Hello Crafty Friends! It’s Laurie here! I am sharing My Sending Hugs Card as my Design Team Inspiration Card for Conie Fong Art & Design using Eucalyptus Tree Koala and Sentiment Bundle. Isn’t he just the cutest? This listing includes a total of 4 images:
Eucalyptus Tree Koala Right JPG format only
Eucalyptus Tree Koala Left JPG format only
Sending Hugs Sentiment JPG/PNG format
The Details of My Sending Hugs Card
First, I coloured this cutie with my Copic Markers and added Wink of Stella to the flower petals. I decided to use a W blend to give him a warm life-like colour.
Once that was done, I decided to create a faux-fun fold! Lol! I knew that I wanted to use my Palm Leaf Frame Die by Paper Rose, but my koala would have covered it almost completely. So, instead of centering him on the card, I turned the card and set him off to one side which meant he poked up above the card base. This placement gave my card a faux-step card look.
Next, I die cut the Tropical Escape DSP with the Palm Leaf Frame to add interest to it. Then, I layered a pink piece of DSP behind it to match the pink in the flowers. The pink flowers were cut from the DSP as well using the matching Tropical Dies.
The sentiment was die cut out with a stitched flag die and I layered a paper palm leaf and the pink flowers to match my DSP. To add interest to my palm leaf stem, I used a wooden skewer from my kitchen and wrapped it around to make it curl. Another palm leaf was tucked under my focal point.
The finishing touch was to add some rhinestones to the flower centres and card base for sparkle.
Eucalyptus Tree Koala and Sentiment Bundle, Conie Fong Art & Design Paper Basics – Stamper’s Select White Cardstock, Papertrey Ink Tropical Escape 6” x 6” Designer Series Paper, Stampin’ Up! Palm Leaf Frame Metal Dies, Paper Rose Stitched Rectangle Dies, Memory Box Stylish Shaped Dies, Stampin’ Up! Tropical Dies, Stampin’ Up! Palm Leaves Floral Embellishments, The Paper Studio Basic Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin’ Up! Wink of Stella, Stampin’ Up! Wooden Skewer Granny Apple Green Card Stock, Stampin’ Up!
Finished card size: 5 ¼” x 5 ½”
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To view my other Conie Fong Art & Design projects, please click here.
Hello Crafty Friends! Laurie here again! For the First Day of Summer, I am sharing My Summer Sailing Card using the Framed Scenes Bundle and the Sunrise Sailing Bundle by Stampin’ Up!
I was honoured to be asked to present my colouring techniques using Stampin’ Blends to 24 demonstrators at a Stampin’ Up! Play Date that was organized this past weekend by my team leaders. They asked me to demonstrate colouring a scene with Stampin’ Blends that could be used as a Father’s Day card and the Framed Scenes Bundle was perfect for this! I taught things like underpainting, tip-to-tip, colouring die cuts and so much more!
My card was used as my swap for the event, but not everyone participated in the swap. So, I created some simple bookmarks for the others so that they could explore using the Blends.
Bookmark
The Details of My Summer Sailing Card
For my card, I thought it would be fun to use a z-fold so that I could show off the gorgeous sailboat on the Sunrise Sailing Hybrid Embossing Folder.
I knew that I wanted the full sailboat to be on the inside of my card. So, I cut the Balmy Blue card stock and embossed it twice. Once so that the sailboat was centred on one piece of card stock. The second piece of card stock was embossed on the left side of the embossing folder parallel to where the first one was embossed…this allowed for a continuation of the waves from front to back of the card. There was a small amount of boat showing on the front piece, but the focal point covered it.
Top of Z-Fold Card
For my focal point, I placed it off centre to the left of the card so that the embossed boat can be seen peeking out from the inside layer. The Country Woods DSP created a perfect wooden frame around my colouring.
The sentiment was embossed in white and then the end was snipped at an angle.
