You Make Life Sparkle

I've been gel printing lately with my sister in her "art garage." She made the wise decision to get an insulated garage door and add insulation to the walls, and it's actually cool in there in our crazy summers, so we try to do art in there as often as we can, because neither of us really have a space in our houses that works for group crafting.

She's been working on perfecting a gel printing technique with two contrasting fluorescent colors, and taking notes throughout.

I've been working on creating structure in my prints with some experiments in masking, and I finally got it to where I wanted it and could recreate what I was doing, so that is what I have for you today.

First, a card with the technique. I stamped the Magnolia image and die cut it with the matching dies. Then I cut a circle from the Concord & 9th no shed glitter paper.

I had used this stencil in the Gel Press printed background, and it was perfect for curving a small sentiment from this set on my MISTI and stamping in one of the openings. As you'll hear me say in the video, the white space is important for making this technique work. I love the zentangle look of this stamp.

[All supplies are linked below. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.]

Magnolia | Neat and Tangled [ N&T ] Magnolia - Nice and Neat Dies | Neat... [ N&T ] Crafting is My Jam | Neat and Tangled [ N&T ] Crafting is My Jam - Nice and Neat... [ N&T ] Gel Press 5 x 7 REUSABLE GEL PRINTING... [ SSS | BLIC ] Inovart Pro-Roller Brayer [ BLIC | BLIC ] Altenew STONE WALL Stencil ALT1631 [ SSS ] Neat and Tangled RECEDING BLOCKS Die... [ SSS ] Visible Image FIBRES Stencil... [ SSS ] Spheres Stencil | Michelle Ward |... [ STN ] Neutrals Glitter Paper Pack - Concord... [ C&9 | SSS | ELH ] Kaisercraft - Clear Stamper [ AMZUS ] Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape for... [ BLIC ] The Masters Brush Cleaner and... [ BLIC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | SSS | ELH | MFT | SBC ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer... [ AMZUS ] Hammermill Paper, Color Copy Digital,... [ AMZUS ]

So that you can see the difference between an unstructured print and a structured print using my technique - take a peek at this, which was created using exactly the same process, minus one step. This is how most Gel Press prints end up - beautiful, colorful, and sort of mixed looking and soft.

But then, with one little trick, look at the structure I can get with the same paint, same stencils, same order!

Here is the ghost print of the structured technique.

Cool, right? Wait until you see how easy it is to do! I think you'll love it. 

FYI - my winner from my Altenew post here is Melissa Friedrich! Please contact me using the contact form in my sidebar for instructions on redeeming your prize! 

Here is the video for the background - enjoy!

Don't forget - you get a discount with Neat & Tangled as long as I'm a guest! Shop now! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

Get Crackin!

My friend Jenn Shurkus had a great idea for sort of a challenge around Christmas cards.

She calls it "Get Crackin' on Christmas."

It just so happens that my class in July was a Christmas class, because that is about when I start thinking about Christmas cards, and I try to get my friends to do the same!

So at class we made three simple cards with the stamp set that probably 90% of my Christmas cards will come from, because it's ridiculously adorable.

I had them bring just a handful of markers to the class, and we used them on all three cards - you'll see the others later.

For this one, I just wanted a little aqua bird. Doesn't he look like a little Julius Caesar with his holly crown? I hope he's keeping his eye on his ides, if so.

[All supplies are linked below. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.]

GKD Amalgam Ink Pad- Jet Black [ GNK | SSS ] Season's Tweetings | 6x8 Stamp Set –... [ HNB | SSS ] Season's Tweetings | Honey Cuts |... [ HNB | SSS ] Copic Marker REFILL R29 LIPSTICK RED... [ SSS | ELH | MFT ] Copic Sketch Marker YR16 APRICOT... [ SSS | MFT ] Copic Sketch Marker YG07 ACID GREEN... [ SSS | MFT ] Copic Sketch Marker BG32 AQUA MINT [ SSS | MFT ] Like Magic Sequin Mix [ N&T | SSS ] Ranger .5 Oz. MINI MULTI MEDIUM MATTE... [ SSS | MFT ] Marvy Uchida JEWEL PICKER Tool 91GRC [ SSS | MFT ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | SBC | MFT ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ]

I stamped the whole thing in Amalgam ink, and then colored him with these colors: BG32, YG07, R29 and YR16. I just shaded the little crown with green on the aqua. Then I added these sequins and the sentiment did most of the heavy lifting - I love that clean font!

So Jenn and a few others are hopping today with their Christmas cards if you want to take a peek!

Jenn Shurkus

Susan Opel 

Chari Moss

Cheiron Brandon

Libby Hickson

Caryn Davies

Emily Midgett

Vera Yates

Tifany DeGough

Jana Millen

Lydia Fiedler

Lisa Cisneros

Susan Wymer

Jessie Banks

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Teri Anderson

Lisa Henke

I will be giving away a few stamp sets from my stash today - so all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me about your holiday cards - do you make them? If so, when do you start? How many do you make? Lay it on me, stringbean!

OH - and to answer a question left on a recent blog post about why I include the manicure blocks in my supply list and what I use them for - I lightly sand off ink smudges with them! It's kind of amazing how many times I get a little oopsie on my cardstock - but a little light sanding does the trick. For me the sanding eraser isn't as good as these little blocks. Thanks for asking!

Loveyameanitbye.

Technique Tuesday

I love it when my UFO pile transforms itself into a blog post.

After my recent shaving cream video, which I'll put below, I had so many beautiful scraps sitting in the one fridge bin I allow myself for UFOs. You have to be careful with your UFO population, or those little buggers multiply.

It's often the perfect thing for a new stamp you got, and that was the case today, with my adorable little seahorse from Technique Tuesday.

I colored him orange and yellow to contrast with my background, and ended up die cutting that to sort of give a feel of bubbles.

Very quick and simple card. I like the size of this little guy - often seahorses are too teeny to color, but he's just right.

Simon & Sandy Seahorse Stamp Set [ TCH ] Simon & Sandy Seahorse Dies [ TCH ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH ] Ranger Distress Reinker, Blueprint... [ ELH ] Ranger Distress Reinker, Peacock... [ ELH ] Ranger Distress Reinker, Tumbled... [ ELH ] Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic... [ ELH ] Barbasol Original Thick and Rich... [ AMZUS ] DMtse 100 Pcs Nail Art Orange Wood... [ AMZUS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | ELH | MFT ] Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy [ ELH ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, 0.88... [ ELH ]

That's the cool thing about UFOs sitting in the bin - someday they mean half your card is done for you, and is just waiting for the right seahorse! :)

Here is the video for the background technique, in case you missed it.

Hope you have a great weekend lined up.

Loveyameanitbye.