Chalkboard Technique

Who hasn't used their solid flower images in a while???? If this is you go pull out one right now and try this technique. It is so EASY. I love it. This is my first attempt and it's called Chalkboard. There are 2 ways to do this technique . (I did technique 1)
Technique 1:
First you need dark cardstock, I used black. A solid image like a flower (this is one of my new images from Flourishes). A white inkpad. A good set of artist's pencils, I used Prismacolor and last but not least Odourless mineral spirits (OMS) or gamsol.
Simply stamp your image on to the black cardstock. DIP your pencil into the OMS and color over top of the stamped image. How easy is that!!!!. You do not need to seal it when finished.

Technique 2:
Basically this is the same as chalk popping. Stamp your image with the white ink on to black card. Instead of using pencils grab out your chalks, stampin pastels, etc. Sponge (finger) daubers are also useful. Using your dauber, pick up the chalk colour
and apply to white stamped image. I wipe the card over with a cottonball when I'm finished. then I spray sealer on it so the chalk doesn't wipe off.
Splitcoast has a tutorial showing technique 2

Until Next time
Inking of you all
Michelle

Inspiration in Nature

It is Spring time here in Australia, and this is the most beautiful time of the year. Every year Canberra (my town) holds a flower fesival called Floriade. People from all over Australia even the world come to look at this gorgeous display of flowers .This festival only lasts for 4 weeks.
I spent the day with 2 lovely friends just wandering around in the sunshine basically enjoying the scenery. The weather is still a little chilly, but after all, we have just had winter.
I am not sure which flowers like the most. As Canberra is cold climate in winter the gardens are usually bulb flowers like Tulips, Hyacinths and Daffodils. There were also Poppies and they too were beautiful, I took the photo of them for a colour guide when colouring in my stamped images.
On display are also Floral Arrangements. This one above is done with a lot Native Australian Plants.They are most unusual to those of you who have never seen them before.This one has Waratahs and Banksias .
Last but not least, a beautiful Tulip, How stunning is this? Nature truly is magnificent. I can't wait for the next visit to Floriade, I have only 3 weeks left to enjoy.
Until Next time
Inking of you all
Michelle

Amazing Creation....

Isn't this bear just gorgeous, she was created by a lovely friend called Jenny McNulty. Jenny designed a wonderful range of mix and match images including bears, flowers, Australiana, some of the most gorgeous butterflies you have ever seen and adorable frogs. Her company was called Amazing Creations. Jenny has since 'retired' but the great news is the images and the company 'Amazing Creations' are back out there for you to enjoy. Don't be afraid to contact them, tell them Michelle sent you.
Here is Daisy bear, she is stamped in Black Brilliance and coloured using prismacolor pencils. I have highlighted the flowers with a white gel pen.The teal background paper is also from a range that Jenny created.
The friendship flower is also Australian, it's from Stamp World. I will feature more of Jenny's designs in the upcoming weeks.

Until Next time
Inking of you all
Michelle

Holy Hanna ...

Hanna Stamps that is. This is the first stamp set Hanna Stamps brought out. It's called 'But I need it...' When I ordered this set it was the only stamp set on the website. Well it's about one year on (give or take) and you should see the stamps now. My collection is not quite as extensive but it's getting there.
Here are 2 cards for you to look at today using this set.

Both cards are colored in using Prismacolor Pencils and blended with odourless mineral spirits. I have just used the the colours on my Designer Papers as a guide. I also love using my nestabilities, the top card uses the scalloped rectangle, The bottom one uses the circle set.

Until next time

Inking of you all

Michelle

Pamper Yourself

Pamper yourself.... Have a bath with a glass of wine. YES!!! one of 'My Favorite Things' to do. This stamp set .. I just love it. It's called Time for the Bubbly and it's from you guessed it ...My Favorite Things.

This was the first set I ever bought and it is still one I keep pulling out and using over and over again .The card above was made using Blue Bayou and Soft Sky cardstock. The designer papers are from Basic Grey's 2 scoops 6"x6" pad. The Bath is stamped onto Whisper white card and colored using Prismacolor pencils. Last but not least I have added stickles to enhance the bubbles and make them sparkle

This second card is also colored with Prismacolor pencils and I have used Bazzill criss cross cardstock .These Designer Papers are from Making Memories.
If you want to take a look at a third card of mine using this set have a look HERE

This one is all pinks and greens and is probably one of my all time favorite cards.

Let me know what you think.

Until Next Time

Inking of you all

Michelle

3 cards to show you

Today I will share with you 3 cards. These cards were made for a wonderful lady called Dina. Now Dina owns a stamp store called "Catchy Crafts, (about 4 hours away from me.) I met her and DH Doug when they came to town for the Craft Fair a couple of weeks back. To cut along story short Dina saw some of my cards and asked me if I could design a few cards for her shop using these adorable Penguins.
These stamps are so cute, how could I refuse. These 3 stamps are from Snag 'Em Stamps, they are unmounted and are so cheap to buy. The first card I combined our boy and girl penguins together with some bright cheery papers from Kaiser,
Next card is our Hula Girl, this designer paper is from Blue eye designs and is very tropical.

Then last but not least we have our Surfer Dude. I stamped the lime green card with the 'popsicle' stamp in versamark. The ice block stamp really matches nicely with the Doodlebug Paper don't you think. All Penguin images were stamped in Black Brilliance and coloured using Prismacolor pencils.

Until Next time

Inking of you all

Michelle

Twinkling H2Os & My New Stamps

My stamps from Flourishes have arrived and I have been a very busy girl. I just love this one called Siberian Iris. It is a lot of fun to work with.
I have decided to use the Iris with this weeks card sketch challenge over on SCS. This was another easy sketch and the possibilities are endless. It truly is a great sketch for a quick card.
First I stamped the orange background piece with one of the swirls from the set using Versamark. then popped it aside to dry.
Next I stamped the image ( on Watercolour paper) with Gold Pigment Ink and embossed with a sparkly powder called Egyptian Gold. It really is very pretty. I chose to colour this image with twinkling H2Os. (I can't wait to have a go with my Prismas , it will look so different but that's a whole other day)

Here is a close up of just how good the twinkling H2Os look. The shimmer you can see is natural (not caused by camera flash), This is just how they look, marvellous aren't they. Once it was dry I just layered all the pieces together using the sketch as a guide. Although it looks like it took ages to paint, in reality it probably took 30-40 minutes to put the whole card together, including drying time.

Until next time

Inking of you all

Michelle