Splitcoast Tutorial: Witch Hat Clip

 This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is this cute Witch Hat Clip - these are done with circle dies and a couple of small rectangles - they're so easy and cute!

The outer circle for the hat brim is 2-1/2", so I took a 6" square sheet of cardstock, folded it in half, and cut two brims at once. From the other half of the sheet, I cut a 1-7/8" strip, folded it in 4, and cut 4 triangles at once. Just in case you're interested in making a few of these, it's easy to do them 2 at a time!

The spider die set is from Impression Obsession - isn't that cute? I cut the spiders out of felt, so they're fuzzy.

Take a peek over at the tutorial page to see how Kelly uses her clips to decorate Halloween goodies! Thanks for visiting today!

StencilGirl/Impression Obsession Blog Hop!

So fun again to be joining the Impression Obsession designers in a product swap hop with StencilGirl Products! I hope you've been inspired by the projects that have been shared so far - today is Day 2, and more projects will be shared tomorrow! You can find all the links on the StencilGirl Blog, and you'll want to because.......... prizes. (Keep reading to find out how you can win!)

We're just a few weeks away from our closing date, so I wanted to make something useful for the new house - I found this little 8"x12" Hampton Art easel that has a chalk board on one side and white board on the other  - it's a great countertop size for a menu or to-do list and it's just so cute! Magnetic too!

I started by masking off the right side of the board, about 2" in, and painted a mixture of gesso and craft paint as a base.

Set #1 Rafters, Web, Gears Stencils

When that was dry, I used the middle stencil above to add some texture randomly with a darker turquoise paint. The next layer was stamped with French Letter and  Dot Border in Stazon ink. I stenciled some of the gears at the bottom of the area, but my brush was too wet, so it squished a bit....

 I dry-brushed that area out a little bit, then used the same stencil to sponge a little Stazon ink for a little more detail and depth. I stamped the Porcelain Crackle randomly through the area to add a little more texture.

I thought this sentiment would be fitting for a daily reminder to keep my chin up when all the 'to-dos' don't get done! :) It's called More Than Your Mess, and it's from my stamp line at Impression Obsession.

Now for the fun stuff!

 Both StencilGirl and Impression Obsession will have two chances to win a $25 Gift Certificate - 4 prizes total! The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN! (One comment per blog please.) You can visit the StencilGirl blog for each day's listings. You have until Friday, September 30th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments, and winners will be announced on StencilGirl's Facebook page on Sunday, October 2nd.

If you missed yesterday's hop, here are those links, along with the designers who are participating today... please hop over to Karen Amidon's blog next!

September 26

StencilGirl Talk

Seth Apter

Mary Beth Shaw
Jeanne Streiff
Daniela Dobson
Kittie Caracciolo

September 27

StencilGirl Talk

Mary C. Nasser

Gwen Lafleur

Anna Wight

Dina Kowal

Karen Amidon

September 28
StencilGirl Talk

Janet Joehlin
Carol Baxter
Laura Fulcher
Jenny Gropp

Thank you for stopping by!

IODT Thursday - Fall Fishing

It's my turn to host Impression Obsession's DT Thursday - if you came over from the IO blog, thanks for popping over to see me! It's FALL, and I'm so happy to be living in a place with four seasons... when we lived overseas I really missed the beauty of the fall season.

I have quite a few fishing themed stamps in my latest stamp release, and I wanted to share this set, which has a fun layering background. I love the older books that are printed with just 3 ink colors, and this yellow-orange-brown combo feels very familiar. My scene is done with Distress inks.

Here's the stamp set I used:

Serene Scene

The backgrounds are ATC size, and can layer together or be used separately to reflect any season you wish! The silhouettes are perfect for scenes, too. The fisherman there is based on this photo of my grandfather. Fishing was one of his great loves.

Here's another photo of him, just for fun - and that baby is my mom! :)

Here's a closer look at the focal panel of my card - I used my Zig markers to add a little palette blended shading to the foreground. The background was embossed and then sanded lightly to reveal the core of the paper.

Thank you for visiting today  - and happy fall!!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Chipboard Pumpkins

It's my turn to share a tutorial over on Splitcoast, and I have a fun upcycle project! To see how I made these Chipboard Pumpkins, click HERE! These are so much fun to make, fun to give, and fun to abandon as well. They can embellish a card, or you can add a clip or magnet on the back to make them functional.

Come visit!

Stamptember IO discount!

A few of my cards are featured over on the Simon Says Stamp blog today - go take a peek, and take advantage of the 15% discount code!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Trick or Treat

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

I started off with this bouquet image:

and then used some smaller stamps to fill the bouquet with Halloween cheer - each image was masked off and then popped up with foam tape for more dimension.

