PaperFections

Foxy Fall Hello

Happy Friday! Today I have this fun Fall card over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom. I hope you'll join me there to see how I made a new baby/shower stamp set into a fall themed beautiful background! Are the leaves in full color yet in your part of the country? Here in south Texas they are just starting to change color a little and starting to fall. Happy Autumn! Read more →

Watercolor Rose Background

Happy Friday, friends! Today I have a bold and bright watercolor background to share with you over on Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom blog. I hope you'll join me there for all the details! It's homecoming weekend here already, so we're ready for high school Friday night football! What will you be doing? Read more →

Thanks in my Heart

Happy Friday, friends! Today I have another fun-to-create beautiful background card to share with you, using some fabulous new stamps and dies from Concord & 9th: (Click on any photo for a larger view. Bold products are linked below in the supply section). To create this background, I used my favorite new'ish toy, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor set. I've had the small 12-set of these professional watercolors for a while ... I wanted to test them out to see how I liked them. Well, to say I loved them is a huge understatement, so this sweet 36-set showed up at my door this week! I've also been enjoying creating stamped watercolor a lot lately, so I thought I would see if it could be done with these watercolors. Test results are in . . . it works great! Using a waterbrush, I used only a small amount of water to pick up some color from the dark pink color "cake" in the palette. Then I painted it onto the heart from Concord & 9th's Give Thanks stamp set, and stamped onto watercolor paper. If you are not pleased with the results, just add a little more water to the stamped... Read more →

Painted Thank You

Hello, happy Friday, and happy September to you all! I'm helping Concord & 9th celebrate their first birthday in the stamping world, today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom! I hope you'll join me there for all the details on how to create this easy watercolored thank you card, with gold heat embossed accents! I hope you will be enjoying a nice and relaxing holiday weekend! 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 →

Essentials by Ellen Late Summer 2016 Release!

Hello, and welcome to the Late Summer 2016 Essentials by Ellen Release Hop . . . I’ll be showcasing several of the new stamp sets and dies in my post today! First up, I'm using the awesome Stay Golden stamp set and coordinating Stay Golden dies (All bold products are linked below in the supply section): (Click on the photos below to shop these products!): To create this card: (Click on any photo for a larger view) I absolutely adore pineapples and this set has some FABULOUS coordinating sentiments ... I couldn't pass up this pina colada one (since it's one of my favorite tropical drinks)! The pineapple stamps are offered in a 2-step type stamp for the largest pineapple (with separate greenery top), and two smaller one-piece solid pineapple stamps! You can either use the large pineapple two stamps together, or maybe just the criss-cross outline, if you want the option to hand color it with markers or pencils = great versatility! To create the large pineapple "cup" I used #52 Bright Yellow Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker on the solid pineapple, lightly spritzed it with water, then stamped it onto watercolor paper. Once the base was dry,... Read more →

Copic Workshop Hop & Giveaway!

Welcome to a Start of Summer Copic Blog Hop! While the Copic instructors are taking a short break this summer from teaching Certification Classes, we are gearing up for the Fall season of Copic Workshops: More Whimsical Faces and Hair, Vintage Values and Mono Tones, and Dress For Success-Clothing & Accessories! All three of the workshops will be taught at all nine of the following locations this Fall: Registration is NOW open for these three locations (Click HERE to sign up for a workshop): Chicago, IL August 19th-20th Dallas, TX August 26th-27th Edmonton, AB August 26th-27th The rest of the fall classes will be opening soon, so make sure to sign up for the Copic Newsletter (<= at the bottom of that page) in order to get email notifications, so you will be the first to know when classes are open in your area! Upcoming Copic Workshops will be held in: Charlotte, NC September 9-10 Las Vegas, NV September 23-24 Sacramento, CA September 23-24 Boston, MA October 14-15 Hanover, MD October 14-15 Portland, OR October 14-15 To celebrate all this Copic coloring goodness we are hopping through our Copic instructors/design team’s blogs AND have a prize worthy of hopping: A... 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 →

Watercolor Hello

Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Friends -- happy weekend! Today over in the CLASSroom I am sharing this watercolored die cutting technique ... I hope you will join me there for all the details! Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Brushstroke Hello by Julie Ebersole Taylored Expressions Dies, Stitched Banner Stacklets Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet Hero Arts Embossing Gun Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer (12") Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Refills, 2 pk Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Picked Raspberry Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Picked Raspberry Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Spiced Marmalade Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Cracked Pistachio Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Wilted Violet Ranger Inkssentials Mister, 2 oz. Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray Read more →

Bed of Watercolored Roses

Hello and happy weekend, friends! Today's project combines some of my favorite things . . . watercolor, flowers, and pretty vibrant pinks! I hope you'll join me today in the CLASSroom to find out all the details on how to create this watercolored die cut card! Read more →

Partial Die Cut Border

Today I have a fun partial die cut border technique to share with you, using Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies. I hope you will join me over in the CLASSroom to find out how to make this unique, fun card! Happy weekend! Read more →

March New Beginnings & Copic Opaque White 4 Ways!

Happy March, everyone! Today I am sharing a Spring home decor project with you, using some of Pink Ink Stamp Company's latest stamp release! This photo holder/stand was a gift from a dear friend nine years ago, shortly after we moved into our last house. I thought it was only fitting to spruce it up a bit, since we will be moving into a new home in one short month ... thus, the great "New Beginnings" sentiment! So I made a watercolor background on a 4" x 6" piece of watercolor paper using Tumbled Glass Distress Reinker: Once the background was dry, Copic Opaque White was used to paint the clouds -- I thinned it with a bit of water and painted it on the watercolored background with a brush: Next, I stamped Pink Ink's Row of Bulbs and New Beginnings sentiment with Versamark Ink onto an Inchie Arts 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" ATC Art Board and gold heat embossed it. I always love how nice and crisp Pink Ink's red rubber stamp images stamp and emboss -- such pretty fine details! And the Art Board stands up to the heat embossing, Copic coloring AND the Opaque White being heavily painted... Read more →

Hello Envelope

Hello and happy weekend! Today I have this sweet stitched envelope Hello thank you card over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom -- I hope you'll join me there for all the details! Read more →

Essentials by Ellen Winter 2016 Release!

Hello and welcome to the Essentials by Ellen Winter 2016 Hop … I’ll be showcasing several of the new stamp sets and dies on my post today! And be sure to read through to the end of this post for GIVEAWAY details! Here's a peek at the entire release, which you can find in the store HERE, or click the graphic below: For my first project, I used Copic Various Ink Refills to "water"color Julie's gorgeous new Mondo Hydrangea! (Click on any photo for a larger view): I started by gold heat embossing the flowers onto watercolor paper and then simply filled a water brush with Copic Colorless Blender and used it to pick up the Various Ink Refill color from a palette to "water"color with! Did you know Various Inks are computer matched from batch to batch, to guarantee a lifetime of consistent color! Here are the steps to color this pretty variegated hydrangea: 1. I started with my darkest green, YG23 Copic Various Ink Refill, and colored the blossoms in the background or anywhere I wanted a darker green. 2. Using lighter green YG01, I colored the petals in the foreground or near the top of the bloom... Read more →