It's a Blogiversary Celebration ~ Day 2 of Technique Tutorials!!

Hello, again! It's our second day of technique tutorials and I was thinking we'd give a new technique a try.... Stencil Painting with Color Burst!! I recently saw a video of Ken Oliver demonstrating this technique and I thought it would be so much fun to give it a try. Let's get started.

First, you'll need a stencil and watercolor paper. I'm using Canson XL watercolor paper... it's 140 lb weight paper. I cut mine down to fit the stencils that are 6x6 inches. Then place your stencils over the paper as shown above.

Now, you'll need your color burst. I grabbed a bunch of different colors... for the leaf stencil, I chose Orange, Sepia, Yellow Ochre, and Alizarin Crimson. Sprinkle the pigment powder in the open spots of your stencil.

For this big floral stencil, I chose Merlot, Fuchsia, Lemon Yellow, and Violet. I think I also sprinkled a bit of Orange in the center of the flower.

For this fun wintery swirls stencil, I chose just one color... Violet. I had wanted to go with a monochromatic theme for this one, but you'll see later that I changed my mind and a oopsie changed the whole project... ohhh, suspense! Ha!

Now, for the fun... it's time to mist the papers. Now it's important that you just mist the papers. The pigment will react and 'burst'... the intensity of the 'burst' depends on the intensity of the water being sprayed. I think my leaf stencil got spritzed rather than misted because some of the color leaked under the stencil. You can see in the picture above where the Sepia color went under the leaves.

Now, carefully lift the stencils up and see what you've created! How fun is this?! I love the intensity of the colors on the flower and in parts of the swirls! 

Here's a closer look at the violet swirls. The stencil for this one is actually by Echo Park and it's called Flurries.

Here's a closer look at the fall leaves. The stencil for this one is actually by The Crafters Workshop and it's called Mini Climbing Vine.

And, lastly, a close up of the beautiful flower. I love the mix of colors on this one! The stencil for this one is actually by The Crafters Workshop and it's called Mini Zen Flower.

I mentioned above that my plans for the wintery swirl didn't go as I had originally planned. A mishap with a die cutting wonky will change plans, for sure! I improvised and found a tag die that would salvage a big enough piece to work with. I added a bit of blue to the watercolor piece and smoothed out some of the lines with my water pen. I put that aside and stamped this adorable snowman from Unity Stamp Company's kit called Rolly Polly Winter Joy in VersaMark and heat embossed him in white on some vellum card stock. 

I colored him in with my Prismacolor pencils and then fussy cut him out and set him aside. I then stamped the sentiment using VersaMark and heat embossed it in white on a piece of vellum card stock that I cut out with the same tag die. I ran the vellum tag through my Xyron sticker maker and adhered it to the stencil painted tag so I wouldn't have an issue with adhesive showing through the vellum. I then adhered the snowman to the tag. I punched a hole in the top center and added a bit of sweater trim ribbon from my stash. Not my original plan, but I like how it turned out!

This stencil painted panel really made me start thinking of Thanksgiving and being grateful for so much. But why wait for Thanksgiving... start each day with a grateful heart... I love that! The sentiment is a sticker from the Tim Holtz Small Talk pack that I stuck onto a piece of kraft card stock and fussy cut out. I really wanted to showcase the stencil painting so I cut it out using a large die. I put it on a kraft mat die cut from the same set of dies - Blueprints 14, which by chance are also part of my giveaway pack mentioned on my Happy Blogiversary post. Aren't they awesome!?! I adhered the whole panel onto a 5x5 inch kraft card base. I added a few drops of gloss white Nuvo crystal drops and popped up the sentiment. I love how this one turned out!

Now, out of all three stencil painted pieces... this one is my most favorite! I did go over the flower a bit to wash some of the paint and cover the white space. I also painted some blue around the outside of the flower. I really love it! I definitely struggled with cutting this one down but I pulled out my trusty Blueprints 20 dies from My Favorite Things and cut out my stencil painted panel. I adhered that panel to a mat of Royal Velvet card stock and then I adhered that piece to a Hibiscus Burst scalloped rectangle from the same die set. The entire panel was then adhered to a white card base. The sentiment was another sticker from the Tim Holtz Small Talk pack that I stuck on a strip of Royal Velvet and fussy cut a banner end. Isn't it pretty?!

Here's a picture of all three together. I think if I did the snowman tag again I would emboss him in black. Sadly, he gets lost in the background. But overall, I love how they all turned out! I hope you do, too!! I had so much fun doing this stencil painting with color burst technique that I am definitely going to do it again!

