Water Color Marker Winter Foliage

For my birthday, I used the gift certificates I received and bought myself a new set of Kuretake Art & Graphic Twin Markers.  They are a Water-based Dye Ink which reacts beautifully with water.  I was inspired by add them to my art arsenal after taking an online Make Merry Holiday Card Class with Julie Ebersole.

Julie demonstrated a lovely marker technique on Acrylic Stamps ... so I wanted to do a riff on that technique using the gorgeous red rubber of Technique Junkies Winter Foliage background stamp.  Remember, you can use my code TJ10Stephanie for 10% off your entire Technique Junkies store order.

Rather than color precisely, I used the brush end of the marker and just scribbled all over the back of my stamp, blending several colors together as I went.

I attached the stamp where I wanted it on my MISTI before I started coloring, then when the stamp was covered with ink, I spritzed a few times with water and stamped onto watercolor paper.

I was able to pull two prints from the stamp ... the first print is the original and the one still on the MISTI was made by spritzing with water a second time (no additional coloring) and stamping.  The red rubber releases the ink more thoroughly than the acrylic, so you don't get as many impressions before coloring again, but I love the subtle variation of the two images.

This is my finished group of images ... I love the ethereal effect you get from this Winter Foliage image with a few more spritzes of water ... you really can't go wrong.

For the first one, I just trimmed it and attached it to an A4 Kraft Card Base.  I was able to stamp the All is Calm Sentiment directly on to the inky background.

I just love how those ink colors blend together ... just like all of the real green and green-blue variation you see in all the different kinds of holiday foliage.

For the next one, I used the colors from the Sunday Stamp Winter's Breath Color Challenge.

I mounted my stamped image on a darker green before attaching to a rosy pink card base.

I colored the berries with two shades of marker and then spritzed with water again to soften the overall effect of the design.

I added the same Technique Junkies All is Calm Sentiment and a wrap of pale ribbon inspired by the Inspiration Photo.

For the next card, I used one of the original darker prints and splattered with with shimmering white paint.  I didn't get quite the contrast I'd hoped for (need to get a better opaque white paint for splatters), but I still loved the overall shimmery effect.

After loving the effect of the shimmering paint, I decided to see what would happened if I sprayed the entire stamped image with Shimmering Bliss Spray ... I chose Miami Vice Shimmering Bliss Spray on one of the secondary stampings.

That gorgeous shimmer is so hard to capture in a photograph ... but trust me, this baby has all over shimmery beauty.  I stamped the A Very Merry Christmas Sentiment directly on the background with Black Ink.

I hope you'll give coloring your background stamps a try.

How to Layer your Stamps

Hi fellow stampers.  Beth Norman-Roberts here today with another snowflake card.  I think this is one of my favourite winter/Christmas stamp sets because there is so much that can be done with it.  It is Called Snowflakes, Set of 9 and can be purchased at 10% off if you use my code TJ10Beth.

Today I'm sharing a tutorial on how to layer your stamps in a unique fashion.

Supplies, cardstock cut to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", stamps, VersaMark, three or more colours of embossing powder, embossing buddy, heat gun, ink, sponge (not seen in photo)

Using a darker colour of ink than your cardstock, sponge around the edges.

Take your largest stamp and stamp once or twice.  Here I love to use my Misti because I can get a deep shade of colour by stamping two or three times.

Using your embossing buddy, rub where you want your sentiment to go.

Heat emboss your sentiment and stamp out the smallest snowflake several times.

You want to ensure your ink is dried completely before completing this step.  Use or heat gun to set your ink, or air dry for an hour like I did.

Using your VersaMark and embossing powders, randomly stamp out your snowflakes and heat emboss each snowflake.  You are now ready to embellish your card with ribbon if you wish.

Snowflake Hugs

The Snowflakes and the verse are all from Technique Junkies Snowflakes set.   They are embossed with white embossing powder on tan  card stock.  Then I used A Colorful Life Stencil Medallion Fade.   I sprayed Dazzle Shimmering Bliss Topper over the stencil to add interest to the background.

Please remember to use my discount code TJ10Judy to get 10% off of your entire order.

Have a good day and get inky!

Judy Jackson

Groovy Christmas

Hello Junkies! 

It's Ceal, here to share another Christmas card with you. I am doing a series over on my blog, 25 days of Christmas Inspiration and I am sharing Christmas cards and projects.

To create my card I started with a top folding white card base and a stencil to create the background. For the focal image I used the Groovy Christmas set and watercolored it. This card will be sent to my daughter who loves VW buses.

Remember you can save 10% on your order by using my code TJ10Ceal

Happy New Year!

Yes, I do know it's not New Years yet.  But I couldn't resist going with that theme for this fabulous champagne glasses stamp from Technique Junkies November release.

The stamp is called Champagne Toast!  It is perfect for those New Years cards, but also for any celebratory occasion!  
The Happy New Year is from the Gifts of Christmas Set of 5 set.  I have been getting a lot of use from that amazing set with the five lovely scripted verses.  

On creamy shimmer card stock, I gold embossed Champagne Toast.  I also embossed the verse, and cut around it and popped it up with foam tape on the front.  I layered the panel onto a gold shimmery A2 card base.

Some pearl swirls from my stash add just the right touch of elegance to this card, don't you think?  And some champagne colored gems at the glasses stems really finish it off.  

Oh, and I brushed some Mixed Metals Shimmering Bliss inside the glasses for the champagne!

Use my code for 10% off your purchases at Technique Junkies. 

Hope you are inspired by my card.  Thanks for stopping by today.  

Blessings,

...and to All A Good Night!

All of Santa's elves are busily getting ready for Christmas at my house...including making a bunch of Christmas cards! This one happens to be one of my favorites (right now, lol). The three stamps used here go perfectly well together.

Even though it was done on a white cardstock background, it still highlights Santa at night.

I started out with a piece of white CS and, using my MISTI, positioned and stamped the SANTA IN MOONLIGHT (SD811) using Versamark. I then positioned and stamped the FIR FOREST (S806) across the lower section of the CS. Using black embossing powder, I heat embossed both images.

Then I pulled out some Memento Ink Pads in Dandelion, Cantaloupe and Nautical Blue. Using a sponge dauber, I added color to the moon with the light colors. I cut out a circle mask for the moon and sponged on the blue, adding just a little bit on the moon to tone it down and give it a more ethereal look.

With a white Jelly Roll Pen, I added snow to the trees and a little highlight around Santa's sleigh. I watered down a little white acrylic paint and flicked "snow" across the panel with a toothbrush. I then sprayed the entire panel with IRIDESCENT SHIMMERING BLISS. I unscrewed the bottle and dribbled a few larger dots of the spray creating some shiny snowfall. I attached the panel to a black A2 card base.

On a black piece of CS, I stamped and embossed in white the GOOD NIGHT (SDX105) sentiment. I trimmed the piece down and attached it to the card with some foam tape.

I really like how great the paint and toothbrush flicks complement the Shimmering Bliss drips. The snow looks so dimensional. 

If you like these stamps (or any others), you can save 10% off your order by using the code below. Note this code never expires! Just enter the code at checkout.

Hope you are having fun in your holiday preparations and got a few ideas and some inspiration from my post today.

Til next time,
Keepin' it inky!

CHRISTMAS CACTUS

Hi Junkies!  

I'm here today showing off a fun stamp in two ways, to add some variety in your card making using the same stamp.  

If you love this stamp, "Christmas Cactus"  you'll love all the stamps in the Technique Junkies Store and if you'd like to purchase any, please use my discount code (TJ10CHERI) so you can get a 10% discount.  

What a lovely stamp this is.  It's from the Mitten State Stamp Collection and makes a dramatic image for a Christmas card.  I love Christmas Cactus plants.  They live forever and are so easy to care for.  

I water colored this on 140# watercolor paper using Distress Inks.  It took no time at all after stamping it with Archival ink "Fern Green".  As a final touch of dimension and sparkle I added a layer of Shimmering Bliss Gold Topper over the panel before mounting the layers.  

Now this:

How cool is this contrast?  Same stamp...I stamped it in white pigment ink on a medium gray card stock panel.  I used a white PrismaColor pencil to add the light areas.  A dark gray colored pencil was used to outline and give depth to the image.  I have a 2 inch paint brush that I use for soft backgrounds and I used it to soften the image again with the white pigment ink.  

To add sparkle, I bordered the image with my Nuvo Glitter Pen and then took the same paint brush I used as described above, and added Delicata silver ink in the same manner I added the white pigment ink in the background. 

I hope you found some inspiration here today.  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget you have my 10% discount on all TJ Stamps, Nuvo Glitter Pens (and products) and Shimmering Bliss Sprays, if you'd like to use it.