If this card looks familiar it’s because it is a carefully made CASE of a card posted by the uber talented Martin Stone of @martinmayhem on February 4. His blog post on it is here. Instagram post is here.
You’ve probably had it happen to you where you see something and HAVE TO make it. I went so far as to get the retired stamp and die set, called Happiness Abounds, off eBay (very reasonable price, thank goodness) in order to make this card. Since then I have made other cards with the stamps and dies. I think if I were stuck on a deserted island with my craft supplies I'd take this stamp and die set with me, it's so good.
One game-changing idea I learned from Martin’s Mayhem is how to alter a diecut to better match the color of your card. When you stamp an image on white cardstock, color it, and die cut it, you end up with a white outline around the image. Sometimes it works with your design and sometimes the white is just too stark. On this card, Martin colored the white outline with alcohol ink markers to fit in better with his card. Now I've started doing that (I used watercolor here) and I'm loving the results.
I stamped the flowers from Happiness Abounds (retired) on watercolor cardstock with black Distress Archival Ink and watercolored the inside of the images with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers (I know Dull Blue was one of the colors). I used a waterbrush with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink to color the leaves, and then with Misty Moonlight ink to color the outside edge of the images, just before I die cut them. After this, I splattered the image with white ink. Specifically, I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Pen-White ink. I am splatter-impaired and both the black and white ink from Dr. Ph. Martin's allows me to use a small paintbrush to make tiny splatters with NO giant blobs falling on my paper. It dries super fast and I think I am "cured" from my impairment.
I stamped the sentiment from another amazing SU stamp set called Good Feelings with black Memento ink onto 80lb white cardstock, and used one of the dies in the Happiness Abounds stamp set to get the spiral notebook edge at the top.
I assembled it to copy his card as best I could, adding lots of different bling when I was done. I was very happy with the results. Thanks, Martin.
What I've used here :
Cardstock: Watercolor paper, 80lb Hammermill Premium Color Copy Cover, Stampin’ Up! Misty Moonlight
Stamps: Happiness Abounds (plus matching dies), Good Feelings, both by Stampin' Up!
Ink: Distress Archival Ink in Black Soot, Memento Black Tuxedo Ink, Distress Ink Fossilized Amber
Other: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Dr. Ph. Martin's Pen-White ink for white splatter.
If this card looks familiar it’s because it is a carefully made CASE of a card posted by the uber talented Martin Stone of @martinmayhem on February 4. His blog post on it is here. Instagram post is here.
You’ve probably had it happen to you where you see something and HAVE TO make it. I went so far as to get the retired stamp and die set, called Happiness Abounds, off eBay (very reasonable price, thank goodness) in order to make this card. Since then I have made other cards with the stamps and dies. I think if I were stuck on a deserted island with my craft supplies I'd take this stamp and die set with me, it's so good.
One game-changing idea I learned from Martin’s Mayhem is how to alter a diecut to better match the color of your card. When you stamp an image on white cardstock, color it, and die cut it, you end up with a white outline around the image. Sometimes it works with your design and sometimes the white is just too stark. On this card, Martin colored the white outline with alcohol ink markers to fit in better with his card. Now I've started doing that (I used watercolor here) and I'm loving the results.
I stamped the flowers from Happiness Abounds (retired) on watercolor cardstock with black Distress Archival Ink and watercolored the inside of the images with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers (I know Dull Blue was one of the colors). I used a waterbrush with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink to color the leaves, and then with Misty Moonlight ink to color the outside edge of the images, just before I die cut them. After this, I splattered the image with white ink. Specifically, I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Pen-White ink. I am splatter-impaired and both the black and white ink from Dr. Ph. Martin's allows me to use a small paintbrush to make tiny splatters with NO giant blobs falling on my paper. It dries super fast and I think I am "cured" from my impairment.
I stamped the sentiment from another amazing SU stamp set called Good Feelings with black Memento ink onto 80lb white cardstock, and used one of the dies in the Happiness Abounds stamp set to get the spiral notebook edge at the top.
I assembled it to copy his card as best I could, adding lots of different bling when I was done. I was very happy with the results. Thanks, Martin.
What I've used here :
Cardstock: Watercolor paper, 80lb Hammermill Premium Color Copy Cover, Stampin’ Up! Misty Moonlight
Stamps: Happiness Abounds (plus matching dies), Good Feelings, both by Stampin' Up!
Ink: Distress Archival Ink in Black Soot, Memento Black Tuxedo Ink, Distress Ink Fossilized Amber
Other: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Dr. Ph. Martin's Pen-White ink for white splatter.
