Thinking Inking

Thinking of You: MFT Color Challenge #116

Good morning! Today I'm playing along with the My Favorite Things Stamps Color Challenge #116. I picked my most recent favorite stamp  set, Flower Silhouettes. (But I did open a new box of stamps yesterday and always reserve the right to find new favorites!)  I realized just now as I was looking at the photo above that I added a light yellow flower in there. . . Oops. Artistic license? Also, I airbrushed the background with a couple of Copic markers, YG13 and BG02, going for Blu Raspberry and Limelight with those. 

How about joining us for this challenge? Check out the MFT Stamps Blog for more inspiration and for the details! Thanks for stopping by,

Smile: MFT Flower Silhouettes Card Kit AVAILABLE!

Welcome! It's release day for the My Favorite Things Stamps Flower Silhouettes Card Kit! (I'm not finished with this kit yet though--I used it for a color challenge card on Thursday too.) I really have enjoyed this kit, mostly because you can make quick, easy cards that don't look that quick and easy. The coordinating dies are really simple to align as well. What's not to like there? :-)

For today's card I colored my stamps with water-based markers, then spritzed them lightly with water and stamped them on watercolor paper. That's it--easy-peasy!  (I used Tombow markers, but if you have Stampin' Up or pretty much any kind of water-based markers, just color your stamp, spritz, and them stamp right away.)

Be sure to visit the MFT Stamps Blog for links to all of today's team posts on the Flower Silhouettes Card Kit. Again, these products are now available at MFT Stamps. Thank you for stopping by,

Hugs to You: MFT Flower Silhouettes Card Kit

Welcome! I have a second My Favorite Things Stamps Flower Silhouettes Card Kit project to share today. (Did I mention that I've loved playing with the Flower Silhouettes images?) For today's card, I've stamped my images solidly--not worrying with making the stems one color and the blooms another. I paired my stamped, die-cut images with with the Jumbo Peek-a-Boo Circle Window dies and a curved label from the flower stems Builder Blueprints 5 for a sweet, fresh wildflower bouquet. The background is lightly airbrushed with two Copic markers--G43 and BG45. If you don't airbrush, you could sponge a background just as easily. 

Be sure to visit the MFT Stamps Blog for links to all of today's team posts! These products will be available on Tuesday, April 23. Thank you for stopping by,

Always Being There: Introducing Betsy Veldman's The Greetery!

Welcome! This morning I am excited to be sharing a couple of cards made with my sweet friend Betsy Veldman's The Greetery stamps, dies, and stencils.  I've admired both Betsy's work and her character for years, and I wish her the greatest success in her new venture! Betsy sent me two stamp sets, along with coordinating dies and stencils--Hand in Hand, and Fir & Foliage.

Shown above is a list of the Copic markers that I used to color the Hand and Heart images and to airbrush the path, grass, and sky. I used a scrap of terrycloth spritzed with Copic Colorless Blender solution to get texture on the airbrushed stone pathway. Also, I fussy-cut around the lady's hand and lower left forearm so that she was holding hands more obviously with her husband.

For my second card, I thought I would make a masculine card that I could use as a Father's Day card. The stamped images are from Fir & Foliage, but the sentiments are from Hand in Hand. It was very simple to align the tree parts--I used my MISTI. :-)

The Greetery's storefront will go live on Friday, April 26, at 10am Eastern time. At this time, you will be able to find ALL of the products that Betsy introduces this week. Be sure to check her Greetery blog every day to see who is sharing her new sets for that day--I've watched the sneak peeks, and I know that they'll be awesome!

For today, I hope you get a chance to visit The Greetery's Blog, Day 1 to see what Betsy has cooked up for your visual pleasure, as well as checking out the following blogs who also have some eye candy with today's sets:

Heather Nichols

Dawn McVey

Lizzie Jones

Wanda Guess

Keeway Tsao

Thank you for stopping by today,

Hand in Hand Card (Products used are from The Greetery unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Hand In Hand, Fir & Foliage 
Dies: Hand in Hand, Fir & Foliage
Ink: Sour Apple, Field Day, Milk Chocolate (My Favorite Things Stamps)
Cardstock: Grout Gray, Smooth White, Gumdrop Green (My Favorite Things Stamps)
Embellishments: Rustic Twine (PTI)
Stencils: Fir & Foliage Stencils
Copic Markers: All listed above in Copic Color Map
Tools: Copic Airbrush System and air compressor, Die Cutting Machine, MISTI

Fir & Foliage Dad Card (Products used are from The Greetery unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Fir & Foliage, Hand in Hand (sentiment)
Tree Dies: Fir and Foliage
Ink: Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); Gumdrop Green (My Favorite Things Stamps)
Cardstock: Kraft, Smooth White (MFT)
Copic Markers (for airbrushed Background): YG95, B05, B23
Tools: Copic Airbrush System and air compressor, Die Cutting Machine, MISTI

Sending Hugs: MFT Flower Silhouettes Card Kit

Welcome! Today begins the My Favorite Things Stamps April Flower Silhouettes Card Kit Release previews. I've created three different cards to share in the next couple of days, and even more surprising, this one is IN THE MAIL already! (Okay, maybe you aren't as bad as I am at actually mailing all of the cards that you make!) I loved the Flower Silhouettes Card Kit--it was easy to work with it suitable to many styles and varied media. So far I've used ink and watercolor, and I've seen some lovely examples of others heat embossing the flowers and inking around them. 

I stamped flowers in the background using the inks shown in my supply list below, and I stamped a few extras to die-cut and pop up on top. I gave the background a quick spritz of Copic BG45 for sky, knowing that the blue-green would cut the flowers stamped on the card front, but that I could layer those die-cut ones on top to regain my pop of pure color. These are easy to stamp, and easy to line up in the dies. By the way, you DO have to be sure to get the stamp placed cleanly--without distorting it or pulling the stem to one side--on the acrylic block when you mount the flower on your acrylic block if you intend to die-cut it. My best tip for that: peel your stamp off of the contact sheet, then just lay it back side up on paper (not your desktop since it might stick to that--but just plain old paper). Then lay you block directly onto the stamp. When you pick the block up, that stamp will be on there just right, and you won't have a problem aligning the flower with the die when you are ready to die-cut it. You're welcome! ;-)

I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps Blog for links to all of today's team posts! These products will be available on Tuesday, April 23. Thank you for stopping by,

Club La-La Land Crafts April Release: Poodles of Love

Welcome! Today I have a second card and coloring video to share, using the April 2019 Club La-La Land Crafts Kit. For this one, I used the Poodles of Love stamp set, along with the Paris die (April Kit) and LLLC's Stitched Elements Die. For patterned papers, I found some perfect digital scrapbooking papers and printed them out at 50% (6" x 6")--Samantha Walker's More Paris Girl Pink and Black and More Paris Girl Pink and Gray. 

If you'd like to see how I colored these poodles with my Copic markers, check out the video above. If you have any problems viewing the YouTube video that is embedded above, HERE is a direct link to my Coloring Poodles of Love images: https://youtu.be/pLeRXUQPpOY

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to color the Poodles of Love images. 

Sign Up for the April 2019 Kit shown above
will go through April 19.

Here's a picture of the FULL kit--two stamp sets and three dies. Of course, if you prefer just stamp sets of just dies, you can subscribe to that option as well. I explained the club part pretty thoroughly yesterday, so i think I'll just link you to the April 2019 Club LLLC kit page to learn more if you'd like.

Well, I guess that's it for today--I hope that someone finds the video helpful! Thanks for stopping by,

Please note that the Club La-La Land Kit links that I have used in today's 
post are affiliate links. Thanks!

Club La-La Land Crafts April Release: Paris, Anyone?

Welcome! I'm pretty excited to share what I've been up to for the last few days--coloring some super cute images from the April 2019 Club La-La Land Crafts Kit! Today I have a card to share with you, as well as both a kit preview video AND a coloring Marci in Paris video.  Tomorrow I will have a second card to share, with its own coloring video as well. (Yes, my Copics have been getting a good workout. . . and we won't even talk about video editing! ;-} )

Shown above are the Copic markers that I used to color the Marci in Paris and Poodles of Love images. Patterned papers are from the Carta Bella It's a Girl 6" x 6" paper pad. 

If you have any problems viewing the YouTube video that is embedded above, HERE is a direct link to my Coloring Marci in Paris video: https://youtu.be/WBYz2YeWDvU

And HERE is a direct link to my preview of the April kit video: https://youtu.be/tsvyE0Iu6Ac It's not just about opening a package--I tossed some helpful tidbits in, I hope!

PRODUCT KIT $39.99 (stamp kit AND die kit)

STAMP KIT $19.99

DIES Only KIT $29.99

Several project tutorials are also available to club members too!

Sign Up for the April 2019 Kit shown above will go through April 19.

You can find out more about the April Club La-La Land Kit HERE. Fair warning--the kit is on a subscription basis, and it's available for a very limited time--through April 19. Occasionally kit images may rotate into the regular LLLC stamp line six months to a year later, according to the website. But if you think you love it, that date is April 19.

Again, I will have one more April kit post tomorrow, along with a coloring video for the poodles in the Poodles of Love stamp set. 

Please note that the Club La-La Land Kit links that I have used here are affiliate links. Thanks!

Thank you and Happy Birthday: MFT WSC432

Welcome! Today I'm playing along with the My Favorite Things Stamps Wednesday Sketch Challenge, WSC432. I have two cards today, because when i finished the first one, I had another one in my head still--I'm sure you understand that! Sketch 432 lent itself to a simple card, using sentiment strips or even washi tape for the three strips on the left side. It seemed like a perfect place to try out that new free-with-$60-purchase Stitched Ric-Rac die too!

I used an older floral stamp set, Bold Blooms, to stamp my focal panel on the left, stamping three extra of the light purple/Grapesicle flowers so that I'd have something extra to pop up with foam tape. This is such a simple stamp set to work with--pne of my go-to whimsical floral sets for sure.  After cutting my slanted sentiment strips, I stamped a sentiment on one, and then images from the same Bold Blooms set on the other two pieces to make them look like washi tape.

For my second card, I used mostly patterned paper from the Sweet Celebration paper pack, with a sentiment from another older stamp set, LDJ Birthday Greetings--easy peasy!

Would you like to play along with the Sketch Challenge? Check the MFT Stamps Blog for more details and more sketch inspiration as well! Thanks for stopping by,

This Little Piggy Loves You: MFT and Friends

Welcome back! It's April release day for My Favorite Things Stamps; all of the lovely stamp sets and dies atet you've been seeing over the past five days are now available. I couldn't resist revisiting the Piggy Pebbles and the Scene Builder stamp sets, along with that fabulous Window Die-namics. This time, however, I put the scene on the inside of my card to give it more depth and make it a true window.

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to color the Piggy Pebbles and Scene Builder images.

Again, all of the new April products are now available, and the links below should all work. Each of the MFT Design Team member AND some amazing guests will have projects to share today, so please check out the MFT Stamps Blog for many more cool projects and products, as well as a chance to win fabulous prizes. Good luck on the giveaway, and thank you for visiting,

Love to Bake Marci: Two Cards and a Coloring Video!

Welcome! This morning I'm back to share a couple more cards made with the March 2019 Club La-La Land Kit stamps and dies. I hope you picked this kit up when it was available in March! If you did, then this is a little more inspiration as you play with your kit. (If not, I'm told that you can purchase past kits that are still available beginning with the second month in a club subscription. I'm new to club kits, but what I've gathered so far is that if you love it the first time you see it, you need to get it then! But if you didn't get it then, there will probably be another chance, and there will definitely be another awesome kit the next month--just watch for it!)

My first card features Love to Bake Marci, along with one of her three Baking Hamster sidekicks. I colored Marci's hair and skin on the video below, and I paper-pieced her clothing.

Yes, I sped it up--it's only ten minutes long. It would have been almost forty minutes long otherwise, and nobody wants to watch me color for forty minutes!

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to color the Love to Bake Marci and Baking Hamsters images. Patterned papers are from the Echo Park Petticoats & Pinstripes 6" x 6" paper pad. 

Next I have a card featuring the cupcake/muffin die in the March kit; I designed my card around the sentiment that's on the inside of my card, "You are a cupcake in a world full of muffins." I loved that sentiment and knew that I wanted one cupcake and several muffins. (It's simple to make cupcakes vs. muffins: with your muffin, tuck the top inside the wrapper, and with the cupcake, leave the top on the outside of the cupcake wrapper.) I added a bit of Glossy Accents to my little strawberry on top of the cupcake, as well as glitter on the frosting. I think that you could also use the muffin configuration to make chocolates--you know, the ones that come in paper wrappers like  a Whitman's Sampler. . . Patterned paper for this card is digital, printed on a color laser printer at 50% scale, Carta Bella Homemade with Love Paper Pack 2.

Again, check THIS PAGE for more about the Club La-La Land Crafts Monthly Kits. Please note that an affiliate link IS used in this post.

Thank you for visiting!

 

Hello, Little One: MFT Release Countdown Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of the My Favorite Things Stamps April Release Countdown! Today I'm sharing both the Sweetest Somebunny set and the All Lined Up Background. I did just a little bit of airbrushing on the background, leaving my circle die in place to mask the edges, and then stamping on top of the airbrushed background with the Sweetest Somebunny images.

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to color the Sweetest Somebunny images.

While I have linked the MFT products that I used below, the links to the NEW product links will not be live links until release day, 10am Eastern Time, Tuesday, April 9. All of the other links should work now. Be sure to check the MFT Stamps blog for more March Release inspiration AND for a chance to win some great prizes! Thank you for visiting,

Across the Miles: MFT Release Countdown Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the My Favorite Things Stamps April Release Countdown! At 10am Eastern time on Tuesday, April 9, the April release will be live, and all of the new products shown in the past few days will be available. Today I chose Stacey Yacula's Scene Builder stamp set to share, paired with the new Window Die-namics. I used an older background stamp, Wood Plank background, to try to represent. . . shiplap. . . (That's for you Fixer Upper fans--you're welcome!)

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to color the Scene Builder images. I kept it pretty light in value overall, going for a peaceful, light, and dreamy farm look.

In addition to the ones that I've shared here, there are more fabulous new products being showcased today; I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps Blog for a complete list of designers playing along with today's new products AND to enter for prizes! Remember that while all MFT products that I used are linked below, the NEW product links won't be live until release time--that's Tuesday morning (April 9) at 10am Eastern time. All other links should work now. Thank you for stopping by today!