Better Things

Subtle background, soft colors, and a soulful sentiment equal a great card! This one is a perfect card to send to someone who needs a little boost when things aren't going so great. 

I paired the recently released "Texture Nautilus" background with a great sentiment called "Better Things" to create this inspirational card. Look at how beautiful and subtle the background is. 

 To make that gorgeous background, I stamped the Texture Nautilus using Versamark ink on a white cardstock. I heat embossed the image using a soft green embossing powder. Using the fabulous Ink Blending Brushes, I was able to create the soft blending of colors by brushing ink onto the embossed piece. These brushes make blending ink so incredibly easy. (No more sponge daubers for me! No longer need to have a dauber for every color of ink...just wipe off the brush on a towel in between color changes.)

I trimmed the piece down and matted it with a coordinating blue cardstock, then attached it to a pink A2 card base. The sentiment was stamped in black ink on pink cardstock and mounted with the same blue, then attached using foam tape. I added a few iridescent blue sequins for interest.

I hope you love this card as much as I do and feel inspired to give it a try. Trust me when I say the blending brushes make a world of difference in getting the ink to blend softly together with ease, and at half the price of some of the other brushes on the market, I considered them a steal. There are ten brushes in the set so you can get really detailed with your ink application. No learning curve...just swipe the brush through the ink and brush it onto your project.

Links to the stamps and brushes are provided above. Just click on the name to be taken to the appropriate place on the Technique Junkies site. And if you'd like to save a little on any of those products, simply enter my special code at checkout and you will save a cool 10% on your purchase!

This code never expires, so you can use it whenever you place an order!

Have fun exploring your craftiness!

Til next time,
Keepin' it inky!

Dreams of the Prickly Pear

 Hello to you all, Kia here with you.

I wanted to do something different with this cute Prickly Pear and as I prepared to get my card together I settled on challenging myself by using Copic colouring.

I started with a pale yellow green base and went from there, adding greens, blue greens, a touch of bright yellow and red.  Once I finished the colouring I die cut the piece using a stitched rectangle die.

 I added hints of the sand for the ground cover and stamped the Grain of Sand sentiment in the top right corner and to finish I added drops of Nuvo Crystal drops in various colours.

This was great fun to do and left me smiling when I finished. I hope it does that for you too.
When shopping at Technique Junkies use my code for a 10% discount.

Thank you for visiting, I will see you next time. 

The Rooster and the Hen

The Rooster and The Hen

This is a Z-card. There are lots of directions for this on the internet.  I used The Rooster May Crow and Time to Celebrate as the greeting inside the card. Regular bright background paper added to the card.

The focal image  was painter with watercolors, and the two chickens were were painted over with Nuvo Glitter Gloss Aqua Pens to add a bit of shimmer.

Saving money is always nice.  Save 10% on your total order by using TJ10Judy in the coupon box as you check out!

Sunny and warm days are part of my August days -- and I hope part of your August days as well. Enjoy getting inky!

Sunflower Dreams

Hi Junkies!  It's Holly posting today, and I'm sharing this gorgeous sunflower card with y'all.  I fell in love with this sunflower as soon as I saw it.  I stamped this Framed Sunflower with Pinecone Versafine Clair ink onto some watercolor paper and let it dry.  Then I let loose and had fun watercoloring this with Daniel Smith watercolor paints.  It actually took me a couple of days to finish because I had to stop and let some layers dry before I could add more color.  I added the little sentiment from the Dream, Hope, Wish, Wonder set and popped it up with some dimensional tape.

I know you need this Framed Sunflower stamp, so use this code, TJ10Holly, to save 10% when you shop at Technique Junkies.  Enjoy your week!

Back to School!!

Hello friends!

School is just around the corner, although some kids have already started, many will after Labor Day!

And a good idea is to give your kid a little note, card, tag!

For this project I used "Big Numbers" and  "Back to School Banner".

Stamp Big Number Background on pink cardstock in Versamark Watermark Ink, add clear embossing powder and heat set.

Blend Distress Oxide to make the pink number pop.

Stamp Back to School Number on white cardstock in Black Ink, fussy cut and set aside.

Add Big Numbers panel to white card base with foam tape.

Add a white scallop frame.

Adhere banner.

Add Nuvo drops and clear sequins.

Remember you can get these stamp with a 10% discount using my code:  TJ10Giovana.

Have a wonderful day!

The Truth Hurts

I have a co-worker who cares about me enough to let me know when I've been acting a bit prickly (yes, I often wear my emotions a bit too loud and clear unfortunately) ... so this is a card to thank her for her honesty.

I started with two colors of Distress Oxide Ink (Twisted Citron & Lucky Clover) and the 50 Shades Stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  I attached my stencil using Therm-O-Web Pixie Spray and used my amazing ink blending brushes to apply and blend the ink (remember you get 10% off your entire store order with my discount code TJ10Stephanie).

The circles were inspired by the Trend Week Challenge at Just Us Girls.

I stamped the new Prickly Stamp with Ranger Emerald Green Ink on Citron cardstock and detail cut the cactus.  I used my brushes to apply a little Lucky Clover Ink and then stamped it a second time on the same paper before paper piecing my inked cactus.

I finished with a sticker sentiment and three colors and sizes of green enamel dots using this week's TGIF Challenges Sketch.

Do you have someone you need to thank this week?

Dreaming of Wings

Hello folks!  Todays Technique Junkies card uses Dreaming of Wings and A Colorful Life Stencils background. 

I stamped and coloured my image then I carefully sponged the stencil.  This was extremely easy with this stamp, and required no masking.  Easy peasy folks!

As always, you can enjoy a 10% discount on these, or any other product, excluding the clearance rack, simply by using my code TJ10Beth.