Saturday, August 15, 2020

Creating a Card with a Blue Knight Rubber Stamps Favorite ~ Lighthouse on the Beach

Hello, my Crafty and Creative Friends!

It's Saturday, and that means that it's time for me to hare my Blue Knight Rubber Stamps Weekly Design Team Inspiration project with you!

As promised, I am sharing cards with you this month that are super easy to create.

Today's card was created with a Blue Knight favorite of mine...LIGHTHOUSE on the BEACH.
I have loved this stamp from the very first time that I inked it up and created my very first card with it.

This stamped image is a perfect match for some quick and easy PanPastel coloring...with a little bit of PanPastel color blending...this card came together in a flash!

As always when using PanPastels, I stamped the image using a stamp positioning tool...
I left the stamp in place in the tool and set it aside.

I used Blue Knight's Select PanPastel palettes to color the image....starting out by coloring the sand...boulders and water first.
I didn't need to use the PanPastel colorless blender on these areas...the blending that I did with the sponge and a few colors right on the card stock was sufficient in getting the blended look that I wanted.

I used a green marker to add some colored detail to the sprigs of grass scattered around the boulders and on the sand

Then...I added the cloudy sky with Blue Knight's Heidi Pettie Cloud Stencil. Here, I used the colorless blender to soften and blend the blues and greys that I used to create the clouds.

I opted not to add color to the lighthouse.

PanPastel coloring leaves some residue on the image that dulls its sharpness...
So, I returned the colored piece to the stamp positioning tool and restamped the image to shapen up the image lines and detail

Finally...I added a silhouette sailboat from Blue Knight's FOOTBRIDGE stamp set to the scene 

Next...I sealed the image with a light misting of NEXXUS Comb Thru Hairspray.
If you follow my blog...you already know about the Hairspray thing...
If you're new to my blog..I'll explain a bit:
Using hairspray was recommended to me by our local art shop.

(*Note...sealing with NEXXUS is not archival safe...If you want your colored piece to be archival safe you'll need to use an art-grade sealant that is archival safe....
NEXXUS COMB THRU is the brand that I recommend. Using cheaper heavier hair sprays won't do the job as nicely. I encourage you to invest in NEXXUS Comb Thru (not their other version of hairspray...Comb Thru works best)


Finally...I chose a deep blue metallic card stock for matting the image piece...I assembled the card... 
And.... it was complete!


There you have it...a super easy super speedy card....

I hope that you'll give it a try!

Note: I love using this image and PanPastels to create a set of 6  of this card to give as gifts to friends...using PanPastels for coloring makes this a fun easy project that isn't tedious or time consuming.

You can find each of today's featured stamps and the Blue Knight PanPastel Palettes HERE, at the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps web store.


And... don't forget to join us HERE:

Fans of Blue Knight Rubber Stamps (Facebook group) is HERE

and the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps YouTube Channel is HERE
and

You'll find my YouTube channel, In The Studio with Michelle,  HERE
and you can subscribe to my blog on the upper right of this page 


Thanks for visiting today...
Wishing you a wonderful and creative day!
Michelle.


Saturday, August 8, 2020

Creating a Card with Blue Knight Rubber Stamps Trees and Stream Stamp and Pan Pastels

Hello my Crafty and Creative Friends!

Lately, I've been giving special attention to conversations that I've had with my card making friends.
It seems like everyone is saying the same thing...
They want to create beautiful cards..but they don't want to spend a lot of tedious time creating a card.
They want to add color to their cards...but are feeling like they don't want to spend lots of time coloring...figuring out color blending.....needing lots of coloring tools....or waiting for things to dry...etc

I'll be keeping our conversations in mind throughout the month of August, when I create my Design Team cards for Blue Knight Rubber Stamps...and I'm hopeful that the cards that I share each week will inspire you to take the simple route and explore the possibilities for creating non-tedious...non-time consuming cards of your own!

I'm excited to share my first August Blue Knight Design Team card with you today!
It's a conch to create!...(thanks to Pan Pastels)
You have my card on this!

So here we go...
Let's make a card with Blue Knight's TREES and STREAM stamp...and Blue Knight Pan Pastel palettes

Remember..
This is all about simple...easy...fun...quick...and beautiful!

I started out by stamping the full card front sized image (one of my BK faves) with black Gina K Amalgam Ink using my stamp positioning tool...
After stamping the image I left the stamp in position in the tool...because I would be stamping the image again after coloring.

After the image was stamped once...
I added color with PanPastels using colors from the Sunrise and Sunset palette and the BK Day and Night palette collection .
I chose a few colors that would blend well to create the water...
Next I added color to the grassy landscape areas...
Finally, I created the sky...and finally added color to the trees.

The water was the perfect place to add the duckfamily from Blue Knight's FOOTBRIDGE stamp set.

After the image was colored...I returned it to the positioning tool to restamp the image to get a cleancrisp image 
(I do this because PanPastels are a powdered pigment and when coloring...the image sometimes loses its crispt clean look as some of the powder residue moves across the card stock....Restamping restores nice clean image lines. *This is why I mentioned NOT removing the stamp form the positioning tool after the first stamping.)

After the second stamping....
I sealed the PanPastel coloring with a light misting of NEXXUS COMB THRU HAIRSPRAY
(*Note...sealing with NEXXUS is not archival safe...If you want your colored piece to be archival safe you'll need to use an art-grade sealant that is archival safe....NEXXUS COMB THRU is the brand that I recommend. Using cheaper heavier hair sprays won't do the job as nicely.

Next, I chose a card stock color for matting that complemented the colors used in the image...
and wha-la...the card was complete!


In case you're thinking of asking me how long it took me to make this card...being that I promised you that it would be quick and easy and still be beautiful...
My answer is...15 minutes...

I hope that this card inspires you and brings you to realize that sometimes..it's okay to make a quick card....that compromises nothing as far as detail...color...and the end product.

If you've been thinking of picking up Blue Knight's PanPastels...you'll be adding color to your images as easily as I did when creating today's card ...probably when you use them for the first time.

I've got a few videos at my YouTube channel featuring PanPastels....
And the Blue Knight YouTube Channel also has some PanPastel videos that BK's owner, Lynn, has put together... (Links posted below)

Thanks for visiting today!
Wishing you a wonderfully creative day
Michelle.

You'll find my YouTube channel, In The Studio with Michelle,  HERE

You can find each of today's featured stamps HERE, at the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps web store.

Don't forget to join us at:

Fans of Blue Knight Rubber Stamps (Facebook group) is HERE

and the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps YouTube Channel is HERE