Hey there #TexturalTuesday friends! It's Embellishment Week here in the CLASSroom and I'm having some fun with the beautiful buttons from 28 Lilac Lane.
I used Ranger Distress Paints in Barn Door, Seedless Preserves, Spun Sugar, and Picked Raspberry to create the background. I smooshed a little of each paint onto my work surface and then painted each color onto the rough side of the Ranger watercolor paper.
Allow each color to overlap just a little for a more cohesive look. And, personally, I like the "brush stroke" look, so that is what I was going for. If you don't like that? Blend it out.
Next, cut a piece of vellum into the shape of a heart. I used vellum for the sole purpose of transparency. I didn't want any cardstock behind the buttons. But do what you want to do, by all means!
Then just started attaching all the lovely buttons. I used Ranger's Multi Medium in Matte to do this because I knew it would hold on tight. I used a block to keep things firm I was glueing.
This particular kit also includes sequins and beads of different sizes. I used those to fill in the gaps as you can see below.
To make sure that the heart sticks on to the background REALLY good, doesn't warp, and has a bit of loft I used Thin 3-D Foam Squares. I like these particular ones because they come in two sizes and come in both black and white. And are SUPER strong.
(foam square overload!!)
Then, just to set off the background from the card base, I wanted to create a shiny watercolor strip. So I broke out two colors from the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors Watercolor set in Light Gold and White Gold.
Let me tell y'all? These colors are a dream!!! If you don't have them yet? Let me come over and sit down with you for a spell and we can have a little one on one while I look inside your head. Hahha!! Just kiddin'...sort of. ;)
After that piece of lusciousness is dry adhere it behind the background piece. Then attach the whole she-bang to the card base. But NOT before wrapping that piece of ribbon that is also included in that kit from 28 Lilac Lane. (I almost forgot...whoopsie!)
Finish it up with a few extra pearls from the kit.
Here are some close-ups for ya!
Check out those pretty buttons!!!!
Don't you just loooove Julie's sentiment when it's all glittered up?
Do you use buttons when you craft? What's your favorite way to use them? I can't wait to hear!! Thank you so much for joining me today. And I hope you had fun!
Washi tape is probably my most favorite embellishment ever in the history of the world. Like, EVER.
One IKEA Alex drawer. Over.flow.ing. Need another. Heck, I could devote an entire Alex UNIT itself just to my Washi Tape obsession.
Why do I love it so much? Oh, criminy!!! (she snorted) It's that perfect combination of form AND function! Soooooo many colors! Sooooo many patterns! It even comes in GLITTER versions! Translucent and removable, I use it to seal envelopes and little gift sacks, to adorn my cards, to temporarily mount messages and photos to my wall, to mark things, like scissors or pens/pencils and other tools, as mine... Use it to make patterns on walls, home furnishings and accents...
Add a little pizzazz to your projects with buttons, beads, decorative tapes, glitter, sequins and more! Join us all this week as we add that little extra touch to our cards with embellishments! Each day we will have fresh inspiration from our team and all week you can take advantage of some super savings on all in-stock embellishments!
Hi everyone! It's Carissa here with another Satur-YAY project for you. We're celebrating the weekend by getting our craft on. Today's project is all about color and pattern! And I'm super excited about this one!
I'll be using a lot of different products today to make a fun and colorful card. This card is perfect for Valentine's Day or any other day of the year that you just want to tell someone you love them. :)
I chose some patterned papers from the PinkFresh Studio Life Noted 6x6 paper pack. This is a fun paper pack, with lots of fun colors and modern patterns. I am combining those patterned papers with some colored card stocks to create a beautiful rainbow of color and pattern.
I knew that I wanted to give you some ideas for choosing patterned papers that work well together. I'll talk you through how I made my decisions in the video tutorial below. But here are the key points.
Stay within a paper pack. For beginners, this is a great idea. The patterned paper pads and packs were designed by a professional to work together. For the most part, you know that these patterns and colors will look great together. As you learn a bit more about what works and doesn't, you can venture in to the world of using different paper collections together.
Don't tip the scales. Use patterns with different scales. Don't choose all large scaled patterns or all small scaled patterns. Mixing up the scale of the patterns keeps the eye moving around the project.
Don't create competition. Patterns that are similar will cause a war...and no one wants that. Try to choose patterns that are different from each other. Don't choose all dots or all stripes or all triangles. Instead, combine different types of patterns. This will keep them from competing with each other.
Do yourself a solid. Bring in some plain paper to balance the whole thing out. Try pulling from the colors in the paper pad to help you decide what will work and what won't.
I'll walk you through the entire creation of these cards in the video tutorial below. Be sure to check that out. I'll also give you some tips and tricks too!
I've also linked all the supplies used in these projects below...including the solid card stocks I used.
I love the happy vibe I get from these projects. I feel like it's a little retro...a little transport back to the 70's or something. The real wood I think enhances that feeling even more.
It's your turn now. Grab some patterned papers and your favorite stamps and dies and begin creating. I hope that these projects inspire you to get your craft on! I'd love to see what you're making. Share it on Instagram and use the #EllenHutsonSaturYAY so I can check it out.
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you've enjoyed these projects. Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous day!
Watch The Video
You can watch this video in HD on our YouTube channel by clicking HERE.
One of the best ways to take a card from great to amazing is to add an interactive element to the design. These elements can be as simple as you want and don't necessarily have to take forever to create! This week we are featuring MFT Stamps and their fab interactive card elements. These dies make what used to take a long time to create by hand a breeze and I couldn't be more excited!
Today my valentine card features an exciting flip flip die from MFT Stamps. They have an amazing line of them..a square, rectangle, circle, oval and now even a heart! I've included links to most of these down at the end of the post in the supplies for easy access.
While these dies don't look like much...the end product is wonderful and they are so much fun to design with! Today I'm showing you exactly how I like to use them and just how easy they are!
First of all, those little metal tabs need to be cut to make the die into two separate pieces.
Next fold an A5 card from half a sheet of card stock. I've used Solar White Card Stock and once it's been folded, open it back up again to its full 8.5" x 5.5" size. From the left edge lightly mark out 2 1/8" from the left side of the card stock. The fold should be an equal distance to the right. Mark both top and bottom of left panel.
Next use some washi tape to hold the die in place. The top and bottom bits go lined up directly on top of the marks. These sections will score the card for you. The shaped jut goes to the right and will form the flip flop flap.
Once the die is put through the die cutting machine it should look like this. Scored sections to the top and bottom of the card and then the shape cut to the right.
Fold back the left side of the card along the scored strips while not bending the shape. It should stick out. When you pull the card open by the left edge, this section will flip flop to the inside of the card so you get to see it twice!
