Laurel Beard

because art shouldn't be so serious

**Video Tutorial / How to use WATER on your projects: 6 Ways

Today’s projects and video is all about how to use water in your projects….. Adding to water to specific mediums (inks, gelatos, paint) can really elevate your projects AND stretch out your mediums and use them in different ways. Heck, you paid money for them… Why not find more ways to use them…….. Click below to watch the video!!!

Here is a look at the projects I created in the video. Some I turned into cards. Other’s I left blank intentionally and will put them in my background binder… It’s not really a binder, but I had to call it something. It doesn’t flow as good as magic mug…. Anywho, the background binder will hold all the backgrounds I made and can easily turn into cards when the occasion strikes!

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Introducing the Ellen Hutson Christmas Release

I have Christmas on the brain… Last year, I was in Italy on Christmas. I am grateful for that trip because who knew the world would shut down just a few months later! The Merry Little Christmas stamp set and coordinating die comes with fun village images and trees and such. You could also make tags with this stamp set, but I chose to create a scenic village that reminded me of a trip years ago with the family when we went to Stowe, Vermont.

 

Stamping the images and watercoloring in the sky and road was really all that was needed to pull this scenic card together.

The Made This For You stamp set is comprised of lots of small images.. Great for tag making, but again – I made a card focusing on the small images……

A snowy, textured scene was my intent for this next card. I love the Birch Tree Die…. I love birch trees so naturally, I had to use this die…. I paired it with the Twirling Flurries Die (see the background there) and added lots of embossing paste to act as snow.

 

The full release can be viewed HERE! There are a ton of products in this release and I am only showcasing a hand full today. So be sure to check out the release page and let me know what catches your eye!

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How to cut your own stencils at home

A while ago, I posted THIS VIDEO and received a ton of requests of how I cut my own stencils that i used in the video! Your wish is my command. It took longer than expected, but I finally have the DIY STENCILS video up for you. This video shows you everything I do to cut my own stencils. From where I find them (Free versions and bundle versions) to what TYPE of file you need for cutting, to what paper I use from cutting and then how I cut… Next week, I’ll be sharing Part 2, which puts the stencils I cut to action! So here we go!

If you don’t have a cutting machine, try grabbing the stencil paper I use and use your die cuts with them.. Instant stencil!

Clickable Linked Resources:

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Altenew Geometry & Nature Stencils Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

It is no secret that I love stencils. LOVE THEM! You can do so many things with them with very little effort. I’ll show you. (All the supplies I used are linked at the end of this post). You should have arrived from Reiko Tsuchida‘s blog. If you get lost, head to the Altenew Card Blog. Alright! Let’s get to it!

I used the Woven Stencil with some white embossing paste and before the paste dried, I added gilding flakes to it. People. This is stunning.

I applied the same embossing paste thru the Leaf Bed Stencil and before it dried, I sprinkled on some Nuvo Shimmer Powder over the top, LIGHTLY sprayed it with water and let it all dry. AND LOOK AT THIS!

A little Clear Nuvo Glimmer Paste thru the Castle Motifs stencil makes for a sunning background. I only blended the paste thru part of the stencil… I love partial stenciling. And the florals came out of my magic mug (from this set)! In fact, all of the images and sentiments did. So it really made pulling together these cards quick.

This Modern Circles stencil is fun and you can make some great geometic backgrounds here. I just did some simple ink blending thru the stencil, flicked on some water and voila….

The Sphere Stencil is so cool because it covers a standard card base so a perfect focal point… I spread some Gold Glimmer Paste thru the stencil and once dry, adhered the sentiment (yep, from the magic mug)….

I used the Stripe Builder Stencil and those same Nuvo Shimmer Powers on this next card. Simple, fast, sparkly!

***** Next up on the hop is Tania Ahmed!!

Giveaway Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 09/23/2020 for a chance to win.

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 09/26/2020.

Special Offer

To celebrate this release, we are offering a free gift for a limited time.

  • Receive a FREE Gift with every order of the Geometry & Nature Stencil Release Bundle from 9/18/2020 at 12:01 am EDT until 9/20/2020 at 11:59 pm EDT. The free gift will be added to cart automatically while supplies last.

If you don’t know what the magic mug is, I talk about it in this time savings tip video:

 

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Christmas is on my brain…. Have a Jolly Holiday.

Who has Christmas on the brain? Anyone…. With all the things going on world wide, I need some festive inspiration to really get my brain in a positive place. The Jolly Holiday release from Catherine Pooler came at the perfect time. I sat and played for hours…. No design in mind. Just played…. Wanna see what I came up with? Oh, and before I forget! Catherine has TWO NEW INK COLORS! I didn’t get them in time to use them on my cards, but do check out the first two items in the supply list at the end of this post. The red and green are GORGEOUS, deep shades….

A chalkboard snowman! Simple to achieve and oh so eye catching! The background is something I already had made previously so it took no time at all to pull this card together.  The snowman is from the Caroling Sentiments stamp set and coordinating die.

 

I adore the Jolly Trees stamp set… So many adorable shaped patterned tree. The Brand Ambassador made some killer projects with these trees so I wanted to try and show them off in a different way. So, I made a circle wreath! The trees outline the wreath and the sentiment is from the same stamp set as the snowman above!

Here are some more of those adorable trees. I summoned my inner mixed media gurus to create this card. It all started with a white piece of paper. Because Catherine’s inks react to water well, I was able to create a beautiful watercolored scene here.  See the grey? Just some swinking with Twilight Ink.

And lastly, some simple DIY patterned paper with some of the smaller images of the set! And loving the new Merry Christmas word die! 

 

These handmade cards only showcase a small part of the new release. I link to ALL the new release below for you! It’s really amazing and I hope you’ll check it out!!!!!!

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