Sunday, February 26, 2017

Technique Zone: No-Line Watercoloring Tutorial

Hey everybody! Happy Sunday! I've got something really fun for you today. It's a technique called No-Line Watercoloring and I've got a full tutorial for you so that you can try it out for yourself. Ive heard it said that this technique can be very difficult for some people so I'm including some tips and ideas that made this work for me. I hope it helps you to be successful too!

Supplies:
·      Timeless Love Stamp Set
·      Cardstock: Shimmery White, Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Sahara Sand
·      Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Pumpkin Pie, Calypso Coral, Sahara Sand, Smoky Slate
·      Miscellaneous Supplies: Aquapainters, Linen Thread, Paper Snips, Layering Ovals Framelits Dies, Big Shot, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Fuse Fast Adhesive

Measurements:
·      Card Base-Sahara Sand: 4 ¼” x 11” and scored at 5 ½”
·      Mat 1-Pink Piroutte: 4” x 5 ¼”
·      Mat 2-Pink Pirouette: 3 7/8” x 5 1/8” 
·      Largest Stitched Oval Framelit-Very Vanilla

The first thing I did was stamp the image in Smoky Slate on Shimmery White Cardstock. I stamped off first so that the image I was going to use would be very lightly stamped. You can also change the ink color of your stamped image depending on what colors you plan to use when you start painting. For example, I did another version of this card but stamped in Daffodil Delight instead of in Smoky Slate. It was a bit more difficult to watercolor because the image quickly disappeared but it came out beautifully as well. The second image below is the one I used for my watercoloring.  

HOT TIP: Use shimmery white paper! Shimmery white allows for a beautiful watercolored look without any feathering or unexpected bleeding of the ink. It also allows the ink colors to blend the way you need them to with this technique. 


Using your Aquapainter add your ink colors one at a time as follows. I like to start with the lightest color first and build the color into the image where I think there might be shadows etc.    

After you've finished watercoloring fussy cut the image out using paper snips. Stamp your sentiment onto the stitched oval piece. Layer your watercolored image onto the oval and adhere it using dimensionals. Layer your Pink Pirouette mats and adhere them together. Then wrap three lengths  of linen thread around the mats and tie a bow as shown.
  



Attach your image/sentiment layer to the Pink Pirouette card face. Then attach the card face to the Crumb Cake card base. Your card should look like this... 

I hope this tutorial will give you some help figuring this technique out for yourself especially if it's one you've been thinking about trying. Have fun and please let me know how it goes!

You'll be seeing more of these Technique Tutorials from me so please let me know what you think! Are there techniques that you are struggling with or that you'd like to have a tutorial for? Let me know!

Ok, I'm off to get some projects done. Enjoy your Sunday!
-Maria



PROJECT SUPPLIES:




Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!
Don't forget that during Sale-a-Bration (now) for every $50 USD you spend before taxes you will get to select a FREE item from the SAB catalog! If you are looking for the ultimate Stampin' Starter kit then now is the time! For $99 you will get to pick $125 in products of your choice plus any two stamp sets from the Main or Occasions Catalog! It really doesn't get better than that! Let me know if you have any questions!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!


Thursday, February 16, 2017

Stampin Friends Blog Hop: Guest Designer




Hi and welcome to this month's Stampin' Friends Blog Hop. This month I'm happy to be one of three guest blog hoppers:
Maria Willis (Me! Woohoo!)


If you've already been hopping along with us then you've probably arrived here from Cindy's blog. If you'd like to go back to her blog you can click on this button...



Today the theme of our hop is Black, White and One Other Color. For my card I chose to use Melon Mambo as my accent color. I've been loving these little monsters from the Yummy to My Tummy stamp set (Occasions Catalog) and I decided to use them for both of my projects today. Here's the card I made...


I watercolored the monster and used the Pop of Pink DSP to add some fun to the card. I also watercolored part of a doily so I could add a little bit more subtle color. 



For my project I made a treat box. It's the size of a box of movie theater candy (Yes, I swiped my son's Sour Patch Kids so that I could make this). No matter what's inside the box though this little monster sure looks happy about whatever it is he just ate. 



I layered the monster over an embossed banner and some thick Bermuda Bay twine. Some Silver Metallic Thread and a silver doily finished the box off with a little flair. 

I hope you like what I made to share with you today and thanks for stopping by to look! I hope to see you all again soon!
-Maria.

I hope you'll continue along enjoying this hop of super talented artists.
Up next is Kim Lamos! 



BLOG ROLL:




CARD SUPPLIES: 



PROJECT SUPPLIES:



Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!
 Don't forget that during Sale-a-Bration (now) for every $50 USD you spend before taxes you will get to select a FREE item from the SAB catalog! If you are looking for the ultimate Stampin' Starter kit then now is the time! For $99 you will get to pick $125 in products of your choice plus any two stamp sets from the Main or Occasions Catalog! It really doesn't get better than that! Let me know if you have any questions!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!


Monday, February 13, 2017

WWYS #103: Moon Baby


Happy beginning of the week to you all! It's Monday and that means another What Will You Stamp Challenge. Before I get to this week's challenge I have sad news. This will be my last week on the WWYS Design Team. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to share my love for card making and I am planning to start teaching classes! This is really exciting for me! Unfortunately, my time is limited and I will need to spend my free time designing cards and projects for my classes... Which means that I am giving up the opportunity to design for this amazing challenge. I will still be here as always. I will still be sharing cards. You'll just be seeing what I am creating for my classes and you'll probably be getting more tutorials and hopefully some videos!

And so, here it is, my last card with the WWYS Design Team... it's a Moon Baby challenge this week.


"Where did the moon go?" might be the first question you are asking. I wanted to do something different with this set so I masked off the moon with post-its and inked up the baby in versarmark. I heat embossed it in black. The stars are stamped in Smoky Slate. I colored everything in with my watercolor pencils and then hit it all with my aqua painter to smooth out the color. I was really happy with how well the Calypso Coral worked as a skin tone. 

My favorite part of this card is this little shooting star I made. I stamped and painted an extra star on a piece of scrap paper. Then I made a little tassel of Silver Metallic Thread and attached it to the back of the star using glue dots. 


You cannot see it in the pictures but I also used Clear Wink of Stella on the stars.


Here's a look at the whole stamp set. There are so many cute images and the sentiments are adorable. The inside of my card says, "do you know how loved you are?"

That's it for today folks. Thanks for stopping by and I hope I'll see you all back here soon! Have a great week!

-Maria


CARD SUPPLY LIST: 




Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!
Don't forget that during Sale-a-Bration (now) for every $50 USD you spend before taxes you will get to select a FREE item from the SAB catalog! If you are looking for the ultimate Stampin' Starter kit then now is the time! For $99 you will get to pick $125 in products of your choice plus any two stamp sets from the Main or Occasions Catalog! It really doesn't get better than that! Let me know if you have any questions!



Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!


Thursday, February 9, 2017

OSAT Blog Hop- Whole Lot of Love


Hey everybody and happy second Thursday of the month! You know what that means, right? You know it! It's One Stamp At a Time Blog Hop Time! Once a month this talented group of crafters gets together to bring you an epic blog hop full of creativity. It's always on the second Thursday of the month and you can count on seeing great cards and projects. This month our theme is a Whole Lot of Love and I've got a Valentine's Day card and a cool monster treat box to share with you. So without any further ado, here's my card...

I chose some nontraditional colors for a Valentine's Day card but I ended up loving this color combo! Island Indigo, Real Red and Pool Party go well together-add some Basic Black and Whisper White and you've got a crisp, clean look. 

I used the Sealed With Love Bundle on this card and the stamps are fantastic... but the framelits are to die for!!  I love the little arrows so much! This DSP is really fun too and I think the little postage stamps are adorable.


For my project I've made a fun little treat box with a ooey, gooey, little monster it. I love this monster set!! So far I've used it to make Valentine and love cards but I think this set is going to be great for birthday cards as well. I would love to get a birthday hug from one of these little monsters!

I watercolored my monster in Bermuda Bay ink using my aqua painter. Then, when it was dry, I shellacked it with my fine tip glue pen to make it shiny and puffy.  I love the way it came it out. Have you tried this yet? I usually use this technique on windows and glass but when I saw Sara Douglass do something similar to this I knew I had to do something along the same lines. Sara added reinker directly to her fine tip glue pen and colored her monsters that way. I wasn't willing to sacrifice my whole tube of glue for one color so I watercolored little monsters in different colors and used the clear glue to give them that glassy look. I layered this huggable little guy over a piece of glassine sheet, some twine and a doily. I hope you like it!


I hope you've enjoyed my projects today! If you're interested in learning more about what I do or you're interested in checking out the products that I've used today please scroll down a bit further and don't hesitate to send me an email. For now, I hope you'll continue our hop with the super talented Anna Smith. Just click the next button to head on over to her blog.

Thanks for stopping by today!
-Maria


Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered! Don't forget that during Sale-a-Bration (now) for every $50 USD you spend before taxes you will get to select a FREE item from the SAB catalog! If you are looking for the ultimate Stampin' Starter kit then now is the time! For $99 you will get to pick $125 in products of your choice plus any two stamp sets from the Main or Occasions Catalog! It really doesn't get better than that! Let me know if you have any questions!



Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!


Monday, February 6, 2017

WWYS #102: Tasty Trucks

Hey everybody! Glad to have you here for this week's What Will You Stamp: Tasty Trucks challenge! I can't believe that I haven't inked this set up before now. I've seen so many fantastic cards made with this FREE Sale-a-Bration set (yes! FREE with any $50 USD CSV purchase). Thank goodness it's got so much versatility and so many fun small stamps in it-it made it easy to come up with a fresh idea of my own because the possibilities really are endless with set! 


I inked the truck up in versa mark ink and heat embossed it in white. Then I stamped those adorable little flag-banners all over a circle I cut out with the stitched framelits.

A little more layering and embellishing and there you have it! If you'd like directions and measurements for this card scroll on down just a little bit further.

Measurements:
  • Card Base in Basic Black: 4¼’ x 11”
  • Bermuda Bay Mat: 4 1/8” x 5 3/8”
  • DSP Mat: 4” x 5 ¼”
  • DSP Strip: 1 ¼” x 4”
  • Bermuda Bay Strip: 5/8” x 2”
  • Bermuda Bay: Largest Stitched Circle Framelit

Instructions:
  1. Stamp truck image and sentiment (only ink up the “Happy Biirthday”) onto Basic Black using Versamark Ink. Sprinkle with Whisper White Embossing Powder and set with your heat tool.
  2. Use your paper snips to cut out both the truck and the sentiment.
  3. Using Versamark ink stamp the flag banner multiple times on the upper half of the Bermuda Bay stitched circle.
  4. Using dimensionals adhere the truck image to the Bermuda Bay circle. Then add half of a small silver foil doily to the bottom of the circle (adhere it on the back side of the circle).
  5. Adhere the Bermuda Bay mat to the card base. Now adhere the large piece of DSP to the Bermuda Bay mat.
  6. Adhere the DSP strip to the card front 1 ½” up from the bottom of the large DSP layer. Align it on the right side  at the edge of the Bermuda Bay layer.
  7. Fold a length of Dapper Denim Ruched riboon so that it will stick out on both sides of the circle. Adhere it to the card front with Fast Fuse.
  8. Put dimensionals on the back of the Bermuda Bay circle. Adhere it to the card front over the Ruched Ribbon.
  9. Adhere your sentiment to the small piece of Bermuda Bay and orient it to the right side. Then wrap Basic Black Metallic Thread multiple times around the left side of the Bermuda Bay piece. Adhere in the back with fast fuse. Use the second half of the small silver doily and adhere it to the back of the sentiment piece with the scalloped edge showing at the bottom. Add dimensionals to the back and adhere the sentiment to the top left of the card front.
  10. Embellish with In Color Enamel Shapes in Peekaboo Peach.

There you have it! Have fun making your own card!

Here's a look at the whole Tasty Trucks set. Remember you can only get this set for free with your $50 purchase! Let me know if you need helping ordering! If you want to see more fun ideas for this set please head on over to the What Will You Stamp challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team has made. If you've already got this set and happen to have some fun ideas of your own then we'd love to have you play along with us!


Thanks for stopping by my blog today! 
It made my day to have you and I hope you'll be back soon! 
Hint: Definitely come back Thursday for an awesome blog hop. Wink!

Have an amazing week! 
-Maria


PRODUCT LIST:




Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!


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