Cute But Dangerous

That sums up this stamp set! Welcome back to my blog! I picked up these adorable images from Fleurette's store, Inkon3. Check them out:

Totally adorable, am I right? As much as I love these for card making, I really adored the idea of giving them their own world! I started with an acrylic paint background (titanium buff), then layered over several shades of blues (Dina Wakley's colors) through various stencils.

I followed the same pattern with the lower green areas. I stamped random text over the sky and grass using Archival Inks.

I stamped all the pieces and colored them. You'll note the Ellen Hutson flowers. They are from Rustic Botanicals by Julie Ebersole. So stinking cute!! Her set was provided to Understand Blue Unwind attendees. If you haven't gone to a UBlue event, you really should.

Although these adorable dragons come with dies, I wanted clean dark edges, so I cut them out by hand. I find that activity very zen. I also cut out rocks using Tim Holtz's cobblestone die and created little spaces for the flowers and mushrooms.

And how cute is that little fire! There are two little faces that you can choose for it. I love this one, and debated putting googly eyes on it, but I decided to just leave them be. All of the dragons are shimmery with Wink of Stella. I mean, they're magic so why not!

To tie the whole page together, I painted a crisp black border, highlighted with white Gelly Roll pen lines and gold embossing paste through a Dylusions stencil.

Here's the whole page. I really love how it turned out - I added text bubbles and pencil shading to add interest and dimension. I'm so glad you stopped by today and I hope this page brought you a smile. I hope you're inspired to get this set and start creating today!

Ta for now,
~ky

Faux Metal Effects

Hello again! Today I have a quick video for you, and an easy way to achieve faux metal effects for use on your cards and journals. You may have noticed the interesting panel behind the focal point of my finger-painting card shared HERE.

Don't you love that look? It's really easy to do. Here's a 3 minute video to show you how I did this.

I love the way metal is woven through most of the elements on this card. Please see THIS POST for more details on the creation of the card. The supplies used are listed below.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog - I really love reading your comments!
~ky

  ----- S U P P L I E S -----
Basic black cardstock
Versamark Ink
Pan Pastel Metallics
Sofft Sponges
Matte Mod Podge Spray Sealer
Stampin' Up! 3D Dynamic Embossing Folder Hexagons
Stampin' Up! White embossing paste
Stampin' Up! Copper thread
Stampin' Up! Copper embossing powder
Copper foil paper - retired
Stampin' Up! Pattern Party Decorative Masks
Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature Stamp Set and Dies
Palette Knives
Linen Thread
Nature's Poem Designer Series Paper

Have a Drink

Welcome back! Today I'm sharing a video and project designed to make your playtime fun. It seems alcohol inks have been all the rage lately. I've never put mine away for long. They are just so organic, random, ever-changing, and plain old fun. Add some Yupo paper, and you have magic!

I'm hosting the Mix-Ability challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers this week. Our little team are dedicated to making artistic mediums approachable for card makers and art journalers alike! This week I'm challenging you to use alcohol inks to create a flower. Here's the video.



These are the three flowers I created. I've turned one into a card, one into an art journal, and the other is waiting for another application.

It's a pretty basic card, but I wanted the flower to take center stage. This flower was completed on SU! glossy cardstock. It didn't move the way alcohol ink does on Yupo, but it's still pretty. The faint blue areas on the paper were deposited residual ink drops.

This is the flower from the video. Isn't it wonderful? All the motion, the color, your eye fills in the gaps and viola! It's a pansy lily! Plily? Panly? Linsy? Hmm...

You were born an original. Don't die a copy.

All that yummy goodness! There were a million steps to this, but basically this is how it happened...

I started with a titanium buff acrylic paint, then adhered the Yupo flower panel with torn text paper glued around it. I find it fascinating that God would pick that little bit of all the papers I have (I just pull it out, I don't look at it) that says Santa Fe. That high school was the site of the recent school shooting. Intriguing since I picked the page statement out long before this concept came together. He leaves His fingerprints all around if we're willing to look for them.

I added layers of acrylic ink over Golden crackle paste spread through Dylusions and SU! stencils. I cut each word out of 37 different alpha dies...actually just 3 - 2 old QuicKutz dies and the other from Mama Elephant. The sticker words came from a Tim Holtz pack. I sealed it all up and added shading, black and white paint splatters, and Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops in places to lead the eye.

And this little gem will find its way onto something soon. I could make these flowers forever. I hope you'll try this technique - and have fun doing it!

Ta for now,

~ky

Pretty and Polished

Hey friends! I'm back with a new tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers (SCS). This time, I'm cleaning out some of my beauty supplies. Can you guess?

Fingernail polish! Yes! I have some issues with nail polish, so I rarely wear it. I have some bottles that have been lonely in a dark closet. But the colors are so pretty, and the glitter is in a form I can live with - bunnehs do not look good in glitter!

So I created a new technique using nail polish, water, a stir stick, and plain cardstock. We've named this Nail Polish Marbling. Here are some finished panels awaiting turning into projects.

I also made you a little video to show you how I made these. I want to thank SCS for allowing me to share this technique - so please hop on over to the technique page and gallery. I'd be extra happy, like a chicken with a June bug, if you tried the technique and shared your work!



Here are my 2 finished projects. If these strong colored panels are frightening to you, just treat them like monsters and cut them up! Cut strips, paper piece, use your dies - when you do any of these actions, that paper can cover a full set of cards.

Beautiful You paper-pieced dress.

Hero Arts "smile" and SU! striped scallop die

Now, go play and have fun! It's only paper!

Ta for now,
~ky