Category Archives: Digital Stamping

Mixed Media Sunflowers

Mixed Media Sunflowers with Crafty Secrets Sunflowers Digital Art Stamps

Hello, Friends!  And welcome to September!  I took some time this weekend to play with the new Sunflowers Digital Art Stamps from Crafty Secrets.  These are some of the prettiest stamps Sandy has ever made. I put on my Mixed Media Boots for this sunflowers card.  I used alcohol pens, chalks, Distress Inks, Distress Paints, embossing folders, homemade gold mist, stitching and a great little technique that I will share with you below.  What fun!

Kathy by Design for Crafty SecretsI used a  paper tole technique to create this layered card, and I’ll share details with you below.  But first I wanted to give you a peeky at the whole stamp set because you are going to love it!

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Twenty of these stamps also come in rich sepia tones, so there are 43 digital images and sentiments in all for just $6.95.  I chose to work with the sunflower and bird framed image.  After sizing the image to 3.75″ x 5″ , it was copied into Microsoft word and pasted.  I did this 4 times in all, so that I could create dimensional layers within the focal image.

Kathy by Design for Crafty SecretsI colored the script background and the frame on the first copy.  On the second copy, I colored just the leaves.  For the third copy, I colored the sunflower and the sunflower center.  Finally, I colored the little bird on the 4th copy.  Next I fussy cut the colored layers.  DO NOT fussy cut the base layer.  Leave it exactly as it is.  All the cut edges were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I used Warm Honey Distress Ink on the sunflower in the base layer.  You don’t want to leave this blank, as you are going to be able to see it beneath your popped up sunflower crown.

CS Sunflowers 03First, the leaves were glued in place over the leaf images in the base layer.  The sunflower crown was shaped with a stylus to give it dimension and a cup shape in the center. When I was happy with the shape of the flower, I used foam dots to attach it over the sunflower in the base panel.  Then I filled the center with Czech beads and let it dry.  The little bird will be added later on.  Put him in a safe place so you don’t lose him amidst the jumble on your desk.

While the sunflower crown was drying, I printed out two patterned papers from the Birds and Blooms Digital Paper Kit.  For the brown wood flowers paper, I cropped a portion from the center away from the floral images in the corners.  This was sized to 4.75″ x 6.75″  and copied into Microsoft Word.  I printed it out, spritzed it very lightly with my homemade gold mist and then ran it through Spellbinder’s Bricks and Bark M-Bossabilities folder.  Before running it through the Big Shot, I inked the flat side of the embossing folder with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  This created wonderful texture and made the paper look like real wood.

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Next, I printed out the blue quatrefoil canvas paper onto 8.5″ 11″ paper.  I die cut this with the two largest dies in Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles.

When the sunflower image was dry, I matted it onto pale yellow cardstock that was cut slightly larger than the image.  I layered the wood paper, die cut and focal image together and then very carefully stitched around them as you can see in the photo.  (If I did this again, I would not add the dimensional sunflower until AFTER I stitched, but the stitching was an “in the moment” decision.)  Once the card was stitched, I added the little bird to the front using foam dots to hold him in place.

The sentiment is part of the set, and I just printed it out onto white cardstock, inked it with Warm Honey Distress Ink, stamped it with a background stamp and die cut it with a tag die.  I splattered it with a little bit of Mermaid Lagoon Distress Paint and set it aside to dry.  The metal flowers were painted with Warm Honey Distress Paint.  I just kind of tapped the paint on with my fingertips as I wanted some of the base metal to show through. I used a brad to attach this to the tag.  I ran a piece of Glory Blue Seam Binding through the end of the tag, and then the tag was set in place with foam tape.

CS Sunflowers 05All that was left now was to add the finishing touch with a corner bow made with Glory Blue Seam Binding and Navy Burlap Center Stitch Ribbon.  The bow was topped with one of my precious vintage buttons from my grandmother’s button box.

CS Sunflowers 04It’s hard for me to part with these gorgeous vintage buttons, but it was the perfect accent for this card.

CS Sunflowers 07The inside of the card is simply finished.  I stamped the original Sunflower stamp onto the blue quatrefoil paper and added another stamped sentiment.

I hope you’ll give this paper tole technique a try.  It takes a little patience to fussy cut the layers, but the end result is so pretty, it’s well worth the effort.  What do you think?

And, if you’d like to purchase this card, it’s available in my ETSY shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

The Last Rose of Summer

The Last Rose of Summer: Crafty Secrets Beautiful New Roses Digital Art Stamps

Hello, Friends!

