A New Day Encouragement Card

Hi Everybody,

I want to share a card I made for someone going through a difficult time.  I hope this is an appropriate card for her situation.  

I used a WPlus9 stamp called A New Day.  

I decided to stamp with my Tim Holtz Oxide Inks.  I used Fossilized Amber for the background using an Impression Obsession stamp called Canvas.  I stamped the script words with Vintage Photo using a stamp from Heartfelt Creation called Large Elegant Words.  I used the heat gun because the ink was so wet. These oxide inks stamp really good!  I embossed the bird stamp using Versamark Ink and Zing Chestnut Embossing Powder.  

I made a bunch of these just playing around using regular card stock and watercolor papers.  This happens to be regular card stock. I used Zig Real Brush Markers to color the stamp.  I was surprised that they did pretty well on regular card stock because I always had used them on watercolor paper. 

I used a Spectrum Noir Clear Glitter pen on the bird's chest and the berries.  You can also put some Glossy Accents on the berries to give them lots of shine and dimension and can probably still see the glitter pen underneath, not sure.  I'll have to try that but that would look really pretty.  

When I stamped the sentiment with Versamark, I was brushing away a few stray powders and my hand rubbed off the part that says 'is a new day' so I put it a little lower in case I still had versarmark there.  You just put tape over the part you don't want to stamp, in this case, the word Tomorrow, and stamp with Versamark and then remove the tape and stamp on your card.  

This is such a lovely stamp and it is very inexpensive, around $5.  I hope I inspired you to make something beautiful today.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Fresh Cut Sunflowers With Zig Markers

Hi Everybody,

After discovering watercoloring and Zig Markers, I asked myself the question, why would I want to color with Copics when I can put a wash of color over these flowers in one minute's time?  I'm kidding of course, I love Copics and Prismas but when you don't have a lot of time, this is one way to do it.  I've done three previous blog posts on scribbling the Zig Markers on the Bristol Smooth paper and spritzing with water and I had planned on moving on to a new technique but I've been busy the last couple of days so I find myself turning back to this quick technique. 

Someone asked to see what this looked like right after I finished scribbling before the water and here it is....  I kind of scribbled the colors where I wanted them on this one but I think everyone liked the first I did where I scribbled all over the place but both ways look good I think. 

Again, you don't have to even scribble the ink how you would normally color, put it anywhere because when you HEAVILY spritz with water, the ink will run all over anyway.  

I spritzed heavily and moved the paper around

I took a flat paintbrush and put some of the ink that had dripped off around the corners and edges. 

That's it!  If you aren't happy with how it looks at this point, spritz it again and you can even add more ink and spritz again. Make sure you are adding darker colors or they won't show up because the paper is already saturated with the water. 

Here's my card... I probably should've added some light blue that would flow around on the background.  I can do that next time lol.  

I love sunflowers and this set by The Ton Stamps called Fresh Cut Sunflowers is perfect, especially if you love masking and making bouquets.  I was going to make an actual bouquet and decided to stamp and mask it out this way.  I should've put a little space between the middle flowers but that's okay and where is the stem for that top sunflower LOL!  

I used Zig Real Brush Markers on Bristol Smooth Paper, spritzed heavily with water after scribbling on some color.  I had embossed in white using Hero Arts white embossing powder.  I embossed the word hello in Zing Chestnut embossing powder.  The greeting is from The Ton Stamps called Large Peony 1. I lOVE the huge peony in this set.  Check out this card I made with it in a previous post, here's the LINK

 I distressed the sides of the paper with a Tim Holtz distressing tool. This works so easily because the paper is weakened from being wet.  I went around the edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink and the corners with Gathered Twigs to make them a little darker. 

I finished it off with some dew drops from The Ton Stamps and I put Glossy Accents in the middle of the sunflowers to give them some dimension.  I thought the card stock I used was pretty with the wood grain texture, from Close To My Heart. The brown layer is from Gina K Designs called Chocolate Brown.  

I hope this inspires you to know that you can make a card even when you don't have a lot of time using Zigs and water.  You get a colored look without coloring.  Nothing in the world wrong with coloring!  Just do it when you have time and can relax.  

