Hello there! I thought I would pop in with a non-design team project for once and share a card I made for fun using a challenge kit from my local scrapbook store.
For the challenge we were each given a 4x3 piece of double sided patterned paper, an 8" piece of pineapple washi tape, the happy die-cut word and a piece of 6x6 navy cardstock. The rules are we must use a little bit of everything they provide so here's what I came up with...
I have been dying to play with my new Nuvo Aqua Flow watercolor pens and Aqua Shimmer pens by Tonic all summer long and I was so happy I finally found a little downtime to enjoy them.
I started by stamping the images from my Sunny Studio Tropical Paradise stamps with VersaMark ink onto Bristol paper and then heat embossed them with white embossing powder (On a side note, I tried them on standard cardstock, but they didn't move with water well that way and they are really designed to work best with watercolor paper or the smooth Bristol paper that is heavy enough to take the extra water).
I then added a small line of color using the pens and softened the colors with a paintbrush and water. Sometimes, I reversed the order and added water and then brushed in some color and allowed the color to move with the water. I'm not the best at watercoloring so I love that the raised embossing lines gave the color a boundary making it so much easier to stay in the lines.
Even though I currently only have three of the four sets, I was able to achieve a lot of different colors by mixing my colors. Here's a little chart to see how the colors look straight out of the pen and then blended with water.
When they were dry, I then went back with the clear Aqua Shimmer pens to add some sparkle to my flowers, leaves and pineapple. I really like how the shimmer pens are completely clear and didn't alter the colors of my flowers. I found they also didn't really move around the color of my previous layers by much so I think they aqua flow pens color is set once it dries.
Here's a comparison on how they look on white vs. black cardstock:
For the inside of my card I used the piece of washi tape mounted on a piece of white cardstock and used an extra flower to carry my theme throughout.
I would really recommend taking a closer look at these. They are a very affordable option to coloring in stamped images, blended beautifully and were super fun to play with!
Interested in the products I used to create my projects today? To make supplies easier for you to find, I have listed them below (affiliate links included).
Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)
Today the Summer Issue of Scrapbooks & Cards Today is hitting newsstands and I'm super excited to be sharing two new cards using a fun sketch they provided as inspiration!
For both of my cards I paired some of my favorite Doodlebug papers with some of Sunny Studio's newest stamps for Summer.
Up first is a card using the Magical Mermaid stamps that I colored in with Copic markers and mixed together with Doodlebug's adorable Under The Sea collection.
For my next card I went a bit more masculine and created a shaker card using the Oceans of Joy stamps together with Doodlebug's Anchors Aweigh collection. I used a Silhouette cutting file that I created which I am sharing as a free download.
You can check out the rest of this amazing issue along with the cool sketch I used by visiting Scrapbooks & Cards Today. :)
Before I go I also wanted to let you know that Scrapbook.com is continuing their week of summer sizzling deals. For today only you can get 20% off all stamping which includes all Sunny Studio stamps, as well as all inks and other stamping supplies.
Interested in the products I used to create my projects today? To make supplies easier for you to find, I have listed them below (affiliate links included).
Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)
I'm so excited to have the opportunity to test drive the new Tonic Stamp Platform by Tim Holtz! I came across their booth just as Creativation was coming to a close and I was immediately impressed by it's weight and heavy duty nature. While I love my other stamping tools, I've experienced some form of cracking on all my acrylic lids, however at 5/16" thick this looks like it will stand up to a beating. ;)
I was brainstorming what type of project I would like to do with it for my post today and I realized the large size makes it ideal for working with so many of my 6x6 background stamps that I've neglected. I don't know about you, but I have issues with getting good clean impressions with large background stamps, even when using them on their own without a block. I frequently have issues with getting complete coverage or dropping my stamp in the middle of my cardstock accidentally due to their bulky size.
The other issue with this type of stamp is you generally have one shot to get it right. Forget trying to stamp it repeatedly in different colors.
Well, with the new Tonic Stamp Platform, I was able to stamp it repeatedly with a rainbow of colors. Normally I would have to muddy my ink colors on their stamp pads by blending the inks on the rubber stamp itself, but by using the platform, I was able to ink a portion, stamp it and clean it off before applying my next color. I love that I was able to repeat these steps as many times as needed until I had the coverage and blending I was after.
When I was done with my stamping, I thought it would be cool to use those same ink colors with my favorite jumbo daubers to sponge on a soft rainbow background over the stamped polka-dots.
I generally have one jumbo dauber dedicated to each color family. I use my daubers A LOT so they take a ton of abuse from me (as you can see), but I truly love the smooth blended results I get from them.
Another feature I love about the Tonic stamp platform is how easy it is to switch between clear and cling stamps. As you can see by this picture the lid easily lifts out of it's track and can flipped over. They've printed on the lid in red in the top left corner to help you know which side to use for which. ;)
Here's a full look at my finished card. I paired my background with some fun new layering stamps I'm sharing over on the Sunny Studio blog today which are available for purchase on Friday morning. I hope you will stop by to join in the festivities over there. I'm giving away a new $25 gift card to Sunny Studio store every day this week for a total of five chance to win. :)
Just to recap here's my favorite features of the new Tonic Stamp Platform:
- Heavy duty design with thick 5/16" acrylic lid
- 1/4" etched grid on lid that won't wear off
- Lid easily flips for use with both clear and red rubber cling stamps
- Large 8.5" x 8.5" Stamp base is fully magnetic
- Comes with full foam anti-slip base and two strong magnets
- The open edge design allows for use on larger projects like stamping on 12x12 scrapbook pages
- A competitive retail price
While I may not pull this out for small jobs like stamping a card sentiment straight (even though it's fully capable of doing the job) this is a welcome addition to my craft tool arsenal. I'm looking forward to trying it out on my scrapbook pages next!
Look for the stamp platform to hit Scrapbook.com and other stores sometime later this month. ;)
Interested in the products I used to create my projects today? To make supplies easier for you to find, I have listed them below (affiliate links included).
The exact Impression Obession polka dot stamp I used seems to be discontinued so I have linked up several others that I think would be really fun with this technique.
Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)
