I am the guest blogger over on Paper Crafts Connections today and talking about taking small “technique squares” and turning them easily into cards. I really feel making small “canvases” (3×3 or 3×4) is a great way to try out techniques or use small images. Then just pop them on a card and you are good to go. I do this a lot!

Here are the cards I shared over there today along with a few more. All the pieces on the front are from previous Paper Crafts issues. (For more info, head HERE.) I just stamped a favorite background stamp and greeting. Easy…

This first one has a technique piece showing stamping on kraft cardstock with a white Distress Marker. LOVE that Leafy Vine background stamp. Elegant…

Next, the flower shows waterpainting with inks. And the background stamp (which is hard to see) happens to be a favorite of mine – the Paisley Crystal stamp…

This piece is watercolored Distress Markers… and the background is a great one – The Alley Way Love Knots…

Next are the cards I shared over at PCC. (Go HERE to see more.) The first shows inking over a stencil and the awesome Fizz background. It works with everything! The butterfly is stamping with Distress Markers, teamed up with a new Hero Arts background. For the stamped-with-Distress-Markers fern card, I stamped the card with the Looped Circles background. Finally, the last one has a technique piece showing swiping ink directly to paper… along with the works-with-anything stripe background stamp…

Here are the backgrounds I used – I know some of them are hard to see:

Impression Obsession Fizz Stamp	Hero Arts Looped Circle Stamp	Hero Arts Collage Friend Stamp Set	Alley Way Love Knots Stamp	Impression Obsession Paisley Crystal Stamp
Impression Obsession Thin Stripes Background Stamp	Hero Arts Leafy Vines Stamp

I also thought I would give a heads up about a new class over at Big Picture. My dear friend Stephanie Howell has her first class called “The Ties That Bind – Five Ways to Scrapbook Your Most Important Relationships.”

I love the idea behind this class – especially as I am starting scrapbooking again: “Learn to identify and treasure the relationships in your life, both big and small, while creating authentic and meaningful scrapbook layouts in five vital relationship categories.”

The class is self-paced and only $10! Go HERE for more info.

I have a spot for Stephanie’s class to give to a lucky winner. Just leave a comment here by Friday at 11:59pmEST for your chance. Good luck.

See you soon.

I have been getting a lot of questions about my Tips, Tools and Techniques on Distress Markers from the September/October issue of Paper Crafts. So I thought I would share here a bit more about each project.

Here are the projects – each showing a different way to use Distress Markers. These markers are insanely good:

First up is stamping with the White Distress Stain on kraft paper. It gives such a unique and fabulous look. Just pounce the Stain on the stamp and stamp as you normally do:

Next is faux watercolor painting with Distress Markers. Just color the marker right on the stamp (no need to hurry), mist it lightly with water and stamp. Looks like lovely watercolor and all the colors blend so well:

I know many people love the look of Copic Markers but don’t want to pay the high price tag. Distress Markers can also give a nice blended look. Just color with the light marker, add shading with a darker marker and then go dab with the lighter color where the two areas overlap. It will blend nicely:

You can also do simple multi-color stamping with Distress Markers. Just color right on the stamp… and stamp. Easy:

I like to use Distress Markers for backgrounds, too. Just scribble a “rainbow” of markers across the back and mist with water to blend. (You can use a paintbrush to guide it if you want.)

You can also use Distress Markers for watercolor! I just scribbled the marker onto an acrylic block (or a piece of plastic) and pick up color with a wet brush:

These are just a few of the many fun things you do with Distress Markers. For a video I did using them, go HERE.

And I have a great giveaway! The fabulous Tim Holtz and the kind folks at Ranger have donated a set of Distress Markers for a lucky winner! Just leave a comment here by Friday night at 11:59pmEST for your chance to win. Good luck!

Distress Markers

Hero Arts Leaf and Floral Background Stamp

Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly Stamp

Hero Arts Fern and Hummingbird Stamps and Dies

Tim Holtz Papillon Stamp Setq

I am posting over on the Paper Crafts blog today and have a video to go with my projects. (Be sure to head THERE for the main post and more info.)

The video shows three ways to create your own “metal” accents – 3 different ones…

Here is a look at the cards featured…

I used THIS fabulous stamp set…

… and the Memory Box Candy and Apothecary Jar dies…

Again, be sure to head to the Paper Crafts blog for more info… and a giveaway of the metal goodies I used.

Enjoy!

