How Does Your Garden Grow?

We’re Celebrating Flowers this Week!

Our April Catalog is just bursting with new blossoms of so many varieties for your Mother’s Day, Birthday, Get Well, Sympathy, and All Occasion stamping! Get ready to scrapbook your Spring Garden, or just enjoy a bouquet of gorgeous blooms. Our Design Team LOVES to stamp and color flowers, so you’ll see lots of terrific samples on their blogs this week! You can get yourself a whole garden full with our FREE Shipping offer! Add some of our new Digital Downloads, too! There’s a terrific set of sentiments perfect for all our new floral stamps – Flowery Phrases Digital Download

Among our new flowers are three brand new Jumbo Cling Flowers. We’re very excited to be able to continue to offer these with the FREE templates so that you can mask off the flower or it’s surroundings for all sorts of terrific effects. Here our own National Sales Manager  (and Decorative Painting guru) Tammie Wilson has created a fantastic wooden frame featuring the new Jumbo Bird of Paradise!

Jumbo Bird of Paradise Frame by Tammie Wilson

Jumbo Calla Lily Pail by Janelle Stollfuss

Jumbo Cling Rubber Peruvian Lily Scrapbook Page by Suzanne Czosek

BlogStar Tobi Crawford has created a fantastic tutorial today demonstrating a great use of the free template in each Jumbo Cling Rubber Flower set.  Check it out here:

Tobi Crawford

Then take a gander at these other great floral projects using new flowers from our April Catalog Release (be sure to leave some sweet comments on their blogs!)

Arty Carty 1

Arty Carty 2

Jennifer Dove

Kristine Reynolds

A bit of Housekeeping -

Did we mention FREE shipping? Enjoy FREE shipping on our website at www.stampendous.com on retail orders over $50 shipping to U.S. addresses until July 31! We can’t wait to see what you make with our products!! (be sure to share on our Facebook Page, Flickr Group, or email us at submissions@stampendous.com)

Winners – we’re still waiting for some winners of the Project Life event to contact us with mailing info. Hint: if you don’t want your prize, we know Barb Macaskill wants it!  Email your mailing info to submissions@stampendous.com so we can get your prizes on their way!

Remember tonight is the deadline to link to your Micro Glitter projects for our April Challenge. May’s Challenge is Fabulous Florals and starts Friday!

Fabulous Florals Galore!

Our new April Catalog is chock full of gorgeous flowers for you to use for any occasion! Birthday? – Flowers are great! Get Well? – Of course you’ll send flowers. Mom? – Yup! Flowers are her fave! Anniversary? – Of course! Flowers just say it all for every occasion! And our Design Team did an amazing job on the flowers in this catalog, too! (Plus, yeah, there’s FREE shipping on orders over $50 on our website! Get a whole garden full while you can!)

Jumbo Peruvian Lily by Cyndi Bundy

Spring Bouquet by Jennifer Dove

Fuschia by Kristine Reynolds

Snapdragons by Suzanne Czosek

The potential for gorgeous flowers is just unlimited! Our botanical fruit images are fantastic for any occasion as well. Check out the things our terrific Design Team have posted so far this week!

Jennifer Dove

Rhea Weigand

Kristine Reynolds

Cyndi Bundy

April Flowers bring….

Our April catalog is just chock full of gorgeous florals for spring, and our Design Team just loves to color flowers! But then we’ve always said, get yourself some good flowers and some great greetings, and you can make cards for any occasion.

First up today, then incomparable Suzanne Czosek made this fantastic card for our April Catalog using our Vase Bouquet, Seed Background, and Soaring Sentiments :

Bouquet Vase by Suzanne Czosek

This Vase with its spring bouquet proved to be one of the favorite items to color!  Here it is by Jennifer Dove:

Vase Bouquet by Jennifer Dove

and Kristine Reynolds made a fantastic project with it as well!

Vase Bouquet by Kristine Reynolds

You can see there are a lot of ways to go with this terrific stamp. Several of our Design Team will be  posting terrific florals all week this week. Fabulous Florals is also our May Challenge, so grab your flowers and wow us with your creations. Remember, if your flower images are Stampendous your entry will count twice. You can begin submitting your challenge projects on Friday.

Meanwhile, check out the additional, terrific flower creations on these team members’ blogs and leave them some love!

Suzanne Czosek

Jennifer Dove

Jamie Martin

Flower Power Layout – by Asia King

No need to adjust your computer monitors – yes, I am sharing a scrapbook page again . Hello, Asia here and today I’d like to share two tips with you. First, how to use Fran-tage ‘blinkies’ to embellish your layouts and second, printing your photos on a transparency for a cool 3D effect.

For my layout I stamped several images from the cling Jumbo Spring Bouquet, Violets and Single Butterfly sets. Some were heat embossed with the Gold Detail Embossing Powder and Aged Rose Embossing Enamel. After colouring the images with Inktense pencils I fussy cut them along the flowers from my K&Co patterned papers.

I wanted my photo to have a 3D look, as if ‘blending’ me and my sweet niece amongst all the flowers. To achieve that I printed the photo onto a printable acetate. Printing on transparencies has endless possibilities – just remember to print on the correct, rough side . I then matted my photo with a patterned paper before adhering it to the page on raised foam pads.

On my layout you can see a few different ways of using Fran-tage products for scrapbooking. The Fran-tage beauties do not have to be limited to the encrusted jewel technique. On my page I incorporated them in the following ways:

1. Using Leaf Green Colour Fragments and double sided sticky tape I created a border around one of the paper panels.

2. Next I swiped Boss Gloss sparingly over the green colour fragments and heat embossed it with Aged Rose Embossing Enamel.

3. I sprinkled layers of Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter and Rose Colour Fragments over Beacon’s 3in1 Adhesive  to create a frame for the photo and decorative corners.

Thank you for visiting today and I look forward to seeing you next week!

Big hugs

Asia

Mixed media and Jumbo Daisies by Asia King

April flowers

Greetings! Your favourite Foreign Correspondent Asia here . Guess what? The sun is finally shining and who knows, maybe Spring is finally on its way to the UK? In case Mother Nature is still unsure whether it’s time for Spring, I hope this project will make it absolutely clear – yes, it IS time! LOL.

The project I am sharing today has been inspired by Kate Crane’s all year long challenge of journaled calendars (BTW here you can link up April pages and while you’re at it you might also like to join this fab Journaling challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges). Kate is a very inspirational mixed media artist and her signature style is easily recognisable in her colourful and vibrant art journaling.

For quite some time now I’ve been trying to make a journaled calendar to keep track of all important dates and here’s my April page.

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For my page I reused parts from an old calendar I kept. It was so pretty that I just had to find another use for it.

My background was created with acrylic paints, Inktense pencils, Colour Wash, Glimmer Mist and Cosmic Shimmer Mist sprays. I used a brickwork stencil to add gessoed texture and to add some colour highlights.

Those fabulous flowers are Stampendous Jumbo Daisy with a free (how fabulous is that?) template.

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Jumbo flower templates – helpful tips

And I thought it would be helpful to share a quick tutorial on how I use the free templates from the new Stampendous Jumbo flower stamps.

(Click on the photos to enlarge).

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

I hope you enjoyed my April Daisies . Have a fabulous week!

Big hugs

Asia

Easy Scrapbooking with Project Life and Stampendous Stamps!

Our Design Team has been having fun all week with Becky Higgins, LLC Project Life page protectors. The good folks over there were nice enough to send us some so that we could show you how Stampendous Stamps can really enhance this easy scrapbooking method that’s absolutely on fire right now.

Our newest team member is celebrating Spring planting in Oklahoma with her darling page! Be sure to check out (and welcome to the team!):

Jamie Martin

Also check out a terrific wedding layout from our very own

Lea Kimmel

She used some of our newest Perfectly Clear Stamps to be featured in Michaels Stores on her layout.

And our Design Team Member

Kristine Reynolds

is back today with an adorable page celebrating some really cool chicks in her life! You’ve gotta see this page, it’s toooo cute!

Tomorrow, everyone will be back with more of Project Life together with Stampendous! We’re hoping some of you are getting excited about stamping the Project that is your Life! We’ll have some really cool prize packages with some of our best scrapbooking products and LOTS of Project Life page protectors to get you going. And we’ll keep going as well…who knows what we might scrap in the future…we’ve gotta admit, it’s pretty addicting!

Project Life – Even more fun with Stampendous!!

Becky Higgins’ Project Life has taken the craft and scrapbooking world by storm. Lots of folks have embraced the commitment to simply scrapbook one single page or a two page layout of ordinary life per week. A way to celebrate all that is normal and right with your world, or even the special occasions or big events that happen with some normal life in between.  Here’s the Project Life Philosophy -

The Project Life system includes divided page protectors, books for them, and little, pre-printed cards you slip into pockets next to your photos. It’s designed to be easy and quick for folks who think they don’t have the time for more “creative” scrapbooking.

But what if you have lots of stamps, glitter, glue, and creativity? What if you love embossing, Fran•táging, and breaking out all those goodies you’ve collected? Yep, you can use the Project Life approach, too! You can embrace the trend, AND use your stash!!

We asked Becky Higgins to send us some Project Life Page Protectors, and we challenged our Design Team to see if they could document real, everyday life using Stampendous stamps and other products in the little compartments of the Project Life system! It was out of their comfort zone a bit, but we think you’ll be amazed as always at what they’ve created!  Pop over today to Janelle Stollfus’ blog and then come back tomorrow for some more inspiration. Be sure to leave comments and we’ll have LOTS of Project Life Page protectors to send to some lucky winners along with some cool Stampendous products for documenting your everydays and special days!

Janelle Stollfus

Spring Fun – Coloring Skin with Copics – Rhea Weigand

Hello, Rhea here today bringing you quick tips on coloring hair and skin with copic markers and an even easier tip on making an ordinary A2 card a little more special.

Today I chose to play with V270 Kiddo Hop.  I thought she would be great to practice hair and face.  We will be using Copic Markers in the following colors

HAIR = YR27 YR21 YR24

SKIN = E50 E51 E53

Start with the darkest color YR27.  Lightly flick your color “away” from your shadows out or your darkest areas out.  For instance, where the pony tales gather out towards the ends.  Or, from the roots out.  Flicking does take practice, practice, practice!  I hold my marker very differently than when normally coloring.  I find holding it straight up and down and barely touching the paper helps.  Also flicking it away from me helps.  Practice on scrap paper and do it over and over until you get the feel.  Practice doing it different ways.  You will find your flicking groove…I promise.  Flicking is a very important technique with Copic coloring.  I use this technique in many different things such as flower details, folds in dresses even general coloring….all the time!!!!  So do practice

Next with the middle color, YR24, extend your darkest color but only a little bit.  Start well within your dark area and flick a little past the end of the dark marker. You want to leave lots of white at this point.  White will be your end highlight color.

Finally, use the lightest color YR 21 to extend color even more…but remember to leave white for your final highlight.  I could go into light source but I will leave that for another day.

Coloring skin is easy to learn on Kiddo’s, Fran has left such delightful areas in them to get really creative.  With E50 color the entire face. This lays a basis for the other markers to blend smoothly.  Ok, so I have to talk a little about light source.  Imagine the sun is coming from the side of the basket of flowers.  So this is going to be the brightest part of her face.

Now that we have established where the sun is coming and where the brightest part of her face will be. We can now add the shadow.  With E53 add or flick from the outside in just a bit as shown.

With E51 blend by flicking or in circles … I prefer to flick.  You will still see a little line.

Finally with E50 do a final blend where the marker lines are gently tapering to the lightest part of the face.   If you want to deepen shadows you can return to beginning of the steps and repeating process.

To make an ordinary A2 card a little more special I love to use the new Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders.  So easy and you can use them from any angle of the card.  They also work on a 5×5

Thanks for visiting today and I will see you again next Thursday for another tutorial.  Happy Crafting  -Rhea

Mixed Media – NEW Stamps – Tobi Crawford

OK!! Here is something you are going to LOVE – along with a sneak peek at one of our NEWEST Jumbo Flowers, a mixed media canvas treat from the talented BlogStar Tobi Crawford !

Hello Stampendous! fans! It’s Tobi Crawford here with a mixed media project using some new stamps available at your favourite retailer very soon!!

1. I covered the 8.5×11 canvas with vintage dictionary paper and added some yellow orange paint on top. The blue paint splatters were done with a metallic paint by Lumiere (and the splatters are actually a stencil. Random but not!). Once the paint dried I stamped the images (Jumbo Calla Lilly) with Black Archival Ink.

2.   Paint in the image with watered-down acrylic paints. FYI, I watered down the paints so I could still see the stamped lines.

3.   Once the paint has dried, draw over the stamped lines with a black pen.

4.   Cover the images with the masks. (Templates are included FREE with the newest Jumbo Cling stamps!)

5.   Using a sponge dauber, go around the outside of the mask. This will add a shadow to the images.

Done! Doesn’t that look great with the shading??

My mind is reeling with ideas with the other jumbo stamps and I’ve got some fresh canvases ready and waiting! Thanks for joining me today!

[Just a quick Stampendous Note: You could also use the outside of the template and paint your flowers first. then stamp your flowers over the dry paint, and then mask them with the inside template before applying the background. This would save you having to trace the lines]

Four seasons of Stampendous by Asia King – part 2

Hello Stampendous Friends, your favourite Foreign Correspondent Asia King here. Are you ready for part 2 of my Four Seasons concerto? If you missed part 1 with the close up pictures of my project, you can check it out here.

Well then, let’s begin. All my pages were made in the same way, I just used different stamps and embossing powders. For the purpose of this tutorial I will show you the steps for one of the pages – and it only seems right to feature my Spring page here .

Step 1 – here’s what you need:

- Fresh Bloom and Ruffled Bloom cling rubber stamps

- White and Black detail embossing powders – these can be found in the Detail Embossing Kit

- DCWV 8″x8″ Luxury Paper Stack – or any other pearlised papers

- clear embossing ink, water brush, Inktense pencils (Crimson & Cherry)/water colour pencils, Tim Holtz Vintage Cabinet Card die, heat gun

Step 2:

- die cut a Vintage Cabinet Card panel from the pearlised patterned paper, choosing the colour theme accordingly to the season

- using clear embossing ink stamp 3 flowers onto the die cut panel and 3 flowers onto scrap pieces of the same colour theme paper

- heat emboss with white and black detail powders

Step 3:

- using a waterbrush pick up some pigment directly from the pencil and colour in the black embossed flowers

Pearlised paper works great when colouring with Inktense pencils – the colour with ‘travel’ and blend beautifully without losing the ‘shine’ from the pearlised paper. It dries quite quickly but it will stay wet for long enough to blend it more if needed. And if you go over the line – no worries. Just use your waterbrush to lift off the excess colour.

Step 4:

- repeat the process to build layers of colour as desired.

Step 5:

- fussy cut the flowers

- add a blob of Beacon’s 3 in 1 craft glue in the centres of the flowers

- embellish the centres with pearls, Champagne Glass Glitter and Pearlised Mica Fragments (these can be found in the Pink Encrusted Jewel kit)

Step 6:

- swipe the edges of the card panel with clear embossing ink

- heat emboss with Aged Rose Embossing Enamel

- add accents with Pearlised Mica and Rose Fragments - you can use 3 in 1 glue as adhesive

Step 7:

- I like to seal my encrusted jewels with a drop of Beacon’s Fast Finish – it dries clear and it smells lovely, too!

Step 8:

- die cut 4 Cabinet Card panels from black cardstock and 4 panels from chipboard (or cereal box)

- glue black panels and chipboard ones using and old glue brush and Claudine Hellmuth’s Multimedium Matte. Make sure to immediately put your brush in water to avoid hardening – unless you don’t mind it becoming an embellishment .

Step 9:

- cut a length of white strong ribbon. Use mists, ink sprays and distress stains to colour the ribbon. Add water with a mini mister so the colours blend in easily.

Step 10:

- layer your base chipboard panels about an inch apart. Decide which way your book should fold, depending on any dimensional elements

- using Matte Multimedium adhere the coloured ribbon across the chipboard panels about 1/3 down from the top.

- adhere your Fran-taged pearlised panels to the chipboard panels using Multimedium. Use large paper clips to hold the panels over the ribbon until the glue sets

- add some calendar rub-ons (Prima) in the bottom right corners of the panels. You can easily add rub-ons over the enamelled areas

- layer your embellishments and sentiment panels over your seasons pages. Complete your project with additional trinkets as desired.

I hope you enjoyed the second part of my Seasonal Concerto and I can’t wait to see your seasonal beauties! If you have any questions – let me know in the comment below .

Big hugs

Asia