February Technique Blog Hop - Ink Layering

It's month two of our year long adventure into different card-making techniques, folds and paper crafting products.  Join us the second Saturday of each month in 2016 for a new hop filled with great cards.

This month we will be focusing on ink layering techniques and OMG have we got some cool cards for you. We really love feedback so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in today's hop.  Each comment on the 12 hops throughout the year will be entered into a prize drawing for a $25 Blitsy gift certificate at the end of the year. 

Don't worry, if you missed January's hop, you can still hop and comment by starting HERE.

Now on with the projects.


For these first two cards, I used the same layout and design, with a few tweaks here and there.  But I used different backgrounds and different inks.  You'll see that on the first one, I used only die inks and overlapped the balloons.  This is a perfect technique for balloons, as with balloons and light, you can typically see through all of them.  And the strings . . . drawn in with a gold pen. 

Now for this second card I used a combination of white pigment ink and colored ink.   You can still see through, but the shading is very different. I used three different color inks. 

And, of course, on this one I took a bit more time with the strings . . . real ones instead of drawing them into the card design, and overlapping the sentiment.  The white pigment ink gives a bit of dimension that you don't see with dye ink only. 

Segue to similar inks and paper, but with a stencil instead of a stamp. 

On this card I placed the stencil, and then went over it with white pigment ink, and then slightly shifted the stencil up and to the left and sponged on a dye ink.  This made a fabulous masculine card. 

And then finally, a shaker card where I layered different dye inks in two ways.  First, the very simple circular designs all through the front panel of the card, layered in all sorts of colors. The toughest part was placement. 

I tried to mix of the colors where I could within the panel, and this is truly a busy background.  But what I love about this card is that center shaker area where I blended the color used throughout.  That is where the beauty of blending color came in. 

As you can see above, the pink and the purple show dimension in that balloon; the orange and yellow in that birthday hat, and finally, the green and the blue in the gift.  They just pop in the way that the designs in the panel do not.

Up next is Sharon, and here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way. 
 

Theresa  -  http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/

Kim  - http://katydidcards.com/

Claudia  - http://www.claudiahenderson.blogspot.com/

Denise  - http://www.craftconfectionery.com/

Debbie - http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com/

Sharon  - http://piece-ofheart.blogspot.com/

Lisa  - http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoyed the hop!  Don't forget to comment, and be sure to join us next month!

Cheers!

Happy Birthday to You

Stamps:  Birthday Balloon (Sugar Pea Designs for SOA Young at Heart Collection);

Ink: Mermaid Lagoon, Spiced Marmalade, Wilted Violet, Worn Lipstick (Ranger Distress), Versamark

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah), Caribbean Breeze (Bazzill), Pattern Paper from Studio Calico

Accessories:  Sequins (Lucy's Little Things), Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder (Ranger)

Happy Birthday to You - Pigment

Stamps:  Birthday Balloon (Sugar Pea Designs for SOA Young at Heart Collection);

Ink: White Pigment (Simon Says Stamp); Blush, Cotton Candy, Poppy (Close To My Heart); Tuxedo Black (Memento);

Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Diagonal Stripe (Studio Calico);

Accessories:  Twine (The Stamps of Life)

Masculine Stenciled Happy Birthday

Stamps:  Ring in the Celebration (Winnie & Walter for SOA Young At Heart Collection);

Ink: White Pigment (Simon Says Stamp) and Peacock (Close To My Heart)

Paper:  Desert Storm and Solar White (Neenah); Peacock (Close To My Heart)

Accessories:  Marlene Creative Screenings (Winnie & Walter for SOA Young at Heart Collection); Happy Birthday Wishes Die (CAS-ual Fridays for SOA Young at Heart Collection); Charcoal Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way
 Theresa  -  http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/
Kim  - http://katydidcards.com/
Claudia  - http://www.claudiahenderson.blogspot.com/
Denise  - http://www.craftconfectionery.com/
Debbie  - http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com/
Sharon  - http://piece-ofheart.blogspot.com/
Lisa  - http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com/
Jearise  -http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/ - See more at: http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2016-01-13T20:51:00-05:00&max-results=20&start=7&by-date=false#sthash.FfQ5l5nt.dpuf

