"New" Product Tuesday: Playful Pups Card Set featuring Mama Elephant

Greetings, friends!

Today I'm featuring the Mama Elephant Playful Pups stamps and creative cuts (dies) set.  This set was released last month, but I haven't had a chance to use it until today.  I wanted to keep the design "clean and simple" and I wanted to incorporate some of those awesome Mama Elephant script dies.  So here are the three cards:

 Materials:

• Mama Elephant Playful Pups Stamps and Dies
• Mama Elephant "Hello" Script Die
• Mama Elephant "Smile" Script Die
• Mama Elephant "Thanks" Script Die
• White card stock for the card base (2 - 4.25"W x 11"H, scored at 5.5" mark and 1 - 5.5"W x 8.5"H, scored at 4.25" mark for the hello card)
• Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles dies
• Simon Says Stamp Stitched Circles dies
• Sizzix Nested Oval Dies
• Distress Inks for Watercolor Background
• Watercolor Paper (Approx 4.25"H x  5.5"W)
• Copic Markers:
• Dog: E53, E55, E57
• Red Accessories: R20, R24
• Tennis Ball: YG21, YG03
• Foam Adhesive (tons of it)
• Liquid Glue
• Adhesive Tape Runner

Directions:

• First make the watercolor background paper.  I mixed a variety of distress inks to make the red, blue and yellow water color background.  I added some pigment ink to make a subtle bokeh effect.  I don't know how visible that ended up being, so you could skip that step if you wanted.
• While the watercolor paper is drying, die cut the layout from a piece of white card stock.  You can die cut everything (except the pups) all in one pass:
• Stitched Rectangle (largest size)
• Two sizes of the circle or oval dies
• Script dies
• Once the watercolor paper has dried, run it through the die cut machine with the largest stitched rectangle die so it's the same size as you layout.
• Stamp the Playful Pups on Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  Color with Copic Markers.  Die cut using the coordinating dies.
• I wanted to add dimension to these cards, so I used foam adhesive under the front panel, but I glued the frames (circle and ovals) directly onto the watercolor paper.  I also glued the innards of the words (loops between the letters) directly onto the watercolor paper too.
• Add tons of foam adhesive to the back of the front panel and glue that on top of the water color paper.
• Add the puppies using foam adhesive.
• Adhere this entire piece to the front of the card base.

 Here are all three cards together:

Thanks for checking out these cards!

Card Challenge: Lawnscaping Stars & Stripes

Hi everyone,

Summer is here and that means the 4th of July holiday is right around the corner.  My aunt once lived right near the NY/NJ border.  We could see the Statue of Liberty and the entire NYC skyline from the roof deck of her building.  We used to watch fireworks on the 4th of July.  In Boston, there's a huge celebration on the Esplanade.  My college roommate and I once sat in a Dragon Boat and watched the fireworks from the waterside.  It was super cool!  Decades later, I still like watching the NY and Boston fireworks shows  every July 4th!

I used Lawn Fawn's Scripty Sayings stamps and a star from their Life is Good set to make this card.  I am also entering this into the Lawnscaping Challenge #108.  You can read more about the Lawnscaping Challenge here.

Materials:

• Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings Stamps
• Lawn Fawn Life is Good Stamps (star only)
• Card Base: 5.5"W x 8.5"H, scored at 4.25" mark
• Red Cardstock: 5.25"W x 4"H
• Blue Cardstock: 5.5"W x 4.25"H
• Watercolor Paper: 5"W x 3.75"H 
• Distress Inks:
• Faded Jeans
• Salty Ocean
• Barn Door
• White Embossing Powder
• Hero Arts Unicorn White Pigment Ink

Directions:

• Using a pencil, draw light guidelines for the stripes.  Approx. 3/8" apart from each other.
• Leave a space for the blue section.
• Mask off the edges and the blue section.
• Using the white pigment ink, stamp "hello you" and "thank you" in alternating fashion
• Sprinkle white embossing powder on top and heat set it.
• Erase the pencil lines.
• Using Barn Door distress ink, color in the stripes.  I made squiggly lines because I knew I wouldn't be able to watercolor straight lines perfectly.  Haha!
• Using a combination of Faded Jeans and Salty Ocean distress inks, loosely draw the blue rectangle
• Once the water colors have dried, stamp the stars with white ink and emboss.  I couldn't fit all 50 stars on the flag... so I only have 39 stars on this flag.  Apologies to those in South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii :-)
• Using foam adhesive, attach the watercolor paper to the red, blue and kraft card base in that order.

Happy Early 4th!

New Release + GIVEAWAY: JessicaLynnOriginal UFO Brentwood Owl Launch (Part 2)

Hello again,

Hope you are enjoying the design team's projects featuring the fun new UFO Brentwood Owl stamp set from JessicaLynnOriginal.com.  The first card I posted earlier (see here) features the Brentwood Owl-stronaut.  Here are two more cards featuring some of the other stamps from the set. In addition, there's a giveaway for this set, scroll down to see more info.

Inside message reads: "party 'til the cows come home"

GIVEAWAY:

Head over to the JessicaLynnOriginal.com Blog for your chance to win this fun new set.  All you need to do is leave a comment on that blog post.  Good luck!

Materials for the Pink UFO Card:

• JessicaLynnOriginal.com UFO Brentwood Stamp set
• Kraft card stock: 4.25"W x 11"H, scored at 5.5" mark
• Watercolor paper
• Yellow Card stock
• White Card stock
• Distress Inks
• White Pigment Ink
• Star Confetti
• My Favorite Things Tags Dies
• Baker's Twine
• Copic Markers
• Versamark Ink
• White embossing powder

Directions for the Pink UFO Card:

• Create the water color background using a variety of pink, yellow and orange inks.  See my bokeh watercolor blog post for detailed directions on how to make this background.
• For the tag:
• Die cut two tags, one from yellow card stock, one from white
• Stamp the UFO Cow image onto the white tag
• Color with copic markers
• Punch a hole through the top of both cards
• Thread the baker's twine through the hole
• Here's a close-up of the tag:

• Attach the card to the watercolor paper
• Add yellow and white card stock for the frames
• Glue all the layers together
• Add sentiment to the bottom of the card using white embossing powder
• Finish with star confetti sprinkled on top
• Inside the card, write "party 'til the cows come home" in white ink.

Materials for the Blue Sky UFO Card:

• JessicaLynnOriginal.com UFO Brentwood Stamp set
• White card stock: 4.25"W x 11"H, scored at 5.5" mark
• White card base: 4"W x 5.25"H
• Watercolor Paper
• Distress Inks
• Liquid Pearls
• Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Dies
• Copic Markers
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Foam Adhesive

Directions for the Blue Sky UFO Card:

• Create the water color background using a variety of blue, green and yellow distress inks.
• Use distress inks to color the white card insert with a variety of brown inks (I used Tea Dye, Old Paper and Frayed Burlap)
• Stamp the "Flying Saucer Found" newspaper stamp in a repeating pattern on the brown card
• Cut a window from this card using the Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle dies
• For the UFO:
• Stamp the UFO Cow image onto some white card stock
• Color with copic markers
• Fussy cut the image out
• Attached the UFO to the watercolor paper
• Add liquid pearls for accents in the background. 
• Glue all the layers together.  Use foam adhesive behind the brown frame for added dimension.
• Cut out some clouds and lightly color using distress inks. Add sentiment to the clouds.

Enjoy!!!

New Release + GIVEAWAY: JessicaLynnOriginal UFO Brentwood Owl Launch (Part 1)

Hi everyone,

Today JessicaLynnOriginal.com is launching a new stamp set.  This fun UFO Brentwood Owl set!  The design team has put together another round of fun projects (multiple projects this time) with these new stamps!  You'll see them popping up on our blogs throughout the day, so be sure to keep an eye out on our blogs.  You can link over to the other design team members' blogs in the column to the right.  In addition, there's a giveaway for this set, scroll down to see more info.

I especially love this set because it reminds me of my good friend and freshman college roommate.  She is literally a rocket scientist -- probably the smartest person I knew in college.  She studied aeronautics and astronautics and later went on to work on space shuttle programs, satellites and all things space-related. I, on the other hand, ended up in the entertainment & marketing world.  How very different!

GIVEAWAY:

Head over to the JessicaLynnOriginal.com Blog for your chance to win this fun new set.  All you need to do is leave a comment on that blog post.  Good luck!

Materials:

• JessicaLynnOriginal.com UFO Brentwood Stamp Set
• Kraft card base: 4.25"W x 11"H, scored at 5.5" mark
• Blue polka dot patterned paper: 4"W x 5"H
• Water color paper
• Distress Inks (shades of blue and green)
• White Pigment Ink
• Avery Elle Finished Frames dies (smaller 3x4 size)
• Metallic Thread
• Copic Markers
• Body: E15, E17, E18
• Feet/Beak: YR21, YR31, YR15
• Helmet: N0, N2, 0
• Laser Gun: RV21, RV23, RV25
• Space Suit Trim: BG10, BG11, BG13, V01, V15, V17
• Space Suit: N0, N2, 0, RV000
• Glossy Accents
• Foam Adhesive
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Directions:

• For the owl:
• Stamp the UFO Brentwood Owl on white Copic-friendly card stock using the Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Color the image using Copic Markers, fussy cut the owl
• Add Glossy Accents to the beak, feet and laser gun
• For the water color background
• Use a variety of blue and green distress inks and paint onto the water color paper.
• Once it's dried, use a circle die and blot white pigment ink on the background to create the "moon" or Bokeh effect
• Die cut with the finished frames die
• Adhere all the layers together.  I used foam adhesive behind the watercolor paper to add more dimension
• Add metallic thread behind the owl.
• Attach the owl using foam adhesive.
• Here's a close-up of the owl:

Enjoy!  Please come back later today to see my other two projects using this stamp set!

