Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

Card Cafe Thursday with Mendi Yoshikawa!

Hello there!  It's Mendi Yoshikawa here today from Sunny Studio Stamps! I am the owner and designer behind the scenes of this new playful company and I am so excited to be joining you today with three fun ways to incorporate masking into your cardmaking.  I don't know about you, but I love creating cards that are easy to send through the mail and masking is a great way to help reduce bulk.

For my first card I started by stamping my tree branch and three birdhouses onto my card panel using VersaFine ink on Bristol paper.  I wanted to use the coordinating "string" from the stamp set to hang the birdhouses from the branch, but I stamped them closer to the branch than the stamp allowed so I created a small mask by stamping and cutting out my image from a post-it note.  I then laid it over my image so that I could stamp the longer string without ruining my original image. 

I thought it would be fun to experiment with watercoloring my background for this card so I grabbed my Molotow Liquid masking pen to apply a generous layer of masking fluid over all my images to protect them.  This is a great way to create a card if you don't have the matching dies for the images.  Just be sure to let the fluid completely dry, giving it about thirty minutes before proceeding to the next step.

Next I mixed a bit of blue gansai watercolors on my clear acrylic block, watering it down before applying it with a large paint brush to my card panel.  To keep my panel from curling I applied some washi tape around the edges and adhered it to a cutting board I borrowed from my kitchen.  

After the first layer had dried I applied a second layer of the color to the bottom part of the panel to achieve a deeper background color and a bit on an ombre effect.  I then set it aside to dry once more for about an hour, making sure the panel was completely dry before moving onto the next step. 

Once everything was completely dry, I used a combination of my finger and an adhesive eraser to gently rub off the masking fluid, being careful to not rub off the paper in the process. 

For my last step I colored my images using the Kuratake Clean Color Real Brush markers and a water brush.  I started by laying down a line of color where I thought my shadows would be and then using the waterbrush to pull the color to the other lighter parts of the image where I imagined my light source was coming from.  If I ever colored outside of the lines I simply added a little extra water and blotted up the extra color with the corner of a paper towel. 

When I was done I realized I should have added some little birds to my scene so I ended up stamping them on my background and stamping an extra set to color, fussy cut and add over the top.  This is a great trick for adding dainty images like bird feet without actually having to cut them out.

Supply List: Sunny Studio A Bird's Life & Sunny Borders Stamps Strathmoore Bristol Paper Gansai Tambi Watercolors Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers Molotow Liquid Masking Pen Versafine Ink

 

For my second card I masked my center focal point by die-cutting a circle from some typing paper and using some temporary adhesive to hold it in place on my flat white card panel.  I then sponged on some ink using a jumbo foam dauber and my favorite distress inks.  I think it's always so magical to lift off the mask to reveal what's left behind.  

When I was done inking up my masked circle, I die-cut the bottom edge using Sunny Studio's Fishtail Banner dies and ran the panel through my die-cutting machine once more using Carta Bella's Snow Fun Embossing Folder.  I was so pleased to discover the snowflakes also work as bubbles! 

Supply List: Sunny Studio Oceans of Joy & Island Getaway Stamps Sunny Studio Fishtail Banner & Fishtail Banner II dies Neenah Cardstock Ranger Distress Ink, Versamark Ink Ranger Fine White Embossing Powder Carta Bella Snow Fun Embossing Folder

As one last finishing touch, I added a little water to the raised "bubbles" in my masked circle with my paint brush and blotted them with a paper towel to remove a bit of the distress ink and accentuate them even more.

For my last card I used a masking technique to create my ocean waves using the Sunny Studio Wavy Border dies.  I cut the borders from post-it tape to form my masks and then applied the mask to my card panel, sponging the edge with Tumbled Glass distress ink.  I then used one of the other borders from the set to repeat the process.  The effect is a beautiful multi-layered image.

Supply List: Neenah Cardstock Ranger Distress Ink, MFT Hybrid Ink & Versafine Ink Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Copic Markers Sunny Studio Stitched Scallop Border & Wavy Border dies Sunny Studio Magical Mermaids & Oceans of Joy Stamps Post-it Tape

I hope I've inspired you to try some masking in your own card making.  It's such a fun technique and is a great way to add extra impact to your projects.  Thank you so much to Scrapbook & Cards Today for having me! 

Many of the stamps I've used here today are part of Sunny Studio's Summer release debuting tomorrow.  I hope you will join us at Sunny Studio blog through Saturday night for a chance to win one of five $25 gift cards we are giving away as part of our new release festivities.  :)

 

~ Mendi Yoshikawa

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunnyStudioStamps/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunnystudiostamps/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/SunnyStudios/

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/groups/[email protected]/pool/

 

Card Cafe Thursday with Melissa Phillips!

Welcome Spring!  I love creating this time of year, indulging in bunnies, butterflies, flowers, and all things fresh and new.  My cards today are full of those things and a few others, including a quick tip on how to customize your adhesive pearl embellishments, so they're just the right color.

I've used one of my most favorite, and the absolute sweetest paper collection on both cards today, Tealightful from Pebbles Inc.  You must treat yourself to this!  It's full of teacups, glittered stickers, puffy florals, sweet confections, and many other adorable elements.  I especially love the 6x6 Tealightful paper pad.  These pads are the perfect size for card-making, with each available pattern in the collection wrapped up in one, perfect, paper pad.

Layering is something I can't quite live without, so you'll notice here that I've started with my patterned paper, second, a die cut tag, and lastly, two cardstock ephemera die-cuts, followed by puffy stickers. Near the bottom of my card, I added a sentiment sticker and embellished with adhesive pearls I colored just the right shade of yellow to coordinate with the colors found in my card.

This is such a fun trick and one that I use often.  I began with white adhesive pearls, selected a Copic marker in a shade of my choosing, and then colored my pearls.  

Copics are the perfect marker for this and with all of the different colors they come in, you'll be customizing your embellishments in a snap!

My next card uses more layers consisting of my patterned paper, cardstock, transparent stickers, puffy stickers, etc.

Grouping elements is a great way to draw your eye to a certain area on your card.  Here at the top, I wanted to add a little color and interest near the corner, highlighting my sentiment.  I began with a transparent sticker (the tag), added a sentiment, stamped on a die cut banner, and then accented with a button, twine, and puffy stickers.

At the bottom, I layered over my transparent flower basket by adding a puffy flower and die cut butterfly, popped up a bit using dimensional adhesive.  

There are so many products available right now to help you celebrate Spring and indulge in the things you love all at the same time and the Tealightful Collection from Pebbles Inc. is one that you'll want to use up every scrap of!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Melissa

Card Cafe Thursday - introducing CardMaps Vol. 5!

Good morning SCT friends! We're so excited to share some great news with you today and it only seems appropriate on Card Cafe Thursday! Back by popular demand, we're so pleased to introduce CardMaps Vol. 5!

We've teamed up with PageMaps once again to bring you one of our most loved publications, CardMaps 5! Loaded with inspiration and creativity, CardMaps 5 includes 88 cards, 50 exclusive CardMaps sketches, how-to photos featuring trendy, must-try techniques, step-by-step instructions for every card, free cutting files, and as always, so much more! From everyday sentiments and birthday celebrations to seasonal holidays and cards of thanks, this special issue has all of your card making endeavours covered!

Our last 4 volumes have sold out so preorder your copy today HERE! CardMaps 5 will ship on April 17th, 2017!

 

Card Cafe Thursday with Melissa Phillips!

Hello! Melissa here with you today, sharing a few cards created to cheer, brighten, and show compassion to someone in need.  I have struggled with sympathy cards over the years, but they have grown to become one of my most favorite type of cards to create.

There are a few images that come to mind when creating sympathy cards, and flowers and butterflies are just a couple. For my first card, I chose to use a large butterfly along with a sentiment that could work for many different occasions. I've used the Beautiful Butterflies Card Kit from My Favorite Things, layering a stamped and heat embossed butterfly, die cut from vellum, over a stamped butterfly.  Vellum is one of my most favorite mediums to create with because of the instant softness it lends.  I framed my butterfly by using the Single Stitch Line Rounded Rectangle Die-namics. I wanted to create a bit of movement to my butterfly, so I added a couple of vines using the Fancy Foliage Details Dies, tucking them underneath my butterfly wings. I embellished the center of my butterfly using a clear, acrylic flower from Queen & Company.

Across the bottom of my card, I added my sentiment (from the Beautiful Butterflies Card Kit), heat embossing it using WOW! Golden Flame embossing powder.  It has a beautiful sparkle and shimmer to it, that is the perfect addition to this card.  

I created my butterfly first by die cutting one from white cardstock and one from vellum.

I then stamped the cardstock butterfly in two different ink colors from My Favorite Things, Peach Bellini and In the Buff.  I stamped my vellum butterfly using watermark ink, and heat embossed the image using white embossing powder.  Next, I adhered the two layers together in the center, lightly folding the wings upward.

There are so many wonderful and heartfelt sentiments that are appropriate for many different types of sympathy cards.  This sentiment is one of my favorites.  It can be found in the Inside & Out:  Well Wishes stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  

I used the Friendship Jar:  Spring Fillers stamp set and coordinating Friendship Jar:  Tulips die to create my flowers.  I added the butterfly to top it off.  It is from the Flower Favorites stamp set.

After adding a layer of vellum, once again to bring in softness, I added my stamped flowers and sentiment, tucking the flowers behind the sentiment and bringing some of the leaves forward. The sentiment is stamped on a Keep it Simple:  Frames die from Papertrey Ink.

I created my flowers by first stamping them in watermark ink on watercolor cardstock.  I then heat embossed them using white embossing powder.

My Zig Clean Color Markers are my favorite way to add color right now:).  They make me feel like a pro every time I use them.  I began by using the lightest color of pink.  First, I would wet down my surface area using my water brush and then I'd add color with my markers.  I'd blend much of the color using my water brush, instead of coloring the entire surface area.

I then moved on to a bit of orange and ended with hot pink, just in certain areas, like the tips of the flowers, and a bit near the base.  Like I said, I let my water brush do the work, just adding a bit of color with the marker, and then blending with water to move the color around.

Lastly, I used three different shades of green for the leaves.  I began with the lightest shade and ended with the darkest shade, using it down the centers of the leaves and a bit at the bottoms and tops.  If you're ready to try your hand at watercoloring, I highlighy recommend treating yourself to some Zig markers...you'll love them!

One last card before I go, this time created with a sentiment most likely associated with a sympathy card.  I love mixing it up a bit for occasions like these, but sometimes something simple like "With Sympathy" is most appropriate.

I used more flowers on this card, this time using the Brushed Blooms stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  I added a bit of dimension to my largest flowers by adding a second stamped layer, adhering them with dimensional adhesive.

My sentiment at the bottom is from the Birds of a Feather stamp set and is simple yet so elegant.  

It's always so nice to have a few of these cards on hand, but sure is sweet to create one for a specific person you have in mind who may be struggling and in need of something straight from your heart and hands.

Thanks for your visit today!

Melissa

With All My Love Card

Supplies Used: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Butterfly stamps, dies, and ink:  My Favorite Things; Paper:  Graphis 45 and Kaisercraft; Leaf die and vellum:  Papertrey Ink; Embossing Powder:  Wow!; Flower embellishment:  Queen & Company

Hope Card

Supplies Used: Cardstock:  Bazzill Basics;  Stamps, dies, vellum, rainstones, button, and ink:  Papertrey Ink; Markers:  Kuretake Zig

With Sympathy Card

Supplies Used: Cardstock:  Bazzill Basics:  Stamps, dies, ink, and button:  Papertrey Ink; Paper:  Kaisercraft; Seam Binding:  Needle Traditions

Card Cafe Thursday with Suzy Plantamura!

Hello Scrapbook and Cards Today friends! My name is Suzy Plantamura and I have three cards to share with you today using one of my favorite stamping techniques I call "random stamping". I try to get as much use as possible out of my stamps, so I often turn to this technique as it uses all the stamps in one set and can give you many different looks with one set. My favorite type of stamps to use for this technique are flower stamps as they create beautiful card backgrounds.

Today I am using a floral stamp set by Concord & 9th called Wildflowers. I used a different stamping method for the flower outlines on each of my three cards: white embossing, black outlines, and tan outlines for no-line stamping. So let's get started! Here is an image of my three cards together:

My first card is made with Ranger Watercolor Paper that is die-cut into a stitched rectangle full card size (4.5"x5.25") using Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle Dies. I used a Misti Stamping Tool to make this technique easier, but it can be done with just stamping blocks as well. I arranged the flowers and leaves on the card like a puzzle, stamping them with Versamark Ink and embossed them with Ranger white embossing powder. Here is how it looked once it was stamped (hard to see as the embossing powder is white on white):

My second card is made with Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper that is die-cut into a stitched rectangle full card size as well. I stamped each of the images aligning them next to each other like a puzzle as well. This time I used less of the images, focusing on just one of the flower types in the set. I stamped them all with a light tan ink called MFT Natural Ink. I use this ink so I can color the images with no outlines.

My third card is made with Neenah White Cardstock (which works well with Copic markers) that is also die-cut into a stitched rectangle full card size. This time I stamped the images with black ink so they are outlined using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink (as it works with both watercolors and Copic markers). 

Once all three card fronts were stamped, I got to start the fun part - coloring them. My favorite coloring method is watercolor, so I used that on the first two card fronts.

I painted all of the embossed images in with my Daniel Smith watercolors using yellows, oranges, and reds. I then added shading and details with my Kaiser Craft Glitter Pens. I painted the background with a wet on wet technique using very light shades of the same colors in the flowers and leaves.

I painted the flowers on this card with my Daniel Smith watercolors as well being careful to paint just over the ink outlines so they blend into the color and don't show. I used blues and pinks, blending them in the center of the flowers to form purple. I painted the leaves green and used that same shade with more water for the background.

On my last card, I colored the flowers with Copic Markers. This time I used a whole bunch of colors instead of one color palette including yellows, pinks, blues, greens, and teals. I colored the background with lighter shades of each of these colors blending them to form a soft pastel look. 

Now that all of my card fronts were colored, I attached them to card bases and added salutations and sequins.

I stamped a sentiment for this card on watercolor paper using a Simon Says Stamp called Uplifting Thoughts die-cut with a stitched rectangle tag from MFT Tag Builder Blueprints 4. I stamped it with Versamark Ink and embossed it with Ranger white embossing powder. I painted the tag with orange watercolors. I cut the end off the tag and attached it as a banner on the top right side of the card. I finished the card with some Pretty Pink Posh Raspberry Sequins and Marigold Sequins. Here is a close up image of the card:

To finish this card, I die-cut a small stitched rectangle using Lawn Fawn Small Rectangle Dies for the salutation. I used the same Simon Says Stamp Uplifting Thoughts stamp set. This time I stamped it with Versamark Ink and embossed it with Wow Royal Crush Embossing Powder. I attached this to the bottom right side of the card. I added some Pretty Pink Posh sequins from the Winter Sparkle Pack in the center of each flower. Here is a close up image of this card:

To finish my last card with black line stamping, I die-cut two banners using MFT Tag Builder Blueprints 4 (for the smaller green border tag) and MFT Blueprints 20 for the larger banner. I stamped the sentiment using a Simon Says Stamp set called All My Love. I used Lawn Fawn Sunflower Ink to stamp it and then added shadows using an orange glitter pen from my Kaiser Craft Glitter Gel Pens. Instead of finishing this card with sequins as I usually do, I used some Tonic Nuvo Morning Dew Crystal Drops. Here is a close up of this card:

I hope you enjoyed my "random stamping" technique I used on these three cards today. It really let's you stretch your stamps, especially when you try it with different types and coloring methods. Thank you so much Scrapbook & Cards Today for letting me be your guest blogger!

~ Suzy Plantamura

We loved having you Suzy!!! Thank you for joining us today and sharing these gorgeous cards! If you would like to know the products Suzy used, below is her supply list:

 

Supplies: Stamps: Concord & 9th and Simon Says Stamp, Dies: Lawn Fawn and MFT, Inks: Simon Says Stamp, MFT, Tsukineko, and Lawn Fawn, Embossing Powder: WOW Embossing Powder and Ranger, Gel Pens: Kaiser Craft, Crystal Drops: Tonic, Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh, Cardstock: Neenah, Watercolor Paper: Arches and Ranger, Markers: Copic, Adhesive: Ranger and American Crafts, Watercolors: Daniel Smith

Reader Spotlight: Angie Blom

Good morning! It's Card Cafe Thursday and we're pleased to feature SCT friend, reader and Crop & Create teacher Angie Blom! Angie has designed for Unity Stamps for many years and is best known for her Angie Girl series. In our winter issue we featured Angie's 100th Angie Girl when she submitted this beautiful card below for our Inspiration Gallery.

If you look closely you'll even see where Angie hid "100" in the card! We asked Angie to share how she created this beautiful card and she was only too happy to offer her steps. 

"I love the clean and simple way of showcasing a stamp. By using copics and some neutral layers you can easily achieve this look.

1. Simply stamp image onto white cardstock.
2. I stamped this image using Memento black ink. I find for my copic markers this is the best ink to use.. do not use archival or permanent inks as they tend to ruin your markers.   
3. Using a variety of copic markers  just start to colour your image. Adding shadowing and depth to your image.  
4. Then using your favourite die cut to frame your stamped image. 
5. Simply layer onto your card base with pop dots. 

I am one that just uses the same colour to add the shadows where needed. I do this by going over one part of the image with the same colour, it might take me 2 or three strokes on the same area. 

For the background I use a light blue and lightly stroke in the background colour. if you are looking for the  copic colours, I used B00 or B000 for this look." ~ Angie

Thanks so much for sharing Angie! Here are all the places you can find Angie and more of her designs:

Blog-   http://angieblomdesignstwo.blogspot.ca/

Unity Stamp Company- https://www.unitystampco.com/?s=Angie+Blom+&post_type=product

Facebook Artist wall - https://www.facebook.com/Angie-Blom-Designs-177653862272019/