Birthday Wishes Shaker

Stamps:  Ring in the Celebration (Winnie & Walter);

Ink: Canary, Sunset, Gypsy, Pixie, Pear, Lagoon (Close To My Heart); Versamark and Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper:  Candied Yam (My Mind's Eye); Basic Black (Stampin' Up); Solar White (Neenah); Silver WOW (We R Memory Keepers)

Accessories:  Tag Buddies Dies (CAS-ual Fridays for Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection); Circle and Circle Scallop Dies (Sizzix); Window Sheet (Judikens); Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); White Embossing Powder (Ranger)

Guess What Day It Is? StampNation Challenge Day!

I can't help but think about that camel in the Geico commercial when I think about "hump day".  And Wednesday is "hump day."

But more important to me, as a StampNation member, Wednesday is challenge day.  It's a chance for me to see what StampNation's Dream Team is up to, and then to see how they inspire the membership at my favorite crafty place . . .

You've heard me say it before.  This is my go-to crafty place.  I adore StampNation.  And this quarter I was honored to be a guest designer.  Our challenge this week was to create a card inspired by the commissioned work of one of our members, Kevin.  Here is just a sneak peek of my design inspired by his incredible work . . .

I encourage you to check out StampNation.  I literally adore this community.

It's the best!

I hope you find some time to create.

Cheers! 

Whimisical Thanks Cards for Pals Paper Arts

A quick card for Pals Paper Arts, whose challenge this week was a sketch. 

 I used supplies available in my January Simon Says Stamp Card Kit, and added one die set from Paper Smooches (that speech bubble). 

I love the sketch and decided to tweak the sketch a bit with similar supplies.  

As you can see, I shifted my border on the second card.  

I hope you find some time to create! 

Card - Thanks Cards - Pals Paper Arts

Stamps:  Word Bubbles Stamps (Paper Smooches), Cute Snowflakes (Simon Says Stamps)*

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento). Lagoon and Gypsy (Close To My Heart)

Paper:  White and Sea Glass Cardstock (Simon Says Stamp)*, Polar Pals Cardstock (Doodlebug)*

Accessories:  Word Bubbles Dies (Paper Smooches), Silver Glitter Adhesive Tape*, Iridescent Snowflakes*, Lilly White Glitter Sprinkle Epoxy Stickers (Doodlebug)*

*from Simon Says Stamp January Card Kit

Glittery Card for CAS-ology

This week's inspiration at CAS-ology was . . .

And so glitter it was!

I went with  masculine theme for this card, and for masculine cards, I think that less is definitely more.

I did notice an interesting thing with the embossing.  I was embossing using a stencil, Versamark and Ranger Frosted Crystal Embossing powder.  There was a difference in the color that came through on that black cardstock, depending on the amount of heat applied.  More heat gave a green tone, and less heat gave a rich royal blue (almost purple).

I hope you find some time to create today!

Happy Birthday

Stamps:  Handwritten Borders (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink: Black Onyx (Versafine) and Versamark

Paper:  Pacific Point and Basic Black (Stampin' Up); Pattern Paper from Studio Calico

Accessories:  Houndstooth Stencil (Art-C), Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder (Ranger)

  

Stamp of Approval Release Day

It is that day!  Stamp of Approval Release Day!

What is Stamp of Approval?  Well, you can check it out here.  It is not a kit.  It is a collection of amazing, exclusive dies and stamps.  You can also get more information at Catherine Pooler's blog - here! 

This is the third collection that has come out, and it is AMAZING.  While it is being released today, I had the chance to play with it the last few days.  The theme is birthday, but that's not to say that you can't use the collection on more than just birthday!  I promise you I will show you ways to use it on other types of cards, as it is fabulous and I can't way to go beyond birthday themed cards. 

Just to give you an idea of how awesome, here is a sneak peek of a card that I made at StampNation for this week's challenge . . .

Remember that is only a sneak peek.  If you want to see my full card, you can check it out at StampNation (my favorite crafty place). 

Here is a card that I made using the second collection . . .

And here is a card that I made using the first collection . . .

Love all of my collections. 

I hope you will check out StampNation.  And I hope you find some time to create today. 

Cheers!