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Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #12 – Watercolour Birthday Blooms

Image ~ ~ Anna Krol ~ 19 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Watercolour Birthday Blooms

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Thank you for joining us for another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge!  We’re so excited to be sharing this hop with you. The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!®  Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping!

Today’s sketch was designed by very talented and lovely Louise from Whiteflag Designs, who sadly couldn’t take a part in the challenge today. But we hope she’ll be back with us soon.

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For today’s card I’ve used Birthday Blooms stamp set but in a rather unexpected colour scheme. Since I can remember I always loved blue and yellow colour combination. Firstly, these were the colours of my town’s sports club Avia Świdnik. These were also the colours of my favourite radio station RMF FM, back when I was a teenager. And it’s not surprising that, when I first moved out from my mum’s, I repainted all cabinets in my new kitchen yellow and blue. Even a fridge, that’s how much I loved these two together 🙂 But enough of my babbling, here’s the card I’ve made:

Stampin' Up Birthday Blooms

I slightly alternated the sketch: I created landscape fold card instead of portrait one. I also decided to mirror the image, so the largest ‘panel’ is on the right side of the focal point. For the base, I’ve used beautiful but sadly underrated Delightful Dijon. I truly love its deep, earthy shade. I added two panels of Whisper White to the base: a square that measures 4″x 4″, and a strip that measures 4″x 1-5/8″. For next panels, I’ve used a square piece of Pool Party card stock and a piece of a striped pattern paper from Designer Series Paper Stack in Delightful Dijon. And these are accordingly 1/8″ smaller than Whisper White pieces.

Stampin Up Birthday Blooms

Now for the watercolour. I stamped the flower on a piece of watercolour paper using Versamark, and heat embossed it in white. Using aqua painter, I added water to the petals first and started adding the colour. For the first layer of colour, I’ve used Pool Party. I started really light and added more colour along the way. Next, to add more definition to the flower, I added some shading with Marina Mist. For the leaves, I’ve used a combination of Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi. And again I started light and built up the colour.

Stampin' Up! Birthday Blooms

When I was happy with the flower it was time to create the background. I added water to my watercolour piece. I had to be really careful to not let the colours from the flower bleed into the background. I’ve used same technique like with the petals: I started with a light wash of Delightful Dijon and I kept adding more colour along the way until I was happy with the results. Next, I’ve used aqua painter to “flick” few droplets of water to the surface of the panel. I think will never get tired of seeing how ink reacts with water and create interesting organic texture. To jazz it up a little more I used Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to stamp some splashes in Delightful Dijon first, followed by Whisper White Craft Ink. When the panel was completely dry I adhered it to my card base. I kept the sentiment really simple: I stamped Happy Birthday from Teeny Tiny Sentiments in Basic Black on a strip of Whisper White and glued it to the card using liquid glue.

Birthday Blooms & Wink of Stella

To finish off my card I decided to add Delightful Dijon to the centre of the flower with a blender pen, as I don’t own the markers. And the very last touch was to add Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush Pen to the petals and leaves.

I’m so chuffed how this card turned out: beautiful bold colours and textures. I just love how these blue flowers stand out from their deep yellow background. I really hope you like my project too.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is Karen’s blog – go and see what she has made for you.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

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Timeless Love Wedding Card – Colouring On Vellum Technique

Image ~ ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave Timeless Love Wedding Card – Colouring On Vellum Technique

Hello! Today I wanted to share with you this beautiful card I created for my card swap teamie last month. Our theme was ‘Wedding Bells’ and I think this card fits perfectly.

Timeless Love Wedding Card with Vellum Panel

I think I forgot how amazing working with vellum is. There are so many techniques you could use it for. And my card shows just one of them: colouring on vellum. It’s a really easy technique that even a newbie could do. And it adds that extra OOMPH to your card too 🙂

First, I stamped this floral arc from Timeless Love Stamp Set onto my vellum panel with Versamark Ink. I’ve stamped it twice to create a wreath. Of course, I’ve used my embossing buddy before stamping (any anti-static product will work). Next, I heat embossed it using white embossing powder. TIP! You probably know that already but just in case: When heat embossing on vellum make sure you pre-heat your heat gun. Just switch it on and let it warm up for 30 seconds or so, before hitting the vellum. I usually heat the back of the vellum, which prevents any unwanted warping.

Timeless Love Wedding Card Vellum Panel

Now to the fun part: colouring! It’s so easy to add colour to the image heat embossed on vellum. I just chose my favourite markers and colour on the back of the vellum. The colours I’ve used are Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder.

It doesn’t have to be perfect: vellum is semi-transparent so it’s very forgiving, and you can’t really see marker strokes on the other side.

Once the colouring was done I stamped two flower clusters from the same set on some Whisper White cardstock, coloured them in with blender pen and fussy-cut them.

Now to assemble the card. I took my vellum and adhered it onto the Very Vanilla panel using glue dots, I hide them behind flower centres. Next, I adhered it to the Tip Top Taupe base. I’ve used the clusters of flowers I fussy-cut earlier, to secure the vellum on two opposite corners, and I also used simple stapler on the other corners. I love how simple stapler can add character to the card!

For the sentiment, I cut a strip of Tip Top Taupe cardstock, heat embossed ‘Congratulations’ in white and I’ve added it to the middle of my card, between two arcs.

Timeless Love Congratulations Card

I really hope you like my project, and that I inspired you to try, and have some fun with vellum too. As always, if you wish to purchase any of the products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop and don’t forget to enter the hostess code for the month of July GUHXWAR6, to receive a gift from me.

