Harry Potter Inspired Card Video Hop

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Harry Potter Card Hop

Have you ever been inspired by a favorite book or movie? Today I bring you a fun little video card hop, inspired by the Harry Potter series and a few of my crafty friends for a Harry Potter Scenic Card Tutorial!

This summer, Justine Hovey and I met up for lunch in Stuttgart, Germany while we were both visiting. I don’t even remember how we got onto the conversation – but we discovered yet, another love that we shared in common – Harry Potter! We thought, that would be a just for fun video hop – and my mind immediately went to my friend Laurel Beard – who I knew loved Harry Potter just as much as me. And Justine knew Jessica Frost Ballas was just as addicted, and this hop was born!

Harry Potter Scenic Card Tutorial - Ingrid Blackburn

So here’s a fun, book/movie series inspired hop for you – filled with prizes, a little magic and of course – Harry Potter!

Be sure to hop along all four blogs and YouTube channels – leave comments – cause we’re giving away prizes on each blog – Harry Potter themed prizes!! Plus it’s fun to see how each designer was inspired.

If you’ve followed me a little, I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I just HAD to create a Harry Potter scenic card! Harry Potter inspires me in so many ways – the castle, forest, bricks, owls, forest, dark vs. light, books, forest, wands, magic and oh, did I mention FOREST?!!! Naturally I had to create one of my favorite scenes of all time (Spoiler Alert) – the Dementor attack/Patronus charm at the end of Book 3.

Harry Potter Scenic Card Tutorial

I knew the perfect stamps to use too…Stampscapes. Kevin Nakagawa’s gorgeous line of stamps would perfectly evoke that larger than life feel I wanted to create along the frozen lake deep into the Forbidden Forest. Here’s a video of exactly how I created this beauty.

Click Here to watch video in HD on YouTube

The Tree Trunk stamp was perfect for this card. But I needed it at different heights – and what do you do when your card is larger than the stamp? That’s part of the beauty of Stampscapes stamps. The way Kevin has beautifully drawn these scenic elements is with little dots. So it’s very easy to naturally stretch and build onto your scene with it looking effortless and part of the original design.

So in this image, the left most trunk is actually only 4.5″ tall and the card is 5.25″ high. So how do you stretch your image so that it goes the full length? Simple – flip the top of the trunk around and stamp to fill that area. Now, you can’t have your tree get fatter – so you’re limited to a small part of the stamp, but see how it seamlessly lines up?

Stampscapes Tree Trunk Stamp

For the bottom – fill in the area with a little bit of color – add some dots with a micron pen and some distress markers. Then take the bottom of your stamp – ink it up and fade out the edges on it. That leaves you with the gorgeous texture – use that to fill in your trunk base. It just blends effortlessly! With more shading, and there’s zero chance of anyone noticing that wasn’t meant to be. Would you have seen the seam if I hadn’t pointed it out to you?

To bring the Harry Potter Scenic Card to life, layer your ink colors light to dark into your scene from the edge in. I used Kromekote Glossy cardstock – 12 pt for a strong base that let the colors glide with the Colorbox Stylus tool. Blues, Greys, Greens and Browns – your nature colors fill the scene with depth.

The key to this scene is the dark mystical nature of the Forbidden Forest. Without it, and it’s just another forest scene. We need the play of good vs. evil here – light vs. dark. Since I wasn’t sure how I could create a Dementor, I used dark shadows to get that effect playing off the bright explosive Patronus Charm.

Harry Potter Card - Forest Scene

And to get that bright glow – emboss the large buck (my Harry Patronus – the stag) and surround it with the white explosive glow. To get it to look just right, I had to play – and as you see in the video…a few ways just didn’t give the right feel. Swirls with a paper towel and some Hero Hues Unicorn Pigment ink did the trick.

Some finishing touches of white gel pen to emphasize ice and cold along the lake edge and glow in the tree trunks mixed with the perfect dark edging pulls the scene together. I didn’t have a greeting that worked for me, so I created my own with a downloaded Harry Potter free font.

