Watercoloring Tutorial

Today over on the DeNami Design blog I'm sharing a photo tutorial on watercolor painting, my very favorite way to color stamped images. No watercolor paints? No problem! I do all of my watercolor painting with dye inks, either from re-inkers, dye ink pads, or even water-based markers. It's so easy! I've got tips and tricks to help you get started, and I show all the steps for making this card (which I am entering in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp).

I hope you'll take a minute to check it out, and please let me know what you think!

Also, two quick DeNami reminders before I go:

• Our Product Spotlight stamp from this week, the Bunny Border, is still on sale at 10% off the regular price (but only through next Tuesday, so don't delay placing your order if you were thinking about adding it to your collection!).
• Be on the lookout for our new DeNami challenge--it will start on Monday!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 5: A Birdie Happy Birthday

Well, this is it--the last day of my Growing In Unity week. Boo hoo. It went too quickly! I will leave comments open for the prize drawing (any two Unity Itty Bitty stamps of the winner's choosing) until Sunday night, April 1, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Remember that you can comment on any (or all!) of my Growing In Unity posts this week for a chance to win. I'll be back on Monday morning with a little more Unity/{ippity} goodness for your inspiration and a winner announcement.

I'm also very pleased to be featured today as Guest Designer over at Get Hippity With {Ippity}, a challenge blog highlighting {ippity} and Unity stamps. If you haven't played along with GHWI before, you should definitely check it out. There's a generous {ippity} prize for each challenge! The current challenge theme is Things With Wings. What a fun one! And I'm just delighted to be able to share my wing-y guest designer creation with you as my last GIU project as well as my Unity Friends With Flair project. It's been far too long since I've been able to play along with FWF!!

Let's take a peek:

Squeal! I just love that the lineup of sweet birdies from {ippity}'s Quotes a'la Happy kit are so much like the birdies in the My Mind's Eye patterned paper, from the Quite Contrary--Jack & Jill collection, that I used. I just had to color them, using my Prismacolor pencils, to match the patterned paper! The striped paper is also from the Jack & Jill collection. For those keeping score on my personal patterned paper challenge this week, that's my sixth different collection! I also used {ippity}'s How YOU Doin' kit for the happy birthday sentiment.

I think I may have some difficulty sending out this birthday card when it comes time, and I don't mean just because that big, fluffy bow will make for a challenging fit into an envelope!! I always make my cards with the intention of sending them out to family and friends, but I just love the way this one turned out and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to part with it. We'll see!

Thanks so much for stopping by this week to check out my Unity/{ippity} creations. I've had a blast--a week full of bliss, for sure. I've treasured each and every visit!!

Don't forget to come back on Monday to see who is the winner!
Have a great weekend,
Emily
PS I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

Growing In Unity ~ Day 4: A Two-Fer

Is it just me, or is this week absolutely flying?? Here we are at Day 4 of my Growing In Unity Week, already! As I was creating projects for my five days of GIU, I somehow ended up with six projects to share. So today you get a bonus project!

And we're off . . .

This "Sweet 16" card is for my husband's niece who, quite unbelievably, is turning--you guessed it!!--16 next week. Unity's Sweetest Day Itty Bitty stamp, a co-brand with Jillibean Soup, takes center stage. This adorable strawberry is ideal for paper piecing, and I think that sentiment is just perfect. I know I'll be using it a lot, with or without that fat berry. :) And do you know what else is perfect? That fabulous two-toned sheer ribbon from May Arts (a huge thanks to Jessi!), which looks amazing with some ivory rick-rack layered over top. I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

Up next: a little something different for me. After slicing off a panel of the pink striped paper I used on my strawberry card, I happened to flip over the piece that was left and thought it would make a fabulous frame:

I just needed a little something for the middle, and thought I knew just what it should be: a sentiment from Unity's Quote Bundle Pack. I added some matting and stitching, plus some buttons and rhinestones and paper flowers for dimension. Ta-da! A quick, easy, colorful, and inspiring card. And lots of flowers qualifies it for the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers.

So, now you may be asking "How are you doing on your personal patterned paper challenge?" Well, I can add two more collections to my utilized-papers list: My Mind's Eye Lost & Found--Madison Avenue 6 x 6 paper pad (dots and dark rose print on the strawberry card) and My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy--Tickled Pink 6 x 6 paper pad (leaves and stripes on the strawberry card, plus the entire panel on the second card). That should bring my total up to five different paper collections so far, and it's just Day 4 ;).

And there you have it--my Unity two-fer day! Come on back tomorrow for my last {sniff} GIU post. I can't wait to show you my creation!

