Love Wins Instagram Hop - Guest Designer for Sassy and Crafty

Hello friends,

Today, Sassy and Crafty is participating in the Love Wins Instagram Hop. I am honored to be guest designing for Sassy and Crafty for this hop.

We want to invite you to head over to Instagram to hop along with us to celebrate Pride month and our LGBTQIA+ crafty friends and allies. Today is Purple, this color represents Spirit.

Pride originated from the early morning of June 28th, 1969, when LGBT community members rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. The first parade was on the first anniversary of this riot. It's important to celebrate Pride today because there are still many rights and privileges not afforded to the LGBTQIA community. I celebrate Pride in honor of the friends, family, and adopted family that I have in the LGBTQIA community. My story is not my own, but one of the amazing people in this community who have shown me the true meaning of loving yourself, of finding the magic within, and of showing kindness to others when you have nothing else to give.

My first card is in honor of my nibbling (the child of my sibling), Aries, who is an amazing non-binary adult. They were the first interaction that I had with the LGBTQIA community that impacted my life personally. Watching them become the wonderful person that they are is one of the true joys in my life. There have been highs and lows in their young life, but they have grown to be an advocate for other LGBTQIA community members, children, and people with disabilities. Their strength inspires me and their spirit is beautiful beyond measure.

For this card, I used the Sassy Girls - Kiss Stamp, I love this image and the blue eyed beauty reminded me of Aries (although they wouldn't ever wear anything that low cut.) I colored the couple using Copic markers, I made sure that I did the shorter hair as blue since that tends to be a color Aries gravitates towards.

For the background, I used a holographic purple cardstock from a past Hero Arts monthly kit (I may need to hunt down more of it because it's super pretty!). Behind the purple, I used a sheet from DCWV's Zodiac paper stack, it's black with tiny silver foiled dots all over it.

The amazing sentiment is from the new Find Yourself Stamp and is foiled with Deco Foil Transfer Sheets, Rainbow. I fussy cut around the sentiment, then added some tiny floral embellishments from my stash. My second card was inspired by the LGBTQIA community as a whole! I saw this image from the Never Let Go Stamp and thought it would be beautiful lit up with EZ-Lights!

First, I colored the hands using Copics, then used my Scan 'n' Cut to cut the center of the heart out and fussy cut the outside of the hands. To create the Pride Flag Heart, I stamped the hands onto vellum, and divided the heart into mostly even sections using a straight edge, and a pencil. Once I had my straight lines, I used Copics to color in the colors of the flag. I found that the chisel tip worked best to avoid a bunch of streaks and uneven color.

For the background, I used a white cardstock that had a little shimmer to it, then used a stencil from Layered Comic Book Stencil and Purple Paper Glaze to create a focal point for the hands and sentiment.

I added the "love you forever" die from Erin Lee Creative in purple and added holographic silver behind it, then I fussy cut a base layer behind it. I cut out half a heart from the holographic silver and used a black Copic to write "Press Here" for the EZ-Lights button. To finish the card off, I used a few embellishments from Unicorn Galore Shimmerz by Buttons Galore.

Now, if you haven't already, join the hop over on Instagram to show the LGBTQIA community, and be entered to win amazing prizes from these fantastic sponsors!

Thank you for stopping by,

Rachel

Merry Whatever...

Season's Greetings!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE Christmas. It's a time where people are more thoughtful, kids behave better, and I get to shop... I like to shop! 😂 So, I've been excited about making some Christmas themed cards and have been having visions on a snow globe card for like 2 years. Well, I finally did it!

The new "Merry Whatever" set from Kindred Stamps felt like the perfect set to make my vision come to life. I began by watercoloring the images and fussy cutting them out. Next, I took watercolor paper and created a blue sky with lots of different blues and trial and error in blending them. After that dried, I took white watercolor paint and splattered it over the blue to create falling snow. 

I used the Jaded Blossom Snow Globe Die set to create my snow globe. After I cut out my sky using the die, I added a layer of snow to the bottom to create a ground for the images to stand on. After that dried, I added them with the dog positioned a bit in front to add some depth!

I built my snow globe then cut out the tag and background layer in a nice bright red cardstock. I took the "Merry Whatever" sentiment and cut the words apart to allow me to fit them on the tag, thankfully my MISTI makes positioning words onto a small tag a breeze. I added small black enamel dots to cover the holes on either side of the tag. 

I layered it all onto a nice mossy green card base to really give it a Christmas feel. I added some small iridescent snowflakes to the sky and some Honey Bee small clear sequins below their feet to really give that snow globe feel. 

My next card using "Merry Whatever" was super quick and easy! I did a "quick" watercolor on these two friends, not stressing so much about lines or adding depth, just laying down the color. I did add a little pink to the green fellow's cheeks to make it appear he was blushing. I also quick watercolored the heart stamp. 

The images I fussy cut with a bit of a border, I didn't want to stress so much about them being perfect and think they came out super cute honestly. I popped the heart onto the green fellow's chest with a foam adhesive square to complete the image.

I recently added the Kindred Stamps Medallion Stencil to my stash and wanted to play with it. I blended Catherine Pooler Rockin' Red Ink over the stencil, adding multiple thick layers. Next, I took Catherine Pooler Icing on The Cake ink and brushed it lightly over the edges of the paper. 

I put the two friends towards the center of the card, the green guy I glued down, the pup I used a foam square for. I stamped the "Holidays are Ruff" sentiment some green paper and just kept it a simple strip popped with foam adhesive.

The entire Kindred Stamps November release will be available Friday, November 29th at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to subscribe to the Kindred Stamps blog to see a daily line up of sneak peeks from our amazing Design Team and see the full product release on Friday! Come join the Fan Club and release event to be part of the release fun, and you may just win some Kindred Stamps credit!!

Hopefully, you enjoyed my cards, I would love to hear what kind of cards are your favorite to make? Simple and easy or more complex and time consuming? Leave me your answer and a good email address to be entered into my drawing for a $10 Kindred Stamps Gift Certificate! 

Thank you so much for visiting me, and I hope your holidays are absolutely magical and filled with love!

~R. Winn

Witch Please!

Hello friends,

I'm showing off a fun new set from Kindred Stamps today called Witch Please, this set will be available on Friday, September 27th! This set features a lovely little lady, and her ever-watching cat.

I started by coloring the friends up using Copic Markers. I kept them simple with no fuss. 

Next, I went to work building a fantastic background for them to have behind them. I wanted it to look like nighttime in front of the family graveyard. The back of the card front is a light gray (I know it looks white but that's just the lighting!) I took a white piece of cardstock and blended Catherine Pooler's Twilight ink over it lightly. I got a new stencil from Stencilgirl that has the neatest looking clouds and used it with Deco Foil Metallix Black Ice and of course, my Stencil Pal, to make a bluster evening full of menacing clouds.

Next I took to my Jane Davenport die cutting machine (because it's mermaid, duh) and used a set of dies from Stampin up to build the family graveyard. I wanted the background to be darker so I went with black for the tree and ground there, and gray headstones.  The fence and my foreground grass I used color to bring us forward to the friends who are in full color!

For my sentiment, I used a set of banner dies from The Stamp Doctor, that aren't released, yet but I use this set constantly because it allows me to layer my banners, and has tons of sizes so I get exactly the right size! First, I stamped my sentiment using Nocturne VersaFine Clair on a red scrap that matches my girl's sweater and headband. I layered that over a scrap of white sparkly paper. 

To finish off, I added a few bat sequins I had picked up at Target last year!

The entire Kindred Stamps September release will be available Friday, September 27th at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to subscribe to the Kindred Stamps blog to see a daily line up of sneak peeks from our amazing Design Team and see the full product release on Friday! Come join the Fan Club and release event to be part of the release fun, and you may just win some Kindred Stamps credit!!

You've made it this far, make sure you leave a quick comment, maybe tell me what you or your kids are going to be for Halloween, to enter my drawing for a $10 Kindred Stamps Gift Certificate! I will leave my drawing open for a week and pick a winner on October first. Be sure you include your email address in your comment or I will not be able to count it since I won't be able to contact you!

Until next time my pretties!

~R. Winn

Kindred Stamp Limited Edition Part of a Pride Box

I've had such an amazing time playing with the newest Kindred Stamp Limited Edition Part of a Pride Box! This box is absolutely fantastic, and the price point is so low for so much. You get a fantastic 4"x8" stamp set, a 12 sheet paper pack, washi tape, a stunning Shaker pack, a 1.5 oz Glitter Gloss container, a 6"x6" stencil, a sticker sheet, and a cute button! Oh, and a digi! I'm OBSESSED!

Let's start with my use of the  Savannah Glitter Gloss! I used the Kindred Stamps Basket Weave Stencil and my Therm O Web Stencil Pal to create this stunning background. I liked the brown cardstock paired with the orange of the gloss. I used a Pretty Pink Posh Scalloped Frame Die to create a diagonal cut in the background. I layered this onto a white cardstock and stamped the "I'm Glad You're in My Pride" sentiment in Catherine Pooler Samba ink so it lined up with the cut in the background.

I colored my lion using my Chameleon Colored Pencils, which I'm honestly obsessed with! I layered this all onto another piece of brown cardstock for the card base. 

 My next card is about a strong female! I used the AMAZING stencil included in this box to create a grass and clouds background. I used Therm O Web Pixie Spray to make my stencil stick to the cardstock so I didn't have to move tape over and over again. I used multiple colors of Catherine Pooler inks for both the grass and sky.

Again, my lion is colored using Chameleon Colored Pencils. I used the build-able sentiment "You're a queen" and "Let out a roar!" I stamped them out in Stazon Pigment in Brown. To finish this card, I mounted it on orange cardstock, and added a few sequins from the Shaker Pack.

My last card features three best friends. They were colored in Chameleon Colored Pencils. This card was actually a fairly quick and simple one. I used a paper from the paper pack, added a few strips of the washi tape and lined up the best friends up on top of it all.

My sentiment is heat embossed using a brown embossing powder and placed on a die from The Stamp Doctor. I added the little grub that is included in the stamp set. I put them all on a light green cardstock.

I hope you have enjoyed my take on this box! Make sure you head over to Kindred Stamps and snag your own box before they're gone.

Thank you for visiting to!

~R. Winn

A Bit Spotted!

I'm back! It's been a chilly February so far here in WA, but this month's Kindred Stamps release has warmed my heart at least! I get to share with you, "A Bit Spotted". This set features 4 of the most adorable pups that I have ever seen, and one crazy fashionista!

For my first project, I chose a planner layout using the "A Bit Spotted" stencil, stickers, and bookmark! I started by using Catherine Pooler Twilight, Black Jack, and Midnight inks, on the stencil. I applied the colors using a toothbrush makeup brush that I got on Amazon. I made sure to rotate the stencil each time I moved it so that the spots became a bit more random and less patterned. My friend had decorated the edges with washi tape for me already so I made sure to work around that.

After I had created my spotted pages ready, I pulled out both sizes of the "A Bit Spotted" stickers, I like to be a bit random and am far from organized, so they are placed willy nilly! I really LOVE how well the smaller stickers fit into the daily columns in my personal planner size. Next, I picked a few of the larger stickers for the header sections. Lastly, I added my crazy fashionista, she is one of our newest products, BOOKMARKS!

My next project had me giggling while I made it! While at Creativation, I had the chance to learn how to use the Gina K wreath builder, well, I give you... a puppy wreath! I used the "A Bit Spotted" stamp set with the two smallest pups to make the wreath. I then watercolored (kinda) them using the Catherine Pooler inks and a TomBow blending pen! I wasn't using watercolor paper, so it's not perfect, but it is definitely fun!

For the sentiment, I chose the birthday sentiment from "A Bit Spotted" stamped on to Stampin' Up cardstock using Delicata black ink and die cut using a Stampin' Up circle die. I layered the same blue cardstock behind the puppy wreath, and mounted it all on a white card base. I finished the card off with a few sequins in each corner from the "Yo Ho" shaker pack.

The entire Kindred Stamps February release will be available Friday, February 22nd at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to check out the Kindred Stamps blog on Friday for the full product release as well as the complete line up of all the Kindred Stamps Design Team projects from release week! If you visit and comment on all of the designers' blogs this week, you could win $15 in Kindred Stamps shop credit! So join the Fan Club and release event, show the design team some love, and get ready to empty those wallets this Friday!

Thank you for visiting me today!

~R. Winn

Science Geeks

Hi friends! It's been a while, and for that, I'm sorry! I am SUPER excited about the set that I get to share today. "Science Geeks" is full of cute characters, unique sentiments, and so much fun! I managed four cards with this set for you today.

My first features a cutie in a floral dress. I used some Lawn Fawn Sparkle Cardstock with our Kindred Stamps Sprinkles Stencil and created a sparkly background using Catherine Pooler inks. 

I colored my cutie with Copics, then paper pierced her dress using a floral paper from Simple Stories. I finished her off with a little Nuvo Glaze on her glasses. I layered the card with turquoise and pale yellow cardstock, and added a few enamel drops. I thought this was the perfect birthday card, so I added this awesome sentiment to finish it off.

My next card features two cute lovebirds. I used some retired Stampin' Up DSP, then layered on top of it with some grey card stock that I patterned myself by off-setting the Kindred Stamps Comic Dots stencil with two Catherine Pooler inks. 

My lovebirds are again, colored with Copic markers, and the mister is finished with Nuvo Glaze on his glasses. My sentiment, I decided on the "you matter" stamp, because I freaking love it. I put the sentiment on the Lawn Fawn "say what? gift tags die, it fit perfectly... so why not! 

My next card has the awkward couple... who personally, I think rock! I started with the Catherine Pooler Peppermint Stick background stamp, I wanted to show how "Christmas" items can be used throughout the year. I used the Be Mine ink, to make it perfect for a Valentine's Day card. 

I used a retired Unity stamp set with a couch to create a spot to give. I kept the theme of soft colors with the patterned paper and added the sentiment to a banner on Kraft paper on top of them. My couple is colored with Copic markers, and again, Nuvo Glaze for the finishing touches on her glasses. My card was finished using the Kindred Stamps Sweet Love Shaker Pack.

My last card it one cool dude. I colored him with Copics, and wanted to keep the card fairly simple. I used the Kindred Stamps Spaceship Paneling Stencil with blue and black Catherine Pooler inks. I wanted it to look like an atom... I'm probably totally off though haha.

I added the cool dude to the center of my "atom" after coloring him with Copics. I finished it off with a red square and this super fun sentiment which I popped up foam tape to add some dimension. I hope that you enjoyed my take on Kindred Stamps Science Geeks.

The entire Kindred Stamps January release will be available Friday, January 25th at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to check out the Kindred Stamps blog on Friday for the full product release as well as the complete line up of all the Kindred Stamps Design Team projects from release week! If you visit and comment on all of the designers' blogs this week, you could win $15 in Kindred Stamps shop credit! So join the Fan Club and release event, show the design team some love, and get ready to empty those wallets this Friday!

Until next time,

~R. Winn

Kindred Stamps/Beth Duff Designs Blog Hop - Paris

I am so excited to share with you my first project for this wonderful hop that pairs Kindred Stamps and Beth Duff Designs. Two of my favorite companies, as you know. This week we are taking you around the world and the first stop is Paris, France!

The sets I used were, Kindred Stamps "You're Purrfect" and Beth Duff Designs "Adventures Abroad - Paris". For the background, I used a Tim Holtz music note stencil, a ripped paper, and a few different inks! The pink and yellow are Distress Inks, the blue and purple are VersaFine inks, and the grays for the ground are Altenew inks. I was inspired by pictures of Paris at sunset and used the ripped paper over top of the stencil to create a unique sky.  

From Adventures Abroad Paris, I stamped the Eiffel Tower and colored it using multiple shades and tones of gray Copic. I glued it directly onto the background, a little below the beginning of the gray blended ink for the ground. 

From You're Purrfect, I colored up each of the three kittens. I wanted them each to have a different color so they didn't meld together on the card. I placed the kittens in front of the tower, a little offset. 

I layered the finished background onto a pink piece of cardstock, then put all of it on a white card base. I finished the card off with the sentiment, I used "You're Purrfect" from the KS set, and "Amore" from the BDD set!

Thank you for joining us on the Kindred Stamps/Beth Duff Designs collaboration hop! We hope you've enjoyed the pairing of these sets. 

For joining us, we have a little gift for you! Kindred Stamps has a free digital downloadable passport available. Then you will want to visit each blog on this hop, download the free digi, color it, add it your passport, and submit it to the album in the Kindred Stamps Fan Club and Unicorn Crafts Facebook groups to be entered into our giveaways! Each company will be hosting a different giveaway. The opportunity to play will end December 30th for each company!

Unfortunately, due to the closure of Beth Duff Designs, the physical sets may be out of stock but all of the sets used will be offered in a digital bundle from Dec 8-11! Be sure to join the Kindred Stamps Fan Club and Unicorn Crafts to see more from our teams.

You're free digi for Paris is here! I can't wait to see how you color it up and add it to your passport!

Thank you for visiting today, and I will see you a bit later in the week.

~R. Winn

Adventures Abroad Continues, In Italy!

Hi friends! I hope you've enjoyed the Beth Duff Designs Winter Release so far! I get to share the newest in the Adventures Abroad line, Italy. I absolutely adore this line, and this newest set is a fantastic addition.

I was shown a tutorial about for a card that was super 3D with floating floor. I started by creating the background using a MFT brick stencil, two gray Distressed Oxide inks, and Tonic Expanding Mousse.  In the future I would cut it down to be smaller than the cardbase like a card front layer would normally be, but this was still a bit of trial and error for me!

The floor is cardstock cut to 4 1/4" x 6 1/4" and is scored at 3/8", 4 3/8", and 4 6/8". The short score ends up attaching to the back wall, while the longer end is used at the front of the card. I used a Pen Blade to cut small pieces out of the floor where I wanted my pieces to stand. 

I chose to use 4 pillars, 2 scooters, and of course, the chef! They were colored using Copic markers. I can't remember all of the colors I used, but the pillars are W-1, W-5, and W-7! They are standing up by using small paper "L brackets", to create these I cut several small strips of cardstock and folded them in half. I glued them to the underside of the floor first, then the back of my pieces. 

I staggered the pillars, then I put the scooters in front of the back set. I wanted my chef front and center. I finished my card off using the "Grazie" sentiment, which I love the font of! I heat embossed this in a Wow Gold Pearl powder.

As a bonus, I made a bookmark, I used the small pieces from the set in different light colors, stamped at random. Next, I stamped my favorite sentiment from the sent in black VersaFine Clair ink. I finished this quick project off with a light blue ribbon, knotted simply at the top.

I hope you've enjoyed my take on this set, and cannot wait to see what you make with it! If you want to see more of our team's creations, you're always welcome to visit the Beth Duff Designs blog! Make sure you join us at Unicorn Crafts on Facebook to share your own projects, and see a bit more of all of us, and of course, like the Beth Duff Designs page to see when new and exciting things are happening.

And don't forget to go shopping with Beth Duff Designs!

~R. Winn

About That Drag Life

It's my favorite time of the month, Kindred Stamps release week! Our newest sets will be available on Friday, November 9th at 8AM Pacific Time. I got to work with the set "Drag Life" which I am SO excited about. I have 3 cards to share, one no-line colored and two with lines. 

We will start with this sassy lady! I colored her in creams and gold. I recently got this frame die from a resale group, it's covered in white Wink of Stella. The background is a piece of gold cardstock, the "Not today Satan" sentiment from "Drag Life" that was stamped repeatedly with VersaFine Claire Nocturne ink.  It's simple, but I seriously love it!

Next, I get to show off my no-line colored card! I selected bright colors for these ladies hair... and I'm obsessed! I went with the Kindred Stamps Star Stencil foiled with Therm O Web Gina K Designs orange foil on black cardstock for the back of my "stage". I mounted this on Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow Paper. I then used a brown cardstock and my Penny Black floor die to finish my stage. I placed my ladies, then finished it off with another piece of my rainbow paper and two of the sentiments from "Drag Life."

My last card, I started with Kindred Stamps Comic Dots Stencil turned on it's side. I used Catherine Pooler Pixie Dust and All That Jazz inks blended on white paper. I heat embossed two of the sentiments, in the bottom corner then finished it off with a few sequins from the Kindred Stamps Tutti Frutti Shaker Pack.

The entire Kindred Stamps November release will be available Friday, November 9th at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to check out the Kindred Stamps blog on Friday for the full product release as well as the complete line up of all the Kindred Stamps Design Team projects from release week! If you visit and comment on all of the designers' blogs this week, you could win $15 in Kindred Stamps shop credit! So join the Fan Club and release event, show the design team some love, and get ready to empty those wallets this Friday!

Thank you for visiting me!

~R. Winn

Magical Friendship Week

Good to see you again! I'm so excited you're joining us for the Kindred Stamps & Witt and Sass Stamp Company "Magical Friendship Week" Collaboration! Our teams have put together some absolutely magical cards for you and today, I get to share mine!

I used the lion from Witt and Sass's Magical Creature stamp set and colored him up with Copics. He is paired with a boy and owl from the Kindred Stamps Student's of Magic stamp set which are also colored with Copics. For the owl, I used very little color, but did chose to dot the wing and a few other small sections to imitate a Snowy Owl. 

Next, I used a retired stencil from Clarity Stamps of a gnarly tree with a square from to create a background. I used Catherine Pooler inks for the grass and sky, from bottom to top, the colors are Eucalyptus, Skyline, Juniper Mist, Black Jack, and finally, Midnight. After lifting the stencil, I did go back and blend some color into the square frame of the stencil to diffuse the bright white that was left behind.

I didn't love the tree being white either, so I took two shades of brown Distress Crayons and colored it in, after coloring it in, I used a dry paint brush to kinda blend the colors together and soften the look. I placed my owl on a tree branch, and the lion and boy in the grass below. To add depth to the card, I glued to owl down with Tombow Mono Glue, but used dimensionals to pop the boy and lion up a touch.

I absolutely love this sentiment from Students of Magic, so I had to use it. I found an off white paper in a Graphic 45 stack to heat emboss the sentiment on to. I used a Lindy's Gang embossing powder (seriously fantastic powder!!) Looking through my die cuts I wasn't finding a shape or style that I loved so I opted to just fussy cut around the sentiment. 

I mounted my card face onto a sheet of patterned vellum that looked like stars, then mounted them both to a purple card base. To finish the card off, I added a few sequins from the Kindred Stamps Galaxy Shaker Pack. 

Hopefully, you've enjoyed my project, and hopefully you go pick up a few magical stamp sets of your own. I feel so lucky to have become friends with Audra of Kindred Stamps, and Amy of Witt and Sass Stamp Company. These are kind, genuine women who work their hind ends off to deliver exceptional products to their customers. I'm proud to have the chance to work with each of them, and truly value having both of them in my life.

I want to invite you to become part of our communities, you can join the Kindred Stamps Fan Club and become a Sassy in the Witt & Sass Stamp Company Facebook group. Make sure you check out all of the products that both Witt and Sass and Kindred Stamps have to offer as well! We can't wait to see what you make!

Thanks for stopping by,

~R. Winn

Simple but Oh So Fun!

I'm absolutely in love with the Fall release at Beth Duff Designs! It's got a little bit of everything, and it's all so cute!

Today, I'm actually sharing 3 different quick and simple cards, that were super fun to make, with 3 different sets. I will forewarn you my last card does have a cuss word, so if that upsets you, feel free to skip over it!

I started with the new Adventures Abroad - England set, I love this line, and England is a favorite of mine! This set has both large and small images and some great sentiments. 

For my card, I took the small images and using different color Delicata Inks, stamped out a patterned paper of my own. 

Next, I picked a paper from Echo Park's Wish Upon a Star paper pad that looks like newspapers layered. and put it under my homemade patterned paper. I used it to stamp my sentiment out too. I finished the card off with a few rhinestones. 

My second card features Game Time, a football themed set, perfect for back to school, and you know those NFL fans in your life. I had to color my jersey up in Seahawks colors, GO HAWKS! I was really tempted to mask out the number and make it a "12" but it felt like a lot of work for my simple theme!

Next, I made my own patterned paper again using Catherine Pooler inks, and the smaller images from the set. The card felt a little clean for the football theme, so I added some Nuvo drops and smudged them to make it a bit messy. Finally, I used some Stampin' Up layering dies to make my sentiment pop out a bit but added some more Nuvo smudges so it wasn't too clean.

My last card is a tribute to my big brother who is currently battling colon cancer. This set is called Give Cancer a Beat Down, it is an awesome set. I chose to color the ribbon blue, as that's the symbol for colon cancer. The gloves I colored in red and gold, as his favorite super hero is Iron Man. 

I sponged Catherine Pooler inks onto a DecoArt stencil that reminds me of a circuit board since he's a big techie. The sentiment is heat embossed with Stampin Up ink in Cherry Cobbler. Last, I layered the card face on shiny gold paper, then a nice royal blue paper. 

We are so happy you joined us for Beth Duff Designs Fall release blog hop! These sets are so awesome and we can't wait to see what is on your must have list. There is definitely something for everyone. Please join us and visit each page in the hop. 

Thank you so much for joining us, and make sure you join us on Facebook to share your own projects and see what else our team comes up with! Tag us on Instagram @bethduffdesigns and use the hashtag #bethduffdesigns, #BDD or post in our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/bethduffdesigns! We love seeing your creations! Thank you again for hopping along with us.

BDD 

Niccole 

Annie

Marcia

Lynnea

Fawn

Annalisa

Alison

Rachel  (You found me!)

Laura

Thank you again for visiting me!

~R. Winn

Justice is Served

Hi friends! 

I'm super excited to show off the new "Justice is Served" stamp set from Kindred Stamps. This set will be in our newest Limited Edition box that will be available for purchase later this week.

My first card features the Kindred Stamps Star Stencil that I foiled, Sweet Stamp Shop's City Border die, and of course a hero that is dark as the night!

My next card is a box card, I was lucky enough to get a die from The Stamp Doctor, and I gotta say it's fun!

It features the dies included in The Stamp Doctor's set, Kindred Stamps Swirl Stencil, and two heros, one is super fast, and one is part machine!

Please join our Fan Club and the Justice is Served Limited Edition Box! event to see the fun sneak peeks and know when to set your alarms to buy this amazing new addition to the Kindred Stamps family!!

I hope you've enjoyed my take on this set, I have a few more cards in mind because this set is packed full of power, so keep your eyes open, you never know when I might finish what I've started.

~R, Winn

Background Builders

Hello again friends,

I get to share with you Witt and Sass's Stencils and Background builder stamps! These are amazing products that can help you create a supporting scene for a card, or like I will show you today, make a stunning card all on their own.

I started by using a sheet of white cardstock and the Mountain Background Builder stencil, I placed it towards the left of the card and used Stampin' Up Crumb Cake ink to make my first mountain. Next, placed another mountain to the right and left of the original one. I used Catherine Pooler's  Eucalyptus ink for the accent, I wanted to have it look like our beautiful mountains here in Washington full of trees, but it could also depict shadows, water, snow, etc! Speaking of snow, I took an ink dauber and Stampin' Up White Craft ink and lightly created a layer of snow to top my mountains off.

Next, I took the Grassy Hill Background Builder Stamps, and stamped it a few times along the bottom edge of the mountains in Catherine Pooler's Lime Rickey ink. I used about 5 different Copic Green markers and dotted to create a grassy field below the mountains. I fussy cut the mountains out and started the sky.  

I picked a bright blue piece of paper, and placed the Layered Stencil Clouds on it. I used Stampin' Up White Craft ink and did several layers of it using an ink dauber to create a full coverage on the clouds. For the layer, I created some shadow using Catherine Pooler's Juniper Mist ink. 

To finish the card off, I chose a sentiment from the "You are Beautiful" stamp sets because I love the  powerful, kind sentiments this set has. I used the Catherine Pooler ink Something Borrowed since it matched my sky blue, and used Lawn Fawn's sentiment banner die cuts to put the sentiments on.

I hope you've enjoyed my card today, it was fun to make and I am so excited to use these stencils and stamps to build backgrounds for future cards. 

~R. Winn

Friendship Cards - Tropical Party

Ready for some bright colors? I got to play with all sorts of fun things this week! This week I'm sharing the Witt & Sass Stamp Co's Tropical Party stamp set!

I started by creating a card for the #wscardchallenge "Black & White, POP of color, and ribbon". I picked a few patterned papers that were black and white but complemented each other and layered them. I colored up the pineapple with Copics for my POP of color and put it on a white square. I wrapped two corners with black glitter ribbon.

I love the sentiments on this set, they're super fun and are all about celebrating yourself. I chose "Celebrate Your Weirdness" and heat embossed it using Brutus Monroe's Raven Embossing Powder. I added a few black DoubleClick Skittles and a few clear droplets from Pretty Pink Posh to finish off the 3" x 3" card!

My next card is the main feature! I freaking LOVE this flamingo. It's tall, and fills a card well, and is SO cute. I knew I wanted a one layer card. I find that they are hard for me, I flounder when I don't get to add lots of die cuts or embellishments because that means getting things right the first time, no mistakes!

I started by stamping out the flamingo and coloring him up using my Copics (I had to go get more pinks because what I had wasn't cutting it!) After he was done, I masked him off and then used the Wave Background Builder stencil to put him on a golden sandy beach.  I used Catherine Pooler blues and a blending tool for the water, then added the sand in using Delicata gold.

I topped the waves off with the darkest blue using the Background Builders Sand & White Caps stamps. Then added a few sandy details in the same Delicata gold to complete the scene.

Again with these sentiments, they rock! "In a world of pigeons you are a flamingo!" went directly next to the flamingos lower legs and I embossed it in Brutus Monroe's Mermaid Tail powder. In order to finish the card off, I went ahead and put it on top of a bright tropical patterned paper!

I hope you've enjoyed my makes, and want to invite you to join us on Facebook to see the rest of the team's projects, and share your own too!

See you soon!

~R. Winn

Chubby Unicorn!

Guys... GUYS! 

The day I've been waiting months for is here. I've some how been blessed with amazingly talented friends. I stumbled across this insanely talent gal, Amy, a few months back and stalked her a little bit until we became friends. She told me about her plans to launch her designs from digital stamps to clear, I was on board immediately. I loved the designs that I had purchased from her Etsy store, and well, I love clear stamps. So, when she invited me to join her design team, I was floored.

I am pleased to bring you my first blog as part of the Witt & Sass Stamp Company Design Team! Today, I feature Chubby Unicorn... he's my favorite! My first card, I worked with a design sketch I found from Google (I really can't remember who designed it and I'm sorry for that!) Normally, I build my cards as I go, planning is actually a little outside of my comfort zone.

I had picked some really beautiful pastel papers but they ended up working against this awesome pink dude that I colored up using Copic markers. So... I tried again! I worked with richer, darker colors, the result is beautiful! (Well, at least I think it is!) I wanted him to become the focal point of the card, to make him really pop, I made sure to keep his coloring bright and the background I did in shades of Warm Grey. I finished him with a clear Wink of Stella to add sparkle.

The sentiment, I heat embossed using WOW powder in Earthtone Grape and layered using Stampin' Up's Layering Oval die cuts. The beautiful star strip is from this set too, it reminds me of a bar of music! I used Chameleon Pens to color it, and finish it off with Wink of Stella on the stars. 

Finally, I finished the card off with red and black DoubleClick Skittles and Silver Star Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

My next card, I chose the original, full body Chubby Unicorn! I used the Blue Green family, and just colored the shaded parts of him, more of a reflection than color. This was followed by using the colorless blender marker to pull some of the brightness of the color out. My best friend, Molly, and her purple hair were the inspiration for the hair color!

So, I had this adorable unicorn all colored up, with no where to go. I reached into the box of goodies that Witt & Sass Stamp Company is launching with, and pulled out this AMAZING, Background Builder Hill Stencil. I love using stencils in a variety of ways, ink is always fun to play with, but really, we have some truly skilled ink blenders on the team that have been playing with these stencils too. Glitter paste is always fun, but I didn't want to overwhelm the unicorn, then I saw it... my Tonic Embellishment Mousse! I recently have been picking up additional colors here and there. I had the Citrus Green, which was perfect for this grassy hill so I started there. I off-centered the hill a little so you can really see how well it rounds, on a 5.5" x 5.5" card, it covers from edge to edge. On my A2 size, I got to pick my placement!  

You all know I love my clouds, stencils, die cuts... stamps. Well, you've never seen something this fantastic! Amy came up with this brilliant Background Builder Cloud Stencil and my life was completed! I used my powder blue mousse for the base of these clouds (yes, I know clouds are white, but in unicorn world the sky is inverted.) and did the cloud shadows in black ash mousse. After that was all done, I placed my little guy on the hill, and added a few bunches of grass to the top of the hill with the stencil!

The sentiments with this set are just fun, I love how encouraging this card would be to get. I stamped the sentiment out on some scratch pink paper using Versafine and used one end of a Lawn Fawn sentiment banner die cut to give it shape. I layered both my card front and the sentiment strip on purple glitter paper I picked up at Hobby Lobby! To finish the sentiment, I used a Luna Wink of Stella pen to fill in the word "cool"!

I hope you all enjoyed my cards, and if you haven't already, come check out Witt & Sass Stamp Company! We'd love for you to join us on Facebook and to see what you end up making too!

Thank you all for joining me, and thank you to Amy for believing in me!

~R. Winn

That's Amore!

It's always fun and nerve-racking to try a new technique, well, this month I've tried two! 

Today, I get to share my very first slider card.  I had bought and then lost some slider elements from Crafty Doodle Chick, so I had to just YouTube it and go.  When I saw the new Puppy Love Stamp Set that releases this week with Kindred Stamps, I knew I had to try a slider! 

My pups were colored using Ink On 3's Fade-Out Ink and Copic markers. I fussy cut them out by hand. 

I started by making a table cloth looking paper using Carta Bella's Buffalo Plaid stencil and a red Memento Luxe Ink. I felt like it looked like the pups were on a picnic. Next, I used a Lawn Fawn Slider die to determine where the pups would be. Originally, I had planned on placing them with their bodies where the slider was, but that didn't work out, the pennies showed. Instead, I used their heads! I attached a thin light brown twine to each of their mouths to simulate some pasta. 

Next, I built the background with a navy piece of cardstock, a dauber and Brilliance Moonlight White ink, a star stencil, and Encore Champagne ink. 

Last, I took the "that's amore" sentiment and stamped it onto white cardstock using black VersaFine ink and cut it out using a Spellbinder die.

We are extremely excited about this month's Kindred Stamps release, and want to invite you to join us on our Facebook event so you can see all of the projects our Creative and Design Teams made to showcase these fun sets! If you take the time to hop along with our team, make sure you leave a comment on each blog to be entered to win a $10 store credit!

Kindred Stamps

Mad Crafter's Tea Party

The Frolicking Fairy

Wunders Crafty World

DaggDesigns Blog

Amy Hurley Purdie

R. Winn Creates (You Are Here!)

Heather Collins - Guest Designer

Fanciful Spaces

Crafting Love

You can also join our Fan Club on Facebook to show off your own projects an see more from our teams throughout the month! We will announce our blog hop winner there, sometime on Saturday the 26th! (In addition to messaging them privately.) 

I'm so grateful for you taking the time to visit me today, and look forward to next time.

~R. Winn