Dina Kowal Creative

Thursday, July 20, 2017

New Fall/Winter Stamps from IO - Day 4

The Impression Obsession team is showcasing new Fall /Winter images that are available NOW! You can visit the I.O. Blog all this week for links to the previews and ALL the challenge details. Leave a comment on our designers' posts throughout the week for a chance to win one of SIX $25 gift certificates from Impression Obsession!

(In case you didn't know, I have my own line of stamps at Impression Obsession, and I'm thrilled to be adding more of my original stamps to the collection. You can see all my designs HERE!)

I love adding to my collection of silhouette stamps, so I have a few more for fall and winter scenes - this one is sweet for fall or Thanksgiving greetings. I masked off a border and brushed on some ink, then stamped the sentiment with my MISTI using coordinating inks. The enamel dots are from Whimsy Stamps.

I had a lot of fun making this next card - the background is a combination of layers of Distress Oxide ink and watercolor.

I did a quick distress background first, then let it dry completely, stamped the image, and masked off the light beam from the lantern with Frog Tape. Then I did a watercolor wash over the panel, splattering water over as it dried to add interest.

Stamps I used: Thankful Harvest clear set, Christmas Lights clear set

Blog Hop links will be posted on the Impression Obsession Blog at 6am EST July 17-21. The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win!!! Comment entries will be open until 9pm CT on Sunday July 23rd and all winners will be announced July 24th. Good luck!

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and comment for more chances to win!

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

New Fall/Winter Stamps from IO - Day 3

I'm really thrilled with how this Bethlehem sillhouette stamp turned out, and found it very versatile for a clean and simple card design! I'll plan on sharing a video when I have the chance to show how I made these backgrounds - they require several impressions and gradations using the IO hybrid inks and the MISTI.

I used cool colors in this version, and then cut the panel in 4 to layer onto matboard squares.

On this card, I layered a sentiment by Alesa Baker over the finished background - it's such a bold and stunning combination!

IO Products I used: Bethlehem, Peace, Jesus is the Reason (Alesa Baker); All-in-One Frames - Squares

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and comment for more chances to win!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Watercolor Imprints

This week it's my turn to share a tutorial over on Splitcoast, and I'm sharing my Watercolor Imprints technique! This is a fun and easy way to add a pattern into a watercolor or inky background as it dries.

You can use stencils....

...or stamps...

...and I even share ways you can use the residual ink for additional prints!

You can find the photo steps over at the link at the top of my post, but I thought I'd share the video here as well today - so you can watch it here or there - leave me a comment if you watch!

Hope you'll try this one - it's easy and lots of fun, and the results with Distress Oxide inks are really cool.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

New Fall/Winter Stamps from IO - Day 2

I always try to add some masculine designs to my fall/winter release, so this is one of those. It's timeless and classic, and useful for a variety of occasions or non-occasions. I paired the image with some vintage papers and one of Seth Apter's word stamps, but it would work with a quote or snarky sentiment as well. :)

Stamps I used: Gentlemen Silhouette, Journal Jargon One (Seth Apter)

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and comment for more chances to win!

Monday, July 17, 2017

New Fall/Winter Stamps from IO - Day 1

When I was working on illustrations for this release, all the world was abuzz with news about April and her pending delivery... so since we were waiting forever on the baby giraffe, I drew my own! There is a clear set with several sentiments and accessories (dies coming too!). The giraffe comes in rubber in 2 different sizes, and the sentiments are available in rubber as well. Love this one for a get well card.

There is a scarf in the set, a bow, and a bowtie, so you can dress up your baby giraffe as a boy or girl. The scarf and bow are so fun to paper piece!

TIP: stamp the scarf directly onto the image first so you don't have to cut around the fringe when you cut out the pieced image.

This card would make a great encouragement card - again, I stamped the bow onto a piece of patterned paper and added some shading and highlights with colored pencil to accent it before cutting it out. Both cards are watercolored.

Stamps I used: Baby Giraffe clear set

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and comment for more chances to win!

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Splitcoast Tutorial: Duoprinting with Chlorophyll

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast will have you seeing the plants in your yard in a whole new light! Duoprinting with Chlorophyll is a fun way to create botanical prints - using your die cutting machine!

