Monday, July 31, 2017

Emboss Resist Cherry Blossoms on Glossy Paper

Hey Everybody! I hope you're having an amazing day! I'm just stopping by today with a quick photo tutorial for an emboss resist, alcohol ink blended background on Glossy Cardstock. How's that for a mouthful? Hahaha! I had planned on doing an Alcohol Ink Blending background tutorial for my friends on the Technique Zone and then I saw that the challenge over at TGIF Challenges this week is "Emboss Resist." So, I combined the two techniques to make this card. 


The first step to making this card is to heat emboss the images with Clear Embossing Poweder onto your Glossy  Cardstock. Make sure to use your stampin' buddy first so that your image is crisp and clean. 

It's really hard to see what's going on in this photo but if you look closely you can see the image of the cherry blossoms that I heat embossed.

Next, drop some ink from reinkers onto your glossy paper. I used Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach and Berry Burst. Then, spritz the ink with rubbing alcohol until the surface of the paper is flooded and the ink starts to blend and swirl together. 

You may need to use a paper towel to mop up the excess ink and alcohol mixture. Once the excess fluid is cleaned up your stamped/embossed image will be revealed (that's called emboss resist). You can either let this air-dry, or, you can hit it with a heat tool. 


I used Fast Fuse to adhere my card face to a mat in Basic Black and then I added some extra cherry blossoms in silver foil. The larger bloom came from the Birds & Blooms Thinlits and the smaller blooms were punched using the Tree Builder Punch.  

Some pearls in white and black (colored with a Sharpie), some black mini sequins and some black metallic thread finished my card off. 


If you're interested in seeing more cards made using the emboss resist technique then head on over to the TGIF Challenge Blog for #TGIFC118 and see what the design team and other challengers have to share with you this week. 


Alright, that's all I've got for today. If you try either of the techniques that I shared today I'd really love to hear how it went. You can always leave me a comment to let me know or ask any questions that you might have.

See you back here soon! The Creating Kindness blog and video hops are live on Thursday so I hope you'll come back to check those out. 

Bye for now!
Maria.








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Thursday, July 27, 2017

A Paper Pumpkin Thing- July 2017 Kit

Hey Everybody and welcome to the July 2017 A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop! If you haven't visited my blog before-thanks for stopping by. My name is Maria Willis and I am a Stampin' Up Demonstrator from a little mountain town called Boulder Creek in California, USA. I'm excited to be participating in this hop to bring you all some fun alternate ways to use your Paper Pumpkin kit. 



I really love that Lemon Lime Twist watercolor wash background that came in this kit. I wanted it to really pop off of the card base (also from the kit) so I added a layer of Bermuda Bay to give a good color contrast. I took one of the white hearts that popped out of the card faces and sponged it in Bermuda Bay to match the mat that I added. 

I stamped some background crosses and the sentiment in Bermuda Bay and then flicked both Bermuda Bay ink and Clear Wink of Stella all over the heart and background. I also colored the wooden sentiment with Wink of Stella to give it some sparkle. It's hard to see in the photo but it's pretty glammed up in real life. To fancy up my card I finished up by adding wash tape from the PP kit, Silver Metallic Thread, White Ribbon and some pearls. 


For my project I just had to use these gumballs because I thought the colors matched so well. I used a small treat bag to hold the gum and then sealed it up with a fun bag topper. All of the pieces in the topper are from this month's Paper Pumpkin kit except for the strip of Bermuda Bay and the pearls...ok, and the Black Ink. This month's kit came with Soft Sky and Tranquil Tide ink spots.

This wooden sentiment is also "Stella-ed." I wish that shimmer showed up better on camera but you're just going to have to trust me that it's pretty. In case you're wondering where the paper with the Lemon Lime Twist crosses came from... check the inside of your envelopes (wink). That envelope paper is quite possibly my favorite thing in this kit and it was torture to cut it up. 

I hope you enjoyed both of my projects today and thanks so much for stopping by!

We've got so many more great ideas on this hop so please head on over to the fabulous Cindee Wilkinson's  blog to see what she's got to share with you. You can just click the next button or feel free to jump around on the hop by using the blog roll below. You can find links to the products I have used today below the blog roll. As always, I'm here to help, so please feel free to message me or comment with any questions that you might have. That's all for now.

Have an amazing day!
Maria.

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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, July 24, 2017

TGIFC117- Summertime Blues

Hey everybody! I'm back today to play along with the #TGIFC117 and this week they've got a Summertime Blues challenge. Summertime Blues? Well, for me it's summertime blue skies and sunshine! Summertime for me is about enjoying the beautiful weather, soaking up some sunshine and maybe even picking some flowers. That being said, this adorable pig stamp was just perfect for this theme. 


I stamped my image from the This Little Piggy stamp set in Basic Black Archival ink so that I could watercolor without worrying about my image smearing. The Archival inks are my favorite permanent inks for just about everything. Remember that when you are watercoloring it is critical to use either watercolor paper (that's what I've used on this card), or, Shimmery White Yardstick so that your colors will blend and your paper won't warp or pill. I used Lemon Lime Twist and Emerald Envy on the grass, Berry Burst on the pig, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie on the flower and Tempting Turquoise for my "Summertime Blues" sky. The new Iridescent Sequins are so awesome. I love that they come in many different colors and sizes. If you look closely at the center of the flower you might be able to see that I've adhered the center of an orange sequin to the flower. In real life it sparkles just a bit. 

I wanted to keep my card simple to highlight the fun image and the watercoloring but when I added the image to my white card base it seemed like something was missing. I added a tab to the side using my Bermuda Bay Chevron ribbon so that there would be just a pop of color peeking out. I also used the polka dot stamp from Timeless Textures to create a fun background in Daffodil Delight (stamped off once). I was hoping that it would add to the sunshiny, summer look of the card. 

If you'd like to see some more Summertime Blues themed cards then head on over to TGIF Challenge Blog to see what the design team and challenge participants have created. There are some really amazing projects so I recommend checking them out.



Thanks for stopping by my blog today! It's always so nice to have you visit.

Maria.


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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!



If you'd 

Sunday, July 23, 2017

#GDP096- CASEing Tanja Kolar

Hey everybody and happy Sunday! It has been so long since I've played along with a challenge blog and this week's challenge over at #GDP096 was just too good to pass up! This week the Global Design Project is CASEing its' very own Tanja Kolar and check out this gorgeous card that we get to use as inspiration. 



When you CASE a card you can take anything from it that you want and use it in your own card. I chose to use Tanja's layout. I switched the squares out for circles and added a larger sentiment.  I love that two cards using the same layout can look so very different. My sentiment is from the Window Shopping stamp set. The little "To You" on the hand-cut banner is from the Tabs For Everything set.



I really had fun layering all of these beautiful pieces. The flower is put together from two pieces from the Eclectic Layers Thinlits. The tiny leaves were watercolored using Lemon Lime Twist and Emerald Envy and then cut using the same framelits as the flower. I hand cut both the sentiment piece in Berry Burst and the little banner in Pool Party.  The circle was cut using my stitched circle framelits and the Gold Foil Doily, Gold Metallic Thread, Pick a Pattern Washi Tape and Metallic Sequins were the perfect finishing touches for this card. 


I'm so glad I had a chance to play along with #GDP096 this week! If you're looking to see more amazing projects using Tanja's card as inspiration head on over to the Global Design Project Blog and check out all of the amazing cards over there. 

Happy Sunday and Thanks for stopping by today! As always, please let me know if you have any questions or are interested in purchasing products to make some cards of your own. I've got a full list of products below so feel free to click on through to my store if you're interested. BONUS: This month we've got a great deal going on and for every $50 that you spend in July you will receive a coupon for $5 to spend in August! 

Bye for now!
Maria.



PRODUCT 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!


Thursday, July 13, 2017

OSAT Blog Hop - Very Vintage


Hey, hey, hey! It's the second Thursday of the month and that means it's time for another OSAT Blog Hop! Welcome!

This month our theme is "Vintage." When I think of vintage I tend to think of beautiful, aged, old, lacey things with lots of neutral tones... I just wasn't feeling inspired to make that kind of vintage. After a lot of thought I realized that I actually LOVE vintage style things! When I was younger I was a bit of a hippy thrift store shopper. There was nothing better than scoring some vintage clothes with wild colors and patterns! I started to think of all of the amazing vintage things that I love: tea cups, china, wall paper, sheets, wedding dresses... seriously, the list goes on. I stumbled across this picture of vintage china tea cups and my jaw dropped. This color combo paired with gold is so gorgeous! So, these cheerful vintage teacups are the inspiration for my projects today.  I hope you'll like them. 

For my card I used a new stamp set called Flirty Flowers. As soon as I saw this set I knew I had to have it. I love that it has both solid and outlined images that are whimsical and beautiful. I heat embossed the images in gold and then watercolored with Berry Burst, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lime Twist, Emerald Envy and Pacific Point. It's hard to tell but all the flowers are sparkling with Clear Wink of Stella. 

I layered my image piece over a Pool Party mat, fringed with lace. My sentiment is heat embossed in Pacific Point and watercolored in Berry Burst. That beautiful background is from the Bundle of Love DSP.


For my project I made a couple of pillow pouches. I've never made these before and I figured out a way to do them with my framelits that makes it really easy (video coming soon).

I watercolored these tags the same as I did my card then layered them over Berry Burst (cut with my layering circle framelits) and a small gold, foil doily. I added a sentiment heat embossed in white on Pacific Point with some loops of gold metallic thread popping out.  

Here's a last look at everything together. 

It was really fun making these Vintage inspired projects. Don't be surprised if you see some more vintage cards and projects popping up here soon. I hope you'll continue on this hop and be inspired by the rest of the incredibly talented artists who have made vintage inspired projects to share with you today. Next on the hop is the fabulous Rick Adkins!

Thanks for stopping by today! See you back here soon I hope.

Maria.




BLOG ROLL:

PRODUCT 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!


Sunday, July 9, 2017

Mr. & Mrs.

Mr. & Mrs. Forever! What a great title for any couple! I have really been loving this Always & Forever set for making some fun wedding and anniversary cards. This one is an anniversary card and is already winging its' way to a special couple in another country!

This tree is so fun and someone mentioned to me yesterday that it reminds them of the Giving Tree.. Ya know what?! It reminds me of the Giving Tree too! On this card I heat embossed the tree in Early Espresso (stamp in versa mark first, then in Early Espresso, then heat emboss with clear Embossing Powder) and then watercolored it with Early Espresso as well. The grass was done with Emerald Envy and there is a light wash of Soft Sky over the whole background. I got a scrap of shimmery white paper and washed some Soft Sky over that too. Then I used the retired Owl Punch to punch out some shimmery hearts and some Real Red hearts to add to the tree. I know the punch is retired but I also know that so many of you have it! My opinion on retired items is that if you love them, you should use them. Very often retired items combine perfectly with Stampin' Ups! amazing new product lines. I love the owl punch and most often use it for these adorable little hearts which just happen to work perfectly with this new stamp set. 

That's all for today folks! As always, if you have any questions at all please leave me a comment or shoot me an email at: mariawillis@hotmail.com If you're interested in making this card yourself and need to purchase some product please check out the product list below. You can click on any item that you're interested in and it'll take you right to the product info in my store.

Have a great day today. I hope it's the start to a truly wonderful week!

-Maria.



PRODUCT 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!


Friday, July 7, 2017

Giving It a Shot, Why Not?!

Wow! Just this morning I found out that today was the deadline to apply to be a display stamper at On Stage in November. This time around I am lucky to be able to attend the Live event in Salt Lake City, Utah! It's going to be so amazing!! I'm sure there are many talented stampers hoping to be selected for the honor of being a display stamper at this event and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring as well. It was truly a scramble to get this post put together on time and I even created my scrapbook layout in record time because after work I had to leave almost immediately to go to a friend's birthday dinner. I wish I'd had a bit more time to play around with my layout but I'm just grateful that I was able to get it done in time. For this application we are to turn in three cards, two 3D items and a scrapbook layout. 

For my first card I chose this mermaid card with an alcohol ink blended background on glossy paper.


I watercolored the mermaid and cut her out.

The seaweed is embossed in gold and I created a fun little tag embellishment for the top.


For my second card I've chosen this dragon fly card.

The background is watercolored in Berry Burst and splattered with Clear Wink of Stella.

The dragon fly was ink blended on glossy cardstock and then clear embossed for a glassy sheen.


My third card was made using both the So Many Shells set and the You're Priceless Sets.

I really had fun layering some gorgeous new products together. The shell was stamped, watercolored and glammed up with Clear Wink of Stella. 

I was able to create an "ocean spray" background by sponging Pool Party and Bermuda Bay and then stamping (with the "splotch" stamp from You're Priceless) repeatedly over the sponging with White Craft Ink. I love how soft and wild it looks.




For my first 3D item I am sharing this "sweet" gift bag made using the June 2017 Paper Pumpkin kit. I had fun layering the pieces of the kit together to make this alternate jungle/baby project. 

Surprise! The adorable little lion card sits in the pocket I made using  what was supposed to be a watermelon stamp. 

And, the little cutie easily slips out for the recipient to read a sweet little message.




My second 3D project is a mixture of product suites and In Colors. 

I heat embossed in both gold and clear, watercolored, and fussy cut my top layers. The bottom layers were easily cut with my Big Shot and made for a beautiful base. I love the new ribbon and tassels too!

Of course this project went to my Mom on Mother's Day. She loved it. It made me so happy to see her face when she opened it. I love giving the things that I make away to people that are special to me. 


Dun, dun, nun, nun.... and here's my scrapbook layout. It's only the second one I've ever made and I had just a few minutes to put it together. I didn't have any pictures so I photocopied a strip of pics that my husband and I took in a photo booth about eleven years ago (before we got married)! I cut the photo copy up and made this funky page using an Old Olive base, texture paste (dyed Tempting Turquoise) and some new DSP. I also splattered some Whisper White Craft ink onto the background.

I used my Clear Wink of Stella dipped in Tempting Turquoise ink to add some pops of color to the feathers. I wish you could see that part in person. It's really sparkly. 

Alright! That's all I've got! Thank you Stampin' Up! for taking the time to look through the many applications I'm sure you have received. 

Have an amazing day!
Maria.

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