The small sailboat and the trio of birds were added to the card to create interest and lead the eye inside the card. The finishing touch was three Riverside Irregular Pearls with one on the front and two on the inside panel.
My Colouring Techniques/Tipsfor My Summer Sailing Card
Underpainting
Underpainting is where a third colour is added to create extra depth especially in the shadows. For my colouring, I used Light Smoky Slate along the edges of the lighthouse where the shadows would be the darkest. Once I laid that colour down, I used the Dark Real Red to go over the Smoky Slate and extend it a little bit further into the highlight. Then, I added the Light Real Red and blended it into the dark. If your highlight is too dark, you can use the Color Lifter to lighten the highlight colour.
Tip-To-Tip
Tip-to-tip is where you take two colours that are different and apply one tip of the marker to the other one to transfer some colour.
For the reflection in the water, I used the Colour Lifter and rubbed it against the Dark Real Red marker to pick up a small amount of red. When I first applied the Color Lifter with the red to my image, it was the darkest. So, I used that for the shadows along the water edge and the edges of the lighthouse reflection. As I coloured, the red was used up until it was colourless. This created a highlight in the water to mirror the highlight in the lighthouse. Once, that was done, I just scribbled off on a piece of scrap paper to remove any red from the Color Lifter.
Close Up of Colouring on Bookmark
Colouring Die Cuts
One thing that most people don’t think about is colouring your die cuts with Stampin’ Blends to create dimension. For the sail of the boat, I used Light Smoky Slate and my Color Lifter. I coloured Light Smoky Slate triangles at the bottom of the sails to make them look like they are full. Then, I extended a line up the mast from the bottom to the top. Once that was done, I used my Color Lifter to soften the edges along the centre of the sail pushing the ink towards the lines (shadows) that I added.
Adding Texture to Leaves
For my trees, I decided to add texture with dots. First, I coloured the leaves in Light Old Olive and let it dry. It needed it to dry so that the dark would not bleed when added. Then, I used my Dark Old Olive and added random dots to the leaves making sure that where there were shadows, I concentrated my dots. At this point, the dots may look strange, like a polka dotted tree lol, but by going over them with the Light Old Olive next, it blended the edges of the Dark creating texture and dimension.
Blending from Colour to White
The final technique that I taught was how to blend from colour to white such as for the sky. I used Light Balmy Blue and edged my scene where the sky was on the image. Then, I used a flicking motion of my Light Balmy Blue marker from this line out to the white. This flicking allowed the marker to blend easier than if there was a solid line. Once that was done, I used my Colour Lifter and used circular motions along the edge where the blue ended, and the white began. This softened that edge creating a transition from colour to white.
Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (132708), VersaMark Ink (102283)
Paper: Thick Basic White (159229), Basic White (159276), Balmy Blue (146982), Real Red (102482), Country Woods 12” x 12” Designer Series Paper (163393)
Accessories: Riverside Irregular Pearls (164937), Basics Embossing Powder (165679), Embossing Additions Tool Kit (159971), Real Red Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154899), Old Olive Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154892), Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154882), Balmy Blue Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154830), Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends Combo (154904), Stampin’ Blends Color Lifter (144608), Paper Trimmer (152392), Paper Snips (103579), Bone Folder (102300), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (144108), Stampin’ Seal (152813), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)
Close Up of Lighthouse on Card
Measurements for My Summer Sailing Card:
Thick Basic White:
11” x 4 ¼” scored at 2 ¾” and 5 ½”
Balmy Blue:
4” x 2 ½” (2 pieces)
½” x 3” (sentiment)
Basic White:
3 ¼” x 2 ½”
Scraps for Birds and Sail
6” x 2 ½” for Bookmark
Real Red:
Scrap for Boat
Country Woods Designer Series Paper:
3 ½” x 2 ¾”
More Information on My Summer Sailing Card
For more information on my colouring, here are some videos of my colouring techniques from a few years ago:
Hello Crafty Friends! It’s Laurie here! I am sharing My Kitty Birthday Card as my Design Team Inspiration Card for Conie Fong Art & Design using the cute Cat With Balloons. I coloured this image twice a while back and I finally made a card for him! Lol! I will post the other card that I made using this image at the end of this post.