I LOVE the third movie – and this is one of my favorite scenes. I think I love Harry and Hermine climbing over the huge roots at the base of these monster trees the most. The forest is so mystical and dark – I can do with out the dementors – they always freak me out…so it’s a good thing I can create my own Patronus – at least in a Harry Potter Scenic Card form!

Harry Potter Forest Card - Stampscapes - Ingrid Blackburn

What’s your favorite book/movie? Do you have something about this series that inspires you? Colors, characters, elements? When you start to create yourself – tag us with #CraftyPotterHeads! We’d love to see what you make.

Leave me a comment and I’ll enter you into my Harry Potter drawing! I’m giving away a couple decks of Harry Potter playing cards – to be delivered by Owl Oct. 1st….okay…I guess USPS will have to do. Back to reality for this muggle…

Thanks for stopping by! Now Accio Firebolt – hop on and visit my crafty friends for more chances to win and some creative magical inspiration!

Harry Potter Magical Blog Hop List

Ingrid Blackburn – You are Here
Jessica Frost Ballas – Head on over here Next!
Justine Hovey
Laurel Beard

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Supplies

To make finding the supplies I used in these projects a bit easier for you, here are a few clickable links. Compensated Affiliate Links are used when possible. Click here for disclosure. Happy Shopping!


Filed Under: Blog Hop, Distress Ink, Inspiration, Scenic, Stampscapes, Techniques, Uncategorized, Videos Tagged: , , ,

Combining Stencils & Background Stamps

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Don’t you just love taking things that you already have and using them in new ways? Today I thought it would be fun to show you how to combine stencils & background stamps for an unexpected look! So dust them off, and let today’s video inspire you to create something fun.

I’m honored to be participating in a video hop today to celebrate my friend Justine Hovey’s 1 Million views on her YouTube channel! WOW – she’s worked hard over the years to create something special, and I’m so excited to celebrate alongside her and some good friends.

Justine will be posting new videos all month long and giving away tons of prizes too. So definitely check her blog out here for all the details. She’s doing something fun with the video hop – each video along the hop has a secret word somewhere in it. Make sure to collect all of them to enter! And I think you’ll find plenty of fun YouTube channels to subscribe to along the way.

Combining Stencils & Background Stamps Tutorial

The theme for the video hop today is Celebrate, so my mind instantly went to putting on a party and getting out my fun colorful serving dishes. Michael and I love to entertain! I have several in the color Olive, and the Spice Market stamp design reminded me of fun entertaining dishes – so I just HAD to combine the two in some way for you over on my YouTube Channel. And inspiration struck.

Here are all the details and exactly how you can create this fun project:

Click here to view in HD on YouTube

I used the Pattern of Rings stencil designed by Winnie & Walter for the Friendship Stamp of Approval Collection and combined it with one of my favorite background stamps – Spice Market by Hero Arts. And you can see – it’s a totally new look!

When combining stencils & background stamps yourself, look at recurring patterns. I chose the Pattern of Rings stencil because it was circles and there were lots of circular designs in the Spice Market stamp, so I thought they’d play well together.

Combining Stencils & Background Stamps

So now it’s your turn – raid your stash of stencils and background stamps and start to create some amazing patterns!

Till next time –

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Supplies

To make finding the supplies I used in this project a bit easier for you, here are a few clickable links. Those that have multiple shopping options are indicated with letters – EH – Ellen Hutson, SSS – Simon Says Stamp. Compensated Affiliate Links are used when possible. Click here for disclosure. Happy Shopping!


Filed Under: Blog Hop, Clean and Simple, Distress Ink, Uncategorized, Videos Tagged: , , , ,

HLS Watercolor Challenge – Mixed Media Butterflies

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Have you ever watercolored with stencils before? Today I’m guest designing for a new watercolor challenge over at Happy Little Stampers. I don’t know of many watercolor challenges out there, so if watercolor is one of your loves, I encourage you to check it out! The design team is pretty talented over there, and I’m loving what they are creating every month.

