Stamp-A-Faire - Starry Night

Today's Stamp-A-Faire event at Papertrey is well underway! We'd love to have you join us today -- for any or all of it.

Our theme is The Masters. So far, today's challenges have included Master Color Recipes, Starry Night, and Gilded in Gold. Follow along with the full day's challenges over at Nichole's blog, which is where you'll also link up your projects. 

Each link list will be open until 7am ET Tuesday, July 26th, so you will have ample time to participate and photograph your projects. 

I have the honor of hosting a Starry Night challenge inspired by Vincent van Gogh. You'll find the challenge HERE on Nichole's blog, but I'll also share here:

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Vincent van Gogh wrote about the technical challenge of depicting a night sky: "It often seems to me that the night is even more richly colored than the day, colored with the most intense violets, blues and greens.... It's clear to me to paint a starry sky it's not nearly enough to put white spots on blue-black." In this tutorial, we'll apply a range of colors to create a rich and variegated night sky background. We'll begin with ink blending, follow with watercoloring, and finish with acrylic paint. I'll also show you how to create tree silhouettes along a horizon line for an easy way to complete a night scene."

I hope you'll play along! Remember, the link-up is HERE on Nichole's blog!

Papertrey Make It Monday: String Art Using Die-Cuts

Happy Independence Day to my U.S.A. readers!

I'm excited to be hosting this week's Make It Monday video tutorial and challenge over at Papertrey Ink! Visit Nichole's blog for all the details and to link up your creation.

I've been so inspired by string art projects I keep seeing on Pinterest. You know, the ones where you wrap string around nails that are arranged into a shape. Click HERE for a whole bunch of wonderful examples. I thought, why not try it on a card? Papertrey's stitching dies are wonderful for this, but lots of other dies work, too. 

In the 4th of July notecard above, I've done some spirograph-style string art. In the example below, I created some basic string art corner accents:

In the video, I even share a string wrapping idea if you want something quicker and/or if all that stitching seems daunting. See? No excuses not to play along using whatever supplies you already have on hand ;)

I hope you'll check out the challenge and play along!

Papertrey Make It Monday: Faux Brush Lettering

Hey there, friends, I've got a special post for you today! I'm hosting my first-ever Make It Monday video & challenge with Papertrey, called Faux Brush Lettering. 

Some of you all will know I've been interested in calligraphy and lettering since high school. Off and on, over the years, I've played around with lettering, and even addressed friends' wedding invitations on several occasions. (The price was right -- free! Actually, it was usually my gift to the bride and groom, so it worked out well.) 

Most of my lettering has been with ink and nibs, but in the past year, I've become more interested in brush lettering, both with markers and with an actual watercolor brush. It's not easy, though, and takes lots of practice! 

As I was preparing for Papertrey's April release, specifically Betsy's Paper Clippings: Thank You stamp set, I wondered if I could add some ink shading to my stamped sentiment to make it look like watercolor brush lettering. Today's Faux Brush Lettering Make It Monday video & challenge is the result of that experiment. Hope you'll give it a try!

The Paper Clippings: Thank You sentiment that I used in my example is big and wonderful and dramatic, but there are lots and lots of smaller sentiment stamps in the Papertrey store that would work really well, too. Basically anything with a brush letter style font. Here are few suggestions: anything from the Paper Clippings series, Inspired: Lord and Inspired: Savior, the "hello" in Noted,  Thanks, Coach,  XOXO, many of the big words in Dawn's Enclosed series, any of the Wet Paint stamps, Super Succulents (just use a small brush!), Graceful Greetings, and so many more.

All of the challenge details are posted HERE on Nichole's blog.

And here's the video:

In the video, I mention that you can also try this technique with Copic markers or watercolor markers. The following card, which I posted here on my blog last Thursday, was done with Copic markers:

I've been busy with Papertrey's April release and was out of town for the last few days (on a super fun high school orchestra field trip), but now that I'm back, I can't wait to try this same technique with water-based markers (Zig Clean Color brush markers, Distress markers, Tombow Dual Brush Pens, for example).

Also, in one of those "great minds think alike" coincidences, I saw that Sandy Allnock recently posted a faux watercolor hand lettering tutorial. I highly recommend watching her video as well. I especially like that she's blended multiple colors, instead of just shades of the same color. 

Can't wait to see your take on this challenge!

Here's another look at my Faux Brush Lettering sample:

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Paper Clippings: Thank You, Bloomin' Cute

Dies: Paper Clipping: Thank You, Bloomin' Cute

Ink: Lovely Lady, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, Harvest Gold

Paper: Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Stamper's Select White card stock

Other Supplies:

clear sequins, foam tape, watercolor paper, watercolor brush

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Thanks so much for visiting today! Enjoy your week!

SAF 2015: Stitching With Needles Challenge

I'm having a blast with Stamp-a-faire today -- hope those of you who are participating are too! The projects I've seen so far have been so creative and such fun to see!

Just popping in now to let you know about a Stamp-a-faire challenge I'm hosting -- Stitching With Needles. You'll find all the challenge info, as well as link to a Machine Stitched video tutorial, over on Nichole's blog. In the video, I share a fun metallic thread that I love using, as well as tips for stitching around circular or other non-linear shapes.

Stitching is one of my favorite techniques. I love the subtle texture stitching adds and the homespun quality it can give a project. Often my stitching is more decorative, but it's also a practical alternative to adhesives, particularly with vellum or acetate!

I am challenging Stamp-a-faire participants to add machine stitching to their cards. Hope you'll play along! I look forward to seeing all the creations!

Here's a peek at my machine stitched cards:

Here I've used the fun metallic thread to stitch on my sentiment die-cut.

And here I've added stitching around the die-cut frame.

Hope you'll join me for this challenge. And swing by the PTI forum to chat!

ODBD Anniversary Kick-Off

Today begins a super fun week as Our Daily Bread designs celebrates its first year in business. Each day for the next week, two design team members will be posting fun projects, tutorials, and loads of blog candy. Then on the 17th, we'll culminate the celebration with the release of a very special anniversary stamp set and a blog hop too. I'm lucky enough today to kick off the celebration with teammate Angel Wilde. Be sure to check out her blog, Angelosity, for a demonstration of Shimmerz and some yummy blog candy!

I'll be showing you how to create a lattice background using a Scor-Pal, but before I get to that, how about a chance to win more great prizes? Play along in the Bread Basket {aka Design Team} Scavenger Hunt! You'll find each of the following items on one of the design team members' blogs. When you have found all of the items, copy the list below into an email, and include which blog you found it on, then send your list to our DT Coordinator, Judy Rozema, at lidaroseroz@yahoo.com. Deadline is Thursday, March 12, midnight CT. All correct entries will be put into a “bread basket” (lol) and three winners will be drawn on Friday, the 13th! It could be your lucky day! Prizes and winners will be announced on the ODBD blog on Friday!

Here's your list of items (and remember the items can all be found on the main blog pages, not in the actual posts, so you only have to check banners, sidebars, and such)

A pink and green tree
A dancing giraffe
A NeoPod
A foggy river
A playlist with “Jesus Take The Wheel”
A snapdragon
A daisy with a ladybug
A duck
A red flower
A lemonade stand
A stamping sponge

And here's the full list of Design Team Members (you can also find the links on the lefthand sidebar of my blog):

Kelley Holland (owner of Our DailyBread Designs)
Angel Wilde
Angella Crockett (guest designer)
Angie Zublionis
Becca Feeken
Betty Wright
Chris Olsen
Dina Kowal
Holly McMillen (guest designer)
Jane Wetzel
Judy Rozema
Laurie Schmidlin
Lorelie Kim
Sandee Shanabrough (guest designer)
Sita Mahadeo

Good luck!!

Now, for a quick how-to on creating the lattice background in three easy steps using a Scor-Pal. This is not my idea -- I'm just showing you how to do it. The Scor-Pal and accessories are available in the Our Daily Bread Designs store. I held out on this gem of a product for a long, long time, but I can honestly tell you, I'm so happy I got it, because I use it every single day! I {heart} my Scor-Pal!

Today I'm working with one of my favorite older ODBD sets, Path of Life. The beautiful main image is large, so I chose to work on a 5 1/2" card base. I love the lattice look on white especially, as it is such a classy way to dress up the plain white background. I also love working with the Prismatics papers because of the nice texture. First you'll want to cut your paper to 5 1/2 x 11.



