Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Topflight Stamps Hop - Happy 7th Birthday!

It's Topflight Stamps' 7th birthday!! Happy birthdayyyy! To celebrate I’ve teamed up with some great designers to showcase celebratory projects using the unique products available at Topflight Stamps. Please hop with us and see all the beautiful talent from this group of amazing designers - I love being invited to hop along! You can go to the Topflight Stamps Blog for the full list of links and other hop info - in addition to the blog hop there is a hop on Instagram, and you'll find that info there too. Keep reading for prize info!


If you're not familiar with Topflight Stamps, they have the most amazing collection of hard-to-get products from outside the US all in one convenient online shop! You will love browsing there if you haven't before - or if you have! I'm always finding things I've never noticed before. Here is my "celebration" of small things and creative reuse!


I chose the most adorable Woodland Bundle by Stamperia to work with, and though it's sold out at Topflight (I'm so sorry!) I can wholeheartedly recommend Stamperia's products - this was a nice sampler of their stencils, papers, rubons, die cut stickers and chipboard ephemera! Their products are beautiful and the highest quality. I hope my projects will give you ideas that you can use with their other products at Topflight!  They do have 2 other Stamperia product bundles HERE and HERE - if you're shopping the sale  you might want to grab those before they're gone! 


A couple of years ago I got a little obsessed with buying vintage wood stamp lots on ebay (oopsie!) - one lot in particular had a lot of self-mounted stamps that were not indexed and the maple blocks were in really nice condition after I removed the rubber. I set them aside to alter and found them last week as I was cleaning, so I decided that would be my project for the hop today! For 2 of them, I glued paper from the Stamperia paper pack as the base, then added some of the die cut elements to create a little scene. Here I added the mouse then used one of the stencils around the edge, creating a raised design with matte gel medium. I brushed ink over the stenciled design to darken the edges of the panel and highlight the mouse, then added some fern die cuts (Craft Emotions - Dies - Fern Leaves), die cut kit images, and a Lavinia sticker (Lavinia - Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection) to the corner. This block is 5"x6" and I think it will be a sweet decor piece!



Here are a couple of closer peeks - my idea for the stenciling was initially to create more of a resist, but I needed different ink for that and I didn't want to risk damaging the paper by getting it too wet. I do like the effect I ended up with!


My second block is a little bit smaller. My process was the same, using paper to cover the block, then adding die cuts to create a little scene. The little mice are so cute! I die cut and watercolored more ferns, popped up more word stickers, and then sponged the bottom edges for depth.

I thought those words were so sweet - the Lavinia stickers remind me of the refrigerator magnet words that you can group together in different phrases. This one spoke to me today.


My favorite thing in the kit besides the mice were the intricate stencils - they are a large 7" x 7" size, and so well designed with multiple motifs on each panel. One of them had a beautiful sentiment framed with leaves and berries, and it was a perfect fit for a larger block in my box. I prepared the background with gesso and acrylic paint, sanded lightly to create a texture, then stenciled  the design with black texture paste. I had picked up some small sea sponges at the thrift store - I used one to create a border of color. When that was dry I went back in with my craft paints and painted the leaves and berries. There are several layers of paint, as well as highlights added with an acrylic paint pen.

I did use a brush to connect the letters where the stencil design had gaps - it's not noticeable unless you look closely, and I like that continuity better. The raised outline of the leaves and berries gave me an outline to work with and also gives texture even in the places it's covered by paint. TIP: Remember there are other ways to use stencils besides just brushing ink through them! Stamperia definitely has stencil designs that lend themselves well to painted projects like this.



Those are my projects and I hope you are inspired to try something similar!

You know our hop wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without prizes! Topflight Stamps is giving four lucky winners $50 Gift Certificates to the store. Two winners will be chosen from commenters on the blog hop and two will be chosen from commenters on the IG hop. For a chance to win, make sure to visit the stops on the hop and leave a comment by April 1st. Winners will be announced on the Topflight Stamps blog on Monday, April 3rd. U.S.A winners only due to shipping issues. Good Luck!

Thank you for visiting me! And I almost forgot - please enjoy a birthday discount at Topflight - no code is needed!


You can visit the Topflight Stamps Blog at any time for the full list of links and other hop info - have fun,  be inspired, enjoy the hop and sale, and good luck with the prizes!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More

Monday, March 25, 2024

Impression Obsession - March Team Favorites

The IO Team is back today to share a favorite card from this month's release, but before I share mine, I wanted to make sure you know about IO's biggest sale ever! Some exclusions may apply, but for the most part all in-stock items are 40% off - this even includes the $1 section. Can't beat a set of cute clear stamps for 60 cents!! 


On to the favorite projects - here's mine, and you can head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the rest of the links so you don't miss anything. All the newest releases can be found HERE.


I'm going back to our Birthday Hugs Bundle because this one was fun to make! I stamped the balloons in Beige ink and used watercolors to color each one. I did one color at a time, making sure they were dry before painting an overlapping color. It did take a little braining to decide which ones were in front of others, but I think I worked it out. I added a little splattering to add texture and break up the solids and white areas. New dies and paper were used as well! If you'd like to try this concept, check out Jennie's tutorial on Coloring Transparent Objects.



IO Products:


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

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Impression Obsession - more March products

We've got more projects from the new release from Impression Obsession today! If you haven't seen the new release, you can find it all HERE - go check it out! 


The bunnies are back, and this set is perfect for little everyday scenes! I used the cloud stencil here and watercolored some hills in to the scene. My window card panel was a negative cut that was left from an earlier release


For my second card I stamped and masked the bunny, added a few branches behind him, and then layered the flower pot die over him so it looked like he was sitting in it. So cute!


Here's a closer picture - I love how the flower die cut on the edge adds sweetness and depth to the scene.


IO Products: 

Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during release week (March 15th – 21st) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders! 

March 15th - 16th The Impression Obsession Team will be sharing new projects with the NEW clear stamps, stencils, papers and dies! You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Dina Kowal <<<<<<<that's me!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More

Friday, March 15, 2024

Impression Obsession - new products for March!

It's time for a new monthly release from Impression Obsession! Haven't seen the new products? They're all HERE - go take a peek!


I have a couple of products in this release... one is this clear stamp set full of sentiments and quotes with a theme of light.  It kind of fell into this month's release randomly, but when I saw this shaker tag die all I could think of was a hanging lantern. Using an older stencil and the candle from this month's bundle, I made it work! I love it when ideas play out like they work in my head. The tag is cut from red cardstock, with some details added in Copic and paint markers. Product links are below!


The light sentiments were a good fit with the candle dies from the birthday bundle as well. I'd been wanting to use some scraps to make a starburst background (tutorial HERE) so those ideas all came together for my next card. 


Here's a closer look at the candles - they are watercolored with a wet-into-wet technique, and I also flicked a little water on them as they were drying to create the spotted effect. Using colors that would contrast against the orange really makes them pop!



Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during release week (March 15th – 21st) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders! 

March 15th - 16th the Impression Obsession Team will be sharing new projects with the NEW clear stamps, stencils, papers and dies! You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Impression Obsession Blog
Angela Bode
Dina Kowal <<<<<<< you're here!
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning
Vicki Garrett


Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More

Monday, March 11, 2024

Impression Obsession Product Focus: Dies

The Impression Obsession team has some projects to share today featuring our dies! 

I missed sharing this card in January - I felt like we didn't get enough time to really love on everything in that release. I love these little shelf-sitting Pooh characters, and they're just right for perching on a number of things! 


I started here with a quick watercolor wash, then placed my letters in a row (for a tutorial on getting them straight, click HERE). Pooh was cut from watercolor paper then colored with Zig markers and a paint pen. The sentiment is partially stamped - this one is from Piglet's little clear set.

IO Products:

Here's one more bonus card with the letter dies, and a reason to not cut them apart... sweet and simple!


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

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More

Saturday, March 02, 2024

More from the March bundle!

We've got more to share today using this month's new bundle from Impression ObsessionIf you missed my post yesterday, be sure to read up on the details for this new bundle concept. I had a lot of fun with all the interactive parts of the kit!


I went with a clean and simple format for this card, but the stenciling took some time, since each section of the cake is a different opening. The sections are separated on the actual stencil, so with each layer I needed to mask off the surrounding openings.  Here's the full bundle of 4" x 4" stencils (they are so cute!!), highlighting the 3 that I used:


While I had each section isolated, I layered up the confetti stencil and added some tone-on-tone texture. These tiny patterned stencils are so cute, and great for adding a little texture or fun in small places.

I needed an opaque medium for my frosting layers so I used a dark brown colored pencil to add those details in. Additional highlights were added with a white paint pen.


I did test out some detail brushes for these small scale stencils, and I was pleased with the ones I got - you can find them HERE


IO Products

Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during the March Bundle release week (March 1st – 8th) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders!

(Leave me a comment though anyway - I miss hearing from you!)

Check these links for today's hop projects:

Dina Kowal <<< that's me!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More

Friday, March 01, 2024

Impression Obsession March bundle

The design team is sharing projects today using this month's new bundle from Impression Obsession! These are a new concept for us, so here's what you should know! 

  • There will be a limited number of complete bundles available. 
  • The bundle includes a 4"x6" stamp set, matching dies, and 12 mini stencils - some of the stencils match the images and some are patterns that can be used independently. 
  • The bundle price is about 25% less than purchasing the items individually.
  • Even after the bundles sell out, the stamps and stencils can be purchased individually. The dies will not be available individually and will not be restocked.


As you can imagine, a set of basic images like this has infinite possibilities! I stamped the candle multiple times across my little die cut using Beige hybrid ink. This is a very pale ink that does well for a "no line" technique - it actually takes the color of the watercolor and pops a little, so there is a line, but it coordinates itself. 


IO Products: 

Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during the March Bundle release week (March 1st – 8th) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders!

(Leave me a comment though anyway - I miss hearing from you!)

Check these links for today's hop projects:

Impression Obsession Blog
Angela Bode
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal <<< you're here!
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Robin Clendenning
Vicki Garrett


Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!



Ideas, Supplies, Machines, Paper & More