I thought you would love a video in addition to a written tutorial, so here you have it. The watercolor challenge is always anything goes, and if you need a little structure – there’s always a little twist. You can play along or not, up to you – this month it’s dies.

Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge

Happy Little Stampers challenges are always a lot of fun, and I encourage you to enter. This month there’s a prize too, you have nothing to lose!

HLS Challenge

I have been undergoing a massive move from Germany back to the US (plus all our things out of storage up from Florida), hunting for a new home, and living in a hotel for three months – yes, it’s been interesting to say the least! So, I haven’t been able to film much the past few months…boy did it feel good to FINALLY get to film in my new stamping studio in my new home. I’m still buried under boxes and the contractor is still doing work in our home (though we’re in the home stretch….finally).

Here’s a video for you of how I created this month’s project – step by step. You’ll learn to watercolor with stencils, and create some fun vibrant die cut embellishments with Brusho Crystals – which I’m totally addicted to!

Click Here to watch the video in HD on YouTube & Subscribe to my Channel

How to Watercolor with Stencils & Brusho

So, my original thought was to create cool watercolored die cuts – enter a little embossing and Brusho for the pop in color. It’s SO easy to watercolor with Brusho and you always look like a watercolor master.

To compliment it, I thought you’d enjoy seeing how I sometimes watercolor with stencils – a not so perfect technique, but it really adds a lot to the background. My thought was to create a cool lattice for the butterflies from the Butterfly Birthday stamp set.

watercolor with stencils

And I’ve been just dying to use my new Mixed Media Fun stamp set – I just love all the components and words – it’s the perfect card for my niece.

  • First – secure your 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor paper to your work surface, and your stencil over that.
  • Apply your color, I used several shades of Distress inks and created a varied Blue background
  • I didn’t do this in the video, but next remove your tape securing your stencil down so you can lift it after the next step a bit easier.

watercolor with stencils - ingrid blackburn

  • To truly get a watercolor with stencils look, spritz with a mini mister and get the water going. Be careful of adding TOO much water. If you overdo it – water will run everywhere – especially under your stencil design.
  • Carefully lift up your stencil – straight up.
  • You can blot off any excess water with a paper towel – but be careful to lift it from your pattern – you’ll pull all the color. I use this mostly for the sides where the water is pooling. Dry immediately with a heat tool or naturally.

Watercoloring with Brusho

  • Next, on another piece of scrap watercolor paper, stamp two butterflies from Butterfly Birthday in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I love this ink to emboss with – it’s a pigment ink and is super crisp and deep in color.
  • Emboss in black and heat set.
  • Sprinkle some brusho powders over your butterflies and spritz as in the video to activate the pigments.
  • Dry with a heat tool or naturally
  • Cut out using the co-ordinating Butterfy Dies & a Die Cut Machine
  • Emboss some of the greetings from Mixed Media Fun in white on Black card stock
  • Cut them out using long handled scissors – this helps to give you a straighter edge.

Watercolor with Stencils & Brusho

  • Adhere your pieces like the card. TIP – use Mono Liquid Glue to adhere the watercolor to the black, bend straight or place something heavy on to help straighten your card stock. You may also want to pop up the main watercolor panel onto fun foam for a little drama.
  • Bend up the sides of your butterflies and pop the sides up with some dimensional foam. I have the tops of the wings higher than the bottom (doubled the foam) and adhered with some glue in the center. This gives the illusion of flight.
  • Add some sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh with Rangers Multi Matte Medium (dries clear).

Watercoloring with Stencils

Ultimately, my watercolor got a little into the pattern, but I don’t let stuff like that get me down anymore. You can cover a lot of it up with the die cuts and words, and it gives it a more organic feel anyway. It’s art, don’t stress over it, have fun!

Let me know what you think in the comment section below. I hope now, you’ll try to watercolor with stencils yourself, and that you enjoyed this tutorial!