"New" Product Tuesday: Watercoloring with Distress Inks featuring Art Impressions

Hi all,

Happy Tuesday!  I'm actually posting this on a Tuesday too!  How wild is that?  I am participating in a 30-day coloring challenge by Kathy Racoosin at The Daily Marker.  I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with it, but I'm going to try my best.  I may not be posting all 30-days on my blog, but I'll try to do a weekly recap of the coloring projects I am able to complete.

Today's card features a fun stamp set I purchased from Art Impressions.  This Flower Shop TryFold stamp set is really pretty and perfect for practicing your watercoloring techniques.

I also posted a new VIDEO on YouTube that shows the making of this card.  It features fast-paced watercoloring (I wish I could color that fast in real life).  I hope you like watching it!  If the video below doesn't work, you can also watch it in HD on YouTube here.



Materials:

• Watercolor paper: 11"W x 5.5"H, scored at 3 5/8" mark on both sides
• Green card stock: 4"W x 5.5"H
• Art Impressions Flower Shop TryFold stamps
• Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks
• Versafine Black Onyx Inkpad
• Watercolor Brush
• Water
• Adhesive
• Corner Rounder

Directions:

• Score the water color paper 3 5/8" from both sides so you create a card with three panels
• Stamp the flower shop stamp in the center panel
• Turn the paper over and stamp the flowers for sale sign on the right side (1.5" from the top) and the umbrella cart on the left side (2" from the top) close to the score mark.
• Color the images
• Cut around the flowers for sale sign and umbrella cart
• Round the corners using a 1/8" corner rounder
• Adhere onto the green card stock
• Here are the three different panels

Hope you enjoyed this card and video!  Have a great week!

"New" Product Tuesday: Bokeh Watercolor technique featuring Mama Elephant Stamps

Hello!

Happy Tuesday!  Today I had a ton of fun experimenting with watercolors, pigment ink and a new Mama Elephant "Up and Away" stamp and die set (well, new to me that is).  I created two cards.  Yes, two!!  I had so much fun making the first one... so I decided to make a second card since all my supplies were out.  These would make great baby cards.  I have several friends who are expecting babies in the next few months.  Some know the gender and others are keeping it a surprise.

I really wanted to make a watercolor background and I've been intrigued by the Bokeh effect that I've seen on Instagram and in YouTube videos.  This was so much easier to do than I expected!

Materials:

• Kraft Card Stock: 4.25"W x 11"H, scored at 5.5" mark
• Pink and Blue Card Stock: 4"W x 5.25"H
• White Card Stock: 3.75"W x 5"H
• Watercolor Paper: 4"W x 5"H, then trim down to 3.5"W x 4.75"H
• Mama Elephant Up and Away Stamp and Die Sets
• Yellow Baker's Twine
• Spellbinders Back to Basics Tag Die
• Homemade Circle Stencil
• Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink and Soft Granite Shadow Ink
• Ranger Distress Inks:
• For the Pink Card: Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade
• For the Blue Card: Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade
• Adhesive

Directions:

• Start with all the watercoloring... this way you can let your watercolor background dry naturally.  
• Tape the watercolor paper to a hard surface using painter's tape or washi tape.  I used an art board (similar to the back of a clipboard).  The water tends to warp the paper, so having it taped down helps keep the paint in place.  Apply a clear coat of water using a clean brush over the entire surface.
• Spread the distress inks on an acrylic block.  Using a paintbursh, gradually add each of the colors to the wet watercolor paper.  I like to start with the lighter color and go darker.  Since I was using three different colors... I went in rainbow order.  Just because :-)
• Here's a picture... sorry the lighting isn't that good

• Once the background has dried, use the pigment ink and a circle stencil to apply the Bokeh effect.  I didn't have a stencil, so I made my own using a sheet of plastic and various sized circle dies from Sizzix.

• Use different degrees of pressure when applying the dots.  I like the small ones to be the most visible so I used more pressure there.  Here's what it looks like.  Once it dries, the pigment ink lightens up a little, so don't be afraid to push hard.  

• While all that was drying, I colored the rabbit from the stamp set using copic markers.  I used C00, N0 and N2 on the main body and accented it with R20 in the ears, cheeks and feet.  I used R20 and R22 for the pink flower and Y000 and Y21 for the yellow flower.
• Die cut the rabbit and fussy cut the flower.
• Stamp the sentiment on a white tag (I used a Spellbinders die to cut out this tag).
• Tie some twine on the end of the tag
• Cut all the paper down to size and adhere each layer.  Add the sentiment, rabbit and flower to the front using foam adhesive.

Here are the two cards: 

Enjoy and have a GREAT day!