Playing with Fibers

The last hurrah of summer is upon us! I hope you all enjoy your long Labor Day weekend. I just know I'm excited it's COLLEGE FOOTBALL season, U.S. OPEN time, and AUTUMN is on its way! And since it's Friday it's also Friends with Flair day at Unity!

I spent some time playing with something different today... fiber paper. There is a fun 6x6 stack called "Fiber Natural" from DCWV (there might be a giveaway below!). It is really great with my spray inks... the colors just soak right in to the paper immediately. You can see every single little spritz drop on this paper, it's great.

These were so easy to make. I used my 1" circle punch to get all these circles from the Fiber paper. Then I used Dylusions spray ink in "Vibrant Turquoise" and "Crushed Grape". Layer one smaller circle over a larger circle and connect them with a brad. Done-zo! I squished up all the edges to make them a little more dimensional.

Now these little flowers are going to be the star of a card...

The two solid panels are also with the Fiber Natural paper. The larger one is sprayed once with turquoise spray ink. Love how it soaks in and stays so vibrant! I stamped a sweet sentiment from Unity Stamp Co "Could you be any cuter?" set.

Wanna play with the Fiber Natural stack for yourself?! I'm giving away one stack to one lucky commenter! 

Just leave a comment on this post for your chance to win a stack! I'll pick a random winner from the comments on Tuesday (Sept. 3).

COMMENT ON THIS POST FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!

Happy Weekend!

<3 Rachel w k

Distress 3 Ways

Tuesdays are always so much better than Mondays. Yesterday I was in such a creative slump, I just fussy cut embellishments all afternoon. Hopefully the rest of the week is much more inspiring! And happy U.S. Open! Woohoo!

Lawnscaping is having a really fun challenge this week... to distress! You can either play with the distress technique, or use your Ranger Distress products. My card incorporates 3 different 'distressing' methods.

I started by masking off a small portion of this great Crafter's Workshop stencil. Then I used my sponge blending tool with Distress Inks "Chipped Sapphire" and "Tumbled Glass". The stencil was moved around the card to create the cascading pattern.

Showing the masked portion of the stencil

The next distress technique used is my favorite: Distress Inks as watercolors. I dabbed the inks directly onto my craft mat, sprayed with water, and then dipped a piece of white cardstock right on top. I usually dry the cardstock each time and 'dab' it 3-4 times to create more depth. Once the cardstock is fully prettied up and dried, I stamped and fussy cut the butterflies and little flowers.

Using the Distress Inks as watercolors creates such a neat blended/puddled effect. I love it so much! The 3rd Distress technique I used isn't a technique... I added some clear Distress Stickles to the center of the butterfly and centers of the flowers.

A card simply isn't complete without Stickles.

<3 Rachel w k

PTI Blog Hop: Fast Food

After a lot of Papertrey Ink stamping yesterday for the Stamp-a-Faire, I just hadn't had enough so I'm joining in the PTI August blog hop! They put together a great and easy way to be inspired. Pair up a color combo with a great sketch, and all the decision making has already been done!

I decided to use this inspiration combo:

The colors are perfect for autumn, and perfect to use my new squirrel stamp!

I've fallen in love with this little squirrel from Papertrey Ink. I used pattern papers from the new DCWV stack "Pumpkin Patch", which match the autumn colors perfectly. The squirrel was stamped on a large circle, colored with Copics, and I then stamped and colored a little acorn for him. The sentiment banner is just tucked behind the main circle with a shimmery gold bow. To finish it all off, I stamped and trimmed little leaves and added some icicle Stickles.

Have fun hopping :)

<3 Rachel w k

Gallon, Quart, Pint Challenge

There was one challenge over at Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire that really caught my attention. I'm aware of the gallon:quart:pint color theory, but I don't usually make a deliberate point of using it. So this challenge was really a good brain builder!

So the idea is to pick three colors; one color is used the most, the other is used next, and the last color is used the least.

I was also inspired by this color scheme and sketch provided in the first challenge of the day:

I used the bold teal, deep yellow, and pale green. Pattern papers are from Studio Calico "Sundrifter". I used Hero Arts inks in "Butter Bar" and "Tide Pool". The stamps and dies are Papertrey Ink "Bubble Talk".

Gallon = Pale avocado green. Quart = Dark teal.  Pint = Dark yellow

I think my craft area has gotten enough use for one day. Time to enjoy the rest of the beautiful evening :)

<3 Rachel w k

Fall Is In the Air

Today is beautifully beautiful outside. It's weather's little reminder that autumn is soon on its way, and I could not be more excited :)

I've already got a Thanksgiving card to share! The itty bitty "Gobble" stamp from Unity is too cute. And I thought the little turkey went well with the color challenge from Unity as well.

The turkey was stamped on a white cardstock square and colored with Copics. I used Distress Inks "Mustard Seed" and "Wild Honey" to blend the edges of the square and the sentiment banner. The pattern paper is from DCWV "Modern Meadow" (the paper colors matched this challenge perfectly!) and DCWV "Woven Paper" to give texture around the turkey.

There is another color/sketch challenge happening today over at Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire! Here is the 'recipe' that I was inspired by...

I don't love the card much, but I really just wanted to play with my new PTI "Bubble Talk" stamps and dies. This was a good excuse :)

The pattern papers are from Studio Calico's "Sundrifter" collection. I used PTI "Bubble Talk" stamps and dies with inks from Hero Arts (tide pool, soft cantaloupe, and pale tomato).

There's a lot more stamping to be done today with the Stamp-a-Faire... but first we're all going to the park to enjoy the lovely day :)

<3 Rachel w k

Challenge Yourself

What's your least favorite crafty term? The words that make you shudder and want to crawl into a cave? A while ago I said that "CAS" was my terrible term. I've reevaluated that statement, and have come to the conclusion that "ONE LAYER" is definitely my crafty 'four-letter-word'.

So I forced myself to make a one-layer card, for no real good reason, other than pure self torture. This card was also created using the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger photo inspiration. I was mainly inspired by the color scheme and the skinny detailed flowers.

And here is the third attempt at my one-layer Tuesday Trigger card

I stamped the flowers first, then used Distress Inks to blend over a stencil trying to 'mask' around the flower stamp. Then I did some very basic coloring with my Prismacolor Pencils and blended with mineral oil. I used the largest sentiment stamp I had to fill in the card.

I'm not super thrilled with the outcome, but I gave myself a challenge and stuck with it. So I'm glad that it's a finished card! I will admit that there are a few Liquid Pearls dabbed onto the flowers.

To create is to breathe... live a life Inspired

<3 Rachel w k

materials:
Stamps: Unity Stamp Co "Untamed Beauty", "Create to Breathe"
Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop
Inks: Distress Ink "Shabby Shutters", "Tumbled Glass", "Spun Sugar", "Picked Raspberry". StazOn "Jet Black"
Prismacolor Pencils
misc: mineral oil, Liquid Pearls