Topflight Stamps Hop - Happy 9th Birthday!

I'm always so delighted to help celebrate Topflight Stamps' birthday - can you believe they've been supplying hard-to-get stamping products from outside the US for 9 years? Happy birthdayyyy! It is so fun for me to browse through their amazing collection to see what's new in the world.  A bunch of other amazing designers have done the same thing, and we've got projectsssss to share with you today. Please hop with us and see what everyone has made! 

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 we haven't met, I'm Dina - I have mostly retired from the paper crafting industry, but you might recognize me from my product line at Impression Obsession and my tenure as Artist in Residence at Splitcoaststampers! These days I am working full-time as a yearbook specialist for Memory Book by Jostens, making memory bears at Thoughtful Spot Memory Bears, and creating community with local artists in my county as president of our new arts council.

I found a couple of bird stamps that just made me happy - this little guy from AALL & Create  really fit the 'bill' for a card of celebration! I stamped him in Versafine Clair ink on watercolor paper, and applied several layers of watercolor paint, letting each layer dry before adding more depth and color. This glazing technique is my favorite way to watercolor. I added some deeper shading with a colored pencil, and added some highlights and spatters with a white acrylic paint pen. 

There are a few dots of glaze on the image for shine and dimension - on the bird's eye and on the roses. The sentiment is from Katzelkraft, and I love the freedom and mix of fonts in this set. I always seem to choose stamps that go out of stock - just a reminder to BUY something you love on the Topflight site - some of their items are difficult to restock and you don't want to miss your chance!

The layering base on both of my cards is from an AALL & Create cardstock pack - I absolutely hated covering up these papers because they are so beautiful!. I hope you'll check out their paper range.  The cardstock is very heavy, and it would stand up well for mixed media bases too.

My second card is my favorite - there were some gridlines in the background of the stamped image from Crafty Individuals, so I used a colored pencil to extend them to the edges of my panel (Versafine Clair ink on watercolor paper again). I didn't take pictures of my process, and I'm sorry - but the colors you see in the top row filled each column of the grid, and when those were dry, I glazed the 2nd and 3rd rows with other colors. I have a tutorial for this technique HERE on Splitcoaststampers, and it can be done with different mediums as well.

Following that, my process was pretty much the same as above - watercoloring the image and then adding details with a colored pencil and white paint pen. The sentiment banner partly covers up an area where my paint pen blurped!

Here are links to the products I used from Topflight today:

Versafine Clair Ink - Fallen Leaves

AALL & Create - Design Papers - A5 - 20 - Woodsy Whispers

AALL & Create - A7 - Clear Stamps - 1139 Buttercream Birdy Bliss

Crafty Individuals - Unmounted Rubber Stamp - 653 - Goldfinch (out of stock)

Katzelkraft - A5 - KTZ291 - Unmounted Red Rubber Stamp Set - Enjoy Quotes (out of stock)

During our birthday hop, your order from Topflight will be 20% off - no code is needed!

Of course, it 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 March 31st. Winners will be announced on the Topflight Stamps blog on Thursday, April 2nd. U.S.A winners only due to shipping issues. Good Luck! Please be sure your comment or Google account gives us a way to contact you.

Here is a list of the designers who are sharing projects today to celebrate this special occasion:

Topflight main post:

Kathi Rerek

Dina Kowal <<<<<<<<<< You're Here!

Esther Asbury

Annette Allen 

Lisa Hoel

Connie Mercer 

Gwen Lafleur

Colleen Dietrich

Ericka Strange

Autumn Clark

I thank you for visiting me, and for celebrating Topflight's birthday with our talented crew!

Topflight Stamps Hop - Happy 6th Birthday!

It's Topflight Stamps' 6th 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! I hadn't worked with products from AALL and Create before, so I chose a larger clear set and large stencil from their line. All the images in the bird set are nice card-sized collages, and I wanted to use all of them, so I started by creating a large 8.5" x 11" background that I could cut down for 4 card fronts. I brushed watercolors over a hot press sheet, and laid the stencil over the paint, allowing it to dry overnight with acrylic blocks weighing it down. Here's what that looked like before and after. I love the size and detail of this stencil, and it's a nice thickness too.

I cut and stamped the panels, then proceeded on each one with different mixed media layers, including watercolors, colored pencils, acrylic markers, inks, and acrylic paints. 

The backing papers and sentiments came from a paper pad I have linked below - I don't usually use printed die cuts on my cards but these were just the perfect size! The gridded areas in the background were done by painting watercolors through drywall tape - I love that look, and it's so simple to do.

I ran this panel through my die cutting machine after it was painted to deboss the stencil again, and added an antique gold gilding paste lightly with my finger to the raised areas.

On the card above I used a clear matte embossing powder with sprinkled water for a resist technique - it shows up nicely at the top! (Tip: heat the panel from the back to keep the powder in place when the water dries.)

I like the coolness of the teal background here, and the contrasting colors on the image.

Topflight products I used:

KaiserCraft - 6.5" x 6.5" Paper Pad - Flowering Natives

AALL & Create - Clear Stamp Set - A5 - #801 - Bipasha BK - Garden Accessories

AALL & Create - Stencil - A4 - #86 - Twirling Tendrils

WOW! Embossing Powder - Clear Matt Dull - Translucent

Cosmic Shimmer - Gilded Touch - Tarnished Gold

Of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without prizes! Topflight Stamps is giving four lucky winners a $50 Gift Certificate to the store. Two (USA) winners will be chosen from commenters on the blog hop and two will be chosen from commenters on the IG hop. Make sure to visit the stops on the hop and leave your comments by April 1st. Good luck - the more you stop to comment, the more chances you'll have to win! Winners will be announced on the Topflight Stamps blog on Monday, April 3rd. 

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

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!