TAWS post #80 - Thinking of You

Hi Friends!  Meredith here with a VERY simple card inspired by the wonderful Jennifer McGuire.  I coated my Neenah cardstock with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  I then took one of the awesome images from the Flower Doodles set and spritzed it a few times with my mini mister bottle which has Perfect Pearls mixed with water.  It creates a shimmery water.

I then stamped direct onto the paper with nothing but the water.  Because the Distress Inks react with water the image that's left is shimmery and subtle.  It's truly beautiful in real life as it's hard to see the shimmer in the photos.

 I then stamped my sentiment front and center from the Jibber Jabber set and added the pop of color with the heart bubble from the Spellcheck set.

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #48 - Congrats

Greetings TAWS friends!!  Today I bring you a special card that is near and dear to my heart.  This was the card that I made for my brother and his wife for their wedding last weekend!  It was their perfect day and I was so honored to be able to celebrate with them.  I used two of my very favorite Alley Way sets called Big Chatter (sentiment) and Flower Doodles (background).  I started by stamping the flowers using Hero Arts Unicorn White pigment ink and heat setting them with clear embossing powder.  White powder can sometimes be messy on a big piece like this which is why I went with the clear powder.  

Once my background panel was complete, I stamped my sentiment onto really good quality vellum.  I stamped it using SU! black pigment ink and heat set, once again, using clear embossing powder.  I didn't want to have any stray embossing powder on the vellum and the clear powder with the black ink really helps control that issue.  

I stitched the vellum to my background panel and mounted it all onto a piece of orangy/red cardstock (my sister-in-law's favorite color) and added it all to a white card base.  I added one sparkly heart and voila!  The day was as amazing and wonderful as they are!  

I know they will have a lifetime of happiness - what a match made in heaven!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #34 - Watercolor Happiness

Hi TAWS friends!!  Today my creation features two of my very favorite Alley Way sets called Flower Doodles and Words to Live By.

I started my creation by creating a large watercolored sheet.  No rhyme or reason, I just let the paint go wherever it wanted to.

I LOVE painting like this as it's very freeing, easy and relaxing!  Once it was all dry I cut the paper into panels for my cards.  For this card I used Flower Doodles with my favorite Hero Arts black dye ink to add the stamped images randomly placed ~sort of~ so that my background had a bit of rhythm to it.

I used Words to Live By for my sentiment which I heat embossed using Liquid Platinum embossing powder onto a scrap of teal Bazzill Basics cardstock.  I used Teresa Collins heart stickers for some minor embellishing.

Thanks for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #23 - Love You Lots

Greetings TAWS friends!  I'm here today with a water colored creation using Wigwam, Big Chatter and Flower Doodles.

Some of you know that I am a homeschooling Mom with three children.  I have two school aged children and a two year old.  So suffice to say, as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE to create, I have realistically about ten minutes a day where I can squeeze in any kind of craftiness for myself.  So I try to use my time wisely and create when I can.  I love sitting in our classroom at my desk creating but that's not always realistic.  So sometimes at night when my husband and I are watching our shows, I will stamp off a bunch of images onto watercolor paper, bring this brush and these paints into our tv room and sit, watch tv and paint.  It's very relaxing AND it provides me with ready to go images when I need them!  

I find that the toughest part of getting a project going is the image part - what am I going to use?  how am I going to color it?  when I decide how then I have to figure out color palette...so many questions! This way I have a bunch of colored images and I can pick and choose what to use based on my mood.  

Today I'm using a painted image from the TAWS Wigwam set. I then used a sentiment from the Flower Doodles set and the little heart is from the Big Chatter set.  

I added some stitching and some enamel dots and voila!  

Thanks for coming by today!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

TAWS post #10 - Get Well

Greetings Friends!!  Popping in with a crafty post today using a few older The Alley Way Stamp sets.  I learned this technique in Jennifer McGuire's On-line Card Class - Inspiration Showcase that I took a few years ago.  If you've not taken this class I strongly suggest you do - it's simply amazing!! 

I've used a combination of Big Chatter, Flower Doodles, and Phraseology to create this multilayered effect.  But it's all one layer!  It's fun and easy to do.  I masked the edges of my watercolor paper to create the hard edge that frames the panel.  I then stamped the background using Phraseology.  

I stamped my selected flowers using Versamark Ink which I heat set using clear embossing powder.  This step traps the first layer that I stamped with Phraseology underneath it sealing it behind the Versamark Ink.  Now that the flowers were heat set, I took my Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and sponged over the entire background.  The areas where there is no Versamark Ink take on the color whilst the Versamark areas do not.  When I was done, I misted with some pearlized water and let it dry.  Once dry, I took a baby wipe and cleaned off any bit of ink that might have stuck to the Versamark.  The result is a multilayer look but it is all one layer! 

I cut my MFT Die-namic Speech Bubble out and added my sentiment from Big Chatter using black Momento Ink.  I love the "twisty string treatment" that's big right now in the crafty world so I recreated it using bright yellow, hemp twine behind my speech bubble.  The speech bubble is popped up on 3-d foam adhesive to accommodate for the bulk of the twine. 

I added a simple interior for a little extra touch.

Thanks for coming by today!!