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!

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - Super Sponsor!

It's time for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, and I'm honored to be a Super Sponsor again! Keep reading to find out how you can win a coffee-themed charm bracelets or one of two $10 gift certificates to my online store, and receive a special coupon code for 20% off your order!

In case you're new to my blog, I'll tell you a little about me...  I'm a working artist (see my commissioned pet portraits HERE), have my own line of stamps , and I'm the Artist in Residence at Splitcoaststampers, among other roles behind the scenes. I love to create, and I love sharing what I learn in the process. I have an online store where you'll find prints of my original artwork as well as notecards, handmade beads and jewelry and other items. I've been blogging here for 15 years!

We're just wrapping up a holiday event at Splitcoaststampers today, and one of today's challenges was to have a window on or in your card... I wanted to combine one of the challenges with my coffee card, so I searched through Evernote for images that had coffee and a window together - and that's why I used this fox stamp today! This image is part of a series from Katzelkraft, and they're all delightful. I got this one from Topflight Stamps. The sentiment is from AJVD - possibly retired. Dies: IO Slimline Sentiments Flag and Spellbinders Essential Label Etched Dies

Be sure to check out the Coffee Lovers Blog for instructions on how to participate for prizes - this is the bracelet that's up for grabs! I love these sweet charms, and that coffee bean bead is one of my handmade exclusives! 

Two more winners will win a $10 gift code to my online store, and you can use the code below for 20% off your $20+ order for the whole next week - now is a great time for shopping! Clicking the graphic below will automatically apply the coupon to your cart.

Thank you for visiting me today - enjoy the hop!

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!

Hang on!

It's rare that I just sit down to make a card for fun any more... I need to fix that! 

I have been slowly working through piles and bins of stamps that need to be sorted and cataloged and put away - one of them was this adorable Windy Day Girl image from Katzelkraft (via Topflight Stamps). How relatable is this image?  It's totally perfect for 2020.

There is a new Watercolor Wednesday challenge over on Splitcoast, and this week's challenge is no-line coloring, so while this girl was out I had a little fun with my Inktense pencils... I used those so I could watercolor the background and the permanent ink would stay in place! Such a great property of that medium. 

Currents

I love this Currents stencil from A Colorful Life - it's great for water or wind, or just for a pretty background with a little movement. I have found it a little difficult to ink, but it worked wonderfully with long horizontal watercolor strokes. When my panel was dry I used the same stencil to emboss it in my die cutting machine. I love that technique so much and I think I like the effect better than an embossing folder simply because it's more subtle... I need to go through my stencils and folders together and if there are any with the same patterns, the folders are either going in the sale box or downstairs to the gel printing table! 

The sentiment is one of mine, and it's here - seemed perfect!

Two things to know - here are two discount codes you can always use, and these will help you save and also send a little 'thank you' my way too. 

At A Colorful Life Designs, use code DinaFan10 for a 10% discount on your entire order.

At Topflight Stamps, use code YAYDINA! for a 12% discount on your entire order. Topflight has all kinds of international products all in one place - it's such a fun site!

That's all I know today! Hang on!