Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #6 - STAMPS!

HELLOOOOOO NOVEMBER!!!! November is hands-down my favorite month of the year... there are still beautiful red leaves on the trees, the air is crisp without being too bitter, and it holds my favorite holiday of the year - Thanksgiving! AND now it means a BRAND NEW MIXED MEDIA MONTHLY CHALLENGE!

Our November challenge is to use STAMPS in your mixed media project! For some of you this probably seems way way too easy, but I know for others this definitely will be a challenge! You could also try to use your stamps in a different way than you usually do... think outside the box!

I am so so thrilled for the prize this month... a $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO UNITY STAMP CO! And it's just in time to get some holiday shopping in, too! You definitely want to enter this month for a chance to be the random winner! THANK YOU UNITY!

I created this adorable little ornament/shadow box for the holidays. I used a huge variety of Unity stamps to put this together. It was a lot of fun to go through my stamp stash and play!

I bought these cardboard ornament boxes at Michael's last year and I think they were only 29 cents each. So obviously I stocked up and didn't touch them for 11 months ;) First I covered them with Faber Castell Gesso.

I also did a light coat of gesso over some Neenah Solar White cardstock. Once it dried, I stamped all my Unity stamps with Archival black ink.

Look at your stamps in a different way! I only wanted the candy canes but could not find a candy cane stamp... so I just fussy cut the part that I wanted from this sweet penguin.

For the pine trees I stamped them with a green Stamper's Big Brush Pen from Faber Castell. The ink stamps just as well as an ink pad and it is also permanent when dry.

I colored all of my images with PITT Pens. This is why I originally coated my paper with gesso, so I could easily blend the PITT pen colors.

I coated the inside with gel medium and pasted a light blue DCWV paper in the center. I colored all the sides and did some shading with my Gelatos. Once that was dry, I used a stencil and some Whipped Spackle to add little snow drops.

The snow on the bottom is a combination of a LOT of Whipped Spackle, tan mica flakes from Stampendous, and chunky clear glitter. While the Whipped Spackle was still wet, I simply placed all of my elements into the 'snow' where I wanted them. Once everything dried, they were stuck!

I finished the shadow box with the banner across the top and a Happy Holidays sentiment. I definitely intend to make more as Christmas gets closer!

Now time for the close up glamour shots!...

I'm so glad you joined me for your first day of November and my little winter Shadow Box! Can't wait to see everything you create and enter to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge gallery! Remember to use stamps and HAVE FUN :)

<3 Rachel

Snowmen and Ghosts

Oh, Monday, here you are again. I had a crafty weekend which means this will be a pretty filled post! I made 3 different cards for 3 different challenges...

First up is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to use Kraft. I also used a new snowman stamp from Unity Stamp Co.

I love this simple elegant snowman! He was perfect for a kraft, gold, and silver card. I colored him with Prismacolor Pencils then layered him behind some DCWV shimmer paper. The kraft background was stamped with snowflakes in white and gold, then I added some texture with a stencil and modeling paste as well as adding the gold trim.

Next I have yet another snowman for the current Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge to add watercolor!

The snowman I actually painted while at Jenn's Loft Art Retreat :) I didn't finish the card she had planned for us, but I did still have my finished snowman. So I re-purposed him into this snowy scene card. The snowman and the hills were watercolored with Distress Markers. I added some chunky Wow! Glitter along the hills and finished the card with the Season's Greetings die.

Alright, now it's time to switch back to Halloween mode! Lawnscaping is hosting a Halloween Color Challenge this week...

I love these happy little ghosts! I thought they deserved to have fun trick-or-treating on Halloween night, because they must get tired spooking people all the time ;) I simply colored the pieces with Copics and fussy cut them. I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hills Die to create a ground for the ghosts to rise up from. Paper is from DCWV Eek-a-Boo and glitter mat stack.

Thank you for getting all the way to the bottom of this post! Make your Monday a good one :)

Friendly reminder: You have until 11:59pm October 31st to enter the current Mixed Media Monthly Challenge: Ribbons, Twine, or Fibers!! See you there!

<3 Rachel



Enjoy the Beauty of the Season
Cardstock: Neenah Desert Storm, Neenah Solar White, DCWV Shimmer Paper
Stamps: Unity Stamp Co (snowman) 'Christmas Season Grab Bag', (snowflakes) 'SMAK Sept 2014'
Ink/Colors: Prismacolor Pencils, Delicata Gold, Versafine Black Onyx, Versamagic Cloud White
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Journal Die
Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop 'Well Rounded'
Misc: Faber Castell 'Whipped Spackle', Crop a Dile Corner Rounder, pearl accents

Season's Greetings Snowman
Cardstock: Lawn Fawn Navy Notecard, Lawn Fawn 'Snow Day', Tim Holtz Watercolor paper
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp 'Jolly Snowman'
Dies: Simon Says Stamp 'Season's Greetings' , Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Die
Ink/Colors: Distress Markers
Misc: Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen

Trick or Treat Ghosts
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White, DCWV Glitter Stack, DCWV Eek-a-Boo stack
Stamps: Lawn Fawn 'Spooktacular'
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Die
Ink/Colors: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Unity Thursday - New Holiday Releases!

Welcome back to another Unity Thursday! I have to say, I've had a little sneak peek at all the designers' projects and I KNOW you will be blown away this week! So have fun hopping and shopping today! The new sale starts at NOON and runs through Monday night on the Unity Stamp website :)

I'm not typically a big fan of my own cards but this card... I love. The car stamp is from a fantastic grab bag being offered today! I had the Griswold's in mind when coloring it in, so the wood paneling was a must! The image was colored with Prismacolor Pencils and die cut to create a circle card.

I wanted the snow drops to be dimensional so I used some Liquid Applique then puffed it up with my heat gun. The leaves die cut is from Top Dog Dies, which I simply layered behind and in front of the circles.

There are some NEW Angie Girls hitting the shop today! I love these gorgeous winter-themed girls. I actually just put on some Christmas music and colored away...

I colored her with Prismacolor Pencils and did a lot of mixing and blending with Gamsol (I actually just use cheap odorless paint thinner and paper nibs). I thought she looked so beautiful once she was colored that I didn't do much else to the card. I simply added some mini clear gems throughout the snow drifts.

You know a Unity hop isn't complete without PRIZES! TWO very super lucky winners will win both the new Reindeer stamps AND the grab bag stamps! Just comment throughout the hop for a chance to win!

Remember, the sale starts at NOON! Have a lovely creative weekend :) Your next stop is the amazing SHILO

<3 Rachel

Exciting Projects in Blogland!

Hello Humpday! I have a lot of projects around blogland this week that I'm excited to share! I thought I would give you all the run down here, then click over to the company blogs to see the full projects!

First up is the post I am MOST excited about this week! On Tuesday, I had my first ever post on the Faber Castell Design Memory Craft blog! I created an adorable Haunted Halloween Birdhouse, and I share all the steps and process photos over there. I even have a new YouTube video for the birdhouse and I hope you watch it! CLICK HERE to view the full post!

BIRDHOUSE SNEAK PEEK!

Secondly, I have a wintery post for 'DT Tuesday' over at the Unity Stamp Co blog! I used the sketch and color combo from our current Be Inspired Challenge. I included a lot of Copic coloring and shared 3 cards that caught my eye from other lovely Unity customers! CLICK HERE to visit the full post!

SNEAK PEEK

Lastly, I have a scrapbook layout I'm sharing today over at the Sweet Stamp Shop blog. This post is FILLED with tips and tricks for stamping on your layouts AND stamping directly on photos! CLICK HERE to visit the full post.

SNEAK PEEK!

I almost forgot one last thing... Make sure to enter your projects to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge! You have until October 31 to link up your projects using RIBBON, TWINE, AND FIBERS! Our fabulous sponsor is May Arts! See you there!

<3 Rachel

Watercolor Calligraphy

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Maybe you picked up a Pumpkin for your front porch, or even carved it? My weekend was filled with Halloween inspiration from both the DCWV team blog hop AND the Inspiration Crew event! With that being said, it's time for me to pick a random winner of my Halloween prize pack!

The Winner Issssssss

Congratulations Iris!!! Enjoy all those fabulous goodies! Thank you to everyone who joined me throughout the week, it was a lot of fun and I loved reading all the great comments!

Now time for my regularly scheduled post! I had some fun using Distress Markers to watercolor a sentiment from the Sweet Stamp Shop "Enjoy Calligraphy" set.

Disclaimer: what I intended to do and what you'll see in my process photos is not quite what I ended up with. Oh well :)

Step 1: Ink up your stamp by applying Distress Markers directly to the stamp. I used a variety of blue shades and let one color blend into the next. Before you stamp on the paper, give it a nice ol' HUFF of your own hot air. This will reactivate any ink that may have dried.

Step 2: (optional) Trace over the image using the same colors you did when you stamped it. I did this because I wanted to make sure there was enough ink on the page. You can skip this if you'd like.

Step 3: With a thin paintbrush and some water, trace over the sentiment. The colors from the Distress Markers will begin to bleed away from the sentiment. You will want to use watercolor paper for this project!

Step 4: Now just go over the image with your brush and water. I added a lot of water in some spots and less in others. I did this so my image would 'bleed' a lot more.

Step 5: Once the paper has dried completely, stamp on top of the original sentiment with black ink (I used Ranger Archival Black... it's water resistant).

Back to my disclaimer... I should have stopped here! I don't know why I kept adding more color, more water, more color... eventually you couldn't tell that I had done all of this coloring and tracing with the sentiment. Oh well, live and learn! I just got carried away in all the painty fun.

This is my final card...

I layered multiple pattern paper squares, roughed up the edges, and added some white twine behind the finished sentiment. I still like the card, it's just not what I planned ;)

Yup, slightly carried away :)

The sentiment is from this beautiful "Enjoy Calligraphy" set by the Sweet Stamp Shop. I plan to try this technique again with the Walt Disney quote.

You'll see me use this set (and many others!) again on Wednesday over at the Sweet Stamp Shop Blog. I hope you're following them and I'll see you there soon!

<3 Rachel

Halloween Inspiration Event - Last Day!

***CLICK HERE FOR DCWV BLOG HOP AND VIDEO!***

Welcome to DAY 7, the FINAL DAY, of the 7 Days of Halloween Inspiration Blog Event from the Inspiration Crew! (Hint... this is my favorite one of the year!) We're just a creative group making projects we want to share and using products we like. SOME OF US ARE OFFERING PRIZES!! Check each of the blog links below for prize details, and of course for more Halloween inspiration!

For the last day of our week-long event, I thought I would return to what I love best - a card and some Unity stamps! I used this sweet itty bitty called "Halloween Greetings", colored her with Copics , and popped her up on foam dots. The purple background is a wonderful Crafter's Workshop stencil. I mixed some Gelato color Violet with Faber Castell Whipped Spackle to run over the stencil. It leaves great texture in the background to an otherwise simple card!

To finished her off, I did some light misting with the lime green Color Shine and added gold glitter enamel dots from My Mind's Eye.

Who's ready for some Blog Candy?! I'll be offering up this awesome prize package to one lucky commenter at the end of our 7 days! If you comment each day, you've given yourself 7 chances to win!

Prize includes: Two packs of DCWV brand new Premium Paper Sets, a set of DCWV Halloween tags and twine, a DCWV mirror frame, and 3 Unity Stamp of the Week itty bittys!

Now visit the rest of the talented ladies for more prizes and projects!

DONNA BOWMAN

RACHEL KLEINMAN (that's me!)

JEN CUTHBERTSON

ANGI BARRS

CEAL PRITCHETT

Halloween Inspiration Day 6 - DCWV HOP!

TODAY the current DCWV Design Team is bringing you a group of projects that were made using the newest, cutest DCWV Halloween stack, Eek-a-Boo! Halloween is quickly approaching and it's time to turn your spooky crafting up to high gear!

This is also DAY 6 of our Halloween Inspiration Event with the Inspiration Crew! We're just a crafty group of friends joining together to bring you fun Halloween project ideas! SOME OF US ARE OFFERING PRIZES! Check the blog links below for more details and fun inspiration.

I have definitely fallen head over heels with this Eek a Boo stack! You may have noticed I've already used it in multiple projects here on my blog :)  Today I'm sharing a fun pumpkin shaker card! I even did a process video showing you exactly how it was done, from very start to finish! Please watch it and ENJOY! 

If you can't see the video above, please CLICK HERE to be taken to the direct process video!

Who's ready for some Blog Candy?! I'll be offering up this awesome prize package to one lucky commenter at the end of our 7 days! If you comment each day, you've given yourself 7 chances to win!

Prize includes: Two packs of DCWV brand new Premium Paper Sets, a set of DCWV Halloween tags and twine, a DCWV mirror frame, and 3 Unity Stamp of the Week itty bittys!

Now visit the rest of the talented ladies for more prizes and projects!

DONNA BOWMAN

RACHEL KLEINMAN (that's me!)

JEN CUTHBERTSON

ANGI BARRS

CEAL PRITCHETT

Now for the DCWV Halloween hop... We are giving away stacks and stacks and stacks! Leave comments on each of the designers' blogs to increase your chances to win! You have until Monday morning to leave comments, and winners will be announced on the DCWV blog Tuesday! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

DCWV Diary

Rita

Thomisia

Tessa

Britt

Karen

Sara

Rachel (that's me!)

Karla