Happy hare

One of my favourite challenge blogs -  Stamping Sensations - has 'June flowers' on its mood board. Lucky me, because I just made a long walk in the countryside. It was so beautiful! Hundreds of wild Marguerites, red Poppies, White and Red Clover and many more, visited by honey bees, bumble bees and hoverflies. We also spotted hares, ducks, geese, swans and birds of prey. Enough inspiration for a new card!

First step is to stamp and mask the marguerite at the bottom left and the bottom right. I have used black Versafine. Now you can stamp and mask the marguerite in between. Stamp the hare and mask it. Now you switch to white Versamagic ink and stamp a marguerite on both the left and right side of the card. Mask these prints, and stamp the third and last marguerite. Stamp the 'bees' with black Versafine, and mask them as well. 

Next step is to remove all the masks temporarily and colourize the 'bees', the hare and the marguerites with pencils. It is important to use a pencil that is really 'fat'. For this technique, I prefer wax-based pencils like Derwent coloursoft. 

Put back the masks on the marguerites at the bottom, the hare and the bees. Colourize the entire background with blue inktense,  Use a big water brush to dissolve the inktense, and brush some of it over the marguerites. 

Remove all the masks and add the sentiment.

Irl, the blue is less bright, I've tried to make a better picture .... and I am still trying. If I succeed, I will add the new picture to this blog post. 

Stamps:

Katzelkraft KTZ174 - Les Marguerites, KTZ224 Flamingo's & friends ('bees'), KTZ276 - Whatchamacallit (sentiment), KTZ208 - La Ferme des animaux.

Other materials:

- Versafine (black)

- Versamagic (cloud white)
- Derwent coloursoft and inktense pencils

Challenges:

- We Love Stamping - 15 year blog celebration!!! Fabulous Florals or AG
- Stamping Sensations - June challenge: mood board or AG

- Allsorts Challenge - Lots of layers or AG (do 6 layers of masks count?)

Thank you for watching and have a nice day!

Small card, big rose

 This time I've made a card with a stamp that was put back unused in its storage folder way too many times. Almost all my favourite challenges having a rose on their mood board was just the push I needed!

I stamped the rose with Memento Rhubarb Stalk, and masked it. I made the background by stamping the small rose with Versamagic Pixie Dust (pale pink) and colourizing all these little roses with a white pencil. 

I then brushed Inktense over the entire background. I did this by picking it up directly from the pencil, but you can also colourize the background with an Inktense pencil and use a water brush afterwards. You can actually see the resist happening when you start brushing, this is so much fun to do!

Now the background is ready and all there is left to do is to colourize the big rose. I used pencils and a stump.

A little fun fact: The little rose stamp is one of my oldest stamps, it's at least 15 years old, probably almost 20 years!!

Another fun fact: I ruined the first card. The glue stained the cardstock and I am still not sure what went wrong. So I had to do it all over again. 

Stamps:

- Katzelkraft KTZ176 Les Roses (the big rose)
- PSX A-249 (small rose)

Other materials:

- white PaintOn paper
- Memento Rhubarb Stalk
- Versamagic Pixie Dust
- Inktense: crimson

Challenges:

- We Love Stamping - 15 year blog celebration!!! Fabulous Florals or AG
- Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything florals goes with optional mood board #17
- Stamping Sensations - June challenge with mood board or AG
- Allsorts Challenge - Lots of Layers or AG 

Thank you for watching and have a nice day!

Happy, happy, happy, happy

 

I've had the idea for this card for a pretty long time, but I do admit, the complicated and time consuming masking witheld me. But now it was the perfect opportunity to make this card. Lilies are on the mood board of Stamping Sensations, and when I read about the 15th anniversary of the Allsorts Challenge, I decided to finally make this card. And believe me, it was quite a challenge ....

I started with stamping both the cat and flowers on masking tape. I puzzled with my stamping platform and the masks before even thinking about stamping on the card itself, and I decided I would start with stamping the bigger part of the tail, and the body of the cat. So I masked the part in between, and stamped the cat. I then masked the parts I had just stamped, and positioned the lilies, and stamped them with black Versafine. 

Now it was time to put a mask on the lilies, and to stamp the last part of the cat. Although it was possible to stamp the entire cat, I did decide to mask the body of the cat again just in case the position of the cat would slightly differ from the first print. My precautions turned out to have been unnecessary. Lucky me, because this was enough measuring and masking for one evening!

I stamped 'happy' several times with versamagic and brilliance ink, and ended with stamping 'Happy Birthday' with black Versamagic. I colourized cat and lilies with Polychromos.

Stamps:
- Katzelkraft KTZ177 - Hibiscus
- Katzelkraft KTZ294 - Cats on wall
- Katzelkraft KTZ276 - Whatchamacallit ('happy')
- Stampin'Up - Sky is the Limit ('Happy Birthday')

Challenges:
- Allsorts Challenge - #781 - 15th Birthday celebrations, AG
- Stamping Sensations - May challenge - Mood board or AG

Thank you for watching!

Lovely cat couple

Another card, this time with one of my new stencils (although this may sound like I bought hunderds of stencils, I actually bought 2 stencils. Yeah, really, just 2). I had set my mind on making a 'happy' card, because of the 15th birthday of the Allsorts challenge.  well, a lovely cat couple on a romantic city trip sounds very happy to me! I also picked orange as one of the main colours of the card because of the mood board on Stamping Sensations. I have also combined 2 vintage elements: the old bridge, and the style of the cat couple which reminds me of Toulouse Lautrec, or better said, his artwork.

I love to experiment with stencils, and this time I made two backgrounds at the same time. I started with a piece of mixed media paper (I use PaintOn) and sprayed some water on it. I put my stencil on it. Now I brush Inktense over stencil + underlying paper. I do this by picking up some Inktense directly from my pencil with the waterbrush, but if you have Inktense blocks, even better! 

Make sure the entire stencil (and paper) is covered with the Inktense. Put another piece of paper on top of it, leave it there for half a minute or so, and pull it off.. With the other piece of paper, you do more or less the opposite.  Allow it to absorb the Inktense. If you feel the colours are not intense enough, add more Inktense and allow the paper to absorb this as well. You can take a quick peek by lifting up a corner of the stencil to see if you are happy with the result. Now you can pull the stencil off. Make sure to clean it very thoroughly. Inktense does stain. I use handwarm water with olive soap.

Feel free to replace the Inktense by distress ink or watercolours!

I stamped the cat couple on both the first background and masking tape. I used a stamping platform and black Versafine to make sure the couple was totally black with no white of greyish spots. Added the mask and stamped the 'Budapest' stamp with purple Versamagic (eggplant). I colourized the bridge with pencils. I used a white gelly roll for the eyes. I also stamped the cat couple on the inside, and on the envelope with the bridge on the other side. 

Stamps:

- Katzelkraft KTZ SOLO106 Budapest 
- Katzelkraft KTZ MINI 028 (cat)

Stencil:
- Stamperia KSTDQ-76

Challenges:

- Allsorts Challenge - #781 - 15th birthday celebrations

- We Love Stamping - Vintage or AG
- Stamping Sensations - Mood board or AG

**** So proud to be one of the top picks from the 15th Birthday challenge ****

Please don't forget to celebrate the 15th birthday party of We Love Stamping! Please visit the challenge, you can use the link above (I tried to make the image a link but it's not working).

Thank you for watching!

 

Balancing cupcakes

 

With a lot of birthdays coming up, and the 15th anniversary of the Allsorts Challenge blog, it's time for a party! This lovely party dog couldn't agree more, he is showing how well he can balance cupcakes on the tip of his nose.

I stamped the Katzelkraft dog (KTZ161) and cupcake (KTZ199) on white PaintOn mixed media paper. I colourized the dog and cupcakes with coloursoft pencils and added some splashes (Inktense). So nothing complicated this time, just some stamps and pencils.

I also decorated the inside of the card. There is a cupcake on the left corner, in the same colours as the other ones. I also stamped a garland on the top right to make the party complete. 

Stamps:
- Katzelkraft KTZ161 (dog) and KTZ199 (cupcake)

Challenges:
- Allsorts Challenge - #781 Allsorts 15th Birthday celebrations - AG!

Thank you for watching!

Spots, Stripes, Clocks and a Cat

 Another card, and hopefully just in time for the Allsorts Challenge!

I am in a rush, only one hour left to join the challenge, so I start with 'the making of' right away. I used a Post-It note to cover the lower part of the cardstock. I used my Inktense pencils to make spots of different sizes and a waterbrush. I started with brushing over the spots and filled in the empty parts between the dots immediately after. I stamped 'Lines and Circles' of Technique Junkies with green versamagic.

