I think my mind is still at the beach in California, lol.  Why don’t you join me and follow along on this tropical tutorial?

Supplies:

Stamped drink by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then Going Gray.  Note:  My craft pads are no longer craft.  I have been re-inking them with dye inks.  If they were still craft ink I would not have to use the Versamark.

Heat embossed image with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Colored flesh of lemon with Barely Banana Marker and outside of lemon with Summer Sun.

Used a More Mustard marker for the underside of lemon on table.

Colored straw with Orchid Opulence marker.

Colored drink with Apricot Appeal marker and then went over the lower 2/3rds of it with a Blush Blossom Marker.

Colored the bottom 1/4 of the drink with a Pretty in Pink marker.

Used a White Gel pen on the bubbles in the glass.

Went over the drink, straw and lemons with a Versamark marker and heat embossed using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  I did not emboss over the top of the glass where it should be naturally see through.

Brayered Cool Caribbean ink over top 1/2 of card stock.

Put post it note masks on the card stock to create the horizon line.

Brayered on Tempting Turquoise ink, not covering the Cool Caribbean ink completely.

Sponged on Brilliant Blue at the top of the water.  Being heavy with the ink at the (top) post it note mask.  This gives you a good strong horizon line.

Removed post it notes and brayered on River Rock ink for the sand.

Cut a large circle from a piece of card stock and used it as a mask for the table shape.  I just held it in place.

Brayered on Frayed Burlap ink to create the table.

Swiped Walnut Stain ink under the glass and the lemon with a sponge to create a shadow.

Used a white gel pen to put in a foamy water line.

Sponge River Rock ink at the bottom of the sand.

Stamped leaves with Always Artichoke ink.

Partly colored in the leaves with an Old Olive marker, leaving some of the leaf uncolored to create a highlight.

Assembled the card and here it is completed. 

Thanks for following along on my tropical adventure.

May your day be filled with Ocean views, even if only in you head. 🙂

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

I was just itching to do some emboss resist this morning and this piece definitely is embossed.  Follow along if you want to see how it was created.

Supplies:

Stamped leaves on Whisper White card stock by first loading stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Espresso ink.   I then heat embossed it with clear Embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  I’m asked a lot why I just don’t use Versamark alone with colored embossing powders?  Well I would rather not have to buy a bunch of different colors of embossing powder and this method allows me to emboss in any color of ink I have. 🙂

I also keep my clear embossing powder stored in a sandwich size plastic container instead of trying to use an embossing tray and then put it back in the tiny canister it came in.  My aim is not very good, lol.

Stamped Wanted motif by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then Basic Black ink.  Heat embossing image with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped Baroque Motif by loading stamp first with Versamark and then Soft Sky ink.  Stamped image over embossed leaves and heat embossed with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  when doing multiply layers of embossed images, work from the foreground to the background.

Heavily Brayer Bordering Blue ink over entire piece of card stock.

Sponge, using a circular motion, Espresso ink around edges of card stock and over leaf image area to create a shadow.

On a larger piece of Whisper White card stock, using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, I stamped the background corner images by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then Espresso ink.  Heat embossed images with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Heavily brayered Bordering Blue ink over entire background piece.

Stamped small flower around edge of card stock with Bordering Blue ink.

Sponged Espresso ink around edge of card stock.

Stamped linen stamp on my main image panel by loading my Linen background stamp with Bordering blue ink.  To do this I put my stamp rubber side up on the table.  Rub my ink pad on the rubber, place my card stock face down on the rubber and put a piece of scrap paper over it and rub it with my hand to get the image.

Here we have another card assembled and completed!

Give it a try!

Well I hope your day is filled with blue skies.

Until tomorrow. . . . . . .

Feels very good to be back in my craft-room stamping again.  These stamp images are from http://www.mypapermoon.com

Ready for a tutorial?  If so, let’s get started.

Supplies:

On Whisper White card stock brayered Hazelnut ink on both ends, leaving a white space.

