Graduation Time

Hi!  I have not been creating at all we have had a very busy few months.  Lot's of graduations, moving people, school finishing up and work.  I do have one graduation card to share.  I made a batch of them and this was the best of the bunch.

I have to admit that I started from a card I purchased at the store for one of the many graduations happening this month.

The store bought card had a beautiful variation of colors on the card face with a beautiful overlay of acetate with words and images in white on top of the colors in the background.  I tried to emulate the same effect on my card.

I started with a splattered background mixing sprays on craft mat and picking them up onto paper.  I then worked on the acetate overlay. I had the hardest time getting a good white image on the front of the card. I used a variety of techniques and ended up with stamps and white ink. 

Next I went back and stamped in purple ink the images on the card surface. The quote is from Verse Rubber Stamps.  The images are from Stampendous.  The stars on the acetate are from Darkroom Door.

Happy Stamping!

Suzz

Oh so Pretty

Distress Oxides are in the house!  I spent a bit of the weekend having a lovely time inking up and playing with the new distress inks. 

I made many backgrounds and I did manage to create one tag/card. 

This was sponged with the new inks over one of the new layering stencils.  I wanted an ombre effect and I sponged heavily along the bottom and continued upwards with a lighter and lighter inking.

When I was done I added water to the leftover ink on the craft mat and dabbed it up with the tag to get a few inky splatters.

Then I stamped the new flowers and mason jar on the front.  I added a few butterflies and was done.

 But then I thought this would look good on a tall and narrow card. So I cut off the top of the tag and put it onto a card base.  Now I can send it out to a friend.

I wanted to share all the fun I had this weekend so I took photos of my backgrounds.

I love how the inks run and blend.  On the left sample I smeared the ink across the mixed media paper in three bands of ink.  I then just used water to get it to drip down the paper and blend.

On the right I sponged on the inks to create the gradient colors and then splashed with water.  I love how the watermarks pop on the new ink.

The one on the left is ink smeared directly onto the piece of mixed media paper and then multiple iterations of water sprayed, dried and sprayed again over the surface.  The one the right picked up the leftover ink on the craft mat in yellow, blue and brown.  This one I have started a new project with and love where it is going. Hopefully to be finished this week.

I sponged the Amber color through the new stencil on my left tag and then spritzed with water to see if it would get a more speckled effect.  The right side was ink on a acrylic block spritzed with water and placed on the cardstock.  I then came back and flicked water on the surface.

Finally another piece of smeared ink and spritzing with water to get the drip down effect.  I did the green and blue first and then came back and added brown along the top to overrun the other colors. I wanted the colors to intensify after they dried so I covered the surface with Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Thanks for sticking around to see all the fun backgrounds.

Suzz

Gently Lovingly...

Welcome back.  Today I am sharing a series of sympathy cards. They are all based on the same idea and will help me build up a small supply of these type of cards. I am always thankful when I don't have a need for sympathy cards.  Unfortunately a friend of mine has lost someone in her family and I wanted to send her a little note to show we were thinking of her and her family.

 I started with two of my favorite stamps that I have had for awhile.  The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps and I think a beautiful way to send caring thoughts. 

 The Pussy Willows stamp is a very old one from Serendipity Stamps.  I wanted to stamp the pussy willows slightly overlapping the sentiment.  I used micro-glaze on the image and sentiment before I added color to see if I could keep my buds white.  I sprayed the mist on my craft mat and laid my stamped image and sentiment in the ink.  I then sprinkled in white paint and a few flicks of the spray over the surface.  I then came back in and added highlights with my gel pen.

 For this card I stamped and added the glaze on the buds. I then just sprayed directly in the middle of the pussy willows with my distress stain spray. I dabbed off the excess with paper towels.  I then flicked white paint and blue spray over the surface.

For my final version, I followed the same process as above but sprayed at an angle which covered more of the surface with a softer blue background. I highlighted again with the white gel pen to pop the areas I wanted highlighted.

I am added this to the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge of Stamping & Smooshing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Words that are Special

A Vintage Journey's Challenge this month has been words that are special. One of my favorite things is sentiments/words stamps.  I was part of the Verses Rubber Stamps team for a long time because I love that all their stamps are quotes and sentiments. 

I decided to pull out one of my stamps from Verses and create a tag.

 This was a lot of layering of papers, dies and ephemera and the only stamping is the lovely verse from Verses Rubber Stamps. 

The paper and ephemera is from Prima Marketing and the image is Darkroom Door.  The dies are form Memory Box and Simon Says Stamps.

Happy Monday to you all...

Suzz

Valentine

I have been busy playing with Valentines.  I have just a few to create which has me thinking of different ways to use my existing supplies.  I was inspired by the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge to Put a Stencil on It.

 I spent some time playing with a die cut out of a heart on a piece of white cardstock. I used a mask and a stencil to sponge on the gold and coral/red combinations on the card face.  I then decided to cut the heart around the edges but leave the center intact so I could fold up the base heart.

 That inspired me to cut out more hearts and layer them with the opposite pattern of colors and stencils. 

The background is stamped with a Verses Rubber Stamp - How Do I love Thee.  I love this script stamp and don't get to use it often enough. It is the full poem and in beautiful script.

The inks are gold and a mix of abandoned coral and a hint of red.  I used the mini harlequin stencil form Tim Holtz Layering Stencils.  I stamped the postal mark and the word Love from Stampers Anonymous.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Un-finished Projects

Hi!  I have been a terrible blogger this month.  Things have been very busy at home and I have been creating but not finishing many things.  I finished this card last week but then realized it was very similar to a series of cards made previously with this stamp. :)

I also have a ton of half finished projects.  I start them and walk away because I don't know where to go with them next.

Like this attempt to play with a glaze resist over stamped text and color bursts.

or this a stencil outline with another stencil layered in with embossing paste.

 This was me still playing with the glaze resist. 

I have a bunch of ideas half started and not finished.  These will go in the backgrounds pile to hopefully re-surface into a finished project at some time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Bright Hopes

Hi!  Back for a quick share. I needed an anniversary card to be sent off and had a little time to create one quickly.

I stamped the Verses Sentiment using the Ranger Archival Ink - Watering Can in the center.  I laid the stencil over the stamped sentiment and softly sponged Worn Lipstick around the edges with a hint of the pattern over the sentiment.

I sponged the edges of the background and splattered with Heidi Swapp Color Shine - Gold Lame. It dries with a gold shimmer.

Then I needed texture but wanting it to stay flat to travel cheaply I die cut a few flowers and sponged them in a coordinating color. They also got a splattering of gold.

I layered the card front and a quick card in less than 10 minutes (I big win for me. :)  and off it goes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Flowers

Hello! It's Saturday and we are having some beautiful spring weather.  What better inspiration than that to create a spring bouquet of cards?

Both cards are simple and easy to create. This takes me back to when I first started stamping with the Hero Arts stamps.  I was happy to see the new silhouette wildflowers form SA along with the doily stamps.

I used versamark in the background with the doily stamp to create a very soft shadow with a hint of mist sprayed from the bottom right corner. 

I inked up the flowers with two dye inks and stamped them over the background and added one of my many Verses Rubber Stamps sentiments.

These flowers are so lovely in their silhouette that I didn't want to distract from them other than a few glossy accents as dew drops.

My second one was a scrap from playing with a lovely flower stencil and blending the mists across the stencil.  I just added a few pearls and a tiny sentiment and a lovely card created quickly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Small Things with Great Love

Friday!  Yeah! I have been having a dry spell with my creative juices.  Today I decided that I was going to create something, anything to keep me creating.  I decided to use a new stencil with ferns and glimmer mist to start the art!

I misted the ferns in the background and then added a layer of stamped text.

I did this three times because I tried different effects on the ferns and ended up muddying them up. I persisted and on my third attempt I added the lovely Verses Rubber Stamps sentiment and wanted to have a flower coming across in in a different direction and the PaperArtsy flower was the right length and fit perfectly.

Of course I went to stamp it and it didn't get an even image.  Easy enough to fix with a second stamping on a second piece of cardstock.  Color, cut and pop onto the top of the original image.

Products:  The Crafters Workshop - Fern Stencil, Tattered Angels - Kiwi Glimmer Mist, 7 Gypsies stamp (text),  PaperArtsy Flower - Hot Picks, Ranger Archival - Potting Soil, Verses Rubber Stamps - Great Things, Stampendous Bronze Crushed Glass Glitter

Well I hope you have a fabulous Friday!

Suzz

Salt of the Ocean

Happy Sunday!  I am busy creating and playing with my sprays and inks.  I created this tag for the Mixed Media World Challenge #10 which is a color challenge this month and I am enamored of the colors and the Mixed Media Place Creative Exercise #15 - Freedom. 

I started with a mix of inks on my craft mat and spritzing them with water and then picking them up on my paper.  I then added a hint of script on the top with pumice stone ink.  I then stamped a Stampscapes ocean image along the bottom with black ink. I came back in with colored pencils to add additional colors.  I added the bird and the sentiment (Verses Rubber Stamps)  and then sponged the edges. 

Here is the inspiration photo: 

Have a lovely Sunday!

Suzz

Winter Days

The new Mixed Media World Challenge #10 showcases some beautiful colors all in grays, blues and browns.  This is what our winter looks like and had me think of wintry days where the sun doesn't shine and the sky is overcast.

