Christmas Tag

It's a beautiful white day today... we'll probably have about 12" of snow by tomorrow and the winds are supposed to really kick up and give us a blizzard. This is on top of the 4-5" we got Sunday night. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... but living in southern Iowa means there is a chance all this snow could be gone before it gets here. In the meantime I had a great time making this tag based on Tim's 7th day of the 12 Tags of Christmas. The main image I used is from Time to Stamp and once I got to the end of the tag it looked to me like the image was too small and didn't really stand out so I put some German Scrap around it. The flourish image I used is from Inkadinkado... other images are Tim Holtz.

Thank You Card

If you are following along with Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas this year then this will look familiar... it's based on his Day 2 tag. The card is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I used the large frame image from the set Tattered Elements and the flourish from the set Sketch Elements (Tim Holtz, Stampers Anonymous). "Thank You" is from Quietfire Design. Distress Inks antique linen, dusty concord, faded jeans, and a little aged mahogany. Archival Ink jet black. The "stitching" is done with the Inkssential pen. Otherwise I did follow along with the directions on Tim's blog.

Published

I've been published again in two different magazines. The thrill of being published just never dulls... it's always sooooo exciting.

This first card is published in the newest Somerset Studio Gallery issue. The girl is an image from Paper Imagery Designs and the bird is a stamp from Time to Stamp.


This next card is published in Take Ten Magazine. The tree is a Dreamweaver stencil and the rubber stamped flourishes and words are from Quietfire Design.

Christmas ATCs

I had a lot of fun making these atcs for a somewhat local mail in swap. Usually when I do mail-in swaps, I make all the atcs the same (or nearly) but this time I didn't. Last week I saw these awesome Christmas bird images used in some art projects on Audrey Hernandez's blog and knew I had to get them. They are from Retro Cafe Art and I bought the digital downloads so I could use them right away :) The music background images are from Paper Imagery Designs... I rubbed Rock Candy Distress Stickles on all the backgrounds, let it dry, cut them out, layered them onto cardstock atc blanks, and then sponged Distress Ink brushed corduroy around the edges. Next I layed out all the bird images I wanted to use (I'd cut them out while riding with dh to deliver some parts), a bunch of different embellishments, ribbons, stickers, decorative buttons, and flowers and just started putting them together. It was great fun!!!! and I had the hardest time trying to decide which atc to keep, LOLOL.

Birthday Card

A birthday card for our son-in-law. The tree stamp is from Rubber Stampede and "Happy Birthday" is an old Stampin' Up image. For the trees I started with a light blue paper, sponged some Brilliance moonlight ink, stamped the trees with Archival Ink jet black, tore them out, and then sponged around them with Distress Ink broken china, faded jeans, and black soot. The next layer is a greenish yellow textured paper... sponged the edges with broken china and faded jeans, then distressed the edges, and finished up by rubbed some black soot ink on them. Layered everything together, stamped "Happy Birthday" on the metal rimmed tag with jet black ink, sponged on some broken china and faded jeans... also rubbed some ink on the white string. Finished up by using a Sharpie marker to add the black dots.

News Flash

If you've been following the Quietfire Design blog hop then you know that to have a chance to win the grand prize you needed to keep track of the stamps used on each blog hop blog and then go to Suzanne's blog and leave a comment listing them all.

Well, Suzanne has decided to make it easy on everyone and all you have to do to be entered for the grand prize drawing is leave a comment. So quick, head over to Suzanne's blog to leave a comment for a chance to win.

AND THE WINNER IS.....

Good Morning!!! Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and to those who left comments... it was truly a joy reading each and every comment... thank you!!!

Now on to the winner.... once again what you are winning is a grabbag of Quietfire Design unmounted rubber stamps valued between $25-30. That is an awesome prize!!!! Also don't forget that there is a grand prize to be won... see the end of my previous post for that information.

I had my boys help me choose a number by asking them each to choose a number between 1-85 and then I split the difference between the two number they gave to come up with the final number.

AND THE WINNER IS....

quinn57 said...

What a very inspiring sentiment and lovely use of the Christmas colours. Thanks for sharing the technique tips - it will be fun to try this one too.

Remember to email Suzanne at Quietfire Design to claim your prize!!!

Quietfire Design Blog Hop Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of the very first Quietfire Design blog hop. I hope you enjoy this simple card and that it inspires you.

The stamps used on the card are Glory to God in the highest and one of the images from Flourish 1. For the background I stamped the flourish with Versamark ink repeatedly on white cardstock, rubbed over it with red and green chalk using a cotton ball, and then stamped more flourishes using Brilliance galaxy gold ink... used a corner punch on each corner and then pierced holes along the edges using the Tim Holtz ruler and an awl. Lastly I sponged a little galaxy gold ink along the edges. The main image is stamped on white cardstock with black Versafine ink and cut out with the largest Spellbinder's Label Four die. Before removing the paper from the die, I rubbed some red chalk (again using a cotton ball) along the inside edges of the die. The background in layered to a folded red card. The main image is added using foam mounting tape. The card is finished off using Prima flowers (poinsettia) and a gold brad.