On both ends again, brayered on Salmon ink, not covering the Hazelnut completely.

Punched a 1 3/8″ circle in a post it note and used the negative image as a mask.

Sponged Terra Cotta ink in a circular motion over circle in post it note.

Sponged Rust ink in a circular motion over bottom and top of circle in post it note.

Tore a cliff shape from a piece of Going Gray card stock.

Sponged Going Gray ink along the front edge of the cliff shape and Oregano ink along the top edge.

Ignore the color at the bottom of the card stock.

Stamped bird in tree stamp with Stazon black ink.

Stamped Tree stamp with Stazon Black ink at top of card stock.

Adhered cliff shape to main card stock.

Stamped tree stamp along bottom of card stock with Stazon Black ink.

Sponged Going Gray ink at bottom of card stock using a bouncing motion.

Sponged  Stazon Black ink at bottom of card-stock not covering all of the Going Gray ink.

Decided I wanted the scene to be a lot darker at the top of the card stock so I brayered on Rust ink along the top.

Used a white gel pen to color in the bird.

Sponged Going Gray in at the backside of the cliff.

Used a Prismacolor Silver Paint Pen to go around the edge of the card stock.  Note:  just hold the pen so it is half on the card stock and half on your scrap paper and you will get a straight line without a ruler.

Used the white gel pen again to make highlights in the trees and to add a few specks on the ground area to simulate weeds and grasses.

Here is the assembled card.

Thanks for following along with me and I hope you will give it a try.

May your evening be filled with a sunset!

Until tomorrow. . . . .

In this day and age of the Copic marker, I find I still like to get out my Stampin’ Up markers and color every once in a while.  Today is one of those days.  🙂

Supplies:

Stamped flower with Blush Blossom ink on Very Vanilla card stock.

Colored stem in first with a Certainly Celery marker and then used an Old Olive maker along the left side (shadowed side) of the stem.  Went over the entire stem again with Certainly Celery marker to blend the two colors together.

Colored the inked areas of the flower in with a Blush Blossom marker.

Colored over the darkest areas (shadow areas) with a Baroque Burgundy marker.

Went over the two colors where they meet each other with the Blush Blossom marker to get a better graduation in color.

Used a Creamy Caramel marker to make dots on the center of the large flower.

Used a White Gel pen to color in the lightest areas of the flower and bud.

Sponged on Blush Blossom ink around the outside edge of the card stock.  Leaving the middle area light.

Sponged River Rock ink under the flower with a circular motion.

Sponged on True Thyme ink under the flower to make it darker in the center and right under the flower.

Used the gel pen again to clean up where my sponging darkened the white on the flowers.

Stamped flowers with River Rock ink on River Rock card stock.

Sponged around the outside edge of this panel with River Rock ink.

Used a Versamark Marker to define the undersides of the flowers.

Assembled card and decided it needed a hint of color on the background panel.  So I colored just a hint of Blush Blossom marker on the flowers undersides and then colored the stems with Certainly Celery marker.

And there were have it, another card done.

Glad you could visit my blog today.  I hope this inspires you to get out your markers and play a little. 

May your day be filled with sweet smelling flowers and sunshine!

Until tomorrow. . . . . . .

I wanted to give my brayer and embossing powder a little break today.   So this card was created using direct to paper for the background. 

Here we go.. . . . .

Supplies:

Drug Shabby Shutters ink pad edge across Whisper White card stock using a light touch.  You want to leave some white showing through.   Next, I drug a Broken China ink pad edge across the card stock being heavier toward the bottom of the card stock.

Note:  I used the entire edge of the ink pad, not just a corner and drug it from the left side of the card stock toward the right.  Trying to drag it all the way across the card stock before lifting the pad up.

Stamped small palm trees and large palm tree using black ink.

Colored the palm tree leaves with a Yellow Chartreuse Prismacolor Pencil.

Add some (red) Rouge Chamois pencil to the leaves randomly.  Colored the Coconut with Dark Brown Pencil and the trunk with Lilac pencil.

