American Crafts Studio Blog

Love Canvas by Revlie Schuit

Revlie Schuit has created another stunning canvas and will show us in a step-by-step photo tutorial how to make it!

Then There was Magic Love Canvas by Revlie Schuit

Supplies: Wanderlust Paper (35548) - Amy Tangerine, Yes Peas Paper (35549) - Amy Tangerine, Come Together Paper (35547) - Amy Tangerine, Get Around Paper (35561) - Amy Tangerine, Is it Any Wonder Fabric Paper (35556) - Amy Tangerine, Field House Paper Leaves (77258) - House, Love Struck (59151) - Clear Stamps, Decorative Tape (61749) - Mix tape, Textures (59147) - Clear Stamps, Spooky Night (59148) - Clear Stamps, Happy Day Paper (35600) - Daydreams, Joyful Day Paper (35603) - Daydreams, Blissful Day Paper (35605) - Daydreams, Pleasant Day Paper (35609) - Daydreams, Cute (59153) - Clear Stamps, Clover Cantina Paper (35537) - Garden Cafe, Thank You (59149) - Clear Stamps, Santa Baby Paper (35482) - Hollyday, Glitter Buttons (85563) - Elements, Holly Jolly Paper (35543) - Hollyday, Double Sided Super Sticky Red Tape (61753) - This to That, Dimensional Dots (61709) - This to That, Silver (59526) - Pigment Ink, Rouge (59521) - Pigment Ink, Black (59500) - Pigment Ink; Other: Canvas, acrylic paint, spray ink, black pen

1 - Gather pink and grey patterned papers.

2 - Roughly cut your grey papers. Don't measure. Don't worry. Just cut different shapes and try to cover the canvas. If you have white edges, or even open spaces, that's OK.

3 - Grab some gel medium and paint a coat of it on your canvas. Arrange your papers on it and again brush over with the medium to seal it off.

4 - Cut 12 hearts by hand (no need to make them perfect!) from the pink papers and one from black/white paper. Arrange them and set them aside for later use.

5 - Attach some lovely Amy Tangerine Mixtape on the bottom and paint the edges white with acrylic paint.

6 - I also painted in between the papers white. Once it's dry you can start embellishing your canvas! I used paint, stamps, and ink to make it all lovely.

7 - I've stamped randomly, created some paper flowers with buttons in the center, inked the edges of the canvas to make the white a bit less bright, painted with white acrylic paint around the edges of the hearts, attached the hearts, buttons, and stamped clouds. When everything is dry I defined the details with a black pen around the edges of the hearts, around the stamps, etc.

8 - My title is hand written. I used white cardstock and a black watercolor pencil. I wrote out my title, made shadows, went over it with a small pencil and water, then once dry, I cut it out by hand and attached it with pop dots on the canvas.

9 - There you have it - a lovely canvas! I'm not even a mixed media artist - I just give myself permission to play and that's when I love creating the most!

Winners of Chromatics, Patterned Album & Remarks

Happy Monday! Thanks for all the comments and feedback on our final Sneak Peek Week reveal of Chromatics Blending Markers, new Patterned Albums and Remarks Stickers. We're so excited about these products, and we can tell you are too!

Now for our winners!

Winner of the Chromatics is Marie Butler:

The new Patterned Album goes to Becki Smythe:

And finally, the Remarks Stickers go to Shirley K:

Send your mailing info to contest@americancrafts.com to claim your prize. Congratulations!

Didn't win this time? Be sure to check out the first Love Week post and enter to win $50 worth of what you love most at American Crafts!

Love Week!

I bet if you were to make a list of all the things you love you'd run out of paper before you ran out of things! This week we're going to focus on LOVE - just in time for Valentine's Day on the 14th of February!

Cindy Stevens has a pair of love-themed projects to start us off:

You Stole My Heart by Cindy Stevens

Supplies: White (71081) - Cardstock, Black (71082) - Cardstock, Scott Paper (35575) - Chap, Mike Paper (35572) - Chap, Happy Day Paper (35600) - Daydreams, Everyday 4 Banners (93610) - Flutterbys, Daydreams Plastic Buttons (85573) - Elements, Chipper (78061) - Details, Border Punch Value Kit (63013) - Knock Outs, Daybook Die Cut Shapes (77288) - Bits, Wonder Kale (53263) - Thickers, Sunny Banana (53121) - Thickers

You are Wonderful Sweetie Card by Cindy Stevens

Supplies: White (71081) - Cardstock, Scott Paper (35575) - Chap, Mike Paper (35572) - Chap, Yes Peas Paper (35549) - Amy Tangerine, Savor (42210) - Remarks, Merangue (42211) - Remarks, Daydreams Plastic Buttons (85573) - Elements

Which American Crafts product do you LOVE? Let us know in a comment on this post by Friday February 3rd 2012 and we'll randomly select one winner to receive what they love - up to $50 in value! Good luck!

