getting the most out of your mists

Hello there!!
Samantha here, and I'm super pumped to be on the Sweet Stamp Shop blog today!! :) Today I'm going to focus all about mists and 'out of the box' ways to use them! :)

I know I LOOOOVE using mists! they give an awesome 'messy' look to a project! And I'm the first to admit that 98% of the time, I either splatter the mist onto my project or spray it (either over a stencil or not)! I love the way that looks, but I was trying to come up new ways to use my mists and really stretch their 'I NEED TO USE THIS PRODUCT RIGHT NOW' factor! Ha ha!

My first thought was to paint with them, like watercolors!

And, since I'm currently in a love affair with the color gold (swoon) i used a Heidi Swapp Color Shine mist to really give me a goldy-shimmery look! :) And, people - I LOVE how this looks!! All I did was dip my paint brush into the mist bottle and lightly 'swipe' along the cardstock!

Those cute as can be little pears from the amazing Yummy Love stamp set really POP, don't you think?

My next thought was to combine misting with embossing folders! Sounds messy, right? Hmm, maybe a little! But so worth it! This is how I did it:

All I did was spray one side of the embossing folder (Lightly! - No pooling of color for this one!) and emboss the cardstock like i normally would! How did I not try this before?

I think this 'distressed' wood grain background is just AWESOME!!

Lastly, I tried what i thought was the most obvious way to use my mists more often...using them to tint my white embossing paste! I LOOOOOOOOOVE embossing paste, and since I have white, it's the perfect jumping off point to add color!

What you need to keep in mind here, is that you really need to play around to get the exact color you want and how many drops to use, etc. On one card i tinted my embossing paste with grey mist and it needed like 10 drops of color to mix, and for my card for this example, i used pink and only did 3 drops! So it really just depends on the color, and the amount of saturation you're looking for! :)

If you're intrigued to see the card i made with the pink tinted embossing paste - head on over to my blog! :)

What is your favorite way to use mists? I'm totally dying to find new ways to use this product! :)
All of my cards use the Yummy Love stamp set for the images and the Monogram Alpha stamp set for the sentiments! LOVE this pairing! :)

Have you been following the Sweet Stamp Shop on Pinterest? There is a TON of inspiration there, if you're ever feeling like you need a creative jump start! And if that doesn't help - the Sweet Stamp Shop Flickr account is filled to the brim with amazingly SWEET creations!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Samantha Pin It

they many faces of embossing

Hey there!
It's Samantha here on the blog today! And I'm SUPER excited to share some cards about the different kinds of embossing out there!

One of the hottest trends happening right now is embossing paste!! I, for one, am a HUGE lover of this look!
But there is the old school dry embossing and heat embossing too - both techniques look wonderful on cards!!

here's a quick comparison of all three styles:

And those ideas are just scratching the surface of the embossing world!! You can change the look and feel of your card by adding color:

* by mixing re-inkers/mists with your white embossing paste
* adding inks to you embossing folder, or lightly (and carefully!) adding ink to the raised images after they're embossed
* using color embossing powder

I mean, you can add glitter, distress stains, watercolors, markers, seriously, there is SO much available out there to make these techniques fresh and FUN!!

For today's cards, I kept it simple and clean (and white!) just to consistantly show the differences in the three methods!

My first card shows off the lovely effect that Heat Embossing can provide:

I stamped the US image from Across the Miles (one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE sweet stamp shop stamp sets!!) in versamark ink and then heat embossed in clear over water color paper! The numbers are from Numbers - Symbols stamp set from the latest release!! which were popped up for dimension! the rest of the sentiment was created using Alpha Tabs (another MUST have!!).

My next card shows off the awesome look of Embossing Paste!! LOOOOOOOOOVE that stuff! :)

I used it to add white on white interest to the background of my card! :)
(The same stamp sets were used for this card!)

