Mid-life Crisis of a Toad

Hi there!  It took me longer to write this post than it took for me to gasp out loud this morning, but here goes!  

Yes friends, this is a first here!  Lid was closed overnight, and here in the outer edges of town each house has its own septic system.  Lots of welcome rain here earlier this week & last night, so some water was still standing in the yards this morning.  Reality ... not AI.  The rest is up to the imagination.  LOL

Smiles!

Bev

Hoppy Easter in Pink!

 Hi friends!  It's Bev Gerard, bringing a sweet pink card featuring the Hoppy Easter stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs.  Oh these darling bunnies ... Can't you just imagine patting their so soft fur?!

Even though this is a horizontal layout, the card folds at the top, with the bottom corners rounded with a large corner rounder.  So many happy circles in this overall design!

Scallops fit so well with the circles, that I included them in the image mat, sentiment oval, and decorative strip beneath the ribbon.  I couldn't resist adding tiny dots to the scalloped edges.

          Here are the Copic markers I've used:                       

Basket:  RV11, RV95

Basket:  RV11, RV95

Bunnies:  C0, C1, C00, RV00 (cheeks/ears)

Bow:  BG000, BG01, BG05

Eggs:  YG25, RV23, Y02, YR04, V06, BG53

Happy Spring to you!  Thanks for your visit!

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

Hoppy Easter Garden Basket

  Hello Gerda Steiner fans!  Today I'm sharing a delightful new stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs, Hoppy Easter!

My card was totally inspired by a memory of my Grandma's rose-covered lattice outside her kitchen window.  I think these sweet bunnies are peeking out to see if it's time for the Easter egg hunt!  The background is simply a retired floral Basic Grey paper covered with a lattice cover die cut layered atop a white card.  

The sentiment was embossed with detail white embossing powder, and the scalloped mat for the basket was dry embossed for a wee bit of texture.

Here are the Copic markers I've used:

Bunnies:  C0, C1

Basket:  B00, B01

Eggs:  B02, YR01, V01, RV10

Behind bunnies:  very light V000

Bow:  YG01, YG23, YG25

Card Supplies:  

STAMPS:  Hoppy Easter by Gerda Steiner Designs

INKS:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark

PAPERS:  Neenah Solar Classic White, Granny Apple cardstock, retired Basic Grey designer paper

ACCESSORIES:  Lattice cover die, large scalloped circle - Spellbinders, Subtle embossing folder, Gina K. Detail White embossing powder, 1" circle punch (sentiment ends), foam pop ups, May Arts ribbon

What a joy to share with you!  Thanks so much for visiting!

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

You Are So Loved!

  Hello crafty friends!   At last I'm back to share a fun valentine featuring the Li'l Hedgie stamp from Gerda Steiner Designs.

I wanted to tweak the basic card sketch without distracting much from the many polka dots and the darling little hedgie.  So I trimmed the lower edge of the top two paper layers with a simple curved stitched border die.  Tip: To keep the layers completely aligned, use a removable adhesive tape such as Post-It tape or washi tape to run both layers through machine at one time.  If needed, you can re-run the lower piece if needed for a clean cut on that layer.  And yes, there are a few random dots that are adorned with pink glitter ... just because.  

The sentiment was stamped with VersaFine Clair Morning Mist, as I chose not to have a black ink overwhelm the softer look of the hedgie.  Once the sentiment was stamped, I used a circle die to partially cut both ends of the 3/4" strip.  Finally, I cut 3 more strips and stacked them all with glue to add a little dimension.  Edges were brushed with DOX Worn Lipstick as were the other paper edges.

Finally, the darling Li'l Hedgie is popped up on an action wobble for a sweet & fun giggle!

Thanks so much for visiting!  

Bev Gerard

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

Waddle I Do Without You?

 

Hello to everyone!  Bev Gerard here to share a fun way to use the adorable Valentine Penguins stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs!  Seriously, it's so easy to color these sweeties you can quickly create lots of valentines in little time.

 

The penguin pair was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black then colored with Copics C7, C5, C3, C1 & C0, YR14, YR23, R30 & R32 with touches of a white gen pen.  Penguins are lifted up on foam tape and placed atop layered red & white heart shapes.  

Taking advantage of the acetate layer, the inside sentiment is atop smaller heart layers that are placed directly behind the front hearts.   This is fun to create and fun to receive!

Basic A2 Card style recipe:

Base card stock = 4.25" x 8".  Score at 5.5" on the long side.  Use any border die to create interest on the remaining 3" flap.   I layered a matching-cut piece of scrapbook paper atop the flap.

Acetate layer = 4.25" x 5.5".   Adhere this beneath the border cut flap.  Strips of dbl.-sided adhesive work well here.

  

  

Thanks for visiting today!

Bev Gerard

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

Blackberry Iris Eclipse

 

Today's card was created for one of the recent Dare to Get Dirty challenges over at Splitcoaststampers.  This was a brand new-to-me technique, completely inspired by the following Gina K Designs video:  

If you haven't tried this technique, put it on your stamping plans and give it a try!

