A March Lamb

Posted on March 1, 2016 by mauistamper

I’m on an adorable animal kick for my calendar this spring!

Stamps: Easter Lamb
Color Palette: Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Cucumber Crush
Accessories: Wink of Stella Clear glitter brush, Stampin’ Write markers

I used markers to color directly on the stamp and the new Wink of Stella clear glitter brush to add a little sparkle to the fleece. Easter comes in March this year, so there has to be a little glitter!

This is the last month for Sale-a-bration – you have until the 31st to get your FREEBIES. Shop HERE.

Hop on over to see what Crystal and Cheryl have created for their March calendars.

Watercolor wash

Posted on February 28, 2016 by mauistamper

I’m not a classically trained artist – SURPRISE – but I pay attention to trends and try to pick up simple techniques. One thing I’ve learned is that watercolor paper makes a big difference when you are, well, watercoloring. A couple of weeks ago I played with watercolor wash:

Stamps: Flowering Fields, Tin of Cards
Color Palette: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Aquapainter, Stampin’ Write markers

I started with the watercolor paper and played with the wash. If you look closely at the card above, you’ll see that I held it upright before the water had soaked in, and it created a little river of yellow through the blue. Color theory: yellow + blue = green.

When I trimmed the panels down to make cards, the color was too close to the edge. That just means I’ll have to make more in order to try again.

The sentiment on this card is from the Wetlands stamp set, and I used my Uniball White Gel pen to add some accents to those flowers. These are simple cards – you could make a batch in one afternoon. I like to make them without sentiments and set them aside until I need them. I can customize with the sentiment and font that matches my purpose.

Experiment a little! It’s just paper {wink}.

Hello My Friend

Posted on February 25, 2016 by mauistamper

Never in a million years would I have picked the Hello stamp set from Sale-a-bration to be so versatile…but I’m here to tell you that it is.

Stamps: Hello (Sale-a-bration 2016)
Color Palette: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, So Saffron, Old Olive
Accessories: Wildflower Fields DSP, Botanical Garden Jewels, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Banner punch

This is based rather generously on THIS card by Brian King. It’s a very simple concept that works especially well with the big bold HELLO and the accessory phrases that come with this Sale-a-bration set (I don’t need to mention that you can’t buy this set, you can only earn it as a free gift when you spend $50 before March 31st, do I?)

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I ordered these Botanical Garden Jewels, but I knew I needed to have them. I think they’re the perfect touch, don’t you?

Trust me, you could make a heap of these in no time at all and have a fabulous stash ready for any occasion. Or just ready for all of your girlfriends’ birthdays. Which is about the same thing.

Weekly Deals!

Posted on February 23, 2016 by mauistamper

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means – 25% off some of the best products money can buy – while supplies last! (YOU NEED THE STARS FRAMELITS!!!)

2015-2017 In Color Markers #138333 ~~$15.00~~ $11.25

Classy Designer Buttons #138393 ~~$6.00~~ $4.50

Flower Medallion Punch #137417 ~~$18.00~~ $13.50

Happy Heart TIEF #137364 ~~$7.50~~ $5.63

Stars Framelit Dies #133723 ~~$27.00~~ $20.25

On the fence? Seriously, just do a Pinterest search for Stars Framelits and you’ll be convinced! Need more convincing? Word has it that the Flowering Fields Sale-a-bration stamp set has been VERY popular. You wouldn’t want to miss out on that one, would you?

I thought not. Shop HERE.

Blushing Flowering Fields

Posted on February 22, 2016 by mauistamper

I think I am officially obsessed with the Flowering Fields stamp set available through Sale-a-bration. I’ve done a number of variations on the same theme – the most recent one is in Blushing Bride:

Stamps: Flowering Fields, Timeless Texture, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Color Palette: Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Pear Pizazz
Accessories: Linen Thread, Stampin’ Write Markers, Uniball White Gel Pen, Wink of Stella

I love coloring in these images with my Stampin’ Write markers. Sometimes I use the fat, brush end, and sometimes it’s the pointy writing end, but either way it’s something I find relaxing.

