Thursday, March 26, 2026

THE FISH ARE BLOWING BUBBLES

I had not used the Bubble Background Technique in a long time, so thought I would have  fun and blow some bubbles.

And what is the perfect environment for bubbles?  Water of course!  So I pulled out my Peaceful Pier Stamp set and went to work.

I love this cute little fisherman, but it looks like he needs to catch a bigger fish, so I decided to give him a couple to try to catch.

My two fish are swimming in water filled with bubbles.  Making this background is a lot of fun, but no two are going to turn out alike.

Have you ever tried the Bubble Background Technique.  If not, watch this video to see how it is done!

Ok, now you are ready to give it a try.  I hope you learned some tips and tricks in the video, but if you like to also have written instructions, use this link to download a FREE TUTORIAL.

My fisherman, Charlie, was stamped on Basic White and colored with Stampin' Blends.  So were the fish he is trying to catch.  The colors I used are all defined on the tutorial.

Since the Peaceful Pier stamp set does not have coordinating dies, I did have to fussy cut the fish, but it wasn't too bad.  Fussy cutting Charlie was going to be another story, so I cut him out with one of the Nested Essentials dies.  The water bubbles were die cut with the Stylish Shapes dies.

I was originally going to make the complete background be bubbles, but then I saw this layout in the current Annual catalog and thought it would be more interesting.  But I still wanted a "water-themed" background, so I grabbed my Soft Waves embossing folder to  create the Basic White background.

Because I made my Technique Sheet large enough for a full card front, I had plenty of leftovers after I die cut the circle "bubbles".  So I used the leftovers for the sentiment and a decorative strip for the inside of the card.


Since the card is a "Just Because" card, I didn't add a greeting on the inside, but I thought there should be a couple more fish swimming in the bubbles.

What do you think?  Do you have a fisherman in your life that would love to receive this card -- Just Because?

A list of the supplies I used is shown below.  Click on any of the images to learn more about that product or to make a purchase.


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Monday, March 23, 2026

FRIENDLY FOLIAGE & MASKING TAPE

Rather than featuring a specific product, this week I am going to have some fun playing with techniques.

I love learning and experimenting with techniques.  So, today I decided to use the Masking Tape Technique but thought I would add a twist by spritzing it with water and see what happened.  It was a happy discovery!


I was in the mood for something bright & colorful. So I laid down 3 strips of cheery ink colors (Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay & Daffodil Delight) with Masking Tape on watercolor paper and then spritzed them lightly with water to see what would happen.  It took some experimenting to figure out how much water to spritz.  I wanted to keep the "texture" that is created with the Masking Tape Technique, but I wanted the edges of the color to run just a bit--but not so much that they ran into each other.

It was kind of like the story of the 3 bears:  too much water, too little water, and finally it was "just right".

One hint:  Keep some clean paper towels handy.  When you add too much water, and it starts to run all over trying to make an inky mess, just absorb some of the excess with a paper towel!

Once I was happy with the background, I adhered the die cut image from Friendly Foliage.  The foliage was stamped with Garden Green ink.

I added several layers of Basic White cardstock to provide dimension and texture while keeping the focus on my pretty background and image.  Texture was provided by embossing the first Basic White layer with the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.  This embossing folder has a simple all-over pattern but provides a nice amount of texture without becoming its own focal point.

A simple sentiment and 3 Calypso Coral Pearls complete the card front.

The inside of the card was kept clean and simple.  There are two layers of Basic White cardstock.  The left edge of the top message layer is embossed with the same Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.  I then used the score blade on my trimmer to add a couple of score lines next to the embossing to create a finished look.

The list of required supplies is untypically short (for me).  All sentiments are from the Friendly Foliage Stamp Set.  All you really need is some white cardstock, ink, a stamp set and some masking tape to create your own version of this card.  I do recommend using watercolor paper for the technique background, but you could also try using white cardstock -- just be careful not to get it too wet.

You can download the tutorial with all the details at this link.

The list of products I used is shown below, but remember, this card is easily duplicatable using whatever supplies you have.

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Thursday, March 19, 2026

GEAR & TEXTURES BANNER SHAPED CARD

I've mentioned previously that I belong to a "Coffee Club" where each month we have a card challenge.

This month our challenge was to make a shaped card.  This was not the card I made for our club challenge, but I decided to use the "shaped-card" idea for today's card.


I used the Banner Dies to create my shape.  You can use any large die you may have to create your own shape.  

If you want to make a SHAPED CARD watch this week's video to see how I did it.  I'll also show you how I created a few of the Gears & Texture elements using various techniques.


This card uses several different techniques like water coloring, dry & heat embossing, ink blending and more.  As a result it definitely is not a card to make when you are in a hurry.  Make it when you have time to enjoy just playing with ink and paper.   Personally, I think it is worth the time as I really like the end result.  


The Banner card base is made using one of my favorite "neutral" colors, Blackberry Bliss.  It seems work with almost any other color!  In addition to Blackberry Bliss, colors used in the collage are Basic Beige, Pool Party, Smokey Slate and white (embossing powder), and various colors or "silver" foil.  It's also a great way to use those tiny foil scraps we paper crafters tend to hoard!


This Gears & Textures Bundle is perfect for making masculine cards.  Since the stamp set does not include sentiments, I used this great greeting from Natures Symphony.  


For the inside of the card I created a small collage in the lower left corner of the flag and used several of the same stamps that were used for the background on the card front.

Since the greeting "to a great guy" could easily be used for many different occasions, I purposely left the inside sentiment free.  I'll add one when I determine what it will be used for.  

Be sure to watch the video if you decide to make a shaped card and to learn more about which techniques I used for the elements.

For all the dimensions and detailed step-by-step directions use this link to download a PDF Tutorial that you can "save for later".  It also includes the link to the video.

Don't let the long list of supplies scare you off from trying a Shaped Card.  Obviously my card does use a variety of tools and supplies, but remember, substitute what you have to create your own version.  A list of the products I used is shown below.


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