Always take the scenic route '

Hi    MEL PILLING here today to demo a new technique using a GEL PRESS TRIO . Topflight Stamps is highlighting their beautiful inks this week.  I will be using ELEMENTS INK and VERSAFINE CLAIR INK.

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To all three Gel Presses, I added Elements Ink in LIME PUNCH (all over) and  MERMAID (around edge only) using a make up blender sponge.  Then I pressed onto the card to make a print.  I splattered the print using a FAN BRUSH with damp Mermaid.

The sign post was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne. Then I extended the length of the post to the bottom of the scene freehand, leaving a small space for the lantern glow. 

The animals were done by repeat stamping, using a stamping platform.  I used many layers of Versafine Clair Ink in SUMMERTIME,  ACORN,  FALLEN LEAVES,  and NOCTURNE .  I added texture to the animals with pencil crayons in similar colours.

I added the ground using a hill, mask and a STENCIL BRUSH using elements in PINE  and OLIVE.

The light from the lantern was done with SUNDANCE and a paint brush.

GEL PRESS USED

GEL PRESS TRIO

LAVINIA STAMPS USED

MAGNUS - LAV638

BRODWYN & MAYLIN - LAV639

BASIL & BIBI - LAV732

FAIRY TOWNS - LAV768

The Lavinia Stamps Elements Inks are beautiful, juicy, bright and very versatile. They are highly reactive and give many special effects.   They can be used with many tools.

The Versafine Clair Ink is fabulous for finely detailed stamps, as well as any kind of stamping.  The colours are excellent and varied and they stay put through lots of different colouring mediums.  

I highly recommend both these inks and Topflight carries all the beautiful colours.

Thanks for joining me today on the Topflight Stamps blog. See you soon.

A little humour card

 Hi MEL PILLING here today with a humourous card featuring KATZELKRAFT STAMPS.

I stamped the hillside first, then masked it off and used a STENCIL BRUSH  with ELEMENTS INK in BLUE LAGOON and DELLA BLUE to do the sky. I used PINE and SUNDANCE for the grass.  The characters on the card were stamped in VERSAFINE CLAIR INK in NOCTURNE directly on the card, then again on clean card.  I then coloured with watercolours and fussy cut only the main bodies. Then I glued them onto the card. All the character details will show up from the initial stamping on the card. 

 I just drew in the bushes freehand and applied dimensional glue to add the berries. Then I added shadows to the animals, based on where the sunlight was hitting the grass. 

KATZELKRAFT STAMPS USED

FARM ANIMALS -KTZ208

BUGS & INSECTS - KTZ234

Thanks for popping into the Topflight Stamps blog today. See you soon.

Ice Cream For Summer!

 

Happy Friday crafty friends! Ericka with Strangely Creative here and today I am celebrating my first Friday of summer! I'm a teacher and so summer is a big thing in my house and cause for celebration. I made this fun tag using the new Visible Image Better With Ice Cream set along with the Chain Reaction stamp and Flower Ink stencil. 

I started with a background I made using photo paper, Lavinia Mystical Mists in Kingfisher and Pinkella sprayed on the Visible Image Flower Ink stencil. 

I glued my background to a tag and then used the Chain Reaction stamp and my Spectrum Noir Colorista pens to color up the stamp and apply the color to my tag.

I love the look for this technique on the photo paper and the bright colors that come through.

I stamped and clear embossed the Visible Image Better With Ice Cream and colored it up with the Spectrum Noir Colorista pens. I fussy cut it out and attached it to my tag with foam tape. I finished it up with the fun sentiment included in the Better With Ice Cream set.

 Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Topflight Stamp Supplies Used

Visible Image Stamps -- Little Ladybugs

 Hi Everyone,

Cornelia here today. This week the theme is "anything goes" at the Topflight blog. Visible Image just came out with wonderful new stamps and I was lucky to add this awesome ladybug set to my collection!

I used a background form my stash, that I made previously using a gel plate. I sponged some green around the edges, as I wanted some green on my background. I added some stenciling using a Lavinia stencil. I stamped the ladybugs onto my card and again onto scrap paper. I colored the scrap paper ones with alcohol ink markers and cut out their bodies. Added them to the stamped images on the background. Stamped the sentiment and drew a loose frame around it. Cut it apart and added it to my card.

I hope you liked this. Thanks for visiting. 

See you next week with more Topflight Stamps inspiration.

