Friday, October 31, 2008

Mini Cards

I am quickly becoming a big fan of the mini card.... The only drawback is having an envelope the right size...

I love that I can reach into my overflowing scraps of paper and grab a piece and fold it in half and start a card. Usually I find myself in the land of 5 x 7 cards... You can only create one card with a sheet of paper and if you want to layer you usually consume a couple of pieces of paper.

This little card was made from the scraps of the previous card and some other scraps from all my supplies. (Except the charm)


I cut up the sentiment since I decided to make inchies on the front of the card and keep the feel of the inchie.

Recipe:

  1. The background for the stamped image is the alcohol ink technique in my previous post. I made 2 backgrounds and was still not happy with my end result.
  2. Stamp the image on the alcohol ink background in versamark and heat emboss with a copper embossing powder.
  3. Cut into 1" squares. Mount on lime green paper.
  4. Stamp sentiment on same paper and cut carefully apart. Mount on top of stamped image in various places.
  5. Attach heart charm to lower left hand corner. Tie piece of ribbon through charm.
  6. Mount entire background to blue rectangle.
  7. Put lace under blue rectange on top of card base.
  8. Attach bling on lace.
  9. Done..

Products:

  • Hero Arts - Collage Take Time
  • Hero Arts - Clear Design Anytime Messages
  • Hero Arts - Gem Flowers
  • Crystal Stickers - Pearls
  • Lace Unknown
  • Judikins - Copper Embossing Powder
  • Versamark Watermark Ink
  • Versafine Royal Blue Pigment Ink
  • Charm - Unknown

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Arte y Pico Award

A blogging friend Anne http://gaalcreative.blogspot.com/ was gracious enough to share this award with me. Thank you Anne for giving this award to me and for the wonderful comments on your blog about my blog.

The "rules" for the Arte y Pico award are:
1. If you are an award winner, show the award, the name of the person who gave it to you, and link back to his or her blog.

2. Pick 5 blogs you think deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and for contributing to the blogging community.

3. List the author's name and link to his or her blog.

4. Leave a message on the blogs of those you've selected.

5. Link back to the original Arte y Pico blog http://arteypico.blogspot.com/, so all will know the origin of the award.

Here are 5 blogs that I would like to share this with:

Andi at http://www.andisperfectgravy.blogspot.com/ Andi's Perfect Gravy.. She makes beautiful stamped projects and she blogs about her very interesting life on a ranch. I love to stop over and see what she is up to...


Jacqueline at http://myscrapbasket.blogspot.com/ My Scrap Basket... She makes the most beautiful cards using scraps, bits and pieces and they all turn out stunning....


Kiara at http://stampingcafe.blogspot.com/ Stamping Cafe ... She makes beautiful cards.. Stop over and see what she has brewing.


Deborah at http://dominodebi.typepad.com/sos/ Society of Stamp & Scrap-aholics... She is a talented designer and makes splendiforous cards and she is very funny... I love dropping in her blog to see what story she has to tell next.


Shirley at http://cardartetc.blogspot.com/ Card Art Etc... I know she has already received this award but I think she deserves it again... She certainly has gorgeous projects to share and is worth a visit...

Thanks again Anne for the award.

My Son's Confirmation...

My son is having his confirmation on Saturday. We are very excited for him.

I knew I was in trouble from a card making perspective...

A boy, tween, and religious card... All 3 are challenging for me... I don't have any stamps for a confirmation.

To top it all off he said to me... No big deal you just put a cross on there. Well... That is exactly what I did... I tried to give it texture and color to give it more interest.



Recipe:

  1. I decided what measurement I wanted my cross to be. It measures 4"w x 6"h and 1" in the width of the cross. I cut the rectangle from glossy cardstock first and then worked my way in. :) I then cut 2 more crosses increasing the width of the cross it self by 1/4" each time but keeping the height and width at 4" x 6".
  2. I used stonewashed and lettuce for my alcohol inks on the cross. I start by putting 3 drops of lettuce on the felt on the applicator and add 3 drops of blending solution. I than smear that across the entire glossy cardstock. I then put new felt on and did three drops of stonewashed and 3 drops of the blending solution. I dabbed this on in various spots on the glossy cardstock cross. I then came back with dripping blending solution, lettuce and stonewashed on the cross directly. I then put a fresh piece of felt on my applicator and applied 3 drops of blending solution on the felt. I then dabbed that in spots where the drips I had applied didnt' blend. This will mute the edges between the drippings directly on the cardstock.
  3. I let the cross dry and then I embossed it using the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder.
  4. I mounted the glossy cardstock cross on the two other colored crosses.
  5. The background was created by cutting a piece of white cardstock 4 1/2" x 6 1/2".
  6. I used a sponge dauber by Tsukineko and dabbed it into the Adirondack Bright Citrus and used this to smear in circles off the edge of the background onto the card. I continued this until the entire background was vary shades of green. I then used another sponge dauber to apply a light blue in the same fashion. I also did this on the sentiment I had printed on the computer.
  7. I cut an olive green and light blue rectangles to mount the sentiment on and mounted them.
  8. I then cut out the corners of the background papers using my smallest circle punch.
  9. Attach all parts of the card to a light blue card base.

Products:

  • Ranger Alcohol Inks - stonewashed, lettuce, alcohol blending solution
  • StazOn - Olive Green
  • Stampabilities - Vine Background
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Mosaic
  • Adirondack Brights Citrus
  • Memories - Sky

Thanks for stopping by...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Happy Halloween....

3 little cards for my 3 not so little anymore children.... The best part of these card was I made them for the Hero Arts challenge http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2008/10/27/its-mini-monday/ which is all about making mini's. So this is great because I just reached into my scrap basket and pulled whatever pieces I had and folded them in half. Since I won't be sending these in the mail I didn't have to have a matching envelope. Each card has a unique size and all the pieces on it were from my scrap basket. I may have to make a few hundred more to use up my scraps.. Hee Hee...

The first card is for my son who is 13... He like the hallowenscape after he saw it but I made this for him because it had all the spiders on it..


I really got a chuckle out of the ghost costume being made out of spiders. It might be a little busy but the google eyes makes him look scared of his own costume.

This one is for my littlest one she is 7 and she saw this card which I finished first and asked if she could have it.


and last but certainly not least this card is for my middle daughter who is 11. She is very logical and very very smart... She will appreciate a structured card.



Products:
  • Hero Arts - Sparkle Design Happy Haunting
  • Hero Arts - DesignBlock Tree
  • StazOn - Royal Purple
  • Adirondack - Sunset Orange
  • Brilliance - Silver
  • Memento - Rich Cocoa
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folders - Birds & Swirls, Just my Type, Mosaic, Swirls
  • Fiskars Threading Water Punch

Happy Haunting to you and yours...

Next up my son is getting confirmed this weekend... So I will be attempting a confirmation card... Stay tuned...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Snowman and Snowflakes

I bought this beautiful paper from Basic Grey which was my inspiration for this card:



Recipe:
  1. Cut card from brown cardstock. (5 x 7)
  2. Cut olive green cardstock 3 x 7.
  3. Cut patterned paper 2 x 7. Punch the scalloped border along the edge of the PP.
  4. Cut a small strip of the brown cardstock to edge the left side of the pp.
  5. Punch 7 snowflakes from the pp and 1 from the olive green cardstock.
  6. Stamp sentiment on pp. Cut olive green and brown mat for the sentiment. I actually cut the brown edge with my rotary cutter using the scalloped edge. This was then cut to the little strip that you see with gems.
  7. Stamp the snowman on white carstock using stazon olive green ink. Shade the snowman with brown watercolor pencil. Color the nose with the orange watercolor pencil. Color the band of the hat with light green watercolor pencil. Blend all the colored areas with a water brush.
  8. Stamp the snowman on an old book page and on the pp. Cut out the hat and brim from the old paper and the scarf from the pp.
  9. Cut out the watercolored snowman and attach the hat, brim and scarf.
  10. Pop dot the snowman on a piece of patterned paper and mount on olive green cardstock.
  11. Die cut the scalloped rectangle from brown cardstock and mount the snowman image and paper to the scalloped rectangle.
  12. Assemble the card. Tie sheer white ribbon to the card and attach snowflakes with green gems in the center.
  13. Accent the brim of the snowmans hat with gems.
  14. Accent the scalloped edge of the sentiment with gems.