Now head on over to the Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge to see what the Design Team whipped up for you. I can’t wait to see what you create – I’ll visit your blog and definitely check it out! 🙂

HLS Watercolor Challenge

And if you liked this tutorial, subscribe to my YouTube channel and newsletter list for more exclusive tutorials. See you very soon!

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To make finding the supplies I used in this project a bit easier for you, here are a few clickable links. Those that have multiple shopping options are indicated with letters – EH – Ellen Hutson, SSS – Simon Says Stamp. Compensated Affiliate Links are used when possible. Click here for disclosure. Happy Shopping!


Filed Under: Challenges, Distress Ink, Mixed Media, Techniques, Uncategorized, Videos, Watercolor Tagged: , , , ,

Kylie’s 12 Days of Christmas Card Challenge – Day Seven

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There are two things I’m grateful for this year – my online friends and a good ole Christmas Card Challenge. Okay there are lots of other things too, but today is about a sweet friend of mine – Kylie Purtell and her 12 Days of Christmas Card Challenge with friends.

12-days-of-christmas-graphic

I’ve had a wonderful last few years participating in many online card challenges – most of them Christmas! Yes, I’m a sucker for Christmas. And I normally have my own 12 Days of Christmas Series myself…but between a move from Europe back to the USA (we’re settling in the Raleigh, North Carolina) area, and purchasing a new home unexpectedly – my November/December got turned upside down – please forgive me!

So I was elated when Kylie asked me to participate in her 12 Days of Christmas with Friends Challenge. And I encourage you to enter too – pick any inspiration from any day….today is Day 7 – and just jump on in. The prizes are from three of my favorite stamp stores – all small businesses owned by amazing women.

To Salute these three creative women – Kylie, Shery & Christine, I thought it would be fun to put together a little Christmas fun using products from all three – from where else…my hotel room…lol!

ingrid-blackburn-candy-cane-holly-001

I went for a little rustic look with some toned down colors here.

  • To create it you’ll want to sponge a little Festive Berries through the ARTplorations by STAMPlorations Merry Go Round Stencil  – keep it light to have it look effortless.
  • Next sponge around the perimeter with a little Tea Dye Distress Ink lightly and add a few lines and dots to the corners with an Early Espresso Distress Marker.
  • Next Stamp the Holly & Berry images from the Christmas Joy stamp set by Happy Little Stampers in Black Archival Ink on Kraft colored card stock.

ingrid-blackburn-candy-cane-holly-002

  • Color in your images using Zig Clean Color Markers and cut out leaving a little edge to allow the images to pop.
  • Once your background is fully dry (I zapped mine with a Heat Tool), test it to see if any embossing powder sticks, and then stamp the gorgeous Christmas greeting in Versamark ink from the Christmas Surprise stamp set by Create a Smile Stamps.
  • Emboss it in Silver powder and stamp the coordinating greeting onto a little strip of Kraft in Black. Adhere to your background and edge with an Early Espresso Distress Marker.
  • Edge the greeting a bit with the same Early Espresso Distress Marker – keeping it uniform – mine is slightly to the right and underside of the letters. This helped to pop the image off the busy background.
  • Add your panel to a folded piece of Olive card stock and there you have it! My card front measures 5 1/2 x 4″.

ingrid-blackburn-candy-cane-holly-001

Don’t you just love how the background looks like little peppermint candies…I love all these elements, and these three companies are some of my favorites – I’ve spent my fare share at each this past year – just don’t tell Michael! 😉

And for another fun little card for some inspiration…I kept it Clean and Simple using Kylies super cute newest Christmas set – Christmas Joy. I’m in love with the little trees in it and the sentiments. Be sure to stop by the Happy Little Stampers video channel this week for lots of Christmas inspiration too…

ingrid-blackburn-cas-tree-002

I used Strathmore Bristol paper for a super smooth finish that works effortlessly with Zig Clean Color Markers. If you have these awesome watercolor markers – you NEED this paper! Lower quality papers just don’t get the same blend.

