Bloomin' Beauties

I'm constantly inspired by Wendy Vecchi and Cassie Lynch, especially when it comes to the building of "flat layers" by which I mean adding lots of inking, stamping and stenciling in a "collagey" style... thereby achieving the appearance of dimension and texture WITHOUT the bulk or weight of physical layers. I'm still practicing at this skill, but I think today's background is pretty good!

I "smooshed" several shades of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger (Bluebird and Prickly Pear to be precise) onto the Craft Mat attached to the back of my MAKE ART Stay-tion, spritzed with rubbing alcohol, then picked up the result with a panel of cardstock. When it was dry (which is nearly immediate using alcohol and Archivals) I added a cascade of stamped leaves in Leaf Green; some text in Night Sky and a few stenciled dots in Bluebird. When my flat background was complete, I added a few torn strips of Wendy's Washi Tape, and added flowers from the Spellbinders' Vintage Florals Die Set, which I stamped Perfectly Plaid in Tea Rose and added some Sunflower Ink on top. I started out with leaves and centers that were Fern Green and Bluebird, respectively, but at the last minute I swapped them for plain which which somehow simultaneously made them blend in AND stand out better?!

If you are not following @wendyvecchi and @mk_knits on Instagram you are missing some VERY good stuff, I tell ya! Additionally, Facebook users will enjoy the Make Art with Wendy Vecchi Group, where you can get lots of ideas and inspiration from fellow Vecchians, as well as post your own Wendy-centric creations. Either way, be sure to catch Tip Tuesdays which are absolutely always full of beauty and practical tips!

It's Wendy's Day on Thursday

Does anyone know if there's a twelve-step program for embossing? Because I seem to be addicted to embossing with Ranger White Embossing Powder on white Perfect Cardstock... then blending various shades of Wendy Vecchi's Designer Series Archival Inks on top.

This card has a rainbow of Archival Inks (Pink Peony, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Bluebird and Cactus Flower) over Wendy's Perfectly Plaid background stamp; and Cactus Flower over her Polka Dots (both are from the Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 collection). I used the Vintage Florals Die Set from Spellbinders' In the Garden collection to diecut a cascade of flowers, leaves and a sentiment. 

I'd write more, but I have a few additional ideas for emboss/resist, so I think I'll sign off for now!

Too Many Prints? (...naaaahhhh...)

I may have gotten slightly carried away combining Wendy Vecchi's Vintage Florals die set (from Spellbinders' In the Garden Collection) with some of her older Studio 490 background stamps (Herringbone and Perfectly Plaid to name just two!) and of course I had to try a few experiments with inking the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder before running it through the diecutter... but... it's finally Spring and our gardens are full of a riot of real-life colors, shapes and patterns, right? (Not to mention what feels like record-setting amounts of POLLEN; but that's a completely different issue...) 

The Embossable Dream

One of the best ever embossing folders has to be Wendy Vecchi's 3D Flowers and Foliage, featured in her Spellbinders' From the Garden Collection. It's nice and big; it embosses deeply; and you can turn it literally in any direction without feeling upside-down or off-kilter!

This time I embossed some grocer's kraft cardstock and a LOVE Chippie (from the Statements set), then painted all of the raised flowers and leaves with Wendy's designer series Liquid Pearls from Ranger. I diecut the smaller blossoms and leaves from the Vintage Florals set, and mounted the whole thing on a light green mat, made "edgier" by the largest frame in the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set. Not to brag, but I LOVE how this turned out!

One Die Set, Three Ways: Wendy Vecchi Vintage Florals

Longing for Spring? Join me at Paper Anthology for a bright and bloomin' class, featuring Wendy Vecchi's beautiful new Vintage Florals die set; plus additional elements from Wendy'c Garden Collection by Spellbinders. We'll do some diecutting (obviously, lol) including the inset diecut technique; we'll hand-ink a beautiful set of blooms; and create a big (BIG!) blossom using one of Wendy's own Tip Tuesday ideas! 

Visit the Paper Anthology Blog for all the dates, details and sign-up information. Paper Anthology is located at 717 US Highway 46 in Kenvil, New Jersey in the heart of beautiful Morris County, accessible by Routes 80, 10 and 202/206. Click here to see it on an interactive map!

Enjoy Your Day

Happy mail ALWAYS makes my day, so I try to make sure I send out plenty of special cards to friends and family. This A7 card features Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous Vintage Florals die set (new from Spellbinders) colored with three shades of yellow Archival Ink from Ranger (Buttercup, Sunflower and Goldenrod, to be precise) and popped up on layers of foam tape for extra dimension.