Traced a few of the black ink lines with a black marker to give a little more depth.

Used direct to paper technique again by applying Frayed Burlap ink to the bottom of the card stock.  Once again I used one entire edge of the ink pad and drug it in a downward motion.

Used a Post it note to created a horizon line and small beach where the small trees are.

Sponged Frayed Burlap ink at the edge of the post it note in a small circular motion.

Sponged Frayed Burlap in a small circular motion at bottom of the card stock, getting lighter in color towards the top.

Added White gel pen highlights to the leaves of the tree.  Drew in the waterline with the white gel pen using very small strokes.

Assembled card and here it is finished.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will give the direct to paper technique a try.

I’m wishing you a day filled with Balmy Breezes.

Until tomorrow. . . . . . .

Good Morning!

My Oh My, this mornings tutorial will show you just how indecisive I can be some times. 

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Brayered on Blush Blossom ink.

Brayered on Soft Sky, but I did not cover the Blush Blossom entirely.

Brayered on Blue Bayou ink.  Not covering Soft Sky ink entirely.

Brayered on River Rock ink, leaving some light space between it and the sky.

Tore some post it notes through the sticky part to use as a mask for the ground.

Also, coverted the sky area with un-torn post it notes to create a horizon line at the same time.

Brayered Always Artichoke ink on the area still showing between the two masked areas.  Then removed post it notes.

Tore a scrap piece of card stock to use to create my mountains. Held it in place as I sponged on River Rock ink along the torn card stock edge.

This photo is up side down because that is how I had my card stock when I worked on it.  This is what it looked like after I removed the torn card stock.

Used the same torn card stock and sponged on River Rock ink in different directions on the ground area.

Stamped bear using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement with black ink and then went over the bear with a black marker so the image was good and dark.

Stamped Trees with Always Artichoke ink using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement.

Sponged River Rock at the bottom of the card stock.

This is where my mind decided I did not like the sky, so I’m going to change it entirely, lol.  A girls allowed to change her mind, right?

I brayered on Blue Bayou ink almost over the entire sky.

Brayered Night of Navy ink, but I did not cover all of the Blue Bayou ink.

Tore a piece of Always Artichoke card stock for the bottom of the card and adhered it.

Now I know if I make the top of my sky darker it will make the lightness at the horizon really stand out more.  So I sponged heavily Night of Navy ink and then even some black right at the top of the card stock.

Assembled card and then stamped design at the top and bottom of the card with White Craft ink.

Put specks of white gel pen on the tops of the trees and on the design at the top and bottom of the card.

And there you have it, the completed card.

Well this wasn’t my best tutorial with the switch in sky color half way through, but there it is anyway.  Just keeping it real for you, lol.

I also wanted to show you a couple of cards I created during VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) at Split Coast Stampers last night.  Wow, participating in the challenges for VSN is a real rush.  A challenge starts every hour and you have to complete the challenge and upload it within 45 minutes.  So I allowed myself 30 minutes to create each card and 15 minutes each to upload.  Whew, I was wore out after 3 cards!  Here they are.  🙂

One more really exciting thing happened to me.  I was featured on Distinctive Touches!  Here is the link to this awesome site:  http://web.mac.com/cschaan1/Site/Distinctive_Touches/Entries/2008/4/4_Friday_Featured_Artist_-_Michelle_Zindorf.html

Hey!  You all have a super wonderful weekend!

Hugs, 

Michelle

I love to look at art work and get so much inspiration from it.  A piece of art can inspire you in so many different ways, whether it is a color, layout or placement of stamps.  How can you not be inspired by the masters!  This card was inspired by the art work of Norman Wyatt Jr.

On with the tutorial.

Supplies:

Stamped flourish on Whisper White using Ginger ink.  I loaded my stamp with Ginger ink and then took a sponge and dabbed some of the ink off of the bottom of the stamp before stamping to get the image to look lighter at the bottom.

Brayered Aqua ink on the top half of the card stock.

Brayered Creamy Caramel ink on bottom of card stock.

Covered bottom of card stock with Post it Notes to mask it so I could put in my horizon line.

Sponged Lettuce ink along the edge of the Post it Note mask.

Removed mask and turned it around to cover the sky portion of the card stock and the Lettuce ink.

Sponged on Ginger ink at the top and bottom of the earth area leaving a light area in the middle.

Sponged on Espresso ink at the top of the earth area.

Removed Post it Note mask and stamped tree with Oregano ink.

Sponged Lettuce ink on the leaf area of tree.

Sponged Oregano ink at the bottom of the leaf area of the tree to create the effect of shadow.

Colored the trunk of the tree with Close to Cocoa & Black markers.

Sponged Stonewashed ink at the top of the sky.

Used a white gel pen and made dots in the tree.

Stamped vein side of Mable cube with Ginger ink at the bottom of card stock.

Stamped vein side of Marble cube with Stonewashed ink on top of card stock.

Assembled card and here it is finished.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and take a look at some art today and get inspired to use what you see in your creations.

Have a beautiful day!

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

This is what I ended up with while trying to create the look of dappled light with my Stampin’ Up set – Simply Circles.    I think I will continue to practice this.  🙂

Ready for the tutorial?  Let’s get started.

Supplies:

On Whisper White card stock stamped the first set of silhouettes, on the left hand side, by loading my stamp first with Versamark and then with Bravo Burgundy ink.  Heat embossed each image as I went along using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped second set of leaves, on the right side of card, by first loading stamp with Versamark and then with Rust ink.  Heat embossed each image as it was stamped with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  When creating a scene with emboss resist you will want to work from the foreground toward the background.

Stamped third set of images by loading the stamp with Versamark and then Butterscotch ink.  Each image was heat embossed as I went along using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Sponged on Old Paper ink lightly with a circular motion on upper left hand corner of card stock.

Cut a mask for the sun out of the sticky part of a Post it Note with a 1 3/8″ circle punch.  Put it on my card stock where I want the sun to be.

Sponged on more Old Paper ink over and around the mask to give the sun definition.  Removed mask.

Stamped circle with Old Paper ink and stamping off once on my scrap paper before stamping on my card stock, for a lighter image.

Sponged on River Rock ink working into the Old Paper ink area, but not covering it entirely.

Sponged on Old Olive ink working into the River Rock ink, but not covering it completely.

Sponged on True Thyme ink, working over some of the Old Olive ink, but not covering it entirely.

Getting even darker yet by sponging on Oregano ink at the bottom of the card stock using a pouncing motion with the sponge.  This looks really dark, but it will all dry lighter in color.

Stamped some more circles around the top half of card stock with Old Paper ink and some with Old Olive towards the middle of the card stock.

I thought my Sun looked a little faded so I put my sun Post it Note mask back on and sponged more Old Paper ink over the area to define it even more.

Sponged Oregano ink around edges of my two square layers and Walnut Stain ink around the edge of my Burgundy card stock layer.

Cropped image on the right side to make the left side more interesting.  It’s amazing what a little cropping can do to highlight your main subject.  Main subject here is the plants on the left and then sun.

Assembled the card and here it is finished!

Glad you could follow along with this tutorial.  Now you give it a try!

Hope your day is filled with soft filter sun and peaceful gardens.

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

I did a little stamping therapy session last night after receiving this stamp in the mail.  How cute is that Ostrich!

This is a self portait card of myself.  When I seen this stamp, I had to have it.  It symbolizes me and the way I chose to live.  About 1 year ago I quite watching the news, all new!  My heart and head just can’t take it!!!!  So this is me the Ostrich.  Happy to have my head in the sand.

You can get this Ostrich stamp from My Paper Moon.  Here is the link:  http://www.mypapermoon.com/store/

Check it out!

Michelle, enough rambling already and get on with the tutorial you say.

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Stamped Ostrich on Whisper White card stock with Black Stazon ink.

Colored his legs and neck, by outlining the insides of his legs with a Creamy Caramel marker and the outside of them with a Blush Blossom Marker.  His neck is colored by outlining both sides with Creamy Caramel and coloring in the middle with Blush Blossom.

Colored his back with Creamy Caramel marker.  I over colored with Creamy Carmel around his back area edges to make them darker.

Used a Going Gray maker around the edges of his back to get darker yet.  I’m trying to make a more gradual transition from his light back to his black feathers.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to shadow his chest and to outline the insides of his legs and outsides of his neck for more definition.

Used a Versamark marker to go over the entire Ostrich. 

Note:  Color your lightest areas first being careful not to smear the black onto other areas or you will have a gray ostrich.  🙂 

Heat emboss using Clear Embossing Powder and a Heat Gun. 

Note:  Your Ostrich will look much darker after it is embossed.

Brayer Cool Caribbean ink onto sky area.

Brayer River Rock ink onto ground area.

Brayer Creamy Caramel ink onto bottom of card stock, but not covering all of the River Rock ink.

Stamped Itty Bitty Background stamp with Creamy Caramel and then With Chocolate Chip ink to make specks in the sand.

Sponged a little Chocolate Chip at the bottom of the card stock and right under the Ostrich, where he is sticking his head in.

Wanted the upper Sky to be darker, so I brayered on Taken with Teal over the upper sky.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to define the sand around his head.

Used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss two of my card layers.

Assembled card and stamp sentiment on it with Black.

 Finished card!

Thanks for joining me on my Self Portrait Therapy Session/Tutorial, lol. 

Have a blissful day that has no bad news!

I did a little stamping therapy session last night after receiving this stamp in the mail.  How cute is that Ostrich!

This is a self portait card.  When I seen this stamp, I had to have it.  It symbolizes me and the way I chose to live.  About 1 year ago I quit watching the news, all news!  My heart and head just can’t take it!!!!  So this is me the Ostrich.  Happy to have my head in the sand.

You can get this Ostrich stamp from My Paper Moon.  Here is the link:  http://www.mypapermoon.com/store/

Check it out!

Michelle, enough rambling already and get on with the tutorial you say.

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Stamped Ostrich on Whisper White card stock with Black Stazon ink.

Colored his legs and neck, by outlining the insides of his legs with a Creamy Caramel marker and the outside of them with a Blush Blossom Marker.  His neck is colored by outlining both sides with Creamy Caramel and coloring in the middle with Blush Blossom.

Colored his back with Creamy Caramel marker.  I over colored with Creamy Carmel around his back area edges to make them darker.

Used a Going Gray maker around the edges of his back to get darker yet.  I’m trying to make a more gradual transition from his light back to his black feathers.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to shadow his chest and to outline the insides of his legs and outsides of his neck for more definition.

Used a Versamark marker to go over the entire Ostrich. 

Note:  Color your lightest areas first being careful not to smear the black onto other areas or you will have a gray ostrich.  🙂 

Heat emboss using Clear Embossing Powder and a Heat Gun. 

Note:  Your Ostrich will look much darker after it is embossed.

Brayer Cool Caribbean ink onto sky area.

Brayer River Rock ink onto ground area.

Brayer Creamy Caramel ink onto bottom of card stock, but not covering all of the River Rock ink.

Stamped Itty Bitty Background stamp with Creamy Caramel and then With Chocolate Chip ink to make specks in the sand.

Sponged a little Chocolate Chip at the bottom of the card stock and right under the Ostrich, where he is sticking his head in.

Wanted the upper Sky to be darker, so I brayered on Taken with Teal over the upper sky.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to define the sand around his head.

Used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss two of my card layers.

Assembled card and stamp sentiment on it with Black.

 Finished card!

Thanks for joining me on my Self Portrait Therapy Session/Tutorial, lol. 

Have a blissful day that has no bad news!