Heat embossing with pigment ink

Hello there.  

As soon as I saw the Concord and 9th Brushed Blossom stamp set I knew what I wanted to create and the set jumped right into my cart the day it released.

I stamped the flowers and sentiment with Avery Elle's Pigment ink and then heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder from Simon Says Stamp.
Initially I heat embossed the flower image after stamping them all and quickly realized that the ink was not wet enough for the embossing powder to stick to. So after using the pigment ink I restamped with Versamark--the Misti tool made this super easy and quick. This extra step made all the difference, giving the entire image a subtle shiny look.

The stamp set includes splatters, but I was too chicken to use them on this set of cards.

The Online Card Class Heat Wave featured advanced heat embossing techniques on day 3.  One of the lessons was to use multiple colors of embossing powders with layered stamps.  Well I don't own many colors of embossing powder and 'adjusted' the lesson with the supplies I had on hand.

Heat embossing with clear powder over pigment ink also solves the issue of drying time. Pigment inks take FOREVER to dry because they aren't absorbed by the paper.  Clear heat embossing locks in the pigment ink and eliminates the drying time. The end result provides an image with subtle shine.

Thanks for stopping by.
Marisol

Heat Wave Day 1 Continued

Hello,
I spent some time yesterday getting to know the properties of the different types of embossing  powders.

First is the Ultra High Metallic Silver Embossing powder by WOW!

The granule's are much bigger than the traditional powders.  The finished look gives a dimensional look to these die cut words.  Initially the powder was not as smooth as in the photo and so I added more heat and the end result is smooth and fabulous.  The stars look like metallic embellishments.  

 The second powder I tried is a sparkle powder with a clear base (purchased at a local craft store).  The detail of this powder is very difficult to capture on camera.  The sparkle looks holographic in real life.  The final result is very textured to the touch.

And then there is my favorite. The Black Sparkle by Ranger.  Initally I thought this powder would fly everywhere, but it didn't.  The sparkle is awesome.  I used white cardstock for all the die cuts and was impressed with the coverage of the powder.  The glitter is smoother than the previous example.

I used Versamark as the sticky ink and applied tips offered by Yana, an instructor in the class.  She offered a bunch of tips yesterday...really awesome ones.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Marisol

Watercoloring with distress markers

Hello there!
Watercoloring is so popular in the card making world right now. There are so many products and techniques one can use to create the watercolor look.  Today I used one of my favorite background stamps and distress markers to create a watercolor card.

I heat embossed the image and then added a clear water wash to the watercolor paper before adding the color with a brush.  I scribbled the marker on my craft mat and picked it up with a brush before adding it to the card base.  The water does all the work for you and the embossing 'traps' the color creating pools of different shades.

I'm entering this card into the Mama Elephant and ME August Challenge. The challenge is watercolors and birthdays. The sentiment is from the Mama Elephant Make a Wish stamp set.

I'm also entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. The challenge is to create a project that reminds me of summer.  To me the color blue and flowers does nothing but remind me of summer.

Thanks for stopping by!

Marisol

Some bunny is on the way

Hello there!
I have another card to share with you.  The card is for a couple who is expecting a baby.

A couple of months ago I challenged myself to go out of my comfort zone and create 'cute' cards. I have been enjoying the cute images found in stamp sets from Lawn Fawn and  Mama Elephant.  I used to shy away from them because I didn't know how to color them without making the image look flat and because I thought the 'cute' cards were only for kids.  Well now I can color with some basic shading and realized that many adults like 'cute'. Ha.  

No cool techniques here but I did double up on the grass to give it more dimension, used glitter paper for the yellow flowers and added white enamel to the bunnies tails to give it a shiny look.

Products:

Lawn Fawn: Hello Baby stamps

Avery Elle: Ink and heart paper

Mama Elephant: Index card frames 

Cloud Paper: Super old from my stash and I have no idea who makes it. 

My Favorite Things: Grass die cut 

I'm entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!

Hang in there-He'll be home soon- A Mama Elephant and ME Card Challenge

 I have a card to share today.  It uses Mama Elephant products and I'm entering it in the Mama Elephant and ME challenge. Inspired by the image below I created a card for my darling sister-in-law.  You see her son left to space camp for a week and she is missing him terribly.  

The inspiration photo

I liked the colors in the inspiration photo and used them on the balloons and the little boys clothes, as well as the grass and sky. I used Copics to color the images. That cloud paper has to be over 10 years old.  Yup you are right I NEVER purge!  I found a pack of 30lb weight vellum paper at Walmart and used it for the scalloped background.

The sentiment stamp actually says 'The best is yet to come hang in there' but I only stamped the 'hang in there' part. I used an alpha stamp from Lawn Fawn to create the inside sentiment (not photographed). It says 'He'll be home soon'. 

This card is heavily inspired by the awesome Nichol Magouirk. She is on the design team for Mama Elephant and creates the most adorable cards.  

Thanks for stopping by.

I'll be back soon with a Project Life share.

Marisol

50 Card Challenge Update and a new challenge.

I reached my goal!

I did it! I met the challenge!  In fact I created 61 cards!  I am excited, proud and in disbelief. A few times after setting up the challenge I questioned if I would ever reach it.

Lawn Fawn Love You S'more

This card is a complete copy of the one on the Lawn Fawn Blog.

Unfortunately many of the cards were NOT photographed before sending them off.  As a result, I did not join many of the card challenges that I thought would motivate me to create.  I guess my motivation was internal! I'm off work for the summer and hope to continue making cards and catch up on PL.  

Lawn Fawn Love You S'more

Mama Elephant Make a Wish

Lawn Fawn Birthday Tags

I decided to stamp on the inside of the card and am happy with the result!

As my reward I purchased some new stamp sets!  As I was working on the challenge I noticed that I was enjoying my card making style and at the same time wanted to step out of my comfort zone. I decided that I would buy more 'CUTE' stamp sets.  Most of my stamps are florals and classic.  I did not have 'cute' stamps.

I purchased several sets from Lawn Fawn and Mama Elephant.  Purchasing these stamp sets also made my 5 year old daughter (who works right along with me) very happy!

I am setting another challenge for myself again but in a different way.  During the challenge I did not take pictures of all my cards and didn't get the opportunity to enter many challenges.  My new challenge will include both those tasks. A card will not count towards the challenge until it has been photographed, blogged and entered in a challenge (if applicable).  I am setting my goal at 20 cards. I believe this to be a realistic goal because I AM OFF FROM WORK FOR THE SUMMER!

My hope is that the challenge will help me establish a blogging routine.

So who will join  me? Have you set a goal (card or scrapping) for yourself? I would love to follow you during your challenge.
Thanks for stopping by!
Marisol

The 50 Card Challenge

As some of you know I returned to card making with full force. I took an online card class with the lovely Jennifer McGuire and that is all it took to fall in love with card making again! And I'm sure you can imagine what came with that...Yes you guessed it...Enabling and Crafty Hauls.  Oh boy I was enabled!  I have made MANY purchases since March.  In fact I''m still waiting for an order from Simon Says Stamp and Amazon!

In response to my spending I decided to join a few card makers from the Two Peas in a Bucket General Stamping Board in a 50 Card Challenge.  The challenge is to create 50 cards or paper projects before purchasing another crafty item.  I took the challenge further!  Only cards/projects made from new supplies will count towards the 50.  

As of today I have created 19 cards towards my goal! Yay for me!  

How in the world will she do it?!

1. I have joined several Flickr groups and Challenge blogs to help inspire me throughout this challenge.
2.  I have bookmarked the blogs of the manufacturers that created the stamp sets I have purchased. Such as Avery Elle, Wplus9, Simon Says Stamp, Lawn Fawn,  Hero Arts, and Mama Elephant.
3. I will use the lessons from the most recent online class as well as the content from past classes.  
4. I will accept that not every card will be a masterpiece!
5. I will accept that it is OK to scraplift (with appropriate acknowledgement of course)!

Does anyone want to join me?  

How will you meet this challenge?  

Know of any good challenge blogs?

Thanks for stopping by!

Marisol