Catherine Pooler inks make me smile!!

Hey friends!  I'm back today to share with you a couple more cards I made using the Zen Garden Collection from Catherine Pooler Designs. 

For my first card I focused on creating multiple shades of each ink color   I started out by stenciling a background with the Split Chevron Stencil.  I only used one color ink for this background:  Stone Blue, blending with a light hand for a soft blue.  Then I repositioned the stencil and blended the Stone Blue with a heavier hand to create a darker shade of blue.  Is it just me or does this color remind you of denim?  So pretty!

For this card I used the following supplies from the Catherine Pooler Designs store:

• Stamps:  Love Grows
• Dies:  Zen Feather Dies
• Inks:  Polished, Shea Butter, Spruce, Stone Blue, Midnight
• Paper: Premium White Cardstock
• Accessories:  Split Chevron Stencil

The Love Grows stamp set has these cute little layered flowers that I stamped using the new Zen color: Polished.  Catherine Pooler inks are great for generation stamping.  Here I created two tones from the same ink by just stamping off once to achieve a light shade of Polished then I stamped a fully inked stamp over it for the outline.  I stamped the green Spruce stems the same way.

For my next card I created a background by stamping the Chevron Cheer stamp set multiple times in different colors.  To add some depth and interest I sliced this stamped panel creating vertical strips, then popped up two of the strips using dimensional tape.

For this card I used the following supplies from the Catherine Pooler Designs store:

• Stamps:  Chevron Cheer,  Love Grows
• Dies:  Smile die
• Paper:  Premium White Cardstock, Premium Midnight Cardstock
• Inks:  Polished, Sugared Lavender, Rose Petal, Seafoam, Skylight, Versamark
• Accessories:  Opaque Bright White Superfine embossing powder (WOW!)

The Smile die flows perfectly along the bottom of the Chevron Cheer stamp.

Finding my healing Zen.....

Hello friends. I'm so sorry I've been a little MIA lately but I had a little accident in my craft room a few weeks ago.  I was pulling one of my fun all night crafty session, working on some cards for a blog hop.   I guess  sleepy eyes and clumsy feet got the best of me and I tripped over a cord.  I went down pretty hard and ended up having to be whisked away by ambulance to the hospital, only to find out I dislocated my ankle, tore the cartilage and broke it in three places.  Crazy huh?   Needless to say, I've been a mess ever since!

 

 

  But now, as I'm recuperating from surgery I'm feeling the crafty pull.  I need to work myself back into the game!    I thought a good place to start would be the blog hop I missed out on the Zen Garden Blog Hop by Catherine Pooler Designs.  I have a couple cards to show you today from that release.  Catherine displayed these in her booth at Creativation last month so you may have had a peek at them already.

First up is a card featuring that fabulous Zen Feather stamp and coordinating die set and the Chevron Cheer Stamp set.  And of course I used some of these gorgeous new inks from the Zen Garden collection!

I loaded up this Zen Feather stamp with three different colored inks and created an ombre affect.  Then I covered each feather with some of Catherine's sparkly Wanderlust embossing glitter by WOW!    I stamped the Chevron Cheer oval stamp directly onto the card front then I curved a border stamps to outline the oval.  And that sentiment....Oh how I love that sentiment!!

For this card I used the following products from the Catherine Pooler Design store:

• Stamps:  Zen Feather, Chevron Cheer
• Dies:  Zen Feather Die set
• Ink:  Shea Butter, Sea Foam, Skylight, Midnight
• Paper:  Premium White Cardstock
• Accessories:  Wanderlust embossing glitter (WOW!)

 

For my next card I got a little whimsical with the Love Grows stamp set.  I had so much fun stamping this one!   Using some of Catherine's brand new stamping blocks I just old schooled some layered stamping with the flowers and stamped a wavy border using the flower stems from the same stamp set.   The little ink splatters were super easy using stamps from the Eat, Sleep, Create stamp set.  What better way to control your ink splatters than to stamp them!

 

 

A little bit of diecut fun with the Create die!

   

 For this card I used the following supplies from Catherine Pooler Designs:

• Stamps:  Love Grows, Eat Sleep Create
• Dies:  Create die
• Ink:  Polished, Sugared Lavender, Stone Blue, Spruce, Shea Butter, Midnight
• Paper:  Premium White Cardstock

 

 Well, that's all for today.  I'll be back soon with some more of my Zen Garden creations.  Thank you so much for stopping by.

Happy Stamping!!

