With Deepest Sympathy

Hi folks.  Are you having a good week so far?  I’ve been a busy beaver stamping because tomorrow is the new release blog hop for Technique Junkies.  So please don’t forget to come back and check out this awesome release.  I think it’s my favourite release so far.

For today’s card I used my newly bought shimmer cardstock.  Can you see the sheen?  The only downside to this cardstock is that it takes a while for the ink to dry.  I started out with eight backgrounds and ended up with five because of smudging.  Grrrr.

To create my background I used the following Distress ink pads:  Mustard Seed, Tattered Rose, Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans.  I sponged the colours on and then let it dry and stamped out Bare Tree Duo.  After it sat to dry (I rarely use a heat gun to dry my work) I put my background into my Misti and stamped out the With Sympathy, Set of 5 sentiment.  My card front was then matted with Black and SU’s Marina Mist.

Thanks for stopping by.  See you tomorrow!

Take Another Shot!

Hello All Lanette Here!

I just wanted to share a fun mixed media tag that I created using one of this months new releases. 

TJ Products Used:  Technique Junkies Like a Camera 

Other Produst Used:  Watercolor Pencils, Lindy Stamp Gang Magicals, Crackle Paste, Modeling Paste, Ranger Archival Ink, Golden fluid Paint and Maya Road Wood Veneers.

A few details just for fun..

Here is a better look at the stamp I used today...

I am so in love with this set its the perfect must have for any card maker!

LIKE A CAMERA

Thank you so much for stopping by today! 

I hope that I have inspired you in some way!

Oh, February.......

Where Have You Gone....?

Yikes! This month is just flying by (haha, pun intended). And my post date sure snuck up on me! But, no worries! I have a couple projects to share with you anyhow!

First up is a fun and snarky card, featuring:  Bricks, Light (P003), Kitty Watching (SD635), and Sarcasm (SDX092).  Other supplies used: Cardstock, Distress Ink, Spectrum Noir Colored Pencils.

I stamped the background stamp with Mahogany Distress Ink and added some color with the colored pencils. I then stamped the kitty (this is one of my favorite stamps!) with Pumice Stone Distress Ink and added some color to that image as well. The sentiment was stamped on a separate piece of paper, die cut and adhered to the front of the card.

Next up is my March CD Calendar Insert, featuring two of this month's new releases: Travel Love (S727) and Fly Me Away (S716). This may have something to do with the fact that I am desperately wanting a mid-winter vacation! lol.  Other supplies used: Cardstock, Distress Ink, Vellum Quote.

I stamped the Travel Love background using Pumice Stone Distress Ink. Then using black ink, I stamped the Fly Me Away background directly over the top. I thought it would be cool to combine two background stamps into one image, something you don't often see. I then added a pre-made vellum quote and inserted it into my CD Calendar Case.

Well, that's it for me. Hope I tickled your creative mind! 

Til next time,
Keepin' it inky!

LOVE'N MY BRUSHOS

Hey there Junkies,

I've been inking up my fingers (literally) lately with my Brusho pigment ink powders....they are such fun to play with and create awesome backgrounds.  If you have them, you know what I'm talking about.  

This card was so much fun to make....

I used Strathmore Watercolor paper (cold press, 140#) for the first time.  I bought a 9x12 pad from ACMoore recently when they had a sale and this pad was only $5.00. I thought I couldn't lose at that price.  I've never used it before and was really pleased with the performance and the amount of water it could take without warping.  I'm not an expert in watercoloring, but for the price, this was great paper to use with the Brushos.  

I first gave the watercolor panel a good wash with clean water before sprinkling on the pigment powders, it allowed the crystals to "move".  If more water was needed, I spritzed it with water.  I added each color separately, and they blended very well.  

The stamp I'm using for this is #SD716 "Something Will Grow".  I love the sentiment that is attached to this floral image, and the bg certainly shows off that stamp well, I think.  I splattered some watered down black acrylic paint once the panel was dry and that finished off the design.  So easy, but I love it.  

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you can get your own hands inky soon!  

Hello Kitty!

I created the color behind the Technique Junkie Talking to You background stamp - http://techniquejunkies.com/talking-to-you/ - with the Technique Junkie Antique Glimmers technique.  It is one of my favortite techniques because it is EASY and the results are just interesting to see.  I stamped the stamp with Versafine black and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

The kitty is Technique Junkie Cat Squared 2- http://techniquejunkies.com/cat-square-2/.  She is stamped with black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers.