By the way I do take Copic and Prismacolor coloring classes from www.KitandClowder.com  Check out their website.  There are even some free classes on there if you want to see what they're like.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Happy Mail and Pretty Mail Stamps for Envelopes

Hi Everybody,

I have a question for you... do you stamp or decorate your envelopes?  You should!  I know Kristina Werner makes some fabuloso decorated envelopes but for me, I'm taking baby steps lol.  I just wanted to share what I use.  

I like stamping on the flap of the envelope with a happy mail type stamp.  I have these two right now, bought from Simon Says Stamp.  You can get in some MAJOR trouble at that store, just sayin'.... :)

Check this out, how cute is this one??  I just bought this a week or so ago because it's so different. I bought this one from The Ton called Pretty Mail.

The other thing that I have and I love is an envelope liner die.  I bought this from Papertrey Ink.  I don't use it with every card but when I have time I'll put one in or if it's a super special card I will as well.  I just stick it down in the envelope and line the crease on it with the envelope crease and make sure it closes well and I put some tombo mono adhesive on the back and stick it down.  You can use any kind of adhesive.  I just use this one in case I get it crooked.  I've used Scor-Tape before and pressed it down crooked so learn from my mistakes grasshoppers. LOL!  I then will put a strip of Scor-Tape where you lick the envelope.  I also do this when I sell a card or am giving cards away because I think it looks good. 

Here are a few pictures of how I've used these stamps and the liner die in the past.  

Doesn't this add a classy touch to the card?  

(these next two go together)

Many people stamp flowers on the envelope.  I have this bunny from Stamping Bella but I haven't used him yet.  He's called Edward the Edgy Bunny 

Then I put a matching piece of washi tape across the back where it seals. :)

I hope I've inspired you to stamp or decorate on your envelopes. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina

Can Tombow Markers Be Used In Watercolor Techniques (Results Here)

Hi Everybody,

Just a quick post today...  Somebody asked if Tombo Markers would work doing the "Zig Scribble" technique (I made up that name lol) and the answer is no, on my experiment anyway. I did the same exact thing with the Tombo markers, same paper, embossed image. I didn't think they would work because they are dye ink markers, not actual watercolor markers. Yes, you can spritz them and stamp but you can't watercolor with them. I would use actual watercolor markers or paints and the ink will spread/flow easily. See in the close up how the ink wasn't moving, it was sinking into the paper? I'm sorry, I really wanted this to work for the people who don't have Zig Markers yet. You can buy a few single Zigs or a small set just to play and see if you like them.  I can post the colors I've been using and you can start with those if you liked the look.  I hope this helps.

Here are the previous 3 posts I did on the "Zig Scribble" Technique.  

The Quickest, Easiest Cards Using Zig Markers

More Zig Scribbling and Water

Zig Marker Scribble Technique

So... now that I've worn this technique out, we can move on to the next one. :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina

"Zig Marker Scribble Technique"

Hi Everybody,

I am just in awe of how much y'all liked the cards I made in the last two posts.  I appreciate all of the nice comments so much.  If you know me, then you know when I stumble upon technique I like, I make several of them and then move on to something different.  

With that being said, here's yet another card using the "Zig Scribble Technique" and I just made up that name.  I don't know what it's really called lol.  

How pretty is this??  It looks like a painting, like I have artistic skill ha ha!  It looks like I watercolor painted it doesn't it?  I spent about a minute on this scribbling and spritzing.  I may start making all of my cards like this.  It seems like life gets in the way of crafting time doesn't it?  

This stamp set by The Ton called Anemone Bouquet is so perfect for any occasion.  You can mask off the vase so the stems don't show or do it like I did.  I wanted them to show but be subtle. 

I used Bristol Smooth paper and embossed using Ranger Silver Pearl Embossing Powder, which I love because it's softer than white. On this one I scribbled the colors where I wanted them.  I didn't color, I scribbled, combined some colors and then spritzed heavily with water and just let the ink and water do their magic.  I picked up the card and moved the ink around some and then took a medium flat paint brush and moved the ink some around the edges.  I love how it's white around some of the image, mainly up to around the flowers.  

