Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Come On Over

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a an invitation of any kind. I'm loving the little glimpses of fall around here, so I decided to make an invitation to a fall gathering.

I used my Maple layering set for the leaves - this is a 4-step layering set, and I used Peach, Canary, Orange, and Sienna IO Hybrid inks for the layers.

A tip for this - I have 4 leaves on my card, but I only had to set my stamps up twice. For the first impression I positioned my card in the lower right corner...

and for the second impression I positioned my card in the upper right corner. Hope that make sense! I did the 1st and 3rd leaves together, and then the 2nd and 4th. When all the layers were stamped, I added some shadows with Copic markers (W1 and W3).

I also used the MISTI to position my sentiment just perfectly - love how it tucked into the open area there.

Stamps I used: Maple clear set, Splatter 1, You're Invited

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.

Splitcoast Tutorial: Blender Pen Bleed

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is called Blender Pen Bleed! It's a beautiful reaction between colorless blender ink and the dye inks manufactured by Stewart Superior.

I have to confess that this tutorial threw me for a little loop... I tried some other Stewart Superior inks (hybrid - no reaction) and then some other dye inks (Ranger - no reaction) before contacting Ilina to verify what kind of ink I actually needed..... I didn't have any of the newer branded inks she did (Gina K, WPlus9, Hero Arts...) but remembered I had some older Memories inks. What I have, though, are dark red, green, and blue, and a mess of pale inks from 100 years ago when we used to do shadow stamping with solid stamps - does anyone remember those days? The technique works best with layering stamps, and most of my sets are 5 step sets, not 2 step... but I finally remembered this older SU set that was one of very few I have NEEDED to own - Roses in Winter. 

So the tutorial calls for a blender pen, but mine wasn't working fast enough for me, so I went for the bottle of reinker, and then used a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol - so I have a little extra bleed in my panel. You can use either the front or the back of the panel, so those are pictured above. I liked the deeper blue on the front.

I intended to have some pale blue stenciling on my card, but apparently Stewart Superior ink also reacts with whatever ink I failed to clean out of my Clarity stencil brush, so that's what turned up instead. Pretty!

This thank you stamp is one of mine from Impression Obsession - it's here - I also used a text stamp for a little extra background noise.

That's all I know!

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - Super Sponsor!

It's time for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, and I'm so excited to be a Super Sponsor again! Keep reading to find out how you can win one of 2 mini canvases or a domed glass art pendant, and receive a special coupon code for my online store! 

In case you're new to my blog, I'll tell you a little about me.  I adore Winnie the Pooh, randomly burst into song, and collect fun socks. I'm a working artist (see my commissioned pet portraits HERE), have my own line of stamps, and I'm the Artist in Residence at Splitcoaststampers, among other roles behind the scenes. I love to create, and I love sharing what I learn in the process. I have an online store where you'll find prints of my original artwork as well as jewelry and other items. I've been blogging here for almost 11 years!

This little Gruffies image (Bearly Working) is full of empty coffee cups - this September has been really busy for me, so I can relate to his little scene! The main panel is watercolored, and the background was an experiment with ColorBox sprays.

On to the fun stuff!

For a chance to win prizes in our hop this week, you have to play along! Head over to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog for all the details, and to link up your fall coffee, tea, or cocoa themed project! 

Two lucky winners will receive a hand painted mini canvas for participating this week, and one winner will be getting a domed glass art pendant - You can find these and more coffee (and other!) themed gifts in my online store - and to thank you for hopping and visiting today, you can use coupon code COFFEEHOP for 20% off your entire order through the end of the hop next Friday!

Thanks again - enjoy the hop, and go make something pretty!

Impression Obsession Fall/Winter Dies - Day 3

Welcome to the Impression Obsession Team Fall/Winter Die hop! We have some beautiful new dies to share with you, and prizes too. Keep reading to find out how you could win a $25 gift certificate and get a few dies of your own! This is the last day of our hop, but you still have until Monday to hop and comment for opportunities to win prizes!

I've shared the giraffe already, but I wanted to showcase several things at once, so he's back (or she, today?)! Over on Splitcoast today we are showcasing a Paint Swiping tutorial and also featuring a review of the Chameleon Color Tops by the Product Focus team! Just covering all my bases at once. Yay!

The giraffe and scarf are colored here using Chameleon markers and the new Color Tops - these are a super fun accessory to the markers that allow blends between any colors in their 50 color range - literally thousands of combinations. I used a white pencil to add some highlights on the scarf.

The background here is done by just swiping dabs of paint (I used cotton balls) with baby wipes to create a background. I cut the new Snowfall die out of Yupo paper and used that as a stencil, spreading some Aleene's Glitter Snow through the openings with a palette knife.

I made 2 backgrounds at once - this one is cut with the Birthday Wishes die, which is part of the Gift Card Foldover set - these are amazing sets that are designed to hold a gift card, but the individual pieces can also be used in a variety of other ways... here I just simply cut the window greeting out, and layered the panel over a white card base. It would make a perfect shaker window too! The gift border is an older die, but it was such a perfect fit with my layout.

Stamps and dies I used: Baby Giraffe clear set, Baby Giraffe die set, Snowfall die.
Gift Card Foldover die set, Gift Border die

Comment once per blog per day for a chance to win an Impression Obsession Gift Certificate!  The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win one of four $25 Gift Certificates.  Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and the Impression Obsession blog for all the details!

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

Thanks for visiting me today!

Impression Obsession Fall/Winter Dies - Day 2

Welcome to the Impression Obsession Team Fall/Winter Die hop! We have some beautiful new dies to share with you, and prizes too. Keep reading to find out how you could win a $25 gift certificate and get a few dies of your own! We'll have samples to share tomorrow too, so please check back for more chances to win!

I actually made this background months ago when we were showing off my new succulent stamps, but it never made it onto a card - it was a perfect fit with Alesa Baker's new succulent set, which also has dies to match! The background is embossed with white powder, and I sure don't remember what I used to color it. 

I used Chameleon pens and Color Tops to color the image - I'm loving this new addition to the Chameleon line, and I'll have more info about them later! I love that teacup, and I'm thrilled to have a die to go with it, and the mix-and-match succulents are so sweet.

Stamps and dies I used:  Cup of Sweet Succulents clear set, Cup of Sweet Succulents die set, CAC Succulents


Comment once per blog per day for a chance to win an Impression Obsession Gift Certificate!  The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win one of four $25 Gift Certificates.  Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and the Impression Obsession blog for all the details!

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

Thanks for visiting me today!

Impression Obsession Fall/Winter Dies - Day 1

Welcome to the Impression Obsession Team Fall/Winter Die hop! We have some beautiful new dies to share with you, and prizes too. Keep reading to find out how you could win a $25 gift certificate and get a few dies of your own! We'll have samples to share for the next 3 days, so please check back for more chances to win!

We all went a little giraffe crazy earlier this year, and I must admit I was pretty smitten as well - so much that I drew one while we were waiting for a birth announcement! My Baby Giraffe set was so much fun to put together, and I love his sweet face as well as the fun fonts. It's also a lot of fun to have dies to cut out the main image, as well as the accessories! 

Baby Giraffe die set

I thought he'd be cute peeking out of a Pop-Up Box Card, so I did a quick and simple one with a base of 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" cardstock, scored at 2", 4", 6", and 8. 

The other elements in the box are mounted on narrow strips of acetate. The whole card folds flat so that you can't see anything inside until you open it up (this one is 4" x 5-1/2" when it's flat).

Stamps and dies I used: Baby Giraffe clear set, Baby Giraffe die set, Patchwork Elements die set

Comment once per blog per day for a chance to win an Impression Obsession Gift Certificate!  The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win one of four $25 Gift Certificates.  Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration, and the Impression Obsession blog for all the details!

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

Thanks for visiting me today!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Harvest Hellos

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project with a fall or Halloween theme or colors.

I needed to replenish my stash of tags to tuck in with Etsy orders, so I pulled out a few acrylic paints in fall colors to do some quick gel prints.

I did 15 tags here, with 4 layers of color. My first layer was yellow, textured with a crackle stamp. Next I did an orange layer, laying a circle stencil over the gel plate. The purple layer is the one you see above - I just used 2 fingers to press the pattern onto a small area of each tag rather than doing an all-over print. I worked with white last, using a mandala stencil to break up the color and add just a small detailed pattern to each tag.

Treat the World

I used this text stamp for the background - it's a beautiful message of kindness, and I also like having a typewritten background that I can just press here and there for texture - pretty much any area of the text that you see has a positive word in it. I love it!

I designed this Thank You stamp specifically for making these tags - I hope it will be useful to you as well! It's perfectly sized for shipping tags. It is available in red rubber as well as this clear set:

Thankful Harvest

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.

Splitcoast Tutorial: Nouveau Retiform

Today's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun showcase of Clearsnap products, as well as a clever update to a classic technique! Lydia is sharing her Nouveau Retiform technique, using stencils, dye inks and a Rollagraph.

I don't have a Rollagraph, and I didn't even have a geometric stencil, so I did a little improvising on my end. I used a GridWorks die to cut a 9-block frame, then sectioned each square (or 2) off to brush in ink and add some stamped details.

When I was done adding color (Oxide and dye inks), I bravely cut out the center square to create a frame for my sentiment. I cut a frame out of fun foam that is just smaller on the outside and larger on the inside.

Here's a closer look! I gave my panel a little spritz with some ColorBox spray - some of that went underneath my flimsy vellum "stencil" but I like the effect.

Stamps I used: Treat the World, French Script, Thankful Harvest clear set, Collage Leaves clear set

Hope you'll try this little fun twist on a classic!

Portraits and September art special!

Just a quick post to share what's been on my desk lately! Though I spent last week focusing on stamp art I can't share yet, I do have a few more portraits to add to my portfolio of commissions. Keep reading for a special offer!

Here's Winston, an adorable chihuahua mix - this is a mini 5x7 size portrait. You'll find progress photos over on Instagram!

Lydia's kitties are done, and they were so much fun to capture in this larger piece (11x14). I can't wait to see this hanging in her studio! It will be delivered in a couple of weeks.

The holidays are fast approaching - if you're thinking of ordering a custom portrait, now is a great time to reserve your spot! If you book during the month of September, you'll receive a free pendant with your order. These are beautiful glass-domed pendants in a silver-plated tray, with your choice of memory wire or organza ribbon, a $14 value.

Click below for all the information, and to fill out a simple form that guarantees your spot in my queue!

 I'm very grateful for your support! Thank you!

Mix-Ability Challenge: The Layered Look

It's my turn to host the Mix-Ability challenge over on Splitcoast!

I've been spending several hours a week working on pet portrait commissions -- except this week - I was designing pretty Spring stamps for you! Anyway, my favorite way to work on these portraits is by laying down an underpainting with watercolor, and then adding details with colored pencil. Here's an example of what I mean -

This portrait started with a couple of washes of watercolor. The color of the underpainting is sometimes the highlight color of the area, and is what will show through between the pencil strokes.

It's also really helpful in darker areas, where you don't want any white to show through. The underpainting stage can be a bit of an ugly stage, but it builds a foundation, helps you to place colors correctly, and with a little work, the beauty will be in the details.

Here's my challenge sample - I've been playing with these new Color Tops from Chameleon, so I used them for my underpainting here. I used pencils to add a little more shading and some details to the image. The background was lightly brushed with IO Hybrid ink (safe with alcohol markers), and then I added some dotted acrylic paint for the snow.

Stamps I used: Little Red, Winter Silhouettes clear set
 Keep an eye HERE for Chameleon Color Tops coming soon!