Valentine 4 x 4

Collage image - PID, Distress inks, Brilliance white ink, bird in heart stamp (Stampington), heart stamp (Stamps by Judith), Love ticket (Tim Holtz), heart brad (Making Memories), "On The Wings Of" computer generated, red German Scrap.

Created Byhand Challenge - Pattern Paper

The challenge over at Created Byhand is to used pattern paper somewhere in our creation. For this ATC I used it for the background. I lightly brushed some white gesso around the edges, stamped the bird image (Quietfire Design) with Archival ink jet black, brushed gesso a little more heavily where I wanted the snow to be, let it dry, added Golden's light molding paste for snow, sprinkled fine glitter over the molding paste, stamped "Snow!" (Quietfire Design) on vellum with Stazon stone gray, tore it out and added to atc with double stick tape, added "snow" to the letters with the Inkssential white pen and also used the pen to add an eye to the bird, wrote "Let it" with a Tombow grey marker, punched snowflake (Martha Stewart) from same printed paper as background but flipped the paper so the other side showed and added it to the atc with a silver brad, cut a hat from paper and added shadowing with a marker.

Published in Somerset Studio

This piece is published in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue for their Black and White Challenge. The girl is a collage image from PID. The floral stamp is Hero Arts. Word stamp is Paper Studios. The Harlequin image along the roof line and a different one over the chimney are both from Quietfire Design. The chipboard house and chipboard bird are both Maya Road.

Blog Candy at Altered Imagination

Melissa is having a give away to celebrate 4 years of blogging. You can win some of the wonderful new PID collage sheets that will not even be for sale until January. Cool, huh!! Head on over to her blog to check it out.

12 Days of Christmas Swap

I'm participating in a 12 Days of Christmas swap on the PID yahoo group. Today was the day the others opened my gift. I made magnets from ceramic tiles. You start by cleaning the tile... I just washed them in soap and water, rinsed them well and dried them. For the background I used alcohol inks and blending solution. The tile is edged with Krylon gold. The boy image is from PID (Paper Imagery Designs). The words are computer generated, cut out and sponged with Adirondack inks. I attached the image and words with Glossy Accents - using a paint brush I spread some Glossy Accents, layed down the image and brushed more Glossy Accents over it.. let that dry and then did the same thing for the words and let it dry (the Glossy Accents will make the Adirondack dye ink bleed a little but it wasn't noticable on this project). Then I put a thicker coat of Glossy Accents over the whole thing and let it dry. Lastly I added some Distress Stickles along the bottom.

We have seen His star ATC

The base of this atc is dark blue, run through the dot Cuttlebug folder and the dots rubbed with Brilliance white ink. The image (I Brake For Stamps) is stamped on white cardstock with Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze ink, bottom edge torn, and edges sponged with blue breeze also. I added a silver star brad over the star in the image, silver German Scrap along the bottom, and glitter glue along the torn edge.

Crafts 'n Things Magazine

I was thrilled when I got the current magazine in the mail to find this tag published on page 96!!! The collage image is from Quietfire Design. The words and heart are all a single stamp from Quietfire Design that I stamped and cut apart.

Joy Tag

This tag is made using Tim Holtz's Day 2 tag techniques (with a few tweaks). All the stamps are from Quietfire Design. I didn't use any rub-ons but instead embossed the flourish image but then decided the one in the top left corner was too bold so I rubbed chalk over the embossing and then added details with the Inkssential white pen. I didn't have any washers so I punched a 1/16" hole in silver cardstock and then punched a 1/4" hole with the 1/16" hole centered in it and used those for the washes... worked great!!!! The snowflake (also from Quietfire Design) was gold and I colored it silver with a Krylon pen.

Be sure and click on the tag to see a larger picture.

CBC - Red and Green

The challenge on the Created Byhand site is to use the colors red and green. The central image on this ATC is one of the new Christmas stamps from Quietfire Design... it's stamped on white cardstock with green ink, torn out, edges rubbed with Brilliance gold ink and a gold star brad added to the top. The base of the atc is red, next is a printed paper and the stitiching is done with the Inkssential pen, the strip across is red cardstock embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. Lastly I added the candy cane (Michael's).

Snowy Joyful ATC

This is a pretty simple atc but I do like how it came out. The base is silver cardstock embossed with the cuttlebug snowflake folder. The snowmen are ribbon. The tree (Stampington) is embossed with forest green ep, cut out, and white added with the Inkssential pen to look like snow. A piece of white cardstock torn out, glued on, tree added over it, and then glitter glue used on the "snow". Joy (Quietfire Design) is stamped in blue, cut out, edged with a lighter blue and glued on.

