VIDEO: Tonic Studios Stamp Club Release Blog Hop & Giveaway- Monsters

Hello everybody and welcome to this month's Tonic Studios Stamp Club Monsters release! Now this set is so fun and quirky and it has totally stolen my heart! It is available in limited quantities so if you love it, run to the store fast! You can shop at Tonic USA or Tonic UK.

This set has a bunch of fun little monsters and some fun little accessory stamps to go with them (think potion bottles, eye balls and birthday cakes)! The die set is also fantastic as it has not only coordinating dies but word dies, a stitched star background die and a great dotted coverplate as well! You can check it all out in my VIDEO HERE!

On my first card I colored in one of my favorite monsters (he's so happy with that huge smile) with copic markers. Then I cut him out with the coordinating die.

I ink blended the background panel using a stencil that I made by cutting the circle dot die plate two times, side by side. I gently inkblended soft primary colors through the stencil and I love how the background came out.

I combined a die cut "hi" with one of my favorite sentiments and popped all of my elements up using foam tape to finish off the card.

Now, I mentioned a made a video so before I get too far along here it is...

 

If you are having trouble watching this video please click here to view it on YouTube.

For my next card I used a monster that I've nicknamed "Grumpy." The poor little guy looks so bummed out that I just can't help but love him.  I stamped him straight onto a white cardbase, added a flower to his hand, and colored him with my copic markers. I used a sharpie to add some grass so he had something to stand on.

I combined two of the sentiments on the front of my card.

And then I used an adhesive foam sheet to pop up the front of my card before adding a few sequins.

This next card is all about getting that party started! I stamped two little party monsters clinking their drink potions together on watercolor paper. I watercolored them using my Nuvo Aqua flow pens.

I heat embossed my sentiment in black. I also stamped the inside of the card with "We'll have a monster of a good time!"

The final step was using foam adhesive to pop the watercolored panel up onto a black background.

Now, if you're not one for coloring then this card is for you. I heat embossed my images in white on white cardstock. Then I used a blending brush to ink blend over them in pink, yellow and blue inks. I wanted there to be a little more contrast so I grabbed my copic markers and darkened up the background (behind the monsters only) a little bit to make the monsters look like they were in the foreground. I also used a black gel pen to add dots to their eyes.

For the next step, I used the stitched stars detail die to add some really cool detail and texture to my backgournd above the monsters. I also heat embossed my sentiments in black on white, cut out the sentiment strips and added them with foam tape.

I added some striped washi tape to the top of a white note card. Then, I added strips of black cardstock at the top and bottom of my monster panel and mounted it to the card base.

 

My final card is a slim-line card. I used the circle dot die from the bundle to create a white, holey background panel. I put that on top of a watercolored background from my stash.

I added the layered panels to my black, mini-slimline cardbase then set to work coloring and die cutting my monsters and the two-layer cake.

After heat embossing my sentiments I added them and the monsters to my card front using foam tape.

Ok you guys that is it for today! I absolutely love this Monsters release and I hope you will too! Before I go I want to show you what the full Monsters release looks like and of course we've got a blog hop and a giveaway too (scroll down for details).

Bye everybody and have and awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

-One lucky winner will win a £50/$50 Giftcard to Tonic Studios and the Monsters bundle!

-To enter, comment on every blog in the hop by 11:59pm PST on September 29, 2021/ 7:59am GST on September 30, 2021

-Winner will be announced on October 1, 2021 on IG and FB so make sure you're following all of the Tonic Studios social media accounts!

BLOG HOP LIST:

Maria Willis: You are here.

Jen Kray

Erica Andersson Burke

Ilda Dias

Channin Pelletier

Ilina Crouse

Alberto Gava

Daniel West

Lydia Fiedler

Koren Wiskman

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

VIDEO: Gina K. Designs Release: Poppy Garden Watercoloring!

Hello everybody! Exciting news- it's Gina K. Designs release day! I've made a one-layer card using the new Poppy Garden stamp set (it has coordinating dies!) by Hannah Drapinski. This set is stunning and made me want to sit down and watercolor it straight away. I've made a VIDEO to share some easy watercoloring techniques so be sure to scroll on down and check out that video on my YouTube Channel.

I started out by heat embossing the largest image from the set onto Strathmore watercolor cardstock. To do this I used Onyx Pigment ink from Hero Arts and clear embossing powder.

You can check out the entire watercoloring process here...

 

If you are having trouble watching this video you can view it HERE on YouTube .

My video shares my process for layering ink colors and easy application of color using Karin Brush Markers and a paint brush. I used four colors of ink for the poppies and three colors of ink for the leaves. I started by applying my lightest color of ink (yellow for poppies, lime green for leaves) as a light layer of color over my entire image. I used very little water and allowed my paint to almost entirely dry before adding the next layer of color. I added the darker colors into the areas where I wanted to have shadows and kept the other areas light as highlights.

After I finished watercoloring I stamped a sentiment in Gina K. Design Black Onyx ink and added a few white highlights with a gel pen.

It was a huge struggle not to splatter the heck out of this card but I managed to leave it as a clean and simple card. I hope you've enjoyed learning a little bit about my process today. For all of the details you can head over to YouTube and watch my VIDEO. You can also head on over to Gina K. Designs to check out the full release!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST (Affiliate links may be used at no extra cost to you):

VIDEO: DIY Watercolor Sprays using the Hero Arts August 2021 My Monthly Hero Kit

Hi everybody and happy Hero Arts release day! The August My Monthly Hero Kit is here and it is such a magical kit! 

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! This month's kit is valued at $70!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the September release), or, to buy your favorite kits as a 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! There are also always a ton of fantastic add-on products offered. You can choose to buy your favorites or buy them all at a discounted rate.

We also have an awesome GIVEAWAY and a BLOG HOP with tons of inspiration going on so please make sure to check the info for those at the bottom of my post! And, I have a VIDEO today sharing a really fun DIY technique for making your own watercolor sprays (see below)!

Ok, on to my first card! If you'd like to watch me put this card together you can watch the video below. I started out by making a cool watercolor background using my DIY water color sprays (see the video for how to make yours). Then I used a die from the kit to out the purple heart hands. I love these hands and keep thinking that they look like a heart fist bump.

Here's that video I keep talking about...

 

If you are having trouble watching this video click here to watch it on YouTube.

I used the stencil from the kit to add some white glacier paste to a black cardbase. Then, I heat embossed my sentiment in white.

I added my purple hands with foam tape and then added a gold glitter heart in the center. I thought this sentiment was perfect because it looks like the light is shining through from the heart hands.

I shared this card on Friday but wanted to share it again in case you didn't see it. I used my liquid watercolor sprays to make this background and loved how easy it was to make.

The "love" dies are from the kit so I cut those in black and added them with foam tape after heat embossing the word "you."

I added a few sequins from the Winter Sequins mix and that was it!

My last card was made using a piece of the background that I made in my video. I cut a 3" x 6" piece out of it and then heat embossed the Floral Color Wheel Bold Print stamp in Brass Embossing Powder.

I heat embossed a small sentiment from the Better Together set in white embossing powder on black cardstock.

I tied some gold thread around the side of the sentiment piece and attached it with foam tape. Then I added some gems in different colors to finish my card off.

Ok you guys that's it for me today but make sure you enter the giveaway and continue on with our awesome blog hop to catch all of the amazing inspiration along the way!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, August 8th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

BLOG HOP:

Hero Arts

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Chari Moss
Jennifer Kotas
Jennifer McGuire
Meg Brooks
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Hero Arts Color Layering Strawberries: Hey There Shortcake!

Hey, everybody! I hope you all had an awesome weekend. I'm just popping in today to let you guys know that I'm up over on the Hero Arts blog sharing this fun card and a video too. 

I have to start out today by making a confession... I am terrible with color layering stamps! Since I wanted to use the Color Layering Strawberry stamp set today I decided I needed to come up with some tips for success with your color layering stamps. 

My first tip for success with color layering stamps is to check out the guide that Hero Arts provides for every color layering stamp set. You can find these guides on the packaging your stamps come in as well as on the Hero Arts website. Stamping in the order suggested by these guides will help your stamps layer properly and may help you line them up more easily. Here is the guide for the Color Layering Strawberry stamp set.

So, I stamped the background of the strawberries, then the strawberry detail, then the background of the leaves and then the detail of the leaves. One of the things I struggle with is picking just the right colors of ink to use. Today I did not have any issues without because today a new four pack of cube inks called Strawberry Hues Dye Inks was released and it was made to be used in combination with this stamp set. That's my second tip: check to see if Hero already offers inks in the perfect color combo so that there is no guess work.

I have some more tips in my video which you can watch on the Hero Arts YouTube Channel. After stamping and die cutting my strawberries I added them along with a sentiment on top of an ink-blended background.

The last step was to add a few sequins from the Winter Sequins Mix. And, that's it folks! There is more info and a video over on the Hero Arts blog so please head over there if you'd like more info!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

VIDEO: Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit Release, Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hi everybody and happy Hero Arts release day! The June My Monthly Hero Kit is here and it is the purrrfect set for birthdays... Ha! Sorry that was so cheesy but I couldn't help it.

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! This month's kit is valued at $72!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the July release), or, to buy your favorite kits as a 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! There are also always a ton of fantastic add-on products offered. You can choose to buy your favorites or buy them all at a discounted rate.