Layers to bring out the colors in the kitty and the background panel and a row of beads finish the card.

Hope your day is going great!  And that you are getting inky.

Judy Jackson

ATC with Attitude

Hey There Junkies!

The Crafty Nurse here with a little ATC attitude for you this month using one of the February new release stamps called, "Downtown Boy Kitty #SD705".  Wow!  Does this stamp really epitomize the glorious detail you can get in a high quality red rubber stamp.  You can see every line of fur and every cross hatch in his tweet jacket.  This is a real stunner!

For my ATC, I began by dry embossing a standard 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 size piece of card stock with a Tim Holtz embossing folder.  I applied a few layers of Daniel Smith watercolors in Quinacridone Gold, Aureolin, and Burnt Umber.  Boy Kitty was stamped using Black Soot Archival Ink, then colored with Distress Markers.

My sentiment is a Tim Holtz sticker, but Pat has also created a fabulous sentiment that goes perfectly with this stamp called "Sarcasm." 

Hope you all find time to this week to get your hands inky with a few of these new stamps from the February 2017 release. 

Until next time,

The Crafty Nurse

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello stampers, Beth Norman, here with a Valentine's Day card for you, so I'm sending out my love to all of you on this special day.

I wanted to do something a little different, and this is what I came up with.  My main stamp is called Happy Valentine's Day, and if you click on the link, not only will it take you to the stamp, but it will show you examples made by the Design Team.  I love that feature Pat added to her website.  Please forgive me for the shadows.  It was late at night when I took these photos.  Now I know never to do that again.

This is the front view.  My embellishment came premade from Michael's.

I added a pink flourish behind the main image which is called Big Flourish.  The nice thing about Big Flourish is that it covers a lot of space, making it easy to enhance other stamps, or can be used on its' own.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.

One Kitty Three Cards...

Hello All! Lanette Here!

Today I wanted to share tree different cards using the same two stamps from this months release. 

First I played with my watercolors......

Second I used My watercolor pencils and some scraps from my paper bin.....

For my third card I colored with my spectrum markers and used a bit of distress ink..

Here is a better look at the stamps I used today...

Downton Boy Kitty

Sarcasm

Thank you so much for stopping by today! 

I hope that I have inspired you in some way!

Like a Camera

Happy Thursday Junkies! Pam here today to share another project featuring one of the fab February releases.

I modified my stamp a bit to better fit into my project idea.  I used the Like a Camera stamp BUT I actually cut the sentiment apart from the pic design and used it with another stamp set Oh Snap!.  I wanted a more vintage look to my project. And remember you can always piece your stamp back together on and acrylic block to get the original design again.

Here's the result:

Love the vintage look of this card and I am loving this sentiment!!

I used my MISTI tool in order to get a great image over the Distress Ink background. This makes it so easy to get a perfect image every time.

Thanks for joining me today!

Embrace imperfection! 

Pam

http://journeyawakensthesoul.blogspot.com

Beans, Beans, The Magical Fruit!

Coffee Beans, that is!

Taking a quick coffee break for my project today.

I have a super simple card to share with you today. I used the Drinking The Coffee and Coffee Beans Background stamps to create a fun just because card.  

I used a few brown tones of Distress Inks on the background stamp and misted it lightly with water before stamping. I stamped the sentiment on some wood patterned paper and trimmed. The panel was elevated with some foam tape.  Add a little ribbon and some wooden beads and you're all set.

Now, I must get back to that coffee!!!!

See you soon!

PLAYING WITH YUPO PAPER

Hello Junkies!  

I've been having some fun playing with yupo paper.  If you don't know, yupo paper is a "plastic paper", (now that's an oxymoron).  It's non-porous and in our world of papercrafts it's used mostly with alcohol inks and markers for making backgrounds.   I've found several tutorials on YouTube and thought I'd get out my plastic gloves and see what I could create.  

(You definitely want plastic gloves while playing around with a variety of alcohol inks, it can be very messy, and I found, when the alcohol ink got on my fingers, it dried the skin around my cuticles.) 

You can heat set yupo paper with your heat gun, but you must keep it moving and not hold it in one place too long, otherwise, (remember this is plastic), you'll have a shrinky dink card.  (I know this to be true, LOL).  

The inks you'll want to use for stamping on yupo should be Stazon or Archival Inks.  In my card, I used Ranger black Archival ink.  Beside the alcohol inks, you'll need some 91% alcohol for helping you move the ink around the paper.  

