The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store - Deck the Halls Christmas Shaker Card with a Watercolor Background and Tutorial

Hello everyone!  Today, I have a fun and different twist on creating shaker cards.  

Here is the card that I designed.  For the stamps I used the New SS-012 Christmas Blessings from Stamp Simply Clear Stamps.  I love the wonderful sentiments and the pretty holly and berries image in this stamp set.  For the background piece I used Ranger - Watercolor Paper.  I stamped the images using VersaMark ink and then I added Ranger - Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder and used my heat tool to melt and heat set the powder.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries, Fired Brick, Chipped Sapphire, Vintage Photo with some water and a paint brush to watercolor the background.  Then I added red paint splatters using the Festive Berries Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  Once the paint splatters were dry I added a little bit of water to the splatters to soften them.

To create the sentiment I stamped the sentiment on to white cardstock and embossed it with the same gold embossing color.  You will notice the sentiment is lined up a little different than the stamp in the set.  I actually cut my clear stamp making it more versatile for stacking the sentiment.  This is a great trick to do with clear stamps and it gives you more options.  Plus you can always line it back up on a stamping block so it is just like how it originally came in the stamp set.  Now I realize not everyone is comfortable with cutting their stamps.  So another alternative is to use a post-it-note to cover parts on the sentiment when inking it up.  Then remove the post-it-note and stamp the sentiment.  To create the shake I used one of the Crystal Clear Bags/Card Sleeves - A2.  I slipped the cardstock down in to one corner and then I trimmed off the excess.

Then I added a few sequins from the Prima Say It In Crystals A Victorian Christmas Sequins collection (red), 5mm Gold Sequins, and 5mm Crystal Sequins.  I also added some Scor-Tape to the top and right side on the piece of cardstock and then pressed down to hold in place and trim off any access.  These are great to make if you are mailing the card because they aren't as bulky as a standard shaker card.  Also when making shakers like this don't put too many sequins in because if the cello bag is too full the sequins might not move around as much.

Next I cut a frame using some Bazzill Gold Mirror paper and Labels Twenty-Nine dies from Spellbinders.  I added some Therm-O-Web Foam Squares to the back of the frame for a little bit of dimension.  If you wanted a flatter card you could just put Scor-Tape on the back of the frame.

Here is a close up once the shaker is adhered to the card.  You can see I stamped, embossed and colored another holly leaf and then I fussy cut it.  I added the extra image on top of the frame.

I added some Zig - Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush Pen to the holly leaf on top of the frame and then I added Glossy Accents on the entire image.  I also added Glossy Accents on the berries on the background piece.

I hope you like today's card and mini tutorial and I hope you will give these shaker cards a try.  I do want to say this in not my original idea. I have seen this idea and other similar ones on Pinterest and YouTube and wanted to give it a try.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Please be sure to visit The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for all of you paper crafting needs and also visit the Stamp Simply Blog for more inspiration from the design team.

Hope you have a Happy Friday and Wonderful Weekend!

Hugs & Smiles,

Heidi

Supplies
Stamps:  Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - SS-012 Christmas Blessings
Paper:  Ranger - Watercolor Paper, Bazzill Gold Mirror, Cardstock - White
Ink:  VersaMark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries, Fired Brick, Chipped Sapphire, Vintage Photo
Dies:  Spellbinders - Labels Twenty-Nine
Accessories:  Crystal Clear Bags/Card Sleeves - A2, Prima Say It In Crystals A Victorian Christmas Sequins (red), 5mm Gold Sequins, 5mm Crystal Sequins, Ranger - Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder, Glossy Accents, Zig - Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush Pen, Scor-Tape, Therm-O-Web Foam Squares, Paint Brush, Heat Tool

Simon Says Stamp - Handwritten Floral Greetings Watercolor Card

Hello everyone!  Today, I have a floral watercolor card to share with you using one of the stamp sets from a Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month.  The kits are so much fun to receive and they are filled with all kinds of crafty goodness.  The kits always have a stamp set, pattern paper, and cardstock and then they have extra goodies such as dies, embellishments, and inks just to name a few.  There is also an inspiration sheet with colored photos of cards made using the kit.  The card kits are also very reasonably priced and you have the option to sign up for a subscription or check them out each month.  But I can tell you this--a lot of times the kits sell out so if its something you want don't wait lol.  I started getting the kits for something fun and different to do and now I look forward to them every month.

I stamped the flowers and leaves from the 101627 Handwritten Floral Greetings clear stamp set from Simon Says Stamp onto Strathmore Mixed Media paper using VersaMark Ink.  The I added NUVO Embossing Powder - 602N Glacier White from Tonic Studios and used my heat gun to melt the powders and emboss the images.  

Here is a close up of the flowers.  I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens to watercolor the images.  I think these pens are so fun and easy to use and you can use them with or without water.  For this card I blended the colors with water.  On the background I started with a blue in the upped left corner and then I added a very light yellow and pink to the bottom right corner.  The closer I got to the middle of the card the more water I used to blend and achieve the very light colors.  If you are new to watercolor you might want to start out with embossed images as they can be easier to work with. The raised embossed areas help to keep the color in the lines (if that is the look you want) and also the embossed areas resist the watercolor.  After I was done with the watercolor I took a paint brush and added clean water droplets over the entire piece.  I let the water sit for a few seconds and then I used a paper towel to blot off the water.  Doing this removes some of the watercolor.  It also adds texture and interest to the background piece.

I also used some watered down wicker white acrylic paint and added little paint splatter on the background.  

To create the pretty pink die cut thanks I used a piece of white cardstock and I applied VersaMark Ink directly to the paper.  Then I added NUVO Embossing Powder - 605N Ballerina Pink and used a heat gun to melt the powders and emboss the paper.  Next I used the Painted Thanks Wafer Die from Simon Says Stamp and die cut the word using the Tangerine Die Cutting Machine from Tonic Studios.  Then I added more of the VersaMark Ink and embossing powder and heat set the word die.  I repeated this step one more time to build up the embossing powder.  Doing this adds dimension to the die cut.  I keep the embossed paper to use on another project.

Here is another look at the die cut word.  I really like the added dimension from the embossing powder.  To finish off the die cut I added Glossy Accents from Ranger on to the die cut and then I added NUVO Pure Sheen Glitter 711N Candy Pink on the bottom half.  I set the piece aside to dry.  Once the Glossy Accents was dry then I used Multi Medium Matte Adhesive from Ranger to adhere the die cut to the card front.

Using Scor-Tape I added a piece of white craft foam to the back of the watercolor panel and adhered that to an A2 top folding card base.  To finish off the card I added NUVO Crystal Drops - 669N Gloss Apple Green to the center of the flowers and  NUVO Glitter Drops - 758N White Blizzard for little accents.  The crystal and glitter drops dry pretty quickly but you want to make sure you don't lay anything on top of the card for 24 hours so the drops can cure and harden.  If you love the look of enamel dots the crystal and glitter drops are a fun alternative for your projects.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Hugs & Smiles,

Heidi

Are you interested in the products I used?  I have all of the supplies listed and linked below.
Compensated affiliate links are used when possible.  Products with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer.
The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store = TSSRS
Tonic Studios = TS
Simon Says Stamp = SSS
Amazon = AZ

Supplies
Stamps:
Simon Says Stamp - 101627 Handwritten Floral Greetings
Paper:
Strathmore - Mixed Media (AZ)
Cardstock - White Hammermill Color Copy Digital Cover, 80 lb (AZ)
Ink/Markers:
VersaMark Ink (TSSRS) (SSS) (AZ)
Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens (SSS) (AZ)
Dies:
Simon Says Stamp - Painted Thanks Wafer Die SSSD111546
Accessories:  
*Tonic Studios NUVO Embossing Powder - 602N Glacier White (SSS) (AZ) (TS)
*Tonic Studios NUVO Embossing Powder - 605N Ballerina Pink (SSS) (AZ) (TS)
*Tonic Studios NUVO Pure Sheen Glitter 711N Candy Pink (AZ) (TS)
*Tonic Studios NUVO Crystal Drops - 669N Gloss Apple Green (SSS) (AZ) (TS)
*Tonic Studios NUVO Glitter Drops - 758N White Blizzard (SSS) (AZ) (TS)
*Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Tonic Guillotine Comfort Paper Trimmer 160E (SSS) (AZ) (TS)
*Tonic Studios Tangerine Die Cutting Machine (TS)
Ranger Multi Medium Matte Adhesive (SSS) (AZ)
Ranger Glossy Accents (AZ) (TSSRS) (SSS)
Quilled Creations Precion Tip Empty Applicator Bottle 317 (SSS) (AZ)
Scor-Tape (SSS) (AZ) (TSSRS)
Wagner Heat Gun (AZ)
White Craft Foam (SSS) (AZ)
FolkArt Wicker White Acrylic Paint (AZ)
Paint Brush

This Stamp Simply Ribbon Store - Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Card with a Tutorial

Hello blogging friends!  Today, I have a card to share with you using two of the NEW Autumn Stamp Simply Clear Stamps.  I also have a tutorial to show you how I created the background using Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

Here is a look at the card I designed.  I have created several cards that have watercolor background and also faux watercolor backgrounds.  For all of those other cards I have always used a watercolor or mixed media paper and I thought why not put a different spin on it and use kraft paper.  

I think kraft paper works great for a faux watercolor look because it uses very little water but you probably wouldn't want to use it for regular watercolor because the paper would pill up.  I stamped the leaf and acorn images from both the Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - SS-009 Give Thanks and SS-010 Harvest stamp sets on to kraft paper.  I used Delicata Celestial Copper ink and then added Ranger - Super Fine Detail Copper Embossing Powder to all of the images.  I used my heat tool to melt and heat set the embossing powders.  I think the copper embossing looks so pretty on kraft paper.  Next I started applying color to the images using Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  All of the inks are listed below in the supplies.  Whenever I do ink blending I just use cotton balls.  I pinch the cotton ball and rub in on the ink pad and then I rub some of the ink off on to a piece of scratch paper.  To do the ink blending I start off of the paper going in a circular motion.  Doing this will give you a very soft ink blending.

Here is a look at the paper after all of the ink blending is done.

Next I took a paint brush with clean water and added water droplets.  Distress Inks will react with water and adding the water droplets is a fun way to give your paper more interest, texture and depth.

Let the water droplet sit on the paper for a few seconds and then blot with a paper towel.  Use a heat tool to speed up the drying time for the paper.  You can repeat the water droplets as many times as you would like until you achieve the desired look.  Just make sure to dry the paper each time after adding water.  You will also see as the paper drys the areas where the water was start to pop a little more.

Next I added some water to the DecoArt - Metallic Lustre Copper Kettle.  I wanted to use this to add little copper paint splatters on to the background paper.

Here is a look at the paper with the copper splatters.  Now, I will admit this didn't turn out like I thought it would.  I have used other colors of the DecoArt Metallic Lustre and it adds a pretty metallic accent.  The copper looks more like a burnt red or orange red and doesn't have as much of a shimmer when it's the little splatters.  However if you brush or rub it on to something then it has a beautiful copper shimmer.  So after the splatters were dry then I took the paper towel I had used to wipe everything up and I rubbed it on the background to get a pretty shimmer.

Here is a close up where you can see the copper shimmer.  In this picture the paint splatters have a little more metallic shimmer to them but they have to hit the light just right.

I used one of the sentiments from the  Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - SS-009 Give Thanks stamp set.  I stamped the sentiment on to a piece of brown cardstock with Delicata Celestial Copper ink and then embossed it with Ranger - Super Fine Detail Copper Embossing Powder.  Then I die cut the paper using one of the dies from Spellbinders - Labels Twenty-Five die set.  I added Therm-O-Web Foam Squares to the back of the label and the background piece.  Then I added some metallic copper ribbon and assembled the card.  To finish off the card I used some of the brown and green sequins from the Prima Say It In Crystals Combo Pack - A Victorian Christmas.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and tutorial. Please be sure to check out The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for all your paper crafting needs and visit the Stamp Simply Blog for more inspiration from the design team.  Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs & Smiles,

Heidi

Stamps:  Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - SS-009 Give Thanks, SS-010 Harvest
Paper:  Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 80# Text - Copper, Cardstock - Kraft, Brown
Ink:  Delicata Celestial Copper, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs
Dies:  Spellbinders - Labels Twenty-Five
Ribbon: Copper
Accessories: Prima Say It In Crystals Combo Pack - A Victorian Christmas (sequins), Ranger - Super Fine Detail Copper Embossing Powder, Ranger - Glossy Accents, DecoArt - Metallic Lustre Copper Kettle, Therm-O-Web Foam Squares, Scor-Tape, Paint Brush, Water, Heat Tool

The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store - Altenew Coffee Love and Coffee Talk - You Mocha Me Happy Card

Hello everyone!  Are you a coffee lover?  Well, if you are you are going to love some of the new coffee themed stamp sets from Altenew.  For my card today I did a masking technique and used two of the coffee themed stamp sets.  If you are new to stamping or if you have never done the masking technique I will share with you how easy it is to take a few stamps and layer them with the masking technique to create a larger image that looks like it was all from one large stamp.

Here is a look at the card I designed.  I used six different stamps with the masking technique to create the look of one larger stamped image.  When I am doing the masking technique I like to use Post-It Notes.  I stamp the image on to Post-It Note paper towards the top because there is a little bit of the low tack adhesive on the paper and that helps to hold it in place.  If you don't happen to have Post-It Notes you can also stamp on printer paper and use a two-way glue pen to add a little bit of adhesive.  Once you have all the images stamped on to the Post-It Notes then fussy cut the images.

Here you can see the fussy cut stamped images.  If I am going to be doing a lot of masking I like to lay out the paper pieces on my card so I can get an idea of how I want the finished stamped piece to look.  Once all of the images are laid out the I will look to see which image is in the front.  For this card the image is the small coffee cup.  So that is the image I will stamp first.  When you're doing masking you will work from the front to the back with stamping the images.  Once an image is stamped then it will be covered up with the mask.  Doing the masking technique allows you to stamp several image and not have the lines of the images overlap each other.

Here is another picture where all of the stamping is done and I still have a couple of masks over the images.  So I stamped the small coffee cup first and then the coffee mug.  Next I stamped the coffee pot on the right and the one in the center.  Then I stamped the stack of plates and coffee cup and finished with the coffee pot on the left.  Basically every time you stamp a new image you will place a mask over it to cover it up and protect it from having the lines of the other images.

Now for the fun part--this is what the paper looks like once all of the masks are removed.  It creates the illusion that it is all one image.  I usually save my masks because they can be used several times.

Here is a close up of all of the coffee pots and cups once all the coloring was done.  I used Copic markers to color the images and all of the colors are listed below in the supplies.  Also all of the images I used are from the Coffee Love Clear Stamp Set and the sentiment is from the Coffee Talk Clear Stamp Set.  For the sentiment I wanted to heat emboss it but I didn't have any brown pigment ink that matched the card and I also didn't have any brown embossing powder.  So here is a little tip that works great with clear stamps.  First I stamped the sentiment using Altenew - Four Scoops Ink (Dark Chocolate) ink which is a dye ink and then I stamped over top of it with VersaMark Ink.  Once I had the VersaMark Ink on then I was able to add Ranger - Super Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder and use my heat tool to heat set and melt the powders for a perfect embossed sentiment.

For the bottom piece of the card I used brown cardstock and stamped the coffee beans several times with VersaMark Ink and then I added Ranger - Super Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder to emboss the images.  I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo to ink around the edges of all the paper.

To assemble the card I place the piece of cardstock with the coffee beans at the bottom of the panel with the coffee pots and cups.  I added a very thin strip of black cardstock and added the card front to a black A2 card base and that finished off the card.

The masking technique is a well loved technique that has been around for several years but if you haven't done it in awhile or if you are new to stamping and haven't tried it I encourage you to pull out some stamps and give it a try.

Thanks so much for joining me today!  Please be sure to check out The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for all of your paper crafting needs and also visit the Stamp Simply Blog for more inspiration from the design team.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs & Smiles,

Heidi

Supplies
Stamps:  Altenew - Coffee Love Clear Stamp Set, Coffee Talk Clear Stamp Set
Paper:  Cardstock - White, Brown, Black, Post-It Notes
Ink/Markers:  Altenew - Four Scoops Ink (Dark Chocolate), VersaMark Ink, Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo, Copic Markers - C0, C1, N4, N5, T5, W1, W2, W3, R46, R89, E23, E25, E27, E29, E31, E37, E57
Accessories:  Ranger - Super Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder, Scor-Tape, Heat Tool

The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store - Altenew Floral Shadows Smile Card with the Rock-N-Roll and Faux Watercolor Techniques

Hello everyone!  This week on the Stamp Simply Blog all of the design team members have been sharing projects to feature some of the NEW Altenew products that have recently been added to The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.  For my card I used two of the new stamp sets, inks, and one of the dies from Altenew.  I also did a couple of fun and easy techniques on the card.  I don't have a tutorial this week but I will explain the whole process and how you can achieve the same look for your cards.