Check out all of these sentiments!!  You really get your $$$ worth with this one I think.  I am going to leave this card as is because I think the recipient will want to frame it.  You can also emboss the sentiment on black cardstock with white embossing powder and cut it into a little strip and put across the vase.  Depending on the layout of your card, you can stamp the sentiment on the front and you don't even have to use the vase. It can be a loose bouquet of flowers.

Which one do you like the best?  

Please tag me on our groups if you try this technique.  I would love to see what you do.  If you would like to see me make something in particular, show how to do a technique, etc., just comment below and I'll certainly do it.  I don't know how to do everything but if you ask me to do something that I don't know, then I get to learn it too. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day. 

Regina

More Zig Scibbling and Water

Hi Everybody,

I liked the technique so much that I did in my last post, here's a LINK to that one, that I made another card using the Zigs and water.  Scribbling the Zigs on the card and spraying heavily with water.  That's it.  You could do this with your kids.  Stamp or emboss a bunch of cards and let your kids scribble zigs on them and spray with water lol.  

I have many friends who have issues with their hands and fingers and I think this would be a great technique for them to try.  I even told a lady with a broken arm about it and maybe she could do this.

  
I used the gorgeous stamp set by WPlus9 called Kind Soul.  If you see it I would grab it, it's been really hard to find.  Everyone has been sold out.  I used the Zig Markers, spritzed heavily with water, let it do it's thing.  Then when it dried I stamped the greeting and used a beautiful embossing powder from The Ton called rose gold.  I even added it to the sides of the card.  Isn't that just so lovely?  I embossed the flowers with Ranger Silver Pearl. I originally had dew drops on the card and when I added the Nuvo Glitter Drops in White Crystal to the centers of the flowers, I had too much sticking up on the card so I took the dew drops off and they tore my paper a little so I added the clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  I like these drops because they seem to take on whatever color is underneath them.  

That's it, easy peasy.  I made a couple others that I'll be posting.  I did try watercolor paper but I like the Bristol Smooth paper better because the ink and water seem to flow more freely if that makes sense.  

I hope you'll give this a try.  You'll love it!  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

The Quickest, Easiest Card Using Zig Markers

Hi Everybody,

Who wants to know how to make the quickest card ever but still look pretty and like you put some time into it?  ME!  I saw a video on how to use Zig Markers and water spritzed to get a beautiful card by Laurel Beard so I tried it and it works!  

I used a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen on the petals but you can't see much of it in this pic.

So all you do is stamp or emboss your image on the Bristol Smooth or Watercolor Paper.  This is the first time I've tried this and I used Bristol only because I already had an image stamped on it but next time I will try watercolor paper.  Next, you take a few Zig Markers and literally scribble over the different sections of your image and you can mix colors, it doesn't matter where you put the ink. 

When everything is covered on the embossed or stamped image, spritz heavily with water everywhere you have Zig Marker ink and then watch the beauty happen.  You can pick it up and let the ink roll around.  I even took some of the droplets that fell off the card and used a medium sized, flat paint brush and I put some of the ink back onto the card, just some of the background and some around the edges.  Then I let it dry.  You can heat set it as well.

The floral image is from Altenew called Persian Motifs.  I embossed these with Ranger Silver Pearl embossing powder.  I love this color so much because it's softer than white.  The sentiment is from Concord & 9th called Hello Lovely.  I love the size and font of the word Lovely here.  I stamped that with Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossed with WOW clear embossing powder.  I added a few clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to finish it off.

The bottom layer is an orchid color from Gina K Designs but it was a limited edition color a long time ago. I wish she would bring it back since purples are being used so much in watercolor, oxide inks, etc.   Since quite a bit of the bottom layer was showing I decided to go around the edges with Versamark ink and use clear embossing powder, I stamped one of the flowers from Persian Motif.  It's so pretty! It's subtle but adds a lot when you look at the entire card all together.  

