Altenew dahlia stencils

I totally fell in love with Altenew's Dahlia layering stencil and had to get it. I cut out some masks with a large post-it note pad (full stick) and could then easily mask off the flowers and leaves and use different colors. I used distress ink and an ink blending tool.

I cut the finished panel down a bit and layered it with a piece of black card stock. The stamped sentiment reads "Thanks so much" in Swedish and is from Slöjd-Detaljer. I also added some Clear Droplets from Pretty Pink Posh and some sequins from a Neat and Tangled pack.

The finished panel was cut with the 2nd largest rectangle die from a Hero Arts set. I also cut a black A2-sized panel with the largest rectangle die in that same set. I offset the panel to one corner for something different. The stamped sentiment reads "Thanks so much" in Swedish and is from Slöjd-Detaljer.

The finished panel was cut with the largest rectangle die from a Hero Arts set. The stamped sentiment reads "A big hug" in Swedish and is from Slöjd-Detaljer. I also added some sequins from a Neat and Tangled pack.

The finished panel was cut with the 2nd largest rectangle die from a Hero Arts set. I also cut a black strip of cardstock and attached it to the left side. The finished card is a bit smaller than an standard A2-sized card. The sentiment is die cut with a Lawn Fawn die.

Challenges
Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge - Stencil it
Simon Says Stamp - Wedneday Challenge - Stencil it

It's a beautiful day

For these two floral cards I used Altenew's Beautiful day stamp set. The images are stamped with Altenew inks (yellow) and My Favorite things (green). I heat embossed some images in the background and colored them with Zig clean color real brush markers.

The red ink is Lawn Fawn's Lobster ink (very red). The images are fuzzy cut and mounted with foam tape.

The gold mat is from a craft fabric.

The pink in the large flower is Altenew ink. Finished off the card with some clear droplets from Pretty Pink Posh.

The gold speckles is chunky gold embossing powder from Stampendous.

Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Floral frenzy

Persian motifs with perfect pearls

I wanted to try heat embossing on craft and the paint with Perfect pearls following the inspiration from a video by Jennifer McGuire. I used the Altenew Persian motifs stamp set.

Here is used the Perfect pearls colour Copper mixed with water and then painted on. The diecut sentiment is from Lawn Fawn and the stamped one from Mama Elephant.

Same idea, only different sentiment and matted with a dark brown panel. The diecut sentiment is from Lawn Fawn and the stamped one from Mama Elephant.

I of course also did a couple with Distress Oxide inks and then painted the flowers with water and lifted the ink. After they were dry I went back in with Perfect pearls mixed with water.

The diecut sentiments is from Lawn Fawn and the stamped one from Mama Elephant.

Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Floral frenzy

Distress Oxide lifting with Perfect Pearls

Trying out the distress oxide ink lifting technique demonstrated by Jennifer McGuire in video not long ago. Instead of just ink lifting with water, I also painted in some water mixed with Perfect pearls.

Flowers are from Altenew stamp set Persian motifs. The butterflies are from a set from Slöjd-Detaljer and from Marianne Design. The dies are from Gummiapan.

The stamps are from Altenew dahlia stamp set. The die is Lawn Fawn and the label sentiment is Mama Elephant.

Butterflies are from Slöjd-Detaljer and Marianne Design. Diecut is Lawn Fawn and the label sentiment is Mama Elephant.

Ink lifting an ink blended background, adding Perfect pearls

I saw this video with Jennifer McGuire where she demonstrated how to ink lift from a background that had been sponged with Distress Oxide ink. When you paint the heat embossed area and dab off the color, you get a white chalky area. Really cool effect. I wanted to try and add something cool to this so after I've done the first step of just painting with water and then lifting the ink and drying my panel, I went back in with water mixed with perfect pearls. You got such a cool effect;

Here I used Perfect pearls with copper.

Die cut sentiment is Lawn Fawn. Stamped sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

Another version where I used ordinary Perfect pearls.

Die cut sentiment is Lawn Fawn. Stamped sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

Here is another version where I used craft cardstock instead and simply painted the flowers with Copper Perfect pearls. Love the effect!

Testing out new stencils from Altenew

I got some new stencils from Altenew the other day and had to try them out. Love the pattern.

Altenew persian motifs flowers in blue

I got the Altenew Persian motifs stamp set and have been using my Zigs to color it. I stamped the image with Versamark and heat embossed it with white and then went to town in several color schemes. This is the blue one;

I finished it off by adding a strip of gold heat embossed cardstock as well as a strip of blue cardstock and then mounted everything to a white card base. The die is a new one from Gummiapan. It reads "thank you" in Swedish.

Challenges
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Stamptember Stamp it

Vacation relaxation with Altenew Persian motifs

My vacation time of today, with small children, is far less relaxing than before children but I finally got some time to play with my new stamps *big smile*!! Just before we went on vacation I went to local store Pyssloteket and bought Altenew Persian motifs stamp set. I have not regretted it!!

I heat embossed the images in white and started to color them with the Zig clean color real brush markers and a water brush. I did 3 versions, one in blue, one in pink and one in yellow. Surprisingly enough, I like the blue one the best. I tend not to like flowers that are colored with an "unnatural" color (not a lot of flowers are blue like that) but it turned out quite nice. I'll turn them in to cards when I get home.

Loving the Zigs for this type of coloring. I find it very hard to blend the blues compared to blending the pinks or the yellows. I wonder how come?

Hope you all have a great holiday!

With one single tulip...

There's a famous birthday song in Sweden that start with the words "Med en enkel tulipan" which translates to "With a single tulip". I couldn't resist using that sentiment for this simple birthday card. I decided to play along in the Color Throwdown challenge where the challenges is to use yellow, purple and green;

The flowers are stamped with Altenews tulip stamp set and heat embossed in white. I have then watercolored with Distress inks; Wilted violet, Seedless preserves, Mustard seed, Fozzilized amber and Mowed lawn. I used a stiched frame to die-cut the panel, tied a green string around it and popped it up on a craft cardstock cardbase which had been distressed a bit with Vintage photo. Finished off with some Clear droplets 4mm from Pretty pink posh. They arrived in my order the other day. Love those things.

Challenges
Color Throwdown #440

Practising Altenew tulips

When I saw this stamp set from Altenew, I new I had to have it. I LOVE tulips! They always bring feelings of spring which is much appreciated up here in the cold north =).

I stamped them on Canson XL watercolor paper with Versamark ink and then heat embossed them in white. I used the Misty to stamp to get a perfect impression but also to help me line up the different leaves and flowers. I stamped them in several rounds, heating them in between so I could overlap some of the leaves.

I used a lot of water on the background and then used Broken china distress ink to dab in the color and let the water transport it on it's own. Fun technique. I used Mustard seed and Squeezed lemonade for the yellow flowers and Mowed lawn for the leaves.

However, need to add a second layer since I didn't get paint all the way up to the white line of the stems and leaves and vice versa. More practise, more practise!

Distress ink lifting on tulips

Ages ago I saw a video by Jennifer McGuire where she talked about "Distress ink lifting". Today I tried it out with my tulip stamp set from Altenew.

First you heat emboss your image. 

Then you saturate your paper with distress ink. The bolder color the better. I took the ink pad directly to the paper to get it really wet. Then I worked with an ink blending tool as well. 

I wanted to participate in the Color Throwdown challenge where the colors this time were yellow, green and blue so I chose Squeezed lemonade.

After the paper is loaded with ink, you "lift" the ink with a wet brush. If you want, you can then add additional color. I added some Mowed Lawn to get that green. To get some blue in there I tied some blue bakers twine around and finished off with a sentiment stamped in black and some pearl stickers.

The effect would be more noticeable, had I chosen a more intense color like blue or red. I think I will go for red next time ;)


Challenges
The Color throwdown
Simon Says Wednesday challenge - Anything goes

Watercolor flowers, day 7, 30 day coloring challenge

I saw a card from a previous 30 day coloring challenge and it was so beautifully simple in the design so I had to try. I stamped the pionee from Altenew with Versafine black ink. I then masked off the flower to stamp the leaves and the sentiment.

I then watercolored with one pink and one green color of my Zig markers and used a waterpen to spread the color. I'm finding it very challenging to put the shading in the right place. Practise, practise, practise.

This card is a part of the 30 day coloring challenge.

Sommarkort med dahlior

Nu har jag äntligen fått testa heat embossing och färgläggning med Distress Inks ordentligt. Jag använde mig av ett stämpelset från Altenew med dahlior som jag stämplat och färglagt i olika varianter. Testade även två textstämplar från Gummiapan som jag tyckte passade in med motivet.

Glad sommar

Kortet är gjort med heat embossing och jag har sedan färglagt med Distress Inks. Jag använde mig av ett stämpelset från Altenew med dahlior samt en textstämpel från Gummiapan som jag tyckte passade in med motivet.

Har skickat in ovan kort till Pysslotekets sommarutmaning. Utmaningen går ut på att använda tre av följande ord; blommor, solen, havet, stranden, blått, moln, glass, brygga, semester, sommar, poolen, jordgubbar, smultron, fiskmåsar och grilla. Som synes så valde jag; blommor, blått och sommar.