Crafty Comeback Party - Day 12 - The Ink Road + Giveaway

Good morning!!  I hope this Tuesday finds you having a good week so far!  I find myself STILL needing to decorate for fall.  I'm totally rolling my eyes at my own self - seriously.  I need someone to hold me accountable.  Lol!

Instead of decorating for fall, I was doing something MUCH more fun - stamping the day away with stamp sets from The Ink Road.  Lara's stamp sets are refreshing, funny and full of attitude - and I seriously LOVE them.  If we were friends in person, you would know that I am fairly sarcastic, a little bit jaded and some would say, witty...and Lara's stamps so speak to that side of me.  They are amazing, and you should go and check out all of her sets!!  {She put up her presale of her 1st Christmas release...and let's just say, I HAVE to have them!}

Today I am taking a little bit of a break from holiday stamping, which is a nice little caveat.  I love holiday creating as much as the next person, but these stamps were a welcome change for the week!!  My first card feels very fitting, considering what this event is all about.  I used the Majestic AF stamp set for this card!

I am still in the very basic stages of learning to color - but I am trying to learn!  I really wanted this unicorn to have a rainbow mane, so I stepped out of my comfort zone & colored her in with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (all colors are linked below).  I didn't blend them with any water because I wanted to keep the colors nice & bold!  After coloring her in, I applied glue with my Zig Squeeze & Roll pen to her horn, and covered it in some prisma glitter.  It ended up being a perfect touch!

The background was really easy to create! I just stamped the 2 different unicorns & the floral wreath randomly until it felt finished.  There are other smaller accents in this stamp set that you could use to fill it in a little more, but I liked it as is. 

I thought the Dotted Tag die fit this sentiment so well, so I diecut it from black cardstock and heat embossed the sentiment to it.  I layered it to the card front over top of a knot of gold thread, and then accented with jewels (of course).  To finish I layered the stamped panel with a strip of rainbow striped paper to the front of an A2 black card.

I also created a set of cards based on The Ink Road's October Color Challenge.  The colors are beautiful, and perfect for a fall palette.  Even if my cards aren't seasonal, I still love using color palettes that fit with the season we are in!

I decided to do some watercolor smooshing for my cards, and that is how I ended up with a set!  I always like to practice first on some inexpensive watercolor paper, and I ended up with 2 happy accidents!  So, I decided to use them instead of set them aside!  This is one of my happy accidents, and I think it ended up being my favorite!  The sentiment is from the Compliments Vol. 2 stamp set - isn't the font amazing?!

Most of you likely know how to watercolor smoosh, but just in case, here is a basic explanation.  I smooshed some distress ink to the top of a transparency, and then spritzed with quite a bit of water.  Then I place the watercolor paper face down on to the watered down ink, and "smooshed" it a little.  I pulled it up quickly, and let the water run & drip until it looked finished.  It's about the most random process there is, which is what I love about it!  You never know what you are going to end up with!  I had a few that ended up looking great, and 2 others that I ended up tossing.

I kept this card very simple because I loved how the watercolor smooshed so much on this one!  So, I pretty much just mounted it to a card base, and then accented with sequins & jewels.

For my next card, I heat embossed all of the circle shapes from the Full Circle stamp set to a block of Ranger watercolor paper before doing the watercolor smooshing.  I wanted the circles to look exactly as they did on the sheet they come on...so I actually peeled them off opposite of the way you normally would.  Then I adhered them directly to my MISTI and proceeded to stamp & heat emboss.  Once heat set, I smooshed them exactly as I did above, with a completely different look. 

Once again, I wanted the embossed circles & watercolor to be the main focus, so I kept the design super simple!

I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set to a thin strip of white cardstock and cut banner edges to each end.  Then I layered it over a knot of gold thread & accented with sequins & jewels.

I turned my final watercolor smooshing background into a shaker with that cute heart accent & gold sequins that Lara sent along in my package.  I built the sentiment from the Block Party Alphas Outline stamp set - it is one of my favorite missing you sentiments ever.  And the possibilities of creating sentiments are endless with an alphabet stamp set, so these are definite must haves!!

I thought that the Dual Dotted Rectangle dies would make a great border for the shaker, and I love how it turned out!  {Quick note when using a Cuttlebug and these dies - do each section separately.  I tried to cut them together on the first go round, and it just did not work out.  But, it worked perfectly when I did them separately.}

I am often guilty of filling my shaker cards up too full, and then the sequins don't actually shake very well!  I was mindful of that on this card, and I have to say...it is SO fun to shake!!   I stamped the sentiment directly to the transparent sheet using white Staz-On ink.  It is my go to when stamping on a slick surface!

I had so much fun creating with stamps from The Ink Road!  Thank you Lara for being part of my crafty comeback party...I look forward to using your stamps even more in the future!!

GIVEAWAY

I've got TWO prize packages to giveaway from The Ink Road!  The first package will be given away normally - via comments/social media entries!  And the second will be via a card challenge!!

Prize #1

Prize #2

HOW TO ENTER FOR PRIZE #1:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post. **Required**

2. Like & Follow Lea Lawson Creates & The Ink Road on Facebook

3. Follow Lea Lawson Creates & The Ink Road on Instagram

4. Follow Lea Lawson Creates on Pinterest

I'm using Rafflecopter to manage entries so that picking & notifying the winners at the end of the party will be easy & truly random - please know that I am absolutely NOT collection your personal information.  I am using it purely for accurate randomness when picking winners.  :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOW TO ENTER FOR PRIZE #2:

1. Post a new or never seen before card to your blog/Instagram/Facebook/online gallery.

2. Take a break from seasonal creating, and make something that isn't about any upcoming holidays!

3. Post it to the link list below.

4. Using The Ink Road for my project challenge isn't required, but it is ENCOURAGED!  {Keep in mind if you plan on creating for the October Color Challenge - you must use The Ink Road product.}

5. One winner will be picked from the entries linked below.

6.  You have until November 10th at 11:55pm to complete your card.

Facebook will be a great way to stay tuned in to this month long party & all the giveaways, so be sure to LIKE my page and then hit the FOLLOW button right next to it! :)

For your shopping convenience, all products are linked below. {Includes affiliate linking where possible - this allows small compensation for me at no cost to you.  Never fear - I will only ever link to products that I truly love & use!