That's the second technique tutorial for my Blogiversary celebration! 

Please leave a comment letting me know what you thought and if you haven't already, click on the Follow button on the right hand side so you won't miss the next technique tutorial!!

 Did you comment on my Happy Blogiversary post for your chance to win a prize?!  Check out the details ---> here!

And if you missed the first technique tutorial, you can find that ---> here.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI163 - We Salute You!

Hello again! I have a patriotic card for you today. I had planned on making something else but just yesterday I received this beautiful Angie's Girl from Unity Stamp Company called America Girl! I just had to ink her up! 

I stamped America Girl in VersaMark ink and heat embossed her with fine silver embossing powder. I then used Ken Oliver's Color Burst in Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue to make my watercolored background. I'll admit, it was difficult keeping the red and blue from becoming purple, but I think I did okay. In the picture the red kind of looks pink but it's really more red in person. I die cut the watercolor panel using My Favorite Things Blueprints #31. I then added some Pure Platinum Nuvo Mousse over a star stencil I have from Stampin' Up! I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it with fine silver embossing powder. I trimmed the sentiment and cut out a banner by hand. I then adhered it to the watercolor panel. I decided to also die cut a piece of Brushed Silver card stock using the same Blueprints #31 die set. I offset those two pieces and adhered them to a true black card base using stampin' dimensionals.

Here's a picture that shows the shine on the America Girl and the stars.

 I can't wait to see what you create using this fun color combo as your inspiration!! Be sure to join our Facebook group so that you can see the Design Team creations and enter the challenge... Can You Case It? Challenge Group

 Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you thought of my creation.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI160 - Another Birthday Card!!

It's another lovely Sunday with another Birthday card!! I never seem to have enough on hand!

My card today was pretty quick... I know I've said that before, but this one was seriously quick! Outside of the drying time... I'd say 6 minutes TOPS! This is one of those quick ones that you can duplicate... which is what I'm doing. Haha! 

I still had the Floral Bliss stamp set on my desk so... I stamped the image of the flowers onto watercolor card stock in Archival jet black ink. I colored the panel by sprinkling some of the Color Burst pigment and then spraying it with my water bottle. I let the pigment do it's magic and soak into the paper for a few minutes. I then soaked up the excess water with a paper towel. I set it aside to dry and die cut the 'happy birthday' words in Brushed Silver card stock. Once the panel was dry, I adhered it to a piece of Brushed Silver card stock. I then adhered the strip of silver and the words. All that was left to do was adhere the entire piece to my white card base. Seriously quick card!

 I can't wait to see what you create using this color combination as your inspiration!! You have 2 weeks to enter this challenge... lots of time to be creative!! Be sure to join our Facebook group so that you can see the Design Team creations and enter the challenge... Can You Case It? Challenge Group

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Floral Bliss (SSS)

Card Stock: White (PTI), Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor (SSS), Brushed Silver (retired SU!)

Inks: Ranger Archival Jet black (SSS)

Ken Oliver's Color Burst: Ultramarine Blue, Violet (Blitsy)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multipurpose (SSS)

Tools: Ways to Say: Birthday die (PTI)

 Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you thought of my creation.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI146 - A Wonderful Birthday!

I can't believe that it's already time for another CYCI challenge, can you?! Time is just flying by... 

We have another color challenge for you this go around... Curry Yellow, Teal, Orange, and Burgundy! Isn't that a gorgeous group of colors! I love it! I think Amber nailed it with this combo.

It took a couple tries to get this background the way I liked. I used Ken Oliver's Color Burst - Yellow Ochre, Turquoise, Orange, and Merlot. These are very rich colors and for this card I wanted a softer more feminine feel, so I dabbed the watercolor paper with paper towel to get just the right shade. 

I pulled out my neglected January 2017 Kit of the Month from Unity and stamped this sweet sneaker stamp in Memento Tuxedo black ink using the Stamp Perfect tool so I got a nice clear stamped image. That can be difficult to achieve with the texture of watercolor paper so using the tool really helped.

 I'm loving Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside border dies... if you hadn't noticed... I think I've only used them twice to make an actual hill. I cut the top of the watercolor paper with the hillside die and also cut a scrap of True Black card stock with the same die, layered them and then ran them through the big shot again with Taylored Expressions' Stitched Rectangle Stacklets. I die cut a piece of white card stock with the same rectangle die and layered the watercolor piece on top. I stamped this sweet birthday sentiment from Unity's Butterflies and Sunbeams kit also in Memento Tuxedo black ink. I adhered the whole panel to the white card base and added a few charcoal sequins... Voila!

