Clearsnap-Tombow Blog Hop!

Hello and Welcome to the Tombow USA and Clearsnap Blog Hop! For this hop we swapped products that were made for each other: Tombow Adhesives and Clearsnap Foils! On this hop we will share easy, affordable and fun ways to use Clearsnap's Designer Foils with Tombow adhesive as well as other fun ways Tombow and Clearsnap products work together.

You probably got here from Jennifer's blog but if you stumbled across my blog, go to the Clearsnap Blog to start! 

Today I will be sharing with you a layout that has been given subtle pizzazz using these three gems-adding just enough bling to a simply designed layout!  The best part-I was able to add the foil without worrying about making a mess of an already assembled layout! 

I began by creating a soft watercolor background using water-diluted Aladine Izink Inks.  Once the background was completely dry, I decided on a design and adhered the layout together with Tombow Mono Liquid Glue (absolute favorite glue), but the page still needed something.  

So, I whipped out the Tombow Glue Pen and simply drew a line around the border of the paper.  I let the glue dry for a few ticks-then shiny side up-applied Clearsnap Gold Foil atop the now tacky lines.  There isn't an exact science for this technique-if spots were missing, I went back in with my pen and repeated the above steps; I'm not a neat scrapper, so I wasn't worried about getting straight lines or perfect coverage from the foil.  For me,  it just adds more interest and texture!  Easy peasy right?!   

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out this quick and easy project!! Remember to leave a comment here and all participating blogs to qualify for a chance to win the prize pack shown below! 

To win, visit and comment on the participating blog posts. You have until April 21 at 11:59 EST to comment. A winner will be picked randomly and announced on April 22 2015. The prize includes: Tombow Xtreme Adhesive, NEW Tombow Adhesive Dots, Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive and the Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue. Glitter – Gold Sparkle and Ruby Slippers, Designer Foils – Cherry Pie, Color Blender, ColorBox Chalk Petal Point in Primary Pastels and Magic Stamp. Remember to “Like” Tombow USA and Clearsnap on Facebook!

YOUR NEXT STOP IS:  Tami Sanders

Here is the line up so you can be sure to stop at all of the blogs in the list:

Friday:
Tombow USA Blog
Sabrina Alery
Beth Watson
Jennifer Priest
Daniella Hayes
Guest Designer Jennifer Loftfield
Jennie Garcia
Guest Designer Holly King
Latrice Murphy
Clearsnap Blog

Saturday:
Clearsnap Blog
Meihsia Liu
Latrice Murphy
Dana Tatar
Jennifer Priest
Suzanne Austin
Tami Sanders
Tombow USA Blog

Ann Butler Clearsnap Blog Hop!

Welcome to a lovely blog hop with Clearsnap and Ann Butler Designs! Last month at the CHA trade show, we released a new collection of foam and rubber stamps with Ann Butler Designs to compliment her line of ColorBox Crafter's Inks and her existing faux quilting stamp lines. Today, our teams are sharing Valentine craft ideas you can make tonight for your special someone for Valentine's Day.

Hop along to each blog in the hop and leave a comment on each post. Then, use the Rafflectoper widget at the end of this post to win an assortment of Ann Butler Designs' new rubber and foam stamps with Clearsnap!

Hop List:

Steph Ackerman

Zoey E. Scarpelli

Tami Sanders

Roberta Birnbaum

Sabrina Alery

Larissa Pittman

Suzanne Austin

Irit Shalom

Vishu Reberholt

Jennifer Priest

Gracie Chavez

Vivian Keh

Kristi Parker

Clearsnap

Ann Butler Designs

Today I will be sharing with you a very pink layout.  The color scheme would be perfect to exhibit Valentine's Day photos or just an every day sweetheart like my littlest one above!  I created the watercolor background using one of ColorBox Ann Butler's Designs background stamps and ColorBox Spritzers Dye Ink Spray.  This is not a traditional way of stamping, but the technique yields a very cool watercolor effect!

I began by sparsely spritzing a piece of watercolor paper with water.  Next, I spritz my ColorBox Ann Butler Background Basics stamp with ColorBox Spritzers in "Pinkolicious."  The Dye Ink Spray goes a long way so only one spritz is needed.  

