Friday, April 30, 2021

VIDEO: Tonic Studios Whaley Great Stamp Release!

Hi Everybody! Happy Friday and I hope you've had a good week so far. Today I get to share the new Stamp Club release from Tonic Studios with you! This release is called, Whaley Great, and I had a whaley great time making cards with it. I had so many ideas that I wasn't even able to do everything I wanted because I ran out of time after making ten cards. Anyhow, this Whaley Great bundle is amazing for making cards if you love to color and do detailed scene building. It's also great if you don't love to color and need to whip up a great card really quickly.

Watch my video HERE if you'd like to see how to make a slimline card with zero coloring!

Before I get on to the cards I want you to know that this Stamp Club bundle is only available from Tonic Studios and that quantities are limited. Once it sells out it is gone for good so if you want to make sure you get one then hustle on over to the shop. Here are the links for both markets:


Ok, on to my cards! Before I even started putting cards together I stamped, colored and die cut a whole bunch of images so that I could easily put my cards together. I also stamped some of the whales onto gray cardstock so that I didn't have to color them. I find that this makes the process really enjoyable as I can focus first on coloring and then on creating backgrounds for my image pieces.

For my first card I ink blended a background using distress oxides. Then I used a die to cut a piece for the sandy ocean floor. I used Sand Embossing Powder to heat emboss the whole thing which gave it great texture. I adhered that to my card base using foam tape.
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Next, I heat embossed the sentiment, stamped some background kelp, and built out my scene. The idea of a whale and a clown fish loving each other forever struck as both ridiculous and hilarious so I went with it.
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I finished off my card with some Nuvo Dream Drops in Cloud Nine and feel like they are just the perfect, magical touch for an ocean card.
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I mentioned before that I've got a video for you today. This video will show you what's included in the bundle as well as some tips for using this set especially if you prefer not to color, or, just need a quick card.

My next card came together really quickly. I ink blended and splattered my background panel and heat embossed the little school of fish in silver. 
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I die a circle from a piece of black cardstock and heat embossed my sentiment in white. I attached the black panel to the background using using foam tape so that there was some extra dimension.
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After that it was a piece of cake to put my card together since I already had a bunch of finished images to work with. I just arranged them on the card until I was happy with them and glued them in place.
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I made my next card using a background from my stash. I had done some ink smooshing with distress oxides and saved the background to use with just the right card and this was it. I heat embossed my sentiment at the top before adding the scene below.
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This whale was heat embossed in white onto gray so there was no coloring- super easy!
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

I arranged a whole bunch of different images to create a gorgeous kelp and coral forest. The final touch was to add some clown fish and a sea horse so the whale had some little buddies.
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I had a lot of fun watercoloring this next card! I used the horizon line stamp to heat emboss in white on some watercolor paper. I stamped multiple times at different angles to get a cool water ripple effect. 
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Then I used my Nuvo Aquaflow Pens to watercolor the entire background. I made sure to alternate colors and use different shades so that every layer popped. 
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Adding the little ship to the top was a fun touch. I'm not sure if the whale is curios or if we're about to have some wet sailors!
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This next card is a super easy one. I ink blended the background in orange and yellows. Then I splattered it using Hero Arts White Metallic Ink
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

I heat embossed my sentiment and cut it into a strip. I added it with foam tape and then positioned the whale above it.
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To finish the card off I added some Dream Drops in Cloud Nine.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

I also made some simple cards that can be made quickly especially if you use a whale that is stamped onto colored cardstock instead of coloring one. This next card has an easy watercolor wash background that I did using my Nuvo Aqua Flows.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

After the watercolor had dried I heat embossed some fish and splattered a bunch of Glitter Gloss all over the background.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

I finished it up by adding a sentiment and two whales with foam tape.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

This next card came together in minutes. I used the circle fish die to create a stencil. Then, I ink blended through my stencil using two different shades of blue. After that I added some white glacier paste to the top to get some killer shimmer. The cool thing about adding just a touch of glacier paste is that you can still see the color of the fish but there is some mega, eye-catching sparkle to the whole thing.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

All I had to do after that was cut down my panel and add a sentiment. Notice that this sentiment isn't punny or whale themed... it's because I cut the "whale" off of the front to customize it.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

My final card starts out similarly to my last one. I used my homemade stencil to inkblend the background in purple. Then, I removed the stencil and added some blue so that the fish had an ocean to swim in.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo

I added a whale and a sentiment and I was done!
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Tonic Studios,Tonic Studios Stamp Club,Whales, cards, cardmaking, stamps, ink, paper, papercraft, die cutting, art, color, watercolor, ocean, heat embossing, nuvo


Well, that is all for today you guys! I hope you will love this Whaley Great stamp set as much as I do. If you're interested in heading over to pick up this newest Stamp Club bundle from Tonic Studios here are some quick links to the shop:


Have an awesome day you all!
Maria


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Monday, April 26, 2021

Copic Coloring with Gina K! New Release!

Hi Everybody! I hope you're having a great day and an even better start to your week. I'm excited to be here today to share a card using a stamp from Gina K Design's newest release. The stamp set I've used is called Best of Luck

I stamped the single daffodil image in black ink onto Hammermill cardstock. I colored the image using copic markers.

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After coloring with copics I wanted to achieve a greater level of shading. I used my cool gray copic markers to add an extra layer of shading. After that I used a sharpie and a gel pen to add more shading and some highlights as well. Of course I couldn't help but add some extra details with my sharpie.
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After my front panel was done I added it to a layer of gray cardstock. Using foam tape I adhered that to a panel that I had watercolored with yellow Distress Oxide ink.
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That's it for today you guys! Thanks so much for stopping by and I will see you back here soon!

Have a great one!
Maria

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Just want to "Bug" You!

Hey everybody! I'm just popping in to let you know that I'm up on the Hero Arts blog today sharing a fun card using the new Bug You stamp set.
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All of the details for how I made this are over on the Hero Arts blog.
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You can check out the Bug You stamp set by clicking HERE and the Hero Arts Liquid Watercolors by clicking HERE.
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 Have an awesome day!

Maria

Monday, April 5, 2021

VIDEO: Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Release and Giveaway!

Hi everybody! It's My Monthly Hero Monday and we finally get to share the entire release with you. This month's kit has a bit of a geometric theme. The kit is valued at $83 and includes a 6" x 8" stamp with 16 coordinating die cuts, 3 geometric rotating stencils, 3 ink cubes and a blending brush! I had a ton of fun with this kit and went the mixed media route when I made my cards. I've got a video up sharing some tips for creating mixed media cards that pop! CLICK HERE  or scroll down to watch the video.

My first card uses stamps from the kit as well as one of the geometric stencils.

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If you're having trouble viewing this video you can CLICK HERE to watch it now.


I started by inkblending the background in reactive inks. Then I stenciled, stamped, heat embossed, splattered and generally made a mess of my background.
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I finished my card off by stamping three butterflies in two tones of ink each, die cutting them and adding them to my card with a sentiment.
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With this next card I opted for a cleaner look and inkblended a rainbow background.
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I used a stencil to add embossing ink and heat embossed the design using White Puffy embossing Powder.
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I added a die cut from the Love You stamp & cut XL, added some enamel dots and that it was it for this card.
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This card has a bit of a darker toned look. I used yellow, brown and black to create my background.
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Then I grunged up my background and you can watch exactly how I did it in my video.
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I used stamps from the monthly kit and stamped in contrasting colors so that the images would pop off of the background. 
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There are some really fun add-ons this month and my favorite is the Graphic Reef Stamp set (it's got a coordinating die set too). I created a background using reactive inks and a stencil from the kit. 
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Then I heat embossed some of the images from the Graphic Reef stamp set on to watercolor paper and colored them with my Karin markers. I cut them out with the coordinating dies so that I could pop them up with foam tape. 
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You can watch the whole process in my video (it will up soon). 
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My last card is a card I shared on Friday for my Countdown post but I wanted to make sure to add it here in case you missed that post.
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I used acrylic paint through a stencil and then added Nuvo gilding flakes on top.
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 I added a heat embossed gold glitter sentiment to finish the card off.
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Ok you guys, that's it for today but before I go I want to let you know about an amazing giveaway!

GIVEAWAY:
We will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, April 11th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Have an awesome day you all!
Maria




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Friday, April 2, 2021

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Countdown

Hey everybody! It's My Monthly Hero Countdown time and I've got a bright and colorful card to share with you today. 

But first, if you aren't familiar with the My Monthly Hero kit, it's a kit that is released by Hero Arts on the first Monday of every month. It always has a fun, themed collection of stamps, dies and other goodies. The cost is just $34.99/month and the value is always much greater! You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the May release), or, to buy your favorite kits as one-off purchases. Be aware that once these kits sell out they are gone for good. If you see a kit you like make sure to snatch it up quickly!

Ok, on to my card. I'm not going to tell you anything about the kit except for what you can already see on my card. I started out by inkblending a background in Lemon Drop, Taffy and Splash Reactive inks. Then I used a stencil from the new kit to add some fun to the background with white acrylic paint.
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When the paint was almost dry I added some Nuvo Gilding Flakes in gold to the tacky paint. I heat embossed the asterisk stamp in black onto the background and I also heat embossed my sentiment in gold onto black cardstock.
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I added a black mat behind my panel and then attached that to a gray cardbase.  Finally, I adhered my sentiment to the card front using foam tape for another layer of dimension. 
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And, that's all for today you guys! The full My Monthly Hero release is coming out on Monday and it's a super fun one so I can't wait to share the whole shabang with you then. 

Have an awesome weekend!
Maria

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