Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Happy First Birthday to Picket Fence Studios!!





Happy First Birthday Picket Fence Studios!

Picket Fence Studios is celebrating their first birthday with a whole month of special activities and giveaways, and I am thrilled to be invited to help them celebrate in this month-long celebration!  

And even though it's Picket Fence Studios' Birthday, they have special gifts for YOU!  There's special discount coupon for you at the bottom of this post, as well a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from Picket Fence Studios!

I was first introduced to Picket Fence Studios through Lydia Fiedler and Iliana Myska, who absolutely raved about their Life Changing Blending Brushes.  I resisted buying them for awhile. I'll admit.  But once I did buy them, I realized just how life-changing they truly were.  I have not touched a foam blending pad since!  They are just that lovely! They are so simple and easy to use and clean, and they apply ink to paper with such soft and smooth blends, that I couldn't believe I had resisted buying them.  They are always within reach on my desk now!  

I could never get blending like this with a foam blender pad or sponge dauber!  I always seemed to end up with a big ink-y blotch, no matter how careful or light-handed I tried to be.


How easy is that to create some super-simple, single-layer notecards?!?  That took less than 3 minutes to heat emboss the sentiment from Simply Wonderful onto a white cardbase and blend color to the bottom of the cardbase.  (Use a dry micro-fiber towel to remove any excess ink from your embossing.)


Today I am also using these Life Changing Blending Brushes with one of their stencils, the Sunburst Stencil, to create a sunrise background.


 I prepped my stencil by lightly spraying the temporary adhesive to the back of my stencil.  I let it dry for about 45 seconds, then adhered it to my card panel.  The adhesive ensures that the stencil will not move, yet removes easily without ripping  or peeling my cardstock or leaving any residue behind.  I added a very pale lemon yellow ink to my panel first, then added a brighter sunshine-y yellow to the sun, blending outward slightly.  (I'm going to layer a horizon on top of this panel, so I only inked the top two thirds of my panel.)


I then removed the stencil, and added a bit more lemon yellow over the whole panel, deepening the color of the sun rays, as well as creating a faint yellow tone over the white areas. 

I then replaced the stencil, turning it slightly, centering the stencil openings over the darker inked sun rays.  I then added a thin coating of Glitter Gel.  The gel picks up a bit of the ink, and takes on a really pretty pale yellow sparkle.  I tried to be very careful not to get the Glitter Gel onto the actual sun.  Once applied smoothly, I carefully removed the stencil.  I set my panel off to the side to dry (for about 35 minutes) and went and washed the excess glitter and temporary adhesive off of my stencil and tools.


While my glittered panel was drying, I used my MISTI to stamp the Ava Girl with black archival ink onto a piece of Hammermill Digital Color Cover paper.  I used Copic Markers to add color, and a white gel pen to add highlights.  I wanted a dark burgundy sweater, so I used R43, R59 and R89 to color her sweater, and even added W06 and W08 to further tone down the pinkness of the R markers.  I then used the matching Ava die to cut out my colored image.




My inked and glittered panel is now dry, so it's time to create my horizon, trim my panels and assemble a card!


I chose to create a dark city scene with black cardstock.  I simply used scissors to cut random square and rectangle pieces away, creating a city skyline that my glittery sun can be rising over.


I used my MISTI to stamp my greeting from Simply Wonderful with embossing ink, then I heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I could trim my pieces to fit an A2 top-folding cardbase and assemble with liquid adhesive.




My second card uses the beautiful peacock tail image from the Let's Shake Our Tail Feathers set.  


I'm stamping on vellum with embossing ink; and will heat emboss with black powder.
Just look at all that crisp detail from this stamp;  even when heat embossed!!


I hand-trimmed out the image with detail scissors, and have flipped it over; and now am adding color to the back side with Copic markers.


I used very dark-colored markers so the colors would show through on the front embossed side.



