Crazy In Love with DIY Action Wobble

Welcome to the Topflight Stamps Blog! CraftyPaws here with a fun, interactive Valentines card. This card was inspired by the Beyonce song, "Crazy in Love" and the silly heart-shaped bird with the spiraling eyes from the Carabelle-Studio "3 Oiseaux" stamp set that made me think of the all-encompassing crazy feeling of falling in love. 

I Copic colored up the bird in a bright red and then added a coating of Glossy Accents over the beak, claws and eyes for some shine. I also added some flecks with a Uniball Signo White Gel Pen to make the feathers pop. Then I thought I could emphasize that mad, unstable feeling of falling in love by attaching the bird to an action wobble (how to make a DIY action wobble in my blog linked below).

I wanted a Valentines themed background, but I didn't want to distract from the crazy, love-sick bird, so I used three of the stamps from the Carabelle-Studio Follow Your Heart stamp set but did not add any color to them. Instead, I added some subtle dimension and shine to parts of these background images using a Tsukineko VersaMarker and clear embossing powder for some heat embossing. 

For finishing touches, I inked the edges of the card front with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot, glued on a handful of sequins topped with Ebony glitter glue for sparkle and interest, and I even splattered on some diluted black acrylic paint for a light grungy look.

Thanks so much for joining me today here at Topflight Stamps! If you'd like more details about how to make a DIY action wobble or any of the products I used for this card, please visit me at my CraftyPaws Blog HERE.

You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings

Welcome to the Topflight Stamps Blog!

We are welcoming Kristina Song aka Craftypaws to our Design Team this week. Here's a little more about Kristina.

I started crafting actively as a kind of therapy when I hit the re-set button on my life and career for health reasons back in 2013. Since then I have never looked back. I love the flow of never-ending learning and the incredibly encouraging global crafting community.

In addition to crafting, my other loves are my super supportive hubby, Mr. CraftyPaws (we're celebrating out 10th wedding anniversary this year), and our two dogs, Biscuit (a 17 year old Miniature Poodle) and Bandito (a 5 year old Havanese).  

As for style, I generally lean toward Clean and Simple (CAS) or Cutsie, but I don't limit myself. I most often make cards, but I also enjoy painting, mixed media, alter projects, ATCs...well anything that suits my fancy at the moment! Crafting surprisingly helps me relax and focus at the same time, which I think helps my health and overall happiness. 

Hi Topflight Stamps fans! Kristina CraftyPaws here with my first design team project. I'm thrilled to be part of this team and representing one of my all-time favorite craft stores that brings awesome international stamps to the U.S. Before I share my first card, I thought I'd share a little about my crafting style. I'm eclectic, in that I love and try all styles and types of crafting, but I lean heavily toward CAS and Cutsie card making. I'm an avid animal lover, especially dogs, so they are often featured in my paper crafting.

For my first project, I decided to create a Valentines card using the Carabelle-Studio Art Stamp called 3 Oiseaux (3 Birds). I printed out the sentiment: "You are the wind beneath my wings." from my computer and then stamped out the whimsical flying bird with a heart-shaped breast with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink.

Then I Copic colored the bird and the surrounding air/wind. To add a little deeper, detailed coloring in the nooks and crannies of the swirling air around the bird, I also used a couple of Prismacolor color pencils. For a little magical shimmer on the love bird, I coated her with Clear Wink of Stella. To help the darker areas of the bird pop, I added some dotting details with a Uniball Signo White Gel Pen. I also added a dimensional shine on the eyes, beak and legs of the bird with Glossy Accents. Lastly, for a finishing touch on the card front, I glued on a smattering of sequins topped with tiny dots of Ranger Liquid Pearls in Platinum.

Thanks so much for joining me for my first design team project here at Topflight Stamps! I am really looking forward to sharing with you all the many ideas currently whirling around in my head. If you'd like more details about the colors or products I used on this card, please visit me at my CraftyPaws Blog HERE.