calendar art - 3rd post today

Hi friends.  More calendar art for you to enjoy. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

more

Hi friends.  I just had to share a couple more sonobe balls.  I'm not really calling these ornaments, because they are just too big for the tree. 

When I first started making these, I was curious as to how well it would work using brown paper bags, not the flimsy flat ones, but the heavy ones from the grocery store. 

I made two different sizes, two with 4" squares and one with 6" squares.  It is definitely easier to put together the larger sizes, but I did find out that because this paper isn't as smooth, that was actually an obstacle when putting the pieces together.  I think it would have been close to impossible to use this paper on a smaller ball. 

The gold one is painted with gold Lumiere paint.  And for the one in the front in this next picture, I stamped each square with a burlap background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms in coffee archival ink.  After it was all put together, I coated it with matte Mod Podge.  I love how that one turned out. 

And just for comparison, here is the biggest one along side one of the ornaments.  I think I'm going to paint the large one, but I haven't decided on a color yet. 

You can really see the detail of how the pieces are tucked into each other. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

it seems I've been missing...

Hi friends.  I didn't realize that it's been so long since I've posted.  I guess I haven't been doing a lot of creating.  Or maybe I have and just haven't posted anything.

After doing all the card for the Hope you can cling to challenges, I've been a bit of a slacker.  Sometimes I just need to sit back and take a break.

I have made some things, though.  I made some t-shirt yarn (there are a number of tutorials on YouTube) from some old t-shirts and crocheted a small rug for the bathroom.

And I made cards and an ornament (several, in fact) for my class last week.

These ornaments are made from four layers of cereal box chipboard, plus two stamped layers of cardstock.  I also made a couple using patterned paper instead of stamping.

And then last weekend was VSN (virtual stamp night) on SCS, with timed challenges, so I did a few of those.

This snow globe was a lot of fun and is going to be part of this week's class.  The front circle is clear, so you can see the scene inside the card.  Pretty cool. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great week.

rubber stamp show and mailboxes

Hi friends.  Saturday I went to the rubber stamp show in Milwaukee with my sister and some friends.  I had won some tickets, so we got in free.  And anyone with advance tickets could get in a half hour earlier than the show opened to the public, which also meant we got free parking.  How cool is that?

Along with the show, they also have a card contest, which I entered.  The theme for Saturday was mailboxes.  Well, guess what?  I don't own a single mailbox stamp!  Nope -- not even one!  I really wanted to enter the contest.  Why?  Because the prizes were show money!

So.... I needed to improvise.  I looked for digital images, but couldn't find any that I liked enough to buy.  So I decided to try a different idea.  I used a Sizzix birdhouse die and created a mailbox from that.   I started by gluing some dotted paper to a piece of cereal box chipboard and then die cutting the birdhouse.  I cut a door opening shaped like a regular mailbox and then cut a door slightly larger out of another piece of chipboard covered with paper.  I stamped the letters and cut them out and glued them to a scrap of card stock.  I then glued that to the front of the door.  The door is hinged so that it opens.  The handle on the door is a half pearl. 

For the roof and base, I made faux woodgrain on card stock, and also stamped it with a woodgrain background stamp.  I then die cut that with the birdhouse die, and trimmed off the parts I needed to add to my mailbox. 

The card base is chocolate chip, with a layer of white, which is stamped with a canvas background stamp and another old Stampin' Up set called Toile Blossoms. 

I stamped lots and lots of the flowers.  They are colored with Copic markers and many are cut out.  Some are just glued on and others are popped up on dimensional tape.  I wanted it to look like a flowering vine growing up and around the mailbox. 

For the letters in the box, I looked on line for some letter images and then shrunk them way down to fit inside the mailbox. 

Although it took more than a day to complete this card, I had fun making it and was pleased with the result. 

And the best part?  I won 2nd place -- YAY! -- which meant I received $75 to spend!  I was thrilled! 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

sepia

Hi friends.  I hope you are having a great weekend.  Today I spent way too much time (overthinking) making a card for the inspiration challenge and the technique lovers challenge on SCS, but I'm finally finished.  For my inspiration, I used this gorgeous sealing wax stamp, which I think is probably ivory, but I can't read Chinese! 

I decided to use sepia technique, which is super simple.  I used ivory card stock and vintage photo distress ink for all the layers.  I stamped a PSX delphiniums stamp on a mini baroque die cut (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), and then used my water brush to spread the ink.  I also pulled some ink from the ink pad with the brush to make some areas darker. 

I used two background stamps, dotted diamonds (Rubbernecker) and pretty pattern paper (Cornish Heritage Farms).  Two other dies were used as well - baroque (Tim Holtz/Sizzix) and lacy ovals (Spellbinders). 

All of the layers were sponged with vintage photo and the edged darkened even more using a sponge dauber.  The front layer is raised on dimensional foam tape. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  Of course, I'd love to have that sealing wax stamp, too. 

Thanks for stopping by.

20 hearts - #19

Well, here I am again with another heart for the February challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  I decided to make a one that is faux wood.  This is such an easy technique.  Just swipe several colors of brown ink down your paper, starting with the lightest color, until you have the look you desire.  I used creamy caramel, more mustard, really rust, and chocolate chip inks.  Then use a black marker and straightedge to make lines for boards.  Add some 'nails' and you're done.  You can also change up the colors to grayish blues/greens for very weathered wood. 

After making the faux wood, I cut out my heart and attached it to a cereal box chipboard heart. I hand wrote the sentiment on the heart.  I also punched out the photo corners from the faux wood. 

The background is victorian leaves background from Cornish Heritage Farms, inked with peeled paint distress ink, misted with water, and stamped on the card base.

After gluing all the pieces together, I decided that it needed a small accent, so I stamped the leaves from because I care (SU) with always artichoke on certainly celery card stock, and then punched them out using a Martha Stewart leaf punch.  I added some sponged artichoke ink along the leaf edges and glued them on the card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today. 

20 hearts - #15, #16, #17

Hello friends.  Here I am with some more hearts for the February monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art. I have three more done.  I might just get all 20 made.  Actually, I have one more finished, but can't show you that one yet.  I'm using it for my Friday Feature on the OWSE blog. 

The card base for all the hearts is cereal box, coated with gesso and these three are painted with light buttermilk acrylic paint. 

My first one today has a background stamped with a large stitch background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms.  I used tumbled glass to ink the stamp, then misted it with water and stamped.  I used a paper tower to remove the excess water. 

The cereal box chipboard heart is covered with fabric.  Then I die cut the mini sewing room dress form and spool.  I added some crochet cotton to the spool to make it look like thread. 

The sentiment is computer generated.  I think I have a stamp that says that, but didn't want to spend time looking for it. 

For my next heart, I colored the background stamp, leaf & floral (Hero Arts), with distress markers, misted with water and stamped.  I used a paper towel to blot away the excess water, leaving a nice soft background. 

The heart is a piece I found in my scraps that was colored with wrinkle free distress technique.  I thought I would get done faster if I pulled some things from the scrap stash.  I stamped one of Tim Holtz' stamps in jet black archival ink on the heart.  Then I sponged a little vintage photo distress ink on the edges. 

I colored the butterfly with Copic markers, cut it out, and popped up the wings.  I added the antennae with a Pitt pen. 

The sentiment is computer generated, cut apart and glued down. 

My third background (dots & flowers from Hero Arts) is colored the same way as the second, but using different colors. 

The heart and birds were in my stash, making it easy to put this one together.  The heart is embossed with tiny mosaic texture embossing folder and sponged with vintage photo distress ink.  There are some birds stamped on it in white ink, but they don't show up very well. 

The birds are die cut with a Sizzix die.  The one in front is grungeboard, painted with pearlescent blue Lumiere, and the one behind is certainly celery card stock. 

I printed the sentiment on my computer, sponged the edges with vintage photo distress ink and glued it on. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today. 

sending smiles

Happy Saturday.  I made a card today for two challenges.  OWSE Yahoo group has a couple of challenges each month, and one of the February challenges is a color challenge - blue, orange, and straw yellow.  The inspiration challenge on SCS was also my inspiration.  I chose this layered flower pin as a basis for my card design. 

My background is white, stamped with scratchy straw (Cornish Heritage Farms) in more mustard ink.  I also sponged the mustard ink over the background to soften the color from a bright white.  The fancy photo corners are punched from mustard card stock. 

The flower layers are from Heartfelt Creations, stamped with jet black stazon on white card stock and sponged with ballet blue and only orange ink. 

I die cut elegant flourishes (Tim Holtz/Sizzix) from ballet blue card stock. 

The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  I finished off the flower with an orange flower brad. 

21 cards - #22

Hello my friends.  It's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Even though my title says card #22, this is actually a makeover of card #10.  I really didn't like that one, so I covered it completely with gesso and started over. 

My daughter wanted to draw words again from my inspiration jar, so the words are: happy, quilt, and background stamps.  I think she just wants to see if I'm up to the challenge. 

I went for my fabric and found some 2 inch squares, which worked perfectly.  I chose blue and brown and attached them to the card with matte Mod Podge.

I cut the house free hand and used a burlap background (Cornish Heritage Farms) with salty ocean distress ink, and a crackle background (Judikins) with jet black archival ink for the roof.  Then I sponged vintage photo distress ink over the roof and along the edges of both pieces.  The windows and door were cut from navy card stock.

I printed the sentiment on my computer, cut the words apart and edged the pieces with vintage photo.

I used a white gel pen and black Sharpie marker to add quilting stitches on the house and fabric squares.

Since quilts make me happy, I used all three words, and I really love this card.

Thank you so much for spending time here with me today.  Have a great weekend.

21 cards - #20

Hello again.  Here's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please check this post to see how I made the base for my cards.


I used my Inspiration Jar again -- my three words are: pink, tea, and seeds.  I used the first two. 

I started by painting the background cream and then stamping a Cornish Heritage Farms background stamp in tea dye ink.  It's not very dark, so I highlighted some of the lines with a brown marker. 

I die cut a piece of white card stock with my Tim Holtz baroque die.  Now if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that pink is not one of my favorite colors.  In fact, it's one I tend to avoid.  But, I put some of that type of word in my jar, because it makes me go beyond my comfort zone.  So I pulled out Tea Shoppe from SU, and stamped the tea cup on the die cut with victorian velvet distress ink, which is a nice soft rose color.  The die cut was too wide for my card, so I trimmed off the sides to make it fit.  Then I sponged victorian velvet and vintage photo distress inks along the edges.  I added the tiny circles with a brown marker.  The idea was for it to resemble lace, but I don't really think it does. 

The sentiment is computer generated and was also edged with the same two inks. 

All in all, this was a pretty easy card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. 

creative chemistry 101 -day 10

Happy rainy Friday, my friends.  Today was the last lesson on Creative Chemistry 101 by Tim Holtz.  Some sadness that the class is ending.  I feel I've learned quite a bit.  And what's more, I was rather disappointed when I printed out the PDF file and there were only two pages (usually there were four).  When I looked at them, I realized there was only one tag today.  I felt short-changed, because I was expecting more. I know I shouldn't.  The class was fabulous.

So today's technique used rock candy distress stickles.  I have one bottle of distress stickles - weathered wood.  I really don't think that's gonna work.  So... what did I do?  I improvised.... again!  I used a mix of gloss Mod Podge and dazzling diamonds glitter.  Since I've never seen rock candy distress stickles in person, I don't know what it's supposed to look like, but I'm happy with my tag, even if I did have to improvise.  My stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms.  Here is my tag - rock candy distress stickles technique.

Tomorrow is just a wrap-up, so unless Tim surprises us, there won't be any more techniques.  Thank you for joining me on my learning journey.  Have a great weekend.

think on these things

Hello, my friends.  It's a new month, and that means another page for the Bible verse challenge on SCS.  For this month, I chose Philippians 4:8 for my verse.

I decided to use a challenge at OWSE Yahoo Group to make my background.  After applying gesso to my page and letting it dry, (which I had already done, since I like to have several pages prepped with that so I don't have to wait through the drying process to get started), the technique was to apply some acrylic paint and then use a moistened paper towel to smoosh it into the page, and then repeat that with a few more colors.  Kind of a fun technique.

Then I decided to add little bits of torn pattern paper along the edges.

I printed my verse on vellum, because I wanted the background to show through, but when I went to adhere it with matte gel medium, the printer ink all smeared, so I quickly removed the vellum.  On to plan B...  I reprinted the verse on card stock and used one of my new labels dies from SU/Sizzix to cut it out.  I sponged the edges with cool caribbean ink and just used glue to adhere it to the page.

I decided to add a little bit of doodling, so I made some vines with pigma marker.  And since all of my pages so far have at least one butterfly on them, it seems appropriate to continue with that trend.  The large butterflies are from SU Flores suaves and the small ones are CHF.  All are colored with copic markers and cut out.  I had my photo loaded and realized that I had forgotten to add antennae to the butterflies, so I had to go fix that and take a new photo. Much better now.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend.

Tim tag #2

Hello again.  Still struggling with the photo software.  I had to ask my daughter for help, but she uses photoshop, so she wasn't real sure either, but we may have figured out at least part of it. 

Anyway, on to my tag.  Here's a link to Tim's tag #2.  And here's my version. 

I didn't have any of the kraft resist paper, so I had to use other methods to come up with something similar.  I stamped on kraft card stock in black, then stamped the sentiment in versamark and clear embossed it, then colored over the tag with picket fence distress stain, and wiped off the embossed area. 


I have a gold paint dabber, but it was hiding and so I substituted some gold perfect pearls and spritzed over that with pearl mist. 


My little angel is a really old Sizzix die (one of those red ones).  I made the halo by braiding some gold ribbon, hand stitching two braided strands together and attaching with gold brads.  The beads are all from my stash. 

Thanks for stopping to visit.  Hopefully, tomorrow I can get caught up a bit. 

still going...

Oooo, it's like the energizer bunny!  haha!  It feels really good to create without too much struggle.  I plugged out some more cards today for the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on SCS for fan club members.  Two of them I combined with challenges for Gina K. latest release challenges on StampTV.  Of the fan club challenges that have been posted so far, I only have not done four, so that means I'm pretty much keeping up.  I think there are two more days of posting new challenges, so hopefully I can get them all done.  I've been combining challenges whenever possible to make that a more workable goal.  Here are today's cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

have a delightful day

Hello, my friends.  Today my card is quite simple.  Since I ordered all the newly released distress stains (except for picket fence, which wasn't part of the deal) last night, I decided I should open the ones I have and use them.  So that's what I did, well... I used ONE anyway on my card.  I swiped wild honey three times across the white card stock.  So fun how quickly the stains fill in the area and the colors have so much depth.  Then I stamped the butterfly and sentiment (vintage butterflies from Cornish Heritage Farms) with jet black stazon.  I backed the piece with black card stock.

I used the same distress stain to dye a piece of white ribbon, since I didn't have any the right color.  I dried it with my heat gun and tied it around the black card stock.  I used summer sun for the card base.

To finish off the card, I added some little half pearls.

My card fits the ways to use it challenge and the free for all challenge on SCS this week. 

I hope to get some more stamping done later today, because it's a mini VSN on SCS.  What's VSN?  It's a fun, fast-paced stamping marathon, with a new challenge every hour and just 45 minutes to complete each one.  For more information, click the link and check it out.


Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a wonderful weekend.

a challenge for spring

Hello my friends. There is a new challenge for this month over at Splitcoaststampers. It's called Spotted Canary Spring Challenge. It lasts all month long. You can enter as many projects as you want and there will be a random drawing for a $500 prize package of EK Success products. How cool is that.

Today, I made two cards for this challenge.

The first one uses some digital images from Squigglefly called fancy flowers. I colored them with copic markers and then sponged the edges just a bit with vintage photo distress ink. Layered behind the flowers are circles (spellbinders) in mustard and black and a floral doily motif (spellbinders) cut from celery cardstock. I wanted the celery to match the leaves better, so I just used a copic marker to color over it and changed the color.

For the card base, I tried a lot of different colors before deciding on the one I used (somewhere between green and yellow). It's from a pack of cardstock that I purchased at a local stamp convention.

The sentiment is from SU. And the brads are just punched out black cardstock.

The image on the second card is from Paper Inspirations. I colored it with old olive and tangerine tango markers and then huffed on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamped on white cardstock. I added a little bit of black in the centers of the flowers.

The card base is kraft stamped with lattice background (cornish heritage farms) in white craft ink. The remaining layers are black, dusty durango and groovy guava. Some faux stitching completes the card.

Thank you so much for stopping in today.

busy girl

Hi my friends. I've been a busy girl today. I made five cards. The first one I made is for the next Squigglefly release, so I can't show you that one yet. But I'll let you see the other four.

Last night was the February stamp release at Gina K Designs, and there was a party at StampTV. There are always challenges and questions, which will have random drawings for prizes, so I like to participate. You just never know when your name might be drawn.

My first card is for a color challenge - yellow, green and neutral. I used a fun technique called embedded embossing. I punched out some little flowers, sponged the edges, glued them to my white cardstock and then ran it through a cuttlebug embossing folder. The butterfly is from Take Flight (GKD) and the sentiment from Cornish Heritage Farms.

The next card had to use twine. I used the same butterfly set plus a stamp from Notably Ornate (SU) and painted them with twinkling H2O's. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I'm not a pink lover, but I do use it once in awhile. This just happens to be one of those times. I used a border punch on the black and happened to have some pink hemp twine that was a perfect match. Of course, if you're using pink, you have to have a little bling.

My next card is for a sketch. The sketch was a square card, but I prefer A2 cards, so I just stretched it out a bit. The DP is from a small pad from provo craft and I embossed both pieces with my textile embossing folder. The circles were cut with nestabilities dies. The stamp is from Gina K's Signs of Autumn and colored with markers. The flowers were punched from the DP and sponged with brilliant blue ink. The 'ribbon' is faux, with faux stitching. The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch.

My last card is for Saturday's inspiration challenge on SCS. I chose a simple design for my inspiration. The flourish (Inkadinkado) and sentiment (SU) are embossed in ivory. The flower (Delight in Life - SU) is stamped three times in timber brown stazon and colored with watercolor pencils and blender pen. The brad is from my stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

black and white

Happy new year, my friends. Are you looking forward to the possibilities of a new year?

My card today is for the inspiration challenge on SCS. I one of the samples given for my inspiration. I wanted to do a fairly simple card using only white cardstock and black ink.

The butterfly image is from Stampington & Co., stamped with black stazon and die cut with my cuttlebug and circles nestabilities.

The flourish is from Inkadinkado, and the sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms.

I used dimensional tape between the layers and added a red rhinestone.

Thanks for visiting.

sewing

Hi my friends. I have hardly touched my stamps lately, except to make cards for classes. I have two to show you from yesterday's technique class. One is embedded embossing. What a simple fun technique. The other is faux burnt edge. This one is a bit more involved with a LOT of sponging. I wanted this card to look like a page that had been doodled on, torn from a notebook, coffee stained, etc. I think I achieved that look. What do you think?

I also have spent some time with my sewing machine. One of the things I've been working on is this stocking for a good friend of my daughter. I traced around one of our stockings for a pattern, then strip pieced the front and trimmed the excess. It went together pretty quickly.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. My computer crashed last week and I had to have my operating system reinstalled. So I'm using a new photo software and either I'm clueless, or it's just very limited. I haven't been able to figure out how to sharpen the focus, so I'm going to see what else I can find to use.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Happy Saturday

Hi, my friends. I made two cards today. It's a wallyball night for the rest of the family, which meant I could leave my stuff out longer, allowing me more stamping time. Since I was teaching classes yesterday, I didn't get a chance to do any creating, so I was playing catch up today. I did double challenges on both cards.

The first card is for yesterday's Hope challenge on SCS (handmade embellishments), as well as the ways to use it challenge of using fabric. On the card base, I stamped my denim background (Cornish Heritage Farms). The background image on the next layer is silhouette grass (Hero Arts) stamped in cherry cobbler.

I die cut a denim flower and then crocheted the center. Then I embossed a paper fastener with dark denim embossing powder to put in the center and hold the flower layers together.

The leaf is a new set I bought last weekend at a stamp expo in Milwaukee. It's a set from Heartfelt Creations called Open Falling Leaves. This is one of their stamp sets that has matching dies you can get. I didn't get the die set to match these stamps, but I will probably get it sometime. But for now, I just cut out the leaf. The diagonal strips are navy and cherry cobbler. The sentiment is from Endless Creations.

The second card is today's Hope challenge and this week's sketch challenge. We had to use 3 different pieces of designer paper. I seldom use dp, because I guess I'm intimidated by all the different patterns and colors. I really shouldn't be, since I use that kind of thing in quilting all the time. I guess the difference is that each piece of fabric is just a very small part of the whole quilt, but on a card, each paper is a large section of the card. But every so often, a challenge like this forces me out of my comfort zone. I used a 6" pad called Indian Summer by Basic Grey. It helped to have papers that coordinate well with each other.

The flower image is from Local King Rubber Stamps. I stamped it in tuxedo black memento ink and colored it with copic markers. I've been trying to use those more often, but I'm finding that I am seriously lacking a nice variety of colors. I decided that I should buy a few every month or so, slowly building up my collection. So today I went out and bought five more. Not so many when there are over 300 colors.

This challenge also required two different embellishments, so I added some brads and pearls. The last requirement was ribbon, so I tied a small piece of black grosgrain ribbon around one panel.

Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit. Have a wonder-filled weekend.