by Jackie Bultje | May 2, 2019 | Brusho, embossing, Humming Along, masculine cards, technique cards, watercolouring |
Hello stampers. It is already May 2! Time flies when you’re having fun. I was asked this morning if there was a way to make a masculine hummingbird card. I think there is and I actually have just the thing for you. I made this watercolour wash background card for my Sweet Suite Saturday class but with the leftovers from showing the technique I made a different card. I kept it clean and simple with no bling and added a large, bold sentiment to the bottom. This framelit was a freebie from saleabration 2018. It is in the annual catalog now but it is retiring. I love its bold simplicity. Let’s check it out.
The textured pattern that you see behind the hummingbird is a framelit from the Humming Along bundle. This is done on watercolour paper, so I ran it through the Big Shot twice, the second time upside down. This ensures that all those little intricate bits get cut perfectly. Then you need to use the die brush when the framelit is still on the cardstock. Brush vigorously and then you will have to hardly any poking to remove it from the watercolour paper. I then took an aqua painter and made a wash on the paper. Then I picked up some balmy blue ink with the aqua painter and went over the wet spot. Make sure your ink is nicely watered down so you get the best watercolour effect. Let’s take a closer look at the “masculine” butterfly.
I embossed the hummingbird in black on watercolour paper. I then spritzed him with water and then carefully sprinkled on some Brusho powders starting with red on his breast, yellow on his head, prussian blue and mossy green on his wings and some gamboge on his tail feathers. If you get your colours too dark you can blot off with a baby wipe to reveal the colours underneath. Make a few at once so that you can play around with colour. My second hummingbird was much prettier than my first one.
Before I sign off today I want to share with you a gorgeous new product medley called Everything is Rosy. It is only available for the month of May while supplies last. It is the perfect Mother’s Day gift for the avid paper crafter. I will share a link so that you can see lots of samples made with this medley of products. Demonstrators at each OnStage in April showed this line of products to us. We could not order it ahead of time so I don’t have it yet so I will share the treasures found online. Here is the link to my Google search. Here is the link to Mikaela Titheridge’s blog, she is an Artisan award winner who presented at OnStage. Lastly, here is the link to Tracie St Louis’ blog, she is a fellow Canadian demonstrator who shared with us at OnStage in Quebec City.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope the masculine hummingbird inspired you to make one of these beauties for yourself. Remember, Humming Along is retiring so get it while you can. Have a super day!
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Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder
[109133]
$6.25
by Jackie Bultje | Apr 29, 2019 | Brusho, Framelits, Lilypad Lake, technique cards |
Hello stampers. On Saturday I had my monthly Sweet Suite Saturday class and two of the cards used Brusho. What a lot of fun it was! Everyone’s cards were unique and beautiful and I was inspired to keep creating. So when everyone went home and it was time to clean up, I kept the Brusho out and I made this card. We had already decided that for next month’s Sweet Suite Saturday we would use Lilypad Lake and I had three cards all ready to go but I needed one more. I decided that it would be another Brusho card. After a quick peek online I found some inspiration from Becky Jensen. You can see her card here. It is such a treat to have an idea to build on. Do you want to see what I made?
I think the white heron from Lilypad Lake looks striking against the Brusho background. Now the question is does it look better clean and white like this or with a saying? Here is the one with the saying. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about it.
The front of the card was cut out using the stitched rectangles framelits. So easy and so elegant! The brusho background was done on shimmery white cardstock but you could also use watercolour paper. I used Prussian Blue and Yellow Brusho for the background. The sentiment is also from Lilypad Lake. Right now you can still save 10% on the Lilypad Lake bundle, but in the new catalogue it will no longer be a bundle, so keep that in mind when you order.
In this next photo I show you how I layered the rectangle frame overtop of my Brusho layer.
I used regular dimensionals to pop up the frame over my brusho background but you could also use dimensional strips. That got me thinking that this could also be an amazing shaker card!! I hope you enjoyed today’s technique card. Brusho is going to be retiring and I just want to encourage you to get it because it really does bring out your inner child. As adults we don’t take enough time to play and this product actually does just that. It gets you to play and forget bad weather, difficult circumstances, pain, whatever. I’m so happy I discovered it!
Have a super day, and if you need anything to recreate this at home, just click on the images below and you will go straight to my online store. Want to start something exciting and you live in Canada? Join my team, there is always room for one more person at Beyond Pampered. Click here to start that journey.
