DIY Stamped Floral Blouse with Altenew Stamps and Brutus Monroe Ink

Posted on January 7, 2019 by dannscraftingwhims

Hello, crafty friends! I have a fun stamping project to show you today, but not stamping on paper. I decided to try something NEW. I found a sweet, plain poly-cotton lace top and wanted to gussy it up for my mom. So I pulled out my Altenew floral stamps and looked at their January 2019 Inspiration Challenge for, well, inspiration as to where to start with colors:

Those colors are right up mom’s alley, so I gathered up the Altenew stamp sets I thought would work (four of which were brand NEW! (New AletNEW for the SSS Mon. & Weds. Something NEW challenges! LoL!)) and started laying out the stamps to get a idea of how I wanted to place them, and decided a cascade from the right shoulder down to the left waist would look nice…

I placed a thick rubber stamping pad inside the shirt to protect the backside from any bleed-though (there wasn’t any) and to help get a good impression from the stamps. I used the top of the MISTI stamping tool to pick up as many of the stamps as I could and moved the others away. Then loaded up the stamps with ink, flipped the lid the opposite way from usual and held my breath…

This was my first time using the NEW Brutus Monroe Surface Inks that I had purchased for this project and a couple of other ideas I have in my pile of whims. They’re supposed to be permanent once heat set. I sure hope so!!!

The impressions were light, but there. As the fabric stuck to the stamps and lifted, I was afraid to re-stamp them and have them slightly off.

I continued until I had the design I wanted complete…

Now the hard part… I used paint brushes and picked up the ink off the inkpads to paint the flowers. Painting on cloth with ink is VERY different than painting on paper! Some results I was quite pleased with the depth I was able to achieve…

Others, turned out a hot mess…

Fortunately, I was able to stamp over it with a darker color and got a more natural look…

At this point, I ironed the entire piece. First I used paper towels to protect from bleeding, but nothing came off, so I took them off and ironed again. I’ll come back and edit this post if mom has any trouble with the ink bleeding when she washes it.

To jazz up the butterfly and hummingbird, I put down some Fabri-tac fabric glue and covered it with crystal glitter that picks up the colors beneath…

I really didn’t feel like masking when I stamped them out and that left too much white space. I had thought to use rhinestones, but they were too heavy. Instead, I used the smallest of the halftone circles to fill in between the flowers. From a distance it just looks like part of the greenery.

Supplies:

Altenew stamp sets: Adore You*; Beautiful Day; Bejeweled; Camelia Build-a-Flower*; Dahlia Blossoms*; Halftone Circles; Lotus; Peony Bouquet & Wishing You* (all sets with an asterisk are NEW)
Brutus Monroe Surface Inks: Cabbage, Jack-o-Lantern, Jurassic, Lapis, Marsalla, Oz, Rouge, Terracotta, Sage, Sea, Speckled Egg, Stargazer, Wagon and Zest
Beacon Fabri-Tac fabric glue
Stampendous Fran-tage Crystal Micro Glitter

I am playing along with the following challenges – click on any one for more information on how you can join the fun!

Altenew January 2019 Inspiration Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – Use Something New (stamping on fabric, 4 AlteNEW stamp sets (see supply list: and Brutus Monroe Inks)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Something New (stamping on fabric, 4 AlteNEW stamp sets (see supply list: and Brutus Monroe Inks)

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you like this project as much as my mom did!! (But, then, she’d’ve liked it just plain, too… After all, she’s my mom! lol!) Have a lovely, crafty day!

~D.Ann

p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

9/12/19 Thank you , Altenew for featuring me on your Instagram post: Caught by Altenew (HERE)!

MarkerPOP! Guest Designer – Altenew

Posted on July 2, 2017 by dannscraftingwhims

Hello and welcome! I’m pleased to be one of the guest designers for the new MarkerPOP! Challenge (#124) post today! Here’s a hint of what the challenge will be:

And here’s my card:

I took the Altenew Beautiful Day stamp and masked off areas of the Spellbinders Divine Eloquence die, then colored it in with Copic Markers and Tonic Nuvo Cerystal Drops.

Do POP right on over to the MarkerPOP! blog to share in the fun!

