Fall

Happy Fall!  We are having some beautiful fall days here.  We just went apple picking a few weekends ago and this card is reminiscent of that.

I used the new Artistic Outpost Hayride plate along with the ruler from the Whimsical Melange plate. Unfortunately the local farm stands around here typically don't have fruit or vegetables that are homegrown as the time to grow them takes all summer. :) 

I also used a ticking stamp from the Kudzu Kafe to create my pattern in the background.  I distressed the edges with a distressing tool and sponged on brown dye ink.
The images are colored with STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell watercolor pencils with a touch of white highlight from a Signo Uni-Ball Gel pen.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Suzz

Just Be

How about a little stamping?  Simon Says Stamp and Show this week is challenging us to do a little stamping.  You can interpret it to mean using little stamps, only doing a little stamping or stamping in small spaces.   I love my stamping so for me this was a real challenge.  I used the little spaces in Journal tags to capture images hence my little stamping.

I had to create a little holder for my journal tags and I created a pocket tag with a large manila tag.

The Kudzu Kafe has "Be" sentiments and I paired them with the images on the tags. I think they are fun sentiments and perfect with the images.

I stamped the image on the Journal tag using black ink. I then added the sentiment in different areas of the tag. I colored the images and journal tags with a mix of red and blue watercolor pencils.

I created the pocket to hold the mini tags from a large manila tag.  I folded the tag up and added two strips of  which was folded up to form a pocket. To emulate the journal tags I added a strip of black ink on the top and bottom of the pocket. I stamped a row of rulers along the top.  I added a few buttons on either side.

Products: 7 Gypsies Journal Tags, Artistic outpost - Kudzu Kafe, Artistic Outpost - PaperBoy, Ranger Archival Ink - Black, Ranger Archival Ink - Vermillion Maya Road - Measure Twice, Prima Buttons, Black Hemp, Koi Small Waterbrush,     Manila Tag     STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils 

Come join in and use a little stamping on your project for a chance to win a gift certificate from  Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Oz

Welcome to the Artistic Outpost Design Team Monthly Blog hop!  This month the team is sharing literature and children books inspired projects.

I decided to share a book highlighting Oz:

The outside of the book got a white wash of white acrylic paint.  I added a touch of Versamark around the edges to apply Stampendous Aged Scarlet Embossing Enamel.  I used the same powder to cover the chipboard letters and to emboss my ruby slippers from the lovely Oz Collage plate.  I added a touch of flourish around the slippers from Flappers Fashions.

On the inside of the book there was a lovely alcove already built in:

I decided to take Dorothy and Toto and put them in the forest where they met the lion.  I stamped the images in black ink and colored with watercolor pencils.  I created a tree from brown tissue paper.  I coated the floor with a layer of Wee-Scapes green ground cover.  The background paper is from Graphic 45 Oz papers.

To go with the lovely sentiment about how much you are loved I put the people who loved Dorothy:

I die cut multiple hearts from white cardstock using Spellbinders Dies.  I stamped the various images from the Oz Collage plate along with the Kudzu Kafe woman who reminded me of Auntie Em and put behind her the farm from the Home plate.   The French Flight plate had a perfect image for the Fortune Teller or OZ and his Hot Air Balloon.  I colored the images with watercolor pencils and waterbrush. I sponged the background with a touch of blue dye ink and brown dye around the edges.

The design team has some fantastic inspiration for you to enjoy:

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Country Christmas

I had several tags on my desk this week between Linda's Funkie Junkie Week # 4 challenge and Tim's October tag.  Linda's challenge is sponsored by her store The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I finished up my tag for Linda's challenge yesterday.

 I was inspired by Linda's Rustic Christmas charm on her tag.  She had gingham in the background and on her ribbons.  I didn't have a gingham stamp but thought why not use the ticking stamp from the Kudzu Kafe plate from Artistic Outpost.

That lead to a Kudzu Kafe Christmas. :)  I stamped the ticking stamp in two directions to create a gingham effect. I embossed a kraft panel and softened it with a touch of white acrylic paint. I stamped the store and added some fun faux flowers. The happy Christmas is from the Snowy Woods plate.

I added a little plaid ribbon that was recycled from a Christmas gift. I inked up white buttons to add a touch of green and brown.

I also wanted to share my second tag inspired from Tim's Tag of October.  I created the background using tissue tape, acrylic paints and a touch of distress inks. I added a layer of perfect pearls.

The images are from the Artistic Outpost Paris Exposition.

Happy Friday to you!

Suzz

Family Gatherings

I wanted to do something very fun and different for my first challenge as a DT member on Simon Says Stamp and Show.  The challenge is Anything Goes this week, which really allowed me to come up with something different. 

I had these awesome wooden spoons just waiting for something to happen.

I was inspired to create some place card holders for a family gathering. Each spoon allowed me to create a  personalized place setting for my guest.

Here is my family of spoons:

Each spoon started with a layer of distress stains.  The stain applied to the wood beautifully.   I added a layer of smeared white acrylic paint around the edges and across the surfaces.  I stamped the definition stamp over the spoon.  Helpful Tip:   I did not use an acrylic block for this step which allowed me to push the cling stamp into the concave surface of the spoon.


The images are stamped on white cardstock and colored using watercolor pencils and a water brush. I cut them out and attached them with watered down Elmer's glue. I glued underneath the image and over the surface.

After that each spoon had their embellishments hand selected to coordinate. I used the stains to color seam binding to coordinate.  Each spoon has a memo ring attached  to slip a card with the guest's name on it.

I also created two other spoons with a few different accents.  I highlighted the words on the spoon and used mini clothespins for the clip.

See how the little fairy covers my clothespin underneath?

A visual display of the spoons in progress and a few of the supplies:

Don't my supplies look well loved?

Products:

• Artistic Outpost - Bluebird
• Artistic Outpost - Kudzu Kafe
• Artistic Outpost Paris Exposition
• Ranger Distress Stains
• Adirondack Snow Cap Acrylic Paint Dabber
• Hero Arts Thank You Definition
• Ranger Archival Inks
• Hero Arts - Papillion
• Artistic Outpost - Neverland
• Memo Pins Split Ring

 For more inspiration, info about the challenge, and the wonderful prize head over to Simon Says Stamp and Show! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz  

Artistic Outpost May 2012 Release - Kudzu Kafe

Today is the May release day for Artistic Outpost!  The new set being released is called Kudzu Kafe.

The new plate includes nostalgic images featuring a roadside cafe, children from the early 1900's,
and Thoreau sentiments  which work beautifully with so many of the
other collections.

I was inspired by the Kudzu Kafe stamp shape to create a mini book:

The book partially opened to the center:

The first two pages:

I used the birds from the Bluebird set along with the Kudzu Kafe images. I added a little banner along the side from the Country Life plate.

The images and backgrounds are from Bluebird, The Flower Market and Kudzu Kafe.

 

The last two pages on the inside use The Outpost, The Flower Market, and the Bluebird set. 

 

The back cover is from The Outpost and I  love the contrast from the store to the scenery.

For more inspiration and fabulous creations take a peek at what the rest of the DT has created!

Anita Houston  

Gerrie Johnnic

Lisa Somerville  

Linda Coughlin 

Yvonne Garner

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz