PaperFections

Embossed Watercolor - June Essentials by Ellen

Happy Friday, Crafty Friends -- Today is release day over at Ellen Hutson LLC! Once again, Julie Ebersole has a wonderful mix of whimsical stamps and die combos, along with some great stand alone dies you can mix with anything in your collection! I've used some of both on today's card: the new Good Times stamp and coordinating Good Times die sets, along with the Big City and Landscapes die sets, to create this Embossed Watercolor birthday card! I hope you can see in the photo above how the multi-color sentiment is shiny? That's because I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Watercolor Markers to ink the letters and words in different colors directly on the stamp. First I stamped the sentiment all over with Versamark using my Misti, then without cleaning the stamp, I applied the different colors of watercolor marker directly on the stamp. The Versamark on the watercolor paper and left over on the stamp help to keep the color nice and wet long enough to then clear heat emboss, for that fun shiny look! I did the same for the balloon outlines, then filled in the balloons with watercolor of the same color. Color on the... Read more →

April Essentials by Ellen Everyday Doodles + Punnies Notecard Set

Happy Friday, Friends! Today is release day over at Ellen Hutson LLC! There's a fabulous new round of stamps and dies that are sure to please the any-occasion cardmaker or scrapbooker alike! Please meet Everyday Doodles and Everyday Punnies by Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen! These are the sweetest images and funniest sentiments . . . I couldn't resist making a set of notecards using all of the Everyday Doodles images! Here's a closer look at each of the 4.5" x 3.75" notecards: This notecard set was die cut using Catherine Pooler's Nested Label Dies cut from 110 Lb. Neenah Solar White cardstock. I used Catherine Pooler's awesome Mini Ink Pad Bundle to stamp the images in all of the different ink colors. Colorful striped accents were made by inking the new Painted Stripes stamp in different colors (that task is made easier with these mini ink pads!), then cutting the stamped stripe image into thirds. The Everyday Doodles images were die cut with their coordinating Everyday Doodles Dies, then matched up with their coordinating Everyday Punnies sentiments and popped up with foam tape. Now I have a great selection of adorable notecards on hand to pop into a... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen Favorites

Happy Black Friday, friends! The Ellen Hutson LLC 12th Anniversary celebration continues this week! Each day this week Ellen's Design Ambassadors are celebrating by creating with our favorite Essentials by Ellen stamp and die sets! Keep a watch on Ellen's The CLASSroom blog for some great inspiration by a different set of designers every day this week! And you know Ellen -- it's her anniversary, but she's giving you the gifts! You didn't think she would forget you on Black Friday, now did you? :) Just click the graphic above to head over to the store -- that's one heckova great deal!! Here's a card I made with one of my very favorite stamp sets, Julie Ebersole's Essentials by Ellen Mondo Sakura: Be still my heart! Julie's mondo florals never cease to capture my heart! I colored this gorgeous floral image with another of my (newest!) loves . . . the AMAZING brand new Daniel Smith Watercolor Half Pan Sets Ellen started carrying in the shop recently -- I haven't been able to put them down! I can only describe them as soft & buttery -- they reactivate with your watercolor brush SO very easily and can easily be worked... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen November Release!

It's finally time ... the newest November Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies are now available in Ellen's shop and you can find them all HERE! I promised full details for the Pop-Up Mitten banner project I sneaked peeked for you last week, and here they are: As you can see, this adorable die set is great for many other types of projects besides the fabulous intended use of a pop-up mitten element (genius!) -- I absolutely love the three different sizes of pretty snowflakes as well! These mittens measure approximately 3-1/8" at the longest point. I die cut them from coordinating colors of wool felt: light and dark pink, light blue and dark aqua, and paired them up with opposite colors. So the first light pink mitten has a dark pink backing and the second light aqua mitten has the darker aqua backing. Here is a view of the backs of the mittens: I also die cut the snowflakes from the Pop-Up Mittens die set from white felt and stitched them on the mitten fronts first, using embroidery floss. Then I stitched each pair of mittens together using a regular stitch or a blanket stitch, leaving them open at... Read more →

Happy Halloween & Holiday Season!

Happy Halloween and the start of the long 2+ month-long holiday season! A little PSA for TODAY ONLY -- Make your own holiday sale over at Ellen Hutson LLC! The more you spend, the more you save -- on ANYTHING you'd like! Now that's my kind of sale! ;-) Click the banner below to get started: And here's a little start-of-the-holiday season inspiration for you, using Julie Ebersole's Over the River Essentials by Ellen stamp set: The sweet little houses were stamped with Distress Oxide Inks, the rooftops glittered with Tonic's Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen (which unfortunately isn't showing well in the photo), then die cut with Essentials by Ellen Folk Hearts die. The heart was popped up on a Oyster Gray stitched scallop die cut (made by shortening a scallop rectangle die cut). Such a sweet, versatile stamp set for several different holidays! And just in case you missed it, it is sneak peek week for the new upcoming Essentials by Ellen stamp and die release this coming Sunday, Nov 4 at 9am Pacific at Ellen Hutson LLC! You can see inspiration projects with all of the new products each day this week over at Ellen's CLASSroom blog. You... Read more →

Crafty Sales!

Hello, Crafty Peeps! I wanted to let you know about a few sales going on, so you don't miss out on some great products & savings! Since it's time to start thinking about your holiday crafting needs . . . Save 25% on the holiday stamps & dies in the Holiday Sale category (be sure to use the 'holiday18' code at checkout): And while you are shopping at Ellen Hutson LLC, don't forget about the 'Last Chance' clearance sale that's still going on (no code needed!): And the maker of my favorite combo stamp pad/marker/reinker holders (shown below) and Marker Nook holders, Stamp-N-Storage, is giving FREE SHIPPING on all orders this weekend, through midnight CDT on Monday! Shop HERE: I hope you have a beautiful Fall weekend! Read more →

Unconventional Watercolor Holiday Card

Hello, stamping friends! Today I have a little bit of an unconventional holiday card to share. Unconventional in color: aqua/mint, pink, and yellow; and also unconventional content: adorable bees! These sweet Christmas Bees are part of the fabulous new products from Art Impressions: clear and cling stamps, and dies that are now available over at Ellen Hutson LLC! I had a blast watercoloring these merry little cuties! They are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto watercolor paper, then watercolored with Gansai Tambi watercolor set: One thing I love about this large watercolor set (besides the great variety of colors!) are the metallic colors of pearl white, silver, and two golds. I used the metallic silver for the bee hat trim -- it is a very faint silver, but gives just enough color to make it stand out from the white background paper. The yellow card base was created by stamping the honeycomb hex shape with Mustard Seed Distress Ink onto watercolor paper, then spreading that color with a water brush: To finish the card, I die cut the bee panel with MFT's Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames. Then I watercolored the scalloped frame with a lighter version of my... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen Retirement Sale!

Here's the sale you've been waiting for, crafty peeps! Get your favorite retiring Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies, before they are GONE for GOOD! Shop the Last Chance Sale category HERE or click the graphic above. Here are a few of my favorite past projects using some of these awesome stamps and dies: Using Sunshine word die: Using Stay Golden stamps and dies: Using Thankful stamp set: Using Elf'd stamps and dies: Using Prize Stag die, Have fun shopping! STAMPS & DIES ON SALE NOW AT ELLEN HUTSON LLC: Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Sunshine Word by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Stay Golden by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Stay Golden by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Thankful by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Read more →

Teacher Time!

Here it is August and soon teachers and students will be going back to school. I made this card a little for those teachers and a little for my oldest daughter, who is headed off to be a college freshman in two short weeks (insert very proud but sad face here!). I thought this sentiment could work well for either: This new Teacher Lady Leading Lady by Brandi Kincaid for Essentials by Ellen is a great stamp set with lots of teacher OR student related accessories! I stamped all the images in black, then colored them with Copics in colors to match the colors in this great watercolor rainbow washi tape, which is on the inside of the card: Teacher Lady was die cut with her coordinating die and popped up over the background: The background panel was also popped up on the card front, with black Copic running down the left side of the card base, to resemble a composition notebook! Do you have a teacher or student that brightens your life? I think we all do! This stamp & die set is part of this month's August Essentials by Ellen release over at Ellen Hutson LLC. You'll find... Read more →

Watercolor Rainbow Shaker Card

Hello, crafty peeps! It's release day over at Ellen Hutson LLC and we have some Fantasmagorical new products to share today! What exactly is Fantasmagorical? Well, I will defer that question to Julie Ebersole, the creator of this stamp set, but I sure had a blast playing with her new Unicorns 'N Rainbows stamp set and coordinating dies! And evidently July is World Watercolor month, so I threw in some of that, too! ;-) To create this watercolor rainbow shaker card, I used a background of watercolor paper and brushed Tumbled Glass Distress Ink over a cloud stencil, using a fabulous new-to-me tool: Clarity Stencil Brushes! These amazing brushes give such a smooth and soft blend ... I'm totally hooked on them! Next, I stamped the adorable unicorn and his rainbow with Memento Gray Flannel ink onto more watercolor paper, then used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to watercolor them both. Then I used their coordinating Unicorns 'N Rainbows dies to cut them both. Next, I die cut a spot for my rainbow from the stenciled cloud panel, then stamped the awesome sentiment (from the new Pure Magic stamp set), using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I... Read more →

Shop, Save & Freebie!

SALE ALERT! June 15-19 Shop the Oops Overstock category, save & get a freebie at Ellen Hutson LLC!! Click the Oops graphic below to shop the special sale category. If you spend at least $100, you'll get a brand new stamp set (Over It by Julie Ebersole shown below) FREE!! Happy shopping! 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 →

Partial Die Cutting: Hot Mess!

By now you've heard the news: There are two new Leading Ladies over at Ellen Hutson LLC! These fabulous Ladies are the awesome creation of Brandi Kincaid, exclusively for the Essentials by Ellen line. Today I have another example of partial die cutting, along the right edge of this card: Here's how she was created: First, I used my Misti to stamp the Hot Mess Lady onto watercolor paper. The rough texture of watercolor paper sometimes prevents a crisp, fully stamped image. If that happens, it is easy to re-stamp the image again using the Misti! I'm loving my new bar magnets (wrapped with glitter tape for easy handling) and easy wipe mouse pad made for the Misti! Next, I placed my top die cutting pad along the right edge of the paper, where I wanted to cut away the area around Hot Mess's hand using her coordinating die. When you run this sandwich through your die cutting machine, it will only cut the paper where the top plate covers it: Next, use your paper trimmer to finish cutting a straight line above and below her arm, trimming away the excess: Here, I placed a piece of bright paper behind... Read more →

Partial Die Cutting: Everyday Hero!

Hello and happy Sunday ... There are some new Leading Ladies in town today! Just in time for Mother's Day, or any occasion you may have for any of the "Leading Ladies" in your life! Here's how this top-hinged, partially die cut card came together . . . First, I stamped Everyday Hero with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a Neenah 110 Lb. Solar White cardstock panel. If I had known how I would finish this card, I would have stamped her onto a top-folding card base, so take note of that if you would like to re-create this card! :) Then I colored her with these Copic Sketch Markers: (Not photographed - Skin: E00, E11, E121); Pictured below - Shirt: R22, R24, R27; Jeans: B21 (Pictured below) - Jeans: B23, B26; Cape & Headband/Crown: Y08, YR21, YR23, E33; Hair: T0, T1, T2, T6 Then I partially die cut just her legs by placing my top die cutting plate only over the lower portion of the panel I wanted cut away. Using a ruler, I placed pencil marks across the bottom of the panel where I wanted to cut away the lower quarter (you can see those just above the... Read more →

Pattern Happy Paper Piecing

Happy Friday, Friends! Today Ellen Hutson designers are joining the Pattern Happy designers for a blog hop celebrating Pattern Happy products arriving at the Ellen Hutson shop! You will love these fun and playful clear stamps and coordinating dies, as well as their awesome 6x6 patterned paper packs! Today I'm using the whimsical Coolest Ever stamp set and coordinating Coolest Ever dies: To create the popsicles, I stamped them with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto delicious patterns of paper from the Rainbows 6x6 patterned paper pad, then cut them out and glued the pieces onto an additional stamped and die cut white cardstock popsicle. The far right popsicle's stamped dots were colored in using the rainbow Copic markers shown below in the supply section. The popsicles were popped up with foam tape onto a white panel die cut with stitched scallops. The wonderful sentiments were stamped with Hero Arts Bold Ink Cubes (Orchid and Rose Madder), and Black -- aren't those fonts fresh and fun?!! To finish the card, I popped up the white panel on top of a white top-folding card base that has a bold black and white patterned strip of paper from the Pattern Happy 6x6 Color... Read more →