Handmade Cards a special issue from Paper Crafts Magazine

Handmade Cards is a new and fantastic issue from Paper Crafts Magazine! Its chalk full of ideas about how to use all the wonderful goodies we have in our crafty stashes! Its really clever. The ideas are way outside the box and will inspire you greatly! Its one of those keeper issues, the one you refer to for years!

Stamps: JustRite Poppies Labels Twenty-Nine

It was hard to pick just one of my projects to share with you from the issue, but this card ended up the winner. The poppies were stamped onto a canvas ATC and colored using Distress Inks, that were misted with water. Its basically creating your own watercolor paints. Pretty beautiful effect, isn't it? Easy to do. And that's the best part about the issue, all easy and really clever ideas that you can re-create at home.

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

P.S. Busy, busy, busy. I have many fun things coming up soon, so the old blog is going to be less quiet.

• Oct. 31-the end of a week long blog hop with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Clearsnap
• November 1-the start of the month of gratitude
• November 5th-a special guest design blog post
• November 6th-another special guest designer announcement
• November 8th-Caring Hearts Blog Hop

Whew! And that's just the start! Did I mention we are leaving on vacation on the 15th? I better get to work!

inspired by wood pallets

Welcome from the Paper Crafts Connection blog! You haven't been there yet? Head on over. I will wait for you here...

What did you think? Are you inspired by wood pallets yet? Did you come back for more ideas? I can tell you that I had way too much fun with this idea because this is only a few of the ideas I came up with! Maybe I will share a few more later on!

Idea: turn the light colored wood darker, like a pallet and add subway-style sentiment

To turn the wood veneer paper darker, I inked it with Distressing Ink (Vintage Photo) with a foam applicator tool. Its messy, but worth it! 

All of the stamps I used are clear, making it easy to lay them out and see what would and wouldn't work for my sentiment. Once the stamps were all in place, I pressed my acrylic block into them and they were ready to be inked. By doing that, I made sure they stayed lined up exactly how I envisioned.

Idea: inspired by a Pin to create an ombre look with ink and wood veneer paper strips

Again I inked with Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry) on the wood. Each piece received a bit more ink than the previous. The nice thing about the ink is, I could add more as I needed. So each piece started out very light until I achieved the amount of intensity desired.

And again, I lined up my stamps, pressed by acrylic block into them, inked, and stamped.

Idea: inspired by a Pin to create multicolored wood veneer strips, die cut wood strips

Each strip of wood veneer received ink, directly from the pad this time. (My Favorite Things) The dye based ink worked very well, but it did stay wetter longer, so watch that. (Messy, messy, messy.) The inked strips were adhered to a piece of cardstock and then run through a manual die cutting machine with a heart die template. It took several passes because of the thickness of the material. But it turned out awesome! The words love you were die cut from cardstock.

Ready to create cards inspired by wood pallet art? There are tons of possibilities! Be sure and visit the Paper Crafts Connection blog for your chance to win a set of stamps from Hero Arts!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

P.S. If you are looking for more inspiration, check out my board on Pinterest, Wood Pallet Love.

hello with Lawn Fawn

Hello! Not every card gets picked up for publication, including this one. And that’s ok. Why? Because I really like the way this card turned out regardless. And I get to share it with you!

I stamped these cute images from Lawn Fawn onto actual book paper. Knowing that the paper was thin and old, I knew that coloring the images could be a challenge.

Fantastix from Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko was the perfect solution. What are they you ask? They are ink pad material (or something similar) rolled inside a plastic tube with a rounded end or a tip.

To use them you simply press the tips into your ink pad (dye based is best for this) and color away. By putting the nib down on the parts I wanted darker first, I was able to add some depth to my coloring. Pretty neat huh?

If you would like to see the Fantastix in action, stop on over and watch a video tutorial here: Coloring

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

Reverse Confetti blog hop

Hello June and Hello Reverse Confetti Fans! It’s the 8th of the month and that means it’s time for an creative Blog Hop from Reverse Confetti. Last month’s release was fantastic and today we are inspiring you with projects and cards using those stamps. We’ve also invited some extra friends that helped us launch the new company last month, to join in on the fun! Are you ready?