Leave a comment on this post to be entered for a chance to win a $25-$30 grab bag of Quietfire Design Rubber Stamps. A name will be chosen randomly from the list of comments on this blog entry and the name of the winner will be posted on this blog tomorrow (Sunday Nov 22).

The winner must contact suzanne@quietfiredesign.com to claim their prize!!!

Here is the list of participating blogs and dates.

Monday, Nov 16th - Yogi Grunwald
Tuesday, Nov 17th - Kristy Christopherson
Wednesday, Nov 18th - Kim Prince
Thursday, Nov 19th - Deborah March
Friday, Nov 20th - Suzanne Cannon
Saturday, Nov 21st - Wanda Hentges
Sunday, Nov 22nd - Becca Feeken
Monday, Nov 23rd - Monica Black

You need to take note of all the rubber stamps used on each DT's blog. At the end of the blog hop, go back to Suzanne's blog and list all the stamps used this week on everyone's cards to win a grand prize.

Quietfire Design Blog Hop

I am a day late posting this as the Quietfire Design Blog Hop started yesterday.... but you don't want to miss it, there are lots of prizes being offered throughout the week. Read on for the particulars.

On each blog please leave your comment in the comments section for a chance to win a grab bag of Quietfire Design Rubber Stamps.

A name will be chosen randomly from the list of comments on each blog entry and the name of the winner will be posted on that blog the next day. Then hop on over to the next blog on the list to see the fabulous art work done with Quietfire stamps and to leave a comment to enter the drawing for that blog.

The winner must contact suzanne@quietfiredesign.com to claim their prize!!!

Here is the list of participating blogs.

Monday, Nov 16th - Yogi Grunwald


Tuesday, Nov 17th - Kristy Christopherson


Wednesday, Nov 18th - Kim Prince


Thursday, Nov 19th - Deborah March


Friday, Nov 20th - Suzanne Cannon


Saturday, Nov 21st - Wanda Hentges


Sunday, Nov 22nd - Becca Feeken


Monday, Nov 23rd - Monica Black

NOTE: You need to take note of all the rubber stamps used on each DT's blog. At the end of the blog hop, go back to Suzanne's blog and list all the stamps used this week on everyone's cards to win a GRAND PRIZE.

The Spirit of Christmas

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than two months away and Thanksgiving is less than one month away... where has this year went!!

This card uses new stamps from Quietfire Design. For the background I attached a piece from a book page to a piece of cardstock... painted over it with Adirondack paint dabbers, first with snow cap, let it dry, and then with pool, and let it dry and then rubbed on some aquatic splash Versamagic ink. Next I stamped a flourish in the upper left corner using snow cap paint and then stamped various snowflake images with aegean blue Versamagic ink. The quote is stamped onto printed paper with jet black Archival ink, the edges of the panel distressed with the tonic paper distresser and aquatic splash ink rubbed onto the distressed edges. This is layered onto a torn edge panel and then onto the background. An extra torn piece of cardstock and a piece of lace are added near the bottom of the background. "love" is stamped repeated along the bottom with jet black ink. Three snowflake charms are added - the large one I don't remember where I got it, the other two are from Quietfire design. They come gold - I sanded the front to take off any finish and then colored them with a Krylon paint pen. White glittered dome sticky gems are added to the center of each snowflake charm.

Nature Inspired - Tracie Lyn Huskamp

I was very blessed to win a give-away on the Craftside blog for Tracie Lyn Huskamp's new book Nature Inspired along with one of her prints and an original piece of her art. She also included a notecard and a tag. The book is wonderful!! I haven't read the whole thing or tried the techniques yet but will. The piece of art is truly a treasure... totally gorgeous... and will forever be displayed at my place along with the print once I get a frame for it. You can learn more about Tracie, her book, and her art at her website The Red Door Studio. Thanks again, Tracie, for an amazing package!!!!!

Photo Card

The beautiful picture used as the background for this card was taken by a friend, Melody, and I like it so well that I had to use it to make a card fro her. I embossed the scripture stamp (Our Daily Bread Designs) using Versamark ink and white embossing powder. Added gold paint around the edges and highlighted the centers of the flowers with dots of gold Smooch.

Musical Birthday

I made this card awhile back and never got it posted on the blog. All stamps are from I Brake For Stamps. Background is the polished stone with alcohol inks.

Tiger Birthday Card

I love using this tiger image (Embossing Arts) on cards for boys and my favorite way to color it is with chalk pastels... quick and easy. I also stamped some leaves along the top. Metal happy birthday tag colored with alcohol inks.

More Metal

Here again I've used Ten Seconds Studio metal, molds, and tool to create the background for this atc. The color of metal is periwinkle. After embossing it using a wheel, and two molds, I sanded off the high spots, then spritz on some Glimmer Mist turquoise blue over the bottom half while heating with a heat tool... once it was dry I again sanded the high spots. The collage image and stamped words are from Quietfire Design.

Fall is Beautiful ATC

When I went to those classes taught by Linda Cain over in Davenport I bought some of the Ten Seconds Studio metal tools and metal but I hadn't yet used any of it.. until now. The background of this atc is metal.... the pearl colored metal was embossed using 2 of their molds, and then I put some alcohol inks on it for a deeper color, and sanded the high spots... and mounted it to a piece of chipboard. Stamped the letters (Studio G) on the paper leaves. The collage image girl is from Quietfire Design and I added some spiced marmalade Distress ink, layered it onto black cardstock and cut a narrow border. "beauty" is from a sheet of words a friend gave me (Thanks Tea!!). Used a black Sharpie marker to color the sides of the chipboard up onto to the metal just a little bit.

Fear Not Card

The patterened paper used on this card is DCWV. The scripture stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs. Spellbinders dies used to cut out scripture and the cream layer behind it.

Thank You Cards

I've been working on some Thank You cards. For this first one I started with a piece of canvas and did Tim Holtz's wrinkle free distress technique on it using Distress Ink scattered straw and shabby shutters, dried it and then stamped it with a Studio 490 background image with Archival Ink sepia. Next I sewed it to a piece of cardstock also adding stitching for the flower stems. The flowers are made using Maya Road mini chipboard gears... on two of them I used Duo Adhesive and variegated foil... on the other two I used Distress Ink and then Distress Stickles. For the centers of the flowers I used an Ideology foliage and buttons. The letters for thank you are also Maya Road mini chipboards, "jonathan", sponged with Distress Ink peeled paint and stamped with another Studio 490 background image using Archival Ink jet black. The butterfly is also a Studio 490 image stamped onto grungepaper with jet black, sponged with Adirondack ink wild plum, cut out, white dots added to the body with the Inkssential white pen, antenna made with craft wire. The whole piece was added to a green folded card.


The second Thank You card begins with a piece of white cardstock, I glued on a piece of striped tissue paper, then the flower paper, and then added the green strip of cardstock that was embossed using a Cuttlebug folder. "Thanks", a Quietfire Design image, was stamped on white cardstock. The metal frame was a color that didn't work so I painted it gold using a Paint Dabber giving it extra presses so the paint would be textured. I also sponged around the edges of the background with the gold paint dabber. Attached "thanks" to the back of the metal frame, added it to the background with brads along with the Prima flowers and attached the whole piece to a folded orange card.

Learning to Pause ATC

I started this atc with a piece of chipboard, sponged it with Distress Ink spiced marmalade, dried it, and then brushed on some Distress Crackle Paint dried marigold being sure to leave some areas unpainted. After the paint was dried and crackled I stamped a swirly image along the left with Archival Ink sepia. I also sponged some peeled paint ink around the edges. The words were stamped on white cardstock with Archival Ink jet black, sponged over with Distress Ink peeled paint and broken china, cut it up and added it to the atc. Punched a flower from grungepaper, sponged it with Distress Ink fired brick, dried it, added Distress Stickles spiced marmalade and let it dry. Added it along with some Ideology pieces to the left and finished it up with a sticky back gold pearl to the center of the flower. All stamps are Tim Holtz iamges.

Vintage 6" x 6" Page Swap

This is the front and back of the page I did for a Page Swap on the AllThingsTim Yahoo Group (that Tim would be Tim Holtz). The theme was vintage, the size 6" x 6", and you had to use something Tim related... product, technique, or even both... and we needed to make 20 pages. I started with 2 large sheets of Bristol board and to make the background for the fronts I sprayed the boards with Distress Inks mixed in mini mister bottles (old paper, tea dye, faded jeans, and maybe some corduroy - I should have wrote it down... oops) I also did some misting with water to help with blending and then while it was still wet I sprinkled on some walnut ink crystals. After they were dry I cut them up to get my 6x6 pages. At this point I wasn't totally pleased with how they looked and decided to add some scattered straw ink using the blending tool. I stamped the swirls on the backgrounds with Archival ink sepia and the words and bird with Archival ink jet black and finished by sponging a little black soot ink around the edges. The tag was stamped with jet black and color added with Distress inks using blending tools. The flowers were punched from grungepaper, colored with Distress Inks, and then sprayed with Perfect Pearls gold mixed in a mini mister bottle. The rickrack was sprayed with Distress Ink faded jeans. Embellishments are ribbon, a butterfly charm, a button, and Ideology snaps, washers, and brads. For the back I sponged the edges of the boards with Distress ink black soot, cut white cardstock 5 3/4" square, colored the white cardstock using the wrinkle free distress technique and distress ink broken china. The flowers were done using the Perfect Distress technique - fired brick and spiced marmalade inks and gold Perfect Pearls. The butterflies were stamped with fired brick. The edges were sponged with corduroy using the blending tool. My information is added using an Ideology journaling ticket. All the stamps I used are Tim Holtz images.

Life Life Fully Tag

I got my order today from Croppinsville that had the new Tim Holtz Ideology items in it and just had to make something that included the new film strip... way cool stuff!!!!! So I decided to make a tag, size 6 1/4" x 3 1/8" (#8 tag). All stamps used are Wendy Vecchi Studio 490. The background is Distress Inks spiced marmalade, fired brick, and brushed corduroy. After inking it up I flicked water on it, let it sit a bit and blotted it up. The top of the larger flower, the smaller flower, and the butterfly are all cut from grungepaper. Antenna are made from black craft wire.

Every Day is Special!!

No scraps used for this card :-)) All stamps are Studio 490. The background is white glossy paper, I stamped with Ranger resist ink and then colored with Distress Inks spiced marmalade, fired brick, and peeled paint. Other stamping done with Archival ink jet black. Butterfly is stamped on grungepaper and cut out, colored with spiced marmalade, Rock Candy stickles applied to the wings with my fingertip, white added to larger black dots with the Inkssential white pen after the stickles was dry. Chipboard frame placed over saying is Maya Road, colored with Distress inks, stamped with jet black and white dots added with Inkssential pen.

ATCs

Well, I'm still working at cleaning up my creating area and using up all the bits and parts from previous projects that I had left laying there... I could have just stuck them all in a drawer (like I've done in the past) but that drawer is pretty full and I decided it was either use them or toss them and there were too many good pieces to toss :-) Here are several atcs that I put together this past week, most of them made completely or at least partially with these left over pieces.

This first one uses part of a left over background stamped with Tim Holtz images. "Celebrate Today" is a Studio 490 stamp. The whole atc was dipped in hot beeswax and holeless gold beads added before the wax cooled.
The next one used a toilet paper casting I've had laying here a long time. I added brushed corduroy ink to the high spots and edges with my finger, then sprayed it with sunflower PP mixed in a mini mister, extra color added with chalks. The bird was a picture in some junk mail and I made a packing tape transfer with it.

The background on this atc is cut from a paper I had laying under where I was creating catching extra ink, paint, stamping. Stamps are Studio 490. The floral image is stamped on grungepaper, cut out, and Distress Stickles fired brick added.

A Tim Holtz image stamped on a tag with Archival ink, color added with Distress Ink... the tag was left over after working on a page swap and I cut it down to fit on an atc. I brushed over the definition with a Q-tip dipped in bleach .

Here we have another packing tape transfer. The saying is a Studio 490 stamp.

Here we have a gel medium transfer onto muslin. I cut her out using deckle edge scissors but it didn't really "cut", it more like frayed which worked very well. Added some brads, a word, and a heart epoxy sticker and then to finish it off added some Rock Candy stickles to two corners... awesome!!!

Paperbag Studios image stamped onto an alcohol ink background. Base is colored sprays sprayed through plastic canvas. "Celebrate Today" is Studio 490. Very glittery flowers.

The base is an old dictionary page colored with Distress inks and stamped along 2 edges. Main saying and dragonfly are Quietfire Design stamps.

Another Quietfire Design stamp. Background is Ecoline inks.

The heart is a toilet paper casting done on a rubber stamp. It's sprayed with sunflower gold PP mixed in a mini mister bottle. The background I can't remember exactly what was done... something put on a manila piece and then stamped into it. "Soar" from a dymo.

Grungeboard Leaf Pin

Not a great picture, I'll have to try to get a better one but wanted to share anyway. This leaf is cut from grungeboard, veins pressed in using a stylus and also my bone folder, and then it's painted with acrylic paints, let it dry and sprayed it with a sealer. Punched a small hole in it and added a bead along with a bead cap to simulate an acorn. This came out so awesome... it actually looks like it could be leather. My friend, Michelle, had actually seen something similar made from leather and wanted to try to make one like it... the grungeboard was perfect to use.

Studio 490 Style

I had mega fun making this wall hanging using my new Studio 490 stamps by Wendy Vecchi. The base is a Maya Road chipboard piece about 4 1/2" across. Inks used throughout are either Archival inks or Distress Inks. Leaves, flowers and butterfly are stamped on Grungepaper, cut out and colored with Distress Inks. The butterfly's antenna are made from wire as is the hanger. Ideology snaps used as centers on the smaller flowers and a button and ribbon used on the larger flower. Holes made in the chipboard using the Crop-a-dile.