  • Use several shades of green to blend the perfect tree after stamping it in Archival Ink (Ranger), and a few browns for the trunk.
  • Add a light shadow underneath the tree in a warm grey for a simple shadow which grounds your tree for a realistic look.
  • Use a MISTI stamp tool to position your greeting, then ink up the Christmas in Red, stamp…clean and repeat using black on the bottom. It was so easy to do. I used Catherine Pooler’s new ink pads – Polka Dot Red and Midnight Black.

ingrid-blackburn-cas-tree-003

  • Originally I thought a one layer card would be perfect…but the little Olive borders added so much – I just HAD to trim it and layer.

It’s cute though, right? I just love these little trees – seriously…I can’t stamp enough with them!

So now it’s up to you! Enter the challenge to win gift certificates from Happy Little Stampers, STAMPlorations and Create a Smile! If not just to enter to finish off those cards – and if you’re done…start on next year!

Click Here to visit Kylie’s blog and enter in the Linky contest – run, don’t walk!!! You have until 12 pm – December 17th (AEST) Winners will be chosen at random. for a $20 gift certificate to one of the following sponsors:

createasmile stamplorations1-webhls-shop-badge

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi! It’s been a little bit, I’m happy to have had the opportunity to actually stamp again! Be sure to stop by the Happy Little Stampers Video Channel to see our Christmas Series – we’re live right now! Notice some of those cute little trees?

 

Happy Little Stampers YouTube Channel

Hope to see you very soon – and if we don’t cross paths until 2017 – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Filed Under: Challenges, Christmas, Clean and Simple, Distress Ink Tagged: , , , ,

Nature Mixed Media Challenge

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mixed-media-card-woodgrain background

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The rich textures and colors that Nature gives us is not only excellent inspiration, but the colors are one of my favorite palette to work with! For today’s project, I have a nature themed card done in a mixed media style. It’s card nature mixed media fun – creative and full of gorgeous textured techniques. Time for the Happy Little Stampers Nature Mixed Media Challenge.

hls-mixed-media-challenge-october-2016

You may be wondering what makes this a nature mixed media card. We have a background that has some glue mixed with direct to paper distress techniques, water & then some embossing over top. Then some added die cuts that use the layered watercolor technique – wrinkle free distress with some stamping & embossing. That’s it!

The ideas were flowing for this project – fern stenciling or monoprinting….I tore off actual bark from some wood headed into our fireplace tonight – it’s 38 degrees outside…yikes! But eventually I settled on some good ole mixed media techniques to give my card texture and interest.

Nature Mixed Media Tutorial

You’ll love this cool technique for a woody background, I’ve been wanting to try it out for a while – Glue Woodgrain Texture. Over on my friend Karen Dunbrook’s blog – Snippets, you’ll find a great tutorial. This technique uses glue to create some great texture for a wood grain look. I’m not sure I nailed it this first time, but since the fence is only peeking out – I figured it would work!

mixed-media-card-nature-ingrid-blackburn-003

Not straying at all from Karen’s design, I had a gorgeous woody background for this card. In a nutshell, you’ll spread a little glue over a thick piece of card stock. Let it dry, flip over and score some lines – mine were 1/2″ apart. Use direct to paper techniques with Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Weathered Wood Distress Inks. Spread them out with a little water – I misted mine then used a water brush. Overall it looks pretty cool.

nature-mixed-media-fall leaves technique

The glue would not dry fast enough on this wood grain background for me. I’m SO not patient enough…so I dried it the best I could, laid it to the side & hit it with a heat tool. Then I chose to spread some Gilded Gold embossing powder by Brutus Monroe over the sticky parts and started embossing – it has an awesome look!

wrinkle free distress technique

Once the background is done and attached to the card base, use the wrinkle free distress technique to add fall colors to some die cut leaves. The leaves are cut from #140 Cold Pressed Watercolor paper to get a smooth look. I can’t decide which leaf is my favorite – the colors are so great together. I just kept playing….and I think some actually look natural, what do you think?

nature mixed-media-card-

Next you’ll want to add a greeting – to get it to pop a bit, emboss it on a strip. I used one from the HLS Mix Mash stamp set in Gilded Gold.  A few gold sequins, and it’s a great fall inspired card.