Essentials by Ellen February Pin-Sights Challenge

Hello crafty friends!   I'm so excited to be invited over to the Ellen Hutson blog today, to play along with the monthly Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge.  Every third Thursday of the month a new inspirational challenge is posted with a chance for you to win a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store.

Here is the gorgeous inspiration photo collage that you can use to make your card for February.

The rules are pretty simple when making your card:

1. Incorporate whatever inspires you about these pinned photos and colors.
2. Be sure to use some Essentials by Ellen products in your creation.
3.  Head on over to the Ellen Hutson Pin-sights challenge and link your card up to the challenge gallery You have until February 28th to enter to win!

I made two cards today that were inspired by the purple floral bouquet on the bottom and the gorgeous colors in the top photo.

I started out by stamping two identical backgrounds with the Essentials by Ellen Mondo Hydrangea stamp set.  Once on Canson Watercolor paper and once on Neenah Solar White cardstock.  This was made super easy by using the MISTI stamp positioner.

I water colored the image on watercolor paper using different shades of Ranger Distress Inks.   Then I diecut a heart shape in the finished watercolored piece, setting the heart aside.  I adhered the negative background piece it to the card front with dimensional tape.  I heat embossed the sentiment on a strip of black paper using white embossing powder then adhered it over the heart shape using dimensional tape.  I stamped, watercolored and cut out three single flowers to adhere with dimensional tape and added a few sequins for some sparkle.

Card 1 Supplies: 

• Stamps:  Mondo Hydrangea (Essentials by Ellen)

• Dies: Lawn Cuts Dies, Heart Stackables (Lawn Fawn)

• Ink:  Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough, Black Soot (Ranger), Onyx Black (Versafine), clear (Versamark).

• Paper: Neenah Solar White cardstock 110 lb, Canson Watercolor Paper

• Accessories:  WOW! Superfine White Embossing Powder,  Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Mounting Tape (Scotch)

Now, because I can't bring myself to throw away a diecut piece that I've already colored, I decided to use it on a second card.   This is where the second background on Neenah cardstock comes into play.  After gluing it to a cardfront, I lined the heart up in the middle and adhered it with dimensional tape for a subtle spotlight affect.  I added three single watercolored flowers  and the Essentials by Ellen Be-You-Ti-Ful diecut sentiment that I color blended with Ranger Distress inks.

Supplies: 

• Stamps:  Mondo Hydrangea (Essentials by Ellen)

• Dies: Be-You-Tiful (Essentials by Ellen),   Lawn Cuts Dies, Heart Stackables (Lawn Fawn)

• Ink:  Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough, Black Soot (Ranger), Onyx Black (Versafine).

• Paper: Neenah Solar White cardstock 110 lb, Canson Watercolor Paper

• Accessories:  Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops Black Ebony,   Mounting Tape (Scotch)

Well, that's all for today my friends. I had a great time with this challenge and  I hope you get a chance to play along.

  

The Ton's February Challenge - Heart

Hi everyone!  It's time for another monthly challenge over at The Ton!
For the month of February we're celebrating what else?..... love of course, with the cue word  "HEART".



 The Ton's Challenge Blog 

We challenge you to make a card using the cue word HEART as your inspiration.   You have the whole month of February to enter as many times as you like, for a chance to WIN a $50 gift certificate  for  The Ton online store.  You can click on the link to head on over and check out the details any time.  But first I'd like to show you a card I made for this month's  
Heart Challenge!

The word "HEART" inspired me to pull out those adorable heart shaped Sunnies glasses to compliment the "fabulous" stamp from The Ton's new Seriously Amazing stamp set. 

Supplies:

• Stamps:  Seriously Amazing, Sunnies, Beautiful Day Bicycle, XOXO (The Ton).

• Dies:  Sunnies Coordinating Dies

• Ink:  Hollywood Star, Ballet Slippers, Noir, Hampton White Pigment (The Ton), clear emboss (Versamark).

• Paper:  Silver Glitter Adhesive Paper (The Ton), Solar White cardstock 110 lb (Neenah), black cardstock.

• Accessories:  Silver Metallic Sequins 4mm (The Ton), white superfine embossing powder, clear superfine embossing powder (Ranger), dimensional tape.

To give the affect of seeing thru the glasses, I first stamped the "fabulous" word multiple times on the card base with The Ton's Hollywood Star ink and set aside.  On another piece of cardstock I stamped the "fabulous" one more time. Then, using a blending tool I lightly blended the light pink Ballet Slippers ink over the top of the fabulous.  This is what gave the word a blurry, muted look.

