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Guest Designer Sunday with Crafty Paws

Written by Valerie Ward. Posted in Anything But a Card, Eye Candy (Projects), Guest Designer Sunday, Videos

It’s time for another Guest Designer Sunday!!

Guest Badge

Today we have the wonderfully talented  Crafty Paws joining us again!

Crafty Paws

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I made this card for a friend who recently almost bought a dog at a pet shop. I am happy and relieved to say that she didn’t and with this card that I am encouraging her to adopt from a shelter or rescue organization or get a dog from a reputable breeder.

I knew I wanted a large card to create a kind of “store front” look with a bright, welcoming awning and a large picture window.  To add an interactive element, I made the front window a floating shaker through which you could see a room full of puppies from the Mama Elephant “Playful Pups” stamp set. Oh my gosh, aren’t those puppies the cutest?

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The following are the Copic colors I used for the puppies, tennis balls, and bones:
Dalmatian: W1, 8, 9; Bandana: BG11, 45
Rolling Golden Retriever: E21, 11, 13 and 41; Belly and muzzle: E41 and 41
Center Terrier-mix: E33, 35, 23, 37, 29; Muzzle: E41 and 51; Collar: B24, 29; Tag: Gold metallic Sakura Gellly Roll Pen
Weimaraner playing with ball: C1, 3, 4 and colorless blender; Collar: R22, 29
Pug-mix: E40 and 70; Ears and muzzle: R11; Collar: B01 ; Spikes: Gold metallic Sakura Gelly Roll Pen
Bear squeaky toy (drawn with a Copic 0.01 pt Multiliner pen and fussy cut to cover letter in stamp image): RV00, 02, 13 with belly covered in  Raspberry Fizz Flower Soft for fuzzy texture
Tennis balls: Y11, 13, 15
Bones: C1 coated with Glossy Accents for shine

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I started with a large 8.5″ x 12″ piece of heavy kraft card stock for the base. To accommodate the dimension of the pups, I also added a 1/8″ gusset at the top fold. I then cut a window out of the front panel with an X-Acto knife 7 3/4″ by 3 1/4″.  I cut a second panel with the same dimensions so that I could insert the shaker pocket between these two panels to create a floating shaker on the front of the card without interfering with all the pups on the inside of the card. I created the shaker pocket using a scrapbook layout sleeve and a We R Memory Keepers Photo Sleeve Fuse Tool, filling it with tennis balls and bones that I stamped, colored and die cut from the Playful Pups set; pearlescent and gold sequins; and white seed beads (I find that adding something with a little dimension like beads helps all the shaker pieces move around better).

For the awning, I cut a piece of 2 3/4″ by 8.5″ piece of striped patterned paper and used the Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace Punch Around The Page Setto punch the end corners and along one edge of the paper. Then I scored the paper lengthwise at 3/8″ and 2 3/4″ to create the area to attach the awning at the top of the card and the drop overhang. To finish off the window, I just cut strips of white card stock to frame the opening and layered a couple of thinner strips at the top and bottom to add some visual weight to the window framing.

The puppy playroom inside was easy to create. I first cut a piece of pink wood grain patterned paper to 8.5″ x 4.5″. Then I found some pale blue puppy paw print paper that I thought would make the perfect flooring and cut that to 8.5″ x 3″. To create the look of a 3D room, I drew in vertical wall lines 1 1/4″ in from either side and 3″ down the card.  I connected the bottoms of those lines with a horizontal line to create the back floor.  Finally, I cut away the floor paper at a diagonal from the bottom of the wall lines to 1 1/2″ above the bottom of the card on both sides.  If this is unclear, please watch the video where I point all of this out on the card so you can see what I’m describing.

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Then it was just a matter of positioning all the adorable puppies that I had colored up and die cut using the matching Mama Elephant Creative Cuts die set. I popped all of them up on foam adhesive to add a little dimension and added a little extra fun with an extra muzzle layer for the Pug-mix which I fussy cut out and popped up with more foam adhesive and putting the whole Golden Retriever up on a home made action wobble (if you are interested in how to make an action wobble, see THIS VIDEO).

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Thank you SO very much, Crafty Paws, for joining us this month, and for sharing your wonderul creations and fantastic videos for us!

Crafters, head on over to the Crafty Paws blog to seemore of her amazing work!

Guest Designer Sunday with Crafty Paws

Written by Valerie Ward. Posted in Eye Candy (Projects), Guest Designer Sunday, Videos

It’s time for another Guest Designer Sunday!!

Guest Badge

This month we are so excited to have Crafty Paws joining us!

Crafty Paws

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I am absolutely beside myself thrilled that I have been asked to be a guest designer for MarkerPOP.com! For my first guest design team project, I chose the super cute WPlus9 “Going Places” stamp set and the La La Land Stitched Cloud Border die set to make this scene card.  It’s one of a series of cards that I made for my hubby to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, and I thought the “YOU MAKE EVERY DAY an adventure” sentiment from the stamp set was perfect to celebrate what has been a wonderful marriage–through thick and thin and everything in between.

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To create the semi-stormy sky background, I used three Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Tumbled GlassSalty Ocean, and Chipped Sapphire on 140 lb Strathmore watercolor paper. The layered smooshing technique (yep, I think that’s the technical term–lol) is a great, easy way to create unique backgrounds with lots visual texture and interest.

For the cloud formations, I used the La La Land Stitched Cloud Border dies with some fun polka dot vellum paper and shimmery white card stock. Having 2 different cloud dies to combine, tilt and mix and match makes for wonderful layered looks.  I alternated with the vellum and the shimmery card stock and also popped up the card stock layers with double sided foam adhesive for extra depth.

I used the following Copic colors for the adorable little bunny and teddy flying away in the hot air balloon:
Bunny: W1, W3 and R30
Teddy: E31, E35 and R30
Teddy’s balloon and basket: BV01, 02 and 04; Y11 and 15; RV21, 23 and 25; E31, 35 and 37
Bunny’s balloon and basket: B000, 01 and 04; RV21, 23 and 25; Y35 and 38

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Besides the basic masking of the bunny and teddy to put them into the baskets, the trickiest part of making this card was fussy cutting out the critters in their hot air balloons.  The lines connecting the balloons to the baskets were so thin. But really, just using a sharp X-acto knife and taking my time, it wasn’t too bad.  I did tear one of them, but the repair was easy (it’s all in the video below).

To match the black card stock card base (I have recently started a love affair with black card bases–I just love the way the colors on cards seem to pop from the dark card base “frames”), I stamped out the sentiment onto black card stock with VersaMark ink and used Sparkle N Sprinkle platinum opaque extra fine embossing powder. I cut a banner out of it, and popped it up on foam adhesive to match the depth of the cloud formations and the critters in their hot air balloons.

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 The following is a process video of making this scene card:

Thanks so much for stopping by and joining me for this exciting crafty moment! WOOF

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Thank you SO MUCH, Crafty Paws!!

Guest Designer Sunday with Kelly Latevola

Written by Valerie Ward. Posted in Eye Candy (Projects), Guest Designer Sunday

Wow, is it the middle of August, already?! Insane! Well, on the bright side, it’s time for another Guest Designer Sunday!
Guest Badge

We have the talented  Kelly Latevola with us again today, and she is working with the brand new Release from WPlus9!

You and Your Big Dreams

Kelly Latevola

Take it from here, Kelly!…

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WPlus9 stamps & dies, Distress inks,  Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Copic markers  {Kelly Latevola for MarkerPOP!}

I started by using the color “smooshing” technique on some watercolor paper. I’ve seen this used by my friends Kristina and Laura and absolutely loved their results. They both have videos if you’d like to see it in action 🙂

Basically, you smear your distress ink onto a craft mat and then add a bit of water. You use a piece of acetate, or in my case old packaging, to pick of the color and then “smoosh” it onto your paper. It gives you tons of control, but also those beautiful watercolor lines we all love.

I used several distress ink colors to create my “sky.” I just kept layering and drying until I liked the result. Once it was completely dry, I spattered on some clean water to bleach out some spots. I threw on some shimmer spray in spatters too. Once those layers were dry I used an old paintbrush to flick on white acrylic paint creating some “stars.”

WPlus9 stamps & dies, Distress inks,  Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Copic markers  {Kelly Latevola for MarkerPOP!}

This past week I have cut the Starry background die a ton. Every single time all I could think was that the left over stars would be so cute as a shaker. So here you have it. Turns out I was totally right. I attached some acetate to my die and used two layers of dimensional adhesive to attach it to my card. Make sure you put your shaker bits in before you seal it. Don’t ask me how I know :/

WPlus9 stamps & dies, Distress inks,  Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Copic markers  {Kelly Latevola for MarkerPOP!}

I stamped a pair of sweet bunnies from the Wishing You stamp set and colored them with my copics. I tried to not to over blend so they would appear a little furry. I heat embossed my sentiment on a navy banner die. Don’t you just adore how white embossing pops on dark cardstock?! *swoon* I added a  few outline clouds and the moon to the outside of my shaker. Of course I had to add in a few more sequins and that was it.

WPlus9 stamps & dies, Distress inks,  Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Copic markers  {Kelly Latevola for MarkerPOP!}

Thank you so much for visiting today and a big thank you to MarkerPOP! for having me as a guest designer. I’ve enjoyed it so very much!

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Isn’t that a “WOW” card?! I’d say so! Thank you SO VERY MUCH, Kelly! I know you were busy with your amazing projects for Day 3 of the WPlus9 August Release!

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Well, that’s it for now. I want to say thank you to all the wonderful & amazing applicants who applied for our Design Team; we are humbled by all of the great talent you showed us! We will be making our deciosn, and we will share the resulst ASAP!

Have a wonderful rest-of-your-weekend, and Happy Crafting!

P.S. There’s still one more week for the current Challenge, Back to School!

MarkerPOP! Challenge #75: Back to School

Guest Designer Sunday with Kelly Latevola

Written by Valerie Ward. Posted in Eye Candy (Projects), Guest Designer Sunday

Good morning, Crafters and welcome to another MarkerPOP! Guest Designer Sunday!

Guest Badge

I can’t believe it’s August already! And with the start of a new month, we have our next Guest Designer, and this month that will be Kelly Latevola and her blog, You and Your Big Dreams!

You and Your Big Dreams

Kelly Latevola

Kelly is using the newly released Stamping Bella Rubber Stamp: Tiny Townie Amanda is Awesome. Her card is gorgeous, and her already written post for me is great! She’ll take it from here!…
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As soon as I saw this image I saw a sunset background. I tried some other ideas but this sunset refused to be ignored. I’m glad it was so insistent. I love the way it came out 🙂

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I started by stamping my image on watercolor paper using a Copic safe ink. Normally, you wouldn’t use this with a watercolor piece but I masked it with Liquid Friskett so it didn’t bleed. It’s really easy, you just paint it on with a paintbrush and let it dry. I keep a paintbrush that is entirely devoted to this because even when you clean it right away it still stays a bit sticky.  Once the mask is dry add in your watercolor background. I used my Zig markers to add color directly to the paper. I did go in an order that made sense for a sunset but it’s okay to have fun too. I added a bit of pink up near the blue just for some variation. Using a wide brush add water to your background. I chose to do sweeping strokes from left to right. These markers blend so easy! Truly, this took me maybe 30 seconds and it was gorgeous all by itself! Once the background is dry you can pick up the mask by rubbing your fingertips or an eraser across the surface. It peels up really easily.

I colored the stamped portion with Copic markers. When coloring an image where the light source is in front of your image only the edges will have any kind of light. Everything else will be mostly in shadow. I colored the image like I normally would with no consideration for the light source. Then I went back in with darker colors and lots of grays to get the shadows right.  I also added some copic marker to my grass to make it look more realistic. I used my white gel pen to add some detail to her dress. Whenever I’m done coloring I always outline my image with a Copic multiliner to help it stand out from the background.

The sentiment that comes in this set is hysterical but I only wanted to use the “I Miss You” so I masked the rest of it before inking my stamps. This is a great way to get more mileage out of what you already have. I used post its but you can use whatever you have on hand. Tape or scrap paper will work just as well.

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Inks:
Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers : Yellow, Bright Yellow, Orange, Pink, Light Violet, Violet, Cobalt Blue, Persian Blue, Blue, Deep Blue.
Copic Markers: E34, E55, E57, E59, E29, Y00, Y11, Y02, Y15, YR24, V01, V12, V04, V06, V09, YG06, G05, G07, G17, C01, C03, C05
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Beautiful, Kelly! Thank you so much! I, myself, don’t have those Zig Markers – yikes, I think I’ll have to invest in some now!

Have a wonderful rest-of-your-weekend, Crafters, and don’t forget you have one more week for the current Challenge: Anything Goes!

MarkerPop! Biweekly Challenge #74: Anything Goes

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