Christmas in July with Spellbinders Mini

 Merry Christmas in July! Today I'm sharing a card that's perfectly festive for today's occasion.

Some of the links used are affiliate links, at no charge to you. All of the supplies used for this card were purchased by me and not gifted. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts!

I recently received my July 2024 Spellbinder Mini Die of the Month which is this beautiful ice skate and foliage. I've been using my new Spellbinders Platinum die cutting machine and I cannot say enough positive things about it! Cuts like buttah!

The background cover plate is from Simon Says Stamp and is cut with Hero Arts White Glitter Paper. The sentiment is from Mini Christmas Sentiments and is foiled with my Glimmer Hot Foil Machine. 

All of the colored cardstock is from this Concord and 9th variety pack. I keep this variety pack strictly for die cutting images like this so I don't feel guilty cutting little bits off for a small die.

Thanks for stopping by!

Collab and Giveaway with Altenew!

 I'm so honored that Altenew invited me to work with some of their goodies. Altenew is so well-known for their gorgeous floral products, so I was excited to work with those. The products used have been gifted by Altenew. Some links may be affiliates at no charge to you.

Each of these cards uses the same lovely items. I first started with the Soft Blossom 3D Embossing Folder from Altenew. TIP: Give your cardstock a very light mist of water before using a 3D folder... this helps prevent cracking in your paper fibers. 

The best part about the folder is the matching coloring stencils, Soft Blossom Stencil Set. Both of these cards are ink blended with the following Hero Arts colors: Dandelion, Peony, Soft Blossom, Azalea, Green Hills, and Moss. For this card pictures above, I also splattered some gold from Kuretake Starry Colors watercolor set.

Both cards also use these great bold dies from Altenew called Timeless Sentiments 2 Dies. I love an everyday sentiment set, especially one like this that includes the background die to match!

Thank you to Altenew for inviting me to use your goodies! I have a giveaway on my Instagram for two $15 gift cards. Please visit my instagram post to enter!

Ahoy! Fishy Shaker Card

 The summer vibes keep on vibing! Today I'm sharing a fun circle shaped shaker card featuring some of the new July releases from Hero Arts.

Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links. Some of the Hero Arts items were gifted to me through my work on the Creative Team. I only use and promote products that I love, and Hero Arts is a local company that I have supported for over a decade! Thank you for supporting rwkrafts.

The main portion of the card uses the fun Beach Ball Stencil. I struggled finding the perfect-for-me beachball color combination, but I love how happy these colors look together. The stencil comes with 3 separate layers so you can easily mix up your combinations. This card uses Hero Arts Reactive Inks in Pool Party, Berry Smoothie, and Key Lime Fizz.

I stamped the little clown fish from the new Tropical Fishes set and colored them with my Polychromos Colored Pencils. Unfortunately, I didn't snag the dies for this set, but they were very easy to fussy cut with my detail scissors. I cut the card into a circle shape to turn it into this fun shaker! The shaker beads are called Evergreen State from Pretty Pink Posh. Finally, the 'ahoy' sentiment is stamped from the Nautical Messages set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stay Salty! Underwater Mixed Media ATC

 Another video!!! Two in the same week! I'm excited to share this fun under-water themed ATC today. It features all sorts of goodies from Hero Arts. Click here to watch the video on YouTube. Thanks for liking and subscribing!

Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links. Some of the Hero Arts items were gifted to me through my work on the Creative Team. I only use and promote products that I love, and Hero Arts is a local company that I have supported for over a decade! Thank you for supporting rwkrafts.

*SUPPLIES*

Sea Creature Fancy Dies

Petal Burst Stencil

Celebration Bubbles Bold Print

Nautical Messages Stamp Set

Rounded Rectangles Infinity Dies

Glitter Paste

White Hero Arts Paste

Compact Cutter

Hero Arts Reactive Inks

Deep Ocean Core Ink

Iridescent Blue Embossing Powder

White Embossing Powder

Embossing Ink

Embossing Heat Gun

Ranger Heat Tool

Winsor & Newton Cotman Brushes

Faber Castell Water Cup

Watercolor Wildflower ATCs

 VIDEO DAY!! It's been a hot second, but I have a brand new video tutorial to share! My  neighborhood has recently put up a Free Little Art Gallery, and I was determined to add an ATC in there. I hope whoever finds it enjoys it!

