Peace, Love & Paws

Today I am playing along with Color Throwdown #621 with red, green, aqua and silver and also NBUS for November.

I wanted to use my NBUS stamp set by My Favorite Things called Peace, Love & Paws:

Aren't they so cute?  I stamped all the images with Altenew Obsidian Black Ink onto Bristol Smooth card stock. I colored them with Arteza Real Brush Pens using the colors in the challenges:

I made 2 cards and used 2 retired dies from My Favorite Things for the windows.

The images were cut from the coordinating dies. Sometimes I hate to spend the expense for the matching dies, but am always happy when I do. They cut in between areas and I haven't figured out how to do that with my Brother Scan 'n Cut. 

To create texture in the windows, I cut the window dies from Gina K. Masking Paper. Once I applied it to the white card stock background, I used the Stampers Anonymous Set #44 TMS132 which has twinkle stars and Delicata Silver Ink. Easy to do using the Wendy Vecchi Make Art Stay-tion to hold it all down and still while I ink blended.

You can see the Twinkle Stars in the background here:

The cards were glue flat with liquid adhesive for the most. A couple of image and the sentiment were popped up with foam tape.

If you are interested in these stamps, My Favorite Things is offering a great sale through Monday, Nov. 30, 2020:

Peace, Love & Paws to you all!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

I Miss Your Face - Covid Cards

Today I am playing along with 2 fun challenges: The Outlawz Monday Challenge: Anything Goes and of course, NBUS:

&

I needed to make some COVID cards for my daughter's shop and wanted to use my Dare 2B Artzy Stamp & die called Bear Hugs. My NBUS! Isn't it just the cutest set?!! I made a total of 6 cards.

If you look at the masks below, the dies cut in between the ties which makes it so realistic.

And guess what?! Dare 2B Artzy is having a Black Friday sale going on now through Monday, November 30, 2020:

To start creating the cards, I die cut the bear images from Bristol Smooth card stock. I knew I wanted to use my Arteza Real Brush Pens and I thought Bristol Smooth would be a good sturdy choice. Once the bears were die cut, I could easily stamp 2 at a time by using the negative of the Bristol Smooth paper and inserting the bears stamps in where the die had cut. They nestle in like a puzzle. 

Once the stamps were all set I put 2 of the die cuts in the same negative space and stamped. 6 stampings to create 12 bears.

To color I used Arteza Real Brush Pens, but I really wanted to show you the new case I bought for my Arteza Real Brush Pens. I have the 96 piece set of pens, so I bought the 108 slot organizer. The pens slide in and out very easily. This is great for I have another manufacturer's alcohol marker case and it is so hard to get the markers in and out, I don't use it. I am very pleased with this set. I can bring the entire set to my little craft table I use while watching TV with the hubby. It lays flat to choose my colors. I have them in numerically for I've swatched all the colors by number. Great for travelling, but not doing much of that now!

Here is Arteza's online swatch for the Real Brush Pens:

Arteza is having a sale through the 30th too! 25% off $100 of more using the Promo Code: sweet.

I made 6 cards all together using patterned paper from my stash: Lawn Fawn, MFT and Pink Paislee.

Aren't they cute? All popped with foam squares from Fun Stampers Journey. I know this is a small issue, but these foam squares are so easy to use. They come off release paper so easily and the release paper on the top comes off like a breeze!

Well, thank you to the challenge hosts, the Outlawz Monday Challenge and NBUS.

I hope you are stay safe and "Air Hugs Until We Meet Again"!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

How to Stamp/Color Wood Ornaments

Hi crafty friends! Today's post will be a little different. I wanted to show you how to use your stamps to make wood ornaments! If you make ornaments as gifts for friends and family, think about how you can personalize them. For instance, I have someone in the family that loves hockey. I just happen to have a stamp with hockey skates which would make a perfect ornament. Lots of snarky 2020 stamps out there, too!

As some of you may know, I make cards and ornaments for my daughter Kristin's shop at The Cotton Company in Wake Forest, NC. It is called The Toadstool Shoppe.

Every year for the Christmas Season, I stamp on wood slices, color them in and in some cases add bling to make about 100 ornaments.

Here is what I've learned over the past years:

1) buy good quality wood slices without the dark tree rings. If you stamp a cute little image and the dark rings of the wood slice hits it right in the face, there is no saving it. The last couple of years we have bought from an Etsy shop called: LightofdayCreations. They have been wonderful - we ask them to send the 4" slices that have the least amount of tree sap (dark rings) and we have been very pleased with what they have sent.

2) We do not seal the wood, therefore it is very porous. Keep that in mind when stamping and coloring. 

3) To stamp, you must use a stamp positioner of some sort. I have used my MISTI and also my Stampin' Up! positioner called Stamparatus. I use the long magnets to secure the wood slices in place before I stamp. For stamping, I recommend a good quality Hybrid Ink. It dries quickly and doesn't spread or bloom. I use Scrapbook.com's Black Hybrid Ink. 

4) Coloring will be tough on the tips of your markers. I used Stabilo pens in both the felt tip and the fine tip and Tombow markers. They go on dark but will lighten up over time. Blending doesn't work so well, but I do try to shade in the corners, etc. To color - be cautious. Color inside the lines and let it bleed out a bit. You can always go in with a light "dotting" motion to fill in any blank areas.

5) I prefer light greys and browns for animals and bright colors for everything else. A pink sometimes looks brownish on wood - if you have  a piece of wood gone wrong, you can test on that,

6) There is really no "erasing", so if it has all gone wrong, we paint it with black chalk paint and white heat emboss a quote on it. Heat embossing is done exactly the same way as you would on paper.

7) Often I will use a white colored pencil for hat brims, trim, etc. and cover with a layer of Wink of Stella, or my favorite, Spectrum Noir sparkle. The Spectrum Noir and rich and juicy and absorbs into the wood, yet leaves a great sparkle.

8) Final bling is to use various Gelly Roll pens, silver and white and Nuco Glaze on eyes or other parts. Give it overnight to dry.

When I buy stamps, I often think of using them on ornaments. The ones linked below are some of my favorites. Both Scrapbook.com and Spellbinders are having great sales right now and you can pick up some great deals.

Tuesday 11/17 - Monday 11/23 Pre-Black Friday WEEK

• All Scrapbook.com Branded-Items at their Lowest Prices!
• American Crafts Brands On Sale
• Freebie: Scrapbook.com ¼ Inch Roll Adhesive

Spellbinders sale is live now through Monday, November 30, 2020:

Here are some more pictures. Some are stamps no longer available, but look in your stash with new eyes and you'll be surprise what you find! These Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs are also a winner. The cats and dogs ornaments sell the best!

These were from Simon Says Stamps a few years ago. My daughter, Andrea, was helping out and colored the one on the left! I like it better than mine!

Here is a cute one from Dare 2B Artzy:

Well, that's it for this post today. I hope you can give making wood ornaments a try...so many options! Be well, friends.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.