Reverse Confetti: Most Huggable Little Mouse!

Hi everybody! I've got a sweet card to share with you today using the Huggable stamp set from Reverse Confetti. All of the images in this stamp set are so adorable but this little mouse is such a sweetie I just had to color him up first. I used my Arteza brush pens and a paint brush to watercolor the mouse.

After that I ink blended a little bit of Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink onto the background and stamped my sentiment.

I used the the Plaid Lines Small Confetti Cuts die cut as a stencil for my background. I ink blended over the top of that with Distress Oxides in Blue Print Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon and Picked Raspberry. I removed the "stencil" to reveal the white background pattern. To finish off my card I tied some black and white twine around my image piece and put my card together using foam tape.

This card was simple to make but came out so sweet. It was a good reminder for me that cards don't need to be complicated. 

Ok, bye for now! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Maria

PRODUCT/SUPPLY LIST:

Hero Arts Sending Peace, Happiness and Love

Hey Everybody! I'm just popping in to let you know that I'm up on the Hero Arts blog today sharing this card using the beautiful Bare Branched Tree Background stamp. To get all the details head on over to the Hero Arts blog. For now, here are a couple of pics...

This wonderful sentiment is from the Stocking Bouquet stamp set.

This was such an easy winter card to make and I was inspired to make more cards using this Bare Branched Tree stamp so be on the lookout for those soon.

 

Ok, guys. That's it for today but before I go I'll link to the products I've used below in case you'd like to check any of them out.

Have an awesome day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Crafty Friends Blog Hop: Concord & Ninth

Hey you guys! Guess what? I've got some really exciting news for you... Today is the debut of a fantastic new blog hop called the Crafty Friends Blog Hop! This group of insanely talented crafters will be getting together on the 20th of each month to bring you all some crafty goodness. Every month we will be focusing on a different company and this month it is none other than the fabulous Concord & 9th which is perfect because they are having their Fourth Birthday this month! Happy Birthday Concord & 9th! They are celebrating their birthday with Giveaways, incentives and sales so be sure to head over there to join in the fun.

DISCOUNT: 

Concord & 9th is such an amazing company and they have generously given us a 20% Off Discount code to share with you! So, if you'd like to do a little crafty shopping head on over to  Concord & 9th and use discount code: CRAFTYFRIENDS20  to get 20% Off of your order between now and August 22nd. 

For today's cards I decided to pull out an old favorite of mine called Just Love from Concord & 9th. I've shared cards before using this gorgeous set but the possibilities for this stamp and die bundle are endless and I couldn't resist pulling it out again.  I made two cards. One card is bright and bold and the second is shimmery and soft. 

This card is my favorite of the two as I love bright, happy colors. I used my Nuvo Shimmer Powders to watercolor my embossed image. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut out the floral image so that I could mount it onto some colored cardstock. I also die cut the large "Love" sentiment out of black cardstock three times and glued the layers together. After coating the top layer in a thick coat of Nuvo Crystal Glaze I adhered the dimensional sentiment to my card.

On my second card I used the same image and heat embossed it in clear onto watercolor paper. This time I used a combination of my Daniel Smith watercolors and my Nuvo Shimmer Powders to watercolor the image. Again I tripled up my sentiment but this time I decided to keep it simple and I did not gloss it up.

I finished off both of my cards by splattering the backgrounds with watercolor or gesso. Then I added embellishments to each of them as a final touch.

This is such a great set for so many reasons but one of them is that it is great for beginning colorists. The small flowers and leaves on this set provide a great opportunity for learning to shade and to color blend no matter what your favorite medium is (Alcohol markers, pencils, watercolors, etc...). So, if you're looking for a great new set this might be the one you're looking for... and at 20% off remember to pick up the dies too!

Click here to shop Concord & 9th at 20% Off until 8/22/2019.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you will hop along with the rest of the hop to see all of the amazing Concord & 9th inspiration that we have for you today. If you're interested in checking out any of the products that I've used today I will link to them at the bottom of my post.

Next up on this hop is the amazing Becky Roberts!

Have a great day! See you back here soon,

Maria

CRAFTY FRIENDS BLOG ROLL:

Jenny Hall
Tanya Boser
Ilina Crouse
Maria Willis : You are HERE.
Becky Roberts : Next in hop.
Sandi MacIver
Sue Plote
Sara Finkey Sherlock
Lydia Fiedler
Jill Hilliard
Jen Timko



PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Watercolor Emboss Resist with Concord & 9th

Hey you guys! I hope you're having a great day. I'm back with another card made from Concord and 9th's Just Love Bundle. This time I used an Emboss Resist Technique with watercoloring. First, I embossed the floral stamp in white embossing powder (if you don't have white, clear embossing powder will work well too)...

Then I used Distress Inks and a water brush to watercolor the image. You can see that the embossed image resists the ink and remains white. This is a great technique for beginning watercolorists because the raised, embossed image helps you to keep your paint/ink where you want it. 

After my watercoloring dried I used my anti-static pouch on my card. Then I used Versamark ink and my Rose Gold Embossing Powder from Wow! Embossing to heat emboss the large "Love" sentiment straight onto the card face. 

I decided not to add any background splatter or sequins to this card this time. It's such a simple but pretty one-layer card and I decided to leave it alone.

That's all for today folks! Let me know if you have any questions. I'll add product links below so that if you want to add any of these products to your crafty stash it's as easy as a mouse click.  

Have an amazing day!

Maria

Product List:

Sending Love: No-line Watercoloring with Arteza Brushpens

Happy New Year Everybody!!

I hope you all closed 2018 out with a bang and are ready for a beautiful new year. It's that time of year where so many of us decide to create change in our lives in hopes of bettering either ourselves or our quality of life. Some of us make resolutions, some of us set goals, some of us get philosophical... I'm curious to know how all of you are approaching the new year? 

Long ago I stopped making New Year resolutions. I suppose it's because I feel that January 1st is just another marking of the passage of time. It is the beginning of a new year but it is also just like any other day of the year. It's like a bookmark marking a page in a book and in the same way that bookmarks can be moved... so can the markings of the passage of time. For whatever reason I don't feel like a need a bookmark on January 1st every year. I do feel it's important to set goals throughout the year (and through the different phases of our lives) and right now I'm really feeling like it's important to focus on the small choices that we (I) make everyday. These small choices become the building blocks of our lives. I don't know if this makes sense to any of you who are listening to my rambling thoughts... if so, I just want to say that you don't have to put pressure on yourselves to immediately achieve greatness in 2019. You can start by making tiny, conscious choices everyday-choices that are doable, achievable and that feel good. Over time these choices will become a huge part of you and can help create the change that you are seeking without feeling overwhelming and without setting yourself up for failure. Be kind to yourself, set realistic expectations and goals, set yourself up for success! This is what I plan to do for myself and I wish the same for you all. 

Ok, on to the card because I'm pretty sure this is why you are here. I had a ton of fun making this card. I haven't had much time to craft over the last couple of months (I fear this may continue as we enter tax season) so it felt fantastic to sit down, put on my audio book and lose track of time as I created. I used the Concord & 9th "Just Love" Bundle to create a couple of cards and this is one of them. I stamped the floral image onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper in Fade Out ink from Inkon3. This ink allows you to see the image well enough to to color or watercolor but it's light enough that you can't see the ink when you're done coloring. It's perfect the no-line watercoloring technique that I used. 

Next, I used my Arteza Brush Pens and a water brush to watercolor the floral image. I wanted the flowers to be bold and bright so they would pop behind the black sentiment. In order to help the floral elements stand out I did a light gray watercolor wash in the background with splatters added in for texture. 

After finishing up the background I die cut the word Love twice out of black cardstock. I layered one on top of the other adhering them with liquid glue. Then I used a coat of Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze over the top of it to give it a shiny, crystalline finish. I glued that straight to the background, added some sequins and called it a day. 

Simon Says Stamp has a fun Wednesday challenge going on right now. It's Anything Goes theme so I'm adding my card to their gallery as this fits the bill. I'm also adding some product links below in case you'd like to add any of the products I've used today to your own crafty stash. Some of the links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you use my links (thanks for using them I really appreciate it!).

Wishing you all a wonderful day and a happy new year full of all of the very best things!

Maria

Product List:

Stamping Sunday Blog Hop - Stampin' Blends

Hey everybody! I'm so excited today because I've been asked to hop along with the Stamping Sunday crew as their guest designer. What an honor! The theme for the hop is Stampin' Blends so it'll be fun to see the different and creative way everyone has used them. The Stampin' Blends markers are alcohol based markers and are great for so many uses. The obvious use to color on paper but keep on reading to find a couple of other uses for them.

For this hop I decided to try something that I haven't tried before and I used my Stampin' Blends on acrylic to create a fun, artsy, faux-watercolored look. 

I started my card by selecting an acrylic sheet from the Petal Passion Memories & More Card Pack (available when the new Occasions Catalog Launches on January 3, 2017). This acrylic sheet was preprinted with some subtle white flowers on it. I used those flowers as a guide for my coloring and colored on the textured side as the texture held the color well. For the flowers I used the Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral Blends. The leaves were done with Old Olive.

At first I wasn't sure that the smooth acrylic was going to hold the ink very well. I had started with Soft Sky and decided to use the light Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends to do the background. I started to see a light layer of color. As the color started to dry I was able to add to it by coloring a second layer of color over the first layer. This also moved some of the color around resulting in a brush stroke look that I think looks like a soft and pretty watercolor painting. 

When I was done coloring, I layered the acrylic sheet over a piece of Whisper White Cardstock and added Iridescent Sequins with reckless abandon. This all got layered over Sahara Sand cardstock and some Very Vanilla Lace Trim.  After that I embellished with some Calypso Coral Ombre Ribbon, some Linen Thread, a tassel and tag from the Corrugated Elements pack. If you look closely you can tell that I colored that tiny little piece behind the sentiment with my Calypso Coral Blends. Originally, I was going to use Calypso Coral cardstock but the color was too bold. The Stampin' Blends were the perfect shade for this project. I didn't end up using it (because I LOVE this ombre ribbon) but I actually made a custom color ribbon for this project out of white ribbon colored with my Stampin' Blends. It colored evenly and dried quickly and was an easy way to get just the color of ribbon you were hoping for. 

I've also made a box to show the versatility of the Stampin' Blends markers. For this project I used a strip of black and white DSP (Petal Passion DSP) and colored it in with my Blends. I used both of the Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and Night of Navy markers to create an ombre look on the DSP. 

Here's a closer look at the DSP so that you can see how well the colors blend. It's unbelievable easy too. I like to start with my light marker, then I use the darker one. After both colors are laid down, I use the lighter of the colors to blend the line where the two colors meet. It's really great that you can do this and it does not ruin your markers!

Another fun way to use the Stampin' Blends markers is to color your embellishments. I already mentioned making custom color ribbon and you can do the same thing with your rhinestones too! I used the light Night of Navy marker to color these sparkly bits before adding them to my layered sentiment piece. I love that we can now have many colors of rhinestones that match SU colors perfectly. 

Here's a last look at my box and that Blends colored DSP peeking through as an accent piece. 

That's it for today folks! Thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope you'll keep on hopping with us to see what the rest of the crew has made. If you'd like to keep on hopping please follow the list of names in the Blog Roll below until you've seen everybody's beautiful creations. 

A huge thanks to Sara Levin and the Stamping Sunday team for inviting me to join them this week. It's been fun ladies!

Have an awesome day everybody!

Maria Willis

BLOG ROLL:

Want to shop with me? No problem, just click the button below. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Email: mariawillis@hotmail.com

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 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!

Tree

Hello, hello! I'm just stopping by really quickly today to say, Hello! I hope you all are doing well. If you live in the US I hope you are enjoying summer break. I had a few minutes to work with this awesome set called Always & Forever. I love it because it's a fun alternative to most of the frilly, floral, feminine anniversary and love stamp sets that I see out there. It was also really fun to create this simple card with such a lovely set. 

I heat embossed the tree image in Early Espresso and watercolored it with Early Espresso using my aqua painter. The grass was done with Emerald Envy and I love how vibrant it is. I went for a little bit of a rustic look with this card and added linen thread and a sentiment embossed in copper. 

I just love the little loops of metallic thread pinned up with the Bermuda Bay heart. Adorable. 

That's it for today folks! I'm off to go spend a little time with son.
Take care!

Maria.

SUPPLY LIST:

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

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!