more calendar art

Hi friends.  Here are some more pictures from my calendar. 

And here is another class card from last week.  The die cut bird is not designer paper, but rather stamped and colored. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

fan club challenges part 6

Hi friends.  I hope you're not getting tired of these cards that I made for dare to get dirty on SCS.  I still have many to show you. 

The Fluffles stamps from Stampendous always make fun cards.  I added a tree branch with a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die. 

A card with a lot of texture.  The leaf is die cut from acetate and colored on the back with alcohol inks. 

I bought this baby bottle die a number of years ago.  I finally decided to use it.  The words and dots are from a sheet of rub-ons. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

hope you can cling to days 24 and 25

Hi friends.  I hope you're not getting tired of these cards.  I've been having fun making them.  I completed two more of the breast cancer awareness challenges on SCS. 

Challenge twenty-seven - keep it under wraps.  Make a decorated or altered notepad. 

Quite a few years ago, I took a class at a local stamp store.  We made a hard covered notepad for a mini legal pad.  Over the years, I've made more of these and knew this would be perfect for this challenge.  I dug out my instructions and went to work.

The covers were made from a heavyweight bookboard, but I don't have any of that, so I glued three layers of graham cracker boxes together and left them sit overnight underneath a pile of heavy books, so they'd be nice and flat.  Then I cut them to 8-1/2"x5-1/2".  I covered the outside with pink pattern paper and made the spine with suede paper.  Then the inside also was covered with another coordinating paper.

There are two pockets on the left side, and one on the right, made from cardstock.  I glued little strips of the same paper as the covers at the top of the left-hand pockets and over the top of the notepad.  The notepad slips into the right-hand pocket and can be replaced when it is used up.

I made pink daisies to decorate the cover and one for the inside.  I also die cut some letters for the front cover. 

Challenge twenty-eight - a listening ear.  Make a card with ears on it.  

I have lots and lots of flower stamps.  And butterflies.  I admit it.  But not a lot of other things.  So I wasn't sure what I was going to use for this challenge.  As I was looking through my stamps, I came across my fluffles stamps... perfect!

I picked fluffles leap (stampendous), stamped it with tuxedo black memento ink, and colored it with copic markers.  I cut it out with a die, but didn't like the shape, so I ended up trimming it off with scissors.  I just traced around a plastic container to get the curve.  

I sponged vintage photo ink around the edges, and layered with pumpkin pie and black cardstock on a summer sun card base.  

The sentiment is from SU's inspired by nature.  I added some tiny die cut leaves and black pearls for an accent.  

Thank you so much for stopping by today. 

hope you can cling to day 22

Hi friends.  Here is my latest card for the breast cancer awareness challenges on SCS. 

Challenge twenty-five -- Sending Flowers.  A card with one or more flowers.

After much thought (since I have so many flower stamps, it's hard to decide), I decided to make daisies.  The flower stamp from inkadinkado was stamped with tuxedo black memento ink, and then I added just a hint of color with copic markers. 

Then I punched a bunch of leaves from old olive card stock and sponged the edges with always artichoke ink.  I also die cut some flourishes with a spellbinders die set called floral flourishes. 

I arranged them all on certainly celery card stock and added a sentiment from stampendous. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

hope you can cling to days 12 and 13

Hi friends.  I have some more cards for the breast cancer awareness challenges on SCS.  Click here for more information on these challenges. 

Challenge fourteen - The Colors of October.  A card using green, yellow, and pink.

I recently acquired a couple of stamps from Memory Box - dogwood branch and dogwood bloom.  They were perfect for this card.

I stamped the branch three times, doing my best to make it look like they are attached as one image.  On another piece of card stock, I also stamped the single bloom three times as well.  I colored the images with copic markers.  I fussy cut the single flowers, but when I cut out the branches, I left a small amount of white around them, and then glued them on certainly celery, with another layer of black, on a white card base.  The sentiment is from Stampendous.

Challenge fifteen - sticking by your side.  A card with a background made from washi tape.

I started with a light blue card base cut to make a peekaboo card (instructions found here).  Then I covered the card front with some Tim Holtz tissue tape.   I stamped some flowers by Judith several times with pacific point ink.  I used a blender pen to add more color to the flowers before cutting them out.  Then I sponged the same ink along the edges of the flowers.  I love how vibrant they look with some of the white still showing.  I stacked two large flowers and one small flower for each bloom. 

