Happy Thursday everyone! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing a unicorn card. I can't believe how popular unicorns are lately. It brings flashbacks to my childhood and My Little Ponies ;) I made this card for a special little girl who's turning 5 soon!

This card features Avery Elle stamps and dies. The light grey card stock was die cut using the largest die from the Sweet Scallops die set. It's the same size as a regular 4.25" x 5.5" card base. It's mounted to a Neenah Solar White card stock base. The stars, clouds, and stitched oval die are all cut from Neenah Solar White as well.

The rainbow & unicorn from the Be a Unicorn stamp set are stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I used the following Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a Waterbrush to color in the rainbow and the unicorn's mane, tail, and hooves: 21 Light Carmine, 29 Geranium Red, 50 Yellow, 70 Orange, 45 Pale Green, 47 May Green, 36 Light Blue, 32 Persian Blue, 83 Lilac, 80 Violet, 91 Light Gray. The star and horn on the unicorn are colored in with Clear Wink of Stella for a hint of sparkle! I also just fussy cut both pieces because I don't have the coordinating die for this set, but you can find it in the MarkerPOP store!

The sentiment is black heat embossed on the smallest oval from the Sweet Scallops die set. All the stars are also die cut from that set, and the clouds are die cut from the Special Delivery die set. The rainbow, unicorn, and oval are all popped up with foam tape.

Thank for popping in today! I hope you have enjoyed my project! Happy crafting!

Nicki
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Blessed to Have You

Hey there! I was over on the MarkerPOP blog Thursday sharing this card using two Honey Bee stamp sets, Bless Your Heart, and Country Wreath.

I started by white heat embossing the large sentiment and some flowers and leaves onto a piece of water color card stock. Using MFT's basic stitch lines, I ran the 'cross stitch' edge through the die cut machine twice, placing it once at the top of the panel and once at the bottom. Using a Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker in No. 083 Lilac, I carefully traced (in a thin line) around the entire word, "blessed". Then, using a water brush, I activated the Zig marker lines to soften them. The flowers were colored in using No. 031 Cobalt Blue, No. 083 Lilac, and No. 051 Lemon Yellow, and the leaves are No. 045 Pale Green.

I white heat embossed 3 clusters of flowers and leaves on the main base panel, and colored them using the same colors mentioned above. "To have you" was white heat embossed on black card stock and die cut from MFT Blueprints 29 and adhered to the top panel. The top panel is adhered to the card base with foam adhesive. To add some extra glimmer, a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins were added.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a great day!

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Love Bug!

Hello crafty friends! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today with this fun bug card! The Love Bug stamp set from Hero Arts is just the cutest, don't you think?!

I started by die cutting two panels, one with Distress Watercolor Card Stock, and one in black card stock. Using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (Carmine Red 022, Orange 070, Yellow 050, May Green 047, Cobalt Blue 031, Violet 080), I colored a small area of each color down the middle of the card stock panel. Then using a water brush, I spread the color around just enough to cover each insect. Once it was dry, I used Hero Hues Black Dye Ink to stamp each bug over each water colored spot.

The hearts were die cut with Neenah Solar White card stock and adhered to the main panel. Using a Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush, I added lots of sparkle to each of the hearts. The panel was then adhered to the black card stock panel.

To create the pattern on the front of the card base, I lined up the "Hi!" and the "love bug" sentiments right next to each on the same clear acrylic block. Then, I repeatedly stamped across the card, staggering each line. Love that background and that font! Finally, the other panel was mounted to the card base using foam tape. This was such a fun card to make!! I hope I've inspired you today and that you can set aside some crafty time for yourself! See you next time!

Nicki

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MarkerPOP Challenge #101 Embossing

Hello! Today starts a BRAND NEW CHALLENGE over on the MarkerPOP blog!! The theme this time is EMBOSSING. Head on over to the blog to get the details on how to enter for a chance to win some awesome stamps!!

I'm sharing this fun baby shower card today. I started off by ink blending a soft blue sky on the Neenah card stock base with foam applicators and Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass. Using MFT's STAX Stitched Circle Scallop Frames, I die cut the largest circle from the set using Neenah card stock. Using black embossing powder and VersaMark ink, I stamped and heat embossed the stork, balloons, and baby bundle from Avery Elle's Special Delivery stamp set on watercolor card stock. Those images were then die cut from the Avery Elle Special Delivery Die Set.

