Whale Hello by Trina Pham

Whale hello everyone!  As you might have guessed, I have a punny nautical card to share today.  It was inspired by Sandy Allnock and her collection of porthole cards.

The background was created with blue, aqua and green alcohol inks on yupo paper.  Spritz it with rubbing alcohol to give it a bubbles texture.  Went in with a Copic Colorless Blender to add even more bubbles. The large whale from Wonderful Whale Frame was die cut three times from mixed media paper and colored with Copics.  

Two circle dies from Circle Basics were then used to die cut from mixed media paper twice and from silver foil paper once.  They were stacked for dimension to form the porthole frame.  The sentiment from Oceanside Typewriter Sentiments was stamped in blue on a mixed media panel, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Mounted the panel onto a white card base with fun foam for more dimension and drew in the nails on the silver porthole frame with a black Copic marker to finish.  And that is all.  Thank you for dropping in.  Have a wonderful week.

Supplies

 

94228 Wonderful Whale Frame craft die

CL5240 Oceanside Typewriter Sentiments clear stamp set

30087 Circle Basics Set

Acrylic Block Stamping by Trina Pham

Hello there.  I’m still playing with my water-based markers and created a clean and simple (CAS) thank you card inspired by this month’s warm colors challenge.

I used the markers this time to do some simple acrylic block stamping.  Took a red, orange and yellow marker and randomly scribbled onto a long acrylic block.  Spritz it with water until droplets pooled (4 or 5 times) then stamped onto a piece of watercolor paper.  Because these colors are analogous (they are next to each other on the color wheel), I “wiggled” the block back and forth slightly to get the colors to blend better.  Left the block sitting on top and set it aside for several minutes so the colors absorbed into the paper.

In the meantime, the large daisy from Daisy Silhouette was die cut three times from Bristol paper.  A square die from Square Basics was used to die cut the three windows from a Bristol panel.  Drew lines on the back to help with alignment.  Used the square die one size up with that die to create the frames. 

Adhered the watercolor background piece to a white top folding card base, then popped the panel and daisies over top with mounting tape for some dimension.  White heat embossed the sentiment from Springtime Typewriter Sentiments on a black cardstock strip to finish.  And that does it for me.  Thank you for dropping by... and extra thanks for those who take the time to leave such kind comments.  I really appreciate it.  Have a super day.

 

Supplies

 

94249 Daisy Silhouette craft die

CL5239 Springtime Typewriter Sentiments clear stamp set

30088 Square Basics Set

Raining Watercolors by Trina Pham

Hello there.  Today I have a clean and simple watercolor card to share.  Recent purchases of some water-based markers made me think of a fun and easy technique called Raining Watercolors.

Started by taping a piece of watercolor paper to a hardboard with painters tape.   On one end of the panel, high concentrations of each color were laid down.  So much so that the watercolor paper pilled.  No worries because that part can be cut away.

Next, held the board upright with a paper towel at the bottom to catch the drips and sprayed with water.  Water and gravity does all the work.  Sped up the drying process with a heat tool.

Because watercolors dry back, the process was repeated a couple more times to get the intensity I wanted.  

To complete the card, a panel was die cut from Bristol paper using Rectangle Basics.  A circle was die cut from that using Circle Basics.  Adhered the watercolor piece behind the opening.  The branch and boy silhouettes were die cut from black cardstock.  Confused where the boy came from?  He’s from Cupid with Swing with the wings trimmed off.

Black heat embossed the sentiment from Big and Little Words to finish.  Thank you for stopping in.  Have a wonderful week.

 

 

Supplies

 

94103 Cupid with Swing craft die

98187 Woodland Branch

CL5242 Big and Little Words lear stamp set

30086 Rectangle Basics Set

30087 Circle Basics Set

Simple Rose Bouquet Twofers by Trina Pham

Hi everyone.  I have two cards to share today using the Rose Bouquet stamp set from the April release.  At the retreat I attended in May, Linda showed us how combining two basic techniques can give gorgeous results.  

All it involves is ink blending and heat embossing!  How simple is that?!  I started by ink blending Distress Oxide (DOx) inks on Bristol paper. Used Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky and Iced Spruce on one and Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Spun Sugar on the other.  Let the panels dry completely.  This is very important before proceeding to the next step.  To speed up the process, I used my heat tool. 

Once completely dry, I placed both panels into my MISTI, stamped the bouquet with VersaMark then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  

Love doing this with large stamps... stamp once and get two!  The blue panel was trimmed down and the sentiments from the same set was black heat embossed.

Black splatters were added before matting it to a black panel leaving a 1/8”  border.

For the other card, the sentiments from Big and Little Words were white heat embossed on black and trimmed down into strips.  

Left the panel A2 sized,

Applied clear shimmer to the flowers on both to finish.  And that does it for today. Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.   

Supplies

 

CL5241 Rose Bouquet clear stamp set

CL5242 Big and Little Words lear stamp set

 

Thank You Kindly by Trina Pham

Hello there.  I am sharing a clean and simple (CAS) thank you card inspired by this month’s Stripes challenge, the beautiful Rose Flower Frame die and a lovely aqua smooshed background piece I had in my stash.

Started by die cutting the Rose Flower Frame from a rectangle piece of Bristol paper.  

Taped the smaller pieces that form the rectangle frame area from behind and removed the other pieces.  Placed a stripe stencil on top and blended Smoky Slate dye ink through the stencil with a blending brush.  

I didn’t worry about blending ink on the frame or flower outline because it was covered up with a silver foil die-cut.

Inlaid the frame back into the Bristol panel.  Attached the aqua background piece behind it.  Stamped the sentiment from Watching the World Bloom with Archival black ink, then mounted the panel onto a white card base to finish.

I loved how easy it all came together, so I went through my stash for other background pieces to use and made these to send to crafty friends at the retreat I went to in May.

Have you played in our Stripes challenge yet?  You have till July 30 EST to enter.  Thank you for stopping in.  Enjoy your day.

 

 

Supplies

 

94247 Rose Flower Frame craft die

CL5197 Watching the World Bloom clear stamp set

Stencil Watercoloring by Trina Pham

Hello there!  I’m back today with another hibiscus birthday card made with a stencil watercoloring technique.  Can you tell blue is my favorite color? 😉

The challenge with watercoloring through a stencil is the watercolors getting underneath the stencil.  To resolve that, all you need is this really affordable product we used when we were kids...

Yes, it’s Elmer’s Rubber Cement glue!  Not only will it help resist the seepage under the stencil, it will secure the stencil in place.  No tape required.

I started by die cutting a DIY stencil with the Hibiscus Collage dies from a piece of acetate.  Applied the glue to the entire back of the stencil.  Let it dry a few seconds then adhered it onto a mix media panel.

Used Zig markers and a waterbrush to watercolor.  It helps not to use too much water, but have a paper towel on hand if you do.  

Once watercoloring is complete, allow it to dry before removing the stencil.  Use an adhesive eraser or just your fingers to remove the glue residue from the stencil and your project.   

Added blue splatters and white heat embossed the sentiment from Birthday Blowout on black cardstock to finish.  And that’s it for today.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great day. 

Supplies

94262 Hibiscus Collage craft die

CL470 Birthday Blowout clear stamp set

Ombré Watercolor Background by Trina Pham

Hello there.  I have a CAS tropical birthday card to share today featuring an easy ombré watercolor background technique that I learned from this video. 

This technique requires two gradient colors of dye inks that are reactive with water.  For my card I used Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean distress inks.  Took a scrap piece of Mix Media paper from my stash, then blended Salty Ocean about halfway down followed with Chipped Sapphire about a quarter way down.

Next, a flat brush was wet with water then dragged down the length of the panel.  The brush should be wet, but not soaking or dripping.

I overworked my panel a little more than what was recommended in the video, but for what I was planning to do, it didn’t matter.

Before negative diecutting the panel with the Hibiscus Collage dies, Stick It adhesive was added to the back.  When diecutting was complete, it was adhered to regular white cardstock cut to the same size as the panel.  For some shimmer, spritz it with Sparkle spray (wasn’t able to capture it in the photo).  

To finish, heat embossed the sentiment from Birthday Blowout with white embossing powder on a strip of navy cardstock.  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy your weekend!

 

Supplies

 

94262 Hibiscus Collage craft die

CL470 Birthday Blowout clear stamp set

Watercolor Vellum Daisies by Trina Pham

Hello there.  I have a clean and simple birthday card to share today featuring watercoloring on vellum - vellum diecuts to be exact.  Vellum is a beautiful product, but if you’ve ever tried watercoloring it, you know how much it curls and warps.  However, this isn’t always a bad thing.  On my card, the curling added dimension.