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Video

We had this video with the full Dear Lizzy Neapolitan reveal on Monday, but it's just so good, we had to give it a post all to itself! This adorable video features the new Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection, along with the line's co-designer Elizabeth Kartchner.

Enjoy!

Video by Collin Kartchner Studios

Sneak Peek Week: Chormatics, Patterned Albums & Remarks Stickers

We have quite a time showing you all our new products — from Dear Lizzy Neapolitan and Amy Tangerine Sketchbook to DIYThickers and Glitter Tape. Today is the last reveal for Winter 2012, and it's sure to get your attention. Ready? Set. Go!

Chromatics Blending Markers

Chromatics are new inexpensive alcohol-based blending markers that add color, shading and detail to stamps and other paper crafting projects. There's no hard-to-understand numbering system — it's 1-2-3 easy! We've matched the most popular colors in light, medium and dark, making it a no-brainer when choosing which shades blend together.

Even easier: buy in pre-matched three packs with a suggested retail of only $10.99. Individual markers retail for only $3.99.

Chromatics come in 22 hues, plus the essential Colorless Blender that lightens, fades and pushes color. Plus, Chromatics are acid-free and archival safe.

Patterned Albums

Made with the highest quality construction and attention to detail, American Crafts Patterned Albums exude style and personality. With six new designs to choose from, there is an album to fit every need and taste.
Remarks Stickers

You can never have enough alphabet stickers, and our 13 new Remarks Sticker Books help with the fun of titling, labeling or sprucing up just about anything. Choose from 11 cute fonts in a variety of colors. And don't worry about running out of vowels: We've got plenty!

Tell us what you think! Then, on Monday, Jan. 30, we'll pick three winners — one to receive Chromatics, one to receive a patterned album, and one to receive Remarks Stickers — and announce them on the blog. Good luck!

Winners from Sneak Peek Week

We have winners to announce today (that should've been announced on Monday!) of our new lines: Gardenia, Fresh Squeezed, and DIY Thickers, Wow! Glitter, Spark! Tinsel and Pop! Microbeads. Sorry to make you wait, but no worries, the wait is over!

Winner of the Gardenia collection is Kelly Shults:

The winner of Fresh Squeezed is GraceInCalifornia:

And finally, the winner of our DIYThickers, Wow! Glitter, Spark! Tinsel and Pop! Microbeads is Marti Richards:

 

Congratulations to our winners! Please email your mailing address to contest@americancrafts.com and I'll get your prizes on their way.

Thanks to everyone who commented! It's so fun to read your thoughts (and feel your excitement!) about our new lines.

Sneak Peek Week: Flower Shoppe and Glitter Tape

We've got another reveal for you today of Winter 2012 products from American Crafts — Flower Shoppe and Glitter Tape. These new lines each have unique pizzazz that's irresistable. See for yourself!

Flower Shoppe

Step into a world of color with Flower Shoppe. Blooming with playful buds in a rainbow of colors, this cheerful line pops with personality (glitter and jewels too!) and invites everyone to stop and enjoy the flowers. (We'd say stop and smell the flowers, but alas, these aren't scratch-n-sniff.)

Flower Shoppe features groupings of pastel, warm and basic colors in a variety of delicate blossoms, from glitter foam to molded.

Here's a couple more examples of the fun you can have crafting with Flower Shoppe:

Glitter Tape

In a host of colors and three different widths, American Crafts Glitter Tape offers versatility and glam in spools of adhesive-backed fine glitter. Forget the boring clear stuff and piece together projects with Glitter Tape.

Glitter Tape comes in the choice of 3/8-inch, 5/8-inch and 7/8-inch widths. Colors of the ribbon match AC Cardstock, making it easy-as-pie to coordinate supplies for crafting. (Genius!)

Look at all those colors!

Here are a few examples of what you can do with Glitter Tape:

Thanks for stopping by! We'll have one more reveal for you tomorrow that you definitely don't want to miss. (Let's just say we have some pens that'll turn heads.)

Amy Tangerine Sketchbook full reveal

We have another reveal for you today, this time of Amy Tangerine Sketchbook! You got a sneak peek of it last week in our blog hop, so here's the full line. All the paper, all the embellishments, all the inspiration!

But first, here's the winner of the entire Amy Tangerine Sketchbook from the commenters on the blog hop post. Congratulations go to Ash Kay!

Congrats, Ash! Send your mailing address to contest@americancrafts.com and I'll get your prize on its way!

OK, on to the full reveal! If you remember from last week, Amy Tangerine Sketchbook is splashing some color on life with this latest signature collection. Vibrant colors drip off the page thanks to a bold watercolor effect. Hand-drawn details are everywhere — from picture frames and cameras to flowers and lace — bursting with eclectic goodness.

Sketchbook will have 24 patterned papers plus lots of embellishments, like Thickers, Remarks stickers, fabric brads, and ribbon. Oh, and Daybooks? Amy Tangerine Sketchbook has two new ones, one of which features a spiral binding and internal pockets. One more thing: an awesome patterned album.

The Paper

The Embellishments

What do you think? Let us know in a comment below — we love hearing from you!

 

P.S. We'll have another reveal tomorrow of new items we're releasing. And it may or may not involve more glitter.

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan full reveal

As promised, we are back with the full reveal of Elizabeth Kartchner's newest signature collection from American Crafts: Dear Lizzy Neapolitan. Let's recap what we told you about it last week, and add lots more images!

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan is soft and feminine, featuring candy-shop colors and a diffused watercolor effect that takes you into a daydream of hand-drawn Mason jars, ice cream cones, and balloons.

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan features 22 papers, including two ruffled crepe varieties and three vellum sheets. There are lots of embellishments, too, including Thickers, clear stamps, and Remarks stickers, mini-garland Flutterbys, paper pinwheels, and a Roller Stamp — just to name a few!

The Paper

The Embellishments

Last week we promised to announce the winner from those who commented on the blog hop. We're happy to announce today that that winner is: Kelsey C.!

Send your mailing address to contest@americancrafts.com and we'll get your prize on it's way!

And finally, check out this great video by Elizabeth Kartchner, featuring Dear Lizzy Neapolitan (of course!)

 Video by Collin Kartchner Studios

We recommend clicking the little gear icon on YouTube and watching in HD for full dreamtime effect.

Sneak Peek Week: DIYThickers, Wow! Glitter, Spark! Tinsel & Pop! Microbeads

It's finally Friday, and we have an excellent way to send you into the weekend: The reveal of DIYThickers (that's right, create your own!), plus Wow! Glitter, Spark! Tinsel and Pop! Microbeads that happen to work beautifully with these new Thickers, and other adhesives, too, of course. (Like our This-to-That Super Sticky Red Tape. Good stuff.)

So let's get started, shall we?

Creating project-specific Thickers is now as simple as 1-2-3 with American Crafts DIYThickers. Simply peel away the adhesive cover, sprinkle on an embellishment (we suggest Wow! Glitter, Spark! Tinsel and Pop! Microbeads, naturally), brush away the excess, and voila! A unique Thicker perfectly paired to your project.

Perfect for use with new DIYThickers — as well as any other project — American Crafts new Wow! Glitter, Pop! Microbeads and Spark! Tinsel are a cut above, bringing colorful texture to any crafting endeavor.

Wow! Glitter adds dazzling color and dimension to projects, with 18 colors of fine glitter and nine colors of chunky glitter to choose from. These little bottles of loose glitter create a big finish that's impossible to resist.

Spark! Tinsel proves that this twinkling embellishment isn’t just for the Christmas tree. In nine beautiful hues, Spark! Tinsel is easily applied with adhesive to any project, creating the most shimmering finish available.

Color has never jumped from the page like it does with Pop! Mircrobeads. There are nine fantastic colors to choose from, each creating a textured and elegant finish like no other.

What do you think? Tell us which of the DIYThickers fonts is your favorite, and which embellishment you'd pair it with (Wow!, Spark! or Pop!) and on Monday, Jan. 23 we'll pick a winner from the comments to win a prize pack of all these goodies!