I am a huge admirer of cards I see on Pinterest that have delicate, almost ethereal looking die cuts. Some of the die cuts I see are by American companies like my dear Stampin' Up! or the amazing Tim Holtz. Some others are by artists like Alexandra Renke. I was searching around Google looking for something entirely different and found dies by Craftelier (I think it rhymes with chandelier), a Spanish company. You may have already heard of the site and their great designers.
On their site I found a designer named Lora Bailora. Low and behold she puts out many die sets featuring these lovely, delicate die cuts. I bought Lora Bailora Volver Die Branches and Baby M Dies Ramas. Volver means to return in English. Ramas means branches. They are gorgeous and oh, so delicate. The cost of the dies was extremely reasonable, and shipping from Spain was only $9. Pretty amazing. Check them out at Craftelier and on Insta @craftelier_.
This card also features stamps by Park Lane from Joann's, my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Tim Holtz Scribbly Butterfly dies, Postale dies, Tim Holtz Ideaology Collage Strips, Hero Arts nested tag dies and some little metal charms I have owned a long time. Base cardstock is Bristol vellum by Strathmore. Stitched slimline die is from Heffy Doodle. Sentiment strips are also from Mr. Holtz. It took a long time to put together because I am not a natural at mixed media, despite loving it so much. But I am happy with how it turned out.
I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Birds Butterflies and Blooms, and the We Love 2 Create Challenge.
I am a huge admirer of cards I see on Pinterest that have delicate, almost ethereal looking die cuts. Some of the die cuts I see are by American companies like my dear Stampin' Up! or the amazing Tim Holtz. Some others are by artists like Alexandra Renke. I was searching around Google looking for something entirely different and found dies by Craftelier (I think it rhymes with chandelier), a Spanish company. You may have already heard of the site and their great designers.
On their site I found a designer named Lora Bailora. Low and behold she puts out many die sets featuring these lovely, delicate die cuts. I bought Lora Bailora Volver Die Branches and Baby M Dies Ramas. Volver means to return in English. Ramas means branches. They are gorgeous and oh, so delicate. The cost of the dies was extremely reasonable, and shipping from Spain was only $9. Pretty amazing. Check them out at Craftelier and on Insta @craftelier_.
This card also features stamps by Park Lane from Joann's, my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Tim Holtz Scribbly Butterfly dies, Postale dies, Tim Holtz Ideaology Collage Strips, Hero Arts nested tag dies and some little metal charms I have owned a long time. Base cardstock is Bristol vellum by Strathmore. Stitched slimline die is from Heffy Doodle. Sentiment strips are also from Mr. Holtz. It took a long time to put together because I am not a natural at mixed media, despite loving it so much. But I am happy with how it turned out.
I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Birds Butterflies and Blooms, and the We Love 2 Create Challenge.
I recently bought the 2021 release of the Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. But before that, I used my set of 90 Zig Clean Color markers to color this giant floral image from Memory Box. The Gracious Floral Stamp Set and Die has endless possibilities. I started by stamping the image with a black pigment ink onto watercolor paper. I used the Real Brush markers to color in this wonderful image, choosing just a set of purples and olive greens for everything. Next, I die cut the image with the included die.
I recently bought the 2021 release of the Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. But before that, I used my set of 90 Zig Clean Color markers to color this giant floral image from Memory Box. The Gracious Floral Stamp Set and Die has endless possibilities. I started by stamping the image with a black pigment ink onto watercolor paper. I used the Real Brush markers to color in this wonderful image, choosing just a set of purples and olive greens for everything. Next, I die cut the image with the included die.
Using words and phrases as an integral part of a card design is something I love to do. I love text, fonts, big words, titles, you name it. If it involves the alphabet more than numbers, I'm there. (Yep, I am a Wordle addict). So when Poppystamps chose Word Art as this month's challenge topic, I was all in. This card features the Freestyle Hello die and the matching shadow. I saw Debby Hughes of Lime Doodle Design watercolor on a large stamp of small floral images, then spritz it with water and stamp onto watercolor paper. The sharp lines of the image blurred and moved and made it look amazing. I used four Zig Clean Color Markers and tried the same thing with a rubber stamp with little florals all over it. I was thrilled with the result. I used the mid-size die from the Scalloped Stitch Frames die set and cut a white frame. I trimmed the top of the frame off and glued this to a Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake card front. Next, I trimmed the watercolor to slightly larger than the frame opening and mounted it with foam adhesive to the card. I matted the kraft onto a SU Calypso Coral card.
