Crafty Friends featuring Concord and 9th

Welcome to the first ever Crafty Friends blog hop. Who are the Crafty Friends? A group of talented crafters with a shared start in the crafting world, and we want to share our passion and creations with YOU. We are going to feature one stamp company/brand a month and make some goodness for you.

This month, we are featuring Concord and 9th. This company has such fun, refreshing, and innovative designs. I have loved them from the start, and have built up quite a collection! I do love a good TurnAbout. Probably because I love to create my own backgrounds. But I am not actually doing any turns this time.

We even have a coupon code to pass along to our customers. 
Please use code CRAFTYFRIENDS20 at checkout for 20% off your order 
from 8/20-8/22, 2019. 

I did make a video for this card, be sure to check it out! There will be others making videos for this hop. It is a full service hop 😁

I was feeling tropical, and had just gotten a couple of bundles from the July 2019 release. The Toucan Paradise bundle and the Tropical Vibes bundle. As a free gift, I got the 6x6 Aloha Filled In patterned paper pack. They go together very well, and I put that to work right away.

The best way to stamp the toucan if you want to use the die is to die cut the toucan, then stamp it. That way the beak lines up correctly. 

I used Versafine Onyx Black for his body, and Distress Oxides for the rest of the stamping.

To create the leaves, I ink blended Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxides, then die cut them. 

To create some separation between my toucan focal point and the busy patterned paper, I used a vellum circle. This is one of my standby tricks for adding impact without a lot of effort and without competing with the elements of the card. 

The background needed a little push, so I added some Clear Wink of Stella to the flowers, and some Black Wink of Stella to the stamens. That was still not quite enough, so I used a Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze pen in black on the stamens. That seemed to do the trick. 

Inside, I did some quick stamping of the monstera leaves in Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn again. I like the slightly distressed look of these impressions.

Now it is time to go check out the rest of the Crafty Friends!

Crafty Friends Blog Roll:

Jenny Hall
Tanya Boser 
Ilina Crouse
Maria Willis
Becky Roberts
Sandi MacIver
Sue Plote
Sara Finkey Sherlock
Lydia Fiedler
Jill Hilliard
Jennifer Timko 

Supplies:
Some of the supplies listed are affiliate links, some are not. If you use an affiliate link here to make a purchase, I may get a small compensation. I only use things that I love, and do not create paid posts. 

Stamp Review Crew: Birch Background

Hello stampers!! It has been ages since I was able to participate in a SRC hop. Well, I could not miss out on the Birch background. I simply adore this stamp!!

If you are following along in order, you just arrived from the delightful Leanne Johnson.

I chose to use several products wit the Birch background stamp. I even pulled out some retired product.

The background was stamped in Grey Granite on a light grey cardstock from my stash, then the panel was rotated 180 degrees and stamped again in Illuminate ink. Remember that inkpad? A soft shimmery white.

This really enhanced the birch bark feel of this panel.

There is ink blending, die cutting, dry embossing, and copper heat embossing using the Rooted in Nature bundle.

And the rectangle dies for the sentiment are from the Frosted Bouquet dies.

The sentiment is from Strong and Beautiful.

More Grey Granite stamping inside, with the leaves being stamped with the stamped off technique. I also pulled out a little Frost White Shimmer Paint, out a little on my palette, and added some water to it before spattering the inside of the card.

One last look at the front. Can you see the shimmer? This going to be another stamp that I reach for over and over again!

I am the last stop on this hop, but if you started somewhere in the middle, you can click on through to the first stop. And that would be Stesha Bloodhart!

Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links, some are not. If you use an affiliate link here to make a purchase, I may get a small compensation. I only use things that I love, and do not create paid posts.

Supplies:

Concord and 9th August Release projects!

OK, so I know I just posted something yesterday, and I am posting again today. And I have a couple more posts coming in the next few days. But I could not wait to share these with you!! Fair warning, lots of pictures.

I did create my first ever haul video and included a show and tell of the cards I made.

My first card combines the Sweater Weather bundle with the Woven Plaid background, and that argyle motif from the Gingham background. LOVE those together! And Celestial Copper Delicata ink. Sigh, super love.

Lots of die cutting and layering.

Both the Woven Plaid and the Gingham background sets of strips that are perfect for edges.  Concord and 9th is just so darn clever!!

Same stamps, different colors and layout. The Celestial Copper Delicata ink is amazing on the kraft cardstock.

Scored and Pierced Circles were used on both of these cards too.  The first card was pretty flat, bt this one uses coasters from some dimension. I like that much better.

The orange ink pad i used was a little too inky, but I don't even mind! The sentiment and accent stamps are all fromt eh Sweater Weather TurnAbout.

This is the same Sweater Weather stamped background from the first card, just what i had leftover. THe Woven Plaid is stamped in a deep navy ink on a light gray cardstock,  and the argyle image is stamped in Golden Glitz Delicata ink repeatedly with a MISTI. Super easy to line up even with the stamp positioner.

The sentiment is from an older Concord and 9th set, Happy Plaid. Yes, I have all of the textile stamps they have made.

THe Woven Plaid strip is stamped in a very pale gray ink on the inside of the white cardbase, with some Golden Glitz stamped argyle again.

So this is the frame left from the second card. And behind it is the White Satin Pearl embossed Woven Plaid background. The Sweater Weather dies create the die cut sentiment, and the stamped sentiment is from another older COncord and 9th set, Monster Love. Sweaters are warm and fuzzy too!

More coasters used to achieve the dimension.

This time I used the Versamark Dazzle ink pad in Frost. But the stamp must have still had a little bit of orange ink left, thus the tint to the image. Bit I like it! Celestial Copper Delicata ink was used for the argyle image and the sentiment.

Ok, last card! I had a play with the Sew Seasonal dies here and stitched them up quick. And pulled out the Thankful Leaves TurnAbout from last years autumn release. This was stamped with the Versamark Frost Dazzle also. That skeleton leaf is a die from coordinating Thankful Leaves set, and was die cut from a piece of carsdtock that had been painted with copper shimmer paint.

The smaller leaves were cut from some ink blended cardstock. Some COpper Penny Nuvo Drops added just the right touch!

This sentiment is from the Thankful Leaves TurnAbout set also, and I have used it a ton. I love the size, font, and message! That is stamped in Celestial Copper Delicata, of course. You can just make out the Frost Dazzle stamping on the Naturals White cardstock. This speckled cardstock look is making a comeback, which makes me happy!

OK, that's the lot of them! What do you think? Was it worth a rushed post and video? Is your wallet cursing me now? 😉


Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links, some are not. If you use an affiliate link here to make a purchase, I may get a small compensation. I only use things that I love, and do not create paid posts.

Supplies:

Molten Gold with Glimmer Ink

As soon as I got the August 2019 My Monthly Hero in my hands, I had to create a molten gold background for that medieval dragon!

 

I am really starting to get the hang of this YouTube video thing, so here is another one! Since I give full instructions on the video, I am going to keep this post brief. And rather photo heavy.

The amount of richness and depth I was able to achieve is just stunning, and it was really not hard. Maybe a little messy, but not bad.

The Dragon took about 5 minutes to color with Copics. He is really pretty small.

And I got a little carried away on the inside. But well worth it, I think.

All right, how many of you have someone you could send this card too? And who is going to be creating their own Molten Gold background?

Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links, some are not. If you use an affiliate link here to make a purchase, I may get a small compensation. I only use things that I love, and do not create paid posts.

Supplies:

Ice Cream Box Pop Up

Today I want to share a fun pop up card with the Gingham Background and Cool Treats bundle from Concord and 9th, and the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Pop Up Box Card die set.

I had recently gotten all of those items and was itching to create something with them, especially since the summer season is fast coming to a close here in northern Minnesota. 

I made a video showing the process for this creation, check it out for all the details. Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet? Be sure you do, if you want to see all of the videos I post.

All of the treats here were created with a retired Stampin' Up set of dies called Frozen Treats. You may have it in your stash! I was too impatient to wait for the Cool treats bundle to arrive from Concord and 9th, otherwise I could have used those instead.

This sentiment is from the Cool Treats bundle, and was stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz and Hero Hues Reactive Ink in Fruit Punch.

That's a whole lotta cool treats!!

This folds flat to fit in a standard A2 envelope and is not bulky, so it is perfect for mailing!

Let me know what you think. Do you have some ice cream stamps and dies that would work for this? Leave me a comment, I love to hear from you all.


Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links, some are not. If you use an affiliate link here to make a purchase, I may get a small compensation. I only use things that I love, and do not create paid posts.

Supplies:

Encouragement Card Hop

I am so excited to participate in this Encouragement Hop! Several of my crafty friends are participating too, and I love having a chance to play with them 😀 And for it to be a hop to encourage crafters to share, and to create encouragement cards at the same time, is an admirable thing. Thank you Courtney, Mary, and Jen- for coming up with this idea!


I did create a video with all the details of how I created this card, including the coloring. Please go check it out- be sure to like the video, subscribe to my channel, and leave me a comment! I love to hear what you think! All of this helps my YouTube channel.

Now doesn't this look like the second best way to spend a summer afternoon? The first would be crafting, of course! 😉

• Ink blend a 4-1/8"x 5-3/8" panel of white cardstock with Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, adn Faded Jeans Distress Oxide inks. Spritz with Pearlized water and spatter with clean water. Let air dry, or dry with a heat tool.
• Use Versamark ink to stamp the Hero Arts Abstract Waves background stamp onto panel, heat emboss with Hero Arts White Satin Pearl embossing powder. 
• Dry emboss panel with Spellbinders Scored and Pierced Rectangles die. Trim coater blanks down to fit behind the panel and adhere together.
• Stamp the main image from Art Impressions Stayin' Afloat set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic friendly white cardstock, and color as desired.
• Cut the ladies out with Spellbinders Scored and Pierced Circles. Cut a matching circle from coaster blank and adhere together.
• Stamp and die cut the sentiment with the Scored and Pierced Circles. Cut a matching circle from coaster blank and adhere together.
• Cut a card base to 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" and score at 4-1/4" to create an A2 card base. 
• Ink blend the same colors inside the card and stamp sentiment in black ink. I prefer Versafine Onyx Black for my sentiments. 
• Adhere the layers to the card front. Done!

 Don't you love the shimmer of the White Satin Pearl here?! And I love these ladies. Definitely going to have to create more cards with them. And collect a few more of these ladies!

And the inside of the card. The Twisted Citron looks much better in real life than in this picture. I do not know what happened there, sorry folks.

One last look at the ladies! I may have to pet this card for a while before I send it to someone.

Head on over to the next crafter, Denise Gibbs, and don't forget to leave some encouragement along the way.


Some of the supplies listed below are affiliate links, some are not. If you use an affiliate link here to make a purchase, I may get a small compensation. I only use things that I love, and do not create paid posts.

Creating Kindness: Music

Hello friends! I am so excited to join this awesome group of talented stampers in a monthly blog hop. This is my first time hopping with this group, and I can't wait to see all the goodness.

This month, Music is the theme. I don't tend to put music on to craft, although I do love music. And my high school years were in the 80's, so cassette tapes came to mind. And I happened to have a stamp set in my stash that has yet to be inked, and is perfect for this theme.

The Mix Tape bundle from Concord & 9th was just calling out to be used for this theme, and it came together super quick. The blended background is from my experiments bin. I used Hero Arts Reactive inks in Green Apple and Blue Raspberry. I also did some White Satin Pearl heat embossed music notes from The Ink Road stamp set Pitch Please on the background and added some glitter card stock die cut musical notes.

The cassette stamped out really fast, and has coordinating dies. I think I was able to create this card in about 15 minutes!

I used the same inks on the inside to create the musical notes.

So, what do you think? 80's music enough for you? I think my hubby will love this!

I am the last stop on this hop, but if you started somewhere in the middle, click on this button to take you back to the beginning, and our Guest Designer, Leonie Stuart.

Blog Hop Participants
Leonie Stuart - Guest Designer – Australia
Lou Kitzelman – Australia
Danielle Bennenk – Netherlands
Marcy Denning – Canada
Sara Levin - USA
Paula Dobson – New Zealand
Cheryll Miller – Australia
Jenny Hall – USA
Jay Soriano – UK
Tanya Boser- USA--you are here!