You Are Amazing

Hi Everybody,

Wow, I didn't realize it has been so long since I posted.  I have been having severe knee pain since about last September.  I started getting the different injections such as cortisone, gel injections, etc., and nothing worked.  I have to get a double knee replacement!!!  I was in shock, both knees bone on bone.  First surgery is in April.  I just haven't felt like being creative but I'm really trying hard to make a card once every day or so to keep my mojo up. :) 

The card I made today is from Gina K. Designs called You Are.  I have to admit, I'm not very good at figuring out the best ways to use piece parts in a stamp set.  I usually shy away from the ones that will build a scene or add to a wreath like with this one I used today but I am trying to take a leap out of my comfort zone this year.  I can honestly say I had a lot of fun with this.  I can see lots of possibilities!  

I made a background using Oxide Inks in Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral and Candied Apple.  I really do love this color combination.  Next I stamped the wreath with Versafine Onyx Black Ink and stamped a few additional pieces having no clue what I was doing.  At the end of this post I will provide a link to ideas on how to use this set on the illustrator's blog. 

I used Zig Realbrush Markers in the same colors as my background and used the Clear Nuvo Drops on top to add a little shine for a separation from the matte background. I used Brutus Monroe Alabaster Embossing Powder for the sentiment.  I didn't plan very well as there wasn't enough space at the bottom for the sentiment I wanted to use.  I used tape on two of the stamps to mask the words I didn't want to use.  

To finish off, I used clear sequins from The Ton Stamps and added Pale Gold Nuvo Drops on the berries. 

Here's a link to Lisa Hetrick's blog, illustrator for Gina K Designs.  You will find ideas on how to use this set and cut files as well.   HERE'S the link.... 

I hope I inspired you to take the plunge out of your comfort zone and try something new.

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

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

I Brake For Happy New Year Bears

Hi Everybody!

We are almost through the year 2015.  It flew by!  I have heard a lot of people say they did not get a chance this year to make Christmas cards or as many as they wanted to and might send out New Year's Cards.  I am going to do that myself.  I love this New Year Bear by Rick St. Dennis from I Brake For Stamps.  The New Year Bear comes in rubber stamp and digital stamp.  You can order the digital stamp today and have time to color several up and send out first of the year because it will be sent to your email right away.  

Use Coupon Code SAVE10REGINA and receive 10% off your order.  

I colored him with Zig Real Brush Markers.  I think the end result is very similar to Copics but I could color faster with the Zigs.  I will do a separate blog post on what I think about Zig Markers if there is any interest.  

I put some Glossy Accents on the hat, bottle and the Cheers die.  I put Diamond Stickles on the banner and used a Sakura Silver Star metallic pen on the diaper pen.

Have I inspired you to make some New Year's Cards?  I love this idea because people won't expect to get a card after the first of the year.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Regina - Design Team Member

I Brake For Snowboarding Bears

Hi Everybody!

I think I am probably finished with the Christmas cards this year so now it's time to move on to the fun winter images.  I am using an image from I Brake For Stamps called Snowboarding Bear, by Rick St. Dennis.  It comes in Rubber Stamp or Digi.  I love that you can get most of the images from I Brake For Stamps in both rubber and digi so if you need an image right away, you can choose the digital image option and have it emailed if you can't wait for the stamp to be mailed.

Use COUPON CODE SAVE10REGINA and receive 10% off your order. 

The main difference in the girl bear version and the boy is that I used Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor paints for the girl and Kuretake Zig Real Brush Markers for the boy.  

I did a little bit of sponging with some gray distress ink to give some shadow and depth.  I added glossy accents to the board and goggles to add some shine and dimension.

I hope I inspired you to start thinking about your winter themed cards.  This would make a great image for a boy or girl's birthday that falls during the wintertime.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina - Design Team Member