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.

Find yourself a cup Card

Stamp and most supplies are from Quietfire Design. Create polished stone background using alcohol inks, blending solution, applicator and felt. Stamp "Find yourself a cup" on background. Use removable tape on stencil to cover areas not being used, lay stencil on background and stencil the teapot using the embossing paste. Remove stencil and clean immediately. After the teapot is dry, lay the stencil back over it and add color with ink. Lay stencil flower over pot and color with ink. Edge piece with Krylon pen and add to green piece of cardstock. Using the Tim Holtz ruler and an awl make holes in green layer. Border punch the bottom of next layer, cut to size, layer on teapot piece, and add white dots with the Inkssential pen. Layer all to folded white card.

Created Byhand Challenge - Thanks

This weeks challenge on Created Byhand is to use the word Thanks or Thank You. Just in time I got my new stamps from Quietfire Design which included 4 different thank you stamps so I used one. This is the larger of 2 similar stamps and I love the little hearts that are in the letters. On this card after I stamped the word I used the Inkssential white pen to highlight those little hearts. The base layer was done with alcohol inks. Stamped fiddleheads along the bottom. Added the mulberry paper and stamped the word and the bird on it. Added holes in the upper left corner using the Tim Holtz ruler and an awl. Wrapped the piece in red string and tied on a heart charm, also from Quietfire Design. Added a sequin flower to the upper left corner... coated it with Matte Accents so it wasn't to shiny and added a punched 1/8" circle to the center.

House Shaped ATCs

All these atcs were done as part of a project for Quietfire Design. If you go here, you will find complete directions and also templates for both styles of houses.

Tim Holtz Masks and Memory Mist Sprays

I got some of the new Tim Holtz masks and just had to play a little with them. I grabbed my Memory Mist sprays just because they happened to be easier to get at and chose 3 colors. Took some white cardstock (2 atc sized and 1 card sized) sprayed them with the 2 lighter colors, put on a mask and sprayed with the darker color. The masks are wonderful with just the right amount of sticking power to stay put but not stick too much.

This first card is regular sized (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"). The collage image is from Paper Imagery Designs. The ferns, flowers, and butterfly are stickers and the words are a metal embellishment.

Collage image and stamps used on this atc are from Quietfire Design. I stamped the flourishes with Distress Ink vintage photo and drew on the white lines and dots with the Inkssential white pen. Cut out the collage image with deckle scissors, edged it with vintage photo ink and layered as shown. The gold "brads" are stickers.

This atc uses new Thanksgiving images from Paper Imagery Designs and the music stamp is a Tim Holtz, stamped with Distress Ink vintage photo. Inkssential white pen was used for the "stitching".

Explore ATC

A simple ATC. All images from Paper Imagery Designs.

Fall ATC

This atc again uses a piece from the same background paper as the last atc I uploaded. The collage image (Sarah) is from Paper Imagery Designs. Leaf is punched from a scrap of the paper and layered on top of the image. Letters added to spell "fall".

I forgot to mention that the most fabulous thing about this background paper is the slight shimmer you get from the glitter spray as you tip the paper. It reminds me of looking at a tree when the sun is shining bright but there is still dew on the leaves that catch that sunlight and sparkle.

Autumn Splendor ATC

My local atc group has mail in swaps and then an in-person swap every third month. At our last in-person swap in July for the project we made background paper using crumpled brown paper bags. We painted on them with acrylic paints using brushes and stencils or stamps and then we sprayed them with spray webbing and glitter spray. Every single one came out gorgeous. So our theme for the September mail in swap was to use our paper in some way on our atcs. For mine I used it as a background and then also punched leaves. I attached the leaf to a black square, punched 2 small holes in the black cardstock and added a thin piece of wire by bringing the 2 ends up from the back, twisting them around the stem of the leaf and then spiraling the ends by wrapping them around a toothpick. The words were done with a Dymo labeler.

October Project for AMRSC

This months project on AMRSC is Easy Backgrounds With Paint. Here are the finished cards and you can find step-by-step pictures and directions for the techniques and cards on the AMRSC site.

The bird and border stamps are from ggDesigns. The background swirl is a Penny Black.

The grass stamp is from Stamp Zia. The quote is from Quietfire Design

The collage image is from Paper Imagery Designs.

The Thrill of being Published

I've had many cards published and the excitement does not become less as more cards make their way into magazines. It's so fun to get a magazine and quickly page through it to see if I have a project in there and if I do to holler for the kids to come see :-)

Here are several cards I've had published in the past few months.

This thank you card was published in the summer 2008 issue of Just Cards. The stamp is from Quietfire Design. The printed paper was actually the wrapping on a Christmas present my good friend Tea sent me from Norway.

This black and white card was in the August issue of Vamp Stamp News and the stamps are from Stubby Stampers.

These next two cards were published in the Fall 2008 issue of Just Cards and all stamps are from Quietfire Design.

This one was in the October 2008 issue of Vamp Stamp News. Stamps are from Quietfire Design.
And this last one was published in the Decembe 2008 issue of Scrap and Stamp Arts. The leaf is from Stubby Stampers and the quote is from Quietfire Design.