I did my coloring with Touch and Copic markers, and added a few dots of Nuvo drops to try them out. :)

Stamps I used: Sunflower Bouquet, Trick or Treat, Spidee, Ben, Bart, Skully  

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

Anna @ Sassy & Sweet Notes
Daniela @ For the First Time
Dina @ Mama Dini's Stamperia ---- you're here
Jeanne @ Inky Paws
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Karen @ Paper Lilies and Ink
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: Pencil Shaded Watercolor

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun technique from Debby Hughes - Pencil Shaded Watercolor. It's a fun mixed media technique for adding details and depth to a watercolor painting by using regular colored pencils.

I watercolored my bird image on a Inchie Arts Swatch - it's 2" x 4" and I love this size for CAS card layouts. I used QoR paints for watercoloring... so happy to have them OUT to get started on some paintings for fall... it's been too long since I've done anything new!

I added some shading with Derwent Coloursoft pencils (great price on those now, by the way!) - just a little, to add some detail and depth. I didn't have any solvents to use for blending, so I just colored lightly with sharp pencils, and blended with my finger.

The sequins are from Cartwright's - someone shared a link on Splitcoast, and I had to check them out - they have beautiful colors, and great prices too! These are the Moonshine ones - they're colorless, and so pretty.

Stamps I used: Bird Branch, Soft Place, CAC Sunset Sky 

Check out the tutorial - Debby Hughes is amazing! :)

Splitcoast Tutorial: Handprint Name Tag

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is especially for kids - it's a Handprint Name Tag! I tried a little variation with shrink plastic, so I have some tips to share.

I traced my hand on the plastic first, and then added ink to the plastic to give it a soft color.

Remember that the color will darken when the plastic shrinks. I was using Versafine ink here - be sure to use ink that is permanent when heat set - Stazon works... chalk inks, Memento Luxe and Stazon will work but won't be dry until after shrinking. Dye inks aren't recommended.

I cut out the hand before stamping, because I didn't want to handle the piece too much with wet ink. If you do this, be careful cutting between the fingers - the plastic tends to 'tear', so instead of trying to cut those curves, just cut in to a point.

I did my stamping with the MISTI... clear stamps will stick to the plastic, so ink up first and just trust your positioning... I tried lining up the piece first with uninked stamps, and they would pull it out of place every time. The big 'blessed' I used is from Honey Bee Stamps - I love it! I also used a couple of stamps from Impression Obsession - French Letter and Grunge Wash.

Here's my hand before it went in the oven...

...and after! I have done shrink plastic with my heat tool in the past, but because of the shape here - the broad palm and those little fingers... it really needs the surrounding heat of the oven to shrink evenly.

The more intense and direct heat of the heat tool made my little fingers curl and stick, and I ended up with this mangled oops.

Our tutorial is sponsored by Clearsnap, and is perfect for crafting with a young child - I hope you'll grab a little buddy and try it out!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Falling For You

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project with fall colors.I got my clear sets yesterday, so I decided to put the layered leaf sets to the test.

These sets are different to me than the flower sets, in that all the pieces can really be used alone. I inked up the more solid stamps here with Distress ink on my MISTI, misted the stamps, and then let the cover 'smack' down so there was a little splatter with the image. When those layers dried, I added more layers of stamping with the more detailed leaves and some text stamps.

I love the layered acorn! Thought it fit well with the sentiment, too.

Here are the sets I used:

Oak Set

Maple Set

Leaf Set

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

Anna @ Sassy & Sweet Notes
Daniela @ For the First Time
Dina @ Mama Dini's Stamperia ---- you're here
Jeanne @ Inky Paws
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Karen @ Paper Lilies and Ink
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. And don't forget to hop and comment for another chance to win in our joint hop with the CardMaker team! Click HERE for the link list and details. 

Cheers!

IODT/Cardmaker Blog Hop

Today the Impression Obsession design team is joining up with the CardMaker team for a blog hop - thanks for stopping by! If you're a regular reader of my blog and just happened upon my section of the blog hop, you may want to head to either the IO blog or CardMaker blog. If you should happen to get lost or interrupted along the way, you can always go there for a complete list of links in the correct order. Impression Obsession will be hosting a giveaway of a $25 gift certificate, so be sure to catch the details on that too!

If you came to my blog from Daniela's blog you are doing just fine. 

My card is a quick and simple one - this large bloom was easy to color and packs a real punch! I laid in a base color on all the petals using Touch Twin Markers and then pulled out some shading from the flower center with a darker color.

Stamps I used: Abstract Zinnia, Making a Difference

From here you're going to be visiting Juliana Michaels over at 17turtles! Thanks for stopping by to see me!