Please CLICK HERE to watch the full video tutorial! Thanks for liking and subscribing :)

Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links. Please note that each of the products used today was purchased by me, except for gifted Hero Arts items. I only use and promote products that I love! Thank you for supporting rwkrafts.

SUPPLIES

Strathmore Watercolor Paper

Sizzix Vault Wildflowers

Stencil, THS179

Stencil, THS 167

Stencil, THS009

Distress Watercolor Pencils Set 1

Distress Watercolor Pencils Set 2

Distress Watercolor Pencils Set 3

Ranger Heat Tool

Hero Arts Glitter Paste

Hero Arts Palette Knife

Tiny Attacher

Winsor & Newton Cotman Brushes

Distress Ink Peacock Feathers

Distress Ink Picked Raspberry

Faber Castell Water Cup

Ideaology Small Talk Stickers

Hero Arts Tweezers

Nautical Inspired Cards

You've really gotta get your hands on every. single. item. from the Hero Arts July release. They are the perfect summer addition to your stash!

Some links used are affiliate links are no cost to you. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts!

These cards all started with me experimenting with the new Pebbles and Stone Stencil. 

I started with two A2 panels of watercolor cardstock. I placed the Pebbles and Stone Stencil on top of one panel and sprayed Black + Shimmer Metallic Spray over top. Without cleaning the stencil, I then flipped the still-inked stencil on top of the other watercolor panel. Now I have a cool negative and positive image of this great stencil.

I then lined up the stencil so the openings were showing and ink blended with Wet Cement.

With the stencil still inked from Wet Cement, I embossed a panel of Sand Cardstock by simply running the paper and stencil through my Spellbinder Embossing/Die Cutting Machine. It leaves a great imprint and embossed look!

The stamped images are also from a new July release - Nautical Messages. I don't have the coordinating die cuts, so I used my Brother Scan n' Cut to cut these images. They were colored with Polychromos Colored Pencils.

Both cards use the same diagonal design. The second card uses Granite Cardstock on the bottom, as it matched well with the Black + Shimmer spray.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll also enter this card into the Simon Says Stamp "Summer Fun" challenge.

Sea You Soon

 It has been feeling like a real summer this week in the Bay Area! I'm very grateful for the "heatwave" we got (meaning temps in the low 80s instead of mid 60s). It's put me in a summery cardmaking mood. I'm sharing a card today that uses the new July 2024 Hero Studio Layering Stencil of the Month...

Some links used are affiliate links are no cost to you. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts!

I went with my classic color combo here: pinks and teals... you just can't go wrong! This stencil has 4 different layers that you can combine together for this scene. You can also opt out of some layers and still get a great underwater card.

The long fish were ink blended with Peony Ink then shaded with Cotton Candy. The large and round fish were blended with Soft Blossom then Ultra Pink ink, then a touch of Azalea. The squid and jellyfish were blended with Orchid and then Amethyst. The top layers (stripes and dots) are inked with Nautical and Bermuda, as was the coral. 

Of course, there can't be a complete layering stencil card without Glitter Paste! It's back in stock, yall!!!! I will definitely be stocking up. I spread Glitter Paste on the coral and the top stripes of the fishies.

The background panel uses the lovely Bubble Celebration Bold Print stamp, inked in Unicorn. Finally, I cut a piece of Paradise Cardstock and stamped the Sea You Soon sentiment, also in Unicorn Ink, from the Color Layering Waves set.

Birthday Scorpion

 I have another desert themed card to share today! This one features some cute little scorpions... perhaps perfect for the Scorpio in your life?

Some links used are affiliate links are no cost to you. All the products used today were personally purchased by me, without a company discount. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts!

Here's a little step-by-step of how I shaded the landscape of the card. I die cut the scene from Lawn Fawn's Cactus Hillside Border, then die cut the matching hillside to create a mask. I lined up the hillside mask on top of the cactus scene, taped it on the edges, and inked the cacti and succulents only. Using my mini blending brushes, I inked the cacti with Twisted Citron and Crushed Olive. The succulents were inked with Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers. I then removed the mask, and carefully inked the ground with Scattered Straw.

For the sky rays, I die cut the largest Lawn Fawn Large Mini Slimline Stackable Die and inked the Tim Holtz Rays stencil. I first inked it in Squeezed Lemonade, then slightly rotated the stencil so the yellow portion was covered and inked again in Spun Sugar.

How cute is that little scorpion?!? He was die cut from the Desert Canyon Backdrop set and inked in Frayed Burlap, Hickory Smoke, and just a bit of Festive Berries on his stinger. I saw some of the samples from the LF design team add a hot air balloon, which is just perfect for Arizona, so I added one, too! The hot air balloon is from the Fly High stamp set, I colored it with Copics, and then cut it with my Brother Scan n Cut machine.

Lastly, I combined some sets to put together the little speech bubbles. The bubbles themselves are from Simply Celebrate Pets - I believe this was a special free set at one point, so it's not sold anymore (but you can get this speech bubble set, still!). The sentiments are from Simply Celebrate More Critters and the "meep" is from Critters in the Desert.

Have a great rest of the weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

I Will Never Desert You

 I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July holiday! Yesterday, Matt and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. So today I wanted to share the card I made for him.

Some links used are affiliate links are no cost to you. All the products used today were personally purchased by me. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts!

When I saw the desert-themed drop from Lawn Fawn I hit that Buy Now button as fast as humanly possible. I love it all! Matt and I grew up in Arizona, and is where we met and got married, so a desert-themed anniversary card definitely fit the theme.

I started with smooth white Hammermill cardstock which I used to die cut the Desert Canyon Backdrop die. I've recently switched to the Spellbinders Platinum die cutting system and I am loving it!

I ink blended the background with these three Distress Inks: Tea Dye first, then Walnut Stain around the edges, and Aged Mahogany around the top. I wanted the hint of red so it looked like the red rocks in Sedona. (If you can't tell, Tea Dye is the first Distress Ink I bought over a decade ago... it's well loved and I have never ever reinked it!)

Next I inked the sky cut-out. To create a desert sunset, I blended with Kitsch Flamingo, then Fossilized Amber, and lastly a hint of Abandoned Coral.

The cactus die and succulent die (also in the Desert Canyon Backdrop Die) were blended with these handy mini brushes that I found on Amazon. They are great for small images like these! The succulents used Salvaged Patina and Dusty Concord, and the cactus was blended with Crushed Olive and Shabby Shutters.

The stamped images are from the Critters in the Desert set. I save money by cutting the images from my trusty Scan n' Cut machine rather than purchasing matching dies. All stamped images were colored with the Copic Colors shown below. Aren't those little fennec foxes so sweet?! They were always my favorite animal to visit at the Phoenix Zoo when I was little :)

(Some of these colors will show up in the next Lawn Fawn card I share tomorrow)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy making!

Hero Arts Studio Release Day Blog Hop + Giveaway

 It's Hero Arts Studio July Release Day! You will want to get your hands on every. single. item. released. today! This beachy/nautical theme is right up my alley (ocean and cacti - the key to my heart) so I have already created so many cards with these sets. Be sure to leave comments along the hop for a chance to win a Hero Arts gift certificate!!!

Have I mentioned how much I love the July Hero Studio Card Kit? The images are beautiful and the amount of product you get for the price is insane. On this card, I used the background stamp in the kit, the transfer image (that map image is to die for), and the clear stamp and dies.

I have rekindled my love for the Postage Infinity Dies, which is what I cut the image transfer from. I inked the edges of the Postage Die cut with Charcoal ink to blend in any white edges with the color on the transfer. The background panel is on Sand cardstock and the red rubber background stamp was inked with Sand ink.

Mermaids! But really, it's the seahorses in this Clear Set + Dies of the Month that caught my attention. The images on this card were all stamped with Intense Black ink and colored with Copic Markers. I used the coordinating dies and my Compact Cutter to die cut every image.

