no rules, just happy crafting
Once in a while I hit on an idea that is absolutely perfect – and turns out exactly or better than I had imagined. This is one such time! My inspiration was simple: I wanted to make some gift card “cards” for some Jr High teachers I’ll be seeing this week at conferences. After looking around at my supplies I decided that a bird stamp set + my ScanNCut would be just the thing.
Continue reading “Watercolor Gift Card (cards) featuring ScanNCut”
Here in my neck of the woods this is our final week of summer break. What? How? It’s true! So this week here on my blog I am going to be sharing some crafty ideas inspired by school. Today I begin inspired by learning to write…
When we learn to write we are given worksheets and made to practice over and over. Yet one of the things I see so often in crafting is people expecting to simply get a skill right away – myself included.
I challenged myself to first use a number of color mediums on a new (affiliate link used) Pink Ink Pumpkin stamp. I tried everything from clean color pens to watercolor pencils to distress ink as watercolor and my KOI watercolor set too. I played with minimal colors and blending styles water vs no water and so on.
I didn’t learn anything new exactly – but I did get a lot of good practice in and reminded myself of some details such as I really like clean color pens “color blended” and with little to no water. Or that my KOI watercolors are a bit opaque. With some practice down I stamped a bit in my current art journal and made a few notes.
I believe an art journal should be a place to be 100% free to write. doodle. test. play. There should be ZERO expectation of a “good” page or what it might look like.
My challenge to you today is to practice a technique or idea for at least 10 minutes. NO expectations – just “homework worksheet” practice!
I love working with stamps to create cards – but sometimes a little planning really goes a long way! Today I’m playing with a stamp set that is just so simple & lovely… can I plan an equally simple & lovely card?
I am loving this dream princess set from Sweet Stamp Shop. Reminds me of Mulan which got me thinking about how to best create a card. In my video I talk you through the process – including my “hidden” stamping to help me keep track of my color use. Here is my YouTube tutorial– I hope you enjoy!
In the beginning of the video I mention that I struggle with “less”. I get to playing and man I just want to keep going! There are a number of ways to control – including coloring on wet paper as you saw me do in the video. Other ideas? Continue reading “Watercolor Princess card featuring Sweet Stamp Shop”
Today I want to share a kind of stamping I don’t do nearly enough: on photos and in my scrapbooks. For 2016 my scrapbooking basically didn’t happen. In order to get some stories told while I remember them and have an album made I’ve decided on simple. Pocket pages that I filled (over the course of two evenings as I sat in bed enjoying TV shows) and now just need to add embellishments + stories as I have time.
I’m featuring a few sets from Sweet Stamp Shop – a California based stamp company that is new to me and so fabulous. You can win some of their great products – stay tuned for that opportunity later in this post. There are many ways you can stamp onto photos (and scrapbook pages) including:
In short, there are MANY ways! Continue reading “stamping on photos: tips, tricks, and ideas”
Hey everybody! As I type this I’m cruising the floor at the CHA summer show in Las Vegas (HOT weather much?!) and checking out all of the new products coming soon! I will be sharing my findings starting Wednesday night here on my blog (if you’re an email subscriber, you’ll get updates each morning, not multiple emails), favorites, and as many photos as I can pack right here onto my blog.
In the meantime, you might notice the gentleman here on this card. Hello sir, what are you up to?
He is one of the new Tim Holtz stamps – I had the honor of creating samples for Stamper’s Anonymous featuring the amazing new sets. My cards can be seen in their booth, and over the next few weeks/months I’ll be sharing them with you here as well. Most of them are Halloween and Christmas themed – and actually this guy could be something of an evil scientist I suppose (thus, Halloween-y) but I think he’s just brewing up serious science stuff. No messing around for him! I want to make a cupcake or something silly to put in his hand (instead of the tube) to mix it up… ha!
Well I’m off to walk the show floor and hopefully meet up with some good friends too. I wish you very happy crafting!
If you’d like to see my photos and favorites from the show, people pics, and more today- I will be posting to my Instagram. Don’t have Instagram? That’s ok- you can still view it online here.