Elaine Cox's Sheet #4

NEW! Plate #44, sheet #4 of Elaine Cox's Series

on sale through April 3rd

will begin shipping April 5th.

To view or order this sheet,

go here

card created by design team member Randi

card created by design team member Jennifer


card created by design team member Traci


card created by design team member Micki

Connie-Alice "Drink Me"

The new Alice In Wonderland series by Elaine Cox is so utterly adorable!  I have combined an image from Plate #35 and a sentiment from Plate #37, both by Elaine Cox and both carried exclusively by Sweet Pea Stamps.
I cut a Spellbinders die (Labels One) and stamped the image with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers and added some baubles and pearls (by Queen & Co.).  I layered this over some DP by DCWV (Mariposa).  I ran some ribbon down the center but think I have it mostly covered up now.  I cut more dies by Spellbinders (Doodles and Fancy Tags) sprinkled and edged with black ink and embossed with detail black EP by Judi-Kins.  Added more baubles and pearls and some flowers by Prima with some glittery brads by Oriental Trading for the centers.
If I keep putting this much on a poor A2 size card I will soon need to do cards the size of Mag's....
Connie

Create low profile bling!

 

This technique will help you create a low profile bling embellishment. I picked up a 3 ounce bottle of glitter glue for less than $3 at a major mass merchandiser, this bottle will make many glitter dots! Besides using a hole punch, I had great luck creating shapes with punches, also. I recommend creating your shapes within a day of drying out the glue as it tends to become wavy with age and harder to punch.
   
Supplies:

Other elements
    Glitter Glue (Sulyn Industries)
    Crop-A-Dile (We-R-Memory Keepers)
    Sticker Maker (Xyron)
    Wax Paper (Reynolds)

Directions:
Working on wax paper, squeeze the glitter glue into a 1" strip about 2" long, a paper clip can be used to smooth out and ridges.

Allow to dry about 24 hours.
Remove the dried glitter strip from the paper and run through the sticker maker, smooth side down.

Using the hole punch, cut holes from the strip and catch them as they are created.

Peel the backing and attach to your projects as needed.

I also tried several other ways of creating my bling. The first was Stickles by Ranger - this was not a good idea, it crumbles too easily, which is too bad since there are so many wonderful colors available. The next attempt was using Diamond Glaze by Judikins with glitter, which actually turned out nicer than the glitter glue, for this method follow the instructions above, but immediately after creating the ribbon of glue, immediately cover with a generous coating of glitter before allowing to dry.

I hope you will find these tips to be helpful in your creations and as always enjoy sharing!!

Lisa Victoria's Dragons

Remember the movie "Dragon Heart" with the voice of Sean Connery as the dragon and Dennis Quaid as the knight? I love that movie! So you can imagine my total squeal of delight when Lynette shared with the DT that Lisa Victoria would be the newest artist to join Sweet Pea Stamps and a preview of Plate #39!

I can not tell you how much fun it was to color this little guy up! It was so much fun that I whipped out four different versions of him. Even making the cards came easy for me :-)

What was truly fun for me was using some of the bolder Copic colors on him (or her, lo).

How adorable is he??? This is "Dragon Luck" from Plate #40. Doesn't he just melt your heart? I love red, but must still be on my bold color kick. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with the weather :-), so I paired him with bold card stock colors. I've said it before, I love 'white' space and to tend to sneak white in especially when I use a lot of bright colors. The flowers are white Prima flowers that I just colored with my Copics and then added some Dew Drops in the center of two of the flowers.

For my second card, I went with another bright color, blue. Actually I used some violet colors too. (I know I should really track the colors I use :-( but I get so wrapped up in the coloring and will try all sorts of colors. Like a gray over red :-) ):

Notice I paired "Dragon Luck" with more pastel colored card stock and again, white card base.

You already saw my third card but in case you missed it, here it is again:

A friend of mine had sent me a little goody package which included the ladybugs. How perfect for this image, huh?

I've got several more versions of him colored up. Just needing to make the cards which I'll be sure to share :-).

If you are still reading this, go - no - RUN to the Sweet Pea Stamps shop because lots of new goodies. All of them are just awesome. Awesome doesn't even describe it correctly. However, I know you know what I mean. We can't wait to see what you create with all of these wonderful rubber stamps!

Purple Woods

Here's another wonderful image from ching chou kiuk's fantasy art collection. Her name is Purple Woods and she comes from Plate #24. I love her innocent face and the adorable fairy cat that she is holding.

I started with a gorgeous shimmery mica cardstock base in purple and then used matching embellishments. The image was stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. I added a beautiful quote from Plate #25.