Ok now let's get on to my cards because I've got four cards and a VIDEO to share with you today and there's also a GIVEAWAY (details at bottom of post)! My first card is a shaker card and let me tell you that this is the easiest shaker card I've made in my life! You can watch me quickly put it together in the video but here's how I made it... I started out by stamping two adorable kitties and a cake from the kit in INTENSE-ified Black Ink. I colored my images with copic markers and then die cut them (the kit always comes with coordinating dies) and set them aside.

If you'd prefer to watch me put this together in the video then here you go!

 

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

Next, I used the new Streamer Stencil to ink blend my background using Agean, Summer Sky and Orchid Bold Inks. These three colors blend beautifully together and you'll see this combo on three of my cards today. Ink blending was made totally easy bc I held the stencil down with my magnetic platform from Tonic Studios. After ink blending, I left the magnets in place to hold the stencil down and I used the White Iridescent Shimmer Spray to spritz on a coating of beautiful, transparent shimmer (which of course doesn't show up in the pics). I put this background face down on a Tonic Shaker Pocket and adhered three of the flaps to the back, leaving the top flap open. I poured in a bunch of shaker guts including confetti from the kit and some Icicle Sequins. When my shaker had enough shaker guts I sealed the top flap of the shaker pocket to seal my card front. I've made shaker cards like this before and have done it all from scratch. Having these precut acetate pieces with adhesive flaps is a total shaker card game changer!

After sealing up my shaker card I used foam tape to add all of the adorable images from the kit that I had already colored. The sentiments that I used were from the new Party Animals set. If two kitties diving head first into a cake isn't wild then I don't know what is, lol!

For my next card I ink blended the same trio of inks as on my last card. Then, I used Morning Fog Sparkle Spray and the Streamer Stencil to create a bold and sparkly background.

Next, I used the Color Layering Cupcake to create a focal point for my card. Now, I am the worst at color layering stamps and I hardly ever use them but, I'd like to get better at them so I decided to go for it because this cupcake is awesome! I made a few blunders along the way but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a copic marker (I didn't line the cake up properly with the liner and had a gap but a marker quickly fixed that). I die cut the cupcake with the coordinating dies and added some sparkle laquer and confetti bits from the main kit.

I wanted to add a candle to my cupcake so I stamped the Candles Bold Prints stamp in black ink. I selected the candle with the stars and cut it out with my scissors after coloring it with copic markers. I cut the bottom of the candle off in a curve so that it would look like it was stuck in the frosting. I added the cupcake and candle to my card and finished it off with a sentiment from the Color Layering Cupcake set.

 For my next card I again used the Streamer Stencil and Hero Arts Bold Inks to ink blend my background. 

Then, I added my sentiment from the Birthday Stamp & Cut XL. I die cut the sentiment three times (Amethyst, Pitch Black and Silver Glitter) and layered them together using liquid adhesive. I heat embossed the sentiment in white on black and cut it out with my paper trimmer.

After adhering my card face to a black cardbase I added the sentiment pieces with foam tape. The final touch was to add some confetti bits for a little bit of texture.

This last card is the one that I shared a couple days as a sneak peek. You can learn more about this card by heading over to the original blog post by clicking HERE.

Ok, you guys, that's it for today! I hope that you think the June My Monthly Hero Kit and add-ons are as much fun as I do. We've got a blog hop with a ton of inspiration so I hope you'll keep hopping along with us (blog list below). Also, check out the giveaway details below!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, June 13th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

BLOG HOP LIST:
Hero Arts

Channin Pelletier

Dana Joy

Daniel West

Debi Adams

Emily Midgett

Ilina Crouse

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Libby Hickson

Lydia Fiedler

Maria Willis: You are Here.

Michelle Short: Next

Mindy Eggen

Pocono Pam

Seeka

Jennifer Kotas

Meg Brooks

Nichol Spohr

Rebecca Keppel

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

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.

 

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.

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.

With this next card I opted for a cleaner look and inkblended a rainbow background.

I used a stencil to add embossing ink and heat embossed the design using White Puffy embossing Powder.

I added a die cut from the Love You stamp & cut XL, added some enamel dots and that it was it for this card.

This card has a bit of a darker toned look. I used yellow, brown and black to create my background.

Then I grunged up my background and you can watch exactly how I did it in my video.

I used stamps from the monthly kit and stamped in contrasting colors so that the images would pop off of the background. 

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. 

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. 

You can watch the whole process in my video (it will up soon). 

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.

I used acrylic paint through a stencil and then added Nuvo gilding flakes on top.

 I added a heat embossed gold glitter sentiment to finish the card off.

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

BLOG HOP LIST:

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis: You are here.
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Jennifer Kotas
Jennifer McGuire
Mansi Bhatia
Nichol Spohr
Rachel Juanita Bellamy
Rebecca Keppel

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST: