The crafty post!

Ok, so technically it's not Tuesday anymore. But it *is* just barely Wednesday - does that count? :)
I thought this book deserved it's own post (and I didn't know if I could fit this pic in with the last post!). It's something I've done a few of - actually they're pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it.
Isn't it lovely? :)
This started out as a plain notebook from Target (clearance, even!). I started by prying apart the binding and slipping both covers off. Once I chose my yarn (yes, yarn - it's actually called ribbon yarn and is getting *much* harder to find these days) I was ready to wrap.
If you choose to wrap a notebook like this there are a few tips that I can give you. Before anything else, decide if the area where the binding goes looks ok - paint, sharpie, ink or otherwise color it to look good. Measure enough yarn to wrap the right edge of the cover - I used red liner tape on the edge & folded my yarn in half. This will completely cover the edge and make for a nicer finish. Apply whatever adhesive you choose to use (this was a combo of red liner tape, xyron & Fabri-Tac) to both sides of the cover and start wrapping from the bound edge. The first wrap will have to completely overlap your leading edge, but after that you can wrap overlapping 1/2 to 1/3 of the preceding edge. I chose to cover the corners of this book with metal findings from Tim Holtz, but with a little forethought you can make that last edge look professional enough to escape notice. :) If you (or the intended recipient) will be dropping this in a purse from time to time you may want to use some Fabric Tac and nail down some of the edges. Otherwise the yarn may get pulled out of whack and look bad. If you're just using it at home, don't bother!
As I said, I used some Tim Holtz book corners in a sort of antique-y gold color. To match the feel of them I matted the main panel with a piece of gold card stock that was embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder and punched with a Martha Stewart corner punch.
The main panel is a stamp from Lost Coast Designs. I stamped it with black VersaFine on a piece of letterpress card. Yes, I bought some letterpress card - even though I don't have anything else related! :) Thick, luscious paper! I had to use a *very* light touch with the water brush - it is NOT built like watercolor paper. I used a couple of different Distress Inks to color the columns, her wings and the 'sky', but the woman is done with colored pencil. After it dried I gave it a quick coat of Matte Mod Podge for protection.
Thanks for dropping by!

I've been MIA

Although I do have a fairly decent reason! :)
First is the new computer. If you've ever had to move all your stuff from one computer to another - you know it's never as easy as you think it will be! The networking with Win 7 is, ummm, not as clear cut as I'd like and makes it difficult when your pictures are over there and your software is over here....
Strangely enough (since it's September) we've also had a rash of wildfires in the area. Nothing too close to us but they've been very destructive. Just a little west of us was the major one, the
most destructive one in the history of the state! Ten square miles, tons of people left without homes, clothing, food. It's just awful. We actually had ash raining down on us from that one. There was another south of us, one north (and the high winds blew so much smoke toward us that it smelled like a bonfire outside our house - everyone got sore throats from that!)
and then yet another west of us. It's been unreal to see the devastation. Thankfully every single one has been contained now (if not totally out) even though the wind did *not* cooperate.
Today I am thankful for the hundred (plus) firefighters that came from all over the country to help.
Anyway.
I have a Halloween card to share, which is odd since I think this might be the first one I've ever made! :) I used a TJ technique called Splash 'n Stick from the Aug/Sept 2010 newsletter. Although I *did* change it up a little - there was no splashing. :D I like my clothes to be Alcohol Ink free!
The sticker is a laser cut sticker from Mrs. Grossman's line. All alcohol inks came from Tim (of course!). The background piece was also done on glossy with Tim's AI, then stamped with an image from Creations Unlimited. The truly deep black color is some velvet paper from Doodlebug, it's such a deep black color that it made the sticker look almost gray. Go figure! I did add some black Distress Stickles to the birds to help them stand out - they seemed to just fade into the background otherwise.
Unfortunately this is one of those cards that looks much more interesting in person. Even though I have the original - when I look on the screen I think it needs something more. I promise - IRL it's very 'done' looking! :)
Thanks for dropping by!

She's done... and she's gorgeous!

