Hi Everybody! It's Maria here from Cardbomb. I hope you are all having a great day! Before I forget, I've got a 10% Discount for you all on your entire purchases at either Tonic Studios UK or USA!
TONIC UK 10% OFF TONIC USA 10%OFF
And, that even includes new releases like the new Tim Holtz Travel Media Mat!! In case you haven't seen it yet here's a quick look. It's got all the goodness of the original Media Mat but in a convenient travel size and it comes with neoprene case to protect when you're on the move!
Today I wanted to share with you a way to stretch your stamps to get the most out of them. Whenever I buy a stamp set I love to look at all of the individual stamps and sentiments with a critical eye to see if I can use them for more than just the intended purpose. If I can use my stamps in a variety of ways than they are instantly more valuable to me. I'm happy to tell you that the Warm Cocoa Wishes stamp set from Tonic's recent release passes the test with flying colors!
This set has so many kind and loving sentiments in it and I knew I could make a really fun non-holiday card with them. I started out by arranging many of the sentiments linearly on my stamping platform. Then I inked them up in rainbow colors (Tonic Hybrid inks) and stamped repeatedly until I had rainbow background full of "love" and "cuddles." Tonic keeps expanding their color range for these hybrid inks and they truly are vibrant and gorgeous. Even better, you can use every color with both water and alcohol based products and they won't smear!
Next, I stamped the adorable little mouse holding a mug of something steamy and comforting. I colored him in using my Nuvo alcohol markers. I used a knife to cut the mouse's hands free. Then, I stamped a bunch of hearts and colored them with Nuvo alcohol markers. I gave them a coat of Nuvo Crystal Glaze to give them some thick, glossy, shine. I also Crystal Glazed the mouse's glasses.
After that I heat embossed the sentiments in white on black cardstock and assembled the card. The final touch was adding some white gel pen to the mouse and his heart.
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I had a ton of fun making this card and I hope it might inspire you to take a second look at some of your stamp sets to see how you can stretch them to get even more out of them.
Hey Everybody! Thanks for stopping by today! I'm so glad you did because Tonic Studios has a new stamp release coming out today and it is awesome! They are celebrating by having a party over on their blog. There will be demonstrations, videos and giveaways so be sure to head over there and join the fun when you have a chance. Just CLICK HERE to head over to the Tonic Studios Blog.
DISCOUNT: If you're interested in doing a little shopping at Tonic Studios over the next month I've got a discount link for you. You can get 10% off of your order just by clicking this link-no code necessary.
Now, on to my projects! This first thing I've made is not a card... When I saw the stamp release I immediately knew that I had to use the deer from the Garden Party release with the new, FREE printable stamp set called, Christmas Outfits. I paired those up with the mug from Jolly Marshmallow Snowman to make a scene for some hot tubbing reindeer... and yes, of course they are skinny dipping!
I colored the deer, mug, outfits and trees with my Nuvo Alcohol Markers.The sky in the background was watercolored with Nuvo Aqua Flow Pens and then splattered with Glitter Gloss. The snowy, purple ground is watercolored with Lilac Waterfall Nuvo Shimmer Powders.
I love the way this scene came together so easily using a combination of new and recently released stamp sets.
Now, my favorite part of this first project was using this scene to create a funny little video. It's short and funny. I hope you'll like it.
For my next project I made a card using the big marshmallow snowman from the Jolly Marshmallow Snowman set. That big, beautiful tree is from the FREE printable called, Christmas Outfits. If you'd like to download it, you can find it over on the Tonic Studios Blog.
I started out with a watercolor wash on my background (Nuvo Aqua Flows). Then I splattered it with Glitter Gloss. I love that it gives it some texture and also looks like shimmery snow. The marshmallow snowman is also watercolored with Nuvo Aqua Flows.
The Christmas tree was colored with three colors of Nuvo Alcohol markers. I am planning to share a video on this soon as I've had some requests asking how to best color with the Nuvo markers. I made a frame for the background using my rectangle dies and I think that scalloped edge is a nice detail.
My last card is a little bit more subtle but it's still really sweet. I did a watercolor wash with my Aqua Flow pens on some watercolor paper. Then I applied some glimmer paste in Moonstone over the Snowflake stencil. It looks so beautiful and sparkly in real life. Then I used the reindeer from Celebrate Success along with a sweater from Christmas Outfits to make a cute, little Christmas reindeer.
The sweater and gift are colored with Nuvo Alcohol Markers. The reindeer stamp has arms that stick up in the air. Check out my first project again to see what the original arms look like. I really wanted the deer to wear a different outfit and it was so easy to make it happen. I just cut his cute little arms right off and put the sweater on his stubby little torso. Voila! He has arms again!
The cool thing about this Christmas outfit stamp set is that you can make the outfits work with the animals from all three of the critter sets from the last release. That means you've got a whole farm load of animals to dress up in holiday attire.
I used my rectangle dies again to cut out a sparkly piece of snowflake background. I added that to my ink blended card base and put the reindeer on top. He's popped up on foam adhesive. The sentiment was stamped in Tonic's Nuvo Black Shadow ink. This is one of my favorite inks because of how useful it is. It works with both watercolor and alcohol inks so you can use jus the one ink and never worry about your project smearing. To finish the project off I added some red confetti glitter using my Nuvo Precision Glue Pen.
Ok! That's it for my projects but I want to remind you that there is a release party over at the Tonic Studios blog. I'm participating in that party and I wanted to share my video clip with you...
Remember to use my discount links to save yourself some money if you decide to shop at Tonic Studios. The code is good on everything in the shop including this new release.
Ok, you all. I'm outta here. As always I will add links to the products that I've used below. If you have any questions about anything I've used or done today please leave me a comment and below and I'll be happy to help with anything that I can.
Hi Everybody! It's late here but I wanted to pop by and say hello before I head off to bed. Recently I water colored this gorgeous stamp from The Ton. It's called Transformation and I'm pretty much dying over how gorgeous this stamp is.
I heat embossed it in gold and watercolored it on Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. The hot press paper has a much smoother finish than the cold press does and I thought that would make the embossing easier. It did but the watercolor moves differently on hot press than it does on cold press paper and it took me a little time to get used to it. Once I did, I loved it!
I started out with those gorgeous flowers on the right wing. I added a light wash of color, let it dry and added more shading.
I loved watching the colors on the left wing bleed together. The Tonic Studios Nuvo Dream Drops that I used to decorate the wing were the perfect touch as they give such a soft, iridescent look.
I finished my card by popping the butterfly up on an ink blended background. Then I topped that off with some sequins in Moonstone from Simon Says Stamps.
Ok, guys! I am off to bed now! I don't know what time you all will be reading this but either sleep tight or have a fantastic day!
Hi Everybody! I am so glad to have you join me today. I was in a big hurry to get my card done today as I was quite at the last minute. I've been really busy this week because I've been getting ready for a big event at the new Tonic Studios USA warehouse this coming weekend. I'm really excited about it and I'm looking forward to telling you all about it an upcoming post.
Since I was in a hurry it was lucky that I had these beautiful, watercolored Peonies left over from another card! I used my Blue Blitz Shimmer Powder to wash a light background over my card face. Then I splattered the background with Violet Brocade shimmer powder.
I placed the blooms and foliage on the card front and adhered some of it flat, and, some of it with foam adhesive. Have you noticed that some of the leaves are much darker than the others? They're also embossed in white too. That's because those are actually colored with the Nuvo Watercolor Pencils on black cardstock! I love the dramatic look of the darker leaves.
To finish off the card I stamped a sentiment from Celebrate Sentiments and popped it up. Then I added some sequins in Silver Rain to bling the card out a little. That was it for today's card-quick and easy since I had colored my florals ahead of time.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have an amazing day!
Hey Everybody and happy STAMPtember! I know that some of you have been waiting excitedly for the Hero Arts collaboration to be released and tonight is the night!! This gorgeous set is full of beautiful floral images that are just asking to be used as silhouettes. I've done two cards to showcase this set. One is silhouette style with a vibrant ink blended background. The second has a more colorful take...
For my first card I started by ink blending my background with Hero Hues Reactive Inks in Lemon Drop, Creamsicle and Fruit Punch. Then I splattered a little water onto the background and used a paper towel to pick up the water droplets. This lifted some of the ink too and gave my background a distressed feel. I wanted a little more color variation on the background so I splattered both the White Liquid Watercolor and the Pewter Glimmer Metallic Ink onto the background with a paint brush.
After my background was dry I used the new INTENS-ified black ink (great for both alcohol markers and watercoloring) to stamp many of the images multiple times at the bottom of my card. I love how crisp and black this ink is.
I stamped the sentiment (I love the font!) in the same black ink. I wanted it to stand out more than the florals did though so I stamped it again with my Hero Arts Clear Mark embossing ink. Then I embossed it with clear embossing powder. It's hard to tell in the pictures but it did the trick to make the sentiment stand out. To finish off my card I added some of the new enamel dots in black. These embellishments are so easy to use because they have adhesive on the back and all you have to do is stick them on to your project.
You can see from this next picture that I used a similar layout on my second card but did a way different technique so that I would end up with brightly colored florals.
I started my second card out by stamping the florals multiple times across the bottom in Lemon Drop, Creamsicle and Fruit Punch. Then I heat embossed over the top of the florals in clear embossing powder. This layer of embossing over my stamped images will create an emboss resist and protect the colors that I have used for my stamping.
I continued by ink blending my background using Hero Arts Reactive inks in Thistle, Splash, Blue Hawaii and Blue Raspberry. I went right over the top of my stamped images. When I was done I used a paper towel to gently buff the ink off of the top of my embossed images. I splattered my background with shimmer spray and lifted the larger droplets with a paper towel. This lifted the ink but left a shimmery background. I also flicked black ink from a marker pen with a brush tip onto the background to make a little more grungy. I also added some spatters in Lemon Drop.
I heat embossed my sentiment in white onto black cardstock and fussy cut it out. Please note that I did not use Hero Arts embossing powder on the sentiment. I used a different brand and was unable to get a smooth finish. The lesson here is to buy quality embossing powder from Hero Arts. At least it matches the rustic look of my card, right? After that I added some jewels in purples, blues and greens and called it a day!
Here's a last look at these two cards side by side. I really had fun playing with this set and I hope you'll be able to get your hands on it before it sells out! Remember that once these STAMPtember exclusives sell out they are gone forever. So if you love this set snatch up quickly (links below)!
That is it for today you guys. If you're interested in checking out any of the products that I've used today please check out the links I've added below. As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks so much for stopping by and I will see you again soon!
Maria
PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST (Contains some Affiliate Links):
Hi Everybody! It's the 20th of the month and you know what that means, right?! Crafty Friends Blog Hop day where we do our best to bring you a 20% discount to our featured company on the 20th of every month-otherwise know as Twenty on Twenty! This month our featured company is one of my favorite companies ever- Hero Arts! Yes, we have a discount code for you!
I love Hero Arts for so many reasons! The stamps are high quality, the company makes extraordinary efforts to be a green company, they support their local community and they are a top company in this industry! Aside from that, the people are what makes this company truly special. I've had multiple opportunities to meet and chat with Aaron Leventhal, owner of Hero Arts. He is so dang likable, down-to-earth and knowledgeable. I was at the Hero Arts warehouse for an event at the end of last month and took some video of Aaron while he was giving us a tour. I thought I'd share a little clip of it...
I've also got a video for the cards I'm making today so before I get too far into my post, here's that video too...
And, now onto the cards I've made today... All of the cards that I'm sharing today feature the Naughty Elves stamp set which I think is hilarious! There are quite a few fun images but I was instantly drawn to this little guy with his tongue out. I just had to stick him to a flag pole...
I started this card out by foiling my white cardstock with the Snowflake Pattern Cover Plate. I love the way it looks foiled but it's quite a bit different from the equally gorgeous look you get when you die cut it. I share the die cut in my video so please check that out if you'd like to see it.
Next I used the Layering Snow Globe Fancy Dies to cut the snow globe out and build a scene for this naughty little elf. I also stamped the elf and the flag pole in the new INTENS-ified black ink (great for both copic markers and watercoloring) and colored everything with copic markers.
The background of my scene is ink blended with the Hero Hues Reactive Inks in Splash and Hawaii Blue. These inks blend so easily with a blending brush and if you haven't tried them yet, I highly recommend them. I adhered the scene to the background and filled my card with shaker guts (Hero Arts sequins). After putting acetate behind the front card panel I popped the whole front up on foam making sure to seal all of the sequins inside. I love the sentiment, "Naughty is the New Nice" and thought it fit this card perfectly.
My second card was inspired by the first card. When I built the scene I thought it was so pretty and almost didn't want to turn it into a shaker card... So, I decided to make a second card with a snowy, wintery background.
Again I blended Splash and Blue Hawaii reactive inks. Then, I spritzed them with Hero Arts shimmer spray. I let it sit to dry for a second then used a paper towel to dab up the wet spots. This lifted some of the blue ink leaving me with a blizzardy look to my card. I added more sparkly snow with the White Glimmer Metallic Ink and then added even more with a white gel pen.
I'm not really sure that this elf can explain to Santa how he ended up in this predicament but I still think the sentiment suits the card well. I finished the card off with some of the new enamel dots from both the blues and neutrals collections.
For my third card I went a little rogue... I wanted to find another way to use this naughty elf and just as I was about to cut his tongue off I realized he might want to use that tongue to catch some snowflakes. A while back I picked these snowflake sequins at Target for one dollar and they are the perfect size for this.
Of course, catching snowflakes isn't naughty, so I had to have this elf push his buddy head first off of the sign into the snow. Speaking of snow-did you know that Hero Arts has puffy white embossing powder that looks like snow? They do! They also have a snow and frothing kit to make snow and things like lattes (I linked to it at the bottom of the post so you can check it out).
Oh! Did you notice that beautiful background stamp? That's the Handrawn Snowflakes Boldprints and I've stamped it in Soft Sky ink. It's such a subtle and beautiful winter color.
Here's another look at my two non-shaker cards. These were really easy and really fun to make. If you have any questions please let me know in the comments below.
Here's a last look at all three of my cards...
Thank you so much for joining me today you guys! I hope you've enjoyed the video and cards I've shared. I want to remind you that for today and tomorrow only you can receive 20% Off of one order from Hero Arts by clicking this link to Hero Arts and adding the code: Craftyfriends20 There are some restrictions that apply to the discount (My Monthly Hero, Partner Stamps and Stamping Village Stamps) but the rest of the store is wide open for pillaging! I've added links to all of the products I've used today in the table below so please check them out if you are interested.
Have an amazing day you all! You can continue on this hop by heading over to see what Becky has made to share with us today! You can also check out the full blog hop below.
Hi everybody! Thanks for joining me here today. I'm excited to share something with you that's a little bit outside of what I normally make. It's a Gate Fold Card! Gate Fold cards have two front flaps that open forwards like two doors of a gate. This card is the same size as a normal A2 sized card but it's fun twist to have it open differently than a standard card. Guess what? I've got a video tutorial for you today-here it is...
I started out by heat embossing this gorgeous floral stamp from the Botanical Blooms set two times in gold onto watercolor paper. I needed two because I wanted to place one on each side of the card front.
Then, I used Nuvo Aqua Flow Pens in a variety of colors to watercolor both of my images. I did this by squeezing a little bit of ink from my pens onto my Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat. Then I used a water brush to pick up the color and add it to my images.
HERE'S A LIST OF THE NUVO AQUA FLOW COLORS THAT I USED:
Leaves: Sliced Kiwi, Empress Teal, Tomato Juice, True Turquoise and Azure Blue
Flowers: Hawaiian Orchid, Indigo Dawn and Aqua Splash
I decided that I wanted the front of my card to be super sparkly so I painted the front panels with Glacier Paste in Quiksilver. This paste is so cool! It goes on really smooth and doesn't have texture like the Embellishment and Expanding Pastes do. It dries quickly with a silky, smooth, sparkly finish. I added some splatters of white acrylic paint for a little more detail on the background.
I heat embossed a banner with my sentiment inside and cut it out (I also cut out the floral images).
Using foam adhesive I adhered the floral images to each panel on my card front. The flowers interlock perfectly helping to keep the card closed.
Last of all I used foam tape to add the banner to the left side of the front of my card. When you do this it's really important to make sure that you only use adhesive on one side of the banner. If you adhere the banner to both sides of the card you will seal your card shut.
The last helpful bit of information that I have for you is the size of the card base. It measures 5.5" tall, 8.5" wide and it is scored 2 1/8" from either side to create the front flaps. If this sounds confusing please do watch the video as I share the blank card base there.
That is all for today you guys. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
Maria
Hey guys! Happy middle of the week to ya! Today's card is one I made a while back but never shared. Some of you may know that my family moved in June/July and my craft supplies were put away for far too long. When I finally had my desk set back up all I wanted to do was color! This gorgeous unicorn was perfect for what I wanted. It's from a set called Kylee's Unicorn from Picket Fence Studios and all of the images are sweet and filled with magic.
I love coloring images like this unicorn where I can mix and match copic markers from different families until they just look like magic together. I will list the colors that I've used at the bottom of my post in case you'd like to try the combos out for yourself. I did add a little extra shading with my pencils as well as highlights with a white gel pen.
After coloring the scene I stamped the sentiment in black and added some gray splatters. Then I took a sparkly Sakura gel roller in silver glitter and added some stars to the background. Sequins were the last magical touch to this card front.
I added a strip of silver foil below the colored image piece. Then I foam mounted the whole thing onto a black card base. After having too much time off of crafting this card was so much fun to make. It's amazing how sitting back down at your craft desk can make you feel like you've come home (even in a new home).
Ok, that's all I've got for today but I'll be back soon with more crafty fun! I'm linking to the products that I've used below in case you'd like to check them out.
Have an amazing day!
Maria
PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:
Affiliate links earn me a small amount of commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Hey guys! I'm back with another post for Simon Says Stamp's STAMPtember celebration. I'm using the Handcrafted With Love stamp set again. This set has a little something cute for so many kinds of crafts. It's got scissors, pencils, markers, yarn with knitting needles, yarn with crochet hooks, paint brushes and more! It also has tiny little stamps with washing machines, iron, etc to show how to care properly for whatever crafty item you are making. Sooo, what I'm saying is that this set is perfect for making tags for your handcrafted gifts!
I started out by cutting a bunch of tags out of watercolor paper. I used the infinity tag dies from Hero Arts and they made it so easy! I also used these dies to cut the black circles and tag toppers from black cardstock. I love those bits because they really finish the tags off well.
Next, I did a watercolor wash using Distress Oxide inks each of my tags. I used a variety of colors and love how they came out. Hot Tip: Wet your watercolor paper with water first if you want a smooth blend to your colors. This helps the colors to bleed together and eliminates hard edges and brush strokes.
I stamped some of the images on the backgrounds using black ink (Hero Arts INTENS-ified). The scissors were heat embossed in silver
I stamped out quit a few of the round "hand crafted" seals and popped them up on the tags with foam adhesive. I also colored and cut out one painters palette for the "stamped with love" tag. I love that you can stamp the images or cut them out to make 3D projects. This set does have coordinating dies but I don't have them so I just used my snips and it wasn't a big deal.
Here's a better look at the whole set of tags and the stamp set I've used. You can see how many stamps are in the set and how many I haven't even used yet.
That's all I've got for today you guys! I hope you'll pick this set up and have a little fun with it like I did. Please let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to email me or to comment below.
