Posted on Friday, January 15, 2016

CTMH Technique Blog Hop: Bokeh Stamping

Welcome to the first monthly CTMH Technique Blog Hop in 2016! This is my first time joining this technique team. For this month hop, we are sharing projects that we created using bokeh tehcnique. You should arrive from Michelle’s blog. This blog hop starts from Melissa’s blog.

You probably are already familiar with this technique. Bokeh is actually a photography term which means the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image that produced by a camera lens. The word bokeh is actually from Japanese – boke – that means blur or haze (source Wikipedia). In cardmaking or other papercrafting area, this term is used to create a blury/hazy background out of dots.

There are lots of tutorials you can find on YouTube and Pinterest. But today, I am sharing 3 ways you can create the bokeh background.

First step is to prepare the watercolored background. Cut the Watercolor Paper in sizes you desire and wet them with some clear water and add colors on them using watercolor brush that I picked up from the inkpad lids or you can also use watercolor paint. The color combo for my background is Pomegranate, Honey, Saffron, Ruby and Poppy. You have to make sure the watercolor background is completely dry before the sponging with White Daisy Pigment Ink. I used my Craft Heater to speedy-dry my backgrounds 😉

First way is using stencil. I punched the clear plastic packaging/acetate with circle punches in different sizes. You also can diecut them using circle dies or if you have Cricut or Silhouette will work well too. Or if you happen to have circle stencil, you can use it, too. I made my stencil from clear plastic acetatr packaging, also you can use cardstock.

Using washi tape to hold the stencil on my card so it won’t move around when I sponge the White Daisy Pigment ink. Them I started sponging the White Daisy Pigment Ink on the circles randomly and it is okay to overlap those circles.

Here’s the card I made with this background:

The second way is you can use any circle stamps, even the backside of the circle-textures stamps. I picked some circle stamps in different sizes from the stamp sets I have: Perfect Fit – Halloween, Dizzy Circles, Oodles of Doodles.

I stamped them randomly and also overlapping each other using White Daisy Pigment Ink.

Here’s the finished card. I love those big circles mix with small and medium sizes.

And the third way is using waterdrops directly on the watercolored background using aqua waterbrush and dab it using paper towel.

As you can see on the finished card, I added some circles using White Pigment Ink and dab randomly with sponge dauber to give more “hazy/blurry” look on it. I like how it turned out 🙂

After stamping and sponging with the White Pigment Ink, I always dry it with Craft Heater so they won’t smear when I do the next stamping because pigment ink dries slowly.

For the embellishments and sentiments on these cards I use the new Spring Wishes Stamp Set and Spring Wishes Thin Cuts. I stamped the flowers and leaves using Slate Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad and the sentiments I used Black Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad. Diecutting machine I used is We R Memory Keeper Evolution Advance. I also use Black Cardstock as the mats then I added them on white card bases. Then, I finished my cards using some Sparkle Clear Assortments.

So, those are my cards to share with you today on this blog hop, I hope you like them! Your next hop is Melissa’s blog to see what she had created for you!

Thank You so much for visiting today! Have a fabulous day!

Posted on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Watercolor Card with Watercolor Pencils and Dye Ink [Tutorial]

Today I would like to share a tutorial how to make this watercolor card using watercolor pencils and stamping.

I made a short video of pictures how to create the watercolor circles that you also can use the same technique to make balloons or any image that you draw with watercolor pencils and add some water to give the watercolor effect.

When the watercolor image is completely dry, you can stamp your sentiment. For this card, I wanted the sentiment also looks watercolor-y 🙂 It’s very easy to do. First, you cover your image or sentiment with ink and then spray with some water. The amount of water on the inked image or sentiment will give you the watercolor effect when you stamp it on the cardstock or watercolor paper.

I hope you will give it a try and share with me your project 🙂 If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment box.

THANK YOU for stopping by today and have a fabulous day!

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Supplies:

Watercolor Pencils (Close To My Heart)
Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon (Close To My Heart)
Hello, Life!—Cardmaking Stamp Set (Close To My Heart, available until 9/30/2015)
My Acrylix® Block 1″ x 3 1/2″ (Close To My Heart)
Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Close To My Heart)
Paintbrush Set (Close To My Heart)
Watercolor Paper 140 lbs (Starthmore)
White cardstock
Black cardstock
Adhesive runner
3D foam tape
Water
Mini Bottle Spray

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Link up at:

Inspire Me Monday – Week 192

Creative Spark Link Party #71

Posted on Friday, February 27, 2015

DIY Gift Bag, Card Holder and Journaling Card Box

One more day to the end of February. Wow… time surely flies so fast when we have so much work and fun 🙂 I hope that you have been having great times this month with your families and friends.

My dear church friend and sister had birthday this month and I made her gift bag and gift box. I was a bit late but that she could celebrate her birthday longer, right? 🙂

This is the gift bag. Instead of putting the card inside the bag, I made a card holder for the front of the bag. The birthday card is also the tag.

Cut a piece of cardstock, make sure it is wider than your card. Then cut in the middle of the piece of cardstock slightly wider than the card for the insert hole. Final step is adding to the front of the bag using either double-sided tape or strong glue. I would recommend double-sided tape or Liquid Glass. I was thinking it would be nice for not only just plain rectangle piece of cardstock, so I punched the border of the card holder using Martha Stewart lace border punch.

The card I made using CTMH February Stamp of the Month, A Happy Hello. And the Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads I use are Pixie, Smoothie, Sorbet, Goldrush and Topiary.

I finished the card with some Sparkles Clear Assortment. They are back-adhesived clear gems, ready to use at anytime, no glue needed.

For the gift box, I used My Creations™ Journaling Cards Box. I embossed a piece of Chocolate cardstock with Woodgrain embossing folder using my WRMK Evolution Advance. I made a template of the shapes I need for the box sides using a plain printer paper. And then using them, I cut the embossed cardstock for front, back and both sides of the box. Using some Liquid Glass, I added them on the box.

And I stamped the sentiment from Thankful Heart stamp set using Rock-n-Roll technique. The Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads I use are Chocolate and Goldrush. For the leaves from the same set, I stamped the leaves with VersaMark ink pad on a piece of watercolor paper, added some Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder, heat set it with Craft Heater and then adding some colors I picked up with aqua brush from the lid of these Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads (Chocolate, Goldrush and Olive). Cut the leaves and added them on the box using Liquid Glass and Glue Dots. And I finished the box with some Durables Triangle studs and some Gold Sequin Assortment.

I filled the box with assortment of cards handmade by my friends and me 🙂

These projects I link them up at:

TWO MORE DAYS you can take advantage to get these Special Promotions for February 2015 and save money on crafting supplies!

First, this gorgeous coated canvas albums! When you purchase one of Close To My Heart’s alluring coated canvas albums you will be eligible to receive a second album of your choice at half price. That is a savings of over $17 USD / $19 CAD!

These albums are available in a gorgeous variety of colors and patterns in both post-bound and D-ring styles—perfect to pair with traditional, Studio J®, or pocket scrapbook layouts. This offer is only available while supplies last, so make certain to get your order in early to ensure you can choose the styles and colors you love. They’re going fast and are built to last; so don’t delay—place your order here today!

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Not only that, when you get your album, you are eligible to get this gorgeous D-size Stamp of the Month set for $5! This is a set of 15 stamps with original price is $17.95 which you can get for only $5 during this month only. Recommended My Acrylix® Blocks to use for this stamp set are 1″ × 1″ (Y1000), 3″ × 3″ (Y1006), 2″ × 3½” (Y1009), 2″ × 6½” (Y1010)

Check out some inspirations how to use this stamp set:

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It is the time to capture all your recent holiday memories! Express Collections make documenting your memories even easier by doing most of the creation for you. Just drop in your photos, add some journaling and personalized titles, and order your layouts. Using this Express Collection, you will have your recent holiday photos scrapbooked before you know it! The Express Collection will be available only from January 1 to February 28, so make certain to place your orders before the deadline.