I gently place the stamp onto the paper allowing the ink to play a dual role of flowing with the water to  create watercolor splotches while making  the stamp's impression.  I repeat the process until I'm happy with the background.    I hit the paper with a heat tool and that finishes the easy yet ink textural background! 

I embellished with various circles..the largest being a piece of canvas paper that I'd stenciled with spray ink from a previous project.  

I finished the page with a die-cut that has been embossed with ColorBox Metallic Pigment Ink in "Gold" and ColorBox "Clear" Embossing powder.   

What would you create with the new Background Basics stamps? Tell us in the comments! And before you go, don't forget to enter to win a set of Background Basics stamps here:

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spellbinders Holiday Blog Hop

Welcome to the Spellbinders Partner Holiday Blog Hop!  Today I am sharing a very non-traditional Christmas card using two separate Spellbinders dies! 

These are the two dies: It's a Hoot and Conversation Bubbles 2. 

Here's the non-traditional card that I came up with.  I used only a portion of the very versatile "It's a Hoot" die to put the final spin on this card.  

For the base of the card, I just wanted to add a hint of color.  I used Izink Ink (acrylic pigment ink) in "Topaz" mixed with water to use as watercolor.  

Using a paintbrush, I begin to layer on the color in an airy, circular motion; the ink is permanent when dry, therefore, I'm able to continue to add ink until I'm happy with the color.  

With the background finished, I'm now able to begin layering on the die-cuts. 

I snipped a couple of the cute owls from the "It's a Hoot" die to use on this card.  I covered the die-cuts with Top Boss Embossing Ink and "Sterling Silver" Embossing Powder from ColorBox.  With a few silver star sequins and a stamped sentiment using ColorBox Archival Dye Ink, this card is complete!  Thanks for stopping by today!  

Remember to leave a comment along each stop of the hop.  Follow THIS link for entry to our fab prize giveaway!   

Handmade Holidays Blog Hop

Welcome to the 4th Annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop! A few years ago we were looking online for handmade gift ideas and thought it would be great if there was a resource dedicated JUST to handmade gift ideas. Enter the Handmade Holidays hop! We've gathered over 100 of our creative blogger friends in the craft industry as well as some of our fellow product manufacturers to bring you a plethora of inspiring gift ideas you can make now to give to your friends, family, and colleagues. Pin and bookmark these ideas for this holiday season and to use throughout the year! Each day of the hop features approximately 30 gift projects and you can "hop" from one blog to another to check them all out.

I have created an altered box with my two girls in mind.  They are collectors of little "treasures" so I thought I would create a girly box for them to store their finds.   

This box is all things girly!  Let me show you how I created it. 

I started with a wooden box by  Walnut Hollow-"Classic Box."   

I gave the box a layer of gesso to prime the surface of the wood; this step wasn't necessary, but as usual, I'm kind of winging it at this point!

I decided to cover the box in a pretty floral patterned paper (that I already had in my stash) by cutting and decoupaging  the paper onto the box.  

I toned down the pattern and color of the paper by giving it a white wash of gesso (watered down gesso using a paintbrush).  

Once the box dried, I covered the top with a "stenciled" design using a ripped piece of drywall tape and light modeling paste for an added bit of texture. 

To bling it up a bit, while the modeling paste was still wet, I sprinkled on some Donna Salazar Fairy Dust in "Sugar Shimmer."  

Time to embellish!  I started off with a branch from a holly wreath that I had gotten for around a dollar  a couple of years ago.  I've used the branches off the wreath for several projects. I sprayed the branches and berries with spray gesso to cover up the reds and brown.  I heat embossed the berries using ColorBox Crafter's Ink in "Snow" and heat embossed with ColorBox Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx in "Jasmine."  I also added ColorBox Stephanie Barnard "Sprinkles" Chunky Glitter to some of the berries for even more bling! 

With the help of foam adhesive from 3L Scrapbook Adhesives, I arranged then adhered several flowers onto the branch.  

Once the glue was set, I applied color to the flowers using water and Izink Inks in "Topaz, Orchid and Safran" using a paintbrush. 

I let the flowers dry then applied another layer of gesso spray to wash out the colors a bit; I repeated this process until I was happy with the colors.  I added resin embellisments, mica flakes and more embossing over the flowers.   

With the addition of a clear button and metal charm, this box is complete! I chose not to paint or finish the inside of the box because the country girl in me LOVES the smell of the natural wood! 

This type of project can be fashioned for ANY type of gift! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Are you ready for lots more creative handmade gift ideas and projects?? Follow along on our blog hop! Simply click on each of the links below to be taken to that post with additional information and photos on how to create a handmade gift project. Have fun and pin away! Clearsnap Ellison Educational Equipment Walnut Hollow Graphic 45 Neat and Tangled Therm O Web Westcott Elizabeth Craft Designs Pink and Main The Buckle Boutique Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Rowland Technologies ICE Resin Hydrangea Hippo Clearsnap - Suzanne Austin Stencil1 - Ed Roth Graphic 45 -Nadya Lifa  Cookies for Breakfast- Beth Pingry Cupcakes and Crinoline - Mary Beth Sharkey  Elizabeth Craft Designs - Frances Byrne Lazy Mom’s - Joanna Grzeszczak Homemade Ginger - Megan Kapple Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L - Asia King Ellison Educational Equipment - Anna-Karin Evaldsson One Artsy Mama- Amy Latta Therm O Web - Alice G0lden Lovely Etc - Carrie Spalding ICE Resin - Clare Horner Pink and Main - Yolie Burke The Buckle Boutique - Stephanie Nericcio Modern Surrealist - Marisa Pawelko A Little Craft In Your Day - Tanner Bell Artsy Findings - Cheryl Waters Stampin Mindy - Mindy Baxter a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow our Handmade Holidays Gift Ideas Pinterest board for even more inspiration!

Follow Jennifer Priest of RainMaker Media Works + Hydrangea Hippo's board Handmade Holidays on Pinterest.

A huge thank you to our sponsors for this hop - please visit their blogs below and follow them. And be sure to come back tomorrow for another 30+ amazing Handmade Gift Ideas!

 

Clearsnap || Ellison Educational Equipment || Walnut Hollow || Graphic45 || Westcott || ICE Resin || Therm O Web || Rowland Industries || Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L || Pink and Main || Elizabeth Craft Designs || The Buckle Boutique || Neat and Tangled

Additional Sponsorship provided to bloggers by:

Sakura || Fairfield Processing

Clearsnap and StencilGirl Blog Hop

Welcome to our week of hopping and creating with our friends at StencilGirl Products! Hop along with us this week and see projects from fabric to scrapbooking and more, all using ink and stencils. And there’s a giveaway too, so you can try these ideas at home with brand new goodies!

Hey all! Today I will be sharing a layout created with a groovy StencilGirl Stencil and Clearsnap Inks!  I absolutely LOVE stencils, and LOVE the diversity of StencilGirl Stencils even more!

I began with this funky stencil from StencilGirl-a perfect addition of pattern for a scrapbook page.

 I started with a piece of watercolor paper as my base page.  Mixing a few drops of Izink Ink in "Topaz" with water, I created my very own customized spray ink to coordinate with the picture and papers I had in mind!

Simply placing the stencil evenly over the paper and giving random, light spritzes gives this page the right amount of a design punch! Even the most novice stencil user could achieve this look with little effort!

Before the final design, I actually used the StencilGirl Stencil on a piece of cork using ColorBox Crafter's Ink in "Snow" and ColorBox Mix'd Media Inx in "Jasmine" and heat embossed the design.  It turned out very well...with a very clean finish on a very non smooth surface!  It was too busy for what I had in mind, but I will definitely use this for a future project!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my project!  Remember to leave comments along with the hop and on the Clearsnap Blog for a chance to win some goodies!


StencilGirl Talk
Carolyn Dube
Maria McGuire
Clearsnap
Suzanne Austin

Clearsnap and Walnut Hollow Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the Clearsnap-Walnut Hollow Blog Hop!  We have a fabulous collaboration to share with you today that boasts loads of inspiration.  Be sure to leave a comment on each blog (There's a Rafflecopter widget on the Clearsnap blog) for a chance to win some goodies! Here's the hop list:

Clearsnap Blog blog.clearsnap.com

Chris Wallace http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/?p=2097

Steph Ackerman http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com/2014/09/clearsnap-and-walnut-hollow-blog-hop.html

Suzanne Austinhttp://whatsinalousyananut.blogspot.com/2014/09/clearsnap-and-walnut-hollow-blog-hop.html

Tami Sanders http://tamisanders.com/2014/09/19/walnut-hollow/

Sara Shirman http://walnuthollowcrafts.wordpress.com/?p=2099

Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com/?p=8641

Vivian Keh https://contadinak.wordpress.com/

Meihsia Liu meihsia.blogspot.com/

Denise Hahn http://inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/

I have created a mixed-media piece that was created on an 8x10 Wood Panel from Walnut Hollow.  I dabble with mixed media, but I've never created a piece on wood.  So, although I was initially intimidated, I ended up having a lot of messy fun with this piece.