I used leaves and flowers from my yard for my prints - here are 3 I took, and I'll share the others later.

The print above is a black walnut branch with multiple leaves.

This is clematis - the blooms are much darker purple with red undertones - I didn't expect a lavender print!

The last card is done with eastern redbud leaves - we have little saplings all over our property, and I used new leaves that still had a reddish tint.

So pretty!

I hope you'll have fun with this one! I was getting ready to travel, so I had to limit myself to just a few cards, but I could make prints all day! Be sure to check out Lydia's tutorial for some great tips!

Saturday, July 08, 2017

In the Garden - process and print!

It's been a couple of weeks since I finished this painting, but I wanted to be sure to share - I know some of you enjoy seeing my process through a painting. This one is titled "In the Garden", and I learned so much while I painted it!

These are irises from my garden, so I started with a reference photo and a background I had been buildling slowly while working on other projects. I love the serendipity of that process, and the beauty of unplanned layers of paint and color, stenciling, stamping, brushing or brayering. I also tested out a new-to-me product, Saral Transfer Paper. I was able to sketch out my design on butcher paper then trace it to transfer the lines to my canvas panel. I used the white, but there are other colors available - I think I'll be getting the graphite next.

To 'prime' the areas for the flowers, I started with a base coat or 2 of white acrylic paint.

I blocked in some color and shadow areas, then proceeded with layers of color, adding more details as I built up.

I love this next photo because you can see the contrast between the almost-finished bloom and the still-in-progress one. I added a gel transferred hymn sheet to the background after I had started adding details - that was a little scary, and also a learning experience. I do love incorporating hymns and songs into my work, and I'll continue exploring that theme in the future.

I finished this piece in time to enter it in a local show, and it actually won 3rd place in the professional mixed media division and got a lot of positive comments! I have really enjoyed connecting with the artists' community in this area.

I'd love to be able to share this artwork with you, and I have a couple of options - prints are available in my store, and I've also converted the sketch into a coloring page that can be printed on a full sheet or resized for a card front!

That's in my store as well, as an instant download. I'd love to see what you do with it, and if you'd like to see more coloring sheets like this, please let me know! I have lots of stamp art that would translate so easily into this format.

Cheers!

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: It's Getting Hot In Here

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project using warm colors. I think this is a warm enough green to be able to share this summer card!

I made a background using these adorable summer fruit stamps by Lindsay Ostrom, then colored them up using Zig markers and watercolors. I used Canva-Paper for my background panel.

I had just enough left from my background piece to make a bookmark too.

Stamps I used: Wonderful, Kiwi, Pineapple, Orange, Cherry, Watermelon, Sweet Summer

Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration -

Anna @ Sassy & Sweet Notes
Chris @ Cat Tales and Paper Trails
Daniela @ For the First Time
Ilina @ Creativity Within
Jeanne @ Inky Paws
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Karen @ Paper Lilies and Ink
Kelli @ Stamping with a Dream
Kittie @ Kittie Kraft
Laura @ Laura's Stamp Art Journal
Vicki @ Summerthyme Studio

Remember you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps! See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! We'd love to have you join us.
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Splitcoast Tutorial: Paper Molding

Today's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun Paper Molding technique. I took a little twist on things and used a die for my shapes, making it into a 3-dimensional ornament. Check out the tutorial to see how you can add dimension to a stamped image!

This is the die that I used:

Uncaged Bird

Each "layer" of the ornament is made of 3 layers of Bristol paper, so it's pretty dimensional. I used gel medium to stick the layers together, spreading it with a palette knife. I liked using that instead of a liquid glue because it was easy to spread over each full piece, and it dries clear with a matte finish, so you can't tell what a mess I made with it! Each layer can be shaped while the glue or gel medium is still wet, and it will hold that shape when dry.

This isn't the best picture because it's larger than life, but at least you can see how I wove the vine in around the bars of the cage. I loved adding that detail! The whole piece is covered with 2 coats of varnish - I used this one from Pebeo.

Come over and visit us at Splitcoast, and give this technique a try!
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Splitcoast Tutorial: Tie Dye Background

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun summery Tie Dye Background... this is such a fun and easy technique, and the backgrounds come together very quickly.