I took the colors and smeared them on the craft mat with water and dragged watercolor paper through the ink to pick up a soft watery background.  Then I stamped over with the PaperArtsy set of the music, branches and bird using Pumice Stone dye ink.  I shaded the bird with watercolor pencils.

The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps and I added a layer of Mica flakes form Stampendous.

The lovely color inspiration: 

Happy New Year's Eve!

Suzz

Song in your Heart

I have been inspired lately by the colors in the Words & Paintery challenges.  August colors were a bit trickier for me to match up with my different paints, inks, and sprays.  I combined their challenge with the Vintage Journey Things with Wings.

I started with a bunch of backgrounds made with mixing inks on my craft mat and mixing with water. 

 I added a hint of tissue tape in the background with a soft touch of watered down white paint.  I stamped the Paper Artsy flowers over the background and colored them with watercolor pencils. I added the verse in the bottom right corner and finished with a few birds cut out from a scrap ephemera.

The stamps are from Paper Artsy and Verses Rubber stamps.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Intuitive Painting

Happy Saturday to you... I spent a good part of this morning playing with paint.  The Mixed Media Place has Creative Gym challenges and exercise #4 is to try intuitive painting.  This is easy to do but requires letting go and just painting which turns out was harder for me than I thought.

I loved my backgrounds but struggled with the second part which was to identify shapes and turn them into things.  I ended up with a few that I really loved and had a few flops.

I'll start with one that surprised me when I finished it as I really liked what I doodled. 

 I started with a mix of paints on my craft mat and added a bit of water to make it blend.  I then laid the paper down and picked up a few different tags on Mixed Media paper.  When that was done I splattered green paint onto the surface.

I looked at the to blotches of orange and thought i will try drawing a few flowers on the splotches.  I liked them but hen there was all that space...  I started circling the tiny green specks and the other spindly flowers became a garden which made the whole thing work.  I then went into my Verses Rubber stamps to find sentiments.

I cut the ends off of my tag and left it in a shape that I can put on a card.

 This was a very structured paint approach I dragged the paint down the tag in stripes of colors and added circles.  When it was finished and dried I decided to stamp some of my DarkRoom Door stamps on the tag and add another sentiment that doesn't get used very often.

Next up a very simple scene.

 I saw a skyline and a path coming towards me.  I outlined it with a black micron and stamped the sentiment along the bottom.  The bottom tore as I was cutting it and I decided to tear the bottom.

 I saw a bird in the big blotch of blue with a orange head.  I decided to draw a bird with his wings slightly spread as if preparing for flight.  I decided to add the music because the birds are always singing.

Lastly I just pulled a butterfly stamp and added it to the beautiful painted background.

 And one of my backgrounds waiting for inspiration. I actually see a wing shape in this and maybe I will try to hand draw one onto the paper.

 A very fun creative and relaxing day.  A good way to spend time getting my mojo kick started!

Suzz

My Wish For You

Happy Tuesday!  This is a card which was made for my younger sister's birthday which is coming up shortly.  I decided to play with Gold Leaf as she has some beautiful paintings she created using gold leaf which inspired me.

I ended up with a piece of art larger than a card because of this cool stencil from StencilGirl which I laid down and applied Wendy Vecchi translucent embossing paste.  After I applied it I waited for it to dry for a short time.

After it started drying and and laid gold leaf sheets over the paste and let it dry. Once dry I brushed off the excess gold leaf. I covered the paper with Ranger Distress Spray Peacock Feathers.  I then just added the beautiful sentiment from Verses Rubber Stamps.  I think she will enjoy the effect of the gold leaf on the stenciled paste. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Friend Strengthens

I was inspired by the Mojo Monday Sketch #319  and decided to pull out some pretty papers and create a quick card. Since I am thankful for good friends I also am adding this to the Gratitude challenge at My Minds Eye.

 

I cut all the pieces form the paper, distressed them and added a touch of white paint.  I stamped the beautiful Verses Rubber Stamps - Friend Strengthens using Versafine Orange ink onto the paper. 

For the flowers I cut them from the Paper and crinkled them to give them texture.  The paper is My Minds Eye - Tangerine. 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Suzz

Untie the Ribbons

I am back with my second tag catching up with Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas. This tag is inspired by her week #6 tag.  The challenge is sponsored by her store The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  

My tag:

I had every intention of creating a Christmas tag.  I made the mistake of pulling out new pattern papers from Authentique mixed in with my Christmas papers.   When I saw the roses it inspired the whole tag.  I followed the design from Linda's tag as my layout and just used different elements.

Producst: Authentique Cherish, Verses Rubber Stamps - Untie the Ribbons, Tattered Angels Chalkboard Ink - Strawberry Shortcake, Seambinding, Buttons, Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee, Tulle

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Mixed Media Saturday

I was lacking interest in working on any crafty project this morning but had time to play so I decided to use the Mixed Media Challenge #8 colors to try to get my inspiration going.   I am pleased with the end result:

There is many layers of paint, glimmer mist, tape, and stenciled images on here.  I added a few images with stamped tissue paper followed up with cardstock stamped images. Colored with STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell watercolor pencils.

The sentiment is from Verses Rubber stamps - Rainbow Colors of Laughter I actually modified it a little as this is a birthday sentiment and I cut the birthday in half to say day.

The stamps are Stampers Anonymous - Classic Stamps #1,  and Stampendous Nasturtium. 

The inspiration photo:

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Suzz

Shades of Blue

City Crafter Challenge #177 has the most lovely soft serene photo in lovely soft shades of blue and it inspired me to use the Hero Arts Remember set to play along in their contest using Stamp Your Story.

I started playing around with glimmer mist and some new Hero Arts flowers with the lovely verse from Verses Rubber Stamps to create this card.

This took me four tries to get the effect I wanted.  Unfortunately it doesn't photograph as well as I had hoped so you are seeing a pumped up color from brightening to make it pop from the background.

Producst: Hero Arts - Remember, Verses Rubber Stamps - Rose Kennedy Quote, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Verdigras, EK Success Punch - Dragonfly, Ranger Distress Inks - Stormy Weather, Versamark, Stampendous Clear Embossing Powder.

Have a lovely Friday!

Suzz

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is all about all-stars. What I created this week use many of  my all-stars and some of my favorite things in my stamping stash!  This month is Stamptember at Simon Says Stamp there are give-aways, inspiration and a month long stamp party!

I just kept pulling out all my favorites and piling them up on my craft desk and figured the best way to showcase them all was to mix them together in a tag book.

My project started from the Graphic 45 Kraftboard Tag Album which gave me a booklet to showcase all my favorites.  I painted the background with a coat of white acrylic paint.

Here is a close up of each tag: 

 The white acrylic paint used to soften the background, colors or provide a surface to paint on is one of my all stars.  The script in the background is one of my favorites and I used it to add texture or depth to my background.  Flowers and a beautiful sentiment are always top on my list to use on my projects and the Stampendous sentiment is one of my favorites as is the Fleurettes from Hero Arts.

Products: Stampendous Life is Art, Hero Arts - Fleurettes, Hero Arts - Old French Writing, Ranger Distress Ink - Picked Raspberries, Waterbursh, Ranger Archival Ink.

 This dragonfly is beautiful and striking. I love stamping it and coloring it!  The waterbrush and watercolor pencils are my all-star and easy for me to pull out and add a touch of color. 

Products: Ranger Archival Ink - Black, Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Tissue Tape, Stampers Anonymous - Classics #1, STAEDTLER Watercolor Pencils, Studio Calico - HeyDey, May Arts - Rose Trim, Natural Twine,

The Outpost is one of my all time favorites. I grew up in the Midwest and the farms and fences are something I love to see when we go visiting my extended family. 

Products: Artistic Outpost - The Outpost, Hero Arts - Old French Writing, Ranger Archival Ink - Black, May Arts - Ruler Ribbon

Birds are one of my favorites and tend to show up quite a bit on my projects. I picked on of my favorites with a touch of music.

Products: Prima - Wood Button, Artistic Outpost - Quotes and Quotable, Stampendous - Song Bird, Stampers Anonymous Visual Artistry Life's Possibilities, Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen, Pearl, Tim HOltz - Lavish Trim

I couldn't have an all-stars and not use a butterfly.  I definitely use my butterflies more than anything and the jumbo cling butterflies from Stampendous has three beautiful butterflies that get pulled out and used quite a bit!

Products: Stampendous Jumbo Butterflies, Artistic Outpost - Quotes and Quotable, Hero Arts - Silhouette Fern, Clearsnap - Antique Moss,Tim Holtz Lavish Trim

Pick out your all-stars and ink them up and join us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for a chance to win a $50 Gift voucher for  Simon Says Stamp. 

A little bit of info about Stamptember and Simon Says Stamp:

Simon Says Stamp was founded in 2002 with an interest in exclusively selling rubber stamps. It didn’t take long until we realized we couldn’t stop there. During the past 11 years we celebrate rubber stamping in its full glory by giving access to people around the world to a one stop shop. Rubber stamps still remain the heart of our business and we are celebrating by hosting a STAMPtember® event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the greatness of rubber stamping. Part of the enticement of rubber stamping is that stamps can be used in creating or complementing ANYTHING! From stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, scrapbooking, mixed media, life documenting, art journaling, and many forms of altering and expressing art.

There is a fabulous line up of guest designers, tutorials and giveaways.  Don't forget to check back everyday on the Simon Says Stamp blog! 

Thanks for stopping by!


Suzz