Category: Other

Cards · Other

Card | Mandala Part 2

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Hi Everyone! Welcome to part 2 of the Mandala cards. If you missed part 1, you can read it here.

For these cards I used different colors of Nuvo Shimmer Powders (Violet Brocade, and Atlantis Burst) but with the same design. I really like using the shimmer powders because it is really easy ‘watercoloring’ and you never really know what you are going to get.

The basics of these cards are the same as described in Part 1. I heat embossed the stamped image with white pearl embossing powder and watercolored the piece with the Nuvo Shimmer Powders. Difference is, this time I cut off the right part of the card, around the mandala. On the card base I adhered colored cardstock in a matching color with double sided tape. With foam tape I adhered the watercolored piece on top to give it some dimension.

For the purple card I die cut ‘Hugs’ 3 times out of white cardstock and glued it on the card with tacky glue. For the green card, I white heat embossed a sentiment on vellum.

I hope you like these cards! I’m curious to see what design and colors you like best.

Supplies used:


Woodware – Ancient Mandala
Craftstash UK

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Cards · Other

Card | Mandala Part 1

craftycrowdesigns1 Comment

Hi! I hope you’re having a great day. Today I’m back with 2 cards made with the same stamp and Nuvo Shimmer Powder, but a different design. When I saw this Mandala stamp from Woodware I immediately fell in love with it and so I made multiple cards, hence the part 1 in the blog title.

To start, I prepped watercolor paper with an anti static powder tool. This prevents embossing powder to stick in places you don’t want. With my stamping tool, I stamped the image on the paper with VersaMark clear ink. As it was watercolor paper, I stamped it twice to make sure I got a good impression. Then I coated the cards with white pearl embossing powder and heat set it.

And now the magic starts. Of course since the embossing was white on white, you couldn’t really see the design. I started distributing the Nuvo Shimmer Powder over the paper and activated it by spraying water over it. This revealed the stamped image beautifully.

For the first card, I kept the design quite simple as I really liked the fully stamped image. So for this one, I only added red colored cardstock to the card base on which I adhered my watercolor piece with foam tape. For the sentiment, I white heat embossed it on a piece of vellum and glued in on the card with mat medium.

For the second card, I die cut the center of the card, glued it on a red colored cardstock and popped it up with some foam tape. To finish it, I die cut ‘hello’ from the same red colored cardstock and from white 2 times as well. I glued them on top of each other to create some dimension. And that finishes the card!

Supplies used:



Woodware – Ancient Mandala
Craftstash UK

Participating in the following challenges:

Art Journal · Other

Mixed Media Tag | Dragonfly

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Hello everyone! I created this tag earlier on but did not have the time yet to write a blog post and edit the video, but here they are! In the meantime I did submit it to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge and it was in the spotlight! How amazing is that!

Here you can view the whole process of making the tag:

I already had a background lying around, waiting to be used. To add more interest, I blended Distress Ink Salty Ocean and Seedless Preserves over a stencil from the dutch brand Dutch Doobadoo. For more texture, I applied modeling paste through a stencil from Tim Holtz. With my Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens I distressed the border of the tag and the sentiment.

I colored the dragonflies from Crafter’s Companion with the same Distress Inks used for the background. I mounted them on top of the tag with foam squares for dimension. The dragonflies seem to be hard to get, but here is an alternative.

Supplies used:

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This tag was in the spotlight!

Art Journal · Other

Art Journal | Ladybug Girl

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Hi Everyone! In a previous post I showed an art journal page created with a stamp from Santoro Gorjuss called ‘Bee-Loved‘. I always try to get the most out of my stamps and I thought it would be fun to transform the bee girl in a ladybug girl!

I have also created a video in which you can see how I created this art journal page.

For the ladybug, I started with stamping the image with Archival Ink Jet Black on Strathmore Mixed Media paper. As I wanted her shirt to be even, so no stripes, I removed the ink with a paper towel before I stamped.

