Video Tutorial: Multi-Color Stamping with Sponge Daubers

Hey there! A while back, I posted a video on YouTube and I never got around to sharing it here. It's a tutorial on one of my favorite techniques - inking up a stamp with sponge daubers to get a multi-color image. This technique also gives you a great blended look. It works best on solid stamps with a lot of area, not line-art images. I used one of the new Hostess stamp sets called Silhouettes & Script. If you place a Stampin' Up! order of at least $150, this is one of the exclusive items you can choose as a Stampin' Rewards benefit.

Here's the card I share in the video...

And here's the technique!

There are a few other cards that I show in the video that I made using the same technique and stamp set. Here they are...

Hope you enjoy the video and that you give this technique a try! As always, holler if you have any questions.

Happy Stampin'! :)

Stampin' 101 Tutorial - Stamp-A-Ma-Jig Tool

I've gotten so many requests for a tutorial on using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig tool. I've been meaning to make this video for ages, and I finally got it done! :)

The Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is one of my all-time favorite tools - I really don't think I could make a card without it. It's a stamp positioning system that allows you to see exactly where your image is going to stamp. It's especially useful for sentiments, and sets that involve layering stamps on top of one another to create a detailed image. (Stampin' Up! refers to this as "two step stamping," and these sets now tend to be photopolymer for easy lining up. But the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is indispensable for older clear-mount or wood-mount two-step stamps.)

Another thing I love about the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig? It allows me to "try out" different positions for a stamp before I commit to anything on my card. Say I can't decide where I want my sentiment to be. Or maybe I stamped one flower, and I can't decide if I want a second flower to its right or its left. Since the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig imaging sheet is clear, I can move it around on my card to see exactly what my stamped image will look like in all the places I'm considering stamping it. Awesome! :)

So are you intrigued? Or maybe you're one of the folks who's always kind of wondered about the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, but never really figured out what it's all about. Go ahead and check out my video demo below, or over on my YouTube channel. Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh, and by the way, here's the finished card that I'm working on in the video. It uses one of my favorite new sets, Garden in Bloom. The sentiments are from a super cute and clever set called Words of Truth. "I love you more than grilled cheese" is my favorite sentiment from this set! LOL.

Happy Stampin'! :)

Start-to-Finish Sunday #42 - Watercolor Wings

Wait a minute. I know what you're thinking. Start-to-Finish Sunday?? Doesn't that mean a video??? Yes! My first STFS video since September! Baby Lyla actually let me get a ton of crafting the other day - including THREE videos! So stay tuned. :)

Today's card features one of the new sets from the 2015 Stampin' Up! catalog. It's called Watercolor Wings. Now, I'm not a big butterfly person, even though they're always really popular. But you guys know how much I like watercoloring, and anything that creates a watercolor look. This set fits that bill. It's made up of multiple images that you layer together to create really stunning butterflies. I love it for a tone-on-tone look with layered shades of the same color, but I'm also really excited to play with this set and try all sorts of color combinations. Which is where this card comes in!

This card was inspired by one that Alison Barclay shared on her blog. I immediately fell in love with this very unique color combination. I never would have thought to put Blushing Bride and Watermelon Wonder with Night of Navy - let alone combining them in one image. But I love it! (I also added a little bit of Smoky Slate.) The sentiment is from a stamp set called Hello Life.

In the video, I show you how to assemble the different stamps in this set to create these beautiful layered watercolor-look butterflies. You can check it out below, or over on my YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Happy Stampin'! :)

CCC#053: December Cards Challenge - Walking in a Winter Wonderland

CCC#053

December 2014 Cards Challenge

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This month's card challenge marks my last challenge with Catherine and Cathy Create. We've had a great time bringing you fun projects and challenges to spark your creativity, but unfortunately, Catherine and Cathy - and all of us Design Team members, to be honest - have just gotten too busy with life to keep up! So sadly, the challenges will end with next week's December tags challenge. But we hope you'll continue to follow our individual blogs, as we'll all still be creating and sharing!

So this month's card challenge is all about winter... Snowflakes, snowmen, sledding - whatever makes you think of winter. So check out my fun and frosty (and super easy to duplicate!) card.

Red and aqua is one of my favorite color combinations of all time - especially for Christmas cards. And how fun do they look on this adorable snowflake stamp from the Seasonally Scattered stamp set?! I used a super fun and very easy technique called thumping to get the 2-color stamped image, and if you scroll all the way to the bottom of this post, you'll find a video tutorial on this technique.

Then I just finished off the card with some simple layering, some twine and an adorable metal snowflake embellishment, and of course, some sparkle with glimmer paper. :) Easy and totally do-able if you want to make a whole bunch!

So I hope you'll take the time to stop by Catherine and Cathy Create and check out the other winter-themed cards. Thanks for stopping by today! Oh, and if you're interested in learning about the thumping technique for inking stamps, make sure you watch my quick video below.

Happy Stampin'! :)

Start-to-Finish #41 - Masked Leaves Card

Remember my recent post for the September Cards Challenge from Catherine and Cathy Create? The challenge this month was masking. The card I'm sharing with you today was the first card I made for that challenge. In the end, I decided it was just a little too clean and simple, and I wanted to step it up a little bit. But I still think it's a pretty card.

I used one stamp set for this card, from the new Holiday Catalog. It's called For All Things, and it's got some great watercolor-look images and some really awesome sentiments. I also used the Color Me Autumn DSP and coordinating washi tape.

You can watch the video below, or over on my YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Happy Stampin! :)

Coloring with Blendabilities Alcohol Markers

I have been wanting to share a video for a while now on how I color with the new Blenabilities markers from Stampin' Up! A lot of people are freaked out by these markers, but I promise they're not scary at all!

What's so special about Blendabilites? They're alcohol-based markers that you can use to create an amazing and life-like blended look. Plus, you can use them on all sorts of surfaces - even non-porous ones like rhinestones, window sheets, buttons... They come in sets of three shades of one color - light, medium, and dark. You want to make sure you're using a water-based ink pad when you stamp an image that you want to color with Blendabilites. Memento Tuxedo Black ink works awesome, and it just happens to be my favorite black ink of all time!

I made this great little tag using one of my favorite new stamp sets from the Holiday Catalog. It's called Holiday Home and it's adorable! It also comes in a bundle with Framelits, at a 15% discount! And just because it's a "holiday" set, doesn't mean you can only use it for Christmas cards. It's got a lot of great fall and year-round images and sentiments.

Look at the great shading on this house! That's Blendabilities for ya! :) Now, there's no one right way to use these markers. My video just shows how I like to color with them, as well as some tips that I've found work for me. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. But the best advice I can give is just to get your hands on these markers and play with them! :) Enjoy!

Happy Stampin'! :)

Start-to-Finish Sunday #40 - Stamped Muslin Bag

Here's a project I made for my sister-in-law's birthday a few weeks back. I had found this adorable personalized wine bottle coozie online months ago, and I wanted to put a little something with it - besides a bottle of wine, of course! :) And I wanted to make some custom packaging to match perfectly.

Cute, right? The colors don't match perfectly, but it still coordinates great! I love these Mini Muslin Bags that Stampin' Up! sells now. They're so cute and so versatile. And they're made of a great fabric that's perfect for stamping on. Want some tips? Check out my video below, or over on my YouTube channel.

Happy Stampin'! :)

Start-to-Finish Sunday #39 - Tab Slider Card

Boy, do I have a fun card to share with you today! I made this card a while back, and immediately decided it just needed a video to go along with it. I finally got around to filming it today and I'm so excited to share! So, here it is...

OK, I know, doesn't look like much, right? But hold on! See that little tab with the arrow on it? That's the interactive part. Check out what happens when you pull that tab.

Aah! I love it! :) The little octopus moves aside to reveal a hidden extra sentiment. Adorbs. And it's so easy to make! I promise!

For this card I used my current favorites again... The Sea Street stamp set and Maritime DSP. The sentiments are from Something To Say, which has some really awesome two-part sentiments.

So check out the video to see how to make this great slider mechanism on your cards! You can watch it below, or on my YouTube channel.

Here's a sneak peek of the card I make in the video. It's a little more grown-up and sophisticated, but just as fun! (This one uses A Happy Hooray for the embellishment and the Back to Black DSP. And hey! - Don't forget that select DSP is Buy 3 Get 1 FREE until the end of July!)

One thing to note: because of the tab, these cards will not fit in a standard A2 sized envelope. But don't forget - you can make an envelope that coordinates beautifully with your card project in practically any size using the Envelope Punch Board. This thing is a workhorse! And one of my favorite products that Stampin' Up! offers.

Please let me know if you have any questions about these cards. I hope you have fun making your own slider cards!

Happy Stampin'! :)

Start-to-Finish Sunday #38: Project Life by Stampin' Up!

I know it's taken me a few weeks, but I promised you a video on how I do my Project Life layouts. So today, here it is! :) It was a little different for me... I think I was a little self-conscious of what I was doing since I was filming the whole time, plus this was the first layout I did with the Stampin' Up! Project Life supplies. They're very similar to the supplies I've used in the past, but I'm just not familiar with them yet, and the page protector layouts are a little different from what I'm used to. So when you start the video, be aware that before I started filming, I'd already tried out my photos for the week in a few of the different page layouts, and I picked the one I thought worked best.

Another thing that tripped me up a little was the sheer number of cards I had to choose from! Now, I know, this is a totally amazing thing. But it was hard to choose! So bear with me as I'm flipping through multiple times. :) The Becky Higgins Project Life Core kits that I've been using for the past year have tons of cards, but they also have way more duplicates. It seems that the Stampin' Up! kit only has two duplicates (if any) - a horizontal and a vertical orientation of the design.

So anyway, that's enough blah blah blah! Here's the finished layout that I make in the video.

I really wanted to keep it very simple - minimal embellishment, minimal stamping - to show you just how amazing your layouts can look with pretty much only the adorable cards and your awesome photos. (Note: ALL the photos on this layout were taken with my iPhone 5, and not always under stellar conditions. Check out my blog post on cell phone photo resources for Project Life here: http://bit.ly/RNaKSa) 

You can watch the start-to-finish video below, or over on my YouTube channel. Enjoy, and feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions!

Here are the products you'll see used in this video:

Everyday Adventure Project Life Card Collection #135298 $15.95

Everyday Adventure Project Life Accessory Pack #135301 $9.95

Variety Pack 12x12 Photo Pocket Pages #135294 $6.95

Project Life Journaling Pens (set of 2) #135304 $4.95

Remember This & That Rotary Stamp #130133 $5.95

And just as a little bonus for those of you who scrolled all the way down to the bottom of this post (lol!), here is the next week's layout, which is on the back of the video layout.

Happy Scrapbookin'! :)

Retirement Party Part Three - And a Technique Video!

This is a technique I learned a while back from a fellow demonstrator Jackie Hart. It's called the "filter paper technique" - I've also seem a similar technique that's been called the "tissue paper technique." I like this better, though, because it uses the Creped Filter Paper from Stampin' Up! which holds up a lot better than tissue paper.

The amazing texture that results from this technique is hard to capture in a photo, but trust me, you will love it! It's like you stamped on beautiful artisan handmade paper! And it's so easy! Check out my how-to video below, or over on my YouTube channel.

Note that I used a few retiring products on this card that - as of when I'm writing this post! - are still available... but only while supplies last! I used the En Français background stamp (which I just finally bought myself and now it's retiring!), the Scallop Trim Border Punch, and Raspberry Ripple ink (the cardstock is no longer available).

Happy Stampin'! :)

Technique Video: Using the Hexagon Hive Thinlit Die as a Stencil

Hey there! Today I have another quick video tutorial to share with you. I made a card for a recent class where I used the Hexagon Hive Thinlit die to create a stencil. I used sponging to get a really fun and totally on-trend ombre effect. Check it out!

Pretty simple card, but what a great look! I also used Gorgeous Grunge to add even more texture to my card front. The sentiment and the label I stamped it on are from the Chalk Talk stamp set and dies. (Get them as a bundle to save 15%!) Easy-peasy! :)

Check out the video below, or over on my YouTube channel. Have fun with this technique! What other dies can you use as a stencil?

Happy Stampin'! :)

Technique Video: Painter's Tape Technique

Hello friends! Happy Sunday! Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy All The Days! :)

It's a bright and sunny day here on Cape Cod and it's a welcome change from the 3 or 4 days of below-freezing temps we've just had. I'm wearing my favorite shades of mint and I got to go shopping for baby hat yarn yesterday and I'm happy!

And you know what else makes me happy? Fun new inky techniques! So I'm here today to share one with you. This one's called the Painter's Tape Technique. It gives a beautiful bold result that's great for card backgrounds. And it's just the right amount of messy! LOL :)

Here's the card I created to showcase this technique. I wanted to use the Hello, Sailor stamp set, so I was going for a nautical look. What says nautical better than bold stripes in red and blue?

(P.S. I used the Sale-a-Bration punch for the little banners, but you could just as easily cut them by hand. And the button is retired - sorry! Swap it out for the Basic Metal Buttons in the Occasions Catalog for a similar look.)

You can check out the video below, or over on my YouTube channel. I hope you have fun with this technique!

Happy Stampin'! :)

Start-to-Finish Sunday #37: An *Almost* One-Layer Card

I was faced with a bit of a self-imposed challenge recently. I was prepping for the first week of a 6-week cardmaking class. I only knew one of the girls who'd signed up, and I knew she was more of a scrapbooker and I wasn't sure how much stamping experience she had. And the others? I knew nothing about them! So I decided week 1 would be Stampin' 101... no Big Shot, minimal embellishments, mostly just stamps, ink, and cardstock. And it was hard! This card was the last one I designed, and it's really kind of my favorite of the three.

It's thisclose to being a one-layer card, with just a couple very simple embellishments. One stamp set. Two ink colors. One punch. Twine. And done! :)

You can check out the video below, or over on my YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stampin'! :)



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