Thanks for sharing a little slice of bliss with me today,
Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 3: Enjoy

(This is my second post of the day. For my DeNami Design Product Spotlight post,
please scroll down to my next post or click here.)

Welcome to Day 3 of my Growing In Unity week! Today's the day I'm being highlighted on the Unity blog, so if you just can't get enough of my smiling face {roll eyes}, you can swing by over there to check it out. In any case, be sure to comment on all of my Growing In Unity posts, Monday through Friday this week, to maximize your chances of being drawn as the random winner of two free Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.

All righty, on to my Unity project of the day:

The star of the show is a wonderful Itty Bitty stamp from Unity: Tattered Roses by Iron Orchid Designs. I just love this stamp! I colored it with chalks, applied with foam applicators, to give this the look of a hand-tinted vintage photo and then sponged on distress ink around the edges for a more aged look. The sentiment is from the How YOU Doin' {ippity} kit. Anyway, I thought those tattered roses would be perfect for playing along with the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers. I'm also entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

I challenged myself to use patterned paper on each GIU project this week--a different paper collection each day! Today I'm adding the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found--Market Street 6 x 6 paper pad to my list of utilized collections. It's a beauty! Those peachy/coral and heather green tones are so pretty for spring. I do believe that all of my patterned paper collections this week will be from My Mind's Eye. How did that happen? Well, it just may have something to do with the fact that A.C. Moore stores (the brick and mortar versions) carry MME 6 x 6 pads for the regular price of $3.99, which makes them pretty cheap. But when I can get hold of a 50% off coupon (which is often the case), I can get one of these pads for the bargain-basement price of $1.99!! I know, right?? Anyway, that may have something to do with the fact that I now own 10 different MME 6 x 6 pads now ;).

Well, thanks so much for stopping by to see what's making my happy today on Bliss Road! I'll see you back here--same time, same station--again tomorrow.

Have a great day!
Emily

Pastel Bunnies for Easter

Happy Wednesday!

I love making and sending Easter cards to my family and friends. How about you? How are your preparations coming along? I can't believe that next week is Holy Week--already!! I'm not exactly ready with my Easter cards yet, but today's DeNami Product Spotlight helped me along a bit. The DeNami Design team is sharing creations made with the ultra-adorable Bunny Border. Here's my card:

Along with the Bunny Border, I used DeNami's Small Happy Easter sentiment and the grass tuft from the Petit Four Easter stamp set. I watercolored the bunnies with dye ink and trimmed around each so I could group them around and on top of the Easter sentiment. I couldn't resist making coloring them in my favorite pastel shades!! Here's a list of all the DeNami products I used on this creation:

Petal Pink cardstock
Sky Blue cardstock
Lavender cardstock
Vintage Sepia Versafine ink
Aloe Vera Versamagic ink
EK Success Dotted Scallop Border punch
baker's twine from the Pastel Twine 3-pack
baker's twine from the Spring Twine 3-pack

Don't forget that that as our Product Spotlight stamp, the Bunny Border will be on sale for the next week!
Now be sure to swing by the DeNami blog today to check out what the rest of the design team created with this stamp!

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Emily

PS I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

Growing In Unity ~ Day 2: Beyond Happy For You

Welcome back to Day 2 of my Growing In Unity week! In case you are just tuning in, I'm being featured as this week's GIU gal over on the Unity Stamp Co. blog (you'll see my name all lit up in lights along the right sidebar) and that means that you get a chance at some free Unity rubber stamps. Be sure to comment on each of my GIU posts this week, Monday through Friday, and at the end of the week, I'll randomly draw a commenter to win two free Unity Itty Bitty stamps of her choice!! Sweet!!

And here now, without further ado, is my project of the day:




My design for this pocket card was inspired by this week's sketch over at Chick Challenges {with Ippity}.
And if you let Angie know that you are playing along with the sketch, she'll throw your name in the hat for some additional free {ippity} through her. So I'm definitely doing that as well! And as long as I'm mentioning challenges: I'm also playing along with the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers.

But I'm not done quite yet . . . my card has a secret!! And I'm sure you are just dying to be let in on it. So here it is: I designed the tag to be a stashing place for a gift card. Just flip it over, and there it is. :)


I used two {ippity} stamp kits for this card: Dots for Sure and The Best. And I continued making progress on the challenge to myself to use a different patterned paper collection each day this week. This time around I'm showcasing pretty prints from the Six by Six Vanity Fair collection by My Mind's Eye. Double-sided papers like these from MME make it easy to make beautiful folded circle flowers like the one I used on this pocket card. (You can find a great tutorial here.)

