This is Day 2 of the StencilGirl Blog Hop

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In this week’s blog hop, we are pairing our ink with StencilGirl stencils to make a perfect match! StencilGirl works with a variety of designers to create all sorts of themes and as you know—we have all sorts of inks for all sorts of projects. Join Us for Day 2!

Thanks so much for stopping and be sure to leave comments (one per blog) during these 3 days so you can be entered to win a $30 StencilGirl Gift Cards or a $30 Imagine Gift Cards!!! Winners will be announced on the StencilGirl and Imagine Blogs at the end of the month.

Day 2 Blog Hop Artists

Sandee Setliff

Karen Gaunt

Cindy Gilstrap

Tina Walker

Neva Cole

Kyriakos Pachadiroglou

Renee Zarate

Elina Stromberg

 

stencil girl blog hop

Join Us for Day 1 of the StencilGirl Blog Hop

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In this week’s blog hop, we are pairing our ink with StencilGirl stencils to make a perfect match! StencilGirl works with a variety of designers to create all sorts of themes and as you know—we have all sorts of inks for all sorts of projects. Our Artists in Residence have been excited to share their projects with you and we can hardly wait to see what the StencilGirl Team came up with too!

Thanks so much for stopping and be sure to leave comments (one per blog) during these 3 days so you can be entered to win a $30 StencilGirl Gift Cards or a $30 Imagine Gift Cards!!! Winners will be announced on the StencilGirl and Imagine Blogs at the end of the month.

Here is Today’s Blog Hop Artists

Mary C. Nasser

Janet Joehlin

Gwen Lafleur

Carol Baxter

Jennifer Vanderbeek

Nadine Carlier

Roni Johnson

Mischelle Smith

Enhance Your Card Design with VersaMarker

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by Renee Zarate

Enhance Your Card Design with VersaMarker

When you look at a pineapple what do you see? A ripe pineapple has shades of not only yellow but also touches of orange, green and brown. This card is made from a master board that incorporates all of these colors by using Fireworks Craft Sprays and water. The fun begins when the Stencil Girl stencils are used extensively with white gesso. Since this was a color challenge, the colors may say pineapple but the theme is summer rain.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1 – 2 hours + dry time

Directions

140lb watercolor paper sprayed with Fireworks Craft Spray
Step 1

To prepare the master board, spray a piece of 140lb watercolor paper with water. While still wet, spray Fireworks Craft Spray in different colors onto the paper. Lift the paper and allow the colors to run. Mop up any excess with a paper towel. Blend the colors with more water and blot again to soften the mix.


Step 2

Choose an area for the background and cut a piece of the paper to measure 4 ½” x 6 ¾”. On this panel, place a stencil and apply gesso through the stencil. Tape off any areas on the stencils that are not needed on the card. Lift the stencil straight up so it doesn’t smear, wash the stencil off immediately and allow the design to dry completely. Clean stencil.


Step 3

When the gesso is dry, reapply the stencil. If the image needs to be stronger just repeat the application of gesso and dry. Reapply the clean stencil and highlight the phrase with Brilliance Pearlescent Rust ink using a small dauber. Apply Clear Embossing Powder to the phrase and melt with a heat tool. Dilute a small amount of White All-Purpose Ink, use a paint brush and tap it to apply small spatters of white onto the panel. Use a Micron 05 black pen to outline the images and ink the edges of the panel. Use On Point Glue to attach a few light blue sequins randomly.


Step 4

Color the umbrella with a Dandelion Memento Marker then color over the yellow with a VersaMarker and heat emboss with clear powder. Touch some of the rain drops, the top of the girl’s hair and the tips of the boots with VersaMarker then sprinkle Imagine’s Iridescent Embossing Powder and melt with the heat tool. The embossing powder in the right spots create a shiny surface and give a life-like appearance to the design. Adhere the panel to a card blank with Tear It Tape and you are finished!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Strathmore 140 lb. Watercolor Paper
  • Stencil Girl – Rain by Jessica Sporn
  • Washi tape
  • Spray bottle of water
  • Micron 05 mm Pen – black
  • Sequins
  • Heat tool
  • Paper towel
  • Paper trimmer

How to Make Faux Gelli Printing with Radiant Neon Amplify!

