4th of July Celebration!

Welcome to the Inking Royalty’s July Blog Hop! During this year’s blog hops, we are enjoying a year of celebrations. This month’s projects celebrate the 4th of July – the projects are inspirational, patriotic, and filled with reds, whites, and blues. We are excited to share our creations with you today! After you read my post, I hope you’ll hop over to the next person on the list at the base of this post.

We are all Red, White, and Blue today!  I love this summertime color combination!  Not only does it represent our beautifully diverse country it also screams summer happy fun! Pools, sun, and hot dogs!  Anyway, I decided I just had to use the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle!  Sunflowers are one of my favorites!  They are strange, quirky flowers that just makes me happy when I see them!  They are perfect for a summer gathering!  Well, in my opinion, any gathering is better if sunflowers are involved. That being said I knew the yellow flowers would look very pretty against a blue and red background.

  I also knew that I wanted to incorporate Smoky Slate into the color combination.  Smoky Slate works so well with the yellow of the sunflowers, the red and blue background, and it is one of my favorite colors!

Ink blending is my new favorite friend in card making. I have always liked ink blending. But, recently discovered the wonders of ink blending on watercolor paper. Such a dream!!!

• The underlying of the Sunflower and leaves are all ink blended on watercolor paper. Then spritz with water.  Let it set then blotted with a paper towel (microfiber cloth works as well)
• The top layer of the sunflower and leaves, as well as the solid leaves, are all colored cad stock with ink blending on to add some texture and dimension
• The background was created with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder on whisper white.  Then you guessed it, more ink blending on top.  This time in smoky slate

You could add let’s celebrate from the stamp set in the lower right corner. But honestly, I didn’t think of that until I had already added the clear drops and made the next card that uses that sentiment!  The Flowers for Every Season Gems are quickly becoming a favorite item!!

I have been exploring what in the card making world is called slimline card. These cards are 8 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches. I find this size very fun to stretch my stamps and dies!  To make a slimline card you want to cut your paper 8 1/2  by 7 inches.  Then score at 3 1/3 on the side that is cut to 7 inches.

• So here again, watercolor paper ink blended with real red and poppy parade. Then Spritz with water and blotted up with a towel.  Finally, die-cut with the many medallions
• The smoky slate card stock also has very splotchy ink blending on it to add some texture.
• The Sunflowers and leaves are stamped in smoky slate.  Then die cut with the coordinating dies
• You could color the sunflowers in. That would look very nice as well.  But, I was going for a more graphic feel.  And the gray and white definitely gives you a graphic look.  It all depends on what you are going for

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

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you’ll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Brian King. There’s lots of inspiration to be found in this group – and you don’t want to miss it!

If you get stuck during the Blog Hop, please use this line-up as a guide:

1. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
2. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
3. Shawn de Oliveira at Shawn Stamps
4. Ann Murray at Murray Stamps Ink
5. Joanne Brown at Stamping with JoJo
6. Julie DiMatteo at The Paper Pixie
7. Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery
8. Linda Krueger at The Stamp Coach
9. Robin Myren at Songbird Designs by Robin
10. Candy Ford at Stamp Candy
11. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations

Go and be creative!

Sunshine and the Inking Royalty Blog Hop

Welcome to InKing Royalty’s May Blog Hop! During this year’s blog hops, we are enjoying a year of celebrations. This month’s projects celebrate Sunshine, so prepare yourself for projects that are filled with sunny images of joy in the great outdoors. We are excited to share our creations with you today! After you read my post, I hope you’ll hop over to the next person on the list at the base of this post.

A few years ago I decided I wanted to work on my scene building skills in card making.  Grace’s Garden and the coordinating dies are perfect for a Summer Scene and were the perfect opportunity for me to work on my skills!

That sweet little kitty just completely draws me in!  I also love the sweetness of the flowers and he they are drawn.  The garden gate in the dies is absolutely beautiful!! The dies even come with flowers and vines to decorate the garden gate. I made three different scenes for you today!  Recently I have been using my Stampin’ Write markers. I felt like that I had been neglecting them ever since the Stampin’ Blends came out.

• Little images like the ones in this set are perfect for coloring with the Stampin’ write markers
• The sky and grass are Balmy Blue and Garden Green.  I accidentally used a little green in the sky.  This made the sky have a slight turquoise tent
• The card has a Pineapple Punch layer to allude to a Sunny Summer Day.

The next card used a lot of the same elements as the above card.  Simple ink blending with a few elements put together to create the idea of a Summer Day

• When ink blending it is important to start lightly then slowly building the color up!
• You can see the difference between this card and the one above. This card has light very soft color.  The above card used the exact same colors but the color is built up more to add deeper color
• You can also see the difference in Balmy Blue with a little green and without

The next card shows all the same elements but on a watercolor background with a slimline card profile

• This card is 8 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.  To create this size card. You want to cut at 8 1/2 on one side and at 7 inches on the other side.  Then score at 3 1/3 in the 7 inches side.
• In creating these cards I stamped a bunch of images. Then I used my Stampin’ Write Markers to color the adorable images.  Finally die cutting them.
• The next step was to create a few backgrounds. Was to create a few cards. I knew I wanted at least one slimline card.   So, I started thereby laying out a scene.  I loved it on the site background.  And really thought about keeping it white. But in the end, decided to Watercolor a background.
• With the “leftovers” I created the two above cards.   After creating them I still had a few images left.

After creating the above cards I realized I had a few colored images left.  And, most importantly I had not used one of the most important elements a sun!  After all this blog hop is supposed to be all about Sunshine.  I decided to create a sunset with watercolor and use the very pretty garden gate!

I glued the card down on a Balmy Blue background. Trying to imitate a blue sky in the background behind the vibrant sunset.  I decided I really don’t like the Balmy Blue in this case.  So, I will cut the blue background off and try something else. I wanted you to see t so I could tell you how I colored the vines and garden gate.

• First I die cut the images
• Second,  I used Stampin’ Write Markers to color the gate and vines
• The third step was to spritz each with water. And dab some water up with a cloth/paper towel. Let this dry
• Then using a stamp block. I inked the block up with the same colors spritz the block with water and smushed it around on the vines.  I did not do this step on the gate.
• I did use a paintbrush and a little water and ink to clean up a few spots on the gate

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

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you’ll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Brian King. There’s lots of inspiration to be found in this group – and you don’t want to miss it!

If you get stuck during the Blog Hop, please use this line-up as a guide:

1. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
2. Linda Krueger at The Stamp Coach
3. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
4. Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery
5. Robin Myren at Songbird Designs by Robin
6. Julie DiMatteo at The Paper Pixie
7. Joanne Brown at Stamping with JoJo
8. Sheryl Sharp at Sharp Notes by Sheryl
9. Pam Morris at Tap Tap Stamp
10. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
11. Ann Murray at Murray Stamps Ink
12. Candy Ford at Stamp Candy
13. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations

Happy Creating my friends-

Blogging Friends Blog Hop

Today is the Blogging Friends Blog Hop all about items that will be retiring from the Stampin’ Up catalog. There are many things that I will miss including the Pigment Sprinkles, the In Colors that are retired, the designer series paper for the in colors and color families (I adore all the gingham…but new patterns coming soon yippee)

I decided to use a stamp set that I just had to have when it was first available!!! I knew exactly who I wanted to make a card for using it! My cousin Alex who is a huge animal lover and horse friend.  I don’t see a horse without thinking of Alex.  Anyway, I have actually never gotten around to making her a card with this set.  I know. Complete shame on my part.  So, today was the perfect excuse to make Alex not one but two cards.

Let it Ride is so beautifully sketched to me. It is perfect for coloring. Either with Stampin’ Blends or with Watercolor ink/pencils.  Today I decided to use Stampin’ Blends cause I have not used them in a bit

• I stamped everything in Soft Suede It is always a 50/50chance that the ink will smear when you start coloring with alcohol markers.  So test the color first. You might get lucky and it is just fine.
• I really don’t want completely brown trees so I used a green blend to trace over the trees and grass.  Witch sort of helped

• This time everything is stamped in alcohol inks friendly Black ink. Witch means that the ink will not bleed
• This house was a complete experiment. I wanted to try and make spots.  So, I used several different blends then went back with each color and tried to blend the color. I’m not sure I would do it this way again. But, it is what it is
• I’m so going to miss Blueberry Bushel! It is one of my favorites!

I hope you have enjoyed the blog hop so far! Please continue the hop through the links below. 

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

Happy stamping!

Inking Royalty Spring Blog hop

Welcome to InKing Royalty’s April Blog Hop! During this year’s blog hops, we are enjoying a year of celebrations. This month’s projects celebrate Springtime, so I hope you are ready for gorgeous Spring colors, flowers and butterflies – and maybe some sweet baby animals. We are excited to share our creations with you today! After you read my post, I hope you’ll hop over to the next person on the list at the base of this post.

It just doesn’t seem like springtime to me yet here in Alabama.  We have definitely been having sprig weather with storms and warm temps during the day.  I just have not felt very springy.  It is one of the many side effects of the current virus situation.  Another side effect seems to be the emotional rollercoaster we all are riding. One of the things I started doing to bring calm back into the rollercoaster is actually using my sketchbook.  Those of you who know me know I don’t do well with art journaling.  I like to have something to give when I’m done. That is part of the reason I love card making so much!  In card making the end product brings joy to someone else and that makes me happy.  In other words, doing something that is purely for the sake of making or for my enjoyment is hard. Anywho, my routine has changed (who’s hasn’t)  and I have started incorporating watercolor back into my daily life.  That brings me to my post for today.  I am sharing just a little bit of what has been going on in my “sketchbook”

I love watercolor and one of my favorite watercolor mediums that Stampin up gives us is the Pigment Sprinkles. They come in a set of six. Bermuda Bay, Mango Melody,  Gorgeous Grape, Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green, and Daffodil Delight

The pigment sprinkles are so much fun to use.  I really enjoy using them like traditional watercolor. There are also lots of cool techniques you can do with the pigment sprinkles

This is how I started out, with my favorite watercolor pallets, extra water bowls, sketchbook, a cool pen, paper towels, and the Pigment Sprinkles of course.

The first thing I wanted to do was make swatches of each color using some of the most popular techniques used with Pigment Sprinkles

• For each color, I used 4 different techniques.
• The first is as watercolor
• The second technique is adding water to paper using a paintbrush, then sprinkle on pigments, the more water in spots with a paintbrush, then finally using a paper towel to blot in places
• The third techniques are water on the paper then adding sprinkles.  This technique requires patience. Cause you want the pigments to do there thing.  It also requires the paper to be truly wet.
• The final technique was to add the pigments to dry paper and spritz water on top

Below is two of my favorites from the above techniques

I love how the pigments move naturally and break into different shades and colors.  The peach in the Melon Mambo is the boom!

This is the Bermuda Bay. I adore this color.  It really is beautiful!  Look at all the different colors that come from one pigment sprinkle color. It is quite interesting that some pigments move and push color. And some kinda just sit.

The second thing I wanted to explore was the mixing properties of the pigment sprinkles On both pages you can see where I mixed colors on my pallet and made new colors. Below are a few of the interesting color blends I found

That Bermuda Bay and Gorgeous Grape is awesome!  As is Granny Apple Green and Gorgeous Grape.  The brown is so wonderful!

I found the colors created by Mixing Melon Mambo with other colors quite interesting.  The blue created when mixing with Bermuda Bay is quite interesting.  And a little Bermuda Bay you get a purple magenta.  And more Bermuda Bay you get a dark night blue-green. The next step was to start applying all the knowledge I had gained from the swatching.  I just naturally decided to try and Watercolor with the pigment sprinkles

Keeping with the learning process I decided to pick a stamp and Watercolor. Knowing today we were talking about spring. I picked one of my favorite spring flower stamps. Mine is a wood mount. But,  don’t fret Accented Blooms is still available in cling mount.

This is what the page looks like as of now! It is not quite finished but, you can see the progress and process of mixing colors and making notes. So, I can refer the next time I use the pigment sprinkles. Thank you for sticking with me through this long and nontraditional stamping post.  I hope each of you is finding ways to bring a little joy into your world.  Life has changed for us all and the one thing I know is we are all in this together.  Hugs and love to each of you!

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

 I hope you’ll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Candy Ford, Stamp Candy. There’s lots of inspiration to be found in this group – and you don’t want to miss it!

Thank you for hopping along with us. If you get stuck during the Blog Hop, please use this line-up as a guide:

1. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
2. Pam Morris at Tap Tap Stamp
3. Ann Murray at Murray Stamps Ink
4. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
5. Sheryl Sharp at Sharp Notes by Sheryl
6. Julie DiMatteo at The Paper Pixie
7. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
8. Robin Myren at Songbird Designs by Robin
9. Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery
10. Shawn de Oliveira at Shawn Stamps
11. Linda Krueger at The Stamp Coach
12. Joanne Brown at Stamping with JoJo
13. Sheryl Abernathy at Elegant Sentiments
14. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
15. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations
16. Candy Ford at Stamp Candy

I truly hope that each of you is healthy and staying safe whatever that looks like for you.  If you are interested in seeing more of the sketchbook check out my Instagram @westsidepapercreations my stories Artsy life.  I have been trying to post different projects as much as possible! Have a great day and remember to always be creative in life

Peace my crafty friends-

Baby Come Rockin’ Blog Hop

Today is the Blogging Friends Blog Hop Baby Come Rockin’. We will be featuring cards based around the theme Baby Come Rockin’. I have made two cards for you featuring the Free as a Bird stamp set.  I will be real honest with you. I was not going to purchase this stamp set…. I know right???? What was I thinking!!! I had convinced myself that I didn’t “need” another Bird stamp set. (don’t ask me why cause I sure don’t apply this logic to flower stamp sets). Anywho, let me just tell you how wrong I was!

Free As A Bird Stamp Set

I really adore how this stamp set is drawn. All the extra little images are just too cute.  And the sentiments are awesome.  In combination with Free as A Bird, I also used sentiments from Animal Outings Stamp Set and the Parade worthy Prose Stamp Set.  In addition to these two stamp sets, I used the Well Written Dies.

• one of my favorite things to do is to use the little elements in a stamp set to make backgrounds. Doing this really extends the use of a stamp set
• one of the Dies used is the Ornate Borders Die.  I really like how the border adds a little extra pizzazz
• the background was watercolored. you could use any of the Stampin’ Up!w mediums to achieve a similar look

I could not decide if I wanted to add a little extra something to this card.  Let me know if you like it with or without the little extra leaf.

It is a settle difference but, one that adds a little texture and interest to the card. Up next is a baby cad that features that adorable bird in the Free as a Bird stamp set. This card tired out adorable in real life but, for whatever reason, I don’t get it captured in picture form very well.

• Yet again the little bird is watercolored but, seriously you could color him with any coloring medium and he would be awesome
• That gingham paper just makes me so happy. As does the color combination of Blueberry Bushel and Granny Apple Green
• How awesome is that border from the Ornate Garden Border dies

I’m going to leave you with an up-close of the watercolor bird. He is not perfect by no means, but he’s still cute.  Remember when watercoloring to embrace the process and imperfections.  That’s what makes it so beautiful

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

Thank you for stopping by today and hopping along with us.  I am sure that you will find more awesome inspiration along the hop.

Peace-