Couple More Faux Leather Experiments with Thankful Sentiments

 In my newest video I experiment with combining older faux leather techniques on different papers and this thank you card was the result of that fun play. As I ask in the video if you can come up with a name for my new technique and I pick it, you could win one of the cards I made and a prize for helping me out. Leave your suggestion in the comments here. I die cut a background die from Gina Marie Designs out of the faux leather combo and added a thank you circle from Impression Obsession as well as some gems also from Gina Marie Designs.

I tried some Bister faux leather on a green metallic marble cardstock from Sizzix that had been embossed with a cover die from Memory Box. The sentiment was cut out with a die from Bright Rosa. 

I had so much fun playing with older techniques and updating them with dies and other current supplies for my new video and hope my cards inspire you to give these techniques a try. 

Video - Updating Faux Leather Techniques with Cover and Thankful Dies

It is fun to play with older techniques and expand on them with newer supplies and ideas and in my newest video I do just that with two Faux Leather techniques. 

In the video I show how to make this card with Bister water soluble wood stain powders from The Netherlands over an embossed crackle stamped background. I cut the completed piece with a stitched triangular background die from Kat Scrappiness and raised the triangles. The sentiment is a die from Lil' Inker.

This is my favorite of the cards I make in the video because I combined two faux leather techniques together for a new technique and my only problem is I don't know what to call the technique. I used some different colors of Bisters with parts of another faux leather technique (which I also share and will have card samples tomorrow). After you watch the video here and see how it is done and closeups of the background I create, if you can think of a name for the technique I may send you this card and another prize. Leave your suggestion in the comments on the video on my YouTube channel. The pretty wreath cover die is from Taylored Expressions and I cut it out of a wood grain green cardstock from Park Lane. 

*Edited to add: We have a winner! Kay F. suggested Faux Suede for the new technique I show in this video - combining the two faux leather techniques together. I am sending Kay the card above and a prize of a new stamp set as soon as I have her address.

Thanks for your visit today and for your support of my YouTube channel. 

Gathering Basket Cards and Techniques From My Newest Video

Slimline cards are trending right now but I find them hard to photograph in my set up. I hope you can see the beautiful basket (from the Gathering Basket and Galvanized Bucket die set from Susan's Garden Club) that I created with a Faux Leather technique using Bister powders on a crackle stamped kraft cardstock piece. I am going to do a video on just these basket techniques so you can see exactly how I made this. I filled the basket with Beautiful Berry Bush pieces from Susan's Garden Club at Tonic Studios and added some Nuvo Harvest Moon glitter accents to those and the berry branch from Bright Rosa on the right. I love the "thinking of you" die on this card from Sue Wilson and Creative Expressions and use it all the time. 

The basket on this card was created with another faux leather technque, this time with glycerin and distress inks. I filled it with kitties and attached it to a card with a stenciled background created with a The Crafter's Workshop stencil. Here is a look at the inside of this card: 

In my newest video here, I show these cards and share links to the techniques here for the baskets. I am working on two new videos with more specifics on each of the techniques shown so be sure to watch for those. Did you know you can click the little bell next to the subscribe button and then you will be notified every time I post a new video? Thanks for watching and subscribing and helping me #share the joy of creativity!

I am entering the first card in theSomething Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.  

Watercolor Powder Comparison- Bister and Magenta Nuance Fall Cards

I posted a new YouTube video yesterday showing the differences between all the watercolor powders I owned with a bunch of card samples. Here is a link to that video:

 https://youtu.be/r3HASHLM_sw

Today I am sharing two of my favorites of the sample cards. The first watercolor powder I purchased back in 2014 was Bister powders which have a wood grain feel to them and are from the Netherlands. They are available for purchase in the USA here.  One of my favorite ways to use Bisters is to create a stormy sky background with the Black Bister powders only as I did above. When dry, I created a circle mask and used bleach on an on old waterbrush to pull some of the color out of the moon. I added a spooky tree, some bats and a ghost from Karen Burniston's Halloween dies, and "Spooky" from Tonic Studios.

I used Magenta Nuance powders and silver embossing powder to create the leaves on this card. For details on the technique, check out the YouTube video here. I die cut a leaf opening with a Fun Stampers Journey leaf die, and placed a gorgeous autumn scene Clear Views Transparency behind the opening. For details on how to order Clear Views, check out the description box on the YouTube video, or scroll down to yesterday's blogpost. The larger Magenta Nuance leaves were cut with Tim Holtz's Tattered Leaves die and the leaf punch is from The Paper Studio. The "blessed" was cut with a die from Simon Says Stamp. Here are a couple more photos of this card: 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and also from clicking on over to check out the new video, leave a comment, give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel if you have not already done so. And thanks for helping me #share the joy of creativity!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

...and all through the house, not a creature was stirring except that crazy Karen who swore she would use every one of her new holiday dies on a card before Christmas! In addition to getting her CHA assignments done, not to mention family visits, shopping and wrapping, etc. I am almost all done, and if I get a few more cards made this week, I will share before it is too late. Santa is on his way on a stormy snowy Christmas Eve in this scene I created with black Bister powder and water on a watercolor piece. Before applying the black Bister, I spattered on some masking fluid and let it dry for the snowflakes. I also created a mask for the snow bank on the bottom. After the black Bister dried, I  masked around the moon and pulled the Bister color out with bleach. I stamped the trees in black ink with stamps from Repeat Impressions. The Santa and Sleigh die is from Impression Obsession and the "Noel" die is from Die-Versions.

I am entering this card in the Holidays challenge at Scrapy Land and the Winter Wonderland challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  I am also entering it into the Sharing the Season challenge at Craft Stamper Magazine Take It Make It Challenge.

Boo! I'm Back!

The last couple weeks have been scary busy but lots of fun! I hosted a couple technique workshops with a friend and then hosted a large family gathering celebrating 3 major anniversaries. But now life will get back to normal which means blogging more frequently and playing with stamps, dies and other toys:) Halloween is this week so I am posting a card I made with black Bister powders and a spooky stamp called Crowscape from Stampendous. Black Bisters sprinkled on watercolor paper and spritzed with water creates a spooky stormy sky perfect for a Halloween card. After the Bister watercolor background was dry, I masked off most of the sky leaving a circle for the moon and applied bleach on that circle. I love creating a moon this way - it looks much more real this way than masking first leaving a white moon. I used my MISTI and stamped the Crowscape stamp from Stampendous several times, then layered it on light yellow and black cardbase. I added a "Boo" cut with Die-Versions alphabet dies and a couple small bats cut with an IO die.

I am entering this card in the Halloween challenge at Sweet Stampin' and the Anything Goes challenge at 613 Avenue Create.

Boooogie Nights with Crackerbox Palace and Bisters

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and today I am sharing a Halloween card I made with Crackerbox Palace’s awesome stamps, Bister powders and some new dies. Black Bister powders sprinkled on watercolor paper and spritzed with water results in a background that looks like a cloudy stormy night. I just purchased the bats dies (Impression Obsession) and the bare trees die (Penny Black) and I thought they would be perfect on a Halloween card cut in black. I stamped Crackerbox Palace’s “Booo”gie Nights and the trick or treating kids using my MISTI so I could easily stamp them several times in black ink on the stormy Bister background. I love how this card turned out!

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and 613 Avenue Create, and the "Get your Boo On" challenge at Dies R Us.

Die Crazy for my Favorite Dies

If you follow my blog, you know I was very excited to announce recently that I was picked to be part of the Die-Versions design team. I love my dies and one of my absolute favorites is this Nice Heels die available here on the Die-Versions website. What can I say- nice heels and flowers and swirls- love it! The die cut is just perfect over a beautiful Bisters background that I created by sprinkling Bister powders over watercolor paper and spritzed with water. I cut the shoe die twice and layered the peachy red over the black so it really stands out. I die cut "enjoy" from Penny black in the Bister background piece and also out of teal, then inlaid the words and pieces back in. I punched the corners with a Fiskars corner punch and layered the whole piece on a teal square card.

I am entering this card in the Die Crazy challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Favorite Die and Why challenge at As You Like It. I am also entering it in the Paper Artsy challenge Pigment Powders.

If you love this die or any of the others on the Die-Versions website, remember you can save 15% by using my code on the side of the blog.

Colorful Bisters Birthday Card

I found this Navajo pottery stamp in a rummage sale earlier this year and knew I had to bring it home to make a card for my sister because it reminds me of her second home in Arizona. I created a colorful background with my Bister powders spritzed with a gold spray on watercolor paper. Then I stamped and paper pieced the clay pots with light colored dps. The sentiment from Penny Black was heat embossed on before the Bisters were applied. I love to include the BBCB color on the insides of my cards, and this is how the inside of the card looked with another Penny Black birthday sentiment:

I am entering this card in the colorful challenge at Simon Says Stamp and the sentiment challenge at Creative Moments.

Sympathy Bister Cling Wrap Card

A while back I was experimenting with BBCB and cling wrap and this background was one of the results. I used Bister crystals spritzed with glimmer mist spray, and then scrunched up cling wrap on the piece and let it dry. I decided to make a sympathy card with it. I attached a tree frame die cut from Prickley Pear and a few birds die cut with Memory Box and IO dies.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Sympathy card challenge at Speedy Fox and Friends.

Thinking of You Bister Card

I am working on cards for a demonstration for the local art association on Bisters, Brushos and Color Burst colored crystals. This is the card I am demoing to show the beautiful wood tones of Bisters. I sprinkled yellow, mahogany and green Bister powders on a piece of watercolor paper, then spritzed them with iridescent gold Glimmer Mist. You can use water to activate BBCB, but I like the shimmer  that happens when I use Glimmer Mist, although it is very hard to show on a photograph. I cut the piece down to fit on an A2 card base and added a beautiful die cut from Poppy Stamps and the perfect sentiment from Gina K. I send "thinking of you" cards frequently and prefer them over get well cards which are not always appropriate.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge  and 613 Avenue Create.

Bister Sailboat Scene Card

I have been neglecting my Bister powders, so I decided to make a card featuring their unique wood tones of color and a beautiful sailboat at sunset scene from Creative Vision Stamps. I heat embossed the scene with black embossing powder on watercolor paper. Then I sprinkled on blue, red and yellow Bister crystals and spritzed with water. After the piece was dry, I colored the boat to make it a black silhouette and the moon with a yellow distress marker. I layered on black and then on a blue card base.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp and the "Create a Scene" challenge at DRS Designs.

Anything Goes at Repeat Impressions!

When there are 5 Wednesdays in a month, the fifth What If? Wednesday challenge at Repeat Impression's blog is Anything Goes! So you could enter any card or project in our challenge for a chance to win awesome RI Rubber! I have been experimenting with the Mixed Media look in my cards and this is what I came up with for this challenge. I started with a piece of watercolor paper that I embossed Repeat Impression's fireworks stamps on with clear embossing powder as a resist. Then I sprinkled on aqua, orange and ostwalt blue Brusho Coloured Crystals and spritzed with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist for a colorful sparkly background. I stamped randomly with a script stamp from Repeat Impressions and splattered on some black dots made with black Bister powders and water. I stamped a couple RI butterflies on another Brusho piece, cut out and attached with mounting tape to raise. I added a couple pearls on each butterfly.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Love to Scrap! and Crafting From the Heart.

Don't forget you can get 10% off any size order at Repeat Impressions by making a note of my discount code and clicking on the picture on the side of my blog!

