November Release Day

Hi again, friends!

It's time to start trading out your Fall clothes for your Winter attire, begin thinking about making Christmas cards and handmade Christmas presents and get started with setting up this year's December Daily album.

It's New Release Day at Technique Tuesday. And you are going to love using our latest stamps and crafting dies for all your Winter paper crafting and memory keeping projects!

To celebrate this new release of paper crafting and scrapbook supplies, the Design Team is here one more time to share some awesome projects with you. You are going love checking out all the cool projects they've made with the new goods.

Amy Kolling

Daniela Dobson

Dana Joy

Heather Hoffman

Emily Leiphart

Latisha Yoast

Kymona Tracey

Jill Dewey Hawkins

Teri Anderson

Please stop by their blogs and leave them a little love. It means so much to them.

Also you'll find all the new stamps and dies on our website in the New Products category. Whether you are a card maker, scrapbooker or general crafter, you're sure to find something perfect for the projects you are working on during these Winter months.

Want a better look at the new products? Check out Bev's latest video. She'll show you all the new products and give you lots of great tips for using them, plus she'll share with you even more inspiring projects.

Is there a product from the New Release that super inspires you? Is there something you are already thinking about making with the new goods? We'd love to hear from you! Tell us your favorites and what your crafty plans are for all these new stamps and dies! 

Watch our blog throughout November for even more inspiration for these new products. Plus be sure to keep an eye on the video page on our Website for new videos featuring these products.

 

November Release Sneak Peek #2

Hi, friends!

We're one day closer to the next release of stamps and dies from Technique Tuesday, and I'm here again with a few sneak peeks at the new goods. On your mark. Get set. Get ready to cheer! 

Today's sneak peeks are sure to make you smile. There's a pretty flower, plus something that is tasty and delicious and a staple during the Winter months. Let's do this.

Does Wintertime mean it's Hot Cocoa time in your world? Do you crave peppermint drinks? You are going to love this new stamp set that features these delicious drinks.

The stamp set also features a host of sentiments, making it possible to make a number of different cards with it. 
Classic stamper who loves to color? You are going to love the latest installment in our Greenhouse Society. This pretty stamp set features a Wintertime flower that is so fun to color. There are also a couple sentiments included with this stamp set that make it perfect for making holiday cards. 

And good news for those of you who love using matching dies when you stamp! There will dies available for this stamp set.

Are you excited about the new products? I'd love to hear what has caught your eye so far! Please leave a comment on this post, or any of our November Sneak Peek or New Product Reveal posts, that appear on this blog between Oct. 27th and Oct. 31, 2018. We'll select one person from all the comments to receive a $20 gift certificate for the Technique Tuesday website. The lucky winner will be announced on Nov. 2nd on this blog. 

And don't forget! All our new products will be available for purchase on Nov. 1st in the New Products category on the Technique Tuesday website. 

I hope to see you again tomorrow when I share a few more sneak peeks at the next release. 

Creating Contrast with Watercolor Markers and the Luscious Grapes Stamps!

Hello, Julie here! In today's video, I will show you how to use watercolor markers to add contrast to images in the new Luscious Grapes stamp set. These new fancy-schmancy watercolor markers were a gift for my birthday. I love them and am excited to show you how to use them! 

 

(Can't see the embedded video? You'll find it right here on our website.)

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Step-By-Step Instructions

If you'd like to print out step-by-step instructions, here they are. Or bookmark this page for future reference!

1. I started with Canson watercolor paper and stamped the cluster of grapes using a quick drying, waterproof ink.
   
   
   

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2. I wanted to make the grapes be the color of Concord grapes, which is mostly blue with a hint of purple. So I started out with the blue marker and added a swoosh of color in the bottom of each of these grapes. Then I used a little water to spread the blue throughout the grape. Once I had the blue distributed, I went back in and added just a tiny spot of purple for the highlight. And as usual, I want back and forth between the colors. On some of the grapes I added more of the blue to intensify that color. You can get this great sort of gradient going, because you’re doing essentially wet-on-wet water coloring.
   
   
   

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3. Once all the grapes were done, I started in on the leaves. I used the yellow marker to add a base layer. I wanted an autumn leaf color scheme, like the grapes were just ready to be picked, so the colors I used were generally warm. I just went around the edges and along the veins of each leaf with yellow. I didn't want to overwhelm the leaves, just give them a yellow base with a little color everywhere. I used my brush to spread the yellow around to make some nice gradients. There’s a lot of detail within the leaves that could get lost, so I tried to make sure that where the leaves overlapped, the bottom leaf was a bit darker than the part of the top leaf that’s covering it. The darker areas provide a little more contrast which makes the leaf details a bit easier to see.
   
   
   

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4. Next I went in with the orange watercolor marker. In my set that was Cadmium Red, which was the closest to orange that I had. I picked a few spots to make reddish orange... mostly in areas I wanted to make sure had some additional contrast as well as more intensity. I went back and forth between the orange and yellow, and used water to move those colors around. I planned ahead to put green near the reddish orange areas on the leaves that were underneath. Since red and green are complementary colors I knew that the green would make those areas seem even redder which would help make those areas pop.
   
   
   

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5. Next I used the red watercolor marker. In my set of makers this was named Alizarin Crimson as opposed to the Cadmium Red hue, which is a little bit more orange. I used the Alizarin Crimson to add a little more intensity to the areas that were already headed in the reddish-orange direction.
   
   
   

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6. Next I added a bit of Sap Green to a few spots. This is where you need to be a bit careful. Because red and green are complementary colors, (which means they’re on opposite sides of the color wheel), they will create a neutral color when mixed. I made sure I didn't add any green to areas that already had red in them. I knew that if I did mix them, they would turn a muddy brown.
   
   

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7. Next, I used a couple brown shades on the stem and vine areas. I used the lighter color along the top of the stem. Then I used water to spread the color out a little. Because it was pretty wet, the dark brown went in like a dream and spread itself out a little bit. By going back and forth with the brush and the markers, you can get the colors to go where you want them to be.

And here is my final piece! I went back in and added more color in a few places. I added some darker green on top of the lighter green to add contrast in one or two spots, but only very sparingly.

I hope you enjoyed learning how to add contrast to your stamped images. These watercolor markers are a great way to add color to nature-themed stamp sets like the Luscious Grapes Stamp Set or any of the flower and botanical themed stamp sets in the Greenhouse Society collection.

Thanks for reading! 

October New Release Reveal Day!

Hi, friends!

Hip hip hooray! Today's the day! It's Release Day!

You don't have to wait any more. You'll find all our new stamps and dies right here! Got a favorite? What's on your list? We'd love to know! 

And guess what? The awesome Technique Tuesday Design Team is here again today to celebrate. Stop by their blogs one time for a look at some fabulous projects they've put together with the new goods. 

Amy Kolling

Jill Dewey Hawkins

Daniela Dobson

Dana Joy

Kymona Tracey

Emily Leiphart

Heather Hoffman

Latisha Yoast

Teri Anderson

Plus don't miss this brand new video from Bev! She will show you all the fun new products and share with you some of the things she is thankful for and some fun gratitude and thank you project ideas she has. She will also give you some great tips for making even more amazing cards, scrapbook pages and DIY projects!  

(Can't see the embedded video? You'll find it here on our website!)

Thank you for joining us for New Release Day and all our October Sneak Peeks! Please come back. We've got lots of fun projects and tutorials to share with you this month!

October New Release Countdown Day 2

Hi, crafty friends!

Just one more day until the October release of stamps and dies is live! And we're back to share with you the full reveals of some more of the new products, as well as some awesome projects made with them.

First, let's see the rest of the new goods.

Happy Thanksgiving Stamp Set

This 4x6 stamp set is perfect for documenting Thanksgiving and other important family gatherings, as well as documenting all the things you are thankful and grateful in the Fall! You can build your own sentiments by pairing different words and phrases together. Plus you have a whole assortment of fun Fall icons to use on your cards and scrapbook pages. Memory Keepers Studio member? This is your stamp set for October. Not a member but gotta have the stamps? No need to worry. They will be available for purchase on the 1st!

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Turkey and Pie Crafting Dies

This set of steel dies features some lovely food icons to decorate your cards and scrapbook pages with. Fresh Cut Studio member? These are your auto-ship dies for October. They'll be available for purchase on the 1st with the rest of our new products. 

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Luscious Grapes Stamp Set

Classic stamper who loves to color? You are going to enjoy all the coloring possibilities for Luscious Grapes, the latest stamp set in the Greenhouse Society. Like to use die-cuts with your stamps? Don't forget to check out the matching dies for this set!

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Bow on the Border Crafting Die

There's yet another addition to our popular collection of border dies. Meet the Bow on the Border crafting die. This die is perfect for making standard A2 cards for all kinds of special occasions: birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and more. 

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Looking for some stamping inspiration? We've got you covered.

Please visit the blogs of these talented Technique Tuesday Design Team members to see what they've made with these products:

Amy Kolling

Jill Dewey Hawkins

Daniela Dobson

Dana Joy

Kymona Tracey

Emily Leiphart

Heather Hoffman

Latisha Yoast

Teri Anderson

Stop by our blog again tomorrow for release day! The Design Team will be here once again to share one more round of awesome new projects with you! Plus don't forget to visit the New Products page on the 1st to grab all the new stamps and dies that have caught your eye.

Also don't forget to leave a comment on this post, as well as any of our sneak peek or countdown posts on this blog that appear between September 26th to September 30th, 2018, for a chance to score a $20 gift certificate to our website. One lucky person who comments will win the prize! Comments will be taken until September 30th at 11:59 p.m. PST. The winner will be announced on Oct. 2nd on this blog. 

October Release Sneak Peek #2

Hi, friends! 

Hooray! We are one day closer to the next release of stamps and dies from Technique Tuesday. Today's sneak peeks feature one prickly yet adorable critter, something juicy and something delicious! 

On your mark. Get set. Let's get to the sneak peeks! 

If you are a fan of cute critter stamps, you are going to love this first sneak peek. 

There's a new gal sauntering her way into the Animal House collection in October. You'll be able to create all kinds of cute forest scenes with her stamp set!

This next sneak peek? You might say it's a juicy one! 
Get it? Wink! These grapes look amazing when colored in with markers, pencils and watercolors! Be sure to check out their stamp set, as well as the matching dies to use with them.
This final sneak peek is a tasty one! If you like to die-cut, you are going to love using this set of dies to make fun accents for your Fall-themed scrapbook pages, cards and other DIY projects. Planning on making a recipe book? These dies would work for that. The possibilities are endless! 

Got a favorite peek so far? Tell me which one! I can't wait to come back tomorrow and share a few more sneak peeks for you at the October release. And don't forget to visit our website on the 1st to see all the new products when they are available for purchase!

Also don't forget to leave a comment on this post, as well as any of our sneak peek or countdown posts on this blog that appear between September 26th to September 30th, 2018, for a chance to score a $20 gift certificate to our website. One lucky person who comments will win the prize! Comments will be taken until September 30th at 11:59 p.m. PST. The winner will be announced on Oct. 2nd on this blog. 

Using Undertones with Colored Pencils

Hello, all!

Julie here, and I've put together a new video tutorial for you about using undertones with colored pencils on the Lovely Lavender stamp set.

(Can't see the embedded video? You'll find it right here on our website.)

Here are the steps I used for those of you who would like some step-by-step visuals to print out. 

I’ve stamped my image on mixed media paper with permanent, quick drying ink, and I’m going to start with a light blue undertone to build the desired color. My plan with this is to make it sort of a blue-lavender color, like the lavender flowers in my mom’s front yard.

I’m going to get started with small, light circles, and I’m sticking to the bottoms of each of these little pips, so that my shadows are sort of blue-tinted. I’m going to try and keep the circles pretty light, and to stay inside the lines, as usual.

And of course I’ll do that for the whole thing, and end up with blue in all the little nooks and crannies of the pips. The next color is going to be Lilac, and it’s going to go in the tops of the pips, and fade into the blue a bit.

Next I’ll go in with a darker purple and go over the blue here. It’s going to turn a sort of blue-lavender color. I’m trying to keep my circles pretty light, so that when I come back in a couple of steps with my colorless blender, I’ll still be able to mix the colors a little bit.

Next I put little bits of white at the top of each pip to be a highlight. This also tends to blend the lilac out a bit and makes it a little bit smoother.

Now I’m going to use my colorless blender to do the same sort of blending thing to the bottoms of the pips. As I said earlier, this will blend the colors as well as smoothing it out a bit. It’ll make that blue undertone stand out a little bit more. And as I’m doing this, if I decide that I want it to be a little bit darker or whatever, I can go back in with the Parma Violet and Light Cerulean Blue and intensify that color combination a little bit.

Next I'll start in on the stems and leaves. I’m going to start with Spring Green, with a light layer on pretty much everything that’s going to be green. On the stems, I’m just going to do light straight strokes ‘cause getting little circles in that tiny area is pretty difficult.

Now I’m going to go in with the Apple Green and I’m going to add some of the lighter shadow areas.

Next I’m going in with the Olive Green, my darkest shadow color. Just a few bits of shadow in the nooks and crannies.

And here is my final piece! I had a lot of fun doing this, and I hope you learned something you can use in your next project. Thanks for stopping by!

Julie 

One Stamp Set. Four Ways to Use It!

Hi, everyone! 

Like to make pretty cards to send your loved ones and friends? The Lovely Lavender stamps are perfect for that. Stamp a pretty bouquet of flowers on a card and then finish it off with a sentiment.

Kick things up a notch by using the matching dies with the flowers and adding a die-cut "love you" phrase to your card. 

Don't take my word for it though. Here's some creative inspiration for you from the Technique Tuesday Design Team. You are going to love seeing what they've made with these awesome flower stamps and dies! Take it away, team. 

This stamps make for a beautiful set of cards.

It's easy to make a set! Follow Heather Hoffman's lead. Stamp three flower bouquets on mats (cut with the matching dies) and color them in. Adhere them to cards and then add a sentiment. Don't want to use one of the stamps in the set? Use a different one from our collection of Occasion & Sentiment stamps. Or do what Heather did and use words from the Mandala Sentiments stamp set.

Finish your cards off with a few gems or sequins!

Here's another fun idea. Latisha Yoast created a frame of sorts with the Mandala Maker dies and placed some stamped flowers on top. 

What a fun way to draw attention to the flowers!

Dana Joy had a similar idea. Rather than applying watercolors to her Mandala die-cut, she cut it from several different pieces of cardstock and then built one big Mandala with all those pieces. You'll notice the Mandala is made with the very same colors she colored the flowers with! 

Rather than stamping a sentiment for her card, Dana used a "love you" phrase cut with Lovely Lavender's matching dies. She used markers to add color to it so it matches the colors she used to color in the flowers! 

And here's one more idea. 

Stamp and die-cut two bouquets of flowers. Color them in with markers and then stack them on top of each other, slightly letting the bottom one peek out.

It's a simple but unique way to use the stamps. 

Want to know about the Lovely Lavender stamps? Looking for a little more project inspiration? Check out this quick video Bev put together.

(Can't see the embedded video? You'll find it here on our website.)

Also if you like flower stamps, be sure to check out our Greenhouse Society stamps. We release a new stamp set and set of matching dies every month. These stamps are available for auto-shipment. Members get 25% off the stamp set, free add-on shipping and enjoy other benefits. Learn more about the program here. 

September Release Day!

Hi, everyone!

Today's the day! It's Release Day at Technique Tuesday! Hooray!

It's that time of year when kids go back to school, the weather gets a little cooler, and it's time to head back into our craft rooms. It is also a good time to replenish your stash of cards, start a gratitude journal, update your planner, make some layouts about your summer trips or the changing seasons, or even start your December Daily album. You'll find stamps and dies to help you with all those projects and more in this new release! (You can shop for all the new stamps and dies starting now on our website.)

Craving some inspiration? Please check out the blogs of our talented Design Team members. They've each made some awesome projects to share with you! 

Amy Kolling

Jill Dewey Hawkins

Daniela Dobson

Kymona Tracey

Latisha Yoast

Heather Hoffman

Teri Anderson

Plus don't miss this video from Bev! She'll show you all the new products. She will also give you some quick tips for making amazing cards, scrapbook pages and DIY projects!  

(Can't see the embedded video? You'll find it here on our website!)

Thank you for joining us for New Release Day and all our September Sneak Peeks! Please come back. We've got lots of fun projects and tutorials to share with you over the coming weeks! 

PS. Who is the lucky winner of the $20 gift certificate for Technique Tuesday? That would be Meghan Kennihan. Congrats Meghan! Please check your inbox for a message from Teri about your prize! A big thank you goes out to everyone who left comments during on our September Sneak Peek and Countdown posts. We sure appreciate them! 

Sept. New Release Countdown: Day 1

Hi, friends!

We are so excited to have you with us today as we inch closer to the September 1st release of new stamps and dies at Technique Tuesday! 

You are going to get the first look at the full reveals of some of our amazing new products for cards, scrapbook pages and planners.  Plus we've got our Design Team with us today to share some incredible projects they've been making with the new goods. 

First, let's take a look at some of the new products!

Mandala Sentiments Stamp Set

Like to make your patterned papers with stamps? Like more traditional, classic images? You are going to love this 4x6 stamp set. It features several images you can use on their own or pair together to make all kinds of pretty mandalas! There are also several sentiment stamps you use with your mandalas or on their own. 

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Lovely Lavender Stamp Set

Like flower stamps? This 3x4 stamp set features a beautiful hand-drawn bouquet of lavender stems, plus for sentiments perfect for making all kinds of cards. Belong to the Greenhouse Society? This is your auto-ship stamp set for September. Not a member but gotta have the stamps? No worries! They will be available for purchase on the 1st with the rest of our new products. And don't forget to check out the dies! We'll have coordinating dies available for this stamp set! 

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Things Change Stamp Set

This 4x6 stamp set features a host of phrases and designs perfect for documenting everyday life and all the memories made along the way. These scrapbook stamps work on their own, but also work well with the recently released Captions and Labels dies. 

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Mandala Maker Crafting Die

Like to use die-cuts on your cards and scrapbook pages? You are going using the Mandala Maker die to make all kinds of fun elements for those projects and more! 

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Amazing Arrows Crafting Dies

You are going to love putting an arrow on it, so to speak, with these new dies. Use them on cards, scrapbook pages and all kinds of DIY paper crafting projects. Fresh Cut Studio member? These are your auto-ship dies for September. Not a member but want them? They'll be available for purchase on the 1st! 

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Want to see what you can do with these products?

Please stop by the blogs of our talented design team members:

Amy Kolling

Jill Dewey Hawkins

Daniela Dobson

Latisha Yoast

Heather Hoffman

Teri Anderson

Be sure to stop by our blog again tomorrow to see reveals of the new products. And you'll find all the new products here on our website on September 1st. 

Also don't forget to leave a comment on this September Release Countdown post, or any of of our September Release Countdown or Sneak Peek posts that appear here on the Technique Tuesday blog from August 27th to August 31st, 2018. We're giving a $20 to one lucky person for leaving a comment. Comments must be posted on the Technique Tuesday blog by midnight PST on August 31st, 2018. The winner will be announced here on the blog on Sept. 1st.