Your Turn Now

Now it’s your turn….how does Nature and Mixed Media inspire you? For more inspiration, be sure to check out the awesome projects my team mates designed too. Here’s the main Challenge Post for you to post your creation! There’s even a prize….

See you tomorrow for some more creative inspiration!

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Filed Under: Challenges, Distress Ink, Mixed Media, Techniques Tagged: , ,

Quick & Easy DIY Christmas Card Tutorial

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I’m all about the DIY Christmas cards – how about you? As card makers , we probably all make three kinds of cards…all the time – Christmas, Birthday and Thanks. I’ve been creating some amazing cards this past month gearing up for the big Stamp of Approval holiday release – Candy Cane Lane Collection. How cute is that name?!

Well, Catherine and the team did not disappoint with this one. Blog Hops begin today – I’m up the last day…and I have some beauties to share with you that day. But not to fret – I have a card today, tomorrow and knowing me, I just won’t be able to stop past the release….lol!

candy-cane-lane-collection

Stamp of Approval is a curated box of stamps and dies that were designed to work together. Best part about it is that it works with previous collections as well. Those you can get in the store – of course…the don’t get released for a long time – so don’t wait thinking you can just get them in a few months – you’ll be sad you missed out!

The way it works is you want to be on the waitlist – that way you will get notified the moment the shop is open. They sell out quick – sometimes in a matter of hours – and this particular collection is REALLY good. It’s definitely my favorite so far – I can’t stop creating with it – so if you’re not on the waitlist – get on it right here.

In addition to all the great projects you’ll see over the next several days from the Blog Hops – Design Team member blogs….when you decide to get the box on Wednesday Sept 21st….you’ll also get a PDF cram packed with ideas to get you started. Boxes ship right away – so you could be crafting with these stamps by the weekend!

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Oh…and there are three boxes up for grabs too! Be sure to hop along each day and leave comments along the way – last time one of our commenters won a box!!! You can start the hop on Catherine’s Blog – but read this tutorial too…lol!

I’m kicking off my Candy Cane Lane creations with one of my favorite cards – and one of the best to mass produce too! I have it in traditional colors – but what about non-traditional colors? I bet it would look awesome in baby blue/brown, or Pink and Grey….it doesn’t just have to be red/green!

DIY Christmas Card Tutorial

DIY Christmas Card Tutorial

I did a ton of watercolor stamping in my creations this time – this Peppermint Stick background stamp just screams – watercolor stamp me! To mass produce it, you just need to cut several pieces of watercolor paper – twice the height of the final watercolor piece and you will get two cards with each one!

Enjoy the video tutorial:

Click Here to watch in HD on YouTube

So what did you think? I love it – it’s super quick and easy. And the watercolor stamped look is artsy and unique. When you mass produce yours – do all the embossing at once – die cut/stamping at once, etc…. Just throw on a good movie – and you’re set!

Be sure to stop by the blog hop today to see the amazing creations!!! Comment along the way and win yourself a box too. Come back tomorrow, and definitely Tuesday – I’m up then!

DIY Christmas Card Watercolor Tutorial - Ingrid Blackburn

If you like what you see – subscribe to my YouTube channel and definitely get on the Creative Tips E-letter – I have exclusive video tutorials that go out to subscribers and coming up soon – my 12 Days of Christmas series! Don’t miss out!

See you tomorrow – happy hopping!

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Filed Under: Christmas, Clean and Simple, Distress Ink, Stamp of Approval, Techniques, Uncategorized, Videos, Watercolor Tagged: , ,

Simple Distress Background

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Today we’re going to focus on a simple Distress Background that really pack a punch. It’s all part of the Distress Mixed Media challenge going on over at Happy Little Stampers this month.