I’m adding my card to:

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Touches of Texture – More Than Flowers

Image ~ ~ Anna Krol ~ 1 Comment

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Touches of Texture – More Than Flowers

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Have you played with the Touches of Texture Stamp Set yet? You’ll have fun mixing and matching the floral images with layers of texture.

The textured images in the set work well for all kinds of styles, as shown in the projects above and below.

Touches Of Texture

I’m in awe by all the possible techniques and designs that can be created with this set!

Touches Of Texture Stamp Set

Order your Touches of Texture in clear mount here or if you are a fan of wood mount you will find it here.
Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Something Old, Something New…Kind Koala Birthday Card

Image ~ ~ Anna Krol ~ 20 Comments

Hello, everyone! Something old, something new…Today I’ve got for you really adorable birthday card using sadly retiring Kind Koala stamp, and also a sneak peek at new Labeler Alphabet stamp set.

 

Kind koala

Isn’t this little koala cutest ever!? The base of my card is standard, top folded A6 in Sahara Sand. For the background, I’ve used Very Vanilla and dry embossed it with Happy Heart embossing folder.

Because I wanted this card to be a birthday card I used washi tape to cover the flower and a sentiment on my stamp before I inked it up in Basic Grey Archival Ink. Next, I stamped my cute koala on a piece of Very Vanilla. Just remember to take off the washi tape first or you will have a disaster. Guess how I know lol I also stamped him on a scrap of paper to create a mask I will need later.

Kind koala 4

I watercolour my little fella in Sahara Sand and added some shadow underneath him. I also added a touch of Blushing Bride to his nose and inside of his ears. When I was happy with the results I masked my koala and sponged the background with Soft Sky and Pool Party. Then I used the aqua painter to add few droplets of water to the background and took off a little bit of the colour.

Kind koala 2

Next, I matted my koala panel with a piece of vellum and a slightly bigger piece of Sahara Sand. But to add some more interest to this panel I stamped it with Tip Top Taupe using the foliage stamp from Sheltering Tree. I assembled all my panels.Now was time for balloons!

Kind koala 5

I stamped three smaller balloons from Balloon Celebration, two in Pool Party and one in Soft Sky, punch them with Balloon Bouquet punch and arrange them on the card using dimensionals. I also hand-drew balloon strings with Project Life pen (and yes, I know, I probably should have used a lighter colour, maybe Basic Grey or Smoky Slate marker) so it looks like koala is holding them in his paw.

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The card was busy enough so I kept the sentiment simple. I cut a strip of Very Vanilla and stamped my sentiment in Sahara Sand, using Labeler Alphabet stamp set. To keep it fun I mixed both types of letters and add it at wonky angle to my card.

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Dimensions:

Very Vanilla:

  • 3-1/8 x 4-6/8″
  •  2 x 3-2/8″
  • 1/2 x 3-5/8″

Sahara Sand:

  • 2-2/8 x 3-4/8″

Vellum:

  • 2-1/8 x 3-3/8″

I’m adding my card to

Do you like my little card? I truly hope you do. Please let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

CAS Card – Birthday Blooms Meets Wink Of Stella

Image ~ ~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – CAS Card – Birthday Blooms Meets Wink Of Stella

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Today I’ve got for you beautiful, clean and simple (CAS) birthday card. I am so happy that Birthday Blooms stamp set staying with us for another year. I love this set for it’s stunning, bold flower image.

For the base, I took a piece of  Whisper White cardstock that measures 5-7/8″x 8-2/8″ and fold it in half at 4-1/8″. Next, I cut a strip of this beautiful, embossed Color Me Irresistible DSP in Basic Black and adhere it to my base. The strip measures 2″ x 5-7/8″.

Birthday Blooms

I stamped the flower image in Basic Black Archival ink and watercolour it. For the petals, I’ve used Watermelon Wonder and Rose Red. Center of the flower is Crushed Curry – I fell in love with this shade of yellow just recently. And leaves are a mix of Old Olive with a gentle touch of Always Artichoke.  First, I added my colours and shadings with blender pens. Next, I used my Aqua Painter to blend it nicely and to add more colour or shading if required.

I let my flower dry completely and then fussy cut it. I should probably mention that as I knew I will fussy cut it, I’ve used regular Whisper White cardstock for the flower. Because my hands are quite numb and I find it hard to do more intricate things, I cut off tiny leaves from the flower. Really wasn’t able to fussy cut them. However I’m pretty chuffed with myself that I managed to fussy cut the little buds, it took me a while, though.

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While the flower was drying I stamped the sentiment, from the same stamp set, in Versamark and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. I really like this curly font. I assembled the flower using dimensionals and added some Silver Metallic Baker’s Twine underneath.

Birthday Blooms 2

I stamped the inside of my card too. I used the single flower from the set, but this time, I colour it only with blender pen so it doesn’t bleed through. I also added a strip of the same DSP (5-7/8″ x 1/2″), to match the card front.

The last touch was to add some shimmer to my beautiful flower, using Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush Pen. I love this stuff!

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I love how this card turned out! I have to admit that CAS cards are growing on me but I still have a tendency to overthink and overcomplicate them. I’m a grungy-distress at heart, you know haha

I’m adding my card to Crazy 4 Challenges #C4C333 – April Showers bring May flowers!

Now I would love to hear from you. Do you like my today’s card?

Thank you for stopping by! Have a blessed day,