Card tutorial : Happy endings are only new beginnings

Good morning everyone!

Bloom Girl Stephanie here with you and I'm thrilled to show you this creation today, as it made me go way out of my comfort zone, and I loved the experience! I have been turning this concept of card in my head for quite a while now, and then, it hit me: watercolours, alcohol markers, and an epic sentiment to focus on. Not to mention a gorgeous floral stamp!

Here's what you need to create this card:

Colouring medium and ink (I used Copic markers and Memento Tuxedo Black ink)
Bloom cling stamp - Floral
Bloom cling stamp - Sentiment from Lacie's set
Distress inks or your favourite watercolouring products
Mop brush
Water
Scott towels or any sponging paper
Mixed media paper
Foam tab adhesives
Kraft and black cardstock

1. Start by cutting a 4"x6" piece of mixed media cardstock.
2. With your brush, add water on your cardstock, carefully trying not to go too far near the edges.
3. Again with using your wet brush, dab some ink and transfer onto the watered surface of your cardstock. You should see the water reacting immediately.
4. Add more ink of the same colour for intensity, or change colours and repeat the step onto other parts of your cardstock.
5. Gently sprinkle water with your brush over the full piece, and sponge with your scott towel. Let everything dry completely.This will create "blank" spots, increasing the watercolour effect.
6. Stamp your flower onto regular colouring cardstock and colour it.
7. Stamp sentiment onto cardstock, separate and cut words.
8. Once your mixed media piece is dry enough, glue to a 4-3/16"x6-3/16" of black cardstock, mounting both on 4-3/8"x6-3/8" cardbase of kraft cardstock.
9. Put foam tab adhesives behind your flower image and some sentiment pieces, mount onto mixed media cardstock. Put regular adhesive on the pieces that are left.

The process of this card was pretty easy, so you should be able to overflow our facebook group with your inspiration, too! 

National Scrapbook Day with Prima Marketing and Jamie Dougherty Designs!!

Hello everyone!! Thank you for joining us here on the Bloom Blog, and thank you for joining Prima for a day of creative goodness! Here are a few inspiring projects created by myself and the talented Bloom Creative team!

You know Mother's Day is fast approaching and a handmade gift really pulls at the heart strings. This small and simple home decor piece would be the perfect gift for that fun and eclectic mom.

How to Create:

1. Using a canvas panel take matte gel medium and collage patterned paper to the canvas. Allow this layer to dry. 

2. To dull down the background take a light wash of white gesso over the surface, you can also add a soft watercolor wash over the gesso. I used a walnut color to antique the background. 

3. Now using the Sweet Pea two layer stencil take your favorite acrylic paint and sponge the bottom layer of your flower onto the canvas. Make sure this layer is completely dry before continuing. 

4. Line up your stencil so that the outline layer is positioned over your first layer. Using a palette knife lightly spread a layer of heavy black gesso through the stencil. 

5. With a black ink pad add a fun or sentimental saying to your canvas. On this canvas I used the word stamp on the Lacie stamp set. 

6. Last but not least, shop your local thrift stores and find a nice frame that will complement your new work of art. 

NOW onto a few layouts to inspire you on this national Scrapbook Day!!! Below you will see some of my most favorite layouts by our Bloom Girl Creative Team. 

This layout by Sherry is full of beauty and mixed media happiness. Check out this blog post for the tutorial on how to recreate this lovely layout.

Next we have this hauntingly beautiful layout by Courteney.

Courteney will be sharing a tutorial on this blog on Tuesday so make sure you check back for all the info!!! 

This last piece isn't a layout but Lisa has used some fun techniques that would be perfect to add to any layout!  You can even watch her detailed video HERE> 

Thank you for joining us for the Prima blog hop and I hope you have a creative, inspired day today as you enjoy all of what Prima has in store. 

Hugs

Having a Bloomin good time with Lacie

Ok, so you know how you go to sleep at night and it's peaceful and silent... Well for me this is when my mind goes CRAZY with ideas and project colors and schemes!!!! (No sleep for me) This is how this project idea came to me, I was sitting up at 2am writing all the details my brain would give me so I wouldn't forget!! So this baby has been made out of sleepless nights and embossing powder;)

I will admit that sometimes I get favorite supplies and stamps that I usually reach for. And with this admission I must say that I had never reached for Lacie before, but she seemed to fit this project too perfectly! It has also made me realize I need to ink her up more often:) So before I get started, I challenge you to go into you stash, find an item you bought, that is still in its package and give it some love:) You never know it could become a new favorite!

Alright ladies and gents, here is the full project for my tutorial today!

Now here is where you get to see inside my process! Please feel free to follow along and create beautiful things:) The full supply list will follow at the bottom of the post:) (HINT: Read all the way to the bottom to see hint for a chance to win a fab gift package!!)

I started by adhering my 12x12 paper to a piece of 12x12 chipboard. (TIP: I do this so that my project has more weight to hold the layers I apply and so it's easier to stand up to display later!!) I selected three different shades of pinks in varying tones, light/medium/dark. starting with my lighter tone I sprayed along the whole right edge of the layout then tilted it to create drips, allow this to dry. Using the medium pink spray a smaller surface area along the right and tilt to create drips and allow to dry. Then take the dark pink and in a smaller area splay, tilt to create drips and allow to dry. (TIP:If you spray while colors are still wet the colors will blend, if you wait till they're dry then they stay separate. both looks are beautiful all depending what you like:))
This is when you decide where the image will be located! The reason this is important now is so that you can ensure the right amount of background stamping will peek our from behind your image!
I pulled out three different tones of ink pads (white/medium pink/dark pink). Starting with the darkest color, I made impressions of the Floral stamp. While the ink was still wet I applied clear embossing powder and heat set. Repeat with medium pink, then white. (TIP: keep in ind you have three colors to do so don't overload on the first color, you may end up with to make impressions making the project look to cluttered!)

Now this has got to be my favorite part! Sometimes the most tedious, but its also the most fun because this is where I get to create elements for on my layout!
On a transparency sheet I used the 'Wings' stencil and applied whipped spackle. (TIP: allow this to air dry as using a heat gun will warp/melt the transparency.) Once dry, cut out the wings and set aside for later!
Stamp and emboss medium and small 'Floral' stamp onto white card stock using the same embossing technique as in the previous step, fussy cut them out!
Now we make 'Lacie'!! I stamped her on three different colors of Prima Buff paper, the main image was the color I wanted her skin to be, the other two are what I wanted her hair to be! Fussy cut your full, main image (the one you want her skin to be) then fussy cut her hair out as a whole from the paper that you want the main hair color to be, then fussy cut strands that you want to highlight. Now we assemble 'Lacie' and bring her to life!! Adhere the full cut out piece of her hair onto the full image, then piece together the highlighted stands and adhere them over the full image!  Using alcohol pens to color in her BEAUTIFUL tattoo!

Going back to the background, I pulled out my black ink pad and my FAV background texture stamp, keeping in mind where my image will be on the page, I stamped texture wherever I knew it would peek out from behind her. (TIP: keep your image on hand so you can place her down to check stamp positioning) Again using Lacie as a placement guide adhere one set of your wings down, making sure to use an adhesive that dries completely clear and not stringy! I only put adhesive on the base of the wings keeping the middle and tip to the wings adhesive-free so the would be free to move!

Now I get to adhere all the elements I made!!! I used pop-dots to elevate 'Lacie' and create dimension. Using both pop-dots and flat tape adhesive I arranged the fussy-cut floral images along thee bottom edge of Lacie making sure to have a varying dimensions. I stamped a quote on white card stock and cut it out, using pop-dots I adhered it in place. Using the same clear glue place and adhere the second set of wings on Lacie's shoulder to line up with the first set, also making sure to keep a lot of the wing free to 'flap'! 

And just to tie it all together (and one of my fave things to do on almost all of my projects) I add some splatters of watered down heavy white gesso! (TIP: I have made a some cutouts of all my Bloom Girl stamps to use as masks for splatter techniques so i can cover my image perfectly to prevent unwanted splatter from ruining my image!)

Thank you so much for following along, I hope you were inspired! To follow along my journey please feel free to head on over to my Blog or Facebook:)

Supplies:

PRIMA MARKETING:

BLOOM GIRL

'Lacie' stamp (#980320)

 'Floral' stamp (#980313)

'Wings' stencil (#980443)

'metal embellishments' (#980221)

'Mother' stamp(#980283)

PRIMA MARKETING:

Epiphany Collection words to live by' 12x12 paper (#846862)

Julie Nutting 'buff paper pad' (#910327)

LINDY'S STAMP GANG:

Sprays

Fuzzy Navel Peach

Limor Webber, Chateau Rose

Pink Ladies Pink

TIM HOLTZ

'clear embossing powder

'Distress Ink Pads' (tattered rose and victorian velvet)

FABER-CASTELL

whipped spackle

INDIGOBLU

Limor Webber Designs

rugged edge stamp

OTHER

White ink pad

12x12 chipboard

Alright Bloomies, keep your eyes peeled for upcoming contest detail! Court and I have teamed up to bring you a simple way to win a fab gift package! Hint: watch for details on Courteney's next blog post on April 7!!!

Bloom Girl Lacie card on video with Stephanie

Hey everyone!

Stephanie here with you today! Remember that card who was posted on the Prima Marketing blog a couple of weeks ago? Go ahead and watch how I did it on video!

Some close-ups...

And the video :)

List of supplies used :

• Bloom Girl Lacie stamp 980320
• Stamp Holder -576080
• Distressing tool- 890940
• 26" X 19" Cutting Mat- 890933
• Cigar Box Secrets 6x6 Paper Pad -846978
• Trim - Frosted lace - 577032
• Trim - Oatmeal weave - 577094
• Trim - Wheat jute - 576875
• Flowers 577766, 578220
• Metal trinket - Archived - Frame 579791
• Small resin frame 592098 painted with Color Bloom Gold Foil 573805, Worn Leather 573829, Antique Gold 573843
• Junkyard Findings Typo Bulbs 2 - 891534
• Mechanicals mini brads 960384
• Mechanicals - Flowers Small -960407

Have fun!

Tattoo Couture with Milagros our new Bloom Girl

Hello everyone. Jamie here and I would like to introduce you to the newest Bloom girl on our Creative Team. Please give her a warm welcome. 

Hi Bloom Girls, I'm Milagros your host today and I'm also the new girl here!

 Yes I'm still pinching myself, blown away by the chance to be part of this amazing team of

 talented ladies!

This week Prima is showcasing the Floral stamp and I'm guilty of calling all the stamps my faves

 but hey they are! So I'm using the floral with one of the girls.   I have had in my brain this idea, ever since I first saw Lacie, of working a lace dress with her tattoo.

Here's my finished piece and then will break it apart into steps!

To "sew" my dress I stamped the tattooed arm several times and then cut and pasted all the pieces to fit.  I thought it would go nice with her ensemble to make a cute little hat to match so I used the remaining pieces in her head.

here's the breakdown

as you can see I used bits of washi tape as my

'basting" tool.

now for the hardware

and the nitty gritty with your girl

give your wood piece a gesso coat

stamp, emboss and cut your army of florals, hey if you are embossing you might as well emboss a whole sheet of 12 x 12 vellum and have them handy for other projects.  The blooms move so well when you wet them and give a perfect touch to a quick card!

I wanted some texture to move my paint around so I used the Spark stencil,

it had the perfect scale for my project

this is how it looks like

after painting my girl with the Prima watercolor pencils

 (The Basics & Julie Nutting skin and hair)

I started to give a wash of pink to my background

then I used some nice shimmer with the mica powder on her and on my background

this is how she looked like before adding the hardware, I think she looks so pretty

I enlisted my little one for this photos, before hammering my piece I found it is better to pierce some guiding hole for your nails, it makes it so much easier

and voila here's your finished project ready to grace your scrap room, entry way or wherever you fancy some good company!

 Of course she needed some chandelier earrings, remnants of my die cut hardware!

Thank you so much for being my audience and hope I have inspired you to try something new today with your Bloom Girls!!!!

Milagros

www.milagroscrivera.blogspot.com

Supplies used

Bloom Girls Floral Stamp

Bloom Girls Lacie Stamp

Bloom Girls Spark Stencil

Art Ingredients Mica Powder in Pink

Art Ingredients Micro Beads in Pink

Prima Watercolor Pencils (The Basics,  Julie Nutting skin & hair )

Art Basics Modeling Paste and 3 D Gloss gel

Archival Ink in Jet Black

Wood Canvas

Metal, Die Cutting Machine, Dies, Embossing Folder

Lacie Bloom Girl - Lisa Style

Hi Bloom friends! It's Lisa here with you today and I have a really neat way to use your beautiful Bloom Girls. I'm using Lacie today. She is from the newest CHA Winter 2015 release and she is GORGEOUS!!

Here's how I made her:

1. Cover the 5 x 7" sticky backed canvas with Prima Art Basics Clear Gesso (Item #961466). Allow to dry or heat set. 

2. Gather acrylic paints.

3. Apply acrylic paints in desired colors and in varied patterns. Allow to dry/heat set.

4. Stamp background with patterned stamp with dark Archival Ink (my preference is Black.)

5. Remove backing from sticky back canvas and stick to canvas. (*Tip - if necessary for good adhesion, apply Gel Medium to edges and dry.)

6. Place Bloom Girl Lacie on piece of vellum cardstock. Measure width of stamp and cut to size.

7. Stamp Bloom Girl Lacie in black pigment ink on vellum cardstock and use clear embossing powder to heat set.

8. Use watercolor pencils, Stamper's Big Brush Pens, and acrylic paints to color the beautiful stamp.

9. Use Color Bloom Sprays to accent the colors in her hair and the tattoo on her arm. (I shook them up and then dipped my paintbrush in to the spray bottle directly.)

10. I used the same acrylic paints for the background for her hair to tie the background and the stamp together, creating a cohesive look.

11. Placing Jamie's Spark stencil (Item # 980399) over the image and using my finger and white acrylic paint I simply rubbed the paint through the areas I wanted the image (or stencil) to show through. Super easy!

Here are some close-ups:

And here's another!

The additional things that I did to finish the piece off were to add some distressing to the edges of the vellum cardstock prior to wrapping and adhering it to the back. I also added just a touch of Journey Glaze to her lips and to the heart on her face to make it "pop".

I had no idea that the orange of the background piece would look so amazing through the vellum and look almost like skin! When I chose the colors - I picked them because I like them. What a happy accident. :)

Here are the products I used from Prima:
Jamie Dougherty Bloom Girl Lacie #980320
Jamie Dougherty Spark Stencil #980399
Prima Art Basics Clear Gesso #961466
Prima Color Bloom Spray Storm Cloud #573768
Prima Color Bloom Spray Tangerine #573935
Prima Color Bloom Spray Soft Teal #573782

I hope that you enjoyed this little canvas today!