Together is Always Better + $100 Giveaway

My absolute favorite stamp style is the storybook style like you see in children's book illustrations.

I think this is because this was the first time I was presented with visual art - that makes sense, right? So some of my favorite art will always be these illustrations - as a matter of fact, this weekend, my mom gave me the ACTUAL copy of Swimmy that I owned as a child. It made me very happy - I love that book. He was my first watercolor crush.

So when I see stamps that you can tell sweet stories with, I'm always sucked in immediately.

Today's new bunny set was no exception. I love this set so much that 2/3 of my class projects this weekend were overflowing with these bunnies.

These two bunnies holding hands reminded me of Pooh and Piglet walking in the woods, so I tried to recreate that with Daniel Smith watercolor. I stamped it in Fadeout ink first, and then just painted a blustery day around it and a very loose scene.

I used a very sharp Polychromos to add some fur around the edges of the bunnies. The sentiment is from this set and is stamped in Nocturne. Such a sweet image.

There's another bunny in the set that's smiling - and you could even use him on a praying for you card, because he looks like he's praying!

But that's not what my bunny is doing - my bunny is imagining that he's a peacock! I used the new negative die to create a negative tail in the black cardstock, and I put this glitter paper behind it.

The sentiment is from this set and is stamped in Unicorn. The bunny is watercolored with Daniel Smith.

 Next up - a card that refused to be photographed! I painted the funky pineapple from this set in Nocturne, and cut it with the matching dies. But the coolest part of this card is invisible in my photo tent. The pineapple is sitting on a piece of watercolor paper that I embossed pineapples all over with the new pineapple stencil. (I used the Gemini Jr. and this sandwich: Bottom plate, plastic shim, embossing mat, paper, stencil, top plate. It gives a very deep emboss, which you'll see below.) The sentiment is from the same set and I just stamped it on a strip of white cardstock.

Here is a shot of the pineapples from the stencil stolen by the lighting. 

Finally - my favorite card, I'm not going to lie, is again with the bunny set. But another FABULOUS new background, reminiscent of Van Gogh - I stamped in Picket Fence Distress ink (see what I did there?) on top of a galaxy background that was in my UFO pile. I used my infinity dies to cut a little earth, which I sponged with Picket Fence, and then watercolored my bunny, cut him with the matching dies and sat him down for little read under that starry sky. The reason I used Picket Fence Distress Ink is the way it sort of pools adds to the starry look - I love it so much.

Now guess what? Since it's the Picket Fence  birthday celebration this month, they've given me a gift certificate to give away! I have a $100 shopping spree for one of you. Here's what you need to do to be entered to win - leave me a comment telling me your favorite children's book!

I will announce the winner on the 21st!

All the products I've used are below, and you can see the rest of this amazing release here! The good news is - everything is 20% off so you can shop the whole release at a discount. Just click here and use code PFS20 at checkout! Have fun!

Pineapple Collage Stencil [ PFS ] Peach & Piper Coordinating Die [ PFS ] Peach and Piper [ PFS ] Something Sweet Coordinating Die [ PFS ] Something Sweet [ PFS ] Small Ways to Say Thank You [ PFS ] Together is Always Better [ PFS ] Flower Die Negative [ PFS ] A Bright Night [ PFS ] Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink [ INK ] AF249 Unicorn Pigment Ink Pad | Hero... [ HA | SSS ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH | SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PICKET... [ SSS ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils and... [ BLIC ] Summer Glitter Pack - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Cut Align [ MSP ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Latest Release Archives - Picket... [ PFS ]

An Inspired Nod To The Past

I used to read paper books. A LOT of paper books.

And one thing I loved about paper books were all the accessories. Especially when I found Levenger. Hold the phone, Mabel! I had a heavy weighted leather thing that was meant to hold pages open for you while you took notes or cooked, similar to this. Probably still kicking around here somewhere. Then there were the little boxes of copper Page Points, now called Page Nibs - be still my heart!

I don't read many paper books anymore. Everyone has the exact same amount of time, so I try hard not to say "I don't have time for that" because it sounds sort of rude - like someone else has bonus hours I don't have. Instead, I just choose to spend those hours I used to spend reading doing two other really important things - watercolor and sleeping. I used to be able to read for hours in bed, but in my old age, I just fall asleep when I stop moving, so I'd just end up with a broken nose if I tried.

Instead, I listen to audiobooks while I craft. Best of both worlds, because it stops the two activities from competing for my attention - they happily co-exist.

But I make exceptions. One is for crafty technique books, which I look to for inspiration for my classes and techniques. The other is books that are special to me for another reason, like the book that two of my neighbors wrote, which is available in paper and Kindle, but not audio. It's a mystery, and while they were writing it she'd zip off to lectures on deadly poisons at UT and other dark topics she needed to research. It was fun to see it all unfold for them.

So they inspired me to sit down and make some bookmarks - I thought I'd give one of them to each of them.

I used this stamp set, with both the matching die and the add-on die, which cuts out the whole stitched bookmark. What you do is cut out the bookmark with the add-on die, and then glue the other image that you stamped and cut out with these dies down, without gluing down their feet so that their feet hug the page you're on, and their heads stick out of the book. You can stamp their little butts on the back! You can actually buy all three as a bundle here.

I did mine on watercolor paper and then painted them with Daniel Smith watercolor. I looped a little bit of twine around the top. (I bought this monster 2300 foot roll of twine in 2012 - SIX YEARS AGO - and I've barely made a dent in it! Such a bargain.) I stamped the little sentiments and the images in Nocturne. I thought about laminating them, but I didn't because I thought it would make them too slippery, so I left them. I like the feel of watercolor paper anyway. Are they the cutest? These would be fun to give your little summer bookworms.

Lawn Fawn FOR YOU DEER Clear Stamps... [ SSS | ELH ] Lawn Fawn FOR YOU DEER Lawn Cuts... [ SSS | ELH ] Lawn Fawn FOR YOU DEER ADD-ON Lawn... [ SSS | ELH ] Lawn Fawn SET LF17SETFD FOR YOU DEER... [ SSS ] SHROUDED: A Crispin Leads Mystery -... [ AMZUS ] 8 1/2'' Genuine Leather Weighted... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com : Levenger Page Nibs... [ AMZUS ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH | SSS ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Amazon.com: Regency Baker's Twine... [ AMZUS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | 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 ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR ]

What are you reading/listening to right now? I'd love to know! Be sure and say what genre it is in the comments. I've added a few new true crime podcasts to my list here. I'll add the crafty books I bought in New Mexico if I end up loving them.

Here's a sale at Reverse Confetti before I go! This is today through Wednesday.

Loveyameanitbye.