Impression Obsession DT Theme - Birthday

The Impression Obsession team has some projects to share today with a birthday theme- we hope we inspire your crafting and your IO shopping!  Enjoy 40% off your order, and remember that once these products are gone, they're gone!

I did some wet-into-wet watercoloring to fill in these gift images, then cut out and arranged them on my card panel, popping up a few. Such a simple effect!  This is a great all-purpose birthday set, with outlined images perfect for coloring with your favorite medium.

IO Products:

CL1341 Birthday Hugs clear stamp set 

PP051 Chicken Wire paper pack

DIE1195 Rounded Rectangle Layers die set (sold out)

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the details! 

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession - More Halloween Inspiration

We're back with more Halloween projects to inspire your crafting and your IO shopping!  With October also comes an increase in the discount on remaining IO stock - enjoy 40% off your order, and remember that once these products are gone, they're gone!

I dug out some older dies and just let the card design itself - I started by cutting the web panel in black, then thought it might be pretty to layer 2 cuts in a window opening. I glued the webs into the frames, then layered them on the front and back of a die cut card base (I used a rectangle die from Spellbinders for that opening). The grey layer is rotated 180 degrees for some variation in the lines.

The spider is cut from brown fun foam, and I used alcohol and acrylic markers to color him. The little dew drops in the web are actually hot glue - I was poking through older blog posts and saw another card I had done that way, so the idea was fresh. I made the drops on a non-stick craft sheet. When they were cool I set them where I wanted them on the card, then heated them with my heat gun just until they went clear - that activated the glue enough to stick to the card. So fun, and much easier to control that way, rather than trying to drop hot glue directly on the card. Any glaze product could be used too, but I didn't want to wait for glue to dry.

IO Products:

DIE313 Spider Web Background

DIE115-J Spider Web die set

DIE291 All-in-One Frames - Rectangles 2 die set

CL1365 Little Monster clear stamp set

You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Impression Obsession Blog
Dina Kowal
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning
Angela Bode
Anna Wight

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.

It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession - Halloween Hop

Howwww is it October already?! I am unprepared. 

October 1st and 2nd the Impression Obsession Team will be sharing projects to inspire your Halloween crafting! With October also comes an increase in the discount on remaining IO stock - enjoy 40% off your order, and remember that once these products are gone, they're gone!

I thought this card was fun because the ghosts are made using the Primitive Snowman die - I just left off the arms and other accessories! Such a fun way to expand the use of a die set. The ghosts are brushed with a little yellow and grey ink for some spooky dimension. I used dark purple ink to stencil some clouds on purple cardstock, then splattered some white gesso for a starry sky. 

IO Products:

 DIE1353 Primitive Snowman die set 

STEN020-A1 Cloud Grass Scene stencil 

DIE968 Whimsical Rectangle die set

CL1365 Little Monster clear stamp set

You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Impression Obsession Blog

Dina Kowal <<<<<< you are here!

Giovana Smith

Jeanne Streiff

Laura Fulcher

Laura Williams

Robin Clendenning

Angela Bode

Anna Wight

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Memory Bears

I decided to teach myself a new skill, so over the last few months I've been learning to make jointed teddy bears! It's been a fun process, and I learn a little more with each one. I'm set up to make memory bears now, so if that interests you, you can find all the information here! I've also got a Facebook page set up so I can collect photos in one place, and answer any questions you may have. 

Bears can be made completely from sentimental fabrics, or I can make plush bears wearing the fabrics in a little (unremovable) outfit.

I've been having fun searching for blankets and plush fabrics at the local thrift stores - this one is made from a blanket and some upholstery scraps.

Here are the 3 sizes together. The small bear is 7" tall in a seated position and 11" standing. The medium bear is 9" tall in a seated position and 13" standing. The large bear is 11.5" tall in a seated position and 16" standing. 

I hope  these will become treasured keepsakes! Please message or email me if you're interested in something customized. I'll be making some holiday ones as well! 

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession - September Team Favorites

The IO Team is back today to share a favorite card from this month's release, so here's mine! Head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for all the links so you don't miss anything. All the newest releases can be found HERE.

This card ended up being a little showcase of quite a few different products! After several hours of cardmaking I had strips of paper on my desk and these 3 wanted to stay together. I used the colors to inspire my focal panel - the mittens are loosely watercolored, and the sleeves are actually made from the scarf of the large snowman set, just flipped and cut in half. 

IO Products:

DIE1359 Snowman in Scarf die set

DIE1365 Mittens & Stockings die set

DIE1353 Primitive Snowman die set

PP081 Nordic Patterns paper pack

PP068 Heart Gingham paper pack

PP019 Basics 11 - Greens paper pack

CL1362 Winter Hello clear stamp set

Hope you are staying cool wherever you are today! Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the details! 

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession DT Theme - Holiday Cards & Tags

The Impression Obsession team has some projects to share  featuring holiday cards and tags - we'd love for you to hop along with us!  

By coincidence, I made a card and a tag using this adoooorable snowman die set, so let's talk about those today! to make the card, I first folded a card base to be just larger than the main die. I set the edge of the die just outside the fold line and ran it through the die cutting machine to create a folding base in the shape of the head. A second cut was layered over the base to hide the fold. I cut the other pieces out of the same white cardstock, and cut an extra scarf for balance. Coloring was done with Copic and OLO markers. 

For the tag, I used a different color scheme - and by the way, the configuration of these faces is much different than the sample on the site, so have fun giving your snowmen their own personalities! So many possibilities. I love the slot punch too - it's intended for ribbons but that little slot is so much easier to 'thread' twine through! I love it. The one I have is from EKSuccess but there are a lot of other options linked there as well.

IO Products:

DIE1359-Z Snowman in Scarf

The die set is temporarily out of stock but will be back soon! Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - see the I.O. blog for all the links and  details! 

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession - Final Release Day 3

We've got even more projects from the new release from Impression Obsession today! If you haven't seen the new release, you can find it all HERE - go check it out! 

This poinsettia frame actually released in August, but I intended it to be released with this sentiment set so I saved it to share this month. The mix-and-match sentiments are designed to fit in this opening but you can obviously use them in alone or in any layout of your choice. The main sentiment can be matched with any of the single words, and there is also a large ampersand so you can combine them too.

The die is designed to cut out the frame, but it outlines the poinsettias in broken lines which allow them to stay in the panel. If you want, you can pop up certain portions or you can leave them flat on your card panel. On my first card I just cut the die and left the cuts alone. I  used watercolor markers to color the petals, then misted to let the color bleed out. When it was dry, I added more shading and details.

For my second card, I cut the poinsettias out and popped them up as an embellishment.

 I love the loose strokes on this iteration. I colored some of the bracts (never stop learning!) green to add some contrast to the panel.

IO Products:

CS1386 Holiday Greetings clear stamp set

PP081 Nordic Patterns paper pack

DIE1341 Poinsettia Frame die

PP068 Heart Gingham paper pack

DIE1304-YY Rounded Corner Stitched Squares die set

Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during release week (September 1-8) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders! 
September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd the Impression Obsession Team will be sharing new projects with the NEW clear stamps, stencils, papers and dies! You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Impression Obsession Blog
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning
Angela Bode
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal

Sale note: there are a few items listed as "Temporarly Out of Stock" ... they should be back in the store within a couple weeks.

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession -September Release Day 2

We've got more projects from the new release from Impression Obsession today! If you haven't seen the new release, you can find it all HERE - go check it out! 

I wanted to highlight my paper packs in this post - I have 3 in the new release. I used papers from 2 of them on this first card - the snowflake design is in the Nordic Patterns pack, and the children are in the Vintage Christmas pack. Vintage Christmas features imagery from vintage books as well as some of my silhouette designs. 

This image is from one of Nola's sets - such a cute snowman! Very sweet set.

The other paper pack is called Christmas Prayer, and the color palette and illustrations are from a small vintage book of the same name. You can read it here - it's basically a prayer of blessing for friends on different paths in life, and it's very sweet. I created a couple of collage sheets like this one for quick cards - you can crop to any side, and add embellishments or more layers of paint or paper as you wish. Here I added a snowflake die cut and sentiment, and the paper design did the rest.

IO Products:

CL1343 For You clear stamp set

PP082 Vintage Christmas paper pack

PP081 Nordic Patterns paper pack

DIE1195 Rounded Rectangle Layers die set

DIE837 Wacky Stitched Circles die set

CL1362 Winter Hello clear stamp set

PP079 Christmas Prayer paper pack

DIE893 Primitive Snowflakes die set (sold out)

Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during release week (September 1-8) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders! 
September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd the Impression Obsession Team will be sharing new projects with the NEW clear stamps, stencils, papers and dies! You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Impression Obsession Blog
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning
Angela Bode
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal

Remember the new releases are included in the closing sale! New items that have sold out will be restocked, so if you missed something that says "temporarily out of stock" don't lose hope.

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!

Impression Obsession - Final Monthly Release Day 1

It's time for the final monthly release from Impression Obsession. Haven't seen the new products? They're all HERE - go take a peek!  (It's hard to get excited about a final release, isn't it...? It is a beautiful collection and I hope you will love it, but I didn't love typing these words. Sigh...)

This is artwork that had been released as a red rubber stamp, so enjoy it in a clear format if you missed it before! I love this set combined with the Christmas Stars stencil. I did a simple layout here, masking off the image to do a little watercolor background and stenciled stars.

Here's another quick card with the stencil and a new mix-and-match sentiment set. This monochrome look would be so easy for mass production on my favorite kraft cardstock! I brushed Versafine ink through the stencil and did a little stamping through the lower part of the stencil while it was still in place.

Heat embossing remains my poorest stamping skill... but here's a closer look at the sentiment - there are a number of words that you can fill your holiday with, and a large ampersand so you can fill it with more than one thing!

IO Products:

CS1389 Unto Us clear stamp set

STEN056 Christmas Stars stencil

CS1386 Holiday Greetings clear stamp set

CL1362 Winter Hello clear stamp set

Two lucky customers who place an Impression Obsession order during release week (September 1-8) will be chosen and will have a very special Impression Obsession prize package added to their orders! 
September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd the Impression Obsession Team will be sharing new projects with the NEW clear stamps, stencils, papers and dies! You can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog each day through the event. Here are the links to today's projects:

Impression Obsession Blog
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning
Angela Bode
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal

When you shop through the affiliate links used here, the company sends a small commission my way at no cost to you as thanks for the referral.
It's a lovely way to partner with these companies that mean so much to our creative community. Everybody wins!