Wise Owl

I am back to share a  sneak peek of my projects  on the PaperArtsy blog today:

I played with the leftover Fresco paints from my previous  projects and created a few  ATC's. I loved the effect I achieved on this ATC and felt like my owl was sitting in a frosty field on a cold winter night.

For all the details on the Wise Owl and to see the other  ATC's  head over to the PaperArtsy blog.  Leandra is offering up a challenge each week based on the guest designers projects.   For all the details go here. 

Thanks for stopping by! 


Suzz

Vintage Valentine

Hello Thursday!  I am waiting anxiously for Friday and the weekend!  Today I am combining the beautiful valentine colors from the ColourQ Challenge #174 with the Mojo Monday Sketch #278 and the vintage images of PaperArtsy.

I don't know about you but I have a few Valentines I need to make and my brother has a Valentine's birthday. So I have to create a variety of valentine's cards.  The colors from the challenge mix the browns, red and pink hues together which is a good balance for a masculine valentine. 

I stamped the sweet boy image on the right half of the heart and added the stripes from another stamp to the other half. I punched out the heart and was going to stamp something else on it but thought it would be fun to continue with the stripes.

The background was an embossed scrap never used and decided to bring in some texture and color in the background.

Products: PaperArtsy - Hot Picks XTRA-01 - Backgrounds, PaperArtsy - Vintage Collection - ID02, 
PaperArtsy -  Mini 06, Spellbinders - Heart Dies, Fiskars Heart Punch

The sketch and colors:

Hope your day is wonderful!

Suzz

PaperArtsy

I was thrilled to be asked by Leandra at PaperArtsy to Guest Design over at the PaperArtsy Blog.  I will be sharing projects once a week each month for the first quarter this year.   Leandra provided me with a wonderful array of Fresco paints, substrates and wonderful stamps!  I had so much fun playing with the paints and the stamps.  My posts started today over at the blog.

I fell in love with this ice angel and she fits the weather we have been experiencing: 

For all the details on the texture, techniques and products head over to the blog to see how this was created.

Also, the lineup of designers over on the blog  is extremely talented and there will be tons of inspiration all year long. 



Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

A Star of the Old West

This week at Simon Says Stamp and Show we are looking to the stars.  Interpret stars any way you want.  I was inspired by a star of the Old West.

This image from Artistic Outpost - Cowgirl Strength reminds me of Annie Oakley.  I did a little research of  her online and it was interesting.  The focal point is the star which started from pattern paper which I added a layer of stamped paisley background.  On the inside of the card the background is stamped with cowhide using brown archival ink .

I punched coordinating stars to frame the circle and added a row of stamped stitching around the edges.

Here is a view of the card on an angle so you can see the window that the star is peeking out of:

Products: Bo Bunny - Market Place, Artistic Outpost - Cowgirl Strength, Spellbinders Stars, Fiskars Hand Punch Star,  Ranger Archival Inks Black, Coffee, STAEDTLER watercolor pencils, Ranger Distress Inks - Vintage Photo

Come share your  star inspired  project  for an opportunity to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp:

Thanks for stopping by!


Suzz

Memories

The mix of dye inks with a touch of water always amazes me. The swirling colors and the opportunity to create any mix of complementary colors is just fun.  I decided to use the inspiration from Cath's Moxie Fab World create your own background challenge to play with the inks.

The focal point is a beautiful sentiment from Verses Rubber Stamps - Memories and then I added the flowers from Hero Arts.  I created the same scene in the front and the back with a coordinating ink. The stamped images were enhanced with a touch of water color pencil to add a little hint of brown. 

I promised to share a  few photos of my craft room after the cleanup. In hindsight is still looks cluttered.  Too many things and not enough room. But too me this is clean. :)

This is the view from the door. (We usually keep it closed when we have company.)

My hubby made me this desk per my instructions with a laminate scrap for the top. We designed it so I can have a second person join me on the other side to stamp and lots of drawers on both sides of the desks. 

In the background you can see my shadowbox for taking photos. I also bought new chicken wire baskets and used them for all my bits and pieces of ribbon. 

In the corner  I added a new bakers rack to the corner replacing a bookshelf:

 I picked up some new containers to hold things but probably need another shelf in there as you can see the double layer in the middle. :) 

This is my cuttlebug station with dies and embossing folders.  Also my meltpot is down in there too.

 Finally the last bit of all my clear and cling stamps.

I had all my stamps in shoeboxes but they tend to start breaking down when you pull them in and out over and over again.  I bought these chicken wire and leather boxes at Hobby Lobby.  I have my stamps sorted by manufacturer with a few leftover bins to catch the odds and ends.  The drawers in my desk have all my wooden stamps again sorted by manufacturer.  The bottom shelf is all my alterables. 

The drawers on either side contain stencils, Christmas odds and ends, ephemera, cloth, moss, chipboard, jewelry beads and a variety of things.    

I hope you enjoyed a sneak peek in my craft room.

Suzz

Pick Me Pick Me

You know how you see a stamp and it jumps out at you and says pick me... Well this was the first stamp I had to ink up from the new Stampendous Release. 

 I loved it so much I did two versions of the same project one as a wall hanging and the other as a card.

The color palette was selected because of the new color fragments in a lovely yellow and purples.  The words in the poem are really beautiful and if you can't quite read them click on the photo and you can see them in a larger format. :)

The background is a mix of yellows and plum sponged over the backgrounds.  I added a little water spotting to add a few splotches.  I used a mix of the new color fragments with some of the existing.  The new stamps and color fragments should be available soon! 

Products: Stampendous Tree Poem - R164, Stampendous Inspiration Exists - H292, Color Fragments - Ochre, Yellow, Purple,  Ranger Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Memento Soft Plum, Ranger Archival Inks - Black, Coffee, Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist - purple, yellow,  White acrylic paints

Hope your week is going well!

Suzz

Friends Owl-Ways

I am working through my list of birthdays coming up.  My youngest daughter has a good friend who has a birthday this week.  She will be turning 12.  I was trying to find a fun image that they would think was cute but not too young.

I decided to use the adorable Owl from Art Impressions:

I created the background for Moxie Fab World's Challenge to create your own background.  I used a mix of glimmer mists and shaving cream to give the soft hues.  I added a layer of Hero Arts background stamp over the inky background.

The owl was stamped with water resistant ink and colored with STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell watercolor pencils.  The tassels are covered in new Stampendous Micro Glitter.  I was pleased with the tiny shimmer!  Hopefully Erin will be too.

I have been busy organizing my craft room and clearing it out.  I will try to take pictures later as it looks clean and organized! (We will see how long that lasts)  I am shipping off three big boxes to a garage sale at my local stamp store.  Hopefully I will sell lots of my old stamps and etc.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

All about Me

The challenge for this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show is what are you known for.  I spent some time thinking about this challenge. 

I pulled out some different elements based on things that are my favorites and what I think I am know for.

Colors in varying shades, hues and contrast are what inspire me on a daily basis.  I love playing with monochromatic or neutrals and I decided to try to blend some colors together that I like to use.  

A recent love of mine is the Ranger Metallic Distress Stains.  I used them to smear the background and create a gold/bronze effect.  I added a layer of text to the background.


I knew that my project needed to have wings as I am always adding butterflies, birds or dragonflies on my projects.  I stamped the dragonfly multiple times,  once on the cardstock and twice on tissue paper.  I added a layer of blue watercolor on the backside of the tissue paper. I edged the wings with a touch of gold.

I looked through my verses and found a few that I thought represented what I feel about my artwork.. The background paper is white cardstock inked up with the gold distress stain. I had to add a touch of twine as I am always using it on my projects.

I wanted to include something about me personally:

I drink quite a bit of Diet Pepsi.  I decided to incorporate it somehow in my project. I cut apart a bottle and used it with some glimmer mist.  I  created the watermarks in the background on my card.  I highlighted the rings after they were dry by using a touch of blue watercolor.

Products: Ranger Distress Stains - Antique Bronze,  Ranger Distress Stain - Burnished Pewter, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists, Stampers Anonymous, Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Classics # 1, Stampers Anonymous - Mistakes and Creativity,  Stampers Anonymous - School Desk, Tim Holtz Idea-Ology - Tissue Tape Symphony, 7 Gypsies - Antique Brass Corners

Why don't you join us this week?  Take something that you are known for and create a project and link it up to the challenge  for an opportunity to win a gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp:

Have a wonderful Monday!

Suzz

Sneak Peeks & January Challenge

Over on the Stampendous blog they are sharing a few of the new stamps that they released at CHA. Also the challenge this month at Stampendous is to use the adorable Stampendous Kiddos on a project. Since they have shared these projects I decided to share them as well. :)

My first project uses some really cool travelling stamps and sentiment:

I started with a suitcase that I painted with a little blue and white acrylic paint.  I then layered on the stamped images onto the surface and a few different ones I stamped on white cardstock and cut out and distressed.  My favorite part is the sentiment and the faux metal tag I attached dangling from the side.

My next card uses a new birthday set of the kiddos and some cool new shades of color fragments:

This card was used hot off the presses. :)  No sooner did I finish it before it was grabbed by my DD and off to a party it went. All images were colored with STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils.

The next card is the cutest little fireman kiddo!

 I remember my younger brother sticking his tongue out like that when we were little and he was focusing on something. (Usually getting into trouble).  Love the little dog hanging off the truck!

The new stamps aren't in the store yet... but they will be and you can ask your LSS to order them now.  If you have any Kiddo stamps get them out and play along.  The link for this months channel is on my sidebar.

Have a great Friday!

Suzz

Hero Arts 2013 Hop

Welcome to the Hero Art Hostess Hop 2013! All this week there are daily hops happening over at the Hero Arts blog!  Hero Arts will be awarding prizes from randomly drawn comments. For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post at the Hero Club Blog. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!If you arrived here from  Emily Leiphart's wonderful blog than you are in the right place.  If not, hop on over to the Hero Arts blog and start the hop from the beginning for today!

I selected some of the gorgeous background stamps to use for the hop!  My first card uses the lovely Leafy Vines:

This was a simple resist stamping the image using versamark and heat embossing with clear embossing powder.  I used a soft lavender color to sponge over the surface.  I added the word Love from the Made with Love. The butterfly was created the same way and is from one of my all time favorite sets Three Artistic Butterflies.

I then used the beautiful Antique Background :

The images on this collage are so beautiful. I stamped in a soft gray ink and then added touches of watercolor to the various ares of the stamp to highlight them.  I decided to continue the collage and mixed in layers using Carte Postale, Past Times, Life is Not Perfect, Timely Bird, and All the Time. The bird was stamped and cut out of his collage to bring into the mix.  The colors are STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell watercolors.  The edges are distressed with a distressing tool and sponged with grey ink.

On to a fun birthday card using the new background Number Pattern.  My youngest has already claimed for her birthday this year. (Which isn't for quite awhile but she loved this!)

The background is stamped using Versamark and then colored with the STAEDTLER Karat soft pastel chalks.  The images are from the super sweet Life of the Party.  They were stamped with black ink and colored with the same soft pastel chalks.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I added a few gems for a little sparkle.  I went into my party supplies to find curling ribbon and added a little touch of ribbon underneath the cotton candy.

My last background uses the Harlequin pattern:

The pattern became a lovely vintage pattern by stamping it using Versafine Toffee.  I distressed the edges with brown dye ink.  I stamped over the surface using the Watch Gears inked in brown ink. I finished it off with a few gears and a touch of gold ribbon. 

Your next stop on the Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop is the inspirational  Sharon Dunn!  If you run into a bad link please report it to  blog@heroarts.com.


Happy Hopping!

Suzz

Seeds of Love

Welcome to the monthly Artistic Outpost Design Team blog hop.  The theme this month is love! 

I went searching for images to create a Valentines Day card and decided to use the seed packets along with a few other sets to create a card for my youngest daughter for Valentines Day.

I started with the little girl with her wheelbarrow and colored her flowers with tiny hearts mixed in the midst of the leafy vines.  I coordinated her outfit in red and added a punched red heart.

The seed packet was stamped multiple times using red and black inks.  I added a little banner with red letters.  I stamped the banner and the added the hearts to it.

Products: Artistic Outpost - Ephemera Backgrounds, Artistic Outpost - Bloom and Grow, Artistic Outpost - Country Life, Ranger Archival Ink - Black, STAEDTLER - Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils,

We are also thrilled to have several new design team members join the Artistic Outpost Design Team for 2013!  Now hop along to see what the talented design team members have created for the hop:

Gerrie Johnnic
Lisa Somerville
Suzanne Czosek
Tracy Evans
Linda Coughlin
Alison Bomber  
Terry Horrall
 Kate Yetter

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Linen, Lace, and Muslin

I love using lace on my projects and was so happy that Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week is Lace Love.  The challenge inspired me to put together linen, lace and muslin in a journal book.

Here is what I started with in creating my project:

I cut a piece of muslin to fit in the center of my cover.  I painted the surface of the muslin with white acrylic paint to give a surface to stamp on. The edges of the muslin was distressed with a touch of brown dye ink. I stamped the background with text and added a touch of acrylic paint over that surface. I then stamped the quote and bird.  I added a touch of frame on the left side of the panel. 

I stamped the tag on white cardstock using brown ink and cut out.  I sponged the edges with brown dye ink. I then die cut two tags which were distressed and stamped the images on them.  I added twine and buttons to the tags.  I added lace and twine to my folded tag pocket.

I assembled the front of the journal with lace around the background of the muslin. I added two rows of lace under the tag pocket. The tag pocket was attached with a safety pin.

I am looking forward to completing the other pages in my journal.

Products: Artistic Outpost - Birds of a Feather, Artistic Outpost - Bluebird, Artistic Outpost - Quote and Quotables, Artistic Outpost - Songbirds, Memory Box - Distressed Tag Stamp, Memory Box - Distressed Tag Die,  White Twine,  Maya Road - Linen Journal, Maya Road - 5 x 7 Linen Art Journal, Hero Arts - Lace Trim,  Ranger Archival Ink - Black, Coffee,  Watercolor Pencils, Adirondack White Acrylic Paints - Snow Cap, Ranger Distress Ink- Vintage Photo, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Itty Bitty Cards

Cath has a challenge going for Creative Card Challenge #23 - Itty Bitty Cards.  This is right up my alley as I can pull out those scraps and play with some stamps.

This was a bit scrap of a future project.  I just added a few stamped images and mounted it on a scrap black cardstock.

 

 This one didn't photograph and show how lovely the soft edges look. I created this image a long time ago and loved the soft watercolor effect.  In real life the soft blurry edges don't look as messy. :)

I wanted to use the Robert Frost poem which I have in a Verses Rubber Stamp and ended up creating two versions of this card. 

The first one used a scrap created with watercolor crayons from STAEDTLER:

 I created a second one with the trees from Artistic Outpost Sleigh Ride as I wanted a deeper forest:

Products: Artistic Outpost Sleigh Ride, Verses Rubber Stamps - The Woods, STAEDTLER - Watercolor Crayons, Artistic Outpost - Home, Artistic Outpost - Flower Market, Stampendous - Leaf Sprig, Hero Arts - Artistic Butterflies, Stampers Anonymous - Lace Trim, Artistic Outpost - Songbirds, Ranger Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Ranger Archival Inks - Black, Coffee, StazOn Jet Black, White Acrylic Paint, Dylusions Spray - Orange, Green, STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils, Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen

Now I am off to finish cleaning up our Holiday Decorations.  Hope your Saturday is wonderful.

Suzz

Masculine Birthday Card

We have two male birthdays in January for BIL's.  I struggle with the masculine cards.  I used the Mojo Monday Challenge #275 for my layout and pulled out the Bo Bunny Weekend Market Collection to jump start my card.

In looking at this card it should have taken me all about 10 minutes to create.... But really it took 2+ hours as the time to pick the coordinating papers, layout and playing with what to include and not include...  Sometimes the pattern paper is more difficult for me than stamping.

The sentiment is from (Verses Rubber Stamps) Happy Happy Happy.  The paper is Bo Bunny Market Place. I purposely limited the embellishments to only include the wooden clock  and gear.   Embellishments on masculine cards are not always appreciated by the recipient. :)


Have a lovely day! 
Suzz 

Trio of Tin Hearts

The new Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is to celebrate the Old as we are starting a new year.  I decided to celebrate the old and new year in my projects.  The old is my Artistic Outpost stamps By the Sea and my new is the Tin Heart Tins.

These vintage tins inspired me to create three little hanging hearts. I am thinking these would look sweet as Valentines Decorations on a bare branch display.

My first tin uses a vintage lady in her lovely hat as the focal image: 

I started with a background piece of sheet music and added a piece of pattern paper in the background. I stamped the star from the Artistic Outpost picture star onto ivory cardstock and gave her a touch of pink in her hat, cheeks and strand of pink pearls to wear. I added the french sentiment and curved it to fit the frame. I added a touch of tinsel around the inside edges and tied on a few Idea-ology baubles along with more pink tinsel.

My second Tin Heart features sweet children from the Artistic Outpost - Think and Wonder plate:

I used the same music in the background and stamped the images on ivory cardstock.  Again just a touch of pink blush and hat.  I added a tiny heart and the tag with the word love.  I died Prima roses pink with glimmer mist and finished with pink velvet ribbon to hand. I added a touch of glitter around the inside edges.

My third heart tin is a seaside inspired:

I stamped and colored the couple and added a lighthouse in the background.  I edged it with twine and added a few tiny shells to the twine. 

Products: Maya Road 3 Vintage Tin Hearts, Authentique - Lovely Valentine, Artistic Outpost - Picture Star, Artistic Outpost - Beyond the Sea, Artistic Outpost - Think and Wonder , Prima Flowers - Marshmallow Miss Godiva, Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist Cotton Candy, Tim Holtz - Idea-ology Baubles Pearls, 

Stampendous Silver Crushed Glitter,    May Arts Natural Twine, Hemp Rope Natural, Memory Box Love

Come share your  project using something old  for an opportunity to win a gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp:

Happy and Blessed New Years to you and your loved ones!

Suzz

Bleak Midwinter

The Fashionable Stamping Challenge this week is Surprise Us.  Well this card ended up surprising me. :)  I started with a thought of something I was trying to achieve and ended up with a different card entirely.

The background was what I was playing with. I was trying to recreate a starry night.  I didn't quite achieve what I was going with but when I finished the sky I knew it needed to put into a card. :)

Technique: 

1. Tear piece of copying paper to create an effect of mountains or hills. Lay across white cardstock.
2. Spray yellow glimmer mist over masked cardstock. Let dry.
3. Spray or flick Goosebumps over masked and glimmer misted cardstock.  This will create your resist for your stars/snow. Let dry. 
4. Sponge black dye ink over misted/resisted cardstock. 
5. Pull up mask and reposition and sponge a little black dye ink along edge of the masking to create the shadow. Repeat until your background has as many mini hills as you desire. :) 
6. Stamp tree using black ink. Highlight with white gel pen and put mask underneath and sponge on a little shadow. 
7. Stamp moose on white cardstock using black ink and color with STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell watercolor pencils. 
8. Add shading under moose with sponge and watercolor pencils. 

We don't have the snow like in my scene but we do have the cold! :)  Have a lovely day!

Suzz

Happy News!

Happy Friday!  I wanted to pop in and share some news.  I was pleased to be asked by Rachel to join the 2013 Creative Team for Darkroom Door. 

Darkroom Door is Australian company with beautiful images.  I am looking forward to creating more projects using their beautiful stamps and working with this talented team! 

Anna-Karin Evaldsson- South Africa
Belinda Spencer- Australia
Connie Mercer- USA
Godelieve Tijskens- Belgium
Hels Sheridan- UK
Liesbeth Fidder- Netherlands
Marjie Kemper- USA
Rachel Greig- Australia
Sephi Kemp- Australia
Susie Campbell- Australia
Suzanne Czosek- USA
Teresa Abajo- Australia

Thanks for sharing in my good news!

Suzz

Gears of Time

Tim's Tag of 2013 - January tag theme is all about gears of time and life.  I took that inspiration and changed it up to fit what I had on hand in celebration of the New Year.

I have a confession to make.. I really love those new Metallic Distress Inks.  I decided to use the gears embossing folder but use a scrap piece of acetate/plastic from a set of Christmas tags(sticker). I embossed the plastic using the embossing folder.  I then used the metallic distress inks to blend the Brushed Pewter and Tarnished Brass over the acetate.  I edged with a Gold Leafing Krylon Pen.  I used the same three components on my brass clocks, gears, brads and clock hands.  The tag was stamped using Versamark and heat embossed with Stampendous Gold Embossing Powder. (Champagne)  I edged the sides with the Krylon but the top and bottom of the mini tag were embossed with the same embossing powder.  I backed my acetate tag with a white cardstock tag to give it support and show off the metallic colors.

I stamped the baby new year using brown archival ink and colored with a touch of watercolor pencils. I stained the seam binding using the metallic stains and stamped with the brown archival ink.  The stamps are all from Artistic Outpost - Auld Lang Syne.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz