Create A Tag Using Paper Rose

Tag making is one of my favorite things to do, so today let's create a tag using Paper Roses stamps & stencil. Happy Mixed Media Monday for Topflight Stamps! As always you can see the tutorial here & pictures of the products used on Topflight Stamps site. If you use the code karenbearse you can save 12%!!! *Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like, so enjoy the inspiration.  **some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

 

 

Tags are so fun to create, such a great way to experiment. This tag has a few layers & packs a punch with all the color. The whole tag was inspired by the product. I hope you will join in & make one yourself!

 

 

I started by swatching my latest 3 colors of Infusions. I have all my colors on this die cut on a ring which makes choosing a color easier. As the theme of the stamps is paint palette, color wheel etc. the tag obviously called for color! 

 

Step 1: Confession, I may have saved the inside wrapper of a Wendy's burger (cleaned of course) because there was a beehive pattern. Very happy to have used it! Just decoupaged onto a tag. You can use a piece of napkin or decorated tissue also.

Step2: Add Infusions powders & a few spritzes of water. A Bit of Jade & Black Current. I sprinkle them separately in 2 different areas & let a bit of overlap. That produced the lovely purple that you see. Once the water is added let the inky move & blend. 

Here are the Paper Roses stencil & stamp set that I used. As always the supply list with links is below. 

 

Step 3: Stencil the quote with a brush & ink. In this case Prism French Navy was used. The words were stenciled on a piece of lined paper. Fun & different.

 

Once the tag was dry, the stencil was used with a pen. Making the lines sketchy was a different way to utilize a stencil & create a kind of hand drawn quality. 

 

 

The paint palette stamp was used on card stock with an archival ink. Watercolor paint to paint in the boxes just as a real palette would look. All that was left was assembly & some doodling around the quote & edges.

 

 A few of the smaller paint brush stamps were used along the side of the tag. The whole thing was finished off adding sari ribbon & twine wrapped around with a charm. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you get the chance to create a tag! 

Supply List: 

• Paper Rose -Color Wheel Stencil 
• "         " Stamp Set- Artist Tools  
• Infusions by PaperArtsy  
• Prism inks in French Navy
  
•  Watercolor Palette
• Archival Ink 
• Tags
  

Snow Day Card for December Daily

Happy December, today I am making a snow day themed card for my December Daily. The theme this week at Topflight Stamps is "Snow" so be sure to tune in & see what my teamies have planned! Christmas is a busy month but I really want to be able to squeeze in some relaxing, quick items for my album. Remember if you use the code karenbearse you save 10%!  *Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.  **some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

Here is my mixed media page made simple, with a few short cuts. I love that this page is sitting in my book just waiting for the photo or a journaling spot ready for that day. If we don't get snow I can make my page about the fact that there was no snow this season!  

 Step 1: to make this page super quick I used a few of Art By Marlene's products, letter stamps by Tracy Evans, & snowflake background stamp which is a must have. To start, simply cut a piece of card stock either for a card or to fit in your album. I made mine 8.25" x 4". Then I cut a piece of collage paper a .25" smaller. The collage paper is fairly thin so you will want that card stock backing for sure. I will be able to put this in a pocket or punch holes & add it as a skinny page element in my album.

 

For the title I used a stamp platform so I could easily line up my letters. This way it I can see where the image will be on the paper & if a letter doesn't stamp correctly easily fix it. 

For decoration I used a die cut out of the Paper Elements Pack & a quote from the Sticky Quotes by Art By Marlene. 

Lastly the snowflakes were heat embossed using Mermaid fin. Love how it glitters when it catches the light. If you wanted the snowflakes to be more prominent using a white or silver emboss would work great. That's it for today! Thanks for joining me & I hope you have a chance to get inky!

Supplies:

• Art by Marlene -Collage Paper-08
• "                "    -Paper Elements Artsy Arabia
  
• "                "    -Sticky Quotes
• Hunky Dory Stamp Platform   
• Snowflake Background Stamp by Darkroom Door
• Tracy Evans Grungy Alphabet by AALL & Create.  
• Mermaid Fin Embossing by Rita Barakat
  

Planner Pages For Topflight Stamps

Hello Planner Fans, this Mix Media Monday for Topflight Stamps let's make a planner page!!! You can use this technique for anything you want, an art journal page, art card etc. I hope you are staying healthy in these troubled times & making time for some art. I struggled this week but forced myself to play, it made a big difference in my mental health. *Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.
**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

When times are tough & play is needed sometimes it is easier to get inspiration by "scrap lifting" the art of copying. I noticed a mini art journal page that I really like and decided to take it & make a planner page. One of the things I am trying to do in my planner is showcase things that are different in our lives because of Corona Virus. My daughter loves Dunkin Donuts iced coffee & we are making it a Friday treat to get her & one of her isolated friends coffee & a doughnut.

Here is the page I copied on the left side. I just made a few small adjustments. I took the colors from the  photo as my color palette & changed to a different stamped image. Easy peasy & just a fun play but also the simple  act of accomplishing a page felt great. Mind games are good in tough times! You can get the tutorial for this page here.

Good luck this week friends, take it easy on yourself & make some art! 

Supplies:

Paper Artsy Fresco Finish  Paint in Amethyst, Snowflake, Smoked Paprika. 

Stamps- Sara Naumann by PaperArtsy- ESN 41 & ESN43

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Arrow Page & Trees

Passport Journal Mini Art Page #the100dayproject

Hello Stamp fans, let's make a passport size, mini art journal page today for #the100dayproject! First I want to say I hope you & your family are safe in this super crazy COVID world. Please stay home if you can & let's kick this virus back to zero. Many thanks to the 1st Responders, the medical community & essential workers who are out there everyday helping to keep us all safe. You are the front line heroes in all of this. 

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.
**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

One of the best things to come out of this horrible situation is all the inspiration that is happening. So many artists are giving back by hosting free videos, live tutorials on FB & Instagram. I am trying to support as many as I can by sharing their links on social media. As a working artist most of our incomes have just stopped. Please support these artists if you can by purchasing their products. This page was started while watching and arting along with Tracy Evans from AAll & Create. I will link to her video below.

It is Mixed Media Monday on Topflight Stamps so off we go!!!! I won't go into too much detail as you can see what was done in the video step by step. Tracy did much more to her tags & I love all the detail. I plan on following all the steps at some point to see what I would end up with but for now...

Let's Get Started!

I decided to use my new & older Dyan Reaveley paints for this page. I love them!! The pink is Tropical Sangria, quite different from her other paints the neon cocktail paints are translucent. The green is new- Island Parrot & the old stand by & one of my favs is Vibrant Turquoise. 

Love These Stamps!!

I used AALL & Create Tracy Evans stamp on this one... #267 Nature Elements. These stamps are huge! They each measure 5 1/2" ish x 7 1/4" & there are 2 of them. So many fun details which are great for adding subtle stamping for backgrounds. You will want a large acrylic block if you want use the whole image.

Time For Some Texture.

I used the chain link fence image portion of the stamp to add some subtle texture with Lemon Zest. You do have to look closely to see it. I am tempted to add more on top so it shows up better.

Next the mushroom portion of the stamp was stamped on my background using VersaFine Clair in Nocturne. This ink works great on these stamps especially if you are inking the whole stamp. They are nice & juicy & stay wet long enough to get the image. I just love how it stamps on top of acrylic paint too. 

The mushroom images were stamped on white card stock with Archival Ink & cut out. Once dry, the paint was watered down & used like watercolor to get some blending in.

After that the mushroom were adhered over the corresponding image & the edges were trimmed off.

The final touch was to add some words & bling. 

I made my page much more simply then Tracy's sample- but it shows that you can play along with these videos even if your project ends up being quite different or only some of the techniques are followed like in my sample. Even if you were to only get a back ground done in these trying times it is progress!

Here is a screen shot from Tracy's video which is linked above, she did this cool tag accordion. Love all the little details she put into it.  If you want to join in with Tracy when she does her Facebook live you can join in here. 

That is it for today, stay safe, stay home if possible & take this time to do some art therapy! It really does help the anxiety & worry. Now go get inky! 

Supplies:

Tracy Evans stamps by AALL & Create- #267 Nature Elements & #46 Hearts

Diamond Green Sparkles 

Dylusions Paints 

Archival Ink 

VersaFine Clair by Tsukineko in Nocturne

Topflight Stamps Inky Fun

Hello Blogland, here today with my Topflight Stamps project that is super quick and simple. Finding time to Craft during the holidays can be hard but getting that few minutes of stress free fun is critical. Here is a simple way to steal 15 - 30 min of time for yourself to help keep your merry intact! 

Here is my 1st page. I decided to just stamp on card stock to make it easier, but then I will fussy cut or tear my design & put it in this Jane Davenport journal. This way I can build my coloring book as I go but can also add in art journal pages if I have more time. 

The stamp I used fits this journal perfectly. It is also chock full of fun! I thought it would make for an awesome coloring page design. It was stamped in black archival ink so if I wanted to use a wet media on top I could. I did use the Stamp Press for this to get a good image. 

Then it was a matter of pulling out some color pencils & just having a few minutes of old time coloring fun. I could literally feel my shoulders relaxing as I did this. Hot Tip: Spend a few extra minutes stamping these out ahead of time so you can just grab your image & color pencils & have an art relax.I also added in just a bit of watercolor paint in the more open areas. Thanks for joining me for my last 2019 Topflight Post! Remember code KARENBEARSE KARENBEARSE gets you a discount. I hope you have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate, a Happy New Year and you get to spend precious time with family & friends.

AALL & Create Stamp- Bloom & Grow
Jane Davenport Mixed Media Journal  
Washi Tape


**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.

Inspired Book- Creative Mess Booklet #1

Hello Topflight Stamps Fans, I have post #2 for my Inspired Book that I made last month. November has been a crazy month of travel, teaching & kid stuff. This is going to be an inky post with a favorite technique for making the booklets that go in your journals. If you are on the Journal craze or just want to make a creative notebook I hope you have a chance to make one of these books. 

My 1st booklet is to write down ideas, inspirations & anything artsy that comes to mind. I made the cover a separate piece & the lined booklet was sewn together. This way I can simple replace the booklet when full leaving the cover intact. My pages were cut from lined paper 8"wide x 6.5" tall. It is hard to see the booklet in this pic, more on that below.

I have been playing with Gel Plate a lot lately mainly due to some of the classes I am teaching. I love the way ink moves so differently on the plate & allows for some unique quick & easy backgrounds. For the cover of my book I decided to experiment with Infusions to see how it worked on the plate. Basically sprinkle the Infusions on the plate & spritz with water. Dab the paper on the plate picking up the colors. A little goes a long way so just sprinkle a bit to start with and add a generous 2-3 spritzes of water. 

Infusions colors are so rich & concentrated. I did one layer (left hand side) of dabbing the paper down, dried with a heat gun & then added a 2nd layer (right hand side) more sparingly. Love how rich this color is! The interesting thing is I think the gel plate holds the walnut crystals allowing for more pigment to show through. 

I added a 2nd color- Royal Blood and just added a touch here & there. Love this background!!! I think you get a richer color with the Gel Plate, less of the brown from the walnut crystals. Just an extra tool in the tool box. 

Speaking of tools, did you know that on the Topflight Stamps shop page, a lot of the stamps shown have inspiration right there for you? Just click on the mini image to the right of the main image. I used this sample by Rachel Greig owner of Darkroom Door to inspire my cover. 

Loving the look of the background created, & not wanting to potentially wreak it meant putting the sentiment on another paper. The sentiment was embossed so it would really show. Adding the quote in Glistening Glass which is clear seemed a good idea. That means my sentiment will be white like the card stock. I put a few sprinkles of A Bit Jaded on the Gel Press, spritzed with water & once my image had cooled dabbed the paper in it. The emboss will resist the ink as it is water based. Sorry the colors are off in this photo you see the true color below.

I mistakenly rubbed off some of the word "am" but mistakes often create opportunity. I  re-stamped the word on white paper & cut it out, distressed the edges & popped it on my card. Love how that looks, really adds to the sentiment. I also carefully stamped some of the splats from the stamp with black ink, then distressed the edges.

Lastly I stamped some random images on my background just to add some interest. I used Grunge Marks & Arty Hexagons both from Darkroom Door Stamps.

I used a variety of stamps which I got from Topflight Stamps to add fun & interest to my pages. Some of the images were direct to paper but because it is thin the images were seen on the other side. Most were stamped on copy paper & cut out then glued.

Just stamp away- off course I used a trusty stamping press to make sure my images were crisp. These stamps are Seth Apter.

I also added some stenciling using different colored inks & a dabber to get a nice image. Some pages also had washi added for more color & interest. What I love about this project is I can use any colors or themes as the book goes on, it doesn't have to be matching. This washi is Alexander Renke & the stencil is Pronty.

Seriously love how these wee foxes look! They are from washi tape. The stamps are PaperArtsy Scrapcosy 5. Look at the fox looking up are the mushroom- too fun. 

Lastly I added some more Glistening Glass embossing powder to the outside of my book to give it the same shine as the spine. It will also protect that crackle paste so it doesn't chip off. I also added the A Flair For Buttons butterfly. For the full tutorial on this book you can go here. That's it for this post. I hope you can get some arting done today!

Supplies:

PaperArtsy- Infusions in Blackcurretn, Royal Blood & A Bit Jaded

"          "      Stamps-Zinski Art 41, Scrapcosy 05,

Seth Apter Stamps by PaperArtsy

Eileen Hull Glistening Glass by Emerald Creek

Stamperia Steampunk News Stamp

Darkroom Door - I Am Creative,
Collage Stamp & Polka Dots Stencil

Pronty Grunge Circle Stencil

Washi Tape- various & Foxes
Gel Press 

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.

Grungy Tag Play with Infusions

Hello Blogland, Happy U.S. Thanksgiving, yay for Turkey Day!! I have my Thursday blog post on the Topflight Stamps blog. They have an awesome sale going on with 25% off all their stamps.

*** sign made using Rhonna Designs App

I created this funky, grungy tag as I played with Infusions powder. This is a fun product that I will have some tutorials on coming up in the near future.  

You can catch the explanation of what I was up to with all the links here. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving for those celebrating, with good old fashion family time.

Butterfly Tag with Doodles

Fun doodle tag with Leane Creatief stamps. Happy Thursday & time for my Topflight Stamps project!!

Here is the happy colorful tag I made using this unique doodle stamp. I was visiting my folks with limited supplies but that is all that was needed to have some relaxing doodle time. 

 

I started by stamping my image on computer paper with Archival Ink as I wanted a permanent ink. I was lucky to be given the new TwinTone Markers by Tombo to play with & I have to say they are amazingly vibrant. This markers have dual tips, one a fine line, one a thicker line. You can see where I tested some colors to see which ones I wanted to use. It was just a matter of coloring in the stamp. I used a fairly light hand as I didn't want the paper to pill. I will be playing with these markers more so stay tuned. 

 

I started with a tag that already had some random color on it. Stamp the image with Archival Ink so you don't have to cut out the antenna's.You can find the stamp here.

Once the ink was nice & dry it was time to doodle. I used the Tombo Drawing Pen in size 01. It was nice & relaxing to just find some doodles to put in my butterfly. Then it was easy to assemble my tag. I just added some Tim Holtz ephemera & my tag was done.

Making Nautical Art Cards with Topflight Stamps

Today I have my weekly post from Topflight Stamps. Check out the sale at the bottom of my blog after you read the post! The theme over there is summer or nautical & I got to play with these awesome stamps from Joy Crafts-Seashore Icons.

Stamps by Joy Craft have such great detail!

Playing with Stamps!

I decided to make some simple art cards, here is a quick rundown of how I made them.

This card started with random scrap paper adhered and was covered with acrylic paint & a scraper. I actually was arting on the beach where the picture was taken. Some random stamping of the Ships Wheel in black- notice how applying different pressure changes the look of the stamp. That is also as I was stamping on my lap! When I got home I added a photo from the trip, I love adding photos to my art cards.

The seagull was stamped on beige scrapbook paper, the postage stamp is from Pinterest & is on my Digi board. I added a few embellishments from Bo Bunny & did a bit of sewing. The feather was picked up on at the beach & adds the perfect touch of memory from the day!

 

Let's Make a Tag!

My second project is a tag that I had started with some cheese cloth & artisan powders. It was a demo I did in a class I was teaching. Perfect to add some nautical stamped images. I stamped the oh so cool light house & compass on scrapbook paper, & cut them out. The compass was adhered with pop dots. 

The lighthouse was added to with just a touch of color using Distress Oxide. Below I added some Glass Bead Gel & GemStones to act like the rocks! The background stamping at the top of the tag was part of that same stamp. The edges of the stamp are seagulls & clouds, so they were inked up and stamped. A bit of ribbon at the top & shazam, done. Thanks for joining me today, I hope I can inspire you to make some art. Pop on over to Topflight to get the best of Europe's stamps right here in the U.S. 

I am entering my tag in the Craft Stamper Magazine challenge. 

 There is a huge sale going on, all the summer stamps!

Topflight Stamp 

• Seashore Icons by Joy Crafts

Other Supplies:

•  Ranger-Jet Black, Cobalt Archival Ink
•             -Fossilized Amber, Fired Brick Distress Oxide
• Tombo Mono-Aqua Glue
• Liquitex-Glass Bead Gel
• Emerald Creek-Gemstones
• Bo Bunny- Noteworthy Ephemera
• Letters-Me & My Big Ideas