Valentine Creations!

Back in the studio today to create some Valentine cards.  Here what I came up with- lots of red and pink! I will be entering both these creations into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge   for this week.

Love the look of the bottles- with distress rock candy crackle and distress stains. I used so many different techniques on this card. The grungeboard heart was  embossed with Distress Fired Brick Embossing powder, tinted the wings and the arrow idea-ology pieces with alcohol inks, and created the background by spritzing the Tim Holtz Hearts stencil with Picket Fence distress stain after creating a base of color (red and pink) by misting distress stain onto water color paper.



For the second card I used the Tim Holtz Valentine embossing folder to create a texture background of valentine words.  Using the blueprint stamp LOVE and watercoloring with distress markers I created the main focal image.  The XO was covered with Festive Berries distress glitter for a little sine and layered over some hearts ribbon.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day! More snow to come here so I definitely will be spending more time in the studio!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red & Pink

This week's challenge is to use Red & Pink in your project. You can check out the great samples from all their talented designers on Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

 While red and pink are not my favorite colors to work with- I have been using lots of both given that Valentine's Day is coming up soon.

For this card I used Tim Holtz's Petal Drop die to make a heart from corrugate.  I then hand stitched the two sides together for a vintage look using hemp twine. The letters are from grungeboard and I embossed them with Distress Embossing powder Fired Brick for such a great texture.  The background was stamped with Picket Fence Distress Paint and then colored over with Distress inks -leaving the XO as a resist. A few embellishments were added for interest -replacing the O with gears and clock hands. This was my first time using my Petal Drop die and I really love all the possible ways to use it!


I hope you decide to join in the challenge as well and show off all things red and pink!

Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge: You Anchor Me

I am entering my You Anchor Me card into the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge.  Since we are stuck here amongst lots of snow here in Massachusetts, with MORE to come, I wanted to drift away and think of summertime and the ocean.  I love this stamp set Nauticool by Paper Smooches! Check out the rest of their fun stamps at Paper Smooches Stamps I used a bit of distress ink spritzed onto the background of white cardstock dry embossed with a repeating anchor pattern.  The anchor chain embellishment is from Tim Holtz's idea-ology line- I took apart different pieces and attached with jump rings- wanted to give it a real "anchored" look. 

You can join the fun at Paper Smooches Sparks blog.

And the winner is...

Before I announce the winner of the pack of Mini Distress Inks, I first wanted to thank everyone for their comments and checking out my blog.  I appreciate all the wonderful feedback! 

Also I wanted to share the very scientific way in which we decided to choose the winner:

 Nathan (our mini dachshund) was a big help in choosing the winner! 

Thanks Nathan- you are a great assistant!

AND the winner is :

Colleen O. 

 Please email me your contact and shipping info: pjdeche@gmail.com

Thanks & Congratulations! 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge-Bright & Beautiful Featuring Hero Arts

For SSS Wednesday Challenge  I decided to start by choosing one of my newer Hero arts stamps-Arrows Background.  I actually started out using it as a background and then decided to cut my hearts out of it instead.  First I stamped the Arrows stamp with Versamark Ink and covered with Pink and Red embossing powders from Recollections.  Then I used Tim Holtz Distress Stains- Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick over the background- the embossing resisted the color leaving just the background paper colored this way.  Using Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Hearts die- I cut 3 hearts from the background.

 I saved the negative piece to use in another card! For the actual background of this card I wanted something clean and simple.  Using Distress Markers (Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, and Festive Berries) I spritzed the background lightly (with Tim Holtz Marker Spritzer).  Really LOVE this effect.  The border was stamped using arrows from the Simon Says Stamp Feb Card Kit Watercolor Fantasy   HUGS & KISSES (a Hero Arts sentiment) was stamped in Versafine Black and heat embossed with SSS Clear Embossing Powder.

The card was finished off with a few embellishments and a little Wink of Stella of course!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "H"

I decided to challenge myself to use something new in my craft room for the SSS Monday Challenge.    You can get all the info on the challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Be sure to check out all the great samples from their super talented designers!

I recently purchased the MFT Die-Namics cover-up die and have yet to use it. For this card, I actually used the die to cut a stencil and then used my favorite technique to make a watercolor background for this card (see my Valentine tutorial that shows the Stencil Monoprint with Distress technique). I used Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries and Picked Raspberry for the background and also for stamping the 3 ribbons on this card. The stamp set I used was  Sparkle N Sprinkle - Ribbons for the Cure. I stamped them with the distress inks and covered with clear embossing powder. I am also entering this card into the Sparkle N Sprinkle Feb Challenge here.  The sentiment is also from this stamp set- I used another similar background I had made with the houndstooth stencil to cut out the label for the sentiment - from Tim Holtz Label Thinlits die collection.

My other inspiration for this card is our good friend Karen, who is a breast cancer survivor! We love you Karen!

Upcoming Classes!

So excited to be teaching my first classes at Bella Art  in Johnston,RI. I have been a customer at Bella for years and just love Maryann and her crew and all the special attention they give to their customers. If you are looking for some great new scrapbooking/cardmaking/papercrafting supplies, check them out! They have such a great array of products and tons of ideas to go with them. The crew is so talented! I will be teaching two upcoming classes using Ranger products and techniques I have learned and tweaked along the way from my mentors Tim Holtz, Jennifer McGuireand many others! Hope you will join me! Please call the store to sign up 401-383-0199 or online here for the Texture Paste Class and here for the Stencil Monoprint with Distress Ink Class.

Post by Bella ART.

Post by Bella ART.