Month: April 2017

Floral Cards Featuring Altenew’s Spring Daisy
Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Floral Cards Featuring Altenew’s Spring Daisy

Happy Ink Designs8 Comments

Hello my crafty friends!!  I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I love this time of year when it’s almost Summer, but not quite.  It’s not too warm out yet, it’s not foggy either (when it’s hot inland, we get the fog…) This weeks’ theme at Always Fun Challenges is flowers so with Summer on the brain and Spring in the air, I made this card using Altenew’s Spring Daisy set and I’m here to tell ya..  I am in LOVE with this set!! I stamped out a couple more panels because I want to copic color a few as well. There’s so many possibilities with this one!!  But for these two, I used watercolors. I also made a process video which is located below or click here to be redirected to my YT channel.  You can always just click on the video tab at the top as well.

I had a lot of fun making these.  I had no idea where I was going to go with this one so I just kept at it and this is what I came up with.  At first I was going to make that yellow flower gray, but I didn’t like where it was headed. I’m not that great of a watercolorist so I just couldn’t get the grays to do what I had in mind.  And since I wasn’t liking where that yellow flower on the right was going, I started another card front, just in case I had to abandon this one.  I’m soooo glad I saw it through!!  I ended up with TWO cards that I love!

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I painted the background a really light blue color to get the outline of the flowers to pop out more.  I absolutely loved painting these.  I just took my time.  I did multiple layers of color, I added a few different colors in each flower.  I let them air dry instead of using my heat tool.  I heard I might get a better result that way.  Not sure if it’s true or not, but I really like how these turned out.

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For the blue and purple flowers, I did the same thing only for the darkest color, I used a very small size 1 paintbrush to feather the color out, like I would have done if I were using Copic markers.

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To finish it off, I added some Nuvo drops to both cards and matched some colored card stock for the background.

And that was it!!  It took me awhile to make these, only because I made two at the same time and because I air dried them, but it was totally worth it.  As soon as I have some free time, I’ll copic color the other panels I stamped out and share them with you.  Until then, I hope you all have a fabulous week ~

Oh!  And don’t forget to head over to the Always Fun Challenges blog and add your card(s) this week.  Remember, the theme is flowers.  Can’t wait to see what you create!!

Misty

Haul Video!!!
Cardmaking · Handmade Greeting Cards · Haul Goodies

Haul Video!!!

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Hi guys!!  Just wanted to let you know I have another haul video over on my YouTube channel which you can get to by scrolling down or by clicking here.  I’ll warn you, it’s kind of a long one, but it’s all great stuff.  I hope you’ll check it out!!

Below is a link to as many of the items as I could find.  Some appear to be retired, unfortunately.  But everything else should have a link.

CAS – Peony Bouquet by Altenew
Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

CAS – Peony Bouquet by Altenew

Happy Ink Designs10 Comments

Well hello there my crafty friends!!!  I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  We are on week 3 at Always Fun Challenges and this weeks’ theme is Clean & Simple.  I must admit, I struggled with this one a little bit.  I don’t usually make CAS cards so I really had to make myself stop and think before I added something I couldn’t take back.  I used Peony Bouquet by Altenew.  This stamp set was so much fun to play with.  I actually just received another one of their lovely layered sets called Spring Daisy, along with a few other goodies.  I hope to have a haul video up on my YouTube channel in a couple of days.  Until then, you can check out my process video for this card by scrolling down to the bottom of this post or going to my YouTube channel by clicking here.  It’s a pretty short video, since these cards were so easy to make.

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I decided to make this card for my son’s teacher who is really sick right now.  In the process of making this card, I realized I do not have ANY get well soon stamps.  At all.  I ended up using Sending and Wishing by SSS, but I definitely know what’s going on my Wishlist now.

I used the MISTI to stamp the flowers right where I wanted them.  Then I added the sentiment and I was done!!  I can’t believe how fast and easy this was to make.  I learned something very valuable while making this card…  I need to make more CAS cards!!!  I liked it so much that I made another one in another color.  Here’s the 2nd one.

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Thank you so much for stopping by!  Be sure to check out the Always Fun Challenges blog to see all the inspiration from the other oh so talented Design Team members.  You can enter your own project here.  If you’re not able to playing along this week, I hope you will at least head over and check out all the beautiful entries.  I’m always amazed at the amount of talent there is.

Have a wonderful week!

Misty

Happy Easter!!!
Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Ink Designs20 Comments

Happy Easter everyone!!  I made this card for the Always Fun Challenges blog’s 2nd challenge and the theme is…  Yep!  Easter!!  I hope everyone had a great Easter.  It was beautiful here, in Northern California.  My Mom is in charge of the Easter dinner at our church so my weekend was spent mostly helping her prepare and serve our community a delicious Easter dinner.  It was also my hubby’s Birthday so not only did we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, but we also celebrated his big day.

Ok, let’s get into this adorable card I made using Reverse Confetti’s Hippity Hoppity stamp set.  I still can’t get over how cute these images are!!  I also did a YouTube video showing how I made this card which you can get to by clicking here.

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This was actually a really easy card to make.  The most time consuming was the copic coloring.  I’ll list the colors I used down below.  After I colored all my images, I fussy cut them out and decided where I wanted everything to go.   I used the Wavy Scallop Stitches border die by SSS to create my grassy area and Stitched Sentiment Strips die for my sentiment.  The polka dot paper is also from Reverse Confetti, but unfortunately it’s not available anymore.  For the white background I used We R Memory Keepers Quilted embossing folder and I absolutely LOVE how it looks.  It really is a next level embossing folder.  Once I glued everything down, I used some clear Wink of Stella on the eggs, the butterflies and also the flower.  And that was it!!  Easy peazy.

Thank you so much to those of you who are playing along over at the AFC blog.  I hope to see your entries there again this week.  And if you haven’t played along yet, please do!!  It’s open to anyone who wants to join in the fun!!  Click here to enter this weeks Easter theme challenge.  Even if you don’t have time to play along this week, you can at least check out all the inspiration from the other amazing design team members by clicking here.  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Until next time….

Misty

Always Fun Challenges Blog
Cardmaking · Challenges · Handmade Greeting Cards

Always Fun Challenges Blog

Happy Ink Designs33 Comments

Well, some of you may already know this but by the time I post this I’ll have already shared some really awesome news.  I’m so excited to have joined the design team for a blog called Always Fun Challenges.  We’ll be doing weekly challenges and would love for you to join in with us!!  The theme for the first challenge is “Anything Goes”.  You can click here to be taken directly to the AFC blog.  If you’d like to join in on the fun, just add your entry between now and Saturday.  Instructions can be found on the blog.  Below is my entry.

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I used Time for Wine by Simon Says Stamp and colored it with my Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils.  These images were super fun to color!!  This is only the 2nd card I’ve made using these colored pencils and I have to say, I think I’m in love.  They color like a dream.  Very smooth, very easy to blend.  I know I’ve said this before, but the polychromos are oil based instead of wax based so you don’t get the wax build up like you can get with other colored pencils.  I’ve listed the colors I used below.  I added some glossy accents to the glass and I LOVE how it turned out!!

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Another first for me were the Nuvo drops.  This color matched so perfectly and added just the right finishing touch.  This is Rhubarb Crumble.  I think this is my new favorite embellishment at the moment.  I don’t use embellishments all too often, but I hope to change that now.  The Nuvo drops took a bit of practice, but I learned that some of them have different consistencies.  Some came out fairly easy and leveled out all by themselves while others never did.  Here’s my practice sheets.

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The bottom row on the left and the top 3 rows on the right never did level out so they have a less than favorable shape to them.  The rest of them did pretty well.  The coral colored ones that are 4th down on the right are not Nuvo, it’s actually Enamel Dots by Ranger.

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See how the bottom row turned out?  Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it…  Check out this close up though.  Aren’t they beautiful?!!?  Look how perfect some of them turned out!!

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These are my favorites.  Listed in order from top to bottom:

Rhubarb Crumble, Pale Periwinkle, Rosewater, Duck Egg Blue.

The bottom photo from top to bottom:

Silver Moondust, Caribbean Ocean and Sherbert (and then another row of Rhubarb Crumble).

Anyway, the Rhubarb Crumble drop matched my coloring perfectly so I added a few of them as my final touch.  I also used some jute twine and for my background, I used woodgrain kraft card stock that I am madly in love with.

Polychromos:

Leaves:  May Green (170), Chromium Green Opaque (174), Green Gold (268), Indian Red (192), Venetian Red (190)

Grapes:  Manganese Violet (160), Magenta (133), Violet (138), Crimson (134)

Bottle:  Earth Green Yellowish (168), May Green (170), Olive Green Yellowish (173), Chromium Green Opaque (174)

Cork:  Bistre (179)

Glass:  Cold Grey II (231), Cold Grey III (232)

Well, that’s it for my very first challenge as a design team member!!  That sounds so cool!!  I’m so excited to be a part of this and to do something I’ve never done before.  And I can’t wait to see what you guys create!!

I didn’t do a YouTube video on this one, but next week will definitely have a process video to go along with it. I simply didn’t have time this week. I am however, learning some time saving tips and tricks to utilize in Adobe Premiere Pro (which is what I use to edit my videos) so my editing process will hopefully (fingers crossed) be cut down considerably, making it more likely that I’ll have a process video for all my entries from here on out.  It’s not easy taking a couple hours of video and cramming what I think are the most important parts into a 10-12 minute video…  I know some of you can relate..

I’m entering this in the “Anything Goes” challenge at Always Fun Challenges Blog and also at Darnell’s 2nd Annual April Fool’s Boo-Boo Hop and NBUS Challenge #11

Until next week, my friends….

 

Misty

 

 

Exciting News!!!
Cardmaking

Exciting News!!!

Happy Ink Designs8 Comments

Well, today I don’t actually have a card to share with you, but I do have some super exciting news!!  There’s a brand new challenge blog going on, called Always Fun Challenges with weekly themes and I’ve joined Amy’s design team!!!  Challenges will be every Monday starting next Monday, April 10th and will run through Saturday.  I’d LOVE for you to join in the fun!!    Please check it out for all the details.  I can tell this is going to be a lot of fun, there’s an uber amount of talent on the team and I’m really looking forward to seeing all the entries, hopefully that includes yours!!!

I haven’t entered many challenges in the past.  To be honest with you, they intimidate me for some reason.  But what better way to face my fears than to jump right in and join a team with weekly challenges, right?!!?  Is it crazy??  Is it brave?  Or a little mixture of the two?  My guess is the latter, but no matter what, I’m really excited to participate in this and I sure hope you’ll join us.  I’ve entered the Simon Says Stamp challenges a few times and Darnell’s semi-annual NBUS challenge has been my favorite since I have sooooo many unused stamps staring up at me everyday.  But this is a weekly challenge and I really think this is going to make me push myself beyond my comfort zone.  I think it’s just what I need.  I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately.  I come in my craft room each day and instead of creating something, I end up reorganizing or cleaning something.  I was starting to worry that my creativity had flown the coop!!  But then I inquired about this “fun” new challenge blog that my dear friend, Waleska had told me about and the next thing I know, I have a mission.  I have a theme!!  I have direction, a purpose!!  Ok, maybe I’m pushing it now, but my point is, I think this is going to be exactly what I need right now.

So stay tuned, my friends!!  I will share my very first entry with you on April 10th.  Until then, I hope you’re creating your little heinies off!!!