Vacation! with Chou & Flowers

Happy Monday, friends!  It's Walter on the blog with you today and this week's theme is the outdoors.  We're now in the last weeks of summer and I thought it was fitting to use this theme to offer the last of the beach scenes for the year.  I used some beautiful stamp sets from Chou & Flowers to create the scene.  It's an overall simple card created with just stamping, a little fussy cutting, and a lot of coloring.

I began by stamping my A2 background panel using the Summer Souvenirs - Beach Huts stamp set and Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.  The row of beach huts fits perfectly onto the panel to provide a perfect beach background.  I then took the sand detail stamp from the View of Paradise stamp set and repeat stamped it around the sand area of the scene using a medium brown ink.

I colored my panel starting with the sand.  I use Ohuhu alcohol markers as I find they blend nicely and are cost-effective alternative vs. other brands.  I used a darker tan color called Khaki to go around the edges and then used a lighter tan color called Sand to fill in and blend it all together.  I then used several shades warm gray, neutral gray, blue, and red to finish the scene.  I went over the areas that I left white with a white gel pen to add some texture and make them pop.

I then stamped my beach umbrella, beach chair, and beach accessories using stamps from the View of Paradise stamp set using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.

I colored the images and then fussy cut them.  I adhered the beach accessories directly to the sand area with glue and the umbrella & chair with some double-sided foam tape.  Voila . . . a finished card to celebrate vacation!  As I previously said, it's a very simple card.  Sometimes it's fun to stick to the basics on just focus on scene rather than trying to incorporate lots of different techniques.  I love the vibrancy of the colors and all of the little details that tie it all together.

I hope that you enjoy this card!  Are you sad to see summer coming to an end or are you happy that fall is right around the corner?  Let me know in the comments below!  I'll see you again next week for some more creative fun.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Products Used:

 Chou & Flowers Summer Souvenirs - Beach Huts

Chou & Flowers View of Paradise

Versafine Clair Nocturne

Moments like This

Happy Monday, friends!  It's Walter on the blog with you today and the theme this week is anything goes.  I've had the scene in this card kicking around in my head for a while now and I finally decided to get it onto paper.  This week I focused on Lavinia Stamps to create some fairy magic.

I began by deciding on the placement of the fairies, Lavinia Star Gazing, and stamping them using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.  I stamped it again on masking paper and then stamped Lavinia Fairy Bridge onto masking paper as well.  I switched back to my card panel and stamped the fairy bridge using Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink.  A little fussy cutting of the images and my masks were complete.

I applied the masks and began to ink blend my sky.  I wanted an evening sunset just before the sky starts to darken.  I began with red, moved into orange, and then yellow.  I then used a pouncing brush with just a tad of white pigment ink on it and pounced the brush all around the blended colors.  This helps to soften the sky and blur any blending lines you might have on your card panel.

The masks were removed and I started coloring the bridge and rocks with alcohol markers.  I used four shades of Warm Gray, starting with the darkest and moving to the lightest, to color them.  I then extended the rocky area out around the fairies.  I used the fine tip end of my warm grey markers, again starting dark and then moving lighter, and placed random dots of color around.  I went over the entire dotted area with the lightest shade's brush tip and colored in a circle pattern to blend it all together.  I did the same with three shades of brown to create the sandy field area around the rocks.

I created the grassy area with three shades of dark green.  I started with the darkest shades fine tip end and made a sweeping motion up from bottom of the card panel to create several lines.  Some of the lines were longer than others and that's absolutely fine as it helps to create both a natural look and depth.  I then moved onto the next shade and repeated the same motion and then completed it with the same motion and the lightest shade.  It's an easy way to create the look of grass if you don't have a stamp to use for it!  I used two shades of blue to color the water and then added water lines with a white gel pen.

I used the Lavinia Silversong Willow Left Stamp and Lavinia Silversong Willow Right Stamp along with Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves ink to create the trees along the sides and then colored in the little tree lights with a yellow glitter gel pen.  A Lavinia Inspirational Word Sentiment Sticker completed the design and truly captures the magic of the scene!

I'm very happy with this design!  It's quite tranquil and gives me a sense of peace.  I hope that you enjoy it, too!  I'll see you back here next Monday.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Lavinia Star Gazing

 Lavinia Fairy Bridge

Lavinia Silversong Willow Left Stamp

Lavinia Silversong Willow Right Stamp

 Lavinia Inspirational Word Sentiment Sticker

Versafine Clair Nocturne ink

Versafine Clair Morning Mist

Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves

Cheers for Mixed Media!

Hi, friends!  It's another Monday with Walter.  This week's theme for the Topflight Stamps Design Team is mixed media.  It's a theme that lends itself so well to many, many different brands.  However, when I think of mixed media and Topflight Stamps . . . my mind turns to Paper Artsy.  Their stencils and their stamps are so easy to use with various mixed media techniques.  I decided to use the beautiful background stencil PS529 by Scrapcosy and stamp set ESC58 also by Scrapcosy this week.

I knew that this background stencil would look absolutely beautiful as a background created with paste and watercolored.  I used an A2 size piece of watercolor paper and spread Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste across the paper through the stencil.  Once dry, I used various colors from Lindy's Magicals Nantucket Pearls to create a Moroccan-like pattern.  I sprinkled the powders around the panel, spritzed it with water, and then moved it water around the panel with a paint brush.  The end result is a rich array of green, orange, and a little bit of blue.

I then used a combination of water and Peacock Feathers Distressed Oxide Ink with a paint brush to add little bits of oxidation throughout the panel.

I cut another A2 watercolor panel and cut an arch from it using a stacking arch die set from my stash.  I wanted this to be a darker color so as to not take any attention away from the stenciled panel.  I used Lavinia Dinkles Paynes Grey mixed with some water to color it.  The end result is a beautiful stone looking arch, I added double-sided foam tape to the back of arch and adhered it down to the stenciled panel.  I love the rich texture and colors!  I selected the sentiments CHEERS! ON YOUR DAY and stamped them onto the panel with Versafine Claire ink.

The final step was stamping my florals from the ESC58 Stamp Set with Versafine Claire ink onto watercolor paper and, once the ink was dry, watercolored the florals using a mixture of Nantucket Pearls & water.  I chose to use orange, pink, and blue for my flowers to maintain a balance with the color of the background panel.

I let the florals dry and then fussy cut them with details scissors.  I glued them down to the bottom of the arch and the design was complete.  It's such a pretty scene and a card that may be given to either a woman or a man!

I hope that you enjoy this design!  I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.  I'll be back on the blog again next Monday.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Products Used

PaperArtsy PS529 Stencil by Scrapcosy

Paperartsy ESC58 Stamp Set by Scrapcosy

Lindy's Magicals Nantucket Pearls

Lavinia Dinkles - Paynes Grey

Dreams Come True with L'Encre et l Image

Happy Monday, friends!  It’s Walter on the blog with you today and the theme this week is Anything Goes.  My mind immediately turned to another my favorite brands, L’ENCRE at l image, and one of their recent releases, Arsene my Sweetheart.  This character is adorable and so versatile – he can be royalty, a clown, a magician, or just a simple boy like I portrayed him this week.  I paired him with elements from another L’ENCRE product, Imminent Departure, to create a wonderful, inspirational card.

 

I began by deciding on the placement of my paper airplane, boy, and paper boat.  I then stamped those images onto an A2 sized piece of watercolor paper and then stamped them again onto masking paper.  I created masks to protect my images and make it easier to watercolor the background.  Once the masks were fussy cut, I covered my images and got ready to color the panel.

 

I used colors from Lindy’s Magicals Nantucket Pearls (Whale Watch Blue & Salt Water Taffy) to watercolor a blended evening sky.  The Lindy’s Magicals blend so easily, and the bits of mica give such an amazing shimmer.  I started by misting my panel and then sprinkling a little bit of Whale Watch Blue at the top of it.  I used a paint brush to move the color around while spraying with additional mists of water as needed to move & lighten the color.  I continued adding blue and then started to mix in a little Salt Water Taffy about 2/3 of the way down the panel before switching to just the pink to finish it off.

Once dry, I stamped the compass image behind the paper airplane and my sentiment with clear embossing ink.  I sprinkled silver embossing powder over the compass and removed the mask.  I then sprinkled white embossing powder over the sentiment and heat set both images.

 

I was now ready to add color to my stamped images.  I removed the remaining masks and started coloring them with alcohol markers.  I used two light shades of cool gray color the paper airplane and boat.  I chose colors for the rest of the boy image that would allow me to use just a few to not overwhelm the scene.  I have a tip for you for coloring hair – especially curly hair – that a friend passed along to me.  I began by uniformly coloring his hair with a darker shade of brown.  I then used the fine tip end of a lighter brown to add little dots to lighten up portions of the darker brown.  The final step was to use a darker shade of orange and add more dots.  Coloring hair this way gives it the illusion of texture and highlights that make it more interesting than just one color.

I finished off the scene using a silver metallic marker to add varying sizes of dots in the sky to represent stars and then adding three Hunky Dory Diamond Sparkles Silver Pearls.  This scene is so charming and cute!  The sentiment, which translates to “I want my dreams to come true,” is so fitting and is certain to inspire and encourage someone.

I hope that you enjoyed this creation and post.  I’ll see you here again next week.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Products Used:

Arsene My Sweetheart

Imminent Departure

Lindy's Magicals - Nantucket Pearls

htHunky Dory Diamond Sparkles Precious Pearls Silver & Gold

Light Summer Rain Watercolor

Hi, friends!  It's Monday which means that you Walter on the blog with you today.  This week's theme is Anything Goes and I wanted to focus on my favorite brand in the Topflight Stamps shop - Chou & Flowers.  I truly enjoy this brand/s designs and the scenes that you can easily build using their stamps.  My vision for today's design is an overcast summer day with a light rain falling.  We often think of the beauty of summer being held on a sunny day with lots of bright colors.  However, there's much beauty in the rain and gray hues of an overcast day.  For some, it may evoke feelings of melancholy while, for others, there is solace in the quietness of such a day.  The good news is that it's all about how look at it and if you make the most of it, which is why the sentiment "Don't let life dull your sparkle" is perfect for it!

I used the following items from Topflight Stamps to create this design: Chou & Flowers In the Rain Stamp Set, Chou & Flowers Our Home Stamp Set, Lavinia Stamps Don't Let Life Dull Your Sparkle Stamp, Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and Hunky Dory Glitter Diamond Purple Sparkles Embellishments.  From my stash, I used a 4" x 5.25" sized piece of watercolor paper, an A2 white card base, a 4 1/8th" x 5 3/8" piece of navy cardstock to serve as a mat, a watercolor pan set, masking paper, clear embossing ink, and white embossing powder.

The key to the scene is deciding on the placement of your focal objects, which for me were the woman with the umbrella and the phone booth, stamping them and then masking them.  Creating a mask to protect your image allows you to easily use other stamps to build out the background and stamp over your focal points to include the details around them.  As you may see in the next two pictures, I masked my subjects and then started to build out the beautiful brick plaza.

Creating the plaza only required the one stamp from the set.  The stamp easily aligns with each stamped image and so it is just repeat moving & stamping to finish it.

With the plaza stamped, I arranged the row house stamp and part of one of the tree line stamps to complete the scene.  Both the houses and the tree line stamps aligned perfectly on top of the plaza.  I was finished with stamping and removed my masks to reveal the fully stamped scene.

I grabbed my heat tool and ran it over both sides of the panel to ensure that all of the ink was dry.  I then began filling the scene with varying shades of watercolors.  I used a mixture of grays and blues to paint the sky and the telephone booth, which I felt was a good mix to color the glass panes of the booth.  Once the painting was complete, I again ran my heat tool over both sides of the panel to ensure dryness.  I was then able to stamp my sentiment with clear embossing ink, add some white embossing powder, and heat set it.  I then adhered the panel to the navy-blue mat and adhered the combined panel to the card base.  A few Hunky Dory Diamond Sparkles were added for a little shimmer & shine.

I hope that you enjoy today's design!  Do you often mask stamped objects to create scenes?  Do you enjoy the process or view it as too much work?  How about water coloring?  Let me know in the comments.  I'll see you again next Monday with another design.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Stamp Supplies

Chou & Flowers In the Rain Stamp Set

Chou & Flowers Our Home Stamp Set

Don't Let Life Dull Your Sparkle Stamp

Versafine Onyx Black Pigment Ink

Hunky Dory Diamond Sparkles Purple Sparkles

  

Mixed Media Card with Hobby Art Ltd.

Hi, Connie here with a mixed media type card using products by Hobby Art Ltd. 
I started with Distress Oxide inks and a Funky Foliage stencil from
the Topflight Store.
  Step one: build a background.

Apply the ink to the card base and sprinkle with water (to activate the ink)
 and make water spots,  Just another way to add texture to the background.
Add the script stamp, from the Hobby Art Ltd. Words set, using black ink.

Step two:
Stamp the butterflies, out on cardstock, and shade with Distress Oxide
inks. Cut them out and add to the card front.  Mat the card front with two
different colors of cardstock and then adhere to the folded card
base.  Stamp sentiment and speckle card with white

acrylic paint.
Products used:

Janie's Collection/Butterflies

Words

Funky Foliage stencil

Versafine/Onyx Black ink

Thanks for stopping by
 and 
just for you
get 12% off by using the code
conniemercer at the Topflight Stamps Store.

Connie