Regal, or Not!

Hello Everyone! 

I have an easy card, but with its humorous sentiment, I think it packs a pretty big punch! 

Using my MISTI, I stamped my Technique Junkies image, Need a Crown, in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The image was then colored with Copics.
I put the card base back into the MISTI and inked up the crown with Versamark ink.  The crown was heat embossed with gold ep.  I used a Versamark marker on the earring and heat embossed that in gold as well. 
I stamped a mask for the woman and then, after placing the mask over the stamped image, I sponged light pink around the woman.  I applied a darker pink ink through the Scribbled Roses stencil. 
Last touches included scoring around the card front and rhinstones to the crown and earring. 

That's it!  Easy Peasy, especially when you are using a MISTI. 

You can get 10% off of all products from Technique Junkies with code TJ10LeeAnn. 

Have a blessed week!

Lee Ann 

Coloring with Stamplorations: Week 4

Hello Everyone!

I have a variety of projects to share for Day 4 of coloring for Stamplorations.  This post is also part of a mini hop- leave a comment on each of the 3 blogs and the Stamplorations blog for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Stamplorations store.  Details can be found HERE. 
 First up is a monochromatic image with a pink background using pointillism~

The Cup of Blooms 2 image is colored with Copics. 

Shades of pink were used for the pointillism background.  The flowers where coated with Wink of Stella and highlights were added with a white gel pen. The sentiment is from the Blooming Buds set. 

Next up is a tag, using one of my favorite sets, The Birds and The Blooms.  I love the versatility of this set.  I have made a summer and a fall card, and now a Christmas tag with it. 

Once again, I have colored my mini scene with Copics. 

I added the falling snow by flicking diluted white acrylic paint onto the tag.  I love how this turned out. 

Back to summer with my third card, using the Blooming Buds set~

I love this set for all of its parts.  Parts allow you to play!  My flowers, and other parts, are colored with Copics. 

I fussy cut some of the parts and adhered them to the card using dimensional tape to give it more depth.  The right side of the background was sponged with Seedless Preserves and Spun Sugar distress inks while the left side was sponged with Mowed Lawn and then Twisted Citron.  I then placed the Shower of Flutters stencil over the sponged background and sponged over it with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. 
You can see all of the coloring inspiration on the Stamplorations blog HERE.  Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win! 
Happy Humnp Day! 

Lee Ann 

African Beauty

Hello All! 

Wow, 3 days in and I feel like I have been back to school for months.  But, we re off to a great start.  Now to figure out when I will be able to craft! 
When I saw the August Release for Technique Junkies, this gorgeous African Beauty was first on my must have list~

As so often happens when I add a background after coloring an image, I did not like the background I had selected for the African woman.  So, I fussy cut her out and then tried to figure out what I wanted to do.  I pulled out my reject stuff and started playing around with it.  I came upon this gorgeous image stamped in black, Black and White Swirls.  I fussy cut out the swirls (yes, you read that right!) and put them behind my African woman.  Since I was on a fussy cutting roll, I also fussy cut my sentiment, You Are Special. 
That's it for me.  If you are interested in purchasing these stamps or any other items from Technique Junkies, you can get 10% off with code TJ10LeeAnn . 

Lee Ann

Playing with Concord and 9th

Hello All,

Short and sweet today as life has gotten busy.  We are back to school and the first week is always nutty! 
From the moment I saw this stamp, I new I had to have it.  It is a brand new stamp set from Concord and 9th called Grateful for Everything. 

After getting home from work today, I settled in to destress by coloring this beauty. 
This image, when used with its background stamps, was perfect for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week.  I did rotate the sketch. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Lee Ann 

Sunflower Two Ways

Hello and Happy Sunday to YOU!

Today I am sharing two cards with you, both using the Single Sunflower from Technique Junkies, but they are two very different cards.

This first one may not initially appear to be stamped with a sunflower, but if you look closely, you will see the yellow outline of it.  This is actually a gel plate print.  I started with some acrylic paint and the Scribble Mask Stencil from A Colorful Life Stencils. I layered a few paints incorporating the stencil until I was happy with what I had.
I then pressed the Single Sunflower stamp carefully onto the gel plate, then lifted it off, removing paint in the process.  I lifted my print and left the paint dry.  I kept things very simple by simply heat embossing the sentiment from the  Sunflower Sentiments Stamp set.
 My colors were inspired by the mood board at SumMoreFun challenge~

The next card was done with the 'fast watercoloring' technique by Jennifer McGuire~

 The sunflower was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in gold.  I then applied distress inks to the flower parts, using the direct to paper technique.  Once I had good coverage, I spritzed the parts with water and set them aside to dry.
Once dry, I fussy cut the sunflower and leaves out.  I added these pieces, along with some diecuts to a hoop wreath.  The sentiment is Always Be There. Sequins finish off the card.
I am linking up my second card to the 'Just Us Girls' Challenge, which is to use fast watercolor technique.  