Step 1: With the texture side up (if you're using textured paper), use your Scor-Pal to score on the 11" side at 5 1/2" so you'll know where to fold to make the card base.





Step 2: Flip the paper over so the texture side is down and place your paper at an angle on the left side of the Scor-Pal bed so that the top right corner fits into the little notch at the 5" mark along the top. For this card size, the other corner should fall at approximately the 2" mark. Use your scoring tool to score every 1/2-inch.






Note: When your get to the middle score lines, you'll need to stop at, or even just a tiny bit past where your line reaches the middle of the card, as shown. Remember - you'll want the scoring to look perfect on the front of the card. If you go past a tiny bit, you won't even see it on the back once the card base is folded.



This is what it looks like after completing Step 2:





Step 3: Rotate your paper and move it to the right side of the Scor-Pal bed, lining up the opposite corner into the notch at the 7" mark along the top. Score at every 1/2-inch.



This is what it looks like after completing step 3:



Your background is done!



How easy is that?! Now you're ready to finish your card as you desire.

My main image was colored with Prismacolor pencils, matted twice and popped up on dimensionals. The Scripture was heat-embossed, cut out with Nestabilities and also popped up. I finished up with a simple ribbon along the bottom tied into a bow, a scallop border punched bottom, some Dew Drops, photo corners, and paper piercing.

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Path of Life (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: White, Black, and Herbal Garden Prismatics, Georgia Pacific white
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (for image); Versafine Onyx Black (sentiment)
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps, Gamsol; Scor-Pal, Offray ribbon, Spellbinders circle Nestabilities, SU scallop border punch, photo corner punch, and paper piercer; Robin's Nest Dew Drops

Diaper Favor Pattern and Tutorial

I've had several requests for the pattern for the diaper favor I posted last week, and was finally able to put that together, along with a tutorial. Two things to note: First, I modified a diaper pattern I found at the Michael's website. I enlarged it and changed the folds. Here is that link, in case you prefer that one:

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectsheet?pid=e03212

Second, you can print this pattern directly onto the card stock and trim from there. But cutting the pattern out first is more economic, as you can then get two diapers out of a single sheet of card stock.

The pattern in .PDF format can be found here:

Diaper Favor Pattern

The basic instructions are included in the file, but if you're a visual person, the following tutorial may be of help. Hope this works for you! As always, please let me know if you have any questions. I've never done a tutorial before, so any feedback, good or bad, is definitely welcome :)


1. Print the pattern and trim it out.



2. Cut your piece of card stock into two 8 1/2" x 5" rectangles (i.e., from landscape orientation, cut at 5" and 10". You will not need the 1" strip left over.



3. Lay one 8 1/2 x 5" rectangle in landscape orientation and score at 2 1/2" and 6".



4. Rotate to portrait orientation and score at 2 1/2"



5. Trace pattern onto card stock and trim.



6. OPTIONAL: Stamp the back of the card stock (which will be the outside of the diaper) . Here I've used a dotted background from Stampin' Up.



7. Fold the two triangle sides in at the score lines.



8. Add adhesive to the bottom edge.



9. Fold the diaper front up at the 2 1/2" score line and adhere.



10. For extra durability, secure with a staple in the center.



11. Add ribbon bow to cover the staple.



12. Embellish as desired, and fill pouch with desired treat. Here I've stamped a tag image from Stampin' Up's retired Terrific Tags set in Bashful Blue on Whisper White card stock, then punched it out with Stampin' Up's small tag punch.

This favor is a more basic version than the one I did last week, and therefore easier to mass produce. Obviously, you can add layers of patterned paper, brads, and whatever else you like. By the way, Close to My Heart sells collections of hardware that include teeny little safety pins. I thought they'd be absolutely darling to "pin" these diapers, but I only had a green color and painting it white didn't work so well. Just another idea. I think they carry a white collection :)

That's it - enjoy!!

Thanks for your patience on this! It took a little longer to put together than I expected - sorry!

Stamps: Terrific Tags, Polka Dot (SU!)

Paper: Bashful Blue and Whisper White card stock

Ink: Bashful blue

Accessories: small tag punch, white grosgrain, small flat cello bags, silver cord