Whew! That was a long one. Are you still with me? Good! I'm so glad you stopped by to take a look at my Day 2 GIU project. I love how it turned out, and I hope you like it, too.

See you back here tomorrow for some more Unity goodness!
Have a great day,
Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 1: It's All About YOU

Happy Monday! I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I posted here on my blog last. I feel like I've been incredibly busy recently, but sitting here thinking things through, I can't quite figure out what exactly has been taking up so much of my time. All I know is that I've been away from my computer quite a lot! But, no matter. Now I'm making up for lost time, posting every day this week as the Growing In Unity gal. Each day I'll be sharing a brand-new creation featuring Unity and/or {ippity} stamps, and you, my dear readers, may comment for a chance to win some brand-new Unity rubber! At the end of the week, I'll be drawing a winner at random from the comments left on my GIU posts from Monday through Friday--feel free to comment each day. The winner gets to pick two Unity Itty Bitty stamps. Check out the vast selection here.

OK, now that we've covered the GIU week details, let's move on to today's card!

Ta-da! It's a window card :). Perfect for a guy, right? But fine for a gal, too. I'm envisioning this as a birthday card, with an inside message that reads "Happy Birthday to you," where the "you" is the same one that shows through the window. Squeal! My day was complete when I thought up that one :D. (And the window makes this card perfect for the March Unity Challenge, to make a card with an opening/flap/window of some sort.)

Here are the Unity stamps that inked their way into the spotlight on this card: {ippity} A Bit of Burlap background, All About Today (thanks, Glenda!!), and some random stamps ("you" on the inside and the ornamental flower bit there, too) from a Unity grab bag.

And now I have a little confession to make. As I brainstormed card ideas to showcase for my GIU week, I realized that I've been neglecting my beloved patterned papers over the past few months. For shame! And even more so because I've collected several lovely mini pads from My Mind's Eye recently, and most have sat untouched on my shelf. To rectify that situation, I've challenged myself to not only use patterned papers for each of my GIU creations this week, but to also use a different collection each day. Today's card features the My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy--True Blue 6x6 paper pad (which may be hard to find online but can still be found in brick & mortar A.C. Moore stores). Stay tuned for more fun patterned papers as my GIU week progresses!!

Playing with my stamps, inks, and papers again sure has made me happy! Thanks for dropping by to check out my latest creation.
See you tomorrow!
Emily

Easter Baskets

Have you seen the new DeNami Design cling stamps? The new release includes some of the cutest stamps for spring, and today the design team is featuring the brand-new Large Spring Basket cling stamp as our Product Spotlight for this week. It was so much fun thinking of ways to use this unique stamp! I couldn't decide whether to go with flowers or eggs, so I made one of each with Easter in mind. :)


My sweet little peeps were made from two different sizes of oval punches! The cracked eggshell portion gets its shape and design from the chevron border stamp in the new Modern Borders Set, and each chickie gets its sweet features from the Animal Faces stamp set. I've used the Small Happy Easter stamp for my sentiment and a bunch of supplies from the DeNami shop:

Petal Pink cardstock
Sky Blue cardstock
Iridescent Emerald Green cardstock
Celery cardstock
Lavender cardstock
Golden Tangerine cardstock
Onyx Black Versafine ink
Vintage Sepia Versafine ink
Habanero Versafine ink
Aloe Vera Versamagic ink
Sea Breeze Versamagic ink
baker's twine from the Pastel Twine 3-pack

I took more of a clean and simple approach to my basket of Easter flowers (although you can see I still couldn't keep from tucking in a couple of Easter eggs!).


All of my flowers (colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits and a paper blending stump) come from the Whimsical Flowers stamp set, and the egg comes from the Easter stamp set. Other DeNami goodies used on this card include:

Small Happy Easter stamp
Petal Pink cardstock
Lavender cardstock
Onyx Black Versafine ink
Vintage Sepia Versafine ink
Sea Breeze Versamagic ink
EK Success Dotted Scallop Border punch
baker's twine from the Pastel Twine 3-pack

Now I just need to find a little time to create some more cards just like these and I'll be all set for Easter!

Don't forget that that as our Product Spotlight stamp, the Large Spring Basket will be on sale for the next week!
And be sure to swing by the DeNami blog today to check out the rest of the ideas the talented DeNami DT cooked up with this stamp!

Thanks for dropping in!
Emily

DeNami Birthday Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Design Birthday Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design DT and customers alike are sharing birthday creations made with DeNami stamps.
Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Wendy Harrill's blog, Confessions of a DeNami Addict. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Remember, there are DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky duckies will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, March 12, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

OK, who's ready to {birthday} party? Let's get started!!