Holley

Masked Fairy

This is the Masked Fairy in Green - only rebel me I didn't do her in green. As you can plainly see, I focused on purple with some pink thrown in for good measure :). While making this card I precolored multiples of this image. It is a fun one to color and looks great in anything. I love a versatile gal. I really like the mask- it makes me think of Mardi Gras and New Orleans. I have never been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, but I have visited New Orleans and loved every second of it. I really, really want to go back and spend more time there. I digress, but would love to see your creations with this, or any of the Sweet Pea Stamps, images!

Unregrettable Pirate Life

Hello! I have made a card today using Unregrettable Pirate Life from ching-chou kuik's Fantasy art Collection (sheet 10, Plate 36). I pulled almost every color that I colored her with from the colors in the DP. For a little extra interest I used a lot of brads on some strips of brown cardstock and put them diagonally on two corners of the background. I was hoping it would give the impression of the studded leather or wood that you might find on a treasure chest!

The Details:
Stamp: Unregrettable Pirate Life - ching-chou kuik's Fantasy Art Collection (sheet 10, plate36) - Sweet Pea Stamps
Paper: Creative Imaginations, Chocolate Chip (SU), White (Paper Trey Ink)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics:
Skin:R00,E00,E11,E13,R20
Hair:E50,E53,E55
Clothes:E55,E57,E59,YR15,YR16,YR18,W0,W1,W3
Background:BG10,BG11,BG13,E50,Y21,Y26,Y28
Misc: Gold Brads (SU), Gold Gel Pen

I hope your day is magical!
:-)Traci

Soft Goth Night

Today I have a card to show you that I created with Soft Goth Night. This image is from Sweet Pea Stamps ching-chou kuiks Fantasy Art Collection sheet #10/ plate #36. The sentiment is from sheet #8/ plate #30.

I used some DP that I got at Michaels awhile back in the dollar section. I used a chipboard frame from Technique Tuesday that I covered in some plum colored PTI card stock. The flowers are prima and the white one's were from Joann's wedding section(2 of them I colored black with a prisma marker). I also added some more color to the prima flowers with copics V04 and V15. I added some diamond bling to the centers of the flowers. I also added some black bling around the top corner of the frame and added 3 to her headband. I used a QuicKutz die to create the flourish.

I drew in the rest of her fins on her tail!! Yes I drew it!! I can't draw so I am so happy with the way she turned out. So now I'm not afraid to try it again. I drew it in with a copic multiliner, and I made her eyelashes longer. I also went over the black spots on her tail with a Sakura clear star gel pen. The decorative ends on the sentiment was created with a spellbinder accessory die. If you haven't ordered this set yet it's a must have!! Well are her images are a must have as they are all so beautiful!!

Copics Used For Soft Goth Night

Skin: E0000,E00,E11,RV02

Eyes: V04,V15,V12

Hair and clothes/tail: RV000,V000,V12,V04,V15,V17,RV02,BV08 and BV17

New Release Promo!

ching-chou kuik's Fantasy Art Collection, sheet #14, plate #43

on sale through March 28th

shipping begins April 1st

to view or order this sheet, go here

'Lily' card created by design team member Katarina
'Sunflower' card created by design team member Angela


'Rose' card created by design team member Alex

'Magnolia' card created by design team member Jennifer

Brown Hats, Green Fairies and Pink Spray...

Elaine Cox's "Brown Hat Spring Fairy"

One of my favorite new Elaine Cox images! The owls are just too sweet. This image is called 'Brown Hat Spring Fairy', however I gave her a pinkish hat, and while I was at it, a purple owl.

Ching-Chou Kuik's "Shining On" Haiti Relief Stamp
[*50% of the sales of this stamp will be donated to Doctors Without Borders]

I love using monochromatic color schemes. Here, I have colored the Haiti Relief Stamp "Shining On" in multiple shades of Copic Markers in the lucky March colors of: G -green, BG, blue-green, and YG, yellow-green families.


A "faux airbrushing" technique:

Elaine Cox's "Celestial Garden Fairy"
For this 'faux airbrushing' technique I used a Ranger Mini Mister with some of my Copic Various refills and concocted my own special custom Copic color spray. Think of all the colors you can make!
Best part, I made this little ATC in about 5 minutes.
Note: Whenever working with Copics in "spray" form, you should ALWAYS work in a well ventilated area. Do NOT inhale.
Various Refills contain 25cc's of refill. It's approximately 30 cents per cc retail. I used approximately 1/2 of a cc on my ATC. It seems like a lot. But in the long run so much cheaper and less complex than an airbrush system. You won't get the perfect even coverage that you would with an airbrush. But the effect is still soft and fun. And, you can spray ribbons, flowers, etc.
Recipe: RV10 4ccs, R20 1cc, RV06 1cc

Connie-Dragon Dreams

This image was so fun to work with.  It's perfect for a baby card or even a child's birthday.  You can see this new line of images by Lisa Victoria HERE

Supplies:
Dies by Spellbinders "Fancy Tags" and "Classic Scalloped Squares"
Copic Markers
Dye ink by Printworks "Periwinkle Blue" and "Tuxedo Black" by Memento
DP papers by DCWV
Cardstock by Bazzill
Blue "Hugs" brad-unknown
sponges
Corner rounder punch by Creative Memories

I cut 2 squares and colored the image, sponged the edges and cut several of the tags and slid some
beneath the focal image to match the bottom tag with the fancy brad.

Connie

ching-chou kuik's Fantasy Art Collection- sheet #13

NEW!!! ching-chou kuik's Fantasy Art Collection sheet #13 (plate #42)

On sale through March 28th

Shipping begins March 30th

to order or view this sheet or any of our other new sheets

go here

"Spring Spread" card created by design team Angela

'Seeing Through' card created by design team member Connie

'Fly Dandelions' card created by design team member Micki

"Inner Tender" card created by design team member Mag

Have a Magical Day!

I love this stamp, called Dark Sirene, from ching chou kuik's fantasy art collection. This stamp is on plate #24 and the saying used comes from Plate #21. For this card I stamped the image with Memento black ink and trimmed out the image to remove the background. I colored her with copic markers including coloring over the black hair to give it a dark brown look.

I think she is so beautiful that I didn't want to add a lot of extra embellishments, but I do think the image would love fabulous if I had some flowers that matched the color of the flowers in it. You can even use your stamping ink to add extra color to the floral embellishments so they match even better. The bling used on this card are pearls from Queen&Co.

Have a magical day!

Holley

Revisiting Egypt

I have loved each and every one of the images that are part of ching-chou kuiks fantasy art collection. The other day I went through and decided to play with some of the first ones released again. This is Egypt Mermaid. I loved being able to combine lace with a sparkle paper and have an image that could support it.

Sweet Pea Index Booklet

Today I want to show you a little booklet I made to keep track of which Sweet Pea stamps I have. I keep my rubber in a zip-lock bag and it's hard to see which stamp is which and how it looks stamped. To avoid this problem I have stamped all stamps I have on slightly heavier paper than I normally use. Then I used a nestie shape to cut them all out and made a hole in every corner to fit a ring.

I also cut out a bit of heavy cardboard (like the one on the back of a notepad) to make a front. I then painted the back with white and pink paint and glued on a piece of  pretty paper on the front.  Finally I cut out letters, added a flower and added some dimensional glaze on the green/yellow bird in the top left corner.

 

On the back of each image I have written the name of the stamp and which plate it belongs to. Then I sorted them chronologically with the oldest sheet in the back and newest in the front.

 

This project is fabulous to bring on a vacation or if you just feel like colouring but don't want to make any cards. I always colour my images to match patterned paper so it's hard to bring images to colour on vacations (unless I want to bring tiny pieces of  patterned paper as well, which makes it too big of a hassle)

I hope you've enjoyed this project and gotten some ideas of how you can store and view your Sweet Pea stamps!

/Katarina

A Lot of Fluff

 

Today I wish to share with you a tip for creating a type of flocking for your creations. It is really simple and fun to do and will open up new ways to embellish your artwork without a lot of expense.

Fluff

Supplies:
    Styrofoam Balls (Unknown)
    Snack Bags (Ziploc)
    Inks

Directions:
Working over a clean surface, rub the two styrofoam balls against each other to turn them into a dust like consistency. I worked over a zipper style sandwich bag so all the fluff could be caught without a big mess. A cheese grater with a fine tooth could also be used but I am all for what is quick and easy.

To color -
Place the dust into a snack bag. Add a drop of ink and toss the dust until well covered, adding more ink as needed. Allow to dry before using.

For my fluff I experiemented with three different forms of color, I found the Lumiere to produce results I liked the best. Being an acrylic paint it dried a lot quicker, however it did not cover as well as the dye ink. The spray covered quickly and pretty good but was slow to dry. The dye ink, which is the recommended way of coloring the fluff dried slowly but provided the most complete coverage in color. I recommend experimented with the inks you have at home to discover which way is the best for your projects.

For the wings on this card I went with a plain white. Attach the fluff with a wet glue, I used Diamond Glaze, I love the stuff, but I have heard Zip Dry works well also.

Hope you have fun fluffing it up!

Alice in a Field of Mushrooms

Hello! I am so excited about the new images coming out at Sweet Pea Stamps! While I wait for the rest of mine to arrive, I thought I would play with Alice again and use her a little differently. This time I cut her out of her background (I also wiped away the ink form her hand and the bottom of her dress where the table legs cross it before I stamped her so I could draw a teacup in her hand.) I drew some mushroom cap shapes on the DP I wanted to use, cut those out, then drew some stems on white paper and colored them with my Copics. The "Drink Me" is from the Alice Sentiments set.

