Hello! Seeka here and today we’re going under the sea with an ink blended sparkly background and a cute little guy from the new Need A Hand stamp set.

I started by blending Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide inks, in a circular pattern, onto a panel of Strathmore Bristol smooth cardstock. After ensuring that the ink was dry (I happened to put this aside to dry for several hours while I worked on other things), I used Embossing and Watermark ink to stamp the School Of Fish Bold Prints background stamp over the panel. Then I poured Sparkle embossing powder over the panel and melted it with a heat gun.

Next I stamped the octopus in Copic-friendly Intense Black ink. After coloring him up with BV31, BV02, and BV13, I used the coordinating dies to cut him out. I stamped the sentiment onto a strip of cardstock and then backed both pieces with foam tape.

To assemble the card, I adhered the octopus to the background and then adhered the sentiment, tucking it under a couple of tentacles. I trimmed a little bit off each side of the panel and then adhered it to an A2-sized card base.

Thank you so much for visiting and be sure to visit this month’s challenge post to enter your project for a chance to win a gift card to Hero Arts!

Hi there, it’s Seeka here and today I have another card featuring the Sunburst Bold Prints background stamp. I love this older radiating pattern and paired with the new Cloudy Sky Scene dies.

I started by using clear Embossing & Watermark ink and white embossing powder top heat emboss the background onto an A2-sized piece of bristol smooth cardstock.  Then I used foam blending tools to ink blend Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, and Carved Pumpkin Distress Oxide inks onto the background. I concentrated Squeezed Lemonade in the center of the sunburst, and then graduated to Wild Honey and then to Carved Pumpkin.

Next I used the Cloudy Sky Scene dies to die two layers of puffy clouds from additional bristol smooth cardstock.  On the top layer of cards, I stamped the sentiment in black ink.  The “sending you” sentiment is from the Love Stamp & Cut set and “sunshine” is from a very old stamp set called A Little. 

To assemble the card, I adhered one layer of clouds directly to the background and then adhered the top layer of clouds with foam tape.  Finally, I adhered the card front to an A2-sized card base.

Thanks for visiting and don’t forget that there’s still plenty of time to join the latest challenge!

Hi there, I’m so glad you’re here! I hope you’re feeling well and staying safe.

I’ve been finding more comfort in crafting than ever, and this month’s watercolor challenge theme has given me extra motivation to practice no-line watercoloring.

For this card, I began by stamping the beautiful Hero Arts and Gina K. Designs Friendship Blooms collaboration stamp set in Gina K’s Warm Glow Amalgam ink onto Fabriano Artistico cold press watercolor paper.  Any light colored ink that’s suitable for watercolor would do, I just happen to have been using Warm Glow a lot recently.

Next I got out some red and peach Karin Brushmarker Pro markers: Fire Red, Lipstick Red, and Blush.  I scribbled Fire Red onto my glass work surface and then diluted it with a little bit of clean clear water.  Then I used a water brush pen to pick up some pigment and then painted it onto the stamped image.  Going petal by petal, I concentrated color in the area closest to the center of the flower and then pulled the color out to the tip of the petal.  I repeated this for each petal, never working on adjacent petals since it’s important to allow each area to dry before working on the area next to it.

Once I had colored all of the petals I went back in and added details, sometimes with darker-but-still-diluted Lipstick Red, and sometimes with a less diluted Fire Red. I really took my time with this, following along many of the lines that are part of the stamped image.  Once this layer was dry, I went back in for a third time, this time with a diluted Blush which I brushed over some of the lighter areas to create just the slightest hint of peach.  Note that I took care not to rewet the darker areas, which I didn’t want to reactivate and dilute.

I followed a similar process for the leaves, thought I took a little less care so I could finish them more quickly.  For the leaves, I used a mix of Lime Green, Olive Green.

When the panel was almost dry, I put it between two sheets of scrap typing paper and then put a heavy book on top.  I find that the typing paper helps absorb some of the very last moisture while the weight of the book flattens the panel.  I let that sit for a few hours and then came back to stamp the sentiment in black pigment ink.   To finish I adhered the card front to an A2-sized card base.

Hello, crafty friends!  Seeka here, and today I’ve got a card featuring my favorite toucan!  I’ve shared other cards with this cute little guy and I never get tired of his clean lines, especially when paired with a vibrant background.

I started by stamping a toucan from the Hello Toucan stamp set in Copic-friendly Hero Arts Intense Black ink. Then I quickly colored him using N3, N4, N5, and N7 for his dark feathers and the tip of his beak, and Y18, YR04, and YR09 for his beak and the feathers around his eye.  I used the coordinating dies to cut him out and then set him aside.

Next, I treated an A2-size piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock with an anti-static powder tool before stamping the Jungle Bold Prints background stamp in Twisted Citron Distress Oxide ink onto the panel.  I poured clear Ultra Fine embossing powder over the panel and hit it with a heat gun to trap the stamped image under the embossing powder.  Then, using foam blending tools, I blended Pine Needles, Mowed Lawn, and Twisted Citron over the panel.

Next, I used black pigment ink and the same clear embossing powder to heat emboss the sentiment onto a strip of vellum.  I trimmed one end of the strip at an angle and wrapped the other end around the left side of the background, adhering it to the back with a piece of clear tape.  I added some very small dots of glue behind the letters in “toucan” and then weighed down the sentiment strip with an acrylic block while the glue dried.  

Lastly, I adhered the toucan with foam tape and then adhered the card front to an A2-sized card base.

Thanks so much for coming by!  Don’t forget that this month’s challenge is still going on!  The theme is “Anything But A Card.”