I cut the Freestyle Hello from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cardstock. Next I cut the matching shadow from Heavyweight Vellum I bought on Amazon. I hid drops of clear Nuvo Crystal Drops behind the hello and adhered it to the shadow and then the watercolor piece.
I finished the card with tiny adhesive pearls on the watercolor paper. I'd love to make this again with different colors.
Using words and phrases as an integral part of a card design is something I love to do. I love text, fonts, big words, titles, you name it. If it involves the alphabet more than numbers, I'm there. (Yep, I am a Wordle addict). So when Poppystamps chose Word Art as this month's challenge topic, I was all in. This card features the Freestyle Hello die and the matching shadow. I saw Debby Hughes of Lime Doodle Design watercolor on a large stamp of small floral images, then spritz it with water and stamp onto watercolor paper. The sharp lines of the image blurred and moved and made it look amazing. I used four Zig Clean Color Markers and tried the same thing with a rubber stamp with little florals all over it. I was thrilled with the result. I used the mid-size die from the Scalloped Stitch Frames die set and cut a white frame. I trimmed the top of the frame off and glued this to a Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake card front. Next, I trimmed the watercolor to slightly larger than the frame opening and mounted it with foam adhesive to the card. I matted the kraft onto a SU Calypso Coral card.
I cut the Freestyle Hello from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb cardstock. Next I cut the matching shadow from Heavyweight Vellum I bought on Amazon. I hid drops of clear Nuvo Crystal Drops behind the hello and adhered it to the shadow and then the watercolor piece.
I finished the card with tiny adhesive pearls on the watercolor paper. I'd love to make this again with different colors.
I'm on the Poppystamps blog today with an extra large scoop of die cutting. The Grand Whittle Ice Cream Cone die is full of great etched detail as well as a cute stitched look on the edges. It cries out for a slimline card to stack up the scoops.
I'm on the Poppystamps blog today with an extra large scoop of die cutting. The Grand Whittle Ice Cream Cone die is full of great etched detail as well as a cute stitched look on the edges. It cries out for a slimline card to stack up the scoops.
I am also entering the As You Like It Challenge. I chose this design because I love squares and tiny, little details surrounded by clean space. I love miniatures (how I never owned a doll house growing up, I'll never know) and so coloring and layering *tiny paper blossoms* (ahem) on top of a stitched square frame was right up my alley.
I am also entering the As You Like It Challenge. I chose this design because I love squares and tiny, little details surrounded by clean space. I love miniatures (how I never owned a doll house growing up, I'll never know) and so coloring and layering *tiny paper blossoms* (ahem) on top of a stitched square frame was right up my alley.
Texture is the name of the game for the April Poppystamps challenge, so I decided to try something different. I used a die to create a stencil and applied Distress Crackle paste to showcase the die's design.
I started with watercolor paper and liberally applied Speckled Egg Distress Spray Stain to create a mottled blue "wash" over the paper. I dried this with a heat gun and set it aside. Next, I used the Poppystamps Gilded Plate die to cut out a paper stencil from lightweight cardstock. I taped down the die cut on my watercolor paper and spread a thin layer of the crackle paste over it. I quickly lifted the paper stencil as soon as I was done. Making a stencil from paper or cardstock means it is one use only. There's no way to clean it and use it again.
Texture is the name of the game for the April Poppystamps challenge, so I decided to try something different. I used a die to create a stencil and applied Distress Crackle paste to showcase the die's design.
I started with watercolor paper and liberally applied Speckled Egg Distress Spray Stain to create a mottled blue "wash" over the paper. I dried this with a heat gun and set it aside. Next, I used the Poppystamps Gilded Plate die to cut out a paper stencil from lightweight cardstock. I taped down the die cut on my watercolor paper and spread a thin layer of the crackle paste over it. I quickly lifted the paper stencil as soon as I was done. Making a stencil from paper or cardstock means it is one use only. There's no way to clean it and use it again.
I just love the My Favorite Things Roses All Over stamp. It's elegant and so very flexible. I decided to enter the MFT Weekly Sketch Challenge #583 (#MFTWSC583) with it. I heat embossed the image with white embossing powder onto watercolor paper and then watercolored four different squares with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to have them represent the four seasons.
I just love the My Favorite Things Roses All Over stamp. It's elegant and so very flexible. I decided to enter the MFT Weekly Sketch Challenge #583 (#MFTWSC583) with it. I heat embossed the image with white embossing powder onto watercolor paper and then watercolored four different squares with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to have them represent the four seasons.