Contact me for more information and visit StudioJ.com to start creating today!

And one more gorgeous stamp set for supporting the work of Operation Smiles. Until the end of March 2015, Close To My Heart has a special stamp set to keep helping with this charity effort. You can make a difference in the life of a child when you buy the Operation Smile™ You’re the Bomb stamp set!

When you purchase the C-size You’re the Bomb stamp set at full retail price anytime from now through March 2015, Close To My Heart will donate $3 of the proceeds to Operation Smile.

You can always give donation to Operation Smile® whenever you shop at my store. At the cart or check out page, you will see the box where you can give donation before you checking out. If you have any questions, please contact me or visit my store to purchase and donate!

THANK YOU for shopping and giving a smile on a child’s life!

Thank You for stopping by and shopping with me!!!

Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2015

DIY Ribbon Bow Tie (video & tutorial)

Found this very cute & simple tutorial from CTMH Instagram (follow them @ctmhcorp) for the Make It Monday. To see the original video, you can see it Here. You can use this cute bow tie as embellishment for your scrapbooking, cards, or even make a cute hairclip for little girls.

Supplies you’ll need (can get them all on website store):

Micro-tip Scissors
Mini Stapler
Micro Glue Dots
4″ Striped ribbon
1″ Shimmer trim

Steps:

Fold both ends of ribbon toward the center, slightly overlap them.
Staple it in the middle.
Wrap the shimmer trim around the center, slightly puckering the ribbon in the middle.
Use Micro Glue Dots to adhere the ends of the shimmer trim for added stability.

Happy making!

Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2014

DIY Embossed Felt Business Card Wallet

I went to a blogging conference, Declare Conference, in Dallas this weekend. It was amazing conference for women. I got to meet some of my friends I met on Social Media groups (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogging) IN PERSON!! We got to spent time together and I share hotel room with 3 of them. I will share some pictures later this week 🙂

So, when I found out that I would have roommates, I started to look for inspirations. I decided to make a business card holder/wallet for them because we were suggested to bring business cards to swap with others there. So, Pinterest where I went for more ideas. I found so many tutorials using sewing machine and they said that it was for beginner. I told myself, “Helen, this is the time to learn and try using your new sewing machine.” I tried. But failed. It was not because of their tutorials, but it was because of my lack of ability of using this machine! Check these sewing tutorials if you want to try 🙂

I still have LOTS of felt leftover from our craft making party last year and why not using felt and hand stitching, I talked to myself. And there went I tried. Adapting from this sewing tutorial, I made single card wallet/holder with felt. And I wanted some textures on my felt, not just plain felts. I remembered this embossed felt tutorial from Becky Fleck and decided to try when I made these business card wallet.

Supplies you will need to make this business card wallet/holder:

Felt
Iron
Needle and thread
Scissors
Rotary cutter
Pinking shears
Ruller
Spray bottle and clean water
Rubber stamp of your choice

my ruler is too long for this picture… sorry.

You will need 1 of 4″ x 2.5″ rectangle and 1 of 3″ x 2″5 rectangle. I cut my felt using my rotary cutter and quilt ruler, quick and easier than using regular scissors.

Lay the felt on top of the stamp that you want to use. For this first one, I laid my smaller felt on top of one of the butterfly rubber stamp from Denami Design – Fancy Flutters stamp set and using my spray bottle I sprayed the felt lighty with water.

The iron I used is a tiny one I found at Walmart (or you can find at any craft store). It is not too hot for craft projects. So, I press the felt on the rubber stamp with my iron for about 15 seconds. Don’t be too long. But if the impression is not what you want, you can press again for another 10-15 seconds.

Here’s what the embossed felt look like after the ironing:

Then last step is to put them together. Lay both felt on top of each other and stitch. I used blanket stitching to make the pocket. You can use the pinking shears before or after the stitching together for the decorated border top.