Shinhan Watercolors and a Palette Tip

Hi all! Today I have a post about some watercolor paints I bought a while back - Shinhan Watercolors.  I just took the Online Card Classes Intermediate Watercoloring class and had a lot of fun playing with these paints!  Here's a pic of the box:

And the paint tubes:

They are 7.5 ml each.  I've seen most other tube paints come in 15 ml or 5 ml, so this is an in-between size.  Initially I thought the tubes were a little small, but once I saw how little paint I needed, I realized that there's actually a pretty good amount of paint here.

I bought a Folding Palette with 28 paint wells in it and was able to fit all 30 colors, except for the black and white, which I don't use much anyway.  Here's what it looks like closed:

And open:

You can see that I've labeled each well with the color name so I'll know which paint goes where.  It was really simple with my label maker and 6 mm label tape.  The tape is laminated, so it resists the water and paint that goes over the labels.  I haven't had any problems yet with the tape lifting or getting messed up.

So anyway, I'm no watercolor artist, but I'm really liking these paints - very nice saturated color and they mix and paint very nicely (sorry I don't know more artistic terms!).  Here are a couple cards I made using these paints and techniques from the watercolor class:

The card above uses a pear image from Your Next Stamp and the card below uses stamps from Create A Smile.

That's all for now.  I hope to share more watercolored cards with you in the future.  BTW, I'm also using these paints for my brush lettering practice.  I know that I can use cheaper paints (meaning not artist quality), but I feel like it's more enjoyable with supplies I really like!

TFL and have a great day! ~Maureen

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YNS Challenges

Hi all!  It's time for new challenges over at the Your Next Stamp blog.  For the next 2 weeks we have this sketch:

And this color challenge:

I decided to go with the color challenge and came up with this:

I used the YNS set Cats and Dogs stamp set and its matching die set as well as the Stitched Rectangle die set.  I used Brusho powders on watercolor paper to make the blue background.  Then I used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment in Versafine ink.  I stamped the cat on white cardstock, colored with Copics, and cut out with the coordinating die.

We hope you'll play along with us!  All the details can be found on the YNS Blog.  TFL!

Large Sunburst Shaker Card

Hi all!  I have a card that I made for the Whatcha Watching? post over at the YNS Blog.

It's a fully enclosed shaker card.  I used my woodburning tool to seal the pocket and there's a video up on the YNS blog.  I'd love if you'd check it out!

I used 2 of my new die sets: Scrapworks - Large Sunburst Die Set and Bow-tiful Little Bows Die Set.  I also used the Java Geek stamp set and matching dies, as well as Winter Home for the sentiment.  Finally I added some shaker bits from Lucy's Little Things.


This is also for the Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and SSS Wednesday Challenge - Die Crazy.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Need I Say More?

Hi all!  Today I have the monthly Your Next Stamp DT Dare.  This month our theme is “A Few of My Favorite Things.”  Here’s what I came up with:

My favorite things on this card: coffee, the Scrapworks - Large Sunburst Die Set (that I designed!), and the Bow-tiful Little Bows die set (that I designed!).  Hee hee!  Yes, I definitely am partial to things I design!

I used the Java Geek stamp set, the matching dies, and a Love Me Some Latte gumdrop.  I just adore the little bows and will probably be trying to put them on every card I make!
I hope you like this card and that you’ll go over to the YNS Blog to see what everybody else came up with and comment there for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice!  TFL!

YNS Challenges

Hi all!  It’s time for the new challenges over at Your Next Stamp.  Here’s our color challenge:

And our sketch challenge:

I went with a loose version of the sketch and came up with this:

I used the new stamp set Life's A Hoot and its matching dies.  I stamped the owl with Memento ink and colored with Copics.  Then I overstamped with Versafine using my MISTI and die cut it out.  I cut 2 different squares using the Stitched Square Die Set and adhered them together.  I used the MISTI again to stamp the 2 sentiments (also from the Life’s A Hoot stamp set), and then mounted the owl in the middle with foam tape.

You can see all the DT inspiration and get all the details for the challenges over at the YNS Blog. 

This is also for Allsorts – Clean & Simple.  I hope you like it and TFL!

YNS New Release Blog Hop!

Hi all!  It’s that time of month again – Your Next Stamp just released a whole TON of fabulous stamps and dies!!   I’m the first stop on the hop so welcome!!  I’m so glad you stopped by and hope that you’ll be able to hop along to all the stops!

I’m am super excited about this release because I’ve designed some of the new dies, specifically the Scrapworks - Large Sunburst Die Set, the Bow-tiful Little Bows Die Set, and the Scallop Topped Treat Bag die.  Yay!  I’m also loving the new Stitched Ovals Die Set and ALL of the adorable stamps!!  Anyway, that’s enough talk, let’s get to my projects.

First up, I made a plain little bag using the Scallop Topped Treat Bag die to showcase an adorable felt bow made with the Bow-tiful Little Bows Die Set:

Here’s a video I made showing the bows off and how to make them:

And here’s THE LINK in case you can’t see the video player above.

Just FYI, the Scallop Topped Treat Bag die will NOT fit on a piece of 6x6 paper, so if you want to use patterned paper, it must be bigger than 6x6.  You can punch holes and tie the bag shut or just leave it as is and glue the flap shut.  I wanted to leave out the holes so you could decided how you want to close it!

Next I have a card using the Scrapworks - Large Sunburst Die Set and the Snow Much Joy stamp set and matching dies:

Here’s the intro video for the Large Sunburst Die Set (how to assemble it and some examples of different cards you can make):

And here’s THE LINK in case you can’t see the video player above.

That’s it for me for now, but I want to tell you that there’s a hop prize – a $25 YNS Gift Certificate that will go to one random commenter picked from all the hop stops. 

And of course Karen also has a fantastic sale for you:

Now you’ll be hopping to Tracy’s blog (linky below), but don’t forget to leave me a comment before you go!  Happy hopping and shopping! ~Maureen

YNS Sneak Peek

Hi all!  It’s almost time for another release at Your Next Stamp.  Today we have our sneak peeks.  Here’s mine:

I used one of my new dies – the Scallop Treat Bag Die.  Just to let you know, it doesn’t come with the holes punched in it, just in case you’d rather not tie it shut.  And it has scallop in its name because the fold over flap to close it has a scalloped edge (sorry it’s hard to see).

I just cut it out of some double-sided 12x12 patterned paper and glued it together.  Then I punched 2 1/8” holes and tied the rustic twine through them.

Please go over to the YNS Blog to see all the designers who have peeks for you.  TFL and we’ll see you back tomorrow for the New Release Hop.

YNS Challenges

Hi all!  It’s time for new challenges over at the YNS Blog.  For the next 2 weeks we have this color challenge:

And we have this sketch:

I went with the sketch and came up with this:

I used the Holiday Hello stamp set, matching die set, the Stitched Rectangle Die Set, and the Double Stitched Hills die set to make the wavy vellum piece.

I stamped the cat with Memento ink and colored her with Copics.  Then I used the MISTI to overstamp her with Versafine ink, and then cut her out with the matching die.  I embossed the sentiment on the vellum with gold EP and attached it to the patterned paper panel with multi-matte medium.

This is also for MarkerPop – Hanukkah or Christmas (colored with markers), Papertake Weekly – Take your pick (I used the colors red and green on her hat), and SSS Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes.

We hope you’ll play along with us!  You can find all the details on the YNS Blog.  TFL!

YNS Feature Day

Hi all!  It’s YNS Feature Day and this month our theme is Christmas.  Here’s what I came up with:

I wanted to show a Christmas use for a non-Christmas set - Woodland Cuties.  I simply put a Santa hat on the cute little fox.  The hat is from Silly Monsters Incognito Three. 

BTW, I stamped the fox on watercolor paper and embossed with clear powder.  Then I watercolored him and cut him out with the Woodland Cuties die set.  I did the same with the hat, except I fussy cut it out and added it to his head.  The sentiment is from Cozy Christmas Jessica. 

