Make Art Blog Hop - Be You

Hi everyone and welcome to our Make Art blog hop featuring art from the eTeam and special guest, Wendy Vecchi! We're delighted to have Wendy joining us today, to not only share her products but also to share in her unique artistic style and to be inspired by each of the hop participants.

During the hop the team is going to be sharing the projects that they created with Studio 490 products but maybe more importantly we'll be sharing our experience of working with the products, how we created our projects, and what inspired us to create our piece.

The eTeam is a wonderful group of talented women, each with their own style. Some of us are clean and simple card makers, others love scrapbooking, and still others are drawn to altered art and mixed media projects. The goal of our hop is bring each of these designers and their favorite mediums together and to share how we've used these products to express our own individual styles through our work.

For my project I started by thinking about what I wanted to include on my piece; what did I want to see, what type of project was I drawn to creating?  I have a wall in my craft studio where I display a number of wall hangings that were created during some of my favorite classes, taught by some of my favorite teachers, such as altered canvases and scrapbook pages.  I decided that I'd like to include a piece of art that I created, something that I imagined.  I started by picking out the items, embellishments, and colors that I love the most...flowers, buttons & twine, winged things, script, text, canvas, vintage, yellow, and rhinestones...to name a few. :-)

I started my piece by attaching a piece of sticky back canvas to chipboard, for more stability.  Then I used Scattered Straw Distress Stain to paint the canvas.  Since I love vintage pieces, I used my Walnut Stain Distress Ink and blending tool to add some color to the edges of the canvas.  Next came decorating the canvas itself.  The first step was lightly stamp the honeycomb stamp, from the Art for You stamp set, on the entire background.  I pressed very gently so that some of the areas would be missing, creating that aged look.  Next I used the Large Heart Stencil from Studio 490.  I placed it in the center of my canvas and again used the Walnut Stain Distress Ink and a blending tool to work the color all around the heart.  Loved the finished result!

Leaving the stencil in place, I layered another stencil, the Dotted Flowers stencil from Dylusions, on top of the heart and colored in the circles with Picket Fence Distress Stain.  The sheer color of this stain is just perfect!  I removed the Dotted Flowers stencil (leaving the heart in place) and stamped a script stamp in a few places in the heart shape.  Swoon....

And then...and then...I got to play with Art Parts!  I am head over heels in love with this product!  Seriously heavy duty pressed chipboard pieces and you can do anything to....paint, ink, stamp on and so heavy duty that you don't have to worry about any breakage.  I had a hard time not opening every package I have in stock!  I used Florals, Bugs & Butterflies, and Sentiment Spots on my project. 

I used Distress Inks to color directly on to the Art Parts.  Once the ink was dry, which was very quick, I used a few background stamps that I had on hand to stamp on the flowers.  The bee, and this is the super fun part, fits perfectly with the Art for You Stamp Set!  How cool is that!  I stamped the bee on the coordinating Art Parts (including an extra body for some serious dimension) and then on vellum.  Cut out the vellum wings and attached with a glue dot.  Love the two-layer look!  I even added a little glitter using a glitter pen!  My flower got a button from the Tim Holtz Accroutements, Classic pack, along with a piece of twine and my bee received a trail of rhinestones.  I used Glossy Accents to glue everything together and to the canvas and frame.  Oh, the frame!  It was a cheap find from my local craft store that I painted black with the Pitch Black Adirondack Paint Dabber and distressed the edges with a sanding block.

Then?  Blossom Bucket embellies!  WooHoo!  I used this darling jar to hold my flower.  And guess what?  The jar come with a little indentation that perfectly fits the flower stem!  The jar is clear but I added a piece of dictionary paper.  Wouldn't the jar be cute covered with any kind of designer paper!

My last piece was the sentiment, which is also from the Art for You stamp set.  I covered the Sentiment Spot Art Part with paper from Echo Park, Documented.  I sanded the edges with a sanding block and aged the edges with my Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  Then I stamped "Be You" in VersaMark ink and embossed with black embossing powder.  The last element was to add two antique brads (cut the prongs off with Kushgrip Scissors and attach with a glue dot).

I had an amazing time creating this piece and I can't wait to add it to my art wall.  It's something that I created...it's part of my story.

So what else is going on during our hop, besides oogling lots of beautiful artwork?  Prizes and specials of course! 

• This week only save 25% on all Studio 490 products, this includes Wendy's stamps, stencils, Art Parts, Book, and Blossom Bucket embellishments.  Use code WENDY25 when checking out.
• During the hop, comment on each blog and you'll be entered into a drawing for a prize package worth $50!  Your package will include a collection of Studio 490 products as well as paper and embellishments from the store. 

Wait...there's more! 

• We want to hear about what inspires you!  Share your thoughts about why you create, what styles you're drawn to, even share a favorite project on our Facebook page.  Next week I'll randomly select a winner from those who have commented on our Make Art Facebook posts and give away a $25 gift certificate to eP!  Now...are you ready for some crafty goodness?  Let's get hopping!

eclectic Paperie - The beginning of the hop

Wendy Vecchi

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Julie Masse

Kim Schofield - You're Here!

Kim Teasdale

Mary-Ann Maldonado

Michelle Hill

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Tammy Hersberger

Tenia Nelson

Starla Nelson

Thank you so much for joining us today and make some time this week to craft your story...

First Class Friend

It's time for this week's CAS challenge on Splitcoast and today we have a technique challenge...collage stamping!  Oh how I love collage stamping...It's seriously one of my favorite techniques 'cause you can just go crazy stamping with this technique! :-)

For today's card, I used one of my fav stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy, Vintage Postcard. I also used the Friendship Script stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy on the background, before I stamp all those other fun images! I used Distress Inks for all of my ink colors and cardstock from Papertryink.

 

Enjoy today's card and be sure to join us for the Make Art blog hop tomorrow!

Thinking of You

Hi friends!  Welcome to Friday..WooHoo!!  I'm seriously ready for the weekend this week!  Headed out tonight with my hubby to celebrate his birthday (ask me if I've even done anything for him yet...nope...I better get busy!) and on Saturday I hope to enjoy a long morning, sipping coffee, hanging with my kiddies and not even thinking about schoolwork! :-)

 

For today's card I decided to create a CAS card on...black!  Most CAS cards are on white but hey, black is cool too, right?  I started by layering a few Distress Stains on to white cardstock.  I used white cardstock by Wplus 9 because it's super thick and able to handle the stains without warping.  I then dried the stains with my heat gun and got out my Sweet 'n Sassy stamps and dies!  I first stamped the Friendship Script stamp on the cardstock and got busy with my fav New Beginnings Butterfly dies.  Once the butterflies were cut out I added tiny gold pearls for their bodies.  The sentiment is from the True Friend stamp set and I used a die from My Favorite Things, Layered Label, to frame the sentiment.  Easy peasy, right?

 

Enjoy today's card and enjoy your weekend!

Sweet Stamp Shop Release Day Celebration

Welcome to day two of the Sweet Stamp Shop release day!!  Have you been enjoying all the crafty goodness, showing off the great new release?  I'm super excited to share my two cards with you today where I'm using a sentiment set...That's right...a set with only sentiments!  Just look what you can do!  Both of these cards were created with the Holiday Sentiments stamp set.  And for both cards I got a little crafty with embossing powder...why, hello my old friend!

For my first card I took all of the Christmas sentiments and attached them to my stamp press, keeping them as close together as possible.  Then I stamped the images on to cream cardstock, using VersaMark (or any embossing) ink.  I then embossed with gold embossing powder and cut the cardstock into a tree shape (some might call this a triangle).  I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink to give the card some more depth.  I then dry embossed the green background and a small piece of brown cardstock, which served as my tree trunk.  A bunch of twine for a bow, and finishing touch on my tree, and then a sentiment in black, punched out and popped up on the tree, finished my card.

 

For my second card, I wanted to highlight the New Year stamp so I started by finding an online template for a champagne glass.  Once that was printing and cut out of cardstock, I once again used embossing ink and one of the stamps from the Pattern Craze stamp set (love this set!) to stamp the design a few times on the glass.  Then I got busy with my silver embossing powder.  Once the glass was attached to the card, I stamped and embossed the sentiment, and using one of the small hexagons from the Pattern Craze set, I created champage bubbles!  Super fun, right? 

 

Are you ready for some more crafty treats?  Then go check out the rest of the DT's projects!  And don't forget that on the final release and full reveal day, October 25th, all of the new stamps will be marked down to $10.00!  WooHoo!!   Enjoy the rest of the hop!

 

SSS Blog

Emily

Laurel

Jamie

Kim - You're Here!

Nicole

Congratulations

Hi kids!  It's time for another CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge over at Splitcoast!  This week's challenge was to use dictionary paper.  I grabbed a piece of Teresa Collins paper that I had in my stash and got busy with embossing powder and Distress Ink!

