Happy Days in the Neighborhood!

I'm so glad to have finally inked up this stamp.  The whole idea of happy little birds flying all about, to & from their little birdhouse neighborhood just makes me smile!

To avoid turning your device all around, here's the sentiment in a straight line:   "Hope your days are happy & life is good & all is well in your neighborhood."

 

My so easy background was created with the 'Lots of Leaves' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  And, I used the new 'Cloud Edger' stencil to create the puffy clouds behind the birdhouses!

Psssst!  Use my code BevFan10 whenever shopping at A Colorful Life Designs!  

Inky (((huggss))),

Products Used:

STAMPS:  Art Impressions UMM3312

INKS:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Peeled Paint & Speckled Eggs (sky)

PAPERS:  Neenah Solar Classic White, Gina K’s Green Apple & Sweet Corn

ACCESSORIES:  A Colorful Life Stencils ‘Lots of Leaves’ & ‘Cloud Edger’, Lifechanging Brushes (Picket Fence), MFT dies, Pixie Spray, Wendy Vecchi Make Art Stay-tion

Absolutely Positively Amazing!

I have really enjoyed playing with this new Leafy Wildflower stencil.  Trying various placements, allowing for sentiments of seemingly endless shapes & sizes, and of course choosing which to commit to further development!   Have you noticed that this quarantined life is starting to have a weird effect in your life?

I smeared a bit of Dusty Concord ink on my craft mat, the added a teeny bit of water for randomly dropping color from a watercolor brush.  Then I just had to give in to let myself use some little rhinestones on the bud areas of the stencil.  All done & super easy!

Psssst!  Code BevFan10 is my discount shopping code at A Colorful Life Designs.  Feel free to use it when shopping at ACL!

Inky (((hugggsss))),

Products Used:

STAMPS:  "Seriously, Absolutely, Always" (Picket Fence Studios)

INKS:  Stephanie Barnard Artichoke, Distress Ink Dusty Concord, Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx

PAPERS:  Neenah Solar Classic, Olive, Grape

ACCESSORIES:  ‘Leafy Wildflower’ by A Colorful Life Designs, Misti stamp positioner, Life Changing Blender Brushes (Picket Fence), Pixie Spray, Corner rounder, watercolor brush, rhinestones, Gina K Connect glue

A Wildflower Wish!

Some of my favorite wildflowers here in Texas are the wild primroses along the roads, and even along my fave walking path.  That's what this card brings to mind for me.

Introducing the 'Three Bloom Wildflower' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs!  I used very simple post-it note masking to stencil it 3 times to create this card.  The summary sky features the new 'Cloud Edger' stencil, softly touched with Speckled Egg Distress Ink.  Lastly, my beloved Misti enabled perfect placement of the sentiment.

There are several choices in the new Wildflower collection, so you just might check them out.   Psssst!  You're welcome to use my discount code BevFan10 whenever shopping at A Colorful Life Designs.  

Inky (((huggss))),

Products used:

STAMPS:  'Morning Glory' (Technique Tuesday)

INKS:  Distress Inks Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Victorian Velvet;  VersaFine Onyx Black

PAPERS:  Neenah Solar Classic, Old Olive, Blushing Bride

ACCESSORIES:  'Three Bloom Wildflower' and 'Cloud Edger' stencils (by A Colorful Life Designs), Misti stamp positioner, Pixie spray

In Shades of Gray

This week I was intrigued by the weekly CAS594 ('Cloudy Days') challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  Plus, I'm sharing one of the new July release stencils from A Colorful Life Designs.  Sounded like a different color mix to try!

Being a foliage & floral lover, I tend to use a lot of greens in my stamping, but I like this switch to shades of gray!  I traced & fussy cut a large mask so the central image would be set forward of the others.  The cool thing about this 'Ferns' stencil is that it includes 3 different fern images!  Here on my Texas turf I have only full, blazing sun, so live ferns are just beautiful memories of beautiful places.  

  My mini Misti allowed me to perfectly stamp the tiny sentiment in VersaMark on the very first try.  I so adore that awesome tool.  The words were heat embossed with Gina K's Detail White embossing powder .... another favorite product of mine.  

And finally, I used a Simon Says Wonky die to add just a bit of extra interest.  There it is!  Two shades of inks, two shades of card stock, and a wowsome one go at the embossed sentiment!

Psssst!  Use my discount code BevFan10 whenever shopping at A Colorful Life Designs.  

Thanks for checking in.  I'll be back again soon with a completely different stencil style.

Inky ((((huggss)))),

Relax! Unwind!

Raise your hand if you're tired of being semi-permanently grounded by a pandemic, a.k.a living in time-out/grounded!  
Me too.  So here's an idea for being kind to yourself ... aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!  

A bubble bath fan since childhood, it's a great treat these days when I can truly appreciate the relaxation given by super-warm, lightly scented water.  (Not to mention seeing how many bubbles can be scooped up in one hand.)   😊

Achieving the shimmery look of bubbles behind the tub is easy by using Pixie Spray to affix the 'Suds Stream' stencil to card stock.  Then just sponge VersaMark onto the stencil until smoothly covered.  Gently lift the stencil away from one corner to the other, and heat emboss with embossing tinsel (embossing powder that contains fine glitter).

Randomly placed smudges of Diamond Stickles adds to the iridescent look of the bath bubbles, along with a blending of light shades of Copics







***You're welcome to use my code, BevFan10, for a discount whenever shopping from A Colorful Life Designs.

Off we go to the first full weekend of Summer 2020!   My your weekend bring smiles and your soaking include delightful bubbles.

Inky (((hugs))),

Products Used:
STAMPS:  Pampered Benton (Inky Antics)
INKS:  VersaMark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
PAPERS:  Glossy White, Neenah Solar Classic White, Sea Foam, Blackberry
ACCESSORIES:  'Suds Stream' stencil (A Colorful Life Designs),  MFT Skinny Strips Die-namics, Cut-Align Ruler, Mini Misti, Ranger Embossing Tinsel - Bridal, Pixie Spray, Stickles Diamonds, Gina K 'Connect' glue, sequins, sponge

Hugs & Glitz

There's a good bit of 'me' in today's card, and a whole lotta my granddaughter.  Why?  Because it's pink and glitzy!  

That's not even mentioning how easy it is to make.  Just use Pixie spray to hold the new 'Curvy Rays' stencil in place while you spread the glitzy gel across your cut-to-size card stock.  Gently pull the stencil away in one smooth motion from top-to-bottom or diagonally from corner-to-corner as you wish.  Then set it aside to dry.  I like to leave these overnight when possible, but that's likely not necessary.  

  I cut the 'hugs' from black and silver foiled card stocks.  For the shadow effect, I layered them just slightly askew, using tiny dots of glue on the touch points.  The trickiest part of all was trimming foam tape pieces to be super skinny for lifting it just above the glitz.  {whew!}


Coupon Code:  You're welcome to use code BevFan10 when shopping any time at A Colorful Life Designs.    😊

Inky (((hugs))),

Products Used:

PAPERS:  Black, Silver foil, Passionate Pink, Neenah Solar Classic White

ACCESSORIES:  ‘Curvy Rays’ Stencil (A Colorful Life Designs), ‘hugs’ word die (Rubbernecker), Gina K White Glitz Gllitter Gel, foam tape

Beans of Caffeine

It's true.  Once upon a time I used rollers in my then-longer hair.  Now you know.  

Today?  I don't own rollers, but even at this moment I do have a morning cup of coffee within mere inches of my hand.

What an easy start to a coffee-themed card!  The new 'Coffee Beans' stencil helps to create the perfect setting for any of your cups, coffee, or coffee shop stamps & dies. 

Although a few years have passed since I've made one of these surprise pop-up cards, it's a great way to use more stamps from a fun set.  Check out the easy tutorial from Splitcoaststampers.

 Hmmmm .... Since we've all been distanced from family & friends, I should consider making more of these as a happy hello for those I haven't had coffee time with this year.  How about you?  Consider adding this fun idea to your upcoming stamping plans! 

Psssst!  Use code BevFan10 for a discount when shopping at A Colorful Life Designs!

