Ellen Hutson | Essentials by Ellen March 4th Release | Reveal Week - Day 1

It's an exciting week with a new Essentials by Ellen Release available this Friday, March 4th! Today is Day 1 of Reveal Week and we're sneak peeking three new sets - Bear Ware Dress-Up 1, Bear Wear Dress-Up 2 and Bear Ware Dress-Up Sentiments.

I have a pair of cards using these new stamp sets and, if you're a fan of the Bear Ware Collection, you're in for a real treat! I started collecting all of the Bear Ware sets right after All Inside was released and I always feel giddy when I use these cuties. 

I love that there are now two big bears and two little bears that you can pair up with all of the accessories for the cutest, customized scenes. This first card pairs up the bear from All Inside with the globe from Bear Ware Grand Tour.

The new items include a pencil, laptop, stack of books and desk from Bear Wear Dress-Up 2. The sentiment is from Bear Ware Dress-Up Sentiments. The stars are from Home & Hearth, the patterned paper is from Honey Bee's Back to Basics and the gel pressed panel was created using Catherine Pooler's Party Dress, Coral Cabana, Catching Rays, Lemongrass and Garden Party ink pads.

After creating the gel pressed background on my second card using a different combination of Party Dress, Coral Cabana, Catching Rays, Lemongrass and Garden Party ink pads, I used the A2 Piercing Plate to add even more texture. To create the sentiment, I used a combination of old and new products, more of which you'll see on Days 2 and 4!

The little bear is from Bear Ware 4, the passport and suitcase are from Bear Ware Grand Tour and the airplane and taxi are from the new Bear Wear Dress-Up 2. I used the Classic Block Alpha and Classic Block Numbers & Symbols (yay, finally!!), plus the awesome new Casual Taglines Stamp Set which coordinates with the existing Nice of You Die. The letters were die cut from leftovers from the background on the first card and I added a blue enamel heart to finish.

All of the images on both cards were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink and clear embossed on watercolour cardstock. I used Catherine Pooler inks in Party Dress, Coral Cabana, Catching Rays, Lemongrass, Garden Party, Oh Boy!, Sand Castle, Over Coffee, Twilight and Black Jack to watercolour all of the images, using all of the colours on both cards, just in different proportions.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll see you again tomorrow for more sneak peeks!

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VIDEO | Taylored Expressions | Teacher/Grad Cards + Simple Storage for Building Blocks

Hello, crafty friends! I'm always excited to bring you another Taylored Expressions video and this time, it's all about teachers and grads! Be sure to check out all of the amazing products in the new Teacher/Grad Release. Most of us have teachers and grads in our life and it's that time of year to start cranking out those cards and gifts!

I used the same colour scheme to make one teacher card and one grad card. In the video, I also give you a close-up look at the new must-have Simple Storage for Building Blocks so be sure to check that out! 

My first card uses the new Full Circle - School stamp set with the Notepaper Background. I stamped the doodle image twice on a 4" x 5.25" panel, then used the Stitched Circle Stacklets to create masks before stamping the Notepaper Background on an angle with Sprinkles ink.

After removing the masks, I colour the images with Copic markers (colours listed in the supply links below), then use Sprinkles and Peaches 'n Cream inks and a Circle Masking Stencil to blending the backgrounds.

I cut two A2 panels, one from Sprinkles cardstock and another from Peaches 'n Cream cardstock. I cut them both diagonally down the centre and used one half of each on a Toffee card base. Then I heat embossed the sentiments on Oreo cardstock and die cut them using the Mini Strips Die and added silver glitter frames using the Mini Strips Backer.

I added the sentiment strips to the card with foam tape and toggled them at different angles for visual interest. To finish, I added silver drip drops to some of the circles on the images. This card, with its neutral colours, would be suitable for any teacher and covers so many subjects from art and science to geography and math!

My second card features the On the Block - Grad and Building Blocks - Well Done. I'm a huge fan of the On the Block series and literally freak out every time a new one is released! 

As I mentioned in my previous video, you can use the Dahlia Stencil as flower, confetti or fireworks and I've used them here as fireworks to celebrate the grad. I used the new Bitty Blender Brushes to add Peaches 'n Cream, Sprinkles and Blue Corn inks to this stencil and I have total heart eyes for the effect!

I heat embossed On the Block - Grad on Blue Corn cardstock using Sugar Cube ink and set it with halo embossing powder for maximum effect. I die cut the heat embossed word and two additional layers using the On the Block - Grad Shadow, in Peaches 'n Cream and white glitter cardstock. To finish, I added sentiment strips from Building Blocks - Well Done and popped everything on a Peaches 'n Cream card base.

Thanks so much for watching!

Supplies: 

{Lawn Fawn} Christmas 2018 Teacher Gifts

A couple of days ago, I shared an in-process photo on Instagram and here are the finished gift boxes with assorted Lindt chocolate balls inside! My son loves handing out holiday treats to his teachers and it's fun to make them several times a year. Lawn Fawn's adorable stamps and dies make it easy to create perfectly-themed gift boxes.

As you know, my son is in his third year of piano lessons. He also started playing percussion in September after a fun week at summer band camp which got him hooked. The little boy elf and drum from Holiday Helpers with the music stand and sheet music from Critter Concert represent his new-found passion perfectly! All I had to do was add a speech bubble and sentiment from Say What? Christmas Critters with the stage curtains from the Shadow Box Card Theater Add-On for the perfect stage. I was delighted to discover that the whole scene fit perfectly on the Goodie Bag.

I was able to fit four chocolate Lindt balls of various flavours in each bag and secured them with 12" of silver metallic string from May Arts Ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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{Paper Smooches} Thanks, Teacher and Winner Announced!

My son finished junior kindergarten this past week. It seems like just yesterday that he started school. He's grown and learned so much this year. I can't believe he will be turning five in about six weeks! Time really flies. We had already made a significant contribution to the class gift and my son wasn't willing to make her a card - disappointing but understandable since he made her so many during the school year - so I whipped up this card for his teacher. The lady is from Jive Turkey, and the ruler and sentiment are from Smarty Pants. I thought she'd appreciate big diamond earrings. ;)

Here's my winner from the June Paper Smooches DT Blog Hop on Thursday and that lucky lady is:

Congratulations, Maureen! Please email me with your mailing address so we can get the Super stamp set sent out to you right away.

Thank you all for hopping along with the Paper Smooches design team for this release! See you on the Paper Smooches Blog for inspiration all month long. Have an amazing weekend! We are enjoying the Canada Day long weekend. :)

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InLinkz.com