Hi everyone,

today I'm back again on the Skipping Stones Design Blog to share with you another Butterfly card (yes, I really LOVE butterflies *giggle*).

I used one of the larger images from the Breathtaking Butterflies set and stamped it with an Ombré ink (Tide Pool to Navy) by Hero Arts. I really love the gradient you can achieve with just one ink pad. I stamped the beautiful LIFE quote underneath the butterfly in Versafine «Onyx Black» which gives a really crisp impression since the text is very small.

When I looked at my card it reminded me of a butterfly specimen in a nature museum's exhibition or something like that. So I had to frame it using the Stitched Rectangle dies from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!

If you want to share your SSD creations with us on social media, use #skippingstonesdesign
and if you upload to Splitcoaststampers use the key words SSD and skippingstonedesign.

Faux Watercolor Flower Wreath

Happy Saturday everyone,

a couple of weeks ago I tried something new. Since I'm not that good in freehand coloring I decided to use some stamps from Winnie & Walter (In Bloom: Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya) and My Favorite Things (Desert Bouquet) to create my flower wreath.

At first I draw a thin circle pencil line and then stamped the different flower and leaf images to build a wreath. I used Studio Calico Color Theory Dye Inks on Canson Cold Press Watercolor Paper (140 lb). To achieve that Faux Watercolor look I carefully went over the stamped images with a ZIG Watercolor Brush to make them more blurry. I didn't put any water to the smallest images which I used as fillers because I wanted to keep the crisp stamped lines.

After everthing was completely dry I stamped the «Make a Wish» sentiment from the My Favorite Things «Brushstroke Birthday» stamp set in VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with «Gold Rich Pale Regular» embossing powder from WOW!. The brushstroke is from the MFT «Abstract Art» set. I stamped the middle of the aqua flowers in Tsukineko Golden Glitz ink to add a little bit more gold to my project which measured approximately 8" x 11" in the end.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

DT Make it Crafty CAS Challenge #5 | Studio Set

Hello everyone,

Today I want to show you the full card which I made for the current Make it Crafty CAS Challenge #5 with the theme «Shades of Black & White».

I created a Farewell card for a co-worker who retired a couple of weeks ago. He is a passionate photographer that's why I chose the Studio Set Digi Stamp.

I wasn't quite sure how to color the image with only shades of black and white because I never did an image like this before. So the pre-colored image in the Make it Crafty Store was really helpful ;-)

I added a sentiment with my computer before printing the image. Then I used my Copics (Cool, Warm and Neutral Greys) to color in the scene. I embellished my card with some die-cuts and a Tim Holtz film strip. The only tiny pop of color is the little red heart *giggle*.

You still have time to enter our «Shades of Black & White» challenge by the end of the month. You can find all the details HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

DT bastel-traum.ch Challenge September

Good morning everyone,

it's time again for the bastel-traum.ch Challenge and the new theme is «Thanks».

 

The challenge will run until October 15th, 8:55 am CET (Central European Time).

I made a fall-themed project which was inspired by this beautiful card from Debby Hughes. The background totally reminds me of fabric patterns.

I stamped the background using the leaf images from the Simon Says Stamp «One with Nature» stamp set onto «Fog» cardstock which is also from SSS. The solid leaves were stamped with the following Simon Says Stamp Dye Inks: «Catkin», «Duckling» and «Orange Peel». The outline leaf images were stamped in SSS «Stone», Versafine «Onyx Black» and some were white heat embossed.

Then I created a window by die-cutting with one of the Simon Says Stamp «Stitched Circle» dies. I adhered a piece of black cardstock behind the window and popped my panel up with foam tape. The gorgeous scripty «Danke» (which means «Thanks») chipboard is from Create A Smile. Finally, I decorated my card with some Enamel Dots.

With my card I'm joining the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Use A Stamp.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

DT Skipping Stones Design | Tip/Technique Hop #1

Hello everyone,

welcome to our very first Skipping Stones Design Tip/Technique Hop. Today each DT member will share a technique, tip or suggestion for creating or organizing. You should have arrived from Tanja, she's one of our guest designers this month. We hope you'll find lots of inspiration while hopping along (see the complete link list is at the bottom of this post). For your chance to be a random winner of a Skipping Stones Design stamp set simply leave a comment at each stop of the hop. You'll have time until Wednesday September 16 at 5:00 pm EST to comment.

Before the summer finally ends I wanted to create a card with the Tropical Birthday stamp set.

I used two fun techniques on this card: Masking and Ink Blending. I stamped the palm tree and the sweet hula girl in Memento «Rich Cocoa» (it's a dark brown, although it looks almost black in the photo) to make my little summer scene. Then I took a matching marker to extend the line of the sand bank.

I stamped the images a second time on «Stamping Mask Paper» from Inkadinkado and fussy cut them. I applied the masks over my stamped scene before I started the Ink Blending for my warm sky background. Therefore I used the Mini Ink Blending Tools from Ranger and Simon Says Stamp Dye Inks. This gorgeous color combo was totally inspired by Laura Bassen aka as the «Queen of Ink Blending» ;-)

Tip: You will have to use a very light hand and circular motions while blending the inks to avoid ugly strokes. To get rid of too much ink on the foam, tab the ink blending tool lightly on a piece of scratch paper first before bringing it to your cardstock. It requires some patience but you will end up with a beautiful smooth result.

The coloring was done with Copics and I added some Glossy Accents to the coconuts. I white heat embossed the funny sentiment at the top and stamped the «Happy Birthday» at the bottom of my card. Finally I rounded all the corners using my We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

If you get lost along the way here is the line-up of all the hop participants:

Skipping Stones Design Blog
Lee Ann

Tanja (Guest Designer)

Anja —> that's me

Ilina 

Giovana

Martha Lucia

Coralynn

Teresa

Make sure you leave a comment below and now hop over to see what Ilina created!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

DT Stempelgarten Challenge September

Good morning everyone,

today starts the new Stempelgarten Challenge with the theme «Up in the Sky». You could use balloons, birds, planes, clouds, sun, moon or stars etc.

I created a card with one of the older Penny Black stamp sets called «Hugs». I've chosen this cute little mouse flying across the sky with a balloon and spreading a whole bunch of flowers.

I colored the image with my Copics. To add a little dimension I stamped the balloon a second time, fussy cut and adhered it with foam tape. I also did some Negative Die-Cutting using the My Favorite Things «Flat Bottom Clouds». The patterned paper in the background is from the «Let's Polka» paper pad by Lawn Fawn. The sentiment which was stamped in Versafine «Onyx Black» is from the Penny Black «A bunch» stamp set.

You will have time until September 30th, 2015 to join our challenge and this is the prize you could win:

A craft package from the Stempelgarten Online Shop with a value of CHF 20.–.

We are also looking for new DT members, so please take the chance to apply by joining this month's challenge.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

DT Make it Crafty CAS Challenge #5

Hi peeps,

time is flying by these days and it's already time for a new Make it Crafty Clean and Simple Challenge. The theme for September is «Shades of Black & White».

Here is a sneak peek of my project:

Now hop over to the Make it Crafty Store Blog to see the full card and all the beautiful creations from my lovely team mates. We also announced the winner and the Top 3 of our «Cropped Image» challenge.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great day!