Then trimmed with a stitched square die, and mounted on the card base.  It's such a lovely stamp I didn't want anything to detract from it.

 

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Tim Holtz dragonfly, Savvy Stamps sentiment, unknown little harlequin stamp and mesh stamp
Ink - Distress Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - mixed media cs, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Glimmer Spray, banner die, foam tape

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Inkadinkado text stamp, AMuse sentiment stamp
Ink - Distress Broken China and Tumbled Glass, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders octagon dies, Memory Box leaf die, Tim Holtz butterfly die, Altenew embossing folder, Winter Frost and Fresh Balsam Distress Mica spray

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, Lil Inker stitched square die

A Dragonfly and a Bird in a Hat

Colorful Options wants lovely shades of blue, mauve, and green.  I decided they worked well for a dragonfly.

It's stamped in archival ink, watercoloured with Twinkling H2Os, trimmed with a stitched rectangle die, bordered in pale gold glitter cs, and popped up with fun foam on cream cs.

For the Triple B Birds, Blooms, and / or Butterflies challenge, I was inspired by the winter bird in the right hand image of their mood board and the shade of blue in the left hand image.  And Stencil Fun's theme is Birds.

I stamped and watercoloured the image. Then stencilled the bubbles around it, stamped a few bits of a snowflake along the edges, and sponged a bit of colour around the edges to darken them.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Unity Stamp Co. Be the Best set
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - hot press watercolour paper, pale gold glitter cs, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Twinkling H2Os, Lil Inker stitched rectangle, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - PaperArtsy bird and sentiment, Penny Black branch, TH snowflake stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, Distress Speckled Egg
Paper - watercolour paper, green and off-white cs
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - TH Bubble stencil, watercolour paints, Spellbinders square die

Dragonfly with a Stencil

Sneaking in under the wire for the AAA Cards challenge:

I used my favourite paste (Dreamweavers Pearlescent) with a stencil my kind friend Loll Thompson made for me on her Silhouette.

I was playing around with splashing some Distress Oxide inks and made a panel in pretty shades of blue with a touch of violet.  I die cut the dragonfly from it and set it on the stenciled panel and popped it up with fun foam.

The Dreamweavers Pearlescent Paste has a lovely creamy shimmer that changes in different lights.  Here's a close-up:

It's hard to believe it's September 1st - where has the summer gone?  I will be back a lot in the next few weeks with Christmas cards, hoping to get ahead in building my stash ready for my sale in November.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac, Peacock Feathers

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Local King dragonfly die, stencil made on a Silhouette, Dreamweaver Pearlescent Paste, fun foam

Belated Dragonflies

I seem to be so far behind these days that I'm making belated birthday cards for everyone!

For this one, I used another tissue paper background using the technique I learned from Loll Thompson's video.

Tissue paper was carefully smooshed with yellow and orange Distress Oxide inks, drying between each layer.  I then crumpled it up and glued it down to white cs.  Thoroughly went over it with an embossing buddy and then gently rubbed Versamark ink over the raised creases, added gold embossing powder, and heated.

I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, trimmed the panel and set it behind a black frame I die cut with two rectangle dies.  I added the dragonfly stems die to the lower corner.  The whole panel is popped up on fun foam.

I'm linking it up with July's CAS Mix Up challenge to use tissue paper, stamping, and at least one other option from the CMU list.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Rubber Stamp Farm sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Spiced Marmalade, Antique Linen, and Fossilized Amber; Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - white and black cs, tissue paper

Size - A2,

Accessories - Memory Box Dragonfly Stems, Spellbinders layering rectangles, clear and gold embossing powder, fun foam

Two Very Different Cards

A couple of cards from challenges over at SCS.  First up the Mix-Ability Challenge - "Masterboard Triptych".

I started out with a "paper towel background" in various pinks and oranges. This is a neat technique I learned from Loll Thompson where you save the paper towels you use to mop up various inks and paints from other projects and then transfer those colours (along with the dots from the texture of the paper towel) to a new project. See Loll's post here for details.

Over top of that, I laid a TCW stencil and used various colours of 3D glitter paint through the stencil.

I did a vertical triptych with the panel and added a die cut sentiment. I used a green glitter cs for the sentiment, but in hindsight, I'm wondering if black would have been better to give more contrast.


