Stamping Contrasts - Copics vs Watercolour

So today is a doubly sad day - not only is it the final day of our stamping contrasts series, but it is also the final post from our fabby DT Member Lydia who is leaving us at the end of the month.  I know lots of you love Lydia's work and she will be back for regular visits we hope, but I'm sure you'll love our new DT member too - we're keeping her under wraps for now but she will be revealed next Friday when she steps into Lydia's shoes :-)

Anyhow - Lydia's swansong is a stunner - along with Kate she is showing how versatile the stunning Magnolias for Her set from Altenew can be.  Today's contrast is all about colour with the different looks you can get from Copics vs Watercolouring.

Lydia

For my card I used Altenew 'Magnolias For Her' and masking to create the flower cluster, I first stamped in a light grey ink and coloured my images in with Copic Markers, and added a little shading with pencils. Once I was happy I then stamped over the image again and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

For the sentiment I used 'congrats' from Winnie & Walter 'The Big, the Bold and You' and the rest of the sentiment was from Altenew 'Dodecagram'. 

Kate

For my card i have used watercolours and the spotlight technique. 

On my card base i stamped the flower image multiple times in black archival ink.  Then i die cut the circle using Lawn fawns stitched circles  and placed it on the  card and stamped over just matching up the images underneath.

I love the soft flowing look of watercolours and let the colour just run where the water was.  The circle spotlight section was popped up with foam squares.

To finish i added the sentiment from the same set and some clear sequins.

Have we inspired you to join in the fun?
If you fancy having a go and challenging yourself to stamp a contrast along with us then link up your entry below - just pick a contrast from any we'll be demonstrating this week and make your own.   You could either make 2 cards to show the contrast or just choose one of ours and make the contrast to match it (so choose Lydia's copic coloured card and make a project coloured with watercolours like Kate did with whatever stamps - you don't have to replicate the project - just the contrast of using the the different colouring medium as your focus)   We'll leave the link open for a week after our final post on Saturday so you have time to see all the contrasts before picking one to join in with and then have a full week to play.   You never know, we might even find a prize for the best contrast ;-)

An InLinkz Link-up

Stamping Contrasts - A Week Long Blog Special

We've got something a little different for you on the blog this week - the DT have paired up this week and each day this week we're bringing you two projects both made with the same stamp set but with a contrast to the stamping - so masculine vs feminine, CAS vs lots of layers, colourful vs monochrome.  We hope this shows you how to get some different looks from the sets you already have and to give you some ideas how to stretch your stamping. 

To kick things off - Lydia and I have teamed up to play with one of the super versatile floral sets from Wplus9 - Fresh Cut Containers and our contrast is FEMININE VS MASCULINE.

  

Lydia

For my FEMININE take I stamped the watering can in Hero Arts 'Wet Cement' as this is a very light ink I wasn't too worried about stamping over this with my flowers and leaves so they would appear to be flowing over the sides. I stamped the flowers and leaves in bright, fresh inks as what is more feminine than pretty flowers?!?! I also added shading to the florals with a little coloured pencil and a little glitter never hurts.

For my mat I added a scalloped pink layer to draw out the colour of the roses. The beautiful sentiment is from Winnie & Walter 'A Tree For All Seasons'.


Tara

To take the same set down the MASCULINE route, I opted for a mostly green colour palette on kraft card which I always think works well for masculine cards (which are actually my favourites to make - I know I'm weird!)  I used the rock and roll technique to stamp the watering can and bowl in two shades of grey ink and then added a little more depth with pencils.   To fill them I used 3 shades of green and a little brown and just used the leaves rather than the flowers.  To hint at some florals I used the dotted stamp with lemon pigment ink over the top.  I added some rocks by inking the stamp Lydia used to create roses in brown and adding some shading with pencils.  The sentiment comes from Altenew Label Love stamped on green to match the mat and to tie the card together.  The angular quality adds to the masculinity too.   Even if you don't have this set - look at the floral stamps you do have, and give it a go - we have lots of male gardeners in our family so cards like this always go down well.

Don't forget to come back each day this week to see what other contrasts our talented team is bringing you

Have we inspired you to join in the fun?
If you fancy having a go and challenging yourself to stamp a contrast along with us then link up your entry below - just pick a contrast from any we'll be demonstrating this week and make your own.   You could either make 2 cards to show the contrast or just choose one of ours and make the contrast to match it (so choose Lydia's and make a masculine card like I did with whatever floral stamps you have)   We'll leave the link open for a week after our final post on Saturday so you have time to see all the contrasts before picking one to join in with and then have a full week to play.   You never know, we might even find a prize for the best contrast ;-)

An InLinkz Link-up

February Challenge Week 3

This is your final reminder to enter this month's challenge - you have until 10pm on Sunday the 22nd February to link up your project.

Remember you can change the heart to another shape if you'd prefer - just keep the overall feel of the sketch so we know our challenge inspired you and make sure to use at least one item we sell to be eligible for the £15 prize.

Julia

Lydia

Once you've got your project ready, link it up on our challenge page.

Peony Scroll Corner

Hello and happy Friday! Can you believe that it’s half term already next week? This year is flying by to quick! I have to say that I love when the kids are off school, I just like having them with me … we have some serious craft time at half term .

So today I’m sharing with you a card using some of the fabulous florals from Altenew...



The flower, leaves and swirls are from Altenew ‘Peony Scrolls’ and the sentiment from Wplus9 ‘Valentine Wishes’, I just love how this sentiment can be used for all different cards even though it is from a Valentine's set.

I would really love to know what you think of my card! If you would like more detailed intructions please pop over to my blog 'Lydia Evans Design' (the link is in the side bar).

Hope you have a beautiful day and I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs Lydia xxx

 

August Challenge - Week 3

It's your final week to play along in this month's challenge for a chance to win £15 to spend in store!  (Although as it's a long month you've got 2 full weekends left to play....)   Just pick 3 colours from any of the schemes below and make something using a least one product from our range.

Lydia and I are here this week with a little inspiration for you and both of us have opted for colours from the first option but with very different projects!

Lydia
using Sweet Havana

Tara
using Seaside Wishes

Once you're ready to play, you'll find the linky here
 http://makethedayspecialcards.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenges.html  
Challenge closes at 10pm on Sunday 24th August

Challenge 4 - Final Week

It's your final week to play along with our theme challenge this month - the link closes at 10pm next Tuesday.  We want you to look back at your early work - pick a card you made the first year you started to blog (or the first year you started to craft if you don't blog) and CASE it and see how different your new version is and how far your crafting style has changed.   If you are not familiar with the term CASE - it stands for Copy And Share Everything - and is just a term for "be inspired by" so you don't have do a direct copy of an old card, just see what sparks you from looking at your old work - it could be the style, the stamp (a good way to give a little love to long forgotton stash), the colours, the theme - anything.   Don't forget to share your original card with us too so we can see what sparked the inspiration.

We have more CASE Histories from our DT to share this week to inspire you if you are stuck for to play this challenge:

Lydia

Card from November 2011



And now!

I went with the same layout but went brighter and using cuter stamps.

You have until 10pm on Tuesday 22nd July to play along - just link up your projects on our Challenges page http://makethedayspecialcards.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenges.html     As usual there is a £15 Store Voucher up for grabs for our favourite project.

We'll pick our winners and announce them before the next challenge starts on 1st August.