Saturday Card Sketch 829 - Plush Poinsettia paper

As my 3 daughters get older, I'm discovering a beautiful thing - and you more seasoned parents out there will know I haven't found anything new but am merely stepping in to a new phase.  My oldest girl turned 20 yesterday and it struck me that we're relating to each other far more as friends than as parent/child.  

It's beautiful because I can stop focusing on the disciplining, correcting, and guiding and more on just being.  Being with her.  Being in her light.  Being present knowing the parental heavy lifting is done.  I love listening to her tell me about her dreams, about her friends, about her passion for photography and the business she's started with it.  About her running goals.  And I can do so knowing Brian and I did our best with God's help in raising her and that her choices are her own from here on out, that I don't bear the burden of having to decide for her.  And I trust her to make wise, godly decisions.    

That had nothing to do with stamping, but I enjoy writing and if you keep coming to my blog, I'm assuming you don't mind me sharing, either.  Thanks, friend 😀  My card today is based on the Splitcoaststampers sketch #829.  Yes, it uses some retired products but I'm a Stampin' Up! demonstrator who just loves their products, retired or not.  And while I am thoroughly grateful for the orders that come my way and love to show my appreciation, my goal is for you to enjoy stamping.

God's Peace is the set I used on this card, along with Gold Faceted Gems.  There's also a bit of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter sprinkled on the pointsettia.  

Layering the Plush Poinsettia Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP) over a Cherry Cobbler card base is a stunning look with the muted color showing through.  That narrow 3/4"x5-1/2" strip of 'Tis The Season DSP helps the eye focus on the image and sentiment.

 

Stampin' Blends - my favorite coloring tool - were used on the image.  Some things to note:

• Outline your images in a light Stampin' Blends color to make them stand out.  On this card, I used Light So Saffron and it adds a gorgeous soft glow.
• Create the warmth of candlelight with Stampin' Blends by using various shades of yellow.  I used Light & Dark Daffodil Delight and Light Mango Melody for the halo.  The flame uses Light Mango Melody with a bit of Light Pumpkin Pie at the base of the flame.

Mix up your greens, too!  The sentiment is stamped in Shaded Spruce on Soft Sea Foam cardstock.  I never imagined those 2 colors together until I saw them lying together on my desk.  Be fearless with your stamping, friends!

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Joy in being creative, community in sharing a common interest, purpose in what we make - this is stamping at its best!  Thank you, friends, for choosing me as your demonstrator!

Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge 778

Emma and I saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood last weekend at our small-town theatre.  The movie's a big deal here in Pittsburgh, of course, since this is where Mr. Rogers and his show were from.  The storyline is captivating - Lloyd's transformation epitomizes Mr. Rogers' ability to relate to people at a deep, soul-winning level.  And I need to say how much I love living in a small town.  When we sat down in the theatre, the woman next to us recognized Emma from her job, even though my daughter hasn't been at work since early August because of college.  I didn't know her and Emma didn't remember her, but this kind woman said she remembered Emma because she was struck by how kind and friendly she was!  *sigh* Can I thank God for that for a moment?

On to today's project!  It was made with last week's Splitcoaststampers Sketch.  

I'm still in Christmas mode.  I have no idea how many Christmas cards I'll need each year; I just crank them out until I get tired of making them  There's usually far more than needed, so the extras get donated to a local assisted care facility at which my mom volunteers.  They sell them and use the proceeds for resident activities.  It's a perfect arrangement because there is nothing stopping me from being a card-making machine - I mail them, gift them, donate them - everyone wins!

Don't you love the deep, rich colors of this card?  The background is a 4" x 5-1/2" Shaded Spruce panel stamped repeatedly in Shaded Spruce ink with the Bible verse from the God's Peace stamp set.  Then I took a Gold Encore pad (which, sadly, Stampin' Up! no longer carries) and dragged it across the panel in different directions.  A Bone Folder was used to rough up the edges before gluing to the card base.

It's all in the details: three of the smallest Gold Faceted Gems; using Stampin' Write Markers to get a multi-colored sentimentl; tearing the bottoms of the Wrapped In Plaid paper.

The glow around the candle flames was achieved with a Sponge Dauber and Daffodil Delight ink.  

Tip: Use a very light touch and go in a circular motion when applying the ink to avoid obvious circles from the dauber.  Start off lighter than you think you need to - you can always add color!

Christmas mode will end soon.  Why?  Because there's HUGE box of new stamping toys heading to my home!  As a demonstrator, I got to order a month early from the January - June 2020 Mini Catalog AND earn free Sale-A-Bration goodies!  Did you know you can sign up now and add product from these catalogs to your Starter Kit?  And did you know you can pick $126 of product for just $99?  And that it ships for free?  Yes!  It's the best deal and there's no pressure to sell or hold events.  Most join for the discount they receive and ability to earn Stampin' Rewards on their own orders.  Find out more here.  I would LOVE to welcome you to my team of My Joyful Stampers!

One Layout, One Stamp Set, Three Christmas Cards

My family likes to tease me that I get fixated on things.  I'll find something I'm interested in and jump in head-first, learning everything I can, testing and experimenting and stretching the limits.  If you've been reading my blog faithfully, you'll notice I did that with Halloween and Stampin' Up!'s Monster Bash suite (and my obsession with that is not over yet....next week I'll have a decor piece I made from the Coffin Treat Boxes packaging....there's a peek of it in yesterday's Facebook Live video I posted, around the 8:00 mark).

However, it's now time to jump into other stamp sets and techniques.  Today, you'll see the God's Peace set (page 28 in the Holiday Catalog) used on the same card layout, but colored three different ways.

Coloring with Stampin' Write Markers

While Stampin' Blends alcohol ink markers are great for adding shading and seamlessly blending multiple colors, Stampin' Write Markers (which are dye-based ink) are incredibly easy to use and offer vibrant, rich color.  Each marker has a brush tip and a fine point tip, but I almost always use the brush tip.  I find that tip offers precise placement of the ink and offers a more natural coloring experience.

Another technique I like to use Stampin' Write markers for is to color directly on my stamps, both clear photopolymer and rubber.  For the sentiment above, I used a Garden Green, Real Red, and Crushed Curry marker to color directly on the stamp.  This sentiment actually says, "Sending love and light your way", but I chose to color only the "sending love and light", selectively omitting "your way".  That's two techniques you can do with Stampin' Write Markers!

No-Line Watercoloring

This was my first try at no-line watercoloring.  The idea is to stamp in a very light color of ink so that when the image is watercolored, the lines disappear beneath the watercoloring.  This attempt was not entirely successful, but I'm showing it to you anyways!  I want you to see that it's ok to try new things and that perfection is not necessary.  

I used Sahara Sand ink to stamp the image and it's still slightly visible.  What I would do next time is to stamp it on scratch paper once or twice before committing it to cardstock.  That would lighten the ink sufficiently for it to disappear underneath the watercoloring.  Garden Green, Crushed Curry, and Real Red ink pads with an Aquapainter were used.

Regular Watercoloring 

I used the same supplies as in the previous card but stamped the image in Staz-On Black ink (it's waterproof and won't bleed when water is applied).  Watercoloring is wonderful in that it's a forgiving technique - there can be uncolored areas, or areas where the color goes out of the lines, and it still looks great!  The vibrancy of the color is controlled by how much water is used to paint with.  In this card, I used more water which diluted the intensity of the ink color.

Another thing I did was to brush my damp Aquapainter over my sentiment-stamped Very Vanilla scalloped square (from the Layering Squares die set).  I adore the slightly blurred look it created!

I hope these tips give you the confidence to try coloring by different methods.  My aim is to give you your BEST stamping experience!  If you need any of the supplies to try today's tips and techniques, shop my online store here.  I'm listing below the main components of my cards today to assist you.

God's Peace stamp set

Stampin' Write Markers - Regals 

Aqua Painters

Staz-On Black ink pad

Garden Green ink pad

Real Red ink pad

Crushed Curry ink pad

Sahara Sand ink pad

Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper

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