If you want to do some discounted shopping, use code TJ10LeeAnn at

 Technique Junkies and you will get a 10% discount on your entire cart (excluding clearance).  

Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann 

Week 3 with Stamplorations and Coloring!

Hello, Hello!

Welcome back to another edition of Coloring with Stamplorations!
I had so much fun with these cards; one with a coloring technique I learned at Junkie Fest, another with my favorite color combo, and a third with a touch of fall. Wait, did I just say fall?  Goodness school is right around the corner and soon enough it will be everything pumpkin spice!

Up first, my marigolds today look nothing like marigolds~

These are the French Marigold, Large, found HERE.  The sentiment is from the The Birds and The Blooms stamp set.  I colored these beauties on Canson 140lb watercolor paper with Colorbursts.

The images where masked and stamped with Versamark and clear embossed.  You can see above, the flowers in different phases of completion.
What I did not realize when I started this panel was that it was not a 4.25 by 5.5 size, but bigger.  Once it was complete, I had to figure out what to do with it so that it would fit on a card front.  I ended up cutting across the middle of the card and fussy cutting around some petals.
 I am linking this card up to the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge- anything goes with option of flower.
The next card uses this gorgeous butterfly image from the Blossom Like a Butterfly set.  I absolutely love pink, orange and yellow together.

These butterflies were stamped in distress inks- Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry and Scattered Straw.  I used my MISTI and completed one butterfly at a time. 
The process was to stamp in the distress ink- Scattered Straw for example- then with a water brush, pull that color around to color the entire image.  Once I was happy with the coloring, I let the ink dry, or partially dry and then stamped over it with Vintage Photo. 

Once all the images were done, I went back in and added darker shades with colored pencils where the wings attach to the body.  I am linking this card up to the Double D Challenge- 'Don't Bug Me". 

This last one was just plain fun!  Images are from the stamp set The Birds and The Blooms~

I wanted to color up this beautiful Oriole but wanted more than just the bird on the card.  With fall right around the corner, I decided to put him in a field with sunflowers.  The bird was stamped first, then masked.  I stamped the sunflower once and then added a mask to it as well, stamping another sunflower.  I repositioned the sunflower mask and stamped another flower, repeating until I was happy with the composition.  Now my card needed details to complete the background, so I drew in little extras such as stems, leaves and grasses as seen below~

Thankfully it did not need to be perfect as it would all blend in in the end!  Everything was colored with Copic markers.  The final card is pretty simple.  The piece or bright green patterned paper along the right edge is actually a scrap piece of a Gelli print I had lying around.

You can see ALL of the gorgeous coloring inspiration HERE on the Stamplorations blog.  Please check it out!  Participate in the mini hop by leaving comments along the way for a chance to win a GC to the Stamplorations store. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope I have inspired you!

Lee Ann 

Christmas Wreath

Hi Everyone!

Quick post today, sharing a CAS Christmas card I made for one of the Dare To Get Dirty Challenges at Splitcoaststampers.
I used goodies from the Junkie Fest retreat including- Gina K Wreath template, Catherine Pooler stamps, MISTI and Studi Katia~

Stamp set is Candy Cane Lane from Catherine Pooler; it was stamped using the MISTI and the Wreath Builder Stencil from Gina K. and is embellished with bling from Studio Katia.
The sentiment is from my favorite snowman stamp set, Welcome Jesus, from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps.

Thanks for stopping,

Have a blessed week!

Lee Ann

Shimmering Backgrounds

Hey Everyone! 

Today's card is all about the shimmer!  Technique Junkies has released a new product, Shimmering Bliss.  It is a dye ink and mica spray with lots and lots of shimmer!  Instead of spritzing it, I dripped it onto a background panel~