The Details of My Kitty Birthday Card
For my card, I decided to use the Everyday Skies Designer Series Paper with the Everyday Arches Dies by Stampin’ Up! for my sky. But first I coloured this cutie with my Copic markers. I added Wink of Stella to the balloons to make them shimmer.
Next, I added dimension with layers of stitched clouds behind my arched focal point on the orange background piece. I even added more clouds on my focal point behind the Kittie.
The sentiment was die cut out with a stitched flag die to match the stitching on the arches.
The final touch was to add some Adhesive-Backed Birds to my scene and another one to the orange DSP.
Hello Crafty Friends! Laurie here again! I am sharing My Note of Thanks Card using the Botanical Textures Suite Collection by Stampin’ Up! I decided to create an elegant grayscale card using the Textured Notes Dies and the Botanical Textures Designer Series Paper for my inspiration.
The Details of My Notes of Thanks Card
My card was for a swap, and I thought a z-fold card would create a fun element with the rectangle dies from the Textured Notes Dies that I layered to create my focal point.
Top of Z-Fold
First, I stamped the leaves from the Textured Noted Stamp Set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Basic White while keeping in mind the placement of my other elements. I love the different textures of the Distinktive leaves peek out from behind the sentiment!
Next, I heat embossed in white the sentiment and die cut it out with the long thin die from the Textured Notes Dies. I also used this die to die cut another strip of DSP that I layered behind the sentiment.
Once that was done, I used my 1-7/8” punch on a leaf motif from the DSP to match my stamped leaves. I matted this with a 2”” punched Basic Black card stock piece.
To finish my focal point, I layered the different die cut rectangles that matched my colour scheme.
For the card base, I used another leaf motif to match my other leaves for the front of the card. Then, I used the Mini Corrugated 3D Embossing Folder for the inside Basic White piece. I loved how it added interest when the card front is closed, but the recipient would be surprised that it completed the inside.
Inside of Card
In order to have a place for the message, I added another Basic White die cut piece to the smaller panel on the inside.
As a finishing touch to my card, I added some Neutral Matte Dots in black and white to my card front on the stamped piece and to the circle leave DSP.
Supplies:
Stamps/Bundles/Dies: Botanical Textures Suite Collection (165563)
Inks: VersaMark Ink (102283), Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (132708)
Paper: Basic Black (121045), Basic White (166780), Smoky Slate (131202), Botanical Textures Designer Series Paper (165545)
Accessories: Basics Embossing Powder (165679), Heat Tool (129053), Embossing Additions Tool Kit (159971), 2” Circle Punch (133782), 1-7/8” Circle Punch (165259), Stampin’ Paper Trimmer (152392), Bone Folder (102300), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (144108), Stampin’ Seal (152813), Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)
Close Up of Focal Point
Measurements:
Basic Black (4 Pieces):
11” x 4 ¼” scored at 2 ¾” x 5 ½”
2 ¼” x 3 ¾”
2” x 2” (Circle)
½” x 3 ½” (Sentiment)
Basic White (3 Pieces):
1 ¾” x 3 ¼” (Front)
4 x 5 ¼” (Embossed Inside)
3 ¾’ x 2 ¼” (Inside)
Smoky Slate:
2 ¾” x 4 ¼”
Botanical Textures Designer Series Paper (3 Pieces):
4 x 2 ½” (Front)
1-7/8” x 1-7/8” (Circle)
½” x 3 ½” (Strip)
More Information on My Note of Thanks Card
For more of my Stampin’ Up! cards, please click here.
You will find the items listed above in my online store.
