Impression Obsession DT Challenge: It's Snow Time!

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project featuring snow! I have had several requests for a little tutorial on foiling with regular dies, so I thought I'd combine that with my post today. Hope you enjoy! Here's my card:

I picked out this Snowflake Background die to work with - I used washi tape to create a hinge to hold it in place on my cardstock, then tucked foil underneath it with the shiny side up against the die. This is Spellbinders' heat reactive foil, and it has a plastic release liner on top of the shiny side. That pulls away and the shiny foil stays when it's activated with heat and pressure. 

Heat the die on the foiling platform according to system directions, and then run it through a die cutting machine with the plates provided. I added a couple of cardstock shims to my sandwich to make sure there was enough pressure applied.

Tadaaaaaaaaaa! So foiling with cutting dies is a little different than the foiling plates, since the foil is only activated by the cutting lines, and those are so narrow. I left my design simple here, but you can use those outlines for watercoloring if you like, to give a bolder look to your background.

This Sand Eraser is a handy tool for removing any extra foil that might have stuck between the lines - sometimes that happens in big spaces or if there's excess foil (you can see a little at the edge of the photo above).

The heat reactive foil will also stick to adhesive, so I lined a panel with wide double tape, and pressed some foil around the edges for a shiny border.

You can see the plastic liner below, as the sheet is pulled away.

I added a small tag with some tiny snowflakes just for a simple accent - I didn't want to cover up the foiling too much so I'll save the sentiment for the inside of the card.

Foil is hard to photograph, so here's an attempt at showing the shine...

I hope this helps - I love this technique and it's a great way to extend the use of your dies in a pretty and dramatic way!

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the details! 

Splitcoast Tutorial: Winter Frame

I'm back! I took a road trip with my mom, and spent 10 days away from home visiting my son and my brother in Texas! Fun times - but I'm glad to be home and getting back into a routine again (though I did need the break!). Thanks for holding down the fort for me, and thanks to those who shopped through my sale links last week! If you're still looking for a handmade gift, all items in my Etsy store are still 20% off through tomorrow, with free shipping over $35.

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a Winter Frame - I had a 5"x7" frame already prepped, so I used that for my sample. The base is corrugated cardboard brushed with a little white gesso (ooh, that needs glitter!), and all the dies are from Spellbinders (the snowflakes were from the November small die kit, and the silhouette is Sharyn Sowell's artwork, found HERE - it's marked down to $10 right now if you want to catch it on sale!). 

Today's work day was extended by an airport run and computer issues, but tomorrow I'll find a place for this on the mantle! How are your holiday decorations coming along?

Small Business Sale!

Thank you so much for your support of my small business! I'd like to offer a 20% discount in my online store through Dec. 3rd on all orders over $20 - there are lots of gift items to choose from, and a little something for everyone! No code is needed! Happy shopping!

Impression Obsession sale!

Here are the details for the Impression Obsession sale - enjoy a discount on all your favorite stamps, does, inks, and accessories!

Remember to check out the sale items for even more savings!

There are many other sales and I've pulled as many as I can together because I do enjoy supporting these small companies! If you have a favorite on this list, please feel free to use my links - the small commissions that come my way help to keep this site running. Please keep checking back - I will keep adding sales as I find them!

Thank you much, and happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Week Sale!

I'm away from home this week but I have some special offers in my store for Thanksgiving Week! Save 30% on all of my in-stock art prints and 50% off select jewelry items!

I'll be filling orders when I get home! Thanks so much!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Holiday Wishes

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project expressing good wishes for the holidays!

There aren't very many more crafting weeks before Christmas cards need to be sent, and decorations are already going up, so I'm posting a couple of quick poinsettia cards today - I designed these stamps for fast, clean and simple cards in a hurry! The first one is the Poinsettia Collage  - this one can be loosely watercolored or distressed on a solid background. I went with loose watercolor here, and matched up some scraps from my stash for the layout. The sentiment is HERE.

My second card features the gorgeous Pixel Poinsettia Cover-a-Card stamp - this is a photo stamp that makes a beautiful monochrome background (see how I used it that way HERE with red ink on kraft paper, and tone-on-tone HERE) or can be stepped up with your favorite coloring medium. I did some loose watercoloring again here, then went in with colored pencils for the deeper shadows.

The stamp image indicates where the shadows should go with more concentrated dots - and really since those dots create shadows your coloring doesn't have to be too detailed. Here's a closer look (the rendering here is low resolution, causing a gridded look - it doesn't stamp that way!):

It's also designed so you have lots of placement options on your card - rotate the image or move your panel to one side or the other. Lots of options for simple, beautiful cards. 

This sentiment is great year-round, but so appropriate for the holidays as well! They can be tough sometimes.

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration, and 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.

Holiday show items!

My daughter and I had a booth at a holiday market this weekend, and came home with a lot of items - I listed them on my Facebook page and will move them to Etsy soon, but wanted friends to have first look. If you'd like to take a peek the album is here!

Here are the types of items I have left, a variety of paper bead jewelry and holiday items.

I hope you have a great week! I may be scarce - I'm leaving Wednesday on a road trip with my mama. As SEPTOCTEMBER rolls up, I'm definitely ready for a break!

Impression Obsession - Old is New

With such a huge collection of wonderful stamps from so many artists, sometimes the older stamps in the Impression Obsession catalog find their way out of the spotlight. We don't want them to be forgotten, so from now on you'll be seeing our team feature them regularly. We hope you're inspired!

Here's a quick card using the sweetest fox image - I just love his contented look. He's loosely watercolored and I added some grassy grounding for him with a wet into wet technique.

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the details! 

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: So Thankful

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project that expresses gratitude!

There are so many events and projects going on this week! I made sure my card fit several. This is a technique we shared yesterday as a Falliday Fest tutorial over on Splitcoast, and this week there's also a Coffee Lovers Blog Hop going on, so I'm linking there too! My little Tea/Cocoa mug is die cut from napkins, and watercolored with QoR paints - such an interesting technique.

I used Scalloped Stitch Circle dies to build my card base, brushing a little ink on the base panel while the cardstock was still in the die. My sentiment is from this clear set, which is a perfect one for small business owners! Love it.

CL964 Happy Mail

If you're in a coffee, tea, or cocoa mood, be sure to pop over to my Etsy store where all items of that theme are 20% off! No code needed, and free shipping over $35!

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration, and 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.