PaperFections

High Five To That!

A Note From Ellen Hutson: Last November Ellen Hutson began celebrating our 10th anniversary with the theme United We Flourish. And what does "United We Flourish" mean? It means that our company would not be here without the amazing companies we work with, the designers who create stunning projects showcasing the wonderful products being created AND you, our fabulous customers! YOU are such a vital part of our creative community - you inspire and encourage us! Your response to United We Flourish was overwhelming and heart-warming. We heard repeatedly from you that you appreciate how our little company works together with the other manufacturers we carry to bring you their products and education showing how to use those products. To thank you for your constant support and encouragement, we have partnered with some of our friends to offer exclusive limited edition stamp and die sets! These sets will be available for a limited time (most likely 3-6 months) after each release, depending on how quickly you snap them up. The theme of these stamps sets are uplifting and fun. We are thrilled to present the second one to you ... G’Day Mate stamps and die combo by Avery Elle exclusively... Read more →

Christmas in July!

Hello and welcome to Christmas in July! There's nothing like thinking about cooler weather and getting a head start on holiday cards than in the middle of the hottest part of the summer -- right?!! :D Plus, a SALE doesn't hurt, either -- Just click the banner above to shop the Christmas category! The Ellen Hutson team has a little blog hop going on today for you, to help get you in the holiday cardmaking spirit! We hope you'll join us -- You can find a list of all those participating today over in the CLASSroom. Here's my project, in a chilly shade of blue! When last year's Essentials by Ellen Holiday 2016 stamp and die release came out, I never got the opportunity to use the beautiful dove from Julie's Bird Shapes die set, so I was elated to get to use it now! Isn't it gorgeous?! More inspiration for #WorldWatercolorMonth -- I created a quick background using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors: #57 Turquoise Green (very watered down). After washing the background with the lighter Turquoise Green wash, I splattered it with a darker/less watered down Turquoise Green and a mixture of both Bluish Gold and Antique Gold,... Read more →

Essentials By Ellen July 2017 Release

As promised earlier this week, here's the card I created with the adorable Mermaid's Tail stamp set from the new Essentials By Ellen July release: In keeping with #WorldWatercolorMonth, today I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, to make this card a breeze to quickly color! After stamping the Mermaid's Tail and heat embossing it with gold detail powder, I colored the "scales" directly with the markers and then used a waterbrush to spread the color over the rest of the image: The colors I used were: Light Green, Light Blue, Cobalt Blue, and Persian Blue. To create the water, I just scribbled more of the same Zig marker colors underneath and around the mermaid's tail, then blended with a waterbrush: To create more of a bubbly underwater ocean feel, I clear heat embossed the dot stamp from the Essentials by Ellen Wonky Backdrops set, on the lower left and mid-to-upper right corners (hopefully you can see those glossy bubbles by clicking on the photo below for a larger view). Then I spread around some Pretty Pink Posh Clear Droplets in 4mm and 6mm size: To finish the card, I die cut the watercolored image with MFT's large... Read more →

#WorldWatercolorMonth with Copic Various Ink Refills

I'm loving #WorldWatercolorMonth -- how about you? I thought my Copics might be getting a little jealous, so I decided to incorporate them into the watercolor mix today and use my Various Ink Refills in one of my favorite ways ... you guessed it -- by "watercoloring" with them! Don't you LOVE that vibrant color?!! "Watercoloring" with your Copic Various Ink Refills is quite simple -- Just squeeze a little of the ink into a palette, fill a waterbrush with Copic Colorless Blender, then pick up your desired Various Ink color with the brush and paint away on watercolor paper! Note: It may take you a bit to get used to the flow of your waterbrush and how much Colorless Blender it dispenses -- if one brush flows a little too much or not enough, try a different brand of brush. I have several different brands and they all flow a little differently. If there is not enough Blender solution on your brush when you pick up the Various Ink color, the resulting color going on your paper will be dryer and may streak and not color smoothly. But, this can sometimes work well to add shading to previously laid-down... Read more →

New Essentials by Ellen Now Available!

It's here and finally available ... New Essentials by Ellen!! <== Just click that link or the graphic below to see all the new stamps and dies! Here's a sneak peek of the project I'll have to show you here on my blog this Friday, July 14, featuring gold heat embossing and watercoloring with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers along with the new Mermaid's Tail stamp set: I hope you'll be back here for all the details on Friday! Read more →

Copic Sketchbook Art Journal-2

Today I have another page to share with you from my Copic 5x7 Sketchbook Art Journal. You may remember my Plumeria page from a few weeks ago, where I airbrushed in the journal. But I really wanted to try coloring with my Copic markers directly on the paper, since the paper in the journal is made with the highest-quality Japanese illustration paper and claims to be ideal for use with Copic markers and mixed-media. Sure enough, the uncoated medium weight paper colored on beautifully! For this page I used Copic's Tracing Memories app on my phone, to turn a photo I took on vacation last week into a line art sketch I could color! Here's my reference photo (beautiful Flamingo Beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica): You can find out more about the Tracing Memories app here and here, and download the app in the iTunes store. Then I printed the sketch on a page from my Copic Sketchbook Art Journal and colored it with Copic markers! To do this, I just used scissors to snip the paper in between the spirals, and gently took the paper out of the journal: Next, I used washi tape to tape the journal page... Read more →