Our Winner & DT Thursday Treat!

The winner of our Red, White, and Blue Challenge is  Tracey Kuzniak at My World Of Cards.  Congratulations Trace, and happy shopping too!

DT Thursday

Our hostess for this DT Thursday is "One Krafty Kat" Jenny Gropp.  She has been one busy lady lately and is ready for you to take a look at her beautiful card.  I can tell she has used at least one of Dina Kowal's dkdesigns stamps.  Let's scoot on over to see the rest HERE.  Let her know what you think and then come on back to read about our next challenge so you can be ready!

Die Challenge On July 5

Now that was inspiring!  Now it's your turn.  On July 5, we start our Die Challenge (You must use at least one die and all IO stamps).  For those of you who aren't familiar with our challenges, the guidelines are below:

• Ending time for this challenge is next Wednesday, July 11, at 10 p.m. EST.
• Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format thumbnail format at the end of the post.
• The drawing is for a $25 Gift Certificate for use in our online store.
• The winner is picked using Random.org.
• The players are notified of the winner by email that night.
• The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on July 12.
• All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

Have some fun, invite a friend to play, have a stamping party and/or create your card using at least one die and all IO stamps, and then post it using the Inlinkz at the bottom of the July post.  If you have questions please email me.  My email is right under my name near the top of the sidebar to your right.

 

 Shirley

 

Tuesday T&T Two Oceans Of Fun!

I really liked dkdesigns images the minute I saw them. Today I am showing two techniques. The first one is basic layering using Dina's Sail Collage.  The second one is a shaker using Dina's Beachcomber and Gary Robertson's Path To The Beach.  For some reason, that is what I thought of the minute I saw that cute little guy.

Sail Collage - H13022, Rolling Waves - CC123

  The first card uses:

Image Layering:

• Stamped Sail Collage on dark brown cardstock inking just the edges (frame) with Brilliance Galaxy Gold.  Used heat gun to set ink.
• Cut the center out and used the edge as a frame.
• Stamped the whole image again twice with white card stock using Brilliance Galaxy Gold again.  Used heat gun to set ink.  The second image is used as a map to follow for layering.
• Cut the compass, the boat, and the wave out.
• I painted the images with watercolors, but any medium will work (Copic, ShinHann, etc.):

1. The ship was layered first with just tape.
2. For the waves and I used 1/16" 3D pop dots.
3. For the frame I used 1/8" 3D pop dots.

• For dimension on the waves I used Viva Decor Pearl Pen.
• For the compass:

1. It was turned over on the green Pergamano mat and embossed from the back with the stylus.
2. A line of Glossy Accents was threaded around the edge and left to dry.
3. It was turn over and the center was embossed with the stylus to make a place for the 5mm pearl sticker.
4. The compass was attached with glue dot and the pearl sticker seated with Glossy Accents.

Background:

•  Rolling Waves  was stamped using Mega Mount^TM and Brilliance Moonlight White ink on light blue cardstock.  I over inked in places to get a frothy look.
• It was trimmed to 4"X5.25" and then taped to the4.25"X5.5" dark brown cardstock.
• The twine in the photo was used with the Bow-Easy to make the bow (I actually pulled the twine apart and used one of them).
• The shells were mounted with glue dots.

 

Beachcomber - H1877, Path To The Beach - H1877, Precious Treasure - B13027

Background:

Thanks for stopping by to look and share.

1. I stamped Beachcomber first, using Memento Desert Sand.
2. Beachcomber was inked with Desert Stand and stamped.  Then it was trimmed and the upper portion removed with an X-Acto knife (I wanted the Path to the Beach Image to show behind the little boy).
3. A remnant piece of the same cardstock was used with the Circle Shaker Frame Die.
4. That was placed on the card stock with removable tape as shown on the right (I used the little boy image to decide where to place the die cut.  The little boy fits perfectly inside the die cut).
5. I used the Mega Mount^TM and lined up Path To The Beach by the lines of the ocean.
6. The image was inked with Memento Desert Sand and stamped on the Natural cardstock.

Main Image & Shake-It Pouch:

1. First the background, the die cut and the little boy were painted.
2. The little boy was permanently placed.  The little pebble near his hands were highlighted with Rangers Stickles Diamonds glitter glue.
3. The image was put through the Cuttlebug using Spellbinders Romantic largest Rectangles.
4. I used the iridescent clear micro beads to put in the circle on the little boy.
5. The strip was removed from the pouch and placed over the boy.
6. Tape was applied to the die cut and it was placed over the pounch lining it up with the background.
7. The sentiment, Prescious Treasure, was stamped using Memento Rich Cocoa.
8. The cardfont was place on a 6"X8" folded to 4"X6" white piece of cardstock.
9. A bow was created using May Arts two tone ribbon and the Bow-Easy and then mounted with a glue dot.

Hope you enjoyed the cards.   Each card has a separate list of supplies used below.

