Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-faire 2016

The day started off with a color recipe challenge. I used SAF 2014 1940's mini kit with the Monet recipe. I love the New Leaf, inked again with Pinefeather around the edges.

Then we hustled off to Night Skies. Apparently the secret to night skies are some pale colors. And instead of painting a ground scene I inked the edges with more Enchanted Evening. The Sparkle is some light blue shimmer cardstock from Club Scrap. A bit of handspun linen for the thread nest, some silver star sequins, pale pink sequins, and Stickles (diamond, icicle and lavender). The sparkle is cut with the Sparkle die (from the Sparkle & Shine word dies) made with two layers glued together. The sentiment is from the Sparkle & Shine stamp set.

Gilded in Gold was about gilding, but I didn't have Liquid Leaf, so I drew inspiration from the Klimt video, especially his Tree of Life painting. The tree is from Through the Trees stamped with Versaark and heat embossed with Ranger Fine Detail Gold. The little bird is from the same stamp, stamped in Onyx Black Versafine. The print is from Woodblock Prints stamped with Chalk Box gold pigment ink (just have to remember to heat set it lol).

This was a totally different sort of card based on impressionism and Melissa's technique. The stamp sets for the flowers are Pretty Peonies, Vintage Linens, and Make It Market kit: Nostalgic Notions. The leaves are from Cutting Garden and inked with Spring Moss, spritzed and then stamped and fussy cut. Background Basics: Newsprint was stamped across the Friendship Jar and Background Basics: Gingham was stamped across the bottom. The vellum tag is cut with Fillable Frames #9 and stamped with Merci from Think Big Favorites #3. The scalloped border is from Be Happy set.  Melissa's flower technique is simply brilliant : D. I stamped the jar with Aqua Mist and then painted over it with Aqua Mist and Mint Julep. I need to remember to expand my "outline" stamp color palette.  I've started just gluing down the middle of the flowers with a little bit of Ranger's Matte Multi Medium.

I really loved how this card turned out, inspired by Lizzie Jones' take on a painting by Berthe Morisot. It's difficult to see in the picture, but there is a bit of subtle dry brushing. I discovered a new paint recipe. Pour a small bit (dime sized) of regular acrylic paint on the craft sheet over a smudge from an inkpad (ths was white paint over Stormy Sea) and the spritz the dickens out of it until it is very very watery. Then I distressed the edges with Iced Spruce and Bundled Sage. The sentiment is from Embroidered Blooms stamped with one of Wendy Vecchi's Archival Inks. The flowers are stamped with Yellow Tart, Pale Peony, Berry Sorbet and Pure Poppy (totally copied Lizzie's ink choices). Again the flowers are only attached in the middle, the larger one with Ranger's Matte Multi Medium and the smaller ones with a piece of foam tape.

The challenge for this card was learning different ways to make drips and splatters (on purpose lol). I used tinted white acrylic paint (this time with Forest Moss Distress Ink), Royal Velvet and Ocean Tides. I loved the whole background so much, I decided not to use a tag and just stamped the sentiment (the happy from Be Happy and the Everything from Everyday Happiness). The card front is Stamper's Select White and the base is Stormy Sea.

This card was made using pointillism. Even though the deadline was drawing near, it was nice to have a bit of reflective time and listen to the latest Paperclipping Round Table while I stamped (Sweet Blush, Pale Peony, and Berry Sorbet) and then fussy cut. The techniques are not so absorbing that I forget to listen, but just the right amount of doing something to not drift off and think about other things (I actually was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 50, but sadly the medications are contraindicated with other conditions I have). The flower is from Year of Flowers: Carnation, the sentiment is from Garden Variety, the card base is Stormy Sea, the string is Rustic Twine thorugh the largest String Frames die, and the buttons are from a bag of Sweet Blush Buttons. Flat little glue dots keep the buttons in place.

It was really late at this point, so by the time I realized my mistake with the watercoloring challenge, it was too late to start over. The problem was I started with Stamper's Select cardstock instead of Watercolor Paper. (I don't know the face palm emoticon lol). But it still turned out nicely, just not as watery as I had hoped. I used one of my all time favorite stamp sets, Willow, and the backgrounds are both sizes of Background Basics: Gingham. The large is stamped over the willow tree die cuts with Ocean Tides, and the bottom is stamped with Spring Moss. The sentiment is from Think Big Favorites #3 stamped with Pinefeather.

The color blocking is all done on one layer! Wilted Violet soup can with a Picked Raspberry background. Abandoned Coral soup can with a Twisted Citron background. Salty Ocean soup can with a Cracked Pistachio background. Peacock Feathers soup can with a Squeezed Lemonade background. The stamp is from Comfort Food. I'm so glad I was finally able to get this set.