Coloring With White Ink

Hello, Blogland! Last weekend's Stamp-A-Faire event really lit a fire under my tush. It made me think more about blogging and engaging with the creative community. So here I am with a second (!) post this week. Today I wanted to play along with this week's Make It Monday challenge in which Heather Nichols featured coloring with white ink. I'd never tried the technique before, so I thought it might be fun.


I started by creating a white card base and layering it with a piece of Aqua Mist cardstock that I had been run through the Cuttlebug with the Picnic Plaid impression plate. Then I wrapped the base with a strip of white ruffled ribbon and gray and white bakers twine tied in a little bow.


Next I stamped the stork from Bundle of Joy onto Hawaiian Shores using Smoky Shadow ink. Then I used a Q-tip to add layers of ink until I was happy with my coverage. I learned that it worked better when I tapped off a little of the excess white ink onto scrap paper before using the Q-tip on my image. Next, I stamped the baby bundle onto white cardstock in Smoky Shadow and Melon Berry inks and added color using Prismacolor pencils. The little heart on the blankie was also embellished with a touch of clear gloss.


I felt like the stork panel was a little bland so I stamped some polka dots in watermark ink over top of the image before adding the sentiment in Fresh Snow ink. Then I matted that piece with white cardstock and mounted the baby bundle with foam tape. Finally I mounted the whole focal piece to the base with foam tape.

I hope you've enjoyed my card today. Thanks so much for taking a peek!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Bundle of Joy, Everyday Classics (Anniversary Set - not for sale) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Smoky Shadow, Melon Berry, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Water Lily Green - Palette; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Picnic Plaid Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; Ruffled White Ribbon - May Arts; Oyster Bakers Twine - Divine Twine; Foam Tape - Scotch; Glossy Accents - Ranger

July Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!

Hello everyone! I know it's been a little quiet around here since last month. Sorry about that. Hopefully I can find the time soon to put together a few new posts. Today I wanted to make sure I played along with the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. This month's challenge was to be inspired by this photo:


The first thing that caught my eye in this photo were the colors, followed by the medallions on the throw and the butterflies on the pillow. So here's my card:


I don't use a lot of butterflies, but I thought it might be fun to use one this month. So, I die cut the butterfly using the Love Lives Here die and stamped it with one of the medallions from the Iconic Images set that Papertrey gave away to attendees of Stamp-A-Faire this weekend (so much fun!!!). I die cut a second butterfly and made a Melon Berry Sandwich with the two butterflies. Then I glittered the heart and filled in the void with clear glaze.

Next, I cut a mat from Hawaiian Shores cardstock and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Diamonds impression plate. Then, using a pencil, I free-hand drew a trail and hand-stitched over it with embroidery floss. That piece was adhered to a white card base and the butterfly was attached with foam tape.


To do the sentiment, I cut a 3/4" strip of white cardstock and notched the end with a square punch. The sentiment, from Up, Up, And Away, was then stamped in Dark Chocolate ink and embellished with a rhinestone. I trimmed the strip to the appropriate length and adhered it to the Hawaiian Shores layer using Scor-Tape.

It's a pretty simple card, but then most of mine are. Thanks so much for stopping by for this month's blog hop! I hope to be back again soon.

Recipe:
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores, Melon Berry - Papertrey Ink; White
Stamps: Up, Up, And Away, Iconic Images - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink
Other: Butterfly Die (Love Lives Here), Diamond Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; Embroidery Floss (#352) - DMC; Glitter Pen - Sakura; Glossy Accents - Ranger; Rhinestone

Rhythm & Soul Day 5

Well, here we are. Today is the final day in the Papertrey Ink June Release Countdown. I can't wait to see what you all do with Rhythm & Soul when you finally get it into your hot little hands. I hope you have as much fun with it as I have this week.

Before we get to the project I want to thank everyone at Papertrey one more time for this amazing experience. Nichole, Julie, and Jane have given me the opportunity to design and share something that holds so much meaning for me. I feel like a broken record, but I am so filled with gratitude to them and to all of you for the warm reception and enthusiasm I have been so lucky to receive. Ya'll sure know how to make a girl feel loved. So thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also want to take a second to thank my husband who has shown enthusiasm for every project this week and didn't get the least bit salty when I spent hours chained to my computer designing the set while we were on "vacation" earlier this year.


My final project is a little gift and card combo intended for a new pianist. Do you remember your first instrument? I remember my music teacher asking us to keep a practice log book so we could track how often and for how long we practiced. I tried so hard to practice and keep my little journal, but alas, instrumental music was not for me (I attempted, and failed at, the trumpet, the guitar, and the cello [to be fair I didn't even start that one until I was 21 and I only even tried because it was a gift]). Anyway, I figured this little set would be a perfect present for a budding piano player.


I started by cutting pieces of Pure Poppy cardstock and stamping them with A Little Argyle in Fresh Snow and VersaMark inks. Two of those pieces were adhered to the covers of a mini composition notebook and one piece was attached to a white card base. Then I stamped four pianos (two in Noir ink on Smoky Shadow cardstock and two in Noir ink on white cardstock). I cut out the pianos and embellished them with colored pencils before attaching the keyboards.


Next, I took a piece of Linen Texture Vellum and stamped my sentiments with Smoky Shadow ink. The practice booklet's sentiment is Simple Alphabet and the card's sentiment is included in Rhythm & Soul. The great thing about the card sentiment is that it's two pieces. The set includes a "We're" and an "I'm" in addition to the "so proud of you" so it can be used for cards from individuals or families/parents/groups of all sorts. Hooray for versatility!

After adhering the vellum pieces, I die cut a couple of circles from white cardstock to mount behind my pianos to set them off from the background. Sometimes with bold patterns I like to ground my focal image so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. I adhered my circles onto my practice notebook and then mounted my piano overtop using foam adhesive. Before attaching my circle/piano focal point on my card, I wrapped the base with a piece of Pure Poppy Saddle Stitched Ribbon and adhered the ends so that they would lie under the white circle. Next, I tied on some gray baker's twine and then mounted my circle and piano with foam adhesive.

Well, that's all I have for this lovely June day. Thanks so much for stopping by today. For more amazing projects featuring new stamps for this month make sure to check out Nichole, Dawn, Heather, Maile, Melissa's blogs. I'll see you on the forum!

Recipe:
Stamps: Rhythm & Soul (available June 15th), Simple Alphabet, A Little Argyle - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Smoky Shadow, Linen Vellum - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Fresh Snow, Smoky Shadow - Papertrey Ink; Noir - Palette; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Pure Poppy Saddle Stitched Ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Circle die - Quickutz; Pinking Scissors; Oyster Baker's Twine - Divine Twine; Corner Chomper - We Are Memory Keepers; mini composition notebook

Rhythm & Soul Day 4

Welcome to day four of the June Papertrey Ink Release Countdown! Thank you all again for stopping by and leaving your generous comments and showing such enthusiasm for Rhythm & Soul. I'm so glad you're having as much fun as I am with these projects.


Today I wanted to make a congratulatory card featuring the fiddle. I am a firm believer that images don't always have to be realistically represented when it comes to color, so today we have a Berry Sorbet fiddle. Yay! Wouldn't that be fun? Somebody needs to get on that. Anyway, I started by cutting an asymmetrical base from white cardstock. I rounded one corner and set that aside. Next, I stamped the fiddle and the sentiment in Smoky Shadow ink. Then, I colored the fiddle with Prismacolor pencils and trimmed it out. I sponged the edges of the sentiment with Aqua Mist ink and matted it with a little piece of Summer Sunrise cardstock.


The next step was to cut a piece of Aqua Mist cardstock and stamp it with the smallest dots from Polka Dot Basics with Fresh Snow ink. I wanted even more texture, so I ran the Aqua Mist panel through my Cuttlebug with the Woodgrain Impression Plate. I love layering textures like that. Next, I punched out a scalloped strip of Berry Sorbet cardstock and hand-stitched it along the edge of the Aqua Mist layer before adhering that whole piece to the card base. Then, I adhered the sentiment to the front of the card and mounted the fiddle over top of it with foam adhesive.

Then I proceeded to stare at the card for a half an hour trying to decide if the card needed a rhinestone anywhere. In the end I decided that the card had plenty going on without the extra sparkle and I just needed to leave well enough alone.

I hope you've enjoyed today's card. Thanks so much for stopping by! For more amazing projects featuring new stamps for this month make sure to check out Nichole, Dawn, Heather, Maile, Melissa's blogs. Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow with the last day of countdown projects.

Recipe:
Stamps: Rhythm & Soul (available June 15th), Polka Dot Basics - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Fresh Snow, Aqua Mist, Smoky Shadow - Papertrey Ink
Other: Woodgrain Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; Decorative Edge Punch - Fiskars; Dark Gray Embroidery Floss (844) - DMC; Foam Adhesive - Scotch; Corner Chomper - We Are Memory Keepers; Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; sponge; mineral spirits

Rhythm & Soul Day 3

Welcome to the June Papertrey Ink Countdown Day 3. Today I'm sharing my final card featuring the guitar. I know my posts have been a little guitar heavy, but this last one is very important to me. You see today is my dad's birthday. If you read yesterday's post you'll remember that Dad was a big influence when developing the concept for this set and I was so excited to find that the stamps would arrive just in time to make him a birthday card.


So, to start today's card I stamped the guitar onto Aqua Mist Bitty Boxes Patterned Paper, Kraft cardstock, and white cardstock. I trimmed out just the body of the guitar from the Aqua Mist, the entire image from the Kraft, and layered the white with a mat of Dark Chocolate cardstock. I adhered the Aqua Mist image to the Kraft image and then mounted that whole piece to the white layer with foam adhesive.


Next, I made a base out of Kraft cardstock and repeatedly stamped the block of text from Background Basics: Newsprint with VersaMark to give it an all-over pattern. Then, I stamped the line image from Background Basics: Retro with Fresh Snow ink about a third of the way from the top of the card. I love this lined strip with the guitar because it reminds me of a blank music staff. That sort of coordination is such fun! Anyway, my next step was to layer a knotted strip of Aqua Mist twill over the top of the linear images and mount the guitar panel to the base with foam adhesive. The final step was to stamp the birthday sentiment in the bottom corner using Dark Chocolate ink and to add a little embellishment to the guitar with colored pencils. I think Dad will love it.

Thank you for visiting and checking out today's project! I'll see you tomorrow for day four of the June countdown. For more amazing projects featuring new stamps for this month make sure to check out Nichole, Dawn, Heather, Maile, Melissa's blogs. Ta-ta!

Recipe:
Stamps: Rhythm & Soul (available June 15th), Background Basics: Newsprint, Background Basics: Retro - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink; white
Patterned Paper: Aqua Mist Bitty Boxes - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Aqua Mist Twill - Papertrey Ink; Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; Foam Adhesive - Scotch