You can then decorate the card in any manner you choose. I love to use patterned paper and here I've used the stunning Authentique Adore 6x6 paper pad. However you design the inside panel, remember that you will see almost half of it when the card is closed. My large text layer was die-cut with the large stitched rectangle from Blueprints 13 Die-namics. The dark pink/red layer was die-cut with the stitched square layer that was trimmed off the original die and the other rectangle and square where just cut on my paper trimmer.
Once the layers were all sponged with Distress Ink, I adhered them and moved onto embellishing the card. The beautiful love die-cut is from the Essentials by Ellen line, Brushstroke Love by Julie Ebersole. I've also die-cut sweet little text print leaves using the MFT Stamps Layered Leaves Die-namics set and paired them up with some sweet Maya Road Paper Flowers. As you can see the front looks so pretty...
...and it also looks lovely flip flopped to the inside of the card design.
It's a great way to make your valentines special this year...or any other card design as well!
Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you'll have fun giving creative and interactive designs a whirl!
Happy Thursday! It's Carly and I'm here for another #throwbackthursdays, where we find inspiration in The CLASSroom archives! This week in addition to learning from past posts by our fabulous team, we are all creating interactive cards and it's so fun! Did you see Julie's spinner, Carolyn's pop-up or Kittie's window? We are having a blast!
Today I've created a "magic slider" card to share. I've been seeing the slider style of cards around and I wanted to try it, plus I really wanted to try it with my favorite MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames. Here's what I came up with...
To create this card, start by creating a "cloudy" background. I used the cloud dies from the Essentials by Ellen Silver Linings set to create 2 masks by die cutting clouds from the stamping mask paper. Place masks on 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 panels of solar white and apply Nuvo Mousse. Just a note...the Nuvo Mousse is so fun, it is easy to apply, dries with a slightly dimensional metallic finish and can be layered. When Mousse has dried for just a moment, remove masks and then set panels aside to dry fully.
Next die cut three 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 scalloped frames, adhere together and set aside. Make sure to save the inside of one frame die cut for the next step.
On the inside frame piece (or a 2-1/16 x 3-5/16 piece of solar white), stamp a magical scene. Choose a few images to duplicate on a piece of acetate 2-1/16 x 3-1/2 bigger than your stamped white piece. I stamped stars on both my white piece & acetate and my MISTI made it so easy. I stamped the white piece first, removed all but the stars from my MISTI and stamped my acetate.
Color your unicorns & clouds as desired. I actually covered my stamped white cardstock piece in double-sided adhesive & glitter first. Then I colored my glitter with Copic markers, one of my favorite techniques that I learned from Miss Julie. Check out her awesome article:
Trim down one of the cloud backgrounds to fit behind the scalloped frame previously created. For a 2-1/2 x 3-3/4scalloped rectangle, I cut my cloud background to 2-1/8 x 3-1/2. And cut from the middle where the slider piece will ultimately be adhere to the remaining cloud background. A centering ruler or T-square helps but I just eyeballed it a bit since the clouds don't have to line up perfectly (the scalloped frame will hide tiny mis-matches). Adhere the smaller cloud piece you have just but to the layered scalloped frame.
Place scalloped frame on card in desired final position, lightly mark corners with a pencil.
Use a craft knife to make slits along the length of the frame, leaving top & bottom intact. These slits will be the slider "tracks" of your card.
Adhere a scrap cardstock strip to the bottom of stamped unicorn piece.
Use the strip to insert the unicorn piece into the cloud background.
Carefully adhere the scalloped frame over the unicorn piece without adhering frame to unicorn piece.
Then carefully inserted stamped acetate into frame, in front of the cloud background that is adhered to the scalloped frame (the small piece cut earlier). The "sandwich" will be scalloped frames, acetate, small piece of cloud background, unicorn piece and large piece of cloud background.
Attach a "tab" made from mousse covered cardstock, to the front of the acetate and back of the unicorn piece.
I know that was a lot of steps but after you create the first slider, you will want to make a bunch!
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget that you can get your hands on some MFT Magical Unicorns for 15% this week!
Cut a 5.50” x 4.25” inch piece of white cardstock and designer paper. Apply ATG adhesive to the back of the flower paper and attach to the white cardstock. Secure the window die in place on the card front with painter’s tape and run through the Big Shot. Hint: test a small piece of designer paper layered over cardstock and run through the Big Shot to make sure the die can cut through the double layered paper.
Stamp the sentiment on the scalloped layer using black versafine and emboss with clear embossing powder. Apply double stick tape to the back of the scalloped frame, attach to the sentiment layer and then attach the framed sentiment to the window cover with double stick tape.
Place the green stitched border on the base to measure how much to cut off on each side.
Cut the fence section into two pieces to be placed on both sides of the card base. Attach the fence the fence sections to the card base with mounting tape on the tops and glue dots on the bottom. Attach the green stitched layer in front of the fence sections with double stick tape.
Apply strips of mounting tape to the back of the window base and attach to the card base. The popped up window base will allow space behind the window front for the flower.
Place all the flower layers face down on the molding pad and form the petals using the smaller end of the stylus.
Turn the flowers over and push down in the center with the small stylus tip.
Attach the flower layers together with glossy accents.
Attach a few pieces of foliage and the flower inside the window opening with glossy accents.
Tuck pieces of foliage in behind the grass border and attach with glossy accents.
Attach the flowers to the foliage using glossy accents. Finish by adding one single small flower and a couple pieces of foliage to the window front. Note: There are several different sizes and shapes of flowers in the Stitched Flowers set. I mixed and matched them together to create my whimsical garden.
I loved the stitched patterns in the flowers and thought it would be fun to carry the stitched theme on with the stitched frame and stitched grass border.
I hope you have been inspired to try your hand at making an interactive window card.
Hello! Carolyn Peeler with you today to walk you through a fun interactive card that is perfect for the little boys in your life! Today's card features dies and the adorable "Out of this World" stamp set by "My Favorite Things". So, let's get started.
First, we will make the outer space background. To do so, first cut a piece of heavyweight Solar White cardstock 8.5" x 5.5" - Don't fold it in half yet! (Very important or the ink will end up darker on the fold.) Next, gather a Ranger Ink Blending tool and Ranger Blueprint sketch inkpad and gently apply the ink to the entire piece of your white cardstock.
Now that we've put down a base color, it's time to add a deeper, darker blue shade around the border of the piece. This adds a beautiful depth and will frame your interactive elements. As you can see, I only applied this darker color to the upper half of the card interior. This is so because I will want to add a handwritten greeting to the bottom portion of the card, so I do not want a super dark ink color down there which could make the greeting unreadable.
One of the amazing properties of Distress ink is the way it reacts to water. So after applying the inks, I took some water and flicked it onto the card background in order to create faux stars.
You can set the card to the side for now, and now take the "Out of this world" stamp set and, using Ranger Jet Black archival ink, stamp an assortment of your favorite space ship designs onto a piece of Ranger watercolor paper.
After the first go round of color, it looked like this (below), and I decided that I wanted to add a second, brighter green as I found this look a bit too soft and pretty for the end look I was going for.
Here is the same ship once I added the Mowed Lawn watercolor to brighten it up. Much better!
The finishing touch to this ship was a small touch of Broken China to the interior of the window.
Onto the next ship. This one was colored with Pumice Stone and Dried Marigold. The photo below shows the first coloring with the Dried Marigold.
On this photo, you will see that in addition to coloring the little alien with Barn Door ink, that once the first coat of color dried, I came back with more of each color to darken the left and right sides of the ship in order to give the illusion that it has a cylindrical shape.
The final spaceship was watercolored with Pumice Stone and Barn Door.
Once all the spaceships are painted, you'll want to cut them out using the matching "Out of this World" die from My Favorite Things. I like to hold the dies in place using some spare washi, or other low tack tape. Once you have everything in place, run it through your favorite die cutting machine.
Now we're going to need to prep our card for the pop up elements that will be inside the card. I used the My Favorite Things "Pop up Elements Narrow". First, fold the piece of cardstock that we colored with the blue inks in half to make a card. Then lay it open again. You will want to lay the die pieces that you'd like to use on the uncolored side of the card and align the center of each die piece with the fold of your card. Once you run it through your die cut machine, it will look something like this:
Next you'll want to open the card and glue the two larger spaceships onto these little interactive strips. (This photo was taken looking down onto the card from above when the card is opened.)
Now, using 3D Foam squares, adhere the smallest spaceship to the upper portion of the card so that it looks like it's flying above the other two ships. Then, stamp the card greeting onto white cardstock and glue that strip to the immediate right of this spaceship.
We're almost finished! We just need to prep the front of the card, so gather a piece of Bazzil Whirlypop cardstock (which is a PREFECT match to the distress inks that we used) and cut it to the same size as your card front and glue it in place (being sure to not put adhesive over the areas that have been cut out for the interactive elements).
Finally, I had watercolored a lot of extra spaceships so I glued those randomly onto the front of the card.
And there you have it! A fun card ready to be given to a little boy in my life for his birthday. Thank you for joining me today, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions.
As I sign off, here's a final look at the project:
And here are the direct links to the products used in today's tutorial in the Ellen Hutson shop:
Join us all this week as we create interactive cards to delight with MFT stamps & dies! Each day we will have fresh inspiration from our team and all week you can take advantage of some super savings on all in-stock My Favorite Things products!
Interactive cards--especially easy ones (LOL!) are among my favorite to make and this circle spinner is a winner--all you need is the Circle Spinner Channels die by My Favorite Things, a cut image to spin, and a penny! ;)
Keep everything else relatively simple, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly and effortlessly you can put this fun little ditty together!
Thanks so much for joining us this week as we explore different inks and their uses here in the CLASSroom. Today I will using Taylored Expressions Inks.
Taylored Expressions Inks are custom formulated to match coordinating Taylored Expressions Cardstock. They come in a multitude of colors with names that will make your mouth water! They are a fast drying dye-based ink (with the exceptions noted* below), which is acid-free and archival. They give superior coverage and are fade resistant. The ink pads have a raised 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" pad surface, for easy use with any size stamp. Ink refills are available and they are all made in the USA!
*Exceptions: The Taylored Expressions Oreo (black) and Chocolate Truffle (dark brown) inks are hybrid inks, which are waterproof and ideal for use with alcohol based markers! Currently there is one pigment ink pad, Sugar Cube (white), available. It also has superior coverage for both solid and fine details and is ideal for adding embossing powder.
All of the ink colors are also available in 1-inch mini ink pad cubes. These happen to be my current favorite, as the size makes them easy to store and transport. I store them in Tim Holtz's Mini Ink Storage Tin:
For today's card, I used one of my favorite inking techniques: 2 and 3-step stamping, with Taylored Expressions Simply Stamped-Roses. Each step, or layer, of stamping is done with a different stamp and ink color, to create beautifully layered and dimensional images:
I used TE's coordinating Simply Stamped Roses dies to cut out the stamped images.
For the card's background, I used Taylored Expressions Lollipop cardstock (which coordinates with the middle ink color of the stamped roses), and TE's Sugar Cube pigment ink to stamp MFT's Roses All Over background. See how nicely the pigment ink stamps, keeping all the fine details of the stamp:
The pretty "Thanks" sentiment is also from the Simply Stamped-Roses stamp set. I gold heat embossed it onto more Neenah 110 Lb. Solar White cardstock and hand trimmed it, then popped it up on foam tape.
Hi there!!! Laurel Beard here today bringing you our first Pin-Sights Challenge on 2017! YAY!!!! Before I get on with today's inspirational photo and challenge, please join me in congratulating Luciegcards. She was randomly selected to receive the $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson Store from our latest Mix It Up Challenge! Congratulations! Please email me at laurelbeard at me dot com to claim your prize!
The Pin-Sights Challenge is an inspirational based challenge held on the 3rd Thursday of each month. The challenge is based on a Pinterest inspired piece I have chosen specifically for this challenge to spark your imagination and creativity! A jump start if you will...
What are you in inspired by in this photo? The colors? The patterns? The images? The shapes??? Whatever speaks to you in this photo is what we want you to be inspired by!
We have THREE amazing designers here with us today that created projects based on this inspirational photo! If you click on each of the designer's names, you will be taken directly to their blog where they will have more information and details regarding their designs. All of the supplies the designers used will be listed at the end of this post along with the Challenge Link up so you can play along! YES!! WE WANT YOU TO PLAY ALONG AND INSPIRE US!!!! But first, let's check out what these amazing designers have created for us today:
I also created a card for today's project inspired by the Inspirational photo and in celebration of INK WEEK this week! (Remember, you can save 20% on all in stock inks found in the "Ink Promo" category thru 1/22!
How amazing are these projects? PIN AWAY! They are definitely pin worthy! Thank you ladies so much for joining us today!
NOW IT'S TIME WHERE WE INVITE YOU TO PLAY ALONG IN OUR CHALLENGE! ALL CHALLENGE ENTRIES WILL BE PINNED TO OUR ELLEN HUTSON PINTEREST PAGE! WE ALSO HAVE A FLICKR PAGE SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO JOIN OUR GROUP AND ADD YOUR ENTRIES THERE AS WELL.
To participate, simply use any Essentials by Ellen product and create a project based on the above inspirational photo. You are not limited to just creating handmade cards. You can create altered art, mixed media, art journaling pages, home decor, scrapbooking layouts, etc... Whatever your heart desires is what we want to see!
We will select one participant randomly to receive a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store!
You have until January 31st to link up your projects below. The randomly selected participated to receive the $50 gift certificate will be announced on February 2nd.
To enter, please add your projects to the Inlinkz link up at the end of this post.
Hello all! I'm thrilled to be here for ink week! How fun is this? I'm here to share about Pigment Inks!
First of all, a little education on Pigment Inks! Pigment inks are some of my favorite inks because they cover great, stamp beautifully and the colors are amazing. Because of their thicker feel, they work great for stamps where you have a solid image or fine detail! Also, because the ink "sits" on top of the paper, the lines stay very crisp! It's very important when using a pigment ink to turn you stamp up and then bring the ink to the stamp - pigment inks don't work well for smooching the stamp into the ink pad - which is a reason the MISTI is a great tool for Pigment Inks!
Today, I'm using both Avery Elle inks and Mama Elephant inks. Both inks are very similar and compliment each other very well! Some pigment inks can be a little slow to dry but both of these dry very fast - which makes them much easier to use!
The cases are great because the color you see on the pad is the color that you get when you stamp an image!
You can tell by looking through the lid that the ink is very spongy!
Here's what I mean! Check out this coverage!
This was a two stamp process - but look at that amazing coverage!! Crisp and solid!
I couldn't use my MISTI for this TINY stamp but check out how great it stamps!
Now for a fun technique that you can do with Pigment inks! I used my MISTI and stamped the first color of ink.
Then, after using the stamp once with the lightest color ink, I lightly pressed against the edges of the stamp with a slightly darker ink color. This gives a little shading - but all accomplished with ink.
Check it out!!!
I kept working my way around the cat with the balloons.
I love the texture and shading this technique yields! Also, do you notice how crisp those letters are?
Next I stamped the strings.
Then the mouse.
Now, another fun technique that you can use pigment inks for - daubing! I used a small finger dauber to add the appearance of grass. I simply stamped the image I wanted to cover up in the green ink, trimmed it out and then covered my card front. Then, I daubed the finger dauber sponge into the pigment ink pad and lightly added in some grass.
Check it out when I removed the mask!
Finally I die cut a border.
Then, I used a scalloped rectangle die to create the scalloped card front.
Lastly, I added sequins and stamped the sentiment.
I'm so glad you stopped by to enjoy ink week and learn about Pigment inks! Thank you so much and have a wonderful day!
Hey everyone!! It's Lisa with you today and we're celebrating Ink Week here in the CLASSroom. Each one of the team members this week will be featuring a different brand of ink and showing how we used it. Cool, huh? AND through January 22nd you can snag 20% off in-stock items in the ink-promo category!!
I have the pleasure of featuring Distress Inks. Yay me! So here is what I created for all of you lovelies today.
Making this card was such a labor of love. The colors make me happy and so does the sort of abstract quality of it.
Let me show (and tell) you how this card came together:
I used a piece of Ranger watercolor paper and used the smooth side. I'll cut this down to the size I need later on.
Then the FUN begins! I use the Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pads for this, but you could also use the full size Distress pads. And any color palette that is pleasing to YOUR eye. (Don't feel obligated to use the colors I did.)
Blend using a mini-blending tool. The embossing resists the dye ink, so if you wish to see more of the embossing you can always use a damp paper towel or baby wipe to reveal more of the embossing. (I didn't.)
Once the Texture Luxe is dry I knew I wanted to give my panel a watercolor look. I smooshed the 2 darkest opposing colors onto my work surface and spritzed with water. Then, using my Black Velvet #2 Watercolor brush, I dipped the brush into the smooshed ink and went around some of the edges of the flowers, pulling the color out. Add more water, if necessary. I did not go around all the edges. I thought it would look more organic not to do that. I also used a white gel pen with my watercolor brush (and water) to add additional accents.
And this is when I decided to flip my panel and make a VERTICAL card!! I die cut the panel, and using thin foam squares, adhered it to another die-cut piece with scalloped edges. Then the whole thing got adhered to my card base.
I hope that you'll consider using your Distress Inks a little differently, blend non-traditional colors or use them as watercolors! And most of all...have fun!
I'm making a sweet and colorful background using Memento Dye Inks today--I consider these inks to be a great basic/staple item to have on hand. They are water-based, fade resistant, fast drying and stamp crisply without feathering on smooth card stocks, such as Neenah Solar White, etc. and can be used with fine detail or bold/solid type images. As with any dye ink, crispness will vary when stamping on rough or textured surfaces such as watercolor paper and will depend on how well the ink pad is inked and how much pressure is applied when stamping the image onto those kinds of surfaces.
With water-based, non permanent dye inks such as Memento Dye, brand new clear stamps may need to be primed a bit to avoid beading up on the image surface. There are a variety of ways to prime the surface, but an easy one that I use is to simply ink up the stamps with Versamark and then tap it off on scratch paper or wipe it off with my fingertips. You can also give the stamps a scrub with a cleansing solution like Ultra Clean (which, BTW, my favorite stamp cleanser when I need something stronger than just water!) dry them with a lint free cloth and begin inking.
Link: Watch in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE. Thanks for watching, subscribing and giving us a thumbs’ up!
Have you been wondering about the different types & brands of ink pads? Dye, pigment, archival, permanent, Avery Elle, Mama Elephant, Memento & Distress...oh my! Well join us all week as we explore the features and uses for some of our favorite inks! Each day we will have fresh inspiration from our team and all week you can treat yourself to 20% off in-stock items in the ink promo category!
We are ecstatic to welcome our friend Karolyn Loncon back to The CLASSroom today! We are in constant amazement of Karolyn's fabulous work!!! Her style is fresh, clean, bright and colorful with a little twinkle! And we are lucky enough to get to enjoy her sassy sparkle in real life too, when she visits us at the EH warehouse.
Make sure you head over to Karolyn's blog, Paper Therapy, to see more of her wonderful work! And please help us give Karolyn a big virtual hug by heading to her blog and leaving her a comment before January 20th for a chance to win a $50 coupon to use in our store!
Thank you so much for sharing your talent, love and laughter with us Karolyn! We love you bunches!!!
Hello everyone! I’m Karolyn Loncon, and I’m thrilled to be here to share a super fun dual-interactive card with you today, featuring Essentials By Ellen stamps and dies, My Favorite Things interactive dies, and Chibitronics LED lights and their Effects Sticker Add-On! I know, it’s a lot, but I promise you’re going to love this project, and I hope you’ll give it a try – it’s really very easy once you get the hang of it!
So, I mentioned that this project is dual-interactive. The night sky lights up and the stars twinkle – thanks to the Chibitronics LED lights and the Twinkle Effects Sticker Add-On!! It’s so stinkin’ cool! AND the sailboat, from the Stay Salty Stamp Set from the Essentials By Ellen collection, “floats in the ocean” from side to side because of the Surf & Turf interactive slider dies from My Favorite Things. Here’s what the finished card looks like before the lights are activated:
And this GIF shows what it looks like when the lights are activated:
This little mini video shows the lights lit up and twinkling, and the sailboat floating in the sea:
Link: Watch the lights twinkle in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE! Thanks for sharing some comment love and a thumbs up with Karolyn there and be certain to subscribe to our channel for other fantastic videos!
I’ve created a step-by-step tutorial for you below, in the hopes that you’ll see how truly approachable this project really is!
HOW TO: 1. Trim an A2 vertical, top-folding card base from Solar White Card Stock (110#). Score at 5.5”, fold in half and perfect the crease with a Teflon Bone Folder.
2. Die cut from Solar White Card Stock (80#):
an A2 stitched rectangle using Blueprints 25 Die-Namics (MFT)
a circle using Blueprints 8 Die-Namics (MFT); and
four circles using the Surf & Turf Die-Namics (MFT).
3. Trim a 4” x 5.25” panel from Solar White CS (80#).
4. Trim a 2.5” x 3” panel from Essentials By Ellen Vellum (40#).
5. Trim a 2.5” x 3” piece of Stick It double sided adhesive.
6. Die cut a stitched circle from the A2 stitched rectangle using the Starry Circle Die-Namics (MFT).
7. Die cut the straight slot from the A2 stitched rectangle using the Surf & Turf Die-Namics (MFT).
8. Mask off the upper portion of the smaller rectangle white panel using Post It Tape. Blend Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks, blending from dark to light, using a Mini Ink Blending Tool.
9. Remove the Post It Tape mask and reposition it onto the lower portion of the rectangle, covering up the previously ink blended area. Repeat the ink blending done in Step 8, again blending from dark to light, using a Mini Ink Blending Tool. Carefully remove the mask.
10. Temporarily place the stitched rectangle onto the ink blended panel, and use the stitched circle area as a guide to position and die cut the stars from the ink blended panel, using the Starry Circle Die-Namics (MFT).
11. Temporarily place the starry ink blended panel onto the card base and choose three or four stars, marking their positions onto the card base with a pencil – see the photo above.
12. Remove the release paper from one side of the Stick It double sided adhesive panel, previously trimmed out in Step 5. Carefully adhere it to the vellum panel from Step 4. Remove the release paper from the other side of the Stick It, and sprinkle Warm Diamond Glitter all over the panel. Adhere 1/8” Be Creative Tape to the outside edges of the glittered vellum. Remove the release liner the tape strips and adhere the glittered vellum to the back of the ink blended panel, making sure to cover the die cut stars.
13. On a scrap of Solar White Card Stock, blend some Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks using a Mini Ink Blending Tool. Stamp the waves image from the Stay Salty Stamp Set (Essentials By Ellen) using New Moon Dye Ink. Die cut the waves using the coordinating Stay Salty Dies (Essentials By Ellen).
14. On another scrap of Solar White Card Stock, stamp the sail boat image from the Stay Salty Stamp Set (Essentials By Ellen) using New Moon Dye Ink. Color the image with Copic Markers (R17, R27, R29, N2 and N3). Stamp the sailboat a second time onto some Stamping Mask Paper and use detail scissors to trim out the details of the sailboat. Adhere the masks to the stamped image, and blend some Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans Distress Inks over the non-masked areas. Carefully remove the masks. Use the coordinating Stay Salty Dies (Essentials By Ellen) to die cut the sail boat. See the photo above.
15. Sandwich a Slider Element disc (MFT) between two of the Surf & Turf circle die cuts (from Step 2c) and adhere them together with Glossy Accents. Repeat this step again. Adhere the assembled slider discs to the back of the sail boat (near the bottom of the boat) using Glossy Accents – see photo above.
16. Stamp the sentiment from the Stay Salty Stamp Set (Essentials By Ellen) in the lower right portion of the stitched rectangle panel using VersaMark. Heat emboss with Silver Embossing Powder.
17. Slip the assembled sail boat/slider discs into the die cut slot (from Step 7).
18. Adhere the starry ink blended panel to the back of the stitched rectangle panel using foam squares – see photo above.
19. Adhere the waves (from Step 13) to the bottom of the sailboat with foam tape. Adhere the small white circle die cut (from Step 2b) to the starry sky with a foam square.
20. CHIBITRONICS PARALLEL LED CIRCUIT WITH TWINKLE EFFECTS STICKER: To create the Chibitronics Parallel LED Circuit with the Twinkle Effects Sticker, you’ll need Copper Tape, White LED Lights, the Twinkle Effects Sticker, and a battery.
Sketch the path of the copper tape with a pencil – see the photo above.
Trim a .75” x 1.5” piece of printer paper. Fold it in half and adhere it to the lower right portion of the card base with 1/8” Be Creative Double Sided Adhesive. This is the “battery house.”
Adhere the copper tape to the card base, following the pencil sketch lines – see the photo above.
Adhere the white LED lights in the areas marked in Step 11, above.
Adhere the Twinkle Effects Sticker where indicated in the photo, above.
Adhere two layers of foam tape to the outside edges of the card base and around the “battery house.” Partially remove the foam tape release paper and fold it over. Adhere the assembled card front to the card base and remove the rest of the foam tape release paper. (EXCEPTION: DO NOT REMOVE THE FOAM TAPE RELEASE PAPER FROM THE AREA AROUND THE “BATTERY HOUSE.”) See the photo above.
Place the battery (with the positive side of the battery facing the positive side of the “battery house”) inside the “battery house”. Press lightly in the area of the “battery house” with your finger to make the stars twinkle.
So there you have it! Interactive cards are so incredibly fun, and once you jump in and try them, you’ll want to add interactive effects to every card! And the Chibitronics products make adding light effects to those super special cards incredibly easy – I promise you that if you just give them a try, you’ll see even more ways to add lights to many of those special occasion projects! The possibilities and fun are endless!
Thanks so much to Ellen for having me share my project with you all here in the CLASSroom!! I always enjoy designing with the Essentials By Ellen products and pairing them with the other fabulous products that Ellen carries in her store! I hope you enjoyed my project and I look forward to reading your comments! Have a great day!
Now and then you create something so new and fun that it has you gasping for delight. The Chibitronics Chibi Lights have done that for me. Imagine! You can light up your card with the press of a button. It's a little simple science that's easy to do with the Chibitronics Starter Kit and I couldn't be more excited. In fact, I'm not only creating art but making an interactive project that's sure to delight. This entire week in the CLASSroom we've been focusing on this amazing LED product and I hope you'll be inspired by the projects and tutorials to try it out for yourself.
Today I'm creating a fun light up my world card by pairing up Chibitronics with a great Altnew stamp set, Big World. I can't wait to share all the details so let's get started.
First of all, the starter kit. Chibitronics has put together everything you need to make it so easy. It shows you how to create interactive paper projects and shares simple circuit diagrams to get you started. And to make it EVEN easier, I've included lots of step outs and tips to share with you. Even if you bombed physics or have two left thumbs...you can do this! Trust me!
So let's start with the card design as that's what we want to plan around. I've sponged a space/sky background using Distress Ink and a blending tool.
Completely blend the inks until you get a beautiful rich colored background. I've used Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks by the way.
Once that's done I wanted to create a starry sky that would allow the beautiful light to peek through. You don't always have to die-cut the background, but when using a dark background, it really lets the light shine through better. I love the Taylored Expressions Starry Nights Cutting Plate for this and so many other designs as well. Die-cut the inked layer to get your stars.
I've lined the back of the layer with a piece of vellum the same size as the layer and adhered it. This still lets the light through but covers up any peek of the inner workings that might be there such as the copper tape.
Now here's an exciting detail about this card...seriously. I'm tickled about this idea. I wanted the world to pop and instead of using foam dots, I've brainstormed a way to light up all around the earth to really make it the highlight of the design. MFT Stamps has a cool new circular shaker pouch that is fab for easy shaker elements but let's think out of the box and use it under the world stamp!
Die-cut a circle in the front of the star layer where you want the world to go. THEN adhere the shaker pouch well into that negative space. Make sure the circle is large enough to insert the pouch but not too big or it will fall out.
Once that's done, add a DOUBLE layer of foam strips around the card. You need this extra depth to account for the depth of the battery.
Now for the world! Isn't this stamp set awesome! I love how it has different sections of the globe to stamp...so perfect if you don't want your image to feature North America as there are more options for you.
I've die-cut another circle...just a tiny bit larger than the circle opening so that it is covered up. Then the world has been stamped in Avery Elle inks of Aquamarine, Celery and Lemon Grass. Don't worry about that white edge...we'll cover that up.
I've pulled out my blending tool again and sponged around the edges with more Distress Ink. It gives the earth a more dimensional look and allows it to blend into the space background.
At this point I gave it a quick test to maker sure everything was lining up and going to work as I'd envisioned. I'm loving it so it's time to make it shine!
On a white cardstock layer (4" x 5.25") I penciled in where I wanted the LED lights to go and the button to make it work. Planning it out before adding the copper tape makes sure that everything goes in the right place.
The copper tape circuit looks harder than it is. I've cut the copper tape in half to make it thinner. This makes it go further as well as making it fit better into the small card size space. A little flap is made for the batter to sit in and then I've created a parallel circuit. When you use more than one LED, you'll need to create this type of circuit to get them all to light up. Adhere the copper tape lines side by side so that they don't touch but are still close enough that you can place the + and - sections of the LEDs over them and get them to complete the circuit. I like to really press the copper tape in place with a bone folder and then adhere the LEDs over the tape at the points I marked.
Press the flap on the battery down and the LEDs should light up. If you run into issues, do a little troubleshooting by first checking to make sure the Copper tape and LEDs are sercurely adhered together. Another quick fix is flipping the battery over. You may have the negative and positives mixed up.
I couldn't have been more excited to put it all together and find that the Shaker Pouch gave me just the glow look I was looking for!
Now that the "hard work" is done, there are just the finishing touches left. The sentiment was stamped on a strip of vellum card stock in two segments. The WORLD was stamped in red pigment ink and then clear embossed before stamping the rest of the sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink.
The vellum is adhered around the enclosed LED layer and then the entire thing is adhered to a card front. I've added in Sparkling Sequins and Crystal Star Buttons to accent. To add a little more shine, the entire card is flicked with the brush of a Wink of Stella Glitter marker.
Oh! And I can't forget the red die-cut heart! I've layered it over the battery section to show where to press to light it up!
IF the above picture doesn't light up...just click on it to open it up and you'll see how my card lights up. So cool right?!
This card is going to my sweet hubby for Valentine's Day as he definitely mean the world to me. I know he'll love it. He's an electrician and gets a kick out of how much I enjoy putting together a simple circuit. I didn't even ask for his help!
Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you'll try lighting up your creative world with some Chibitronics!
Happy Thursday! It's Carly and I'm here for another #throwbackthursdays, where we find inspiration in The CLASSroom archives! This week in addition to learning from past posts by our fabulous team, we are all experimenting with Chibitronics Chibi Lights.
The card I created today was inspired by the frozen, icy weather we've been having in the PNW and my love ok, obsession with the Concord & 9th Happy Card die set...
To create this card, start by creating the frame and background. For the background I used a piece of glassine and added some Nuvo Mousse in an abstract pattern. If you haven't tried the mousse yet, it's awesome. It has a great metallic and slightly dimensional finish. And the mousse did wrinkle my glassine slightly but that was perfect for my "frozen" card.
Next die cut the Happy Card. This die is so fun, it's a frame with different pieces you can insert like the flowers I used and words like happy, kind and love. To the floral frame, add a little Nuvo Glimmer Paste. I placed my frame over my glassine before adding the paste so it would be applied to both surfaces and leave a pattern on the glassine.
Next plan the placement of the light and circuit. I positioned my light in the center of my flower and ran the copper tape through two slits in the panel to create the circuit on the back so they wouldn't be visible under the glassine. To create the switch I made a battery holder placing double sided foam tape around the battery and a piece of card stock to cover it. When the battery is pressed the positive and negative leads of copper tape touch the corresponding sides of the battery and the light is illuminated. It's a messy circuit but effective.
Check out these great CLASSroom articles about creating circuits with the Chibi lights:
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to the CLASSroom. We’re having fun this week playing with the Chibitronics Chibi Lights LED Light Kit. I have to admit I was very intimidated about starting my project but I didn’t need to be. The booklet in the starter kit has very clear step by step instructions that are easy to follow and explain how to create a circuit and place the lights.
I would like to suggest that you take a look at Julie’s October 24 CLASSroom post where she shows a wonderful video tutorial on how to create a Simple Circuit and shares some great tips to consider before you start your project. You will also want to check out Carissa’s Let There be Light November 15 In Touch post showing how to create a Parallel Circuit.
My project was made using the Impression Obsession Cupcake Stand, Ornate Frame, Candle Border, Border Duo 2 and Leaves and Stems.
Cut all the parts and pieces of the cupcake tray. I chose to make chocolate cupcakes using Peanut Fudge cardstock and the cupcake papers and tray using Shimmering Pink Pearl cardstock. The card base and frosting were made using Neenah Heavyweight Solar White cardstock.
Assemble the the cupcake parts and attach together using glossy accents.
Cut tiny leaves and punch tiny circles and attach them to the top of the frosting to embellish the cupcakes.
Roll glue dots to attach the cupcakes to the tray.
Apply small pieces of mounting tape to the back of the frame and attach it to the card base.
Apply pieces of mounting tape to the back of the cupcake tray and attach it to the card base.
Die cut two Candle Borders using vellum and a third using white cardstock. Color the flames of one vellum candle border using a Mustard Seed Distress Marker.
Cut the flames off the top of the cardstock candles. Apply double stick tape to the back base of the border and a small dot of glossy accents to the back of each candle and attach it to the vellum candle border.
Cut a front base for the candle border 4.25” wide and 1.75” tall and die cut the scalloped border using Border Duo 2. Cut a second base that is slightly smaller than candle base to attach the circuits, LED lights and battery.
Use the second vellum candle border as a template to show where the lights need to be attached to line up with the front candle border.
Draw a line straight across the paper indicating where the lights need to be attached. Use one of the lights to get a measurement of how close the copper tape wiring needs to be attached so that both the top and bottom of the light touches both wires. I drew the additional lines across as a guide where to place the tape.
Mark the back side of the candle border to show where the lights will be set. I failed to get a picture of the next step. I placed the back layer over the front candle border and used my paper piercer to lightly punch through to mark where I needed to make the holes for my lights. Next I punched holes through each spot on the front layer using your paper piercer. I worked the piercer around in the holes to make them large enough for the lights to fit through.
Attach the copper wiring along both the top and bottom lines. I wanted the battery to be placed in the lower middle of my candle layer so I turned the corner with the copper wires and continued around with both layers of tape. It is very important that you don’t allow the two sets of wires to touch. Remember when building your circuit that positive always goes with positive, and negative always goes with negative.
The copper tape is the wiring for the circuit so you need to make sure you burnish it down to create strong connections between your copper wires, lights and batteries. Place the lights using your tweezers and burnish the connections. I used my teflon bone folder.
I had to run my copper wiring to the back of my light layer for the placement of the battery. I needed the front candle layer to be perfectly flat for the lights to pop through and show behind the candle flames. I secured the battery in place with the positive side of the battery facedown and attached to the positive wire and the negative wire attached to the top side of the battery. I applied three layers of mounting tape and attached the light layer to the card base.
I lined up the candle flames directly over the light and attached in place using double stick tape.
I attached three layers of mounting tape around the battery and back side of the layer and attached it to the card base.
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I have to admit that I made some boo boos for my first Chibitronics project but I learned a lot and am really looking forward to making another. I hope you have been inspired by this week’s special focus on Chibitronics and that you’ll give it a try.
Hi friends, Carolyn Peeler with you today to share a card featuring the Chibitronics system of LED lights. It was my first time using them and I found it surprisingly easy and a fun way to bring some WOW to my card.
In addition to sharing how to use the LED system, I also walk you through creating a simple galaxy background.
Without further introduction, let's watch the tutorial.
And here are the links to the products in the Ellen Hutson store. Thanks for joining me today.
Making a light up Valentine greeting seemed to suit! :) I used images from two of the add-on stamp sets (Love Notes & Sealed with a Kiss), along with the Heart die that can be folded into an envelope--altho that's not 'zacly how I used it... *wink*
LINK: Watch in HD on our YouTube Channel! Thanks for watching, subscribing and giving us a thumbs' up!
Be sure to stop by all the designer's along the hop to ogle the eye candy!
The folks at Hero Arts are giving away one kit as a prize to one blog reader - selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. (Already purchased the kit? They'll reimburse ya'!) Giveaway closes Sunday, January 15 at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced the following week at the Hero Arts blog.
So. My first parallel circuit was a win! Whaddya' think? Being rather scientifically challenged as I am, I figure if I can do it, ANYBODY can indeed do it, too! YAY!!! And, "GO, ME!!!" *virtual high five, anyone?*
"Light is good from whatever lamp it shines." -Unknown
Join us all week as we spread the light & make it shine with cards that light up using Chibitronics Chibi Lights! Each day we will have fresh inspiration from our team and all week you can purchase a set of Chibitronics LED Circuit Stickers (white, tropical or R/Y/B) and get 50% off a pack of effects stickers! Check out Chibitronics products here.
As we end the week celebrating Avery Elle and Heather Campbell here in the CLASSroom, I wanted to share one of the things I love about Heather's images: the variety -- from sweet, cute and sassy, to beautiful and classy! For my project today, I'm using Heather's Peonies clear stamp set:
I've combined the stamp set with Julie's Essentials by Ellen Many Thanks die, to create this much-needed-after-the-holidays thank you card:
To create the card, I placed a 5.50" x 4" panel of Ranger Watercolor Paper in my Misti so I could stamp the images in Versamark ink a couple of times. With the textured surface and absorbent qualities of watercolor paper, I wanted to be sure to get excellent ink coverage for my heat embossing. Next, I positioned all the stamps I wanted to use face down on the watercolor paper around the die sentiment, then closed the lid of the Misti to pick up the stamps. After inking and stamping the images twice, I heat embossed them with Ranger Gold Super Fine Embossing Powder.
Next, I used my Black Velvet Short Round 8 Watercolor Brush and Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36 color set to watercolor the images. Please allow me to talk a minute about this fabulous watercolor brush. For convenience, I had always used a water-fillable waterbrush but recently decided to give this wonderful professional watercolor brush a try and boy, I sure am glad I did! These brushes are made of a unique blend of natural squirrel hair and black synthetic filaments. Squirrel hair holds large amounts of color and is highly responsive to your touch, which allows for creating shapes beautifully while it releases color with great control. By itself, squirrel is delicate. Blending it with a synthetic helps it to resist wear and maintain a wonderful snap (snap is the ability to retain its shape) and spring. This soft blend allows multiple layer glazing without disturbing previous colors, yet it’s firm enough to lift color with a gentle scrub. There are many sizes available, but I think this Short Round 8 will be very versatile and my favorite go-to!
And by the way, this green looks to me to be very close to Pantone's new Color of the Year 2017, Greenery -- What do you think? :)
To finish the watercolor panel, I used a little No. 50 Pale Aqua around the bottom edge. Then I masked off the colored images with a few sticky notes, and used No. 91 Bluish Gold to flick some golden dots over the top part of the panel. You'll notice in the photo below, the bottom three watercolors in the Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36 color set are No. 95 Silver, the Bluish Gold I used, and No. 90 Gold, which are all pearlized/metallics -- SO pretty!
To finish the card, I also watercolored the 1/4-inch strip I had trimmed off my 4.25" x 5.50" watercolor panel with the Bluish Gold color, then adhered it to the bottom of my Neenah 110 Lb. Solar White card base. I like using X-Press It High Tack Double-Sided 1/2" Tape to adhere heavier cardstock such as watercolor paper. After adhering the watercolor panel to the card base, I die cut gold foiled cardstock (swoon!) with Julie's Many Thanks die and adhered the pretty sentiment to the card.
Hello! Hello! Happy Thursday to you all!!!!! Laurel Beard here today bringing you our first MIX IT UP CHALLENGE of 2017!!!! We are mixing it up with Avery Elle!!!!!
Before I get on to the challenge and the amazing project inspiration, let's first congratulate the randomly selected participant from our last Pin-Sights Challenge. Remember, YOU could win a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store just by playing along. Our randomly selected participant (courtesy of random.org) is: Jill H! Congratulations! Please email me at laurelbeard at me dot com to claim your prize!
The Mix It Up Challenge is a challenge where we invite one manufacturer to contribute a design that combines both Essentials by Ellen stamps/dies with their product to inspire you all!
I am excited to share the work of Jamie Gracz, owner of Avery Elle! All the supplies used in the projects today are linked towards the end of this post.
I love the soft colors and dimensional look of this design. Be sure to head on over to the the Avery Elle blog for more information on how Jamie created this masterpiece.
Please be sure to click on each of the designer's links to be taken directly to their blog posts for more still photos and information on how these projects were created! Now it's time where we invite YOU to play along in our challenge! ALL CHALLENGE ENTRIES WILL BE PINNED TO OUR ELLEN HUTSON PINTEREST PAGE! And don't forget to add your entries to our Ellen Hutson Flickr page too!
To qualify, simply combine any Essentials by Ellen product and Avery Elle product! You can create anything your heart desires! A card, mixed media art, art journaling, framed art, home decor.... It's totally up to you what you want to make!
We will randomly select one challenge participant to receive a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store!!!!
You have until January 17th to link up your projects! You will find the link up at the end of this post. The winner will be announced on January 19th!
Hip Hip Hooray! It's Avery Elle week!!! Someone pinch me - I can't believe the sweet and amazing ladies at Ellen Hutson are spending a week focusing on my stamp designs. Seriously. So grateful for the tremendous love and support.
For my card, I wanted to play with one of my favorite Avery Elle Stamp sets - Be a Unicorn.
First, I stamped the images in black ink and used the coordinating die cuts to cut everything out.
Then, I colored the images in with Copics.
To get started on the card base, I used my distress inks and created an inked background.
Then, to create a frame I used these Avery Elle dies. I love how they create the perfect window.
I used my dimensional foam tape to pop it up.
I secured all of the images using dimensional adhesive.
Next I added sequins and a bit of Wink of Stella. I how the soft glitter of the Wink of Stella pen compliments Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling clear sequins!
Lastly, I touched it all off off with a white uni-ball gel pen! I love this accent!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing part of your day with me! I do appreciate it! XOXO, Heather
Hi there, my friends, and Happy 2017! I, for one, am more than happy that 2016 is out the door. Are you already making resolutions? Any of them crafty related? Getting more organized? Buying more from Ellen Hutson? ;) (I just had to.)
Well, today I'm super excited because I get to feature one of our very own team members here on #TexturalTuesdays. AND she also happens to design super awesome stamps for Avery Elle. She is the über talented Heather Campbell! I'm using the ridiculously adorable stamp and die set of Hedgehugs and I can't wait to show you what I made!
I know. Too cute, right? Those little hedgies are just the sweetest things ever.
I stamped one little hedgie with black ink onto Neenah Solar White Cardstock and (wait, for it) I colored it in with Copics. I sold most of my Copics, but I had just enough to color this little cutie pie in. Below are the colors that I used -- the top colors are the ones I used for his cute belly and face and the bottom colors I used for his prickly hedgie quills. Then I used the matching die to cut him out.
After I colored the heart balloons (and the little fringes of grass) and die-cut those out, I knew I'd need some sort of base or background for the hedgehog and the sentiment that I had picked out. I knew that I happened to own an Avery Elle-ments Die called Burst that would be just great for this card. So I set to making the background.
I wanted the background to be mostly pink, red, yellow, orange, and a hint of lavender. So, I'd need my Distress Inks for this. I die-cut a circle mask to fit exactly over the center of the "burst". This way after I color the center will be perfectly clean (I hope.)
As long as you start off the paper with Distress Inks and blend inward keeping the foam at a slight angle (to keep from leaving foam "circles" on your project) you'll do just fine. Blending the colors is super easy. And colors you'd never expect to blend and look nice? DO!
For the center I wanted it to look sort of look a blue sky, but not. I know, super helpful. The best way I could think of to achieve what I had in my mind was to take 3 Distress Inks and "smoosh" them into my work surface. Spritz very lightly with water so the inks pool. THEN with the tiniest acrylic block I have, tap that randomly into the colors so the ink transfers onto the block. Then tap that onto the center of the circle. Confused? Look at my photos below.
SImply? You're stamping using using the smooshed Distress Inks to create the background.
Be very careful not to overdo this since the paper here is the Bristol. While it's great for using with the Zig Clean Color Markers, doing techniques like this tends to warp the paper. (Although? As I'm typing this...there's nothing that says you couldn't use watercolor paper. As long as the balloons are on Bristol.)
Once you have all your colors for the inner circle then you can start adhering the hedgehog into place. Since I'm a hug fan of dimension, but I didn't want too much on this one I used the Thin 3D foam squares in the mixed pack from Scrapbook Adhesives. The larger size can go behind the hedgehog and the smaller ones fit nicely behind the sentiment and fringes of grass.
The card is 4¼" square. I didn't want to overdo it with patterned paper but I did want to add a touch of color between the black and white cardstock. I used a bit of color from the Avery Elle 6"x6" paper pad Everyday Collection. So many fun colors in this collection.
Adding embellishments of sequins always comes last, if necessary. I added the sequins and a little sparkle with the Wink of Stella pen.
I hope you enjoyed this sweet Hedghog and check out some more closeups below. Heather has more of her designs in the shop, too. Be sure to look for all of her wonderful work all over the Internet!
One more...
Thank you for joining me today and enjoy the rest of the week as we celebrate Avery Elle and Heather! ♥