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Metallic Brushed Pewter Distress Stain (SSS|EH)	Ranger Foil Tape Sheets (SSS|EH)	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mirrored Sheets (SSS|EH)	Simon Says Stamp Always and Forever Stamp Set	Impression Obsession Random Lines Background Stamp (SSS|EH)
Memory Box Candy Jar Die (SSS|EH)	Memory Box Apothecary Jar Die (SSS|EH)	Fiskars Stamp Press (SSS|EH)	Corner Chomper (SSS|EH)	Copic Markers (SSS|EH)
Hero Arts Red Royal Shadow Ink (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Black Dye Ink (SSS|EH)	Mid Tone Shadow Ink Bundle	Memento Black Ink (SSS|EH)	Hero Hues Cards etc
Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets (SSS|EH)	Clear Foam Adhesive	Glossy Accents (SSS|EH)

I have had this watercolor paper die cut with white embossed flowers sitting on my craft table for entirely too long. It was time to put it into action…

So I scribbled over it with messy lines of Distress Markers. Lots of colors – all the blues and greens. Scribbled – easy and messy. Then I sprayed the living daylights out of it with pearlized water (Perfect Pearls + water) and let it dry for quite some time. When I came back? It looked super cool. I love how splotchy and messy it became…

You could skip the Perfect Pearls and just use water for a more subtle look. And for less of the splotchy-look, you could use less water.

That background (great for subtle texture) and greeting are new. Lovey…

Quick. Easy. Artsy. Fun!

See you soon.

I white heat embossed the big flower image on watercolor paper and rubbed the inks directly over it with Salty Ocean (blue) in the center and Picked Raspberry (pink) around the edges. (It looked awful at this point! Not blended at all.) I then sprayed it verrrrry generously with a Perfect Pearls+ water mix and let it blend and dry on it’s own. Love the purple that resulted, too…

I did the same steps with another embossed flower and the Mowed Lawn ink and cut a few petals to create leaves. For the word “brilliant,” I covered white cardstock with the Mowed Lawn ink and die cut it with THIS great die. (That ensures it is a perfect match to the leaves!) I stamped “you are” from THIS stamp set…

Here is a closer look at the die…

… and the stamp set where I got “you are” for the greeting…

By the way, these new colors leave your hands looking colorful. (No worries – ink comes right off with THIS Scrubbie. Just wash your hands with it and soap – it easily comes off.) Gotta love the baby feet, too.

Loving these ink new colors! (Oh, and if you want a chance to win them, just go HERE.)

Recently, my friend Laurel‘s husband was deployed with the US Navy. She has started a card drive to collect cards for her husband and his fellow crew members to send home to family.

What a great way to put our crafting love to good use. Donating cards to this Heroes Card Drive is easy – you can find all the information HERE. Thanks for considering!

Summer Seasonal Distress Inks	SSS Brilliant and Strong Die	SSS Absolutely Delightful Stamp Set	Hero Arts Stencil Flower Stamp	Sizzix Wedding Embossing Folder
Vagabond Die Cutting Machine	Sizzix Thin Die Plate	Best Watercolor Paper	Mister	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets
Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets	Grass Notecards	Corner Chomper

I am happy girl whenever I get new Distress Inks. Very happy. I immediately put the Summer Distress Inks to good use, but then got busy with the baby and didn’t get a chance to post it. But better late then never…

Welcome to the new Summer Distress Inks. Bright. Cheery. Happy. Perfect for those of us who like non-distress-like colors but like the Distress Ink properties. The three new colors are Mowed Lawn (the perfect grass green), Picked Raspberry (the perfect hot-ish pink) and Salty Ocean (the perfect true blue). These colors are “true” colors – the perfect green, pink and blue. Definitely filled a missing spot in the Distress Ink palette!

So I put them to good use the same way I did the Spring Distress Inks a couple months back (HERE). I white heat embossed my favorite background stamp on watercolor paper and rubbed the inks directly over it in three big stripes. I then sprayed it verrrrry generously with a Perfect Pearls + water mix and let it blend and dry on it’s own. Love how the pink and blue blended to make a gorgeous purple, too…

Lovin’ THIS new Studio Calico greeting. (The whole set rocks.) And I punched cardstock hearts with my favorite heart border punch and covered them with Black Enamel for dimension and shine…

Fun. Simple. Ready for the mail. Ready to brighten someone’s day.

By the way, THIS is the stamp set I used. In love.

I will be back soon with another bold card I made with these great new inks. See you then.