I started by priming the wood panel with clear gesso (I had no clue which direction I was going with this, so in case I wanted the wood grain to show through, I chose the clear).  To speed up the drying time, I gave the panel a quick blast of heat using my heating tool.  

I ended up covering the panel with old newspaper that I decoupaged onto the surface; as you can tell, I wasn't too careful about "ironing" out the wrinkles in the newspaper because of the added texture it lends.  Once the decoupage was completely dry, I begin adding stamping using ColorBox Archival Dye Ink in "Wicked Black." I covered the background using a mixture of Izink Ink in "Topaz" (diluted) and ColorBox Spritzer in "Mermaid" (also diluted and applied with a paint brush). 

I dried then sealed the background.  The butterflies and title were cut out of patterned paper using an electronic die-cutting machine. I adhered the pieces down using Fabritac glue.  I added more text stamping and using a paintbrush and ColorBox Spritzer in "Mudslide," I edged the butterflies to create depth.  I gave it one last coat of decoupage medium and this piece was completed!  I hope you've enjoyed lil project today!

Head on over to the talented Tami Sanders blog to check out the goodness she has cooked up for today!  Remember to leave comments for a chance to win some goodies...Thanks again for stopping by!

Clearsnap and Smoothfoam Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Clearsnap and Smoothfoam Blog Hop! Hop along to each blog in the hop list to see inspiring ways to use Smoothfoam with Clearsnap’s ink, created by our teams of designers. Be sure to comment on each blog in the hop, then use the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post to enter to win a prize pack of Smoothfoam and Clearsnap goodies!

Hop List:

Smoothfoam Blog

Clearsnap Blog

Suzanne Austin - What's in a Lousyananut       

Julie McGuffee - Life in the Craft Lane

Jennifer Priest - Hydrangea Hippo

Lisa Fulmer -  Lisa Liza Lou

Meihsia Liu - Simply Paper Crafts

Anita Scroggins - The FlamingoChronicals 

Steph Ackerman - Live Laugh Scrap

Carmen Flores Tanis -  Flores Tanis Studio

Tami Sanders - tami sanders * paper crafter 

Beth Watson - Beth Watson 

Sabrina Alery - The Honor Roll

Marilyn Gossett - Marilyn Gossett Designs

Denise Hahn - In My Blue Room




Hey everyone!  Thanks for taking the time to stop along this fab blog hop with Clearsnap and Smoothfoam! Today I'm sharing with you a mixed-media layout "canvas" using some of my favorite inky goodness from Clearsnap and a 12x12 sheet of Smoothfoam that serves as my canvas background.  

The layout base was created using several mediums and inks to create a very textured background.  I was pleasantly surprised in how Smoothfoam took all of the abuse I rendered without a flinch!  

To begin, I gave the Smoothfoam sheet a layer of gesso.  Once the gesso dried, I randomly stamped the background just for some visual interest.  To create the texture in the background, I mixed a few drops of Izink Ink in "Topaz" with a dollop of artists texture paste.  I mixed the ink and paste together until there was even consistency; I spread the mixture over the background using a spatula-with imperfection in mind.  While the paste was still wet, I sprinkled the entire background with Clearsnap Fairy Dust Glitter for Donna Salazar in "Sugar Shimmer."    

Once the background was completely dried ( I cheated just a little and carefully used my heat gun to speed it up just a bit), I added even more dimension by mixing Izink Ink in "Orchid" with some super heavy gesso-then used a stencil to add the flowers behind the photo.  Again, I let this layer dry completely.  Once dried, all that's left to do is to add the layers of papers, embellishments and the photo! 

Thanks again for taking the time to check out my project!  Remember to comment below and use the Rafflecopter widget for entries to win a fab prize pack from Clearsnap and Smoothfoam! 

Your next stop is HERE  the talented and wonderful Julie McGuffee!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway