Lots of Love | Penny Black & Pinkfresh Studio

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a Valentine’s Day card featuring products from Penny Black.  I love how approachable their products are when it comes to creating greeting cards.

The supplies used:

Penny Black – Passion Stamp

     Penny Black – Background Basics Stencil Set

     Waffle Flower – A6 Piercing Layers Die Set

     Pinkfresh Studio – Whimsical Blooms Stamp Set

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks

     Simon Says Stamp – Aster Pawsitively Saturated Ink

     Schmincke Watercolor Paint – Volcano Red, Shire Green, Forest Green, Tundra Pink,  

         Volcano Orange

     Winsor & Newton – Permanent White Designers Gouache

     Kuretake Starry Colors Metallic Watercolor Paint – Gold No. 901

     Gina K. Designs – Barely There Amalgam Ink

     Fabriano Artistico Extra White Watercolor Paper

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Splatter Brush

     Scor-Tape Double-Sided Adhesive

     MISTI Stamp Positioning Tool     

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I started by stamping the Penny Black red rubber Passion stamp onto a 6” x 7” piece of Fabriano Artistico Extra White watercolor paper using Gina K. Designs’ Barely There Amalgam Ink.  I used the MISTI tool for this so I could add enough layers of the Barely There ink so that it was dark enough for me to see to be able to watercolor over it.  I like to use the Barely There ink since it doesn’t really influence the watercolor paints and doesn’t change the intended color.  I used Schmincke Watercolor Paint in the colors:  Volcano Red, Shire Green, Forest Green, Tundra Pink, and Volcano Orange. 

Once the watercolors had dried, I used the largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Layers Die Set to die cut the panel with the assistance of my Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine.  Using the Penny Black Background Basics Stencil Set – the one with the 4” x 5-1/2” aperture – and used low-tack tape to temporarily adhere it to the top of the watercolor panel, aligning it so that I was framing the aperture in the center of the upper portion of the card.  I used a large blending tool to lightly ink blend a combination of Ranger/Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks over the upper two-thirds of the watercolor panel.  Once completed, I moved the stencil to the lower end of the card to attempt to capture the same amount of the aperture as I did for the top, this time ink blending Ranger/Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, chose to use the Pinkfresh Studio stamp set called Whimsical Blooms.  It includes a stamp that says, “Lots of Love” and I felt that was appropriate for this card.  I placed the watercolor panel in my MISTI tool and stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner using Simon Says Stamp’s Aster ink pad.  I wanted to use the purple toned ink to tie into the little floral hearts that are the purplish color.

Assembling the Card

Since I wanted to add some spatter, I added the photopolymer sentiment stamp over the stamped sentiment to protect it from spatter.  Using Winsor & Newton White Gouache, I applied a generous amount of white spatter using my Ranger/Tim Holtz Splatter Brush and repeated this process using Kuretake Starry Colors Metallic Watercolor in the color No. 901.  After the spatter dried, I added Scor-Tape to the back side of the watercolor panel and adhered it to a side-folding, A6 card base.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today's blog post, I really do appreciate it. Until next time... happy crafting!

Beautiful Birthday | Pinkfresh Studio

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a card featuring some fabulous products from Pinkfresh Studio – both recently released and a tad older.  My beautiful niece gifted me with a pad of Strathmore Toned Tan Paper during Christmas and that paper was the inspiration for what ended up being a delightful tone-on-tone birthday card.

The supplies used:

Pinkfresh Studio – Amazing Things Stamps/Stencils/Dies

     Pinkfresh Studio –Bloomscape Stamp/Stencils

     Pinkfresh Studio – On My Mind Stamp Stamps/Dies

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     Pinkfresh Studio – Nested Elongated Ovals Dies

     Kraft Cardstock

     Tonic – Craft Perfect Pearled Gold Vellum Paper

     Strathmore Toned Tan Sketch Paper

Spellbinders - Cinnamon Color Wheel Cardstock

     Anna Griffin – Champagne Matte Foil Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – Earl Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Charcoal Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Nutmeg Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Paprika Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Allspice Ink Pad

     Altenew Mini Blending Brushes

     Ranger – Anti-Static Pouch

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Embossing Ink

     Ranger – Princess Gold Embossing Powder

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I cut a piece of Strathmore Toned Tan paper to measure 4.5” x 5.75” and used Simon Says Stamp Earl ink to stamp Pinkfresh Studio’s Bloomscape cling floral stamp onto the Toned Tan paper with the assistance of my MISTI stamping tool.  I chose to create a tone-on-tone floral background colorway, so I started my ink blending utilizing the coordinating Pinkfresh Studio Bloomscape stencils and some ink pads from Simon Says Stamp in the colors:  Earl, Charcoal, Nutmeg, Paprika, and Allspice.  Using Altenew’s Mini Blending Brushes, I added greys to the leaf-related stencil areas and the brown-tones were blended into the floral aspects of the stencils except for the flower centers and I added Lisa Horton’s Night Sky Cloud 9 ink to those.  Once the gold pigment ink dried, I used the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A dies to die cut the inky, floral background panel using the second to largest die in the set and die cut Anna Griffin Champagne Matte Foil Cardstock using the largest die in the set.  I adhered the floral background panel to the center of the champagne metallic cardstock using strips of Scor-Tape.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things stamp set, I placed the large floral stamp and a piece of the Strathmore Toned Tan paper into my MISTI tool, prepped the paper with Ranger’s Anti-Static Pouch to help alleviate stray pieces of embossing powder sticking where I didn’t want them to, and stamped the image onto the Toned Tan paper using Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz’s Distress Embossing Ink.  Once stamped, I applied a coating of Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder to the inked image, tapped off the excess, and melted the embossing powder using my WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool. 

For ink blending the image, I used the Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things stencil set.  For the leaves (stencils 1 and 2), I chose Simon Says Stamp’s Earl and Charcoal inks to add color and shading.  There are three stencils for the flowers, so I used Simon Says Stamp’s Nutmeg, Paprika, and Allspice inks for the floral aspects of the image.  I ink blended the Nutmeg on stencil 3, Paprika on stencil 4, and Allspice on stencil 5. 

Once the image was completely colored, I used the Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things die to die cut the flower image and die cut plain, kraft cardstock three additional times to add dimension to the focal image.  After die cutting, I used Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue to adhere the inked image and two of the plain, kraft cardstock layers together.  Using the Pinkfresh Studio Nested Elongated Ovals die set, I die cut a piece of Tonic Craft Perfect Pearled Gold vellum using the largest die in the set.  I glued the floral stacked layers to the center of the vellum oval and glued the final/third plain, kraft cardstock image that matches the floral image to the back side of the vellum.  This will add some lift and separation for the floral image from the floral background.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the Pinkfresh Studio On My Mind clear stamp and die set and chose the “Wishing You a Beautiful Birthday” greeting.  I placed the sentiment stamp and a piece of Spellbinders Cinnamon cardstock into the MISTI tool, prepped the cardstock with Ranger’s Anti-Static Pouch and stamped the image onto the cardstock using Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz’s Distress Embossing Ink.  Once stamped, I applied a coating of Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder to the inked sentiment, tapped off the excess, and melted the embossing powder using my WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool.

Assembling the Card Front

To add the focal point the card front, I added liquid glue to the back side of the bottom layer of kraft cardstock that was previously glued to the vellum layer of the focal point and carefully positioned in onto the center of the card.  Once the glue dried, I added a few pieces of scrap cardstock the two outer edges of the sentiment to give them stability and glued the sentiment to the bottom center of the card front.  Lastly, I adhered the completed card front to a side-folding, A2 size, kraft cardstock card base.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2025 Holiday Card Series #9 | Merry Christmas

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a wintry card featuring Spellbinders’ City Holiday die set designed by Yana Smakula.  I’ve been wanting to work with this die set all season long and am finally getting the opportunity to do so.   I put my fate once again in Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Cubes and a random number generator to pick my color scheme and today’s Color Cube card was #010.  This one feels more autumnal; however, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be magical!

The supplies used:

Spellbinders – City Holiday Die Set

     Birch Press Design – Merry Christmas Dapper Script

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pads – Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion,

          Brushed Corduroy, Mowed Lawn

     Waffle Flower – Background Blender Brushes

     Spellbinders – Timber, Cinnamon, Terracotta, Indigo, Peridot, Alabaster,

          Plum Cardstock

     Concord & 9^th – Peanut Cardstock

     Altenew – Moonstone Glitter Cardstock

     Idea-ology/Tim Holtz – Gold Metallic Kraft Cardstock

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Winsor & Newton White Designers Gouache

     Rainbow Splash – Rainbow Gem Stickers

     Altenew – Mini Blending Brush

     Krylon Workable Fixatif Spray

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Card Front Background

I cut a piece of white cardstock to measure 5” x 7” and selected Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion, and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks to use for ink blending my night sky. 

For the sky, I started ink blending at the top of the cardstock using Chipped Sapphire and blended about a third of the way down the panel, switched to Villainous Potion for the next four or so inches and then finished ink blending the remaining bottom portion of the panel using Brushed Corduroy.  Since I will be spattering white gouache over the background sky, I took the panel outside and sprayed it with Krylon Workable Fixatif Spray to try to keep the Distress Inks from seeping into the white spatter.  I set the sprayed background panel aside to dry and moved on to the focal point.

Creating the Focal Point

For my focal point image, I used the Spellbinders City Holiday die set and cut the individual pieces from the following cardstock colors:  

     Snow:  Altenew Moonstone Glitter Cardstock

     Roof, Window and Door Sills & Steps:  Spellbinders Timber Cardstock

     Trees and Wreaths:  Spellbinders Peridot Cardstock

Stars on Exterior Trees:  Idea-ology/Tim Holtz – Gold Metallic Kraft Cardstock

     Door and Window Frames:  Concord & 9^th Peanut Cardstock

     Draperies:  Spellbinders Indigo Cardstock

     Building Structure:  Spellbinders Cinnamon Cardstock

     Wreath Bows and Swags:  Spellbinders Cranberry Cardstock

     Inside Windows:  Spellbinders Alabaster Cardstock

     Gifts:  Spellbinders Plum Cardstock

I assembled all the pieces for the apartment building using Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue.

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing Birch Press Design’s Merry Christmas Dapper Script sentiment die, I die cut the sentiment once from the Idea-ology/Tim Holtz Kraft Gold Metallic Cardstock and two more times from Spellbinders Indigo cardstock.  I glued the three layers of the sentiment together in a stack and placed an acrylic block on top until the glue dried.

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I mixed a small amount of Winsor & Newton white gouache with a couple drops of water and spattered it heavily across the background panel.  Once the spatter dried, I glued the snow hill across the bottom of the card and then adhered the apartment building in the center of the snow hill.  For the exterior trees, I lightly ink blended Distress Mowed Lawn Ink with an Altenew blending brush along the bottoms of the trees and added a little up the sides.  I adhered the two trees on either side of the building using thin foam squares and liquid glue, added some yellow Rainbow Gem Stickers to the trees, and added the sentiment to the top of the card.  Lastly, I adhered the card front panel to a white, 5” x 7” card base.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!