Inky (((hugs))),

Products Used:

STAMPS:  Coffee Break #1 (Inky Antics)

INKS:  VersaFine Onyx, Memento, Distress Ink Vintage Photo

PAPERS:  Neenah Solar Classic White, Saffron

ACCESSORIES:  'Coffee Beans' stencil by A Colorful Life Designs, Misti stamp positioner, Life Changing Blending Brushes (Picket Fence Studios), My Favorite Things Stitched Squares Stax dies, ribbon, tiny stapler

Life Giving You Lemons?

Make Lemonade, of course!
Although my card has zero calories, it's still brimming with the happy feeling of summertime.

Both the lemon wedges and the sentiment stencil (A Colorful Life Designs) were easy to color in with Life Changing Blender Brushes, and Distress Ink Squeezed Lemonade.  

  It's easy to ink up just 1, 2 or 3 wedges, or all 4 as I've done for this card.

Feels like Summer is almost upon us here in North Texas ... time to enjoy the sunshine and your own version of lemonade!

Pssst!  Use my code, BevFan10, for a discount on shopping at A Colorful Life Designs!


Inky ((((hugs)))),

Products Used:
STAMPS:  none
INKS:  Distress Ink Squeezed Lemonade
PAPERS:  My Favorite Things B&W Stripes paper, Neenah White, Gina K Lemon Drop, Black
ACCSSORIES:  Stencils = 'Make Lemonade' & 'Wedges' (A Colorful Life Designs), Misti Creative Corners, Cut Align Rulers (My Sweet Petunia), Life Changing Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios), sequins, Stitched Rectangle Dies (The Stamps of Life).

Crisis? Got You Covered!

I just love it when things seem to fall together so easily!  That's the short story on putting this card together, featuring one of the new May release stencils from A Colorful Life Designs ... 'Coiled'. 

Isn't this disorganized dragon adorable?  At the time I picked it up from Whimsey Stamps, Dudley dragon was a free digital stamp!   My 'faux dragon skin' background is stenciled with DOX inks Peeled Paint & Tumbled Glass.

   For a fun touch of shimmer, I rubbed the background with white Perfect Pearls.  Naturally, it shows up perfectly in person ... but takes some fiddling to get the shimmer on my pictures!  It was so tricky trying to decide what colors to use, I might have to color up a couple more just to play with fun options.  Hey ... now that the grocery store is my only occasional destination, that's another idea for fitting stampy fun into my days!

Pssst!  My discount code, BevFan10, will give you a savings when you stencil shop at A Colorful Life Designs, any time you wish!

Stay safe & stay well.

Inky (((hugs))),

Wow! with a Tropical View

I so adore tropical places!  Palm trees, warm sands, salty ocean scent, beaches, ocean ... you get the idea.  Pair that with my love of animals and it's easy to understand how easy it was to plan today's card.

The new 'Tropical Leaves' stencil is beautifully detailed and a full 6" X 9" size.   By spraying the back with Pixie spray, the entire stencil is gently adhered to the card stock, allowing color application in a variety of ways.  I started with a light shade of green, followed by a darker green ink, adding the colors with Life Changing Blending Brushes.  **Tip:  Use code BevFan10 for a discount when stencil shopping at A Colorful Life Designs!

I love using my Misti for stamping sentiments!  If any little gap in shading occurs, stamping again is a dream, precisely atop the first stamping.  Even though coloring is tricky business for these eyes now, my Gerda Steiner giraffes and parrot were really fun to color & a great size too.

I chose the super fun 'Wow' sentiment from the stamp set, just so I've got lots of choices as to what to say inside the card.  Gotta love options!  

It's time for a walk on this unusually cool day here in Texas and tiny humidity.  Perfect!  Y'all stay safe, keep your distance, and have a great weekend!

Inky (((hugs))),

STAMPS:  Go Wild  (Gerda Steiner Designs)
INKS:  GinaK Jelly Bean Green, Key Lime; Garden green, VersaFine Clair
PAPERS:  Neenah Solar Classic, GK Jelly Bean, 
ACCESSORIES:  ‘Tropical Leaves” stencil (ACL), Stitched dies (MFT), Misti, Life Changing Brushes (Picket Fence)

Fluff that Tutu!

