Honey Bee Stamps - Rainbow Peeps Card

Hello crafty peeps! I have a fun and colorful card idea to share today. 

This card features the sweet little chicks, or peeps in this case, from the Spring Chicks stamp set. 

For all the details, please visit the Honey Bee Stamps Blog.  Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

Tonic Studios Garden Party Release Blog Hop - Day One

Hello crafters! It's an exciting day! 
Tonic Studios is launching a new collection of fun, whimsical stamp designs and I'm thrilled to be joining them to help celebrate.

The Garden Party Release is exclusive to the Tonic Studios stores and I have links below for each store. 

 ***Use the links below to automatically receive 15% off your total purchase - discount will be applied at checkout***

UK shop 

USA shop

There's a giveaway too! Be sure to stop by every blog along the hop and leave a comment. 

(full hop line up listed at the end of this post)

The next stop on the hop is Amanda Blanco

Tonic Studios is giving away a £25 gift voucher at every stop in the hop.

Winners will be chosen from the comment section and announced on the Tonic Blog on Wednesday, August 13 – 2019  (2:00 pm GMT)

Now on to the cards I'm sharing today. I made two cards featuring the adorable images from Celebrate Life and Celebrate Friendship stamp sets.  These are large 6"x8" sets that are jam packed with cute critters and accessories for them.  

For this first card I used Celebrate Friendship.  I wanted to build a country scene with the cow and sunflowers.  I loved the little bees and apples so I included those too.  

For the greeting I used the Celebrate Sentiments set which coordinates perfectly and has some fun puns to go with the animals.  The red mat for this card is Tonic's Candy Red Classic Card which I think is a perfect shade of red for fall and holiday cards.  

I used the Nuvo Alcohol Markers to color all the images.  The white card stock I used is Tonic's Ultra Smooth Card. The Nuvo Alcohol Markers blend beautifully on the this super smooth card stock.  

For my second card, I wanted to create a party scene using the playful images in the Celebrate Life set.  This card is a slimline design that measures 3.5" wide by 8.5" long.  

This scene came together easily and was so fun to build. There are many different clothing and accessory options for the animals. I love the versatility of these sets.  For coloring these images I again used the Nuvo Alcohol Markers. (Rosy Pinks, Royal Purples, Marina Blues, Emerald Seas, Irish Clover, Sunshine Yellows, Fair Skin Tones, Apricot Ombre, Rich Reds, Natural Browns, Pebble Beach, Stromy Greys)

Tonic Studios Garden Party Blog Hop - Day 1 

• Tonic Studios Blog
• Koren Wiskman 
• Yana Smakula
• Jessica Frost - Ballas 
• Bibi Cameron 
• Yoosun Hur
• Keeways Tsao 
• Leanne West <----you are here
• Amanda Blanco <----next stop
• Ali Farmer 
• Galina Filippenko 
• Emily Midget 
• Keren Baker 
• Gemma Campbell 
• Louise Sims

Purple Onion Designs - Storage and Stamping Tips Plus Anniversary Sale

Hi there! I have a lot to share with you today.  First of all, Purple Onion Designs is having an anniversary sale.  They are celebrating 16 years!  No code needed.  Just fill your cart to get the discounted price on all stamps.  

Next I want to talk about storage and stamping solutions for Purple Onion's unmounted red rubber stamps.  I store my POD unmounted red rubber stamps in clear 5x7 Iris storage containers.  You can get a 10 pack of these on Amazon for a very reasonable price right now - IRIS 5x7 storage containers.

I've grouped the stamps by collection except for sentiments.  I keep all the sentiment stamps together in one container.  By leaving the stamps unmounted, they take up much less room and I can fit entire collections in one storage container which I then label.

Now when the red rubber stamps are left unmounted, they will need something to make them cling to an acrylic block or stamping tool.  There's a very simple solution for this.... a solid clear stamp.  Purple Onion is now carrying two different sizes: a 4x6 clear stamp and a 6x6 clear stamp.  Pictured below is how I use mine.  I have been using the WRMK Precision Press Advanced stamping tool. You can buy extra stamping plates for this tool. I have an extra one that I just leave a 4x6 size clear stamp on so it's ready to use all the time. 

I should point out that these solid stamps can be taken off and put back on easily just like any other clear stamp.  It's not necessary to leave them on a stamping tool or acrylic block.  Just store them on the clear backer sheets and pull them out when needed.  With proper care they should last many years and can be used over and over. 

These clear stamps are very easy to cut down to a custom size for acrylic blocks or if you'd just like a smaller size. The red rubber clings well to these clear stamps as long as they are kept clean.  Every once in awhile wash them off with mild soap and warm water to ensure a strong cling.  

Here's two of my most recent POD cards and a linked list of stamps used for each.

  Cotton Candy Cart

Pinky (Pig with cotton candy/ice cream)

Fair Accessories

Sweets (three baking mice)

Carnival/Fair Marquee Sentiments

Carnival/Fair Blurbs

Floral Corners

Tiny Dwelling

Garden Bugs

A Beautiful Day Sentiment Set

Honey Bee Stamps - Grateful For Your Friendship Card

Hi everyone! I'm over on the Honey Bee Stamps Blog today sharing a bright colorful friendship card.   I've used the emboss resist technique and the large mandala stamp from Here For You to create the background.  For more details, please stop by over there.  Have a fabulous day!

