Tea Staining Technique

This month is all about techniques with the CCEE group. And this week we were to use Tea Staining. We also had to have music somewhere on the card because this is also the week we choose a Catchy Name on SCS. CNFS. jazztobi is the name we're featuring today!

If you'd like to see what the other girls did with this technique, click HERE. We'd love to have you play along with us too. See what kind of paper you can create!

All my bg's and my butterfly were tea stained. I know...what's with the bluish purple look? Well, I didn't like the look of my paper that I soaked in tea for like, forever. So I took my flavored teas by Stash (Chocolate Hazelnut, Pomegranate raspberry green tea, and acai berry herbal tea, dropped them in boiling water for about a minute, took them out and dripped them all over my paper. I thought the paper would turn out brown and red. Nope, This is the result. WAY COOL!! I loved the look!! I stamped the music bg from Unity Stamp Company on the bg panels with Latte (Adirondack), and ink distressed them with Frayed Burlap (Ranger Distress Ink).

The Sunflower (Paper Inspirations) and butterfly (Inque Boutique) were thumped. I inked up the entire flower image with More Mustard (SU), and colored and thumped with Really Rust, Bravo Burgandy, and Chocolate Chip (SU). The leaves and stem were thumped with Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip (SU). After getting the image inked up, I spritzed it twice and stamped it on Vanilla Cream (Prismatic) paper. The butterfly was inked up with Wild Wasabi, Rock -n- Rolled in True Thyme and thumped with Always Artichoke and Ballet Blue (SU).

The Inque Boutique sentiment was stamped with True Thyme (SU).

Here's a close up so you can see the dimension and sparkle.
The flower center has a mixture of Coffee and
Cinnamon Stickles. I also added a bit of sparkle to the leaves
and petals with my Quickie Glue Pen and Ultrafine Crystal Glitter. I found the charm at Walmart in the jewelry section, and the little pearl is by KaiserCraft.

I'd like to take this time to tell you how awesome Prismatics are!! I'm in paper heaven!! They are textured on one side, and smooth on the other. And the soak up ink divinely. I loved staining these papers. I've also just sponged the paper directly and rubbed the ink pads directly on it. All with awesome results. Michelle at Stamper's Dream will have it in stock very soon, so keep checking her store. Love the stuff!!


Supplies:
Stamps - Sunflower (Paper Inspirations), Butterfly, sentiment (Inque Boutique), Music bg (Unity Stamp Company)
Paper - Herbal Garden Light and Medium, Twilight, Vanilla Cream (Prismatics)
Ink - Latte (Adirondack), Frayed Burlap (Ranger Distress), More Mustard, True Thyme - sentiment (Stampin' Up),
Accessories - charm, stickles, sewing, pearl, glitter, organdy ribbon, corner rounder, scotch mounting tape

Quilt inspired!!

I am soooooo excited!!! I haven't participated in an SCS challenge for so long and haven't even had the energy to stamp until I saw the inspiration challenge tonight. There is actually a short story behind this.

A dear, dear friend and neighbor passed away 3 years ago of ovarian cancer. We walked 2 1/2 miles 3-4 days a week together until she just couldn't do it anymore. In that time we grew very close. The sad part is, we hardly ever talked until she was diagnosed (she lived two years with the disease). And she lived right across our rural street. But God had a plan. I won't go into all that, but let me just say, I was very blessed by her. Well, she had a goal to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren before she passed. We talked about her progress often. To my surprise, a few weeks before she passed, she presented each of my children with one too. My daughter still sleeps with hers, and my son has carefully stored his. You see, he used to take care of her dogs when she couldn't and he even wrote a poem about their relationship which was read at her funeral. So, when I saw these quilt pieces, I was immediately reminded of that dear, dear mentor and friend.

Okay...now, on to the card. It's 4" x 8", and I thumped again....it's a terrible habit I have. I inked up the whole image with SU Pretty and Pink, colored the stems and leaves with Always Artichoke, and thumped with Rose Red and Choc. Chip. All the edges are ink distressed with Ranger Walnut Distress ink. The yummy paper is the new Sultry Basicgrey, and the sentiment is from Inque Boutique. The flower image is from Paper Inspirations. You can find the paper, wide olive grossgrain ribbon, and flowers at Stampers Dream!! And believe me, Michelle has a huge variety to tempt you with. I also faux stitched around the pink panel.

Supplies:
Stamps - Watercolor Pressed Flowers (Paper Inspirations)
Memories (Aged and Elegant - Inque Boutique)
Paper - Basicgrey Sultry, SU Chocolate Chip, Papertrey White
Ink - Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Ranger Walnut Distress ink
Accessories - Wide olive grossgrain ribbon, Judikins fine mist Spray bottle, sponge, mat pack, piercing tool, scotch dimensional tape.

Spritzed Cone.....A Ways to use it Challenge

I was sooooo excited when I saw the ways to use it challenge on Splitcoaststampers today!! Julia is encouraging everyone to just *spray it* since April is fast approaching!! Well, I LOVE spritzing my stamps with water after coloring and thumping.

Here's what I did for this card....First I inked up my Paper Inspirations Brushed cone flower stamp. I don't think they're normally red, but I was in a *red* mood today. I'm really happy with the colors!! Actually irl the cone is a much richer chocolate and the reds are deeper, but I'm not a pro at photography!! Anyway, back to the details. I inked up the whole image in Cranberry Crisp, and colored over the cone with my Choc. Chip SU marker, and the leaves with my SU Always Artichoke.

The thumping I referred to is just randomly dropping the marker in strategic places on the image. I usually drop it in the middle a couple of times, and around a few edges. It gives the image more depth. (I used my SU Choc. Chip marker this time) I then spritzed the image three times with a fine mist spray bottle (it's very important to use a fine mist spray, otherwise the colors will bleed into each other too much and you'll get mud. Believe me....this was my second attempt with this image. My spray bottle decided to have an attitude the first time I tried!! My first resulted in mud!! LOL) and stamped it on watercolor paper. I also Ink distressed the edges of each layer a tad with Ranger Walnut Distress Ink.

The butterfly image is a Hero Arts stamp from their clear design Thinking of you set, as is the sentiment. I colored it with copics and it's stamens are just the edging of black SU grossgrain ribbon. I liked the richness of the SU choc. chip wide satin ribbon as the backdrop for the Rusty Pickle Twine ribbon!! I loved the contrast of the two. That's why I added the Robin's Nest Pebbles too. Elegant with rustic!! The papers are Memory Box Flirt!! LOVE them...I have them all!! The Frame is from a Memory Boutique Hardware Kit.

If you haven't checked out Michelle's new store home....you need to!! It's gorgeous!!! Organized!! and best of all........it has TONS of GOODIES!! Just click on the pretty Stamper's Dream button on the right!

Supplies:
Stamps - Paper Inspirations Brushed Coneflower, Hero Arts Thinking of you messages
Paper - SU Choc. Chip, Creamy Caramel, Memory Box Flirt, Watercolor
Ink - SU Choc. Chip, Cranberry Crisp, Always Artichoke, Ranger Walnut Distress Ink
Accessories - Nestabilities petite ovals, SU satin ribbon, Rusty Pickle ribbon, Robin's Nest Pebbles, brads, fine mist spray bottle, scotch dimensional tape