Also, you'll want to seal background piece, when you're ready to use it.  Alcohol inks, can be reactivated unless you seal it.  I used a light coat of Kamar Varnish, which I purchased at ACMoore craft store.  

My card uses TJ Stamps #S661 "Growing Wild" and #SDX083 "In My Prayers".  

Here's another example of playing with yupo that I posted on my blog last week.

For one more day, you can grab the Technique Junkie February release stamps at a 15% discount. You don't need a code, it will calculate upon check out.  Easy peasy.  

I hope you get some crafting time today - it's fun there.  

Kitty Love

This is one of the fun new Technique Junkie February Releases.  I love this kitty in the new Kitty in Curlers stamp - http://techniquejunkies.com/kitty-in-curlers/.  However for this card it is the verse from Technique Junkie  stamps - Mae West Sentiments - http://techniquejunkies.com/mae-west-sentiments/ - that makes the card.

Miss Kitty is colored with Copic markers.  Then I added rhinestones and a pearl to create a necklace for her big date.  A clear heart and the pearl are colored with a hot pink Copic marker.

So now I hope you do know that the February Releases for Technique Junkie are on sale for 15% off through February 8.  What are you waiting for?

Have a wonderful day -- and get inky!

Judy Jackson

TJ Inspirations - Gorgeous Glimmer Paste

I recently added Nuvo Glimmer Paste to the site, and after demoing it all last weekend, I thought it might be fun to show you one of the easy ways this beautiful product is used. The stamp we are using, Throw Kindness, is one of the new stamps from the February release. Remember that the February 2017 release stamps are 15% off through February 8th. Just add any stamps from the category into your shopping cart and the discount will be automatically applied. Throw Kindness Nuvo Glimmer Paste - Amethyst Purple Nuvo Glimmer Paste - Blue Topaz The Stencil we are using is from A Colorful Life: A Colorful Life - Dotty Double Stencil Glimmering Kindness        This technique couldn't be easier- yet it has tremendous impact.  Place the stencil over the cardstock. I recommend using painter's tape or reuseable tape to hold the stencil down.  Dip into the Glimmer paste bottle with a spatula, and use the flat edge to apply it to the stencil. For best results, use the spatula like a butter knife, applying the paste like buttering toast. Once the first color is applied, clean the spatula.   Apply the second color of Glimmer Paste to the stencil in the same manner.   a Remove the stencil, lifting it straight off the cardstock. Immediately wash the stencil.   The glimmer paste may be dried with a heat tool, or left to air dry. Note that the paste on my card was nearly fully dry by the time I finished washing my stencil. It is very fast drying.

I hope you are a little inkspired by today's issue. See you next week! Sincerely, Pat Huntoon Technique Junkies LLC

Welcome to the hop! New Stamps for February!

 Today I am proud to show off the 15 newest stamps in the Technique Junkies line. The TJ Design Team has tons of inspiration for you to view to kick off the release!

All February 2017 New Release stamps are 15% off through February 8th. We can all use a little bargain now, right? No codes needed, just put them in your shopping cart and the discount will be applied at checkout.

This is the first stop after you are done here, you can go right on to Lanette next to view the whole hop and be inspired:

Design Team Blog: http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com

Lanette Erickson: http://stacksofscraps.blogspot.com

Cheri Weston: http://stampnboomer.blogspot.com

Kathy Stacy: https://craftynurse4u.wordpress.com

Ro Donner: http://rodonner.blogspot.com/
Beth Norman: http://www.sunflowers-dragonflies.ca

Pam DeChellis: http://journeyawakensthesoul.blogspot.com

Judy Jackson: http://judysstampart.blogspot.com

Pat Huntoon: http://patstamps.blogspot.com

Our first fun card uses the  Downton Boy Kitty image with the Sarcasm sentiment. I just thought the expression on the cat's face worked fabulous with the Sarcasm comment...

The second card today uses the Beautiful Strength focal image. Te sentiment is from the previously released Beautiful Faces set.

The background uses a brand new stencil from a new stencil company with a wonderful line of stencils that I am releasing this week. More to come on that background!

One more before you move on to the next stop on our hop:

The final card on this blog today uses the Talking to You background with the Kitty in Curlers focal Image. To create the colorful background, I simply swiped three different ink colors on a white sheet of paper, then stamped the background over the top. I swiped and stamped the image again, then cut out the "Hi There" word bubble for the Kitty. 

Here is an up-close view of the kitty:

Time to move on to Lanette's blog for the rest of the hop -- have fun and make sure you take advantage of the 15% discount on the February Stamps!

Pat Huntoon