Tonic Studios - Merry & Bright Collection Close Up

Hello crafty friends! I have a different kind of post for you today.  I recently received a bunch of goodies from the new Merry & Bright collection by Tonic Studios. I've taken quite a few photos to showcase up close the gorgeous colors and texture of these products.  I took all my photos in natural light with some at angles so you can see the true shimmer and sparkle.

First up is an array of Classic Card, Glitter Card, Mirror Card, and Specialty Papers. The color palette of this collection is so gorgeous with shades of teal, green, and reds.  It's a pretty combination of colors for holiday projects but I think could still be used all year round.   

Below are die cut swatches. As you can see, they all die cut very cleanly.  I plan on using these gorgeous papers for die cutting large words to build a custom greetings on my cards.  I think my favorite is the Turquoise Lake Glitter Card.  It's a deeply saturated teal color and catches the light beautifully.  

The Silver Strokes Foiled Kraft Card is another favorite.  It's such a unique mix of kraft and silver foil that will make fun backgrounds and tags.  

I also wanted to point out how deeply textured the Geometric Galaxy and Ruby Gemstone Specialty Papers are.  The best part is that texture held up wonderfully when I ran it through the die cut machine.  

Next up is the new additions of Nuvo Drops 

From left to right - Blushing Red Crystal Drops, Red Sunstone Glitter Drops, Aqua Plains Jewel Drops, & Silver Crystals Glitter Drops.  The Blushing Red is more of a coral red.  The Red Sunstone looks almost mauve pink in the bottle, but does dry a berry red color.  When the Aqua Plains dries, it looks more mint green than aqua to me. 

If you are looking for a nice basic red or aqua embossing powder, then look no further.  The Turquoise Lagoon and Sportscar Red embossing powders have a lovely glossy finish and worked perfectly for embossing these stamped sentiments. 

The results are fantastic with these embossing powders... nice clean lines!

If you are looking to add lots of sparkle to your projects, the newest sequins and glitter will certainly help get the job done.  They are perfectly coordinated with the colors of the Merry and Bright Collection.  

The Mermaid Parade Stars are too gorgeous for words and will make some amazing shaker cards

Last but not least, is the Esmeralda Green Glimmer Paste and two new Mica Mists in Beryl Swirl & Crimson Velvet.  The Esmeralda Green Glimmer Paste could possibly be my favorite Glimmer Paste ever! That teal color is absolutely stunning!

I have never used mica mists before now.  I spritzed them over a stencil to test them out.  The Beryl Swirl is very subtle and looks like a grayish green on the white card stock.  The Crimson Velvet looks  like a shimmery soft brick red when dry...  would be a great color to use with a brick wall stencil.  

That's all for today.  I plan on incorporating all these fun new products very soon in my future holiday projects. So stay tuned! Thanks so much for stopping by and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask in the comments.  Happy crafting!

Hello Bluebird - Strawberry Vine Field Mice Card

Hi Friends! I'm sharing a card for Hello Bluebird today.  I've combined two sets to create a sweet scene on my card and it could not have been easier to do with the help of the new Strawberry Jam set and coordinating bonus die.

If you didn't know, the coordinating die set for Strawberry Jam includes dies to cut out all the images individually and a bonus die that cuts out the center of the strawberry vines (pictured below) I've used this die on my card to create a shadow box effect with the center scene. 

I have always loved the look of layers and extra dimension on my cards and this bonus die made it so easy to do that.  I simply centered it on my background panel and die cut.  I then die cut the strawberry vines individually and adhered with small foam squares.  They perfectly line up with die cut center opening.  

Here's a linked list of the Hello Bluebird stamp sets and dies I used on my card:

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam coordinating dies

Field Mice

Field Mice coordinating dies

Typed Everyday

Gallery Frame #2

Below are the Copics I used to color the mice and strawberry vines.

MFT & Friends - July 2019 Release

It's release day for My Favorite Things and I'm honored to be joining them this month for their MFT & Friends Feature. 

They are releasing a very fun mix of stamps and dies geared towards creating both summer and celebratory themed crafty projects.  Be sure to visit the MFT blog for even more inspiration from the design team and guests.  

I have two cards to share today showcasing some of the new products.  First up is customized birthday card that features the Celebrate With Cake Die-namics.  

For this A2 sized card, I started by stenciling the two-toned confetti background. I used Peacock Feathers and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink with the Card-Sized Confetti Stencil Set. I added the cake on stand a offset from center and trimmed off the overhang.  

To customize the card for a special someone who's turning 16 soon, I die cut the numbers using the Impact Numbers Die-namics. I then white heat embossed a coordinating sentiment from Bitty Birthday Wishes to layer over the numbers and cake stand. 

The second card is A6 size and features a two part greeting with some magical images from the new Fairy-Tale Friends stamp set. 

I started by Copic coloring the unicorn and rainbow images from Fairy-Tale Friends. (Copic colors used for this pastel rainbow combo is pictured below)  I love combining die cut letters with stamping for my sentiments on cards so I stamped and silver heat embossed "you make every day" which is included in the Fairy Tale Friends set. I then used the Impact Alphabet Die-namics to cut out the letters to spell Magical. 

Instead of using the "A" for the word magical, I used the rainbow image. The die cut letters are adhered flat to the card front and then I popped up the rainbow image so it would slightly overlap the C & L. For the top half of the card, I adhered the unicorn plus several clouds die cut with the Cute Cloud Outlines Die-namics.