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!

Have I mentioned that I'm a little ecclectic?

You just never know what will happen over here! :D

Last time was steampunk - this time, not so much!

The stamp is Tin Can Mail by Inkadinkado. I started by stamping the image in Brilliance Coffee Bean on a light piece of card stock. Not quite tan, but not white either. After rounding the corners I started using different Distress Ink colors to age the edges (which is actually a technique from TJ called Burnt Edges) and the center. The flowers were colored with two or three colors of DI using a water brush. Once it was dry I colored the butterfly with gold Smooch and set it aside.

I ran a piece of brown c/s through the cuttlebug with one of Tim's embossing folders and rubbed gold brilliance ink on the raised portion of the design. A darker brown base and two pieces of scrapbook paper (edges aged also) and I was ready to assemble. At least I *thought* so until some ribbon called my name! Then the dew drops started in...

Well, at least I stopped there!

I'm still thinking about that ribbon. It's really too high, but any lower and it obscures the butterfly. *sigh* Cut if off? Leave it alone? Dunno.

What do YOU think?

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!

I got the most awesome card, EVAH!

I desperately wanted to send my friend Lauren some sticky back canvas - she needed it! - and there is just no way I could send an envelope all that way with just one thing in it. So, I sent her this card that was made with (what else?) sticky back canvas! :)

The canvas has proved surprisingly easy to work with, although I'm going to have to work on getting a straight cut. ;) The flower was a stencil (how long have I had that, I wonder??) that I pulled out of deep storage. I painted it with a combination of Distress reinkers, calligraphy ink (for a richer, deeper red) and some smooch inks. Although you can't tell from the angle of this picture, when I stuck the canvas down I stuffed some cotton under the flower to give it dimension. IRL it looks pillowy! :) I hand stitched around the edges (I also need to work on those skills!) with black floss on a piece of thick white c/s which was then attached to the base. I also stamped some subtle flowers on the black background (they were stamped with versamark). All it needed after that was a thin edge of gold and a piece of ribbon.

Yesterday, I received a surprise package from the lovely Lauren ... and I got the phenomenal card she made with the canvas lotus that I sent her in the 'canvas' package! Woo hoo! :D (isn't it seriously gorgeous? I placed it front and center on the wall in front of where I create - so inspiring!)

I admit, we send each other goodies quite frequently but she really went ALL OUT this time! An amazing stash of paper goodies, sticker goodies, some grunge, and the card: which really, is to DIE for! Thank you, thank you ever so much sweet Lauren! (and even though DH is giving me the stink eye - I'm working on a return!)
Thanks for dropping by... (and drop by over at Lauren's place, I promise you won't be disappointed!)

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!

A baby shower

Although it seems like all the family schtuff should have quieted down by now - it hasn't! Yesterday I attended a baby shower -lots of family there that I haven't seen in years (sheesh, it sounds like I *never* see family! :D).
Anyway, I made this card for the mom to be. Originally I started with a *completely* different card in mind. About half way through I realized that what I had planned was *not* going to work - so I went off on the baby tangent! :)
As you can see, I started with a circle base in a metallic finish. The quarter moon shape was cut from some of my Kioshi stash. I ran a clear glitter pen around the flowers and the stems - why does that never show up? I sewed very loose stitches through the ribbon & gathered it before attaching it to the back of the Kioshi paper. This is where I ran into trouble. Since I was near the end of the roll (and didn't want to 'waste' any) I used way too much! So much that I had to add *triple* layers of foam tape around the ribbon to support the moon - and I probably should have use four layers. Note to self: use less ribbon, or finer ribbon in the future!
Sadly, I didn't have any teddy bear stamps that worked with the scale of the card. I scoured the internet looking for just the right image and finally settled on this one (which came from a site where you can print off coloring book images). You can see a close up view of the bear here - I used two different techniques from TJ - one called Level Up and one called Paper Peeling. The bear is subtly dimensional (I never remember that I don't like fussy cutting until after I've started and there are *four* layers on some of his parts!) and a little fuzzy (from the peeling). I used a couple of distress inks and a copic marker to color him. The sentiment is from a clear set by Inkadinkado (found at JoAnn's several years ago).
Thanks for dropping by! :)

101st post!

Well, I certainly *never* thought I'd write so many posts! It seemed like such a simple thing to start a blog, more of a lark really. Who knew? :)
Most of the family is gone back to their homes now. The only one left is grandma - she'll only be here another couple of weeks & then she'll fly back to KY. It's still a little strange to me that she doesn't live here - of course it's a little strange that they ALL don't live here anymore! Things are headed back to normal, summer is starting to wind down and I'm feeling a bit more crafty. I can't imagine how women with more than one child ever manage to get anything done!
For one of our last family get-togethers I made this card for my cousin (to go with a gift - her & her SO recently bought a house!).
I know the picture doesn't do it justice. I had to take it at night (which I haven't done in a long time) and try to 'fix' it with PSE. Note to self: only take card pics during the day! Still, you'll get the general idea.
The base was black c/s, stamped with a damask background using VersaMark Champagne. The glimmer from the ink looks like dust in the pic - but IRL it's a subtle shimmery echo of the wrapping paper I used. Have I mentioned that I'm a little nuts for wrapping paper? I'm sure that I have well over fifty rolls - enough that we have to keep them in TWO places! DH thinks I'm a little nutso. :)
The glasses (and sentiment) came from the same clear stamp - I cut them apart to use them how I wanted. You can't see very much detail, but both the glasses and the champagne were colored with spica pens. I did add a little DI to the champagne - it needed a little more yellow. Of course I added a little bling on the burgundy ribbon - I wouldn't be me otherwise! Very simple card - but it went beautifully with the gift!
Thanks for dropping by!