GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Natalia Valkovskaya

This is Natasha Valkovskaya and I’m so happy and truly honored to be here today sharing three (that’s right!) projects featuring a whole lot of amazing Wplus9 products.

I fell in love with the Woodland Basics Die the moment I saw them, and oh boy I was not disappointed when I got them! I have three cards for you today for three different seasons and occasions using the same design and featuring Woodland Basics and burlap. If you know me, you know I love burlap – it just gives so much texture and warmth to the project!

Although Christmas preparations are already in full swing in the cardmaking world, I couldn’t resist using this adorable acorn for an autumn card. I die-cut two acorns and the leaves and used a Tim Holtz Distress blending tool and Distress Inks to color them. For the base panel I die-cut a rectangle from Neenah Desert Storm cardstock and stamped the background with my absolutely favorite stamp set - Autumn Leaves - in PURE COLOR Appletini dye ink.

For the focal point, I die-cut a square from burlap and sewed it to the base panel. I adhered the leaves using Multi-Medium Matte, and the acorns with a bit of foam tape. Finally I stamped the sentiment with Hand lettered Thanks. For the card base I used Jellybean Green cardstock from My Favorite Things which turned out to be a perfect match to Appletini ink. If you don’t have a sewing machine or you don’t like sewing, you can totally use Scoretape or Ranger Multi Medium Matte to adhere burlap, like I did in my second project, going for a simple (almost) one-layer card.

Here, I heat embossed my card base using Background Builders: Knit in white. I just love this knitted look! So cozy! I also stamped some knitted rows in Gala Red for additional texture. Then I heat embossed the sentiment and finished the card off by adhering the burlap panel, which I made exactly the same way as the previous one. This time I die-cut a pine-cone and evergreen brunches and sponged them with Distress Inks.

I don’t mind frayed burlap edges, but if they bother you, you can go over them with a light coat of Multi Medium Matte and they will stay put.

For the final project I decided to use the smaller birds from the die set. The generic bird profile of these means they can be used for a variety of occasions. In Russia, doves are symbols of love and faithfulness, that’s why they are often used for wedding cards and decorations. So, I decided to create a wedding card.

Perhaps you don't have any burlap on hand? As you can see, the layout is the same as the previous cards, but this time, I swapped out the burlap for a stamped panel. I started by stamping the background with some floral images from the Happy Wishes stamp set in Lake House dye ink. Created the focal panel by die-cutting a stitched square and stamping it with Romantic Script background stamp from My Favorite Things. I used Delicata Gold ink for that.

Then I smooshed Lake House ink on my mat, spritzed it with some water and dipped my die-cut birds into this puddle. That’s why they have this subtle and a bit distressed look. I really like it! For a little something-something I decided to gold heat emboss some elements of flowers and the sentiment from the same Happy Wishes stamp set.

OK, I’m sorry, but I had to do it – a wedding card with burlap! I love how Oatmeal card stock adds to the rustic look. Sweet? I know!

That’s all from me today. Thank you for reading until the very end! See, how versatile this awesome set is?! Visit me on Instagram at @craftawaywithme for more ideas and inspiration using the Woodland Basics dies.

Take care and do more of what makes you happy! - Natalia

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the supplies (or equivalents) used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase. Please note: this list does contain some affiliate links.

Woodland Basics Die Wplus9 Happy Wishes 4x6 Stamp Set Background Builders: Knit Wplus9 Hand Lettered Thanks 4x6" Stamp Set Wplus9 Gift Card Layers Die Wplus9 Premium Oatmeal Cardstock Wplus9 Lake House PURE COLOR Dye Ink Pad Wplus9 Appletini PURE COLOR Dye Ink Wplus9 Pure Color Gala Red Dye Ink Simon Says Stamp STITCHED RECTANGLES Wafer Dies sssd111455 In Stitches Strathmore WATERCOLOR PAPER PAD 5.5x8.5 Bound 298103 Simon Says Stamp STITCHED SQUARES Wafer Dies sssd111454 IN STITCHES My Favorite Things ROMANTIC SCRIPT Background Cling Stamp MFT Tsukineko GOLDEN GLITZ Delicata Ink Pad DE-000-191 *Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets *Neenah Environment ***100 LB*** SMOOTH DESERT STORM Paper Pack 25 Sheets Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark VM-001 Ranger Embossing Powder SUPER FINE GOLD EPJ37408 WOW Embossing Powder OPAQUE BRIGHT WHITE REGULAR WL01R *Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two Applicators 62191 Be Creative Tape 7MM ROLL Double Sided Sookwang Ranger .5 Oz. MINI MULTI MEDIUM MATTE Glue Adhesive Paint INK41511 3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Permanent

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VIDEO: Dry Embossed Details with Yana

Hello everyone! This is Yana Smakula and today I’m going to show you a quick way to add simple details to one layer projects.

In the past, I’ve talked about using a negative die cut panel to create a DIY embossing plate, today I’m going to show you how you can use your companion dies and add dry embossed details to stamped images.

I created 2 projects using different colors of ink, cardstock and sentiments. While my cards are Holiday themed, this technique works great for many other occasions. The only requirement - your stamps need to have coordinating dies.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

You want to start by doing stamping first. I began by placing companion dies for the Holiday Boughs images I wanted to have embossed onto my panel. I taped them using low tack tape and made sure dies did not overlap; it's okay for them to touch on the edges, but not okay to overlap even a bit.

I placed coordinating stamps over the dies, moved the panel inside my MISTI stamp positioner and picked the stamps up using MISTI door. You don’t need to have a MISTI for this technique, you can also do this using a regular clear block.

Once stamps were mounted, I removed the dies and stamped my boughs using Last Leaf ink. I also added additional images to fill in the background. I stamped several branches using Mojito, added pine cones using Coconut Husk and berries using Gala Red dye inks.

After my stamping was done I replaced dies over the stamped images I wanted to have dry embossed, taped them in place and embossed in my die cutting machine using embossing sandwich.

Note: Check your die cutting machine manual to learn how to make embossing sandwich (to emboss with dies) for your die cutting machine. These sandwiches are different for different machines. You will need to use Spellbinders Embossing Mat to be able to emboss with dies.

When doing embossing you’ll need to do it all at once, otherwise you’ll flatten the previously embossed pieces. I embossed all the images in the bottom left corner first and in the top right corner later. I only partially covered my panel when I did the second embossing run not to flatten the previously embossed pieces.

Because the sentiments on my cards were heat embossed in white embossing powder, I needed to blend some ink over them to help them pop; I also wanted to add ink to my background to help dry embossing stand out.

I used Warm Wool ink to blend over the Oatmeal cardstock panel and a mix of Last Leaf and Mojito to blend over white.

Be sure to watch my video tutorial for more tips, see additional examples and learn from my mistakes.

Have fun stamping!

Merry Holiday Houses with Kara

Hi Guys! It's Kara and I'm back again to share one more project featuring the new Holiday Release products. I'm so excited that I have gotten a jump start on my Christmas cards.

I started this design by creating a frame. I used the two largest Stitched Rectangles from the new 4 Bar Die, (you can find all of the supplies linked at the bottom of this post). I adhered the frame to my card base with some dimensional adhesive. I then placed in some Holiday Houses at varying levels to create depth.

These houses look adorable colored with Copics or watercolored, but I chose to leave them as just simple outlines and add pops of color with the Be Merry Florals stamped in vibrant non-traditional holiday colors. I used Cranberry Crush and Gala Apple for the flowers and New Leaf, Ocean Drive, and Falling For Blue for the leaves.

For the sentiment I stamped and die cut 'Be Merry' from the new Be Merry stamp set and coordinating dies. I chose to stamp it all in black and leave it uncolored to match the black and white house and tie everything together. I added the die cut 'Christmas' from the Christmas Tag Die and colored the white die cut with Falling For Blue ink for a perfect match to my stamping.

Thanks so much for stopping by. See you again soon!

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the supplies (or equivalents) used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase. Please note: this list does contain some affiliate links.

Holiday Houses	Holiday Houses Die	Be Merry	Be Merry Die
Be Merry Florals	Be Merry Florals Die	Christmas Tag Die	4 Bar Stitched Rectangles Die
White Cardstock	Cranberry Crush Dye Ink	Gala Red Dye Ink	Last Leaf Dye Ink
Ocean Drive Dye Ink	Falling For Blue Dye Ink	Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad VF-82	Tsukineko STORAGE BOX Sponge Daubers 42916
Tsukineko 25 SPONGE DAUBERS Tools stdab025

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