Here's a look at the color challenge. Be sure to click on it and you'll see all the wonderful creations from the CYCI Design Team! I sure hope you'll play along.

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: January KOM, Butterflies and Sunbeams (Unity)

Card Stock: white, true black (PTI), watercolor paper (SSS)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (SU!)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multi (SSS)

Tools: Stitched Hillside Border (LF), Stitched Rectangle Stacklets (TE)

Color Burst: Orange, Turquoise, Yellow Ochre, Merlot (Blitsy)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Savvy 7 ~ February Blog Hop ~ All You Need Is Love!!

I am LOVing the theme for this month's Savvy 7 blog hop ~ All You Need Is Love! Isn't it perfect for this time of year! 

I don't know about you, but I've been working on my Valentine's Day cards... I have a couple of them to show you today. 

My first card is this one I made on a whim. I had the background that I had created a while ago sitting on my desk. I used Ken Oliver's Color Burst to create the background. Love it! I received my most recent Unity order and these sweet birds were in the kit, Going to Be Okay. Once I saw them and glimpsed the background paper sitting on my desk the ideas just starting whirling around in the old brain. The kit also includes the hearts and the sentiment.

Here's a close up of the card that shows the clear embossed shimmer. I created this by going over the stamped image with my VersaMarker and adding clear embossing powder to the birds and a few of the hearts.

I finished off the card by stamping the sentiment on vellum cardstock that I adhered to the back of the card. I then popped up the whole panel on the card base using stampin' dimensionals. I wanted to add a little bit of something on either side of the sentiment and went with some glitter hearts from Stampin' Up! that I've had in my stash forever!

Since I was on a roll, I decided to make another card. This one I started off by clear embossing the sentiment from Unity's Your My Happy {Layers of Life} kit on white card stock and then used Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries, and Tea Dye distress inks to create the background. I spritzed and splattered the background with water and dabbed it with paper towel to get that splotchy look. I die cut the edge using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside Borders. I then die cut the stitched heart out using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Heart Stackables. I die cut the other heart on the other half of the distressed panel that I had cut off with the border die using Lawn Fawn's Heart Stackables. I layered the hearts and popped them up... BAM! Now for the other side of the card, I inked up the Take the Moment stamp with the VersaMarker {avoiding the snow} and heat embossed some black detail embossing powder. I colored in the little birdies with distress inks and a blender pen. I then masked the image and used Tumbled Glass distress ink to make a sky background. I layered the whole piece on another piece of white card stock and adhered it to a white card base that I had distressed the edges with Tea Dye distress ink. I popped up the heart piece using stamping dimensionals. I really love the way this one turned out! Hope you do too!

Here are the products I used for these cards:

Stamps: Going to Be Okay, Take the Moment, Your My Happy (Unity)

Card Stock: white (PTI), watercolor paper (SSS), vellum (SU!)

Inks: Real Red, VersaMark (SU!)

Distress Inks: Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries, Tea Dye, Tumbled Glass, Rusty Hinge, 

Black Soot, Crushed Olive (SSS)

Ken Oliver's Color Burst: Chartreuse, Fuchsia

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multi (SSS), Fast Fuse, Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!)

Tools: heat tool (SU!), Stitched Hillside Borders, Stitched Heart Stackables, Heart Stackables (LF)

Miscellaneous: VersaMarker pen, Black Detail EP (retired SU!), Hero Arts Ultra Fine Clear EP (SSS)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI145 ~ A Cuppy Cake Birthday!!

It's that time again... time for another CYCI challenge!! I'm excited! I'm always excited about these challenges... if you haven't already noticed! I am loving the colors that Eva put together for this color challenge... blue, purple, silver, and white! Aren't those fabulous?!

I started off with a piece of watercolor paper and used Violet and Ultramarine Blue Color Burst to make a beautiful watercolor piece. I also added some Silver silks splatter. I then cut out the scallop circle using Pretty Pink Posh's Scallop Circles dies. I went back and forth on how white I wanted to keep the card and finally decided I wanted a nice clean white card base and background. I'm always needing birthday cards, so I inked up this beautiful cupcake from Unity's Cuppy Cakes kit in stazon jet black ink on watercolor paper. I used the same color burst colors to color the cupcake sticking with just the four colors for the challenge. I even used silver silks to color in the leaf of the flower and some other accents on the cupcake, rather than a traditional green. I wanted the icing to be mostly white with a bit of color here and there and I really love the way this one turned out! I cut out the 'birthday' from the same watercolor piece and adhered it directly to the card base. I cut out the 'happy' from a scrap of brushed silver card stock. The cupcake was popped up using stampin' dimensionals. To finish this beauty off, I painted the back of a few glossy dots that I had made with Fun Stampers Journey's Journey Glaze with some Silver silks. I let those dry and adhered a few around the circle and one in the center of the flower. 

A close-up picture of the cupcake... doesn't it look yummy!

Now I couldn't just toss the cut out pieces from the first card! I made an alternate card using them... and I used some other pieces that I had made while working on the first card.

Here's a look at the color challenge. Be sure to click on it and you'll see all the wonderful creations from the CYCI Design Team! I sure hope you'll play along.

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Cuppy Cakes (Unity)

Card Stock: white (PTI), watercolor paper (SSS)

Inks: StazOn Jet Black (SSS)

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multi (SSS), Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!)

Tools: Hello You thinlets dies (SU!), Birthday Trio die (PTI); Summer Greetings Wafer dies (SSS), Scallop Circles die (PrettyPinkPosh)

Miscellaneous: Violet color burst, Ultramarine Blue color burst (Blitsy), Silver silks (FSJ)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI142 Color Challenge - Missing You Always

It's time for another CYCI challenge and this one screamed Christmas at me... it really did!!

Just look at these colors - Eggplant, Silver & Neutrals... CHRISTMAS!!

But I said no and decided I would make a card for my Mom who has been in the hospital for awhile. I've been making and sending her a card a week. It just so happened that her favorite color is purple so this was definitely a color combo I could use.

I was brainstorming on what stamp to use and BAM! - this beautiful flower from Unity's Keep it Simple kit was staring right at me! I stamped it in versamark ink and heat embossed some fine silver embossing powder on kraft card stock. I still had Simon Says Stamp's Big Scripty Greetings on my desk and thought the 'missing you always' sentiment would be perfect so I also heat embossed it in silver. I used a few Copics to color in the flower and also added some clear Wink of Stella to the center.

I had to have some splatter fun... first I did some flicking with the Elegant Eggplant marker to get a fine splatter. Then I wanted a bit more so I pulled out the Orchid Color Burst and put a bit in my water cup (the one I use for cleaning my watercolor brush, not my drinking cup! ;) ) and sprayed a bit of water until I got the consistency and color I was looking for. I protected the flower and sentiment with some torn post its and splattered away. I ended up adding some more water to the color burst and added some lighter splatter. But of course, I wasn't done. I grabbed the Silver silks and added just a touch more splatter. I didn't want to over do it so I stopped there. To finish up the card I added a few silver dew drops and layered the whole piece on a Scalloped Stitched Rectangle of Elegant Eggplant card stock. I attached the final piece to a Kraft card base.

Here's a close-up of the shimmery goodness!! Isn't it pretty?!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Keep it Simple (Unity), Big Scripty Greetings (SSS)

Card Stock: Kraft (PTI), Elegant Eggplant (SU!)

Inks: Versamark, Elegant Eggplant marker (SU!)

Copics: V22, V25, V28

Adhesives: Stampin Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Fast Fuse (SU!)

Tools: heat gun (SU!), Scalloped Stitched Rectangle die (GMD)

Miscellaneous: Robin's Nest Silver Dew Drops, Orchid Color Burst, Silver Silks (FSJ), Clear Wink of Stella (SSS)

Now, head on over to Can You Case It? and check out all the beautiful creations from the other design team members and then join in on the fun!!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI140 We're Back with a Color Challenge...

We're Back! I am ecstatic!! The Can You Case It Design Team has a fun color challenge this week.

This started out as a watercolor panel but I decided to stamp the leaves with Kraft ink and die cut them out of the watercolor panel I created. Then I had to make a whole new background and decided to stamp and heat emboss the leaves in the background and I used distress inks to color it with vibrant orange and yellow. I love when a project goes a completely different path from your original plan!! That's not always the case, but this time I love it!

I hope that you will join us for this color challenge. Go check out the other amazing projects from the CYCI Design Team at canyoucaseit.com!!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Stamps: Vintage Leaves (SU!), KOM Moments between Moments (Unity)

Card Stock: White, Kraft (PTI), watercolor paper (SU!)

Inks: Kraft (PTI), Versamark (SU!)

