Mama Bear's Family Tag

The Wednesday Challenge, for this week, at Simon Says Stamp is tags!  They are also featuring Ranger products, because we all know Ranger and tags go hand in hand!

My tag features only a few of the great products and manufacturers that you can find at Simon Says Stamp!

The tag base is from Ranger and I blended both Distress Inks and various Tattered Angels shimmer sprays to create the background and the hill.

I used this awesome Big Bang Scenery set from Winnie and Walter along with some Versamark and Hero Arts Silver Embossing Powder to create a starry background.  The moon is a heart from the Simon Says Stamp Set Tons of Hearts!

The adorable bear family is from two Mama Elephant's stamp sets Bear Hugs and Cub Cuddles.
I stamped the bears with Antique Linen Distress Ink onto Ranger Watercolor Paper and used my Distress Inks , Ranger Artist Brushes and Distress Markers to paint them.  I then fussy cut them using my Fiskars Spring-Assist Micro Tip Scissors.  The sentiment is also from Cub Cuddles and was embossed with the same Silver Embossing Powder.

The ribbon was an older SEI one from my stash ;)

I plan to hang this in a shadow box on our family's gallery wall in the living room.  Our kiddos are growing up so fast and this sentiment really sums up exactly how I feel.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I love to read your comments so feel free to leave one below!

Be My Valentine Series - Day 6 - Darling Deer

I am enamored with images that have a mid-century modern feel and these deer from the Kitsch Christmas Stamp Set by Caryn Davies for Avery Elle are right up my alley!

I was browsing through cards on my Pinterest boards and I came across this gem by Caryn Davies!  I think these deer are slightly flirty and therefore perfect for a Valentine's Day card so I grabbed one from my CCC "Colored Critters Cache"  (I colored a ton of these around Christmas time so I had a few leftover, yes, I REALLY love these deer!) and I set about recreating this card with a romantic feel.

I used the My Favorite Things Die-namics Stitched Mini Scallop Circle Stax and the Die-namics Inside & Out Stitched Circle Stax to create the base of my focal point. Next I used a stencil brush to blend some Festive Berries Distress Ink on the inner white circle. I used Avery Elle Laurels Stamps and Dies to create the flower and leaf accents around the edge. They were all stamped with various Altenew Inks (Cotton Candy, Ruby Red, Coral Berry, Peach Perfect, Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades).

After laying everything out in my MISTI I positioned the little starburst stamps and stamped them with Versamark and heat embossed them using Ranger's Princess Gold Embossing Powder, this is my favorite gold powder.  I then stamped my greeting from Avery Elle's Fabulous Florals Stamp Set and heat embossed that as well.  Finally I assembled all of the pieces together and Voila, Darling Deer!

I will be back with a post featuring Lunch Box Love Notes!

Be My Valentine Series - Day 2

Today's card is guaranteed to bring a smile to your dearest friend's face when they see these adorable bunnies from the Pix's Favorites stamp set by Mama Elephant!

This card was very simple to put together.  I began by stamping the Pix images with Ranger Archival Ink onto Canson Fanboy paper ( this is my favorite paper to use with Zig Clean Color Markers)  as you can guess I colored them with my Zigs and used a wet paint for blending. I did add a bit of sparkle with my Wink of Stella Clear to these cuties and once they were dry I fussy cut them leaving a white border to help them standout from my background.

I knew that I wanted to use a thought bubble so I stamped one from Lawn Fawn with Hero Arts Unicorn ink and heat embossed it using Hero Arts White Satin Pearl embossing powder.  I used the coordinating dies to cut these.

For the background I did some quick watercolor with Distress Inks on watercolor paper.  I die cut that with the Mama Elephant Hillside Cover Die and then trimmed off about 1/4" to allow for a white border on the card front.

I will admit I was so excited to put this card together that I adhered everything and then realized I forgot to stamp my sentiment!  (I had to remove the mouse pad from my MISTI due to the fun foam I had used being the background but it still worked perfectly, love that tool!)  The sentiment is from Concord & 9th was heat embossed using a white embossing powder from my stash. 

Quick, simple and oh so cute!

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow to share some more happy heart day fun!

Be My Valentine Series - Day 1

We are closing in on the end of January which means Valentine's Day isn't too far away!  I have always loved Valentine's Day, doing the mailboxes and classroom Valentine's as a kid, roses and chocolates as I got older and then helping my kiddos with their Valentine's as a Mama Bear... I love it all!  In the spirit of love I am going to share ten Valentine's Day cards with you, one each in the coming days, some feature new to me techniques (like today's card), some will be for your Love and others for your little love bugs.  I hope you'll find something to inspire you to create a card for your sweetie!

Let's get started... today's card features ink smooshing (yes, that is the technical name!) to create a fun background!  I have been trying this technique out for the past week and I found these two video tutorials to be really helpful... Kari Webster and Laura Bassen... make sure to check them out!  I really want to say 'Don't get frustrated!' it took me quite a few tries with all different supply combos before I was happy with my smooshed panel. 

Ink Smooshing Supplies:

Distress Inks 

Ranger Spray Bottle 

4x6" piece of acetate (I used some old packaging)

Ranger Watercolor Paper (I prefer the smooth side)

Paper Towels (I don't recommend Viva, they left lint on the project)

I did add a little extra flair by flicking on some Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors (Red Gold) to the background!

For my adorable Octopi I stamped them with Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black onto Ranger watercolor cardstock. I then colored them in with Distress Inks and then went over them with my clear Wink of Stella, I can't resist the sparkle!  I cut them out with their coordinating dies once they were truly dry.

I really felt that the Octopi needed a 'landing spot' on the card and as I thought about it I saw this card on my desk and I decided that a heart shaped shell wreath would be perfect!  I stamped the shells from Life Is Good onto vellum with Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink and then heat embossed them with white powder, finally I fussy cut the wreath and adhered it with tiny dots of Ranger Multi-Medium Matte.

To assemble the card I adhered my smooshed background to a white card base.  I laid out my greeting in my MISTI stamping tool and stamped it next to the wreath with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink.  I applied some foam adhesive to my octopi and placed them over the wreath ( I love how they are holding tentacles!) and Voila! a finished card!

Thanks for getting all the way to the end of this post, I hope you come back tomorrow for another Valentine's Day card!

You Lift Me Up - Color Challenge

Marker Pop is hosting another fantastic color challenge over on their blog!

I started my card by choosing this cute hot air balloon from Wplus9 'Going Places' and the adorable bear from 'Happy Mail'.  I used Distress Inks to blend a background panel,  but I felt it needed something to anchor the scene so I used the Impression Obsession pine tree background stamp and added in a forest!  To give the background just a bit more detail I cut it with the stitched card front die from the My Favorite Things Blueprints 25 Die-namics After I stamped and colored my images with Copic markers I die cut them  with the coordinating dies.  How cute is it that the dies cut out the bunnies paw to hold onto the basket?!!! 

For my sentiment I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles and cut a bit of vellum on which to emboss my sentiment, it comes from another Wplus9 set 'Party Animal'.  I used teeny dots of adhesive behind the embossing to adhere this to the card front.  As a finishing touch I added a few enamel shapes from my stash!

Looking forward to seeing what you create!