I think I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was working on something special that I couldn't show you yet. Well, the time has come! :D

First, let me say that I've been hunting this stamp for a long time. I saw it (on a post to the TJ group) and just fell in love. Unfortunately, the company in question wasn't producing them any more. What's worse is that I found out in May or June that they had sold the entire line to a company that isn't (even now!) on the internet. Oy! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago was the annual stamping show that I always attend (birthday money! woo hoo!). This year it was a little farther away - and I was hesitant to go that far. Thank heavens I did! The new company (Stamp On It) that owns the Nicole Croy line was there - and I finally got my stamp! :D

First let's take a look at the actual panel with the Nicole Croy stamp: (sorry about the acrylic blocks in the pictures, it just couldn't stand by itself)

There is an awful lot of stuff going on here! The first thing to note is that this was done on a piece of sticky back canvas. I'm really impressed with this stuff - it never lost it's sticky (and I abused it horribly!). The woman was stamped with Brilliance black on a piece of canvas about 8" by 4". Once dry, I went to town with just about every liquid medium I have - there are colorwash sprays from Zia, Glimmer mists, Starbursts and Memories mists. It literally took me a week (or more) to get the colors the way I wanted them. I sprayed and blotted, painted with color and just water, sprayed some more and let dry, blotted with bleach water... it was truly crazy. The canvas held up beautifully through the whole thing.

Once I was happy with the color I started adding the 'extras'. Out came some Tim stamps (the birds, the edges & some flourishes) and Distress Ink. I didn't use black because I was afraid of the whole thing getting too dark - so the birds are Chipped Sapphire and everything else was either Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap or Vintage Photo. At the bottom I also used some other grungy/flourishy stamps from Stempelglede - but by then in was *very* hard to see them!

At that point I realized that it was almost impossible to read the sentiment. After painting the edges with glittery stuff, you couldn't really see the black ink. I liked the way it looked around the edges but had to do something for the words. Sharpie to the rescue! Yup, I used a black sharpie and went over all the letters. :) (and the outline of the woman)

I had been working with the wings (separate, but meant to work with this stamp) on another little piece of canvas at the same time - but I wasn't liking the results. Instead I used Tim's wings (just masked off one side & then the other) and white Lumiere paint. I did have to stamp them twice - they're very detailed - and I didn't get great coverage even then. In then end though, I really like the final look.

The last thing I did was put the canvas on a piece of backing from a paper stack to give it strength. Once that was cut to size I edged the whole thing with black satin ribbon (and double sided sticky tape).

Since the whole piece was much to big for a card, and I didn't want it to get damaged, I decided to frame it. I found a frame at Michael's (half off coupons rock!) and altered the backing board. You can see that I used a feather stamp (from Stamp A Mania) with versamark randomly on the black backing. Then I dusted a couple of colors of Perfect Pearls over them. I randomly stamped the feather some more and added the other two colors from the set on the 'top' images. If you could see it in person, you would be able to tell that there is a bronze color, a purplish color, a blue and a green all mixed together - very shimmery and pretty. (and if you look closely you can see my pencil marks for centering the angel piece. ;) whoops!)

For the final picture - here it is all in one piece! I *love* the way this came together! The woman, the sentiment, the birds, the wings... it just speaks to me. She has been framed, but I couldn't seem to get a good picture - just imagine another thin line of black around the outside (it's a very simple frame). I've just been sitting and admiring her since I finished - don't tell me I'm the only one who ever does that!
The only problem I have left is... where should I hang her? :D

Thanks for dropping by!

Er... steampunk?

Have you ever had one of those days that what's in your head refuses to come out? You know, the kind of day where you start with an idea (and even a specific person in mind) and end up somewhere so different that you're left wondering 'What the...?'
I *had* that day! :D
Just so you can get an idea of how not even close I was - picture me sitting with some grunge letters and wings (covered with shiny pink paper) and a circle card that I'd covered with a gorgeous misty purple scrap paper. With flowers. And glitter.