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by Mischelle Smith

How to Make Faux Gelli Printing with Radiant Neon Amplify!

I love Gelli printing and coming up with all sorts of magical designs I can use in my journaling and card making. However, sometimes I don’t have enough time to drag everything out that I need to stay true to the Gelli print techniques. So, I go for ‘faux Gelli prints’ using Tsukineko’s Radiant Neon Amplify which creates a thick texture when activated with a heat gun. This thick texture replicates the layers of paint often used in Gelli prints and the faux technique is done directly on the paper skipping the use of the Gelli plate.

For quick focal points in projects, I keep a box of already colored images on my desk for times when I need something ASAP. For this project, I pulled out a spaceship image and matched it to the Amplify colors – super easy! Amplify! appears to be wet after brayered – leave it this way or add several more layers and heat with a heat tool to change the texture.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes

Directions

Step 1

Apply one color of Radiant Neon Amplify to paper and brayer.

Step 2

Apply a second color of Amplify and brayer.

Step 3

Working quickly – use a sponge dauber, stencils, scrapers or other items, to create marks in the brayered Amplify medium. Amplify dries quickly, so do not wait too long to add extra marks. Once you are satisfied with the texture and details you have created, use a heat tool to activate the Amplify. The Amplify with expand in a foamy texture and will be immediately ready for additional inking and stenciling.

Step 4

Cut faux gelli paper to the size needed and stencil on another color with Memento Paris Dusk Ink (dark purplish blue) to add detail and depth. Attach spaceship image, “Happy Birthday Earthling” quote and decorative twine to the front of the card. Stamp date at the bottom with StazOn ink and any additional embellishments.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Vera Lane Studio – Lost in Space
  • Stencil Girl – Entangling Threads Stencil
  • Date Stamp
  • Brayer
  • Cardstock
  • Twine – Lime
  • Close To My Heart – Gems & Sparkles
  • Foam tape
  • Copic Markers
  • Scissors

Get Creative with Tsukineko and Waffle Flower Stamps

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We are delighted to feature two cards using Waffle Flower stamps. Waffle Flower makes super cute high-quality photopolymer stamp sets and craft dies with a wide variety of themes. Waffle Flower style has certainly set them apart and we are always excited to see new designs rolling out! In today’s post, Neva and Roni create two handmade cards that show the flexibility of their themes.

Get Creative with Tsukineko and Waffle Flower Stamps

Shellabrate Your Birthday! by Neva Cole

Aren’t these turtles so cute? Waffle Flower joined Imagine for a cross-company promotional in May and as a result Imagine artist received new stamp sets. The images from the Shellabrate and Snail Mail stamp and die sets create a wonderfully whimsical underwater scene. The turtles and sign are stamped in Jet Black StazOn ink, and the greenery is stamped in StazOn Cactus Green and Forest Green. The images are then water colored with Memento Dual-Tip Markers in Cottage Ivy, New Sprout, Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, Peanut Brittle, and Toffee Crunch. The background sand is stamped and water colored with Memento Toffee Crunch. The bubbles are added in Memento Bahama Blue. The die cut images are adhered with varying heights of adhesive to give some fun dimension. A perfect summer birthday card anyone would enjoy receiving!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Waffle Flower – Shellabrate stamp and die sets, Snail Mail stamp and die sets

 

Wild -N- Free Handmade Card by Roni Johnson

If someone says, “Itsy bitsy teeny weenie…” don’t you just instinctively finish it off in your head, “…yellow polka dot bikini”? Well, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie was one of our challenges this month and I couldn’t get that song out of my head so I just went with it! I created this card with a little help from Waffle Flower stamps.

