The kiss with dreamy dots

This time I made a card with a very special stamp .... it's the couple depicted in the famous painting 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt. 

On the one hand it's very easy to make a very beautiful card with this stamp, I mean, it's one of the most decorative paintings in the world. On the other hand, what on earth can I do to do it better than the master himself? I decided to stay close to the original but to add elements that are really me. 

I stamped the couple bottom left with black Versafine on a double white card, and masked it. I sponged the background with Versamagic ink and made sure it was not too 'perfect'. The lines are added on purpose, it's a reference to the background of the painting. I used a stencil and -again- Versamagic ink to fill in the entire background with dots: big dots, medium dots, small dots, tiny dots .....  It creates a dreamy effect.I added even more dots with stamps

I stamped a kind of big circle of lace with Brilliance Galaxy Gold on the top right. It gives a wonderful effect but capturing thjs with the camera is not easy. 

I colourized the couple with a combination of Coloursoft and Metallic pencils. I used a little trick. I start with adding colour, eg pale orange, and add a layer of gold to it (with the Metallic pencil). This way I can create different shades of gold. I used more or less the same colours as in the painting.

I added an extra picture to show you how the couple really pops out.

Materials:
- stamp 'the Kiss': Cherry Pie (De Stempelwinkel)
- stamp circle of lace: Stampinback sheet 135
- stamp small dots: Hero Arts, Lots of Dots 
- stencil: ?

Challenges:
- Allsorts Challenge - #780 spots and stripes (or AG)
- We Love Stamping - Vintage or AG

****The Allsorts Challenge is celebrating their 15th Birthday next week, please help them celebrate!****

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!

The girls and the flowers

This time I picked kraft cardstock for my card, I really love the vintage look and feel. Perfect match with this beautiful Stampinback stamp (sheet 029) of girls with flower crowns and little bouquets. 

I added a butterfly and a swirl on the left part of the card. Both stamps are from Chocolate Baroque - Butterfly Flourish Swirls.

Colourizing the dresses was very relaxing. I used Derwent coloursoft pencils and added layer after layer until I was happy with the result. I used a white Gelly Roll to add highlights. 

Challenges:
- We Love Stamping - March Challenge - Feminine (just in time to join this challenge, yessss!)

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!

Love, Beauty, Joy

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a grabbag on the Dutch online marketplace (marktplaats). The ad did contain pictures of the stamps but most of them were so pixelated I couldn't distinguish brands or themes. But I did recognize some stamps of the former Dutch brand 'Stampinback' so I decided to take my change. 

And I was incredibly lucky ..... a big box arrived packed with stamps, stamps, and more stamps. A lot of stamps from former Dutch brands like Stampinback, but also brands like PaperArtsy, Crafty Individuals, Art Journey, and many more. Did I tell you the box arrived on my birthday? Well, it was the most unexpected and best birthday present ever!

Of course, I couldn't resist the temptation to use some of my new stamps. My eye fell on the lovely dancing couple of Stampinback (B454). I think it matches perfectly with the stamp of Crafty Individuals (CI-021) and the beautiful cardstock, I really love this shade of red. I added some highlights and shadows with my Derwent Coloursoft pencils. 

Challenges:

We Love Stamping - February Challenge - Romance or AG

Thank you for watching!

It is a butterfly

 I love butterflies, and I love butterfly stamps! I use the smaller ones more frequently,, you can easily add a little butterfly to your card to make it more playful, or to fill an empty spot. Well, the possibilities are endless! Now it was time to use on of my 'biggies'!

This time I started with one of my brand new stamps, one of the flowers from PaperArtsy Jofy 63. I inked the stamp with one of my purples, inked another stamp with the other purple and putted this stamp on my new flower stamp. Yes indeed, the kissing technique. It makes it look like there are shadows on the flowers, don't you think so?

I stamped the butterfly (Stampinback SB077-833) and colourized it with Derwent coloursoft pencils. I made the background with Inktense pencils, I made the small dots by scratching the top of the pencils with my fingernail and letting the tiny pieces drop on the card. I used my mini-mister to spray some water over it.

