PaperFections

Sentimental Background - August Essentials by Ellen

Thank you so much for joining us today for the August Essentials by Ellen Release Hop! You'll find a lot of amazing inspiration awaiting on today's hop, along with . . . *PRIZES: We've got super fun prizes! One random lucky commenter will win $25 to the EllenHutson shop and one will win the whole August Essentials by Ellen release! To enter for a chance to win, make sure to leave comments at each stop along today's hop! Comment before Thursday, August 15th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified by email. But first, here's a little about the card I have to share today, using Julie Ebersole's new Mondo Amaryllis stamp set and Mondo Amaryllis die set: Isn't this floral gorgeous?!! I stamped it with Gina K Jet Black Amalgam ink onto watercolor paper and watercolored with these Daniel Smith watercolors: Rhodonite Genuine (PrimaTek Set), Quinacridone Rose (Floral Half-Pan Set or Ultimate Mixing Half-Pan Set), Permanent Alizarin Crimson (Ultimate Mixing Half-Pan Set), Serpentine Genuine (Colors of Inspiration Half-Pan Set), Green Apatite (Floral Half-Pan Set). The finished floral was die cut with its coordinating Mondo Amaryllis die set and popped up on X-Press It Foam Mounting Tape. The background was... Read more →

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 →

Watercolor Wildflowers - May Essentials by Ellen

It's May Release day over at Ellen Hutson LLC -- Wonderful new stamp and die sets fresh for your Spring picking! I naturally gravitate to flowers, so it's no surprise I have a wonderful watercolored Mondo Wildflower bouquet for you today: This beautiful bouquet was gold heat embossed onto watercolor paper, then watercolored with Daniel Smith Ultimate Mixing and Blues Half-Pan sets. I absolutely LOVE how effortlessly these watercolors blend on paper and the amazing shading you can get with them! The watercolored panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle die, then mounted onto a Solar White card base. One of the four great sentiments from this stamp set was also gold heat embossed, cut into a banner shape, and popped up with foam tape. Be sure to head over to Ellen's CLASSroom blog and enter to win some release prizes and see more fabulous samples using this new May Release! Thanks so much for joining me today! SUPPLIES: Mondo Wildflowers by Brandi Kincaid, Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps Mondo Wildflowers by Brandi Kincaid, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies VersaMark Ink Pad Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk... Read more →

Watercolored Backyard Bird Family

Hello and happy Friday, Crafters! Today is THE day ... new March Essentials by Ellen products are now available in the Ellen Hutson shop! You can view the entire March release HERE! Today I am giving you a look at the adorable Backyard Bird Friends stamp set and coordinating die sets from Brandi Kincaid, with this family of feathered friends: Notice the little hummingbird has flittered off by herself, leaving the family trio nest behind ... just like my family! ;-) I thought this wonderful sentiment from the stamp set was also very fitting ... "Home is where your birds sing". Love that! :D It is gold heat embossed. These sweet birds were stamped with Coffee Archival ink onto watercolor paper, then watercolored with Daniel Smith Ultimate Mixing and Blues Half Pan Sets. To create the tree, I just stamped the one leafy limb a few times and extended the longer branch. The nest and bluebird were both die cut with their coordinating Backyard Bird Friends dies and popped up on foam tape, for wonderful added dimension: Be sure to check out Ellen Hutson's The CLASSroom blog for more release details and giveaways! Thanks so much for joining me today... Read more →

Watercolored Spring Daisies + Stamp Sale!

Hello and happy Friday, Friends! Today's project is a bouquet of watercolored Spring daisies using Julie Ebersole's latest February stamp and die release for Ellen Hutson's Essentials by Ellen. Mondo Gerbera Daisy was stamped and clear heat embossed, then watercolored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor set, keeping the colors soft and light. The watercolored piece was then trimmed and mounted onto a black card base. The beautiful Big Scripty Hello die is also new from Ellen's February release. It was also die cut from black cardstock, glittered with shimmer pen, then its coordinating shadow die used to cut vellum for a soft background accent. Need some new stamps? They are all on sale this weekend at Ellen Hutson LLC! Just click the banner below to start shopping! Thanks so much for joining me today ... Happy weekend! SUPPLIES: Mondo Gerbera Daisy by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Stamp & Die Combo Mondo Gerbera Daisy by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps Big Scripty Hello by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies Big Scripty Dies by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Die Combo VersaMark Ink Pad Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk Ranger Distress Watercolor Cardstock Essentials By Ellen Cardstock,... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen February 2019 Release!

Happy Friday, Crafters ... It's Release Day at Ellen Hutson! There are a wonderful new group of February stamps and dies by Julie Ebersole for the Essentials by Ellen line. One of my favorites (of course!) is the Mondo Gerbera Daisy! This beautiful new floral is a dream to color but also makes a fabulous impact stamped in just black or colors, without coloring it in! For this card, I gold heat embossed the daisy onto watercolor paper (cutting off and extending the length of the stem), then watercolored with Daniel Smith's Ultimate Mixing Half Pan Set. The daisy was die cut with its coordinating Mondo Gerbera Daisy die, then popped up on foam tape over a watercolor background I created by lightly washing Daniel Smith Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Genuine (SBT), then splattering with a darker mix of the same (gorgous!) color! This SBT is also available separately in an individual tube, or in Daniel Smith's Blues Half Pan Set. To finish this card, I die cut several layers of Neenah Solar White #110 cardstock using one of the two word dies that is included in the Mondo Gerbera Daisy die set -- isn't that a pretty font? I then... Read more →

December Essentials by Ellen Release Now Available!

Happy Sunday, Crafty Friends! The December Essentials by Ellen release is now available in Ellen's shop! You will flip when you see this release -- especially if you love alphabet and word dies (like me!) or have been following the latest letterboard trend! One of my favorites of this release is the fabulous new Letterboard Die Set I used for this card: (All bold products are linked below in the supply section): I think these products would be a fun alternative to a larger letterboard because you can make cute, more "permanent" pieces of framed artwork, to send through the mail or hand to a friend or family member! This great Letterboard background and frame (two separate dies), includes the small alphabet die set that also has a bunch of fun symbols and emoticons! The Letterboard background was cut from Ellen's Ebony Black cardstock and the frame from gold metallic cardstock. I also used the Letterboard Larger Alpha Die set for the "EVER" word, and Letterboard Script 2 for the "you" and "favorite" words. All of the words were die cut from Neenah #110 Solar White cardstock, then colored in an ombre effect with Copic BG Markers. Your friends for... 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 →

Ommission Stamping with New Leading Ladies!

A new release from Brandi Kincaid exclusively for Essentials by Ellen is now available in the shop! You can see lots of inspiration on the "This Just In" page of the Ellen Hutson LLC website and on Ellen's the CLASSroom blog. There are two new Leading Lady stamp and coordinating die sets (Bookworm Lady and Holiday Shopper Lady), a great little Ugly Sweater Accessories stamp and coordinating die set, plus some great stand alone dies - Winter Window and Snowfall Backdrop! Today I'm using the Holiday Shopper Lady and the adorable Winter Window die. I always love thinking "outside the box", to find unusual and different ways to use my supplies. So while the Winter Window die would probably normally be used to look at an outdoor scene, I've created a scene of my Holiday Shopper Lady looking into a store window. She's doing a little sidewalk window shopping for her long holiday shopping list, waiting for the store to open so she can catch that big sale! Remember those commercials where everyone is crowded around the store doors, waiting for it to open,saying "Open-open-open"?!! To get this look, I did some selective inking of the Holiday Shopper Lady stamp... Read more →

Easy Stamped Watercolor Two Ways

Hello, Stampers! Today I have an easy stamped watercolor project to share that can be accomplished in two different ways. Isn't this new Mondo Holly stamp by Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen absolutely gorgeous?!! I could not wait to get my hands on it, to color! Here's the easy way I've colored it today -- simply by using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers directly on the stamp -- shown on the cover of my Mist Stamping Tool below: I find the Misti a great tool for this type of project -- you can easily re-ink whatever parts of the stamp that may not stamp very well. The colors of markers I used were: Light Green, Green, Olive Green, Dark Pink, and Carmine Red. You can find all but the Dark Pink in this set of 24, or individually in Ellen's shop. Now here's where the two different ways come in: For the first style of stamped watercolor, I misted my watercolor paper with water FIRST, THEN stamped. In photo 1 below, you can see the paper still wet. The middle photo shows how the color bled a little more and I also moved some of the color around,... 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 →

Always Be A Mermaid

My oldest daughter is off to college in a just a few short weeks, so we are in the midst of getting things together for her dorm room. While on a recent shopping trip she spotted a beautiful aqua decorative "mermaid" pillow and squealed with delight! Imagine my delight when I learned of mermaid pillows ... two-sided different colors of sequins which you can brush back and forth, creating wonderful patterns in them -- sparkling like a swimming mermaid! Needless to say, we now have some mermaid pillows in the house! :) That brings us to this custom piece of artwork that will be framed and will go in darling daughter's dorm room, to go with her mermaid pillow: Thank goodness Julie Ebersole created a new mermaid Inner Mermaid friend for her existing Essentials by Ellen Mermaid's Tail stamp set! I paired them swimming together, along with this absolutely fabulous sentiment in the new Inner Mermaid stamp set: I gold heat embossed all the images onto watercolor paper, then watercolored them with my favorite Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. A few clear droplets were the only thing needed to complete the piece, keeping the watercoloring the focus. Now to find the... 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 →

Watercolored Die Cuts

Happy Friday, Friends! Today I'm sharing how you can watercolor your die cuts, to create a project quickly and easily, by cutting all the elements from white watercolor paper then watercoloring each of the pieces! For this card, I used two different colors (deep blue and deep purple) of Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors on damp watercolor paper, let it dry, then splattered the background with white watercolor to create a starry effect. Next, I die cut the Starry Ring from the upper left corner of the background, then mounted the background to a white card base. The Roaring Rocket and its flames were die cut from white watercolor paper, then the rocket pieces watercolored with silver, white, black, blue and violet: I finished the card by heat embossing the Outta this World sentiment in white onto black cardstock. Both the rocket and the sentiment piece were popped up with foam tape. Clear sequins were scattered over the background. Thanks so much for joining me today ... I hope you'll give watercoloring your die cuts a try! Happy weekend! SUPPLIES: 99975 Roaring Rocket craft die 99972 Starry Ring craft die CL5221 Outta This World clear stamp set Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10... Read more →

Watercolor 2 Ways: Textured Watercolor

Happy Friday and weekend, crafty friends ... Sharon Harnist here with you again! Today I have two styles of watercolored cards to share, because I couldn't make up my mind which I preferred! I would love to hear which is your favorite, below in the comments! My first card boasts a new technique I haven't seen anyone else share, and it was a fun experiment ... I hope you like it! I call this one "Textured Watercolor". To begin, I painted gesso onto heavyweight white cardstock using a regular paint brush and let it dry. You will naturally get some paint strokes in the gesso and this is what you want ... it creates some great texture in the final project! After the gesso was dry, I used Avery Elle Liquid Watercolors on top of the gesso. My original intent was to apply the watercolor directly from the bottle to the top of the tilted cardstock panel and just let them run down the panel, creating whatever pattern occured. While this could create a really great background, it just wasn't what I was looking for the background for this card. Instead, I took a watercolor brush and smoothed the watercolor... Read more →