I have one last card on my blog showing how Dry Embossing can give you a super cool look by adding dimension to the background of the card!! :)

Well, what do you think? Are you inspired to flex your embossing muscles?! I hope so!! Let me know in the comments below if you used any http://www.sweetstampshop.com/all-stamps/Sweet Shop stamps with embossing techniques!! i would LOVE to leave you some LOVE! :)

And while you're at it, take another gander in the Sweet Stamp Shop Store - did you know they sell flair now?! CUSTOM flair to coordinate with their stamp sets!! Hello!!!

See you next time sweets!!
~Samantha  Pin It

To Color, or Not To Color?

That is the question!
Hey there! It's Samantha, and I'm super excited to share my cards today! Today we're going to be looking at coloring, paper piecing, or both for your stamped images! :)

And I'm using one of my very favorite stamp sets from the last release - 'Press it, Wash it'! That dust bunny just gets me everytime - so so so cute!!

I acually ended up making 3 cards with this set (again!!); that's how much I love it!
My first card was just copic colored, onto some super thick  white paper. I love it!

The images on this stamp set are SO much fun to color!

Then I thought, how fun would it be add some shade with the copics onto some already fun, patterned paper!! Have any of you tried that before...I love the way it looks!!

As you can see, I did a LOT of coloring outside the image - that was mostly to make sure only a small amount of the shading showing up! (I didn't want to cover all of the pattern of the paper up!)

And here's a card with this technique!

I LOVE the tiny bit of dimension the coloring adds here!! So FUN!

Here's a quick comparison of all three methods!

If you want to see the card i made with just patterned paper - check it out on my blog, here!
What is your favorite way to add life to your images?

Let me know, I would LOVE to check out your cards!
You can also upload your images to the Sweet Stamp Shop flickr group, here!

Oh, and you're NOT going to want to miss the new release coming up here next week!!! SO exciting! Make sure you check it out!

Thanks again for stopping by!!
~Samantha Pin It

glitter me this!

Hey there!
It's Samantha here to share some super shiny, super sparkly, super FUN cards! :) And what better way to add 'all that jazz' than with some glitter?! So, folks, today it's compare this is all about adding color with GLITTER!!! Oh yeah! This is a fun one! :)

Now, there are a million ways to add glitter to your projects:

stickles
glitter glue
loose glitter
wink of stella pen
glitter embossing powder
glitter tape
glitter paper

Seriously, the list could be a mile long! For this post, I'm focusing on two different forms of loose glitter, and the ever-so-popular wink of stella pen! They all add their own amount of pizazz and WOW! :)

For this comparison I used the elegant sentiments stamp set - which is a set I reach for often!! It's so versatile! :)

i also used the happy hour stamp set - which is just ONE of the perfect complimentary stamp sets to the elegant sentiments!! :)

So let us begin!
The first type of glitter I used is the standard loose glitter - old school and cool! but wooooo is it messy!!! ha ha! I forgot how messy loose glitter can be - and I'm still finding it all over my desk, ha!! (I may or may not have forgotten to hold my breath...so loose glitter did go flying at one point! ha! eek! Am I the only one that has had that happen? sigh)

That's pretty, right? so FUN!
Ok, I used a glue pad (um, that's a fun tool - do you have one? Leave me a comment below and let me know how YOU use it!! What is your favorite sweet image to glitter? I'm so intrigued by the posibilities!!)
I also used an almost ombre technique with the glitter by sprinkling three different shades of glitter at the same time (red, orange and yellow)!

And here's the card I made with this loose glitter example! :) It's so fun!!
I must note, the only down side to using loose glitter is, once the glue pad dries, the loose glitter can still rub off. :/ Boo!

Next up is some glitter embossing powder! It's so pretty!!

This is a really fun way to add glitter because it can add a layer of color (due to the colored embossing powder color) and it adds a layer of glitter! It's a very pretty effect!
And bonus - the glitter doesn't rub off once it has cooled! :)

Here's the card I made with this example! I LOVE it! :)

Lastly, I have an example using the 'hansel he's so hot right now' hottest product out there right now - the wink of stella pen! ha ha! :) (I love the movie Zoolander - I can't help it!! It's so silly, it's hilarious!!)

all you have to do add glitter with the wink of stella is to stamp your sentiment in any color, then go over it with the brush to add your glitter! It's almost instantly dry, the glitter doesn't rub off, and it's so subtle and elegant! I think I use it on almost every project I make! :) ha!

(To check out the card I made with this example, check out my blog!)

And here is an example of all three different styles of glitter close up! :)

What is YOUR favorite way to add glitter? Leave me a comment below and I want to know all about your glitter secrets!! :) And I would love to leave your some love on your blog, back! :)

Thanks again for checking out my glittery post!!
~Samantha Pin It

Grab those markers - pencils - and watercolors!

Hello everyone out there in the sweet world! :)

It's Samantha here today! I have a brand new series all about comparing different ways to add COLOR to your images and cards!! yahooooooo! I am SOOOOO excited to be part of the sweet family!! The team this term is awesome!!! 

Sometimes, when I'm ready to make a card, I think to myself, but how am i going to add color to the images? Paper piecing, copics, distress inks, distress markers, watercolor pencils, ink pads, sprays, seriously, the choices are almost limitless! 

So, today I am sharing the same image that I colored with three different mediums so you can see the difference right here! 

Once I decide how my images are going to be colored, i can focus on the rest of my card. will it be bold? subtle? funny? CAS? seriously, color adds a lot to these choices! 

I used the CUTE as can be washer image from press it wash it! have you seen it yet? It's ADORABLE!!

*full disclosure here peeps...i don't do videos (yet...?) but i'm hoping to remedy that! in the mean time, you'll have to stick with my still pictures. sorry!! :(

Another note: for this tutorial, I only focused on the main area of the washer - the REDs. but the grey's and blues of the images were done in the same manner! :)

First up, I colored the image in distress markers!
I personally always start coloring with the lightest color. once that was all colored in with my trusty wastercolor brush, I went back in with the darker distress inks. 
for instance, the lighter red I have is festive berries, and the darker is fired brick!

step 1: shade a little in the lightest color
step 2: blend out the color with your waterbrush
step 3: add the darker color to your desired shadowed areas
step 4: spread out color with your waterbrush and blend

Next up. I used my watercolor pencils! 
Now these are FUN! do you have any? Hit me up in the comments below if you do! There is so much you can do! 

For these you don't need a lot of different shades of the same color, all you need is time and water! seriously, water level is the key here!

step 1: lightly shade in some area with colored pencil
step 2: blend it in with the water pen
step 3: touch the waterbrush tip directly to the pencil color and get a really intese color
step 4: add the darker color to the shadowed areas
step 5: blend it all together!

step 5

Lastly, of course, I had to use copics to color the image as well!
Many of you are familiar with copic coloring, and I am just a newbie! but I LOOOOOVE practicing!

I always start my coloring process like this:
color with the lightest in the area of the image you want the darkest color to be
follow with the medium color in the same area
step 1: below: blend out with the lighest 
step 2: follow with the darkest color
blend with medium
step 3: blend out all with the lightest color 

What methods do you use when copic coloring? Leave me a comment below and i'll check out your blog!! :)

Here are all three finished ways to color, shown below in a line up!

See the difference? Now you know what kind of card to make! :)

Here's my final card - copic colored, and a smiley face added!! I used a copic colored image so it's a very bold card! :) (since I chose a very BOLD color for this example - red!)

(does this card pique your interest? i have another card on my blog too with the distress marker colored image!)

So what do you think? Are there any images you want to see me color in different ways? Leave a comment below and I'll make it happen! :)

Thanks for checking out my coloring and cards! 

Have a super sweet day!!!
S. 

Visit me on my blog - HERE!  Pin It