Mix-Ability - 5x7!

It's my turn to host the Mix-Ability challenge over at Splitcoast this week - since the challenge is scheduled for 5/7, the challenge is to create a 5"x7" mixed media piece! 

I've been playing with this month's stencil release from A Colorful Life Designs - quite a few of the stencils this month have a beachy theme which is always fun - but I pulled a couple of the stencils 'out of the box' for this little fairy scene. I took a couple of pictures mid-process so you could see the stencils in the background - they add so much but got a little covered with the stamping. There are several layers of the vines across the top, and I built up from light to dark, flipping the stencil back and forth to create more variation in the directions of the vines.

The stencil I used for the ground is actually meant to be used for waves but it made some pretty cool dirt piles! I taped off a section to stencil, and then tucked my panel through one of the openings that went all the way across, and added one more wider section. I used a pencil to shade the bottom of a few of the horizontal sections, then inked up my blender brushes again to deepen the edges of the panel. (This is a 5"x7" backer board that I use for packaging my art prints - it's somewhere between matboard and chipboard.)

I had fun with the stamping - I started with the fairy and bunny, and then framed them in with the dandelions and grass (all stamps are from Topflight Stamps - I will link them below!). I might have gone a little overboard with the splattering, but it was fun!

Here's a closer look at the ground there - and I love that little bunny just waiting for a pat on the head!

Products I used:

from A Colorful Life Designs 

(use code DinaFan10 for 10% off your order!)

021167 Turbulent Waters stencil

021161 Hanging Vines

from Topflight Stamps

(use code YAYDINA! for 12% off your order!)

Hobby Art Stamps - Dandelion Wishes

LAV422 Eden

LAV581 Pipin

Hope you'll join along with the challenge this week! Have a great weekend!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Pocket Front Card

It's my turn to share a tutorial over on Splitcoast! I dug way back into my old favorites and remembered this simple pocket card I used to make 100 years ago when I first started stamping. Easy and fun! Here's the Pocket Front Card.
Head over to the tutorial page for the measurements and folds! I filled my pocket up here with die cuts from Impression Obsession - the grass and hyacinth leaves were colored with some Colorbox spray mists, and everything else was colored with Copic markers. I love this gnome and his little poseable parts!

The sentiment panel and the heart are 'floating' on acetate strips - my favorite adhesive for those? Super glue!

IO Products:

DIE1055-Y Sitting Gnome

DIE038-J Grass

DIE1049-X Flowers and Leaves

DIE135-F Heart Set

DIE1058-ZZ Stitched Tag #5

B12339 It's the Little Things

That's all I know!

Impression Obsession May Release Hop Day 2

Welcome back for another day of projects using brand new Impression Obsession stamps! All new stamps are available HERE! We are kicking off the month with a 2-day hop, showing off the new releases - today is day 2! If you're already hopping and you came from Anna's blog you are in the correct place. If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop so you don't miss anything!

Here are a couple of the retirement themed stamps - the coffee cups can be used for any occasion though! Such a fun little collection and I thought this angle on retirement was clever. I did my coloring here with Karin markers (15% off there with code DINA15).

IO Products:

C21373 Coffee Break

E21383 Coffee Cups

Keep hopping for more inspiration!  You can find a list of participants for both hop days on the Impression Obsession Blog. We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession $25 gift certificates for the event - so the more you comment through our Release Celebration the more chances to win! All comments for each of the event days will be open until Monday May 10th at midnight CT. All winners will be announced on Tuesday May 11th on the Impression Obsession Blog.

Your next stop on the hop is Giovana's blog- thank you for visiting me today!

Impression Obsession May Release Hop Day 1

It's time for a new release from Impression Obsession! All the new stamps are on the site now and you can check them out HERE - I'll wait! 

We are kicking off the month with a 2-day hop, showing off the new releases. If you're already hopping and you came from Anna's blog you are in the correct place. If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop so you don't miss anything!

This month's stamps are all about retirement and vacation! In our area there are lots of campers and RVs this time of year, so this trailer will be a fun stamp to use. For the background, I stamped the stars in white craft ink, then brushed Distress Oxide ink over the panel, spritzed with water, and added more ink. I love that ghosted effect from stamping the white ink first. The camper is colored with Copic markers, cut out and popped up on the card.

IO Products:

B5747 Park It

L5756 Stars

E21378 Trailer

DIE343-T Hill Landscape Layers

Keep hopping for more inspiration - I hope you'll see more samples from my collections on the other blogs! Today and tomorrow (May 3-4) you can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog. We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession $25 gift certificates for the event - so the more you comment through our Release Celebration the more chances to win!

All comments for each of the event days will be open until Monday May 10th at midnight CT. All winners will be announced on Tuesday May 11th on the Impression Obsession Blog.

Your next stop on the hop is Giovana's blog- thank you for visiting me today!

Impression Obsession - Old is New

With such a huge collection of wonderful stamps from so many artists, sometimes the older stamps in the Impression Obsession catalog find their way out of the spotlight. We don't want them to be forgotten, so we like to feature them regularly. We hope you're inspired! 

We live in a lake area, and as the weather gets warmer there's definitely a vibe! "Snagging season" begins in mid-March (this is the spoonbill capital of the world, y'all!) and the weekenders start to come down from "the city" to fish, boat, and camp. The locals have their favorite hangouts, and we stay home a little more. I thought of this fishing silhouette, and wanted to pair it with one of Gary's older scenic backgrounds - this one really works! I did a little light inking of the background, then colored the scene with colored pencils. 

Such a great sentiment! 

I used my favorite cloud stencil for the sky, adding details with a colored pencil and battery eraser.

IO Products:

H1877 Path to the Beach

D13689 Fishing Silhouette

B13691 Believe in Fishing

DIE968-N Whimsical Rectangle

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

Hogs and Kisses

It's been over 4 weeks since I made a card - this month has been all art show, nonstop! I saw that Simon Says Stamp's challenge this week is featuring Impression Obsession stamps, so I had to play along. Their theme this week is "Sending Hugs", so here's an adorable piglet and a hug pun!

I colored the pig in loosely with Copic markers, then used a partial die cutting technique to cut a square with his little ear hanging out. Eep! The banner die is longer, but I was able to match up the stitch lines and cut one end shorter after stamping.

IO Products:

H13891 Piggy

B13857 Hogs Kisses

DIE206-V Picket Fence

DIE1058-ZZ Stitched Tag #5

Fog Hybrid Ink

That's all I know! I'll be back in the morning with an 'old is new' post for IO! 

Impression Obsession DT Theme: Rainbow of Color

The Impression Obsession team has some projects to share today featuring a rainbow theme. I thought this slimline floral bouquet would be beautiful in lots of colors, so here's an idea for stretching it onto a variety of tags!
I started with a half sheet of watercolor paper, stamping the image to one side. I watercolored using my Misted Watercolor technique with QoR paints (anyone else break into Memories when you read that title? 'Misted watercolor meeeeeeeeeemoriiiiiiiiies of the waaaaaaay we weeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrre.........." Just me? OK.)

I chose a variety of tags and fit them onto the panel so a part of the watercoloring was on each one.

Here are the tags all cut - I love that little stitched border! So sweet.

Here are the cut tags - now for some sentiment stamps! These are perfect to use on a card front or tuck inside, tie on a gift, or leave in town for a day-brightener.

IO Products used here:

3259-LG Mixed Florals

C13885 Make Home

B13775 So Very Loved

CL463 Hydrangea clear set

CL827 Introverting clear set

DIE874 Stitch Tag #2

DIE797 Crazy Stitched Set

DIE814 Pinked Stitched Sentiment Banner

DIE868 Plaid Tag

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for more colorful inspiration. See the I.O. blog for all the details!

If you're looking for a sale, be sure to check out the featured stamps page where IO's sunshine themed stamps are 25% off! and take a tiptoe through the clearance pages while you're there!

Impression Obsession April Release - Team Favorites

The IO Team is back today with a little hop to share our favorite cards from this month's release, so here's mine! If you're already hopping and you came from Anna's blog you are in the correct place. If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop so you don't miss anything!

Poppies are one of my favorite flowers, so I snapped up this new slimline set - check out all the gorgeous new slimline floral stamps and sets HERE! If you missed the tutorial I shared a couple of weeks ago for this watercolor technique, you can find it HERE.

The sentiment is not a new one but it's such a great one for sympathy, recovery, illness, rough days, and more.

IO stamps used here:

3255-LG Poppy

C13766 Gentle Hugs

We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession Grab Bags this week! Each comment you leave along the hop will give you a chance to win. Comments will be open until Monday April 19th at midnight CT. All winners will be announced on Tuesday April 20th on the Impression Obsession Blog.

Your next stop on the hop is Giovana's blog- thank you for visiting me today!

New stuff!

A couple of new items in my Etsy store - I turned my video camera on while making this sweet owl bracelet, so I have a tutorial, the actual bracelet, and some kits with all the supplies needed to make your own! That's HERE. (If you're used to my Splitcoast tutorials, this is a "special treat" because instead of doing a voiceover this was all voiced in real time and I rarely do that. I did edit out most of the allergy sniffles, but you've got mistakes and wind chimes all for free.)
I finished a watercolor piece today for an upcoming community fundraiser, so I have new notecards and prints available! Notecards are HERE. Prints HERE.

I'm working on another large colored pencil piece for an upcoming art show - I haven't posted any public updates of my progress, but you can take a peek at it HERE! Shh! I'm lying awake at night worrying about not getting it done in time, and planning out how to fake the background if I need to enter it in a show before it's complete. Also, the glass broke in my frame during transit - hopefully the replacement will come in time, and not break on the way. Eek!