Products:

  • Kaiser Craft- Gems (I love the adhesive on these gems. You also get quite of few of each size)
  • Hero Arts - Clear Design Warmest Winter Wishes
  • Basic Grey - Wassail - Snowdust
  • Ribbon Unknown
  • Spellbinders Nestabilities - Scalloped Rectangles
  • Martha Stewart - Cornice Edge Punch
  • Martha Stewart - Arctic Snowflake Punch

TFL!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Congratulations...

My DD teacher from last year is pregnant. My littlest one wanted to make her a card. She knows she is having a girl. This card is for her...

Unfortunately... I have very few baby stamps.. I haven't needed them... So this is more of a congratulations card...

Recipe:
  1. Cut card from white cardstock 5 x 7. Stamp Butterflies in light pink around the edges.
  2. CB Emboss using the frame around the edges. To make it all the way around I had to cut my folder in half and use tape to hold it along the sides to put along the bottom and top of the card.
  3. I then use lime green chalk ink to highlight the embossing and the edges.
  4. Cut a 4" x 6" piece of white cardstock and stamped the floral border in light pink across. I then embossed using the textured textile Cuttlebug Folder. I used the lime green chalk ink to highlight the dry embossing.
  5. Cut a 3" x 5" piece of white cardstock. Stamp the butterfly border using the light pink ink. Emboss the edges using the just my type emborder on the top and bottom. Ink the dry embossing using the lime green chalk ink.
  6. Stamp the sentiment in the center with the dark pink pigment ink.
  7. Cut dark pink cardstock to mount the sentiment and the middle piece of cardstock.
  8. Mount all pieces and pop dot the sentiment.
  9. Tie ribbon around front of the card under the sentiment.

Products:

  • Hero Arts - Clear Design Simple Things
  • Hero Arts - Designer Posy
  • Stampabilities - Celebration!
  • Memento - Angel Pink Dye Ink
  • Versacolor - Opera Pink Pigment Ink
  • Versamagic - Key Lime Chalk Ink
  • Cuttlebug Folders - Textured Textile, Borders - Just my Type
  • Hobby Lobby - RibbonFX

Thanks for dropping by..

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Rustic Christmas

I am still pondering the 3 things challenge... This card started with wanting to edge out a card with some of the great embossing folders. I love this little branch with berries border from Cuttlebug.




Recipe:

  1. Cut 4 strips 5 1/2" x 1" from white cardstock. Emboss them using the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Border.
  2. Sponge those embossed folders using a brown dye ink. I use the dauber sponge to apply the ink.
  3. I then layered them in a frame and linked them together using brass brads. I was trying to make them look like a wood frame with nails in the corners.
  4. Stamp the bird using Green ink on white cardstock cut to 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. Stamp it in around 1" from the corner.
  5. Stamp with versamark snowflakes in the background and clear emboss the bird and the snowflakes.
  6. Sponge a golden yellow dye ink around all the stamped images.
  7. Stamp the sentiment on the acetate using a solvent ink.
  8. Attach the acetate to the back of the frame.
  9. Foam dot the frame.
  10. Attach pearls to the centers of the snowflakes. Attach a brown gem to the bird for an eye.
  11. Attach the frame to the stamped images on the yellow background. Wrapp raffia around the frame/with background and tie a bow to the knot on the raffia.
  12. Randomly put gems on the berries on the frame.
  13. Attach the entire picture frame to card base.

Products:

  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - just my type
  • Memories - Honey Dye Ink Pad
  • Memento - Rich Cocoa Dye Ink Pad
  • StazOn - Olive Green Solvent Ink
  • Versafine - Olympia Green Pigment Ink
  • Versamark - Watermark Ink Pad
  • Inkadinkado - Winter Birds
  • Hero Arts Clear Design - Three Tree Christmas
  • Hero Arts Clear Design - Warmest Winter Wishes
  • Raffia - Unknown
  • Ribbon - Unkown
  • Gems - K&Co, Crystal Stickers
  • Brads - Uknown

Thanks for looking.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

3 Things...

3 Things... 3 different stamps/stamp sets and 3 different inks... How difficult should that be... Apparently some of us(me) like the freedom to grab things and add them at will...

Here is the challenge: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2008/10/20/motivation-monday-3s-please/

I kept playing around with this one and I was inspired by a card which was one of the magazines and it was white and light aqua blue and that was all the colors... It really was effective...

I went off on my white space tangent again...

My 3 inks were: Versamark, Honey Memories Ink and Adirondack Orange Ink. (I know I probably cheated a little here but I did use 3 different ink pads)

My 3 Stamps/Sets were:

Hero Arts DesignBlock Tree, Hero Arts Sparkle Design Hello Birdie, Penny Black Crystalline.

Orange and Teal Christmas Cards... Why not....


Recipe:

  1. Stamp tree with versamark on white cardstock and heat emboss with light blue embossing powder.
  2. Cut white cardstock around edges of the tree.
  3. Cut 6 3/4" x 4 3/4" white cardstock.
  4. Lay stamped image of tree cardstock in center of the larger white cardstock. I taped it down with repositionable tape.
  5. Cut out a circle using circle cutter from scrap cardstock.
  6. Lay circle frame over tree and white cardstock background. Ink up sponge dauber with golden yellow dye ink. Smear on the golden ink in a circular motion from the outside of the circle towards the middle. Ink the entire circle with the golden color.
  7. Pull the stamped image from the white cardstock and mount on an aqua background.
  8. Cut a 1 1/4 x 1 1/2 white cardstock. Ink the sentiment with orange on the key sentiment and stamp on the white cardstock. Ink the sentiment with versamark and randomly stamp across the white cardstock. Heat emboss with light blue embossing powder.
  9. Mount sentiment on teal cardstock.
  10. Cut slit 3/4" from the left side and bottom on the stamped image for ribbon. Run ribbon around the inside of the card to the front under the stamped image. Bring through the slit and tie with other end of the ribbon.
  11. Stamp with versamark the birds and heat emboss with light blue embossing powder. Cut out using your fine scissors. :)
  12. Attach the birds on the moon portion of the stamped image.
  13. Attach the Stamped image with foam squares making sure to align your moon on the top layer with the moon on the bottom layer.
  14. Attach the sentiment to the front of the stamped image in the lower right hand corner.

Products:

  • Fiskars Circle Cutter, Circle Template
  • Hero Arts Sparkle Design - Hello Birdie
  • Hero Arts - DesignBlock Tree
  • Memories - Honey Dye Ink Pad
  • Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
  • Penny Black - Crystalline
  • Adirondack Brights - Sunset Orange
  • Stampendous Stamp N Stuff - Baby Blue Pastel
  • Ribbon - Unknown

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Dragonflies...

Still playing with patterned paper but went a different route... Green and Blue...
I have this pretty paper from Basic Grey that reminds me of lilypads. I had started a card with frogs and a pond made from this paper and ended up doing this instead. :)

I actually cut out two scalloped rectangles and decided to use the frames of the scallops instead of the cut outs. It is hard to tell on this picture but that is actually the cut-outs of the die cuts.

Recipe:

  1. Cut 2 rectangles of cardstock in green and blue to use to cut the scalloped rectangles.
  2. After the scalloped rectangles are cut use the pieces they were cut from to create the top frame and attach to the inside frame.
  3. Cut a piece of white cardstock to the size of the inside frame. Stamp the flowers, dragonflies and stems onto the white cardstock.
  4. Using the sponge daubers ink up with the blue and in a circular motion starting off the cardstock and moving onto the white cardstock smear the blue on the top half of the white cardstock. Using the green sponge dauber do the same on the bottom. Mix a little green and blue into the top and bottom halves of the picture. Leave the center lighter in color.
  5. I also sponged the edges of my background pieces to give it a more cohesive feeling.
  6. Cut all other pieces and round the edges of the cards and background pieces using the corner rounder.
  7. Sponge the edges of the background papers using the green and blue used in the center.
  8. Stamp dragonflies on white cardstock with same ink as the original picture. Cut out using very fine scissors. :O
  9. Add stickles (Light Green) to the circles on the flowers and on the swirls on the dragonflies. I also added some gel pen to the stems of the flowers as the ink didn't show up as much as I would have liked.
  10. Assemble and mount.. I did put foam dots between the frame and the picture to give it depth and when I affixed the dragonflies I also did the same with them.

Products:

  • Hero Arts - Dragonflies (This set was a special set made for Archiver's)
  • Hero Arts - Kaleidoscope Flowers
  • Hero Arts - Lily Pad Greetings
  • Versafine - Majestic Blue
  • Memento - New Sprout
  • Memories - Sky
  • Basic Grey - Phoebe Pier 39
  • Gems, Ribbon Unknown
  • Spellbinder Nestabilities - Scalloped Rectangles

Thanks for Looking!

Friday, October 17, 2008

More Patterned Paper...

Here is my second attempt at a PP Card Challenge. The colors are very close to the first card. Apparantly I like this color combination as both sheets of paper were purchased at different times. :)

The flowers on the pattern paper are very similar to a set I purchased from Hero Arts. I decided to use them both on the same card.


Very Simple Recipe..... The cardstock used on the base of the card, the background of the stamped image and the sentiment is all tan cardstock. I used a combination of light pink and brown dye inks and sponged the colors. I was trying to emulate the PP background.

Products:

  • Basic Grey - Infuse - Inspire
  • Hero Arts - ClearDesign - Flower Blossom Borders
  • Hero Arts - ClearDesign - Anytime Messages
  • Martha Stewart Ribbon
  • Crystal Stickers Gems
  • General Kimberly Watercolor Pencils
  • StazOn Timber Brown Solvent Ink

Thanks for dropping by...



Finally... Some ink time....

The Hero Arts Blog Challenge this week is to use Patterned Paper.... http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2008/10/13/kicking-off-our-all-star-paper-week-with-ki-memories/


Patterned Paper... I find it lovely but usually prefer to make my own backgrounds using stamps... So this is more challenging for me than some of the other challenges...


Here is my first attempt:





Recipe:

  1. Cut card from brown cardstock 11" x 5 1/2". Fold in half and score.
  2. Cut patterned paper to 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".
  3. Cut pink square at 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" . Emboss all the way around. I then trimmed it down to the edges of the embossing. When I embossed I lined up the edge of the folder with the edge of my paper.
  4. Using sponge inked with brown dye ink smear ink on the embossing and edge the pink cardstock with brown dye ink.
  5. Using the nestabilities circle scallops cut a light pink circle with the largest die and a brown circle with the next largest die. Sponge brown ink around the edges of the pink scalloped circle.
  6. Cut 3 3/4 x 3 3/4" square from brown cardstock and 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square from maroon cardstock.
  7. Cut a 3" diameter circle from glossy cardstock.
  8. Ink up the stamp with the versacolor opera pink all over the stamp. Ink up the stamp lightly on edges with brown inks and on the birds.
  9. Stamp image on the glossy cardstock circle.
  10. Clear Emboss the stamped images.
  11. Sponge light pink in across the glossy cardstock. Sponge wild plum ink around the edges. Spong the edges with brown ink.
  12. Color pearls with brown sharpie permanent ink. Affix to the centers of the flowers.
  13. Mount all pieces and tie bow across the inner squares.

Products:

  • Memento - Rich Cocoa Dye Ink
  • Versacolor - Opera Pink
  • Adirondack Brights - Wild Plum
  • Crystal Stickers - Pearls
  • Sharpie Permanent Marker - Brown
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Just my Type
  • BasicGrey Paper - Figgy Pudding - Pepperberry
  • Spellbinders Nestabilities - Scallop Circles
  • Hero Arts - K4892 CardArt Decorative Birds
  • Michaels Ribbon
  • Versamark Watermark
  • JoAnn's Clear Embossing Powder

Thanks for visiting...

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

We're back...

We are back from vacation... I am totally exhausted... So nothing new yet. I played a little bit but too tired to be that creative... I hope to get something created tomorrow as well as send out some RAK's for the SOF challenges...

Share something soon...

Toodles...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Simple Floral Birthday Card

I pulled this out from my archives. Something I created and never shared. I am still in Florida with the family. So no inking for me.. But I am having fun with the family...



The recipe is very simple.. The only thing I did a little different was scoring the cardstock using my fiskars cutter. I added double score lines on the pink and green cardstock.

Products:

  • Hero Arts - Birthday Messages
  • Penny Black - Casual
  • Michael's Ribbon ( I will stop using the same ribbon.. I promise)
  • Gems Unknown
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Textured Textile
  • Versacolor Pigment Ink - Opera Pink

TFL!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Wax Paper Embossing

For the Resist This! challenge on SOF... I took some regular wax paper that you use in the kitchen to do a resist on glossy paper. I took the wax paper on some of the pieces and ran them through the Cuttlebug embossing folder. After I finished using the embossed wax paper for the resist I thought the embossed wax paper looked like vellum.

I decided to use two of the embossed wax paper sheets. I colored on the reverse side in the embossed surface on one. On the other I tried to brush my versamark ink pad on the raised surface and heat emboss.

I am sharing a card I made from the heat emboss technique.


The recipe on this was so simple. I did cuttlebug emboss the wax paper and the brown carstock it is mounted on. I heat embossed with enchanted gold embossing powder after I smeared versamark on the ridges. I also heat embossed my butterfly to match.

Products:
  • Verses - Sentiment
  • Gems - K and CO
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Textured Textile
  • Blue Moon - Lost Charms
  • Ribbon - Michael's

TFL!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Character Cards

On Two Peas one of the challenges was posted by Chris http://creative-gnome.blogspot.com/ . Here is the link to her challenge: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/userblogpost.asp?id=39610

Her challenge is called "You're Such a Character" and requires stamping some type of character. I do have a couple of stamps that are characters.. A few Snoopy and one Raggedy Ann and Andy stamp due to these characters having special meaning for my kids.


I don't usually stamp character cards... or cards with figures... (Discovered this when I was looking for a stamp with a woman on it for another challenge)


My youngest one has a blanky made out of raggedy Ann and Andy. I ended making my card using Raggedy Ann and Andy... This is not something I normally would create but I think it turned out cute as a button.. (Terrible Pun)


Naturally my littlest one wants this card. Part of the challenge is to send the card for Cards for Heroes... I will have to probably swap for a card more appropriate for a soldier.

The recipe for this wasn't too difficult. I used my water color pencils and colored the stamped image. After I colored them I used a fine tipped waterbrush to smooth out the colors.

I then used a sponge dauber and inked it with blue and in a circular motion starting off the edges of the paper I inked the edges with some blue on the top and green on the bottom.

I used red thread on the buttons. I also edged the sentiment with blue ink. Stamped some red snowflakes on the blue background. (I was trying to emulate Ann's little blue dress)

I am sorry.. this time I can't name all the products... I created this before I left on vacation and didn't write down everything. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a post or send me an email and I will answer it when I get back to my craft table...

Thanks for stopping by...


Wednesday, October 8, 2008

RAK - From Ethel

I was so excited on Tuesday... I love getting packages in the mail and there was one waiting for me. The package was from Ethel at http://thepaperquilter.blogspot.com/. She had offered on her site blog candy celebrating her DH & DS birthdays. I put a comment in because my birthday happened to be very close to thiers... She randomly selected my comments. Whoo Hoo! The package contained these great stamps:



Not only did she send me the stamps but I was lucky enough to get this card in the package as well. (The little girl on the broom). http://thepaperquilter.blogspot.com/2008/10/few-vintage-halloween-cards.html (I took a picture of it but it wasn't very good and Ethel had posted a much better picture)

I was more excited opening up the card than I was opening up the stamps. If you go look at Ethel's blog you will see why. She is always creating beautiful things.

Thanks Ethel for the beautiful card and the fun stamp set.. Now I will have to work on making something special with these funny stamps.

Thanks for stopping by...
FYI... I am on vacation and writing from muggy and warm Orlando as I type... So it will be a slow week for me.. I was able to create a few more things for Stamptoberfest before I left home (Right up to the car picking us up) hee hee... So I have a few more things to share but won' t be home to my craft supplies until next week. :(


Thanks for stopping by...


Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Masculine Card

Hero Arts Blog Challenge this week is Masculine Cards... This is always a challenge for me... I start out with the right colors in hand... Images that are masculine and when I get done somehow the bling, ribbons, sparkles, etc... end up on the card. I don't know how it happens...

But this time I think I did good. No sparkling, blinging, glitzing in sight...


Okay... I will admit that ribbon magically appeard on the card... but note... only a knot... I think I showed considerable restraint.. No bow. hee hee...

Recipe:

  1. Cut a square of tan cardstock. Stamp image using versamark ink. Heat emboss using the copper embossing powder.
  2. Sponge light blue on the top half of the picture leaving the middle a lighter shade.
  3. Sponge light green on the bottom half of the picture going from darkest to lightest.
  4. Blend the green and blue in the middle.
  5. Sponge the outer edges with brown dye ink.
  6. Sponge the edges of the patterned paper with the brown ink. Edge the tan paper with blue and then brown.

The rest of the card is just assembling.

Products:

  • Hero Arts - H4918 Windy Tree
  • Hero Arts - A4955 Sunny Birthday
  • Basic Grey Paper - Phoebe - Pier 39
  • Distress Ink - Vintage Photo, Broken China
  • Memento - New Sprout
  • Ribbon - Michaels
  • Buttons Unknown

Thanks for stopping by..

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Lace Challenge on SOF....

Still playing with Stamptoberfest challenges over at Two Peas...

SOF Lace Challenge: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/userblogpost.asp?id=39658

I knew I would play along with the lace challenge.... Who can resist lace and the images that lace brings to mind.... The only real challenge is they wanted a holiday card with lace and this takes me to the card I already made with lace and holly and berries... So I tried a different path...


















Recipe:

  1. Background paper: The background was made with the distress re-inkers. I put 4 or 5 drops of tattered roses in a mini mister full of water. Drenched a piece of paper and added the salt to draw the color in concentrated areas. The next step was to wait for it to dry and rub off all the stuck on salt.
  2. Ink the stamp with Versamark Watermark Ink and stamp in a row across the paper until the entire background is covered. Heat Emboss with tan embossing powder.
  3. I then used the EK Success corner rounder. It has a guard you can remove which then allows you to create a half circle on the edge of the paper. The first scallop you punch doesn't have to be lined up anyhwere specifically. The second half circle you want to try to line up the end of the paper scallop in the left side of the punch. You want to do this with bottom of the punch facing you. Play with this on scrap paper the first time you try it. (or in my case 3 or 4 times to feel comfortable)
  4. Then I decided I wanted to stamp on top of the patterned background. The only issue is that the embossing powder I used was a distressed embossing powder which means it has a texture and doesnt' take the ink very well. So I decided to use acetate. I pulled out my acetate and my StazOn inks and stamped all the images.
  5. The sentiment ended up being mounted because I stamped it on the acetate and the lines of the words are to fine and didnt' show up clearly. So I re-stamped on a left over piece of the background. Whenever I make background paper I usually do the full sheet and save the extra pieces.
  6. The rest of the card is putting bits and pieces together. The lace hids where I attached the acetate to the background paper.

Products:

  • Hero Arts Design H4946 Long Branch
  • Hero Arts F4899 Bird in a Cage
  • StazOn - Olive Green, Jet Black
  • Versafine Onyx Black
  • Stampendous TC55 Holiday Quad Cube
  • Ranger Distress Embossing Powder - Old Paper
  • EK Success Corner Rounder Punch
  • Penny Black 3028F - Joy, Hope...

I really like how this card turned out. I hope you enjoy it too..

Yoo Whoo.... SOF Party Continues...

This is a bunch of challenges in one for SOF... Here is the master thread for all the challenges: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2661997 . One of the challenges is to case someone. The card I cased is linked here: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?set=recent&gallery=3&cmd=display&layout_id=1398353





The challenges I am linking this to are: Get inspired, Cut it Out, Cuttlebug and Resist This.

The owls are cut out. The inspiration is the card I cased. The resist is a wax paper resist technique.

I have never tried this so I was very excited when Daria raised this as a challenge. She also showed multiple examples of the the papers she created.

I created multiple sheets of the wax paper resist backgrounds, so don't be surprised if you see them coming back. Including the cuttlebug wax paper resist.

Recipe:
  1. The background the owls are stamped on is from a wax paper resist. I started with a piece of wax paper. I layed it on my new scor-pal (thanks Lisa.. a lovely birthday gift from my good stamping buddy) and I scored lines vertically and for part of the page I also scored horizontally.
  2. I took the score wax paper and placed it between 2 pieces of glossy cardstock with the glossy surface facing in on both pieces. I then covered it with a thin towel. I ironed on a medium setting with no steam. I had to iron for a few minutes.
  3. The beauty of this is you get two effects the cardstock on the bottom and the cardstock on the top. One of them will get a much softer impression.
  4. After I ironed and I could see the pattern on my cardstock, I took it back to the craft table and used my dye ink to smear over the surface. The owls and the owl background are smeared on the same sheet of cardstock but I used multiple colors to see what I liked the best. I buffed the excess ink off using a paper towel.
  5. Stamp the owls on the brown resist background with StazOn.
  6. Cut out the owls. Attach black gems for eyes and put white on the black gems with gel pen.
  7. Everything else was just cutting and rounding corners. Nothing too special.

Products:

  • Memories Dye Ink Pad - Honey
  • Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
  • StazOn Olive Green, Timber Brown
  • Hero Arts - A4942 Tiny Owl
  • Hero Arts - Sparkle Design
  • Hero Arts - H4946 Long Branch
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Swiss Dots
  • Basic Grey - Phoebe
  • Brown Ribbon - Unknown
  • Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch
  • Marvy Uchida Corner Rounder
  • Hero Arts

Thanks for dropping in...

Friday, October 3, 2008

Fat Book Page Challenge...

Andi who has a great blog: http://www.andisperfectgravy.blogspot.com/ is hosting a challenge for Stamptoberfest. Her challenge is for Fat Book Pages. http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2661702 I have never created these before and thought it would be fun to try.


This is the front of my page.


Andi suggested putting something on the back of the page and highlighting who created it and for what.

I just thought I would highlight it was for stamptoberfest 2008.










Recipe:

  1. Cut 2 squares 4 x 4". I actually created my background previously and was able to just cut the green squares. To create the green background I mixed Zemon Lest Glimmer Mist with Olive Green Glimmer Mist. The Olive Green Glimmer Mist has a ton of gold shimmer in it.
  2. On the front I stamped my tree banch with versamark and embossed it with Copper emobssing powder.
  3. I then versamarked my sentiment just below the branch and embossed it with a slate blue.
  4. I then stamped the hummingbird and embossed it on light blue paper with the same slate blue embossing powder and cut it out. I really wanted a black crow but I didn't have anything the right size. :(
  5. I then embossed the buttons and the charm to match the embossing done previously. The buttons tend to move and the charm will get hot, I used a stylus with a metal tip that I could stick in the button hole and hold it in place.
  6. I assembled all the pieces. On the back I embossed the berries and stamped the letters used the same string from the front and added a bird charm.

Products:

  • JudiKins Copper Embossing Powder
  • Versmark Watermark Ink Pad
  • Versafine Blue Lagoon Ink Pad
  • Stampendous Pearlustre - Sapphire Embossing Powder
  • Inkadinkado - 97982-K Hummingbird
  • The Artful Stamper - (Berries on the back)
  • Penny Black 3886J - berry branch
  • Verses Rubber Stamps - QQ0838-F Apache Blessing
  • EK Success - Ribbon
  • Charm - Michaels, brand unknown
  • Bird Charm - Blue Moon Lost Charms

Thanks for Looking!

Stamptoberfest just started...

On Two Peas there are bunch of fun challenges open all week... http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2629323

One of the challenges hosted by Sandy was to use some paper that was rather strong in color/appearance and make it into a card. Here is the link: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2661249

She actually sent out the paper you were required to use in your project along with a stamped image.


The Green and Burgandy in the cardstock in the background were my attempt to tone down the papers provided to me by Sandy.


The poinsetta on the card actually had some other background where I cut it out to try to simplify all the colors.


I highlighted the poinsetta with the white gel pen.


Here are the remnants of the paper and the envelop that Sandy sent the paper in.
I got a chuckle out of this challenge. I normally don't use patterned paper and to have 3 pieces to incorporate in one card in addition to the colors and the patterns.
It was interesting...

All my posts this week will most likely be related to the challenges posted for Stamptoberfest.
Thanks for looking...
Oh... leave me a comment and tell me if I managed to turn ugly into pretty. :)