Sunflower Gorgeousness Card

My favorite flower is a lilac, but my favorite flower to COLOR is a whole different story. When it comes to that category, the sunflower has no close seconds - it is by far my favorite bloom to ink up. 

So when I saw the sketch for this month's STAMPlorations Theme & Sketch challenge, it immediately gave me a chance to think Fall and pull out the gorgeous Large Happy Sunflower stamp.

To play along in STAMPlorations challenges you can use ANY products/stamps you want!!

Choose to play with the challenge theme

Choose to play with the challenge sketch

Choose to play with both! 

The possibilities are endless! (ok... there's really only 3 but still...)

Here's the theme and sketch for this month -

So I inked up my stamp using Vintage Photo Distress Inks and then I started coloring it in with Fossilized Amber Distress Markers. 

I used a waterbrush to get the color to blend nicely. Then I stamped a sentiment from the VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows set onto a piece of vellum. 

Finally, I made my center panel by using the Crazy Double Running Stitches Nestable die and I added some drips of Fossilized Amber Reinkers and Vintage Photo Reinkers to the card. I added some drips of water to my Reinker drips and let them flit down the page. 

***Please note - I tried the reinker bit as an experiment and I would NOT recommend it. I felt like I wasted a lot of ink and it didn't run smoothly. There are so many better ways to get drips/splatters***

Anywho - here's the finished product, which is very sunflowerlicious and therefore makes me very happy. :) 

I'm going to enter this baby into Virginia's View Spray, Mist & Splatter challenge. (It's not using Altenew - I hope that's ok).

I'm also going to play along to Addicted to Stamps CAS challenge, and Shopping our Stash Try something New Challenge.  


Thanks for popping by! I hope you'll go give some love to these challenges this month!

Mixed Media Harvest Blessings Card

Ahhhhhhhh September. Pumpkin Spice Lattes return to the land of all things good. The smell of apples is in the air. You can take deep breaths and inhale.... Cough* Cough* OUCH! That was a wasp. 

Seriously - up here in North Dakota, you can't walk 2 steps without encountering one of the stingalicious flymobiles - and breathing deeply is done at your own peril. 

Autumn is my most favoritest season, though, and I can't wait to become a boots-sportin', PSL-guzzling, sweater-wearing gal again. 

Over at the Mixed Media Card Challenge, we are celebrating Autumn in fine fashion with our new challenge. 

 

Our theme this month is Harvest Basket with the optional element of Fruit. 

For my creation, I inked up a stamp that has been beckoning me since I bought it last Fall. It's a gorgeous autumn basket from the STAMPlorations HOLIDAY EXPRESSIONS: Thankful for Autumn set. 

I'm sorry I don't have my usual process photos to show off - I actually made this background a while ago when I was just putzing around having some messy fun in my room. 

I can tell you the process, though. 

1. Sponge a mixture of Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber Distress Inks on a sheet of cardstock
2. Ink up a grungy-looking stamping with Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks and randomly plop that baby onto the sponged paper.
3. Apply gold texture paste through a stencil in random areas around the edges. 

My image was colored with Spectrum Noir Makers and Distress Markers and then I embossed the sentiment on a sheet of vellum. 

I'm going to link my Harvest beauty up to:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon - Lets Get Inky

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In other BIG and super cool news! I'm so excited to announce that I was invited to be a part of the 2016-2017 Fusion Challenge team!

 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 

I love the Fusion Challenge and the seriously talented design team they've always seemed to gather so I was uber chuffed when I got the email! Hope you'll pop by & check out my new teamies!

What if you Fly Stamped Card with Stenciling

It's reminder time. So here I am. Reminding you.

Go play in the STAMPlorations theme & sketch challenge already! Really - this month is an anything goes theme, so why not? You can use any stamps/products you want to AND you can win cool prizes. Win win win.

For my card this go-round, I didn't want to use the sketch, so I just used the anything goes theme and had a little mixed media play.

It all started after I stared at this background:

Soooooooooooooo pretty, right?!
Just kidding - you don't have to humor me, I know it's gaggingly gross.

This background was made while I was experimenting with Distress Crayons. Let's just say that this particular experiment did NOT impress me - haha.

BUT, much like with all my "ICK" creations, I decided to try gesso on it before I pitched it in the trash bin. 

 

I used the Foiled Again ARTplorations stencil and painted some gesso through it. 

Folks, I'm convinced that gesso was created by the great magicians of lore because it can fix ANYTHING.  All of the sudden, this background that gave my eyeballs a good coating of bile suddenly looked a teensy bit appealing!

I still wasn't super happy with it though, so I took a Distress Marker and started outlining some of the shapes.  The outlines seemed a little bit to harsh and clean, so I used a wet paint brush to pull some of the color into the centers of the shape and muddy down the edges a bit. 

Once the background was dry, I stamped over it using a script from the Mixed Media Elements stamp set and sponged the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I then embossed feathers from the Trendy Feathers 2 set and used the same Distress Marker to add spot color. I stamped a sentiment from the Strong Women stamp set and used a Spellbinders die cut with some faux hand-drawn stitching as a focal panel. 

I tied the look (literally) together with some teal twine and a vintage gemstone from an old earring. 

If a starting off point helps, use our sketch to give you some inspiration. Otherwise link up ANYTHING this month for you chance to win at STAMPlorations. 

