EMBOSS RESIST TECHNIQUE - WATERCOLOR WINGS

A technique for you all today - the Emboss Resist Technique I'm not sure if that is its correct technical term but it's what I call it.  Here are a couple of examples of the technique and I've done a You Tube tutorial for you - its makes it easier than typing it all out.   This one uses Watercolor Wings and the sentiment is from Best Birds.  The flowers and firefly is from Jar of Love.

 This one uses Watercolor Wings and some of the fireflies and flowers from Jar of Love again using some of the new In-Colours of Lemon Lime Twist and Fresh Fig.

I hope you have a go at this technique - drop me a comment if you do and I'll come and have a look.

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Don't forget our super Special Offer during July - for every £45 you spend in July you get a coupon to spend in August for £4.50.  It soon mounts up to some great free goodies.

 

 

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

WATERCOLOR WINGS - RESIST EMBOSSED

A technique from me today which is not a new technique at all but one I haven't seen around for a while - called the Resist Embossed Technique.

I've used some of the new Delightful Daisy Designer Series Paper here, the leaves from Jar of Love and the Butterflies from Watercolor Wings.

The butterflies were first stamped onto Whisper White with Versamark and then embossed with White Embossing Powder.  I then used some Lemon Lime Twist, Powder Pink and Berry Burst ink with one of our sponge daubers to make the image of the butterfly pop!

The happy birthday is from Best Birds and I finished the butterflies off with some Rhinestones.

I'm adding this into the Time Out challenge  #85 this week which has this lovely photo as our inspiration.  It's a shame Picture Perfect is retired as that hummingbird would be lovely to use.

 

COLOURFUL SEASONS / BEST BIRDS - CASE THIS SKETCH #223

This is the sketch over at CASE this Sketch this week #223


 

I decided to go with the Colourful Seasons  set and use just the flowers and the stem.  I first used the background crackle stamp from Best Birds - I love this stamp as a background image.  I used the lovely Pink Poweder to stamp it direct onto Whisper White cardstock.  The branch was inked in Early Espresso and I used the other two new In-Colours for the flowers, Berry Burst and Fresh Fig.  I am loving these new In-Colours this year.

I continued the small dots going up the card and finished it with just a few glitter dots as it still had to be Clean and Simple.




 

DAISY DELIGHT/BEST BIRDS - TGIF CHALLENGE #TGIFC107

This is a new Challenge blog to me so I thought I would give it a go.  Their theme is  Sympathy or Get Well - click on the image below to go to their challenge.


 

I don't actually have any stamps with any of those sort of sentiments on them so I turned to Best Birds for the sentiment and the lovely Daisy Delight for the images.

I wanted to show there is more to this set than the large daisy and the punch.

The square images actually came about by accident - I had cut out three square framelits with the Big Shot and was left with a piece of paper with three holes which I thought aha - that could make a great frame so I kept it!  Never waste anything!  I used it as a mask for the square.

I inked the background with Pool Party and Soft Sky.  I used Old Olive for the stems, Fresh Fig for the flowers and the sentiment and Daffodil Delight and More Mustard for the daisies.  The Whisper White was adhered to a piece of Pool Party cardstock.  I was tempted to add Wink of Stella but as this is a more sombre piece I've left it off.

I hope you like my card - all products can be purchased from me via my online shop!  Or why not join my team and benefit from all the perks of being a Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator.

HAPPY CRAFTING

 

BEST BIRDS - INKSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE

Oh dear its looking like a Best Birds week again!  It's not intentional, honest!

The challenge over at Inkspirational this week is yet another think outside the box challenge.  Just look at this gorgeous photo of this shop window - I would love to go in there and have a mooch around.  This is our inspiration for this week's challenge.




My card really doesn't do this lovely window justice - and I'm not completely happy with it - it didn't quite evolve as it did in my head lol!

I used some of the now retiring SU DSP in Serene Scenery for the circles and cut them out with the Stitched Framelits. I spotted the duck egg blue in the picture and so used Soft Sky cardstock and ink for my card. I've used the Bird out of the Birds and Blooms Framelits to represent all those lovely feathers in the window.  It was inked in Soft Sky and Early Espresso.  A touch of a Basic Pearl is his eye.

I then spotted all those lovely bottles and things in the window so I headed for my Bookcase Builder set and had a play with some of those images.

The Sentiment came from Thankful Thoughts.  The background stars came from the retiring Botanical Blooms.  I try not to use too many sets but I just needed to in this instance.

 

STAMPIN' UP BEST BIRDS

The challenge over at Less is More is a colour challenge.  Now yellow is not my go-to colour very often so this was indeed a challenge for me.





Yellow Bird, the song, was a family favourite when I was growing up and it was one of the songs I was always requested to sing so my first choice for this challenge had to be Best Birds.  I did a colour wash of an old SU grey colour called Going Gray as my base and then stamped the crackle stamp from this set. I used the framelits to cut out the branch and the bird.  The Bird was coloured with Daffodil Delight using an SU Blender pen and popped up on dimensionals.  The sentiment is from Thankful Thoughts.

This will be one of the cards going out to my customer's this month to say thank you for shopping with me.

Happy Crafting

 

BEST BIRDS - YOU TUBE TUTORIALS

My mini series of  You Tube Tutorials celebrating this lovely set are continuing.

In case you've missed any here are numbers 2

 and 3:

The Best Birds set will only be available as a bundle until the end of May 2017 so get it at a discounted price will you can.  Click on the image below to be taken to my store.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

BEST BIRDS - YOU TUBE MINI SERIES

I love the Best Birds set - in fact birds have to be some of my favourite stamps and SU have done some lovely ones over the years.

I'm so pleased that this set is continuing in the new catalogue along with its framelits and I've done a little mini series of videos over the next few days showing lots of different ways to make cards using just this set!

This is tutorial no 1 and is one I recently put in for a challenge - I think it lends itself as a sympathy card as it is quite gentle.

 

 
 YOU TUBE TUTORIAL

 Pop back over the next few days to see then next cards in the series - quick before they fly away!

And in case you didn't realise - this set is still offered as a bundle in the current catalogue but once the new catalogue comes out the bundle will be retiring although the sets will still be available.  So contact me now to get yours hands on a bundle before they do in fact fly away!

 

BEST BIRDS - WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE 114/ SUO CHALLENGE

It's a colour challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday this week -


 
 

 Hmm - Calypso Coral is not a colour I use very often so a real challenge for me.
I've used the wonderful Best Birds and the Birds and Blooms framelits for my cards and what's even better about this set is its not retiring WooHoo!

Over at SUO Challenge - the theme is Sympathy and Caring. I think this gentle card would be very suitable for sending to someone who needs a hug.

 

 I love the crackle stamp in this set as its great for backgrounds and looks so pretty with the Pool Party Ink.  The bird was coloured in with the Calypso Coral Watercolour pencil as I don't actually have the ink.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

BEST BIRDS, COLOUR BLOCK TECHNIQUE - GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT #075/WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY

I've been having fun with the colour block technique this week and my Masculine Monday You Tube tutorial showed one way of using this technique.

I hinted that I would be showing another way on my Wednesday tutorial and it just so happens to be Best Birds.  The challenge over at Global Design Project this week is

 

and the challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday is Masculine Cards - perfect for me at the moment.



Thankfully birds are included because I really don't do insects.  Butterflies are fine and bees are just about ok but I must admit I shudder at the new stamp sets we have at SU at the moment with all those bugs.  I'm not even very good with the dragonflies although I know they are beautiful just not my cup of tea.

So my card included Colour Blocking which is bascially grabbing a load of all those scraps of cardstock we all keep and doing something useful with them.

My card on Monday was blues and today's card was greens.  They are all stuck on to a white card background and I then used the Birds and Blooms thinlets to cut out the bird from the coloured stock.  This gives a negative image of a white bird and you could just leave your card like this.  I used the bird I'd cut out, stamped him with this corresponding image and popped him onto dimenstionals sitting on the stamped branch.  A touch of Wink of Stella on his feathers, naturally, finishes him off. I used the Decorative Label punch for the greeting.

 Here's my YouTube Tutorial which also shows another way of using this Technique

 I can see I'm going to be using this technique a lot lately - you know when you come across something and you can't let it go - I'm eyeing up all my scraps!


As usual all products can be purchased direct from my store or why not come and join my team if you are thinking of SU as a hobby or a career.  You will get to join one of the top UK teams with lots of help and fun.  I also run classes at my home in Hampshire.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

BEST BIRDS - GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT 074

Theres a Sketch Challenge over at Global Design Project this week

 




 I decided to turn the sketch around for my card and use the Best Birds together with the matching Birds and Blooms Thinlets.

 I've used the beautiful Falling Petals Embossing Folder - mainly because I've just got it and I've fallen in love with it.  I've used the reverse side of it here just to show it can be used both ways, with the hearts raised or not.

I've used Blender Pens and ink pads to colour in the birds, and in true nature form, the male has brighter colours than the female.  I thought it would be a nice Anniversary card and I do have some friends who will be celebrating an anniversary soon - hopefully they won't see this!

 



 

MEDITERRANEAN MOMENTS MEETS PAINTER'S PALETTE - GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT 073

A colour challenge is the order of the day over at Global Design Project 073 this week.


