Art Journal – Lots of Leaves

Today I have a mixed media art journal page for my disc bound journal using lots of stamps, inks, and oh yeah, leaves…

I created a background on watercolor paper with distress inks and oxides and leaf dies Give Thanks and punches. then I randomly stamped texture using the Falling Leaves and Texture Tiles 1 from Sweet N Sassy Stamps. Background – check!

For the main image, First, I created me… using Girl Power 2, I stamp my hair style and added glasses and shoulders. Then I sketched out arms and hands and a body. I wanted it to look like I had just jumped in a pile of leaves and was jumping for joy so I gathered up my stamp sets with leaves – Give Thanks, Happy Scarecrow, and Fall in Love with Jesus. I stamped, colored with Copics, and cut until I had a pile of leaves worthy of any kid on a crisp autumn day! I built the pile of leaves (did I mention there are a LOT of these.) Some leaves are buried at the bottom of the pile with little exposure but I really wanted dimension so the coloring, and cutting wasn’t wasted right? (haha).

Finally, I added my sentiment from the Give Thanks set and colored it in with my Polychromos pencils. I just felt like I would be praising God for such a glorious time and I LOVE how it turned out. I hope you do too!

Have a great day and THANKS for stopping by!
Lyn

P.S. and by the way… Falling Leaves is the Stamp if the Month at SNSS this month. It is free with a $65 purchase!

Happiness Blooms – Mixed Media (ish)

Today I have a fun card for you using the Sweet N Sassy Stamp of the Month Happiness Blooms.

Using Distress Inks, I stamped Texture Tiles 1 to create a background on watercolor paper. I spritzed it a bit to give it a watercolor(y) look. I stamped the flower from Happiness Blooms over it and colored with Copic markers. It has a loose look because of the Copics on watercolor paper. To give it a more crisp look, I went back in with Polychromos pencils. I love the colors on this one. I layered it all up and there is the card. I just needed a sentiment…The sentiment strip comes from Pray Without Ceasing. It is a great encouragement card don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are inspired.

Lyn

SNSS Mixed Media Joy

Spring is in the air big time. My tulips are out of the ground and just minutes away from blooming! How is the weather in your area?

Today I have a “CAS” – mixed media card. Is that even possible? I had a gel print in my stash that I thought would add some background interest for my sweet pail of flowers and sentiment from the new Puddle Jumpers set from Sweet N Sassy.

I used acrylics to create the background and colored my image with Polychromos pencils. I grounded my pail with some washi tape then added more in a few spots to balance everything. I added a bright, contrasting mounting piece and that is all there is to it. I really like it but what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are inspired to create something today.
Lyn

SNSS One Layer – Botanical Branches

Today’s card is a one layer card on watercolor card.

I used one of the leaf stems from the Botanical Branches set to create a curved frame for the big sentiment from My Thoughts of You. I did a little ink smooshing with Distress Oxides then I colored in the image with colored pencils for some color pop. This set is so perfect for clean and simple and awesome!

Thanks for stopping by – I hope you are inspired to create a one layer card!
Lyn

SNSS – Butterflies Fly!

Happy Friday!! I have a bright fun card for you today. With all of the beauty that spring is bringing those warm days are starting to produce a few butterflies. 

I have been in love with the Garden Whimsy set from day one and had this little guy colored up on my desk. This month, I am trying to use my stash of colored images and backgrounds to create actual cards (haha!) so I paired this image with the sentiment from the new digi set called Favorite Mom. This set has lots of great flowers and sentiments but the one I chose was so perfectly how I feel about my mom, that I had to use it on a card for her! She loved it!

The background is Distress Oxide on kraft – if you haven’t tried that, you definitely should! I stamped the image with Archival Ink on top after the Oxides dried and colored over it with Polychromos pencils. 

I hope you are inspired and have a great weekend!

Hugs, 

Lyn

Psst….PS and By the Way, there is a sale going on this week for any images by Rebecca Rios, I am playing with some of them now and will post soon!

SNSS April Blog Hop … Mr and Mrs – Re-thunk

Did someone say April?? What is going on!? Today we have another new release Hop at Sweet N Sassy Stamps and I think you are going to love all of the inspiration we have for you! There are some really fun sets!

You should have arrived here from Michelle‘s page. If not, jump back there so you don’t miss anything – she is super inspiring! Hop along to all of the blogs (listed below just in case something goes wrong along the way) for even more inspiration with the April stamps. Leave a little comment at each stop on the hop before 10pm Eastern on April 27th and you might just be a lucky winner! One lucky comment from all the comments along the hop will win a $25 gift voucher to the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps shop. Winner will be announced on the SNSS blog, Wednesday, April 28th.

Hop Order:

• Sweet ‘n Sassy Blog
• Sheri Gilson
• Michelle Hale
• Lyn Tomlin – THAT’S ME!
• Lieschen Harshbarger
• Lee Ann Barrett
• Karen Decknick
• Julee Tilman
• Jane Bosi
• Esther Asbury
• Diane Zechman
• Charmaine Canham
• Ceal Pritchett

This month I am featuring the Mr and Mrs Stamp set.   I really love the fun design of this set but I didn’t really have a need for a wedding stamp in my stash right now so I decided to see how I could use it in OTHER ways…you guys know I love to stretch my stamps!

My first card has a simple ink background using distress inks in grey and vintage photo on the Grunge Dots Stencil which I spritzed and smooshed onto my kraft cardstock (Neenah desert storm). I inked a line of the men’s shoes in vintage photo on a strip of white watercolor cardstock, spritzed them with water for a messy look then after it dried, I went in with colored pencils to make the details a bit sharper. I added a simple sentiment from Sentimental Wordfetti and a Father’s day note on the inside – I love that this can go to a plain old masculine card rather than a wedding card and now I can check my Father’s Day card off my list 2 months early – hooray!

Next, I created another simple card but this time, I went for an encouragement card. Honestly, it could be my Mother’s Day card too I think but instead, this one is for a sweet friend who I like to remind just how awesome she is when I get the chance… I inked up the wedding dress on kraft cardstock (Neenah desert storm) with light gray archival ink and colored it with bright (not white) Polychromos pencils. It looks like a party dress now – not a wedding dress don’t you think? With a black pencil, I wrote a scripture from Proverbs 31:25 into her dress. (The Proverbs women is so fantastic – I want to be just like her!) To finish it off, I masked the dress and added a little texture with my distress ink pads directly to the card. I added a few gems and that is this one.

I hope you had fun hoping along and were inspired to use your stamps for something other than what they are “supposed” to be for! NOW head over to see what Lieschen has created for you!!

If if you get the opportunity to craft with some of these great stamps (or any other SNSS stamp) we would love to see what you create on our SNSS VIP Group Facebook Page; Or tag your creations with #snss or #sweetnsassystamps on Instagram.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lyn

SNSS Bunnies, Bunnies, Bunnies

Today I have a super sweet post filled with the cutest cuddliest… bunnies! Who doesn’t love bunnies amiright? Sweet N Sassy has some truly adorable bunnies in both clear stamps and digital stamps….

FIRST we have this so cute little guy from this month’s Hoppy Spring set. I inked him up on a Neenah Desert Storm card stock base, masked him, them covered the background with the new Textures 11 flowers using Versa Mark for a tone-on-tone look. I unmasked and those flowers moved to the background so I could color my bunny with colored pencils and have a one layer card.

Next I have another clean and simple card, but this time, I didn’t fill in the white space. (I did, however, die-cut and mount my panel for a little dimension :)) This card uses a new digi called Bunny Love. It comes with a sweet sentiment that I have used on many a project lately! I created my “card front” in a word doc with the bunny and sentiment placed just where I wanted them. I printed, colored him with Copic markers, and die-cut the layers – that is all there is to it!

My last project is a mixed media ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I created for a team swap. I used Distress Oxides on heavy watercolor paper to start my card. I added texture with Typewriter Text BG, Texture Tiles 5, and the new Grunge Dots Stencil. I created a word doc with a bunch of my images and sentiments from Valentine Bunny with Heart and Bunny Love respectively and had a fun day of coloring and fussy cutting. I added a little washi from my stash to “ground” my bunny and balance my ATC then glued my image and sentiment down… I signed the back and mailed off to my friends – SO MUCH FUN!

I hope you were inspired today – HOP to it and go great something this weekend!

By the way, there are still a few more days to get in on the SNSS moving sale!

Thanks for stopping by!
Lyn

SNSS March Blog Hop Hi, Hi Birdie

Happy March – Did you guys Spring Forward? We do that in Georgia and it is so hard! But it means Spring is just around the corner so I will suck it up and be happy for the blessing 🙂

Today we have another new release Hop at Sweet N Sassy Stamps and I think this month is my favorite new release! (I mean it this time!) I think you are going to love all of the inspiration we have for you!

You should have arrived here from Lieschen‘s page. If not, jump back there so you don’t miss anything – she always inspires me! Hop along to all of the blogs (listed below just in case something goes wrong along the way) for even more inspiration with the March stamps. Leave a little comment at each stop on the hop before 10pm Eastern on March 23rd and you might just be a lucky winner! One lucky comment from all the comments along the hop will win a $25 gift voucher to the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps shop. Winner will be announced on the SNSS blog, Wednesday, March 24th.

Hop Order:

• Sweet ‘n Sassy Blog
• Julee Tilman
• Ceal Pritchett
• Diane Zechman
• Esther Asbury
• Jane Bosi
• Karen Decknick
• Lee Ann Barrett
• Lieschen Harshbarger
• Lyn Tomlin – THAT’S ME!
• Michelle Hale
• Sheri Gilson

This month I am featuring the Hoppy Spring Set. I am OBSESSED with the little birds. They are oh so sweet and I have them inked up all over my desk just so I can color them different colors with different inks. I really pushed myself to use non traditional colors so I could have bright, cheerful cards. I hope you like them!

My first card has a simple ink smooshed background (blue and green for sky and grass). I inked one of the birds and a sentiment on top of the ink (after it dried) and colored my bird with polychromos pencils. I colored him turquoise with pink wings and used a Glaze pen on his eye… L-O-V-E! This is a perfect layout for a set of cards (just saying)

Next, I created another simple card but this time, I channeled my inner Andy Warhol and used both the left and right facing chicks and shades of turquoise, pink, orange, and yellow-green. I inked them with Versaclair Nocturne then colored them with my polychromos pencils since they were still sitting on my desk (haha!) I die cut them into squares and mounted them onto black. I used a Glaze pen on their eyes for dimension and that is that! This one make me Smile OUT LOUD!

P.S. – Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Here is a bonus project for the day. I created and ATC (Artist Trading Card – 2.5″x3.5″) using The new Lucky Bear Digital Stamp and the Rise and Shine Stencil and Texture Tiles 10 – so so cute!!

I hope you had fun hoping along and were inspired by all you saw! NOW head over to see what Sheri has created for you!!

If if you get the opportunity to craft with some of these great stamps (or any other SNSS stamp) we would love to see what you create on our SNSS VIP Group Facebook Page; Or tag your creations with #snss or #sweetnsassystamps on Instagram.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lyn

SNSS Garden Whimsy

Have you had a chance to play with any of the March Sets at Sweet N Sassy Stamps? They are so fun and they compliment each other so well to create adorable projects!

Today I am working with the the Garden Whimsy set and the Everyday Greetings set. I love the unique style of the critters in Garden Whimsy. They are super fun to color – you can really use your imagination. And the sentiment set is just what I have been looking for. They are perfect for any occasion, just thinking of you type cards.

My first card features the dragonfly and the Thanks sentiment. I never really have many of those in my stash so I am happy to have this one. I created the background with Distress Oxides and the new Puffy Clouds stencil. I added a lot of water so the cloud shapes are very subtle. (I have another panel that I created at the same time that is much clearer. You will likely see that soon.) My dragonfly is stamped on top of the background then colored with Polychromos pencils. I got out my color wheel and tried to use colors that aren’t my norm and I love the final look. I added the sentiment on the card front and didn’t do anything else.

My second card is actually part of a set. I did a swap with some of the team members at Sweet N Sassy and I decided to create cards for everyone. I laid down inks of blues and purple Distress Oxides onto my mat, added water then smooshed the card front through – this is a one layer made from watercolor paper and cut to a fun Bar 4 size of 3 1/2″x4 7/8″. Once the background dried, I inked the sentiment and the ladybug onto all of my cards. I inked the ladybug body onto copic friendly paper and colored them rich pinks and blues – they are so much fun! I fussy cut the body and glued them onto the inked image on my card front. Now it has antennae and I didn’t have to cut them out 🙂

These are so cute in real life – they make me smile out loud! I hope you are inspired to pay with colors today and have a blast doing it! AND…If you need anything from the new release…Sweet N Sassy is moving and they are having a sale so they don’t have to load it all up – Just use the Code MOVING… winner!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Lyn

SNSS and Coffee Loving Cardmakers Team up for a Blog Hop

How about a collaboration? Yes Please!!

Welcome to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers + Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Collaboration Blog Hop! We’re so excited to be teaming up with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers design team to bring you some caffeine inspired fun… Oh yeah and there is a PRIZE (ding, ding, ding!!) Leave some love at each stop as you hop about for a chance to win a $25 gift code to the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps shop.

OK – Let’s make sure you are in the right place (what? I sometimes need someone to keep me in line 🙂 ) You should have gotten here from Esther’s blog. If you already started but got a little lost, you can always head to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog for the complete hop list. IF not, start at the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Blog to make sure you don’t miss anything!! (btw – you won’t want to miss anything).

I have a couple of projects to share today. The first one is an art journal page – this is in my mini watercolor paper journal (4″X5.25″). I used Distress Inks in shades of green and blues to create a forest scene. I spritzed it a little and when it dried, I added some trees from the Thrill of Hope set and texture from Texture Tiles 1. After a few white paint splashes, the background was complete. I Copic colored my coffee drinking gnome from Winter Gnomes and added a Hi-larious (and oh, so true) sentiment from Coffee Talk 2 on strips of cardstock to finish it off. This one makes me smile out loud!

My next project is also a journal page but this one is not a true journal. I accidently purchased my yearly calendar only to find out it started last July (ughh!) I started cutting out the un-needed months and then decided that I would use all those extra pages for fun journal projects instead. If the calendar info shows through, it is only added texture – woo hoo! Lemons into lemonade – amiright?

I added a light layer of gesso, then added distress oxides for my base colors. I added a layer of stenciling over it then added texture using the new Texture Tiles 9 (did I mention that I loved this one?) I Copic colored the girl from Walk Humbly then several of the cups from Coffee Talk (decorated with some of the little images in the Walk Humbly set.) I added the sentiment (from Coffee Talk) directly to the page but fussy cut the girl and the cups. I glued the girl down, then cut slits into the coffee part of the cups so I could “stack” them up and place them into her hand – Woo, it’s a 3-cup day? Must be Monday, or Tuesday, or….

I hope you are having fun and were super inspired here! All that coffee definitely leads to creative fun in my house! Now for more inspiration, head on over to Lee Ann’s blog and you will not be disappointed .

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Lyn