Neat & Tangled / Tonic Collaboration

Hi everyone!  This week Neat & Tangled is collaborating with Tonic USA.  I was so excited to be able to work with their products, and created two cards to share.

For this first card, I die cut our Punchinella die from cream cardstock.  Then I used some liquid adhesive to essentially pain across the bottom of the die on a diagonal.  Once the glue was dry, I used the Radiant Gold Gilding Flakes to embellish the bottom of the die cut.  I then tacked the die cut piece down in a couple places over a piece of patterned paper.

Those dimensional hearts are from the Scored Shapes Dies set.  I cut the hearts from both patterned paper and vellum.  I rubbed the vellum hearts with Powder Blue embellishment mousse to give it a little shine and subtle color. 

Those were then stitched to the punchinella/pattered paper as well as a sentiment strip with a sentiment from the So Many Sentiments set.

I also added a vellum mat.  Just as with the vellum hearts, I rubbed the top and right edges of the mat with some embellishment moussse, this time using Pure Platinum mousse.

Everything was adhered to the card base and then I added a few sequins as well as a few dots of White Blizzard Glitter Drops to finish it off.

For my next card, I used the Embellishment Mousses in a different way.  I was a little surprised by the texture of the mousse when I first used it.  I expected it to be more like a paste that you used for stencils, but it had more of a clay consistency.  You can still use it in that for for stencils, but you have to kind of work it into the openings.  Or, you can soften it into more of a paste form by adding some water.

You can also add water to create a type of paint, which is what I did.  I just used my palatte knife to put a bit onto a craft mat, added water to create a paint consistency, and than painted onto a watercolor panel using the Powder Blue and Pure Platinum embellishment mousses.

I then added some stamping using the Landscape Textures stamp set and the Tim Holtz Stamping Platform.  I placed the stamp in the middle of the platform so that I could move the panel around underneath to create the random stamping.

Then I added some gilding by 'coloring' some dots on the panel using my glue pen.  And then adding the Radiant Gold Gilding Flakes.

Note - make sure your ink is totally dry before you do this.  I managed to smudge a bit of black ink when I was brushing away the excess gold flakes.

I die cut the You Can Do Anything sentiment and gilded it as well.  To give it a little more strength, I did add a second layer and then adhered the entire piece to my panel.

That's all for me.  Be sure to head over to both the Neat & Tangled blog and the Tonic USA blog.  One lucky commenter on the Neat & Tangled blog this week will win a $75 credit to Tonic and a commenter from the Tonic blog will win a $75 credit for Neat & Tangled.

*Affiliate Links in text to Neat & Tangled store and below to Ellen Hutson

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Canson XL Watercolor Paper Pad 9x12

Neat & Tangled Dies, Punchinella

Neat & Tangled Clear Stamps, So Many Sentiments

Neat & Tangled Clear Stamps, Landscape Textures

Tonic Nuvo Gilding Flakes, Radiant Gold

Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, Pure Platinum

Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, Powder Blue

Tonic Nuvo Glitter Drops, White Blizzard

2 Way Glue, Chisel Tip

Four Leaf Clover

Hey everyone!

Just popping in to share a really simple clean and simple St. Patrick's Day card.

I've planned to create a card like this ever since we released the Scored Shapes Dies at Neat & Tangled.

So easy to do.  I just cut the large and medium hearts from green cardstock four times, and tacked them down to create a four leaf clover.  I cut a thin curve of cardstock for the stem as well.  Then I stitched all the pieces down and added a sentiment from my Dala Horse set.



For some extra interest, I added a bit of doily, some patterned paper, a thin strip of gold cardstock, and a bit of stitching along the right border.

That's all for me today.  Hope your week is going well!

Neat & Tangled / My Sweet Petunia Collaboration

Hey everyone!  It's been a really exciting week over at Neat & Tangled.  We are teaming up with My Sweet Petunia, maker of the MISTI.  Not only are we showing off projects on the N&T blog, but we've taken over the My Sweet Petunia blog as well.

OK, I have a dirty little secret:  I am a horrible stamper.  Seriously, not good.  I can't stamp in a straight line let alone create a pattern that doesn't get all cattywompus (sp?) on me, and even when it comes to sentiments I'm forever stamping them crooked or I don't get an even inking.  I have wasted a good forest worth of paper on mess ups in my crafting career.

That's why I'm so enamored with the MISTI.  Not only does it allow you to do a lot of really great techniques, but it's a huge time saver and paper saver because it allows you to stamp correctly and re-stamp when you don't get it quite right.



One quick tip before we get to the card:  when I first got my MISTI (and I'm right handed), I was using it so that it opened like a book that you're reading.  I've since discovered that the opposite direction works best.  If you open the life left to right, it's easier to ink and more natural to shut, at least for me.

OK, so let's talk about the card.  I am a big fan of multi-step stamps.  I love the way they look, heck, I even designed a set for the N&T January release, but I've kind of stayed away from them because, as we established earlier, I am a horrible stamper.

So to really test out my MISTI, I pulled out my new Ornate Frames set and went to work.



The frame is all stamped in Memento Tuxedo black, but the first layer is second generation stamped.  Now when you do this you won't get a really even stamping, that's to be expected, especially with darker colors, but for this application, a kind of vintagey/antique frame, it works.



The second layer is stamped in first generation.  The MISTI made it super easy to line things up, and a tip on this stamp set is to center the frames using the middle opening.



Finally the last layer.  I actually stamped this three times, twice with the Memento to get a darker color, and then a third time with Versamark as I wanted to clear emboss that last layer to not only make it even darker, but to give it some extra shine/texture (sorry this photo is HORRIBLE, I almost didn't include it, but I wanted you to see the darker areas - this is before the embossing)



Here you can see the embossing powder on it.

The MISTI is also great with positioning.  Here I placed my frame (which I had die cut) on the card, then I was able to place my sentiment using the frame as a reference, especially helpful too since I didn't want to use the whole sentiment (from Be My Valentine) and needed to do some masking when I inked.



Once that was stamped, I added a bit of coloring to the stamped heart, popped the frame up (with two layers of foam tape) and placed a few of my Scored Shapes Dies in the center, also popped up (with one layer of foam tape)



I really can't say enough good things about my MISTI.  I would not be stamping multi-step images if I didn't have it!

Now you know that there are prizes involved when we collaborate, right?  This week's prizes are HUGE.  You can win your very own MISTI on the Neat & Tangled blog, just head over and leave comments on each of the posts this week.  AND if you go to the My Sweet Petunia blog and do the same thing, you'll be entered to win a $100 credit to the Neat & Tangled store!

Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT weekend!

Affiliate links to products used below:

My Sweet Petunia MISTI Stamping Tool

Neat & Tangled Clear Stamps, Ornate Frames

Neat & Tangled Dies, Ornate Frames

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

WOW Embossing Powder, Super Fine - Clear Gloss

COPIC Sketch Marker R29, Lipstick Red

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

Neat & Tangled September Release Day 4 - Last Day for Giveaways

It's the last day of our September Release Reveal!

Today we're showcasing another of my new products, the Scored Shapes Dies.

You get three sizes of hearts, circles, diamonds, and stars in this set of dies, all scored down the center.  They are perfect for adding dimension to your projects.

The score line makes it much easier to fold thick cardstock and creates a natural line along which to stitch.

For my card I used the diamond shapes to create a dimensional medallion.  I layered two of the diamond sizes together and then stitched through with gold thread.  Really simple and easy to do.  

The sentiment is from the Faceted set.

I added a mat created by embossing Egyptian gold along the edges of the cardstock, and then a second mat that is a print from the SC Brighton Pier pad. 

OK, please stop by the Neat & Tangled blog to see some other great projects and enter to win the WHOLE RELEASE.  I am also doing some giveaways here of my new products.  Just leave a comment and I'll draw some winners and post them tomorrow.  For an extra chance, share about the giveaway/release and leave me a second comment telling me how you shared.

Release goes live tomorrow at 8 AM EST!