 


I must admit Emerald Envy is not a colour I use very often and I only have it as a marker pen and not as an ink pad so I felt this limited me somewhat.

I wanted to use the cafe scene from Mediterranean Moments which isn't one I've used yet and thought it would look so right going on to the easel of Painter's Palette.  My favourite style of painting is the French Impressionists, Manet, Monet and I thought this image just lent itself to this treatment.

The sentiment is from Best Birds and the background stamps are also from Painter's Palette.

HAPPY CRAFTING

 

BEST BIRDS ON A TAG

Well today I just fancied making a tag! Its been years since I made one - I used to also love making ATC's and Inchies and used to run an Inchy Challenge blog.  Although I didn't know what to do with my tag after I'd made it so I stuck it on a card lol!

I've used the Best Birds set again and the lovely framelits that go with it and just a sentiment stamp from Painter's Palette.

 I wanted to go grunge and vintage with this tag and I think this set really helps you to do that.  This was always my style of crafting and I think I've lost it over the past year with doing my SU business, but there's no reason I can't go back to it with SU products.

Lots of layers and ink on this one - the cardstock for the tag is Very Vanilla which I then inked up with Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay.  I used the background stamp from Best Birds to create the embossed background which ws embossed with Copper Embossing powder.

The Bird was watercoloured with Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip and a touch of Melon Mambo, which was also used for the flowers just to give it a pop of colour.

The butterfly was punched out with the Itty Bitty Punch from DSP stack paper and Basic Pearls added.  A touch of our gorgeous Lace Ribbon at the bottom and some Linen Thread at the top.  Also a touch of our Copper Metallic thread - this stuff is tricky to use as its so fine.  I find the best way to use it is to add some glue to the reverse of the card and then just loop it onto it.  It sometimes loops the way it wants and not the way you want! lol!

The sentiment comes from Painter's Palette and I used one of the Banner Framelits to cut it out.

The tag was then layered onto some Crumb Cake cardstock and eventually onto Very Vanilla which I also inked up with Chocolate Chip. 

I'm going to pop this into the Creative Inspirations challenge blog who want cute critters.  I'm not sure if my bird is quite cute enough but I think she is!

 
AS USUAL ALL PRODUCTS CAN BE PURCHASED FROM ME VIA MY STORE ABOVE IF YOU ARE IN THE UK OR PARTS OF EUROPE.



 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT - 072 - BEST BIRDS

I've been playing with a new set today - not new as in the Catalogues but new to me - and I've been playing with the framelits which comes with this lovely set of Best Birds.  I know this is going to be one of my favourites for a long time.

I decided to pop it into the Global Design Project 072 this week which was to CASE the designer's card.

I wanted to give this card a slightly vintage feel so I've inked the edges of the paper and the cardstock and given the bird a slightly muted colouring.

I love this burlap ribbon but do sometimes find it difficult to use but I thought it looked quite at home here on this card with the bird on top.

Here's a list of the supplies I used in making this card:

SUPPLIES

Stamp Set - Best Birds
Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake,
DSP - Serene Scenery
Accessories - Stitched Framelits, Basic Pearls, Best Birds Framelits, Linen Thread, Burlap Ribbon



 As usual all supplies can be purchased from me if you are in the UK and parts of Europe.



 

BOOKCASE BUILDER -BEST BIRDS - WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE

The Challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday this week is a Masculine Challenge. 

I just happened to have this card made ready for my anniversary - which isn't until September but call me organised lol!

I wanted to recreate the idea of two tall bookcases, which you often see side by side so I did my card as a gate fold and stamped the wonderful images from the Bookcase Builder set.  I think this set is so versatile with the images you get and I'm still surprised you don't see a lot of it around at the moment.  I'm on a mission to give it some love! 

I used the sentiment from Best Birds for the inside of the card.


 Thanks for stopping by.




 

INKSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE - BEST OF BIRDS

Best of Birds is a new set for me and I just love it.  I'm just waiting for my framelits to arrive to go with this set which I think will make it even more versatile.

I do love birds and their imagery, much better than insects which I just don't do.

So I was delighted to see that the challenge over at Inkspirational Challenge is Flutter.  I had already made this card for a friend's birthday soon and I think it will fit this challenge really well.

I used some of our think Watercolour White paper to colour in the bird and used our new Watercolour Pencils and an Aqua Painter.

He was first embossed in black ink and I used clear embossing powder to emboss him.  The branch was embossed with our Copper Embossing Powder.

I fussy cut him out and this will be a lot easier with the framelits when I get them.

I used some of the gorgeous Serene Scenery DSP for the background.  The sentiment was punched out with the banner punch and some enamel dots completed the card.

 All supplies can be purchased from me if you are in the UK.  Please click on the SU Logo below to be taken to my store.

 HAPPY CRAFTING