A card... from someone else?

Why, yes! I *do* have a card from someone else! Lookee:
Isn't it fabulous?! :) My lovely friend Lauren and I have been having lots of interesting chats. She's getting more interested in 'technique-y' stuff and asked for some suggestions. Since there are *many* amazing artists out there, I was thrilled to send on some links! This is her first try at the Bandanna technique (you can see her post about it here) - and I think it's awesome! Not only is it awesome, but she sent it to *me* - am I a lucky girl or what? As if that weren't enough, she used her latest digi collage as the address label on the envelope! (now the postman loves her too!) If you get the chance you should absolutely go visit her blog. We must have diametrically opposed (yet strangely complimentary) skills. Well, she has SKILLZ! :) Some of the things that she does with text just blow me away.
Thank you *ever* so much Lauren! This will look absolutely amazing on my 'card wall'.


Ok, ok. Enough about my very fun mail day.... How 'bout something from me? :) If you've been following along for a while you know that I stumbled across a new (to me) blog called Simplicity. I'm not all that good at the CAS style, but she has inspired me to try again.
Once again I've used the big flower from Hero Arts, this time I cut it into pieces. What you may not be able to tell is that I stamped it on wood. Yes, wood! Last time I went to Archivers I found these sheets of wood - paper thin. This particular one was Birch. I used several colors of Distress Inks to stamp/color the flower. I used Diamond stickles for the center of the flower to add some sparkle (CAS does NOT mean bland!). The base and layer the sentiment is on were both stamped on sparkly white paper. The sentiment was cut and embossed with a long rectangle nestie before I popped it up. Truly, it looks better in person.

Thanks for dropping by!

Ugh!

So you won't believe it. Two days ago it was 60 degrees, yesterday it was in the fifties... look what today brought:














Ugh is right! I think it's about 4 or 5 inches in less than twelve hours. What you can't see is that it's still snowing - and there's a wicked wind blowing really hard too. I thought we were past this point already. *sigh* No wonder I'm sick (again, still?). No wonder everyone seems to be sick! There was a pink eye epidemic in town (yes, our house got hit too) that was so bad that all the pharmacies in town were out of medication. ALL of them!
Ok, now that I've gotten all my boo hooing out... how 'bout something pretty? Something that says warm, springy weather! Yup, that makes a much better picture.
I started this card with a panel of watercolor paper. I used black archival ink from Ranger to stamp the Hero Arts image. Once it was dry I used a water brush and various Distress Inks to color it. A couple of things you can't really see in the photo: all three yellow coins (?) were colored and then covered with Glossy Accents to give them shine and dimension and the butterfly was cut out from a second piece of paper, colored and then had GA applied to the *underside* of the wings. This allowed the GA to dry like usual so that when I glued it on to the panel the wings had clear 'pop dots' underneath. This is a great technique if you just want a little bit of height, height with an angle or height that will support the entire surface. The wings on this butterfly will never be crushed by the post office. Ha ha! (boy am I tempting fate or what?)
The background papers are from a GCD Designs paper pack and the bamboo leaves are from Inkadinkado. Once everything was matted and stuck down I did a little faux stitching using a black pen with a very skinny tip.
I just want to go curl up in that picture....
Hope it's better where ever you are!
Thanks for dropping by!

Another bandanna card

It's been a while since I last posted a bandanna card (my very first post to be exact!) I really do love the look once it's finished. The only problem is all that tiny little work with a pen! :)
I am a member of a swap group (we swap supplies through a Yahoo group - let me know if you're interested in more info) and managed to snag this background stamp from someone that had two. It's by Impression Obsession and as soon as I saw it listed I knew it would be perfect for this technique! Originally I saw this technique on the Ranger site (by Robin Beam) and then just a few months later it was in my TJ newsletter. I do love that newsletter!
Since I just received my shipment of the new Distress Ink colors (aren't they super delicious??) I thought I'd give them a shot. I believe there is a mix of Barn Door, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed and a little bit of Scattered Straw. I stamped the background with VersaFine Onyx Black and did the doodling with a white Uniball Signo pen.
The sentiment is from River City Rubber Works - an awesome place to shop if you ask me! I don't believe you can see it in the picture, but I also did a light spritz of gold Glimmer Mist on the same background stamp and applied it to the colored panel. Much like stamping with water, it makes the DI run just a little bit. Unlike water, it leaves a nice little glimmer behind! The sentiment was also stamped with VersaFine. As a final touch, I used the blending foam pads (with the same DI colors) to ink up the little flowers. Once they were dry I added half pearls and glued them down with Glossy Accents.
Hope you like it! Thanks for dropping by!

The big flower

Back again! :)
I've been busily playing with a new Hero Arts stamp of a large flower. So far I've gotten 3 1/2 cards done (not quite finished on the 4th - but I'm sure you know how that is!) and I'm still loving it. I thought I'd show off the first two - see what you think!
This first one was kind of an experiment with colored pencil over textured card stock. I didn't go as well as I planned, in fact I had to pull out the OMS to get smoother looking coverage. That's OK though, I do like how it came out in the end. After I colored the flower I used an embossing tool and puffed up the petals and the very center. Once they were puffy I went back and really defined the edges and the yellow stripes by pushing down on them.
At first I wanted to leave the cut out area, well, cut out. But the base just didn't have enough strength to hold itself up. I also thought about using some acetate, but decided on this dark brown. One of the hot color combos lately has been blue with brown - I changed it up! :)
I also did some accents with Stickles (distress ones in Antique Linen I believe) over the yellow/orange pencil. I know the brown looks almost black - but the outline of the flower, the sentiment and the cut out area are all a nice brown IRL. On this one I added some faux stitching at the very end, unlike the real stitching on the next one!
This second card is one that I'm very proud of! I almost sent it to my friend Lauren (hi Lauren!) but decided to send her something more out of the box (it may hit here mailbox yet... we shall see!). This was a background done with a variety of Distress ink colors and a blending tool. Then I spritzed water on the craft mat and stamped the script background into it then on the paper. After I did that several times (my script stamp is about 1/4 of the size needed) I hit it with a heat tool to set the ink. I stamped the flower over the top (in brown Staz On again) and colored it in with a white prisma pencil. I *love* how it still shows the underlying colors but makes them look like ghosts.
After the flower was colored in I used another Distress Ink (Walnut?) to stamp the same script over where the water had 'bleached' it. (then I had to wipe the DI off the pencil - sheesh, a little forethought would have been nice!) A little bit of Picket Fence Distress stickles in the middle of the flower added the necessary bling. I used the same brown ink to stamp a portion of a stamp on the ribbon. Finally I used a single strand of white embroidery floss all around the outside. Boy, for someone who doesn't sew, I've been doing a lot of it lately! Once again this dark brown card stock (used for the base) shows up almost black in the picture. *sigh* I'm still working on my PSE skills. Yes, skills. They aren't mad enough to be skillz yet! ;D
Here's a closer look at the flower. I just *love* how this looks! I'll have to do it again (and again...).
Thanks for dropping by!

Not a card in sight! :)

Last weekend (was it that long ago??) my best friend came on over for a visit. I *love* when she comes to hang out with me (okay, us), but this time was extra special. We were crafty! :)
My exceptional SIL dropped by earlier in the afternoon and somehow we ended up going to the fabric store. I know, strange but true. (especially since I don't sew even a little bit - and I already have some fabric gathering dust) While we were there I found (of course) some fat quarters to bring home... they just called to me. And I have no willpower. Sheesh.
But just look at the gorgeous colors of blue/green/gray - it's like ripples in a pond. (or tree bark according to DH when you turn in the other way) How on earth could I have resisted that? Or the other four patterns that jumped into my arms? Or the green one that my little boy just had to have (which his Gram made into a snake so at least it isn't gathering dust with the rest of my fabristash)? I just had to buy them... yeah, see the comment about my willpower above.
So anyway, once my chica had arrived and we had a little family time I had to pull out the new fabric for show and tell and do some oohing and ahhing. Before I knew it we had spent hours at the table together laughing and gluing. It was *awesome*!
I didn't take a pic of the journal that she covered (send me a pic chica!), but I did take a couple of my project. The book was a blank book bought at HL on clearance (87 cents!). The fabric was from my trip earlier in the day. The flourish is grungeboard from Tim Holtz, painted with a mix of paint dabbers from Ranger and Lumiere paints. I finished the inside with a piece of dark gray scrapbook paper so you couldn't see the edges of the fabric (or have them peel up). I believe the ribbon was from Target - the bridal aisle.
I wasn't sure just how long to make the ties (it's just glued on with Fabri-Tac across the back) so I guesstimated. I think they're a little too long to be practical so I'll probably trim those a couple inches when I get the chance.
I love the way this came out! I love the fabric, the flourish, the colors.... it's just yummy! :)
Thanks for visiting!