 After the ink dried I stamped the glasses from the Sunnies stamp set in Noir black, over the blended "fabulous" word, then diecut the image.  To make them shine like real sunglasses,  I took a clear Versamark ink pad directly to the glasses image and then embossed clear embossing powder over the top.  Doing this step muted the the stamped word even more.  I positioned the glasses on the stamped card base with dimensional tape, being sure to line up the letters on the glasses to the letters on the card base.  I added some little Silver Metallic Sequins on the frames for some bling.

To finish up this card I added a strip of  The Ton's Silver Glitter Adhesive Paper to the bottom of the card.  I also stamped some black hearts from the Beautiful Day Bicycle stamp set and the sentiment from the Sunnies stamp set.  I used the new XOXO stamp set on the inside of the card to wish a Happy Valentine's Day!

That's all  for today my friends.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you'll make some time this month to join in this fun Heart Challenge with us over at The Ton Blog.  We love seeing all of your creations and it's so fun to see everyone's interpretation of each challenge.  

Have a great day and happy stamping! 

The Ton’s 3rd Anniversary Blog Hop

Hi friends!  Welcome to   The Ton's 3rd Anniversary Release Blog Hop!  This "mini" blog hop showcases a handful of designers each day, all the way thru Friday, January 26th.  We're excited to show you The Ton's release and all of the new stamps, dies and Couture Mixes are on sale NOW in
The Ton shop!
 You can head on over any time and check it out!  Also, my post today contains links to each product that I used so you can find them easily.

When you're done here be sure to leave a comment down below then head on over to The Ton blog every day my friends, because of course there are daily prizes to be had! (more info below).

Details:

For The Ton's 3rd Anniversary Release, Effie has released 23 new stamps and die sets and 9 new couture mixes! There are also three new gifts with purchases that you can obtain with this new release: 
  

• Spend $125 or more: Receive a 4x6 Daisy Duet Photopolymer set

• Spend $250 or more: Receive our three set 6x8 inch Peony Notes Bundle [Sets A+B+C] (and a Daisy Duet Photopolymer set).

 

 **Incentive products are available for purchase separately**
 
 *This promotion does not apply to prior purchases.
*The threshold amount is calculated before taxes and shipping.
*This promotion will continue until February 1 at 11:59pm EST or until supplies last.
*Limit one incentive package per order.
*No coupon code needed. 
*All incentive products will be added to qualified orders automatically (but will not be shown in your cart at checkout)
*There must be at least one new release stamp in your order to qualify for these GWPs.
*For orders previously placed containing our new Smooched or XOXO Mini sets: These previous qualifying orders can be added to your new order to qualify for incentive products. Please include original order number in the notes of your second order. 


For my first card today I used:

Buildable Woodgrain

Coming up Daisies Stamps
and Coordinating Die

Rose Champagne Sparkle Couture Mix

This beautiful Buildable Woodgrain background stamp set is such a great concept.  It gives you plenty of room to play with different patterns and different color combinations for the background of your card.  No two cards are alike when you use this set.  I stamped mine using inks from The Ton:  Crystal Pewter, Smoky Quartz and Light Onyx.

Aren't those flowers gorgeous?    I stamped them in Caviar ink and then colored them with Kuretake real brush watercolor markers.  If you look closely, you will see that I die cut this using the Coming Up Daisies coordinating die.  What I like about this die is that it really cuts close to the image.  It also cuts out all the little center pieces so your background can show in between the flowers and stems.

I trimmed my florals off to allow extra room for the sentiment I chose from the Peony Notes B stamps set.  I don't like to waste anything that I took time coloring so I just added the trimmed piece to the inside of the card.    I added a little sparkle to the front of the card with some of the new Rose Champagne Sparkle Mix.

For my second card I used:

Peony Notes A, B & C

Painted Peonies

Mint Sugar Couture Mix

For my second card I wanted to try the whole Peony Notes set together, A, B & C.  I stamped the blue background first using Blue Diamond ink.  Then I stamped the flowers with:  Vanilla Frosted Cupcake, Beach Blondie, Amber Citrine.  The leaves were stamped with:  Bright Fern and Deep Emerald.  All of these sets are made to work wonderfully together.

Not much else was needed on my card because I filled the whole front with beautiful stamped images.  All I had to do was add a sentiment and added a few sequins from the Mint Sugar Couture Mix.

 How to Win:

• DAILY RELEASE GIVEAWAYS: For each Release Day (1 through 3), The Ton is giving away a stamp set of choice from the new release! So there are three stamps up for grabs! To qualify, you must leave a comment on The Ton's Daily Release posts. Leave a comment on each Design Team member's blogs to increase your chances of winning. The comment period will close on January 28, 5pm EST. Winners will be announced thereafter on The Ton’s blog  

• BLOG HOP GIVEAWAYS: For each day of The Ton’s blog hop festivities (1/19 to 1/26), Effie is giving away a stamp set of choice to a lucky commenter. To qualify, you must leave a comment on each blog stop for the respective giveaway day for which you are entering. The comment period for all giveaways closes on January 28, 5pm EST.

Time to Hop!
 Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoy all of the hop days this week.  Be sure to leave your comment down below before you hop on over the awesome Chris Dayton's blog.


 The Ton
Janette Kausen
Lisa Harrolle
Chris Dayton

 Have a great day!

The Ton’s 3rd Anniversary Release - Day 3

Hi friends!  Welcome back to Day 3 of  The Ton's 3rd Anniversary Release!  This is the last day of   The Ton's release and all of the new stamps, dies and Couture Mixes are on sale NOW in
The Ton shop!
 You can head on over any time and check it out!

Don't forget, starting on Friday, you can hop along with us for 7 days of inspiration and fun on
The Ton Blog Hop!   Along with the design team we'll also have some very special guest designers on our hop!  When you're done here be sure to leave a comment down below then head on over to The Ton blog every day my friends, because of course there are daily prizes to be had! (more info below).

 

Details:

For The Ton's 3rd Anniversary Release, Effie has released 23 new stamps and die sets and 9 new couture mixes! There are also three new gifts with purchases that you can obtain with this new release: 
  

• Spend $125 or more: Receive a 4x6 Daisy Duet Photopolymer set

• Spend $250 or more: Receive our three set 6x8 inch Peony Notes Bundle [Sets A+B+C] (and a Daisy Duet Photopolymer set).

 **Incentive products are available for purchase separately**
 
 *This promotion does not apply to prior purchases.
*The threshold amount is calculated before taxes and shipping.
*This promotion will continue until February 1 at 11:59pm EST or until supplies last.
*Limit one incentive package per order.
*No coupon code needed. 
*All incentive products will be added to qualified orders automatically (but will not be shown in your cart at checkout)
*There must be at least one new release stamp in your order to qualify for these GWPs.
*For orders previously placed containing our new Smooched or XOXO Mini sets: These previous qualifying orders can be added to your new order to qualify for incentive products. Please include original order number in the notes of your second order. 

Introducing:

Sweet Folk Hummingbird

Delicate Polka Dot Cling

Pink Bokeh Mix

What an adorable set this is.   I love that sweet little hummingbird and those extra large flowers are beautiful and so easy to color.  I started off stamping both the flowers and hummingbird with The Ton's Caviar ink.  This ink works great with Kuretake Real Brush Watercolor markers.  I went for bold colors to make this a bright, happy card.

I stamped the polka dots directly onto the front of the folded card base with The Ton's Cali Blue ink, then assembled the colored diecut pieces on top using dimensional tape to adhere the bird.

I stamped the sentiment in the bottom right corner and added a strip of The Ton's Silver Glitter Adhesive Paper to the bottom of the card to ground the flower stem a little.  I topped it off with some sparkle from one of the 9 new Couture Mixes:  Pink Bokeh Mix

 How to Win:

• DAILY RELEASE GIVEAWAYS: For each Release Day (1 through 3), The Ton is giving away a stamp set of choice from the new release! So there are three stamps up for grabs! To qualify, you must leave a comment on The Ton's Daily Release posts. Leave a comment on each Design Team member's blogs to increase your chances of winning. The comment period will close on January 28, 5pm EST. Winners will be announced thereafter on The Ton’s blog  

• BLOG HOP GIVEAWAYS: For each day of The Ton’s blog hop festivities (1/19 to 1/26), Effie is giving away a stamp set of choice to a lucky commenter. To qualify, you must leave a comment on each blog stop for the respective giveaway day for which you are entering. The comment period for all giveaways closes on January 28, 5pm EST.

Check these out!
 For your convenience, here is a list of the designers that created more fun projects for Day 3.
Stop on by and check them out!

The Ton
Mayline
Eunji
Vera
Laura Jane
Jenny
Tae Eun
Brenda
Anna
Olga

 Thank you so much for stopping by my blog for this release this week.  The Ton's awesome 8 day blog hop starts tomorrow.   I'll be back on Sunday to share some more cards with you and more chances to WIN!!

 Have a great day!

The Ton’s 3rd Anniversary Release - Day 2

Hi friends!  Welcome back to Day 2 of  The Ton's 3rd Anniversary Release!  Tuesday thru Thursday of this week,  The Ton's design team and I are showcasing a whole new line of fun products designed by Effie Cho.  Right here on my blog I'm showing off some of the awesome new stamps and dies that will be available for purchase tomorrow at  
The Ton !

The fun doesn't stop there!  Starting on Friday, you can hop along with us for 7 days of inspiration and fun on 
The Ton Blog Hop.  Along with the design team we'll also have some very special guest designers on our hop!  When you're done here be sure to leave a comment down below then head on over to The Ton blog every day my friends, because of course there are daily prizes to be had! (more info below).

Details:

For The Ton's 3rd Anniversary Release, Effie has released 23 new stamps and die sets and 9 new couture mixes! There are also three new gifts with purchases that you can obtain with this new release: 
  

• Spend $125 or more: Receive a 4x6 Daisy Duet Photopolymer set

• Spend $250 or more: Receive our three set 6x8 inch Peony Notes Bundle [Sets A+B+C] (and a Daisy Duet Photopolymer set).

 **Incentive products are available for purchase separately**
 
 *This promotion does not apply to prior purchases.
*The threshold amount is calculated before taxes and shipping.
*This promotion will continue until February 1 at 11:59pm EST or until supplies last.
*Limit one incentive package per order.
*No coupon code needed. 
*All incentive products will be added to qualified orders automatically (but will not be shown in your cart at checkout)
*There must be at least one new release stamp in your order to qualify for these GWPs.
*For orders previously placed containing our new Smooched or XOXO Mini sets: These previous qualifying orders can be added to your new order to qualify for incentive products. Please include original order number in the notes of your second order. 



Introducing:

Timeless Peonies

Painted Peonies

Delicate Polka Dots

 Pink Cosmo Twist Mix

For my card today I stamped the beautiful new Timeless Peonies.  This layered stamp set is pretty awesome.  I have never worked with anything quite like it.  I found the easiest way to stamp this set is from the outside in.  That means I started by stamping the background first, in a beautiful shade of Crystal Pewter gray.  Then I stamped the leaves using
The Ton's Soft Garden and Bright Fern.  I saved the layered peonies for last and they lined up beautifully.  One thing I do want to mention is that this design is very forgiving.  If you slip up and your stamping is off a little,  you won't even notice when your piece is finished.  You achieve a beautiful background print, customized with the colors you choose.   I used Rose Quartz, Soft Garnet and Red Sangria for my peonies.

This would have been a beautiful one layer background on it's own but I decided to bump it up a notch by die cutting some of The Ton's  Double Stitched Rectangles (Large).  I stamped the front of the folded card base with the new Delicate Polka Dots rubber cling background stamp.  Then I glued the outside of the floral piece onto the front of the card. The next piece I bumped up with a little dimension tape then added a sentiment from the new Painted Peonies stamp set.  After I finished this card I realized that it would make a beautiful shaker card. Darn it!  Too late.   Instead, I just glued down a whole bunch of the new Pink Cosmo Twist Mix inside the little sentiment window to make a faux shaker card.  It almost looks like a real shaker!

 How to Win:

• DAILY RELEASE GIVEAWAYS: For each Release Day (1 through 3), The Ton is giving away a stamp set of choice from the new release! So there are three stamps up for grabs! To qualify, you must leave a comment on The Ton's Daily Release posts. Leave a comment on each Design Team member's blogs to increase your chances of winning. The comment period will close on January 28, 5pm EST. Winners will be announced thereafter on The Ton’s blog  

• BLOG HOP GIVEAWAYS: For each day of The Ton’s blog hop festivities (1/19 to 1/26), Effie is giving away a stamp set of choice to a lucky commenter. To qualify, you must leave a comment on each blog stop for the respective giveaway day for which you are entering. The comment period for all giveaways closes on January 28, 5pm EST.

Check these out!
 For your convenience, here is a list of the designers that created more fun projects for Day 2.
Stop on by and check them out!

The Ton
Mayline
Eunji
Vera
Laura Jane
Jenny
Tae Eun
Brenda
Anna
Olga


Wait!

Just a reminder:  The Ton's January Challenge is now live! For this month, we have a fun Word Challenge so head over there now for a chance to win a $50 spree to The Ton’s shop!***
 ***Gift certificates only apply to The Ton stamps, dies, ink, gilding and embossing powder.