The hop started over on the Reverse Confetti blog, and you should have made it here from the talented Heather’s blog. It would be worth your while to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don’t miss a thing. We have tons of inspiration for you to see using Reverse Confetti’s first 4 amazing stamp sets!

Today I am using this oh, so pretty set, Peacock Pretties.

 

I just love the peacock feather in this set, with its darling little heart and all the possiblities! Aside from gold, which I managed to get on both these cards, watercolor is a new obsession. I am seeing it everywhere in the stationery world, and fashion, and home décor. With inks and some water, the ways you can create projects are endless!

Start by pushing Distress Inks into a craft mat. For this card I used Peeled Paint and Peacock Feathers (hahaha, but it worked perfect). Spritz with water. Push the stamp into the inks and water, just as if it was an ink pad. The stamp will look splotchy and very wet. Stamp it on a scrap piece of paper. Then stamp onto your watercolor paper, which is essential for this to work right. Repeat as often as necessary to finish the pattern.

Once it was dry, I applied Pink Paislee Luxe gold rub ons, tiny little hearts to go with the stamp image. The effect is gorgeous. I wish you could see the card in your hand!

The word love is a Jillibean soup sticker that was colored by pushing a gold ink pad on the top of it.

Having a craft mat still full of ink, I grabbed another sheet of watercolor paper and pressed it into the “mess,” repeatedly until the paper was covered. Because I am impatient, I used my heat tool to dry the ink faster. I flicked a bit more color onto the dry surface, adding those droplets.

The peacock was heat embossed, because I cannot help myself with the gold. :)

Hope you’ve enjoyed hopping with us today. Be sure and hop with us on the 8th of EVERY MONTH for more REVERSE CONFETTI inspiration! Now it’s time to hop on over to the fun and very fabulous Karolyn’s blog. If you get lost along the way, you can find the hop order and list of all the participating designers over on the Reverse Confetti blog. Celebrate the creative side of you!

thanks for stopping by!

~Kimberly

Reverse Confetti Peacock Pretties

*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PEELED PAINT Green Ranger

*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PEACOCK FEATHERS Ranger SPRING

*Pink Paislee SILVER & GOLD CONFETTI LUXE Rub Ons PP00891

*American Crafts Zing! GOLD METALLIC Glitter Embossing Powder

Crafty Power Tape

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embossing with wood veneers

Its another idea for your wood veneers! Being a die cutting girl, the first idea that always pops into my head is, can I cut it, or can I emboss it?
 

Turns out, you can emboss them! I placed them on my base plate, topped them with cardstock and then, with the cutting plate. It’s a bit tight, but it works. The wood veneers will be a bit squished, but still completely usable.

The small print: I attempted this with my Spellbinders Grand Calibur. I cannot vouch for other machines, nor for other brands of wood veneers. These butterflies are from Studio Calico.

Using Distress inks as watercolor, I then brushed over the now-embossed cardstock.  The water did “loosen” up the embossing, making it less obvious.

thank you for stopping by!

~kimberly

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hello

Being inspired by the new Color Pop line from Heidi Swapp and Pink Paislee, I started to play around with colored embossing powders to create my very own colored resist papers.

I started by stamping Chevrons Two Step from Technique Tuesday onto white cardstock. (using watermark ink) Then I added bright yellow embossing powder and heat set it. Pumice Stone Distress Ink was rubbed over the top. Be sure and remove the excess ink from the surface by wiping it away with a rag.

If you are wanting more detailed instructions on the embossed resist technique, you can check out my video tutorial on it here: Embossed Resist

I added a cute sentiment sticker (brand new goodness) from Jillibean Soup and another new favorite, faceted gems from Studio Calico.
Have a wonderful weekend! And a very happy birthday to my mother-in-law tomorrow!!!!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

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