HLS Mixed Media challenge September 2016 - Distress

Be sure to stop by all the designer blogs for some cool looks with this challenge. And welcome Autumn from Sew Paper Paint for a very cool look. I love her blog – can seriously get lost in her work!

It’s no secret that I love anything distressed – from inks to paper to texture. This project really takes the word distress and not only uses the ink, but gives it a great Mixed Media look with the Winkle Free Distress Technique. The end result is a very cool distress background.

Distress-Mixed-Media---001

Distress Background Tutorial

To get a cool look, emboss a background stamp or series of images in clear on 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper. Don’t worry if you don’t get the whole image – I missed a spot and rubbed off some powder in several spots to get a distressed/grunge look. This will resist the Distress watercolor we’re about to add next.

First lay down your lightest color onto your craft mat – Mustard Seed (Yellow) and spritz. You’ll keep it to the center and a little outward. Click here for a video on just how to do this technique. Be sure to mostly dry it inbetween layers to build up the texture and distress look. Then move onto the next color. You’ll do it in this sequence after each color. TIP – keep the color wheel in mind when overlapping colors. You don’t want to overlap complimentary colors – colors that are opposite on the color wheel such as Purple & Yellow. Complimentary colors look awesome together, but when blended turn to mud.

Distress Background

Next add the Carved Pumpkin – overlapping a little with the yellow. Next the Candied Apple overlapping with the Yellow a little and the Orange. The key is to overlap a little, but also preserve some of the original color and keep some pure too.

Going counter clockwise, add some Blueprint Sketch in the same manner, skip over the the right and add some Twisted Citron. Fill the remaining spot with Wilted Violet. Add a little Candied Apple to the Wilted Violet to create that cool Blackberry color…and add some spots here and there where you feel you need some texture or an added spot of color.

Distress Inks - Wrinkle Free Technique

Once completely dry, place your dried watercolor paper in-between some old pages of a phone book and iron it on the hottest setting. This will transfer the embossing powder to the phone book page and give you the added bonus of straightening out your watercolor piece! Iron just a few minutes (30 sec to 2 min). The key is that you don’t want to see any shiny – switch to a clean page in the phone book if needed. To see me do this, check out this HLS video (at 15:30). This technique is called Faux Bleaching.

Wrinkle free technique - Distress Background

Isn’t it a cool project!!! What’s so awesome about it is that the Mixture of medias used really blend together to create an amazing Distress look. I didn’t want to take away from the cool background, so I kept the greeting simple and didn’t add any sequins (though I was tempted). I embossed the Hello (new die from Stamplorations – isn’t it cute?!!) in clear embossing powder. The shine against the flat distressed background just rocks. I hope you think so too!

Distress-Mixed-Media---005

SO I’m challenging YOU now. It’s my favorite technique/medium….Distress. Jump on into this challenge – leave me a comment that you did and I can’t WAIT to see what you create!

Until next time –

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Supplies

I get asked a lot where I get some of my supplies. To make it easier for you, I’ve listed all the supplies below. I myself shop at various places and know you probably have your favorite online stores too! So I included choices where I could or if there is just one – it’s the best price I’ve found. 🙂

The letters below each image are links to stores where you can buy each of the products listed. EH – Ellen Hutson, SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, etc. I buy almost all my own supplies. To help support my blog, videos & allow me to keep creating for you, I use compensated affiliate links when possible.


Filed Under: Challenges, Distress Ink, Mixed Media, Uncategorized Tagged: , ,

CP Designs Shop Grand Opening – Blog Hop

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Welcome my crafty friends! Today I have three projects & a video that showcase some great things now available in Catherine Pooler’s brand new online shop. How exciting! We always need good quality designs and products, right? And Catherine Pooler Designs does not disappoint.

CP Designs Store

Before we get creative here are a few things you’ll want to know. The shop will open this afternoon. To find out the moment the cyber doors swing open, you’ll want to make sure you’re subscribed to Catherine’s newsletter – she’ll be announcing the moment it goes live! Catherine also has a great video series and some cool PDF’s for new subscribers. So when you’re on Catherine’s site, be sure to subscribe so that you’re in the know.

