PaperFections

Chalkboard Happy Flowers

Hello Crafty Friends! Today I have a fun chalkboard look card to share with you! To achieve this look, I started by white heat embossing Taylored Expressions Happy Flowers Background stamp onto black cardstock. Then I had fun coloring the background with Kirarina WiNK pens: The Kirarina WiNK pens are available individually (there are 18 beautiful METALLIC colors from which to choose!) or in four different 4-pack sets. These multi-purpose pens are compatible with a variety of surfaces and feature specks of glitter! They are acid-free and ideal for decorating paper, photos, plastic, and glass! They also give a wonderfully opaque coverage, as evidenced on the black cardstock I used ... I think the look resembles a pretty colored chalk chalkboard, don't you?!! These are the Kirarina WiNK colors I used: Bordeaux (dark pink), Dandelion (golden yellow), Orange, Lime Green, Emerald (beautiful aqua!), and Violet: To finish the card, I used the White Pearl Kirarina WiNK pen to dot the centers of the yellow flowers: The pretty sentiment was created with Taylored Expressions You're in my Prayers sentiment stamp set (gold heat embossed) and Prayers Script die (cut from shimmering white pearl cardstock), placed on a Stitched Fishtail Banner die... Read more →

United We Flourish: Ellen Hutson & MFT!

Are you ready for another United We Flourish collaboration between Ellen Hutson and one of your favorite stamp companies she carries? This month that company is My Favorite Things and this is the sweet Good Friends stamp and die combo set, available exclusively at Ellen Hutson: So sweet, isn't it?!! Here's the card I created: Because we all have those impossible-to-forget friends, right? :) The sentiment is what inspired this card ... Once I saw it, I knew I HAD to stamp and color up all the sweet dogs and cats in this set! Here are the Copic Markers I used to color them: To finish this card, I did a wash of Daniel Smith Cobalt Teal Blue watercolor on Ranger watercolor paper. Then I stamped the sentiment on Neenah Solar White 110 Lb. cardstock, die cut it with MFT's Stitched Oval Stax, and popped it up over the animals. The sweet heart is a stamp included in this set; it was colored with B01 Copic marker, then glittered with Tonic's Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen (love!): BLOG HOP: You can find out more info about the United We Flourish campaign HERE. And for more inspiration, you can find the full... Read more →

2 (or 3!) Takes on a Trend

I hope you all have been enjoying the Color Trend Palette inspiration over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom this week! Today it is mine and Carolyn Peeler's turn to provide our 2 takes on this trend! To take out some of the color guess-work, the hard-working staff at Ellen Hutson put together this coordinating color product list for this Color Trend: Distress Inks: Broken China, Scattered Straw, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany & Fired Brick Pigment Inks (Mama Elephant & Avery Elle): ME Rainwater, ME Buttercup, AE Strawberry, ME Piggy Bank, AE Raspberry, AE Kraft, AE Sugar Plum, AE Conch Shell & AE Papaya Dye Inks (Hero Arts): Aquatic, Dandelion, Strawberry, Bubble Gum, Mulled Wine & Dark Quartz Dye Inks (Altenew): Ocean Waves, Sunkissed, Crimson, Puffy Heart, Cosmic Berry, Rocky Shore, Coral Berry, Rouge & Paper Bag Copics: BG02, YR31, R35, RV17, RV19, E39, RV69, E15 & E17 Zig Clean Color Markers: Persian Green 033, Bright Yellow 052, Light Carmine 021, Pink 025 and Oatmeal 064 Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh): Sea Breeze, Marigold, Raspberry, Pink Peonies, Sand & Pumpkin Cardstock (Taylored Expressions & Bazzill): TE Sprinkles, BZ Banana Split, BZ Candy Hearts, TE Strawberry Milkshake, TE Lollipop,... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen October 2017 Release Hop

Hello and welcome to another inspiration blog hop for this month's new Essentials by Ellen products! Oh.My.Goodness! Are y'all ready for some serious cuteness?!! Meet Bear Hugs by Julie Ebersole -- one of this month's newest Essentials by Ellen die sets! I had SO much stinkin' fun stitching and stuffing these adorable felt bears and their JOY gifts! Bear Hugs is a huge version of Julie's popular All Inside stamp set & coordinating All Inside die bear -- he measures 5" tall x 2-3/4" wide, so he will also fit on a card front ... or BE an adorable folded card! I chose to stitch these three bears into felt Christmas ornaments. The JOY letter dies are from the Concertina Tags die set -- they measure 1-3/16", which were just a smidge larger than the gift die in the Bear Hugs set. Or you could use a small alpha die such as Taylored Expressions Sweet & Simple Alpha-Uppers, which are about 7/8" tall -- My first idea was to use those to monogram a bear for each member of my family! These guys were simple to make. I just die cut two of each color of bear from Taylored Expressions... Read more →

Spice of Life

It's release week for some more fabulous new Essentials by Ellen products! Are you loving the Leading Ladies as much as I am?!! Well, you are in luck because there is another wonderful new one added to the family this month ... Meet the Cozy Lady! She was SO much fun to color! I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto X-Press It Blending Card, then used her coordinating die to die cut her. I used these Copic Sketch Markers to color her to match the hues in this wonderful new Reverse Confetti Every Little Bit patterned paper: The sentiment piece is another pattern of the RC Every Little Bit paper, die cut with Taylored Expressions Stitched Essentials banner. I love all the different items included in this stamp set that the Cozy Lady can carry in/on her arm, and that the die automatically cuts out her arm to carry them ... so clever! I opted for the cup of tea, to coordinate with the "friends are the spice of life" sentiment I chose. To create the basket of leaves accent, I used some fun new X-Press It Cork Deco Tape. I just applied the tape (it has an... Read more →

Textured Pumpkin

Happy Fall, friends! The weather is cooling down and starting to feel like Fall, so that put me in the mood for some Fall crafting! Some of my very favorite Fall decorations are pumpkins ... I have them scattered all over the house! So naturally, when I spied this plain bisque pumpkin at the craft store, I had to scoop it up and find something fun to do with it! To transform this pumpkin, I turned to my Tommy Art paints and began by giving it a base coat of Brown Black Chalk Color (I left the stem unpainted for now, so I could use it as a handle to hold the pumpkin and turn it as I painted. You can see the original color and texture of the pumpkin/stem in the photo below.) The pumpkin started out very smooth: Tommy Art Chalk Colors are high-quality, rapid-dry, chalk-based mineral paints. The chalk color offers superb coverage, opacity, porosity, and lightfastness, which adheres to most surfaces without preparation. Available in more than 35 colors, these chalk-based mineral paints are suitable for a wide range of decorative styles and come in three color ranges: pastel, neutral, and intense. Next, to give the... Read more →