Playing with gesso

Recently I saw something about watering down gesso and putting it in a spray bottle. I really thought that was an awesome idea - completely new to me, but apparently painters have known about this trick for a while!
It certainly wasn't as easy as I thought it would be - plus it was a *lot* more messy - but I did have fun with it.
First I brayered Creole Spice Kaleidacolor pad on a piece of watercolor paper, then sprayed (and dipped) the edges once it was dry. I stamped the tree in Charcoal chalk ink, then went over some of the dots with both a white pen and a silvery glitter pen (which was also used on parts of the trunk).
The sentiment was stamped on a leftover piece of the original watercolor paper in Charcoal ink - then went over with the same silvery pen.
I really like the final product, but it will be a while before I pull out that spray bottle again! (there are *still* gesso spots on all my pens and pencils!)
Now, back to Christmas cards! :)
Thanks for visiting!

Circle card - Kristina Werner's challenge

Do you ever go check out the KWerner Design blog? She seems like the queen of CAS to me! Recently she had a circle card challenge on her blog and I just couldn't help myself! Usually I don't make too many circle cards, maybe it's because mailing them seems difficult? This time I made the card so that it would fit in a 5 1/2 square envelope. The challenging part will be if I actually *mail* it! lol
I used my curvy cutter from EK Success to cut the circle card out of a sheet of regular card stock. Then used the same tool to cut a window and the frame for the outside. I've had that gorgeous scrapbook paper from Hot Off the Press for a very long time - it's just so beautiful that I a) hate to use it and b) bought a whole bunch! I cut an acetate window and adhered it to the base.
On the inside of the card I used one of the small Tim Holtz masks (a floral one, sorry can't remember the name now) and went over it with Ranger's white ink. Once the ink was in place I felt like it needed some umpf - so I hand drew lines with my brown spica pen - just doodles! Then stamped the quote from Hellen Keller in Walnut Stain distress ink.
Since the frame paper didn't have much (if any) white on it, I stamped over it with Ranger's white ink using the Tattered Angels tree stamp (the branches portion). Once I glued it down over the window I realized that the circles weren't a perfect match - especially on the inside! To cover that mistake I ran white stickles around the outside of the window, let it dry, then ran Frayed Burlap distress stickles around the inside of the window.
I always like to add a few flowers around the edge of a circular opening - this card was no different. Because I was trying to match the color of the flowers and paper in the frame I had to do a little magic with different paints. I finally ended up using a couple of different colors of Radiant Pearls, let them dry & then spritzed with Graphite Glimmer Mist. Hah! Then I only used ONE of the flowers I had colored! :) But I did spritz the white ones with some more 'clear' Glimmer Mist. A couple of Latte half pearls from Kaiser and a little ribbon and called it done!
Yup, this was actually a very involved process! But I really like the final card.
Enjoy your day!

My first digistamp!

I finally broke the seal! :)
Although there have been some interesting moments trying to print it (Vista *still* does not play well with others on the network) and some frustration with printing in black & white *only*, I finally got my first digi printed and made into a card. Woohoo!
The image is from Mo's Digital Pencil Too shop. I just *adore* this little angel. There are a few (ok, a lot) more images that I want to try, but Michael was my first.
A few of the details:
Michael was printed on our HP deskjet printer (it's pretty old) on Georgia Pacific white card stock. I wasn't sure that actual card stock would go through, but there was no problem with that.
Coloring was mostly done with colored pencils - Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor (I like these way better than prismacolors) - and OMS. The cloud that he's resting on was colored with some gray pencil along the bottom & then gone over with white Smooch. Sorry, I just couldn't seem to get a good picture of the shine! The other thing I learned is that my printer ink does not do well with Copics. If you look close at the bottom of the cloud you can see where I tried to add some sky color - and it made the black ink run a little. So, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good for a first try!
The cloud background was done with a scalloped circle and Distress Inks in Weathered Wood and Broken China. You can see that I went over the cloud tops with more Smooch - it gives you an idea of what Michael's cloud looks like IRL.
The edges were punched with a punch from paper studio, I wanted to go all around but I couldn't get it to line up nicely. Instead I used some of the star punched pieces and glued them around the edges of the layer. Those were given a little Smooch too! :)
Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoyed your stay!

An altered tin

Ok, I'll admit it. I don't do very many altered projects. Mostly because I have *no* idea what to do with them when they're done. Nor do I have space in which to keep them! :) Plus I HATE to dust.
Every once in a while I get bitten by the bug of altering. I fight it, really I do, but it sneaks up on me and I end up altering like a madwoman (while muttering in my head). Really, I can only keep so many, and friends and family only *want* so many before they start avoiding you - especially when you're carrying something! lol
I digress. (an aftereffect of altering, I swear)
I saw this adorable little tin last time I was at Archiver's and it ended up in my basket before I could say no. What's a girl to do?
First I decided to cover all that white. After much rummaging I found some brown mulberry paper that looked fabulous pounced with my Mission Bells Brown Starburst Stain. I let it dry and covered the edges of the top and the base of the tin. Then some delicious green paper from GCD and a little red from Basic Grey. I used nesties for the oval & ribbon tag - everything else was cut by hand.
The silver edges seemed to stick out too much so I ran my Pale Gold Krylon pen around any silver edges I could see (and some edges of the paper). I used some white rubons that my friend got for me some time ago (sorry, don't know where they're from). Brown ribbon (also from that same trip to Archiver's) tied the ribbon tag on to the front. (anyone got pointers for getting those on - easily?)
But it was still missing something. More ribbon! :)
As you can see, I went a little wild with the ribbon at that point.
All of those pieces were tied to a length of the original brown ribbon (what?? I have a lot of ribbon!) then glued down. No, I don't imagine that they're on there permanently, but it should hold up to casual use.
So. Now what? What do *you* do with all those nifty altered items? Any ideas will be gratefully considered! :)
Thanks for dropping by!

Oh yes, the kraft mood continues!

Good thing I bought a whole bunch of kraft card stock at the last show! :)

I see so many awesome things 'out there' that I just can't seem to contain myself. lol This particular one was inspired by a lovely card done on kraft with daises. Now, I don't happen to have any appropriate daisy images, but I thought this flower image was fairly close. Upon further reflection I realized that I didn't do very much the same at all! Much like the card that was inspired by Etha, this one took on a life of it's own. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful that my mind works in such mysterious ways (usually!), but I really do *love* that daisy card!

I started by stamping the flower from the Brenda Walton Inkadinkado set on kraft paper with Desert Sand memento ink. Then I used a white, very light blue and light yellow prismacolor pencil to color it in. Except the stem which was colored with my new Zig chalk white marker (which goes on clear then dries to white). I trimmed out the flower piece, added the sentiment and edged the entire thing with more Desert Sand.

The background was stamped with Desert Sand - it's another stamp in the Inkadinkado set - and then dotted with the Zig marker in the center of the flowers. I popped up the flower piece on double foam dots, cut a slit for the ribbon, et voila!

I really love how simple and clean this looks!

Thanks for visiting!

Is she done?

Well, honestly, I don't know. How sad is that??

I worked and worked on this for several days. As I said before I've been in the mood for white pencil on this background color. I thought she (Oak, Ash & Thorn from Third Coast Rubber Stamps) came out lovely, especially when I cut around pieces of the leaves and curled them up a little bit.

The first mat is multiple colors of Distress Inks (Vintage Photo & Frayed Burlap) applied with a blender tool. Then I stamped a wood grain background from Rubberstamp Ave with Walnut DI. Finally I added more leaves in white.The second mat was just a nice piece of brown card stock, but I outlined it with one of my new spica pens. Of course since I had the spica pen in hand.... Perhaps you can see a tiny bit of sparkle in her eyes? Yup! Had to add the spica there too!

I attached some of the gorgeous ribbon I bought by the yard at the (not so) LSS to the gold card base. After attaching the matted image I still feel that there is something missing.

Something perhaps on the bottom right? Dunno. I couldn't think of a single sentiment that belonged there. Well, at least none that I have! :) Maybe some dew drops? Ahhhhh!

So, maybe she's done. Maybe not!

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas... already?!?

I'm sure you've seen them by now. Tons of Christmas cards hitting the blogs. Blog hops, challenges, groups... you name it. Some of my very favorite bloggers are already deep into making their annual stash. I'll let you in on a secret. I'm a procrastinator. Seriously, I usually start my Christmas cards sometime in December (after I've made a list) and don't finish until sometime in January. Yes, that's right, January! If I don't see you before 'the big day', chances are pretty good that I'm making your card the night before! (I know, I know - it's awful. But I've learned to live with it.)

This year is different! I can hardly believe it, I've started my cards already. Now I'm in the mood for some eggnog.... ;)

This first one is definitely my favorite. It came out exactly how I envisioned it - and really, how often does that happen? I've been feeling in a bit of a 'kraft' colored mood, and when I saw this lovely deer from Inkadinkado I knew just what I wanted to do. First I masked off an area using torn post it notes, the covered it with white ink (Ranger's Snow Cap) using a cotton ball. I moved the post it's in a bit and repeated the process with Frayed Burlap distress ink. The deer was stamped with white over the brown (I had to overstamp a couple of times to counteract the damp DI). Finally I sprinkled some Ranger Holographic ep around the edges & heated it. I love the way this turned out!

Now, for my second one I used mostly the same process, just different colors. I don't like this one nearly as much - but I think I know what to do to make it better. I used Pine Needles DI instead of Frayed Burlap this time and for some reason the white tree just would not show up. I imagine it has something to do with the different ways of formulating different colors of ink? Dunno, but it sure was frustrating! I didn't want the tree in white ep, so I used the Holographic one again - still, not what I wanted. Like I said though, I think I know how to make the next one better - I'll do it on a green background instead of kraft. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

Now all I have to do is keep track of the Christmas cards I've made until it's time to use them! LOL Won't that be a Christmas miracle!

Thanks for stopping by!