Thursday, December 21, 2017

IO Challenge- Anything Goes


Greetings friends.  Today the IO challenge theme is "anything goes."  Yeah!  Don't you love seeing where the creative mood takes you?

For me, I wanted to play with two of the new IO dogs.  Aren't they sweet?  You could use it for a Valentine, but it works just fine to let someone know that you care.

To make the card, I stamped the two dogs with black Versafine ink onto 140lb watercolor paper.  Then I colored the dogs with Zig Clean Color brush markers and softened the markers with a waterbrush.  Once the dogs were dry, I added some color around the dogs and under the dogs as a shadow.  I wanted to let the dogs dry first so that the markers wouldn't bleed into each other.

To finish the card, I added a sentiment from a clear set and some "patterned" papers I made using some Cover a Card backgrounds.

Stamps used:
Silly Dog C15123 (the one with his tongue hanging out)
Sweet Dog D15124 (heart on the nose)
Saying- from the Warm Fuzzies CL492 set (I'm sorry.  I think it has been discontinued)
Cover a Card Gingham CC006



Don't forget to visit the other designers!
 

Thursday, December 7, 2017

IO Challenge- Last Minute Holiday Cards/Gifts


Hi guys.  Today I wanted to share a project to make a faux glazed ceramic ornament that is really fast and cheap to make.

I started with a white ceramic ornament that I bought from Michaels.  After discounts, it cost about 60 cents.

Next, I die cut a snowflake from the IO Mitten die set.  To do this, I placed a piece of masking paper on top of cardstock and then ran it through my die cut machine.  I then peeled the masking paper off of the cardstock.  Hint...  you have to place the masking paper onto cardstock so that it goes through the die cut machine well.  Next, I put my masking paper snowflake onto my white ornament:


While the masking paper snowflake was in place, I sponged over everything with Impression Obsession Peacock ink:


Then I removed the mask:


You could leave the ornament as-is at this point, but I wanted a finished glaze look on the top.  My first attempt was to ink the entire ornament with Versamark and then emboss it with Ultra Tick Embossing Powder.  That didn't work because the ink from the pad just absorbed into the ornament.   I tried again and used my Versamark reinker and painted the entire top with Versamak ink before adding my Ultra Thick powder.  This worked perfectly.  After one layer, my ornament wasn't very smooth:


I did a total of three layers of Ultra Thick powder total to get a nice, thick enamel finish.  After the first layer of Ultra Thick, I was able to go back to using my regular Versamark pad to adhere the powder rather than the Versamark reinker.

Finished project which was much smoother:


Hints:  If you get small bubbles, keep heating the powder to get them to go away.  Don't worry about bubbles on the first layer since it won't be very pretty anyway.  If the powder starts to run off the edge because you get it too "liquidy," stop heating it, let it cool a bit, and continue to heat the project.  You can use regular clear embossing powder instead of Ultra Thick powder, but it will take a lot more layers to get the same effect. 

I included a lot of steps, but it really is a quick and easy project.  My non-existant Christmas budget also appreciated the cost.  The finished project really did look like a glazed ceramic tile.

Good luck!

Don't forget to visit the other designers for more ideas:

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

IO Valentine Blog Hop Day 3

Welcome to the Impression Obsession Valentine Release Blog Hop!
We have some beautiful new stamps to share AND a Gift Certificates to give away!
The hop will run for 3 days (12/4/17 -12/6/17) with a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day at 6am EST. Visit our fabulous IO Design Team’s blogs (only one comment per blog please) for a chance to win one of FOUR $25 Gift Certificates!

The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win!!! Four random winners will be picked from all comments on all of the hop days (only one comment per blog per day please).
Comment entries will be open until 9pm CT on Sunday Decmeber 10th and all winners will be announced Monday December 11th. Good luck!
All of the new stamps you'll be seeing on the hop are available NOW at www.iostamps.com
 
 
Greetings friends.  Today is the last day of the new release blog hop.  I hope you have enjoyed it.  For today's card, I used stamps from a clear set called Country Floral.  It is a nice set that has hearts, flowers, and leaves.
For the background, I used a technique I like with the Cover A Card Backgrounds.  I started with a brown polka dot scrap of paper and then stamped the  Wood Grain Cover a Card background on top with brown ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Here is a closeup of the background:
What I like about this technique is that you get an interesting look of mixed patterns and it is a fantastic way to use up your patterned paper scraps.
For the heart section, I stamped the leaves with Impression Obsession Mint ink and the Outline heart with Impression Obsession Black ink.  To add a bit more interest, I stamped the flower with the heart center on top of the heart using the same black ink.  I then embossed the flower with clear powder to give it a bit of interest.  To color the heart, I used Zig Clean Color Brush Markers, cut out the heart, and popped it up with foam tape.  Here is a close up:

Items used in the card:
Country Floral Set WP804 (for leaves, heart, and flower with heart center)
Saying from clear set- CL634 Valentine Brush Words
 
Don't forget to visit the other designers!

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

IO Valentine Release Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to the Impression Obsession Valentine Release Blog Hop!
 
We have some beautiful new stamps to share AND a Gift Certificates to give away!
The hop will run for 3 days (12/4/17 -12/6/17) with a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day at 6am EST. Visit our fabulous IO Design Team’s blogs (only one comment per blog please) for a chance to win one of FOUR $25 Gift Certificates!

The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win!!! Four random winners will be picked from all comments on all of the hop days (only one comment per blog per day please).
Comment entries will be open until 9pm CT on Sunday Decmeber 10th and all winners will be announced Monday December 11th. Good luck!
All of the new stamps you'll be seeing on the hop are available NOW at www.iostamps.com
 One of the nice things about Valentine's Day images is that they don't have to be used for one time of year.  Yes, you can make cards for Valentine's Day, but you can also use them for wedding or just for telling someone how much you care.
For today's card, I colored it in traditional Valentine's Day colors, but I think it would be great in silver and gold for a wedding card.
 
To make the card, I followed several steps:
  1. 1. Stamp image onto kraft cardstock with white ink
  2. 2. Allow ink to dry
  3. 3. Color image with Prismacolor pencils- don't worry about coloring over some of the stamp details
  4. 4. Put image back into the MISTI and stamp with white ink to put the lines back on the image
  5. 5. Emboss with white powder

Here is a close up of the coloring and embossing:

Stamps used in the card:
Saying from clear set- CL634 Valentine Brush Words
 
Don't forget to visit the other designers for more inspiration and for chances to win prizes!

Monday, December 4, 2017

IO Valentine Release Blog Hop Day 1


Welcome to the Impression Obsession Valentine Release Blog Hop!
We have some beautiful new stamps to share AND a Gift Certificates to give away!
The hop will run for 3 days (12/4/17 -12/6/17) with a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day at 6am EST. Visit our fabulous IO Design Team’s blogs (only one comment per blog please) for a chance to win one of FOUR $25 Gift Certificates!

The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win!!! Four random winners will be picked from all comments on all of the hop days (only one comment per blog per day please).
Comment entries will be open until 9pm CT on Sunday Decmeber 10th and all winners will be announced Monday December 11th. Good luck!
All of the new stamps you'll be seeing on the hop are available NOW at www.iostamps.com


Christmas is just around the corner, but I have already moved on to Valentines!  It is a good thing too because  Impression Obsession has a brand new Valentine release.
For my card today, I started with some 140lb watercolor paper and sprinkled it with some Colorburst powders and spritzed it with enough water to give it a mottled blue background.  Once the background was completely dry, I stamped the new  Dot Background G20417 in IO Peacock ink.
In the next part, I stamped the new Tattoo Heart (D19684) onto white cardstock with IO Black ink and then colored it with watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  to finish the card, I popped up the central panel and added a clear rhinestone to the heart banner.

Don't forget to visit the other designers for more inspiration and for chances to win prizes!