PaperFections

Celebration Lady!

Hello, Crafters! Did you see that the new Essentials by Ellen December release is already available in the Ellen Hutson shop? You can find all the fun, new stamps and dies HERE! If you have an occasion to celebrate, these new stamps and dies have you covered!! In this release is another cute new Leading Lady by Brandi Kincaid: Celebration Lady stamp set and coordinating dies! And here's a card I created with her: I imagined Celebration Lady at a holiday party ... either Christmas or New Year's perhaps? :) The glowing background was created with the emboss resist technique: First I stamped the sentiment and confetti/ribbon with Versamark ink, then clear heat embossed them. Next, I used Delicata Golden Glitz metallic pigment ink to sponge over the the Neenah 110 Lb. Solar White card base. It has such a beautiful shimmer in person! Her dress was paper pieced from yet another one of my Copic Various Ink backgrounds I created in this session << Full background technique details can be found there. I just stamped her dress onto the alcohol-inked Yupo paper using my Misti (the Yupo paper is a bit slick and sometimes it takes several impressions to... 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 →

Rosy Thanks

This week in the CLASSroom, we are exploring different inks and their uses. Today it's my turn, with Taylored Expressions inks! Head on over to the CLASSroom today for all the details on how I created this rosey thank you card with one of my favorite stamping techniques, 2 and 3-step stamping and layering different ink colors to create multi-dimensional images! And as luck would have it, this week ink is on sale at EllenHutson.com! Just click the banner below to start shopping the Ink Category: thru Sunday the 22nd at 11:50pm Pacific: Thanks for visiting today! Read more →

Copic "Water" Colored Roses

Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom I experimented with using a water brush and Copic Various Ink Refills to create this watercolored look background on a special paper -- another in my Beautiful Background series! You can find all the details over on the CLASSroom blog here . . . I hope you'll join me there! Read more →

Merci!

Thank you all so much for all of your fabulous comments on Julie Ebersole's new Essentials by Ellen stamp and die release blog hop this week. Remember, you still have until this coming Tuesday, May 5 to comment on my blog post below to be entered for the chance to win the stamp set I used on my projects! I couldn't resist using more of Julie's new die and stamp sets today on this card over in Ellen's the CLASSroom. I hope you'll join me there to find out how to make quick and easy die cut cards with your Copic markers! I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Read more →

Baby Congrats

Happy Saturday ... I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom I have this sweet baby shaker card to share, along with full instructions on how to create a shaker card ... I hope you'll join me there! Read more →

Copic Watercolor Background: Take 2!

I updated my Copic "watercolor" technique with a new/different paper! It's perfect if you don't care for the super glossiness of glossy paper. I hope you'll join me over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom for all the details and I hope you are staying dry wherever you are ... we've been getting rain for two days straight and more is on the way tomorrow! Happy weekend! Read more →

Die-namics Design: Cover-Up Craze

My Favorite Things put a lot of thought into their products and their line of Cover-Ups Die-namics reflects their attention to detail when it comes to what works for YOU! Designed to layer beautifully on a standard A2 card size, Cover-Ups add dimension and texture. These designs are equally as beautiful tone-on-tone as they are with bright, contrasting pops of color. You’ll be amazed at the creative ways the MFT design team has featured Cover-Ups in their projects this month! I also love using Cover-Ups on my scrapbook pages ... here's an example: I love how easy it is to get perfect, bold accents with Cover-Ups! Here, I used one of my favorites, the Floral Fusion, cut from this month's new Tickled Pink cardstock, and layered it behind my girls' photo booth strip of photos. The Happy Die-namics was cut from Tickled Pink, and Cranberry Cocktail cardstock, then layered together across the top of the page. An additional Happy Trio (this month's Free with $60) die cut (from Blue Breeze cardstock) was added to the title line. On the left side of the page I placed a leftover strip (from a previous project) of all the new March colors of... Read more →

MFT March Creative Challenge: Stylin’ with Stencils

Stencils may not get the same recognition as stamps and dies but believe me, they simply can’t be beat in terms of versatility! Their flexibility and durability make them the perfect choice for adding color and texture with any number of mediums and with close to 70 different options in two different sizes available in the MFT shop, you’re sure to find the perfect design for your next project. This month, the MFT Design Team is inspiring you to play with stencils. (All bold products are linked below in the supply section). My first card uses the new Polka Dot Stencil and one of my very favorite ways of using stencils ... with watercolor! I placed the stencil over Primitive White cardstock and then used these Premium Dye Ink Refills to color in the dots: Tropical Teal, Coral Crush, and Steel Blue (which happen to be the current Color Challenge 17! The Polka Dot panel was cut with the curved panel from Blueprints 22 and placed onto a Tropical Teal card base. Next, the Happy Die-namics were cut from Coral Crush and Tropical Teal cardstock, layered together, slightly offset, with Copic X-Press It Foam Tape. The Totally Happy sentiment was... Read more →

Creative Construction with MFT Blueprints 15 & 18

I love My Favorite Things' Blueprints Die-namics because they take the guesswork out of crafting beautiful cards in quick fashion when you’re short on time or inspiration. I also love them for their versatility and ability to be mixed and matched when I have the time and inspiration to create something truly unique. MFT's new Creative Construction Challenge focuses on these attributes each month, challenging the design team to both assemble a card based on one of the provided Blueprints sketches as well as design an original card combining elements from the featured Blueprints. Wonky panels are trickier to execute than they might appear at first glance. This month’s challenge focuses on Blueprints 15 and Blueprints 18 that make creating die-cut panels with a little sass to them quick and easy! (All bold products are linked below in the supply section). My first card uses Blueprints 18 and follows one of the provided sketches (with a little addition of a cloud!): The sweet Wish You Were Here Pure Innocence girl was stamped with Black Licorice Hybrid Ink onto a Primitive White cardstock base and colored with the Copic markers listed below in the supply section. The Blueprints 18 wonky panel... Read more →

MFT March Release Rewind

Happy Friday and welcome to My Favorite Things March Release Rewind! The design team hopes to inspire you with more ideas for those new March products you've purchased and are patiently awaiting to be delivered, or to help you finish up your shopping if you are still on the fence about anything! :) My first card today uses the awesome new Dog House Die-namics I hadn't gotten to use yet this month. It was a perfect match for the dogs in Birdie Brown's You Make My Tail Wag stamp set! I decided the dog house needed to match my Small Brick Wall house card from Tuesday night's New Product Launch (found two posts below this one, HERE), so I did the same watercolor technique, then die cut the Dog House from the watercolored brick. The house trim was die cut from plain watercolor paper and shaded with Copic C2 (as were the Clouds). The dog house was popped up on Copic's X-Press It Foam Tape. The dog was stamped with Black Licorice Hybrid Ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card and die cut with his coordinating Die-namics, then colored with Copic markers (colors listed below in the supply section). Grassy... Read more →

MFT March 2015 New Product Launch!

Welcome to the March New Product Launch from My Favorite Things! This is the design team's chance to highlight and share more of the new release products that are NOW AVAILABLE for purchase at the MFT Store! Be sure to leave a comment here on my blog post, to be entered for your chance at winning a $100 gift voucher (see last paragraph below for details)! Tonight I'm focusing on MFT's fun new Small Brick Background stamp and Window Die-namics ... (all bold products are linked below in the supply section)! My first project is an 8-inch scrap page of a gorgeous lunch spot at the Hana Hotel in Maui, Hawaii, where my husband and I spent our honeymoon. This photo hasn't had a good permanent home for a while, so I wanted to scrap it before it got lost in another move! I stamped the Small Brick Background with Versamark onto this month's pretty new After Midnight cardstock -- it was a perfect compliment to the beautiful blues of the ocean! I intentionally partially inked the top right corner and lower left corners of the page, so the bricks would fade out. That's one thing I love about MFT's... Read more →

My Favorite Things March Release Countdown-Day 1

The time has come -- it's the final day before the My Favorite Things new March products are available tonight, March 3rd. Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog to see today’s full product reveals AND enter for your chance to win a $75 gift voucher on each of the 5 countdown day blog posts there! Today features more great pet products! I used Pet Accents Die-namics and the staggered Paw Prints Stencil, along with a sentiment from Birdie Brown's I Knead You stamp set to create this card (all bold products are linked below in the supply section): I did a little play on the "I {heart} U" phrase ... I hope that kind of translates, LOL! I love that there are two sizes of these items in this die set -- makes for great versatility! The die cuts (cut from Primitive White, Electric Red and Black Licorice cardstock) were popped up on Copic X-Press It Foam Tape on a Blueprints 23 stitched rectangle panel which was dry embossed with the Paw Prints Stencil. A tiny gold metallic cardstock paw print was inlaid into the red heart. The I Knead You sentiment was gold heat embossed on... Read more →

My Favorite Things March Release Countdown-Day 2

Welcome back to the My Favorite Things March release countdown ... All the new products will be available next Tuesday night, March 3rd. Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog to see today’s full product reveals AND enter for your chance to win a $75 gift voucher on each of the 5 countdown day blog posts there! Today features fabulous new Television Die-namics and Stay Tuned stamp set from Laina Lamb AND all FIVE of this month's beautiful new cardstock colors: (in order on the television): Tickled Pink, Cranberry Cocktail, Field Day, Blue Breeze, and After Midnight (all bold products are linked below in the supply section): Isn't this retro TV awesome?!! And it has so many fun coordinating sentiments in the Stay Tuned stamp set! I cut 1/2-inch stripes of all five new cardstock colors and glued them together onto white cardstock, then die cut the center of the TV from the color strips. The TV and antenna were cut again from Black Licorice and silver metallic cardstock and pieced together. The Blueprints 23 stitched rectangle panel was die cut from Smooth White cardstock and the sentiment stamped with Black Licorice Premium Dye Ink. A strip of... Read more →

My Favorite Things March Release Countdown-Day 3

Welcome back to the My Favorite Things March release countdown ... All the new products will be available next Tuesday night, March 3rd. Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog to see today’s full product reveals AND enter for your chance to win a $75 gift voucher on each of the 5 countdown day blog posts there! Today features TWO sweet new Pure Innocence stamp sets: Feline Better and Woof You, another fabulous Die-namics set from the Inside and Out Stitched series -- this time Rounded Square STAX, and the fun Stitched Speech Bubble Edges Die-namics (all bold products are linked below in the supply section): I stamped the girl and cat with Black Licorice Hybrid Ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card die cut with the Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Square STAX, then colored them with Copic markers (colors listed below in the supply section). The background was airbrushed with Copic Y23 and is actually softer and not as blotchy as it appears here! The Stitched Speech Bubble Edge was die cut from Sno Cone cardstock, fit for placement, then the top trimmed with the the Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Square STAX ... I adore... Read more →