Putting together a simple mixed medium collage using a milestone photo or event as your inspiration is rewarding especially when it’s a loved one.

The Tim Holtz Memoranda Paperie papers have printed collage sheets so cutting one to the size of the Tim Holtz clipboard is all I needed to get started. I was was pleasantly surprised when I opened up my pack of Tim Holtz Botanical Layers Ephemera and found flowers and other items that match the colors in my photo. Putting this project together was a breeze and I hope to inspire you to try one of your own.

Once I had my paper in place I added a flash card and clip along with a Tim Holtz ruler to anchor my photo. I’ve also used a bit of foam tape under the photo and ephemera to give my project dimension and depth. I’ve stacked up a couple different style flowers to frame the photo.

I used a bit of paint to bring out colors from the papers and also white gesso for a shabby chic look. To finish things up, I’ve incorporated a couple embellishments to celebrate Melody’s third birthday.

I’ve filmed a video of the process which you can view below or on our YouTube channel HERE.

Blog Candy Alert!! Follow our blog via email and comment on this post for a chance to win a special blog candy!

Remember a collage can be whatever you want to create, keep it simple and make it fun! Thanks for stopping by today!!

Hi friends! Happy Friday!! Welcome to the latest edition of Yippee for Yana with Yana Smakula! I love the brightly colored watercolor card design she came up with! Please be sure to watch the video and enjoy!

Hi everyone, this is Yana Smakula and I’m excited to bring you another episode from my by-monthly “Yippee For Yana” video series! In today’s video I’m combing fruits and flowers to create a stamped and watercolor pattern for a card. For my watercoloring I am going to use new-to-me product – Nuvo Aqua Flow Pens. I have found these to be fun and convenient for some quick coloring.

I started working on my card by creating masks for the 4 main images I planned to group into a cluster. I stamped images onto post it notes and cut out with the help of scissors. Next, I started working on my pattern. Because I knew I’d be doing lots of watercoloring I used Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper for my stamping. I love to use paper from Arches and whenever I plan to do a lot of stamping (and later watercoloring) as Hot Pressed paper performs best; it is nice and smooth and allows for crisp stamped impressions even without the use of a stamping tool like MISTI or similar.

I used images from Dancing Fruits (Lemon), Sketch Ranunculus (2 ranunculus flowers and filler images) and Handwritten Floral Greetings (Large Leaf) sets. If you don’t have these exact stamp sets look for similar images. You’ll need a fruit, two large flowers, a leaf cluster, and some additional floral branches.

I stamped 3 nearly identical clusters onto my panel and added some filler images coming in from the sides to create the illusion of a continuous pattern. Next, I watercolored my pattern with the help of Nuvo Aqua Flow Pens and Black Velvet Silver Brushes #2, #4 and #6. Watch my video tutorial for details.

After my coloring was done I used Simon’s Believe in the Season stamp set; stamped and die-cut the word “Believe” and also heat embossed a sub sentiments that reads “You Can and You Are Halfway There”.

Lastly, I coated several of the watercolor images with Nuvo Crystal Glaze for a pop of shine and dimension.

I hope you’ll give this a try. Have fun stamping!

WATCH THE VIDEO:

SUPPLIES:

Thanks for reading today and thanks to Yana for being our guest!

Blog Candy Alert!! Follow our blog via email and comment on this post for a chance to win a special blog candy!

Hi friends! We are celebrating YOU today! Thank you for being our customers! We would love to get to know you better so that we can keep providing you and developing for you – the things you want and need!

Follow all 3 instructions below in the time allotted and we’ll send you a coupon for $10 off your next purchase of $10 or more! Please enjoy!

1) Answer 3 questions below in the comments section:

– What is your most-used tool in your crafty stash? 

 – Name one item from your crafty wishlist that you cannot wait to get!

 – Name 2-5 people who inspire you to be creative.

2) Email [email protected]

3) Receive a $10 off $10 coupon via email

**NOTE: The deadline to send the email is July 20th at 11:59 PM ET. Anything sent later will not be eligible for the coupon**