Materials used:

Spellbinders A2 Divine Eloquence Card Creator die
Altenew Beautiful Day stamp set
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic Markers: G5,9,15; R22,24,29,35 YG61
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops Gloss: Red Berry, White, and Woodland Green
Tsukineko VersaMark ink
Inkadinkado black embossing powder
Core’dinations white cardstock and Parisian Nights A2 red card
Tombow Mono permanent Adhesive
Aleene’s Clear Tacky Glue

I am also entering this card in the Altenew July 2017 Inspiration challenge (HERE) which is almost the same colors:

And in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes. (HERE) Be sure to check them both out, too!

I’m glad you could stop by today. I may be laid up for a while now, but I’ll be back as soon as I can… I have lots of interesting things on the back burner waiting to be shared with you! If you’re not subscribed to my blog, you may want to sign up now. (hint- hint!)

TTFN,

~D.Ann

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Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Class – Lesson 6

Posted on June 1, 2017 by dannscraftingwhims

Well, it’s time for my card from the final lesson of Altenew’s Creative Watercolor Media Class.

Lesson 6 showed another way to use re-inkers to watercolor. I liked this technique a lot! It’s fun to watch the colors spread out to wherever the water is on the paper. Although I only had 2 re-inkers, it worked just as well smooshing my ink pads onto a craft mat and picking up the ink. I added a lot of ‘raindrops’ — you regular readers know I love to take pictures of flowers that have raindrops on them. : )

Materials used:

Altenew Peony Bouquet & Beautiful Day (sentimen) stamp sets
Tsukineko Versamark Ink
Inkadinkado embossing powder: Linen White
Stampin’ Up! dye ink re-inkers: Bravo Burgundy & More Mustard
Altenew Crisp Dye Ink: Coral Berry
Tsukineko Memento dye inks: Bamboo Leaves, Dandelion, Sweet Plum & Teal Zeal
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops: Morning Dew
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock
Simply Defined 5×7 Bright White card base 200#
Misc. teal cardstock
Tombow Xtreme adhesive

I am entering this in the following galleries and challenges:

Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Student Gallery.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Well, it was a fun and informative class. I’ve learned some useful tips and have a few techniques I think I will use again and again. As you’ve seen, the the class focuses on using dye inks (on pads, from re-inkers, or in shimmer sprays) to watercolor. Click on any of the highlighted links above for more info.

Edited to add: Thank you Altenew, for the honor!

Thank you all for stopping by! If I’m not back before, have a lovely weekend!

~D.Ann

p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Class – Lesson 3

Posted on May 29, 2017 by dannscraftingwhims

Well, after a roaring start, I wasn’t able to keep up the pace. : ) But I’m glad to be back today with a card I made for Lesson 3 of Altenew’s Creative Watercolor Media Class, taught by the ever cheerful and talented Laura Bassen (aka Laurafadora). She used the Altenew crisp dye ink pads to paint her cute card blending a light and dark shade of each color.

I liked my last card (the 3d lotus) so much, I thought I’d do the same layout but all on one layer this time, using the same color scheme from the May 2017 Inspiration Challenge in my foreground:

I also decided that since this would involve some masking and using the MISTI stamping tool, I should take advantage of the set up time and do 3 additional cards. The MISTI makes it easy to set up a production line:

I also wanted to try stamping in the darker color of what I’d be painting for a no-line look. Then I thought while I was at it, I would compare papers. Here they are, all ready to go…

Upper L: Distress Watercolor Cardstock; Upper R: Strathmore mixed media 90#; Lower l: Canson cold press Watercolor; Lower L: Canson L’Aquarelle Hot Pressed

Here’s how they turned out:

I learned why it’s easier to watercolor when you heat emboss the outline… the water and color stays in the lines! : ) I was surprised that the lines, although dry, absorbed the water from the fill-in and bled out, blurring the images. I can only imagine if I’d’ve used black to stamp the outlines! The Mixed Media paper was the worst at this although it said for wet media.

I selected the best one (Ranger Watercolor Cardstock) and decided to add some sunshine by watercoloring the white space in all yellow to make the flowers pop (and to see if it helped hide the bleeding). I think it turned out ok. I’ll set the others aside and try to do something with them later on.

Supplies used:

Altenew Lotus tamp and die sets
Altenew Beautiful Day stamp set (sentiment)
Tsukineko Versamark Ink
Inkadinkado embossing powder: Linen White
Altenew Crisp Dye Inks: Coral Berry & Frosty Pink
Tsukineko Memento dye inks: Bamboo Leaves, Dandelion & Pear Tart
Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink: Pearlescent Beige (for the pistil)
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock
Here were the other three contenders, :
- Canson Cold Press Watercolor paper 140#
- Canson L’Aquarelle Hot Pressed Watercolor paper 140#
- Strathmore Mixed media 90#
Core’dinations pink cardstock
Simply Defined 5×7 Bright White card base 200#
Tombow Xtreme adhesive (great for watercolor – no warping!)

I am entering this in the following galleries and challenges:

Well, I’m halfway through the class and having a blast. I’ll be back when I can with the next card.

~D.Ann

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Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Class – Lesson 2

Posted on May 27, 2017 by dannscraftingwhims

Welcome back for my card from the second less of Altenew’s Creative Watercolor Media Class! This lesson, taught by the amazingly talented Debby Hughes of Lime Doodle Design, was on using shimmer sprays. Since the set she used is still on my wishlist, I started out with the Lotus set and colors used in the May 2017 Inspiration Challenge:

I don’t have the Altenew shimmer sprays, but did have another brand, but only the light pink and greens matched the inspiration colors. So, I grabbed my Altenew Coral Berry which is just like the hot pink and, by mixing it on my craft mat with the glimmer mist, the entire flower came out all shiny!

The aqua ‘pond’ background is made EXTRA shiny by adding a mix of Distress Mica Spray and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist.

Tips: I love the tip Debbie gave to add aqua to the pink and yellow to the greens for some extra shading and depth!

Also, if you don’t want your white foam tape to show up under black paper, run a Sharpie Marker along the edges BEFORE adhering. (The voice of experience says that trying to do it afterward can lead to some oopsies!)

If you’re like me and don’t tape your watercolor paper down and it warps, Tombow Xtreme adhesive holds it flat/

Materials used:

Altenew Lotus tamp and die sets
Altenew Beautiful Day stamp set (sentiment)
Tsukineko Versamark Ink
Stampendous Glamour Detail Gold embossing powder
Altenew Crisp Dye Ink: Coral Berry
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists: Bubble Light Green; Dazzling Diamonds, Forest Green, Lime Light, S.W.A.K., and Sunflower
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Mica Spray: Brushed Pewter
Canson Cold Press Watercolor paper 140#
Simply Defined 5×7 Bright White card base 200#
Tombow Xtreme adhesive
Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue

I am entering this in the following galleries and challenges:

Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Student Gallery.
Altenew May 2017 Inspiration Challenge: Watercolor Lotus Card

So far, there have been some excellent tips from each lesson (including one on die-cutting that I needed!). Although they are geared toward Altenew products, you can easily adapt them to similar products you may have on hand. I’m looking forward to working on the rest of the classes!

Hopefully I’ll see you again tomorrow!

~D.Ann

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Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Class – Lesson 1

Posted on May 27, 2017 by dannscraftingwhims

Hello and welcome! I am tickled pink that one of my favorite watercoloring bloggers, Debbie Hughes of Limedoodle Designs, gave me the opportunity to attend the Altenew Creative Watercolor Media Class in which she’s one of the teachers! Thank you, Debbie!!

Lesson 1, taught by the talented Jennifer Rzasa, was on watercoloring with re-inkers. I don’t craft enough to have needed many re-inkers for my dye inks (other than Memento Tuxedo Black), but I did have two from Stampin Up! – a burgundy and mustard… would they go well together? They seem to have done ok:

I used a regular Distress ink cube on my craft mat to get the green and it mixed fine with the re-inker for a nice variety of color on the leaves, too. It was fun watching the inks spread out quickly on the pre-wet petals! When I was satisfied with the color, I took the nearly dry brush and flecked a few lines on the petals and leaves.

Jenn recommended using hot pressed watercolor paper, since it’s smoother. I’ve never used hot pressed paper before, so I made a quick stop at nearby Jerry’s Artarama. They had the pads she recommended online for about $12. In store they were $44! I asked the clerk to double check the price and then showed him their online price. “Oh, on-line. That’s different,” he replied. You betcha!!! So I toodled over to Hobby Lobby and got a different brand with my 40% off coupon it came close and I didn’t have to wait on or pay for shipping. It’s probably not as white as she said the Arches brand which became the bane of my project when I went to mount it on my card as the heavy 200# card I have is bright white and I didn’t like the look of the cream against it…

To solve this problem, I ran a couple of brush width’s of water along the edge of my #200 cardstock and then touched the brush to a drop of burgundy re-inker and quickly had DIY card color that matched my project and made for a better contrast for the gold frame, too.