Going to the Ocean from My Stamping Room

Last weekend I took a trip to the Connecticut/Rhode Island border with a couple friends to visit the ocean.  It was so lovely there.  Sitting on the beach just watching the waves and soaking up the sun was just what I needed.  :)

Coming back into my stamping room this week, I made an ocean-themed card with the little sandpipers from the Wetland set.  I especially love this set now because I recently moved to Sandpiper Lane!

Honestly, it took me a while to find the watercolor paper (some of my supplies are still in boxes), but once I did I was quite happy with this card.  I used Gorgeous Grunge to make the sand appear and then I highlighted it with Wink of Stella to give it a little glisten.

I think you can see the hint of glitter that the Stella brush gives this card.

 I made several versions of this card, trying out different inks to see which one that I liked the best.  This one is made using black Memento pad and the others are made with Early Espresso brown ink.  I like the espresso ink the best.  I found the idea for this card on Pinterest  by Debbie Lamb.

This next card is an easy-to-make card using washi tape as an embellishment.  I used the Flower Shop stamp set that comes with a coordinating punch that makes the stamping so quick and easy.

On this alternative version of the card, I stamped on vellum using Rose Red ink and clear embossing powder.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the bottom half of the card is embossed with a pretty scallop.  During my class, I let the students choose if they wanted to emboss on the vellum or just stamp on the pink paper.  It was pretty much 50-50.  The idea for this card came from Rachel Tessman.

After we accented the card with pearls, we used a little Wink of Stella to give the flowers a silvery glow.  Have you not heard about Wink of Stella?  You can order it here for only $8.00.  Click on Shop Now and enter Stella into the look-up box.  (If you want to look at the catalog, it's on page 181.)  What a great new product it is!

 The third and final card for this week's class is this pretty card made using the Number of Years stamp set.  I saw this idea by Elizabeth Miller on Pinterest. 

While I did like the card made in the mint macaron green, the other side of the paper has this pretty floral pattern on it.  The stampers could use either side of the paper.

I thought the colors were very pretty for this card.  We used Mint Macaron, Flirty Flamingo, Baja Breeze (an older color) and Old Olive for the leaves.

After adding mini pearls and a ruched ribbon in Flirty Flamingo, we colored in the flowers with Wink of Stella.  Everyone loved using this new product.

When the evening was over, I had everyone vote for which card they liked the best.  How about you?  Which one would you pick?  Unanimously, the Sandpipers won for the day.  :)

Come Emboss With Me

This month I offered a card class where we used different types of embossing on our cards.  On this card, we used black embossing with the Summer Silhouettes stamp set.  It's hard to see on the card, but the black images are raised and glossy.  So pretty!

 I used the painter's tape technique designed by my friend, Deb Valder for the background.  Rub a piece of painters tape along your stamp pad being careful not to catch in the edge of the tape and just press it onto your card!  I saw the same card on Vicki Burdick's blog and she had used these pretty summer colors (including Baked Brown Sugar and Strawberry Slush from the In Colors).  I like this card so much that I would like to try it in different color schemes.  It was fun and easy to make.  Try the painters tape technique today (just be careful that you don't ink on your hands!)

On this card, we embossed the background in a soft gray powder using a Versa Mark pad to stamp the image.  We also embossed the saying with black powder to make it stand out.  The stamp set is Creative Elements.  I got the idea from Jennifer Timko.

For this card, we stamped on vellum and embossed the card with white powders.  Then on the back, we sponged the color and used the Secret Garden framelits to cut out the images.  The idea for this card is from Lee Ann Greff. 

After each stamping class, I always ask the ladies which card or project that they liked the best.  Which one do you vote for?