The images were colored in using Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass, and Wilted Violet. I then used a water brush to move the ink colors around and create a watercolor look.

After all the pieces were water colored, I adhered the circle die to the card base. I wanted to get the sentiment perfectly centered within the circle, so I used the wonderful MISTI tool to do that!! If you don't have one of these yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! It will greatly improve your stamping results!! So, I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink, and then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. When the sentiment is heat embossed, it really adds some 'punch' to the card. Love that shiny look!

The clouds were adhered directly to the card base, and the rest of the die cut elements were adhered using foam tape to add some dimension. A white gel pen was used to add a 'light spot' to the balloons.

I had a blast creating this card....I hope it brings you some crafty inspiration today! Thanks for stopping by!

Nicki
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You Are Awesome!

Hello friends! I'm really excited to share this colorful card today that is featured on the MarkerPOP blog. I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's recent video about pattern stamping.

I started by creating a pattern using multiple stamps from the Hero Arts set Just for You by Lia Griffith. I stamped the whole watercolor card stock panel using VersaMark ink, and then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. You can see in the first pic below.
Then, using Distress Markers in rainbow colors (Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord, and Wilted Violet), I quickly colored in the flowers and around some leaves. You really don't have to worry about coloring each one perfectly, just work quickly and you'll be glad you did ;) You can see what I did in the second pic below.

Now comes the fun part! Place the panel onto a water resistant surface such as a craft mat or countertop. Using a Ranger Mini Mister filled with water, hold it about 6" above the panel and spray away! I LOVE watching the water react with the distress inks! The third pic below was taken right after I sprayed it. You can see that the colors are just starting to spread, and in the fourth pic, taken a minute or two later, they have spread even more and have blended with nearby colors!



After that, I just let it sit and dry for a half hour or so. I really love the results of this technique!
The panel is adhered to Neenah Solar White card stock. The Altenew sentiment is stamped with black ink on Neenah card stock and fussy cut. It was adhered to the panel with Foam tape, and some silver cord was looped around and placed behind it.

If you haven't tried this technique before, I hope I've inspired you to try it! Thanks so much for stopping by! :D  Have a great day!

Nicki ~ Find me on Instagram

My first post for MarkerPOP!

Hello there! I'm here today sharing my first project as a new DT member for MarkerPOP! I'm very excited to be a part of MarkerPOP and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share my projects with you and work alongside amazing artists! My first card features the Botanical Garden stamp set from Altenew, and the Hero Arts stamp set, Just For You by Lia Griffith.

I started off by ink blending Citrus Twist Distress Ink with a Tim Holtz Mini Stencil at the bottom of the Neenah Solar White card base. Then the sentiment and grey dots were stamped right along the edge of the stenciled pattern using Fawndamentals Ink Pad-Hippo. Next, a Pretty Pink Posh tag (Stitched Essentials 1) was die cut with Tim Holtz Watercolor Card Stock and Black Card Stock. I heat embossed a black flower from the Botanical Garden set. Then the fun part! Using a Wilted Violet Distress Marker, I colored the flower slightly at the base of the petals, then used a water brush to move the ink and color the rest of the petal. The leaves were colored using Citrus Twist Distress Ink. Some twine was added to the tags, and then mounted to the card base with Foam Tape.

The top right corner of the card base was punched using a corner rounder punch. To finish it all off, a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins add some sparkle and shine!

Thank you so much for checking out my post today. :D  I look forward to sharing more with you!

Nicki ~ Find me on Instagram

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We have a fun giveaway all this week in celebration of the new Design Team. Each day the Design Team will be giving away a $20 Gift Certificate to the MarkerPop Store. Enter for a chance to win by Subscribing to our Newsletter and leaving a comment on each post (on the MarkerPOP Blog) welcoming each Designer and let us know what type of projects you are looking forward to seeing from them. The Giveaway will be open until Friday July 15th at 11:59pm EST and we’ll announce the Winners* on Sunday July 17th. *International Winners will need to pay postage.