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by Jackie Bultje | Apr 22, 2019 | Brusho, embossing, Humming Along |
Hello stampers. Once a month I do this fun class called Sweet Suite Saturday. I do it on a Saturday afternoon at 1pm, usually the last Saturday of the month. The whole idea is to have a super chill, relaxed class that revolves around a beautiful suite of products. Of course there is good food to share as well, hence “Sweet Suite Saturday”. This month it will be featuring Humming Along. If you purchase the bundle the class is free, otherwise it is $25 for four great cards. This blog post is about the last two cards using Humming Along and Brusho. Brusho is a fantastic product that will soon be retiring from our annual catalog. I can’t believe it! I have had so much fun playing and feeling artistic with these vibrant paint crystals. Take a look at what I have made and you might want to get your hands on some Brusho too!
For this card I wanted to use just the leaf stamp to make a background. I inked up the leaf in versamark and then sprinkled with call me clover embossing powder and then embossed with the heat tool. After the embossing was done I spritzed the shimmery white cardstock with water and then sprinkled on yellow Brusho. Then I sprinkled on just a little Prussian Blue Brusho on the outside edges and spritzed the whole thing with water again. Here is the close-up.
The sentiment is also from Humming Along, and I stamped it on whisper white cardstock and cut it out using the stitched shape framelits. The scallop circle is a punch. I added some of our call me clover leaf trim in behind the sentiment (it looks nicer in person).
I have had that flower and hummingbird sitting on my desk for a good long while. They were in the running for my Brusho class and never made it onto a card. I embossed the images in black on watercolour paper and then treated them with Brusho ink crystals. They look great on the background of the Floral Romance specialty designer series paper. This is another great #loveitchopit card. I chopped the leaves paper at 4″ x 5 1/4″ so you get 6 out of one 12″ by 12″ sheet of paper. The wood look paper is a 4″ by 1″ strip. Se keep those scraps and turn them into cards! The sentiment is from Well Said in the Occasions catalog and they are both in blueberry bushel. Here is a closeup:
I just love how the Brusho makes me feel like a “real” artist. So much fun using these paint crystals on either watercolour paper or shimmery white cardstock. With the coordinating framelits it is so very easy to make stunning cards. I made this card into a Mother’s Day card because my mom loves hummingbirds but you could easily turn it into a birthday card or an anniversary or get well card. All these sentiments are available in the Well Said bundle. If you are intrigued by the Brusho, be sure to get them before they are gone. They will not be in the new annual catalog!!
Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you were inspired or at the very least slightly entertained by my ramblings. If you want to purchase any of the products used in my projects just click on the images below and you will be taken directly to my online store. That’s a good thing right? If your list is long you might want to consider the starter kit and save yourself the shipping and the tax and get a bonus $30 in product as well.
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1-3/4″ Circle Scallop Punch
[119854]
$22.00
by Jackie Bultje | Mar 22, 2019 | Artfully Aware, Brusho, Springtime Expressions, watercolouring |
Happy Friday stampers. I just want to create a relatively short post today featuring Artfully Aware. After my Brusho class the other day I wanted to play a little more before I cleaned up. I wanted to use Artfully Aware because I love the artwork but I also love the artist behind it (Janet Wakeland) and her story for creating this set. This stamp set is in honour of her mom who is struggling with Alzheimer’s and the other images are her children and her husband. The message is that we need each other throughout the struggles of life and we can use our art to help ease the hurt and to celebrate the good.
The people look like they are sitting on a grassy knoll with a stormy sky overhead. The bright green grass gives a hopeful feel to this scene. The card front is watercolour paper. The images were stamped in versamark first using the Stamparatus and then heat embossed in white and black. This gives a nice raised image that helps keep the colour where it needs to be. It is important to use the Stamparatus when stamping on watercolour paper because you usually need to stamp more than once to get sufficient coverage as watercolour paper is a bit rough. I coloured the grass and the people with an aqua painter and ink. Then I spritzed the sky area with water and sprinkled on Prussian Blue Brusho holding the card at an angle to keep the water away from the people. I used an aqua painter to spread the blue close to the stamped image. I really love the effect.
The next cards have nothing to do with Artfully Aware. I just had leftover pieces from my class and wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to do more blue backgrounds and I also incorporated the butterfly from Springtime Expressions thinlets. I used the floral image to emboss the background for a subtle effect.
It isn’t the crispest picture, but I am in a time crunch and it will have to do. You can see the Springtime Expressions floral framelit embossed in the background. This one is done on shimmery white cardstock and the words and thinlet come from the Well Said bundle. The big butterfly is also from Springtime Expressions. The other two are from the Beauty Abounds bundle. I love Brusho for backgrounds don’t you?