For the coloring I used used a mixture of ZIG brushes and Distress Inks. For the dress I used: ZIG wine red, ZIG dark brown, Distress Ink Fired Brick, Distress Ink Black Soot. For her hair I used: Distress Ink Antique Linen, ZIG dark brown. For her skin: ZIG flesh color, ZIG tea rose, ZIG blush. I colored her wings with Distress Ink Salty Ocean. To add some finishing touches, I colored the dots on her dress, her eyes, and the fluffy balls with a 3d glaze gel pen. To make her pop even more, I added a couple of white highlights with a white gel pen.

The background I created about a week ago when I was playing with my gel plate. For this I applied green and black acrylic paint with a brayer on the gel plate, and transferred it to the cardstock. To add some more interest, I also used a stencil ‘ Burlap’ from a Dutch brand called Dutch Doobadoo. To make the background work with the Ladybug girl, I stamped some images from the ‘Bee-Loved’ set with Archival Ink.

I adhered the girl with tacky glue to the page and the sentiment with gel medium. I choose gel medium for the sentiment to not only glue it down, but seal it as well. This also allowed me to easily apply a black Distress Crayon around it and smooth it out to make it blend in.

And that finishes the page, I hope you liked it and it gave you some inspiration!

Supplies used:

Gorjuss Bee-Loved
Amazon US
Craftstash UK

Participating in the following challenges:

Art Journal · Other

Art Journal | Time to switch gears

craftycrowdesigns1 Comment

Hello everyone! I thought it was time for another art journal page.

First I prepared craft cardstock with gesso and after it dried I applied green acrylic paint with a brayer. To add more interest, I grabbed my Time Warp stencil and blended black soot and vintage photo Distress Ink over it. To give the page a bit more texture, I mixed black acrylic paint with modeling paste and applied it through a stencil.

For the gears, I first blended the Distress Crayons Ground Espresso and Black Soot over heavy weight cardstock. In order to give it a metalic look, I dabbed Distress Spray Antiqued Bronze on my finger and gently rubbed it over the cardstock. After everything dried, I die cut all the gears out of the metalic cardstock and 2 times out of black cardstock. I wanted to give the gears more dimension, and that is why I stacked them on black cardstock. It really made them stand out more from the background of the page.

After adhering all the gears to the background with foam tape, it was time to add the sentiment. For this I printed out a sentiment I liked, grabbed black dotted packaging, glued that on the background with gel medium, and then the sentiment. To give it a more distressed look, I went over it with the Distress Crayon Ground Espresso.

And that finishes the page! Half way through making the art journal page I did feel a bit lost, but I’m happy with how it turned out in the end.

Supplies used:

  • Artiste Acrylic Paint – Spring Green | AMZ US
  • Artiste Acrylic Paint – Noir | AMZ US
  • Foam Tape | AMZ US
  • Craft Emotions Gears Die
  • Dutch Doobadoo Stencil Burlap
  • DecoArt Time Warp Stencil

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Cards · Other

Card | So Mushroom

craftycrowdesigns2 Comments

Hi! Today I have another card for you, this time it is with a stamp from Woodware. Normally a mushroom has a fall feeling, but I think with this one that is not the case. I watercolored the stamped image with some vibrant reds and greens to make it really pop.

To finish the card, I stamped the sentiment with some Versafine Onyx Black ink and added a die cut heart which I covered in glossy accents.

Supplies used:

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Cards · Other

Card | Watercolor Sketched Flowers

craftycrowdesigns2 Comments

The base of this card is very similar to the ‘Starburst’ card I made previously: It is the same stamp and the background is created with Nuvo Shimmer Powder. However, instead of cutting the image into pieces, like with the Starburst card, I kept it whole.

To make the flowers stand out more from the background, I decided to color them in with brush pens that are water soluble. As they work as watercolors, you can still see the background shine through which gives a really nice effect.

To finish the card, I added a die cut thanks glued on vellum and added a couple of white pearls.

Supplies used:

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