Our next challenge is "Dies".  Hope you join us.  You must still use IO stamps with your dies.  Thanks for stopping by to look and share.

 

 Shirley

 

SUPPLIES FOR SAIL COLLAGE (CARD ONE):

SUPPLIES FOR BEACHCOMBER (CARD TWO):

Our Red, White, And Blue Challenge And Mitra Travels

Our Design Team is all ready for you to take in their beautiful cards.  Their links are below:

• Daniela Dobson
• Dina Kowal
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jenny Gropp
• Laura Fulcher
• Vicki Garrett

Now it's your turn.  For those of you who aren't familiar with our challenges, they are open to you too.  You are invited to join us with the chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate in each challenge.  The dates and guidelines for this challenge are below and the rules are with the thumbnail format at the bottom of the post:

• Ending time for this challenge is next Wednesday, June 27, at 10 p.m. EST.
•  Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format at the end of the post.
  
• The winner is picked using Random.org.
• The players are notified of the winner by email that night.
• The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on June 28.
• All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

Have some fun, invite a friend to play, have a stamping party and/or create your own card   using all IO stamps, and then post it using the Inlinkz at the bottom of the today's post.  If you have questions please email me.  My email is right under my name in the sidebar.

 

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Mitra at Great American Scrapbook Show

She will be at the Great American Scrapbook Show in Chantilly, VA, on June 22 and 23.  You can read more about it Here.   Stop in and say hi!  Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 

Blog Hop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer & the Crafter's Workshop

First, a little business...our Challenge Winner for our Under the Sea challenge is all the way from the Netherlands...Miranda from ‘Mir’acle Art Inspirations. Congrats Miranda!

And now for today's fun...in March we began manufacturing a line of stamps that coordinate with stencils from The Crafter's Workshop. Designed by the unbelievably creative Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, these six stamp sets are designed as such:

Each stamp set works independently.
Each stencil works independently.
Each stencil has a matching stamp set. Each stamp set a matching
stencil. And they work together.

This is way out of my comfort zone, but I thought I'd play along to challenge myself. Stencils obviously lend themselves to being used with paint, and when paint is involved anything goes. I played around sponging backgrounds with some pearlescent acrylic paint. I decided to really just play with them and see where it took me. Ultimately I sponged and layered a bunch of different designs on a big sheet of watercolor paper and then cropped out the bits that I liked. I kept my card designs simple to really feature the designs and did a little bit of a closeup that shows the pearlescence better.

Today the IO design team and Julie are doing a blog hop. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is giving away an entire set of stencils and stamps to one lucky commenter!  So check out everyone's blog for more ideas using these fun new products:

 Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Jeanne Streiff

Daniela Dobson

Laura Fulcher

Vicki Garrett

Jenny Gropp

Dina Kowal

Julie Koerber

The lovely and talented Jeanne Streiff created a little photo tutorial of the stenciling process and I will include it below as well.

The stamps and stencils are available at many of our retailers across the country and overseas.  We will also be releasing several new designs at the Craft & Hobby Association show in July.

 

Tuesday T&T Butterfly Treasure And More Fun This Thursday!

This is a really quick 4.25"X5.5" card.  The reason is because everything I needed was already done.  I had stamped the butterfly background eons ago and then set it aside.  Do you have set asides?  ;-)  Below is how I did it.

1.  The background was created using the Mega Mount^TM and Cover-A-Card^TM Doodle Flowers inked with Brilliance Galaxy Gold.  After stamping I heated it with a heat gun.  Heating it actually causes the Galaxy Gold to rise giving it a 'real' embossed look.  You can feel it with your fingers.  I painted the rest with Twinkling H2O's.  You can use dye ink pads, markers, etc.

*  I always replace the backing that came with the stamp after I clean it.  It preserves the cling effect on the backside.

2.  I ran one of my embossing folders through the Cuttlebug to use as a background. 

3.  The butterfly with both wings from the Butterflies Die set were put through the Cuttlebug twice with the Doodle Flowers background.

4.  I wanted a reversed one-winged butterfly so I turned the paper over and put it through by cutting from the back side.

5.  The embossed cardstock was mounted to the apricot colored background.  I used a dye marker to fill in around the embossed area to give it a tooled look.

6.  Next the dkdesigns sentiment, Precious Treasure, was stamped using StazOn Iris.  Stamping it first allowed me to see how much room it would take before placing the butterflies.

7.  The butterflies were place next.   Then a strip of ribbon, from Michaels $1 bin, was added across the middle, followed by a bow done with the Bow-Easy.

8.  I used glue dots to attach the centers and 3D pop-dots under the wings.  The pearls were placed next.  Viva Decor White pearls and Yellow Quartz glitter pen were used here and there.  Liquid Pearls and Stickles, etc. could also be used.

9.  When the glitter and pearls were dry, the cardfront was mounted to a 4.25"X11" folded piece of white cardstock.

And the card at the top is the result.  Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did making it!!  The supplies are below.  :-)  When you are done there, check out the news about Thursday's Blog Hop below that!

SUPPLIES:

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Design Team Blog Hop with Crafters Workshop

Thursday, June14

Check out the Hop this Thursday to see what both DT's are doing with the IO Balzer Design Stamps, and what fun they are when used with Crafters Workshop Stencils/Templates.   Go HERE to see a sneak peek of what IO DT member, Daniela Dobson used to create the beautiful card below.

Below are the stamps and also in the Online Store. 

Thanks for stopping by to look and share!  Mitra will be with you here on Thursday!!!

 

 Shirley

 

Our Summer Release Celebration & Our By The Sea Challenge

SUMMER RELEASE CELEBRATION

Our "Summer Celebration" started Tuesday, with Mitra's creation and post.  She introduced our newest IO artist, Long-Time Design Team member, Dina Kowal and dkdesigns.  You can read all about it HERE.  You can see all of the cards created, with direct links to the DT posts, by clicking on our Card Gallery tab and going to the 2012 Summer Stamps Gallery.

Today we celebrate the new summer stamps from designer Gary Robertson.  Gary's art is loved by many because of the detail he puts into his images.  The DT has more new cards for you to view by clicking on the links below:

• Dina Kowal - dkdesigns
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jenny Gropp
• Julie Koerber
• Laura Fulcher
• Vicki Garrett

FAN "BY THE SEA CHALLENGE"

It starts today, June 6, everyone is invited to enter and you are not required to use new release IO stamps.   For those of you who aren't familiar with our challenges:

• Please use ALL Impression Obsession Stamps.
• We use the Inlinkz thumbnail format.
• Ending time for this challenge is next Wednesday, June 13, at 10 p.m. EST.
• All participants are entered in a drawing for a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate.
• The winner is chosen by Random.org.
• The players are notified of the winner by email that Wednesday night.
• The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on June 14.
• All entries are added to the Customer Challenge Gallery.

Have some fun, invite a friend to play, have a stamping party and/or create your own card using ALL IO stamps, and then post it using the Inlinkz at the bottom of the today's post.  If you have questions please email me.  My email is right under my name in the sidebar.

Be sure to check out the Summer Stamp Release creations of our DT, then create a card for the challenge.  Have a stamp party, invite a friend, or just create your own card and join us in the fun as we celebrate summer time!!!  Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 

Our Summer Release Celebration Has Begun!

It actually started yesterday with Mitra's creation and post HERE, using one of our newest IO artist's images.   Long-time Design Team member, Dina Kowal, is our newest IO artist!  If you've followed the IO blog at all in the past few years, you have seen tons of Dina's creations on this blog, her blog, in our catalogs, and on our new IO store website too!

Dina's collection of nautical and travel-themed stamps are just in time for summer!  Like the cards she creates, her designs are totally unique and lovely all in one.   If you would like to see what Dina thinks about her "dkdesigns" for IO go HERE.  And don't forget to "like" her art at her dkdesigns Facebook page!

To celebrate the release our Design Team is showcasing creations using her images today.  Be sure to check them out using the links below:

• Dina Kowal - dkdesigns
• Daniela Dobson
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jenny Gropp
• Julie Koerber
• Laura Fulcher
• Vicki Garrett

The fun isn't over!!  Tomorrow we will have beautiful new summer images from artist Gary Robertson, as only he can do them.  His images are loved by those who like detail with pen and ink drawings for their images.

I am off to check out everyone's blog.   Don't fortget to let them know what you think and let me know too!!  I'll see you back here tomorrow with some awesome images from Gary Roberston's summer collection!  What is really exciting to me about both releases is that they are great for Summer and Father's Day too!

Thanks for stopping by the blog so we could share our great new artist and her images with you!!!

 

 Shirley

Exciting New Artist!

I am so excited to finally be able to share some great news with you. Long-time Design Team member Dina Kowal is our newest IO artist!  If you've followed IO at all in the past few years, you've no doubt seen tons of Dina's creations on this blog, throughout our catalogs, and on our website.

A missionary serving in Southeast Asia, I was so tickled to be able to spend some time visiting and brainstorming with Dina while she's been in the States. She and her family even came to Williamsburg to see our warehouse in May! We have so many fun ideas up our sleeves, the next few months will be full of fun new releases in this new line.

With a style unlike any of our other artists, Dina is releasing a collection of nautical and travel-themed stamps in both wood mount and cling mount options this month. Just in time for summer! I love how they are vintage-inspired yet fresh and contemporary. To celebrate the release our Design Team is showcasing creations with her line this Wednesday, June 6th. Be sure to check back then and in the meantime, go to her blog and check her work out.

And don't forget to "like" her art at her dkdesigns Facebook page!

I'll leave you with a quick card I made with her new images:

Happy stamping!