Impression Obsession - Die Cut Obsession

There are so many amazing dies at Impression Obsession - this special Monday feature lets them have the spotlight! We hope you're inspired!

I have got potted plants and hanging baskets on the brain this weekend, so I thought it would be fun to make a little hanging basket - these are older dies that don't get a lot of love, and this was fun to put together! 

DIE680-I Hanging Basket

I used a wood grain folder to emboss the frame (DIE930 Mid-size Frame) then set to work building up my basket. 

 I apologize for not taking pictures of my process - since I had been digging in the dirt and repotting plants, I ended up spending the rest of the day battling allergies! I placed the basket in the frame first, then used these die sets for the greenery, creating a layer of leaves, filler and flowers before adding the hanger portion:

DIE334-Y Foliage

DIE907 Winter Foliage

DIE140-D Tiny Flowers

I 'hung' the basket on a matte enamel dot - these white ones are my favorite, since I can color them to any color with alcohol markers. I used Nuvo Crystal Drops for the flower centers, and added a little glitter before those dots dried.

Stop by and see all the IO dies HERE - don't forget the sale section for some great bargains (half price!!) on dies you might not find again, and also be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for die cutting inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the details! Have a great week!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Fishing Vest

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun shaped card for the fisherman in your life. I've mentioned that I live in a lake area, and I can see these being popular here! I need to put together some sets of lake themed cards for a holiday show that will be here before I know it.

The card is an A2 size, and very simple to make, with a few cut corners and die cuts. I used a circle die to cut the neck and arm holes, and used this embossing folder to add a simple pattern - it's one of my favorite folders for its simplicity and texture.

The sentiment is from an Impression Obsession set, and the fish die in the pocket is a sneak peek at a new set coming soon! More on that Monday. Yay!

Thank you for visiting me today!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Graphite Transfer Paper Deboss

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun Graphite Transfer Paper Deboss - it's a very simple way to make a background using graphite paper and an embossing folder! Who knew?

These backgrounds are beautiful with added color but I wanted to keep mine simple to show off the tire tracks (I got that folder here but it seems to be retired). The Tin Lizzie die I used is here, and it's pieced together with 3 separate layered cuts. The tires are on the base layer, colored with Copic markers. The other pieces are solid cardstock, shaded with Copics and highlighted with a light grey colored pencil. This is the graphite paper I use.

The stamp is from this set, which is in my line - it's one of my favorite masculine sets, and a great staple set to have!

CL672 Timeless Classic clear set

I hope you're having a great week - I'm recovering from an allergy day and a little giddy that we got Hamilton tickets! My son and I have been saving Christmas and birthday checks for a long time!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Coffee Filter Prints

It's my turn to share a tutorial over on Splitcoast, and I'm sharing a fun technique for using coffee filters to print on photo paper. You can find the tutorial HERE! 

Spellbinders August Small Die of the Month
Impression Obsession CL577 Maya clear set

Photo paper has some really cool properties when paired up with dye inks, because the coating on the paper allows it to take an instant 'print' of the ink that doesn't fade when it dries - you can actually dry it right away without changing the look. When you're working with watercolor powders, you can create some really interesting effects directly on photo paper... here's a sample I made in the video to show what that can look like. 

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Crystal Peaks die
Impression Obsession B13280 Be Here Now

The results tend to be more spotty, since the effect of the water is instant, and you don't get the full bleed and blend that you can get on more absorbent papers since the powders don't reactivate. That may be an effect that you want, but maybe not - it's great to try different methods to see what works best for different effects.

Spellbinders August Small Die of the Month

Impression Obsession CL577 Maya clear set

Darice® 4.25 x 5.75 Embossing Folder: Wire Fence

The other cards in my post were created by transferring activated watercolor powders using a coffee filter.

Spellbinders August Small Die of the Month
Sentiment - The Cat's Pajamas (retired)

I'm working with some dies from Spellbinders too - these sweet little flourished frames and birds you see are from their August Small 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.

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Little Boys at Play
Impression Obsession C13433 Never Give Up

 You can even make prints from filters that have been used - in the video you can see how I made this background using a filter that was still damp, but had been used pretty heavily on another card. It's a completely different look, but so cool!

Hero Arts May 2018 My Monthly Hero kit

When you're all done, dry the filters out to use as card backgrounds! There's so little waste with this technique. Again, check the tutorial for great tips on attaching coffee filters to cardstock.

 Hope you'll try this one out - there are so many ways to play!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Christmas in July

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a Christmas project!

I'm bending the challenge just a little bit to share a couple of winter silhouette cards - they could be great Christmas cards too! My first card has a stenciled background that was done with two layers of brushed ink, flipping the stencil once (you can find the stencil HERE). I added some snow dots with white gesso, applied with a ball stylus.

For the snow I used a curved hill die set that makes great scenes as well as card edges - that's linked below.

I stamped the Skater Silhouette over a gel printed panel, then embossed it with a snowflake folder and sanded lightly to give the scene some depth. Love that effect!

Stamps I used: Sled Silhouette, My Heart is Warm,  Skating Silhouette, Layered Bow clear set, Hill Landscape Layers die 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: Embossed Ribbon

I'm filling this week's tutorial slot with a technique sent in by one of our members, my friend Holly! Did you know you can emboss ribbon with your die cutting machine?

This stamp is one of mine, found HERE, and the die is from one of our new artists at Impression Obsession - it's HERE. I made this sample using silk ribbon, which I felt got the best results, but if you click over to the video you'll see the results on 3 more ribbon types.

The hardest part for me was the drying time - water just doesn't evaporate quickly in between two pieces of plastic! Might be a good evening project, to allow overnight drying. 

Give it a try!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Impressions of Tarnished Foil

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is called Impressions of Tarnished Foil - it combines layers of ink, dry embossing and heat embossing to create a gorgeous tarnished metal effect.

The tutorial recommends using black StazOn ink, but I used Timber Brown on mine and I liked the results better. My base is a silver label sheet from Silhouette - these are adhesive on the back, which was really handy. I embossed the sheet with a folder from Darice, then added gold and verdigris embossing powders. After the heat embossing, the final step is to rub ink over the raised areas to make them look tarnished. Lots of steps, but such a great effect!

When I had the background finished, I looked up and saw this mini print of one of my paintings sitting on my desk and it happened to match, so that was that! The flourish die is from Impression Obsession.

Come give this technique a try!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Birthday Wishes

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project for a birthday - this is a perfect challenge for this week - today is my Daddy's birthday, and tomorrow is my baby's birthday... and with that, all my kids will be in the double digits. Crazy.

With today's card I'm sharing a couple of new summer stamps that we'll be releasing next weekend! I had a lot of requests for masculine stamps, so I tried to include plenty on my pages. These images come in red rubber and also as part of a clear set with some other designs and sentiments.

I wanted to keep my coloring simple, so I used a Zig Clean Color brush marker to color the car, sponged the edges, then hit the panel with a couple of spritzes of water to let the color spread. Simple!

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
Laura @ Laura's Stamp Art Journal

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: Faux Fresco

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a fun mixed media technique called Faux Fresco - be sure to click on the link to find out how this layered technique works!

I started by embossing a watercolor panel with a folder from Darice. I used Inktense Blocks for the initial coloring, since I knew they'd stay put after they were activated with water... I started with a dry rubbing over the embossed areas, then spritzed, let it dry a little and then added more color with another block. Here's what the panel looked like after that step:

After coloring, there's a layer of white acrylic paint added by scraping with a credit card, then clear embossing ink and powder is applied to the raised areas. The result is a beautiful faded fresco effect - I added some stamping with a text and crackle stamp just to add to the aged look.

I added a few accent stamps from my line at Impression Obsession (Sewing Ruler, Lg. Sew , Happy For You), and button dies as well. The lace border is one of my die designs - I sewed that onto the ruler border and pleated as I sewed.

Come give this one a try! Hope you're having a wonderful week. :)

Bible Journaling technique and a giveaway!

I tried a fun technique in my Journaling Bible this weekend, and wanted to share it with you - stay tuned to the end for a giveaway!  (Be sure to visit my other blog post for 2 more chances to win!) Here is the finished page - the words and journaling were inspired by this song, which always comes on the radio just at the right time...

The lyrics of the chorus are written in the corner:

So when you're on your knees and answers seem so far away

You're not alone, stop holding on and just be held

Your world's not falling apart, its falling into place

I'm on the throne, stop holding on and just be held

Just be held, just be held

The words 'just be held' were masked with die cut Frog Tape - the Die Cut Masking tutorial is HERE.

I did a quick video to show how I added texture to the lamb and to the background. It's an easy technique that you can do with supplies you probably already have at home.

To celebrate the 9th anniversary of my blog, I have a NoteWorthy New Testament to give away! This pocket size Bible has a blank page on every spread, which is perfect for art or notes. Leave a comment before Friday (10/30) at midnight EST for a chance to win, and I'll announce a winner Saturday morning.

For a list of supplies I use for Bible Journaling click HERE. Thanks for visiting me!