Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Things with Wings

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project featuring a winged thing! 

This is one of my catalog samples - I love this guy! He is watercolored on hot press paper, and the flippers are popped up with foam tape for a little extra dimension. The word stamp is from the clear set, which has the smaller penguin and bear stamps - it's linked below!

Stamps I used: Peeking Penguin cling set, Warm Wishes clear set

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

Anna @ Sassy & Sweet Notes
Daniela @ For the First Time
Giovana @ Believe
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: Gift Card Wallet

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a Gift Card Wallet - if you have an Envelope Punch Board, this is another fun non-envelopey way that it can be used!

Our guest author shared measurements for both orientations, so you can make your gift card wallet horizontal...

...or vertical. She's got measurements for insert cards, too, so you can have a gift card on one side, and a note on the other. So clever!

I made belly bands for my little wallets, using some scraps of my double sided paper plus a few from my stash. The leaf die is from Impression Obsession (Patchwork Leaves) and the sentiment is one of mine (Grateful For You).

Hope you're having a great week!

Spellbinders Coffee/Tea release!

Spellbinders is celebrating a new coffee and tea themed die release this week  called Cuppa Coffee, Cuppa Tea - they sent me a couple of die sets to play with, and though I haven't had a lot of time to play, I couldn't wait to make a paper pendant with one of the teapot dies!

This set is just so cute, and a great size for cards and other projects - there are 4 teapots in the set. I cut 3 images out of heavy watercolor paper, and colored the top one using several layers of watercolor paint, then added some finer details with a colored pencil. After the paint was dry, I glued the 3 die cuts together and curved the piece slightly while the glue was still wet.

When everything was dry, I coated the piece with several layers of clear varnish and a metallic finish, and attached the cord. These are very simple to make, sturdy and lightweight - I'll have a tutorial posted soon with more tips for different images!

Here's the set I used - click below to see the rest of the Cuppa Coffee, Cuppa Tea collection by Sharyn Sewell! Some really cute stuff.

 

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Rainbow Colors

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a multi-colored project.

 I think I'm ready for fall... but then I keep thinking that my favorite season is just whatever comes next. I love looking forward to the next thing, whatever it is! My card here is a celebration of fall, with its many colors. The image is colored with Copic markers, and has a watercolored background. It covers the red, orange, yellow, and green of the rainbow - I think it counts, don't you?

Stamps I used: Nature Walk and Thanks For All (both cling stamps) 

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

Anna @ Sassy & Sweet Notes
Daniela @ For the First Time
Giovana @ Believe
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: Double Masking

It's my turn to share a tutorial over on Splitcoast, and I've shared a Double Masking technique, combining 2 techniques for a clean and simple look.

I've already shared a couple of my project samples here - for this card since the image was more detailed I didn't want to cut a paper mask. Here's how I masked off the image and background area before applying all that summery ink. 

I've mentioned color shapers in the Splitcoast newsletter a couple of times - the ones I have are nothing special, but they're a great size and nice price for a variety pack - I have used them for 4+ years with no issues. Mine are a #2 size, with 5mm tips, and I use the angled chisel the most for masking fluid - it has a nice straight edge as well as a point for details. 

ComiArt Color #2 Shapers - set of 5

That pineapple stamp is from my latest stamp release - you can find it HERE! I loved drawing that one - there was a pineapple garden right next to our house when we lived overseas, and it was fun to watch them grow. Baby pineapples are so cute!

Pineapple cling stamp

Hope you're having a great week! I'm getting started on a new commission today, but I got this fun reveal video yesterday that I wanted to share! Such a cutie, and I love her reaction.

My queue is filling up with Christmas orders - if you'd like to order a gift, don't delay!

Spellbinders September kit 3 ways!

I'm having some fun this weekend with some dies from Spellbinders' newest  Large Die of the Month kit! You can find out about all of Spellbinders' kit clubs here - there are various levels, and you don't have to be a subscriber to purchase! These are the dies in this month's kit:

This kit is extremely versatile - the panels on the left can be used for 3" square shaker frames, pockets or windows, or they can be pieced together to create treat boxes or luminaries. I took the set in 3 different directions here, and you can find more ideas on the Spellbinders site. I hope they'll add other themed inserts that can be used with the frames - it's a really fun concept!

