Party Time

Hello all you out there. It's Cathy here with a fun card today.

This card I made using items I haven't used for ages( really years) Shhhh don't tell..... First off I stamped Goth Mask on Copic friendly paper. Colored with Copic markers. Layered it on black cardstock. Here is the stuff I haven't used in ages. Versamark and embossing power. I haven't heat embossed in years. I took out my Corner Swirl and stamped it with versamark and used the white embossing power on it. Next I used the versamark as a watermark ink. That is what the darker ones are that you see.
So I say grab something you haven't used in ages and have a go with it again. Thanks for stopping by.

Hi all Cathy here with my Crayon Smell card.
Don't we all love the smell of a box of new crayons. I know I sure do. That is what I first though of when I made this card.
 So this stamp is from Carmen's Veranda new stamps. I stamped it on Copic friendly paper. Then I colored it with Copic markers. Next I added Glossy Accents to the tops of the crayons. When that was drying I started on the background of the card. I wanted a vintage look so I went though my paper stash and found the one I liked. So then I started on that background. Guess what I used to make it? Bubble wrap and a cap from a old marker. Also paint. I had bubble wrap sitting on my table and I said lets use it for the background. I used the white paint for that one. The cap I used black paint for it. Yes that is it.
Next I cut out the crayon stamp. Edged it in black marker so you don't see the white paper from me cutting it out. Taped that on front of my card, then I printed the saying from the computer. Layered that in black cardstock. That is my card

Anything Goes...with Nuance Powders :)

Hiya Lost Coasters! Today I have two quick projects up for the "Anything Goes" challenge that I wanted to tell you a little bit about and hopefully get your imagination and hands busy creating.  :)

I just got some of the Nuance powdered pigments this month and have been having lots of fun playing with these. Just a tiny sprinkle of powder and some spritzes of water = hours of entertainment! (OK, so I am easily entertained. But you probably will be too--these powders are COOL!)

The first project I wanted to share with you is this card to usher in October:

This was made by sprinkling autumnal colors of the powder onto white watercolor paper, keeping the sprinkles mostly to one side of the card. I then sprayed the paper with several spritzes of water. Where you use more water, the color runs and flows together, as in the big splash of fiery red and orange on this piece; drier specks of powder can also be seen moving away from the "splash" area, which gives an interesting textured look. (You might have to enlarge the pic to get a good look at this effect.) The amount you spray is up to you! Dryish or wet, these powdered pigments look fantastic, and the colors are beautiful.

Next I took two Lost Coast Designs stamps: an abstract background from the ATC Grunge Set, and the Gothic text block from ATC Text Set 1. To ink them, I stamped into the still-wet "splash" from the Nuance powders; I wanted to carry over the colors from the splash, so I stamped the abstract grunge set stamp into the white area of the card, then stamped the Gothic text block several times to add depth and interest to the splash area. It's OK that the text is wet and messy--it's just to add texture and isn't supposed to be legible. No need to be careful with this technique!

I then gave the whole thing a spritz of heirloom gold shimmer spray...you know, because I like shiny stuff. (Actually, it's super subtle in real life, the shimmer--I didn't use much!)

After drying this background with my trusty heat tool, I then composed the word "October" using the Rustic Alphabet Set  and embossed it with a mixture of green and copper embossing powders for a sort of verdigris patina look. Then I used a bullet-tipped embossing ink pen and wrote the word "welcome" and embossed it too.

I edged the card with chalk inks...mounted it on a shimmery pale gold card that I edged with heirloom gold metallic ink...then mounted the whole thing on piece of green cardstock, which I daubed with chalk ink for a soft sort of suede-y look in real life. And that was it for that project!

Now, for the second project that I made for "Anything Goes" using my new Nuance powders.  :) What is special about this ATC is the "cracked-glass effect" that I used to make it seem like the card is encased under a piece of...well, cracked glass.  :)  If you want to learn how to do this easy and fun technique, go have a look at the tutorial up on my blog and tell me what you think!

Here's the piece:

Happy creating...and happy fall!

--Paula

Anything Goes Challenge

Today we have a brand new challenge at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity, Anything Goes. As much as I like the challenge of creating to a theme, its fun to be free and create whatever your heart desires :)

I have used this gorgeous stamp, its her first inking, and I loved her even more than I thought I would. Meet Feather Diva with Face : 

For this card I created a water color background with nuance powders and a water spray bottle. I firstly added the orange and red, then when it was dry I added the blue across the top and made it run with the water. 