I mix and match the backgrounds from Timeless Treasures – it’s one of those sets I know I’ll reach for again and again. And speaking of reaching for something, my Wink of Stella brush is always on my craft table these days. I’m thinking of getting one for my bathroom too – don’t you think a little {wink} would be just the thing for those too-early-Monday-mornings?

Here’s how I start…the backgrounds are stamped off and I do 3 of each one. My tiles are 1 3/8″ x 1 1/8″ and I have to stamp twice, but I’ve found it easy to line up the images by eye.

Once I have a set of images I like, I move them around until I find a sequence that pleases me. The rest is just Fast Fuse (and a bow with the Linen Thread, but I’ve done hundreds if not thousands of those and it’s No.Big.Deal.)

Here’s the original. Keep your eye out – there are more to come!

Retired Stamp Sets for Sale!

Posted on February 21, 2016 by mauistamper

Check out my shop on Ebay! I have many sets listed and there are many more to come. I will also be adding paper and embellishments. If there’s something you’re hunting for, send me a message and I’ll see if I can find it in the Craft Jungle.

My seller name is HIANNA and you can find my store HERE.

New 2016 Sale-a-bration AND Weekly Deals!

Posted on February 16, 2016 by mauistamper

It’s a Double-Dippin’ Good Stuff Day!!

Metallics Glitter tape! Party Pants Stamps!

And Pedal Pusher – a bicycle-built-for-two stamp set! All of these products available only as FREE items when you spend $50 in Stampin’ Up! merchandise.

There are also DEALS today:

Visit my Online Store to shop!

One more thing…rumor has it that the 3 Sale-a-bration items scheduled to be discontinued are still available while supplies last. If you missed one of these three, you may have a chance to pick it up – if you’re quick!

RemARKable Sale-a-bration Celebrations

Posted on February 11, 2016 by mauistamper

Welcome to the February edition of the RemARKable Blog tour. I hope you can BEAR what I have to share today – (groan)

I love these bears. They’re round and they have whimsical faces and then there are those honkin’ claws. Stampin’ Up! keeps it honest there.

The Bear Hugs stamp set has a matching set of framelits, but I didn’t have them available when I created these cards and chose to trim them out with my snips. This guy is inked in Soft Suede, and then I used a damp Aquapainter to blur the color and add Blushing Bride highlights to his nose and ears. The fish are sparkled with clear Wink of Stella, and they’re hanging from a linen thread rope.

I brought the whole Bear Family together for the second card – same color scheme, same Woodlands TIEF but a different scene altogether. (Note that the Woodlands TIEF will be available in the 2016-2017 Annual Catalog but is not currently available to order.)

I used the same technique for the ink on the trees, but I used a much lighter hand on the first card. The daubers allow you a lot of flexibility that way, and these two cards really illustrate the difference.

I LOVE THESE FACES!!!

Click on the image to see what Heather Mathieson has created for your crafting inspiration. The tour links are listed below if you’re looking for a particular artist. Thanks for visiting!

Anne Matasci YOU ARE HERE!

Hello, my friend

Posted on February 8, 2016 by mauistamper

I’m behaving now – this is a perfectly respectable hello.

Stamps: Apple of My Eye, Hello (2016 SAB), Timeless Textures
Color Palette: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Paper Snips, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch

This is my kind of Clean and Simple – pretty clean and kinda simple. I intended to put that lemon section on dimensionals, but I was distracted and stuck it right down onto the paper. You could just as easily stamp it directly on the card front, but that’s not what I did.

I like the subtle texture you get from the images being cut and attached. If you look closely at the first photo, you’ll see there’s a Whisper White panel (4″ x 5 1/4″) attached to the Whisper White card front. Again, it’s just a little thing but I like it.

I was at an event with Mr. Maui Stamper this weekend, and our table enjoyed an interesting conversation on the dual themes of “Happy Wife, Happy Life” and “If Mama Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy”. So if I want to put a Whisper White panel on to the Whisper White card front, I’m gonna do it. It makes me happy.