Honey Bee Stamps - Rainbow Card

Good morning crafty friends! I'm so glad you've stopped by today. I am very excited about this colorful card...it makes me "Oh So Happy", like the sentiment says! ;)

I started with a piece of watercolor card stock, and stamped the two flowers from the Sweet as Honey stamp set with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then, I watercolored the whole panel starting in the top left corner with the red, adding each color to create a diagonal rainbow pattern of colors. I just love watching the ink transform the plain white card stock into bright, beautiful colors!

Once it was dry, I die cut a circle out of black card stock and also used VersaMark ink and white EP to make the sentiment (from Happy Everything) really pop! It's mounted to the panel with foam tape. A handful of Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins were added randomly for the finishing touch.

I hope you've enjoyed my project today! Now go get inky and enjoy!

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Uniko Pure Florals-Cosmos Revisit and Blog Hop!

Good morning! I'm so glad you stopped by because it's the Uniko March 2016 Design Team Blog Hop (and giveaway)!!

So, this month we are taking a look back at a previously released product, dusting it off and giving it some love! Here is an image of the whole stamp set, Pure Florals: Cosmos.

I used the single flower stamp and did LOTS of masking! This was actually quite a long process since each one is heat embossed with gold embossing powder (on watercolor paper). I think it was worth it though! I'm really happy with how this one turned out!



After embossing, I used 5 different Distress Ink colors and watercolored each flower with the inks and some water. This is one of my favorite coloring techniques lately...I just LOVE the watercolor look! The sentiment is also gold embossed. The panel was cut slightly smaller than the base.
Hope I've inspired you with this today!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!! Simply comment along the hop to be in the chance of winning this featured set along with an eGift certificate for £10 to spend in store. Or if you win and already own the set an eGift certificate for £15 will be awarded. You have until midnight (GMT) Friday 25th March 2016 to comment and the winner will be announced on Monday 28th March 2016.

Beverley - Uniko Studio

Deborah

Jane

Nicki ----> That's Me!

Lindsey

Sara G

Sarah P

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - Pure Florals: Cosmos
Cardstock: PTI - Rustic Cream

Specialty Paper: Strathmore Watercolor

Other: Ranger - Princess Gold Embossing Powder; Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Hugs - Honey Bee Stamps

Happy Thursday crafty bees! I'm sharing a special card using Honey Bee Stamps that features silver heat embossing. I stamped and embossed the Lotus Blossom on three different card stock colors, and then fussy cut each. Using the Brush Grunge Alpha set, I created the “hugs” sentiment on the die cut tag and also used some silver cord.

The background was splattered with purple and black watercolor paint on watercolor paper. After it was dry, I cut a piece of vellum the same size and adhered it over the top to give it a softer look. A few silver sparkly enamel dots were added for that extra special touch!! It’s all mounted to a white card stock base.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look today! I hope I’ve brought some inspiration to your day!

Nicki

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Papertrey Ink MIM #153

So this week's Make it Monday finally suckered me into trying water coloring for the first time. I watched Dawn McVey's video and figured it looked easy enough! I made a trip to Michael's and got me some watercolor paints and brushes.

I needed a little inspiration to get me started, so I browsed my Color Palette board on Pinterest, and came across this one....what a beauty, right?!?! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE those colors...

source

...and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE how this came out!!! Let me tell you, I never realized how relaxing water coloring is!! As a crafter and artist all my life, I've always gotten such an awesome feeling after transforming a plain, white piece of paper into something so colorful and beautiful! It was so fun watching the colors blend together as I painted each one. I will definitely be doing more of this in the near future!

After embossing the sentiment with clear powder, I started at the top with the lightest paint color and worked my way down, slightly overlapping each color onto the previous color. Once dried, one corner was punched with a corner rounder, as was the card base, and adhered securely to the base. That's it! Easy peasy!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Supplies: 
Stamps: PTI - Think Big Favorites #3
Cardstock: PTI - White
Ink: VersaMark clear embossing ink
Other: Clear embossing powder, Watercolor Paints (Michael's), SU - Corner Rounder punch