2018 – Finding Inspiration

As this new year gets underway, it is time for me to expand my creative quest for different and unique inspiration. Hopefully I can incorporate what I have seen thus far into my cards and other projects. This search has lead me into some different and interesting sites, away from the more popular cardmaking locations.  

Here are some of my better finds:

First of all, if you have not already found this lady on YT, I’d like to introduce you to Sandy Parker from Crafting for Almost Everyone. She has a wealth of product knowledge that she willingly shares as well as exciting projects. Sandy is an independent crafter which means she tells you what she has learned about so many products. One of her “shows” talks about embossing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4f7sStfkGs&t=844s.

Another very interesting site is a family owned ordering site: http://www.flonzcraft.com/index.php?route=common/home. Besides carrying some unique stamps (great prices), they carry a vast supply of different coloring books and cards. What I have seen of the coloring aspects could be used in conjunction with your card creations. I spent hours on that site enjoying their topics.

There are two other FB sites that captured my attention. The information, talent and design ideas on both have been opened to all levels from beginners to professional. 

Those sites are:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/768959146575859/about/  Perpetual Christmas Card Club, and

https://www.facebook.com/groups/358747767875731/   Prismascolor Combinations.

There is one more site (maybe more of a controversial topic) that some of you may find interesting. I have read many of the comments and viewed some of the products they discuss. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1476856552403005/  Unbranded Dies and Inspiration.

Well, I really must get back to my flowers today. Hope you will look into some of these sites, start to follow some and maybe join the clubs. Whatever you do, be creative.

Till next time,

May God Bless you and yours. 

Aviary

Sometimes we see something while surfing the web that just lingers in our minds. Maybe a unique pattern, color combination, verse, but it just lingers somewhere in the back of your mind. That was the case here.

My mother is in a Senior Memory Care location about two thousand miles from here. I enjoy sending her flowers and also some of my handmade cards. When I saw this design, I knew that would be a beautiful way to say we love her.

The beautiful embossed design (Aviary), is an Ann Griffin design released through Cuttlebug.  I used a golden white pearlescent cardstock for the impression and trimmed it to fit my card base. 

The Lily is a Whimsy Stamps die, cut from the same beautiful paper. It is rather stiff so when scoring the veins and lifting the petals, I was sure it will hold its shape.

When doing a one color-on-color project, the results can be astonishing. You may want to give it go sometime.

I really appreciate you stopping by today and hope you will let me know what you think.

So, till later…May God Bless You and Yours.

In-Between Cards …

January -  A new year is upon us. Time to start my cards for this year. Yet, if you are like me, you might be excited about creating handmade cards but just cannot get that motivation started again. Wow! It's a bummer of a feeling.

My solution: Do something totally different and out of my norm. And "Greenman" is really out of my norm.

A few years ago, I became captivated by a beautiful and mythological series of drawings. I downloaded several and started making them come to life my way. The one I'm showing here was one that I used colored pencils to finish. It gave me a chance to practice and improve some of my blending and shading techniques. 

This is a copy of an original drawing is by C Kester from 2010. I have no ideas how the artist envisioned the finished works. My goal was to show the different seasons through the leaf colors.

This will be part of a grouping of 4 Greenmen that we will frame and mount in my crafting room. Two are already completed with Chameleon Pens and the other two will be with Prismacolor Pencils. I really love working with both medias.

What do you do to rejuvenate your creativity?

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I look forward to hearing from you and about your projects.

Till next time, may God Bless you and yours.                                                     

Technique: Stamp-Color-Stamp-Emboss

This was really a fun technique. Unfortunately, I cannot claim this as my original technique.  I noticed it on FB not to long ago and realized the logic behind it. It does solve an embossing problem that many stampers have struggled with – the embossing flaking off when adding color to the design.

Using MISTI: Position Gina K’s Bold and Blooming leaving enough space for the greeting. (To be added later.)

Stamp the images with Memento – Tuxedo Black.

Important: Leave the stamps in position on MISTI. Mark the back of the stamped image for later re-stamping. (I wrote top on the back of mine.)  

Prismacolor Premier:

·         Red Flower – Shaded areas of petals – Raspberry then finish with Crimson Red. Center – Crimson Red.

·         Blue Flower – Shaded areas of petals – Indigo Blue then finish with Periwinkle. Center – Periwinkle.

·         Yellow Flower – Shaded areas of petal –Mineral Orange then finish with Yellowed Orange.

·         Small Purple Flower – Shaded petals with Parma Violet then finish with Lilac.

·         The Leaves – use the darkest shades to start at the flower edges and form a tree like shaded shape going towards the tip (refer to photo) use – Dark Green, Marine Green, Chartreuse, then Yellow Chartreuse.

·         Tendrils – Alternate Peacock Green and Celadon Green.

When finished coloring:  Carefully reposition the stamped image. Before applying the ink, do a dry test – because the stamp is clear, you should be able to see the colored image and the outline of that image. 

Now, re-stamp using the Tuxedo Black. Apply Clear, Fine Embossing Powder.

Greeting: Select and position the greeting for the open center. Again stamp greeting and emboss.

Finish your card in layers to compliment the colors used. 

Wish you a blessed and creative evening!

A New Trend…Foam Flowers

One of the newest and most exciting trends hitting the U.S. is to create realistic flowers using a protect called “Foamiran.”

Yes, I said foam! Not the crofters foam that we in the States have seen and used for years, but a very thin, 0.6mm (about 0.02” thick) beautiful, and versatile foam.  

To my surprise, a good portion of the world has had this product for several years. Just go to FB and check it out – be prepared to be wowed!

Last summer, I discovered this product and at that time, had to order it from Ireland, and then by early fall from Whimsy Stamps here in Florida. It is so amazing – you can die cut as many as 6-7 layers of foam at one cutting. Several of the “pros” hand cut their petals so the sizes are more customized.

Because of my physical situation, I elected to die cut (can not imagine what I would do with scissors!) I used some of our fantastic flower dies from Whimsy (pictured here) and several of those from Heartfelt Creations.

The picture above shows two each of three different sized petals cut with Whimsy Stamps Lily Flower die. The petals are cut from Foamiran Pale Yellow and Lemon. (For this flower, you can use any number of petals to create a fuller flower.) The flower shown in the middle uses two of each size.

To give the illusion of texture and accents, I used Chameleon Pens, OL3 (Olive Green) for the centers and YO3 (Warms Sunset) for the outer edges. I also used the Colorless Blender to soften some of the accented colors. 

After adding the color, I used my iron, (yes my cloths iron) set on a very low setting for each petal and immediately crinkled the petals. (OK, if this sounds new or strange to you, you may want to watch some of the videos)  

Next, using a ball stylus of appropriate size, I opened the petals. When all were opened, I then used a hot glue gun and assembled the flowers. To help hold the flower in place, I again hot glued the flower on to the card.

Hope I did not totally confuse you with this technique but after you create one or two, you may feel a like me – addicted to foam!

Till later,

May God Bless you and yours.