I assembled my card using vellum adhesive tape runner to add my vellum image to a deep purple cardbase.  I added a narrow black-matted strip of lighter purple cardstock that I had stamped and gold embossed the stacked birthday greeting from Forever and Ever.  Once assembled, I used a small silicone-tipped stylus to add tiny dots of gold acrylic paint to the peacock tail.


As part of this Birthday celebration, Picket Fence Studios has generously offered a $100 gift certificate for one lucky visitor to my blog today!  To be entered to win, please leave a comment on this post.  Comments must be entered before 11:59pm Central Time,  Sunday May 5th.  The lucky gift certificate winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 7th, on this blog.

Picket Fence Studios also has an exclusive 20% off discount shopping code for my blog readers too! Use the code: PFS20 to save 20% on your entire Picket Fence Studios order! This code is only good for three days, so make sure you place your order prior to 11:59pm on April 2nd.

Thanks for stopping in today to celebrate Picket Fence Studios' First Birthday!  
Have a fantastic day!


130 comments:

  1. Beautiful cards! Love the backgrounds! Thank you PFS for so many generous prizes <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. I need them, too.I don't get great results with my foam blenders...Thanks for telling and showing us. Your sunny background looks great. It glows...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great mix of inking and glitter for the sun rays, and Ava girl is so stylish. The palette on the peacock tail is fab. Thanks for the chance.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Both cards are great and I truly love your idea of the city skyline - so simple and effective! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Chris! I love the glitter and yellow sunshine rays! I need to get that Pixie Spray! Great coloring too! The peacock tail is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really need those peacock feathers! Great projects Chris!

    ReplyDelete
  8. The peacock feathers make a
    wonderful border. The first
    card is fantastic - so much
    depth to the design. thanks
    for sharing.
    txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chris, you have been a Very busy lady!! I loved your card ideas - especially using the Glitter Gel and Pixie spray with the sun burst. I really need to get busy and try out my Pixie spray.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loving the sunset behind the city scene. So fun with the sparkle.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous cards! Love the effect of your stenciled background on your first card! The sparkle is so pretty! Awesome setting for Ava Girl! And a beautiful card with the peacock feathers too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love your very confident woman! What a background!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love your cards!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fabulous work on
    both cards. The
    Peacock tail is
    lovely. I love
    your sunshine card!
    The background and
    girl really shine.
    Carla from Utah

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your cards are fabulous and love all the details in each creation!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love both of your cards, Chris! Happy Birthday, Picket Fence!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful cards. Love the way you created the sun background.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I am so in love with your cityscape scene! Absolutely beautiful composition. And the peacock feathers are dreamy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Beautiful card, great tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Gorgeous card, love the composition

    ReplyDelete
  21. You did a great job on the cards. Love your inventiveness with creating the cityscape.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Both beautiful cards. Love the scene you created.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The rays look great--I like how you shifted it.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Both cards are gorgeous! I really love the peacock one! But I’m a purple gal...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautiful cards and great tips! I really loved the sun rays you created. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wonderful cards. Love the sunrise background on the first one and thanks for the review of these brushes.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love the life changing brushes for blending too! Thanks for sharing the beautiful cards!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Fantastic projects and I love that you made your own skyline diecut!! What a great idea!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Both the cards are beautiful.. Love the ava girl so much.. Thanks for the inspiration..

    ReplyDelete
  30. Both cards are beautiful! I really love how you created the skyline and used the glitter gel on the sunrays. So pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Chris, I have to say, I have always admired you work and your cards today are no exception. The Life Changing Brushes look like they would be a real pleasure to use and from all of the videos I have seen where they have been used, it seems to be the opinion of everyone. I have been trying to find a sunburst stencil locally but to no avail:(
    Your peacock card is beautiful as well. Thanks for sharing and the chance to win Picket Fence's generous offering!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Super cute and beautiful cards! Wonderful designs and lovely inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Stunning cards. Oh, how I wish I had a set of those blending brushes. I think they are a need not a want item. Can I tell my spouse you said that? [Bunny]

    ReplyDelete
  34. I have just ordered my 1st set of the smaller Life Changing Brushes and need to order the rest; awesome brushes. Love the stencil look and great explanation of the procedure.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oh my gosh! That sun and skyline!!! Love it!!! Great idea to add the glitter paste off set!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Wonderful cards! I especially love that sunburst/skyline scene you created for the first card!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Love these! That peacock feathers card is lovely!!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Such beautiful cards - I love the way you made the city silhouette for the first card, and the colours of the peacock are just lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  39. WOW I love your cards!!!!! Gorgeous coloring and I loooooove those stamps!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Fabulous cards! The sun coming up over the city scene you created looks really cool! The Ava Girl looks so stylish against that background. The peacock tail is beautiful - love the coloring on the reverse side and the touches of gold on the front! The blending brushes are on my wishlist.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Gorgeous work!! I especially love the stenciled sun!! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Those cards are really great, but I really do love the Ava Girl so much, she's so sharp and sassy! Love the way you put all the elements together to make that card :-)

    ReplyDelete
  43. Both cards are great, but I really like the first one. I like the sassiness of her look, and how you created the great skyline. It is so perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Such a cool, stylish girl in her cityscape, Chris ... the sunrise is just so eyecatching and delicious! Gorgeous, dramatic peacock tail ... the touches of gold are fabulous! Anita :)

    ReplyDelete
  45. Gorgeous. Love the sunburst. You are so very talented. Thanks for the chance to win this generous gift. I am new to picket fence. Would love the blending brushes.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Oh such beautiful cards and going to be one lucky winner!

    ReplyDelete
  47. wonderful cards as usual, Chris! Love the detail and tips!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Thank you for the chance to win! Love your cards and can’t wait to check out the Picket Fence website.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Love your city girl card, reminds me of my own girl who does live in the city :) The hand cut cityscape is awesome, looks like it came out of a die. And the sunburst backdrop - it all came together beautifully! The life changing brushes - agreed, can't live without them - just need more hours in the day to play with them, right? Happy Birthday to Picket Fence Studios and lucky for us - thanks for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Beautiful results..would love to try your brushes!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Simply stunning! The brushes are something I need! Love the cityscape!!

    ReplyDelete
  52. I love the soft look these brushes can give. You always do such a beautiful job on your cards and the cityscape that you cut out free hand worked great with the city girl. I wouldn't have thought of using the glitter gel on the sun rays but it looks like it belongs there. Great job, Chris.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Wow, fabulous cards! Those brushes look amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Cards are beautiful! Never thought about embossing on vellum. Thanks for the tip. Have heard alot of good things about the brushes and would love to give them a try. Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Your cards are amazing!! I really want to try the pixie spray!!! And those brushes. Hopefully I will be able to get them soon. Thanks for the inspiration!!

    ReplyDelete
  56. beautiful creations! blending is a pleasure with those brushes!!!

    ReplyDelete
  57. What beautiful cards you have. I need to try the brushes. I have heard so many amazing things!!

    ReplyDelete
  58. Wow! That Shake a Tail Feather stamp and die is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  59. Picket Fence brushes truly are life changing. Thank you for coming up with these. I cannot use a foam blender any longer, since getting these. Hope I win, I want more brushes!

    ReplyDelete
  60. Gosh I need those brushes! Gorgeous work, as always Chris. Terri B.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Amazing projects, thanks for the very detailed 'how to'

    ReplyDelete
  62. Both are gorgeous cards! Love the sunburst!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Great cards! I love your glittery sun!

    ReplyDelete
  64. Oh my GOODNESS!!! Your idea with the sun rays is GENIUS! And if I tried cutting a skyline with scissors it would look more like a 3 year old had been let loose with the scissors... What a perfect background to the perfectly colored girl! The vellum trick had my jaw on the table!!! Color from behind...pfft! I want to live in your brain for just a day!!! 💜🌵

    ReplyDelete
  65. Beautiful cards. Like the sunset tech.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Love your creations! Fun verse

    ReplyDelete
  67. Beautiful cards!! I love what you did with the sun rays!

    ReplyDelete
  68. Wow! The peacock feathers card is stunning!! HBD PFS and thank you!!

    ReplyDelete
  69. Oh these cards are beautiful! I especially love the peacock feathers.

    ReplyDelete
  70. I love your cards and I need the blending brushes!

    ReplyDelete
  71. I have two of these brushes but would love to get some more! Your blending is beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  72. Beautiful cards! I’ve just got to get that peacock feathers stamp - so many gorgeous possibilities.

    ReplyDelete
  73. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Love your cards. I would love to win so I could purchase some of those amazing brushes

    ReplyDelete
  75. Your cards are beautiful as always! I love Picket Fence products especially their Life Changing brushes and Pixie Spray! Awesome product! Thank you for your kindness and generosity!💕

    ReplyDelete
  76. WONDERFUL cards!
    LOVE the glitter segments in your sunburst and cool fussy cut skyline, LOVE your vellum feather panel too - WOW!
    Thank you for sharing and INSPIRING :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS - I struggle with ink blending and will definitely be checking out these new brushes!

      Delete
  77. Beautiful cards. And absokutely love those brushes

    ReplyDelete
  78. I enjoyed your cards and your tutorial was well written. I think I and use some of the ideas. Love the Peacock card.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Love love love your cards! Just beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  80. Your cards look absolutely amazing!! I love how you showed us step by step. 😊

    ReplyDelete
  81. This is soooo awesome!!! I LUV your ideas!! Those brushes look so cool

    ReplyDelete
  82. The ease of blending sounds DIVINE !! That’s sooo what I wound if I won the gift certificate!! ALL the brushes!!!

    ReplyDelete
  83. Chris, your cards are amazing! Great ideas and easy understandable steps! Thank you for sharing❤️

    ReplyDelete
  84. Great card! I love those blending brushes

    ReplyDelete
  85. It's fun to read your descriptions as well as see the pictures of your beautiful cards! You sure are talented!

    ReplyDelete
  86. I love the sunshine card - so cute with just the right amount of sassy! And your blending with PFS brushes - lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Thanks for sharing your beautiful cards, great designs!

    ReplyDelete
  88. Both the cards are beautiful
    Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  89. Wow, I love the peacock tail stamp, so elegant embossed on vellum. The sunshine card is fun with the sparkly rays!

    ReplyDelete
  90. I’ve been considering purchasing these brushes. I love to blend inks. Your examples are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  91. Thanks for showing all the details on making the sunrise card! I can see I need those brushes. Love how you made your city skyline & the wonderful card design! The peacock feathers look so elegant on the vellum & the touches of gold really finish this card off beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
  92. Excuse me while I put my socks back on....because you knocked them off! OMGosh - what stunning cards! All are beautiful, but your first one with the sunburst is ah-may-zing! Thanks for sharing your how-to :)

    ReplyDelete
  93. Beautiful cards! The Peacock feathers is my favorite! Happy Birthday, Picket Fence Studios!

    ReplyDelete
  94. Happy birthday picket fence Studios! Love the cards! I love the Sunburst stencil as well

    ReplyDelete
  95. Great cards - love what you did with the glitter gel on your Ava Girl card. Love this birthday celebration for Picket Fence Studios - meeting such awesome talent and opportunity to win an amazing prize - thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  96. I love your colouring and that beautiful background!

    ReplyDelete
  97. Loved the technique you used with the sunburst stencil and cool trick for the skyline. Awesome cards.

    ReplyDelete
  98. These are gorgeous cards! I really love the city scene card. :)

    ReplyDelete
  99. That first card smacks of sassy girl power ... love it !! never thought of creating a city background using black card stock ... thanks for the tip. And more power to PFS!

    ReplyDelete
  100. Great cards Chris.....love the sassy lady on the first card....wish I was that skinny...LOL.
    Both cards were super. Thank you so much for sharing them..

    ReplyDelete
  101. The white picket fence around one’s own property was part of the American dream for many decades. It is best used as a backdrop for flowers, vines or ornamental bushes.aluminum fence

    ReplyDelete
  102. Look for the fence that is maintenance-free out of the various types of fences in the market including wood, vinyl, chain-link, farm and aluminium ones.Land Clearing

    ReplyDelete
  103. I'm glad I found this web site, I couldn't find any knowledge on this matter prior to.Also operate a site and if you are ever interested in doing some visitor writing for me if possible feel free to let me know, im always look for people to check out my web site. https://catthink.com

    ReplyDelete
  104. Truly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! rewriting history

    ReplyDelete
  105. Fencing & gates will have a great impact when it comes to the overall look of your home. Some people love the idea of adding white picket railing around their garden, because it can take anyone to good old days when life is still simpler.FRIGIDAIRE Appliance Repair in Los Angeles

    ReplyDelete
  106. There is some contention about the sympathetic part of conveying a stun to a creature to deflect him.chain link fencing Abbotsford

    ReplyDelete
  107. It¡¦s really a nice and useful piece of info. I¡¦m satisfied that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing. aluminum fence

    ReplyDelete
  108. It's late finding this act. At least, it's a thing to be familiar with that there are such events exist. I agree with your Blog and I will be back to inspect it more in the future so please keep up your act. Best dissertation paper writing services

    ReplyDelete
  109. If your looking for Online Illinois license plate sticker renewals then you have need to come to the right place.We offer the fastest Illinois license plate sticker renewals in the state. Best term paper writing services

    ReplyDelete
  110. The junk class will in all probability all go straight into reusing. Ensure you take out any close to home data however, and shred those bits to maintain a strategic distance from fraud. image data entry services

    ReplyDelete
  111. Hey what a brilliant post I have come across and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. Thank you very much and will look for more postings from you. professional writing services

    ReplyDelete
  112. Hello,
    I found this article and there's so much interesting thing. NomNomNow

    ReplyDelete
  113. A shallow hole will weaken your fence and shorten its life span. A 12" wide hole is acceptable for fence posts. Now continue down one side of the fence line until all the holes are dug. Fencing company Columbus

    ReplyDelete
  114. Deciding how much and what type of containment you require will be down to your exact situation and burlington condos what you are trying to contain. Containing a horse will require a fence with different characteristics to a fence for containing children!

    ReplyDelete
  115. The writer has outdone himself this time. It is not at all enough; the website is also utmost perfect. I will never forget to visit your site again and again. Wishes For Birthday

    ReplyDelete
  116. Wow great article post. Really thank you! Really Great.Pool Fencing

    ReplyDelete
  117. This enables writers to discover essay subject into its appropriate conceptual and philosophical framework. news

    ReplyDelete
  118. Use natural language, but keep it polished by staying from slang or jargon. As you write the essay, imagine that you are telling your story to your grandmother, and that she hasn't heard it before. Your language should sound natural and normal, and anyone should manage to understand what you're saying. paper writing service

    ReplyDelete
  119. marijuana delivery toronto

    Marijuana (cannabis) is known to be a fully benign drug. Reading the arguments made by weed proponents would appear to have beneficial effects only on cannabis. Ask every stoner in the sixties about his or her bad experiences and it is clear that marijuana does not always consist of rainbows and unicorns.


    marijuana delivery toronto

    ReplyDelete
  120. Awesome article, it was exceptionally helpful! I simply began in this and I'm becoming more acquainted with it better! Cheers, keep doing awesome! Black satta

    ReplyDelete