Hardwood Bloom with Hope

Yippee!  It's Friday!  I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend.  I have a quick and easy card to show today that uses the Blendabilities markers.  They are so much fun to use, and I'm so surprised at how much I love them.  I shouldn't be surprised, though, because I end up loving just about everything that Stampin' Up! offers.

Tips & Tricks

• I cut a strip of Daffodil Delight card stock, then cut it into a banner.  The easiest way to do that is to use your Paper Snips and cut about one inch up the center of the end.  Simply cut from each corner in to where the end of the first cut ends.  

• Next, I inked up the Hardwood background stamp, then placed the piece of Soft Suede card stock on top.  I covered that with a piece of scrap paper and then used my brayer over it to "stamp".  It's so much easier to do it this upside-down way!

• Finally, I colored the large poppy-type flower from Bloom with Hope.  I used my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities for the petals, and Daffodil Delight for the center.  I did cut out the flower by hand...I don't do a lot of fussy cutting these days, but it was worth the effort for this flower.

Supplies

Stamps:  Bloom with Hope
Ink:  Soft Suede and Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight Blendabilites
Paper:  Naturals White, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, and Whisper White card stock
Accessories:  Brayer, Paper Snips, Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits

Be You Flower Patch Card

Oh, Flower Patch, how I love you!  This set is fabulous!  If you don't have it, you need it.  I'm just loving all the different flowers you can create with it.   I'm having such trouble getting good pictures of my cards lately, and I'm not entirely sure how to fix that problem.  So because of that, I feel like once again, the picture doesn't do the card justice.  I realize this doesn't sound very humble, but in real life, this is a great card!  The color combination is great (I love these In Colors!) and it's just a pretty, fun card.

I love this sentiment, as I explained before, and if you look closely, you'll see that this card emphasizes that idea in more than one way.  See the centers of the flowers?  One of these things is not like the others...did you spot it?  The blue flower has a white center, and all the others have blue centers.  I love that!  Wondering how I got those blue pearls?  I made them using my new Blendabilities markers.  I just took the darkest Coastal Cabana marker and colored them.  Cool, isn't it?  You can do that with rhinestones, buttons...all kind of embellishments.  If you want to try out the Blendabilities, just let me know.  I'd be happy to demonstrate their many uses for you and help you place an order.  Trust me, they are totally worth getting!

Supplies
Stamps:  Flower Patch, Chalk Lines
Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana (Classic Ink and Blendabilities), Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding
Paper:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White
Accessories:  Pearls Basic Jewels, Stretch Ruffle Trim, Distressing Tool

Blendabilities Butterflies

Have you tried the new Blendabilities yet?  It was quite out of character for me to get these markers as soon as they were released, but I'm so glad I did!  They are so much fun to color with.  The color goes on so smoothly, and it really is a piece of cake to get the colors to blend without that tell-tale line that our regular markers would leave.  Don't get me wrong, I still love those, but Blendabilities serve a different purpose, and I love having options when it comes to coloring!

One issue I did have, however, was that I don't have a lot of line art images.  It took some digging through my current stamp sets to find something that I could color.  I adore Papillion Potpourri, so I was more than happy to color in these lovely butterflies.  I like to start with the darker shade and blend to light, but you can choose to go from light to dark.  Check out the video below for more tips on coloring with Blendabilities.

 

Supplies

Stamps:  Papillion Potpourri, Thoughts & Prayers

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, and Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory, and Whisper White Card Stock

Accessories:  Big Shot, Argyle Embossing Folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Sponge

Sweet Stuff and New Blendabilities Markers

You may have noticed some new markers in the Annual Catalog.  Unfortunately, they won't be available for a few more weeks (be patient, it's worth it!)  These markers are alcohol markers, which means they work a little differently than our regular water-based markers.  Both are great and have different uses, so don't think that these are replacing the markers you know and love!

The Blendabilities are true to their name in that they blend wonderfully!  Each color comes in a set of three shades, and when used together, they create smooth, blended shading.  I'm not sure the Daffodil Delight shows up that well on the screen, but you can see it with the Rich Razzleberry on the ice cream cone.  I made these little 3x3 cards to give to my kiddos, and I know they will love them!

I'll be sharing more about Blendabilities in the coming weeks, but if you'd like to see them in person, contact me and you can come and play!

Supplies

Stamps:  Sweet Stuff
Ink:  Memento Black Ink Pad, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, and Skin Tone Blendabilities
Paper:  Whisper White card stock
Accessories:  assorted ribbon, Dazzling Details