Here's how I created this fun background...

I did some ink smooshing with my glass mat. I started by placing Fog Reactive Ink directly on my glass mat and sprayed with water. Then mostly saturated my Watercolor Cardstock panel. I dried it with my heat tool and then did the same with Pool Party Reactive Ink, but didn't fully saturate, just pounced the panel. Lastly, I used Splash Reactive Ink and lightly dabbed it into my pool of ink.

Next I used some of my Metallic Sprays. I added some splatters of Ocean Blue + Gold, and then I sprayed Blue + Shimmer from a very very high distance so it looked more like light mist.

This part is my favorite! On the left side of the panel you see where I stamped the Bubble Celebration Bold Print in Unicorn Ink. It adds a very subtle hint of bubbles. On the right side I simply sprayed the Bubble Celebration stamp with water, then "stamped" with water onto the panel. Since the panel is all Reactive Inks, you see the cool effect it left on the ink! I loved it, so that's the side I used.

Make sure you secure your July Kit by purchasing it here! Or snag the July Clear Stamp + Dies (the mermaids) by purchasing it here.

Leave comments along the hop for a chance to win a Hero Arts gift certificate!

Hero Arts

Hero Arts Creative Team:

Channin Pelletier

Charlene Madrid

Heather Ruwe

Ilina Crouse

Jeannie Lieu

Jennifer Kotas

Kailash Naidoo

Karen Brown

Lydia Fiedler

Michelle Short

Natasha Polite

Natasha Vacca

Rachel Kleinman *YOU ARE HERE*

Rosie Lopez

Seeka

Special Guests:

Jenn Shurkus

Nichol Spohr

Emily Midgett

Kelly Taylor

Some links used are affiliates. Thank you for support rwkrafts!

A Patriotic Neighborhood

 I was delighted to see the Hero Arts June Layering Stencil of the Month is still available, because I hadn't had a chance to play with it until now. Since we're so close to the 4th of July, I gave this neighborhood a patriotic touch!

I did some slight color blending within each layer, so the bottom of the image is lighter than the top. For the red houses, I first ink blended with Pale Tomato, and then added in Cherry ink. For the blue houses I first inked in Dusty Blue, and then added Cornflower. The white houses, while subtle, were inked up in Antique Ivory. I used my Blending Brushes for these layers.

The rooftops were done with the Black Wax. I love the texture it added to the roofs!

The background panel is Peacock Cardstock with the Sparkling Firework Bold Print heat embossed in Silver powder. The fireworks are perfect for the 4th!

Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you a fun and safe July 4th week :)

Some links are affiliates at no charge to you. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts!

Hero Arts Studio July Countdown + Giveaway

 This July card kit is not to be missed! Actually, the entire July release from Hero Arts is going to knock your swimsuits off :) Make sure you leave comments along the hop for a chance to win this incredible kit! You really want to get your hands on this one. Visit the Hero blog for the full blog lineup.

This card was giving me total New England beach vibes the entire time I was creating. My brain was channeling the gorgeous white sand beaches in southern Maine. And everything is colored with ink pads only! The ocean portion was inked with Mist and Dusty Blue. The land stamps were each inked with Moss for the grass, Cup o Joe and Espresso for the wood, and Charcoal for any of the buildings or shadow images. The sky was stamped first in Peony, then Dandelion, and then Grapefruit. So get those ink pads out and ready!

I framed the entire scene in Rounded Rectangles Infinity Dies with cardstocks Mist and Nautical. I'm ready to rent out one of those beach huts, please!

I was having so much fun with this kit that I created a second card with some of the stand-alone dies. I used the amazing Sand Embossing Powder to create the sandy beach as well as the sandcastle. I inked up the water and the sky using the same ink combos as above. 

I framed this card as well, this time using the Postage Stamps Infinity Dies with Azalea and Papaya cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to leave comments along the countdown hop for a chance to win this kit! Visit the Hero blog for the entire hop lineup.

Some links are affiliates. I only use products I love! Thank you supporting rwkrafts