Happy Valentines Day - and a second chance!

Happy heart day to you! I had to pull out this super adorable truck set for a clean and simple heart-y card... and this one was so much fun to make.

Spellbinders has several amazing monthly kit clubs, and this was the large die set for October... in other months the surplus sets have been available to non-club members, and I was counting on that, but........ this one sold out, and I had deep regrets for several months. Thankfully I was able to purchase this set from a Splitcoast member in the ISO forum in January... but I was excited to see yesterday that the set is back for a limited time, and available for purchase!

Spellbinders - Truckin' Through the Seasons set

I know a lot of people were sad to have missed it, so I wanted to be sure to share, in case you need one too! I'm a little obsessed now.

The set is full of dies for all kinds of occasions... but no hearts!  I used this die from Impression Obsession to cut a bunch at once...

Heart of Hearts die

The sentiment is from a retired Simon Says Stamp set called Like Your Style - but it was perfect for the space, and this overflowing truck bed!

What would you tuck in the back of this truck?! I can't wait to play with it some more. Cheers!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Acetate Tent Cards

It's my turn to share a tutorial over on Splitcoast! I put together the instructions for these clear fronted Tent Cards, and I had a lot of fun making these samples.

Supplies:
Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Borders
Spellbinders Balloon Kids
Spellbinders Classic Ovals
The Cat's Pajamas Grass Border die
Impression Obsession B13775 So Very Loved

I just adore these silhouette dies from Spellbinders, along with their creator, Sharyn Sowell... did you know she cuts each design by hand with scissors? I don't have the eyesight or patience for that, so I'm grateful that they've been made into dies for us! 

Supplies:
Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Ovals - discontinued
Spellbinders Dance for Joy
The Cat's Pajamas Grass Border die
Impression Obsession C13769 Happy Thoughts

I have instructions for A2 cards both ways in the photo tutorial - for any size card, you can determine the width, and then for the length, add the height of your finished card + 1-3/4" + 2-1/2".

The plastic sheeting I used here is the same that I use for my stamp storage, and I get it from this binding supply site - I use the 20 mil weight and it's very sturdy.

I used these adhesive sheets for the die cuts on the front - they are covered in tiny dots of dry adhesive, and they're wonderful for these detailed designs. Any excess just rubs away - or if it sticks to the plastic, it can be removed with just a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab.

One more product I mentioned are the label sheets I used to make my striped backgrounds - those are HERE, and they're the same ones I use for my Etsy orders, so I know they're good and strong!

I hope you'll try these - they're easy to make and great for using up background panels!

New charm designs!

I've added a couple more purse charms to my store - just wanted to share here! As always, if you have a special request, please email me - I am happy to do custom orders.

Purse Charm - Art Journal Mixed Media Artist Stamper

The design above was made with mixed media art journalers, scrapbookers and sketch artists in mind - it has a palette, the word 'create', a brush, a stack of books, mug of pens and supplies, and an optional rubber stamp, along with a bead of your choice.

Purse Charm - Spoonie Courage Awareness Chronic Illness

This charm is especially for my friends who suffer from chronic pain or illness, with an optional stamp for those I've connected with through crafting. The spoons represent the Spoon Theory, which is a great word picture for living with sickness or disability. 

Purse Charm - Paper Crafter Card Maker Stamper

The stamper's charms are still in stock as well, and continue to be very popular! 

Thanks so very much for your support through this side business of mine - I'm so grateful! 

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 from now on you'll be seeing our team feature them regularly. We hope you're inspired!

L13510 Sweetpeas
A13500 Hey There Sweetpea

I pulled out a couple of my stamps that were released 2 years ago - this was such a pretty spring floral release, and it's always fun to revisit! I used Zig brush markers, alternating misted water and blending with a brush until I was happy with the depth of shading. I used colored pencils and some dotted white acrylic paint to add details, and then did a tiny bit of stenciling with the Grunge Dots stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.

If you like this sweetpea design, you might like the others in the set!

E13509 Sweetpea Corner

CC284 Cover-a-Card Sweetpeas

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the details! Remember our "In the Pink" challenge too!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: In the Pink

The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a project using pink as a focal color. 

Inspired by Jennifer McGuire's recent 'faux layered die cuts' post, I decided to create a layering effect with this background die - I cut 3 images, one from white cardstock and the other two from contrasting pink patterned papers.

Lacy Hearts background die

Using Artist-Tac adhesive to stick the layers together, I positioned each just slightly lower than the previous one, and then trimmed the excess off at the bottom. 

The sentiment is from my Chocolate Builder clear set - When I designed it, I broke up the sentiment line by line, just so this part could be used separately.

Chocolate Builder Clear Set

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration, and 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: Watercolor with Stencils

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a brilliant explanation of how to Watercolor with Stencils - our author gives two different ways to try this technique, and I've tried them both here! 

I didn't have rubber cement (because apparently it evaporates from the bottle while you're not using it?) so I used masking fluid instead, applied with a Clarity stencil brush, and my results were not quite as clean as they could have been, but it did work. I was a little hesitant to use the Clarity brush but I do have one dedicated to acrylic paint, and it cleaned up pretty well. 

This also is not the end result I was expecting... I finished the background and embossed the sentiment (clear powder on Versafine Clair - amazing), then it looked like I hadn't heated the powder quite enough so I hit it again and OVERheated one part... then I had to overheat ALL the parts, and I may or may not have scorched the paper in the process. Sooo to make it look like I meant to do that, I evened out the color with some Distress Oxide ink and added a little script stamping for a vintage effect.

This stencil is a brand new one from A Colorful Life Designs, and the sentiment is in my new favorite set from The Cat's Pajamas.

019104 BoHo Medallion 6x6
Use code DinaFan10 for 10% off all stencils!

For my second card, I used the technique for coloring in the negative areas of the stencil by masking the stencil openings. I spritzed the panel first with a yellow ColorBox Spritzer and brushed it out to even out the color. I added masking fluid with a brush and let it dry and then spritzed again with orange, and brushed it out for a gradient effect.

I did a little background stamping with the masking fluid still on, then rubbed it off to let the yellow background show through. So fun!

I used another new release stencil on this card - this one has such a fun and funky spring feel, and I have a fun idea for using it with another stencil. I'll share that soon!

019120 Seedlings 6x6
Use code DinaFan10 for 10% off all stencils!

I hope you're having a good week! I ended up having a procedure done last week that has me limping a bit still - not fun, but all good. Sometimes we just need reminders to slow down!

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!

Dress Form Die
Sew
What's New
Flags Die Set

I promised I'd share some projects made with the journal page I made on Wednesday, so here are those today! I wanted to feature this elegant dress form die along with some stamps from my sewing collection. On the first card I cut the dress form out of chipboard, and used a blending brush to cover it with gold acrylic paint.

Dress Form Die
Humblest Things

On this card the dress form was cut from a cereal box - I meant to cut it the other way, but happened to cut it from this solid area instead. Happy accident! On all the card panels I used a watercolor crayon around the edges, blending it with my finger to soften it in for a more vintage look.

 

Dress Form Die
Sweet Beautiful You

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

No-line inks - a quick comparison

I wanted to share the results of a little ink experiment I tried last week! If you've tried any no-line coloring techniques, you might have been curious about what inks work well. I had heard so much about the Fadeout ink from Ink On 3 - and was purely curious how it compared in color to the lightest neutral inks I could think of in my collection, which are these:

The Fadeout ink is the newest pad of these 5 at my house, which are all hybrid inks from the same manufacturer, branded by Impression Obsession and My Favorite Things. I noticed one major difference in these swatches, though - do you see it too? I noticed right away that the Fadeout ink softened and blurred out just slightly as it dried, while the other swatches show the streaks from the edge of the felt pad. (It reminded me of the Memories Shadow inks - do you remember those? They all softened as they dried.)

I narrowed my testing down to the Fadeout ink and Impression Obsession's Mist ink, since they were the most similar in color. I stamped out 2 sets of snails and noted a difference in the stamped images as well, which you can see above. Notice again that the the Fadeout ink dries to a softer outline, and the Mist inked image is more crisp.

I colored the first two snails with Zig markers. The very first thing I noticed is how the outline pops when it's covered with a wet medium. I thought at first this was a reaction with the paper, but it turns out that is an intentional feature of the Fadeout ink, and apparently it's a 'hybrid thing', since both inks reacted in the same way. The neutral ink takes on any color that goes over it, which takes the guess work out of no-line coloring when you use a watercolor medium. (Copics or pencils will cover the lines, if you want to truly end up with "no lines" when you're finished.)

I did my best to color both images the same way, layering and blending colors to build up the shading. I colored the second set of snails using QoR watercolor paints.

I'm glad I took the time to test these inks together... I wasn't looking for a 'winner' - I just wanted to know why I might use one or the other, and maybe find properties that differed. And I did! This is why it's important to test and experiment with your supplies, and the reason that I share my results. One day I might prefer a softer outline for no-line coloring; another day I might want a crisp outline. And truly, most of the time it probably won't matter. :) Here's a card I colored with pencils, and I don't even remember which ink I used! Isn't that bird so sweet?

Gazing Bird

Little Something

ACLD Marvelous Masks Circle

Here's an unedited scan of the snails, done after 24 hours, since that was a recommended wait time on the Fadeout ink - you can click on it for a larger view. Though the name suggests it, the Fadeout ink is not a disappearing ink, and my results here definitely have lines... but I did learn a few things!

Hope this post was helpful - what do you think? Have you tried no-line coloring? Which results do you prefer?