Another exciting welcome!

I'll be starting next Wednesday as the Wednesday design team member at 365Cards! So exciting!

Check it out here!

And the Facebook page like contest is almost over-- just two more likes and it's done! Share one of our statuses or tag us in a status of your own  and be entered to win any item in the shop for free OR a 3-pk of Tim Holtz inks! The 100th like-er also wins a prize! Go here to participate!

Competition and Design Team

Hello, everyone! How was everyone's weekends? Mine was bizzzzzzay! Saturday I went to a crop at Lila's in Everett and worked on some projects for the store. Lila will be receiving some new Authentique paper from the Genuine line next week and so I made up some examples of projects you could make with it. I made a two-page layout, a card, and a really neat mixed-media canvas. Check 'em out: 

I'll post a picture of the canvas when I have a little better picture of it! You can see the real deals at Lila's starting next week- and purchase the paper and most of the embellishments/ inks!

Materials Used: 

Authentique Genuine Paper

Authentique Genuine "Details" stickers

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Miscellaneous twine

Recollections rhinestones

Martha Stewart classic butterfly punch

Yesterday, after resting up from the crop, I worked on some cards I am making for a competition. Check 'em out! 

Those first two I started at the crop and then finished at home, but I think they all turned out pretty nicely! Thanks to Elisa over at Perpetual Stew (another of Lila's designers) for the beautiful lace which she found for a steal at a thrift store : )

I also just listed two cards on Etsy:

You can see those here at my shop!

Don't forget that the McLion Design facebook contest is still rolling-- only 5 more likes until it ends! Like McLion here!

Have a great week!

A gift for Mom- plus, it's official!

I think everybody loves their mom, but I am especially close with mine. Even though she's far away (try 2800+ miles), we still talk almost every day! When I saw this cute little Dachschund stamp this afternoon, I immediately thought of her! Her cute little (insane) dog Rosie is a Dachschund and I knew Mom would adore this stamp. I made up a set of cards that I'm sending out to her in the morning!

Materials Used: 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Martha Stewart Set-Your-Own Stamp Kit

Copic Ciao Marker

Twine

Ivory Cardstock

Printworks "Hot Dog" Stamp

These cards were especially fun to make since I used the inks and a waterbrush to watercolor the image and the area around it.

Also, check it out! I'm officially on the website for Lila's Scrapbooking as a design team member! Check me out here, and while you're there, check out the links for the other designers- they all do really great work! 

Ooh la la!

So the husband is out with the ship so I've been crafting up a storm! Tonight, I participated in the Purple Cows Color Challenge! The challenge was to create a card using the colors black, white, and purple. My typical style is a little more brown/ green /ivory, so it's always nice to challenge my usual look with a little shake-up! 

Here's what I came up with: 

Isn't it cute? I always seem to find that with Mr. McLion away, I am much more girly-- I do my nails, watch trashy TV (Kardashians, anyone?), and with this card, glitzed it up! There's Rock Candy Distress Stickles accents, Perfect Pearls sheen on the edging, shimmery ribbon, and rhinestones on the center sentiment. Sweet and sassy at the same time- I just love it!

What kinds of fun things do you do when you have some free time to yourself?

Design Team and Classes!

So excited to announce that I've just been added to the design team at Lila's Scrapbooking in Everett! I just got my first design team pack to make some store examples from Authentique, AND, I just scheduled two classes that I'll be teaching!

First, I'll be teaching a class on embossing, resist, and stamping techniques on Tuesday, March 13th, first at 2-4pm, then again from 4:30-6:30pm. We'll make five (!) cards and a tag!

Then, on Tuesday, April 3rd, I'll be teaching a class on the basics of using alcohol inks, again from 2-4pm, and 4:30-6:30pm. We'll probably make a couple cards and maybe an altered object.

Below are two pictures of things from the March class:

I also made these cards for the shop!

These spring-y cards are for sale on Etsy here!

If you're nearby, join us at Lila's for the class- $20 for the two hour class-- plus, I'll have a prize with me!

Also, don't forget the McLion Facebook contest-- like McLion here, share our page with your friends or tag us in a status and get entered to win either an item from the shop or a three-pack of Tim Holtz Distress inks!

Super Bummer Update :(

We had to take Lucas back to PAWS today. : ( While he fit in fine with Boss, was sweet, adorable, lovable, etc., he really struggled with the stairs up to/ down from our apartment. We live on the second floor of our building and with Lucas' hip arthritis, he would have to stop several times on the stairs, and even stumbled down the stairs a couple times when we would go to take him outside. We tried using a towel under his hips to help him up the stairs which seemed to help, but we couldn't keep him from practically falling down the stairs when we would go out. We decided that although we totally love him (and because we love him), Lucas deserves to live somewhere that is comfortable and safe for him. His hip arthritis will only get worse, making the stairs more and more difficult, so although we adore him, we want what is best for him first and foremost.

Super bummer, but I know that Lucas will find a wonderful home with someone who can keep him comfortable! My husband, knowing I am a huge soft touch with animals (and everything really), bought me a sundae from Dairy Queen to cheer me up, so that helped a bit. haha

Lots of New Things!

First and foremost, meet the newest McLion mascot, Lucas:

Lucas! 

Isn't he a doll? An 8 yr old chocolate lab/ golden retriever mix, my husband and I adopted Lucas from the local shelter. He's got such a pretty variegated color, lots of deep browns and reds (and whites, the little old man!). We just adore him : ) Boss, the original mascot, and still king, of McLion Design is adjusting well. Lucas has pretty intense hip arthritis, so he can't climb onto the sofa or the bed, which is a relief to Boss, who adores both, so that is a help!

On to business! 

The Facebook contest has been kind of a bust-- though I did get 5 new likes over the weekend (progress!). If you're reading this post and want to help out by sharing the McLion Design Facebook page on your page and encouraging your friends to like/ support McLion, I'd very much appreciate it! And remember, if you link to us/ share directly from the McLion page, I'll enter you into a contest to win any item in the shop, or the three-pack of Tim Holtz Distress Inks I posted the other day! 

My husband, being in the Navy, is on duty at least once a week, so while that is a bummer when it comes to a warm bed (he's a straight-up furnace!), it is good for productivity! After a small hiatus from creating yesterday to help Lucas settle in, I made two new sets of cards tonight! 

The first is this butterfly card I'm calling "Flight"-- very elegant, perfect for a bridal shower or as an inclusion in a wedding gift: 

Materials Used: 

My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Paper

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Ranger Crackle Accents

Martha Stewart Butterfly Classic Punch

Recollections ivory pearls

Swirl cling stamp

white embossing powder

I also made this next card this evening-- probably my favorite so far! It obviously took me a little longer (and I made those rosettes by hand, darn it!), but I adore the result!: 

Materials Used: 

Ivory cardstock

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder

My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Cling stamps

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint

Perfect Pearls gold powder

Martha Stewart card stamp set

Pretty neat, huh? I just adore these cards! You can buy the butterfly card here and the bon voyage card here. 

I'll be teaching some classes at the Hobby Lobby in Everett starting in a couple weeks- if you're in the Mukilteo/ Everett/ Seattle area, I'll keep you up to date about times/ dates/ subjects!

Thanks for keeping up with the blog, guys!

Resist Tutorial!

I've been saying it all week and it's finally here! I made a picture tutorial for you to learn how to use the embossed resist technique that I use in almost all of my projects. I used the most recently posted card (Letterblock Thoreau) as an example.

Let's get started!

The items you'll need to do this project exactly like I did are listed below, but remember, you can use the things you have on hand too- your own stamps, inks, etc.

You'll need: 

Ranger Inkssentials Non-stick Craft Sheet

Ranger Perfect Medium Pad

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Black Soot and Vintage Photo)

Ranger Inkssentials Blending Tool and Foam

Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder (Clear)

Ranger Inkssetials Mini Mister

Ranger Heat-It Craft Tool

Acrylic block and cling font stamps

Ivory smooth cardstock

I specifically didn't link to places you could purchase these tools, linking to their product descriptions from the manufacturer online for an important reason-- I've seen soooooo many independent scrapbook and craft shops rise and then go under in the last few years and it breaks my heart. Take this list to your local store and if they don't already have it, let them order it for you. I know it's faster to go to Michael's or JoAnn's, but if we don't support our local stores, whose income in turn supports our communities and the places we love to go cropping, who will? 

Philosophical rant completed! Moving on! 

Perfect Medium is super versatile-- you can use it to stamp for embossing, for dusting on Perfect Pearls, for glitter-- all kinds of things! It even comes in a pen form so you can emboss or embellish your own hand-drawn items or handwriting! Neat! 

Tap your stamp on the Perfect Medium Pad (or vice versa; I do either, depending on the stamp I'm using), and stamp your image onto the cardstock. It won't look like much, but I promise it's there! 

Pour some of the clear embossing powder over your stamped image, tapping the edge of the cardstock on the edge of either your table or your little craft tray that I have here to shake off the extra embossing powder, but don't be too picky- if there's some that falls off or extra that sticks on, it gives it a nice aged look which you'll see a little better later on. You can kind of see this happening on the "I" up there. 

Use your heat tool to melt the embossing powder. I particularly like the Ranger Heat-It because it's very hot, doesn't blow a bunch of air that makes your papers go zooming all over the place, and because it's very quiet-- which keeps my dog who is scared of my hairdryer from freaking out! 

Repeat the stamp, powder, heat process until all of your images have been stamped. My finished embossed product looked like this: 

Now, using your blending tool and foam which you've tapped on your Distress Ink several times, start at the edges of your cardstock, rubbing the ink onto the paper from the craft mat, using a circular motion to avoid weird lines and edges from the edges of the foam.  The harder your press or longer you linger in one spot, the more saturated that spot will become, so remember that less can be more! I like mine to have a kind of mottled look, but if you want to be bold, you can skip the blending tool altogether and just rub the Distress Ink pad directly onto your paper. 

Using your mini mister, spray a rag or paper towel until it's damp, then rub gently (again in a circular motion, especially if your ink is still pretty wet), removing the ink from the embossed parts of the card. 

Pretty nice, huh?

For this project, I dried the black ink with the Heat-It, then, using a different foam, blended some Vintage Photo Distress Ink onto the edges and gently in various spots throughout the paper, giving it an aged look. The comparison between the paper with the extra ink on the left and without on the right is below: 

And there you have it! A beautiful, vintage-styled piece of cardstock, great for backgrounds, details, contrast text, anything! Here's the finished card again: 

So what do you think? Is embossed resist all I claimed it would be? : )

Stay tuned for another tutorial this weekend on how to use the Distress Inks to dye ribbon-- and remember to enter our contest on Facebook by liking McLion Design here and tagging us in a status/ sharing our contest status! You could win an item from the shop or a pack of 3 Distress Inks! 

Contest!

Help McLion Design reach 100 likes on Facebook! If you share our contest status or link to us in a status, you'll automatically be entered to win your choice of either an item from the Etsy shop or a three-pack of Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Forest Moss, Fired Brick, and my favorite color, Vintage Photo).

 The 100th person to like the page will also win a prize! Find McLion on Facebook here.

Thanks, everyone, for supporting me as I push this little bizzzz off the ground! : )

Letterblock Thoreau Card

As you may have guessed, I adore resist embossing. This card is a perfect example of why that is. It's such a pretty way to give your projects dimension without bulk, and just a little shine. This may be one of my favorite projects I've made recently. Looks like a chalkboard, with one of my favorite mantras on it (thanks, Henry David!).

For sale on Etsy here.

Materials Used:

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder

Sketchy Font Cling Stamps

Dark Ivory Ribbon

Recollections Pearl Accents

Happy Happy Happy

Quick post to show you another card that just went live on Etsy. My husband will be on duty for part of this weekend so I expect to put up a quick tutorial on how to do embossing resists at some point (The clear swirls on this card are an example of that technique).

Happy Happy Happy

An example of embossing resist 

Materials Used: 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Ranger Perfect Medium

Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder

My Mind's Eye Lost & Found cling stamp

Swirl cling stamp (Maybe from Recollections? Ironically, I forget!)

Martha Stewart card-making stamp

Ribbon

Card for sale on Etsy here. 

I'm getting pretty excited to share the contest with you guys! I just want to make sure the Etsy shop is fully stocked before I start it, but I'm pretty sure you should keep an eye out for an announcement tomorrow. 

And if you haven't yet, go like McLion on Facebook here. 

I'll post another quick project tonight that I've been mulling over in my head most of today but just haven't had a chance to put together just yet. For now, it's off to a date with my husband! : )