The Details:
Stamps: Elaine Cox Alice Drink Me (sheet 2, Plate 35 ), Alice Sentiments (Plate 37)
Paper: Fancy Pants Designs, Razzelberry Dark (Prism), White (Paper Trey Ink)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Walnut Distress Ink
Copics:
Skin: R00,E00,E11,R20
Hair: E50,Y21,Y26
Dress:B91,B93,B95
Mushroom Stems: E50,E53,E55,E57
Misc: Stardust Stickles

Have a magical day!
:-)Traci

UTEE and Fantasy Art Stamps - Let's Play

Let's play with some UTEE and ching chou kuiks Fantasy Art stamps! 

Disclaimer: No rubber stamps were harmed in the process - just in case you were wondering :-)!

This project is a fun to do because you can let your inner artist come out to explore all kinds of different creative ideas. Basically I mean go wild and have fun! Gather your supplies and let's get started!
 

Supplies you will need:

• UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel)
• Melting Pot
• To Dye For Ink
• Pigment or Permanent Ink
• Rubber Stamps

 

• Craft Stick or Spatula
• Non-stick Embossing Craft Sheet
• optional: Dry Pigment Powders
• optional: Glitter, Beads, Charms, etc.
• Wonder Tape or Glue

Working on a sturdy, protected area plug in your Melting Pot. Pour clear UTEE in the pot to melt, cover with lid .

Keep your melting pot covered while the UTEE is melting. This helps to melt your embossing enamel more quickly and efficiently. 

(Having said that, once I started pouring the melted UTEE, I completely got lost in what I was doing that I did not put the lid back on in between pourings)

While we're waiting for the UTEE to melt, grab your Sweet Pea Stamp of choice. I grabbed the angel stamps from Plate 17, ching-chou kuik's Caribbean Treasure from Plate 36 and ching-chou kuik's Dark Sirene from Plate 24.
(Ok, I admit I dragged them all out - after all, I don't play too often with the Melting Pot and UTEE so when I do, I take full advantage of it :-) )

 

I used StazOn Azure ink to ink up my stamp. You can use any pigment ink, but I like the results I got with StazOn. Be sure to ink up your stamp really well.

Once the UTEE was completed melted, I added 3-4 drops of To Dye For Ink.

Using a craft stick or spatula, stir it really well.

Pour the melted UTEE onto the craft sheet.

Now hold your breath, lol and press your inked stamp into the melted UTEE.

As you press, it's normal that some of the melted UTEE will push out on the side - creating like a wedge shape. No worries, that's perfectly ok.

Leave the stamp in the UTEE until it cools completely.

I didn't have time to trim or apply repositionable glue on the back of the images from Plate 36 yet. I didn't let that stop me. As seen here, I used ching-chou kuik's Caribbean Treasure without an acrylic block.

Once the UTEE cools, the stamp will lift out easily.

Peel image from craft sheet, if desired trim while still warm or use a hot knife. I like the look of the excess UTEE and didn't trim any of it.

Save all excess pieces of UTEE or any pieces that you are not happy with because you can re-melt these. I safe mine in a sandwich bag for later use.
 

Oh you can also make your own dew drops :-).

Here is a close up (blurry - sorry) of the stamp after I peeled it off the melted UTEE.

See, no harm done. After a good scrub with StazOn cleaner, my stamps looked good as new!

Now you can embellish your piece with glitter glue or charms or you can use pigment ink powders to add more definition. You can attach your piece to a card or leave as is to use as a suncatcher. The piece will be see through, just remember that the stamped image will appear in reverse if you use the non-stamped side. If you plan on using it as a sun catcher, use a toothpick to poke a hole while the finished piece is still warm.

I wanted to create a piece of wall art, so let's continue:

Using card stock from DCWV's Old World Stack and my Lattice Shapeabilities pendant, I die cut 2 pieces which I glued back to back.

I applied my finished piece on top of the lattice die cut with Zippy Paper Glue and yes, my piece cracked. I left it like this because it adds character.... I like it :-). At this point, I could have called this piece finished.

But since I love hardware stores and wanted something a little sturdier, I dug out my Formica sample chips.

You can find these at any home improvement center in the cabinet/counter section.

Using a regular glue stick, I adhered a piece of DP cut slightly larger than the Formica swatch.

Next I used my sanding pad to sand along the edges which gives gets rid of the excess paper and finishes the edges.

I added my melt art on top of the covered Formica with glue. Finishing the whole piece off with different embellishments.

Here are a couple of close-ups!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I'm by no means an expert but the whole idea is to experiment and have fun.

As you can see from my piece, there are no mistakes just opportunities to embellish!

I'll leave you with another look at the finished piece!