For this card, I created a simple window card using the Boo die - these dies can be used alone; they also fit into the window openings in the box and frame dies. Here, I cut the ghosty image into my card front, then cut a separate frame using square dies. I used Copics and pencils to color the image and give it a lot of dimension - it's hard to believe that is a single layer with all the shadows drawn in! These dies would be great as shaker frame elements too - I'll have to try that next.

For the next card, I pressed the cat image into my card front without cutting it through (tutorial HERE) and worked on the raised image on the back side of the panel.

To complete the technique I rubbed a white oil pastel over the raised outlines - this creates a resist, and preserves the image when you watercolor it.

 Here's a closer look at the kitty - I tried to make him cute and non-Halloweeny and I think that worked! I love seasonal products that can be used outside of their intended seasons. The sentiment is from my Introverting clear set.

For my last project, I used the panel dies to create a 3-sided luminary, then hand cut a 3" triangle for the base.  I lined the cut out panel with a piece of tracing paper, misted once with a Pumpkin Pie Spritzer ...

 ...and then tucked a string of fairy lights inside! A little bag of treats inside would be a cute desk gift or table favor idea too.

 I hope you'll take a peek at these dies, and the other things available at Spellbinders - you can click here for a 10% coupon if you'd like!

Impression Obsession DT Thursday

It's my turn to host Impression Obsession's Design Team Thursday! Thanks for visiting me today.

Several of you had asked for a tutorial showing how to make this card using stamps from the Layered Pinecone clear set so I have a quick video to share how that's done. You can do this with the floral stamps too - just choose a layer that has a good shape and good detail.

If you've been waiting to pick up the pinecone set, it is back in stock now! (Did you see the card Kittie made with it HERE?!)

Layered Pinecone clear set

Here's a closer look at the card... I love the way these inks bleeds out.

In other news, I have a brand new baby Instagram account that will just focus on my stamp line at I.O. - if you'd like to follow me, click here!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Designer Paper Gift Bag

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is another sweet gift bag - this one is perfect for a book or set of cards, and it's adorable with double sided paper! 

Here's a closer look at that tag, which I made from one of the strips I trimmed from my paper sheet - I thought this stamp image matched the paper theme perfectly... this is one of my designs from Impression Obsession - it's called Lily of the Valley. The sentiment is from one of my sentiment builder sets called Blessing Brush Words.

Hope you're having a great week! 

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Pop Up Your Words

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project featuring word dies or stamps. This is one of my favorite sentiment stamps from our recent Fall/Winter release - I don't know about you, but I say things to myself that I would never dare to say to someone else... maybe it wouldn't hurt to show ourselves a little kindness?

My background here started on a sheet from a pamphlet I got from someone going door to door... there are a couple of layers of gel printing, including the new CAC Splash background, printed with ColorBox pigment ink. The circles are one of Seth Apter's new stamps, which as always are really great for background textures. The sentiment is printed on our bookmark die, which is linked below!

Stamps and dies I used: CAC Splash, Grunge Grids cling set, Love Yourself, Bookmark die 

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

Anna @ Sassy & Sweet Notes
Daniela @ For the First Time
Giovana @ Believe
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: Painted Wood Burning

This week's tutorial over at Splitcoast is called Painted Wood Burning! I thought it would be fun to stretch our skill set a little bit. Are you with me?

I started off with the digital version of one of my stamp images - I've added it to my Etsy store HERE if you'd like to have one of your own! I love the rubber version, but I wanted to be able to enlarge it for this project. I printed the image on text weight paper and then used some graphite paper to trace it onto my wood plaque (this is from my stash of cheap wood pieces I've collected from thrift stores to paint on).

This type of wood wasn't at all ideal for the wood burning process, but at the very least I did end up with an indented, darkened outline, and learned some things for next time. If you're "in need" of a wood burning tool, this is the one I have - this kit actually comes with a variety of tips for different functions (I have used the hot knife several times) and the temperature is adjustable.

Instead of craft paints, I started off with a watery layer of gesso and then colored my image with colored pencils - that was quick and fun, and I love how vibrant the colors are! The sentiment I used is from Visible Image, and you can find it HERE. 

Here's a closer look at the details of the image - I'm excited to try wood burning again!