This is where I ended up:

Yeah. Um....
This doesn't even bear the slightest resemblance to what I *thought* I was doing. Heh.
I started by laying down some of the text papers that Lauren sent me (Hi Lauren! Are you proud of me?!) in a very random fashion. (Yes, this was supposed to be a part of the original card.) The first thing I did was spritz the whole sheet with Moon Shadow Mist in Tawny Turquoise from Lindy's Stamp Gang. After that was dry, I stamped the sentiment from River City Rubber Works in Chipped Sapphire DI (and then went over it with a fine point black pen - but only in the center of the letters). I cut the piece down & rounded the corners, then inked up the edges with more DI. Down one edge I ruffled some tape - it almost looks like masking tape but it's really made for scrapbooks - and stapled it in place with Tim's stapler. It was at this point that I could tell there was no use fightin' it! :D
The other portion of the text paper piece was embossed with the Clockworks folder from Cuttlebug. The raised portions were lightly rubbed with both Chipped Sapphire & Black DI, then had a little silver Krylon pen applied (and buffed with an inky cloth -it was too bright & shiny otherwise). This piece was stapled on to a piece of black c/s which was then adhered to the black card. The sentiment piece is popped up on some black foam dimensionals that I got from TexasJodyLynn over at Confessions of a Ribbon Addict (which are awesome - go buy some!). The final step was to outline the base card with the same silver pen. Oh, wait, the *actual* final step was to add some Rock Candy Distress Stickles to parts of the gears! A girl's gotta have bling! :)
So. Not at all what I expected.
But I think I love it all the more for it's surprise appearance!
Thanks for dropping by!

Mono squares

Recently (ok, not *that* recently!) I had an idea for a project with these 1 inch squares. The idea never panned out, actually it morphed into something completely different, but I still had about 20 or 30 of these stamped squares littering my table. Do you sometimes have a light bulb moment? That's exactly what this card was! I had been moving these squares around for ages - suddenly I knew exactly what to do! :D
I trimmed a card base out of a piece of black c/s and trimmed the mat out of the left over section. Once I had the mat ready I chose the best inchie squares (all inchies were Inka stamps with brilliance black ink) and laid them out. As soon as they were down I knew I needed ribbon - sheer black in this case. As soon as the bow was on I knew it needed a little something more. This bird came from a set by Fiskars - strange that I haven't used the bird that I bought the set for yet! After trimming the bird out (he has a swirly/vine type nest under him originally) I spritzed him with pearl glimmer mist. Once dry I popped him up and attached him, but didn't like the way the glimmer mist looked. So - trusty Tim to the rescue! :) A light coat of Rock Candy Distress Stickles & a bit of drying time, a few dew drops, et voila!
I swear it took longer for me to write it out than to do it. Which happens so infrequently (I'm a slooooow stamper usually) that I think I'll just spend the rest of the day grinning like a fool!
Thanks for dropping by!

Holy buckets, it's CRAZY over here!

It's finally starting to wind down though! :)
This month has been a whirlwind of activity. There have been three different family visits (a niece, SIL/BIL/nieces AND aunt/uncle/cousin) all within a couple of weeks. Not to mention the shopping trips (well, aren't family visits the best reason to shop? I blame it on those crazy SIL's of mine!) and the get-togethers. Then we had a family reunion of sorts - people I haven't seen in at least a decade! Not to mention my birthday, my best friend's birthday (we've known each other 20 years!), two upcoming baby showers AND my little man started swimming classes.
Whew!
No wonder I haven't touched ink to paper in almost two weeks!
I thought I'd drop by for a minute and post the card & gift I made for my friend's birthday. The card was actually a sketch from SCS, but I can't remember which one! Maybe when I get some extra time (ha-ha!) I'll head over there and try to figure it out.
I think the biggest inspiration was the lotus stamp. I found it at Michael's a while ago - it's a Studio G stamp (from the Soloz line) so I think it was only a $1. I really love the size & the lines. For this one I stamped the flower several times on watercolor paper & colored it with a water brush and Distress Ink. Once they were all dry I cut out the petals & popped them up on a base image. The center was actually a piece of sticky back canvas that I also colored with a water brush & DI. In order to give it dimension in the center I stuffed two 'heads' of q-tip cotton under the canvas before I glued all the petals down. I *love* how it came out! Obviously, you can't see the glimmer, but I wouldn't be me if I hadn't added some Spica pen to the petals and outline. ;)
Here's a nice close look at the flower - I just love how the color came out. Mostly I used Chipped Sapphire - but there's also a touch of Dusty Concord. The center is mostly Scattered Straw with some shading of Tattered Rose. Oh, the sentiment is also from Tim. :D
This next thing was totally CASE'd from the cover of (Stamp & Scrap???) a magazine earlier this year. Honestly, I can't remember which one right now. Assuming that I ever get some down time (riiiiight, I'll do this right after I figure out which sketch challenge I used!) I'll have to find the original magazine & update this post. I remember being stunned by how beautiful it was - must be why it stuck in my head! :)
To start I stamped & clear embossed a lot of black paper. I used a 1 inch punch to cut out the pieces for the background, then dipped the edges into more clear ep (using my melting pot). The background is actually the velvet backboard for a shadow box that I picked up at Mike's with a coupon. After spacing the squares out & gluing them down, I ignored this project for way too long! (which ended up in a total panic when I realized just how close her birthday was!)
To do the butterflies I colored both sides of a white paper with distress inks & stamped a little bit with water/glimmer mist. After it dried I used a couple of Martha Stewart punches to get the 3 different sizes of butterfly. I glued them down with glossy accents after deciding on an arrangement (which was harder than I thought it would be).
Once more my love of bling surfaced & I added Rock Candy stickles to all the butterflies. Since that didn't seem quite enough, I added Diamond stickles to some of them too! :) I totally bums me out that you can't see any sparkle in the picture - you'll just have to believe me!
You'll also have to take my word for it that it looked about twice as cool *inside* the shadow box. I'm not certain why - but it bumped up to another level when it was all put together. Enough so that DH was feeling a bit covetous! :D
Thanks for dropping by! :)