So that's my easiest, quickest card ever.  I think I'll go through and make up a bunch of these to have on hand for cards.  I hope I inspired you to get your Zigs out and start scribbling!  :)  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Embossing on Photo Paper with Oxide Ink Background

Hi Everybody,


I made cards with two of the backgrounds I had made a couple days ago with the Tim Holtz Oxide Inks and a stamp from The Ton called Brushed Hello.  I love how huge the Hello stamp is!  I think these cards are great to have a bunch on hand with the Hello to send out when you need a quick card.

I embossed on these, I stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink on one and used clear embossing powder from WOW and I embossed with gold on the other one.  I'm not sure that I would recommend embossing on photo/glossy papers.  You can do it, but you have to be really careful.  I used the MISTI to stamp and even though I had 4 magnets, I needed to help hold the paper down, the stamp was trying to stick to it.  When you use the heatgun to emboss, you have to be very careful not to get it too hot or too close or the paper will bubble up.  Ask me how I know lol.  You could even emboss from behind.  I have 2 heat tools... one gets super hot and the other one is a few years old and doesn't as much so I used that one and it worked so long as I didn't get too close to the paper.

My suggestion would be to use dies on the photo/glossy paper, and some embellishments of course.

Yesterday I posted a link to a YouTube video where Tim Holtz shows how to foil with stamps and I did that.  Here it is...  Here is a LINK to my blog about foiling stamps.

I wanted to emboss these to see what they would look like 

Here's a close up.... the inks are so vibrant on the photo paper. 

I hope I helped inspire you to try these Oxide Inks.  I love how you get a different effect on smooth cardstock, watercolor paper and then the glossy papers.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Foiling a Stamp with Oxide Ink Background

Hi Everybody,

I wanted to share a card I made with Oxide Inks for the background and foiling for the stamp.... Have you tried to foil stamps yet?  If you haven't, Tim Holtz has a great video on YouTube that shows how to do it and here is a LINK to it.

I love to experiment and sometimes my experiments turn out just like I thought they would, sometimes I get pleasantly surprised, like on the last post when I used the oxide inks with the photo paper. Here is a LINK to that blog post.  Sometimes I do not get the end result I expected, which is kind of what happened with today's card BUT I think I saved it and I like it better than before.

I used the Tim Holtz Oxide Inks in Worn Jeans, Peeled Paint and Spiced Marmalade.  It looks like I used yellow but I didn't, the orange turned lighter and darker shades.  I think the colors in this background are great for male or female, birthdays, hello, anything but sympathy.

I used an awesome stamp set from The Ton called Brushed Hello.  There is also a coordinating die for the hello stamp.  This hello is a really large size. It would be great stamped on tags, bags, boxes, etc., as well.

SO... I decided instead of embossing, I wanted to try to foil the stamp.  I used rose gold decofoil and the Range Sticky Embossing Powder.  (see video link above for this technique).  WELL... I wasn't thinking and foiled it on this watercolor paper which has the rough textured surface so the foil didn't stick in all the places very well.  In the future, do this on smooth paper unless you want this look.

I was upset because I liked this background and I thought, I just say it's distressed.  My super, awesomely talented friend, Chris Dayton, gave me the idea to draw shadows around it.  I watched a YouTube video on Calligraphy Shadows and I think it looks pretty interesting.  I just used that Sharpie in the above picture and took my time.  I probably could've gone a little thicker around the thick parts of the letters.  So what do you think??   

I made this card for a friend who always says the word, fabulous.  This stamp set has some really great words in it.  I'm going to use the one that says, it's been awhile inside.  This is the perfect way to reach out and remind her that we haven't met for lunch in awhile.

I just wanted to share what I did with you and so now I'm not looking at this as if I messed up.  It looks pretty cool to me and I learned something new in the process, how to shadow letters.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Oxide Inks with Glossy Photo Paper

Hi Everybody,

I can't tell you how many packs of glossy photo paper I have, 4x6 size.  For years I got a free pack when I bought ink for my printer but I never did anything with them.... until today.  If you have some, get it out and let's have some fun!  Glossy cardstock will work too.

I used the Tim Holtz Oxide Inks just like I did in my previous post and here's a LINK to it.  It shows how I put some down on my craft mat, placed my watercolor paper (which is what I was using at the time) in it and after a couple colors, heat set, and then same thing again either using same colors again but changing up the sides or using different colors.  I loved the results.  The inks blend so well, even better than the Distress Inks, which I love too.

Oxide Inks are a hybrid ink, meaning a combination so in this case, a combination of dye and pigment inks.  Tim Holtz Distress Inks (which we all know and love and now have all the minis too) are a water based dye ink and can be activated when sprayed with water.  You have to work a little bit harder to blend distress inks.  When you spritz the oxide inks that you put on your craft mat, you will immediately see the difference after it starts to oxidize.  It starts to look kind of pastel metallic and when it dries on your cardstock, it looks like a matte, chalk finish.  Dye inks are transluent and pigment inks are opaque so when you mix the two, you get that interesting chalk result.  You can stamp with these inks, use with stencils, etc, you can use them exactly how you did with the distress inks BUT you can use the oxide inks on any color cardstock.  They show up amazingly on black and kraft for example.  That's the extent of my Oxide Ink knowledge lol.  I've seen many people asking what Oxide Ink is so I wanted to go into that a little bit.

So after I got the ink on my glossy photo paper like I wanted it I let it dry completely.  I saw that even letting it dry naturally or with a heat gun, I could smear the ink a little.  Well, that's no good!  I was going to see about trying Gesso on it, etc., you will never believe what worked, the simplest thing... I used a very soft microfiber cloth and rubbed on the ink and the top layer rubbed off leaving an incredibly vibrant, shiny result.  I was doing the happy dance.  I had no idea this was supposed to be rubbed off.  Y'all might've already known this but I didn't so I was doing the new discovery dance :)

Here are 4 backgrounds I made on glossy photo paper. Each one may have taken a minute.  I'm serious, that's how fabulous this ink is.  It flows differently on this paper too.  Look at the bottom left one... It dripped down and I left a box for the sentiment ha!  

The bottom half is what it looked like after it dried.  Top half is what it looked like

 after I wiped it off with a towel.  Pretty!

This is what it looked like after I wiped off the entire piece of glossy photo paper.  

The left side is before I wiped off the ink, right side after.  See how vibrant that is!

This is a comparison between glossy photo paper (top) and watercolor/regular paper. 

 So if you want a matte, chalky result, don't use photo paper.  

I just wanted to share my experience so that you will have another option when you use your inks.  I am showing pics of mine and will make cards with them and do another blog post.

I hope I inspired you to pull out those unused packs of glossy photo paper.  I can make cards with these for years!

Watch for more blog posts in the next day or so.....

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Oxide Inks and Copic Markers - What A Pair!

Hi Everybody,

I have been having so much fun today!  It's about 90 degrees and humid so I'm in the house in the A/C playing with my Tim Holtz Oxide Inks.  I thought I loved the Distress Inks (and I do) but
OMGosh, these oxide inks are so easy to work with and so easy to blend that you can make a masterpiece without even trying.

I'll show one of them here today and I've got a couple others in the works.  I used 4 Oxide Inks and a few Copics....  The stamp set I used is from The Ton Stamps called Large Peony 1.  I'm in love with this large flower.  I also love the sentiments included.  They now have 5 of these Peony stamp sets.  If you love to color, check their site out.

All I did was tap out the pads on my craft mat, spritz several times with a little spray mister bottle and dabbed the watercolor paper in the ink where I wanted it.  I started with 2 colors.  I used Arches 140# cold press watercolor paper and dabbed it in 2 different colors.  I started with Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet and I used my heat gun.  Then you can turn your paper around and put colors on opposite of where they originally started, so put the pink where you originally put the purple, etc, or you can add more colors altogether.  So then I added the other 2 colors, Broken China and Cracked Pistachio just placing the paper over the inks and lightly rubbing or dabbing and heat set it and wow, I thought it looked so cool!  You really would have to just play and try this yourself to understand what I mean.  It's very easy and I can't wait to start making videos so I can show instead of tell lol. Basically just add ink until you like the look of it.