 I was able to get my hands on an extra set of these Summer Distress Inks to give to a lucky winner. Leave a comment here by Friday night at 11:59pmEST for your chance.

(And the winner of the Simon Says Stamp die was Tania – I emailed you.)

Summer Seasonal Distress Inks	Studio Calico HeyDay Sentiments	Flower Pattern Basic Grey	Heart Border Punch	Small Fiskars Trimmer
Best Watercolor Paper	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets	Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets	B&W Enamel	Perfect Pearl Pigment Powder
Mister	Hero Arts Black Dye Ink

In fact, I did this video almost two months ago! But I didn’t want to share any love for this product until they were back in stock at stores. There was a storage on them for awhile, but now you can get your paws on them again.

I am thrilled to be able to play with them all I want now! Here is a video showing one of the many ways you can use them – to create a fun background with the Hero Arts and Studio Calico Lattice background…

I love that you can get little spots of color with the marker tip, and then can spray them like mad to get blending like watercolor…

When I showed this card to Tim awhile back, he asked me how long it took to color all those shapes. Honestly? 5 or so minutes. And that is nothing compared to what I normally spend on a card – ha. (I am slow.) So I think it is worth it.

Here you can see the pearlized look you get since I used water with Perfect Pearls mixed in. (If you don’t want that shine, you can just use regular water. Both are lovely.)

So many people have asked me if I really love these markers. The answer is yes. They take all the things I love about Distress Inks and puts them in a marker form – so I can get detailed spots of color. What could be better? And this background is just one of many ways to use them. (The best of which is for multi-color stamping – more on that another day.)

You can get the Distress Markers individually (get the colors you like best and just try them out) or go ahead and take the plunge to get the whole set…

I love new toys. Almost as I love giving them away…

And I have a set of Distress Markers to give away! YAY! (Thanks, of course, to the fabulous Heidi at Simon Says Stamp.) Just leave a comment here by Sunday at 11:59pmEST for your chance to win. Good luck – this is a great giveaway!

Distress Markers	Hero Arts Studio Calico Lattice Stamp	Hero Arts Studio Calico Wonderful World	Memory Box Heart Delights Die
Sizzix Big Shot	Perfect Pearl Pigment Powder	B&W Enamel	Versamark
Hero Arts Black Dye Ink	White Embossing Powder	Mister	Heat Gun
Hero Arts Snow Notecards	Best Watercolor Paper	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets	Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets
Craft Sheet	Small Fiskars Trimmer	EK 1/16 Thin Foam Dots

Just popping in to share a card. This was a card I created for class, but didn’t like. But I never pitch anything – I figure every card (good or bad) will makes someone smile when they get it in the mail.

This one uses a new technique I shared over in the Clean and Simple Card Making Class. If you are in the class, you will recognize the technique. Very easy to do – just some Distress Inks and water…

Supplies are all linked below in the thumbnails.

Fun to play with color like this. Oh, and it isn’t too late to join in the class and get the discounts, prize chances, lifetime access, etc. Go HERE for more info.

I also have some fun links for you tonight. Lovely stuff:

• You MUST stop by Kelly Rasmussen’s blog this week. She is doing some amazing cards with Hero stamps. Lovely work.
• I have really enjoy Marion Vagg‘s work lately. So very classy.
• Cheiron makes the most beautiful cards. THIS makes me happy.

Finally, we have a winner of Amy’s class – SuZeQ. I emailed ya.

Thanks for stopping by!

I wanted to share a card I did for Ranger awhile back. Used lots of Liquid Pearls for it, so it has a lovely pearl shine in real life…

Yum yum pearly shine…

You can find the complete instructions on this card HERE at Ranger. However, my favorite part is the background canvas piece. It is sticky back canvas with a white heat embossed background. I then rubbed Liquid Pearls over them for the shine. One-of-a-kind – love that.

I have a video for you tomorrow. See you then.

The sweet folks at Ranger asked me to be part of their Great Pumpkin Challenge. We all started with a plain pumpkin and used Ranger goodies to turn it into a fall decorative piece. Here’s mine…

Here’s the scoop: I tore lots of strips of Sticky Back Canvas. White heat embossed Hero Arts images all over the strips. Painted them with Distress Inks. And sprayed the living daylights out of them with Perfect Pearl Mist. And thanks to the Sticky Back Canvas, they stick right on easily. For the “M” I just printed it and traced it onto canvas. Fun…

Be sure to head over the the Ranger blog all this week. They will be showcasing several decorated pumpkins by other artists each day. You can find them HERE.

Take care!