happy birthday melissa!

I'm certain that I've said it before but I think it bears repeating...one of my favorite parts of crafting is the amazing community of makers! I have met so many kind and wonderful people because of crafting and Melissa is definitely one of them!

I love being a part of the amazing Honey Bee Stamps team that Melissa has created and today we are celebrating Melissa's birthday! She is giving you a special gift, the Celebration Box stamp set, with orders of $36 or more, and we are creating to say happy birthday!

So I'm not sure why, but I really wanted the cute cardboard box to be turned upside down with confetti pouring out. Don't ask me why but it seemed festive, LOL!

To create the "background" for the confetti spilling from my box, I blended Distress Oxide inks in Picked Raspberry & Wilted Violt. Then I used Nuvo Drops Morning Dew to create glossy, stripy, texture. Here's how...

• Apply large drops of Nuvo Morning Dew.
• Use squeegee or palette knife to spread the Nuvo.
• Work quickly because the Oxide inks & Nuvo Drops are both waterbased and the Nuvo will change the color of the ink.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you head over to Honey Bee to shop & get your special gift!

And Melissa, I'm wishing you a very happy birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day, full of love, laughter & yummy cake!

Hugs,
Carly

P.S. I love to use Nuvo Drops to create glossy texture! See more cards like this one here.

3 ways to stretch your holiday stamps

I'm over on the Honey Bee Stamps blog today talking about 3 super simple ways to stretch your holiday stamps. Come by and say hi!

Hugs!
Carly

creating with pantone's playful palette

I'm over in The Classroom at Ellen Hutson LLC today talking about using the Pantone Playful Palette. Swing by!

Hugs!
Carly

Advent Calendar Extravaganza with Taheerah Atchia

I'm so excited to be joining in the fun of Taheerah's Advent Calendar Extravaganza! I have admired Taheerah's work for a long time and I was lucky enough to get to meet her in real life at CHA last winter. She is just as sweet and wonderful as you think!

Advent Calendar Extravaganza is -the- festive event of the season! This ‘hop with a twist’ was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day! Joining in the fun with Taheerah are ONE HUNDRED special guests - each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration! Just like an Advent Calendar, you’ll never know where you’re going to be visiting next until you ‘open the door’!

And that’s not all! With 25 *amazing* sponsors taking part as guests as well, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Join in the fun every day at taheerah-atchia.com to see what special surprises await behind the door!

Today's sponsor is Ellen Hutson LLC and in case you don't know me yet, I am a super lucky girl! Not only do I get to be on the EH design team with some crazy talented (and sweet) ladies, but I am also "on staff" at EH too working in the office. Like I said, I'm a lucky girl :)

I've been wanting to try a watercolor technique I saw the talented Creatively Cass use - applying drops of color onto wet designs. 

I tried it and I really love the result! I will absolutely be trying it again. Here are a few tips I can share...

• emboss your stamped images to help hold the wet color in.
• paint your background first and let dry completely.
• apply your "drop" colors to a test piece to make sure they don't become muddy and brown. I used Distress ink in 4 colors - Pumice Stone, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers. I love how they mixed just enough to keep a "purpley" tone.
• paint inside the stamped image with clean water, then load your paintbrush with color (one at a time) and touch it to the wet image. 

It’s not a party without a prize - and with prizes every day there are several chances to win! Today’s prize is generously supplied by [sponsor’s name] so you’ll definitely want to win! Simply leave a comment on this post - then head back to taheerah-atchia.com and leave a comment there too! You must leave a comment on Taheerah’s blog as well as mine in order to be eligible to win! Don’t forget to grab the other surprise destinations from Taheerah’s blog and head over to them to leave comments there as well to improve your odds even more! You have until 23:59 EST on 31st December 2017 to enter.

supplies:
Essentials by Ellen Stamps, Bear Ware
Essentials by Ellen Stamps, Bear Ware 2
VersaFine Onyx Black
Distress Ink Pumice Stone, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry & Peacock Feathers
Smooth Bristol
WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder

i can't believe i never thought of this before...

Truly, I can't believe I never thought of using sprinkles in a shaker card before! Did you get to hop with us yesterday and see the first one I made? 

Well I loved it so very much, I made two more...

I used the same design as my first card but instead of adding pink to the card front as frosting, I used watercolor cardstock for the front panel and painted a loose pink watercolor wash.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs!

Carly

supplies:
UWF Sweet Sprinkles
Lawn Fawn Ink, Lobster
Avery Elle Ink, Mermaid
Distress Ink Picked Raspberry
VersaFine Onyx Black
Solar White cardstock

Nuvo Drops, Ruby Slippers

united we flourish sweet sprinkles

One of my favorite things about working at Ellen Hutson LLC is working with awesome people. And not just my amazing co-workers but also the wonderful people at awesome companies like Concord & 9th. I've been lucky enough to meet Angie & Greg and they are as wonderful as their stamps & dies! They are caring & kind and they design fabulous products, including this new Sweet Sprinkles set!

When I saw this stamp set I knew I had to make a shaker and I had to use real sprinkles!

Here are my tips...

• stamp the bottom of the cupcake and sentiment before die cutting.
• add some color to the card front where the shaker opening will be for "frosting".
• jimmie-type sprinkles are easier to use than nonpareils. The nonpareils slip out of the card if your shaker has any "weak spots" in the construction. Ask me how I know! haha!
• make sure you have dry hands when handling sprinkles or they will bleed color and get sticky. Again, ask me how I know!

In addition to this adorable set, there are also prizes!!! Two randomly selected commenters will win a $30 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson shop and two commenters will win a $30 gift certificate to the Concord & 9th shop! To enter just leave a comment on the Ellen Hutson Classroom blog, the Concord blog or the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog by 12pm PST on December 26^th.

Make sure you hope over to Jessica's blog and have fun! Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Carly

supplies:
UWF Sweet Sprinkles
Lawn Fawn Ink, Sunflower & Plastic Flamingo
VersaFine Onyx Black
Solar White cardstock
Nuvo Drops, Ruby Slippers

3 ways to send congratulations

YAY! Thanks so much for hopping with us as we celebrate the Essentials by Ellen December release! This release has such a fun, celebratory theme! And I have 3 cards to share with one of my new favorite dies, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies Yay by Julie Ebersole...

I think I say "yay" all the time because a) it's just a fun word and b) it seems like such a nice way to congratulate someone! "Yay" feels happy and genuine, as in "I'm happy for your happiness". I think we could all use a little more "yay" right now. 

I used the negative cut of "yay" to make a window/aperture on the front of my card, along with a party hat from Celebration Lady set. And did you know that you can use Copic markers to custom color white pom-poms?

The positive cut of the letters are also fun to play with. I cut two words from cardstock I had inked and then coated one with Glossy Accents and one with Nuvo White Blizzard glitter drops.

This is one of my favorite ways to dress up die cuts and to keep myself from mucking it up before it dries, I place a loop of low-tape on an acrylic block. I stick my die cuts into the tape and apply the Glossy Accents or Nuvo. Then I set the block very, VERY far away from myself to dry.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have fun on the rest of the hop and your next stop is my friend Carolyn Peeler's blog.

Hugs!
Carly

supplies: 
Essentials by Ellen Stamps, Cue the Confetti
Essentials by Ellen Stamps, Leading Ladies - Celebration Lady
Essentials by Ellen Dies, Leading Ladies - Celebration Lady
Essentials by Ellen Dies, Banner Cake
Essentials by Ellen Dies, Yay
Mama Elephant Inks Apricot & Tutti Fruitti
Avery Elle Ink Mint To Be
Copics BG32, BG34, V01 & V05
Solar White
Glossy Accents
Nuvo Drops White Blizzard
Pom-Poms