Hello and happy Friday! I am very excited to share another sneak peek of Julie's upcoming Winter 2016 Essentials by Ellen stamp and die release this coming Tuesday, February 9th ... so mark your calendars! This sweet bear from the All Inside stamp set won my heart (pun intended)! (All bold products are linked below in the supply section).
The bear's watercolor background was made by smooshing Distress Inks (Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry) onto my Craft Mat, spritzing with water, then pressing/dipping watercolor paper into the ink. The photo below shows the colors I started with (but used the background below on a different project -- coming Tuesday!). I had a little of this watered down ink still left on my Non-Stick Craft Sheet so I added Abandoned Coral and Wilted Violet to the mix, spritzing with water again, and dipped another piece of watercolor paper into the new ink mix. The result was a pretty pink-coral and violet combo for my bear card!
This sweet All Inside bear die also cuts out his hands (see die in the photo below), so he can hold different items that are included in his stamp set!
TIP: When using a closed-back die such as this one, I find this method of cutting works best for me:
1. Stamp image onto paper you will be using, then die cut a piece of scrap cardstock (lighter weight, so it's not too thick) with the die:
2. Next, use the negative die cut to place over the stamped image and either hold or tape the negative in place:
3. Use the negative as a guide to place the die -- it will nestle right into the previously die cut space! Secure die in place, if you wish ... if using Sizzix's Magnetic Platform this may not be necessary (which I was using, but I always tape, just to be safe!):
The bear was stamped with Black Soot Distress Ink onto Ranger Watercolor Paper and then lightly watercolored with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. A shadow was watercolored underneath him lightly with Black Soot Ink:
His hearts were die cut from additional watercolor paper, watercolored with Wilted Violet Distress Ink and stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I love that this stamp set has both solid and open hearts! They were die cut with their coordinating All Inside dies and popped up on X-Press It Foam Tape. Above, you can see how one of the die cut hearts fits right between the bear's cut out hands!! <3
The sun was stamped with the same Abandoned Coral Distress Ink I used on the background, onto watercolor paper and die cut. Then I used a waterbrush on the sun's cheeks and sunrays, to pull some of the stamped ink color into those areas. Sun was popped up on foam tape over an additional piece of watercolor paper die cut with a circle and watercolored with Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink, just to give it an additional layer of "glow":
On the inside of the card, I stamped another word (sunshine) from the All Inside stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with "sun" word with Lemon Atyou Spica Glitter Pen. The circle around the sun is the result of the background circle of the sun on the front of the card originally being too large, so I die cut it with the next smallest die ... Just a few snips of the leftover piece and it fit perfectly around the "sun" word!
Additional violet watercolored and die cut hearts were also added inside. This stamp and coordinating die set will be fully revealed and available (and added to the product links below) on Tuesday, Feb. 9. Please also join us on our blog hop Tuesday to celebrate the release ... We hope you'll be back to join us!
~ Sharon