Have you seen the huge variety of stamps in DeNami's birthday category? If not, you should definitely check it out. All I can say is "WOW!" And the latest stamp release added some more fabulous birthday stamps in cling form, so those are the ones I wanted to show off with my projects for today's birthday hop. I couldn't decide which direction to take, so I ended up making two different birthday projects to share. My first is a birthday party favor packed with my favorite kind of treat, chocolate!

This project features not only some of the new DeNami cling stamps (Cupcake Chickie and Birthday Celebration 1 set) but also a new cellophane bag that's perfect for treats: the Clear Gusseted Bag, sold in packs of 10 with the steal-of-the-day price of $2.50. I also used the Polka Dot Background stamp, Petal Pink cardstock, and Vintage Sepia Versafine ink from the DeNami store.

Wanna know my secret for getting those yummy little truffles to line up so perfectly? Just stick them down on the stamped cardstock backing sheet with a bit of strong two-sided adhesive (like ScorTape). :D

My second project is a birthday gift tag using the same stamps as those for my party favor:

I'm also showing off a bit of the new baker's twine from The Twinery that's being carried in the DeNami store now! This bit of pink/white twine comes from the Pastel Twine 3-pack, so perfect for spring and Easter projects!

Well, I'm sure you are just chomping at the bit to head off and collect more fabulous DeNami inspiration for birthday projects. Before you leave, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be on your way to the next stop on the hop: Pam Wendt's blog, Handwerk by Pamela.

Thanks so much for dropping by to check out my happy birthday creations!
Emily

Guest Blogging on Do More With Less

Happy Tuesday! Today I am super excited to be guest blogging on Yvonne Yam's Do More With Less blog. YAY!! :DA HUGE THANKS goes to Yvonne for inviting me!! Yvonne always has the best papercrafting tips, the coolest projects (she ROCKS upcycling!), the most awesome embellishments, and the most fascinating guests. It's such an honor and a gigantic thrill to be featured there today! As part of my guest stint, Yvonne asked if I'd like to share a tutorial with her readers. I've been asked by many of my own readers about how I make the multi-loop twine bows (like this one) that I've been using on my projects for the past several months, so I decided to write a step-by-step photo tutorial on how I make them. You can find all the details in my tutorial over on Do More With Less today--so, if you've been wondering how to make a bow like this, I'd absolutely love it if you dropped by to take a look!

And, wait!! That's not all!! As Do More With Less guest blogger, I'm also sponsoring a challenge to go along with my tutorial. The challenge is to create your own project with a multi-loop bow made from baker's twine, string, embroidery floss, etc., and link it up over on Do More With Less. Here's the new multi-loop-bow project I created for my tutorial and challenge:


It's just a clean and simple little one-layer note card I made to thank a fabulous teenage pianist who shared his musical gifts at our church recently. That harlequin pattern comes from a brand-new DeNami Design cling stamp set, Modern Borders. I also used the Mini Music Notes stamp, All-Occasion Sentiments stamp set, baker's twine from the Spring Twine 3-pack, Deep Lagoon Versafine ink, and Onyx Black Versafine ink--all from the DeNami Design store.

And no challenge would be complete without a little prize, right? One challenge participant will be randomly selected to receive this lil ol' prize package from lil ol' me!


I hope you'll take some time to play along with my Do More With Less Guest Blogger challenge!! Be sure to link up your creation over on Do More With Less. I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by to see what's making me happy today!!
Emily

Happy Easter

Today I'm sharing a card I created for the new DeNami Design Challenge that debuts today over on the DeNami Design blog. The challenge is to use at least one DeNami Design stamp and this color combination:

I'm so excited about this challenge because Paulina asked me to pick the colors! I knew I'd be ready to make some Easter cards by the time this challenge went live, so I chose some pretty pastels that would be great to use on cards for spring! In terms of DeNami cardstock colors, these are: magenta, celery, desert orange, leaf green, and petal pink.

Here's the Easter card I made with these colors:

This was so much fun to put together! And I used a ton of DeNami products:

Easter stamp set
Small Happy Easter stamp
Rosebud Trio stamp
Teeny Heart Background stamp
Magenta cardstock
Celery cardstock
Desert Orange cardstock
Petal Pink cardstock
EK Success Dotted Scallop border punch
Onyx Black Versafine ink
Aloe Vera Versamagic ink

I hope you'll take some time to play along with the DeNami Color Challenge this month! You have until Monday, March 26, to enter. I can't wait to see what you create. :)

Thanks for stopping by,
Emily

PS I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.