In Loving Memory

I am sharing a CAS card I made with Bister crystals and saran wrap on watercolor paper. I have posted many cards made with this technique on glossy paper which results in a much more dramatic background, but this time I tried it on watercolor paper and the background is very subtle which is perfect for a sympathy card. After the background dried, I simply sponged black distress ink through a lovely leafy branch stencil from Stencil Girl and stamped the beautiful sentiment from Rubbernecker.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamp and Wonderful Wednesdays.

Dreaming Big with Textures and Brusho Colour Crystals

I am venturing into new territory with my card making and loving the results. I never considered myself a Mixed Media crafter, but after discovering B/B/CB and getting inspired by our Facebook group members, I am trying new things and having lots of fun. I did some searches on the internet, watched some videos and took a couple classes. I highly recommend the "Inventive Ink" class at Craftsy here, and it is on sale right now. I also discovered a new magazine called Craft Stamper and this month's issue is full of ideas on how to use Brushos! I am entering this card into their monthly challenge at the Craft Stamper Blog to use texture techniques.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper larger than what I needed for an A2 card front, and sprinkled on grey, orange and gamboge Brusho Colour Crystals. What is gamboge you ask? So did I, so I looked it up and it is a golden yellow color tone. I spritzed the page with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist releasing the beautiful colors. I cut the dried piece into a card front and also played with the extra piece, adding my texture and dimension. I layered gold and black stencil paste through circle holes in two stencils. I  put some blue 3D Stamp Paint (from Viva) on a craft mat, and created circles with various sizes of caps from soda bottles and containers I found in my craft room and kitchen. Then I spattered black dots created with black Bister powders and glimmer mist before sponging black distress ink on all edges. Several of those ideas came right from the Inventive Ink class I took.

I stamped "Dream Big" from Repeat Impressions on another matching scrap, sponged the edges and attached on a strip which was raised with pop dots. I completed the Mixed Media card with a Sketchy Rings die from Memory Box held in place with a couple gems.

Even the mistakes on this card look good- so I am liking Mixed Media for that reason! I tried some Gesso as a resist before adding my Brushos, but it really didn't show. However, there are a few areas where the white Gesso added a little more texture and interest to the card like in the upper right corner. There are no mistakes in MM crafting, just opportunities to add another layer and play some more.

I am also entering this card in the "spots and dots" challenge at Love's Rubberstamps.

No Mistakes and No Waste with BB or CB

BB/CB stands for Bisters, Brushos or Color Burst in my world and they are still my favorite card making colors to play with. I  belong to a Facebook group of stampers and artists from all over the world sharing ideas and projects using these three color crystals and I have learned so much from all of them. If you would like to be inspired and join the group, send me your email address via the contact feature on the side of the blog and I would be happy to extend an invitation to you. This card started out to be a disaster and then evolved into something I really like. I tried stamping some flowers on watercolor paper first, then creating a colorful background with cling wrap and natural, yellow and green Bister powders spritzed with gold shimmer spray. The flowers almost totally disappeared, but a hint of a purple flower is in the center left- see it? But I still liked the shimmer and color of the piece, so I die cut it with Simon Says Stamp's Mod Circle Frame and re-assembled the pieces on a brown card base. I added a fun sentiment from Paper Smooches.

And because I do not like to waste any of my gorgeous BB/CB pieces, I took the SSS Mod Circle Frame and attached to a white card base. I added more of the fun sentiments from the Paper Smooches set and some green dp and made a card for a teen's birthday.

I am entering these cards in the Let's Get Sentimental challenge at Simon Says Stamp and the Beautiful Background challenge at DRS Designs.

Bister, Brusho, Color Burst Comparison

I love getting packages in the mail with new dies and stamps and this week I received this fun sentiment die from Cheery Lynn Designs and the shatter glass background stamp from Local King Rubber Stamps. I saw a card made with this stamp at this wonderful blog and knew immediately I must order the stamp. I have been wanting to do a BBCB comparison and decided to make backgrounds with the shatter glass stamp and each of the colored crystals. To start, I heat embossed the shatter background on three pieces of watercolor paper with white embossing powder. The first card above was made with my favorite colors of Brusho Colour Crytals which are turquoise and ostwald blue. I love the ostwald blue because it has purple and blue together. There are 24 colors of Brushos so the variety is awesome. I also like the ease and control of tapping the colors onto your paper or whatever you are working on though the hole you punch in the lid. Brushos are available in the U.S. at Dick Blick.

My second card features the same fun die and the shatter glass background heat embossed. I sprinkled black Bister powders and spritzed with water. I discovered Bisters first and am glad I did. There are eight colors of Bister powders and their black is the best of the three color crystal choices, so I decided to make this card black, white and red. There is a brown undertone to Bisters when spritzed and the result is unique every time you make a card with them. They are the least expensive of the three options and available for sale in the U.S. at I Brake for Stamps here. 

My last card was made with a double layer of the "live, laugh, love" die from Cheery Lynn, the white embossed background and a rainbow selection of Color Burst color crystals. There are 6 colors of Color Burst currently available, but we are hoping for more colors to be released soon. They are made by Ken Oliver in the United States and available at local stamp shops and various places on line. They are very bright and easy to use and like the other two, when spritzed with water burst with color (thus the name.) If you are local and coming to the Saynor stamp show this weekend, you might be able to get Color Burst at the Crackerbox Palace booth.

***Edited to add: Color Burst is now available on line at Crackerbox Palace.com and they are currently on sale! Check it out here: http://crackerboxrubberstamps.com/product-category/accessories

I like them all. I hope I gave enough information so you can check them out and decide for yourself which one (or ones) will be right for you. One thing I can tell you for sure- they are all fun and easy to work with to create great backgrounds and beautiful cards!

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at Cheery Lynn Designs and Simon Says Stamp.

Kitchen Tile Happy Card

I received a natural wool sea sponge as a gift recently and decided to play with it and my Bister powders and this card is the result. I am calling it my Kitchen Tile card because the look reminds me of a a kitchen counter top or floor. I created 3 puddles of water on my craft mat and mixed in brown, black and natural Bisters colored crystals, then dabbed the colors onto a glossy sheet with my sea sponge until I was happy with the look. I die cut the new Memory Box circles die and the Happy (My Creative Time) in black and attached. I stamped the rest of the sentiment (also from My Creative Time) and layered onto a black card base. The result was a CAS masculine happy card that I am going to share in classes soon.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Scribble and Scrap.

Celebrate Spring Card

I think it is finally officially Spring in Central Wisconsin. We woke up to 5 inches of snow unexpectedly yesterday, but it is all gone already and the sun is shining. I am celebrating with a card I made with some neglected pieces that were laying on my bed in my craft room. I was playing with mixing my Brusho Crystal Colors with my Bisters and this piece was not my favorite. But I decided to tear the edges off, sponge with a teal ink and attach to a purple card for a colorful background. I had previously cut the flowers from Memory Box and the Celebrate from Cherry Lynn Designs so I attached them for a simple but pretty celebration card.

I am entering this card in the "Recycle Something" challenge at Open-Minded Crafting and the Spring Flowers challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Have a Rockin' Birthday!

Birthdays is the theme of the challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp because they are celebrating 6 years of challenges, so Happy Birthday to them! I am sharing a card I made recently for a proposed article at Scrap and Stamp Arts on cling wrap backgrounds with Bisters or Brushos. This one was made with blue, yellow and green Bister powders on glossy paper, then spritzed with gold glimmer mist. While very wet, I scrunched up and applied a piece of cling wrap, then waited for it to dry. IRL you can see the glimmer of the gold spray. I die cut the head phones and stamped the "Rockin' Birthday" sentiment (both are from My Favorite Things.)

The die from My Favorite Things has a large and small head phones so I made a small one for the inside of the card. Wouldn't this card be perfect for a teenager? That is my hardest kind of card to design so I am so glad I bought this set of dies and stamps.

I am also entering this card in the "Use a Die" challenge at Polkadoodles Challenge.