May 31, 2017

Tips and Tricks for Die Cutting Washi Tape

Of course Queen and Co. has amazing embellishments and flowers and their shaker kits and Toppings are to die for. But a really affordable and versatile product that sometimes gets overlooked is washi! 
 
That silver glitter heart was created by die cutting strips of washi lined up on cardstock.
You can also die cut washi into rectangular panels to create "patterned paper" for card backgrounds.
If you alternate colors of thin washi you can cut out a striped sentiment too!
Die cutting washi and combining it with strips of washi is an easy way to add color and patterns to a simple card.
For the most part, die cutting washi is the same as die cutting cardstock or patterned paper.
I included all of these ideas and some additional tips and tricks for getting really great cuts in this video:

Supplies Used:




May 20, 2017

May Stash Bash - Use Up Die Cuts

I really love using die cuts because they can lay flat on your project or can be popped up with dimensional adhesive. 
You can adhere them, stitch them or staple them down.
You can layer them under photos or layer other embellishments on top of them.
Lucky for me the Stash Bash YouTube Hop this month was using chpiboard or die cuts. I actually don't have any chipboard left in my stash!! So die cuts it was! Here is the process video where I used up a load of die cuts from the Scrapbook Circle May kits.

Here are the others involved in the hop this month:


If you are interested in the supplies I used, I have links to them down below. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used:




May 17, 2017

May Flowers + Positive and Negative Spaces

This month is all about flowers over at Queen & Co, and I have two cards that fit the bill! Each card uses flowers and a heart shape, but one uses the positive of the heart and one uses the negative. Here is the first card I made. The dimensional heart is actually a piece of foam that has adhesive on each side because it was an element that I popped out of the Queen and Co. Foam Front Shaker Card Kit.
 After peeling off the backing and adhering it to my card panel, I peeled off the front and used it to adhere a bunch of Pink and Red Pom flowers.

To create the negative space of a heart, I die cut the heart from a card panel and stamped inside the heart like a window.
 I adhered the Blue Pom Flowers with Therm O Web Zots and several other Queen and Co floral embellishments to the outside to make it look like a heart shaped wreath.
I love heart shapes and using the positive and negative to create floral embellished cards was so fun! If you are interested in the supplies I used, just scroll down! Thanks so much for stopping by!






May 12, 2017

F to the 5th Power 2 - Five Fun Fave Finds on Friday

** If you are looking for the Pretty Pink Posh Blog Hop / Giveaway please scroll down or click HERE.
If you stopped by last week, you know that I have started a new YouTube series called F to the Fifth Power, which means Five Fun Fave Finds on Friday! I am highlighting 5 things that I have loved during the week and showing them to you up close and personal so you can decide if they are something you want to add to your stash or not.

You can see last week's post HERE. This week I've found 5 new items that I am trying out or just really loving right now.

To start with , these are the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Watercolors. I had gotten these a little while ago, so it was definitely time to get them out of the box and see what they could do. I was happy to see they were in the same type of pans that I had from my other Gansai Tambi watercolor set. I really loved how opaque most of the colors were on black cardstock. They are creamy and add a beautiful metallic shine. I highly recommend them!
Next up are the Tonic Studios Nuvo Brush Script markers. These seem similar to the Kurtake Clean Color markers in that they are water based and have an actual brush tip. The Nuvo brush pens come in packs of three and seem to be more affordable than the Clean Color. I have also had several of my Clean Color markers dry out very quickly, but so far these Nuvo ones have been very juicy. 
 Next, we have the Queen and Co Candy Sprinkles. I can NOT WAIT to put these sprinkles in a birthday shaker card. Oh and if you have a Toppings addiction like me, you can get a Queen and Co Storage Trunk to hold up to 64 Toppings containers!

I know the MISTI is not a new product, nor is it new to me. But, I was working with it again this week and I can't be reminded enough of how poor my stamping skills were before the MISTI came along.
 And finally, I was super excited to find out that Gina K. Designs had partnered with Therm O Web to create beautiful foils and other fun foiling items. But did you know they also have a line of cardstocks created to match those foils? The colors and black cardstock are all 100lb and the white pack is 120 lb. They are quality cardstocks, I love the colors and I have really enjoyed working with them.

Are you interested in seeing this weeks faves in action? Then check out the video:


And if you are interested in shopping for some of these supplies, you can find them below.  Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can see each installment of this series! Thanks so much for stopping by!





