May 2019 DIY Calendar: Best Birds

Posted on May 1, 2019 by mauistamper

Happy May Day! It’s the first of the month, and that means I’ve got a new calendar to share. This month, I’m featuring one of the charming birds from the Best Birds set – it retires in June and while I’m sad to see it go, I’ve seen enough to know that there are new birdies in my future!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! May 2019 DIY Easel Calendar Best Birds

Stamps: Best Birds, Colorful Seasons
Color Palette: Whisper White, Memento Black, Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pineapple Punch
Accessories: Stampin’ Blends, White Stampin’ Chalk marker, Aqua Painter, Big Shot, Birds and Blooms Thinlit Dies, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I used Stampin’ Blends to color the bird, and I’m experimenting with some new coloring techniques. One of the things I thought I’d heard was to use circular motions to blend the colors, but as I’ve explored more it seems that short, flicked strokes layered on top of each other give a smoother result. It’s still a work in progress.

However you choose to color, it’s a lot of fun to play with different combinations. I have a couple more birds on my craft desk waiting for projects.

And yes, I know this guy isn’t exactly on the branch. Call it artistic license.

Please stop by and see what Crystal and Cheryl have done for May. We all enjoy putting these calendars together for you each month. I have both the 2019 and 2020 calendars available in PDF form for the great price of $5 each. Message me if you’d like to purchase one or both!

And if you’re ready to add this charming little avian to your next, shop HERE.

Fabulous Figgy Flora

Posted on August 14, 2016 by mauistamper

There’s a group of stamp sets that get sold short in the Annual Catalog, at least in my opinion. The Host Rewards sets don’t seem to get the same attention that the rest of the catalog enjoys. Fabulous Flora is a host set, and I think it deserves a better look:

Stamps: Fabulous Flora (Host), Thoughtful Banners, Best Birds, TImeless Texture
Color Palette: Crumb Cake, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Pear Pizazz, Soft Suede, White (I used watercolor paper, not Whisper White), Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Watercolor paper, Wink of Stella Gold, Aqua Painter, Linen Thread, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I’m not as big a fan of Wink of Stella Gold – I prefer the Clear version. However, I’ve found a use for it that I really love – the flick. You know. You get the brush end loaded up with the color and then flick it against your finger over the paper to get some spatter.

It’s easy to do as long as you remember to load up the brush end. If it’s dry, you can do a whole lot of flicking without seeing much in the way of results.

I played a bit with the Aqua Painter here too, layering the color and adding a light Smoky Slate wash around the images to set them off. Since this card has very limited layers, I wanted to create more texture with the watercoloring.

In order to own a Host Rewards stamp set, you need to be the host of an event/party/order/group order that reaches $150. Let me know if you’d like help in figuring out how to make that happen! I think Fabulous Flora is worth the effort.

Thoughtful Branches Sneak Peek

Posted on July 16, 2016 by mauistamper

There are perks to being a demonstrator, you know. One of the best perks is being able to order things before they’re available to the rest of the crafting world. The new Thoughtful Branches stamp and thinlit bundle hit my doorstep a couple of days ago and this afternoon I set aside some time to play:

Stamps: Thoughtful Branches (available 8/1/16), Best Birds, Hardwood
Color Palette: Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Garden Green, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Branches Thinlits, Big Shot Die Brush, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Fruit Stand DSP

I used Tombo the Wonder Adhesive to adhere all of the pieces – just be patient and use little tiny dots. A little dab’ll do ya!

The Thoughtful Branches set, Beautiful Branches Thinlits, and the bundle containing both items are available to demonstrators this month. (Now don’t you need to be a demonstrator?) It will be available to everyone on August 1st.