Shimmery Wildflower Smile

Have you tried the Shimmering Bliss sprays from Technique Junkies yet? They are gorgeous and just look at that shimmer on the card. I stamped the new Wildflower Silhouettes (my favorite stamp!) and a sentiment from the Five Fab Phrases set onto some white cardstock and then I sprayed the Shimmering Bliss sprays over that. The colors I used are Festive Flamingo, Just Squeezed, and Ocean Depth. Use code TJ10Holly to save 10% when you shop at Technique Junkies.

Wildflower Silhouettes - https://techniquejunkies.com/wildflower-silhouettes/

Five Fab Phrases - https://techniquejunkies.com/five-fab-phrases-set-of-10/

Shimmering Bliss sprays - https://techniquejunkies.com/shimmering-bliss/

 

Wavy Framed Impressionism Print

 

I used the awesome new Marvelous Masks Wavy Rectangle stencil from A Colorful Life Designs to frame this Impressionistic floral scene that I created on my gel press plate. Remember when I did this technique for the Beyond the Blue challenge #8? I smooshed some distress oxide inks onto my gel plate and stamped the flower over the inks, spritzed with alcohol, and then I placed the Marvelous Masks Wavy Rectangle over this on the gel plate before I pulled the print. Such a fast and easy way to frame your gel press prints!

Use code HollyFan10 to save 10% when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs. You can find this Marvelous Masks Wavy Rectangle set here: https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/marvelous-masks-wavy-rectangle/

Healing Power

Sometimes you just need a quiet moment to yourself, and this card is a reminder to enjoy those moments in the garden this spring.  This beautiful sentiment is from the new In The Garden set from Technique Junkies.  I stamped the beautiful Spring Flowers with a pink ink onto some white cardstock and then stamped the sentiment with black ink right onto the pink flowers.

Please feel free to use this code, TJ10Holly, to save 10% when you shop at Technique Junkies.  There are hundreds of stamps to choose from and tons of inspiration.  You can also pick up some distress oxide ink pads, some foils, and some Shimmering Bliss sprays (my favorite!).

 

Beyond the Blue #13 Ombre Trio Silhouettes

 Good morning!  I'm back with a Beyond the Blue card today.  This week is #13 for the Beyond the Blue challenge, and we are doing easy watercolor techniques.  I chose to try the watercolor ombre technique.  I picked three colors from my Gansai Tambi palette and used lots of water to achieve this gradual fade on each color.  After they dried completely, I cut them down and added the die cut silhouette frames (Penny Black) to each one.  The sweet little sentiment is from Taylored Expressions.

Head on over to the Beyond the Blue blog to see what my fellow team mates created.  Watch the video for this week's challenge to see all the easy watercoloring techniques.  I hope you will be inspired to play along with us!

Basket Weave Birthday Sunflower

This new Basket Weave stencil from A Colorful Life Designs is such a great versatile stencil.  You can use it either horizontally or vertically, and you can make it as subtle or as bold and colorful as you want.  I chose to go with soft and subtle today by placing this Basket Weave stencil on some kraft cardstock and brushing some kraft ink all over it.  I colored the sunflower image with Copic markers and added the birthday sentiment across the top.

Use code HollyFan10 when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  There are hundreds of stencil designs to choose from, and you can save 10% when you use the code.

Basket Weave stencil - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/basket-weave/

 

Dream Big Wildflowers

I love this new Wildflower Silhouettes stamp from Technique Junkies. I paired these wildflowers with the new Big sentiment for an inspirational card. For the background, I brushed distress inks (Speckled Egg and Rustic Wilderness) across the top and bottom and then I flicked some water over them for that fun textural grunge look. Use code TJ10Holly to save 10% when you shop at Technique Junkies.

Wildflower Silhouettes stamp - https://techniquejunkies.com/wildflower-silhouettes/

Big stamp - https://techniquejunkies.com/big/

 

 

Beyond the Blue #12 - Salty Fire Flower

Happy Friday!  I'm back today with this bold and bright watercolor card for this week's Beyond the Blue challenge.  The challenge this week (#12) is to pick one of a variety of watercolor techniques, and I chose the salted watercolor technique.

I misted my watercolor paper with water first, and then I randomly brushed on various watercolor paints (yellow, orange, dark pink).  While the ink was still wet, I covered the paper with salt.  Yeah, salt!  The video for this challenge actually shows the paper being covered with regular fine table salt, but I wanted to see what would happen if I used a chunky, coarse, kosher salt.  So I left the salt on there until the paper was completely dry, which took several hours.  Then I picked up the paper and rubbed as much of the salt off as I could.  There's still some tiny flecks of salt adhered to the paper but it kind of looks like glitter so I'm leaving it alone.  :-)  You can see the awesome granulation of my background below.  Isn't that cool??

 Head on over to the Beyond the Blue blog to see what my fellow teammates created and watch the video on watercolor techniques.  Use whichever technique inspires you and share your creations with us!

Glittery Gray Flourish

This glittery card was created by stenciling white pigment ink over black cardstock using the new Split Flourish stencil from A Colorful Life Designs. After the white ink dried, it faded to this elegant gray tone. I sprayed some glitter over the whole thing to give it a little extra wow factor. Use code HollyFan10 to save 10% when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.

Split Flourish stencil - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/split-flourish/

 

Glittery Pink Split Rose

I used the gorgeous new Split Rose stencil from A Colorful Life Designs and some glitter paste to create this romantic card. I love these new split stencils! Head on over to A Colorful Life Designs and use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10% off your entire order.

Split Rose stencil - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/split-rose/

 

Where Flowers Bloom

Good morning!  I'm back to share this card I created for Technique Junkies.  This beautiful new stamp is called Where Flowers Bloom, and I embossed it with white powder onto some white cardstock.  I sprayed the top area with Festive Flamingo Shimmering Bliss and the bottom with Just Squeezed Shimmering Bliss.  This created a beautiful ombre effect with a gorgeous shimmer which you can see in the picture below.  

I used the Festive Flamingo Shimmering Bliss to spray some seam binding as well.  I covered the ribbon with the spray and then scrunched it up with my fingers before letting it dry.  I love that distressed look of the ribbon with the shimmer everywhere. 

Please use this code, TJ10Holly, when you shop at Technique Junkies to get 10% off your order.  There are hundreds of stamps to choose from as well as the Shimmering Bliss sprays and foils and A Colorful Life Designs stencils.  

Beyond the Blue #11 - Ombre Blue Words

Good morning!  This week's Beyond the Blue challenge is fun and easy.  For challenge #11, we are creating an embossed background and then inking it up in an ombre color combo.  I pulled out a very old Stampin Up background stamp called Tres Chic and stamped it with some Versamark onto white cardstock.  I covered the paper with white embossing powder, shook off the excess, and melted the powder with a heat tool.  Then I pulled out some blue distress inks and brushed the colors on with the lightest on the top and the darkest on the bottom.  I used Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, and Faded Jeans distress inks for a bright blue background.  A single butterfly in the middle completes this clean and simple card.

The Design Team has created some gorgeous cards for this challenge, so I hope you pop over there and check out their work.  We'd love to see your creations, so please play along!  Head on over to the Beyond the Blue blog and enter your challenge in the Linky tool.  Have a great weekend!

 

My Kind of Crazy

 Did you see the new Diagonal Dots stencil available now from A Colorful Life Designs? This stencil is so much fun! I did a merged/blended effect with some blue and pink distress inks (Mermaid and Raspberry) and then stamped the sentiment on the same angle as the dots. I can't tell you how much fun this card is - and that sentiment is perfect to send to all my friends. LOL

Use code HollyFan10 when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs. You'll get 10% off your entire order.

Diagonal Dots stencil - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/diagonal-dots/

Tilting Pink Smile

I used the fun new Tilting Quatrefoil stencil from A Colorful Life Designs for this card. I taped off the top edge at an angle before I blended three different pink distress ink colors (Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry) onto this single white card base. Yup - it's just one piece of white paper folded in half! You can't get any more clean and simple than that. :-)

Use code HollyFan10 to save 10% off your entire order when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs. There are hundreds of stencils in the store to inspire you.

Tilting Quatrefoil stencil - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/tilting-quatrefoil/

 

Beyond the Blue #10 - Oxided Imagination

Are you ready for a new Beyond the Blue challenge?  This week's challenge (#10) is Wrinkle Free Distress Oxide Background.  Trust me when I say this one is fun, easy, and colorful!

I grabbed three distress oxide ink pads - Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry, and Mermaid Lagoon.  I smooshed the Citron and the Raspberry on my craft mat, misted with water, and dipped my watercolor paper into the inks.  Note - I did NOT put down any blue ink yet.  Just the pink and green were smooshed first.  When I had a good amount of ink on my paper, I cleaned up the craft mat, and then I smooshed the Mermaid ink onto the mat and misted with water.  My paper was still a bit wet from the first dippings into the pink and green inks, and that worked in my favor to help the inks blend a bit better.

When I was happy with the colors and the amount of inks on my paper, I set it aside to dry.  I found some very old Tim Holtz stamps in my stash and stamped those on my panel with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.  I used my heat tool to help dry this black ink before I adhered it to a card.  

Check out the Beyond the Blue blog and play along with us.  We'd love to see your colorful creations!

Wavy Rectangles with Florals

Have you seen the new April stencils released at A Colorful Life Designs yesterday? I used the new Marvelous Masks Wavy Rectangle to create this floral collage. There are four different sizes of wavy rectangles, and you get both the positive and negative stencils.  I used the smallest size and brushed a soft blue ink into the rectangles, moving the stencil around to create a fun collage pattern.  Then I adhered various die cut flowers to each of the rectangles.  Be sure to use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10% when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.

Marvelous Masks Wavy Rectangle stencils - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/marvelous-masks-wavy.../

April 2021 stencils - https://acolorfullifedesigns.com/new.../2021/2021-04-april/

 

Technique Junkies April 2021 release

Happy April 2021 Release Day!

We have new stamps and stencils in the Technique Junkies line!

All of the April 2021 New Release stamps are 15% off through April 8th! We can all use a little bargain, right? No codes needed, just put them in your shopping cart and the discount will be applied at checkout.

You can save an extra 10% off all the new release stamps by using my code, TJ10Holly. That's 25% off any and all of the new stamps released this month. What a great deal!

For my first card today, I used the gorgeous new Where Flowers Bloom stamp.  I created the background by sponging distress inks onto some white cardstock, then I placed the Garden Gate stencil from A Colorful Life Designs over the inky paper.  Using a damp baby wipe, I gently pressed it into the holes of the stencil and lifted some ink off.  After I removed the stencil, I set it aside to dry completely.  Then I stamped the Where Flowers Bloom with black ink.

For my second card today, I used my favorite new stamp - Wildflower Silhouettes.  I love silhouette stamps and this one is stunning!  I stamped this Wildflower Silhouettes with black ink onto some white cardstock first, and then I stamped the sentiment (from the In Full Bloom set) up above.  When the black inks were completely dry, I brushed on some distress inks for a beautiful pastel background.

For my third card today, I used the new sentiment stamp named Big.  First, I created a soft blue and green background by embossing the Dotted Blooms with white embossing powder and then adding some watercolors all over.  I found a green/blue ink that was a close match and stamped the Big sentiment with that.

Be sure to check out the list below for some sweet inspiration from our Design Team!

TJ Blog

Holly Brown

Patti Gilliam

Tracy Schultz

Beth Norman-Roberts

Pat Huntoon

Judy Jackson