I stamped the clocks with Versamark ink, and colourized the rest of the card with blue Inktense (and water of course). I stamped the cat with black Versafine, I did it 3 times to make sure the cat is very, very black. Added the sentiment and made  the eyes of the cat white with a gelly roll. 

Stamps:
- Technique  Junkies - Lines and Circles 
- Art Journey - Lady Clock (the clocks)
- Katzelkraft - Katz03 mini 003 (the cat)
- sentiment was a gift

Materials:
- white PaintOn paper
- Versamagic Turqouise gem
- Versafine onyx black
- Inktense pencils
- Sakura gelly roll (white)

Challenges: 
- Allsorts Challenge - #780 spots and stripes

Sorry for the bad pic, the card looks so much better irl! Thank you for watching!

Birthday Lilies

 A lot of birthdays are coming up in May and June, and Mother's Day of course, well, a lovely excuse for someone addicted to stamping .....

This card is for a good friend who is going through a rough time. She loves ships, sea and flowers, so I wanted to combine these things in one card. And what a happy coincidence, I had already more or less figured out what stamps and colours I wanted to use for her birthday card, when I saw the themes of favourite challenges ...... a perfect match!

I stamped the lilies with Brilliance pearlescent Rust on PainOn Lisse paper. This paper is a bit smoother than PaintOn paper which makes it sponging ink easier. I masked the Lilies and put a stencil on the paper. I sponged with Versamagic ink, I used 3 different colours. 

My stencil was too small to cover the entire area, so later on I stamped some dots on the upper part of the paper. I also stamped the sentiment a couple of times (with the stencil still on the paper!). I removed the stencil, and sponged the entire card with Versamagic Aloe Vera.  This softens the edges of the parts I sponged before. 

I stamped the boat with black Versafine and colourized it with pencils. I also extended the lines of the water with a black Faber-Castell Pitt pen. I added the sentiment. Now it was time to colourize the lilies! I used Inktense and a water brush.

The lilies really pop out of the card irl, sorry I wasn't able to catch the wonderful effect of the brilliance ink on my photo.
The inside of the card and the envelope are also decorated with the lilies.

Stamps:
- Lilies: KiCoStamps (plate 5)
- Ship: Katzelkraft KTZ079 - Bateau en Mer
- sentiment and dots: StampinBack sheet 135

Other Materials:
- stencil: unknown (there was no brand name of other info on it)
- pencils: Derwent coloursoft and Inktense

Challenges:
- Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything Goes Flowers/Florals and an optional Mood Board 
- Stamping Sensations - May challenge: mood board or AG

Thank you for watching!

Sea

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the ArtSpecially Event in Nijkerk (The Netherlands) and as could be expected, I went home with an empty wallet and a lot of new stamps and craft supplies. 

For this card, I used one of my new stamps, Katzelkraft KTZ079 - Bateau en Mer. I started with stamping the boat on both white PaintOn paper and masking tape. I masked the boat and stamped the light house.  I then put my stencil on the paper and sponged Versamagic ink. I started with Sea Breeze and moved on with Ocean Depth. 

I added Inktense (Dark Aquamarine). I was not sure how this would turn out but I was very  happy with the result. I colourized the lighthouse with pencils. I also made the reflection of the boat a little more white, and added some 'shadows' around it. I added some highlights with a white Sakura Gelly Roll. I stamped the bird with black Versafine and the sentiment with Versamagic (Ocean Depth). 

Materials:
- Stamps Boat and lighthouse: Katzelkraft KTZ079 - Bateau en Mer
- Stamps Seagull and sentiment: Crafty Individuals CI-272
- stencil: unknown. I store the original packages in between the stencils, but they must have fallen out. I think it's a Dutch Doobadoo stencil like most of the others.

Challenges:
- Allsorts Challenge - Week 778 Use a stencil

Thank you for watching!

Update May 3rd 2024:

My card was one of the Top 5 picks! Thank you so much, Dena!

Holding a tulip

 

This time a very cute, little card. I used my brandnew stamping platform (yeaaaah!) because several layers had to be stamped on the exact right spot. 

First I stamped the paws and masked them, which is almost a mission impossible. They are so small they hardly stick to the paper. I then stamped the tulip. I removed the tiny paw mask and masked the tulip before stamping the mouse. I colourized the mouse and tulip with Coloursoft pencils. '

My first thought was to add doodles, but I suddenly came up with the idea to stamp the tulip in every corner. The leaves are not stamped, they are hand-drawn. Colourized them as well. I used a black pencil on the paper edges.

Stamps:
- Katzelkraft KTZ311 Ginko and Co
- Katzelkraft KTZ179 - Les rats des villes 

Challenges:
- Stamping Sensations - April Challenge AG & mood board
- We Love Stamping - Spring or AG
- Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG (they love to see Impression Obsession)

Thank you for watching!

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Crazy tulip

 It started with a crazy daisy card, and the story continues .... with a crazy tulip.

Making the background was really fun. I had bought embossed cards and one of the cards came out of the package with pretty severe damage. It was clearly visible on both sides. So I deciced to use this card for something entirely different ..... I colourized the card with my Inktense pencils, sprayed some water on it and put a white piece of mixed media paper on it, and pulled it off immediately. I had no idea what to expect, but it worked like a charm ... great background in 2 minutes. 

I used Memento and Versamagic for the background stamps. I then stamped the tulip and border, and masked the tulip before adding the other flower stamps. I did some masking inbetween as well. I colourized all the flowers and the border with Derwent coloursoft, this was so much fun to do! 

Now it was time for the finishing touch ... I added golden dots to the border. 

Stamps:
- PaperArtsy Eclectica EDY11 (used in the background)
- PaperArtsy Eclectica ELB23 (tulip, border, background)
- Katzelkraft KTZ192 - Les whimsey fleurs
- Katzelkraft KTZ195 - Les fleurs dingues

Challenges:
- Stamping Sensations - April challenge: AG & spring mood board
- We Love Stamping - APril challenge: Spring or AG
- Simon Says Stamp Blog - Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes

Thank you for watching!

An outstanding actress

What comes to mind if the theme of the challenge is 'feminine'? Audrey, swirls and vintage ....

I started with stamping and masking the Audrey stamp. I had set my mind on using the birdcage somewhere in the background. My first idea was to stamp it with black or blue ink, but I changed my mind. Too overwhelming. So I used versamark instead. I added the swirls  and colourized all the white parts with my Inktense pencils. 

My eyes fell on this Katzelkraft sentiment and I didn't need to think twice, it was a perfect match!

Stamps:
- Audrey: Stampinback B206
- swirl: Home Impressions - Grungy plate HI28
- birdcage: PaperArtsy - Hot Picks HP1004
- sentiment: Katzelkraft KTZ204 - Be Batman

Materials:
- PaintOn Lisse
- Versafine black
- Versamagic Sahara Sand and Ocean Depth
- Inktense pencils (baked earth, Dark Aquamarine)
- cardstock

Challenges:
- We Love Stamping - March Challenge - Feminine

Thank you for watching!

The spell

Every once in a while, I promise myself to make a quick and easy card. You know, like the ones you see in tutorials and youtube vids. Ready in 5 minutes. For some reason, I will always end up making the most time-consuming cards ever. Sounds familiair? 

I spend half of my weekend on this card. Idea after idea popped up, so what was meant to be a CAS card with a very stylish daffodil, turned into the not-CAS-at-all-card pictured in this post. 

I stamped the daffodils (so far so good), masked them and stamped my other daffodil stamp and masked them as well. I stamped the bird and masked it. I used a white pencil to add a border around the parts I had previously masked. I used Derwent coloursoft but other wax-based pencils of even crayons can be used as well. 

I stamped the blossoms with versamark and allowed them to air dry before colourizing the entire background with Inktense pencils. Adding the water was like magic, blossoms kept popping out! And now you can see why I added the white border .... there is a subtle highlight around the flowers and the bird. 

Last step was to colourize the flowers and bird and add the sentiment. 

Stamps:

- daffodils: Chocolat Baroque, spring bird - daffodil

- bird: Katzelkraft KTZ151 les piafs

- blossom: Stampinback sheet 142

- sentiment: PaperArtsy - Eclectica EDY11

Materials:

PaintOn (white), purple cardboard, Archival (black), Derwent coloursoft and Inktense, Versamark.

Challenges:

- Stamping Sensations - March Challenge - Spring

Thank you for watching!