Mixed media coral

I have been making so many cards lately. I'm good at making them, but not very good at sending them. So now I'm stuck with a gigantic box full of cards. That also reminds me that I *really* need to send a few cards which are long overdue. Anyhow, after being inspired by Meihsia's amazing Art Journal Page over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, I thought I would dust off my long abandoned Art Journal and try making a mixed media page. The theme for the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Don't abandon coral, and although I don't have the new Abandoned Coral distress ink (yet, but it's in the mail...) I thought I would use the Stampin' Up Calypso Coral instead. My art journal page is also inspired by the beautiful greens and bright flowers out there in the garden right now. I'm still not much of a mixed media artist, but I did love playing with the paints, watercolours and my Tim Holtz Spritzer tool. It is nice to mix it up from time to time. 

I used green, coral and pink inks to watercolour the background. I then added various stencils and stamps for the background, and inked the edges in Vintage Photo. I also got out my Tim Holtz spritzer tool and spritzed the page with green, coral, pink and brown markers. I stamped flowers from the Stampin' Up Bloom with Hope set, coloured them with markers and smudged the colour with a watercolour brush. For the tag, I inked it with coral, pink and vintage photo ink, and coloured some gesso with Peeled Paint distress ink and applied it thorough a hexagon stencil. Then I stamped the Stampin' Up En Francais script stamp on the tag in black archival ink. Last, I stamped a Tim Holtz floral stamp in Mowed Lawn and Picked Raspberry distress paint. Finally I attached the flowers, the tag onto the page, and sprayed everything with a water mist with . Last, I added some coloured lace and added some Gorgeous Grunge spots and blotches in white ink. 

In would also like to link up with the following challenges:
All Crafts Challenge - Anything but a card
Addicted to Stamps - Flowers 
Dragonfly Dreams - How does your garden grow
Stamping Sensations - Flower Power
The Artistic Stamper - Journaling your heART out
Our Creative Corner - April Showers Bring May Flowers

Almost black and white

The inspiration for today's card is the Stampin' Royalty challenge where the theme is "Black and white with a pop of colour". I was also inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I didn't want the card to have the air of a condolence card, which is what black and white easily make me think of, so I added the whole rainbow to bring some Birthday Cheer to this simple and elegant card. 

I stamped the En Français background stamp in Versamark onto black cardstock and heat embossed with white powder. I used Tim Holtz distress inks and a foam applicator onto white cardstock to create the rainbow banner. I love the way the colours blend into each other. The flower was heat embossed using white powder onto vellum with a pearl as the final touch. I also added a white ribbon with a slightly wonky bow. One day I will learn to tie pretty bows...

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm smooth white card, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card in black, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Dovecraft 110 gsm Premium Vellum

Stamps: Stampin' Up En Français, Flower Shop, Petite Petals, Petite Pretties

Inks: Tsukineko Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves and Spiced Marmelade

Other: Stampin' Up Basic Pearls, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, white ribbon from my stash

Flower shop

I am continuing my exploration of my new Stampin' Up goodies that arrived a few days ago. Along with the SoVery Grateful stamp I tried out yesterday, I also ordered the Flower Shop bundle with stamps and punch. It seems like I have a thing for these flower stamp and punch combos, as I now have three of them. I sat staring at my stamps for a while with my neurons firing on empty. Then I had a quick browse through my trusty inspiration source, the great crafting challenges out there. The colours of this week's Color Throwdown are amazing - Coastal Cabana, Sahara Sand and Strawberry Slush. I also liked this week's Freshly Made Sketch, although I ended up taking some liberties with the interpretation of it. I was also inspired by the Shopping Our Stash challenge which this week was "Stamp your background". 

Card: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana and Sahara Sand

Inks: Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana, Sahara Sand, Strawberry Slush

Stamps: Stampin' Up Flower Shop, Petite Petals, Yippee-Skippee, En Français

Other: Stampin' Up Pansy punch, Petite Petals punch, Tag topper punch, Melon mambo striped organdy ribbon, Papermania adhesive gems Capsule Red Hot

Two cards for two challenges

This week I have been so inspired by the colour combo on Color Throwdown as well as the sketch over on CAS(E) This Sketch. I made not one, but two cards for these two challenges. I have also been playing a lot with my Tim Holtz Distress Paints, as I got a bunch of new colours recently. And perfectly for this challenge, two of them were Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn. And those together with Chipped Sapphire were perfect for the colour challenge.

For the froggy card I dotted Distress Paints onto my crafting mat, spritzed with water and moved a piece of watercolour paper across the paint. While drying I stamped the froggy in black ink and coloured with Distress markers and an AquaFlo brush. I cut the banner, stamped the sentiment and attached everything onto cardstock. As a final touch I added some Ice Stickles on the bottom of the card.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Paper Smooches A Little Lovin
Inks: Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire ink pad, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn and Squeezed Lemonade markers
Other: Tim Holtz Paints Chipped Sapphire, Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers, Ranger Ice Stickles Mint Ice

For the butterfly card I made a similar background using TH Paints, but first I stamped En Francais in clear embossing ink and heat embossed using clear powder. I embossed the white tag, which was made using the tag topper punch from Stampin' Up. I stamped the butterfly in TH Chipped Sapphire, heat embossed using clear powder and coloured using TH markes. Last, I die cut the letters and attached everything onto a white card base.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Stampin' Up En Français, Hobbycraft Butterfly
Inks: Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire and clear embossing ink pad, Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn markers
Other: Tim Holtz Paints Chipped Sapphire, Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers, Ranger clear fine embossing powder, Stampin' Up tag topper punch, Cuttlebug script embossing folder, Tim Holtz inside out alphabet die

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Multiple challenges Birthday Card

I usually tend to frown just a little bit at cards which are entered in a large number of challenges. I usually want to focus on one major theme, but each to their own. However, pretty much by accident I realised this card actually qualifies for three challenges! So this is certainly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I started with The Colour Throwdown #282 with the below colour combo. I really like the colour combos as they get me using different colours to the ones I usually use. I always tend to gravitate towards the pinks and purples, so anything different is always welcome, and takes me out of my comfort zone a bit. 

Unfortunately I don't have Lucky Limeade, so I substituted with Pear Pizzazz. I also saw this amazing card from Teri's Craft Spot on my blog feed, and stole some ideas from that card. In addition, I got my latest order from Stampin' Up just a few days ago, including the wonderful En Français background stamp which I was dying to try out, along with the tag topper punch. I then realised I can enter this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Tag it" challenge as well. When I was thinking about which sentiment to choose for the card I realised the theme for the Pink Elephant Challenge is Birthday, so I printed a simple Happy Birthday in Real Red using a free font called Forever in My Heart, so all of a sudden I hit three challenges in one. And that is how the cookie crumbles. 

Inks: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Tim Holtz distress embossing ink
Cardstock: Craft UK kraft card, Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Crumb Cake
Stamps: Stampin' Up En Français, Hardwood, Petite Petals
Punches: Petite Petals, Tag Topper punch
Other: red ribbon from my stash, Sizzix Flower and vines #2 die, Papermania Seafoam White Embossing Powder