I was so excited to get the Harvest Mouse My Favorite Things Stamp and Die set in the mail. I won a gift card from them a while back (random draw!) and finally took advantage of a sale to snag this utterly adorable set. I was using both a color challenge and a sketch challenge to guide me into a design.
I stamped with Versafine Black Ink on watercolor paper and heat set it for just a few seconds. Then I used my dear Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers along with a tiny paint brush dipped in water to color in the image. The inside of the ear was originally gray and I went back with a pink color later. I added white dots to the vest with a white gel pen. I added a sentiment up top. I die cut the mouse, leaves and the frame and backed the frame with a piece of lightweight text paper (I'm a sucker for text paper anywhere). I added the olive green strip which I stamped with the same color ink and mounted everything onto a kraft card. Can't wait to use the rest of this sweet set.
Ingredients
CS: Dark olive green CS unknown, lighter green is Stampin' Up! Old Olive, kraft is Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake, Canson XL Watercolor Paper
Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up! Newsprint Designer Series Paper (retired)
Stamps: Harvest Mouse by My Favorite Things
Dies: Poppystamps Double Scalloped Stitched Frames & MFT Harvest Mouse dies
Ink: Versafine Black ink, Old Olive (stamped off)
Color: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
Punch: I used a Fiskars Hexagon Punch to make the fishtail on the sentiment strip.
Challenges: Make the Cards Challenge #38, Freshly Made Sketches #508 and Just Add Ink #577
I was so excited to get the Harvest Mouse My Favorite Things Stamp and Die set in the mail. I won a gift card from them a while back (random draw!) and finally took advantage of a sale to snag this utterly adorable set. I was using both a color challenge and a sketch challenge to guide me into a design.
I stamped with Versafine Black Ink on watercolor paper and heat set it for just a few seconds. Then I used my dear Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers along with a tiny paint brush dipped in water to color in the image. The inside of the ear was originally gray and I went back with a pink color later. I added white dots to the vest with a white gel pen. I added a sentiment up top. I die cut the mouse, leaves and the frame and backed the frame with a piece of lightweight text paper (I'm a sucker for text paper anywhere). I added the olive green strip which I stamped with the same color ink and mounted everything onto a kraft card. Can't wait to use the rest of this sweet set.
Ingredients
CS: Dark olive green CS unknown, lighter green is Stampin' Up! Old Olive, kraft is Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake, Canson XL Watercolor Paper
Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up! Newsprint Designer Series Paper (retired)
Stamps: Harvest Mouse by My Favorite Things
Dies: Poppystamps Double Scalloped Stitched Frames & MFT Harvest Mouse dies
Ink: Versafine Black ink, Old Olive (stamped off)
Color: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
Punch: I used a Fiskars Hexagon Punch to make the fishtail on the sentiment strip.
Challenges: Make the Cards Challenge #38, Freshly Made Sketches #508 and Just Add Ink #577
I was thrilled to have my card chosen by the Color Hues Color Challenge as the winner of their 24th challenge with my Coral & Turquoise card. As a result, they have graciously asked me to be the guest designer for challenge #26. Pink and purple are the challenge colors, and they are not just for unicorns and Disney princesses anymore. When I think of these two colors, I think of flowers. My husband loves to grow flowers in our backyard and lilies in our koi pond and they are most often pink and purple. I recently purchased a gorgeous 6x6" background stamp from My Favorite Things called Roses All Over Background. It is stunning, and a big departure from the adorable animal stamps I know them for. It is not new in their catalog; I've simply never seen it until recently. I stamped this on watercolor paper with Versamark (I got the best results from putting the paper down onto the stamp and pressing) and then heat embossing in white. I used only 2 of my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to put the color down. Then I used a water brush to spread it onto the rose pattern, even blending a little here and there.
To let the beauty of the stamp and the colors shine through (and to not stray from pink and purple), I kept the sentiment short, sweet, and black and white. It needed more than a stamped phrase, but not much more. I don't yet own any script dies (soon, I promise), so I used my Silhouette. I used the Silhouette's offset feature to get the black background. I pop dotted everything off a white background and I was done. The card will fit into a 5.5" square envelope.
CS: Gina K Pure Luxury Heavy Weight 110lb, Canson XL cold press watercolor paper, Bazzill Licorice Twist
Ink: Versamark
Die: Silhouette used with font Bigfat Script from Fontspace.com
Embossing Powder: Taylored Expressions Fine Detail White Embossing Powder
Watercolor: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers in Lilac 080 and Pink 025; Pentel waterbrush with largest tip
I was thrilled to have my card chosen by the Color Hues Color Challenge as the winner of their 24th challenge with my Coral & Turquoise card. As a result, they have graciously asked me to be the guest designer for challenge #26. Pink and purple are the challenge colors, and they are not just for unicorns and Disney princesses anymore. When I think of these two colors, I think of flowers. My husband loves to grow flowers in our backyard and lilies in our koi pond and they are most often pink and purple. I recently purchased a gorgeous 6x6" background stamp from My Favorite Things called Roses All Over Background. It is stunning, and a big departure from the adorable animal stamps I know them for. It is not new in their catalog; I've simply never seen it until recently. I stamped this on watercolor paper with Versamark (I got the best results from putting the paper down onto the stamp and pressing) and then heat embossing in white. I used only 2 of my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to put the color down. Then I used a water brush to spread it onto the rose pattern, even blending a little here and there.
To let the beauty of the stamp and the colors shine through (and to not stray from pink and purple), I kept the sentiment short, sweet, and black and white. It needed more than a stamped phrase, but not much more. I don't yet own any script dies (soon, I promise), so I used my Silhouette. I used the Silhouette's offset feature to get the black background. I pop dotted everything off a white background and I was done. The card will fit into a 5.5" square envelope.
CS: Gina K Pure Luxury Heavy Weight 110lb, Canson XL cold press watercolor paper, Bazzill Licorice Twist
Ink: Versamark
Die: Silhouette used with font Bigfat Script from Fontspace.com
Embossing Powder: Taylored Expressions Fine Detail White Embossing Powder
Watercolor: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers in Lilac 080 and Pink 025; Pentel waterbrush with largest tip
I love watercolor a lot, but sometimes it intimidates me. So when I had the idea to simply combine 3 colors (red, orange, purple) in a messy way, I knew it wouldn't be too hard. I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers in a couple of orange, a couple of red, and a couple of purple shades. Then I used a large Pentel waterbrush, I simply spread the color over some watercolor paper, making sure to avoid mixing blue-purple with orange as I knew that would not blend too well (they are too close to opposites on the color wheel). I kept red in the middle of the other colors. I literally painted with one color a little with the marker, then spread it with the waterbrush. I kept going until I had covered an area about 8" x 3". Then I sent the watercolor paper through my Silhouette and cut the word "wish." Then I cut BIG out and painted it with one shade of purple after it was cut. I overlapped the letters and added pop dots to the w and the s. I added several sequins and called it a day.
CS: Background is Gina K Pure Luxury Heavyweight 110lb, Watercolor cardstock is Canson XL Cold press
Watercolor markers: Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers in Red, Geranium Red, Wine Red, Carmine Red, Deep Red, Scarlet Red, Orange, Purple, Violet, and Deep Violet
Pentel Waterbrush, largest size
Fonts used in Silhouette: Tondu and Bebas Neue found on DaFont.com.
Sequins from Amazon.com.
Challenges: CAS Mixup September Watercolour Challenge, Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with a Die, Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Anything Goes, Color Throwdown 659, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Sparkle & Shine
I love watercolor a lot, but sometimes it intimidates me. So when I had the idea to simply combine 3 colors (red, orange, purple) in a messy way, I knew it wouldn't be too hard. I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers in a couple of orange, a couple of red, and a couple of purple shades. Then I used a large Pentel waterbrush, I simply spread the color over some watercolor paper, making sure to avoid mixing blue-purple with orange as I knew that would not blend too well (they are too close to opposites on the color wheel). I kept red in the middle of the other colors. I literally painted with one color a little with the marker, then spread it with the waterbrush. I kept going until I had covered an area about 8" x 3". Then I sent the watercolor paper through my Silhouette and cut the word "wish." Then I cut BIG out and painted it with one shade of purple after it was cut. I overlapped the letters and added pop dots to the w and the s. I added several sequins and called it a day.
CS: Background is Gina K Pure Luxury Heavyweight 110lb, Watercolor cardstock is Canson XL Cold press
Watercolor markers: Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers in Red, Geranium Red, Wine Red, Carmine Red, Deep Red, Scarlet Red, Orange, Purple, Violet, and Deep Violet
Pentel Waterbrush, largest size
Fonts used in Silhouette: Tondu and Bebas Neue found on DaFont.com.
Sequins from Amazon.com.
Challenges: CAS Mixup September Watercolour Challenge, Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with a Die, Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Anything Goes, Color Throwdown 659, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Sparkle & Shine
