PaperFections

Pastel Merry Christmas

I know you don't want to hear this, but it's only 43 more days until Christmas! So to help get your holiday card making geared up, I have a pretty pastel easy-peasy Christmas card for you today, using stamps, dies, ink and cardstock all from Taylored Expressions: For all the details on how to create this, please join me over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom today. And don't forget, all Taylored Expressions products are 15% off at Ellen Hutson LLC until the end of tomorrow, Saturday, November 12. You can shop all TE products at Ellen Hutson HERE . . . Happy weekend! Read more →

Inchie Arts Little Village Kits

Hello, Friends ... Today I'm joining up with Inchie Arts and Ellen Hutson for a fun week-long product feature! Inchie Arts has developed some new kits for making city and neighborhood scenes called Little Villages (so far, there are two kits!). The kits were designed for unlimited scenic possibilities! Here, I've created a snowy night-time Christmas village scene: (Click on any photo for a larger view. Bold products are linked below in the supply section). The kits are die cut matboard pieces made out of the same sturdy archival white matboard used for Inchie Arts' signature Art Squares. Today I used the Little Village 2 kit (there is also a Little Village 1 kit). Below are all of the Little Village 2 pieces punched out of the 3-1/2" x 5" matboard piece from which they are die cut (the pieces come still attached in the matboard rectangle, but punch out cleanly and easily): Both kits come with an ATC (2.5"x 3.5") Art Square base, but I decided to use a little larger white 4" Art Square to create this holiday home decor piece. Since this is a holiday piece, I wanted a lot of shimmer, so I dug out some... Read more →

Light up Rudolph Art!

I had too much fun this week, making this 4" x 6' framed light up art piece using new Essentials by Ellen Leaping Deer die and Season to Sparkle stamp and die sets, along with Chibitronics Chibi Lights! Head over to Ellen Hutson's the Classroom for all the details! Read more →

Essentials by Ellen Early Holiday 2016

Hello, and welcome to the Holiday 2016 Essentials by Ellen Release Hop! I’ll be showcasing several of the new stamp sets and dies on my post today, AND I also get to give away an Essentials by Ellen stamp set, so please be sure to check out the giveaway details below! My first card uses the FUN new Antlers die (by Julie Ebersole), along with the new Holiday Words dies and Light Parade stamps and dies, to create this inlaid die cut card: (Click on any photo for a larger view. Bold products are linked below in the supply section). This card came together quickly by just die cutting the Holiday Words from watercolor paper, silver metallic cardstock, and Bazzill Peppermint cardstock. After splattering my Zig Gold Wink of Stella onto the watercolor background, I simply replaced the PEACE and LOVE die cut words into the background and secured them on the back side of the background with X-Press It Foam Tape. The background was attached with the foam tape to a gold metallic cardstock base, allowing the gold cardstock to show through the JOY word window. The Antlers were intertwined with gold heat embossed and die cut Light Parade... Read more →

Mondo Terial Magic Magnolia!

Hello, everyone -- Today I am sharing with you a fun product I recently tried, Terial Magic, now available from Imagination International. (Click on any photo for a larger view. All bold products are linked below in the supply section). Terial Magic is a liquid fabric stabilizer that turns fabric into a fray-free, paper-like material which can be manipulated in ways that were previously unavailable. This obviously makes it perfect for anyone who sews or quilts, but it is also great for papercrafters! Once fabric is treated, you can stamp on it, die-cut it, run it through your digital die cutting machine, even PRINT digital images onto it using your personal printer -- and I can't wait to share a product I created doing that! It’s amazing for creating fabric flowers, bows and so much more. I can't wait to share more projects I made with it in the future! Here are the easy-to-use directions: Here's how I amended those directions: Step 1: I laid the fabric into my clean sink and sprayed it in there (larger protected area to use it in, and one less bowl to clean!) Step 2: I laid the fabric onto my self-healing cutting mat... Read more →

Stitched Bird with Copic Bubble Background

Hello and welcome ... Today I have a fun background technique to share with you, adding to my Beautiful Background series! To create this easy bubble background, I used an Aristo Circle Template and Aristo Finelead Studio 0.5 mechanical pencil to lightly trace overlapping circles onto a 4.25" x 5.50" X-Press It Blending Card panel. This template features 45 different circles, ranging from 1 to 36mm and is transparent so it's easy to see through and plan out circle placement. And while linking this, I just noticed that ALL Aristo products are currently 50% off in the Aristo Store at the Imagination International website! Next, I used the Aristo Click Eraser to erase any overlapping lines I didn't want. This eraser's ergonomic shape features push-button technology to advance the refillable eraser. It is the nice soft and non-abrasive white eraser which is less likely to smear surrounding areas or damage your paper. I like how small this eraser is, allowing it to be very precise and work easily in tight spaces. Then I used some of my favorite color combos of Copic Sketch markers pictured above to color and shade the circles. Once colored, I used the Click Eraser again... Read more →

Happy 8th Birthday Taylored Expressions!

Happy Monday to you, friends! Did you know Taylored Expressions is celebrating its 8th birthday this month with some fun party favors for YOU! These include everything from the exclusive WISH BIG stamp & die combo set I’ve used today, to patterned paper packs, ink, and more! GIVEAWAY ALERT! Visit the TE Blog to see all their special offers and for your chance to win a fun prize! I was so very honored to be a part of the first Baker's Dozen Design Team when Taylor started the company 8 years ago (remember Cuppie?!!), and just as honored to be asked to help them celebrate their birthday this month! Here's a peek at the adorable Wish Big stamp set, which you can receive FREE with your purchase over $50 this month! (Click on any photo for a larger view. Bold products are linked below in the supply section) This set is SO MUCH fun! I used every stamp and DIE in this exclusive set, except for the two balloon strings -- I used different colors of embroidery thread in their place. Here's how this card came together: I used a variety of rainbow colored Distress Inks to ink up the... Read more →

Pineapple of My Eye!

Hello, friends! I'm back today with another beachy pineappley project for you! Can you tell I slightly LOVE just about anything tropical and beachy?!! I'm desperately trying to hold on to the last bit of Summer (before school starts next week), by scrapping one of my favorite photos from our vacation a few short weeks ago (I am SO ready to go back)! I hope you'll join me today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom for all the details on how I created this page. As promised, I've included detailed photo instructions on how to create the stamped watercolor pineapple I used here and on my pina colada card in the post below this one. I look forward to seeing you there! Read more →

Lavender Felt Sachets

Happy Friday, friends! Today I'm sharing a fun felt project over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom ... lovely lavender scented sachets! I hope you'll join me there for all the details on how to create them, with your Taylored Expressions felt (my very favorite felt of all time!) and Memory Box Plush dies! See you there! Read more →

August 2016 Calendar

Yes, folks -- August arrives on Monday, can you believe it? The summer is almost over and school will be starting soon, so that makes it time for another monthly calendar from me! (Click on any photo for a larger view. All bold products are linked below in the supply section). This month's calendar uses a brand new Fall Pink Ink stamp, Apple Stand #2275H. You can see all the newest Fall/Holiday stamps from Pink Ink HERE. The calendar grid is one I made on my computer. I sized it approximately 4.50" wide x 3" tall, to fit inside the largest stitched scalloped Frame in Frame 2 dies from Taylored Expressions. The calendars are shown at left (click on the photo for a larger view), with outlines of where the die will cut. I have made the calendar available as a free download for you (without the die outlines, so you can just trim and use however you'd like), which includes August through December ... Enjoy! You can download the calendars HERE: Download 2016_calendarsAug-Q4_SharonHarnist For future quick finding, the download will also be included on my Download page HERE. Now for that cool background ... Here's how it was created:... Read more →

Faux Watercolor

Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom, I'm sharing a Faux Watercolor technique. I hope you'll join me there for all the details on how to create this fun pineapple card! Read more →

Life is a Journey

I hope you all have had the chance to try out Taylored Expressions’ beautiful new ink pads -- I’ve used them two different ways on this 8-inch scrapbook page -- for watercoloring the background and selectively inking the sentiment title! This page is about a wonderful milestone in our family … our oldest daughter received her driving permit this past Fall {sniff!} so, of course, it HAD to be documented! That great "Memories" frame I used is part of the Retirement Sale currently going on at Taylored Expressions so if you like it, you better scoop it up quickly! You can shop the Retirement Sale HERE. I hope you'll join me today over on the Taylored Expressions blog for all the details about this scrapbook page! SUPPLIES: Go Beep On the Road - Beetle Build a Scene - On the Road Pockets & Pages - Fab Frames - Summer Label Stacklets 3 Premium Watercolor Cardstock Premium Cardstock - Cookie Monster Premium Cardstock - Oreo Premium Cardstock - Metallic Neutrals TE Ink Bundle - Mini Size Taylored Expressions Cookie Monster Mini Pad Taylored Expressions Granny Smith Mini Pad Taylored Expressions Peapod Mini Pad Taylored Expressions Cherry Pop Mini Pad Taylored Expressions... Read more →

July 2016 Calendar

We are well into the summer and nearing the end of the month, so you know what that means … another calendar page from me, and this one was tons of fun to create! You can find the full details about this calendar page today over on the Taylored Expressions blog ... I hope you'll join me there! Marching On Pockets & Pages - July Script Embossing Folder - Fireworks Premium Cardstock - Sugar Cube Premium Cardstock - Blue Corn Premium Cardstock - Cherry Pop Premium Cardstock - Metallic Neutrals Memento Luxe Wedding Dress Full Pad Copic Markers 2016 6x6 Calendar Download InLinkz.com Read more →

Watercolor Inlaid Die Cuts

I have a fun watercolor inlaid die cut, flip flop shaped card tutorial today for you over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom. I hope you'll join me there for all the details on how to create this fun Caribbean-feel Father's Day card! Read more →

June 2016 Calendar

Hello and Happy Memorial Day! May is winding down and June is right around the corner, so today I am sharing my cute little beach babe chick June calendar! I hope you will join me today over on the Taylored Expressions blog for all the details. Calendar Critters Calendar Critters Dies 2016 6x6 Calendar Download Little Bits - Sandcastle Little Bits - Beach Umbrella Little Bits - Let's Talk Bubble 1 Pockets & Pages - June Script Build a Scene - Rolling Waves Build a Scene - Rolling Hills Memento Tuxedo Black Full Pad Copic Markers Premium Cardstock - Sprinkles Premium Cardstock - Salt Water Taffy Premium Cardstock - Toffee Premium Cardstock - Sugar Cube 1/8" Foam Tape Frame Your Imagination Vertical Stand 6x6 Page Protectors InLinkz.com Read more →