Motion Crafts blog hop!

Hello my fabulous friends!

Today is a super exciting day! I've been asked to join the Motion Crafts' first ever blog hop to celebrate their spring release! 

They sent me some INCREDIBLE stuff to work with (and included something for me to give away to one of you!!! More info on that coming later in the post!)

For those of you who don't know who Motion Crafts (Uchi's Designs) are... They make AMAZING stamps, dies, and grid sheets that allow you to ANIMATE your projects! And they make it SO simple! Be sure to check out their YouTube channel for great tutorials!

Paper: Georgia Pacific

Stamps: Motion Crafts Bee Happy, Fox and Friends

Ink: Altenew Permanent Black; Chameleon RD4, BL6, BL7, YG3, GR3, BR1; Copic B00, B02, B04, Y11; Uniball Signo White

Dies: Motion Crafts Animation Grid, Double Slider; WRMK Circles

Other: Motion Crafts grid; ribbon, rhinestones

Isn't he cute?!?!?

Using the animation stamps makes animation super easy... But I like to see what else can be done...

In this stamps set, the frog is animated, but the lily pad is a regular stamp... While it's perfectly fine to combine the two and leave them as they are, I wanted my lily pad to move as if the frog really had just pushed off it... I also wanted to add color... Both are very doable. They take a bit more time then just stamping, but I think it's worth it... 

Here's how to animate a non-animated stamp, and add color....

Step 1: To animate non-motion stamps (like our this lily pad), you first need a grid mask. Motion Crafts makes this awesome die so you can make your own grids... Perfect! 

Because we are going to be stamping over it, and don't want any weird halos, die cut your mask out of thin copy paper. (regular printer paper)

Step 2: Stamp your frog. Make sure the lines are perfectly vertical! This is important for sooth animation. This stamp has a fabulous flat edge on the bottom to make stamping him straight really easy... Especially if you use a stamp positioning tool like the MISTI (this has the added benefit of being magnetic which will make life easier in the next step)

Step 3: Mask his tummy (I just cut a blob out of a post-it note). Then line up your grid mask so the frog looks like he is sitting. Magnets are a great way to hold the mask in place as they won't tear or distort the fragile grid lines when you move it later.

Step 4: Stamp your lily pad in the position you want it when he is sitting... Notice how I have my lily pad crossing his tummy? That's why we masked it.

Make sure you give your stamp firm pressure... You want a clear impression around the mask lines.

Step 5: Shift your grid until the frog is jumping (I have one edge of my mask lifted so you can see the stamped lily pad under, but where the mask is flat, you don't see the lily pad you just stamped. 

Step 6: Shift your lily pad stamp to the position you want it in when he is jumping up and stamp again through the mask... Don't try to do anything too dramatic... I kept the slotted edge in pretty much the same place, but changed the angle of the other end to be on a bit of a diagonal like he had pushed off...

Step 7: If you want to add color, use your mask again... You should be able to easily line your mask up in the same places you had it before by matching the stamped lines on your project with those on the mask. Color in between the lines. The neater you are with this step, the better it will look... A marker with a fine point nib makes this a lot easier!

You should have something similar to this.... It may not look like much now, but when you move the animation grid over it, it looks AMAZING!

For mine, I also added color to his tummy and mouth, as well as adding in the water... I also carried the water out past the window to create a scene.

If you find it hard to keep nice sharp lines when adding the color, try cutting another mask out of heavier cardstock... I found that easier to color through then the thin paper we had to stamp through.

To finish off this card, I used my Copic airbrush and a stencil to create a sky. I kept things light around my frog so I wouldn't have to add any sky to the stamped panel.

The dragonflies are made from stamping two tiny hearts from the Fox and Friends set, then adding some tiny rhinestones. I love that there is a mix of regular stamps and animation stamps that all work together!

If you want to add color without the fuss of the mask, check this out:

Paper: Basic Grey; Georgia Pacific

Stamps: Motion Crafts Sunshine

Ink: Distress Black Soot, Worn Lipstick; Copic Y13, R00, E04, B0000

Dies: Motion Crafts Pull Slider

Other: Motion Crafts grid; Basic Grey alpha stickers; flower, brads

I stamped the mouse using two different colors of ink (black for the mouse, and pink for the flower). I also colored in the parts of the image that aren't animated (like his feet and ears) with Copics just like I would for any image.... 

Fun, huh!

 Animation stamps aren't just for cards... I decorated this treat box with a  really simple animated panel... 

Paper: Authentique, Recollections Clear Plastic

Stamps: Motion Crafts Essentials, Fox and Friends

Ink: Altenew Permanent Black; Sharpie Fine Liner

Dies: Motion Crafts Double Slider, Pull Slider;  Sizzix Milk Carton

Other: Motion Crafts grid; Recollection brads; ribbon

Very simple, but it will amaze kids and adults alike!

Ok... Now for what you all have been waiting for... The give away!!!

Here's the deal... I have this prize pack (a Pull Slider die set, and a Sunshine stamp set) to give away... All you need to do is leave me a comment below telling me your favorite spring time color combo.

I'll be picking a winner on March 30th.

{This giveaway is now closed}

Be sure to check out all the other AMAZING stops on this hop... Each person will have their own prize to give away!

Here's a list of the blogs:

Motion Crafts Blog

Laura Bassen

Vicki Papaioannou

Kreative Kymona

Svitlana Shayevich

Martine Rijnbeek

Kelly Griglione

Karen Hasheck

Taheerah Aticha

Tracey McNeely

Michele Ferguson

Miriam Prantner

Jeanne Jachna

Kassi Hulet

Karen Baker

Tammy Nickel

Carolina Zarate Ponce

Good luck!

~Kassi

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