Simple Pug Dog Cards Loaded with Personality!

Hey Topflight fans! As my last design team project post, I wanted to share some doggy cards. The adorable Pug dog from the Carabelle-Studio "To Be Or Not To Be" stamp set has such personality, I knew the moment I saw it, that it would be perfect for a slew of occasions for any dog lover.

For my first card, the hipster glasses and the adorable wrinkles on the Pug's forehead, seemed to scream out for a partial, top-only stamping with a cute accompanying saying, "Just popping up to say..." with the inside of the card saying, "Happy Birthday!" (or it could be finished off with so many other sayings, like "Hello!" or "Surprise!") (the sentiments are from the Neat & Tangled "Out of the Box" stamp set). I kept the vast majority of the card front crisp white, and Copic colored the image, including reflection lines on the eye glasses with a Uniball Signo White Gel Pen. I also added Black Sakura Glaze pen for the eye glass frames and Ranger Glossy Accents for the eye glasses.

For the second card, I wanted to play off the concerned expression of the Pug so I used a sentiment from the Mama Elephant "In My Heart" stamp set that says: "MISS YOU more than just a little." Because I wanted to keep this card super simple, I used VersaMark Ink and Ranger Super Fine Black Embossing Powder to stamp the image and the sentiment. 

Then, to add a pop of color, I heat embossed a little heart by the sentiment and the eye glass frames with Ranger Adirondack Brights Watermelon Pigment Ink and clear embossing powder. This bit was somewhat tricky in that I had to hand fussy cut the inside and outside of the eye glass frames and then heat emboss this tiny, delicate piece; but it was well worth the extra effort for this added dimension and interest.

For the third and final card, again, compliments the Pug dog's worried expression. This time, I stamped the dog head at an angle at the lower right corner of the card front and doodled in the top part of his body with Copic Multiliner Pens in 0.1 pt and 0.03 pt. Then I Copic colored the full image, adding Uniball Signo White Gel Pen reflection marks on the glasses. Then I used the "So Sorry I Forgot!" sentiment from the Gerda Steiner Designs "Howl Are You?" stamp set. The inside card liner is stamped with "Happy  Birthday," and "BELATED" both also from the same Gerda Steiner set. For a bit of whimsy, I spaced out the words so that I could use a Red Ultra Fine Point Sharpie marker to add a red carrot to indicate the insertion of the "BELATED".

It's been an honor to be on the Topflight Stamps design team. I had such a wonderful time. I hope you've enjoyed my projects along the way as much as I've enjoyed creating and sharing them with you all. If you're interested in more details about the products I've used on these cards or a process video of crafting them, please check out my blog post HERE. 

Topflight, Carabelle et Emerald creek

Today for Topflight, new Carabelle Studio and Emerald Creek.

Blow of heart for the new "Baked Texture"

The Butterfly effect

Emerald Creek "Rocky road"

I created my background with Oxide inks

Frayed Burlap

Bundled SageFaded Jeans

Walnut Stain

et Black Soot

Nathalie Fournier/Topflight Stamps

Topflight Stamps - Carabelle Studio Rainbow Unicorn

Hi Everyone and welcome to the Topflight Stamps blog.  It's Jenny here, and today I'm showcasing a fabulous Unicorn stamp to create a fun and sparkly rainbow card.  

The stamp set I used is the Carabelle Studio My Beautiful Unicorn which I fell in love with when I saw it.  Isn't it cool?!

To create the card, I first created the background panel by ink blending Distress Oxide inks over a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock in a rainbow pattern.  I spritzed it with a Shimmer spray for added sparkle, and when dry, I stamped the stars from the set multiple times in a zig zag in Versamark embossing ink, which I heat set with gold embossing powder. 

I stamped the main Unicorn image onto another sheet of Bristol in waterproof black ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  When dry, I colored it with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, and tried to recreate the rainbow look in the main panel.  I also added some white gel pen on the nose and eye, and Diamond Stickles on some of the parts of the mane for extra sparkle.  I cut the image out with my Scan N Cut and mounted it on foam tape onto the centre of the rainbow panel, and adhered the whole piece to a white card base. I decided to go without a sentiment so that the card can be used for lots of different occasions (or framed!)  My 2 year old loves it ! 

For more details on other supplies I used, please see my blog.

I hope you have a sparkly day!

There are always flowers, lots of flowers.......

Hi TOPFLIGHT STAMPS fans, Barbara back today with a tag I've made, using a few different PaperArtsy products.... from Topflight Stamps, of course 😀

(I'll list what I've used at the end of this post)

I started off by cutting a tag shape, and inking it with Brusho powders.

Using an old book page, I stamped two flowers from a set of stamps designed by Tracy Scott (I adore Tracy's designs). These were 'fussy-cut' and put aside until I'd finished the background.

Using stamps & stencils, I made a 'messy background on which to place the flower.

 

I must admit at this stage I'd made it too messy and didn't like it too much. Hey-ho, no time to make another, so I had to finish it.

I adhered the flower & stem, which I'd coloured with inks, 

then added a few drops of enamel accents in black & white, and a bit of doodling.

So, although I'm not altogether happy with it, this is my project for today.....what do you think??

I'll be back next week with something I like a bit more, hopefully 😁

Happy crafting,

Barbara x

PRODUCTS USED

Stencil- JOFY PS085 - HERE

Stamp- Tracy Scott 08 - HERE

Stamp- JOFY 51 - HERE

 

Doctor Who Anniversary Card

I can't believe it, but I'm actually ahead of schedule for my hubby's anniversary card! Our anniversary isn't until September, but when I picked up the Visible Image "Ahead of Our Time" stamp set, I knew I wanted to craft a special anniversary card for Mr. CraftyPaws with them, and I couldn't wait. The spiraling clock face, the falling people, and the open door stamps reminded me of the various scenes in "Doctor Who" where characters fall out of the Tardis time machine and adventures ensue with story options spanning all of time and space. My hubby is a huge Doctor Who fan, and I knew this theme would speak to him. 

To set the scene I created a galaxy background sprinkling and spritzing Ken Oliver Color Bursts in Ultramarine Blue and Indigo with water on Strathmore Bristol Paper. I blended Black Soot Tim Holtz Distress Ink along the edges to create a darker, more dramatic galaxy look. Then I splattered watered-down titanium white acrylic paint with an old toothbrush to add a starry look.

I wanted the stamped images to stand out from the background so I used VersaMark Ink and Ranger Black Embossing Powder to heat emboss them. I positioned the images so that it would look like the man and woman were falling out of the open door into a spiraling time warp. To connect the clock a bit more with the falling couple, I added more black splatter dots that start at the top of the time warp stamp with a Sakura Black Glaze Pen.

Now at this point, you may be thinking that this scene is not really appropriate for an anniversary card, but I think the sentiments (which I printed from my computer) bring it all together. I took a quote spoken by the Tenth Doctor: "People assume that time is a strict progression -- It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff." and combined it with another saying about true love: "You've found true love when you fall in love with the same person over and over." I cut apart the sentiments, inked the edges with more Black Soot Distress Ink and popped them all up on double sided foam adhesive for a bit of dimension.

I hope Mr. CraftyPaws enjoys this anniversary card as much as I enjoyed crafting it. If you'd like more information about the supplies I used or are interested in watching a process video of me crafting this card, please check out my blog post HERE. Thanks for joining me today!

Topflight Stamps - IndigoBlu Watercolor Anemone

Hi Everyone and a warm welcome to the Topflight Stamps blog.  It's Jenny here, and today I'm featuring another of the absolutely gorgeous IndigoBlu floral stamps and some simple no-line watercoloring.

  
The IndigoBlu set I used is the Daisy and Anemone which is comprised of several separate red rubber stamps that you can arrange however you like. 

I also used the Creative Expressions Showered with Love Sentiments set which is a real staple of mine. 

To create the card, I used hotpress watercolor paper, trimmed down with a stitched regtange die, and then placed the images where I wanted them, then stamped with very pale beige ink.  

I watercolored the images with my Sakura Koi pan watercolors, and when I dry, I spattered some concentrated color for a more sketchy look.  The sentiment from the Creative Expressions set I thought went perfectly, and I stamped it directly over the top in black ink.  

I foam mounted the panel onto a dark purple cardbase and then added sequins and yellow stickles in the flower centres. 

Hope you like it!  I am simply in love with these IndigoBlu floral sets - I need ALLL OF THEM :)

For more details on other supplies I used, see my blog.

Have a wonderful day!

Lavinia Love ATC Binder Divider

Hello, Lisa Hoel here! I have another section divider page from my ATC binders project to share with you today. As you can probably surmise, this one is for the "sea" section of my collection. I have a great fondness for the Lavinia brand stamps and when I saw the new Sebastian Seahorse stamp I immediately fell in love and got my hot little hands on it as soon as possible. 

For the background, I collaged some hand marbled paper onto the base and then layered it with stenciling, stamping and embossing (the rocks/sand at the bottom). Similar to the "Fairytale" section divider I made previously, I used a tag cut from Mix Media Heavystock as a focal point and a suitable area for the fab seahorse stamping. Look at that detail!!

Thanks for stopping by. Keep your eyes open for more dividers from me. I only have thirteen to go! (eek!) Have a wonderful week and go get creative. ;-)

Dies:

Sizzix - Tag Die 

Stamps:

Lavinia - Sebastian Seahorse, Alana Mermaid, Forest Spruce, Fairy Thistles

Crafty Individuals - By the Sea

Other:

Ranger Mix Media Heavystock

Baked Texture embossing powder - Dirty Sand

Visible Image Stencil - Fibres

Ranger Distress Spray Stains - Broken China

Ranger Distress Oxide Ink - Broken China, Forest Moss, Bundled Sage, Iced Spruce, Blueprint Sketch

Ranger Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, Black Soot

Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black, Cobalt

Fresco Chalk Paint - Amethyst, Coral

Tim Holtz Collage Paper - Plain

Ranger Emboss-It Dabber

Leane Creatief BV @ Topflight Stamps

Hi everyone, a very quick post (and card) today as we're going on holiday on Saturday and I'm a bit stressed 😆(nothing new there, though)

I've used a little piano stamp this week for my post, from Leane Creatief BV, designed by Leane de Graaf

Find it HERE

 I stamped the image onto textured white card and cut it out. These stamps are designed for adding doodling, but unfortunately I messed my doodling up, so had to scrap that idea.

I found a musical note in my stash and stamped it onto a piece of inked card. The sentiment was done on white card, and adhered to the background.

Using some foam tape, I adhered the piano.......

Topflight stamps have a good range of these 'doodling' stamps, if you fancy the idea.

Catch you next week,

Barbara x

Zentangle and Copic Coloring a Butterfly

The Leane Creatief  "Doodle Butterfly 2" stamp is deceptively simple and yet so beautiful! And the open spaces in the sections of the butterfly are perfect for zentangle art as well as traditional Copic or color pencil coloring.

This is the first time I've tried zentangling (is that a verb?), and I am in love! It truly is very zen to sit and doodle and try different designs and patterns. Using Faber Castell Pitt Pens in XS, S and B point sizes, I had a blast making each butterfly I stamped onto a card front unique. 

Then to add some color, I used a Copic B00 to color the spaces between the butterflies and a couple of color pencils to add some depth of color in the nooks and crannies of the butterfly wings.

I separately Copic colored a butterfly with a few other blue markers, adding some dot details with a Signo Uniball White Gel Pen. Fussy cutting out this butterfly and adding some foam dots behind the wings, I popped this butterfly onto the card base that I first layered with a smaller sheet of vellum for some visual softness. I secured the vellum to the card base with glue just under the butterfly and under strategically placed sequins.

As this is a Fathers Day card for my dad, for the sentiment I heat embossed "Thank You" in Korean from the Altenew Oriental Orchid Stamp Set. I popped this up on foam dots for some dimension and took this opportunity to tack down the vellum in hidden spots again.

Although might not think of a butterfly stamp for a masculine card, I think the black and white graphic nature of the zentangling and limiting the actual coloring to blues, made this beautiful but totally appropriate for a Fathers Day card. If you'd like more details about the products I used or to watch the start-to-finish video of crafting this card, please check out my blog post HERE.

Topflight and "Beetle" from Leane Creatief

Topflight, Leane Creatief and the famous "Beetle"!

What a pleasure to be able to insert in my art journal this automobile legend.

c

My Oxide for the backgroung

Picked Raspberry

Twisted Citron

Mermaid Lagoon

Peacock Feathers

Squeezed Lemonade

Black Soot

The stencil from  Tim Holtz "Rays THS003"

the "Beetle" has been written with the police "Bodoni MT black and Word"

Nathalie Fournier/Topflight

Topflight and Leane Creatief - Two Ways to use one set!

Hi everyone and welcome to the Topflight Stamps blog.  It's Jenny here, and today I'm showing you how to create two very different cards with the same set, by changing up the colors.

The stamp and die set I'm using today is by Leane Creatief and are the Boxes Presents dies and the On the Move stamp set. 

To create my first card, I used a panel of Kraft cardstock and stamped the various key images all over the panel randomly in dark brown ink.  I then stamped the 'new home' teeeeeny sentiment in lighter brown ink.  I die cut the box dies from kraft and also made sure to emboss them in my die cutting machine as well to get a good impression of the folded sides. 

I blended Vintage Photo Distress ink over the edges to create a shadow, then popped them up on foam tape onto the panel, using a double layer for the box at the front.   I also added some more of the tiny words onto the boxes in black ink.  I heat embossed the New Home sentiment in gold embossing powder on black cardstock and trimmed it out, adhering with foam tape.   The entire panel was backed onto a card base.

For my next card,  I added some water into the centre of a panel of watercolor cardstock and loosely dabbed on Distress Ink in Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet, allowing them to blend.  When it was dry, I added it to a card base. 

I die cut the box stack out again, from a piece of cardstock I had watercolored with pink ink and spattered with water.  I edged it with Wilted Violet distress ink to create a shadow, and then added glitter gel pen for the ribbons.   I popped it up on the panel with foam tape.  The bow was die cut from navy cardstock and adhered directly to the box stack, and I added a liberal coating of Wink of Stella and Glossy accents for dimension.   

To finish, I added 'streamers' in glitter gel pen by hand, and heat embossed the sentiment in white embossing powder onto a left over scrap of the same cardstock I cut the boxes from, and popped up on foam tape.  The 'You Are' was stamped in black ink directly to the card base. 

And that's it! I think you'll agree that is two very different looks :)  Hope you enjoyed, if you want to see more details of the supplies I used, please head on over to my blog. 

Jenny 

Paperartsy (again) @ Topflight Stamps

Hi TOPFLIGHT STAMPS fans, Barbara here again with a card made using a selection of PaperArtsy stamps.

PaperArtsy is a British company, who make fab red rubber, mounted stamps, with images from some of the most popular designers around at the moment. 

I have used a selection of them in this card.

The main images were stamped then cut out using a Brother, Scan & Cut.......

I found a piece of previously inked card, then stamped a few background images from a couple of stamp sets (details at the end)

I kept the flowers white to make them 'pop'

As always, a bit of doodling and a few sequins, and I was finished. 

The whole 'topper' was mounted onto black, then a white base.

 Hope you like it.

Back soon,

Barbara xx

STAMP SETS USED :-

ETS08 - HERE

ETS06 - HERE

ETS02

JOFY11

Funny Punny Farm Animal Cards

Hi Topflight fans! Katzelkraft critter stamps have some of the best expressions, and the Katzelkraft Farm Animals Stamp Set does not disappoint. These animals are perfect for whimsical, punny cards. 

For my first card, I used the cow grinning from ear to ear under the sentiment, "My grandfather was a knight," which I printed from my computer. Inside, the card liner continues, "His name was Sir Loin." (yuk yuk). And under that sentiment, I stamped out the steak stamp from the Lawn Fawn "Let's BBQ" stamp set.

For the second card, I used the laughing donkey stamp along with the karate person kicking from the Diemond Dies Karate Die Set #1 to make a silly Fathers Day card. I printed from my computer the partial sentiment, "Hope your Father's Day is..." and then I added the kicking person plus the donkey to pictograph the words, "Kick Ass."

To maintain a CAS look, I first die cut the kicking person from white fun foam, but because I thought the dimension was not enough to give it enough visual weight to stand up to the donkey, I added a lemon yellow kicking person die cut over top. 

So that the karate person didn't look like he was floating, I used a Tim Holtz Shatter Stencil and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to indicate where the kick had hit and shattered a background of glass. I masked off the donkey before blending on the ink through the stencil using a Clarity Stamp Stencil Brush, which enabled me to gradually soften the broken glass look to blend to the white of the card front.

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed these cards as much as I enjoyed crafting them. If you're interested in more details about the products I used or to watch the crafting process video, please check out my blog post HERE. 

Topflight, Zinski and Alexandra Renke

"The four corners of the world" at Topflight with

Zinski mini ZN20 from Paperartsy

Washi Tape from Alexandra Renke "Globes"

The background was created with the "Postale" Tissue Wrap

and Crayons Distress

Frayed Burlap

Cracked Pistachio

Peacock Feathers

Lucky Clover

Dried Marigold

Mermaid Lagoon

Walnut Stain

 Copic for the Zinski

BG10-BG15 et BG34

YR21-YR23 et YR27

Nathalie Fournier/Topflight Stamps

Visible Image - Stencil as a Focal Point

Hi Everyone and Welcome to the Topflight Stamps blog!  It's Jenny here, and today I have a super simple but effective way to use your stencils to create a focal point on a your project.   I chose an image that would work for a Father's Day card for something a little different.

The stencil I'm using today is the Visible Image Skull Shadow.  

To create the card, I embossed the skull into a panel of 4.25 x 5.5" watercolor cardstock using my die cutting machine and a die cutting sandwich with a tan mat and embossing plate.  I then used an ink blending tool, and blended Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke inks all over the Skull image.  Because it is raised up, you can use a light hand and catch the skull outline itself rather than the background.   I then went over the entire panel with Black Soot, and included the eyes and nose by useing a mini ink dauber. 

I roughly masked off the black background with post-its and then spritzed the skull with water to get a mottled look.   To get the weathered look, I used a sanding grip around the edges and rubbed gently over the skull image which, again because it is raised, wears down at the edges.

I adhered the entire panel over a card base and then added a heat embossed sentiment in copper.   I hope you like it - while it's a card for a very specific recipient, you can totally apply this technique to all sorts of stencils and colors!

You can find out more details on the supplies I used over on my blog.

Have a wonderful day!