Bursting with Fall Colors with Versafine Clair Inks

Happy Monday, friends!  It's Walter on the blog with you today.  Fall is in full swing where I live in the New England area.  The colors are as beautiful as it gets and full of bright shades of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns.  It's truly spectacular and it was my inspiration for today's design.  Our Design Team theme this week is a very broad one - inks - and it worked in my favor as I used Versafine Clair Inks to create a fabulous autumn colored card.  It took just a few quick and simple steps to create it - let's jump into the process.

I used a cream A2 cardstock panel as my base layer.  I thought that cream would be better than white because any bits of the panel that peek through the ink wouldn't look so stark.  I began by taking my Versafine Clair Carrot Orange ink pad and just randomly swiping it onto the cardstock.  No rhyme or reason as to where I swiped it - just random swipes.

I repeated this with my Versafine Clair Strawberry ink pad.

I repeated it yet again with my Versafine Clair Lemonade ink pad.  This time I went over the entire panel with it to make sure that much of it was covered with ink.  I applied a little pressure in some areas and just lightly swiped in others.

The result was this beautiful tapestry of vibrant autumn colors.  The next step was to take the Aall & Create Autumny Falls stencil and add yellow, orange, and red leaves to the panel.  The yellow and orange leaves are more subtle but you can see indications of them as you tilt the panel.

I added a part of the tree by stenciling the PS450 Stencil from PaperArtsy and Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves ink and went over the edges of the card panel with some of the ink to distress it a bit.

I could now do my stamping onto the panel.  I used Versafine Clair Acorn ink, a lighter shade of brown with a slight red tinge, to stamp various small falling leaves and a sentiment from the All & Create Falling for Fall stamp set, as well as a beautiful sparrow with text elements from the All & Create Sparrow stamp set.  I also stamped a second sparrow onto a scrap of cream cardstock and lightly blended ink remaining on my brown brush over it.  I proceeded to fussy cut the sparrow, put some double-sided foam tape onto the back of it, and adhere it down to the panel.  I purposely placed it a little offset from the stamped sparrow to create a shadow-like effect.  A few randomly placed small Hunkydory Gold Precious Pearls were added to finish the design.

Here's a few closeups of my favorite elements of the design:

As you can see, the Versafine Clair is so pigmented and bright and just swiping the pads onto the cardstock created such a brilliant background.  An added bonus is that there wasn't a need for coloring any images as the background provides all the color that you need.

I hope that you enjoy today's design.  Post a pic of what you create using this technique in the comments - I'd love to see it!  I'll see you here on the blog again next week.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Versafine Clair Carrot Orange ink pad

 Versafine Clair Strawberry ink pad

Versafine Clair Lemonade ink pad

Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves

Versafine Clair Acorn ink

Aall & Create Autumny Falls stencil 

PS450 Stencil from PaperArtsy

All & Create Falling for Fall stamp set,

All & Create Sparrow stamp set

Hunkydory Gold Precious Pearls

One Flower, Three Ways: Creating with PaperArtsy Kate Crane

 

How many completely different cards can you create with one flower stamp and a stash of leftover backgrounds?

Hello friends! Ericka from Strangely Creative here, and that was my challenge for today! I grabbed the fun PaperArtsy Kate Crane Mini 013 flower, colored it several times, and then went digging through my ever-growing stash of gel prints and mixed media backgrounds.

Instead of creating something new from scratch, I wanted to see how much I could change the look of the same flower simply by changing the background around it. The result? Three backgrounds, three completely different styles, and three finished cards, all from supplies I already had waiting on my desk.

Let’s see how they came together!

Starting with One Colorful Flower

I began by stamping the PaperArtsy Kate Crane Mini 013 flower several times onto watercolor paper.

For color, I reached for some Lindy’s Gang Autumn Leaves Magicals that were already sitting on my desk. I love being able to use whatever is left from another project rather than putting everything away or letting those beautiful colors go to waste. Once the flowers were painted and dry, the really fun part began—digging through my background stash!

I narrowed my choices down to three backgrounds, each with its own personality.

Card One: A Little Grungy

For my first card, I chose a leftover gel print created on printed paper.

The combination of the original printing and the layers from the gel plate already gave this background a wonderful grungy feel, so I decided to embrace it. I used Lavinia Truffle ink around the edges to add a little extra shading and depth, followed by splatters of gold acrylic paint for some shine.

Once my flower was in place, I finished the card with a sentiment from the Lavinia Uplifting Collection.

 

I love the contrast between the bright flower and that distressed, imperfect background. One flower down, two to go!

Card Two: Fine Texture & Simple Layers

For my second card, I found a leftover gel press print I had created using the DIY & Cie Spring Break texture plate.

 

I love the delicate texture this plate creates. There’s plenty happening in the background when you look closely, but it’s subtle enough that it doesn’t compete with the flower.

I stamped the Darkroom Door Thank You Strip along the side of the panel and added my flower as the focal point. Simple, colorful, and completely different from the first card.

Card two done!

Card Three: Paint & Printed Pages

For my final card, I went in another direction and pulled out a book page I had previously experimented on with glossy paints.

 

I love incorporating book pages into mixed media projects because the printed text instantly adds another layer of interest. 

To build even more texture, I added the AALL & Create #12 Code die cut and played with white and black acrylic paint over the background.

 

Once everything was layered together, I added my final flower and another sentiment from the Lavinia Uplifting Collection.

Same flower—but a completely different personality!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope these cards inspire you to dig through your background stash, pull out a favorite stamp, and see how many different looks you can create with supplies you already have.

Have an amazing weekend and happy creating!