Adhesives: Stampin' Dimensionals, Fast Fuse, Tombow Mono Multi (SU!)

Tools: Leaflets Framelits Dies (SU!), Scalloped Stitched Frame set (GMD)

Miscellaneous: natural twine (FSJ), white embossing powder, embossing buddy (SU!)

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI#139 Rainbow of Color Challenge

The challenge this week at Can You Case It? is a color challenge... CYCI#139 a Rainbow of Color challenge!! How fun is that?!? I had a whole bunch of ideas swirling through the noggin' but I knew I wanted to try out the Rubber Cement resist technique. It's been on my 'to do' list for a while.

I decided to use the mini raindrops stencil from The Crafter's Workshop. I taped the stencil down over my 5 x 3-1/4 piece of watercolor paper and painted a thin layer of the rubber cement glue over the entire stencil. (My stencil wasn't completely flat which is why some of the rain drops aren't as defined but I still liked the way it turned out.) It didn't take very long for the glue to dry since I did a thin layer. Once it was dry, I watercolored the background colors using Ken Oliver's Caribbean Brights Color Burst. The background was a bit brighter than I had wanted so I grabbed a piece of vellum card stock to make a layer over it. I added the sentiment from Unity's Your Own Rainbow kit using black craft ink and black embossing powder. I ran the whole vellum piece through my Xyron sticker maker and adhered it to the watercolor background. I wrapped black licorice twine around the panel a few times and then tied a bow. I popped up the panel using stampin' dimensionals and called it done!

I would love to have you join us for the color challenge this week. Head on over to canyoucaseit.com to see all the other Rainbow of Color creations from the Can You Case It? Design Team!

Thank for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

CYCI#137 Color Challenge

I'm back with another fun challenge at canyoucaseit.com. 

I usually get excited when I see a color challenge, but for some reason this color combo stumped me. In my arsenal of coloring mediums, I only have one item that is chartreuse - Ken Oliver's Color Burst chartreuse! I decided to go ahead and watercolor a background piece. I also added a touch of splatter with Fun Stampers Journey lime green silk. It's more on the green side but the shimmer is almost chartreuse so I thought it worked!

This adorable owl is from the Lil' Bloomin' Owl kit from Unity. I stamped him in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Papertrey Ink's white card stock. I used the following Copics for the sweet owl - N2, N4, N7, and C1 for the body; R43 for the heart and the flower petals; YR04 and YR07 for the beak; YR04 and YR24 for the center of the flower; YG00, YG06, and YG63 for the leaves. I added a touch of white with a white gel pen and some glittery goodness with a Sakura Gelly Roll clear pen.

A close-up of the glittery goodness.

I cut out the owl with a small circle die and distressed the edges. I thought it needed some color to help it pop so I colored it with Copics, of course! I used YG00 and YG06. I added some Basic Gray twine from Stampin' Up! and stamped the sentiment (also from the Lil' Bloomin' Owl kit) in Basic Gray ink. Hope you like it! Come play along with us at canyoucaseit.com!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal 

CYCI#136 Sketch Challenge

I'm almost speechless while writing this blog post, which isn't good when you're writing a blog post! :)

I was absolutely blown away when Eva asked me to join the CYCI Design Team. I'm so very honored to be a part of this team of amazing paper crafters and artists.

The challenge this week at canyoucaseit.com is CYCI#136 Sketch Challenge.

I love all the layers for this sketch! It was perfect for a Color Burst watercolor piece that I had done a bit ago. I just knew I had to use it! I used Lime Green, Orchid, and Fuchsia from Ken Oliver's Color Burst collection on a large piece of watercolor paper. 

I cut the watercolored piece out with Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Rectangles. I stamped the sentiment from Unity's Have a Little Faith kit in white craft ink and embossed it with detail white embossing powder from Stampin' Up! 

I wanted the stitching to show a bit better so I added some white gel pen and wiped off the excess to soften the white. I used a heart die from Stampin' Up!'s Snowflake Card Thinlits Die set. I colored the edge of the heart with the white gel pen and popped it up with dimensionals. I tied some white twine from Stampin' Up! and added a little bow.

 For my other two layers I adhered a piece of Whisper White card stock on Kraft cardstock and then used Cucumber Crush, Elegant Eggplant, and Melon Mambo SU! markers to splatter the background. I adhered the splattered background to a card base of Thick Whisper White card stock. The last touch was adding my focal piece and I popped that up with dimensionals. 

I really hope you like my creation inspired by this week's challenge. Come play along with us at canyoucaseit.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal