Blue Ombre Lover Boy

Good morning!  I used the Lover Boy stencil from A Colorful Life Designs to create this fun blue ombre background for my card.  I started at the bottom and applied some blue ink very heavily with a brush.  Then I moved up to the next line of puppies and brushed on the blue ink just a bit lighter than before.  I repeated this for the next two lines, going lighter and lighter with the ink each time.  Those little bow ties and those tiny hearts on these puppies just makes me smile!  

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so grab this Lover Boy and check out all the other wonderful stencils in the store.  You can see all of this month's stencils HERE, and you can check out the great variety of stencils in the Nature category HERE.  Happy Monday!

 

Vintage Old Friend

Good morning!  Did you see all the great new vintage stamps from Technique Junkies this month?  I've used three of them on this card today, but I used some very non-vintage colors for the background.

I stamped the beautiful new Vintage French Advertisements background with some permanent black ink and let it dry.  I also stamped the sentiment from the You're Vintage set with the same black ink and let it dry.  I pulled out some distress inks (Wild Honey, Cracked Pistachio, and Salvaged Patina) and randomly brushed them on over the background.  Then I sprayed some water into my hand and flicked it over the background.  

I punched out some butterflies from white cardstock and stamped them with some of the stamps from the Grunge Circles set using the Wild Honey distress ink.  I also brushed some of that honey ink onto the edges of the butterfly wings.  Then I adhered the sentiment and the butterflies to the background and added some black pearls to the centers of the butterflies.

Please feel free to use this code, TJ10Holly, when you shop at Technique Junkies.  You'll save 10% off your order, so stock up on some of the new stamps, the gorgeous Shimmering Bliss sprays, stencils, ink pads, and glitter pens.  Have a wonderful day!

 

Angel Puppy

I struggle to create sympathy cards, as do many of my fellow crafters.  When I saw this sweet Angel Puppy stencil from A Colorful Life Designs, I knew this would be perfect for those puppy sympathy cards.  

I started by brushing a soft blue ink over the Angel Puppy stencil onto some white cardstock.  With a slightly darker blue ink, I stamped the sentiment below the angel wings.  The background was created by brushing the same soft blue ink over the Cloud Edger stencil in different areas until the background was filled.  

If you want to get this Angel Puppy stencil as well as the Cloud Edger stencil, please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so stock up on those stencils that have been on your wish list.  I hope you have a wonderful day.

 

Happy Birthday to Moo!

I love this Cowhide stencil from A Colorful Life Designs!  It's such a fun background for this cow-themed card, and it would be perfect for all kinds of farm scenes and scrapbook pages.  I placed the Cowhide stencil over some white cardstock and then brushed some black ink over the stencil.  Then I cut out the green grass and glued that to the bottom before adding the cow, the flowers, and the sentiment.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  Grab this Cowhide stencil and check out the rest of the great new stencils this month HERE.  If you're working on your Christmas cards, take a look at the wonderful Christmas stencils HERE.  Remember to use the code so you can save 10% off your entire order.  Happy Monday!

 

Never Too Old

Good morning!  Here's a fun snarky card to put a smile on your face today!  LOL

I stamped the gorgeous Side Hat from Technique Junkies onto some white cardstock, but I masked off the lips before I pressed the black inkpad onto the stamp.  I took the mask off, stamped the black areas first, and cleaned the stamp.  Then I masked off the hat and the face/shoulder and inked up the lips with a red ink, took the masks off, and stamped the lips.  This Inappropriate sentiment was the perfect size to fit into the leftover space after I stamped the lady.  Don't you just love that?  LOL

Please feel free to use this code, TJ10Holly, when you shop at Technique Junkies.  You will save 10% off your order, so check out the great stamps, the stencils, the Catherine Pooler ink pads, and the gorgeous Shimmering Bliss sprays.  There's a lot of fun stuff to play with!  Have a wonderful day!

 

Hey There Friend - Beyond the Blue #68

This week's Beyond the Blue challenge is to used mixed sentiments on your card or project.  What does "mixed sentiments" mean?  It simply means any sentiment with different fonts, different sizes, or even different colors for the words.

On my card, I mixed a straight type all-caps "HEY THERE" with a larger, scripty, lowercase "friend."  The background was created by placing the Medallions stencil from A Colorful Life Designs onto some white cardstock and then spraying over that with some Dylusions sprays.

Check out what the other Blue gals created for this challenge and play along with us by clicking HERE.  If you'd like to save some money on stencils, use code HollyFan10 when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so you can pick up this gorgeous Medallions stencil as well as any of the other stencils that catch your eye.  Have a great weekend!

 

 

Tiger Kitties

Good morning!  Take a look at the card above.  Are those kitties or are they tigers?  LOL  

I had fun playing with the stencils from A Colorful Life Designs for this card.  I started by placing the Meow Kitties stencil over some soft yellow cardstock and then I brushed a darker yellow ink over the stencil.  While the stencil was still in place, I placed the new Fur stencil on top and brushed some brown ink over that.  When I pulled both stencils off, I had these cool tiger kitties all over!  The sentiment is from the Live Love Purr stencil.  

If you'd like to pick up these stencils from A Colorful Life Designs, please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, to save some money.  You will find all of this month's new kitty and puppy stencils HERE.  Happy Shopping!

 

Furry Love

Good morning!  The new Kitty Pals stencil from A Colorful Life Designs is so perfect for all kinds of cards.  On today's card, I used it for a sympathy card.  I placed the Kitty Pals stencil down on some white cardstock, masked off the smaller kitty on the right, and brushed a soft blue ink over the larger kitty on the left.  Then I used the same ink and brushed on a heavier application over a small heart that I punched out of white cardstock.  After the ink dried on the kitty and the heart, I glued the heart onto the kitty.  Then I stamped the sentiment from PTI with black ink.

I love this new Kitty Pals stencil.  Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, to save when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You can pick up this Kitty Pals stencil as well as some other kitty and puppy stencils from this month's release (seen HERE).  You can also check out the Christmas stencils HERE and all the great Scenic stencils HERE.  Have a great day!

 

Grunge Circles Butterflies

Good morning!  I have another grunge-y, vintage-y card to share with you today.  I love the new vintage stamps that Technique Junkies just released, and it's been fun to get these inky.  On this soft pink card, I stamped the new Distressed Paint background with a dark brown permanent ink onto some white cardstock and let it dry.  Then I brushed on some Antique Linen and Tattered Rose distress inks all over the background.

While I had the Tattered Rose distress ink out, I brushed it onto some scrap white cardstock.  After that was dry, I used some Martha Stewart punches to punch out the butterflies.  I also punched out some butterflies from vellum, and then glued the vellum butterflies on top of their respective rose-colored butterflies.  I added some ivory pearls to the centers of the butterflies and set them aside.

Next, I stamped three of the new Grunge Circles with the same dark brown permanent ink and let them dry.  Then I brushed on some Frayed Burlap distress ink and cut out all three circles.  I glued the circles to the background and then added the butterflies.  

I love how this one turned out.  Soft, pretty, and vintage-y!  Please feel free to use this code, TJ10Holly, to save when you shop at Technique Junkies.  Have a great day!

 

Glittery Hollyberries

Good morning!  Today I'm sharing my entry for the latest challenge over on the Power Poppy blog.  This time we've been tasked with creating a holiday card for Christmas in July, so I printed out this image and sentiment from the Hollyberries digital set.  I colored the image with Copic markers, brushed a pale yellow ink onto the background, and then covered the berries with a cranberry Stickles glitter glue.  You gotta have some glitter on a holiday card, right?

The entries for this challenge close on August 15, so you still have a few days to play along.  I can't wait to see what the next challenge will be!  Happy Friday!

 

Shimmery Bees Just Bee-cause

Good morning!  I'm back with another bee card today.  This time, I went for a brighter background with more shimmer on the bees.  

I started by brushing some yellow ink over the fabulous Honeycomb Mask stencil from A Colorful Life Designs onto some yellow paper (compared to the honey paper I used on Tuesday's card).  Then I placed the Layered Bee stencil over my honeycomb background and brushed black ink over the solid bee.  I repeated this two more times so I would have three bees on the card.  I opted to go with a solid black silhouette for the bees, so I did not use the other half of the stencil with the wings and the stripes.  After I stamped the sentiment from PTI, I sprayed some gold shimmer spray over the whole card.  It looks like these bees are covered in golden pollen!  LOL

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You can save 10% off your entire order, so grab the Honeycomb Mask and the Layered Bee stencils.  Check out this month's release HERE and get started on your Christmas cards by checking out all the Christmas stencils HERE.  Have a wonderful day!

 

Golden Buzz

I love this gorgeous new bee stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  It's called Layered Bee and there are two sections - the big solid bee and then the wings and stripes for the body.  The background of this card was created with the awesome new Honeycomb Mask stencil.

I started with a piece of honey cardstock cut to 4.25" x 11, and then folded it in half to make a top-folding card.  Then I placed the new Honeycomb Mask over the top of the card and brushed some honey ink all over it.  Then I placed the new Layered Bee stencil over my honeycomb and brushed some black ink over the solid bee area and set this aside to let it dry completely.

For the golden wings and stripes, I pulled out some Golden Sparkle Paper Glitz from Picket Fence Studios and stirred it up.  I carefully arranged the Layered Bee stencil so that the wings and the stripes were in the right areas and then applied some of the gold paper glitz.  While that was drying, I stamped and die cut the sentiment (from The Greetery) and adhered it to the card.

Don't you just love that bright gold on the bee?  These two stencils - Layered Bee and Honeycomb Mask - are so perfect together.  If you'd like to grab these from A Colorful Life Designs, be sure to use this code, HollyFan10, so you can save 10% off your order.  Come on back on Thursday to see another card I've made with these two stencils.  Have a great day!

 

Red Ombre Kitties

Good morning!  How about some red ombre kitties to start off your week?  

I used the new Mod Kitty Love stencil from A Colorful Life Designs and brushed some pink and cranberry inks over the stencil onto some white cardstock.  I love the retro vibe of this stencil, so I paired it with a funky yet modern sentiment.  This will be a fun card to pop in the mail!

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so grab this fun Mod Kitty Love and check out all the other great new stencils this month HERE.  You can also check out the Nature section HERE to find some great leaf stencils for your fall cards, and check out the Christmas section HERE to get ready for the holidays.  Have a wonderful day!

 

Glazed Vintage Trio

Good morning!  I have a fun trio of vintage cards to share with you today.  Technique Junkies just released some great new vintage stamps, and I used several of those to create this set of cards.  After I stamped the backgrounds and the sentiments, I covered all of them with embossing glaze for that vintage effect.  I used three different colors of glaze - Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, and Speckled Egg.  I love this combination of colors against the dark brown images.

On this first card, I used the new Distressed Paint stamp and a sentiment from the You're Vintage set.  I actually did the initial glazing and then went back over it and spread some more of the Antique Linen around the edges and then applied some extra Walnut Stain glaze on the edges of the sentiment.  This card has a richer coloring than the other two because of the extra glazing.

On this card, I used the Vintage French Advertisements and another sentiment from the You're Vintage set.  I only did one layer of the glazes on this card so it is softer compared to the first card.

On this last card, I used the Victorian Collage stamp with a sentiment from the new Queenagers set.  On this one, I only used the Speckled Egg glaze on the sentiment to make it stand out from the background.

It is fun to see how each card looks a little different even though I used the same products on each one.  If you'd like to go shopping at Technique Junkies, please feel free to use this code, TJ10Holly.  All of the stamps I used today are actually on sale at 15% off through August 8 and you don't need a code for that.  The TJ10Holly code will save you 10% off everything else that is in the store.  Have a great day!

 

Celebrate Puppies

Good morning!  It is still hot and dry here so I'm just gonna stay inside with the a/c and keep on making cards.  LOL  How about you?

For today's card, I used the beautiful new Lover Boy stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  I was playing around with a seaglass ink and I wanted to see if I could transition it into a kraft color.  I started with the seaglass ink at the top and went about halfway down.  Then I applied some kraft ink at the bottom and worked my way up toward the middle where the seaglass ink was.  I love this soft ombre-ish effect!  That middle row of puppies where the seaglass meets the kraft is just so mesmerizing to my artist's eyes.  I also love puppies so this stencil just makes me happy!

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You can grab this Lover Boy stencil as well as anything else you see in the store.  All of the new releases are HERE and if you're getting ready for your holiday cards, you can check out the Christmas section HERE.  Have fun and have a great weekend!

 

Blingy Holidays - BTB#67

This week's Beyond the Blue challenge is all about the bling, specifically both glitter and sequins.  I was inspired by this awesome video by Marion Emberson where she used glue and chunky glitter and sequins in the center of her card.  I have a ton of Stickles, so I decided to try that for the glitter base.  I spread a thick layer of Silver Ice Stickles in the middle and then used the nozzle to drag some of the wet medium out from the center.  I love those glittery streaks on the top and bottom.  While the glitter glue was still wet, I added sequins, pearls, some clear snowflakes, iridescent gems, and some clear diamonds.  

While that was drying, I embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder and trimmed it down.  After the base was dry, I very lightly brushed some brown ink around the edges of the watercolor paper and then affixed the sentiment with foam tape.  I love the look of this card!

Come play along with us over on the Beyond the Blue blog.  We'd love to see what you create!

Furry Rainbow Kitties

Good morning!  I'm here with my rainbow kitties today.  A Colorful Life Designs just released a bunch of new stencils, and these are just two of the many fabulous designs.  I used the Cat Love stencil first, placing it onto a white card and then brushing some pink, yellow, and blue inks over that.  After I removed the Cat Love stencil, I centered the Furry stencil and went over that with black ink.  That sentiment is SO true!

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order (except for the Master Creator Bundles which are already discounted 20%).  Stock up on those stencils that you've had on your wish list and grab some of these awesome new release stencils.  You can find all of this month's stencils HERE.

 

Udderly Moovalous - New Stencils at A Colorful Life Designs

Can you guess what the theme is for this month's new stencil release at A Colorful Life Designs??  LOL  We've gone crazy for animals this month!  We've got a cow hide, lots of kitties and puppies, and even a gorgeous layered bee to get your creative mojo flowing.  You can see all the new stencils in the August 2022 release HERE.

If you are anything like me, you gotta have 'em all!  Here's a link to the Master Creator Bundle for August 2022 where you can get all of this month's stencils in one click.  You will also save 20% off this bundle, so you get all these for only $101.44.  Here's a look at all the great stencils:

For my first card this month, I just had to use this awesome new Cow Hide stencil. I placed the stencil on white cardstock and brushed black ink all over the stencil.  Then I added some die cut grass and this adorable cow and the die cut sentiment.  I don't know if I can bear to give this card away to someone - it's just so darn cute!

Be sure to check out all the great new stencils HERE and then use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10% off your order at A Colorful Life Designs.  I can't wait to share some more critter creations with you, so check back tomorrow to see some rainbow cats!!  

 

 

Technique Junkies August 2022 release

Happy August 2022 Release Day!

We have new stamps in the Technique Junkies store today.  All of the August 2022 release stamps are 15% off through August 8.  No codes needed - just add the stamps to your cart and the discount will be applied at checkout.

You can save 10% off everything else in the store by using my code, TJ10Holly.  Stock up on some previously released stamps, Shimmering Bliss sprays, stencils, ink pads, and more.

This month has some beautiful vintage, grunge-style backgrounds and sentiments as well some great snarky sayings.  If you're like me and you "Gotta Have it All," here is a great deal for you.  You can get all of the August release stamps for just $79.99.  What a great price for all of these stamps!  Here's a little picture of all of the release stamps: 

My first card for today shows off this fun and snarky Bad Example stamp.  I stamped it with black ink, and then I stamped this lady from the Vamps and Vixens set right above the sentiment.  The background was created by spreading some pink stencil paste through the Petal Drop stencil (A Colorful Life Designs).

I've gone vintage with my second card today.  I stamped the Victorian Collage background with a permanent brown ink and then I brushed some brown and blue distress inks all over.  Working quickly, I sprayed some water into my hand and flicked it all over the inky background.  You can see the water drops here and there on this background.  Then I stamped the sentiment from the You're Vintage set and cut the words apart before adhering them to the Victorian background.

My third card today is distressed and grungy.  I stamped the Writer's Block background with black ink, and then I brushed some Old Paper distress ink all over.  I purposely went heavier in some areas and lighter in the middle, and then I used a distress tool to rough up the edges to add to that distressed look.  The sentiment is from the new You're Vintage set.

Looking for more inspiration?  Check out what the rest of the Design Team has created with these new release stamps:

TJ Blog

Tracy Fear

Christine

Pam Stang

Holly Brown

Darlene

Tracy Schulz

Judy Jackson

Pat Huntoon

Remember, you can use my code, TJ10Holly, to save 10% when you shop at Technique Junkies.  Have a wonderful day!