Saturday, July 30, 2016

July Leading Lady Diane Jaquay | Take Four

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July is coming to a close which sadly means it is our last Saturday with our radiant July Leading Lady, Diane Jaquay.  I feel so honored and blessed Diane has been our Leading Lady this month gracing us with her stunning skill, vast versatility and clever creativity!  I am sure I am not alone in feeling fortunate to learn more about such a lovely and gifted lady.  What a joyful and joy-filled July it has been!

If you missed learning more about Diane...CLICK HERE or her smashing debut you must see it...CLICK HERE or her sensational second performance taking on a single cutaway (die) set CLICK HERE or her cutting-edge triumphant third performance CLICK HERE!  

Lucky for us all we have her final command performance today.  

Hello!  I can't believe today is my final performance, the month has really flown by!  Today I'm going to be sharing some ideas for adding color to your cards without having to color your stamped images using traditional methods such as markers, pencils, or paintbrushes.  Something that you might not know about me is that my hands shake, badly!  My doctor diagnosed my condition as familial tremor, and I've had it my whole life.  My grandmother had it, and my brother has it too, so it seems to be something that runs in families.  It's a huge challenge for me to color stamped images with Copics and watercolor brushes.  I can do it, and I do do it,  but it's a very sloooow, painstaking process, and sometimes I don't have the time to devote to it.  So I tend to try and find other methods of adding color to my cards, because I do LOVE color!  So let me show you a few methods that work for me, and I hope will help others who have difficulty coloring.


Obviously solid stamps are a good choice for me, but sometimes you want more than just a plain, solid stamped image. To make this card I used the large, solid circle from A Tree For All Seasons, along with some smaller solid circles from Scenery: Bigger Bang Confetti (the 2015 Black Friday limited edition set).  For the large circle I used 3 shades of Distress Ink, Orange Marmalade in the center, Barn Door on the bottom, and Mustard seed at the top.  Next I sprayed the inked stamp lightly with water and stamped on watercolor paper.  This is something you'll have to play with, too much water and the ink will squish out from the stamp too much, too little water and you won't get as much of a watercolor look.  Next I inked, sprayed water,  and stamped the smaller circles with the same 3 colors of distress inks I'd used for the large circle.  This gave me a wonderful, colorful background that I could stamp some black images onto.  I stamped the tree from A Tree For All Seasons on the large circle, and the tiny leaves from Kindness with Evelin T. Designs on the smaller circles.  To add the selectively placed splatters that you see on this card I simply placed some pieces of scrap paper on the card where I didn't want the paint to hit, and added the splatters using Barn Door and Orange Marmalade Distress Inks.  I stamped the sentiment, also from A Tree For All Seasons, and then trimmed the panel using the larger scallop die from Essentials: Audrey Cutaways.  I cut a piece of orange card stock with the scallop die too, and placed both panels, staggered, on a red card base.  I finished this card with a piece of black twine tied around the top.

I want to also show you a little tag I made using this same technique:


This time I used some solid flowers from In Bloom: Eva's Favorite Flowers.  The main reason I wanted to show this is so you could see the orange and yellow flower.  This is a really pretty effect you can achieve on your solid stamps when you mix 2 or more colors of distress ink and spray them with water!  I simply stamped the entire flower with the yellow, and then tapped some orange around the outside of the flower, sprayed with water and stamped and this is how it turned out.  Pretty cool, huh?  This technique can be used with any of your solid stamps and I hope you'll give it a try!


To add color to this next card, I used another very easy technique, and probably my personal favorite technique, ink blending!


There's something really magical about ink blending.  You can use it to make spectacular backgrounds, or even to color your die cuts, as I did on the above card.  I wanted to make a background with a desert feel to it for this card.  I used distress inks and my ink blending tool, and the colors I used from top to bottom are Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy and Gathered Twigs.  I know that sounds like a lot of inks but the cool thing about ink blending is that you can combine colors to create a new color, which offers almost limitless color combinations.  Some people say they aren't good at ink blending.  I find that having a lot of patience, using a light hand, and keep blending blending blending until you achieve the results you like is what works for me.  After finishing the ink blending I added some water splatters and ink splatters.  I almost always do this with my ink blended pieces because it just looks cool!  I stamped the sentiment from Kindness with Evelin T. Designs with black ink, and then I cut out the tag shape using Essentials: Noelle Cutaways and popped it up on foam tape.  I die cut the cactus using Kindness with Evelin T. Designs Cutaways and used ink blending to color it before stamping the image from Kindness with Evelin T. Designs using black ink.  A tip for coloring die cuts like this is to leave them in the card stock you cut them from while coloring, it keeps them in place which makes it easier to color.  I colored this cactus first with Evergreen Bough, and then I came back in with some Pine Needles distress ink to add some color variation and depth.  To finish this card I used some foam tape to pop up the cactus and added a few cute little flower sequins where the flowers are on the stamp.  I also did a bit of distressing of the finish with an emery board (the white lines you see around the edges of the card).  I did this because, you guessed it, I had a couple of unwanted black smudges on the card that I couldn't remove so I sanded them off with the emery board :)  I had to then sand at other places to even things out, but I love how it looks on this card!



For my last card I did some loose, messy watercolor to add color.  I did this in a bit of an unusual way.  I added the watercolor to the paper FIRST before stamping anything.  I know this might sound weird, but it works for me.  When I'm simply adding some watercolor to a piece of watercolor paper and not coloring in a stamped image I don't worry as much about "messing up".  Also, by doing the watercolor first you don't have to worry about smearing your stamped image.  Obviously I had the image I was going to be stamping in mind before I started my watercolor.  You could even stamp it on a piece of scratch paper for reference as you watercolor.  I used some Mustard Seed and Wild Honey inks for the flower, and Cracked Pistachio for the stem and leaves.  After it was dry I stamped the flower from In Bloom: Anna's Flora using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  The sentiment is from A Tree For All Seasons.  I trimmed down the watercolor panel, tied some twine around it, and then placed it on a card base with a piece of plaid paper.  I added some white sequins to finish the card.  It's a good thing this "messy" look is in vogue, it works perfectly for me with my shaky hands :)

You've all been so kind and supportive this month and I truly appreciate that.  I've read every one of your comments here on the Winnie & Walter blog and they've made me so happy!  If even one of my cards has inspired you to pull out your supplies and create then I consider my performances a great success :)  Thank you, Shay, for having me, it's been a blast!

Please be sure to visit my blog, It's all about the ART!, and leave a comment for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to Winnie & Walter!  I'll be drawing a random winner in a few days from all those who have left comments on my blog for my Leading Lady posts during the month!


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Monday, July 25, 2016

Happy Birthday with Lydia

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Good morning (or afternoon) all! It's Lydia here with you today and I have a very soft and airy card to share with you today.

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I started with a card base slightly smaller than normal (4 x 5 1/4") so that Cover Model:The Leaf Effect Cutaway would cover the card without the outside edge. To do this I stuck the white card die-cut Cover Model over my card card and then cut the edges off so it was nice and flush.

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I stamped and white heat embossed some flowers from In Bloom: Addie's Garden and then die cut these using the coordinating die set, In Bloom: Addie's Garden Cutaways. Once I had these all die cut I gently blended in some ink, from the top on the flowers and around the edges for the leaves. I do love the soft effect that ink blending gives and it's such a quick and easy way to colour in images.

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The sentiment is from Winter Woodland and I stamped this onto a strip of white card. I attached this to my Cover Model covered card base and then arranged my flowers to frame the sentiment.

That's it from me today, I really hope you like my card! 

Hugs, Lydia x


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Saturday, July 23, 2016

July Leading Lady Diane Jaquay | Take Three

Diane_Jaquay_july2016 

Our July Leading Lady, Diane Jaquay, is back for her triumphant third performance!  If you missed learning more about Diane...CLICK HERE or her smashing debut you must see it...CLICK HERE or her sensational second performance taking on a single cutaway (die) set CLICK HERE.  Diane shows her mastery of another product today!

Without further ado, Diane....

Hello there!  So happy that you're joining me again today for my third performance as Winnie & Walter's July Leading Lady!  Today I'll be showing you some fun techniques to try with your Winnie & Walter Creative Screenings stencils. 




I think in order to describe how I made this first card it will be easier to do by writing the steps in numerical order rather than just describing them in a paragraph.  So here we go:

1.  Cut a piece of thin paper (typing paper works well) using Cover Model: The Leaf Effect Cutaway.  You'll be using this as a "stencil".

2.  Place the leaf "stencil" on a white card base (4 1/4 X 5 1/2), and do whatever taping you need to do to secure it.  Use Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and an ink blending tool to color in the leaves.  Work gently so as not to tear the paper.

3.  Leaving the leaf "stencil" in place, place Scenery: Do You See What I See? Creative Screenings stencil over top of it and secure it with tape.  Apply Lucky Clover Distress Ink with an ink blending tool.

4.  Remove the stencils and bask in the magic that appears before your eyes!

This technique can be done with any stencils.  The trick is to apply your lighter color ink first to the stencil with the bigger opening (in this case the leaf stencil), and apply your darker ink color second using a more detailed stencil.  I hope that makes sense.  For the rest of this card, I cut the wreaths from In Bloom: Paulina's Greenery Cutaways from white card stock, both the solid and outline, and glued them together.  I stamped 2 of the birds, and the word "love", from LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T. Designs on white card stock, fussy cut them, and arranged them on my card (I made this before I had the matching dies).  I stamped the rest of the sentiment below the word love to finish the card.  I really wanted the stenciled background to be the star of this card so I kept the toppings as simple as possible!




This next card uses a technique where you apply color directly to your stencil, spay it lightly with water, and then press it to your paper, so what shows up on your paper is the reverse of the openings in the stencil.




1.  Apply ink directly from the ink pad to the front of Scenery: Into the Woods Creative Screenings.  I used Mowed Lawn and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks, alternating the colors on the stencil.

2.  Spray the stencil from a distance of about 12", applying a light, even mist to the ink.  Be careful not to add too much water, this step just takes practice.

3.  Turn the stencil over onto a piece of white card stock (ink side down).  Place a paper towel over the stencil and press gently over the entire thing.  This will help to blot up any extra water/ink, and assist you in pressing the ink into the paper.

4.  Remove the stencil.  If any of the areas seem to not have received enough ink you can reapply in just those areas.  The effect is not meant to be completely smooth, as you can see in my card above the green is very splotchy.  I actually did some watercoloring over the green splotches with more green ink to fill in spaces, since this is supposed to look like a forest.

5.  When your card stock is dry, proceed to add some depth and dimension to your white trees using Copic markers or whatever coloring medium you choose.  I used several shades of grey Copics and did very simple coloring around the edges of the trees until I got the effect I wanted.  I also added some horizontal lines to the trees.  The coloring of the trees with the Copics is what really brought this card to life!

Please trust me when I say this was VERY easy to make and honestly anyone could achieve the same results.  I really love doing things like this because it's fun and feels like play and doesn't have to be "perfect"!  To finish the card I die cut the word "prayers" from The Big, the Bold and Comfort Cutaways twice, one time from a specialty silver paper and a second time from a piece of white fun foam.  I then glued the silver word on top of the foam word to create dimension on my card.  I stamped the word "heartfelt", from The Big, the Bold and Comfort, with black ink.  I stamped the cardinal from Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T. Designs on white card stock, colored it with Copic markers, and fussy cut it.  I perched the bird on the word "prayers" using some foam tape.  I really love how this card turned out, it really does make me feel like a true artist :)




This next card is really a party on a card, isn't it?!  I used the same technique as I used on the "prayers" card, but in addition to that I also used the stencil in a traditional manner.

1.  Apply ink to the front of Scenery: Pattern of the Rings.  I used Picked Raspberry, and Spiced Marmalade, applying the Raspberry ink through the middle on a diagonal and the Marmalade on each side of the Raspberry.

2.  Spray the stencil from a distance of about 12", applying a light, even mist to the ink.  Be careful not to add too much water, this step just takes practice.

3.  Turn the stencil over onto a piece of white card stock (ink side down).  Place a paper towel over the stencil and press gently over the entire thing.  This will help to blot up any extra water/ink, and assist you in pressing the ink into the paper.

4.  Remove the stencil.  If any of the areas seem to not have received enough ink you can reapply in just those areas.  The effect is not meant to be completely smooth, as you can see in my card above the ink is splotchy.

5.  When the card stock is dry, place Scenery: Pattern of the Rings back over it, lining up the holes where they should be.  Tape the stencil in place and apply Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade to the stencil openings.

6.  Trim the right side of the panel using Goldie Trim Cutaways.  I also cut a piece of gold glitter paper using Goldie Trim Cutaways.

7.  Cut the word "party" from The Big, the Bold and Party Cutaways twice, one time from gold glitter paper and one time from black card stock.  Place them on your card, staggered slightly.

8.  Stamp the words "it's", "your", and "day", from The Big, the Bold and Party, on black card stock and emboss in white.  Trim them down into words strips.

To finish this card I added a strip of gold glitter tape along the left side of a black card base, added my main panel, and added a few black sequins.  Like I said, a party on a card!

I hope that you'll try out some of these fun techniques with your stencils.  There are a lot of stencil techniques on Pinterest and You Tube and I'm sure if you take the time to look around you'll find some you might like to try.  Please be sure to pop over to my blog, It's all about the ART!, and leave a comment for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to Winnie & Walter!  I'll be drawing a random winner at the end of the month from all those who leave comments on my blog for my Leading Lady posts during the month!


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Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Join In on The Gossip Column with Taheerah Atchia No. 4 | Spectrum!

Did you see The Gossip Column with Taheerah Atchia No. 4 | Spectrum?  Taheerah pours her heart and considerable talent into each column and then challenges you!

We've extended the deadline to participate until 11:55 p.m. CST on July 31, 2016 and already we have a brilliant array of colorful entries:

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A gigantic thank you to all who have already took on the challenge and shared your gorgeous rainbow-bright projects with us.

We would love for you to join in too! :-)

Saturday, July 16, 2016

July Leading Lady Diane Jaquay | Take Two

Diane_Jaquay_july2016 

Our July Leading Lady, Diane Jaquay, is back for her sensational second performance!  If you missed learning more about Diane...CLICK HERE or her smashing debut you must see it...CLICK HERE.  Today see Diane's incredible creativity and ingenuity with showcasing one cutaway set!

Ladies and gentlemen, Diane....

Hello everyone, I'm so happy you stopped by for Take Two of my Leading Lady role!  I have to confide something with you all today, I'm just loving the whole idea of being a "leading lady", even if it's not on an actual stage.  When I was about 7 years old I broke my arm and the doctor who treated me always called me Sarah Bernhardt.  I don't remember much about being 7, but apparently I had a flair for the dramatic even at that tender age.  When I was in high school I was "star struck", and devoured everything that had anything to do with my favorite actors, actresses, films and plays.  I took dance and acting lessons, and was certain I was destined for great fame!  A friend of mine in high school, Douglas Carter Beane, who later went on to become a Broadway playwright and screenwriter, wrote a play in high school and wrote a role in it specifically for me to play!  For all the passion I felt for acting growing up, it didn't last past high school.  I quickly realized I suffered from major stage fright and really preferred being behind the scenes.  I think I hit my sweet spot for "performing" when I discovered the world of card making and blogging, I can show my stuff without actually having to show my stuff, if you get my drift, haha!

Now on to today's cards!  When I was creating my cards for last week, the ideas just kept coming and coming, and I kept making more and more cards, way too many to show all at one time.  So I decided to make today "creative use of dies part 2".  Specifically today I'm featuring one of my favorite Winnie & Walter die sets,  Essentials: Noelle Cutaways.  Have you noticed that scallops are everywhere these days?!  I remember when I first started scrapbooking 20 years ago everyone was using those scallop edge scissors, but at some point they became passe.  Well scallops are back now, and I'm loving them again!  For my taste, the frames in Essentials: Noelle Cutaways have the perfect size scallops, nice and big!  I also love Essentials: Audrey Cutaways when a project calls for a more delicate scallop.



For my first card I cut several of the large scallop frames and trimmed the edges off to add rows of scallops to my "hugs" card.  I used white card stock but this would look really pretty done with patterned papers too!



To make the rest of the card I first cut In a Word: Hugs Cutaway from white card stock several times and did some ink blending with several shades of pink distress ink to color the top layer.  I glued the words together to achieve a thicker die cut.  I stamped the adorable bird from LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T. Designs on watercolor paper and colored it with my Zig Clean Color watercolor brushes and then I fussy cut it.  I stamped the leaves from In Bloom: Addie's Garden with green ink and fussy cut them (I made this card before I had the matching dies).  The final touches on this card include a strip of gold glitter tape, some splatters of pink ink, some Glossy Accents on the birds belly, and a few gold sequins.




For this next card I used the corners of the smaller scallop frame die in Essentials: Noelle Cutaways to make a faux lacy border.  To make this card I first randomly stamped flowers and leaves from In Bloom: Lola's Bouquet with Joni Andaya on a panel of white card stock.  I used PTI inks, Berry Sorbet, Melon Berry, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, and Vintage Jadite.  The word "love" is from LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T. Designs, as is the phrase "today and always".  I stamped them on black card stock and embossed in white.  I die cut the word "love" using LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T. Designs Cutaways.  I used 5 corners trimmed off of the die cut frames to make the border.  I overlapped them slightly to fit the card, here's a close up for you:




For my next card I used die cuts within a die cut, using the flowers from In Bloom: Eva's Favorite Flowers Cutaways to cut flowers in an angled panel cut from the large frame in Essentials: Noelle Cutaways.





After I had die cut the angled scalloped panel you see at the bottom of the card, I masked off the edges and did some ink blending with distress inks (Mustard Seed, Candied Apple, Raspberry Fizz, and Ripe Persimmon), roughly trying to apply the ink colors where I had cut the flower openings.  Originally I had only planned to have color and flowers at the bottom of the card, but I made an oopsy!  The picture below shows the ink blending I did, and a nice big splotch of orange ink where it didn't belong (doh!)




 To cover up my mistake I cut another scallop frame and added an angled piece of it to the top of my card.  I did some more ink blending on some of the white die cut flowers to coordinate with what I'd done at the bottom.  I could have done exactly what I did at the bottom of the card for the top but I thought it might be more interesting to have both the negative AND positive die cut flowers on the card (plus it was much easier to do it the way I did lol!)  I die cut the sentiment from black craft foam.  The word "hello" is from The Big, the Bold, and Happy Cutaways and the word "you" is from The Big, the Bold, and You Cutaways.  I finished the card with some black twine and a few colorful sequins.




For the next card I decided I to make die cut frame with a circular opening in the center to add a sentiment.




Now you might be wondering where this "square" scalloped frame came from.  Did you know that you can make square frames from most rectangular frames?  To make this I first cut a rectangle frame with the smaller frame from Essentials: Noelle Cutaways from shiny gold card stock.  Next I moved the die down on the paper until I formed a square shape.  It's important to fit the paper and die together snugly when you move it, and I recommend using washi tape to keep it in place when you go to make your second cut so nothing shifts.  If you look in the corners of my frame you'll see that you do get one extra line in each corner when you do this, but I don't think it looks bad at all or takes anything away from the beauty of the frame.  After I had my square I used a circle die to cut out the center of the frame.  I stamped and watercolored the flower and leaves from In Bloom: Elsa's Flora, and fussy cut them.  I stamped the sentiment from Merry & Bright with Evelin T. Designs in the center of the frame.  I finished the card with some black ink splatter and gold, red, and clear sequins.




One last little fun idea for using the scalloped frames from Essentials: Noelle Cutaways, they make really darling little gift cards when folded in half!




It would be fun to sit and make a bunch of these for birthdays or holidays, don't you think?  They would also be fun to place in your child or spouses lunch sack with a little love note written inside.  The stamp sets I used on these are LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T. Designs, My Precious and Wishing You with Evelin T. Designs, and Happiest of Holidays with Evelin T. Designs.

Whew, we made it!  This was a long post but I hope I've given you a few new ideas for using your Winnie & Walter dies and stamps!  Please be sure to pop over to my blog, It's all about the ART!, and leave a comment for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to Winnie & Walter!  I'll be drawing a random winner at the end of the month from all those who leave comments on my blog for my Leading Lady posts during the month!


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