 

A couple of key points for this technique: use heavy-weight vellum and use as little water as possible.  

The vellum daisies from Daisy Silhouette were watercolored with Zig markers and a water brush, then set aside to air dry.  Bristol paper was used for the remainder of the card.  The frame was die cut with the Rectangle Basics set.  The diamond pattern from Distressed Windham Collage was used to create the “trellis”.  The sentiment from Watching the World Bloom was white heat embossed on black cardstock.  

Assembled the card onto a white top folding card base and Crystal Glaze added to the centers finished off the card.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

 

 

Supplies

 

94249 Daisy Silhouette craft die

30041 Distressed Windham Collage

CL5197 Watching the World Bloom clear stamp set

30086 Rectangle Basics Set

Cool Baby Wipe Technique by Trina Pham

Happy Sunday everyone!  As I mentioned in my last post, I learned and played with different techniques at my retreat.  One very cool (and easy) technique was a baby wipe technique involving distress oxide inks (DOx) and photo paper.  There’s a video tutorial for it by Kia HERE.  Here’s my CAS card.

Started by ink smooshing Lucky Clover, Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers DOx inks one at a time onto a piece of photo paper.  Let the ink dry in between each color.  This resulted in a cloudy chalky look.  Now comes the cool part.  Take a baby wipe and buff away at the surface to reveal the bright glossy background.  I wiped away only the bottom half of the panel in the photo below to show the difference.

I’ve heard some trying this technique with glossy paper, so I thought I would do a comparison.  I used the same DOx colors for both and as you can see, my glossy paper turned out very different.   I was advised that certain photo papers do not work either, so it could very well be my brand of glossy paper.  

To complete my card, the Scribble Leafy Branch Background was die cut from the panel and from a scrap of white glitter paper to be inlaid.  The inlaid panel was adhered behind a window cutout made with the the Rectangle Basics set on a Bristol piece.  Stamped the sentiment from Big and Little Words stamp set with Archival black ink, then mounted with fun foam to a white top folding card base  to finish.

Now I couldn’t let that positive leafy cutout go to waste, so I made a CAS birthday card... possibly for a male?

 

Two more leafy branches were die cut from Bristol cardstock and the sentiment was white heat embossed on black for this second one.

This was another fun technique that I think you should give a try.  Having the correct paper is key.  And that’s it from me.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week.  

 

Supplies

 

94275 Scribble Leafy Branch Background craft die

CL5242 Big and Little Words lear stamp set

Cut Up Rose Bouquet by Trina Pham

Hello there.  I’ve been at a crafting retreat this past week and sadly, today is the final day.  We had six jam packed days of playing with different products and techniques.  One of the techniques we tried, and one that I’ve wanted to try, was Jennifer McGuire’s  Cut Up Stamping.  I knew the gorgeous Rose Bouquet stamp set from the April release would be perfect to use for it and I was right.  I ended up with three cards!

The gist of the technique is to cut strips from stamped panels and then pop up sections with fun foam to add dimension and interest.  For my first card, I stamped the bouquet with Copic friendly black ink on X-press It cardstock then coloured it in with Copics.

Next, the sentiment from Big and Little Words stamp set was stamped in black on the card base using the MISTI.  Adhered the coloured panel with temporary adhesive to the card base, then stamped the sentiment on that.  

Trimmed the sentiment from the coloured panel and assembled with fun foam.  Added clear shimmer to the flowers to finish.

The same steps were repeated for my second card, but in contrast to the first, I kept it monochromatic.  

The bouquet was black heat embossed on Bristol paper and the sentiment was white heat embossed on a black card base.

And finally my third card was created slightly different than the first two.

The bouquet was stamped with Copic friendly black ink on X-press It cardstock in opposite corners and the area between them was coloured in with a B28 Copic Sketch marker.

Cut up the panel in a grid pattern then added the Happy Jotted diecut sentiment to finish.

 

This truly is a fun and easy technique and the possibilities are endless, especially with the Rose Bouquet stamp.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great day. 

 

Supplies

 

CL5241 Rose Bouquet clear stamp set

CL5242 Big and Little Words lear stamp set

94107 Happy Jotted Script craft die