Playful Pandas Card by July Guest Designer Milene Tiberius

Today we have our first post from our June Guest Designer, Milene! You may have seen her work as @milenetiberius on Instagram. We feel in love with her adorable cards and are so happy to have her join us this month! We can't wait to share what she has created with our stamps! Keep reading to find out more about Milene today and to check out her first project below!

Hi all! my name is Milene. I was born and raised in southern Brazil. I now live in Indiana with my husband and fur babies - two cats and a dog. I have been a crafter since childhood, but have recently become a cardmaker. I am very excited to be guest designing along Newton's Nook talented team, and I can't wait to share my creations with you! You can find my handmade projects on Instagram, @milenetiberius. I love using NND products, so you may just find some inspiration!

Hi everyone - Milene here! 

Welcome to my very first blog post as the July guest designer. I'm so excited to have you here today!

I have a fun card to share with you, using the “Playful Pandas" stamp set from the June release. When I think of pandas, I always think of the color pink - not sure why. Maybe it is because I do like the warm color along the black and white.

With my color combo in mind, I created a background using the bamboo stick and the noodle bowl stamps. I used a handmade watercolor paper to add a nice texture to my card (I purchased this paper and did not make it myself).

The first step was to heat emboss the three columns of images on my card. I used Versafine ink and clear embossing powder. I decided to heat emboss because I was having trouble getting a clear impression on the very textured watercolor paper. That also does make watercoloring a little easier!

Once all of my images were stamped and heat embossed, I colored them in using Distress Oxides. I used Peeled Paint, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo on the bamboo and bowls. Next, I created three horizontal watercolor stripes on my background. I used Worn Lipstick Oxide ink, and I made sure to blend my stripes nicely into the background. I wanted a very smooth transition to white.

I did, however feel that my background needed a little more. I decided to use the little solid heart image from the same stamp set. I did first, second and third generation stamping all over my background, using the same Worn Lipstick ink. I made sure to stay mainly on the striped areas to preserve the white.

I set my background panel aside to dry while I worked on the little panda. I once again used handmade watercolor paper and heat embossed the image. I added a little shading to him, using Black Soot Distress ink and added pink to his cheeks and feet. I LOVE this little guy! He is just so sweet, and I thought he went perfect with this sentiment. I can totally relate to being nasty when hungry! I thought it would be fun to give him some food, so I colored an additional bowl for him to hold.

The sentiment is so fun, and I decided to keep it very simple, white heat embossing on black cardstock. To create a layer between my background and focal point, I added a die cut circle of a polka dot vellum I had in my stash.

My background was raised up using craft foam, and I used foam tape for my images and sentiment. I added liquid glue to the back of my vellum only behind the panda and the black cardstock. That way you cannot see the adhesive through the vellum.

That is all for me today! I hope you have learned something fun from my tutorial. I sure had a blast with the Playful Pandas Stamp Set!

I'll see you all next week!

- Milene