Feather Diva was stamped into the background in black, then I also stamped her onto plain white card stock and also onto a co-ordinating colorised piece of card stock. This was all fussy cut, her face and feathers colored with copics. I paper pieced her dress. I used a charcoal pencil to add some shadows and the ground. I like to ground my images, rather have them floating. I also used a saying from Travel Quotes and lightly stamped images from the travel stuff set in the background. 

Thanks for stopping by, and go and check out the other inspiration from the DT for this challenge, and more :) We have regular events and giveaways, its lots of fun at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity :) 

Hugs, Nikki x

Believe

Morning, Nikki here :) and today I am sharing a card I made for the new challenge over at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity, Water color background. I really enjoy this look and it is complimentary to so many images. For my water color effect background  I have used nuance powders, which are for sale at Lost Coast Designs.

My card features one of the awesome new zentangle feather stamps, Zentangle Feather 1 from Lost Coast Designs :

The feather was stamped onto white card stock and fussy cut.

I used nuance powders in the background, in green and yellow, then stamped the feather stamp without reinking it, so it gives a light, shadow effect.

I added the twine, buttons and white embellishments and stamped the word 'Believe' from the Misc Words stamp set. I sponged lightly around the card, and the final touch was to matt the decorated card onto a white card base. 

I really like this zentangle feather, especially how the traditional black and white zentangle pops off the colored background. 

Lets get this party started !

There is a new Challenge at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity : Lets Party !

Nikki here, sharing a card I made for the challenge, featuring Party Girl from Lost Coast Designs : 

Party Girl was stamped in elderberry memento ink, coloured with copics and white gel pen highlights added,  and I fussy cut her.

For the green in the background I used a gelli print background, then inked up the Sunflower Background from Lost Coast Designs in green ink. Without putting the stamp onto a block I rolled sections of it here and there on the background. I also stamped the sunflower onto another piece of white card stock, then punched this into shapes : the circles and scalloped strip you can see. I sponged a little of the elderberry ink onto them and glued them down. Finally adding some lines with an old credit card and ink.

The words were stamped on my typewriter and the card front matted and glued together.

I really like the contrast here of the elderberry and green, and she is such a great image to work with.

And there's plenty more where she came from .... Check out the other inspiration at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity or the wonderful, varied and unique images at Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda.

Thanks for stopping by x

Trick or Treat

This is my second make for the 31 Days Of Halloween, which is taking place over at the Smeared Ink blog, sponsored by Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda. You can check out the Design Teams daily inspiration at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity.

Here is my make, featuring Carmen's Veranda stamps Large People Skull and Grunge white swirl background. I also used the Old Typewriter Alphabet from Lost Coast Designs :

The skull image is so great. I stamped it onto glossy card stock in black versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then added more definition to the shaded parts of the image using grey distress ink and a cut n dry pen nib.

I really love the grunge backgrounds, they are so versatile. I used the white one here stamped over a distress ink background and acrylic splatters. The words are white heat embossed.

The 'Trick or Treat' amused me, both words are pretty relevent to this image ... LOL. Love the sexual innuendo :)

Thanks for stopping by x

Single Layer Card - Challenge #16

The current challenge over at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity is to make a Single Layer Project. That means no layers, no embellishments etc. 

I have used Carmen's Veranda Birds Background stamp to make my card, and thought this
image was gorgeous enough without the additional layers :

This Carmen's Veranda background stamp is gorgeous and actually bigger than an average card front.
I have made a standard sized card here, 4.25" x 5.5".

The background is sprayed with Dylusions, then I stamped the image with archival black ink. I then spent some time using a paint brush to color the image, with various inks and stains. I love coloring, and can definitely see the fascination with coloring books, its just so relaxing and therapeutic. 

Here is my work in progress :

To finish off, I added some dark brown and white gel pen detail and accents. My final touch was to sponge on some yellow distress ink to tone it down a little, and I matted and mounted the card front.

I hope you find some inspiration here, and perhaps you will come and join our challenge to make a single layer project, there are only two days left to link up .....

Reminder that you can use any images you want to join our Single Layer Challenge at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity but if you  use Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda images you will get double entry to win the prize.

Also, our first facebook challenge is going on.
Have you checked it out yet ?

Check us out on Facebook : Lost Coast Designs Page and Carmen's Veranda.

Hope to see you there x