 

I started by stamping the Damask Doilies stamp set, from Wplus9, on to the dictionary paper using VersaMark ink.  I then embossed the images with clear embossing powder.  Once the powder was dry I used my blending tool and Dusty Concord Distress Ink to wipe ink across the entire piece of cardstock.  The embossing power resists the ink so that beautiful doilies come shining through!  Then I just added a sentiment and a button (with a piece of Lilac twine).

 

Enjoy and check out today's challenge!

Altered Journal Page Featuring Dylusions

I'm showing off my very first altered journal page today on the eP blog!  I used a boatload of Dylusions products on this page...and I loved it!  I also included a step-by-step tutorial on how I created the page.  Head on over and let me know what you think!

Happy Harvest

I've had a house full of sickies this week (and I'm not feeling so hot) so my card had to be clean and simple for this week's challenge on Splitcoast!  The challenge was a theme...Harvest.  I used stamps and a coordinating die from Wplus9 for my card.  And the stamp set had a Happy Harvest sentiment...how perfect!  The wheelbarrow, pumpkins, and apples all have a coordinating die, also from Wplus9.  Fun, right?  Enjoy and be sure to play along with the CAS team this week!

 

All supplies from eclectic Paperie:
Stamps & Die: Wplus9 - Happy Harvest Stamp set and Companion Die
Inks: Distress Inks (Mustard Seed, Fired Brick, Walnut Stain & Wild Honey)

Hip, Hip, Hooray...It's the Sweet 'n Sassy Release Day!!

Hello dear friends and Happy Release Day to you!!  The SNSS DT has been busy preparing for today's fabulous blog hop and virtual stamp day and we hope you will join us in celebrating our newest stamp sets--this month we are focusing on Christmas!

We've got lots of eye candy to share that will certainly put you in the holiday mood. :)  Be sure not to miss a single stop along the way because we'll be drawing one lucky commenter from a random DT blog to win a $25 credit to the store!!

On my cards today I'm using the Poinsettias and Christmas Penguin sets.  And this is a clear example of why I love Sweet 'n Sassy products so much...I can create a classic card or a whimsical one...there are images available for every design style!

On my Poinsettias card, I kept the design fairly simple, keeping the focus on that beautiful flower!  I stamped the poinsettia two times on watercolor paper (love the texture of weight of watercolor paper) and colored the images with Copics.  I cut just the flower out of one of the images and layered it on top of the entire image for some fab dimension.  Then I just attached the flower to a circle, lined with dictionary paper and added the sentiment.  Oh, I did fill the middle of the flower with Perfect Pearls (another favorite product!)

Card two, featuring the Christmas Penguins stamp set, features fun quilted paper from Jillibean Soup and a few ribbon scraps I had on my craft table.  I love using non-traditional colors for Christmas cards and I couldn't resist combining these cute penguins with the bright and colorful paper.

So...what to see what the rest of the team is up to today?

Here's the list of stops along the hop today:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog

Makiko Jones

 

Monika Davis

Jessica Fick

Cathy McCauley

Mary Faus

Kim Singdahlsen

Bridget Finlay

Dina Kowal

Gloria Stengel

Kim Schofield - You're Here!

Ceal Pritchett

Giovana Smith

Jennie Harper

Korin Sutherland

 

After you're done hopping we invite you to join us for a fun day of challenges during our Virtual Stamp Day in our Splitcoaststampers Member Company Forum.  We're giving away more fun prizes so you won't want to miss it!

Enjoy the hop and happy stamping!!

A Thankful Heart

Hi friends and welcome to this week's Splitcocast CAS challenge!  This week's challenge was to use plaid.  Humm...I had a bizillion ideas when it came to using plaid on a card.  Do I just use designer paper, do I create my own plaid, or do I use a darling stamp set with plaid accents?  I think you can see what option won! :-)  (Although I did play with the other two options too...just 'cause stamping is so much fun!)

 

The stamps I used on my card are from one of my new fav stamp companies, Wplus9.  I love their designs, the stamp quality, and the coordinating dies.  I used the Pretty Patches: Apple stamp set and cooridnating die for this card along with a plaid image from the Country Charm set.  So...I have a little plaid on my heart, leaf, and behind the apple.  Isn't this the cutest little set?  Love it!  I used the following Distress Inks for the colors; Fried Brick, Crushed Olive, Spun Sugar, and Pumice Stone.

Enjoy and spend some time crafting today...you won't regret it!

 

 

We Belong Together

Hi there and welcome to World Making Card Day!  Are you buys making cards today?  If not...go get busy girlfriend!  I'm super excited to be posting a card today and to be sharing fab shopping deals with eclectic Paperie!  (All of the deals are listed below, along with a prize drawing!)

 

For today's card I wanted to combine some of my favorite things about card making...Designer paper, rhinestones, Copic markers, super fun stamps, and yes, foam tape!  My card features darling stamps from Market Street Stamps; the Foodie Doodles collection.  This set of stamps are so much fun! Filled with sweet little food images like coffee and donuts, eggs and bacon, and popcorn and soda.  I had to use the coffee and donuts stamps 'cause if this combo is wrong then I don't want to be right.  Do I hear an amen?

 

I started my card by layering a whole lotta cardstock and designer paper from Echo Park (this is the Documented collection).  I then used my Spellbinders dies to make some fun edging and the Elite embossing folder for the cream background piece.  Then I colored my coffee cup, hearts, and donut with Copic makers, cut them out, and popped them up with foam tape....'cause this girl just isn't happy unless there is a lot of dimension on my cards!  My finishing touch was this fun sentiment and a few rhinestones.

 

Now how about those deals?  The following items have been marked down on the eP site today...all products needed and loved by card makers!  Now go out and feed your creativity...

 

30% off select stamps

Market Street Stamps

Sweet Stamp Shop

 

40% off select 6x6 paper pads

Authentique

My Minds Eye

Basic Grey

Echo Park

 

40% off Authentique Collection Kits

Lively

Festive

Peaceful

 

30-50% off select embellishments

KaiserCraft

Idea-ology

Grahpic 45

Basic Grey

 

50% off select Spellbinders Dies

 

30% off all Button Galore products

 

But that's not all...Post your creation in our World Making Card Day 2012 Album on eP's Facebook page and be entered in to a random drawing for a $25.00 eclectic Paperie gift certificate!  You have until October 8th to enter a card and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 9th!  Want to see what some of the other members of the eTeam are up to today?  Head on over to the eP blog for a list of team members who are also celebrating World Making Card Day or visit the links below!

 

Micki Harper

Julie Masse

Broni Holcombe

Michelle Hill

 

Enjoy today friends!

 

 

Sweet Stamp Shop Sneak Peek

Hi all!  I have a card posted on the Sweet Stamp Shop blog today...check it out here!

 

And, to go along with today's card, a video demonstrating a Torn Tissue Tape technique (as seen on my card) can be found in the eClassroom!

 

Enjoy!

What If...

Well...what if your fears and dreams existed in the same place...would you still go there? 

It seems that having big dreams also means having big fears; the two live together.  It takes courage, resolve, and perseverance to follow your dreams while also facing your fears.  It means that you will endure failures and unforeseen pressures and disappointments.  The unknown is a scary place but you'll never know if your dream can become a reality, or rejoice in a dream realized, unless you make that first step.  My advice?  Go there...

I love some of the sentiments from Stampers Anonymous (the one on my card is from a Tim Holtz set), not only does the size make a great focal point on a card but sometimes the sayings really hit home. **smile**

Today's card is for this week's Splitcoast CAS challenge; using coral, aqua, and yellow on a card.  Since I'm all about banners lately, I decided to ink up canvas banners from Maya Road.  Here's how I created the banners...
  

 I first swiped my Distress Ink pad (I used Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, and Tumbled Glass) on my Non-Stick Craft Sheet.  (If you don't have a craft sheet...get one...your life is not complete until you add this to your craft supplies!)

Then use a Mister to spray the ink multiple times.  You want the ink to really bead up...lots of spraying!

And then smoosh (that's a technical term) the banner all around in the ink.  Note...You're going to get inky doing this technique...like really inky but that's ok...crafting isn't any fun unless you're getting dirty!  (If you do get dirty, you can get squeaky clean again with a Craft Scrubbie!)

 

Once the banner is completely covered in ink, use a heat gun to dry the banner.  I did leave mine overnight to completely dry so ink wouldn't get on my card.  I then added a second step...A swirl pattern by using the Layered Butterfly Template (I used just the wing design).  I just used my blending tool to add the same color ink to the banner, this gives the banner a subtle design.

 

Then I added the banners to my card and layered the sentiment over the banners.  Easy peasy!

 

Enjoy!!