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Posted by on Jul 10, 2018 in Copic style coloring, Mediterranean Moments, Stampin' Blends | 2 comments

Quite Moments

Every once in a while I just want to take a little time to really color something in great detail.  Normally, it is a Saturday morning having coffee and trying to recouping from the week. Taking a few quite moments to just be.  Coloring is a great way to escape and is a great way to learn meditation.  coloring is the closest we can get to meditation without actually really working hard to.  It is an activity that you can completely get lost in.  It can give you a sense of being centered and focused.  It really is a wonderful therapeutic activity.

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Recently, I shared a card using the Mediterranean Moments stamp set. It was a very simple card on Smoky Slate.  I loved the elegance of the gray-scale look of the card! You can see it here. Today, I have a version of the same card colored with Stampin’Up Blends.  The fun thing about using Stampin’ Blends on Smoky Slate is that the marker gives a very watercolor look.

Mediterranean Moments Stamp Set

Mediterranean Moments Stamp Set

I really love this stamp set!!!

We just got 11 new colors of Stampin’ Blends!  These markers are just fabulous!!! They are my favorite coloring tool at the moment…

Stampin' Blends

I love these markers so much they were the product featured in The Creative Way.  I really enjoyed taking a month and really exploring what all you can do with these markers.  The Creative Way is just a jumping off place for many ideas when it comes to such a awesome product!!!

Mediterranean Moments

  • One of the things I did was the bridges are colored with the dark versions of each color in the front. The ones in the back are using the light version of the colors. This is an easy way to add lots of depth to the picture.  The same was done with the bushes and the wall below the bridge
  • Don’t be afraid to try something different. The Stampin’ Blends are very unique looking on the Smoky Slate paper. The ink moves quite a bit more and gives a watercolor look
  • After the image was colored, I used the colorless blender to soften the edges.

Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.  Coloring can be very intimidating.  Just remember that creating is an exploration in the unknown, so really none of us have a clue what we are doing… Lydia at Understand Blue always says “create for the trash can”  I love this idea.  It gives you the freedom to let go and just create.

Each of your comments makes me smile! Please, comment HERE.

There are a few Stampin’ Up! specials this month. One is a Designer Series Paper Sale that is quite special!! Buy 3 get one FREE!!

Sale

The second is for those who Join Stampin’ Up!!  Everyone who Joins Stampin’ Up! to save on their favorite stamps, inks, and papers will receive a FREE family of inks!!! That’s 10 ink pads for FREE! How awesome is that???

Special

The Creative Way – A Product Feature

I adore sharing with you guys all about one product each month! This months feature product is the color Granny Apple Green!! I love the modern fresh feel of this awesome color!!! To see more about Granny Apple Green check out this month’s first post in the Series!

I always enjoy sharing with you guys!  I will be back very soon with a new instalment of The Creative Way! Till then go and live creatively.  I hope you find a few quite moments to try something new or revisit a favorite coloring tool!!

Peace-

Jennifer

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Posted by on Jun 29, 2018 in Beautiful You, June 2018, Stampin' Blends, The Creative Way | 0 comments

New Stampin’ Blends Colors!!!

I’m super excited that the New Colors of Stampin Blends are now available!!! This makes me so happy!!! That we now have 11 new colors with two shades of each color!!! That’s 22 new shades of Stampin’ Blends!!!  If you can’t tell I’m jumping up and down as I tell you this!!!  And I’m squealing like a teen who just saw her favorite celebrity in real life ?  These markers are just wonderful and so fun to work with!  If you have always wanted to try alcohol markers but, never taken the plunge well now is the time!!!

The Creative Way – A Product Feature, Stampin’ Blends

Like I said we have 11 new colors!!! The new colors include: Call Me Clover, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather, Lovely Lipstick, Mint Macaron, Petal Pink, Pineapple Punch, Poppy Parade, Soft Sea Foam, and Soft Suede.  Each of these new colors come in two shades, a light and a dark.  They are available as a set of 2 or as individual markers!!!  The addition of these colors expands the collection to a total of 22 colors plus bronze, ivory, and a colorless blender.

Shop the new colors here

 I have been using these markers all month for The Creative Way, they are just so much fun to color with!  Today’s card is colored on  Sahara Sand cardstock. This is a beautiful color to use your blends on!  Don’t be afraid to experiment with coloring on different colors of cardstock!

Sahara Sand Cardstock

Sahara Sand Cardstock

One of my favorite all time stamp sets is Beautiful You. I adore the way the set is drawn!  It reminds me to take time and slow down and enjoy life!!!  The stamp I am using today stays on my desk always! It reminds me of a peaceful moment.

Beautiful You

Beautiful You Stamp Set

The sentiments are beautiful!!! I love that you can color the girls however you would like. Or you can use the watercolor wash stamps to add a little color! So fun both ways!

Stampin' Blends

  • The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black.
  • Then using the Stampin’ Blends the image was colored in. Here I used Daffodil Delight and Pool Party
  • The sentiment is from Eastern Beauty
  • I tried several different ideas for the background.  But, in the end I decided to keep the card quite simple.

I have really enjoyed sharing with you about the Stampin’ Blends.  I hope you have seen a little something along the way that makes you want to try out these wonderful markers!!

Each of your comments makes me smile! Please, comment HERE.

Shop

The All New Catalog is available and ready for you to shop from.  You can shop online here

The Creative Way – A Product Highlight, Stampin’ Blends

If you would like to see more about the Stampin’ Up! Blends click here

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

I hope your Friday is just perfect!!! Coffee, creativity, and maybe just a little work….

Peace-

Jennifer

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Posted by on Jun 27, 2018 in June 2018, Perennial Birthday, Stampin' Blends, The Creative Way | 0 comments

Happy Birthday blooms

Today I am sharing a card made for a fellow stamper for her birthday.  I decided to use Perennial Birthday stamp set.  I really like how the blooms are drawn in this birthday set.  Of course, they would also pair well with just about any sentiment.

Perennial Birthday

Perennial Birthday

Perennial Birthday stamp set

You can create your own blooms and pair this with the blooms already created to make beautiful backgrounds or clusters of flowers.

The Creative Way, A Product Feature

This months creative way is all about Stampin’ Blends.  I love these fabulous alcohol based markers by Stampin’ Up!  They bring the coordination of Stampin’ Up! Colors to a fun coloring medium! There are so many fun things you can do with these wonderful markers. I have enjoyed exploring all the possibilities while creating ideas for you guys.  Some have been epic fails, some have been surprise successes. But, that’s what creating is all about.  If you are not creating for the trash can, then are you really creating???  Meaning, give yourself the right to make mistakes.  Today’s card went through several generations before I got it exactly how I wanted it!

  • The first thing I did was to create a pattern using the stamps from Perennial Birthday and the returned Poppy Parade
  • Then using my blends and a very loose coloring and the brush tip the blooms were colored.
  • The next step was to use the colorless blender and lightly make brush strokes over the coloring
  • The final step, for the background was to add the little smoky slate dots with the bullet tip of the blend.

Birthday blooms with Stampin' Blends

  • Matching envelopes make the world a happy place .
  • If you are going to use Stampin’ Blends with an envelope, be sure to use a scrap piece of whisper white between the layers so they don’t bless through

I’m sharing a few of my trash can creations that lead to this card.  I always sample on the paper I am planning on using.  Also, I test different colors to get the card just how I want it.

Mistake

A lot of people love thick whisper white for Stampin’ Blends.  My preference is the regular whisper white.  I feel it is easier to get the blends to do their thing on the thinner paper.  And what is their thing??  It is a blend of color that is smooth. For this to happen the fibers have to be soaked with ink.  That’s the point real magic of using blends happen.  I highly suggest you try both regular whisper white and think whisper white. And sea which you like better to get the look you want.  I find when trying to color images on thick whisper white that the point of saturation of fibers is the same point the color bless an outside the lines.  When you use your blends it is perfectly normal to see the coloring on the backside of the paper…you actually want this!!! That means your paper fibers are soaking in the ink and the blends can do there thing!!! In the above picture you can see where the ink is showing through from a test on the other side…..here’s the second side

Not right

Remember, to create for the trash can. It is more than okay to make mistakes!  They are how we learn. And trying something different takes some guts, mistakes, and a positive attitude while figuring it out!!! So, just go for it and create!!!

Each of your comments makes me smile! Please, comment HERE.

Shop

The All New Catalog is available and ready for you to shop from.  You can shop online here

The Creative Way – A Product Highlight, Stampin’ Blends

If you would like to see more about the Stampin’ Up! Blends click here

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Enjoy your awesome day!!! I am in the middle of two art classes. I’m not really sure why I choose summer to learn new things.  What am I learning??? Well, I am taking a colored pencil coloring class with Sandy Allnock. She is awesome!!! And I’m learning so much. I hope to be sharing some things I have been working on for this class with you very soon.  And just because I though life was not busy enough, I decided to mix things up with a large piece mixed media class by Janie Oliver. Wild Awankings  has  already offered a reading assignment and a rust transferring assignment!!! This class is definitely going to take my way out of my comfort zone!!!  I hope each of you have a wonderful Summer!!! And that you fin that living creatively is your vibe!!!

Peace-

Jennifer

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Posted by on Jun 8, 2018 in Animal Outing, June 2018, Stampin' Blends, Swirly Frames, The Creative Way | 1 comment

Animal Outing

Sometimes being creative is about the time you have!  I have had a crazy week with my “real” job.  Most of the time I have the weekends to get a few things together for you guys.  This past weekend did not work out that way, so I have been crunched getting cards made. I started several things to share with you this week .Lots of ideas rolling around in my head. But, none of them ever got finished. (You will be seeing them soon) Work just invaded my creative time.  Last night I was thinking about what I could share with you today.  And Animal Outing came to mind for a quick adorable card.  Seriously, it was already late and I wanted to share with y’all today!!!

Animal Outings Stamp Set

The Animal Outing stamp set is full of sweet sketched animals on an adventure.  There is a rhino, a kangaroo with a little koala bear, a giraffe, and a cute little frog sitting out on a branch.

Animal Outing by Stampin' Up!

The new catalog does a amazing job showing off all that you can do with this set!  Animal Outing is available in wood or clear mounts.  I adore wood mount.  But, really it is your choice. They both feature Stampin’ Up! high quality red rubber that just makes stamping fun!

Animal Outing

This page in the Annual Catalog just makes me happy!  I really love seeing all the cute animals out enjoying life!!  I should also mention that Animal Outing is available in a bundle with the coordinating dies! This saves you 10%  Yeppie!!!

The Creative Way – A Product Feature

I have already mentioned that time to be creative is key.  I normally do much better at managing my creative time and other responsibilities.  In lots of ways the two over lap. That’s because one of my favorite ways to incorporate creativity is to have a bag that has my Stampin’ Blends, a stamp set, clear block, paper, and ink all ready to go.  I take this bag with me and when I have a moment I color images.  This helps when I get home, I have images ready to make cards with .At that point it is all about the card design.

Stampin' Blends

My second time-saving idea for you is to keep the coloring simple. When you have limited time to create it is important to know that you can make cute/beautiful cards without spending an hour or even 30 min. coloring something. The Stampin’ Blends give you the perfect opportunity to explore simple coloring techniques that leave a wow impact!! One way you can figure out coloring quickly is by doing a Google search of the stamp set and see how others colored it! This saves you time in figuring out colors and exactly where you want shading.  Also, a Google search of the image like flowers or rhino will give you great color inspiration.  One other thing you can do is use the Stamp itself as a shading guide.  Lots of stamp sets are drawn so that the shaded areas are sketched in with lines or dots.  This makes it easy for you to know where to shade an image especially when working with Blends!!  Another great way to use your Stampin’ Blends for quick coloring is to use a limited color.  Pick two or three colors and stick with them. Below the Kangaroo and Koala are both colored with two colors, Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate.  The grass is one color light Old Olive.  You can use the colorless blender to add texture and help blending to white paper

Kangaroo and koala bear card

  • Very quickly coloring using a limited number of colors
  • The kangaroo is mostly light Crumb Cake. With Dark Crumb Cake added where the stamp suggested there should be shading
  • The belly and koala bear are light Smoke Slate with light crumb cake added to give it a more French gray look. Aka the new Gray Granite
  • The card was finished off with the New Swirly Frames and layers of Soft Suede and Gray Granite

Shop

The All New Catalog is available and ready for you to shop from.  You can shop online here

The Creative Way – A Product Highlight, Stampin’ Blends

If you would like to see more about the Stampin’ Up! Blends click here

Day 1

I hope each of you have a great weekend!!! I just finished up at work!  So, I’m ready for a few hours tomorrow to be creative!! Go and live creatively!!!

Peace-

Jennifer

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Posted by on Jun 4, 2018 in Birds and Blooms, Hand written, Happy Birthday, Heat Embossing, Heat Embossing, June 2018, Layering Ovals, Petal Palette, Petals and More, Silver Embossing Powder, Stampin' Blends | 2 comments

Stampin’ Blends

I love craft supplies!  I really enjoy trying different coloring methods.  That being said I also have a little sickness called “full set syndrome”  So, when I discover a new coloring medium I dive straight in having to have them all. When Stampin’ Up! introduced their new alcohol markers back during the winter, I was all in!  I loved the alcohol markers I owned (Prismacolor). And now I could have a similar marker with Stampin’ Up! exclusive colors!!! Um, Yes! PLEASE!  When I got these markers in my hand I was even more head over heals!!! The Stampin’ Blends are beyond amazing!

The Creative Way – A Product Feature, Stampin’ Blends

These amazing markers come in 13 amazing colors currently!  A light and dark of 11 Stampin’ Up! colors, ivory, and bronze. There is also a color lifer. The colors available now are, light and dark of each: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Pool Party, and Calypso Coral.   Very soon, there will be even more colors added! (Hopefully Mid June)

Stampin' Blends

 

Why do I love these markers so much? Because as the name suggests they have a amazing ability to blend together creating a smooth or compleat colored image with out harsh lines.  This is because of the alcohol in the markers.

When working with Stampin’ Blends you want to use an ink that will not bless when the alcohol touches it!  Stampin’ Up!  has a great in that is perfect for the Stampin’ Blends. This ink is Memento Tuxedo Black. There are other choices on the market.  But, Memento Tuxedo Black is a wonderful ink that you will enjoy using.

The paper you choose to work on will greatly determine the results of the project. Whisper White is a wonderful choice! The clay finish on the paper makes it wonderful to color on.  Shimmery White is also another choice.  The ink moves really well on Shimmery White Paper.  So, you have to be really careful when coloring close to the edges of images. Cause the color will bleed on this paper.  But, this is easy enough to fix with the color lifter. Another great choice is Glossy White. The blends become very bold on glossy white paper!  The blending effect is less and it is really easy to get dynamic colors.

Today I am show you two cards that have the same background. One is on shimmery white paper The second is one is on Glossy White. Hopefully you will be able to see the difference in the two papers. Both backgrounds were made by scribbling color in kinda rainbow order… The first color was the New Pineapple Punch (available Mid June), then Daffodil Delight light and dark, Calypso Coral light and dark, Cherry Cobbler light and dark, Lovely Lipstick (available Mid June), and Rich Razzleberry light and dark.  Each time a new color was added It was overlapped with the previous color. And if needed more of either overlapping color was added. This created the desired gradient look.  After the coloring was finished the background was spritzed with alcohol leaving water like spots. Also I Flicked ink from several of the markers over the background

Card

  • The background is shimmery white paper with a Stampin’ Blend gradient color pattern
  • The second step was to add the text from the new Handwritten Background stamp with white embossing powder
  • The next step was to heat emboss the edges of the paper
  • Then I picked two contrasting colors (to the background), Bermuda Bay and Granny Apple Green. For the bird and leaves

The stamp set used is Petal Palette along with the Birds and Blooms Thinlit Dies and Petals & More Thinlets Dies

Happy Birthday Card

  • This background is Stampin’ Blends on Glossy White Paper
  • The Happy Birthday was die cut in both Bermuda Bay and Granny Apple Green then sniped so that the Granny Apple Green Birthday could be glued on top of the happy Bi in Bermuda Bay
  • The silver oval is two layers of silver embossing powder. This give the oval a metal look

Hers a look at the two cards side by side! In this picture you can see the difference in the two backgrounds.  Remember the only difference in the process of making the backgrounds was the paper

Gradient background with Stampin' Blends

I really enjoyed making these easy backgrounds! I hope you will give this fun technique a try!

Each of your comments makes me smile! Please, comment HERE.

you can see day one of June’s The Creative Way here

The All New Catalog is available and ready for you to shop from.  You can shop online here

We had a good weekend in Birmingham celebrating with my cousin Cody and his Bride Karley! We are so happy for them!! I’m leaving you with a picture from that day!

Have a great Monday! Go and live creatively my friends!

Peace-

Jennifer

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