So the next time you're making something and just don't quite like it - GESSO to the rescue! 

I'm also going to link this creation up to:
Craft Stamper Magazine - Anything Goes 
The colors of my creation were inspired by ColourQ
Try it on Tuesday - Spots Dots & Dashes
 

Thanks for flying by! Hope you liked my creation today! 

Featured Friday - Jenny Martin!!!!!

It's that magical time of the month again where I get to show off a stamper who's been a huge inspiration to me. If you're new to my blog (HELLO!) this segment bears the name Featured Friday and happens every 2nd Friday of the month. I'll do a little questionnaire, and then we'll each CASE one of the FF's cards. 

So, without further ado, let me introduce:

Jenny Martin of My Paper Epiphany!!

I first "met" Jenny when I saw her work in some gallery or another and gasped - and then, naturally, I had to click through to her site and say hello and stalk her...erm... I mean... pay her compliments? for awhile. 

Jenny's work is truly masterful! She started blogging back in 2011, and honestly one of the things I love most about her work is wondering how she takes such good photos - (maybe she'll share her secrets). If I had to describe Jenny's aesthetic, I'd say it's a tailored sort of mixed media with a hint of shabby chicness. She's a whiz with Distress Inks and Markers and creates some of the most vibrant colorful work on the web. I've got a little bit of a girl crush on her! Shhhhhh!

Check out these colorful designs:

 

But why gush and spew about her when she can give you all the good gossip herself?!

Here's 7 things you should know about Jenny:

1. What type of cards do you most like to create?

Watercolour - I love the variety of ways I can achieve this effect! Distress ink/markers, watercolour paints, Gelatos, Brushos, dye inks and many more. My favourite watercolour paper is Fabriano. I’ve been experimenting with my new supplies Kuretake Gansai and Peerless Watercolours.

The Peerless watercolours are really unique and I got them because they are the perfect supply to take on holiday with me. Check them out on this youtube video.

2. What's your favorite thing in your crafting space?

Well I recently bought an old table to use as a desk and bought lots of lovely vintage things to make my work space more inspiring. I found a cute glass front cabinet and I’ve arranged all my favourite wood mount stamps in it! I also found a very old stamp holder which I love because it is a symbol of my 2 obsessions - stamping & vintage love!

Here is a pic:

3. Why did you start blogging about your creations?

I started for the same reason as a lot of people - I discovered the world of challenges and wanted to join in.

This is a quote from my 1st blog post "I entered my 1st challenge at Hero Arts last Week, and then my 2nd at Simon Says Stamps, which incredibly I won! I then entered the same card from the SSS challenge in the Sweet Pea Stamps challenge and got a prize from them too! Then yeserday I received a free 3 months subscription from Scrapbook Creations! So I am feeling very lucky! Yay!!!”

Ha! I haven’t won a SSS challenge since then.

4. Be honest... how much crafty stuff in your stash has yet to be opened?

Too much ! In fact I’ve recently started an Etsy shop to sell my cards and I’ve decided I’m going to make some die cuts using my stash of beautiful paper and sell them too. In fact I’m going to have a huge de-stash! I’ve come to the realisation that I prefer to just use media on my cards and usually not many layers, except for a few die cuts.

Too much of my time is taken up arranging and re-arranging my stash - so a lot of it has to go!

5. What is the one craft supply you couldn't do without and why?

One! Hmmm… Well I would say stamps, but you can’t do much with stamps if you don’t have ink! So I think I’m going to say my Distress Markers because they are so versatile.

6. Do you like pina coladas on a midsummer night? (Just kidding <- that's not a real question but I thought it'd make you laugh.)

You just made me picture myself on a tropical island, watching the sunset, palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze, walking on the beach with my Pina Colada and a gorgeous ……...

The real number 6. What is your favorite technique? Have an example?

I like to mix it up. But I think my favourite is like the featured card, applying ink to the stamp with distress markers, spritzing and then stamping!

The results always make me happy and feel a little bit like an artist!

7. What's the best piece of advice you could give to new bloggers?

Look at lots of other blogs and leave comments. I love that I have got to know so many people through entering challenges and commenting. It always makes me happy to receive encouraging comments, so I like to reciprocate. I am always honest and heartfelt in my comments and try to be encouraging

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And now, for the part you've alllllllll been waiting for (at least that's what I'm choosing to believe).... The CASE! 

THE ORIGINAL

I chose this STUNNING watercolor-looking bird that's been placed oh-so-carefully onto vellum and prettied up with all sorts of lovely, frilly accents. 

JENNY'S CASE

Jenny opted for a very non-literal interpretation of the original. She kept elements of the original with the layout and the twine and the watercolored butterflies on bits of vellum. Here design sings with loveliness!

MY CASE: 

I, on the other hand was MUCH less creative and did an almost picture for picture CASE of Jenny's copy. I switched the ribbon colors up a little bit and added a funky vintage earring to gussy it up, but I think it definitely pays homage to Jenny's beautiful original card.

I am going to send my card over to the following challenges:
In the Pink - use lots of Pink 
Fab N' Funky - Things with Wings
Little Red Wagon - Vellum 
Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes

Thank you all for sticking around. 

Would you PLEASE help me to make Jenny's day by going to her blog and saying a hello? She's currently got 72 bloggy followers but I'm SURE she would LOVE some new friends!