Essentials by Ellen Winter 2016 Hop

winter2016

Hey hey and welcome to the Essentials by Ellen Winter 2016 Hop! I’ll be showcasing several of the new stamp sets and dies today. If you’ve already been hopping along with us, you’ll have arrived from the super talented Carolyn Peeler’s blog. If you encounter any broken links or you’re just now joining the party, you can always head back to the start of the hop in The CLASSroom.

Now, on to my cards! This release is so good that I just couldn’t seem to stop stamping. So, I’ve got THREE cards to share with ya — and more ideas that I can’t wait to stamp!

Essentials by Ellen Winter 2016 Trio

I’ll share ’em in the order that I made ’em!

The World Is Super Lucky to Have You

I love this sentiment that’s in the Up the Happy set so very much, so I reached for it first. I had Julie in mind when I made this card!

Super Lucky by Lisa Spangler

We’re all so lucky to have Julie, am I right?

I started out by stamping that message with VersaMark ink on watercolor paper and embossing it in clear. Then I watercolored a background, blending blues and blacks. I can’t say enough good things about this Koi Watercolor set by Sakura. The colors are just so vibrant! I’ve taken it on several trips and it’s so great for traveling. And the pans may look small, but boy do they go deep. Plus it comes with a waterbrush that I’ve found is great for lettering. Like I said, can’t say enough good things about this set. :)

I made the butterflies by watercoloring directly on the stamp and stamping. I used my MISTI to add colors in layers so they wouldn’t get muddy and I had more control. Here’s a closeup so you can see:

butterfly-in-progress

Then when I was all done with the watercolor parts, I inked the stamp up with VersaMark ink and then clear embossed it. I think this adds that extra special something.

Butterfly Closeup

Then I die cut the butterflies with the matching Up the Happy Die set and mounted them to my watercolor resist background. Some splattered gold mist and sequins completed the card.

Super Lucky Closeup

Gotta say that I love love love having those matching dies for the butterflies so I don’t have to worry about cutting out their antlers :)

Now on to my second card…

A Case of the Modays

Basic Alpha by Lisa Spangler

So, this card was supposed to say “May Your Coffee Be Strong and Your Monday Be Short”. Only I was having a baaaad case of the Mondays and didn’t notice that I had a wee typo until AFTER I took the photos and I was writing the blog post! Doh. Did you spot it already? You’ll see how I fixed it here in a bit :)

May Your Coffee Be Strong

I used the new Basic Alpha to stamp this saying on watercolor paper. You guys, this set is genius — like everything Julie comes up with! It has multiples of each letter and they are all the same height, so it makes it super easy to pop everything on a MISTI and stamp in one go! I was able to stamp “May Your Coffee Be Strong” all at once! Yeah!

I stamped it with VersaMark ink and then clear embossed it, then swiped watercolor over it to reveal the letters. Easy. And I couldn’t stop there — I had to do the inside too!

Let's Venti!

This coffee cup and sentiment are both in the Oh Frappe set. Oh and one more trick!

I decided to stamp the cup in navy ink since I used dark navy watercolor on the front. My navy ink isn’t waterproof, so I did the same trick as with the butterfly and stamped it using the MISTI, first in navy and then again with VersaMark so I could clear emboss it. Oh yeah I love my MISTI.

Oops!

Now for my “fix”, since apparently I can’t spell. :) I just x’d out “Moday” and added some curse characters LOL!!! That was that. No mo’ problem.

I’ve got a BUNCH more ideas running around in my brain using the Basic Alpha set — can’t wait to try them! (I have big plans for spelling out “mondo squishy hugs” and using the bear from this set!)

Now for my last card!

A Totally Awesome Birthday

I’m gonna send this card to my brother. I think a card like this is perfect for guys because it’s not too froo froo. :)

Awesome Birthday by Lisa Spangler

I started out by stamping the “Have a Totally AWESOME Birthday” on watercolor paper using the Totally Awesome set to help with positioning.

Then I HAD to try the “no line” watercolor technique using the balloon from the Up the Happy set. This was my first time trying this technique — and you can bet it won’t be my last! I had so much fun.

Look Ma No LInes

If you’re not familiar with this technique it’s super easy: just stamp your image in a super light colored ink. It doesn’t have to match, just has to be in the ballpark. I didn’t have all the colors that I needed, so when in doubt I used yellow. I also stamped the balloon on scratch paper before stamping it on the card so it would be even lighter.

Awesome Birthday

Then I went to town coloring the balloons. I allowed the balloons to fully dry before coloring an overlapping one so that the colors wouldn’t blend together. Then when everything was dry I painted on the balloon strings with a light gray.

Awesome Birthday

The final touch was painting on some sparkly glitter glue to the “awesome” — just to add that little extra something! I’ve found that painting the glitter glue on with a brush gives you more control so it doesn’t get blobby. It dries faster this way too, woo!

Giveaways!

I get to give away an Essentials by Ellen stamp set! YAY! The winner may chose ANY Essentials by Ellen brand stamp set (maximum value $15) currently in stock at EllenHutson.com To enter my giveaway, please leave a comment on this post by February 16th!

There is also a crazy awesome Grand Giveaway in the CLASSroom! To enter, be sure to leave a comment THERE, also by February 16th; ALL winners will posted at the CLASSroom on Friday, February 19th!

Hop On

Whew! You made it to the end of my looooong post! Thanks so much for reading — you rock!

Your next stop on the hop is the amazing Julia Stainton, yeah! Just wait until you see what she’s made. Happy hoppin’!

Supplies

Thanks so much for joining me! xo

296 Replies to “Essentials by Ellen Winter 2016 Hop”

  1. scrappergirl56 says:

    What fun and cheery cards…love…

  2. Lisa, your balloon card is one of my favorites! Love the colors and the pretty painted look!
    Take care!
    Michele

  3. I love your fun and colorful cards!

  4. Michelle Daigle says:

    Great cards and a great release! Once again…..awesome job!

  5. The balloon card turned out so pretty. I haven’t tried no line coloring yet but I am going to now.

  6. I think I had your Moday (except it was Thursday)! Love your great watercoloring and sense of humor.

  7. I can see why you did 3 cards, and they are fantastic. Thanks for sharing your tis too.

  8. Love how you fixed your Monday card! After all that work-great save!!

  9. Lydine Arriola says:

    Beautiful cards made! Love it all!

  10. Fabulous cards and what a great save with your coffee and mondays card! Jo x

  11. Cute and Fun cards, so colorful!

  12. Totally awesome birthday is my favorite. TFS

  13. Beautiful cards! I love the watercolored balloons — that’s my favorite card!

  14. Margarita Navarro-Rivera says:

    Love all your cards. What an ingenious way of correcting your mistake!

  15. You rock Lisa!! Really enjoy seeing all your beautiful cards in this post. And I absolutely love how you fixed the spelling, I thought that add lots of personal touch to the card!!! :D

  16. Love the cards they are great going have to try the balloon card the are great the coffee card I can go on and on Love them Thanks for sharing with us Thank you.

  17. Your colors are so terrifically vibrant — makes your personality just jump off the paper (and off my computer! Terrific, fun cards, thank you!

  18. I had to laugh about your boo boo. Before I read your explanation I thought you had shortened the Monday like the sentiment said. I even showed how clever you were to my hubby. Your balloon card turned out great. Good job on the no-line water coloring. The background on the butterfly card is beautiful too. Thanks for the great instructions.

  19. I have used these watercolours and totally agree with you…they are amazing. They look fabulous on your cards.

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