Prizes – Of course we have some prizes for you too! Leave a comment on the blogs along the hop – there are three $25 gift certificates up for grabs between now and noon (EST) on 9/1.

Now for a little creative mojo for you today. I have three projects, all very different from one another, a little Stamp of Approval mixed in with some fresh Catherine Pooler Designs! Enjoy and be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below!

Contemporary Crooky Cake

Okay – I know the stamp set is called Bring on the Cake…but I just can’t not call it crooky cake…lol! I wanted some bright, bold colors to pop off a neutral dark background. I’m into dark greys at the moment. And I thought this have great masculine look, while still being a little fun and funky.

Those streamer stamps totally rock – they’re embossed in Alabaster by Brutus Monroe, and are the perfect little something in the background. I also left the card as a single layer to keep with a minimal look.

Crooky-Cake---Ingrid-Blackburn

The cake is stamped in Distress Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean & Squeezed Lemonade.

Geo Hugs & Kisses

For this project, I kept with my grey and added a little Pale Pink to the mix. Don’t you just love this geometric pattern used throught. It’s on the card base, card front and tag. The Geobuilders Stamp Set is so crazy versatile…it’s easy to see why it’s a favorite.

For this project I paired it up with the And Dies & And Sentiments set – two new sets recently released by Catherine Pooler Designs. They go quite well with the Tag Buddies by CAS-ual Fridays for the first Friendship SOA collection.

I love making cards that can be used for lots of occasions – and Hugs & Kisses covers that!

Geobuilders-And-Sentiments---Ingrid-Blackburn

Ring in the Birthday

And last, but definitely not least – my favorite. I just recently got my hands on this Pattern of Rings stencil by Winnie & Walter for the first SOA Friendship Collection. I have wanted to make this card for FOREVER! It’s no secret that I love water & Distress Inks – so I did a little sponge/direct to paper combo with some really bright and vibrant Distress colors. Here’s a video of the technique:

Watch in HD on YouTube

You’ll want to use Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire, Twisted Citron, Mustard Seed, Candied Apple & Carved Pumpkin. Isn’t this combo cool?! Once the colors were added over the stencil, I spritzed it lightly with a mini mister being careful not to add too much water. You’ll want just enough to activate the ink and get that watercolor look, but not too much that it runs under your stencil. If you do find that you’ve added too much, just quickly sop it up with a paper towel.

Pattern-of-Rings-Birthday---Ingrid-Blackburn-001

Dry your project and then flick some water droplets at it. I did this two ways – one with my hands and another with a paint brush for some smaller more purposeful droplets.

Once dry, add your greeting (HB2U by SugarPea Designs for the Young at Heart Collection) by embossing it in black onto vellum card stock. I cut it out using the larges tag from Tag Buddies by CAS-ual Fridays – yup the same one as above!

Pattern-of-Rings-Birthday---Ingrid-Blackburn-002

Add some embellishments and you’re all set. I added two little circles, cut out using Friendly Flowers Fri-Dies by CAS-ual Fridays – both die sets are from the Friendship collection. By adding those black circles and another strategic Sparkling Clear Sequin, you’ll be able to help secure that piece of vellum down. I also wrapped the top of the tag around to the back.

I love bright vibrant Birthday cards – and this stencil really didn’t disappoint.

Don’t miss out on all the crafty goodness!

I hope you enjoyed those three projects! If you liked that, be sure to sign up for my Creative Tips E-letter to get an exclusive video series with more. Up next – have fun hopping along to the talented Chaitali Narla. Be sure to leave comments along the way for a chance to win!

Here’s the list of all the talented designers for today’s hop!

BLOG HOP LIST:

Now go get your fingers inky –

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Filed Under: Clean and Simple, Distress Ink, Stamp of Approval, Uncategorized Tagged: , , , ,
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