Pretty Pink Posh May Reveal Blog Hop


I am super excited to be a part of the Pretty Pink Posh May Product Reveal Blog Hop. The stamps, dies and sequins being released are nothing short of amazing! I can't get over how many stamps are included in each stamp set! And how perfectly the dies cut out the stamped images! And how pretty the sequin colors are! It is just a stunning release! 

Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the post because there is a giveaway if you comment on all the posts along the hop!

Here is the first card I made with the May release:
I started with the Scallop Hexagons Die set and I cut each hexagon from a different yellow cardstock. Next I used the Bee Friends Stamp Set to stamp a bunch of images on white cardstock. In this one little stamp set you get FOUR bee images, two bee trails, THREE different hearts, two flowers and two stems and a lovely script sentiment! That's a ton packed into one set! After coloring the stamped images, I used the coordinating Bee Friends Die Set  to cut them out.
After cutting out the bees, I used the same dies to cut them out of vellum. Next I cut off the wings of the cardstock bees and then adhered the cardstock bee bodies to the vellum. Once I popped them up with foam tape you could see the sweet vellum wings. I finished this card off with some  6mm Champagne Sequins and 4mm Champagne Sequins.

For my next card I again used the Scallop Hexagons Die set, but this time I used it to create a vellum shaker window, which I filled with Spring Meadow Sequin Mix.
I also used the Bold Blooms Stamp set to create some stamp layering flowers. Again, it is so awesome to see how many layered flowers you can create with this stamp set! I used the Bold Blooms Coordinating Die set to cut out my flowers and adhered them to my card. 


I finished my card off with a heat embossed sentiment from the Thoughtful Greetings Stamp Set and a few more sequins from the Spring Meadow Sequin Mix.

Ok, now on to the GIVEAWAY! Pretty Pink Posh is giving away FOUR $25 gift certificates to their shop! Two winners will be drawn from yesterday's hop and two from today's! So be sure to leave comments on ALL the blogs! Your next stop is the incredibly talented Heather Hoffman. Here is a list of all the blog participants in case you get lost along the way. 

Rebecca Keppel-----------------> You are HERE!

Now hurry and hop along! You have until 11:59pm on May 17th to leave all your comments. Thanks so much for stopping by and good luck!

May 6, 2017

F to the 5th Power = Five Fun Fav Finds on Friday

This is my first ever post for a new series on YouTube where I am going to showcase 5 crafty items that I am loving that week. Some will be new items, some will be new to me and some will be old favorites. I just love when other people share their favorite products and thought you might like to see what I am using and loving too!

 So without further ado, let's jump right in! First up are the Tonic Studios Nuvo Jewel Drops. I bought one color and then quickly grabbed 4 more. I love that they are super easy to use. Easier than the Nuvo Crystal Drops in my opinion.
I also love that they dry dimensional and translucent.
I use them on layouts and cards all the time now. I don't even feel the need to make drops on a non stick mat anymore because it is so easy to get the size and shape I am looking for right out of the bottle. I am seriously addicted!

Another recent addition of mine is the Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink family. Seriously these inks are amazing!!
They are creamy and blend so easily and the reaction that the create with water is amazing! 
I've also used the Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix a TON lately. Mostly on cards. I love how just not having the hole in the middle of the sequin gives it a TOTALLY different look!
On a totally different note, I have seen a bunch of letterers talk about learning how to letter using Crayola Super Tip Markers, so I just had to give it a go. I had a 60% off coupon at JoAnn's so I grabbed this 50 pack and I LOVE them!
It is so much easier to learn the ability to move from more pressure on down strokes to less pressure on up strokes when you are not dealing with an actual brush tip. Plus they come in some so many awesome, fun colors! And they are SO cheap (especially with a great coupon!)
Last, but not least I had to include this stamp set by Uchi Design that was created exclusively for Simon Says Stamp. You can find it in the May Card kit and it is so cool. With the special stamps and transparency, you can create animated designs!
That one you probably have to see in the video to understand how innovative and cool it is! So check out the video here:
And if you are interested in grabbing some of these supplies yourself, I have links to almost everything here:


If you like this new series, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel and leave me a comment down below or on YouTube is there is anything you want me to check out and possibly include in a future episode!
Thanks so much for stopping by!