Die of the Month with Brutus Monroe

 

Hello everyone!  Hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy!  Today I

am sharing the Die of the month from:

Brutus Monroe

Die of the Month

This is such and awesome die set and the Design Team has come up with some

wonderful inspiration!  Let me show you how I made my

Pocket of Love card!

To begin, I used the biggest die in this set - there are 3 dies this month!  I used the

pink Mermaid Skin paper.

I backed it with a piece of white glitter paper as I knew I wanted to use

this as a pocket.  I also used this Mermaid Skin paper to die cut the word "love" -

also included in this set.  I die cut it 3 times from plain white card stock as well.

I glued the 3 white ones on top of each other and then lastly glued the pink one

on top.  This gives a lot of sturdy dimension.  I cut a panel out of Neenah 80lb.

Classic Crest Solar White card stock that measures 3 3/4" x 5".  I decided

to stencil this piece using the Circle Doily stencil.

I used Simon Hurley's Rosy Cheeks ink and a Pink & Main Ergonomic

Blending Brush to do my stenciling.

I adhered my "love" die cut in the upper left corner at an angle.

I adhered my main die cut piece to an A2 size top folding card base in white.  I

ran a bead of liquid adhesive along each side and across the bottom so it would

form a pocket on my card base.  Once that was dry I could slide in my love note

on the front of the card.  I added a few pink Mermaid Sequins and my

card was finished!

This would make a great wedding or anniversary card!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  It was fun to make and easy!

Check out all of the great products at:

Brutus Monroe

The Die of the Month is a subscription product.  Check out all of the

other subscription products that are offered.  They are a great deal!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Betsy

In my capacity as a design team member for Brutus Monroe, I do receive the products I use from them. 

All opinions and creative decisions remain my own, and I only work with companies/use products that I love.

Leafy Ribbon with Rachel Vass Designs

 

Hello everyone!  Today I'm sharing another beautiful design from the

January 2021 Release from:

Rachel Vass Designs

Leafy Ribbon

I love this digistamp set.  It can be used in soooo many different ways!  Let

me show you how I made my card today!

I started by composing my design in my computer.  I use WORD as a program

and it works great.  I made the main image a shade of gray just to knock the

black back some.  I left the sentiment in black.  I printed the image out onto

Neenah 80lb Classic Crest Solar White card stock.

I unfortunately lost my list of Copic colors that I used...sorry.  But

I started by using a cooler green mix. 

Then I added a warmer green mix.

The berries were a very pale blend of cooler greens.  I really didn't get

too fussy with the shading, but made sure I did have a dark base to

the leaves.  I used that darkest green for the stems as well.  I used the

paler greens for the shading on the sentiment banner.

My card base was a warm green and my background paper is

an echo of the design.  It's by Craft Consortium.  I made a base from

the green that was an A2 size top folding and I used it sideways.

I cut a strip of the patterned paper to 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" and adhered

it horizontally.  My main panel measures 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and

I adhered that in the middle.  Along each side of the main panel

and along the top and bottom of the patterned paper I used very

thin green mirror peel-offs from Love from Lizi.  Just to add a tiny

bit of glitz, I used a shimmer pen on the pale green berries!

This would make a lovely sympathy card and as I was writing this, I

realized this would be amazing in an autumn palette!!!!!!  I might have to do that!

If you haven't visited Rachel's Etsy Shop go now!  It's Rachel's first

anniversary and she's having a sale!!!!  It's a great time to pick up some

amazing digistamp sets.  And there will be a giveaway as well....the

prize?...the entire first year of digital stamp sets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And,

don't forget the FREEBIES!!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope I've inspired your crafty

spirit to give this stamp set a try!

Betsy

In my capacity as a design team member for Rachel Vass Designs, I do receive the products I use from them. 

All opinions and creative decisions remain my own, and I only work with companies/use products that I love.

Stamp & Stencil of the Month with Brutus Monroe

 

Hello everyone!  Today I'm sharing all kinds of crafty goodness from:

Brutus Monroe

Stamp of the Month

Stencil of the Month

Both the Stamp and Stencil of the Month are adorable this month and all

are love-themed!  Let me show you how I made my cute shaker card!

I first taped a piece of hot press watercolor paper to a hardboard.  I used

Cosmo Hydrowash, just gently moving down the paper with a back and

forth brush stroke until I achieved the smooth look I was going for.

You can see it buckled my paper.  I let it dry completely before moving onto

the next step.  When it's dry, the paper is completely flat.  With the panel still

taped in place, I used Pixie Spray to adhere my Stencil down and used the

Glitter Glaze of the Month - Poppy! And then let it dry completely before moving on.

Once this was completely dry I removed it from the board and trimmed it to

3 5/8" x 5".  Next I stamped my image using Raven Detail Ink and my MISTI.

I colored the image with Copic markers.  For colors I used:

W0, W1, W3, W5, RV10, RV02. RV06, YR02, R02

When my coloring was complete I fussy cut the image out.

Using a heart die from my stash I die cut a heart from the stenciled panel.

I placed it in the center a bit closer to the top.  My particular die cuts a frame

as well as the main heart image.

I prepared an A2 size top folding white card base and adhered a cut panel

of white glitter paper to fit behind the heart shape.  Using the top stenciled

panel as a guide, I adhered my frame inside onto the white glitter paper.

I gathered the components for my shaker card.  Then I die cut the "Hugs" from

Christopher's Sentiments Cutting Die Set.  I used the white glitter paper for the

letters and black card stock for the backing and adhered them together.  I adhered

a piece of acetate behind the heart opening on the main panel and then placed

foam tape on the back, making sure I surrounded the heart with continuous tape.

Onto the base of the card within the framed heart I added my Mermaid Sequins -

Pink & Red, then I placed the top panel over it to secure the shaker.

I added my little bunny and then the Hugs die cut over it and colored in the very

centers of the little flowers with an orange glitter pen. I adhered the left over

evacuated heart die cut to the inside of the card. 

And my card was complete!

This card was so much fun to make!  With so many great products, cards come

out special every time!  If you haven't shopped 

Brutus Monroe

lately - go now!  Lots of new products in stock and always something on sale!

As always I appreciate your time and interest!

Betsy

In my capacity as a design team member for Brutus Monroe, I do receive the products I use from them.

 All opinions and creative decisions remain my own, and I only work with companies/use products that I love.

Winter Backgrounds with Rachel Vass Designs

 

Hello everyone!  Hope everyone is safe and healthy as we start out the new

year.  Today I'm sharing a digistamp set from the January 2021 Release:

Rachel Vass Designs

Cozy Winter Backgrounds

This was a great set to get creative with.  The images are fairly simple

and because of that I kept my Copic coloring very simple.

I first printed out my sized image and I left quite a bit of room around the

sentiment, as I wanted to be able to die cut it.

I started by coloring the background of the main image.

I used B41 for the background.  I did no shading on this image - just

straight colors.

The mugs were colored with BV08 and the hearts inside and some of

the smaller hearts in the background with V04.

The bigger hearts were colored with V000 and the leaves

were colored with G99.

I finished this with a white gel pen.  I used Arteza White Gel Pens.  I have

tried most white gel pens and none of them worked consistently good.

I bought the set of 18 white gel pens from Arteza and I was floored because

they worked so good - right out of the box, right after they were delivered...

and they were very cold.  They come in .6, .8 and 1.0.  They were well

worth buying.

I gathered the rest of my materials for my card.  I dry embossed a panel of

orchid card stock with a corner snowflake design.  I die cut my colored panel

with a square stitched die.  I used a warm dark navy for mounting those on

and an A2 size top folding white card base.  I die cut various snowflakes

from plain white card stock.  I die cut my sentiment with a banner die and

backed it with the same navy card stock.  After putting it altogether I added

orchid glitter enamel dots in the centers of the snowflakes and my card was done!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  It's a wonderful digistamp set with

plenty of versatile sentiments.  As always, if you haven't visited

Rachel Vass Designs

on Etsy - you're missing out!  So many great sets and there are FREEBIES!!!!

Til next time - thanks so much for stopping by!

Betsy

In my capacity as a design team member for Rachel Vass Designs, I do receive the products I use from them.

 All opinions and creative decisions remain my own, and I only work with companies/use products that I love.

 

All You Need is Love with Brutus Monroe

 

Rose Wreath with Rachel Vass Designs

 

Hello everyone!  Today I'm sharing with you more inspiration from

the January 2021 Release from:

Rachel Vass Designs

Rose Wreath

So, who says digital stamps are just for cards?  Today I'll be sharing

how I made a watercolor painting from the digital stamps found

in this set.

My watercolor paper was Hot Press - this means it has a very smooth surface.  

 I changed the color of the wreath part of the print to a gray and left the 

sentiment in black.  This is possible because they are 2 separate images. 

 Please note that I use Word as a program for my digital creations.  

I have the ability to"recolor" the outline of an image.  My paper was 8" x 10" and I

sized my print accordingly.  I flipped the wreath to make the top image.

I felt it was important to make the ends of the wreath overlap

each other to give the appearance of continuity.

Because there were lots of leaves it was important to vary

the tone of them.  I had 4 combinations of greens.

I tried to give the leaves around the flowers their own color-ways.

I also balanced my colors.  Using each of the 4 color ways intermittently -

not having each separate color-way grouped together.

I dampened each leaf and then added color.  I added another color usually

across the bottom for variation.  I used Burnt Sienna for the stems.  All

of the flowers were painted the same way with Quinacridone Coral.  I

didn't really want red or pink and this was a great in-between color.

Once I was finished with the painting, I popped it into a mat and frame!

I hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial and it's sparked some creative thinking

on your part!  Don't be afraid to try watercoloring.  Practice if you don't think

you could do a nice job.  By the way, I use an inkjet printer.  I let the printed

watercolor paper sit for about a day and I had no problems with ink running.

If you've never been, check out Rachel Vass Designs on Etsy.  Rachel often has

sales and freebies!!!!!!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your day and stopping by!

Betsy

In my capacity as a design team member for Rachel Vass Designs, I do receive the products I use from them.

 All opinions and creative decisions remain my own, and I only work with companies/use products that I love.

Sweet Hearts with Brutus Monroe