Impressions by Day

Bloomin' Beautiful

Hello Stampers,

Time does fly and I feel remiss in not posting sooner than almost two weeks ago but in between we went to Vegas for a few days and when you return from a vacation, it seems like there is so much to catch up on.

Finally got a chance to play with my Bloomin' Beautiful set from the Occasions Mini - fell in love with it as soon as I opened the page.  The flowers are beautiful especially the single stem and I made two cards using this stamp.  The first one uses the Chalkboard or Pencil Over technique - I actually combined the two techniques.  I started out with Basic Black for the base of the card.  Stamped the Floral backround stamp that was inked up with the Craft White Stamp Pad and using a sponge dauber, picked up the Pretty in Pink from the Stampin' Pastels and dabbed it all over the the Floral stamp.  Using a dry cotton pad, I wiped off the excess chalk.  On the flower image, I inked it up with the Craft White Stamp Pad and stamped on the Black panel.   With the pigment ink it takes a while to dry but I did start colouring on the image before it was completely dry using the Watercolour Pencils and highlighting it also with some pastels.  You can pick up the pastel using the cosmetic q-tips for the finer lines and images.  Finished off the card with faux stitching on the Pretty in Pink mat, clipped the corners with the Ticket Corner Punch and placed the Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon over the stem.  It gives such a soft tone to the flower.  The flower came out exactly as I envisioned.  Often times I picture the way I would like my card to come out but it doesn't always turn out but the colours in this flower came out perfectly!

With my second card I was inspired with a flyer that came in this morning's newspaper that had brilliant reds, browns, and deep yellow so I thought of using the Polished Stone technique as the basis of the card.    

  Using the Rose Red, Chocolate Chip and Summer Sun reinkers, I soaked a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and dabbed these colours onto Glossy White cardstock and completed the colours using the Metallic Gold reinker.  As I hadn't used this reinker for some time, I found that it was very thick so I popped off the tip of the bottle and added a bit of water and stirred it up with a stir stick.  It is water based so the little bit of water thinned it out and made it nice and easy to work with.  I find that I am now into using the Creamy Caramel cardstock, one that I often wanted to use and would bring out to match with the card that I'm working on only to put it back into the file because it didn't seem to work with the colours that I was using.  But I've used it twice in the last couple of weeks and am pleased with the colour combinations.  I then cut an oval in  the polished stone  and Creamy Caramel pieces with the Coluzzle cutting System.  After stamping the flower on Vanilla, I used the Watercolour Wonder Crayons and Aqua Painter to paint the rose - then finished off the card with a bit of light sponging around the flower.

Am often asked how do you get your ideas - I find that I live in a Stampin' Up! colour world as everything I see is interpreted by Mellow Moss, Blush Blossom etc. etc.   When we were in Vegas and I was in the "Dolls" of the New York New York casino, I looked at the tile on the floor and the colours that came to mind were Always Artichoke, Blush Blossom and Sahara Sand!  Good grief - can't get away from Stampin' Up! even when on vacation.  Have to try that colour combination on a project.

Happy Stamping!

Dayanna

Tart & Tangy

Hello Stampers!

Have finally gotten around to playing with my Tart & Tangy set from the Occasions Mini and the matching Summer Picnic DP with such bright and vibrant colours it makes it feel like summer has arrived - but reality tells us it's a few months away.  It felt so "quilt" like to make a card with the DP and so I punched out some 1 3/8" squares to place on a 5" Real Red square card.    Layering them on a sheet of the orange DP gave it the "quilt" feeling.  After piecing it together faux stitching came to mind and I just put a border of the stitching around all the squares using the Mat Pak and going over the border with the White Gel Pen.  The  accent flower is the centre one from the three flowers from Friendship Blooms in the SAB mini and was used to add a little punch to the card.  I coloured it in with the Real Red and Only Orange markers and layered on two different sizes from the circle punches.

I used a Note Card to make the next Tart & Tangy sample.  Using the Summer Picnic DP and the orange image from the set, gives it a refreshing citrus feeling (I can almost taste the orange!).    The 5/8" Real Red gros grain adds more colour and I used "sweet" from the Everyday Flexible Phrases.  This set is so adorable and can be used for invitations to summer events, birthday parties, pool parties and right now it will particularly bring smiles to everyone as we gradually shed our winter wardrobe and look forward to some fun in the sun!

I'm off for a few days of R&R and will be back blogging after the Easter holiday. 

Happy Stamping!

Dayanna

Spirellis

Lately I've been making a number of cards featuring the spirelli  - As the metallic cords have been retired and the stretchy silver and gold cords were only available in last year's Holiday Mini, I've been using crochet thread that I bought at Wal-Mart.   Embroidery floss works well too and gives you a large array of colours to choose from. 

  Here are some examples of the various spirelli twists.      The first card was one I made for a recent swap.  I hadn't used the polished stone technique for a long time so decided to use the reinkers to create a small panel.    The image in the centre is from Time Well Spent, coloured in with Regal Rose marker and sparkled up with a little Dazzling Diamonds.

The next project is a 3" x 3" card box with a Build a Brad in the centre of the spirelli circle.  The Love Notes  fit perfectly into the card box.  On the Wild Wasabi note, a piece of Very Vanilla cut to 5 3/4" x 2 3/4" was scored in half and placed on top of a single Wild Wasable 3" x 3" square.  I love the new Fine Cosmo Glitter that comes in a package of 5 colours - Rose Pink, Orchid, Light Blue, Celery and Turquoise.

On this card,  I also used the 4 loops on the spirelli.  In the centre of the spirelli is a clear round button with a rub-on.  Rub-ons were also used on the Regal Rose 5/8" gros grain ribbon.    Berry Bliss DP was used as the overlay panel. 

The pattern I use most is the 4 loops over.  You start by placing a small strip of SNAIL adhesive or a small glue dot on the back of cardstock that you've punched out using the Scallop Punch to anchor the thread.  Next bring the thread over to the front in one of the valleys of the scallop then count over four scallops, take it to the back and then carry forward next to your first cross over - just keep on doing this until the scallop has been crossed over.   Here are examples of the various patterns you can create.  Starting on the top row from the left, I did the one loop over, the next is two loops, etc.    Notice how the width in the centre becomes smaller as you loop over more scallops from your starting point.   You can decorate the centre with stamped images and punched out with the various Circle Punches, use a Build a Brad, Buttons - it's endless how you can decorate the centre.  Give it a try - I'm sure you'll like it.

Happy Stamping!

Dayanna

Welcome to my Blog!

• Hello Stampers!

I finally made it!  After many months of considering having a stamping blog, I finally took the plunge and it's been a rocky road to getting to this point.  I hope you enjoy your journey with me as I continue with my love and passion for stamping and if you're reading this, I know that you are an avid stamper too!

The Occasions Mini, from SU came out on March 1 and one of my favourite sets is Essence of Love and here is a card from that set.      I used Chocolate Chip as the base colour of the card and stamped the flower image on a Very Vanilla panel using Chocolate Chip Craft ink which gives the image a bit of a "pop".  Around the border of the Very Vanilla panel, I used the Mat Pack and paper piercer to form the frame.  I then adhered the Vanilla to Creamy Caramel, a colour that I love but don't often get to use. 

My friend, Jody Boreen, sent me some photos of her beautiful cards and since this is sort of a "chocolate" day - drizzling rain and the need to consume something to get the warm and fuzzies, I chose Jody's chocolate card. 

Her card is a Slot Latch design using the Baroque Motifs stamp set.  I love the use of the chocolate satin ribbon on her card and the hat pin from the Pretties Kit.   She attached some frayed chocolate gros grain ribbon to top off the pin.  Isn't it a lovely card?

This is a short introductory post but I hope that you come back often to visit.  Before I sign off, I need to extend heartfelt thanks to Alison Solven for her assistance and patience in helping me with this blog.    I also want to send huge stamping hugs to Michelle Laycock who designed my banner and assistance with tweaking the name of my blog.  When I became serious about creating a blog, I knew I wanted a custom design and after viewing many stamping blogs, the ones that Michelle created were the ones that really called out to me.  So, via long distance (emails), Michelle, I feel has captured the essence of me with her design.  I absolutely love it and thank you so much Michelle for all the extra help you've given me.  I highly recommend anyone who is looking for a "makeover" or wanting to create their own blog to contact her. 

Happy stamping!

Dayanna