PaperFections

Stitched Stamping: United We Flourish Ellen Hutson & Waffle Flower

Hello, Crafters! After a little bit of a break Ellen Hutson's United We Flourish campaign is back, bringing you a beautiful stitching stamp and coordinating die set by Waffle Flower called Stitched Together: And here are some projects I created with it: This clear stamp set is a 5-step layering set that creates this beautiful world globe, filled with flowers and leaves as the land! You can download this stamping guide to assist you HERE: Your stamp guide or MISTI will be of great assistance for this set (especially when stamping multiple projects) but since it is clear, you can probably eyeball it just as easily. Here are some of my step-out photos, using my MISTI. I tried stamping the globe stand both ways, first and last, and ended up preferring stamping it last -- I felt it was easier to make sure the stand fit around the already-stamped globe. TIP: Either way, make sure the left side and bottom of the stand are lined up straight on your stamp guide or acrylic block. Here's the stand stamped last. I used Memento Summer Sky, Angel Pink (which I ended up changing to Rose Bud for my projects below), Bamboo Leaves,... Read more →

Rainbow Birthday

Hello and happy Monday, Friends ... Today I have a bright rainbow full of birthday cheer for you! This wonderful cupcake image is included in the adorable Memory Box Spring Bunnies stamp set. I love stamp sets that have a ton of versatility, and this one sure does! It's not only great for Easter and Spring, but also babies, love, anniversaries, and birthdays! I stamped the fabulous cupcake image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto X-Press It Blending Card, then colored it up with these Copic markers: Then I die cut the cupcakes with their coordinating Spring Bunnies die set and glittered them with Nuvo Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer. Next, I die cut Sentimental Happy Birthday from X-Press It Blending Card and colored it with the same markers, with an ombre effect. To complete the card, I anchored the birthday die cut with a piece of washi tape, and stamped the Sweetest sentiment (also from the Spring Bunnies stamp set). I also wanted to let you know about this great sale happening over at Ellen Hutson LLC on EVERYTHING ! ! Shop early, for the best in-stock selections! Thanks so much for joining me today! SUPPLIES: CL5220 Spring Bunnies clear... Read more →

Beginner Simple Watercolor: Mondo Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)

Hello, Friends ... Happy Sunday! Today I have a simple 2 or 3-color watercolor technique to share with you, using the GORGEOUS new Mondo Sakura stamp set from Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen, available NOW! Tip for beginners: To color this beautiful floral image, first I heat embossed the image with gold detail embossing powder onto watercolor cardstock. The embossing helps to hold your colors within the lines and not bleed into other areas! Then I used Daniel Smith PrimaTek watercolors: Rhodonite (pink) and Jadeite (green). I simply watered down the pink color until it was very light and applied it to all of the flower petals, leaving some white space around the upper edges of each of the petals. Then I just gradually mixed in a little more of the pink color, to deepen the centers and lower edges of the petals. By gradually deepening the color, you can achieve wonderful shading with just one pigment! I did the same thing with the leaves and stems. Once the flowers were colored, I used Dandelion Kirarina WiNK pen to fill in the centers of the stamen. Optional: Add a third color to fill in the background. I used my... Read more →

Create Your Own Die Cut Stencils

Happy Friday, Friends! To go along with the current new Memory Box Challenge #37 to use Insects, Butterflies, or Dragonflies on your projects, I created this card: I had fun watercoloring my die cuts again! The Honeycomb Square was die cut from watercolor paper I colored with gold metallic watercolor ... it has such pretty golden shimmer! The beautiful Intricate Bee was watercolored with yellow and light black, to help keep it soft and subtle. The bee's wings were watercolored with a white/silver mixture and the cut-outs left/held in place by placing foam mounting tape under them. Create Your Own Stencil: The background was created by die cutting the Hex Collage out of adhesive stencil material and using it as a stencil to apply aqua watercolor onto a watercolor paper panel. To finish the card, leftover black watercolor was flicked onto the background and the Bee Yourself sentiment stamped in Memento Gray Flannel. I hope you'll join in this month's Memory Box Challenge and create your own Insect/Butterfly/Dragonfly project, for the chance to win some wonderful Memory Box dies! SUPPLIES: 99920 Intricate Bee craft die 99921 Honeycomb Square craft die 99990 Hex Collage craft die CL5222 Bee Yourself clear stamp... Read more →