Hope Card

I made this card for a mingle on the SSReflections yahoo group (their Card of the Month swap) but in making it I also used a sketch challenge that Robin Willis posted on her blog. The bird and eggs are collage images from PID. The background was done with a cuttlebug folder.

Vamp Stamp News

The card above is published in the December 2008 issue of Vamp Stamp News... woohoo!!! The girl image is from PID and all the stamps are from Quietfire Design.

This card is published in the December online gallery on the VSN website. The calligraphy stamp is from Quietfire Design.

A Monthly Rubber Stamp Club

These are pictures of the Dec. project for AMRSC. I started with a wooden birdhouse chime and went from there. The birds on the front are collage images from PID and the stamped words are from Quietfire Design. As usual complete directions can be found on the AMRSC site.

Now some sad news.... A Monthly Rubber Stamp Club website will no longer exist after this month.

Altered Almond Jar

PID's design team challenge for December is Easy Mixed Media Christmas Presents and I decided to alter an almond container. My newest favorite snack is Vanilla Bean flavored almonds.. Yum!!!! The cover is hinged in the center and one side opens which made me think it would be a cool bank... another idea is to leave the cover off, put some stone or marbles in the bottom and use it as a vase - it wouldn't work for anything long stemmed but it'd be great for shorter flowers. You can see more pictures and get directions on the PID blog here. You should also check out the fabulous things the other designers made - Gabrielle's Christmas card and shadow box, Ursula's Christams card and gift in one, Angie's altered photo album, Pam's bookmarks, and Arlene's matchbox Christmas ornaments.

Optician's Lens Christmas Ornament

This ornament is so cute... I really love how it came out. All products are from Quietfire Design and you can get complete directions in the project gallery on the QF site here.

Friends ATC

This atc is for a mingle on the A.R.T. yahoo group. We were to make an atc about one thing we are thankful for and I'm very thankful for my friends. The background on this atc is sprayed with Glimmer Mists so, yep, it has shimmer you can't see in the scan and it is layered on a black atc blank. The image is from Paperbag Studios and stamped with Archival Ink jet black. Flower trim along the bottom with Distress stickles added to the centers. "Friends" done with a dymo and then cut out of the tape with deckle scissors. Punched the 2 hearts from red cardstock and added them.

CBC - Christmas Tags

This weeks challenge at Created Byhand is Christmas Tags. For this one I cut my tag from glossy white cardstock and sprayed it with Glimmer Mists lavender fields which looks blue until you tilt it in the light to see the lavender, dried it with a heat tool.... tore a piece of music paper to go along the left side... stamped the Quietfire small Merry Christmas snowflake image on the background with Distress Inks broken china and faded jeans... also stamped one on light cream cardstock with faded jeans, cut it out with points and also cut part way from the valleys toward the center... this allows every other point to lift a little. Peace and Joy were also stamped with faded jeans on light cream paper, cut out, edged with faded jeans and attached as shown.... punched 2 snowflakes, glued them on and cut away what stuck over the edge. All stamps from Quietfire Design.

Friends Tag

I really love how this tag turned out... very simple to do also. I started with a manila tag and ran it through the cuttlebug folder with the paisley design... sprayed on Glimmer Mists terracotta and sandy beach, dried it with a heat tool. Stamped the calligraphy image (Quietfire Design) on vellum, tore it out, colored the heart in with Glaze pens, attached it to the tag with double stick tape, added the flowers to the top, and finally using my finger rubbed just a bit of Distress Stickles frayed burlap around the edges.

Tagged by Gayle

I've been tagged by Gayle Page-Robak, A Stamper's Touch. Gayle is a sweetie and we go way back to when I first got the internet and looked for rubber stamping groups.... I joined a group called The Rubber Buddies and she was there. I also remember buying wonderful fibers from her back then and, of course, her little bag... still use that everytime I emboss.. well I did use one up and start a second, but they last a long time. Take time to visit Gayle's blog... she hardly misses a day posting new art.

I'm supposed to share some obscure facts about myself... really very hard to do....

1 - Some people know this and others don't but my husband has a welding shop and when things are extra busy or we are short on help, I do weld. I've been forced at times to actually share pictures to prove this and did just that for Charlotte of ggDesigns recently and gave her permission to post those pictures on her Etc. page, you can see it here.

2 - The older I get the more I don't like cooking and baking.

3 - When we moved into the country I couldn't wait to have a garden, but after 2 years I gave it up as I hated working in the garden even if the produce was very yummy.

4 - I did however keep the large strawberry patch a couple of more years but eventually let that go to... I'd much rather make cards than pull weeds.

5 - I create better when things are cleaned up and fresh.. I can't stand a mess unless there is just no choice, it's clean or meet a deadline... the deadline must come first...

6 - I HATE being late for anything or when going somewhere... although I've even fallen short on that the past 6 months because things have just been so crazy around here with remodeling and other things.

There... I did it... wasn't as hard as I thought once I got going. There are many, many, many blogs out there to visit and you can find several along the right hand side of my blog.... I'd recommend time for each and every one.

ATC

Isn't she cute holding that snowflake!!! Background - spray candy apple red Glimmer Mist on a craft sheet, press white cardstock into color, lift, dry, repeat until you like it... tore left edge, stamped small Merry Christmas snowflake with VersaMagic ink red magic, dried with a heat tool and attached it to a red atc blank. Added ribbon to bottom. Cut out collage image and added color with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels. Cut a slit around hand of girl. Attached girl to atc. Attached snowflake tucking the top into the slit by her hand. Added gold eyelets and white string. Stamps, collage image, snowflake charm, ink, pastels, Glimmer Mist, and gold eyelets are all available from Quietfire Design.

Created Byhand Challenge - Alcohol Inks

The challenge on Created Byhand is to use alcohol inks. The background started with glossy white paper... I used Ranger alcohol inks cranberry and meadow along with the blending solution on the paper, ran it through the snowflake cuttlebug folder, rubbed a sanding block over the embossing to bring it out more, sponged Brilliance moonlight white ink around the edges and made the "stitching" around the edges with the Inkssential white pen. Season's Greetings is stamped on white cardstock with Distress Ink fired brick, trimmed with deckle scissors, edges rubbed with fired brick, layered to a deep pink cardstock and then white cardstock... I again dabbed some fired brick ink around the edges of the piece and added 3 gold heart brads to the bottom. Layered the background piece on a folded deep pink card, then the greeting piece as shown, punched out 3 white snowflakes, glued them on and added stickles glitter glue to the centers.

Give Thanks

Here it is the middle of November and I neglected to post about this months project on A Monthly Rubber Stamp Club. This measures 9" x 15 1/2" and complete directions can be found at AMRSC.

Skater Card

The stamps used on this card are from I Brake For Stamps. The card is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". The skater dude and 360's are stamped with Archival Ink jet black on a polished stone background I just had sitting around... tore the top and bottom and sponged more black ink around the edges. The background is Distress Inks sponged on a piece of white cardstock, guitars stamped and edges sponged with Archival ink jet black. Skater added to background and the whole piece added to a folded brown card, more black ink dabbed on the edges.

I'm Honored

Twice I've had my blog recommended this weekend and I am so honored.... guess I better get more faithful about posting regularly :-)) First by Linda Cain, Friends in ART blog, who happens to have a gorgeous accordion tag piece in the current issue of Stamper's Sampler... and then by Nancy Ward, PaperFriendly blog. I would recommend taking time to visit both of these blogs... Linda's blog is filled with wonderful eye candy and Nancy's is chocked full of great links to stuff to do and stuff to use.

Winter Beauty ATC and Tag

Every Monday there is a new challenge posted on the PID yahoo group and you can choose to make an atc and/or something else. There are photo albums set up for each challenge - one for atcs and one for misc items - and you upload your entries to them for the challenge. You also have the choice to mingle out your pieces if you'd like. Each challenge runs for 2 weeks and then those who signed up to mingle their pieces out find out who to mail their piece(s) to.

I made this ATC and tag for the theme "Winter Beauty". The background of both pieces start the same way.... rub Distress ink on a craft sheet, spray with water, lay your paper into it, dry, and repeat if you want. For both of these I first used Distress ink broken china, dried it, and then used Distress ink faded jeans. The tag is a manilla tag and the atc started with white cardstock. After I dried the ink on the tag I sponged just alittle bit of gesso here and there. I cut out the collage image and had it ready... added Goldens light molding paste to the bottom of the tag, layed the girl over it and pressed in the part of the image that overlapped the paste, sprinkled glitter over the paste, dumped off the excess and let the past dry.... added a piece of lace to the top of the tag, stamped the word beautiy with blue ink... I got a line of ink on the tag from the corner of the stamp and so proceeded to add more lines of ink along both sides just like it was supposed to be there - it actually worked out quite well. The snowflakes were punched from white shrink plastic, shrunk, and glued on the tag with Glossy Accents. For the atc, after the ink was dry I sponged some gesso on all the edges, stamped a Tim Holtz atc image (Ornate Collages set) with Distress Ink broken china, dried it, stamped the Tim Holtz music image over the atc with Brilliance white ink - the white is very subtle but you can see it in real life especially as the atc is tipped. Added lace along the edge of the atc, cut out the collage image and added it. Stamped beauty on a scrap of the background, glued a Tim Holtz fragment over it with Glossy Accents, cut it out, edged the piece with silver Krylon and added it to the ATC. Snowflakes were punched from white cardstock, added to the atc, and a white sticky-backed pearl added to the center of each one.

New Christmas Stamps from Quietfire Design

These are the first cards I've done with the newest stamps from Quietfire Design. All four cards are 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

This first card uses the Merry Christmas Snowflake stamps, both sizes. I stamped them on cardstock with Versamark ink, embossed them in white, cut them out in a flower shape and put them together with a red brad. This is layered onto white cardstock that is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, then onto green cardstock and then red cardstock. Holes were made in the red cardstock around the green layer using the Tim Holtz ruler and an awl. Gold border stickers added as shown. The large Merry Christmas snowflake was stamped again on white cardstock with green ink, one "Merry Christmas" was cut out, edged with green ink and added as shown. Whole piece is attached to a folded white card.


The background on this next card started with white cardstock. The border image is stenciled on using Golden light molding paste and allowed to dry. Next the piece was sprayed with Glimmer Mists candy apple red and forest green. I then rubbed some Brilliance gold ink dtp over the embossing and around the edged and finally edged the piece with gold Krylon. The tree is stamped on white cardstock with green ink, gold glitter gel pen used to color in the star, edged with gold Krylon, layered to red cardstock edged with gold Krylon, then to green cardstock edged with gold Krylon and a row of holes made along the bottom of the green cardstock using a Tim Holtz ruler and awl. "Merry Christmas" is stamped on sanded white shrink plastic, rubbed on light green chalks, cut it out, punched a hole (1/8") in the top, shrank it, rubbed a darker green chalk around the edged and added a gold jump ring. I tied a piece of white silk ribbon around the background and hung the "charm" from it. Added whole piece to folded red card.


Next card... I embossed white carstock with the Cuttlebug dot folder, layered on a piece of printed paper, stamped the words on cream cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed in gold, tore paper to size and rubbed the edges with Distress Ink fired brick, added gold brads to corners and layered over printed paper, added Golded light molding paste to bottom of piece to look like snow and cover it with white glitter, let it dry and added whole piece to folded red card.

The background of this final card started with white cardstock. I stamped the holly image several times with Versamark ink. Color was added to the images and paper using chalks. Calligraphy image was stamped on white cardstock with Versafine red ink, tore it out and rubbed the edges with green chalk. Layered a piece of Ogura lace to background and then the word piece. Took a piece of white silk ribbon, sprayed it with Glimmer Mist candy apple red, let it dry, tied it around the background. Added holes in the corners of the background using the Tim Holtz ruler and an awl. Added entire piece to a folded green card.

Copper Card Project for QF

I LOVE this card!! It came together so much better than I even imagined. You can get all the details of how it was made here.

Christmas ATCs

All images and words from PID's New Christmas Collage Sheets. HoHoHo used printed papers for the background. Holly Jolly Christmas used a background image from PID along with a torn piece of music paper. White stitches or dots made with the Inkssential white pen. Snowflakes punched from white cardstock and Stickles added to the tops of them.

Thanksgiving ATCs

Both of these atcs use images and atc backgrounds from PID. To begin with I cut out the backgrounds using deckle scissors and attached them to black atc blanks. Next I embossed each one with a different Cuttlebug folder and then used a sanding block lightly over the embossing to take off a little color. On the girl atc I added a piece of lace. Cut out and attached all the images sponging ink over the words and around the edges. Finally I added the sticky-back black gems.

ATC

I love the background on this atc!! It looks pretty good in the picture but it's even better in person. I started with regular white cardstock cut to atc size. Then I used a cuttlebug folder from the fancy corners set and embossed part of it several times around the outside edge of the atc. Next I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist sandy beach and dried it with a heat tool. The color settled darker around the embossed areas and of course in person it has a fabulous shimmer. It made such an antique looking background it was amazing!! Then I also added some Distress Stickles just rubbed on lightly with my finger in some places and also edged it with Distress Ink vintage photo put extra at the bottom. The collage image and 'dream' stamp are from Quietfire Design. 'Dream' is actually cut from the smaller stamp 'Dream with your eyes wide open' that comes in the mini images set.

ATC - Nice Joey

Background and collage images are from PID - Paper Imagery Designs. The piece with the lights was sponged with Distress Ink antique linen. Distress Ink vintage photo used around the edges. Words are computer generated. Distress Stickles antique linen used on the lights.

Treasured Memory Card

Stamps are from Quietfire Design. For the background I started with white glossy cardstock, stamped the flourish with Ranger resist ink, and sponged over it with Adirondack inks. The verse was stamped with Ranger Archival Ink jet black onto vellum, torn and wrapped around the card, taping it to the back. Brads added at the top and leaves and flower to the bottom. Whole thing layered to the folded card.

ATC - Dream Together

For this atc I started with an embossed atc blank from PID, sprayed it with Glimmer Mist sprays, sponged some black ink lightly around the edged, added the sequin waste, German scrap, and collage image from PID. The words are a Paper Studio stamp.

Quietfire Design - New Christmas Rubber

All these new Christmas stamps from Quietfire Design are just fabulous!!! I can't wait to get them in my hands!! There is currently a pre-order special going on for the whole sheet, more information here.

Totally Thrilled

My very good friend, Michelle, who is a stamper and also loves to carve her own images has had her first sheet of rubber made from her own carved images. (A special thank you to Charlotte of ggDesigns for helping to do this!!!)

This first picture is of the sheet of images. Aren't they fabulous!!!! The sheet measures about 4" x 5" and sells for $8.00. Michelle can be reached at mcrazy4art@gmail.com if you are interested in her stamps or leave me a message and I can put you in touch.

I've made a couple of cards using her stamps so far (more to come later). Both are regular sized cards (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"). For this first one the bird is stamped with Stazon vibrant violet, torn out, the edges rubbed with Adirondack wild plum, and pink gems added to the tail and for the eye. The next layer is white cardstock run through the cuttlebug snowflake folder and then sprayed with Glimmer Mist lavender fields. The color is deeper near the snowflakes as it pooled there. Let dry or dry it with a heat tool. After it was dry I highlighted some of the snowflakes using the Ranger Inkssential white pen. "hello" was stamped with wild plum, torn out, and the edges inked with vibrant violet. I used the Tim Holtz ruler and an awl to make the holes on the first pink layer, edged it with wild plum and attached it to a folded pink card. Trim attached to the corners with Ranger glossy accents.

This next card was a lot of fun to make. It's the first time I tried one of these circle frames made with a corner punch. You can find a fabulous video on how to do this on the Amazing Paper Grace blog here. I made the circle frame from regular white cardstock and then sprayed it with Glimmer Mist candy apple red. The bird was stamped on white cardstock with Distress Ink vintage photo, sponged with Distress Ink antique linen and then torn out. I attached it behind the circle frame but put the tips of the beak in front of the frame. After attaching it to the frame I trimmed the bottom even with the circle. The background started with white cardstock. I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist meadow green, dried it, and then stamped the image around the edges with Stazon cactus green. The calligraphy stamp is from Quietfire Design. I stamped it on vellum with Archival Ink jet black, tore the top and bottom and attached it to the background by wrapping the edges to the back and taping them down. I layered the background to a folded white card, added the bird/circle piece, and finished up with a poinsettia flower and leaves attached with Glossy Accents. The shimmer on this card is wonderful but impossible to capture in the scan.

Paper Imagery Designs

There is much going at Paper Imagery Designs right now. The November newsletter was just released - if you don't get this you can sign up on the PID Blog, right hand side. The design team challenge for this newsletter was to use some of the new Christmas images. I made 2 different ornaments (pictures below) and the directions for my challenge plus the other designer's challenges can also be found on the PID Blog. There have been many new sheets released in the past couple of weeks plus other fun stuff and kits added to the website. Other things just added to the blog is a 2009 Design Team Search and a BOGO sale that doesn't just include collage sheets but kits too!!! So head right over to the blog... see all the fabulous artwork... and check out all the new posts!!!

Real love stories Card

Rubberstamp and supplies are from Quietfire Design.

Spritz white cardstock with the glimmer mist sprays (candy apple red, forest green, frost) and dry. Run paper through a Cuttlebug folder and lightly sand high spots to bring out pattern. Trim to size, tear right side and layer to red cardstock. Wrap silk ribbon around piece tying a bow on the left side. Stamp "Real love stories" on white cardstock with Distress Ink fired brick, cut to size, edge with fired brick and layer to background. Add heart charm to bow with a jump ring. Layer all to folded white card.