Then I stamped the large peony with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and I masked and put another flowers and 3 leaves.  I did have to stamp the flower 3 or 4 times since I used watercolor paper.  Then I took a few Copics and did a little shading, very little because you don't want to cover up the ink.  I'll list the colors I used below.  When you use Copics over this oxide ink, they blend so easily.  For example, on the leaves, I added BG15 and BG11, but just a little.  You don't even have to do this and it will still look great. I went around the entire thing with C3 Copic Marker.  I used a Spectrum Noir Shimmer Glitter Brush Pen in Clear on some of the center petals and around the edges of a few outside petals.  *Please note, I normally do not use Copics with watercolor paper/inks and I normally do not use Memento Black ink on watercolor paper but since the watercolor part of the background was finished, I could use this ink and Copics without worrying about it.

I stamped the greeting with Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossed with WOW Clear Embossing Powder to make it a little shiny.  Finally, a few clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh finishes it off.

I haven't seen one of my friends in about 3 months.  She always says, Hey Girl!  We live in Mississippi, everybody says Hey Girl so I knew I had to have this set because of that in addition to the awesome flower.  Her favorite color is pink so I know she will love it.  We meet for lunch about once a month or two so I want to tell her we need to do that soon in my card.

I hope you'll try these inks, they are so much fun and use your Copics with it and see what kind of a masterpiece you can make.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina

Copics Used:  RV34, RV32 and then I went back and added R59 for a little darker shading.
V15, V01 and I used V17 for darker shading.  BG15 and BG11 on leaves

Hello Lovely Thank You Card

Hi Everybody,

I love to color flowers.  Normally my stamp will be one flower, maybe three or to have more, I'll have to mask them.  Well, today my card shows a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Concord & 9th and I didn't even have to mask them all.  The stamp set is called Hello Lovely and it is just that, such a lovely set.  What I like about it is the gorgeous bouquet but also you can stamp out layered flowers for a watercolor effect, and the sentiments will fit any card, plus the cool splatter marks stamp is a bonus.

I actually did a little bit of masking with this card using post it tape to cover right along the edges of where I was going to be overlapping.  You can stamp this bouquet across your stamp, hang it off the side of your card in one or two places, do what I did here and stamp 2 bouquets together.  If you cut them right you can get 2 cards out of it as well.  Who doesn't love that right?

 

There is a lot going on in this card for sure but isn't it cool!  I used Zig Real Brush Watercolor Markers to color the flowers.  I did use a paintbrush and water because my water brush was putting out too much water.  I know it is quite vibrant but I wanted a bright, summery, happy result.  I embossed it with one of my most favorite embossing powders, Ranger Silver Pearl.  This is softer than white, it's so beautiful in real life.  I used Canson Montval watercolor paper, which I like to use with Zigs.  After I painted the background and everything dried, what did I do??  I threw water droplets on it lol.  I sprayed some water into my hand from my mister and dropped it out onto the card.  They came out a little bit larger than I wanted on the purple flower but I think it looks good.

That's the cool thing about working with water, you never know what you're going to get.  And, yes, I have to admit, I tend to use watercolors sometimes as I would Copics, which I kind of did here.  A different mentality is needed when watercoloring. Forget everything you know, loosen up and let the water do most of the work for you. I haven't fully give up control to the water yet, but I'm getting there. :)

We went out to dinner last weekend with some family on my husband's side and his Mom paid for it which was so generous.  I wanted to make her a beautiful thank you card and this is it.  I used Versafine Onyx Black to emboss the Thanks sentiment and I needed some filler around it and low and behold, they included a stamp in this set that was perfect, splatters!  You can use this on so many cards.  If you are not comfortable splattering black paint, gold paint, etc., on your cards, use this stamp (see the pic above, it's at the top in the middle, splatter dots).  I LOVE IT!  I embossed these using Stampendous Detail Fine Gold Embossing Powder.  I took little pieces of scotch tape and covered some of the dots where I wanted just a few from the stamp.  When you do this, use the tape to cover the parts (of any stamp) that you don't want to cover with ink, ink it up, then take the tape off, and stamp.  I used a gold metallic pen to put some little gold dots in the centers of the flowers to tie it all in together.  

You really get your $$$ worth out of this stamp set.  I've got some ideas that I'm going to be trying with the bouquet in the near future as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina