Creative Squad

Today We Smile – Tania Ahmed

  

Hello again from the Creative Squad! Today we have a video from Tania Ahmed who is rocking some distress inks and embossing with my Maiko and Running rubber stamps. The theme this month is: Today We Smile – They say smiling can lift our mood and maybe improve our overall health. Let’s try it! Think about what makes you smile and share it with all of us. After all, smiles are also known to be contagious :)

This month’s theme for the Creative Squad was Today we Smile and boy oh boy did I smile while making this card using the Maiko stamp set :)

I have made a video on how I made the card using lots of techniques with Distress Oxides, embossing powder and colour pencils.

I used a lot of things that make me really happy: stamping, heat embossing, ink blending, gold, and watercolouring! I hope you enjoy the video and please do let me know if you have any questions about any of the techniques or products used.

Step1: Stamp with Running Stamp and Heat Emboss cardstock panel with Gold Embossing Powder using an embossing ink pad.

Step2: Apply Distress Oxide to heat embossed background with blending brush.

Step 3: Stamp and colour in Maiko stamp using Distress Oxides as watercolours. Add details and shading with colour pencils.

Step4: Cut out Maiko image.

Step5: Assemble all elements together and add to top folding card base using foam tape.

Step6: Add sentiment sticker to finish.

Thank you so much for watching and taking a peek here on Nat’s Blog. Take care and see you all next month :)

Thank you Tania! What a gorgeous card!!! You can find my Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies that Tania used:


Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share?  I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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The Stencilfied Journal – Prompt 6

My wonderful friend Tina Walker is at it again – she invited several people to join her Stencilfied Prompts. The prompts are music related and each week she is posting a song. You can be inspired by the lyrics, the video, the album cover or anything related and the only restriction is that you have to use StencilGirl Product Stencils. Here is my take on Prompt 6:

This week’s prompt was Alanis Morissette – Thank You. That one was tough – neither do I like the song- LOL- nor did the lyrics really do it for me- but I found a small part of the lyrics and I pulled them out :)

I used my Santa Fe Stencil on top of a really messed up background. I sprayed in white over the Stencil and I love how it made the otherwise already dull looking colors pop again.

I love how crisp the spray painted stencils sets off the textured grungy background.

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread


Nat

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A Look Back – Cool Stuff You May Have Missed 02

A Look Back – a blog series to show you some projects and posts that you may have missed – sometimes going WAY back in the archive. I think it will be fun to revisit a few ideas that we haven’t seen for a while. I’m excited to see how a little look back might inspire something new in the future :)

This time I’m going to show posts and projects using one of my favorite tools – bamboo sketching pens. I love to use them to add marks and writing to my pages and they usually help me loosen up too. Here is A Look Back at some ideas. Enjoy!

Let’s start with the essentials :) Yes the bamboo sketching pen is right there (number 6), front and center, in my Art on the Go Kit. This is the stuff I travel with so that I can create whenever and wherever the mood strikes me. Check it out.

How about some sketching with the bamboo pen on deli paper and then collaging it into your art journal? You can see the full spread here. I also used my Amsterdam stencil for the subtle background pattern and my Grove Street foam stamp for the circles.

Here’s a blast from the past – 2015 to be exact. And I used the bamboo sketching pen for some lettering in a scrapbook page. I also added some cool patterns to the circles in the page using my Marks stamp set – still have a couple of those left in the online shop where they are super on sale ;) Check out the entire page here and you can even catch a video of me talking about my products in that post!

In this art journal page I used the bamboo sketching pen for sgraffito – scratching into the paint in the background. And then I used it to draw with acrylic ink around the figure. See the original post from 2015 here.

And Finally, I like to use the pens also just to draw – as I have done here with the two women. It is a loose way to draw and a lot of fun. Here is the original spread. I used my Central Ave,  Broadway, and Grove street foam stamps for the circles in the background and my Downtown foam stamps for the patterns at the bottom.

I hope you enjoyed A Look Back through my archive and maybe you are inspired to try some of the bamboo sketching pen techniques I shared.

Here are some of the supplies that were used in these pieces:


Nat

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Be Bad – Art Journal

Ha- lol – I am not sure if I like this or if I feel slightly pushed into a psychedelic 60s comic – but I sure had fun playing ;)

I loved mixing up a hand cut stencil, my hand carved rubber stamp and my new Groovy Foam Stamp. I used spray paint with the stencil, an ink pad for the rubber stamp and acrylic paint with the Groovy Stamp.

Once all was dried brushed on yellow acrylic ink over the whole spread – and there you go …you feel like you landed in a 60s Bugs Bunny comic LOL.

Here are some of the supplies I used


Nat

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Today We Smile – Josefine Fouarge

  

Hello from my Creative Squad and a mixed media piece by Josefine Fouarge! Josefine is using my Art Deco house, Art Tag, Chain Link, and Cross Circle rubber stamps and this month’s theme: Today We Smile – They say smiling can lift our mood and maybe improve our overall health. Let’s try it! Think about what makes you smile and share it with all of us. After all, smiles are also known to be contagious :)

Yes, let’s all smile. I smile when I can create, so surprise – I’m creating something ;) And I hope it will inspire you to create and maybe even smile yourself.

I enjoy creating the most when I can turn off my head while putting something onto paper (or in this case onto a board). Not thinking about what happens, just letting my inner joy guide me. This is what happens when I do exactly that:

Here you can see how everything came together. Just imagine my smile on my face while I was smooshing around with paint, ink and stamps.

Can you see all the texture in the background? I really enjoy how the white house contrasts with the colorful and textured background. It’s a totally different look.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Don’t forget to take a look at all the other inspiration on Nat’s blog.

Thank you Josefine – I just love the colors in that background!!! In addition to my Rubber Stamps from my Online Shop , here are some of the supplies that Josefine used:


Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share?  I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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The Stencilfied Journal – Prompt 5

My wonderful friend Tina Walker is at it again – she invited several people to join her Stencilfied Prompts. The prompts are music related and each week she is posting a song. You can be inspired by the lyrics, the video, the album cover or anything related and the only restriction is that you have to use StencilGirl Product Stencils. Here is my take on Prompt 5:

This week’s prompt was Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.

I added a bit to the lyrics ;) You know Led Kalbach – yeah stupid joke LOL

For this art journal spread I spray painted in grey over my Toledo Stencil and then layered the Beacon Stencil on top and sprayed with pink and beige as well as purple over it.

I love how the layered stencils come together. I tried it first with a lighter color as the background and then the dark color on top  but I realized that it was too hard for the eye to read the background pattern that way. Always fun to play around with stencils and see how far and different you can push them :)

Wish you a Rock ‘N Roll day !!!

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread:


Nat

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Love Is in the Air Cards

Time for some more appreciative cards -not just because Valentine’s Day is coming- but hey- who doesn’t like getting a nice card :)

This one uses Mini Amsterdam from the Mini Tile Set.

Same Set- Antique Tile and

Last not least using the mini Beacon from the same set to create a fun pattern.

Are you sending cards out regularly to your loved ones or are you more an email and text kind of person?

Nat

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