Abstract Floral Layered Stencil - Brass & Bliss

I have this one up on the blog over at Brass & Bliss Craft Co!

I hope you'll hop over there for the details!

 

Thankful for All You Do-Brass and Bliss Craft Co

I'm on the blog over at Brass & Bliss Craft Co!

I hope you'll join me there for the details!

Thanks for stopping!  Come again soon.

 

A Layered Floral Shaker and New Inks From Rubbernecker Stamps!

Happy Thursday!  Lisa here and today I'm sharing lots of exciting new stuff available over in the Rubbernecker shop!

There's a new ink in town... have you seen the beautiful rainbow of colors in the Color Fuse Dye Ink palette??  And I love how they come in sets of four beautifully coordinated colors... perfect to use with the new layering stamps and lots of other stuff!

I used the Spring Meadow stamp set for my border along with the beautiful shades of green in Color Fuse Set #11 and the Fragrant Bloom stamp set with the gorgeous pinks in the Color Fuse set #4!  And that thanks sentiment in the Spring Meadow set... perfect for cutting out on the Scan N Cut or by hand if you want!

Don't think I didn't hesitate after I had my border created... I decided it would be cool to cut out the inside and make a shaker, but that first cut... scary!  Finally, I just poked through the  center carefully so as not to bend or wrinkle my paper and cut away large chunks first and slowly got closer to cut the detailed areas.  It really didn't take me very long... sometimes positioning my hand underneath and coming up through the center and sometimes coming in from the top.  And I'm so glad I took the chance!

And those pink flowers... with all of that beautiful green I love the pop of pink to draw your attention to the sentiment.

I'm playing along with Double Trouble Challenge's Go Green... use green on your project and link it up for a chance to win!  Extra chances if you use the twist to add gold (I'm sorry Thing 4... didn't get the gold in which is shocking!).  AND they're partnering with the Heart2Heart Challenge this week which is Put Your Green On!  You should check them out!

Here's how I created this one:

1. I started by cutting the second largest stitched rectangle die from white cardstock.
2. I find it best to "season" my stamps first.  My Adhesive Eraser works perfectly for this.  I just rubbed it across the stamp surface before I used it the first time to remove any film left over from manufacturing.
3. The rectangle die cut was placed into my Misti and began with the darkest green ink.  I chose the image from Spring Meadows that I would use for the border; inked it up and stamped it around the outside edge of the rectangle changing the position each time and leaving space in between for more stamping.
4. Then I chose the next lightest green and did the same..not afraid to stamp over the other images... I love the shadows this creates.. perfect if you're looking through a cluster of leaves or flowers!  I did the same with each color I used until the border was covered.
5. Finally, I used a blending sponge and added some of the lightest green around the edges.  I was curious as to how the inks would blend and it was smooth and easy.  I love the way it brought all of the colors together.
6. I cut a few extra images out to use with the florals and added a little dimension using my Prismacolor pencils... this was fun and I'll definitely do that again!
7. The Thanks sentiment was stamped (quite a few times) along with a few of the smaller sentiments from the Spring Meadows set that have no breaks or open areas and cut them all out using the Scan N Cut... I've got lots saved for future projects and LOVE the look of this beautiful font cut out!
8. Next I grabbed the Pink inks and began layering the Fragrant Blooms.  I used the lightest to stamp the solid base and with each layer went a little darker.  For this one I used three of the pinks... the darkest and then the two lightest for contrast.. knowing I'd use a brown for my center stamens.  Again I used the Misti but these can easily be lined up without.  I will admit... layering stamps have literally brought me to tears (sad but true...lol!)  These were easy peasy for me!  It was easy for me to see what direction each layer should go in and on my second try I had the look I wanted and there's no looking back now!
9. I layered a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" base in green and a white piece cut using the largest rectangle die and layered them together.  
10. On a separate white piece of cardstock that I cut sightly smaller than my shaker element, I stamped a few more of the Spring Meadows images, closer toward the center so that they would show past my cut out window to create some depth and attached that to my bottom two layers right in the center.
11. Acetate was adhered to the back of my cut out window and then pop up tape around the entire rectangle for stability.  I also added extra foam tape along the bottom of my border to any areas that stick up... that keeps the sequins from "hiding" behind those areas.  I didn't worry about going around the sides and top with the extra foam tape.
12. I popped my shaker window over the sequins and then layered on the florals, extra green "foliage" and the thanks with varied thicknesses of foam tape.
13. Finally, as I always do, I added some sequins around the outside as if they've escaped from my shaker.

That's me for today!  I hope you enjoyed it and I've inspired you in some way for the day!  Thanks for stopping and come back soon for more Rubbernecker inspiration!

I've included links below to all of the Rubbernecker products I've used today.  Should you choose to purchase using these links I will receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you.  And thank you!

The Cutting Cafe - Back To School Inspiration!

Welcome to some Cutting Cafe Inspiration!  We've got some fun Back To School projects for you!  I've used the Bus Shaped Card and the adorable From Owl of Us stamp set to create a fun thank you for the person that delivers our treasures safely to school and then back home each day!  I don't have little ones in school any more, but I remember the worry once they left home.  Nothing was right until they got home again.  But it was a little easier when you knew the people who cared for them during the day were wonderful and cared about them too!

This file is fun and SO easy to cut and put together.  I pulled the SVG version into my Cricut Design space; chose colors; and the machine did the rest!  You remember Sassy Owl??  Still love her!  She looks like she doesn't put up with any nonsense!

I mean look what she's got to put up with every day ... and if I remember from my school days, this is pretty accurate.  AND she's gotta drive that huge bus!  Thank goodness for Sassy Owl!  I used some dies from my stash for the heart and sentiment.

Love this file!

Now!  Be sure to head on over to the Cutting Cafe blog to see what everyone has created for you today!  And comment there for your chance to win three files of your choice!  Maybe you'll pick this one!

Thanks for stopping!  Come again soon!

Thanks A Lot-Paper Smooches

Happy Sunday!  Today I'm sharing some more watercolor with some Paper Smooches stamps.  Today I've used the Best Buds stamp set again... just love these sweet flowers in the jar.  I watercolored my background and then splattered some additional blue on after it was dry and then splattered some water.

I watercolored the flowers using my Zig Clean Color markers and added just a bit of color to the jar in blue as a reflection of the blue.

I'm playing along with the Penny Black and More November challenge, Flower Power!  You should check it out!

This cutie pie bear is from the adorable Curious Cuties stamp set and the sentiment is from Best Buds.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Thanks So Very Much-A Little Shabby Chic?

Decided to make a card just for fun today!  It's been a while since I did that and it was necessary...lol!  I'm playing along with a few challenges!  The Outlawz Thursday Twist is Brads, Buttons and Bows and I've used two of the three!   I'm playing along with Word Art Wednesday #308-#309 which is Anything Goes and the Shabby Chic challenge to make a Thank You card over at Play Creative on Facebook!

The design paper is from Prima and I love the distressed look of it.  I used the Waffle Flower scalloped dies for my top two layers... they are so pretty!

This pretty stamp set was a special from CTMH a short while ago... love the pretty fonts and flowers!

My fourth layer is some Tim Holtz Grit Paste and I used a lacy stencil to apply it.  Once it was dry, I added that pretty die cut from Paper Smooches, some flowers, some beads...

This pretty bow using crinkly seam binding from D.L. Art, that beautiful crystal button and some silver jewelry thread...

Love the way it turned out... hope you do too!