Tag Archives: flora

Everything’s coming up roses

Happy February! I’m enjoying all things Valentine at the moment and pulled out a delightful rose image from Wendy Vecchi and Stampers Anonymous to work with for a Valentine tag. I’ll share a few of my steps here, and you will see that this came together quite simply.

I began by stamping the rose image from the Stampers Anonymous SCS175, “Rosy Art” set by Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 onto plain white cardstock. This set has a really cute picnic basket and nice sentiments as well, but I decided to use just the flowers for the real estate I had to work with on the tag I’d chosen.

The really cool thing about this stamp set (and a number of others designed by Wendy) is that it comes with stencils! So you can add color to areas of your image easily while blocking out other areas. This set also has a mask that can be used to cover the roses, which means you can add color to the leaves without giving your flowers an inadvertent green cast!

I used Ranger Archival inks in Rosey Posey (appropriate!) and Red Geranium to blend color onto the roses with blender brushes. Post-it Notes are kind of requirement for me, which covered the open areas of the stencil if I got overly zealous with my blending. I didn’t photograph it, but I moved onto the leaves after this and used Fern Green and Prickly Pear Archival inks to color all of the leaves, also using the stencil. I filled in the area between flowers with Copic markers (E01 and E02) so it wasn’t stark white.

I had a tag in my stash that had a background already done using Red Geranium Archival ink and alcohol. I try to do a number of backgrounds at once, so I can just grab one when I’m ready to make a card or tag. If you’d like to know more about this background technique, Wendy Vecchi has a number of tutorials and wonderful classes that cover it and I highly recommend you check them out if you haven’t. With the color down, I stamped the Stampers Anonymous Vintage Tapestry background stamp onto it, also with Red Geranium for a bit of tone-on-tone. I then blended Acorn Archival onto the edges to give a more aged, vintage look.

I placed the trimmed out, colored rose image onto a chipboard wreath (Ranger Ink Chippies: Wreathes) for some dimension. Here you can see that I applied Acorn archival ink to the wreath to pick up on the aged look of the tag. To finish the tag, I doodled a white border onto the tag with a white gel pen, hoping to visually pull it together since the flowers have a white border. I popped up the roses and wreath on the tag with foam tape and also popped up sentiment (from Everyday Sentiment Strips by Hero Arts).

And there you have the finished tag. Please let me know if you have any questions. As you most likely know, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook @penguiinpapers

To learn more techniques by Wendy Vecchi, join her Facebook group: INK…STAMP & MAKE ART with Wendy Vecchi and follow her on Instagram @wendyvecchi . She adds new content frequently.


Cherry Blossom Birthday Card

Supplies:

  • Stamp and Die set – Spellbinders Many Birthdays (Happy Birthday sentiment)
  • Die set – Spellbinders Sakura Blossoms
  • Patterned papers – Basic Grey 6 X 6″ pads: Eva, Blush, and Infuse
  • Sequins – Little Things from Lucy’s Cards (lucys-shop.com) – Tiara
  • Foam – Spellbinders Pop-Up Die Cutting Foam Sheets
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Gold embossing powder – Lawn Fawn

These cherry blossoms were perfect for a friend’s birthday card. I cut the flowers and leaves from some very old Basic Grey paper pads that I’ve had in my stash for years (I found dates of 2006 and 2008!). They’re kind of antique papers! Anyway, I save them for special projects because they were so lovely. I die cut foam and adhered the heat embossed sentiment onto the foam layer for some really nice dimension.

I layered the blossom die cuts in a variety of colors and patterns on top of the small cut-out panel. I used the “waste” for centers of the blossoms and added a gem on top to finish out the flowers. I then scattered sequins around the rest of the card to finish it up. Thanks for visiting.


Silhouettes on Ink Blended Quadrants

I attended a virtual card-making retreat recently and learned how to make this card. All of the classes were online and it gave me the opportunity to attend something that I would not have been able to do in person, so it was very nice.

The instructor for this card (and some others I haven’t made yet) was Gina Krupsky (aka Gina K) and we used Gina K Designs stamps, masking paper, inks and dies to create the card. Masking areas with their Masking Magic kept each ink color discrete, each quadrant clean and made the entire card come together seamlessly.

The stamps and dies we used have not been released yet, so I do not have the names of the sets.

Thanks for visiting today.


Happy Day Floral

  • Stamps –
    • Ranger – Dina Wakley Media “Always Flowers”
    • Inky Antics “Little Greeting”
  • Patterned papers –
    • Lawn Fawn “Spiffy Speckles – Strawberry Frosting” and “Spring Fling-Debbie”
    • BoBunny “Serendipity”
  • Dies – Art Impressions “Banner Double Stitched Dies
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Raffia – May Arts
  • Inks –
    • Versafine Clair – Twilight
    • Ranger – Tim Holtz Distress – Twisted Citron

This was a fun card to make. I am a huge fan of Dina Wakley and her lovely floral stamps. I designed this card for a recent class I taught at Runaway Art and Craft Studio in Salem. I hadn’t done any paper piecing in a long time, but it worked quite well with this stamp. I stamped the flower onto the patterned papers in black ink and fussy-cut the flower from the pink and the stem and leaves from the green. I edged all of the pieces, including the die-cut banners, in Twisted Citron Distress Ink to bring out the same color as the leaves. Then I layered all of the pieces together and tied a bow around the top of the (top folding) card with pink raffia. Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 


Hello! Stenciled card

 

  • Die and stamp set – Spellbinders – Hello Expressions
  • Stencil – The Crafter’s Workshop – TCW829 Heartful Flower by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
  • Ink – StazOn Pigment – Snowflake
  • Posca paint markers
  • Cardstock – black and turquoise

Surprise! I’m finally posting!

I created this card as a sample for a demo I’m doing. I will be creating cards from stenciled backgrounds at Runaway Art and Craft Studio during a demonstration at First Wednesday on May 1st. First Wednesday, sponsored by Salem Main Street Association, is a monthly celebration in downtown Salem during which businesses open their doors to celebrate with the community. While I am stenciling and making cards, Christy is art journaling and Robin will be sharing her illustrated coloring posters.

I began this card by applying white ink through a stencil onto black cardstock to create the base design. I then added color by drawing dots around the stenciled design with Posca acrylic paint markers. I layered the die-cuts and popped it up with dimensional adhesive above the stamped sentiment and then adhered the whole card front onto a turquoise card base.

Thanks for stopping by.

 


Agapanthus Thank You

  • Stamps – Hero Arts – Beautiful Day Agapanthus
  • Cardstock –
    • BoBunny Periwinkle Double-Dot
    • Paper Accents White Glitter
  • Ribbon – May Arts
  • Ranger Distress Oxide Ink – Shaded Lilac
  • Ranger Stickles™ – Diamond
  • Copic markers

I began this card by stamping the lovely Hero Arts Agapanthus onto white cardstock and coloring it with Copic markers. I edged the white cardstock with Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide Ink to subtly repeat the flower color. I created a background using matching BoBunny dotted cardstock and “slats” of white sparkle cardstock, attaching the background to the card base. I popped up the focal image with dimensional adhesive and tied matching ribbon with a sheen at the top of the card. The final touch was adding some sparkle to the flowers with Diamond Stickles™ glitter glue. I like how the colors and sparkle all tie together to make a cohesive card. Thanks for stopping by today.

Challenge: A Blog Named Hero – Crafter’s Choice


Sending Smiles

  • Stamps –
    • PaperArtsy – JOFY 62
    • Hero Arts – CM335 – Hero Greetings Sending Smiles
  • Stencil – PaperArtsy PS130 (Design by JOFY)
  • Acrylic Paints – PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics: Sherbet, Bougainvillea, Vanilla, Antarctic, Glacier Ice
  • Watercolors – Prima Tropicals set
  • Embossing Powder – Stampendous Detail White
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Brad – Lasting Impressions
  • Posca pens (black and white)

I created this mixed media card in phases. First I stamped out the flower stamps onto watercolor paper with Archival ink and added color with some watercolors. Once dry, I colored in areas with black and white Posca pens and added a few doodles of my own. After fussy-cutting the flowers out, I began working on the background. I made a number of gel plate prints using PaperArtsy Fresco paints and the JOFY stencil that matched the flower stamps. I selected one that I made with a small plate that framed the flowers nicely, then doodled around the perimeter and trimmed it out. I layered the flowers together and attached them in the center with a brad. I finished the card by adhering the flower to the background and adding a sentiment that I heat embossed. Thanks for stopping by.

Challenge: A Vintage Journey – Put Your Stamp On It Challenge


Birthday Floral Silhouette

  • Stamps –
    • Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection – Wildflowers
    • Technique Tuesday – Ranunculus
  • Watercolors – Sakura Koi
  • Cardstock
  • Sequins

This is a clean and simple card with a bright palette–a fresh look after holiday cards! I created the background using watercolors and blending them vertically. Once it was dry, I stamped the floral silhouette and sentiment onto the watercolored panel and added sequins for some visual interest. I layered the panel onto the subtle patterned paper and a matching card base. Very simple! Thanks for visiting.

Challenge: CASology Week 325 – Fresh

 


Peace and Joy

  • Stamps – Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection: Winter Watercolor and Festive Overlay
  • Marvy LePlume II markers
  • Patterned papers –
    • Graphic 45 – Floral Shoppe Collection: Golden Serenity
    • Pebbles – Cozy & Bright Collection – Winter Green
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Red “pearls”
  • Ribbon
  • Black embossing powder

This is another card that I made for the watercolor class I taught at Runaway Art and Craft Studio in Salem. I used the Marvy markers direct to rubber on the poinsettia and holly stamps, then spritzed the stamps with water before stamping for a nice watercolor effect. I heat embossed the sentiment with black embossing powder and spattered the image with some gold metallic paint after adding the red “pearls” to the flower centers. The image is layered on top of some patterned paper strips and all is edged with green ink. Thanks for stopping by.

Challenge – Shopping Our Stash Challenge #384 ‘Tis the Season

 


Give Thanks

  • Die – Spellbinders – Swirl Happy Birthday Frame
  • Patterned papers – Authentique Pleasant Collection
  • Sequins – Neat & Tangled Festive Fall Sequin Mix
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Ranger Distress Ink – Carved Pumpkin

This is a very simple, yet elegant card with no stamping. It features one of the beautiful vintage images from Authentique’s Pleasant collection, framed with a decorative Spellbinders die cut. I edged the pumpkin image and the patterned background piece with Carved Pumpkin Distress ink. I popped up the pumpkin image onto the frame and adhered the whole thing to a white card base. I simply added a few sequins among the flowers as a final touch and that was it! Anything more would seem overpowering to me, but I tend to design on the side of simplicity. Thanks for stopping by.

Challenge: Shopping Our Stash – Giving Thanks

Also, here’s a photo of a new friend I made!