My plan for this card was to make a mostly-white collage of vintage text paper, run it through with the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder, and use that for the background. Unfortunately, the text paper kind of hid more of the embossed flowers than I liked, so I used a Mini Blending Tool to apply yellow and green Archival to the design, which is kind of cool; but the embossing still didn't show up as much as I had hoped. However, a torn section of the collaged piece did make a nice accent for a plain white panel that I cut out with the largest die from the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set. Then I embossed plain white cardstock with the folder, added a little bit of Buttercup Archival to the flowers and some Leaf Green around the edges and finally, I had the look I was going for! 

I used one of the label-maker-style sentiments from the Garden Party Stamp and Die set as a sentiment, et voila! Be sure to check out Wendy Vecchi's Instagram Account and the Make Art with Wendy Vecchi Facebook Group for lots more ideas and inspiration for using Wendy's fabulous Garden Party Collection!

Hello!

It's time for more goodness from Wendy Vecchi's new Garden Collection for Spellbinders. This time I'm featuring the Flowers and Foliage Embossing Folder; as well as the Vintage Florals die set. The latter are cut from plain white Perfect Cardstock panels, then painted with Liquid Pearls for a shimmery, dimensional look.

I used the embossing folder on a panel of white Perfect Cardstock and a smaller panel of deep violet cardstock, which I then lined up on top of the white to make a continuous pattern. Of course as soon as I fitted them together it occurred to me that it would've been considerably easier to have affixed the violet piece to the white AND THEN embossed... but... well, hindsight is always 20/20, right?

 

I diecut all of the flower pieces, then painted the larger ones with Cornflower Blue Liquid Pearls accented with some Night Sky. The smaller flowers are done in Violet with some Petunia towards the center and the leaves are Prickly Pear. when they were dry, I used coordinating shades of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger in Night Sky, Violet and Fern Green to add a little more contrast around the edges. 

I wish I could capture all of the soft shimmer that the Liquid Pearls have added to the florals, but since I did not, maybe you'll give this technique a try and see for yourself?!

Garden Mandala

It's a bloomin' beautiful Mandala Monday, thanks to Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous new Garden Collection from Spellbinders. If you're new to mandala-making I have to tell you my all-time favorite trick: Using heart dies to make the "petals" of a mandala! Since it just so happens that Wendy's new Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set has nested heart dies, the possibilities are pretty much endless. I wanted to make a card so I only used two of the sizes, but you could go all out and make a BIG art piece, using all five sizes in sequential order.

For this project I also used the Garden Party Stencils, the Flowers and Foliage Embossing Folder, and three of the sixteen dies in the amazing Vintage Florals set. And, of course, a selection of my favorite Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks, including Pink Peony, Rosey Posey, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Prickly Pear and Tea Rose. 

The first thing I made was the floral panel, using the Garden Party Stencils, but without the coordinating stamp or die. (I should mention here that these layering stencils are super-easy to line up and use with perfect alignment to use alone OR to color the stamped image; they have registration marks on all four corners, and they're numbered too!) On this occasion, I chose to line the stencil layers up verrrrrrrry loosely and then fill in any blank space around them with extra ink. At the very end, on top of the flowers, I used Wendy's Studio 490 Plaid Flannel Background, inked with light shades of yellow and green, and spritzed with Isoproply Alcohol. I love how it gave the finished panel a sort of textural look, like vintage table linens.

To make the center medallion, I cut a medium-sized circle from one of Wendy's MAKE ART Perfect Cardstock Panels, embossed it with the Flowers & Foliage folder, then used the Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool with Domed Foam Applicators to add color to the flowers, foliage and background. In between applications, I spritzed the whole thing with rubbing alcohol to encourage the colors to blend into each other just a bit. 

I stamped another panel of white Perfect Cardstock with the Plaid Flannel Background first in Prickly Pear and then Tea Rose, and diecut a bunch of the medium-sized heart from Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops. I cut a second set of the same size from medium pink cardstock, then a set of the second-to-smallest heart in light pink, which I placed between and slightly behind the first ring of petals. I used the small double blossom die and the tiny leaf from the Vintage Florals set to add interest to both rounds of hearts. 

Here's one last picture of the center section, it's my attempt to capture the depth of the texture here. Because when Spellbinders calls something a 3D Embossing Folder they are not messing around! These products are currently available online at Spellbinders, Ranger and other fine retailers. Or, if you happen to be in Central New Jersey, these delightful goodies are also in stock at my favorite brick and mortar crafting store... Paper Anthology!