Simon Says Stamp United We Craft Party

Hey Arties! What a great way to stand together and celebrate our common paper crafting passion.

Surely we all have experienced some level of upheaval right now, so let’s take a bit to party and unwind over some really beautiful handmade goodness.

About two months ago, I watched a video of a watercolor artist that recommended some Legion Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press paper. I can’t remember who it was, but this stuff is a dream for no line watercoloring. I love the texture of it and its not so thick as other brands. The guru of no-line, Kristina Werner, speaks well of Fabriano!

I cannot claim expertise in this area! I can only say that this paper worked very well for this technique. It held the water well without absorbing it entirely, yet took in enough to keep it from puddling. Here’s how I created this card.

SUPPLIES:

1. Stamp sets: Lifting Hearts Stamps & Dies and the SSS Greeting Mix 1.

2. Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Festive Berries, Dried Marigold, Vintage Photo, & Carved Pumpkin. Gina K Dark Chocolate Dye Ink, Gina K Lemon Drop Dye Ink

3. Paper: Legion Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press (You can use Arches). Neenah Solar White 110LB Classic Crest Cardstock

4. Embellishments: Trinity Jelly Drop Hearts

5. Fun Foam

6. Gina K Connect Adhesive

7. #6 Watercolor Brush

PROCESS:

1. To begin, I stamped the bunny and balloon image with Gina K Lemon Drop Dye Ink.

2. Then, section by section I colored in the image with distress inks.

   1. Wet a small section of the image with your brush and clean water, enough to where the paper glistens, but the water does not pool on top.

   2. Add a wash of the lightest ink to the paper first and add color in layers until you are happy with each section. If you wet the entire image at once, colors will bleed into each other and you may feel like physically hurting a loved one. Also, too, as well, by working in sections, your first water layer will not dry out too fast.

   3. Leave a part of each section unpainted, to add light to the image. Add color to the edges for depth.

3. After painting the stamped image, I die cut it with the coordinating die and put some foam tape on the back of it.

4. Next, I painted some clouds onto a 4 x 5.25” panel using the same colors as I used for the bunny and balloons. These clouds consist of swipes of paint, to give the impression of shadows and depth, without defined lines.

5. Then, I splattered the image and bunny with more of the same inks and added some white gouache.

6. After the splatter dried, I stamped the sentiment with Gina K Dark Chocolate Dye Ink.

7. Next, I popped the floating bunny up on the left-hand side.

8. Then, I adhered the frosted jelly drop hearts in an array around the image with Gina K Connect Adhesive

9. To finish off the card, I popped it all up with some fun foam using more Gina K Connect Adhesive on the front of an A2-sized card base.

THANK YOU

I appreciate you stopping by to see what I created for the Simon Says Stamp United We Craft Party. For the West family, crafting is a way to keep Dad sane while everyone else does homework. There will be no sweet images of me crafting with my family. Though, I will throw in a pic of me and my son Jake, who helps me moderate comments on my Facebook Lives, now! Jake is 16 and has a heart of gold. He’s a goalkeeper for the Classical High School soccer team and loves Jesus, too.

If you have been inspired by this post to try your hand at no-line watercolor or to stamp with these sets I mentioned above, I would be thrilled if you used my links to shop. When you use my links, you support my artistic efforts at no additional cost to you!

I hope you’ll also post your crafty and family pics with hashtag #SSSunitedwecraft on all the socials.

In the comments below, let me know what your favorite watercolor products are!

Cover Plate Giveaway from Catherine Pooler Designs

The winner of the giveaway was Elizabeth Roberts!! Congratulations Elizabeth!!! And thank you for joining in!!

Hey everyone! Today the Catherine Pooler Brand Ambassadors joined together for a live-a-thon in the StampNation Facebook group.

“Paper crafters gather at StampNation to share the love of stamping and card making! Hone your skills with quality Master Classes and tutorials, learn alongside fellow stampers of all abilities and ask questions, share your struggles and grow you paper crafting skills with members who get IT. Who get YOU.” -Catherine Pooler

Each one took a cover plate die and used it to create a card. Some of us stenciled, some of us inlaid the die, there was even a shaker craftastrophe.

Here’s my card featuring the “To the Point” cover plate with the “Perfect Blend” stamps and dies.

To celebrate the live-a-thon, each brand ambassador participating will be giving away a cover plate from Catherine Pooler Designs.. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win! A winner will be announced on March 28, 2020, here on this blog and notified by e-mail.

You will find a list of supplies I used to create this project in the grid below!! Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Hero Arts - January 2020 My Month Hero Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY

Hey Artie!! Great to see you on release day for the January 2020 MY MONTHLY HERO CARD KIT BLOG HOP+GIVEAWAY!

Love hangs in the air this month with lots of Valentine’s Day inspiration, mini-love note elements and flower dies. I have created four cards for you this month, using JUST the kit dies and stamps. Whatever you see in this post, you will definitely receive the products to create them with in your kit.

Kit Contents:
4" x 6" Clear Stamp Set
14 Coordinating Fancy Dies
8 5.5" x 8.5" Sheets of Cardstock (Gold Breeze, Kraft, Fireweed, Rose)
Pink Sparkle Embossing Powder 0.5 oz.
Aqua Glimmer Metallic Ink
2 Yards Pink Satin Ribbon

Kit Value: $76Kit
Cost: $34.99

GIVEAWAY: We will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, January 12th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Card #1 - Wreath Me a Letter

For my first card, I created a blended background using Hero Hues Reactive Ink in Taffy and Lemon Drop. I splattered some water on the front and when it dried, I die cut it out with the kit’s mini envelope die. I stamped the front with the bird postage stamp image and colored it in with Copic markers. Then, i added the ‘to’ and ‘from’ stamps to the front. I hand-lettered the you and me with a calligraphy pen.

Next, I drew a circle on the front of a panel and glued some of the springs I had die cut out of green cardstocks around the circle to create a wreath. I die cut one of the larger flowers out and colored it in with Copic markers, adhering it to the front of the envelope. I popped up the envelope on the front of the wreath and stacked it all on a piece of fun foam and a white card base.

Card #2 - Who was that masked man?

For my second card, I imagined a clean and simple design with some ink blending. First, I stamped out a checkered array of the flower postage stamp image from the kit. Then, I cut pieces of Post-It Tape to cover each stamp. Next, I used Taffy and Creamsicle inks and some blender brushes to create a belly band along the front of the card panel. Then, I stamped a sentiment in black ink under the blending. Finally, I peeled up the masking and colored in my stamps with Copic markers, and popped it all up on an A2-sized card base.

Card #3 - Butterfly Dream

For my third card, I followed a similar path as #2, but with a bit of ghosting in the background of the blending. I added the little text page stamp and some XOXOXO’s to it. The kit includes two different butterfly dies, one whole and one half or profile. I colored in three with the same color scheme and adhered them to the front of the card base, popping the wings up a bit for dimension. To finish off the card, I added some heart embellishments.

Card # 4 — I Love You A Bunch

For my final card, I created a background with the mini text background stamp in brown ink and blended some cream colored ink over the top. I added some stitching with a brown micron pen. Then, i created a tissue wrap for my flowers using some parchment paper and added stitching to the sides of it as well. Next, I die cut a bunch of the flowers and leaves out of pink and green cardstocks. I colored in the flowers with brow and pink Copic markers and stuffed them into the wrapper. Then, I adhered the bunch to the front of the panel with some Hero Arts Liquid Adhesive. Finally, I heat embossed the I LOVE YOU sentiment on the front of some brown cardstock and adhered it to the front of my bunch.

Thank You!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. Hero Arts is giving away a $50 shopping spree to one lucky commenter! All you have to do to be eligible to win is leave a comment on each stop on the hop. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

If I have done my job well, you will want to pick up the kit right away. You will find a handy grid of supplies below for your convenience. Please consider using my links when you purchase. You will help me continue to bring excellent content your way at no additional cost to you. And it helps a certain beautiful young daughter of mine go to college.

The next stop on the hop is Debi Adams!! And here’s a handy list of the hop line-up for your convenience!

Hero Arts

Amy Kolling

Amy Tsuruta

Caly Person

Channin Pelletier

Daniel West

Debi Adams

Emily Midgett

Ilina Crouse

Janette Kausen

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Julee Tilman

Laurie Willison

Lydia Fiedler

Michelle Short

Nichol Spohr