StampinUp – LadyEm ~ Under Mary's Mantle

Dear Readers…

How I wish I was a more regular blogger. I will make attempts to do better, and stop apologizing. Because I’m bored with the apologies. HA I hope you are all well. Life is life… Sigh. Hugs.

Today is Shrove Tuesday. Do you know what Shrove Tuesday is? Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras – they all mean the same thing. Today – historically – WAAAAY BACK. People would empty their pantries of eggs, milk, and sugar so that they could fast for 40 days of Lent. In my house, one wants pancakes and the other wants waffles. I’m low carb, so I will figure it out. LOL Breakfast for dinner is NEVER a bad thing though. Information about traditions below.

Tomorrow – we kick of Lent with Ash Wednesday – this year we will be sprinkled with Ashes instead of receiving on the forehead. UGH But we know everyone is doing the best we all can. Of course, NOTHING I ordered for Lent is here. But never fear, let me give you a list of Free or Inexpensive Lenten Printables. This way, if you are in the same predicament with mail (with all the weather in the states, the delays must be similar), you can still get your Lenten Plan together. Here are a few things I love:

And perhaps my Favorite – Prompt Me To Pray Through Lent via Monica at Arma Dei. She has so many Lenten Printables from her Lenten Pack of Prayers to a Lenten Quest to her Stations of the Cross. You really should check out her site!

Plus I have a couple books here with readings and devotions for Lent. I’m disappointed that the NEW hasn’t shown up, but it’s ALL GOOD! Catholics are versatile and able to overcome. LOL

Now – I think it’s ok to show you a few Valentine’s Cards I sent to lovely folks I know.

Card #1 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Sweet ‘N Sassy Stamps: Some Buggy Loves You, Texture Tiles 5 and Texture Tiles 7
Paper: PaperTreyInk, StampinUp, and Scrap DP
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink-Gina K Designs, Various Copic and Spectrum Noir Yellow Sparkle Pen.
Embellishments: Blue Scrap Ribbon

Directions: I have bins with scrap paper and precut layers in it. I stamped the X’s and O’s on a piece of chartreuse paper (PTI) and I believe the DP with dragonflies is from StampinUp. I just layered it and tossed some ribbon on. I wish I’d have taken a picture of the inside, because I stamped Happy Valentine’s Day, and Somebuggy loves you! Put it all together with tape adhesive and dimensionals.

Card #2 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Sweet n Sassy Stamps: Kitty Image – from Lots of Love, Sentiment from Valentine Critters, and Background from Rose Background.
Paper: PaperTreyInk and StampinUp
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink from Gina K. Various Copic Markers, and Wink of Stella
Embellishments: Pink Scrap Ribbon.

Directions: I cut and layed out layers from scrap paper. I stamped the Rose background and colored with comic markers… then I used the teeny hearts from the Sweet n’ Sassy Donut Worry set and stamped in various colors with SU Ink, and used a water brush to move the ink around to give a little dimension. I stamped the kitty and colored her with Copics, then put it all together with tape adhesives and dimensionals. Scrap ribbon from my bin. Easy Peasy.

Card #3 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Sweet n’ Sassy Stamp Sets: You & Me, Donut Worry, and Texture Tiles 9
Paper: PaperTreyInk and StampinUp
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink from Gina K, Various Copic Markers, and Stampin UP Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso and Soft Suede.
Embellishments: Red scrap ribbon.

Directions: I stamped the coffee words image on a scrap of ballerina pink paper, and stamped the coffee and donuts in various browns, and sprayed with water for a spill effect. I colored the main image with copic markers and used a piece of pink/red gingham paper for a layer. Then I added the red ribbon and put it all together with tape adhesive and dimensionals.

It was one of my funnest evenings in a long time. Music, mess and fun! I get messy in my craft room. I hope to do it more. Anyway – I got them into Military Post, but who knows when the receivers will receive.

We’ll talk about Lent tomorrow. Ash Wednesday Y’all.

Happy rest of your Tuesday.

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

Hi all,

So you guys remember when you first hear about a crafting thing and you think it’s new, only everyone else knew about it and had been using it for, a bazillion years or so? Oh, it’s just me… OK! haha

Anyway – When the new Occasions Catalog came out for SU, they got me all excited about Brusho Crystals. Fun enough, most of my crafting friends already knew about them. You see, that’s what happens when you fall off the crafting face of the earth.

So, naturally when it was my turn to host Card Group, I was all excited to play with the brush crystals and design a couple cards with new stamps I have. AND showcase the cool things I learned from watching YouTube Videos.

First, I want to tell you that I had paint all over me, my office, my clothing, I was like a BAD Kindergarten movie. HA But I had so much fun.

First, I created these two card-fronts (no I haven’t made them into cards yet). I used the Dahlia Background Stamp, Versamark WaterMark Stamp Pad, and embossing powders. They are fun, but I was looking for something different for the group.

So, I pulled out the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Hope Anchors Single and decided I was going to use green, yellow and blue Brusho Crystals.

In addition to your stamp, ink, embossing powder, Brusho Crystals and other card parts, what you will need is:

1) Watercolor Paper. You can order it from StampinUp, Amazon.com and about a zillion other places. I have to be honest with you, I ran out of SU’s Watercolor Paper, and happened to have a WaterColor Sketch Pad handy (we’re art people) and cut that accordingly. PERFECTO! So, use what you have. Watercolor paper is thicker and more absorbent than regular paper. Google the difference if you like, it’s kinda interesting.
2) Non-Stick Plastic Sheeting. I use THIS ONE from Amazon (not an affiliate link).
3) Paint Brushes and Aqua Painters (can buy at any craft store).
4) Paper Towels
5) Heating Tool (to blow the excess water around)
6) Spray Bottle or Spritzer

Basically what you do is first, emboss your image onto your paper. After heating the embossing powder, you are ready to add the Brusho. VERY very lightly (very little goes a long way) sprinkle the crystals on your paper and add water… then you can move the paper around to let the color move OR you can blow it around with your heating tool.
After I got the center blue, I did yellow around the edges. I love it. it looks so artsy fartsy! ❤

Towards the end of the drying, I flicked Spectrum Noir Sparkle Marker, Crystal Clear, onto the image and it created some more water marks. Here is a close up of the image, where you can see a little more detail.

After the card dried, I added black ribbon! I love this card.

Here is the StampinUP Brusho YouTube Video I watched. Once you watch it, you can spend hours watching others, FOR SURE! haha But start SIMPLE! Trust me (I have a bin of rubbish that I tossed because I tried to do something difficult – fun, but messy!). StampinUp only has a set of six colors, and y’all there are tons more out there. Better priced too!

The second card I designed for the group to make was this one:

I wanted to keep in the watercoloring theme, and used a set called WaterFront. I grew up around water, living around various Naval Bases. And I have to say, I miss it daily. But playing with stamp sets like this make me smile. ❤

I used the same stamp image for the sky and the sea. And in the sea, I added a variety of color. The cute little house could be any color you like, but I had the Berry Burst Ink and Ribbon handy, so I went with that. The palm trees I stamped a first in Wild Wasabi, and then the stamped slightly off in Lemon Lime Twist. One of my favorite colors. I used a Stampability Die, and some scrap Design paper and tossed the card together. The ladies loved make it. ❤

Here is the stamp set I used. I’m looking forward to seeing what else I can create with this set.