Painting Watercolor Backgrounds with Nina-Marie

Hi Friends!  We're welcoming our April guest Nina-Marie Trapani back to the blog today.  This is her last post for the month and we're sad to see her go!  We've so enjoyed having her back visiting on the blog and we know you have too!

Happy Friday everyone! Today I am excited to share another video featuring Gansai Tambi watercolors and Neat & Tangled products! Last week, I shared a video featuring these same products in a no-line coloring technique. This week – since the Gansai Tambi paints are a newer watercolor palette for me – I wanted to explore them a bit further and see how they did in creating backgrounds.



Watercolor backgrounds are something I greatly enjoy creating. The abstract feel of the watercolors, combined with how they layer and blend simply appeal to me. They are relaxing to make and allow me to have some “playtime” without having to worry about staying inside of lines or trying not to let colors mix. Backgrounds for the most part allow you to be free.

The Gansai Tambi watercolors worked beautifully for creating vibrant, layered backgrounds. I used all blues for these backgrounds, but you could definitely work with other colors. When I was working on painting these, I was in the mood for using blue tones; they make me think of the ocean.

In some of the backgrounds, I did use a bit of white metallic, which is included in the 36 set of Gansai Tambi watercolors. If you don’t have the Gansai Tambi paints – or do not have the 36 set – and would like to incorporate a metallic like this into your artwork, I recommend the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors set. This set of metallic watercolors are the same consistency and feel of the metallics included in the Gansai Tambi 36 set and include a few extra golds too!

I ended up creating a total of five backgrounds – which I then turned into cards – with the help of the Neat & Tangled Succulent Journaling Card die. This die coordinates with the beautiful Succulent Journaling Card stamp set. I did not use the stamps from the set today however; just the die.



The die is recessed into a coordinating blue cardstock frame. For a sentiment, I stamped the word “hello” in blue ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. To embellish the card, I used a few Sparkling Clear mix and 3mm sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

These cards all look different and unique, which is the look I was going for. When I painted the backgrounds, I made sure to put the colors down differently on each watercolor paper panel. By varying up the paintings, I was able to make a set of cards that match, but each have their own character.



I hope today’s post has inspired you and gave you some ideas for working with watercolor backgrounds behind a die cut such as the Succulent Journaling Card, to create a pretty card set.

And a BIG, BIG thank you to my dear friends Danielle and Miriam from Neat & Tangled who allowed me to come guest with them this month; I had so much fun!

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have a beary merry NOEL.

Hi there!

Elena here with a Christmas card featuring the sweet bear from Beary Merry.

I stamped and then colored the bear with soft brown copic markers (E51, E53 and E55.)

Then, I used the Journaling Alphas to cut out the letters to spell NOEL. I live in Montreal and we are very bilingual. I need cards for those french-speaking teachers and neighbors!

I love how the die set for Beary Merry allowed me to tuck the middle letters into his arms. It's just so cute!

Next, I used the large rounded rectangle from the Succulent Journaling Card die set and cut 2 layers: one out of white cardstock and another out of a pale aqua.  I used the Lucky Stars dies to cut stars out of the white layer, so that the aqua would show through.

I used some wooden stars and a kraft card base to reinforce the soft brown of the bear.

A white gel pen was used to add finishing touches to the letters and the bear.

I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

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Succulents thinking of you cards with Sveta Fotinia

Hello everyone!

Sveta is here and I want to share with you  my way to use Succulent Journaling card Nice And Neat die for a sympathy cards. Of course you can use the same idea for more happy occasions and choose brighter colors for it!

For the first card I used both dies.  I created a background with pale mint Bazzil cardstock using the mat die, and cut the journaling die itself using black cardstock. I blended a bit of white chalk ink on the sentiment strip to give it a chalkboard style look. I chose the "Sending prayers" sentiment from Succulent Journaling card stamp set.

For the second card, I continued with the chalkboard theme and used black cardstock blended with white for a whole card base. This time I went with inlaid die cutting technique and colored my succulents with purple chameleon pen marker.

I really like this lacy look of succulent die cut! Next time I will definitely try to cut out succulents and create something really tender! How would you use this die/stamp set? Please share with us!

Thanks!

Have a great and inspired day!

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July Release Redux Cards by Taheerah

Hey everyone, happy Thursday! It's Taheerah here today to share some cards featuring the July release!

The wicked postman held my release package captive earlier this month so I didn't get a chance to join in with the other talented DT ladies - but that just means I've got the limelight to share them with you now!

Let's start with the first card:

For this one I used the sentiment and star image Hello You to create a bold, chalkboard look.

I did a bit of shadow stamping, with the help of my MISTI, to create a chalky look, and heat embossed the main images!

Next up, a couple of cards featuring the Succulent Journaling Card stamp set and die!

I die cut the journaling card from patterned paper and lightly coloured some of the pieces, before paper piecing them back in. The sentiment is from Square Thoughts!

Such pretty details!

And here's its alternative version:

This one is more subtle, but just as pretty!

Next up, Mermazing:

This one might be my favourite of the lot, just because of all the clever details!

I partially inked up the mermaid, and then stamped the shell to be her bikini and drew in her waist!

And just check out those waves! I used a combination of glue and ink to create dimensional froth which I then heat embossed!

Check out that dimension!

And finally, Kitty's Favourite Things:

I die cut a circle using the Making Waves dies and then wound a lot of twine round in, before inking and misting the twine to change its colour!

I coloured my kitty with Copics, trimmed him out and adhered him behind the giant ball! The sentiment banner was die cut using the Kitty's Favourite Things dies, and I added a heat embossed vellum heart using one of the stamps from Hello You. The background was created by misting, using both the Geometric Blooms and Pentagon stencils, placing them on top of each other before misting. I think it mirrors the ball of wool effect. :)


I hope you loved these release projects as much as I loved creating them! The July release seems to have been very popular, with a few of the new products out of stock currently - so make sure you sign up to notifications for your favourites to know when they're back in stock! Thanks for stopping by!

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Succulent Journaling Card: Two Techniques - Two Cards

Hello Dears!

Daria here. And for today's post I have two cards to share both with Succulent Journaling Card Stamps and Dies using two different techniques.

Recently, I played with Pointillism technique by Heather Nichols, and could not wait to try it with Succulent Journaling Card Stamp.

How to: At first, I heat embossed the image in white. Then, I took all different shades of green inks and all small dots stamps from different stamps sets and started to stamps dots - over and over again. It is time consuming, but it creates very soft look with lots of dimension. While stamping, I put darker shades closer to the petals' inside parts and lighter to their ends... You also want to overlap your dots many times for continuous shading. I started with bigger dots and ended with smaller ones. 

I die-cut Succulent Journaling Card from Bazzil kraft cardstock and used some tiny strips of foam tape to secure it over my already colored card. It adds even more dimension.

For my second card, I have decided to do some in-laid technique. I die-cut Succulent Journaling Card several times from white and kraft cardstock. Then, on one of those, I colored petals with Twisted Citron distress ink using blending tool, keeping it more darker towards the center. As it was done, I in-laid all the small pieces into the frame.

I love this technique as it gives lots of visial dimension while keeping the card flat.  Here is a close up:

The sentiments for both cards came from the Succulent Journaling Card stamp set.

They turned out very similar, but also very different. Two different techniques - two cards. Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks so much for stopping by,
See you next time,
Daria.

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Dry Embossed Succulent Journaling Card Die Two Ways

Hey everyone!  Miriam here sharing two cards featuring the Succulent Journaling Tag Die.

Rather than cut the die, I used it to for dry embossing.

This first card was hard to photograph, but I kept it very clean and simple.  You can see the embossing better in this close up shot.  I added a few mats to complete the look.



For the second card, I used a combination of watercoloring and Copic coloring to accentuate the embossing.  I started by watercoloring the different sections and then used Copics to add depth and texture.

Here's a close up.  I love the different looks you can achieve using this die, and you don't even need to actually die cut it!  The sentiments for both cards came from the Succulent Journaling Card stamp set.



Thanks so much for stopping by, hope your week is going off to a great start!

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July 2016 Release Day 1: Introducing Hello You + Succulent Journaling Card + Giveaway!

Hello dear friends! It's that time again! Welcome to our July 2016 release week! 

This month we have some truly amazing products for you - sequins, stamps and dies! All new products will be available on Friday, July 8th at 8am EST. Be sure to stop by here everyday this week for lots of fun, inspiration, and GIVEAWAYS!

Today we have 2 new stamps and a die for you!

First up is Hello You. A fun 3x4 stamp set with some of Danielle's brush lettering! Perfect for sending a big, bold hello!

And we also have a great new stamp set and die designed by Miriam Prantner. Succulent Journaling Card is a 4x6 stamp set with so much versatility and a great variety of sentiments. The large stamp image is just shy of 3x4, so great for pocket journaling, or for making a focal point on a card! 

And if you love our Gardenia Blooms Journaling Card die, you will certainly love our new Succulent Journaling Card die!  This set of 2 dies has limitless opportunities to showcase your creativity! The succulent rectangle die is just shy of 3x4 and fits inside your pocket journaling books.  The larger rectangle allows for layering to achieve some great looks!

Let's see these new goodies in action! And now for some inspiration from the design team.  Be sure to head to each design team members blogs for details by clicking on the photos, and for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate! One person will be chosen from among comments on the design team members blogs!

Simply amazing work by the design team!

Would you like to win the new Hello You and Succulent Journaling Card Stamps? To enter:

1. Be a follower and leave a comment! 

2. Follow us on Facebook and share about release with your friends! (leave another comment)

3. Follow Neat and Tangled on Twitter and tweet about our release, use @neatandtangled! (leave another comment)

4. Follow Neat and Tangled on Instagram and repost about our release! Use #neatandtangledrelease (leave another comment)

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