Here is a look at the card I designed.  I started out with a piece of Ranger - Watercolor Paper and I stamped the floral and leaf images from the Altenew - Floral Shadows Clear Stamp set.  For the flowers I used Red Cosmos - Cool Berry and Ruby Red.  If you look at the stamp set there is a smaller flower with a little stem and that is the image I used for the center of the flower.  I just made sure to only ink up the flower and not the stem and it made a perfect flower center.  I randomly stamped the images to fill in most of the space on the watercolor paper.  Then I used a heat to to dry the inks on the paper because I wanted to do a little bit of embossing.

Here is a close up so you can see some of the embossing.  For the embossing I did the Rock-N-Roll technique with the stamps and ink.

If you are new to stamping or if you have never done the Rock-N-Roll technique it is very easy to do and here is a picture so you can see what the stamp would look like with the ink on it.  Basically to do the technique you will hold the ink pad at an angle and you will Rock-N-Roll the ink pad around the outer edges of the stamp.  So as you can see in the picture the stamp will just have a little bit of ink applied to the edges.  You can also do this with two colors of ink like a light and darker color.  With two inks you would apply the lightest color fist and then Rock-N-Rock the darker ink around the edges and then stamp.

Here is another close up.  I used the Delicata - Golden Glitz Pigment Ink for the Rock-N-Roll technique of the stamps.  Since the stamps are clear you can line them up pretty easily but if the images are offset a little that is ok too--it will still look good--I promise!  I chose to used the Delicata - Golden Glitz Pigment Ink because even though it is a pigment ink it's not as opaque as some other pigment inks.  I knew it would have a pretty gold shimmer and then by adding  Ranger - Super Fine Embossing Powder - Clear on top of the images and heat setting the embossing powder will seal in the ink colors under the embossing.  So I stamped the flowers and leaves with the Altenew dye inks and then I stamped the images a second time with the Delicata - Golden Glitz Pigment Ink and heat embossed them.  For the leaves I used Green Fields - Frayed Leaf ink. I also stamped one of the small leaf clusters using just the Delicata - Golden Glitz Pigment Ink and heat embossed with Ranger - Super Fine Embossing Powder - Clear.  Once all of the stamping and embossing was done then I used a spray bottle with water to wet the paper.  Since the colored inks are dye based they will react with the water and the colors will start to move and blend around.  I just let the colors and water blend for maybe about 30 seconds or so and then I used a heat tool to dry the paper.  Once the paper was dry then I added paint splatters using the Ruby Red ink and a paint brush with some water and then set the paper aside to dry.  By adding the water and the paint splatters it gives the paper the look of a watercolor piece but its easy peasy to achieve. :)

Next I stamped the smile sentiment from the Halftone Smile Clear Stamp Set.  I used the Red Cosmos - Cool Berry and Ruby Red inks and stamped on to a piece of white cardstock.  Then I used the Altenew - Halftone Smile Die to die cut the word.  I stamped the other part of the sentiment on to black cardstock using VersaMark Ink and embossing with Stampendous Super Fine Embossing Powder - Detail White.

To assemble the card I added some May Arts Rose 1/4'' Silk Ribbon with a bow around the faux watercolor panel.  I added the black embossed part of the sentiment and then added some Therm-O-Web Foam Squares to the smile die cut to add a little dimension to the card.  To finish off the card I added a Petaloo Botanica Collection Pistachio Minis Flower to the center of the bow and I also added a few 5mm Black Sequins.  I added more foam squares to the back of the card front panel and then added that to an A2 top folding black card base.  I hope my instructions were clean enough but if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comment section or you can always email me too.  floralfantasy@charter(dot)net

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please be sure to check out the Stamp Simply Blog so you can see what all of the design team members have been busy creating with all of the Altenew products.  You can also visit The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for all of your paper crafting needs.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs & Smiles,

Heidi 

Supplies
Stamps:  Altenew - Floral Shadows Clear Stamps, Halftone Smile Clear Stamp Set
Paper:  Ranger - Watercolor Paper, Cardstock - Black, White
Inks:  Altenew - Red Cosmos (Cool Berry, Ruby Red), Green Fields (Frayed Leaf), Delicata - Golden Glitz Pigment Ink, VersaMark Ink
Dies:  Altenew - Halftone Smile Die
Ribbon:  May Arts Rose 1/4'' Silk Ribbon
Accessories: Ranger - Super Fine Embossing Powder - Clear, Stampendous Super Fine Embossing Powder - Detail White, 5mm Black Sequins, Petaloo Botanica Collection Pistachio Minis Flowers, Ranger - Glossy Accents, Therm-O-Web Foam Squares, Scor-Tape, Paint Brush, Water Bottle, Heat Tool