For this card I did another Prussian Blue Brusho background. I had used the thinner embossing mat to emboss the background in this one and it is quite subtle. The previous card used the thicker mat and I do like it better. The butterflies were cut from a piece of shimmer white cardstock which was first spritzed with water and then sprinkled with ALL the Brusho colours that Stampin’Up! carries. You then spritz with water again and the colours flood together a bit. You can control the mix of colour by dabbing with a paper towel to absorb the extra water.
I hope you enjoyed this little bit of Brusho inspiration. If you want to get messy and feel like a kid again, buy some Brusho, some watercolour paper and some shimmer white and have fun. You will love it!! I will happily have you and your friends over for a private session as well. Have a super day and thanks for stopping by,
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by Jackie Bultje | Mar 18, 2019 | Birthday, Brusho, butterfly, Framelits |
Hello stampers. Today we are going to do a little exploring of a very fun but easily overlooked product in our Stampin’Up! catalog: Brusho paint crystals. Brusho is the name brand of these gorgeous intensely coloured paint crystals that are activated with water. It is really quite a fine powder. You poke a hole in the lid with a push pin or thumbtack and then tap the powder out where you want it. You then keep the hole sealed with the push pin or thumbtack when you are not using it. Rather than talk about it, I will show you the cards that I made and then explain what I did on each one.
Here is the first card, it was a complete case (copy and share everything) from the catalog. I love the bold colours here. I stamped some images from Beautiful Promenade in versamark on shimmery white cardstock and white embossed with the heat gun. Then I sprinkled on mostly red and gamboge Brusho paint crystals and a little bit of yellow. I then spritzed lightly with water to activate the crystals. You might see a few blue spots, they can appear magically because of some fine powder left on my hands, on the work surface or even in the air!!
The card base is poppy parade, the edge is from Delicate Lace edgelits and the saying was stamped in Poppy Parade on Powder Pink. It comes from Birthday Cheer in the Occasions catalog on page 17. This card is a bit of an odd shape (I think because I messed up!) It is 1/4 inch shorter than normal- 5 1/4″ by 4 1/4″.
This card uses all the Brusho paint crystals. I cased it from the talented Connie Collins. I took a piece of shimmery white cardstock that was 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″ and I misted it with water. I sprinkled on an angle starting at the top in this order: red, gamboge, yellow, moss green and prussian blue. I then gently misted again just to get the colours to run and blend a little bit. I let it dry naturally (if you use a heat gun that tends to mute the colours a bit) I then cut out the butterflies with the dies from the Beauty Abounds bundle on page 13 of the Occasions catalog. The sentiment is from Well Said and it was embossed in white on basic black cardstock. The butterfly was adhered using glue dots only on the bodies of the biggest butterflies to allow for the feeling of movement.
This Let it Ride card was cased from the internet. I think the original creator was Lynn Dunn but I was not able to find a corresponding blog post. This card is a work in progress. I made this one with shimmery white cardstock but am going to do it again using watercolour paper. I masked the horse using only a mask made with a sticky note which got rather soggy. The blue bled through on his nose making it look like he is wearing a bridle!! The top of the card around the horse was sprinkled with Prussian Blue brusho crystals and then spritzed with water. I used a aqua painter to spread it around close to the horse. The bottom part was simply coloured with Granny Apple Green blends. The sentiment was embossed in white before I applied the Brusho.
This last card is one of my favourite techniques with Brusho. You put a piece of painters tape across your piece of watercolour paper near the top leaving room for your sentiment. You then drop little dabs of Brusho powder along the bottom of the tape. I alternated between Prussian Blue and Yellow. They mingle nicely to add some green in between. You then hold the card at an angle and spritz down, just a little bit so that you still get colour droplets and not a messy trail running all the way down your card. This piece measures 3 3/4″ by 5″. The words are from the Well Said bundle. This is a high ticket item on page 27 of the Occasions catalog- $103.50 for the bundle. I highly recommend that you put it in a starter kit. You save the shipping and taxes which for this bundle alone would be $23.69. You would still have $121.50 that you could choose products with and then pay only $135 for all that amazing stuff!!!
I have done several other posts on Brusho. If you type Brusho into the search box at the top right of the page you will see them all. Here is one to make it easy for you.
Saleabration is winding down, so be sure to get what you want on your wish list so that you can get some freebies as well. A LOT of our beautiful products are selling out, so don’t be disappointed and get what you want in the Occasions catalog today. If your wish list is long, I am telling you once again that the starter kit is THE way to go. No need to feel badly if you think you are only going to be a “kitnapper”. Stampin’Up! is willing to take that chance and I just want you to get the most value for your money. Diva Day is this Saturday from 10am till 4pm and you get to spend a day with me being pampered with food, fun stamping and free products in a goodie bag, but only if you have joined my team during saleabration.
I hope you have a super day! Be sure to pop a card in the mail today and make someone happy, or keep one in your purse to give to someone while you are out and about in your community. It’s little things like that that make the world a better place.
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by Jackie Bultje | Oct 16, 2018 | Brusho |
Hello stampers. Ever since I first opened my pack of Brusho paint crystals I have loved it. The trouble is that once you start creating with it, it is very hard to stop! I pulled it out last week because the colours were starting to change with the seasons and I felt it was time to make a fall card at my coffee and a card class. Since then I have made quite a few more and you will see that you can do far more than just create fall cards with it. Today I will share some of my favourites with you. The first card is made using a technique called emboss resist. I stamped the leaves from Colorful Seasons in versamark on watercolour paper. I then clear embossed them with the heat gun and clear embossing powder. When it was dry I spritzed it will water and sprinkled on Brusho in three colours, red, yellow and gamboge. Do you see the sentiment and that little line of dots? They are hot off the press, just arrived in my October Paper Pumpkin today!! If you love Christmas cards you will want to subscribe before November 11 to get them.
Here is a close up so that you can see how beautiful the Brusho crystals are. What I love most about this product is that it truly makes me feel like an artist. That is the reason I first fell in love with Stampin’Up! You wouldn’t believe how many people come up to me and say, “I’m not creative. I’m not artistic.”. Then I tell them that neither was I!! The beautiful artwork from Stampin’Up! made it easy to be artistic, and Brusho just takes it to a whole new level. All you really need to do is spritz your watercolour paper or your shimmer white cardstock with some water and then sprinkle on the crystals. After that you can determine whether or not to add more water or leave it just as it is. With watercolour paper you can even go in afterwards and add more water and more crystals if you are not pleased with your original results. Do you see the speckles on the chair? When my card was finished I spritzed the entire thing with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and champagne shimmer paint to add a glittery finish.
Here is a look at what the Paper Pumpkin box for November will look like. You just know it is going to be beautiful Christmas cards and an exclusive stamp set. Perfect for yourself or as a gift for a teacher or crafty friend. Here is a handy link so you can subscribe.
The next card uses watercolour paper again with fall colours of red and yellow. I then added some die cut maple leaves from the Colorful Seasons bundle. It is a clean and simple design. The sentiment is also from Colorful Seasons and is stamped in Memento black using the Stamparatus. Stamping on watercolour paper is challenging because of its rough texture so the Stamparatus is perfect so that you can stamp it multiple times to get it black enough.
The look of this watercolour is softer because I used more water so that the colours “bled” together a little more. The leaves were cut from crushed curry, cherry cobbler and old olive. The next card is stepped up a notch. I decided to use some leftover scraps of shimmer white and I treated it with Brusho in fall colours. Then I die cut leaves from it so that they looked more like the real thing. What do you think? I also added a copper leaf for added interest.
On the little leaf I used a sponge dauber and some gold shimmer paint to add a little interest and I also sketched in some “veins” using the Project Life journaling pen. The sentiment is from the stamp set Kindness & Compassion. The newsprint paper in the background is part of the Dashing Along pack of paper that was a giveaway for hosts in September with a $300 or more workshop. If you place an online order with me this month you will get a sample pack of this paper mailed to you!
For the card above I used Prussian Blue and Yellow Brusho to create the illusion of dappled sunlight. The stamped images are from one of my favourite stamp sets, Enjoy Life. This is a great masculine card but could really be for anyone. The last card is another fall card. It might be my favourite season. I love the crisp fall air, the beautiful sunlight and of course the changing colours. I love sweaters and campfires and reading in a cozy chair and of course comfort food. Soups and stews simmering on the stove with a cobbler baking in the oven. Yum!!!
I really love the background of this card with the white space and the watercolour look of it all. The one leaf has a solid copper foil leaf in behind it for added interest. The white panel is embossed with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder. The watercolour paper is 3′ by 4″ on all of the cards.
In closing, I just want to share with you that October is my 13th anniversary as a Stampin’Up! demonstrator so I am offering a chance at a half price item if you place a minimum $25 order either with me in person or online. If you choose to order online you need to use the host code K47RYHQZ. This offer ends tomorrow night!! So strike while the iron is hot. If you click on any of the images below it will take you straight to my online store
Here is a video I did showing Brusho in action. I hope you find it helpful. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a super day.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oNgdIQFFdc&t=4s
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