And check out this sweet sale:

This is also for the following challenges:

• Freshly Made Sketches – sketch
• SSS Wednesday Challenge – Christmas
• Curtain Call – Foxy

I hope you like my card and you can go over to the YNS Blog to see all the inspiration from the DT and leave a comment for a chance to win the stamp set of your choice!  ~Maureen

Let It Snow!

Hi all!  It’s time for another DT Dare and this month our theme is Patterned Pizzazz – use 3 or more different types of patterned paper on your project.  Here’s what I came up with:

I stamped the dinosaur from the Dino-Mite Holiday stamp set in Versafine ink and clear embossed it with Sparkle ‘N’ Sprinkle Detail Clear EP.  I then watercolored it with a waterbrush and my Zig Clean Color markers.  I cut him out with the matching die and foam mounted it on my card. 

The background “quilt squares” were cut with the Stitched Square Die Set from some SUPER OLD patterned paper.  I cut my sentiment up and stamped it with my MISTI.  I added some white and red Holly Jolly Sparkly Gumdrops for a finishing touch.

This is also for the following challenges:

• Creative Card Crew – Sprinkle (sprinkle something on your project – I embossed my dinosaur)
• My Time To Craft – Quilt It
• Papertake Weekly – Christmas Critter (now normally I wouldn’t consider a dinosaur a Christmas Critter, but since he has a Santa hat and pants…)
• Cute Card Thursday – Birds/Animals

You can see all the DT inspiration over at the YNS Blog, where you can leave a comment for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice!  TFL!

YNS Challenges #27

Hi all!  It’s time for new challenges over at the Your Next Stamp Blog!  For the next two weeks, we have this sketch:

And this color challenge:

I went with the colors brown, cream, and blue, and came up with this:

 

I used the adorable snowman from Little Darling Winter and some really OLD patterned paper from my stash that perfectly fit the color challenge.

I stamped the snowman in Memento ink, colored a bit with Copics, and overstamped with Versafine using my MISTI.  I then fussy cut it out and mounted it on the mug.  To make the mug, I used an SVG file from My Scrap Chick called Full Cup Treat Holders (this is the Big Mug).  It’s got a bag of Caramel Macchiato candy corn in it – YUM!

You can see what the other designers came up with and all the details on the challenges over at the YNS Blog.  TFL!

November YNS New Release Hop!

Hi all!  It’s time for another YNS New Release Hop!  If you’re following the linky, you should have arrived here from Kymona’s blog.  If you just happened upon my blog post, you’ll want to go back to the beginning at Anita’s blog (linky at the bottom of this post) because there’s a lot of fabulous eye candy you won’t want to miss!

I’m so excited for this release – I love making holiday cards and this release is full of holiday fun!  One of my favorites is the adorable Merry Chris-Moose, but I’m also a big fan of Little Darling Winter because she reminds me of someone….

Anyway, that’s enough chatter.  Let’s get to my cards, shall we?

First up I have an A2 card using Waddles Food Truck Fun and Waddles Holiday Truck Fun:

I used the truck from the original Food Truck Fun and the matching die set.  Everything else is from the Holidays add-on set.  Everything was colored with Copics and I added a couple of the new Holly Jolly Sparkly Gumdrops to the tires. 

I added a piece of white cardstock to the back of the food window because that would be the inside wall of the truck.  I did some layering with foam tape for fun.  Here’s a close shot so you can see it:

I used the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch.  This is also for SSS Monday Challenge – Create something beginning with the letter N (my stamps and patterned paper are brand new).

For my second card, I used a cutting template to make a shadow card:

I altered the 5x7 Snowman Shadow Box Card in Make-The-Cut by taking out the snowman so I could replace him with this super cute moose.  I also didn’t cut the back blue panel with the holes because I wanted to do the snow effect with modeling paste through a stencil instead.  I covered the extra snowflakes with matte multi medium and super fine glitter and covered the snowy hills with my homemade shredded Styrofoam.

I stamped the sentiment is Cobalt pigment ink and embossed with clear powder, assembled the card, and added some confetti snowflakes onto the front.  Oh, and the moose was colored with Copics and cut out with the matching die.  BTW, I cut all the card pieces with my ScanNCut2.

This is also for Virginia's View Challenge – All About Textures.

As always, we have a fabulous Hop prize – a $25 YNS Gift Certificate will go to one randomly drawn commenter from all the Hop blogs.

And of course we have a fantastic sale, too!  20% off your entire purchase!!

Now you’re off to Laura’s blog, but don’t forget to leave a comment before you go!  Happy hopping! ~Maureen

Holly Jolly Sneak Peek

Hi all!  Today’s the day for sneak peeks of the upcoming release from Your Next Stamp!  I am showing a peek of Holly Jolly Jessica:

Jessica was stamped with my MISTI and Memento black ink.  She was then colored with Copics and overstamped with Versafine ink.  Finally I cut her out with the matching die and foam mounted her on my card.

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday.

You can see a list of all the designers sharing a peek today by going to the YNS Blog.  TFL!

YNS Challenges

Hi all!  It’s time for new sketch and color challenges over at the YNS Blog.  Here’s the color challenge photo:

And here’s the sketch:

I used the sketch and came up with this:

I used Waddles - Homemade with Love and the Stitched Rectangle die set.  Waddles was stamped with my MISTI and Memento ink, then colored with Copics.  I then used the MISTI to overstamp with Versafine ink.  I added the sentiment with Versafine and colored the hearts with Copics (you can use Copics with Versafine if you don’t color over the lines).  Finally I added a little heart charm and a hemp twine bow.  The papers are from Lawn Fawn.

You can see how some of the other DT members played the challenge at the YNS Blog.  TFL and I hope you’ll play along with us!

YNS Feature Day

Hi all!  It’s time for another Your Next Stamp Feature Day where we showcase YNS products new and old, according to a theme.  This month our theme is Fall and here’s my card:

I used Sandy Squirrel - Autumn Greetings stamp set and the matching dies, theStitched Square die set, the Stitched Rectangle die set, and the Give Thanks for Sparkle Gumdrops.

Sandy was stamped with Versafine ink and clear embossed, then watercolored.  She was cut out with the matching die and foam mounted on a patterned paper square, which was also stamped and embossed with a sentiment from the set.  Finally, I added the gumdrops and mounted everything on a cream card base.

This is also for Sketch Saturday - sketch.

You can see all the other interpretations of the DT for Feature Day over at the YNS Blog.  While you’re there, be sure to comment for a chance to win the stamp set of your choice!  TFL!

I’ve Been Goodish

Hi all!  Today I have my card for this month’s DT Dare.  Our theme is Sparkle and here’s what I came up with:

Sorry you can’t see it, but I glittered up the snow and there are some sparkly bits in the shaker.  I used the Sprinkles - Hoppy Holidays stamp set and matching dies, and also the Stitched Square Die Set for the shaker portion. 

Sprinkles was colored with Copics and mounted on the shaker panel with foam tape.  I stamped all the sentiment parts using my MISTI and trimmed it down with my paper trimmer.  The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches.

For the shaker bits, I used the Snowdrift Sparkly Shaker Selection.  For the shaker itself, I just fused/cut some page protector plastic with my woodburning tool and adhered the front frame and back square to the plastic with my ATG gun.  The final bit is some red velvet ric-rac from May Arts.

You can see all the DT inspiration over at the YNS Blog where you can comment for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice.  TFL!

YNS Challenges

Hi all!  It’s time for our new challenges over at Your Next Stamp!  For the next two weeks, we have this color challenge:

And this sketch challenge:

As you can see, I went with the sketch this time:

I used the new Sprinkles - Sew Cute stamp set and matching dies.  I also used the Stitched Rectangle Die Set, the Circles - Stitching Marks Die Set, the Circles Die Set, and for the straight lines of stitching on the largest panel of patterned paper, I used the Tiny Stitches - Stitched Line Die. 

The bunny was stamped and colored with Copics.  I mounted her on the circle with foam tape and both the image and sentiment were stamped with brown hybrid ink.

This is also for Crafty Creations Challenges – Don’t be blue (there’s no blue on this card).

We hope you’ll play along with us!  All the details can be found on the YNS Blog.  TFL!

YNS New Release Blog Hop!

Hi all and welcome to my stop on the October Your Next Stamp New Release Hop!  If you’ve been following the links, you should have arrived here from Kymona’s Blog.  However, if you’ve just happened upon my blog, you’ll want to go back to the beginning at Kendra’s Blog (links at bottom of post) because you won’t want to miss a bit of the eye candy!

I’m so excited about this release!  I didn’t design any of it, but I love it all anyway!  We’ve got new Waddles and Sprinkles sets and I adore those cute characters!  We’re also debuting a new character – Sandy the Squirrel!  Well, enough chatter, let’s get to my projects!

First up I have a clean & simple card using the new Sandy Squirrel– Autumn Greetings set:

Every so often I talk about how these line drawings sets are still great even if you don’t love to color and here’s an example of that.  I used just the leaves from the set and did some really rough coloring with some fall-ish colored Copics.  Then I used the Stitching Holes Die Set above and below my stamped/colored area and stitched with some rustic twine.  I added the sentiment above and a few Give Thanks for Sparkle Gumdrops.

For my second card, I used a cutting file from Lori Whitlock called Tri-Fold Shadow Box Card Birthday:

 

I altered it with Make The Cut and turned the balloon cut out panel solid so that I could cut a window out with the new Stitched Banner Die Set.  I stamped the image from Santa’s Helpers and colored with Copics, then cut out with the matching die.  Before adding the image with foam tape, I used a stencil and embossing paste to make some snow in the background.  I white embossed a sentiment from the same set and assembled the card, adding some patterned paper panels. 

The card also folds closed and I tied it shut with some twill tape:

It doesn’t fold flat for mailing, but soon I’ll be showing how to alter it even more so that it will fold flat!  Stay tuned!

As is always the case, there is a fabulous prize to be won – a $25 YNS Gift Certificate. A winner will be drawn at random from all the comments on all the blogs.

And of course we also have an awesome sale so you can get your shop on!

Now you’re off to the YNS Blog, but don’t forget to leave me a comment before you go!  TFL and Happy Hopping!

 

 

Sweetie Pie

Hi all!  The new release for Your Next Stamp is coming up tomorrow, so today we have sneak peeks for you!

I used the new Sweetie Pie stamp set and matching dies, as well as the new Stitched Banner Die Set, and the Stitched Rectangle Die Set.

I stamped the images with Memento ink and colored with Copics.  Then I cut them out with the matching dies and put foam tape on the backs.  I cut all the patterned paper pieces and stamped the sentiment on the small orange piece then put it all together.  Since today is Watcha Watching? Wednesday over at the YNS Blog, I have a video on the making of this card over there. 

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday and this is also for MarkerPOP – Anything Goes with markers.

You can also check the YNS blog to see all the designers that are sharing peeks today.  I hope you like this card and that I’ll see you back here tomorrow for the New Release Hop!

YNS Challenges #24

Hi all!  I’m here with the new challenges over at the YNS Blog. 

And here’s what I came up with:

As you can see, I went with both the color and sketch challenges this time.  I watercolored a panel with 2 shades of purple paint then cut it out with a Stitched Rectangle die.  I added 2 diecuts from the Spooky Halloween Scene die set, and a stamped bat from the Halloween Phoebe stamp set.  I added a white panel that was also cut with the Stitched Rectangle die set tied with some black twine and a little star charm.  Finally all that was mounted on a black card base.

This is also for SSS Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes and Curtain Call – Going Batty. 

We hope you’ll join in our challenges.  Please visit the YNS Blog for all the details.  TFL!