Tutorial- Fall Feather Tag :: Tifany DeGough

Hello there and happy fall to you!

It's Tifany here and today I'd like to share a little tutorial for creating a Fall Feather Tag using some stamps from Market Street Stamps and a canvas tag. 

First, let's gather our supplies from the Marketplace:

• Canvas Tag
• Funky Herringbone Background Stamp
• Wild Market Mini
• Acrylic Blocks (I am using the Rectangle and Medium Round)

And from our craft stash:

• Mists
• Dye Inks

We'll start by stamping the Funky Herringbone Background Stamp on the tag in a light fall color. 

These big canvas tags work wonderfully with the large background stamps from Market Street Stamps. I chose to only stamp it once (so it covers the large base area of the tag and leaves an empty space at the top). If you don't like that look, you can stamp it twice for full coverage (or use one of the mini canvas shapes for full coverage in one impression).

When stamping on canvas you should realize that there are most likely going to be imperfections in the stamping. I think this adds character - but if you can't handle imperfections in your stamping then you can just give this a whirl on a paper tag. ;o)

Next we will give the tag an ombré effect with various mists. For this project I suggest choosing light colored mists in a similar color family/palette. I've chosen three fall-friendly mists that will blend well into each other.

Tip: Always mist on a protected surface. You will have overspray...so unless you want that counter or table misted, cover it up with something like scrap cardboard. 

Stamp the beautiful feather from the new Wild Market Mini with a dark ink. (I'm using a permanent black ink.) 

Stamp it several times varying the positioning. I've grouped it into two clusters, but I also think this would look great randomly stamped all over the entire tag. 

When stamping off the edge of the tag, be sure you are protecting your stamping surface...although I can't deny that a feather stamped desk might just be beautiful. :o)

Finish off your tag with some twine, ribbon, or other embellishments.

This tag would be great to tie onto a big fall gift basket and I also think it would be lovely to create two of these and use them for mini album covers.
What would you use this tag for?

Tutorial- DIY Dry Erase Frame :: Stephanie Muzzulin

Hey everyone it's Stephanie M here!

 Today I am showing you a quick fun tutorial.

 

 First step gather your supplies.
 

The frame you can get any big box store fairly cheap.  You are going to get your pattern papers for this I used one pattern paper and one neutral colored paper so I can stamp on it.
 

Second cut your paper down to size depending on the size of your frame mine is 5x7. Then your neutral paper mine is 41/4x51/2.

Third stamp your background stamp(vintage notepad) onto the neutral paper adhere to pattern paper and from here you are going to put your frame back together.
 

 

 Lastly the fun part decorating your frame .

 I glued my tag, bow and flower using the hot glue gun.

For my tag I used the sweet sentiment from the Woodland set.
 

********

 

Isn't that a great project!?

 

Make sure you stop by Stephanie's blog

Handmade Creations by Stephanie

for lots of great ideas and inspiration!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with the winners from our Block Party! :)



Tutorial- Rock & Roll Stamping :: Stephanie Washburn

HI! Good morning!

 

Stephanie  here today with a quick little tutorial on how to get some more use use out of your solid stamps! Today I'm going to show you how to achieve a soft, gradient look by using the rock & roll technique!

 

Today I'm using the Two Step Butterfly stamp set and three blue pigment inks from A Muse Studio. These inks work beautifully to create a really soft look- if you want a more distinct color difference you can use dye inks for this technique! I wanted a soft pastel look for these butterflies so I chose pigment ink. Have fun with it and experiment to see what inks give you the look you want!  

I started by inking the solid butterfly image with my lightest of three colors - Sky A Muse Studio pigment ink.

 

Then, I added some of my middle color - Blueberry A Muse Studio pigment ink - by hovering my stamp right above the ink pad and gently rocking and rolling the stamp onto the ink. The ink is distributed more heavily towards the outer edges of the stamp leaving the center light blue.

 

I repeated this process with the darkest of the three colors - Navy A Muse Studio pigment ink - concentrating the darker colors along the outer edge of the butterfly wings.

 

You can see in the background that some of the lighter ink transferred to my darker ink pads. Not a huge concern at all- I simply rub the whole ink pad on a sheet of scrap paper when I'm finished and that layer of lighter ink comes right off!

 

After stamping a couple butterflies using the rock & roll technique, I added some of the outline butterfly stamp to create movement on my card. I think this panel makes it look like the butterflies are flying from the bottom left up to the top right.

 

I added a rock & roll butterfly (that I cut out with scissors) to the panel to add some dimension. I think it looks really cool- like the butterfly is taking flight off of the card!

 

 

Here's the finished card! I added a sentiment from Growth and some pearls on the top butterfly to pull it all together. I love the soft look of the butterflies!

 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

Tutorial- Two Step Stamping :: Amy Kolling

When you look at your clear stamps, do you really look at them?  What I mean is....do you think about turning them over and stamping with the "WRONG" side?  Well, I wanted to share just how you can do this!  I used this technique on THIS Market Street Stamps card that was chosen for the Top 20 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest this summer!

Firstly, you need to choose a clear stamp that has an outline that is the same as the image.  To clarify, look at the back of the stamp to see if it would make the perfect outline for the actual stamp itself.  I chose to work with the Two Step Butterfly stamp that is only $5 and available in the MSS store.  The butterfly I used is the SOLID image (top image in the photo).  Here are my supplies:

Let's see, I do believe some neon is in.....now I don't have neon inks but I think this represents neon in what I remember wearing back "when" those neon shoestrings and tops were "in"!  LOL

So here, I've chosen inks that have a lighter shade and a coordinating darker shade.

Your first step is to place a small piece of double sided tape on one side of your clear block and place your stamp on the block so the back side is out.  Yes go ahead.....do it.  Ink up your lighter shade of color and stamp your image.  Clean your stamp and remove to now place on the other side of your block.  Now place your stamp the "normal" way on the block and ink up with the darker coordinating shade of color.  Now, centering the actual stamp is soo easy because you have the outline there as a guide!  When done, it gives the most perfect outline to your image!

Here are all 3 butterflies stamped first with the back of the stamp and then again with the normal side of the stamp.

Now for the finished card.........I love the results and it makes for very mailable card since there is no layering!

  So I challenge you to go look through your stamps and see what stamp(s) you have that may work for this technique because it is FUN!

Tutorial :: Sprucing Up A Dollar Spot Find :: Stephanie Muzzulin

Happy Tuesday.

  It's Stephanie M here to share a little altered project.

One of my favorite things to do when I go into a store is to hit the dollar spots I love looking through and finding that one great thing that I can bring home and alter!!!

So for today's project I am sprucing up this little note book that I found.

 I am starting off with this sweet notebook and doing a little recycling by using a piece of 81/2x11 cardboard that comes with a pack of paper this is going to be the cover for my notebook.

 Next step you are going to want to measure your notebook and then cut down the cardboard to size for this I only had to cut the cardboard about 1/4 of an inch  length wise and then 1/2 inch off for the height. Before I score the cardboard I usually lay down my notepad so i can get and idea of where I need to score and this is all going to depend on how thick your notepad is!!!

 Once you have done your scoring you can start the decorating process by  cutting and adding you pattern paper to the front and back of the notebook by once again just measuring the the height and length of your cardboard cover and making the same score marks.

 After you have added your pattern paper to the cover you can adhere your notebook by adding score tape to the back of your notepad and adhering it to the cardboard base.

 Now the fun part decorating the cardboard front of your notepad,

I wanted this butterfly embellishment to be the focus
for the front of my notepad. So I diecut the butterfly shape with another piece of cardboard.

Next I stamped and embossed it with white embossing powder using one of the fabulous background stamps this one is called Cane.  I think this is such a fun way to make your own embellishments and add some texture to your project!!!

After I embossed my butterfly I then added color by using my distress inks to match the color of my notepad cover.

Here is the finished product all decorated!!!

Hope you enjoyed today's project!!!!

Mini Notepad {Tutorial}

With the holidays coming up quickly I've got handmade gifts on the brain.
Add to that the combined love my children and I have for paper and pens, and the perfect little stocking stuffer is born - a mini notepad.


I started by cutting some patterned paper to 4 1/4" x 2 3/4". I stamped each patterned paper with a different background stamp from Market Street Stamps (Zebra Print, Argyle, Pretty Perfect Grid, and Vintage Music). I also stamped some additional patterned paper with one of the decorative circle stamps and the "just a note" sentiment from the "For All It's Worth" set.


I then added embossing powder to each of the stamped images and set the embossing with my heat gun.


I cut out the circular tags to add to the front of each notepad, punched the notepad pages, cover, and chipboard backing with my Cinch.
{Tip: For a 2 3/4" x 4 1/4" notepad I slid the ruler on my Cinch 1/8" out and punched only pegs 1 & 4.}


To bind the notepad, I cut a 1/8" dowel in 2 1/2" pieces and used a small rubber band (the kind you get in the hair accessories) to hold the dowel in place.

By combining patterned papers with the many great background stamps offered by Market Street Stamps, you can create individualized notepads for everyone on your list.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Please visit me on my blog - I love visitors!:

Supplies:
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Zebra Print, Pretty Perfect Grid, Argyle, Vintage Music, For All It's Worth);
Ink: VersaMark (Watermark);
Embossing Powder: American Crafts (Zing - Chestnut);
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper (Portrait - 6x6); My Mind's Eye (Mabel - 6x6, Hattie - 6x6);
Other: 1/8" Diameter Dowel; Chipboard; Rubber Band;
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Cinch Binding Machine;

Tutorial: Distress Stain Resist (3 ways!)

Who LOVES Distress Stains!? I DO! 

Steph here today to show you how to use Distress Stains and Emboss Resist to create three VERY different looks- same technique, just very different ways to use it!

Today I'm going to show you 

Distress Stain Resist, Distress Stain Resist with Perfect Pearl Mist, 

and Distress Stain Resist Watercoloring. 

Enjoy!

Distress Stain Resist

This is the most basic of the techniques I'm going to show you today- super easy, but creates a really pretty color pattern that you can use as a main focal element on your cards or even on scrapbook layouts! I love to sit and play around with different color stains to create beautiful patterns- so much fun!

First, I started by heat embossing the Sweet Lace background with clear embossing powder on white cardstock. Then, I chose a couple different Distress Stains and went to work! The Stains I used on this card are Crushed Olive, Scattered Straw, and Vintage Photo (full list of supplies at the bottom of the post).

Add color in any pattern you wish, mixing and blending the colors around until you have the look you want! I started with Crushed Olive, adding it in small circles where the circles in the background pattern are.

Then I went in and filled the spaces with Scattered Straw. Finally, I added bits of Vintage Photo here and there to complete the look! 

When you're finished adding your Distress Stains, you can either leave it to dry or dry it with a heat tool.

And here's the final product. If you wanted a more blended look, you could mist it with some water before heat setting!


AND... here's the card I made: 

Perfect for fall- I added the sentiment "Autumn Greetings" from the Autumn Greetings set on the inside!

Distress Stain Resist with Perfect Pearl Mist

This next technique is basically the same technique as the first, only the finished product is a sparkly, pretty blend of colors! For this one, I started by heat embossing the Zebra Print background with clear embossing powder on white cardstock. Then, I chose a couple different Distress Stains and went to work! The Stains I used on this card are Weathered Wood, Broken China, and Faded Jeans (full list of supplies at the bottom of the post).

Add color in any pattern you wish, mixing and blending the colors around until you cover the paper and have the look you want!

Next, spray the entire sheet with Perfect Pearls Mist. Ensure that you spray enough to achieve a nice blend of the colors and get a pretty shimmer!

Wipe the excess Perfect Pearls Mist and Stain from the embossed area with a  damp towel.

Leave to dry or dry quickly with a heat tool!


And here's the card I made with this pretty, sparkly background:

Same layout for this card, but a TOTALLY different effect! This is perfect for a fun card to send to a girlfriend! I completed it by stamping the "Celebrate" sentiment from Celebrate Cake on the inside.

Distress Stain Resist Watercoloring

This final technique I'm going to show you is very different from the other two! For this one, I started by heat embossing the Woodgrain background with clear embossing powder on white cardstock. Then, I chose a couple different Distress Stains and watercolor painted them using my Aqua Painter! You can totally use a regular paint brush and water for this technique- I just happen to have an Aqua Painter, which makes this technique really easy. The Stains I used on this card are Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain (full list of supplies at the bottom of the post).

I started by applying some Distress Stain directly to my craft sheet in the three colors I chose to use.

Then, I used my Aqua Painter to pick up some Stain to paint on my embossed cardstock.

I added all three colors in stripes across the embossed paper, creating a fun, watercolored woodgrain look! I love how the stains blend together and and create this soft pattern!

Finally, either leave the paper to dry or dry it quickly with a heat tool.

And here's the card I made:

Same layout, just turned around a bit! LOVE this look and I'll definitely be using this technique again soon! On the inside I stamped the sentiment "Thank You" from the Hippie Chic set!

I hope I have inspired you to try Distress Stains and play around to discover new looks and styles! It is really fun to just get a little inky and play around!

{Distress Stain Resist} Supplies:

InLinkz.com

{Distress Stain Resist with Perfect Pearl Mist} Supplies:

InLinkz.com

{Distress Stain Resist Watercoloring} Supplies:

InLinkz.com