I used elegant flourishes die, which I cut apart and rearranged the pieces.  I also added a lot of punched leaves (Martha Stewart).  The sentiment was computer generated, since I didn't have a stamp that fit right in the small circle opening. 

The fun part about this card is when you open it, what is showing in the opening changes.  I apologize for the blurry photo.  My camera battery was dying & wouldn't focus properly. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

five challenges in one

Hello friends.  Tonight I checked out the inspiration challenge on SCS, and as I looked at the sample inspiration pictures, I realized that I could combine this challenge with some of the others for this week.  The inspiration sample that I chose to work with is a girl in a denim dress.  The other challenges are mix-ability (rip it, paste it, ink it), free for all (geometrically speaking), ways to use it (girls rule), and technique lovers (transform a map). 

I started with a white card base.  I had a photo copy of an old map, so I tore it into strips, inked the edges with vintage photo ink and glued the strips to my card base.  Then I inked over the whole thing with faded jeans ink. 

I traced around the insert from a used tape roll on some denim from an old pair of jeans and then cut out the circles.  I could have used a die and my cuttlebug, but was too lazy to pull them out. 

I chose a lady stamp from Stampendous.  I stamped her on white card stock with jet black archival ink, traced around a small container, and cut that out.  Then I sponged faded jeans all around the circle, just leaving her face uninked. 

The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms.   Both the lady and sentiment circles are popped up on dimensional tape. 

I gave the card a bit of a frame by adding the fancy photo corner punches. 

Thanks for checking in. 

inspired by a diaper cake

Hi friends.  Today is the inspiration challenge on SCS.  It has been a long time since I've participated, but I took a look and decided to make a card.  My inspiration came from this diaper cake - blue and white with flowers - I love it. 

I used some blue card stock and a Sizzix die, build a flower #3 and cut two each of the three sizes of flowers.  I sponged them with ballet blue ink, spritzed them with water, crumpled them, stacked them, and then decided to spritz again with denim spray ink. 

I used some punched flowers in the center, but ended up covering that all up with glitter. 

The leaves are cut free hand with deckle scissors, crimped and sponged. 

I dug in my paper stash for some blue pattern paper that I've had forever and glued it all together and added the sentiment (Stampendous). 

Thanks for stopping by. 

inspiration

Hi everyone.  This is my second post today.  I had time to enter two of the challenges in the Classroom for world card making day. 

This card was made for challenge #2 - Pinterest inspired challenge by Chari Moss.  What a gorgeous picture she chose for the inspiration. 

I used a background from Penny Black called circles and lines, stamped on white in cherry cobbler and then sponged in the same color. 

The large flower is SU from fabulous flowers, also stamped in cherry cobbler and cut out. 

My card base is pale plum and I stamped a smaller flower from the same SU set randomly on the background in brilliance moonlight white.  The sentiment is Stampendous and the flower is popped up. 

When I look at this card, I think it should have taken about 5-10 minutes, but I think it was closer to an hour, since I had to try at least five different colors for the flower before I was found one I liked. 

Thanks for stopping in.  Have a great week. 

trends

Hi there, my friends.  So I was doing some blog reading this morning and came across some challenges in the Classroom for world card making day, which was yesterday.  The best thing about these challenges is that some lucky participant is going to win a shopping spree.  Now that is pretty hard to resist.  So I decided to participate. 

This card was made for challenge #5 - trend watch by Julia Stainton.  One of the current trends I love is hexagons, so that's what I used on my card. 

I started with a Spellbinders hexagon die and made a hexagon opening in a piece of clear acetate.  I then placed it on my card stock and sponged faded jeans, mustard seed and picked raspberry distress inks through the opening and repeated that a number of times to make a background. 

I used a Spellbinders ric rac edge die to trim one edge and backed the piece with navy and used a pink passion card base. 

The feather (Stampendous) was stamped once each in the same colors and cut out.  The one in front is popped up. 

I added a Hero Arts sentiment in one of the hexagon sections. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have you participated in any word card making day challenges?

Where is my mojo?

Hello, my friends.  I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted until I looked at the date from my last post -  August!  I really have been missing.  Life sometimes just gets in the way.  I've had a major household chore that needed to get finished and just haven't been doing anything creative, with the exception of cards for my classes. 

Today was my technique class and rather than an actual stamping technique, each of the three techniques was a special type of card. 

The first one is a twisted card, which looks more complicated than it is.  There are two folds, the first is diagonal and the second is perpendicular to the first, creating an unusual shaped card with a pocket on the front and another inside. 

The second card is an easel card.  The way the card is put together creates a card that stands up like an easel. 

The third card is a kickstand card.  The front of the card is cut short and another panel is added to the bottom. 

All are fun cards and ways to make your cards a bit different. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hopefully, I won't be gone so long before my next post. 

the earth laughs

Hello, my friends.  I think my blog has been a bit neglected lately.  I have been doing some crafty things, but I don't always post everything.  When I prepare for my stamping classes each month, I rarely post my samples.  I have also been working on the hexagon quilt blocks - usually while watching baseball.  And then there are are art journal pages, which have a tendency to take many days to complete.

The journal spread I have today was actually finished several days ago, but I just didn't get a chance to post it.  It started out as a project that I was going to share as a guest on the OWSE blog, but I decided to do something different for that one.  I just finished the pages for that project tonight.  I still have to take some more photos and do the write-up.  I think it's scheduled to go live sometime next week. 

I started these pages with a coating of gesso.  Once that was dry, I sprayed some blues and brown ink sprays on and let them drip down the pages.  I didn't like how bold the colors were, so when that was dry, I spread some more gesso on randomly with my fingers.  It's fun to experiment. 

I stamped a border down the outer edges and across the top and then brushed a light coating of gesso over it to mute it. 

I stamped the big flowers (Stampendous) with tuxedo black memento ink on white card stock and then colored them with copic markers and cut them out.  I added some white gel pen highlights. 

For the stems, I started with watercolor crayons and a water brush, but then went over them with paint.  The leaves are a hand carved stamp, which I stamped with paint and then filled in. 

I wanted more color in the background, so I brushed some paint on bubble wrap and then stamped it onto the background, using several colors. 

Next I glued the flowers down and added the computer generated sentiment. 

For the top outer corners, I punched a wide border and then cut it apart.  I think the punch is EK Success.  After sponging with turquoise and ballet blue, I glued two pieces in each corner and trimmed the excess.  Then I added just a bit of sponging along the outer edges of the spread. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  Have a great week.

E-Team Blog Hop - Inspired by Words

Hello, my friends.  I am thrilled and honored to have been chosen to be a part of this month's E-Team blog hop. This is the second in a series featuring art journals, with the theme -- inspired by words.  

Visit each E-Team blog participant PLUS the guest bloggers to leave a comment to win a $25 eP gift certificate.  Comments may be left from May 23rd - May 28th.  Two random winners from the blog hop will be chosen.  Gift certificate winners will be posted on May 29th on the eP blog.  

Here are links to all the participants:  Daisy - eP blog; Broni; Micki; Sherry; Starla; and the guest bloggers: Marji; and ME.

Join the E-Team in our journal adventure and link your journal page on the eP blog.  Two people will be chosen to join the hop next month.  You have until Sunday, June 3rd to upload your journal page inspired by the monthly quote.  The next guest bloggers will be announced on Friday, June 8th on the eP blog.

For my page, I started with watercolor paper coated with gesso.  Then, using matte Mod Podge, I covered the page with torn pages from an old book.  

Next, since I wanted something to represent tea, I took some used coffee filters, which had been rinsed and dried, and tea-dyed them in some strong tea, giving them a nice brown color.  After drying them, I tore them into small pieces, crinkled them up to get lots of wrinkles and texture, and then used the Mod Podge again to cover the page with the pieces.  

I had this idea in my head to use several women stamps, but I wasn't sure how to get them on the page.  I tried stamping them on card stock and die cutting them in ovals, but that just didn't work.  Then I tried just cutting around the faces, but I still didn't like it.  I finally settled on the idea of stamping them on some dyed coffee filters, coloring with copic markers and then attaching them with Mod Podge.  This is exactly what I was going for.  The stamps clockwise from lower left are B&J's Art Stamps, Inkadinkado, Stampendous, Stampington & Co., and Stamps Happen.

(edited: I replaced the blurry picture.)

Unfortunately, even though I used matte Mod Podge, the copic markers left a shine, which I didn't like.  So... more experiments.  I diluted some gesso with water, brushed it over the page, and then used a paper towel to blot it off.  It took away some of the shine without removing or hiding the images.  I needed to do that twice before I was satisfied. 

I printed the quote on my computer, cut it apart, sponged the edges with tea dye distress ink and then edged the pieces with a black marker and glued them down.   

Then I made a tiny tea bag from tissue paper, which I filled with tea leaves from a regular tea bag that I cut open.  I added some tea dye distress ink and a tiny bit of water to blend it.  Since I didn't have a tiny stapler, I just made a couple of stitches with black thread to represent the staples on the bag and tag.  I also added some black pearls to two of the corners. 

So, now I have my page all together... and I am not happy with it.  It was just way too bland.  I like more color.  What to do?  Well, add color, of course!

I punched out some tiny butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch and a embosslit die from SU/Sizzix, added some sponged color and placed them around the page. 

That was better, but still not enough, so I decided to add some crochet accents.  I made some tiny flowers, a small edging and a larger flower, to which I added some sponged color, and attached them.  This was a big improvement.  

Although this page didn't turn out quite like I wanted, I do like it.  I think it would have been better if I had a larger area to work with, but since I started with a 6" square for my cover, that's what I'm using.  

Don't forget to visit all the other members of the blog hop and leave comments.  Thanks for stopping by. 

you're absolutely fabulous

Hello, my friends.  This morning I decided I wanted to make a card for the inspiration challenge on SCS, so I checked out a few of the items until one of the t-shirts just jumped out at me and went from there. I knew that one of my recent stamp purchases was perfect.

I stamped deco lady (stampendous) in turquoise on ivory card stock.  Then I used a couple of copic markers to color her hair and the leaves in her hair.  I added some details with a Micron pigma pen. 

The sentiment (SU) was stamped in chocolate chip ink. 

I added a layer of turquoise card stock and used a chocolate chip base. 

The final detail was a turquoise rhinestone. 

I love the simple elegance of this card. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful Easter.

inspired by a cork placemat

Hello, my friends.  Today's card was made for the inspiration challenge on SCS and I used a cork placemat as my inspiration. 

I created a background with distress inks (scattered straw & rusty hinge) on kraft card stock, using a crumbled up piece of plastic wrap. 

Then I sponged black paint over a stencil (crafter's workshop).  I added details with a white gel pen.  A sentiment (Stampendous) finished the card. 

The one thing really different about this card is that I did the design on the whole piece before folding it in half, so it extends right over the top to the back.  I forgot to take a picture of the whole piece.  

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

creative chemistry 101 -day 7

Hello, my friends.  I thought I might not be able to post today.  There are times I really hate automatic updates on my computer.  I will be the first to admit that I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to technology, so when I finally get comfortable using something, it's very frustrating when it suddenly changes & I have to figure it out all over again.  Today, it was Picasa.  The update left me dumbfounded, since normally when I connect my camera to the computer, it automatically begins transferring photos from the camera to the computer.  Not today, though.  Nothing happened.  And the command boxes/buttons all seemed to be missing, so I didn't know what to do.  I've only been using Picasa for a few months, so I was really stymied.  But... I have a tendency to be persistent (stubborn is what they called me as a kid).  So I decided to try one more time and finally figured how to make it work.  Whew!

Today I had a hard time getting started on my tags for Creative Chemistry 101 by Tim Holtz.  I kept finding other things to do.  The reason?  One of the techniques required distress embossing powder.  Well, somewhere I have a jar of distress embossing powder that came in a prize package.  At the time I received it, I had no idea how to use it -- I just knew it was different than other embossing powders.  So it got set aside and apparently went into hiding, because I can't find it.  So for that technique, I had to improvise. 

The first technique is nostalgic batik.  Since I couldn't find my jar of distress embossing powder, I went out to Michael's to see if they had any.  Nope.  But I did find a couple of nice stamps.  The pretty lady (Stampendous) on this tag is one of them. 

The next technique is rusted enamel. 

And the third technique is distress powder resist.  I substituted a regular embossing powder, but used a stamp that looks pretty distressed.  I know it's not the same, but it was the best I could do today. 

I hope you're enjoying my journey.  I know some of you are enjoying the class along with me.  Thanks so much for stopping by. 

bright, happy colors

Hello my friends.  I've been exploring.  I thought I'd try my hand at art journaling and using some different media that what I'm comfortable and familiar with.  So the last few days, I've mostly just been playing, without finishing what I've started.  Except, of course, I also needed to prepare cards for an upcoming class.  I finished the last one tonight, so I thought I'd show it to you.  The color combination - orange, bright pink, and black - is one of my favorites.  Enjoy!

And thanks for stopping by.

still on a roll

Hi my friends.  Apparently my mojo is still working, because I made four more cards for the Dare to Get Dirty challenges for Splitcoaststampers fan club members.  I'm a bit behind, though.  There are still five posted challenges that I haven't done, and tomorrow, more will be added.  I guess I need to work faster.  I've kept them pretty simple, but I get bogged down trying to decide on all the details -- too many choices. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope your week is off to a good start. 

SFC94 the Squigglefly Workout

Hi my friends. As I was typing up this post very late Friday night, almost finished, I hit the backspace key and the entire post disappeared. Grrrrr.... not happy, but I was just too tired to try again before I got some sleep first, especially since it will be set to post on Monday morning.

It's another new challenge on the Squigglefly blog - SFC94 - the Squigglefly Workout. Nope..not an ACTUAL physical workout silly!

Show us how much you love your Squigglefly digital images by picking YOUR favorite way to use them...

print them out and color with Copics
combine images together
make your own background paper
use paper piecing
or some other creative way that you know how to use digital images...

Squigglefly style that is!!

Although you may use any images on your creation to enter the challenge, in order to qualify for the prize you must use at least one Squigglefly image! You may combine SF images with non-SF images to qualify! If you don't have any Squigglefly images, help yourself from the FREEBIES available.

You have until Sunday evening to upload your new creation to your blog or any on-line photo gallery. Please use SFC94 in your keywords.

Please add a DIRECT link to your project in the InLinkz box on the SF blog, so we can find it -- (new creations only and no back-linking please!). If you have more than one entry, link each one separately.

The winner will be announced at the same time the new challenge post comes up next Monday, so be sure to check back to see if you are a winner!

On my card I used a new image (beautiful butterfly) with an older image from flowers set. I colored the images with copic markers and added some white highlights with a gel pen. I punched one edge of the floral piece with a lace doily Martha Stewart punch and added several more punched layers beneath it.

I cut out the butterfly and glued it down, with some dimensional tape underneath the wings for a little dimension. Since I'm not so good at detail cutting around the antennae, I almost always just trim them off. I just used a black marker to redraw them on this card.

The sentiment is from Stampendous, stamped in black ink. The 'brads' are faux - just 1/8" circles punched from black cardstock.

Be sure to stop over at the Squigglefly blog and check out what the rest of the design team has done with today's challenge. And then hop on over to Squigglefly.com to check out the newest images.

Thank you so much for stopping in today. Have a blessed week.

inspired by a room

Hi my friends. I'm back with a second post today. Since I posted this morning, it's been snowing pretty steadily all day. For awhile, the driveway was melting off, but it appears to be sticking now.

I've checked out most of the VSN challenges, but so far have not been inspired by any of them. However, I did make a card for the inspiration challenge on SCS. I chose the refined and eclectic room, because I like the color scheme.

I ended up with a very simple card, even though the process of getting there was by no means simple. (I have several other stamped images that didn't make it onto a card.)

The Stampendous flowers are embossed with ivory ep on cranberry crisp cardstock. The vanilla layer is punched with an eyelet border and all the brads are just punched cardstock.

I stamped the sentiment (also Stampendous) in burgundy and cut the tag freehand. Just added a very small amount of burgundy ink along the edges so it didn't blend into the vanilla layer behind it. My card base is bravo burgundy.

Thanks for stopping by.

just for you

Happy Saturday, my friends. My youngest moved out to an apartment today, so we are officially empty nesters. It's interesting to hear different opinions on what that means. I'm OK with it. I'm glad that my kids are mature and independent, so that I can be comfortable with them being out on their own.

I made a card tonight for the inspiration challenge on SCS. Although I checked out the selections last night, I didn't get a chance to stamp until this evening, while we watched the Packers win.

I chose nail design #463 as my inspiration. I started by embossing the stamping the flowers (Inkadinkado) in versamark and clear embossing on glossy cardstock, but had a hard time getting my sponging to look nice on the glossy, so I switched to vanilla cardstock and it turned out much better. I sponged creamy caramel, chocolate chip and early espresso ink over the embossing and then used a damp tissue to remove any ink from the embossed areas. Embossing resist is one of my favorite techniques.

I punched two opposite corners on three layers and added some copper brads.

I stamped the sentiment (Stampendous) with early espresso and then masked over it to stamp the background (SU). I like to have a little bit of stamping in my background, so I really like stamps that will give me that look -- a subtle bit of color, but not overwhelming. I guess that's one of the reasons I don't use a lot of designer paper. So many of them are rather bold and in your face designs.

I used dimensional tape to adhere the main panel.

Edited to add photo. I was obviously a bit tired last night. Thanks Holly & Starla!

Thanks so much for visiting today. Blessings.