Have you noticed that the sun is rising later and setting earlier?  The early morning air is fresh and cool, and dew is on the grass once again.  It’s prime weather for roses, and everywhere I go in our area I see gorgeous rose bushes bending low with the weight of bodacious blossoms.  Just in time, Crafty Secrets has released a gorgeous new Roses Digital Art Stamp set, and I had a little play with it the other day, working up a feminine card that I call The Last Rose of Summer.

Crafty Secrets Brown Roses 01 The new set is amazing!  It comes with 11 black and white digital stamps with an additional 15 done in sepia ink. ( I used the Script Frame Rose in sepia to make this card.) This card was as easy as 1, 2, 3 to create!

Kathy by Design for Crafty Secrets: Sepia Roses

First, I printed the rose image off onto white cardstock. (I always use Core’dinations Great White cardstock.  It is the perfect weight and prints up nice, crisp images.)  The image is sized at 4.25″ x 5″.  Chalk inks and a spritz or two of Tattered Angels Vintage Pink Glimmer mist were all I used to color the image.  I did randomly sprinkle Aged Gold Embossing Enamel over the petals to give them an antique finish. The image was layered with pink glitter cardstock and chocolate brown cardstock.  I inked the edges of the chocolate brown cardstock lightly with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then brushed all the edges with Versamark Ink.  Next, the edges were heat embossed with Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel. Finally, I stitched all the layers together with pink thread.

Kathy by Design for Crafty SecretsI cut a Spellbinder Die (Decorative Elements Labels 47) from cream parchment cardstock and layered it beneath my card focal.  A 5″ x 7″ pink cardstock base was embossed with an Anna Griffin Embossing folder. (Regal Braid)   The sentiment is cut from a Crafty Secrets booklet: Words from the Heart (Love and Friendship) and matted with gold metallic cardstock.  I layered this over a scrap of fancy trim. A few pearls,Petaloo stick pins,  a pretty flower from my stash, and a hand dyed seam-binding bow finish the card front.

Kathy by Design for Crafty SecretsThe inside is finished very simply with neutral background paper from my scrap drawer and the rest of the sentiment from the Words from the Heart booklet.  Simple.  Elegant.  Easy.

To see more samples made with this lovely set, check out this post on the Crafty Secrets BLOG. Sandy Redburn, owner of Crafty Secrets, is hosting a  give away where one lucky commenter will win all four Digital Flower Stamp sets!  Woo-hoo! (If you don’t subscribe, you might want to…it’s free…and loaded with inspiration from the Crafty Secrets Design Team.) You can find these amazing digital art stamps in the Crafty Secrets online store.  They take card making to a whole new level.  I’m in love with the Last Rose of Summer!  How about you?

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Keep Calm and Farm On

Keep Calm and Farm On!  Crafty Secrets Down on the Farm Digital Art Stamps

Hello, Friends!  Oh, I have the cutest card to share with you today!  I had a few spare minutes yesterday afternoon, and my fingers have just been itching to get into the new Crafty Secrets “Down on the Farm” digital art stamps.  I fell in love with these great vintage images right away, especially this spunky “Keep Calm and Farm On” gal in her faded overalls and pink chambray shirt.

Kathy by Design/Keep Calm and Farm OnDon’t you just love her?  I created a 5″ x 7″ steel grey card base and then topped it with a slightly smaller panel of the pink wood with flowers paper from our brand new “Birds and Blooms” paper collection.  I ran the paper through a wood grain embossing folder and then dry brushed it with Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint to make it look really old and rugged.  Then I spritzed it lightly with Tattered Angels Silk Gilmmer Mist.

Down on the Farm CS Card 02The Charm of a Farm panel was sized and printed, then matted on the same steel grey cardstock.  I inked it with Vintage Photo Distress ink and then spritzed it with more of the TA Spray.  I also cropped and sized a couple of images from the new Digital Garden Creative Scraps and added them to the layers on this card.  This tiny wooden washboard was painted with Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and then tapped with Rusty Hinge Distress Paint to make it look realistically old.  I have to confess, I did let out a little squeal of delight when I added it to the card with that scrap of fabric attached to it.  It’s the little things, you know?

Down on the Farm CS Card 03No card is complete without a little bit of ribbon or trim, so I stitched some shabby chic 2.5″ wide Vintage Pink Floral Ribbon between the paper layers, and added a touch of Victoria White Crocheted Lace to the top of the card.  A few sweet buttons, tiny crochet thread bows…and this card is as fresh as a country breeze!

Keep Calm and Farm on, my friends!  Keep Calm and Farm on!!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop: Here a Chick, There a Chick, Everywhere a Chick, Chick!

Hello, Friends!  What a fun day I have for you today!  I’m taking part in the Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop along with the rest of the crazy creative designers on the Crafty Secrets Team.  Each design team member has used the new Farm Chicks Digital Art Stamps, or the new Digital Chicken Farm Print paper…or both to create a fabulous chicken themed project to inspire and delight you!   If you are coming here from the Crafty Secrets BLOG, then you are right on track. If not, you can go back to the Crafty Secrets Blog and follow the links.

I’ve created a gift ensemble that is really something to crow about.  This card, gift tag and gift box has a great country feel with it’s red and black color palette and wonderful rooster images.  Can you imagine how much fun it would be to find this grouping on your birthday breakfast plate?

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 03The card is made with a 5″ x 7″ black card base.  I cropped the corners with a punch, then used the black random text paper from the Vintage Typography CD to build my base layer.  I printed out the red and white check paper from Creating with Vintage Patterns CD and matted it on black paper.  I sized the tag from Farm Chicks and then layered the chicken wire stamp over that.  The wonderful rooster image was sized, printed colored and inked then treated with UTEE to give it an epoxy finish.  I added bits and bobs from my stash to create a card that’s as fresh as a country breeze.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 04The inside of the card has a fun tag that I built digitally with the chicken wire and border stamps from the collection.  My cute pig sticker is from the Office Altered Sticker Pack, which is on sale for 99 cents in the online store. I’ve used these stickers throughout this project.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 05I had a ball with the rooster image, as you can see here!  I stitched this one onto a tag that I printed from the collection.  I really gussied it up with loads of gingham ribbons in red and black,  burlap string and some cosmos and sweetheart blossoms.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 06The tag opens up to reveal another little tag that uses the cheeky singing rooster from the stamp set.  All the sentiments are included in the stamp set…which is loaded with 40 different images!

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 09I used kraft cardstock to build my little candy box.  You can find the tutorial for that HERE.  I printed out the fancy French Chickens, fussy cut them and covered them with UTEE.  When the embossing powder cooled, I gently bent the label to crack the epoxy finish, then inked it with Vintage photo ink to make it look like old, cracked glass.  I added more stickers, a little black key, burlap, twine and flowers to decorate the top of the box.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 08I used more of that great red and white check paper matted on black cardstock to cover the sides of my box, then added a drawer pull and a little word scrap from my stash to finish it.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 10The inside is filled with candy, but it could easily hold a watch, tickets to a ball game, a gift card, or any small item that you wanted to present in a fun way.  The image inside the lid is from the Garden Creative Scraps, which are also on sale.

Every great blog hop needs a prize, and one lucky winner will receive their very own set of the Farm Chicks Digital Art Stamps and the digital Chicken Farm Paper, too. To win, simply visit every blog listed below and leave a nice comment.  Then, finish up this hop on the Crafty Secrets BLOG and let us know that you’ve visited all the blogs and left a comment.  The winner will be randomly chosen from one of the blog comments on one of the designer’s blogs.  How fun is that?

From here, you should strut on over to visit Darlene’s fabulous blog.  She has a wonderful project to share with you, and the next link on the hop!

Thanks for hoppin’!

Cheerio,

kathy

 

Farm Chicks

Crafty Secrets New Farm Chicks Digital Stamps

Hello Friends!

Happy Monday morning to you!  I’m expecting the grand girls at my door any second now, but I wanted to pop in quickly and share a cute card I made this weekend with the new Farm Chicks Digital Stamps from Crafty Secrets.  What a fun set of digital images and sentiments!

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Stamp/Kathy by Design

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Stamp/Kathy by Design

I printed the image for this card onto white canvas paper, and then shaded the whole thing with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  I only colored the eggs and that fluffy little chick!  The wooden picket fence was painted with Picket Fence Distress Ink and then tapped with Vintage Photo DI to give it a worn, country look.  I stuffed fake straw behind the fence, added some black gingham ribbon and ivory sweetheart blossoms, to give it a real country feel. I even covered some of the blue damask paper with a bit of rusty screen.

Farm Chicks 02This is a large stamp set with all 24 of the original stamp designs plus 16 new stamps.  Chickens are “hot stuff” right now, and all the little add ons and sentiments in this new digital set are really fun to play with.

Farm Chicks DASI had a blast making tags and borders to my card, and I know I will be playing with this some more, as I just love the images!  They remind me of fun times spent with my dad when I was a girl.  Every Saturday morning, we would run errands together, and we always stopped in to buy fresh eggs from Mary Ellen, the “Egg Lady” in our small town.  The eggs were all different sizes and colors…but man they were good!

Here’s a look at the inside:

Farm Chicks 04I was able to layer the chicken wire stamp over the blue damask paper, and I just love the way it looks!

If you’d love to see more Farm themed products, you can find them HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

 

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