Now it was time for the last step ... adding the sentiment. Another new stamp for me, it was also in the grabbag I mentioned in an earlier post. I stamped it with black Versafine and added highlights with a white gelly roll.

Challenges:
- We Love Stamping - January Challenge Something New

Thank you for watching!

decorating the trees

What would Christmas be without decorated trees? Whether it be coloured lights, baubles or other beautiful ornaments, we have to decorate everything to brighten up the long, dark days. This little penguin decided it was time to decorate this almost leafless tree!

This time, I started with stamping a frame of Christmas baubles. I used 2 very old stamps of Ready2Stamp (SiriusHobby), they were still on loop tape but I had to take it off because the hook tape doesn't stick to the acrylic block anymore. So now the stamps are on EZmount. I stamped them with Brilliance pearlescent Beige. I really love using this colour if I want a golden touch, but nothing to shiny and/or yellowish. 

I putted masks on the Christmas baubles on the lower side of the card and stamped the Penguin (KiCoStamps) with Versafine. I moved the masks to the upper part and stamped the branch (Stampinback), also with black Versafine. 

I colourized the penguin and Christmas baubles with Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I used Derwent Inktense pencils for the background. I added some Inktense around the borders, and started working from the inside to the outside with a water brush. This way it's easy to solve all the pigment and spread it evenly with a bit more pigment around the borders. I think it gives a wonderful accent.

Challenges:

- Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Challenge #82 - The Midas Touch

Thank you for watching!

A gift

Another card, yes, I spend all my evenings upstairs. Time for some creativity! I picked carnation, red and pink from the mood board on Stamping Sensations, and a sentiment I recently bought for the challenge on We Love Stamping: Something New.

First, I stamped the carnation (Stampinback MS91-03) with Stampin'Up Blushing Bride (soft pink) on the card and on masking tape, and masked the print. My next step was to ink the Large Flourish of Lost Coast Designs with versamagic pixie dust, ink a Chocolate Baroque swirl with Pink Petunia and to put the swirl on the Large Flourish a couple of times. Indeed, the kissing technique! 

I stamped the sentiment with black Versafine. The sentiment was part of a grabbag with sentiments I recently bought, a very pleasant surprise because this grabbag contained a lot of sentiments I really love. Lucky me. 

After adding the sentiment I removed the mask and put some colour on the beautiful flower! Of course the colours had to be red and pink.

Challenges:

- Stamping Sensations - January Challenge

- We Love Stamping - January Challenge Something New

- Lost Coast Portal to Creativity - challenge #181 Anything Goes

Please note I enter the Lost Coast challenge through my other blog on Wordpress, to avoid my cards disappearing from challenges (a technical problem I've not been able to solve). I stick to the rules of every challenge I am entering, cards are posted more or less simultaneously on both blogs. 

Bird in Chinese colours

 The mood board on Stamping Sensations inspired me enough to make more than just one card. A great opportunity to use an old stamp and a new one, well, I'll be honest with you. It's a new stamp for me, because I have recently bought it from a friend but the company doesn't exist anymore.

Enough small talk, about the card. I have been collecting pictures of Chinese paintings and drawings, and a lot of them depict birds and blossoms. And geisha's of course, but there is a geisha on my other card so now I wanted to make something entirely different. A lot of Chinese works of art have more or less similar colours: whites and soft pink for the blossoms or birds, and sometimes one bright colour like red. The background colour is often a soft grayish green, a very light grey or sand. 

So I deciced to pick the bird from the mood board and use a bird on my card, it is one of the birds of Stampinback sheet 141. After stamping the bird, I masked it and stamped the blossom. It is also a Stampinback stamp, from the next sheet, sheet 142. I also masked the blossom. Next step was to apply versamagic niagara mist with a sponge, to make a real Chinese background. I should mention I used PaintOn Lisse as cardstock, which is more smooth than the PaintOn I use most of the time. The smooth surface makes it easier to sponge the ink, and I think it looks more 'Chinese'. I coloured the bird and blossom with Derwent coloursoft pencils, and tried to make it look like a Chinese picture. Of course the blossom had to be pink, because it's one the colours of the mood board.

Challenges:

- Stamping Sensations - January Challenge

Thank you for watching!