Summery Blossoms

I have been playing with the new splatter texture stamp from Darkroom Door.  I used it on a panel that I was going to use as a background.

I started with a panel inked up with a mix of yellow and orange splatter.  I then decided to ink up the pretty flowers with a mix of the same inks and stamp them in the panel.  I decided to create some texture by cutting layers out of the panel and distressing the edges.

Products: Darkroom Door - Splatter Texture, Simple Sayings, Bold Blossoms, Ranger Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmons, Fired Brick

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

"J" is for....

J is for ?  The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge this week is all about being inspired by the letter "J".   My tag became a  "Just in Time" project.

I was playing with a sherbert array of colors and painted them on my gelli plate to look like this:

I made about 3 backgrounds for this and then waited too long and my last sheet ended up sticking to my gelli plate.  I peeled it off and soaked my gelli plate to get it clean.  I decided I liked the torn texture on the background and used it as the base for my tag.

I laid the honeycomb stencil over the background and sponged on a layer of brown dye ink randomly over the surface.

I stamped the flower using black ink and colored with watercolor pencils.  I stamped the sentiment and ended up embossing it in black embossing powder.  I then stamped the flourishes around the edges along with pretty trim.  I highlighted everything with a touch of white gel pen. 

I stamped the butterflies on another scrap of the backround and colored them to coordinate.

Products: Wendy Vecchi - The Beauty,  Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Honeycomb,  Stampers Anonymous - Artful Artifacts, Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black,  Stampers Anonymous - Butterflies & Moths , Memento Dye Ink - Black White Acrylic Paint,  Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen,
Black Embossing Powder, Ranger Distress Ink - Walnut Stain,  Pearls,  Paper Artsy Fresco Finish - JOFY,  PaperArtsy Fresco Finish - Eclectic, PaperArtsy Fresco Finish  Beach Hut,
Gelli Plate

For an opportunity to  win a   Simon Says Stamp $50 Gift Voucher all you need to do is share your midsummer inspiration.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Mixed Media Birthday

Blessed Sunday to you!  I had some time to play this morning and created a few different projects while playing with the new Darkroom Door release.  The new texture stamps are fabulous and perfect for a little mixed media touch.  I decided to join in on the Mixed Media Challenge around the house.  I used an old toothbrush to sprinkle on my white acrylic paint.

I am swimming in cards and other projects but when the girls are looking for a birthday card for their friends they say there aren't any to be found.  I decided today to try something a little more free form to see if this would suit a girl teenager.  Although when I finished I realized this would make a pretty anniversary or wedding card.

I started with spraying an area on white cardstock using Tattered Angel - Cornflower blue Glimmer Mist.  After that dried II  spritzed a layer of white acrylic paint mixed with water to add a touch of white inky sprinkles. Next I used the Hero Arts - White chalk ink with the new Weathered Stripes texture stamps  to stamp stripes across vertically.      I decided to turn the stamp and repeat the stamping to give a hash mark effect.

I took the new splatter stamp  stamped in Ranger Archival - Blue Violet   and added random bits of color along with a few hearts from the Fun & Games  set.   I added the birthday sentiment from the Simple Sayings. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Flutterby Birthday Wishes

Our youngest is becoming a teenager this week. (Although she has been acting like a teenager for awhile. :)

I was trying to create a cute card for her because she doesn't like the vintage look as she says. I have these adorable fairies from Penny Black drawn by Mo Manning and I haven't had a chance to color them in awhile. 

 I stamped her and colored her with my STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell watercolor pencil.  I layered the fairy onto multiple circles and backed it with Memory Box papers.  I just received a batch of sequins form Simon Says Stamp and I love them because they have a mix of sizes in a pretty translucent color.

Have a great Saturday!

Suzz

It's a Jungle Out There

Darkroom Door has a new line of stamps called Line Art.  I inked up this lovely lady and created a jungle feel.

I started with a background made from a mix of paints on a gelli plate.  I blended them together and then inked up several pieces of cardstock.

To get my images and sentiment to transfer to the background I stamped them all on tissue paper which I decoupaged to the surface.  After it dried I used water color pencils (STAEDTLER - Karat Aquarell) to color the images and finished with a white gel pen highlighting my images.

I love how the background bleeds through to give it a soft undercoat of neutral colors.

Stamps: Darkroom Door - Line Art - Flower Lady, Darkroom Door - Beauty,   Ranger Archival Ink - Black, Ranger Archival Ink - Potting Soil

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Starry Starry Night

Mid-summer is a time of hot temperatures, long days, longing for more time spent by the water, and vacation. Whether your creative mind wants to take a vacation or be inspired by Shakespeare; play with a Farmer’s Market inspired paper line or stamp into a starry night frenzy  - the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is Mid-Summer.

I kept thinking of Shakespeare's Mid-Summer Dream with the starry nights and fairies.

I made a variety of projects based on a technique I was playing with to create my dancing fairies.

I created a variation of  the  salt with inky sprays technique.  I started with spraying a surface of white cardstock with yellow glimmer mist.  I sprinkled salt on the surface. I let that dry.  I repeated with Dylusions ink spray. I also created one more sheet with a darker yellow and orange mix.

 After the salt dried I scraped off the inky salt and sprinkled it onto another sheet of white cardstock:

 I then spritzed it with water to re-activate the ink but in small doses of color:

 After that dries I scrapped off the salt and this is what remained:

This gave me a nice variety of backgrounds to play with I created a midnight scene:

I stamped script over the background (definition of dreams) which seemed perfect for my Mid Summer Night Dream.  I then added the mix of flowers and grass along the bottom.  I then sponged black ink around the edges.  I took white acrylic paint and mixed it with water to make it very runny and then I took an old toothbrush (ran through the dishwasher first) and filled it with white paint.  I then used my finger to pull the bristles back and sprayed the white across the surface.

I finished my scene with butterflies stamped in white ink over the surface and hand drew little crowns and a body for my fairies.  I added the quote using black stickers.

My second project used the white background with the yellow fairies.

I sponged over a stencil to create the focal point with black dye ink and finished off the background with a mix of music, flowers and a bird on a branch.  I added the music sentiment and sponged the edges.

Products: Darkroom Door - Melody, Hero Arts - With Sympathy, Darkroom Door - Wildflowers, Memory Box Bird on a branch, Memento Dye Ink - Black,  Tattered Angels - Glimme Mist (Yellow) , Tattered Angels - Yellow Glimmer Mist , White Acrylic Paint,  My Minds Eye - Black Stickers, Stampers Anonymous - Spring Sprung, Clear Embossing Powder, Ultra-Fine - Glitter, Ranger Distress Inks - Mustard Yellow, Ranger Archival Ink - Black Ink

For an opportunity to  win a   Simon Says Stamp $50 Gift Voucher all you need to do is share your midsummer inspiration.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Shabby Birds

Happy Saturday!  I am so pleased it is the weekend.  I am back today sharing a shabby chic wall hanging.  I started with some fun rub-ons and  pretty summery colors.

I started with placing some rub-ons onto a piece of leftover cardboard that was white.

I then used a mixed of orange, pink and yellow dye inks to sponge on a mix of colors over the background.

After I finished with the dye ink I used the Tim Holtz Stencil with embossing paste to add a honeycomb texture. After the paste dried I ripped a bit of the background and added a touch of white paint over the surface.

I finished my board with a stamped bird image (Stampers Anonymous and created a nest form white flower.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Shimmery Embossing Paste

I was creating lots but not meeting what I needed for a design commitment... You are going to get the backlash of all that creating...

I started by spraying a piece of white cardstock with blue glimmer mist.  I let it dry. (Okay I didn't wait I pulled out my heat gun and tried drying it that way)

I then laid the stencil on the background and covered it in embossing paste. I picked it up and placed it next to the first area and repeated the process. I repeated until the entire sheet was covered.

While the paste was wet I threw on a coat of ultrafine crystal glitter (Stampendous).

And this is how it looked.







 I let it dry and cut it up into three pieces.  And three clean and simple birthday card.

Card #2

 Card #3

And done.  Great to stock up my birthday card supplies!

Have a great Wednesday!

Suzz

Inspiration

If you could see your creativity flowing would it look like this?   Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge  is Faces.  You can take your inspiration from face stamps to the face of a clock, cameos to silhouette.  

My project started from this:

A blend of mists spritzed through a stencil onto papers.  I created several pieces with different colors.

 I ended up with these scraps because of playing with projects like this:

My journal is an old ledger which I like to use for times when I am trying out new ideas.  I put a coat of paint over the middle of the page and started to layer on the left over scraps. I kept going until I had a lovely mix of pieces.

Then I decided to add the face. That led to what do I do with the top of her head?  I decided to create her mojo flowing out of her head. 

I had fun with this journal page although I had a hard time leaving the bottom half of my project without anything else. 

Products:  Ranger Archival Ink - Hydrangea, Ranger Archival Ink - Monarch Orange, Versafine Toffee, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Yellow, Orange, Blue,  The Crafters Workshop - Circle stencil, Stampers Anonymous - Dreamers, Stampers Anonymous Damask, Stampers Anonymous - Courage, Stampendous - Life is Art, White Acrylic Paint, Butterfly Punch, Maya Road Art Journal Stamps, Hero Arts Designblock - Fabulous

Why not share your take on about a face for a chance  to win a   Simon Says Stamp $50 Gift Voucher.   There is a new release  from Simon Says too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

STAEDTLER Giveaway!

 

You know how much I love my STAEDTLER - watercolor pencils.  I always have them in hand,  coloring up new images (Like this one just released from Stampendous - Pumpkin Ride).  Well, you have an opportunity to win a lovely prize package from STAEDTLER!

 

 

 

To play along for a chance to win a fabulous prize package all you have to do is  post a project you have made with any STAEDTLER product here on my blog.

 One winner will be chosen randomly on Thursday July 31st. 

Open only to residents of the US and Canada. 
Take a photo of your project and post it on any social media site with a brief description of the STAEDTLER product you used.
Write a comment with a link to your project photo on this post.

Make sure you mention what STAEDTLER products were used in your project 

and mention that you are posting for the STAEDTLER Summer Giveaway. 

We're looking for NEW projects made for this giveaway specifically. 
Projects must be posted no later than July 30th to be considered for a chance to win.

Prize package includes: 12 pc Karat Watercolor Crayons, 6 pc Triplus Fineliner Pastel set and 1 package of FIMO air dry clay. 
Posting a photo link in a comment below also allows STAEDTLER to re post your photo on their social media sites.

Hope you have time to join in on the fun! 

Suzz

Flock Together

Part two of my feather collection... The fun part of this was trying different ideas and I kept going when things weren't going well and tried new things to correct my mistakes.

My first one I love how it turned out.  I started with the white crackle embossing paste from Wendy Vecchi as my base feathers and used the beautiful Merlot gold Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist to create the dark plummy effect.

After it dried I added some overlay of white stamped text.

For my next one I started with a trio of glimmer mists over the stencil.

I added black ink sponged around the edges of the stencil.  I then stamped the mosaic stamp over the surface of the stencil.  I added a mix of glimmer mists and sponged ink around the edges.

Thanks for stopping by to see my feathery creations.

Suzz

Birds of a Feather

I just bought a new Jenni Bowlin Stencil which had me creating since the weekend on a variety of fine feathered friends.

I started with a blending of distress inks sponged over the stencil to add the layers of colors.  I then sponged around the edges with brown dye ink. 

I kept the stencil in place and stamped script into the openings.  I then stamped the wood grain in the background.

For my next attempt I did the same effect of three colors in the stencil but I used Glimmer Mists.

After I finished I decided to cover it with Wendy Vecchi Crackle Embossing Paste.  After it was dry I mixed in more glimmer mist and shaded around the edges with brown watercolor pencil blended with the waterbrush.

After I finished with the layers I stamped letters in the background and added the rub ons to the centers of the feathers.

Products: Jenni Bowlin - Feather Stencil, Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Rub-ons, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists (Merlot, Orange, Yellow)  STAEDTLER - karat aquarell watercolor pencils, Hero Arts White Ink, Stampers Anonymous - Text, Wendy Vecchi Crackle Embossing Paste, Ranger Distress Inks - Ripe Persimmons, Mustard Seed, Memento Bamboo Leaves, Darkroom Door - WoodGrain

Tomorrow I will share my last two experiments.

Suzz

We the People

Anna-Karin suggested a challenge where we make our own flowers this week at  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  That inspired May into suggesting  – how about making some project element from scratch? It could be an embellishment with layers, a rosette, a flower, or perhaps you build something or otherwise craft a piece by starting with little more than simple paper or other raw materials

I was inspired by our 4th of July holiday this past week to create a mini rosette on a patriotic tag.

I used some red and white striped ribbon and bunched it together by running a piece of thread down one side and pulling it tight.  I attached it to a glue dot to hold the center together.

This tag started form a journal page painted white.

I used the stencil to apply white embossing paste.  While it was still wet I sprinkled crystal ultra fine sprinkles in the center.

After that dried I laid the stencil back over the embossed stars and sponged on blue and red dye ink on either end.  I cut the the tag from the center.  I sponged the edge with brown dye ink.  I then stamped the We The People stamp on tissue paper and sponged the edges using brown dye ink.

I stamped the ink pot using black ink and embossed with black embossing powder to give it a nice shine.  I cut it out.  I inked up the feather to turn it black. 

Products:
White Acrylic Paint, Ranger Dye Ink - Fired Brick, Broken China, 
   TIm HOltz Layering Stencil - Stars, Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste White, Impression Obsession - We the People, Darkroom Door - Vintage Office,   Idea-ology Pen Nibs,  Idea-Ology Mirrored Stars,
Hemp, Feather, Kraft Cardstock,  Tim Holtz Filmstrip,  TIm Holtz Mini Numerals

I am looking forward to seeing what people create from scratch. If you play along you have an opportunity to win a   Simon Says Stamp $50 Gift Voucher.   There is a new release coming out on the 11th of July from Simon Says too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Dragonfly

You know how there are stamps you just love.  Well this is one of my favorites!  One of the ones I am always drawn to and want to pick up and use all the time.   

I decided to play with pink and orange dye inks mixed up with water on my craft mat.  I dragged my cardstock through the inks.  After that dried  I just stamped the beautiful dragonfly onto the surface. 

I added a hint of yellows to the wings along with some ultra-fine glitter.

To bring in texture I used a layering stencil from Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi white embossing paste.  After it dried I added a little more color with the dye inks over the texture and around the edges of the card.

Products: Stampers Anonymous Classics #1, Memory Box -Happy Birthday, Wendy Vecchi  White embossing paste,  Tim Holtz - Layering Stencil, Ranger Dye Inks - Ripe Persimmons, Picked Raspberries

A quick and easy birthday card much needed this month with all the birthdays we have in the family. :)

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Suzz

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

For my American friends, I hope you are having a safe and blessed 4th of July.  Here is a little card created for Stampendous using the adorable House Mouse.  The buttons are molded from Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel.

Products: Stampendous - Star Spangled Mice , STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils, Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel

Suzz

Sea Witch

For some beautiful summer inspiration go check out Tim's July tag.   I had none of the supplies he used so I wandered off the path a little and created a sea witch in a grotto.

 It was really hard to get a photo to show the cool effect of the background with my sea-witch perching in her blend of sea-weed.

 My tag is an acetate tag embossed, painted, splattered with paint, water, and alcohol inks.   You name it it was applied.

I tamped the image on tissue paper and used decoupage to add her to the tag base.  That made her translucent. I added highlights and a layer of paint around the edges to blend her in.  I wanted texture for my sea-weed and ended up die cutting flowers, and branches from tissue paper and cardstock.  I painted them to coordinate and layered them around the edges.  Along the bottom is a new product from Stampendous which will be released at the end of the week and I love them. It is a pre-mixed jar of mica and glitters.  I mixed in a little shabby pink embossing enamel.  Tim's sand mixture was very cool and you should go see how he mixed it up.

That's all for me!  Have a wonderful Thursday!

Suzz

25 to 50

Our oldest niece is turning 25 this year!  My hubby and I were dating when she was first born. I remember going to their house to see the new baby. Where has all the time gone?  With her birthday coming up I was thinking of what I could do for her birthday.  I went to Pinterest and checked my pins for cards and I decided to CASE  this striking card from Gay Peplow.

 So how do you go from 25 to 50?  My sister's big birthday is coming up too!  In the process of making my version of the card let's just say about 5 tries to get to one card.    CAS for me takes 5 times as long as my distressed shabby chic/vintage look.

I ended up making three variation and I just popped a 50 over one of the 25's to use for my sister.

 Here is the finished card.  I wanted to overlap the damask with the pretty script and add her birthday number in the top right and finish it off with a butterfly.

I created a second butterfly to cut out and add a layer. 

Products: Stampers Anonymous - Damask,  7 Gypsies - Numbers, Darkroom Door - Eclectic - Butterfly, Darkroom Door - Textures - Script, Memory Box - Sentiment, STAEDTLER Karat Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils

 One of my attempts I stamped the sentiment in Ranger Archival Magenta Hue and added a watercolor circle around the numbers. I didn't like the effect of the watercolor circles so I softened them with water and then I added the #50 over the top .

 This one I stamped the sentiment crooked and had to keep cutting to cut it off. I tried layering the sentiment and it didn't work. I do like the black card base as it really pops.

I also had to make a boy's birthday card for this week so I pulled out my wild west stamps and created this:

I was playing with Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Stars and sponging on the mix of browns with dye inks over an inky background.  After it was done I decided to pair it with the Wild West Cowboy and the Verses Rubber Stamps Birthday stamp.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Suzz