Bottled Up Vacation

Good Morning!  I am back to share a little bit of bottled up vacation to go with my sentiment of Collect Life's Beautiful Moments.

I could not get all the pictures to show up all the cool details because of the mason jar glass and how it catches the light when photographing this.

 This is intended to be hung like this:

 But it shows a little more of the detail when you look at it from this angle:

 I started with a mason jar and added a bit of sand on the bottom mixed with miniature shells. 

 I had some very pretty icy branches from Christmas sprigs left over that I cut and placed in there.

 I stamped the shell and colored it with a mix of Ranger Distress inks.  I die cut out a few sea-horses and inked them up and stamped a little script on them.  I then added a pearl eye to them and placed them in the jar.

 I then looked around and found I had the leftover covering from a set of measuring cups that I had saved because I loved the hemp / twine and it fit perfectly.  The best part is it has the handles on the top to use to hang the jar full of vacation anywhere.

Products: Simon Says Stamp Tim Holtz Exclusives Stamps, Sizzix Die - Mini Seahorse, Ranger Distress Inks - Coral, Vintage Photo, Peacock Feather, Memory Box Dream

I am entering this into the Mixed Media Place Exercise #12 - Proverbs or Sayings

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Suzz

Happy Birthday Challenge

Been struggling with creating things lately.... Here is an entry for the Hero Arts weekly challenge. It was based on an idea from Godelieve... http://www.flickr.com/photos/stampingmathilda/3170141676/

I stamped the frogs on patterned paper from Basic Grey and added some color using the colored pencils.

Products:

• Hero Arts - Clear Design - Birthday Expressions
• Hero Arts - Sparkle Clear - Froggy
• Hero Arts - Clear Design - Birthday Messages
• Basic Grey - Periphery
• Martha Stewart - Zig Zag Border Punch
• Memories Dye Ink -Honey
• Versafine -Olympia Green, Lagoon
  

Thanks for stopping by...

Suzz

Nature prints...

I have been playing with leaves. I was walking my daughter home from the bus and some beautiful yellow leaves were laying on the ground. We picked up 4 or 5 and she thought it was great fun.

I decided to stamp my leaves. Here are some pictures of my experience.

Here are some of the supplies I used to create the background.

Here is my first background:

Mini-Recipe:

1. Lay leaf on a scrap piece of paper. Ink leave with pigment ink.
2. Lay leaf with ink face down on white cardstock. Lay another piece of scrap over the leaf and brayer the leaf several times.
3. Lift leaf up and oohh and ahh over the detail you stamped.. :)
4. Cover with clear embossing powder and heat emboss.
5. Sponge golden yellow ink. Sponge brown ink around the edges.

Here is my second background:

I also used a poinsetta flower petal which provided the most detail. The poinsetta flower petal was gorgeous. I didn't end up putting it on a card because it was too large when I finished with it.

Here is the card I put together using the tree leaves.
Products:

• Versafine - Olympia Green
• Memento - Rich Cocoa
• Memories - Honey
• Verses - Apache Blessing
• Ribbon - Unknown
• Kaisers - Gems
  

Thanks for stopping by...

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...

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.

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

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!

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...