It's probably the hardest thing I've ever done...

Seriously.
My darling friend Lauren sent me some ultra fun papers to use for stamping stuff. Mostly old book pages, but a few other interesting things (like comics in spanish!). Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I have *never* torn book pages before. I'm a bibliophile - can't help it. Books are to be loved and respected. I thought I might have a heart attack when I heard the first quiet rrrriiiipppp! (and it doesn't help that dh was making fun of me at the time, asking if I needed help with my book burning!)
Then I got into a whole 'nother realm of difficult. After tearing, gluing and gessoing I had a piece of neat looking paper - but no idea of what to do with it! Finally I settled on this:
which is not at all like something I would usually make! It's a bit wonky (on purpose, I swear!) and kinda busy for me - but I like it.
The Hero Arts grass stamp was inked with Ranger's archival brown color and stamped on a piece of my collage paper. I used several colors of Distress Inks to add color to the piece - but then cut most of them off when I decided to cut it into a circle. More of my collage paper was covered with an orangey-brown color of mulberry paper, then glued down with mod podge and a touch of reinker. The background card was rubbed with a gold mica magic reinker, which I also used to edge the strips. Although you can't tell from the picture, there is a lot of glimmer and shine going on!
As the final touch I added one of Tim Holtz's epoxy stickers (also glued down to collage paper) as a dangling charm from the embroidery floss.
All I can say is - this *really* stretched my comfort zone! And Lauren, you better be proud of me! :D
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!

I've been very crafty!

Although I haven't been posting very often, I have been *very* busy! Today I'll give you a peek at two different cards that started with the same idea but went completely different directions.
It all started with a technique from Technique Junkies called Alcohol Ink Press. Only one of my backgrounds was deeply enough colored to use for this particular project, but I had two of the man with the umbrella to use. Hence, two similar (but very different) cards!
This first one was closer to what I originally intended. The AI technique gave me a lovely background, although the brown color I used at the bottom seemed to lighten up considerably. This was backed onto a piece of glossy white card (so the colors were visible) and stamped on top with a Tim Holtz stamp using StazOn. I felt the man needed more 'umpf' so I stamped him on grunge paper and did my favorite thing of all time (NOT!) - fussy cutting. I lightly coated him with a turquoise/gold Lumiere paint that had been watered down a lot. I wish I could say that I stamped the flourish (also Tim Holtz) next, but that would be a lie! :) Instead, I did it the hard way... adhering the grunge man first, then lifting him up in order to stamp the flourish & dust with Perfect Pearls from the Patina kit. I did learn something important - perfect pearls do *not* stick well to acetate. I learned that by rubbing my finger across it and having to reapply the pearls! A piece of offset black card stock and a few dew drops later and voila!
The second one was more of an experiment with the grunge man. Also fussy cut from grunge paper, I treated him to a little different style. First I inked over the black image with Faded Jeans and Fired Brick (IRL the umbrella is *very* red but I couldn't seem to get a good pic). Then he was given a 'wet' coat, umbrella and shoe tops with Distress Crackle paint (clear). Once that was dry I rubbed some more blue ink into his coat and dabbed a little of the clear distress stickles on the top edge of the umbrella. The background (and grunge paper word pieces) were colored with Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick and Vintage Photo DI. They were a little too bright for the man, so I spritzed them with Graphite Glimmer Mist.
Once everything was dry I stretched a piece of copper wire mesh over the background and stuck it down to a black mat (using super strong red liner tape). The black mat gave me a way to attach the word pieces using the Tiny Attacher from Tim (which has the *most* adorable little staples - evah!). Some red liner tape to stick the man down and a sparkly gray card base and I was done with number two.
So there you have it. Two similar, but very different cards. Hope you like them!
Thanks for stopping by!