Then for the SCS Inspiration Challenge,  Audrie chose an Etsy site called "The Altered Diaries". I chose this diary as my inspiration:

The minute I saw it, I thought of a very old iris stamp I've had for years. It couldn't be more perfect as it has lines around the image as well as a similar looking iris.  So I created this card:

First I created the background by spritzing watercolour paper with water, then going over it with Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress stains.

Using my MISTI, I inked it the stamp with yellow and green Distress markers, and stamped over the Distress stain background. I pulled some of the colour out with a brush and water, and when dry, I reinked the stamp with the markers and stamped over it again to put the outline back in.

I trimmed the stamped panel and added it to rustic cream cs, with a green sentiment stamped below. I popped the whole piece up on fun foam and added to a green card base.


I love the way challenges can encourage me to create radically different styles of cards!

Supplies for the first card:

Paper - green glitter, white, and mixed media cs

Size - A2

Accessories - TCW stencil, Tim Holtz happy birthday die, 3D glitter paints, paper towel, various inks and paints

Supplies for the second card:

Stamps - Lasting Impressions iris, Savvy Stamps sentiment

Ink - Memento Bamboo Leaves

Paper - green linen cs, watercolour paper, PTI rustic cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - green and yellow Distress markers, Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress stains, fun foam

Cutting up Books!

This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge uses a website called EcoCycled that uses pages from old books as backgrounds for art.

As a retired librarian, it's definitely challenging for me to cut up books! But I have some discards from the library so can manage to take pages out of them!

I ended up making two cards as I wanted to do one with the image stamped directly on the book page, and another where I layered the image on top. I like the first one the best:

I was inspired by the red balloon in this one:

and the red sun and layout with the sentiment at the bottom in this one:

I tore a page with a poem about poppies out of an old library discard of "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady". I stamped part of the Pleasant Poppies stamp in the centre directly on the book page, and then coloured it in with Distress markers.

I sponged the edges a bit to give them an aged look, added a couple of gemstones and a die cut sentiment, and popped the panel up on fun foam.


I'm not as pleased with my second one but it was a good chance to use a die cut / embossing folder combo that I've never used (so I'm entering it in Darnell's recently announced NBUS Challenge that opens in a couple of days):

I chose this image for my inspiration:

Instead of the three small dragonflies, I just used one large one. I die cut and embossed it, and then coloured it with Inka Gold.

The background is a page out of a dictionary discarded by my local library. I used the page that has the word "dragonfly". I highlit "dragonfly" with tiny gold sequins at the beginning and end of the definition. I sponged the edges of the page with Distress ink, added the dragonfly, a sentiment with ribbon, and a scattering of sequins.  Here's a close-up with the definition marked by the sequins:

That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies for card one:

Stamps - SU Pleasant Poppies

Ink - Distress Vintage Photo

Paper - cream and brown cs, page from a book

Size - A2

Accessories - Tattered Lace Happy Birthday die, Distress markers (Festive Berries, Barn Door, and Vintage Photo), brown gemstones

Supplies for card two:

Stamps - Memory Box sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Frayed Burlap 

Paper - white cs, mixed media cs, page from a dictionary

Size - 6.25 x 4.75"

Accessories - Tim Holtz dragonfly die and embossing folder, Inka Gold, label die, gold ribbon, foam tape, sequins

Polished Stone Background for a Dragonfly

This week's Ways to Use It challenge over at Splitcoaststampers is to use one of the reinkers techniques. I chose the Polished Stone tutorial here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/re...olished_stone/

I love the result! It made a lovely background for my dragonfly which I stamped in archival black, bordered it with black cs with a fleur de lis border and used a narrow embossing folder on the cardbase that co-ordinated with it well. It left faint marks on the cs so I went over them with my scor buddy to make them stand out as part of the design.

Supplies:

Stamps: Tim Holtz dragonfly, SU sentiment

Paper: white and black cs, glossy cs

Paper Size: A2

Ink: Ranger Archival Black

Accessories: Distress Broken China, Faded Jeans, and Antique Linen reinkers; rubbing alcohol, Cuttlebug narrow embossing folder, fleur de lis border punch, scor buddy