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Today we have the theme of Furry Friends for our Crafty Collaborations blog hop.
If you are following the Stampin' Dreams blog hop and are new to my blog, welcome to my inkpad. I'm Chris Smith. Normally I stamp in a little pantry sized studio in downtown St. Paul, MN but more often than I care to admit, it carries over onto our nearby dining room table.
At first I didn't think of otters as furry friends and thought I would feature a bunny today... but we've been traveling and stamping time got tight so plan B was necessary. I decided to feature a group of projects I did during a stamping play date with one of my he'Artstringstampers downline a while back. There will be plenty of time to talk bunnies later...
So, otters have fur right? In fact, unlike most other marine mammals, otters don't have blubber and instead use a very dense water resistant fur to keep them warm. That must be what makes them so cute! The projects I'm going to share with you today use watercolor pencils (and a whole bunch of other stuff we had out on the table) to make that fur come to life.
As you can see here, even though they are called watercolor pencils I don't always use watercolor with them. They are SO versatile. I used them dry on several of these pieces as I think this gives a little more texture to their fur.
- This card uses a number of dies. One of my he'Artstringstampers team buddies was visiting and I played with her Layering Diorama Dies to create a simple pond. The grass and leaf are from the Palms Dies in the mini catalog. Finally, I added one of the Tasteful Labels Dies to add my embossed greeting.
- Can you see all of the ways I used my pencils? I love to start soft and then add pressure to intensify my colors as I did at the edges of my little pond. A little more green for variation to my Granny Apple Green grass. And, finally the textured look of the otter.
- Something to keep in mind about watercolor pencils: if you are using water with them you will want to use a water resistant ink like Stazon Jet Black. If you plan to use them dry you can use either the Stazon or Memento's water based ink, Tuxedo Black. Sometimes I get away with using waterbased ink when I'm using blender pens, as long as I let it dry several hours and use a light touch with the Blender pen. Otherwise it is safest to use Stazon with anything that will be wet or damp.
Here are a few more:
- I stamped the otter, hat and greeting on a Crumb Cake that had been precut with the Tailor Made Tags dies. I have to say that I love the old fashioned typewriter font with this set!
- Similar use of the pencils, this time stamping directly on the Crumb Cake makes coloring this little guy super easy.
- I used the White Stampin' Chalk Marker for the pompom.
- This gets a fun ribbon treatment that is simply a mix of scraps: Pool Party Sheer and White Glitttered Organdy colored with a Granny Apple Green Blends all tied up with Black & White Baker's Twine from the Playful Pets Combo.
This next project is one that got away from me a little but I'm going to share it anyway since you might want to try some of the features if you have these supplies. You know I had to keep playing with Liz's Diorama dies:
- I combined the dies with Art in Bloom hybrid bundle, using the folder inked with Mossy Meadow to emboss the Pear Pizzazz top layer.
- Tone on tone Mossy Meadow stamping of the leaves on the middle layer.
- More "dry" watercolor pencil on the actual pond layer with just a bit of pencil shading around the edges.
Finally the tag that started me down this path. I had originally seen some Otter tags by the talented Trayce Bauer on Instagram (@inkingtheedges 11.24.21 post). This was my version:
- I used Blender Pens with the pencils. It's still a good look, just without the texture but I make up for that using Trayce's idea of the embossed Pool Party background.
Amazing Otters is a Sale-A-Bration set. That means that you can get it "free" with a purchase of $50 (US). It is only available until the end of February. I think these adorable critters will definitely earn their spot on your stamp shelf. As you can see, they will play nicely with so many other stamping supplies!
Now it's time for the rest of the blog hop. Depending on how you interpret "Furry Friends", Stampin' Up has at least 20 stamp sets featuring one or more of these critters. If I'm looking at the trail correctly you should be taking a virtual hop to see the talented Denise Willerton in Canada:
I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.
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If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the February host code, YPYJ7NWJ, I will send you a free gift. US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my thank you card.
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