Back to bright!

Hello again!
I've been creating like a madwoman at my crafty table. Although I've had some setbacks (crackle paint over stamped perfect pearls is NOT pretty) I've also had some success!
I got the inspiration for this from a little tiny avatar picture. Isn't it strange where we find the creative spark? :) It was a little picture that had pink swirling into orange and reminded me of a sunset. I loved it!
Although you can't tell, there is actually a lot of red in the background, but as it dried the pink sort of took over. Didn't expect that! I used Memento inks over a 4 inch square of glossy white card stock that I mounted on a piece of black c/s. The base is a 5 1/2 square premade card base that I bought at Hobby Lobby (I think - it was a long time ago). The tree (Tim Holtz) was stamped with Brilliance black ink and the sentiment (Cloud 9) was stamped with Brilliance gold and embossed with gold powder. The background swirls (Lil Davis) were also stamped with gold Brilliance ink. I love the way this turned out - so much different than the things I've been doing recently.
One more thing that I'd like to mention. In case you haven't noticed (I don't know if you can see it in a reader?) I updated the font on my sidebar titles and blog post titles to this fun little handwriting font. Be sure to take the time to check out all of her cool fonts (they're free!) and maybe submit your own while you're there. What you may not know is that this is a special font that I downloaded and the biggest 'fun' part is that you can see the new font even if it isn't installed on your computer. This was done by following a tutorial on Kevin and Amanda that you can find here. Not for the faint of heart - it's a pretty long and detailed process - but if I can do it, so can YOU!
Thanks for stopping by!

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!

A recycling project - settle in, long post ahead!

I don't know about you, but I've been eyeing everyday items lately. Usually I make cards, but this box seemed the perfect size for 'extras'. Originally it was the box for my Xyron Cheetah refill - now it's an excellent looking addition to my organizational products! lol Well, what I *wish* were my organizational products! ;)

Unfortunately I didn't start with a plan (hint: start with a plan!) so I did twice the work that was needed. It took me quite a while to fit together basic white card stock to cover all of the name brand stuff - my box was black, blue & orange but you can get the basic idea here. I thought I would cover it with thinner paper (stamped, of course!) and was worried that the colors would show through and make everything look wonky. Since the box wasn't exactly square (hey, it was stored for quite a while!) it was a task of monumental proportions to cover all the important bits. Of course I decided to cover it with a thick scrapbook paper after all that work. Of course I did. :roll eyes: I went to work and covered it again, this time trying to do an even better job. There were some flubs, but they're hardly noticeable now. :)

Once it was covered and glued down (and dried, again) I used my Tim Holtz flourish mask & added some new glittery VersaMark - but the sparkle wasn't enough! Perfect Pearls to the rescue! So, gold PP were dusted over the versamark - you can't even tell it started as the champagne color.

Here's a better shot of the gold (from head on you can barely tell they're there, even IRL). Yes, I did use the mask on everything except the bottom. You have to love the shimmer of perfect pearls! lol That, and I love the flourish mask to death....

Ah, do you see that gorgeous flower? I have a confession to make about that flower. I saw a video recently, in the last week I think, that showed how to make this flower. While I would love to share that video with you (and give credit, of course) I CAN'T FIND IT! I have searched through all of my history for the last three weeks; nothing. I went and searched through COTW (and got a little distracted); nada. I went through my Google Reader; zip. I know it was a post by a woman whose friend made her a quick video of how to do it (so the friend did the vid, not the poster) and I *think* she was from somewhere in Europe?! If this rings a bell for anyone, *at all*, please let me know!

So, I'll try to give you the basics that I followed. Using a large piece of white tissue paper I cut a bunch of circles using my Cuttlebug with a circle Nestie. And I do mean a *bunch*. I think there are 17 layers of circles in that flower! Because I wanted a close color match I chose to spray Walnut Ink (Tsukineko) on my craft mat and lay all the circles down. Then I spritzed with water and more ink until I liked the base color. While they were still (very) wet I pounced them with my Peony Scarlet Red Starburst Stain. (This came from Lindy's Stamp Gang - if you like Glimmer Mist, you will LOVE these - trust me!) I spritzed more water and pounced more color all over (all the circles were overlapping) then spritzed with more water & let them dry overnight. You can get a little bit of an idea of the glimmer of the SS in the pic.

The next day I folded the dried circles in half and stapled them in about the center of the circle (right next to the fold). Well, two of the circles were folded in quarters and stapled at the point - for the center. Then I just opened and stacked them up, using glue dots since they were handy. I checked every now and then to make sure everything looked good and spaced the bottom circles accordingly. Yes, I built it from the top down - easier to make sure you're still looking flower-like instead of blob-like! :) Finally I added the top two (mushed up next to each other) and did a little gentle scrunching. Ta Dah! It really takes much longer to write it out than to actually do it!

A little brown ribbon and a large brownish eyelet later and I was all finished. I think I'll do it again - perhaps in blue? What do you think? Like it?

As always, I appreciate your visit!

The muse returns!

I don't know where she went, but she came back with a vengeance! lol

This card has amazing amounts of work put into it - literally days. Oh, not days on end, but a little here and a little there until I had been working on it almost a week! Can I possibly be the only one that works on stuff that long?

The main panel is done with the Joseph's Coat technique. I did add a little twist - some pearl glimmer mist was spritzed and allowed to pool (and dry) before stamping the Tim Holtz image. Even after brayering the black over the image you can still see streaks of shimmer - it's very cool IRL.

Let's see. The background panel was brayered with the same ink (Hydrangea pad from Ranger) then glued to a Hambly screen print sheet. I embossed that with a cuttlebug folder (not that you can see that texture in the pic, sorry!) and added the corner pieces (also CB). The tags were cut from a sheet of that gesso background blitz from a few posts ago, then edged with black and stamped on.

I think the tags were the hardest part of the whole thing. I had an awful time finding words to stamp on them. I wanted something meaningful, but they also had to be the right size. Finally I chose 'Art', 'Soul' and 'Love' - aren't these important to everyone? :) I also stamped some flourishes around the words - I just couldn't do without! Even though the ribbon on the tags looks black and white (which is how it started out) I colored the white portion with a Sky Copic marker. It actually matches the background colors quite well.

I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for coming to visit!

A little something distressed

I thought I'd drop in real quickly tonight and post my latest creation. Sadly, it *is* my latest creation! lol Apparently I've got a block that just won't quit, everything goes into the circular file. (sigh)

Ah well, I was pleased with how this one turned out. There was a great video on the Hero Arts blog that inspired me to pull out my Distress Inks and play with them. I haven't done this sort of distress in far too long!

I think it's pretty self explanatory, brown & green on the bottom tag, green & blue on the middle tag and blue with a little green on the top one. I did rub some stickles on the flower head - yummy little glimmer! The only thing you might not be able to really see is the little heart charm. Originally it was a pewter/silver color - but since that wasn't what I wanted I attacked it with dark brown (Espresso?) alcohol ink. Now it looks just right!

Thanks for visiting! Send me some good crafty vibes, will ya? :D

That background I mentioned...

Hello again! If you read the last post, you know that I was having fun making gesso backgrounds and I promised to share some more.

I really love the way this came out! Much like I said in the last post, I stamped the diamond background with white gesso on white paper. When it was dry I went to town with all kinds of lovely sprays. :) Which ones? Well, I can guess that I used Amaretto (Memories Mists) and a dark blue (Midnight something-or-other) Glimmer Mist - and quite possibly the Blue Martini MM also, but I can't swear to that. Once they were dry I stamped my new Tim Holtz wings in white gesso, then overstamped with Charcoal chalk ink. The swirls were stamped along the edges with the same chalk ink but no gesso. See what a huge difference that made?! The Michelangelo quote was stamped in black (twice with Brilliance in order for it to show up - gesso doesn't take ink well AT ALL).

Once the main panel was dry I mounted it on a piece of black vellum. The vellum *needed* something (ha!) so I went around the edges with my distress stickles (lovin' those!) and smooshed them around with my finger. Of course I had to dab some in the corners of the panel too. Finally it was mounted on a bronze card base. What you can't see is the strip of background that I put on the inside - a nice finishing touch.

Here's a slightly different view that shows the 'glimmer' part of the glimmer mist. Like I said, I *love* the way this came together. :D

So, here's another little something I've been working on. Most of the time I feel like I have crafty ADD - anyone else?? I get started with something, head off on a tangent and never get back to what I started in the first place! This time it was the sprays... oh, those lovely colors just called out to me. So I got down a piece of rice paper and spritzedbrushedsprayedblotted until my fingers were waaaay inky! I'm not sure what this will eventually become, but I liked it enough that I wanted to share it. How 'bout you? Like it? Have crafty ADD too? Ever take time to just play with your colors? Do tell!

Thanks for visiting me today, I appreciate it every single time!

Down and Dirty!

Here I am again! Two posts in one day - is it the end of the world?!? :D

I made this card while I had all the stuff out for the blog-o-log. The gesso was just tempting me... so I made several backgrounds (you'll see more of them later). This one wasn't very 'springy' so I kept it for a separate post.


First I stamped with gesso on white paper. Once that was dry I sprayed Amaretto and Pale Ale Memories Mist over it. It needed some glimmer - so the Pearl Glimmer Mist came out to play. Just a thin spritz where the two colors met. I did use a paper towel to blot the extra ink from the gesso. Not a lot came off, that Memories Mist dries ultra fast!
The man (my *new* Tim Holtz stamp!) was stamped over the dry background in Charcoal chalk ink. It stamped beautifully over the gesso. Unfortunately it stained my new stamp. That chalk ink is *never* coming off! Meh. At least you can tell that I love my stamps.
Finally I added some Scrapbook Nails. They're plastic, umm, sort of like brads but they have a piece that fastens on the back. Since I didn't think the color was working well, I coated them with my new Tim Holtz Distress Stickles! (Did I mention that Michael's got a bunch of cool new Tim stuff in? Awesome!) That panel was layered over a textured piece of black (that I rubbed with my Winter Rust Opalite pad) then on a copper colored card base.
Not exactly bright and colorful, but I really love how it all came together! How 'bout you?

Thanks for visiting!

Welcome SNR blog-o-loggers!

If you're visiting from the SNR blog o log, welcome! I'm glad you're here! :) I hope you stick around and check out all the other goodies that are waiting to be discovered. If you haven't checked out SNR yet, do! The link is over there in the sidebar, I suggest you make (lots) of time to check out the SNR Card Universe. Tons of goodies over there, and the spring fling has been tons of fun!

If you've been around for a while, you know that I'm an (ahem) eclectic stamper. Today I think I've outdone myself for bright (yup, get those sunglasses out) and cheery. For my contribution to the BOL I've dressed up a picture bookmark from Michael's in very springy colors. I wasn't too concerned with failure - it was in their dollar bins. :)

Here in this first picture you can see that I've removed the insert and acetate where the picture goes and started painting with gesso. What you can't see (somehow I've managed to lose a bunch of pictures, wonder which computer those are on??) is that it was a *very* slick surface - therefore I sanded it before applying the gesso. I just used a medium grit nail block kept from the days when I actually *cared* about how my nails looked (ROFLOL). I did two coats on each side, one vertical & one horizontal since the pattern was so pronounced.

Next you can see that I added Distress Inks over the gesso. I just used a couple of cotton balls to mush the colors together. After I added all the colors I sprinkled with a little water & dabbed with a paper towel to give that signature DI look. Ummm, yeah, you can see a spot near the bottom where I blotted too hard - no worries! I intend to cover that with flowers anyway.... I did stamp the sentiment using VersaFine (not a great ink for this, next time I'll try a permanent ink like Staz On) but had to use the heat gun to get it to dry enough for the next step....

Here you can see what happened when I added Crackle Accents. Honestly, I forgot that DI over gesso starts moving when you add a clear gel product on top. I've had this reaction with clear gel medium, Glossy Accents and now Crackle Accents. I really like the look, it was just unexpected! You can see that the color intensifies and looks more impressionistic - I did help that look along by applying the CA with my finger. The cool thing about applying it with your finger is that you can vary the amount of coverage - some spots will crackle heavily, some lightly and some not at all. Of course you can apply it however you wish, it's all a matter of personal taste.

Once it was dry I rubbed it with a Vintage Photo DI pad - rubbing the color well down into the cracks for contrast. In retrospect I think I could have used a darker (probably Walnut Stain) pad, but I was afraid to overpower the underlying colors. Sadly, that' s another mysteriously missing photo. You'll just have to trust that I actually *did* rub it with ink! :)

While that was drying I started on the flowers. Now, I don't know about you, but I have tons of white flowers - paper and silk. It's very easy to color them, and you can get some amazing effects using a couple of simple techniques. Just place the flowers on your dye ink pad, cover with a scrap of paper and brayer over them. Or just mash'em with your fingers! :) I used a combination of multicolor and Distress Ink pads. You'll get a different look if you spritz with water first (the one on the left) or spritz after inking (on the right). I chose to spritz with Pearl Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels over the ink. It gives a lovely shimmer and moves the ink around even better than plain water. If the color is too intense you can blot with a paper towel until they pale out (keep adding water if you need to). So, I set those aside to dry, and once they were I added Swarovski gems to the middles - like they needed extra bling!

The next step was to arrange the flowers and glue them down. I used Fabric Tac because some of the flowers were silk and that seems to hold them the best (it also works great on paper flowers). And since I just couldn't stop... I added some of my new Distress Stickles all over the top (um, Frayed burlap & Walnut stain) for a little more dimension. These are not traditional glitter, they aren't sparkly - and they're very chunky, but I love the way they look. Of course I wanted a *little* sparkle, so I dusted over the wet stickles with clear crystal glitter.

There you have it! Bright, oh-so-sparkly and very springy! Now I need to find a bright springy picture to feature in the little opening. It will never be able to serve as a bookmark, but put a little magnet on the back & it would look really fun on the fridge! What do you think? Was it worth all the effort?

I hope you enjoyed your visit with me. Come back soon! :)

I'm back... with an addition!

So... did you try it?! If you have, I'd *LOVE* to hear about your results! Any results, good or bad! After all, like I said in the tutorial post - I can't get better without some feedback. :)

I've been playing a little more with different combinations of ink and paint. I've discovered that Opalite pads work amazingly! Do you still have some of those? They were such a big deal when they came out, but much like mulberry paper, they seem to have fallen into obscurity. I can't believe it - I love those pads! Beautiful results, and they're sooo versatile!

OK, here's the card. Not my best work, but it shows the glimmer very well. The main image was black acrylic paint (same people as Lumiere's but the flat black I have is called Neopaque) and Winter Rust Opalite. Following the tutorial, I stamped first with the black paint then over stamped with ink. The brown cs is not dark enough to really make the Opalite pop, but the black base really helped that.

The card base is from a much darker brown, opalites really pop on that. I used my delicious Katzelkraft flourish with black VersaFine (and a Stamp A Ma Jig) to frame the bottom and side. Once that was dry I over stamped with Winter Rust (and the SAMJ) to give a little depth. That red ribbon isn't actually ribbon - it's 7 Gypsies fabric tape. DH actually suggested adding red, and I think he's right, but I really wanted some more of that Winter Rust color. I used post it notes to mask a thin line down the middle & colored it with more WR. It looks a little messy, but overall it added something necessary.

The pearls are from Kaiser - they were called 'Latte' but I colored them with Tim Holtz metallic mixative in Copper. They're also a little messy looking (grr). Have you noticed that the glue dots on the backs of those things aren't really the right size? They're either just a *touch* off center or just a bit too big! And yes, they hold alcohol ink just fine. *sigh*

Well, the main thing is that you can see how gorgeous Opalite looks over black paint! And it does, doesn't it?? :)

Thanks for visiting!