Category Archives: Concord & 9th

I’ve been stamping up a storm… and loving it!

I made some cards the other day to send to my sister-in-laws for Mother’s Day. Concord & 9th’s Wildflower was perfect! I kept my embellishments to a minimum because the post office has seemed to be so fussy lately with any embellishment additions… a little washi tape to anchor my stamped panel and these were off to the mailbox!

I’m off this week too…on a jet plane…  headed to Sacramento for Copic Certification and Flowers Classes, and then again the first weekend in June when I head to Des Moines to color with my friend Taylor – yes, that Taylor! You can join me for a fun set of Copic Certification and Flowers classes at the Taylored Expressions Studio! Still room in both of these classes before I take a break for summer fun!

I’ll be back tomorrow morning with more stamping! Thanks for stopping by!

On Monday, my famous neighbor Laurie came over to visit for the day… We have a fun time when we get together! I loved playing with the goodies she brought over to show me, like these adorable birds from Concord & 9th – such a fun, newer stamp company run by Greg and Angie ~ the sweetest people ever!

Laurie and I laughed so much that neither of us got much stamping done, but I managed to pull off two quick flat cards that I’m calling single layer salutes and sharing with you today! I know they have multiple layers – but they are monochromatic and have no doo-dads or trim that will trip up the envelope at the post office! 🙂

This first card above uses Concord & 9th’s sweet Birdie Banners – so easy to use. I colored my birdie bodies with Copic, but you don’t have to… it’s got a 2nd step fill in for the body color and the banner options are adorable. I surprised myself by how easy the banners were to line up – the banner fill-ins are a 2nd step stamp, too! The sentiment was stamped with Banner Alpha Bits.

This next card is a little harder to show-off, but it’s lovely. Please trust me on this.  The Bouquet Die is gorgeous! Now I’m wishing I would have cut one in a color to really showoff for the camera while Laurie was here, but you can see it here. I paired the bouquet with ‘lovely’ from Wonderful Words.

I used a sheet of sticker paper to cut my two elements, and then I pieced them together for a seamless look. Very simple, clean and flat for mailing. I love it in white, but would be beautiful in almost any color variation for a mono-chromatic look! Will be adding these dies to my collection and making several more of this design!

I’m a little off of my normal routine today, so mid-afternoon and I’m headed out for a quick jog. It’s a gorgeous (albeit windy!) afternoon here in Kansas, so I’m looking forward to it. Since I’m normally stumbling out of bed at 4:40 and running at 5am, I better make sure all of my clothes are on right-side-out! LOL

Thanks for stopping by today! Be back soon!

I had a project that I wanted to share with you today that features Copic Various Ink for vibrant color without coloring!

When I think about Various Ink, my first thought is refillable markers, but used straight from the bottle, the Copic Various Ink is so vibrant… especially on non-porous surfaces, like glossy card stock – used here. I just drip ink refills onto a kraft mat and dab my cardstock into the ink for instant, quick dry, vibrant color, but there are some pointers I can share to help make your efforts eye-popping!

My first tip for color popping blends is color selection! For combinations that blend well together, select two to three colors that are touching or close to each other on the color wheel. These colors will naturally blend with an eye-please effect. If you choose colors that are directly across from each other (like blue and orange or pink and green), the normal result can be a big mud puddle because colors opposite from each other typically create brown when mixed.

For my card today, I used Copic Various Ink Y08, RV06 and YR04 – yellow, pink and orange. Notice how they are all on the same half of the pie if you slice that color wheel up?

My next tip is more along the line of know what look you are going for to achieve the desired result, not that either one is right or wrong 100% of the time. 🙂

In the sample above, I dropped ink on the kraft sheet and dipped one color at a time, allowing just a few seconds between colors so that each could set and dry. The dry time is really so, so fast with the Various Ink… This single color at a time method allows for an ink splotch look with distinctive splats of each color.

In this sample, I dropped all three colors on my kraft mat at the same time and then smooshed my cardstock into the color. The result is a much runnier, more fluid blend of color. I liked this look, too!

Tip: If you don’t have every color of Various Ink that you want to utilize, grab your favorite marker and scribble lightly onto your kraft mat, spritz lightly with blender solution and dip your cardstock.

I accented with die-cut black blooms from Concord & 9th’s new Floral and Flutter die. Love these wispy petals and the dies cut like butter for me. I think I cut about 10 each of the flower and the butterfly, and I didn’t have any rips or half-cuts in the whole bunch!  Finally finished with a ‘love you’ sentiment embossed in black with a simple pearl!

Thanks for stopping by today!