  

Topflight Stamp Supplies 

Darkroom Door - Sentiment Strip Thank You Shop at: TP	DIY & Cie - Texture Plate - Spring Break Shop at: TP	PaperArtsy - Kate Crane Mini 012 Shop at: TP	AALL & Create - 12 - Code Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection Shop at: TP
Lavinia - Elements Dye Ink - Truffle Shop at: TP	Tsukineko - VersaFine Clair - Nocturn Shop at: AZ | TP	PaperArtsy - Fresco Chalk Paint - Aquamarine Shop at: TP	PaperArtsy - Fresco Chalk Paint - Firebird Shop at: TP
PaperArtsy - Fresco Chalk Paint - Sunshine Shop at: TP	PaperArtsy - Fresco Chalk Paint - Twilight Shop at: TP		Gel Press - Reusable Gel Printing Plate Shop at: TP
Speedball - 2" Brayer Shop at: TP

Fall is Here! Autumnal Card with AALL & Create

Hello, Lisa Hoel here. This week at Topflight Stamps our theme is "Anything Goes". I decided to make another leaf card using the AALL & Create Die Set Leafinitely Detailed because fall is my favorite season! I made backgrounds colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays and die cut the leaves out of them. In the background, I added some embossing ink through a stencil to add some texture and embossed it withWOW! Burnt Toffee embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps store for a wide selection of different and hard to find stamps, stencils and other paper crafting supplies from all around the world! Also keep an eye on the Topflight Stamps blog. There is new inspiration posted often!

Don't miss the SALE! Ends tonight!!

Topflight Stamps Supplies Used:

AALL & Create Die Set - Leafinitely Detailed

Lindy's Starburst Sprays - Haunted Halloween

Lindy's Starburst Sprays - Autumn Leaves

PaperArtsy Minis Stencil - PM025

WOW! Seth Apter embossing powder - Burnt Toffee

Penpaling Paula washi tape -Autumn I

embossing ink

Masterpiece Design die set - Tag Mini Album

 

Halloween MemoryDex Page

It's Tuesday which means that you've got Kathi here. It's an "Anything Goes" week, but before I get to my project, I wanted to remind you that you have less than 24 hours to take advantage of Topflight Stamps' World Cardmaking Day Sale! Buy some holiday gifts or treat yourself! 

With that reminder done, it's time to move onto this week's project!

You might have noticed that I'm on a Halloween crafting kick, but imho it's the most wonderful time of the year! It's exciting to see all the Halloween decorations going up in my neighborhood. 

Therefore, I couldn't resist making a page for my Halloween MemoryDex Mini-book that I started last year. This MemoryDex page was created with AALL and Create's  Mostly Harmless Clear Stamp Set 1294 and the Boosentials Clear Stamps Set 1203 — both by Janet Klein for AALL and Create. I also used the Galactic Edges Die Set 68, which is one of the fabulous MemoryDex Die Sets by AALL and Create.

Here's my MemoryDex Page!

Cut a 5" square from Bristol Paper. Use the smaller die from the Galactic Edges Die Set 68 by AALL and Create to cut the square, then use the deckled edge-looking die to cut the remaining bit of paper. Keep both sides of the deckled edge paper to use later.

Use Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko to stamp the girl from the Mostly Harmless Clear Stamp Set 1294 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create about .75" from the bottom of the MemoryDex die-cut. Heat set the image. Stamp her again onto a piece of repositionable sticker paper. Fussy-cut the sticker paper version and place it atop its counterpart on the die-cut as a mask. 

Use Tuxedo Black Memento Ink to stamp the mummy boy from the Mostly Harmless Clear Stamp Set 1294  to the left of the masked girl. Heat set the image. Stamp him again onto repositionable sticker paper. Fussy-cut the the sticker paper version of mummy boy and place it atop its counterpart on the die-cut as a mask. 

Place one side of the deckle-edged die-cut horizontally across the MemoryDex image panel die-cut so that the deckled edge is slightly above the character's feet and covering the top part of the die-cut.

 Brush Pine Elements Premium Dye Inks by Lavinia Stamps over the deckled edge onto the bottom of the image panel die-cut. Use a smaller brush to apply Violet Chalk Elements Premium Dye Ink under the character's feet to ground them and create a slight shadow. Remove the deckled scrap. 

Line up the other side of the deckled edge paper so that it's covering the bottom green-inked part of the image panel, Brush Dark Denim  Elements Premium Dye Ink over the top of the deckled edge and the masked images onto the image panel die-cut. Brush Blue Lagoon Elements Premium Dye Ink over the masked images onto the image panel die-cut, blending as you go.

When your background is complete, lift the masks. Color the images with Copic markers. Use a N6 marker to expand mummy boy's pupil. Use a white gel pen to add a highlight to the pupil. Use a silver metallic gel pen to color the shaft of the pin. Apply clear gloss glaze to the red pin head and the buttons on the girl's dress and her shoes.

Use Nocturne VersaFine Clair Inks by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko to stamp the bats from the Boosentials Clear Stamps Set 1203 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create as shown. Heat set the ink.

Use the large die and one of the edge dies from the Galactic Edges Die Set 68 to cut black textured cardstock to create the base of the MemoryDex page.

Adhere the image panel to the black memory dex page. Adhere the edge die to adorn the right side of the memory dex page.

Please pop over to my blog, Kat's Tales of Stamping, for step-by-step instructions and complete supply lists.

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Mostly Harmless Clear Stamp Set 1294 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create

Boosentials Clear Stamps Set 1203 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create

Galactic Edges Die Set 68 by AALL and Create

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Dark Denim, Blue Lagoon, Pine, and Violet Chalk Elements Premium Dye Inks by Lavinia Stamps

Nocturne VersaFine Clair Inks by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Thank you for visiting today!