The Crafty Thinker: Stephanie Fischer - Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator

Thursday, 24 March 2016

Thanks Kindly Rose Wonder

SU, Rose Wonder, One Big Meaning, watercolouring, watercolouring on coloured cardstock

Watercoloured Rose Wonder on Crumb Cake cardstock

I don't know why I had so many challenges with this card - but it really turned out to be a battle between me, the ink and the Crumb Cake cardstock! I'm still not sure who won!

I came really close to giving up but I'm glad I persevered, even if it doesn't look quite as I'd imagined it would.

Part of the problem, I think, was that the Crumb Cake card goes quite dark once it's damp, so it was very hard to see my painting until I'd dried it. That's when I discovered that the card seems to absorb a lot of pigment and everything was much too pale. I ended up painting a lot of layers!

The base card is in Mossy Meadow, then there's a layer of Basic Black, followed by Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and then the painted Crumb Cake layer. The black layers are cut so that only a very fine edge shows.

The greeting is from the One Big Meaning stamp set, stamped in Basic Black.

I stamped the flower and leaves with Crumb Cake ink and then watercoloured the flower using an initial base of Blushing Bride and then layers of Rose Red and Cherry Cobbler. I coloured the leaves with Pear Pizzazz and Mossy Meadow.

Thank you for visiting.

'Til next time.

Stephanie

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Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Framed Botanical Builder Flowers

SU, handmade card, card with no ink, Botanical Builder framelits

A rarity for me - a card with no ink!

I love the look of the Fancy Foil Designer Vellum - so I succumbed and bought some! Although, this card is really all about the flowers.

I cut two frames - one in Basic Gray and one in Gold Foil, offset them a bit and stuck them together.

The card base is in Basic Black with layers of Gold Foil and Rich Razzleberry.

The flowers and leaves are in Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray and Blackberry Bliss.

It's a very simple card that packs a punch - and there's no ink!

'Til next time.
Stephanie

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Sunday, 20 March 2016

Crazy Crafters Blog Hop - March 2016 - Blended Bloom

Welcome to the Crazy Crafters Blog Hop with our Special Guest stamper, Allison Okamitsu - we are thrilled that Allison said yes to playing along with us this month!

This month we are excited to CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit) any project that has been created by Allison and we hope you find great inspiration from the projects.

Whether you are starting the blog hop here at my blog, Stephanie Fischer - The Crafty Thinker, or have come from the person before me, be sure to click on the person listed under me further down the page to continue your journey on this blog hop.

The card I cased

This is the card I eventually chose to CASE. I found so much inspiration on Allison's blog that it was difficult for me to narrow it down! I really liked the idea of using a vellum die cut sunburst to add an additional subtle layer of interest to a card. In the case of my card, it also served to tone down the pattern on the DSP I used for my background.

SU, Blended Bloom, Sunburst thinlits die, vellum, handcrafted card, watercolouring

I love the vellum sunburst

Click on the image of Allison's card to link to her blog.

I used the same concept with the vellum and similar layout to highlight a Blended Bloom that I had been watercolouring.

I stamped the banner from the Bloomin' Love set in Basic Black and added a Teeny Tiny Sentiment in Rose Red.

I trimmed the vellum sunburst to the same size as the DSP layer and adhered that to a Basic Black layer before adding it to the front of the Rose Red card.

I stamped the Blended Bloom onto Shimmery White cardstock with Rose Red ink. My first step was to colour in the stamens with a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker, so that I didn't "lose" them!

The first layer of petals is complete

Working one petal at a time (making sure any adjacent petals were dry), I watercoloured the flower with Rose Red and Elegant Eggplant inks. I used the purple to add the deep shadows. For the highlights, I left the white of the cardstock showing.

I like to use ink from the refill bottles (I just squeeze a few drops into the lid of the relevant stamp pad) so that I can more easily control my ink/water mix - which affects the depth of colour I add.

I painted the centre of the flower with Gold Wink of Stella and added a few dabs to the stamens for highlights.

I hope you've enjoyed this card and I welcome your comments.

Thanks for taking part in our blog hop. Remember that currently you are at my blog - Stephanie Fischer - so click on the next name in the list to ensure that you don't miss out of seeing any of the blogs and the amazing inspiration they contain.

'Til next time.
Stephanie

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Friday, 18 March 2016

Abstract pattern with Botanicals - the card that designed itself!

SU, Botanical Builder, modern card, handmade card, bold pattern

To make the squiggle, I inked part of a stamp in the Tin of Cards set

As I was sitting at my table this afternoon, moving things around in a not very inspired fashion, I came across a stash of Botanical Builder "extras" left over from previous cards.

Some of the flower centres (two Basic Black and a Bermuda Bay) fell onto some Whisper White card and my brain went "hello!"

Nearby on the desk was a previously rejected frame in Blackberry Bliss and a folded Basic Gray card base left over from a change of mind - and the card started to pull itself together!

I cut some layers of Whisper White and Bermuda Bay - using very fine margins (there is only 1mm of the Bermuda Bay showing around the edge of the Smoky Slate layer) and cut a few more of the flower centres.

The yellow centres are from the It's My Party Enamel Dots pack and, since I only had six left, I added a Bermuda Bay Candy Dot on a brad base to the centre flower.

The Bermuda Bay Candy Dots on the greeting panel tie it all together. About half way through the process of making this card I decided it was going to be for one of my friends in England who I miss very much - hence the choice of greeting.

So really, this is a card that almost made itself! If you like it - do go over to Kylie Bertucci's blog and vote for it in the Crazy Crafters Team Project Highlights!

'Til next time.

Stephanie

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