How's it going, crafty friends?  Have you been doing something that's been waiting to get done?  I've been combining a couple of those things this week ... and the other thing will take short attacks at it across several days.   At last I've inked up a stamp that has been in its proper stamp bin, just waiting for its very own inky time to shine.  

I was first inspired to ink this up when I read the challenges happening recently at Technique Junkies.  This week's challenge is to create a 'thinking of you' card.  This one is meant to encourage that certain someone.  Surely we all have one of them in our lives.  LOL

  To create the dazzling image, I used a glittered embossing powder atop VersaMark ink.  Starting with the card stock in my Misti, I used scotch tape to mask out the sentiment when inking up the stamp.  Tex's Tip: When doing this, remember to remove that tape before stamping onto the card stock! Then heat it up carefully, as glittered ep's tend to quickly melt the clear/sticky part of the powder.  Overheating sneaks up fast, and the image will seem to 'fade away' as the shiny part melts into the paper.  The final topping is a few teeny rhinestones.  

Now it's your turn to crafty dance away & have a little inky fun!

Inky (((hugs))),

Products used:

STAMPS:  'Fluff Your Tutu' (Technique Junkies)

INKS:  VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx

PAPERS:  Gina K's 'Sea Glass', Neenah Solar White

ACCESSORIES:  JudiKin's Aquamarine Twinkle embossing Powder, Sizzix oval dies, rhinestones

Always Hope ... and a Challenge!

Hope springs eternal!  Right?  Today ... I'm not so sure I'm feeling it though.  Big, blowy winds have shown up from the West and have smacked me right in the nose - the allergy nose.  Lots of people here in Texas know this plague, so I know I'm not alone in this.  But yes, I am alone here in the stampy zone as required by current pandemic rulings.  😉

Instead of 2-step stamping, my card has 2-step stenciling!  I love using Ranger's Wendy Vecchi 7" Make Art Stay-tion as my work surface for stenciling.  Just right in size for table space, and wipes clean with anything damp!  Then I used small Ranger Detailed Blending Tools to color in Distress Oxide Peeled Paint + Wilted Violet.  

  Such an easy card!  1.) Stencil background.  2.) Stamp sentiment & die cut.  3.)  Die cut or trim out strips.  4.)  Layer & affix all as shown!

I created this for the 2nd week of Technique Junkies' WWDB challenges.  The theme is 'get well', but TJ's "Always Hope" is the closest sentiment I have that will work.  I love the way the 'Seedlings' stencil  (A Colorful Life Designs) pairs with the sentiment & theme!

Stay well & healthy!  Please excuse me while I check my Puffs tissues inventory.   

Inky (((hugs))),

Whirlpool of Feelings?

It's obvious that as we continue our battle to defeat the Covid19 pandemic, we have been experiencing a remarkably wide range of emotions.  Some days it seems the news seems to make us feel that daylight & hope are nearly close enough to touch.  Other days, it feels as though we're sinking into the sands of time, doesn't it?   

The thing I'm missing most is being able to just spend time with friends & family ... in person.  My heart is yearning to travel back to my little hometown right now to share laughs & hugs with friends I've known all my life.   This Crazy Cats image seems to be expressing my feelings perfectly!

Just to add some creative fun, I used A Colorful Life Designs' new 'Whirlpool' stencil with Ranger's Texture Paste - Translucent Matte onto a saved watercolor background.  

 Being an afternoon/evening stamper, I allowed the design to dry overnight before coming back to finishing up the actual card.  I love that the subtle colors of the background show through the texture paste, even a bit more than caught in my photos.  

Hopefully the sun will be warming us up here tomorrow.  I've got lots of bushes still waiting for me to seriously cut them down to size before the heat of Summer locks me back inside.   ;)

Stay safe and well, m'friends!

Inky (((hugs))),

Products used:

STAMPS:  Crazy Cats (Stampers Anonymous), Poppy Friendship (Inky Antics)

INKS:  Distress Oxides, VersaFine Clair Nocturne

PAPERS:  watercolor, Gina K Wild Lilac, Neenah

ACCESSORIES:  "Whirlpool" stencil by A Colorful Life Designs, 

No Stamps, No Ink!

What's up with this?  No stamps?  No inks?  It's one of those off-beat times for everyone, I'm sure.  Today, my card is stenciled with acrylic paint!

The April release at A Colorful Life Designs includes a variety of text stencils.  The new 'Wonderful' stencil is all about encouragement!   Surely a welcome statement to share with so many people you're missing right now!  

  

The card's style was inspired by the Mix375 challenge at SCS, to used white ink on blue c/s, i.e. faux blueprint.  I need a new white pigment pad & reinker, so I gave it a try with a watercolor brush and a bottle of white acrylic paint.  Thank goodness for Pixie spray keeping all the cut edges secure while I brushed the paint on.  

The challenge included adding drawn white lines with a white pen, so I tried.  Now I remember why I typically just add white lines & such in much smaller bits!  lol

You're welcome to use my discount code, BevFan10, when shopping for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs!  

In other news, I "attacked" some hedge-type bushes this morning, as I was desperate to soak up the brand new sunshine blessing Texas today.  All the previous gray added to the current stay-at-home style of living has felt a bit oppressive!  Now that I'm appropriately pink-skinned and whooped, I can allow self to be inside.  My teeny progress toward trimming down & removing said bushes indicates that this will be a very long project.  Oh. My. Goodness.

Hope you find your own style of sunshine during these closed-in days.  Be well, my friends!

Inky (((hugs))),

Products used:  

INKS:  white Signo pen

PAPERS:  Blueberry, silver/white stripes printed paper

ACCESSORIES:  ‘Wonderful’ stencil by A Colorful Life Designs, white acrylic paint, small paint brush

Positive Thinking!

Yes, we will get through this together!  

The new 'Stay Positive' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs makes it so quick & easy to share a smile via mail with all of those friends we're missing.  I used a simple subscription postcard from a magazine as a mask while adding inks to the arrows, allowing me to color all of the sky blues, then the sand, then the red arrows.  A simple swipe with my damp shammy picked up left-over ink from the stencil before repositioning.

Sequins bring in a little shine, but then I wanted just a smidge more.  Just because.  So I opted for tone-on-tone doodling around the edge.  Did you notice?  No stamping on this one.  Just inks and my smallest blending brushes!

The card base was cut 7" X 6.5", then scored to create a 3.5" X 6.5" card.  

I welcome you to use my code, BevFan10, when shopping for your stencils at A Colorful Life Designs!

Stay well, m'friends!  Remember that all of this hand-washing calls for frequent self-pampering with your fave hand or body lotions.  Ahhhhhh!

Inky (((hugs))),

Products used:
INKS:  Ranger Distress Inks Barn Door + Frayed Burlap, Sahara
PAPERS:  Poppy, Sky, Sahara
ACCESSORIES:  'Think Positive' stencil by A Colorful Life Designs, Life Changing Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios), sequins, Gina K Connect Glue

Good Vibes to You!

Another week coming to a close, another week closer to good news concerning the global pandemic.  If I could send today's card to each of you, I would happily do so.  At least sharing online is a safe option for all.

After smooshing watercolor paper onto water-spritzed Distress Inks then drying overnight, the background was ready become a lovely sky setting.  The new 'Flock' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs reminds me of happy swallows doing their own version of a happy dance in the air.  Just perfect for this bold sentiment!

You're welcome to use my code, BevFan10, for a discount when shopping at A Colorful Life Designs!  

Find some joy this week, m'friends ... something that makes your heart smile, even in the midst of this storm.

Inky (((huggss))),

Products used:
STAMPS:  'Good Vibes' stamp set Picket Fence
INKS:  Distress Oxide Inks Broken China + Seedless Preserves
PAPERS:  watercolor paper, Blackberry Bliss, Neenah Solar White
ACCESSORIES:  'Flock' stencil by A Colorful Life Designs, Life Changing Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios), sequins