Thursday, May 10, 2018

IO Challenge- Backgrounds

Greetings friends.  I was really looking forward to this challenge because I am enamored with IO Cover a Card Background stamps.  I think you may have noticed that I tend to forgo patterned papers because I can just stamp my own.

For the card today, I wanted to show you how you can combine three different backgrounds to create your own designer paper.  You can choose the colors and designs you want to get a look that you like.  Here is a close up of today's "paper." It uses three of the light/medium/dark IO ink colors that are meant to coordinate together.  I chose Fog, Shadow, and Taupe.


First, I started with Fog ink and stamped the Cover a Card Distressed Denim design on top of white cardstock.  The mottled design is a favorite of mine when building a patterned paper to use as a light base layer to build upon:

Next, I added some lines to my paper using the Scribble Checkerboard Cover a Card and some Shadow ink:
I already had a mottled layer and a lined layer, so for my third layer, I decided to go with some curvy lines.  The top layer used the Flourishes Cover a Card with Taupe ink.
I then had my completed paper that was ready for a stamped image and sentiment.  For the butterfly, I stamped it onto my background and once again onto a piece of watercolor paper that I had colored with Colorburst powders.  It was actually a scrap that I hated as a background.  Never throw those pieces away.  They are great for stamping on top of as well as die cutting.  I cut out the butterfly wings (without the antennae) and glued them onto the butterfly stamped directly onto the card.  Finally, I added my sentiment in black ink.

I encourage you to try making your own backgrounds.  IO has over 250 background designs, so the possibilities are practically limitless!

Impression Obsession Items used:
Cover a Card Distressed Denim
Fog ink
Scribble Checkerboard Cover a Card
Shadow ink
Flourishes Cover a Card
Taupe ink
Sketched Butterfly
Artful Soul

I encourage you to visit the other designers for more background inspiration!

Thursday, May 3, 2018

IO Summer Release Blog Hop Day 3

Welcome to the Impression Obsession 2018 Summer Release Hop!
We have some beautiful new stamps to share AND Gift Certificates to give away! The Blog Hop will be posted on the Impression Obsession Blog at 6am EST May1st – May 3rd. Visit our fabulous IO Design Team’s blogs (only one comment per blog per day 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!!! Comment entries will be open on all posts until 9pm CT on Sunday May 6th and all winners will be announced May 7th.
 Greetings friends.  Most of you know by now how much I love my IO Cover a Card backgrounds.  It wouldn't be a true hop for me if I didn't share one of the new designs with you.

To make my card, I created a background using an older and a new background stamp.  I started with white cardstock and then stamped the Clouds background on top with Sky Blue ink.  The clouds background gives you a really beautiful and realistic looking sky, but I was using it primarily for texture under the second stamp.  Next I stamped the new Mini Beach Print background using Navy ink.  Here is a closeup of the two backgrounds:

For my wavy background, I used a single wave stamp in my MISTI stamp positioner and stamped it twice in Baby Blue ink (top), twice in Sky Blue ink (middle), and twice in Navy ink (bottom).  I simply moved the paper approx 1/4" each time I stamp to get a row of waves with an ombre look.

To finish the card, I added a sentiment with black ink and cut out a palm tree that I embellished with brown pearls.

Impression Obsession Items Used:
Sentiment- Life's a Beach

Don't forget to hop on over to the other designers:

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

IO Summer Release Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to the Impression Obsession 2018 Summer Release Hop!
We have some beautiful new stamps to share AND Gift Certificates to give away! The Blog Hop will be posted on the Impression Obsession Blog at 6am EST May1st – May 3rd. Visit our fabulous IO Design Team’s blogs (only one comment per blog per day 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!!! Comment entries will be open on all posts until 9pm CT on Sunday May 6th and all winners will be announced May 7th.
Greetings friends.  I was attracted to this sentiment by Lin-Manuel Miranda and knew I wanted to make a card with it.  (I am determined to see his play "Hamilton" at some point in my life).
It is hard to tell from the picture, but the background is actually a combination of two different Cover a card Stamps.  I started with the Distressed Denim design and stamped it with Banana IO ink onto white cardstock.  It gave the paper a splotchy yellow/creamy look.  Next, I stamped Sunburst design on top using Goldenrod IO ink.  To finish the card, I added my sentiment with black ink.
Impression Obsession Items used:
Start There D13672
Don't forget to visit the other designers!

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

IO Summer Release Hop Day 1

Welcome to the Impression Obsession 2018 Summer Release Hop!
We have some beautiful new stamps to share AND Gift Certificates to give away! The Blog Hop will be posted on the Impression Obsession Blog at 6am EST May1st – May 3rd. Visit our fabulous IO Design Team’s blogs (only one comment per blog per day 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!!! Comment entries will be open on all posts until 9pm CT on Sunday May 6th and all winners will be announced May 7th.

Greetings friends.  For today's card, I wanted to share an idea for coloring the new Painted Rainbow stamp.  It has a really nice watercolor "brushed" look, so I decided to color directly onto the stamp with red, orange, yellow, green and blue Zig Clean Color brush markers.  Next, I lightly misted the stamp with water and stamped it onto some 140lb watercolor paper.  There were some places that didn't blend as much as I wanted, so I lightly touched them with a waterbrush until I got the rainbow I wanted.  Once I let the rainbow dry, I stamped the sentiment on top.  Tip- be sure to use a MISTI or another stamp positioner to stamp your sentiment.  Stamping a sentiment onto watercolor paper, even smooth watercolor paper, often takes more than one stamping to get a crisp font.

For the background, I stamped the rain background onto blue cardstock with Versamark ink and then sponged it with some Ultramarine PanPastel chalk.  

Impression Obsession items used:
We have two more days of hops coming up to show you the new stamps, so I hope you will join us for the other days.

Don't forget to visit the other designers and leave comments!