Playing with Pantone’s Color of the Year: Ultraviolet!

Hi friends! I was brainstorming some idea with REbecca over at Rubber Stamp Tapestry the other day and she suggested trying a project with the color of the year and I thought that was a great idea as purple is a color I don’t use very often.

Since it is not one of my go to colors I didn’t have any cardstock, pattern paper or ribbon that was that particular shade of blue-violet so I grabbed my media and got to work!

I am a bit embarrassed to admit that it took the course of 2 days to make the backgrounds, create the cards and clean up after myself (which, truth be told happened several days after the mass creation!) In fact I walked down to my studio yesterday forgetting the state I left it in and just about had a heart attack thinking someone came in and ransacked the place LOL! I didn’t use all of the supplies I grabbed but it did get me looking at and using stuff I had forgotten about. I am going to show you the process of making the backgrounds I used in these cards and I urge you to try something similar with the media you have on hand. Don’t feel like you must have the exact stuff I used, feel free to substitute, we are not making a souffle, substitutions will be just fine:) And, hey, if you mess up, keep adding more layers til you like it!

Video!

This video is sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry! Use coupon code FRUGALJANUARY18 on all stamp orders over $10, expires 1/31/18

Supplies for Rubber Stamp Tapestry!

• Petit Poppies Peg Stamp Set
• Watercolor Garden Peg Stamp Set
• Dye ink in shades of Purple
• Clear embossing ink
• Silver embossing powder
• Embossing folder
• Blending brushes

Other Supplies

• 9″x12″ Bristol Board or Thick white cardstock
• Gel Press printing plate: You can use any size for this but I love how the 12″x14″ size keeps my space neater (and I need all the help I can get!) It is pricy tho so if you are not sure you want to invest you can always brayer your paint on a craft mat for a similar effect or make a gelatin plate with unflavored gelatin.
• Acrylic paint
• Gelatos, Gel Sticks or water soluble oil pastels
• Seam binding *Buy in white or natural and dye to match ANY project with spray inks, reinkers, watercolor or thinned acrylic
• Pigment powders like Colorburst
• Metallic acrylic paint and or Precious Alloys
• Square dies or you can use a punch or craft knife to make the windows
• Spray ink or make your own with liquid watercolor and water in a spray bottle
• Soft rubber brayer *I like the tan soft rubber Speedball brayer better than the red Gelli Arts one I used in today’s video as I get marks from the edge of that brayer.
• Manual die cutting machine:I recommend the Big Shot because I’ve been using the same one daily for 10+ years and it has never failed me!
• Stencils

The only rule here is to have fun! Don’t worry if your paper warps as you work because using it later in the die cutter will flatten it right out. Also make sure you cut your window before you emboss it so you don’t squash out the texture. You really can’t go wrong, just keep going until you like how it looks!

Exciting Announcement!!!!

I have a new line of stamps coming out with Rubber Stamp Tapestry! If you want to get your hands on them make sure you sign up for their VIP newsletter so you will be the first to know when they are available! My samples just came in the mail today and I can’t wait to play with them! I hope you like them:)

I hope this post inspired you to dig out that messy media and play! I have a couple of tutorials if you want to make your own gelatin printing plate. I have a traditional plate and a permanent plate. Make sure you refer to the recipes in the video descriptions of the videos for the most tried and true recipe. Either of the homemade plates can be remelted if you want a different size or if it gets scratched. Due to the expense of the glycerin needed for the permanent recipe I am not sure if you save much in making one over buying a gel plate so I’d probably recommend making a traditional plate and freezing it between uses so it doesn’t get moldy. Wow, that’s a lot of info! Don’t get overwhelmed, just grab supplies and play…yeah, I could have just said that from the start huh? Til next time happy crafting!

 

Stamp School: Inky Backgrounds & Silhouette Stamps!

Hi friends!Today we are going to play with inks and make some fun cards!

Don’t be shy, try these fun and inky techniques! Jut make sure to put a craft mat, piece of freezer paper or old plastic place-mat on your table to work on. It is a lot of fun! Watch the video to see how!

There are many supplies you can use to create similar works of art so don’t be shy, experiment with what you have! I am using supplies from Gina K Designs where they have free shipping on USA orders over $50 and reasonable international rates.

Supplies:

• White cardstock (or any heavy white paper like Bristol or hot press watercolor paper.)
• Dye based ink (I like the cube ink sets)
• White Pigment ink (or you could use white watercolor or gouache)
• Stamps: Dream Catcher, Country Roads 2, Hello Friend
• Cosmetic sponge or ink dauber
• Watercolor brush
• Stencils
• Colored cardstock or premade card bases
• Craft mat or other non-porous surface (like a plastic placemat) to work on

Directions:
1. Apply ink to cardstock directly with an inkpad. Apply ink to a craft mat, spray with water and soak up the ink with the cardstock. Flick watered-down ink on the card. Repeat until you like the way it looks and let dry.

2. If desired stencil a design on top with ink.

3. Stamp silhouette images over background panels using black ink. Ink edges of panel in black and adhere to card base.

The cards I made were 4 1/4″x 5 1/2″ (A2) and the small panels were 2 1/2″x3 1/2″ (atc size) and the farm panel was 4″x5 1/4″

*Please note, Affiliate links are used to Gina K Designs and I receive a small commission on the sale without costing you a penny more. It helps keep my videos on YouTube free and I thank you for your support and til next time happy crafting!

Stamp Giveaway & Fun Shimmer Background!

Hi friends! Today we are going to get out the messy media and make some cards!

Watch the video to see how to make a shimmer background that you can use to enhance several cards! Be sure to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win the stamp I used!

Sponsored by Art Neko  *Save 10% off your next order of any size or get free shipping on orders over $50 (whichever discount is greater you get!) just by mentioning thefrugalcrafter!

I will post a giveaway tomorrow on my blog!

Supplies:

• Pigment powders: Color Burst, Brusho, Magenta Nuance, Magicals, Pearl Ex, Perfect Pearls, or Schminke Aqua bronze *Any can be used in combination with each other!
• Metallic ink: Precious Alloys
• Watercolor paper (you can use the back of a failed painting)
• Watercolor pens, markers, dye inks or watercolors (I used Mermaid Markers)
• Smooth cardstock, Bristol or watercolor paper for stamping
• Pigment ink
• Gold and black embossing powder
• Stamp: Framed flower from Art Neko
• Sheer gold webbed paper
• Adhesive: Foam squares and clear glue, atg
• Skeleton leaves
• Metallic thread
• Gold card base
• Embossing folders

Directions:

1. Spray and flick water onto watercolor paper. Shake on pigment powder. Spread with a brush if desired. Add metallic inks and Let dry.
2. Stamp and emboss framed flower and color with inks or watercolors. Trim.
3. Assemble card as shown embellish with sheep paper, thread, and a skeleton leaf.

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the beautiful stamp I used from Art Neko! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Ink, Emboss, Sprinkle, Heat, Smear, Spray and Create!

Howdy friends! from the blog post title you can probably guess that we are going to get inky today! But first I want to announce the winner of stamps and a gift certificate to Art Neko (formally About art Accents) congrats to Kimberly E.!!! Check your email for details;) Don’t worry if you did not win, the Garden Friends set it is still on sale and I have another idea for using it in today’s video:

Feel free to adapt this technique to suit your project. You can even just do the inked emboss and call it a day, that is pretty on it’s own. Here is a recap of what we did:

First we did an inked emboss by inking an embossing folder with pigment ink and a brayer and embossing white cardstock. Then we added a little bit of copper, gold, rust and verdigris embossing powder to the embossed panel and heated it with a heat gun. We scribbled metallic green, gold and brown gel sticks to the panel and topped it off with a spritz of homemade shimmer spray ink.

Here is my tutorial on homemade spray ink.

Here is my tutorial on the firm foam blenders for gelatos.

Thanks again to Art Neko for sponsoring this contest, remember to use my coupon code Lindsay10% to save 10% on your non sale rubber! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Yet another way to make backgrounds & WOYWW

Here is something fun to try! Stick a bunch of small clear stamps on a  large block and viola! Custom background stamp! That is how I made the background of this card:

In case you want to see the technique in action here is a 1 minute video:

I have had so much fun making backgrounds this week:

And since it is Wednesday it’s time for WOYWW:

Nothing fancy, just the mess on my table while filming the video. Next week I’ll try to remember to post a photo of my kids art workspace. I am getting it nice and tidy before summer vacation because when they take time to create I get bonus crafty time too! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!