Hand Lettering is Amazing.

Hi there everyone.  I have been working hard on my hand lettering and was able to make a piece of framed wall art that says "But first, Coffee!".  I did this lettering on my iPad and then made a cut file that I sent to my Cricut as a "Print & Cut" file.  Once it was cut out, I added some stamped images and adhered the letters and put everything in a jazzy frame.

I will be making more of these and posting them in the shop; once I figure out how to upload cut files, I will have some free downloads for you too! That's all for today, but you can always check me out on IG by clicking on that slideshow on the right, happy crafting!

-Gaby

Scatter Kindness Card

Hi there, it's Gaby and today's tutorial is about making a background with markers and embossing powder. I will be showing how to make the card below; it may look complex, but it's easy to do.

This uses lots of heat embossing. 

I started by creating my background and used Bristol paper because I wanted to use my Tombow markers to "watercolor". The Bristol paper is cut to 4-1/4x 5-1/2. 

I love seeing all the colors! 

I used a Winnie & Walter "Kindness" stamp set and some Versamark ink to stamp multiple leaves to create my background. 

Such a unique stamp set with great sentiments. 

Then I used white embossing powder on the paper and heat set it. 

I catch the powder in a coffee filter to put it back in the jar. 

Next I added some color with my markers and just put them in different areas and used a water brush to blend them. 

Once I added a little pink and blended it all, I grabbed some metallic gold to add splatters.

I used an acrylic block as a "palette". 

Then I stamped the sentiment in gold embossing powder on vellum. 

I heat set it and cut it into a banner shape. I used a Tombow glue pen to trace behind the embossing so the glue would be invisible from the front.

I weight the vellum down with some acrylic blocks to let the glue dry.

Finally, I taped the card front to a top folding notecard. 

That's it, you're done! I hope this post was helpful and that you have a chance to try some of these techniques. Happy crafting! 

-Gaby

My Monthly Hero - April 2017 Review and Card

Hello there! I hope you are doing well.  I recently ordered my first kit from Hero Arts' My Monthly Hero Kit and I will be reviewing that today and making a card. I received my kit on Friday and made a card the same night because I was so excited about it.  I have been of the fence a few times with kits and ultimately did not buy them, but I am very happy with this one. You get a really nice value, the kit is $34.99 plus shipping, but the stamp and die set would probably cost that much on their own, so it's like all of the other things are free.  Check out the review below.

As you can see, I am very happy with this kit and that card came together very quickly. I have not started a subscription yet, but I will be keeping an eye out on the kit contents from now on.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting.

-Gaby

iPad Pro is Everything and I've Been Missing Out

Maaaaannnn, where do I begin!? I finally sat down to use an iPad Pro to try handlettering because I keep seeing everyone using ProCreate, so I wanted to try it. When I tell you that I literally improved my lettering in minutes, I am not exaggerating. I even rewatched a time lapse video of my first attempt and you could see the progress after 35 minutes! That's a really neat feature by the way; you can export a video of your art work. I am just starting out, so I am super excited about practicing and learning more. Before I was using my Wacom pad and Adobe Illustrator; I won't get rid of that, but I can tell an immediate difference in ease of use and results.

Some lyrics from "This Town" 

Below you can watch the video of me starting to use the software and finally getting the lettering right. 

I cannot stress enough how excited I am! I even did another picture for the #DNDchallenge.  You can get the full list of prompts over on www.bydawnnicole.com along with some other cool tips and techniques about hand lettering! Yesterday's prompt was "Hot Pink" and I may have gotten carried away.

So easy to do backgrounds!  

I will be using this more than my Wacom I think, any letterers out there care to chime in? Leave a comment about what method you prefer; is it iPad, Wacom, or paper? Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting.

-Gaby

Lawnfawnatics Challenge - Interactive Cards

Hi there! I absolutely love Lawn Fawn products and I thought I would play along with this challenge.   The theme for this one is  interactive cards. I used the "Bicycle for You" and "Bun in the Oven" stamp sets for this as well as the "Simple Road Border" die. This was so fun to make and when you pull the tab, the bicycle moves. I used "Slide on Over" to create the slider portion.

Here is a quick video to show him riding along!

I used the tiny faces from "Bun in the Oven" for the balloons and the "Congrats!" from that set for the pull tab. I did not make a video for this card, but I might recreate it in the future. Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! 

 -Gaby