I have the “Wild N’ Free” set from Waffle Flowers and if you look closely you can see the 3 tiny dot stamp above the eagle. I used these dots to create the background for this card. I started off by stamping the “ground” using 3 different colors of green Memento dye ink, stamping them over and over again. I flipped the cardstock over and stamped the sky using 3 colors of blue Memento ink.

Finally, once I was satisfied with the background I went about stamping the rest of the card as you normally would. Yes, it was a bit time consuming but surprisingly it was lots of fun! It’s almost a Zen feeling going back and forth between the paper and the ink pad. The rest of the design is straight-forward with framing the edges with layered roses and bringing the eye to the center with the wolf and the sentiment. Since this set is so varied, you can choose your favorite animal for the center.

Supplies

Imagine
  • Memento Inkpad – New Sprout, Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Olive Green, Summer Sky, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Love Letter
  • VersaFine – Onyx Black
Other
  • Waffle Flower – Wild N Free stamp set
  • Cardstock – white
  • Cardbase – navy blue

Make a Match from Today’s Papercraft Inspiration

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When we challenge our artists, we are always pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Sometimes there are similar ideas that pop up in the creative process between two talented people and today’s projects share this common trait — matching! Kyriakos matches colors to create color harmony and Alison matches a scrapbook page to a 2-D style. Check it out!

Make a Match from Today's handmade card

Yellow Flowers Inspiration Card by Kyriakos Pachadiroglou

I love the Pineapple color challenge this month and decided to create a blooming flowers card on yellow shades in contrast with the kraft card and the black details used. Using the kraft paper with white, yellow and black all match to create a warm color harmony that turned out rather nice.

First, I used White Embossing powder on the kraft card base to give texture and add detail on the frame. Then I colored the paper flowers with Memento Desert Sand and Dandelion and filled their centers with Radiant Neon Amplify to add volume. For the top panel background, I inked a large stamp in a distressed style with Memento Dandelion and Tangelo ink and pressed on white cardstock. The leaves are pressed in the VersaMark ink and then covered with the Imagine’s Silver Embossing Powder and heat set. To finish the card, I arranged all these elements together and used a piece of black corrugated cardboard to give the design contrast and ground the overall look.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Paper flowers
  • 5 x 7 card base
  • Sizzix – Mixed flowers set stamp
  • Metallic leaves and charms
  • Jute cord
  • Black corrugated paper

We Match Scrapbook Page by Alison Heikkila

Hello! The Artists in Residence for Imagine and Waffle Flower Crafts did a collaboration in May. As a result, I was sent the adorable Enveloper Little Birdie Stamp Set and I love using it. Looking at their other sets, and I now have a nice wish list I would love to add to my collection. I decided to make a scrapbook layout with the Little Birdie set because it reminded me of the matching Marimekko dresses my daughter and I have.

The flowers on the dresses are 2-D flat design style and only use one color. I wanted to match the dress design. So, I stamped my images onto white cardstock with VersaFine ink in Majestic Blue and used Memento Markers to match colors on the dresses. I love to shade and blend when I color, but I really wanted to stay true to the fabric and keep the colors flat.

I created a mat around the white cardstock with Banana Pepper cardstock from My Colors cardstock, and I stamped my sentiment down the side with Habanero VersaFine ink. Then, I wrote the date of the photos with a Danube Blue Memento Marker. My blue base cardstock was looking a little plain, so I sprayed it with New Sprout Fireworks! Spray and used On Point Glue to add white sequins.

I’m really happy with how well the stamped images from Waffle Flower went with our dresses. I think the stamps showcased the photos perfectly! Have an inspiring day!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Waffle Flower – Enveloper Little Birdie Stamp Set
  • Inkadinkado – Alphabet Stamps (Discontinued)
  • My Colors Cardstock – Banana Pepper
  • Cardstock – white, blue
  • Sequins