And here are the stamp supplies I used: 

Gel Press, Little Ladybugs

Lavinia- Elegance, speedball brayer

Blender Brushes
 

Adventure

 It's Tuesday which is my day to share a project with you. This week is an "Anything Goes" week and I decided to go quasi-Steampunk with a slimline card featuring the "I Saw a Ship" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set by Pink Ink Designs. This is a really cool stamp set with a gorgeous hot air balloon and a basket, sailing ship, house, and cake that you can suspend beneath it. The set also includes two sentiments and three banners. 

Here's my card.

The ship from the "I Saw a Ship" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set by Pink Ink Designs with Copic-friendly ink towards the bottom of a 4" x 9" panel of white cardstock and onto repositionable label paper. The label paper version was fussy-cut then placed over its counterpart on the image panel as a mask.

The hot air balloon from the set was positioned (a bit off center because perfection is overrated) and stamped onto the image panel and onto repositionable label paper.

Light blue ink was brushed horizontally over the masked images to create a cloudy sky.

The masks were lifted and the images were colored with Copic markers. The image panel was trimmed to 3.75" wide and edged with light blue ink. 

Using a stamping platform, the Cityscape Reflections Rubber Cling Stamp by Andy Skinner for Creative Expressions was positioned against the edge of the platform. The image panel was positioned so that it was a bit more than .5" from the edge of the platform so that the city's reflection would be omitted. The stamp was inked with Grey Copic-friendly ink, then stamped.

A banner die was used to cut white cardstock. The die-cut was brushed with the same blue ink used previously. The "Adventure" sentiment was stamped with grey ink onto the die-cut.

The image panel was adhered to a slimline card created from grey cardstock. The banner was adhered at the top as shown.

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

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

"I Saw a Ship" Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set by Pink Ink Designs

Cityscape Reflections Rubber Cling Stamp by Andy Skinner for Creative Expressions

Lots of Words Clear Stamp Set by That's Crafty

Thanks for visiting today!

The morning commute

Hello there lovely crafting people. MEL PILLING here today, with this bright bookmark featuring the beautifully detailed ocean themed stamps by Crafty Individuals.  I feel bookmarks are a wonderful gift for those of your friends who still like to read real books.  To me, there is nothing like the feeling of getting a new book and having a beautiful new fresh bookmark to slip inside.

This bookmark measures 11 x 3 1/2“.  I used a 12 x 12”   Gelli Plate with ELEMENTS INK in  BLUE LAGOON .  I splashed this with water lightly using a FAN BRUSH  and took a print.  Once dry, I used a STENCIL BRUSH to strengthen the colour at the bottom in Blue Lagoon, BLUE ATOLL  and some Distressed Ink in Prize Ribbon.

I ‘smooshed’ Elements Ink in CONFETTI , LIME PUNCH  and RUSSET ORANGE   on to clean card.  Smooshing is when you stamp your ink pads directly onto your craft surface. Spray with water move the edges just slightly with your finger so you don’t have straight lines.  Then dip your card stock in to the pools of colour. Make sure you dry your card each time between smooshing so you don’t muddy the colors. 

When this was dry, I stamped the fish on top using VERSAFINE CLAIR NOCTURNE  then I fussy cut the fish out. I also stamped the hats on clean card stock and fuzzy cut.  I stuck the hats on the fish then the fish on the bookmark.

I stamped the seagull onto the bookmark first, then onto clean card. I water coloured him with watercolour markers then fussy cut just the bird and stuck it on the bookmark.  I extended the Piling underneath the water and coloured it with a lighter tone underneath the surface of the water to give the impression it was underwater.  I then drew some grasses.  I backed all this with black card stock and added ribbons in similar shades.

CRAFTY INDIVIDUALS STAMPS USED

COUNTING SEAGULLS

SHRIMPING

Adding a personal message with white pen on the back, I believe,  adds value to your bookmark when giving it as a gift.  

Thanks for dropping by the Topflight Stamps blog today. See you soon.

One layer Sympathy Cards

Alanna here sharing a pair of very clean and simple one-layer cards with you today. They feature the this beautiful stencil from PaperArtsy. I blended on some inks through the stencil onto white A2 notecards. After my ink blending was done, I stamped the sentiment which is from the With Sympathy set from Visible Image. It has the larger sentiment along with a beautiful verse that would be perfect for the inside of cards.

If you're like me, you often find yourself needing a sympathy card but don't want to have to make one when you actually need it. These cards fit the bill to create and have ahead of time so that when you need one, your stash is stocked.

I hope you've been inspired. Crafty hugs! ~ Alanna

Find these products I used on my cards at Topflight Stamps.