I chose a retired Iris panel stamp from Rubbernecker Stamps, and opted to use a rich blackberry color rather than the black & white shown on the tutorial.  The choice of cover plate die determines the texture you'll see given to the stamped image.   My card features a cover plate die by Momenta.  Depending on your stamp and cover die choices, your result can vary from casual to elegant!  

Thanks so much for your visit!  I hope you've been inspired to enjoy some creative time!

Project Supplies:

STAMPS:  Iris Panel (Rubbernecker Stamps), Uh-ohhhhh .... "feel better" is from ? 

INKS:  VersaFine Onyx, Blackberry Bliss    

PAPERS:  Gina K Layering White, Blackberry Bliss

ACCESSORIES:  Momenta cover die, Tombow liquid glue, Misti, Misti Sticky Mat

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

Thinking of You!

Hi everyone!  I'm Beverly and I am delighted to come back today to share another cute way to use the adorable Cup of Love stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs!  When I chose this blue tiled paper by Recollections, I knew exactly which stencil I would use in the background - Stamp Mosaic from A Colorful Life Designs.  I mixed few drops of reinker with water to create the splatters.  Just tap your wet watercolor brush across your finger to splat color!  Now here's how I paper pieced the tea cup:

Once the glue was dry on the tea cup, I was ready to color the mouse and the interior of the cup.  I found the right match for the cup in my Prismacolor Pencils (PC1087).  The mouse is colored with Copic markers COO, CO, C1, and RVOO.  Now the mouse is ready for a little extra dimension attention as follows:

Next, the cup was mounted on a die cut circle with foam tape, and the complete circle was glued atop the stenciling on the card.

"Thinking of You" was stamped with VersaFine Onyx on Neenah Classic cardstock, and trimmed wide enough for the sentiment before layer on a coordinating strip of cardstock to pull everything together!

It has truly been my pleasure to be asked to Guest Design for Gerda Steiner Designs!  Now here's to your next opportunity to enjoy some sweet paper crafting time!

Thanks for your visit!

Beverly Gerard

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

 

 

Hello everyone!   I'm Beverly Gerard, and I'm totally tickled to have been invited to guest design for Gerda Steiner Designs!  Today I'm sharing a card made with the upcoming Cup of Love stamp set.

My card was inspired by a recent visit to a mom & pop country cafe.  There's the red & white tablecloth setting the place for a polka dotted teacup full of sweet joy.  To create the wall texture, I scored kraft cardstock using 1/8" scoreboard lines before adhering it to the card front.  In order to give the cup a nice contrast of polka dots atop the gingham paper, I masked off the mouse and cup interior with a mask cut from a sticky note while blending Ranger's 'Barn Door' Distress Ink through the dotted stencil.

The adorable little mouse is colored with Copic markers W00, W0, W1, and R000.  Let me warn you though, this little mouse is going to keep calling you back for more play time.  In fact, I colored two!  I fussy cut the second image and layered it with foam tape atop the original mouse in the cup.  Additionally, I couldn't just leave the cup sitting flat atop the tablecloth, so it's lifted with foam tape as well.

Did you notice the bitty tea bag tag?  The Cup of Love stamp set includes 3 little stamps to choose from for stamping on the tag:  smile, take a break, and love you.  Plus, the set also includes 3 larger sentiments for placement on your card:  Thinking of you, Take a Break, and You Deserve It.

Thanks a bunch for visiting!  I'll be back again next week with another fun way to use this sweet stamp set!

Beverly 

Beverly on Instagram:  texasgrammy

Beverly's SCS Gallery:  TexasGrammy at Splitcoaststampers

Blog:  Texas Rubber & Ink!

Sneak Peek - Mouse!

 Something's Coming!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post!  Cuteness from

Gerda Steiner Designs is coming!

Inhale Confidence!

Hi y'all!  Here's a card with a very simple watercolor approach.  Don't get me wrong .... While I adore looking at watercolored images & cards that amaze my eyes, I'd be here all month plus more trying to replicate an ooooh-ahhhhhh.  It's okay .... always have something to reach for ahead.  ;)

My plan was to create something with splattered inks.  I first brushed from my Altenew watercolors onto watercolor paper, leaving brush marks along the sides.  When dry, I used VersaMark ink to stamp the images and heat embossed in white.  As you can see, I did layer color just a little bit in the leaves.  However, watercoloring all in one sitting without dry time between layers results in a softer gradient blend. 

Time for the Misti, and my other favorite tool, the Cut-Align rulers.  Together these make picky placement so much easier so the Picket Fence Studios sentiment on vellum was easily lined up & placed.

News!  I've been loving on some new stamps recently, so stay tuned for a new stamp set coming in a few days!

Inky (((hugs))),

Dare To Get Dirty 2023!

 It's coming, stampy friends!   

The annual SCS Dare To Get Dirty challenges will be here next month!  

 Where???   Splitcoaststampers Challenge Forum

We hope you'll join in the fun!

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