Here are the details~

1.  5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch cardstock was embossed with a 3D embossing folder.
2.  A layer of gesso was applied over the embossed cardstock.
3.  I unscrewed the spritzer from the bottle of Shimmering Bliss (starting with Chestnut Mare) 
and then dripped the Shimmering Bliss onto the debossed areas.  The liquid did not run as much as a wanted it to, so I misted it with water. I continued to drip and spray, until I was happy with where the color was. 
4.  I dried the embossed layer with a heat tool. 
5.  I repeated the drip and mist process with the Mardi Gras Purple Shimmering Bliss. 
6.  Once I was happy with the look, I dried the panel with a heat tool.  At this point, if you really wanted to age your project, you could sand the raised areas some.  I did on this card HERE, but not on today's card.  Totally up to you. 
7. I stamped the sentiment, Light Remains, on a rectangular piece of cardstock.  I colored on 'light rays' through the sentiment with a light peach colored Copic marker. 
8.  I stamped and colored the Butterfly 2 image and then fussy cut it out, removing one of the wings to give it the illusion of a sideways view. 
9.  I used some cheese cloth behind the sentiment panel and assembled the card.  Sequins finish off the card. 
You can get 15% off all new release stamps through August 8th.  All other non clearance items, including the NEW Shimmering Bliss, can be purchased at 10% off with code TJ10LeeAnn.

That's it for me!  I hope I have inspired you to create today!  

Lee Ann

Playing with New Toys

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I had the pleasure of going to Junkie Fest last week.  There were so many wonderful things about this retreat- I can't even begin to mention them all.  However, one of the great things was that we were introduced to companies and/or products that we had previously not had much experience with.  One of the things I finally purchased because of Junkie Fest is the Gina K Wreath Builder set~

Now, these flowers did not actually come from the wreath building set, but you have to use a stencil/template to build your wreath and that is in the set.  I was having fun experimenting with different images from other sets to see what I could come up with.  The floral and leaf images from the You Make Me Happy Gina K Stamp Set worked perfectly with the wreath builder template. 
I stamped, colored with Copics and fussy cut my wreath.  Sponged a bit of Marmalade Distress Ink through a stencil on the card base. 
I love the results and am already thinking of other fun things to make into a wreath. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann 

Inspired by The Ton

Hello, Hello! 

I am back from the Junkie Fest retreat in Minneapolis and all I can say is WOW! 
I said I would have pictures, but we were so busy that I did not take any!  Well, I took one- and that was of the colors of the watercolors I was using on a card. 
Inspiration was everywhere, but one who particularly inspired me was Effie Cho of The Ton.  So, of course I had to color up an image from The Ton.  I used Copics while waiting for some watercoloring supplies to arrive. 

I used the fabulous stamp set, Nesting Peonies.  My color inspiration came The House of Cards Challenge.  I am also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, 'Wild Things', as well as Watercooler Wednesday, 'Feminine Anything Goes'.  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Lee Ann

August Technique Junkies New Release!

Hello, Hello and Welcome to the Technique Junkies August new release blog hop! 

If you came from Jeanne Streiff's blog, you are in the right place.  If not, you can start at the Technique Junkies Design Team Blog to view the entire hop.  

We have 18 new stamps in the Technique Junkies line!
All of the August 2018 New Release stamps are 15% off
through August 8th! We can all use a little bargain, right?
No codes needed, just put them in your shopping cart and
the discount will be applied at checkout.

We also have a brand new EXCLUSIVE Technique Junkies product!
Introducing Shimmering Bliss!
25 colors of shimmering ink sprays that are perfect for techniques and any time you want to add shimmer to your projects! 
If you love sparkle you will want to try Shimmering Bliss! 

My cards today use the super versatile stamp set, Enjoy the Ride- PERFECT for those difficult-to-make male cards.  I paired it with the City Watercolors stamp and the Time to Celebrate sentiment.  My  city background is stamped in gray and the motorcycle is colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The next card uses the tried and true technique of wrinkle free distress, or more recently known as ink smooshing.

I applied distress inks to my craft mat and then spritzed them with water.  I smooshed the card into the ink, drying inbetween layers.  Again, I have used the Enjoy the Ride stamp set.  I thought the Aged to Perfection sentiment was perfect for this vintage image.  I used my MISTI to get perfect placement of the sentiment and to stamp the image multiple times ensuring good ink coverage on watercolor paper.

The last card I am sharing only has a sentiment, but is beautiful in its simplicity in large part due to the gorgeous shimmer of the new Shimmering Bliss sprays.

I used the Shimmering Bliss Dolphin Cove color on this card.  I will have a detailed description of the technique used on this card when I post a similiar card this weekend.  The beautiful sentiment is from the With Sympathy Stamp Set.
Your next stop is Cheri Weston's blog for more fabulous inspiration!

All new stamps are 15% off through August 8; all other non clearance stamps and products are 10% off with Code TJ10LeeAnn!  This includes the new Shimmering Bliss sprays! 

Thanks for stopping and Happy Hopping!

Lee Ann