Hello and happy Thursday everyone. Before I start with the fun stuff, I wanted to let you know that this will be my last post as a design team member for MarkerPOP. Having a young family, things are becoming very busy for me, and my creativity has been hard to come by lately! I am really disappointed that I've had to come to this difficult decision to step down from the team, but I just know it's the right thing I need to do! I hope you've enjoyed the projects I've created during my time on the team. I loved this team and using all the fun products!!

Ok on to the crafty stuff! Today's card features stamps & dies from My Favorite Things, and a Tim Holtz stencil. First, I started by die cutting an orange piece of card stock from the MFT Blueprints 29 die set. Then, using MFT's Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle STAX, I die cut the dark grey card stock. To give the background behind the pumpkins a little more interest and texture, I ink blended some Black Soot Distress Ink over Tim Holtz's Mini Layered Stencil #22 (the leaves stencil). It's pretty subtle, but I LOVE the effect ;)

For the black and orange pumpkins, first I repeatedly stamped the star stamp from the Spooky Sweets set with VersaMark ink on black and orange card stock. It was then embossed with WOW! Gold Rich embossing powder--a NEW brand/product in the store! Make sure to check them out...there are a TON of colors to choose from! Then I ran them through my die cut machine using the smallest pumpkin in the Spooky Sweets die set.

The white pumpkin was also stamped with VersaMark ink onto Neenah white card stock, then heat embossed with WOW! Opaque Bright White embossing powder. The stem was embossed with the Gold Rich EP, then die cut. The sentiment is stamped on Neenah white card stock using the same gold EP, and then die cut using a banner die from MFT Blueprints 29. The white pumpkin and sentiment are popped up using some foam tape for dimension.

I hope you've enjoyed my fall/Halloween card today! I appreciate you stopping by. Have a great day.

Nicki
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With Love

Good morning! I'm on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing a clean and simple fall card.

This card features Concord & 9th stamps and dies, and a Tim Holtz Mini Stencil. Have you seen the new C&9th Layering Leaves dies??? They are so amazing!! There are so many possibilities with these dies, and I've seen some really beautiful cards using them on Instagram.

I started with a Neenah Solar White card stock base. Using Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed, and Twisted Citron, I blended the ink with a foam blending tool for a soft look. Once that was completed, I taped the Mini Stencil to the card base with removable tape. Then, using the same distress ink colors I mentioned above, I blended more ink over the stencil and it created a tone on tone effect! LOVE that look! I made sure to overlap each of the colors slightly to make it a smooth blend.

The leaves were die cut 4 times from Neenah Solar White card stock, and glued together in two stacks to give them some thickness and dimension. Finally, the sentiment from the Give Thanks set was white heat embossed on Black Card Stock.



Thanks for stopping in today! I hope I've left you with some Autumn inspiration. Enjoy your day ;)

Nicki

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Magical Birthday

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing a unicorn card. I can't believe how popular unicorns are lately. It brings flashbacks to my childhood and My Little Ponies ;) I made this card for a special little girl who's turning 5 soon!

This card features Avery Elle stamps and dies. The light grey card stock was die cut using the largest die from the Sweet Scallops die set. It's the same size as a regular 4.25" x 5.5" card base. It's mounted to a Neenah Solar White card stock base. The stars, clouds, and stitched oval die are all cut from Neenah Solar White as well.

The rainbow & unicorn from the Be a Unicorn stamp set are stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I used the following Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a Waterbrush to color in the rainbow and the unicorn's mane, tail, and hooves: 21 Light Carmine, 29 Geranium Red, 50 Yellow, 70 Orange, 45 Pale Green, 47 May Green, 36 Light Blue, 32 Persian Blue, 83 Lilac, 80 Violet, 91 Light Gray. The star and horn on the unicorn are colored in with Clear Wink of Stella for a hint of sparkle! I also just fussy cut both pieces because I don't have the coordinating die for this set, but you can find it in the MarkerPOP store!

The sentiment is black heat embossed on the smallest oval from the Sweet Scallops die set. All the stars are also die cut from that set, and the clouds are die cut from the Special Delivery die set. The rainbow, unicorn, and oval are all popped up with foam tape.

Thank for popping in today! I hope you have enjoyed my project! Happy crafting!

Nicki
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We Flamin-go Together!

Hello crafty friends! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing this super cute CAS flamingo card! I made this for my husband since our anniversary is coming up!

To start off, I used a Neenah Solar White card stock base. The Avery Elle "celebrate" die cuts also are Neenah Solar White, as well as the Lawn Fawn Flamingo Together palm trees and MFT banner die cut that "flamin-go" is on. The green part of the palm trees are stamped in Altenew's Forest Glades, and the brown pieces are stamped with Dark Chocolate.

The flamingos were stamped on watercolor card stock with VersaMark embossing ink, then heat embossed with black embossing powder. Using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers in 028 Pale Pink & 021 Light Carmine, I colored in the flamingos lightly, and then used a water brush to blend the colors together. The beaks use ZIG CCRB 095 Dark Gray. Then they were die cut using Lawn Fawn's Flamingo Together die set. The heart was colored in using ZIG CCRB 024 Wine Red, then finished with a coat of Clear Wink of Stella.

Underneath the two groups of palm trees, I used ZIG CCRB 091 Light Gray to quickly color a shadow under them to ground them. The palm trees were adhered directly to the card base. The sentiment was stamped using black ink. The celebrate die cuts were adhered directly to the card base for some added texture, and a fun way to include another sentiment without taking away too much from the main sentiment. Since the card is being used as an anniversary card, I thought "celebrate" was perfect to include on it ;)

The flamingos were attached to the card base using foam tape, and the heart was glued directly to them.

I hope I've inspired you today! Thanks for stopping by!

Nicki
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With Thanks

Good morning! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today sharing a clean and simple card. This is one of my favorite styles to create. I love crisp, white backgrounds!

I started out with a Neenah Solar White card stock base. Using the incredibly awesome Misti tool, I first stamped the "thanks" sentiment from a brand new Concord & 9th stamp set, Give Thanks, with Hero Arts Navy ink. Then, I positioned the "WITH" on the Misti tool again, and stamped that using Hero Arts Wet Cement ink. The asterisk looking doo-dad next to thanks was also stamped with Cement ink! The right corner of the card stock base was rounded with a corner rounder punch.

On a separate piece of Neenah card stock, I used a foam ink blending tool and four Tim Holtz Distress Inks to create a nice blend of colors for fall (Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, and Mowed Lawn). Using a die from Concord & 9th's new die set, Layering Leaves, I die cut the leaves using the colorfully blended card stock. Love this look! Some Clear Wink of Stella sparkle was added to the die cut, and then glued to the card base.

Thank you so much for checking out my card today!

Nicki
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Blessed to Have You

Hey there! I was over on the MarkerPOP blog Thursday sharing this card using two Honey Bee stamp sets, Bless Your Heart, and Country Wreath.

I started by white heat embossing the large sentiment and some flowers and leaves onto a piece of water color card stock. Using MFT's basic stitch lines, I ran the 'cross stitch' edge through the die cut machine twice, placing it once at the top of the panel and once at the bottom. Using a Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker in No. 083 Lilac, I carefully traced (in a thin line) around the entire word, "blessed". Then, using a water brush, I activated the Zig marker lines to soften them. The flowers were colored in using No. 031 Cobalt Blue, No. 083 Lilac, and No. 051 Lemon Yellow, and the leaves are No. 045 Pale Green.

I white heat embossed 3 clusters of flowers and leaves on the main base panel, and colored them using the same colors mentioned above. "To have you" was white heat embossed on black card stock and die cut from MFT Blueprints 29 and adhered to the top panel. The top panel is adhered to the card base with foam adhesive. To add some extra glimmer, a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins were added.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a great day!

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Love Bug!

Hello crafty friends! I'm over on the MarkerPOP blog today with this fun bug card! The Love Bug stamp set from Hero Arts is just the cutest, don't you think?!

I started by die cutting two panels, one with Distress Watercolor Card Stock, and one in black card stock. Using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (Carmine Red 022, Orange 070, Yellow 050, May Green 047, Cobalt Blue 031, Violet 080), I colored a small area of each color down the middle of the card stock panel. Then using a water brush, I spread the color around just enough to cover each insect. Once it was dry, I used Hero Hues Black Dye Ink to stamp each bug over each water colored spot.

The hearts were die cut with Neenah Solar White card stock and adhered to the main panel. Using a Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush, I added lots of sparkle to each of the hearts. The panel was then adhered to the black card stock panel.

To create the pattern on the front of the card base, I lined up the "Hi!" and the "love bug" sentiments right next to each on the same clear acrylic block. Then, I repeatedly stamped across the card, staggering each line. Love that background and that font! Finally, the other panel was mounted to the card base using foam tape. This was such a fun card to make!! I hope I've inspired you today and that you can set aside some crafty time for yourself! See you next time!

Nicki

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Ellen Hutson Guest Artist Challenge

Hey there! I'm popping in tonight to share this card I created for the Ellen Hutson Calling All Artists Pin-Sights Challenge!

I used the Essentials by Ellen Totally Fabulous Designer Dies, and Altenew stamp sets - Painted Flowers and Sohcahtoa. To achieve a different color on the "TOTALLY" die, I first die cut it from the stitched panel, and it's still 'anchored' at the bottom (the letters don't actually get cut all the way). I wanted to make sure the word stood out, so I inked up a separate piece of cardstock with the Lavender Fields ink, then die cut "TOTALLY" from it, and snipped the letters off at the bottom. From there, I just glued each purple letter right on top of the white letters! Easy as pie! :D

If you look carefully, I also looped the "l" in "fabulous" behind the "T" in "TOTALLY", and rotated fabulous so it's on an angle. I really love that look!

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by! Crossing my fingers to be chosen for a guest artist spot! :)

Supplies:

Stamps: Altenew - Painted Flowers, Sohcahtoa
Dies: Essentials by Ellen Totally Fabulous Designer Dies; MFT - Blueprints 29
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White

Ink: Altenew - Jet Black, Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields; Hero Arts - Charcoal