Monthly Archives: September 2014
- Stencils – Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz – Dot Fade and Stencil Girl – Leaf Poetry Stencil
- Stamp – Hero Arts “Newspaper Background”
- Modeling Paste – Viva Modellier Creme – Mother of Pearl and Viva Ferro – Gold iron
- Adirondak Dimension Pearls – Terra Cotta
- Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap – Melange
- Canvas
- Decorative Polyester Leaves
- Claudine Helluth Studio matte (gel) multi-medium
I created this 8 X 8″ canvas with a base of gesso and then added Ranger Distress Inks to give the background a little color. I then stamped the background with a newspaper stamp and applied some tissue wrap with matte gel medium. I added some dimension with modeling paste through stencils and painting a little paste directly onto the canvas. Finally, I attached the polyester leaves that I had in my stash with more gel medium. I drew some lines to accentuate the outline of the leaves with a fine line marker. This canvas has a lot of texture and Autumn color. I created it for the Mixed Media Mojo September Challenge, which is to create a mixed media project with a Fall theme and modeling or embossing paste. Thanks for visiting.
3 Comments | tags: Hero Arts, mixed media, stamping, stencils, tim holtz | posted in Autumn, Canvas, Challenges, Mixed Media Mojo
- Dies – Impression Obsession “Squirrel Set”
- Stamps – Lawn Fawn “Joy to the Woods” (tree) and Impression Obsession “Vertical Greetings”
- Patterned paper – Echo Park “Here and Now”
- Distress Inks – Ranger – Walnut Stain, Weathered Wood, and Black Soot
- Cardstock – Bazzill
When I first laid eyes on these squirrels, I could hardly stand it! I decided I wanted to color the squirrel die cuts and the stamped tree myself, rather than using colored paper. I cut the squirrels out of white cardstock and applied Distress Inks to get the desired colors. Then I stamped the tree trunks with brown ink, fussy cut them and then also applied Distress Inks to them. I popped up the squirrels with dimensional adhesive so they look like they are perched and climbing as squirrels would–very 3-D. It is tradition for me to make a squirrel birthday card for a friend, so this is what I came up with. Thanks for visiting today.
For a closer look:
Leave a comment | tags: cardmaking, clean and simple stamping, die cuts, distress techniques, echo park, fauna, Impression Obsession, lawn fawn | posted in Birthday, Distress Techniques
- Stamp – My Favorite Things – “My Favorite Sentiments” set
- Stencil – The Crafter’s Workshop “Crosshatched Frags”
- Patterned paper – Basic Grey “Kissing Booth: Cupid”
- Die – Spellbinder’s Nestabilities “Standard Circles Large”
- Ranger Distress Inks – Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade
- Bling – Rhinestones – Queen & Co. and Mark Richards; Pearls – Memory Box
- Cardstock – Bazzill
This month’s Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge at Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps was to make your own background to be used on a card. I’ve been really into the backgrounds thing lately with my mixed media explorations. I thought I’d do something a little more mainstream for an OWH card, so I used Distress Inks through a stencil. This is a favorite technique of mine. I just take several colors of Distress Ink and apply it with a sponge applicator through a stencil, blending the colors. Then I stamped on top and die cut it and it looks like a piece of patterned paper. Thanks for visiting today.
1 Comment | tags: cardmaking, crafter's workshop, distress techniques, my favorite things, Ranger, stamping, stencils | posted in Backgrounds, Challenges, Distress Techniques, General Cards, OWH
- Stamps – from The Cat’s Pajamas “Wish” set (includes bunny, sentiment and stars)
- Dies – Spellbinders Nestabilities “Labels Twenty-Two”
- Patterned paper – Reminisce “Out of this world” and BoBunny “Buttercup Dot”
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Sakura Gelly Roll pen – Stardust
Happy Birthday, Trenton! This is Trenton’s card for today, celebrating his 16 years of age. It features a great set from The Cat’s Pajamas. The bunny is colored with Copic markers, cut out and popped up with some dimensional adhesive. I carried the star theme through by finding some star patterned paper in my stash for a backdrop and then stamped the little twin stars in the “Wish” set and created a border at the bottom. I trimmed along the star border on the front of the card and colored in the stars with the Stardust Gelly Roll pen so they’d twinkle. I added a strip of red cardstock on the inside of the card to bring out the star border.
This is my candidate for The Cat’s Pajamas Tuesday Challenge #275: Anything Goes. Thanks for stopping by.
1 Comment | tags: cardmaking, Cat's Pajamas, copics, die cuts, spellbinders, stamping | posted in Birthday, Challenges, TCP
More Than Just a Background Series:
Water Stamping
- Stamps – Hampton Art Vingologie Butterflies Clear Stamp & Stencil Set; Kodomo, Inc. “Leaf01”; JudiKins “Calligraphic Flourish”
- Inks – Ranger Distress Inks – Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters; ClearSnap Chalk Ink – Creamy Brown, Rouge, Ice Jade, and Azurite
- Ink spray – Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist – Suede
- Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper
This is the first in a series I’m planning. I make Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) generally once a month to trade with my “Book Club” friends. One of the processes I like to follow is creating a background on a full 8-1/2″ X 11″ sheet of cardstock and then cutting it into 10 standard sized cards. Mirkwood Designs has a great template for getting 10 out of one piece of paper with little waste. But there are so many wonderful techniques you can do to create lovely backgrounds for card bases and ATCs, that I thought I’d show a little more about my backgrounds here and explain some of the steps and variations I try.
For this set of cards, I was inspired by the September issue of Craft Stamper magazine, page 38. I created the background by starting with a sheet of Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper. This paper has a very non-porous surface and is very smooth. I applied Ranger Distress inks with a sponge applicator in several of the greens. I then took the fern stamp and misted it with water. I placed it on the inked surface, which creates a ghost image. I repeated that across the page, changing the orientation of the stamp. I then stamped the flourish in Mowed Lawn randomly on the page. I then spritzed some water, some larger drops and some smaller. Finally, I missed areas with Glimmer Mist to add some additional texture. Below is what the background looked like.
Once it all dried, I cut the paper into 2-1/2″ X 3-1/2″ inch cards for my ATCs. I must confess–sometimes it is pretty hard to cut up my background pieces! I stamped the butterfly and the word “lovely” on a separate piece of cardstock. I cut each out and distressed the stamped pieces and the outside of the cards with chalk inks. I then attached the pieces to the cards with dimensional adhesive, letting interesting places in the background peek through.
Thanks for visiting today. Please let me know if you try this technique.
1 Comment | tags: distress techniques, hampton art, JudiKiins, Kodomo, stamping | posted in Artist's Trading Cards, Backgrounds
- Dies – Memory Box “Perched Reed Bird” and “Woodland Branch”
- Stamp – Avery Elle “Oh Happy Day”
- Patterned paper – Crate Paper “The Pier: Surf Shop” (both sides)
- Brads – Creative Impressions
- Embossing Powder – Stampendous – Aqua
- Faber Castell Gelatos
- Cardstock – Bazzill
For this clean and simple card, I used the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches (#153). I die cut the bird from cardstock on which I’d blended several colors of Gelatos with a baby wipe. After it was cut, I added a little more color with Gelatos and blended the colors together until I was happy with the look. I was able to match the color of the bird with my embossing powder, which I was pretty pleased about! I picked up the green in the bird and the patterned paper with the brads.
On another note, as far as I know, I don’t have a chicken stamp! The Shopping Our Stash challenge for this week is to create a card with a chicken image (because it is Chicken Month), or to use another type of bird image. So I opted for this little bird. Thanks for visiting today.
5 Comments | tags: Avery Elle, cardmaking, clean and simple stamping, embossing, fauna, memory box, stampendous | posted in Freshly Made, General Cards, Shopping Our Stash
- Stamps – Penny Black “Flower Festival” and “Sweet Wishes” and Printworks “Thank You”
- Dies – Spellbinders Nestabilities “Labels Twenty”
- Stampendous white and iridescent Embossing Powders
- Watercolors – Twinkling H2Os
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Bling – Mark Richards Ltd.
This card started out with the image stamped with VersaMark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I then colored the hydrangea with Twinkling H2Os. The embossing powder provided a strong outline and acted as a resist for the watercolor. The outline on the sentiment flag is another Penny black stamp that I heat embossed with some iridescent embossing powder.
I was inspired by Debby Hughes, who is the muse for CASE Study #207 at the CASE Study Blog. I have taken a number of Online Card Classes during which Debby was a guest designer and I’m familiar with her style. Here is a closer look at some detail on my card. Thanks for visiting.
3 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, embossing, flora, penny black, spellbinders, watercolor | posted in Case Study, Challenges, Thank You
- Stamps – Lawn Fawn “Snow Day” set
- Patterned paper – KaiserCraft “Bluebelle Collection: Capri” (both sides)
- Spellbinders Nestabilities – Standard Circles Large
- Cardstock – Bazzill
This is a very simple card in which I used a number of images from the new Lawn Fawn “Snow Day” clear stamp set. I colored the bunnies with Copic Markers and edged the elements with Black Soot Distress Ink. I added a smattering of little stamped hearts from the same stamp set down the left side of the main panel to tie the heart theme up. This week’s Friday Mashup challenge (#175) is to create a card using animals, so here it is. Thanks for visiting.
1 Comment | tags: cardmaking, clean and simple stamping, copics, die cuts, KaiserCraft, lawn fawn, spellbinders, stamping | posted in Challenges, Friday Mashup, Love
