Studio Sessions: 2016

Merry Christmas!

Double the Fun: What's In Jill's Cup?

It's double the designing fun as we reveal two cards featuring the same Penny Black Creative Die set; 51-281 What's In Your Cup?.

Well, what's in MY cup today? A little bit of everything! LOL

To color my die cut cups, I first painted them with Sakura Koi Field Sketch Box watercolors. Once dry, I added a bit of Distress Ink to each. I love the combo of watercolors and inks! The background and "table" were also inked with Distress and Memento inks using an ink blending tool and a foam pad. All stamps and dies by Penny Black: 51-281 What's In Your Cup, 51-170 Warmest Wishes, 30-380 Nature's Silhouettes

I love this Creative Die set soooo much, I also recently featured it in a couple of videos on the Penny Black YouTube Channel. These cups and embellishments included with this set of dies are PERFECT for the inlaid die cutting technique.

Watch video on YouTube HERE.

All stamps and dies by Penny Black: 51-281 What's In Your Cup, 30-329 Woodland Beauty, 25-014 Oscillations, 30-375 Merry Jingle, 30-376 Snowbursts

For this third card, I used the die cut cup as a stencil.

Watch video on YouTube HERE.

All stamps and dies by Penny Black: 51-281 What's In Your Cup, 30-379 Woodland Beauty, 30-287 Festive Snippets

And what's in my cup, for real, you ask?

Coffee.

Lots of Coffee.

Oh how I love you, Coffee.

Double the Fun: What's In Elizabeth's Cup?

It's double the designing fun as we reveal two cards featuring the same Penny Black Creative Die set; 51-281 What's In Your Cup?.

Today my cup is filled with Christmas cheer.

Penny Black: What's in Your Cup (51-281), Festive Snippets (30-387), Golden Moment (80-015)

I made several of these cards to use as invitations.

After die cutting the mug from patterned paper, the steam was accented with Crystal Stickles and the snowflakes with puff paint and red pepper dimensional pearls.

A light highlight of Peanut Brittle Memento ink gives the background a warm glow.

Two different sentiments from "Festive Snippets" were spliced together to create the greeting.

Wishing you all "Christmas Cheer"!

Out and About with Jill: December Shimmerz Video

Today I'm...

on the Shimmerz blog with a new VIDEO!

featuring Penny Black products: 40-484 Into the Sky, 30-384 Rejoice with Joy, 51-268 A Blizzard

Click HERE for the full reveal and to watch the video.

And before you go...

If you're looking to add Shimmerz Paints to your crafty stash then be sure to mention my name in the "comments" section in your shopping cart when placing an order. The kind folks at Shimmerz will give you free paint just for doing so! (Shop HERE.)

Out and About with Jill: 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

Hi! I'm so honored to be...

...on the Ellen Hutson blog today participating in the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist event!

If you are a new visitor to Studio Sessions, arriving from the Ellen Hutson blog, welcome thanks for visiting my little corner of blogland which I share with my talented blogging buddy, Elizabeth Allan. (You can read more about our blogging approach HERE.)

Now... onto the tag! Lisa Adametz, my partner in crime on Ellen Hutson's blog today, challenged me to use the following as my color inspiration. Isn't it gorgeous?

Here's what I created featuring Penny Black stamps and dies.

51-274 Snowflake Duo
40-497 Wintry Trail
30-387 Festive Snippets.

And here's the how-to:

1. Stamp the beautiful scene (Penny Black 40-497 Wintry Trail) using the MISTI stamp positioning tool. Color directly onto the stamp using Distress Markers, one color at a time, restamping as many times as needed.

2. Without removing from the MISTI, using a paintbrush with very little water, paint over the larger tree trunks, branches, and ground/grassy areas and add a very light layer of shading to the ground and behind the background trees. Allow to dry.

3. Clean stamp and then ink with VersaMark ink. Restamp and then remove from MISTI and sprinkle with clear embossing powder. Heat to set.

4. Using an ink blending tool and foam pads, add Distress Inks to the background.

5. Dilute gesso with water and splatter to create the look of falling snow.

6. Stamp sentiment (Penny Black 30-387 Festive Snippets) and trim stamped panel into tag shape.

6. Embellish with die cut snowflakes (Penny Black 51-274 Snowflake Duo), twine, and a pearl. Add a small Distress Inked border to the base of the tag.

A complete list of supplies is available on the Ellen Hutson blog HERE. You'll also find Lisa's tag featuring this same color palette -- you won't want to miss it!

Out and About with Jill: Penny Black Videos

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I've been...

... on the Penny Black blog this past week with FOUR new videos featuring "fun (and simple) folds."

Click HERE to view the video for the card shown above.

And to keep up with all of my latest videos, be sure to click the "subscribe" button for the Penny Black YouTube Channel while you're there.

Autumn Gratitude, 4 of 4: Jill

As a tapestry of color covers the landscape, we share designs inspired by autumn hues and gratitude.

Pumpkins aren't just for halloween... today I've paired them with an Autumn sentiment on my tag design.

My pumpkins (Penny Black 30-372 Autumn Splendor) were stamped onto my tag cut from watercolor paper using Penny Black's Creative Die, 51-007 Tagged. I then painted the image and background with watercolors. Once dry, using an ink blending tool and foam pad, I inked the edges of my tag with Distress Ink. Finally, I stamped my sentiment and added the ribbon and twine.

Thanks so much for joining us for the last few weeks as we celebrated "Autumn Gratitude." It's hard to believe it's almost December!

Autumn Gratitude, 3 of 4: Elizabeth

As a tapestry of color covers the landscape, we share designs inspired by autumn hues and gratitude.

Today and every day...so much to be thankful for!

This card was inspired by all the beautiful fall color.

The small tree stamped in Morocco Memento ink is from the transparent set Nature's Silhouettes. Additional color was added to the leaves with Faber Castell's watercolor pencils. A faint shadow was added in gray.

The sentiment from Grateful was stamped in Onyx Black VersaFine.

A simple white window frame finishes the design.

I can't end this post without saying how THANKFUL I am for my friend and blogging partner, Jill!!

All stamps by Penny Black.

Autumn Gratitude, 2 of 4: Jill

As a tapestry of color covers the landscape, we share designs inspired by autumn hues and gratitude.

My approach for today's card was to show autumn gratitude in a clean and simple design.

I painted my background using watercolors. Once dry, I added Distress Inks on top using an ink blending tool and foam pads. A white rectangular frame, with the outer edges inked with Distress Ink, was added on top of my watercolor background using dimensional adhesive. It was also stamped with the Penny Black sentiment from the transparent set 30-373 Grateful. The tree, Penny Black Creative Die, 51-247 Dancing Branchlets, was inked with Distress Ink and then added to the card with dimensional adhesive.

I'm so grateful for your visit today... see you soon with Elizabeth's next "Autumn Gratitude" creation!

Out and About with Jill: November Shimmerz Video

Today I'm...

on the Shimmerz blog with a new VIDEO!

featuring Penny Black products: 40-481 Red Sparkle, 40-489 Elaborate, 51-251 Rejoice

Click HERE for the full reveal and to watch the video.

And before you go...

Autumn Gratitude, 1 of 4: Elizabeth

As a tapestry of color covers the landscape, we share designs inspired by autumn hues and gratitude.

Happy fall everyone!

Today's card is a quick design. A bit of stamping, a splash of color and a dab of patterned paper.

The leafy image stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink is from the transparent set Nature's Silhouettes. The leaves were colored with Faber Castell's watercolor pencils. A small "pot" was fashioned from paper from the Golden Moment designer pad. This was then adhered over the bottom of the branches with dimensional foam tape.

A rectangular piece of white cardstock was colored with a light blue Copic Marker and the sentiment from So Lucky was stamped in Onyx Black VersaFine.

Thank you very much for visiting.

Jill will be up next with more autumn awesomeness!

All stamps and papers mentioned in the instructions are by Penny Black.

Spooky Screams, 4 of 4: Elizabeth

Eeeeek!!! Do you hear the screams coming from the STUDIO? Don't worry, we are just getting excited for Halloween. Or perhaps we're screaming because we ran out of chocolate... haha! Join us this month as we share projects with a spooktacular theme.

Black cats can't be spooky when they're this happy!

Penny Black: Spooky Fun 30-371, Halloween Creatures 51-245, Dark City 51-167, Golden Moment 80-015

For this design, a dimensional window was created using Spellbinder's Reverse Wonky Rectangles, lime green cardstock, black cardstock and patterned paper from Golden Moment. After the framing was completed, a portion of the die cut Dark City in black cardstock was attached along the inside bottom part of the window and on the outside portion of the patterned frame a thin line of Crystal Stickles. The entire piece was attached to a white card base with Scotch Foam Mounting Tape.

The happy cat is from Spooky Fun which was stamped on white cardstock in Onyx Black VersaFine, heat embossed with clear powder and fussy cut.

And for some spook-tacular shine, amethyst watercolor Deco Foil by Therm-O-Web was added to the top of the "spooky" die cut from the Halloween Creatures set.

Happy Haunting!

Spooky Screams, 3 of 4: Jill

Sometimes I just have to giggle while I'm crafting and when I saw Penny Black's Creative Die, 51-246 Silly Birds, I did just that!

Lots of inking and sponging was used to create my background. The branches were stamped with Penny Black's transparent set, 30-379 Woodland Beauty. For the sentiment, I stamped "boo" from Penny Black's transparent set, 30-249 Spooky Spheres, with VersaMark ink onto the PB Creative Die, 51-003 Chat Bubbles. I sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat to set. I then applied Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey Distress Inks using an ink blending tool and foam pads.

I hope you have a little silly in your day to keep you smiling! :) Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more spooktacular stamping from Elizabeth.