Blog Archives

Challenge: Road Trip

3/25/2018

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge wants us to contemplate a ""Road Trip" for their March 19, 2018 challenge.

Now road trips are nothing new to me and mine. We have criss-crossed this nation numerous times by automobile, stopping when it felt right to see sights, to take in local food, to rest...We even took a road trip or three in Europe (one in Germany/Austria in the 70s, and several in the UK in the 90s...), so I feel comfortable with the concept. We even have a road trip planned for later this summer to the South Carolina Coast!

However, I have the flu (or what approximates the flu as I know it) and my brain, while it can wrap itself around the concept, seems to be struggling with the basics of creativity. I had an idea but I don't think it quite worked. But it is done, and I need to get this entered before tonight's deadline, so here goes...

I started with a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper depicting a "Road Map" (How many people these days even know what one of these is, let alone how to use it? I miss the days of our in-car Rand McNally Atlas - we NEVER got misdirected by an anonymous voice on a GPS device when we had our atlas at hand...).This paper was pretty busy, though, and so I decided to mute it by stamping my image (of a vintage pick-up - we never drove a pick-up on any of our trips but, in my mind, the classic road trip was the Joad's truck in "Grapes of Wrath") on velum, die cut some appropriate words and attached them to the map:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi "Gentleman's Art" (SCS059)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "adventure" (660224)
Inks: Archival "Jet Black"
Papers: Paper Studio "kraft" card (607201); Hot Off The Press Paper Pizazz "Road Trip" (HOTP-20014); Paper Reflections Translucent Velum (PAK03864); scrap gloss black card
Adhesive: RedLine 1/8' Embossing Tape; Xyron 250 sticker make; Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue

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Challenge: March 2018 color inspiration

3/24/2018

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The Lindy's color inspiration challenge for March 2018 is the following photo and color palatte:

I took the color palette to heart when I created a background based on the photograph. I started with a "sky" of Flat Fabio Spray “C’est la vie Cerise” on watercolor paper. I then added Shaker Magicals “Guten Tag Teal”, “Alpine Ice Rose” and "Yodeling Yellow”, followed by a misting of water to create an out-of-focus floral background. Finally, the greenery was another Flat Fabio Spray “Luscious Lime”:

I trimmed a piece of this "background" to fit a kraft card base:

My final step was to create a floral spray to overlay this background. I stamped five blooms from the Stampers Anonymous "Flower Garden Set" in Archival "Jet Black" on Neena Solar White card. I die cut them with the coordinating Sizzix die set and water colored them using a water brush and Flat Fabio Sprays “Luscious Lime”, “Luminous Lemon”, “Chateau Rose”, “Raspberry Lemonade”, and “Blazing Black”. After dry fitting the blooms to the card base, I stamped a sentiment in "Jet black" Archival and the attached stems and blooms using Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous “Flower Garden” (CMS214; Altenew “Floral motifs”
Dies: Sizzix “Flower Garden & Mini Bouquet” (661613)
Inks: Lindy’s Magical Shakers “Guten Tag Teal”, “Alpine Ice Rose” and “Yodeling Yellow”; Lindy’s Flat Fabio Sprays “C’est la vie Cerise”, “Luscious Lime”, “Luminous Lemon”, “Chateau Rose”, “Raspberry Lemonade”, and “Blazing Black”; Archival “Jet Black”
Papers: Paper Studio “Kraft” card base (697201); Ranger Watercolor Paper (ISW 39532); Neena Solar White
Adhesives: RedLine 1/8” Embossing Tape; Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue

I'm also entering this in:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, March 21, 2018: Floral Frenzy
Simon Says tamp Work It Wednesday Challenge, March 2018: Inking Technique

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Challenge: Create an Album #G45Album

3/19/2018

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The Graphic45 challenge for March is to create an album of any type using G45 products.

I started with a 7Gypsies "Two Way Book" as the base of my project:

I decorated the chipboard covers with G45 papers from the "Communique" Papercrafting Set and with G45 DIY Craft Papers:

Side one - the journal side

Side two - the photo album side

I set up side one to be a journal cover, using stickers and chipboards from the "Communique" collection and cut parts from the G45 "Typography" collection. I placed a band of Idea-ology Tissue Tape across the cover center. I clipped an image of a typewriter key from a Typography cut-apart and adhered it to a metal oval plaque using Glossy Accents. After letting the Glossy Accents partially set, I pulled most of it off, leaaving a rough, almost crystalline surface, and adhered the oval to the cover as well. I blended Distress Oxide "Black Soot" around the cover edges to age the cover a bit:

On the second side of the book, I added some more cut aparts from "Typography" to define this side of the book as a photograph album. The edges of this cover were blended with Distress Oxide "Vinatge Photo" in keeping with the photographic theme. A "Black Soot" Distress Marker was used to define the border on the sentiment:

The result is an accordion book that can function as an art journal or a travel journal. It can be kept closed with the accompanying elastic band.

Products used in the making of this album/journal were:

Papers: G45 DIY Craft Paper “Quotes & Newsprint” (451290), "Communique" Papercrafting Set (4501253 - 12 x 12 papers “On the Dot”, “Shutter Speed” and “Telegram”; Chipboard; and Stickers), and "Typography" Papercrafting Paper Pad (4500774 - 12 x 12 papers "Typography“ - 4500766 and “Drum” - 4500771); 7-Gypsies “Two-Way Book” (11036)
Inks: Distress Oxides “Black Soot” and “Vintage Photo”; Distress Marker “Black Soot”
Embellishments: Idea-ology “Tissue Tape - Elements” (TH93068); oval disk (maker unknown)
Adhesives: Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue; RedLine 1/8” Embossing Tape; Ranger Glossy Accents

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Challenge: Easter Inspired

3/17/2018

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There is a mood board posted over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge board for March 14, 2018 --- all to act as inspiration for an Easter Card. It includes photos and colors to choose from;

I opted for the egg photo as my inspiration and went with a little tongue in cheek on my card.

I started with my egg. I sued some tacky tape I had bought on a whim and die cut a solid egg from it. I took a scrap of gold card and die cut a decoration for the egg from that. I adhered the gold to the sticky egg and sprinkled three different shades of WOW! glitter on the exposed sticky areas. After cleaning up all of teh glitter (really, most - there is still some of the glitter on my work surface and my jeans), this is what I had:

My next step was a card base. I used a white notecard and stamped two Crazy Cats in Archival "Jet Black". I colored the cats with Distress Markers and a water brush. I stamped, colored and die-cut a pair of bunny ears fo that cat:

After dry-fitting my egg to the card, I stamped a pair of "Crazy Tag phrases in Archival "Jet Black", cut around the head of the bunny-eared cat and slipped the egg into place. Final touches included adding a "ground" for teh cats adn the egg using a Distress marker and a water brush:

Clearly, the Crazy Cat pair are at best bemused, at worst startled by the glittery egg dropped into their world.!

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous “Crazy Cats” (CMS251), “Crazy Things” (CMS237), and “Crazy Talk” (CMS236)
Dies: PoppyStamps “Grand Egg” (829) and “Ornate Egg” (828); Sizzix Thinlits “Crazy Things” (660953)
Inks: Archival “Jet Black”; Distress Markers “Worn Lipstick”, “Spiced Marmalade”, “Carved Pumpjkin”,, “Pumice Stone” and “Hickory Smoke”
Embossing Powders/Glitter: WOW! Sparkles “Santorini” (SPRK005), “Jade” (SPRK004), and “Seahorse” (SPRK015)
Paper: The Paper Studio “white” notecard (225359); scrap of gold card
Adhesives: Art Accents “Terrifically Tacky Tape”; Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue

I'm also entering this in the

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for March 12: Easter/Spring Inspired
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday, February 2018: Green
WOW! Challenge for March 2018: All About Sparkles

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Challenge: Knock on Wood

3/16/2018

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Frilly & Funkie wants us to incorporated something made of wood in out piece for their challenge for March 14, 2018: "...any kind of wooden object like a wood spool, a wood button, a mini ruler or even a branch."

I had this set of wooden icons from Prima that I had never used so I decided to go a little frilly and a little glittery and a lot of pink for this card.

I started with the background - a pink notecard base with a blend of Dstress Oxide Inks, heat dried and splattered with water:

For some shine, some gold embossing:

Now for embellishments! I selected a word plaque from the wooden icons and, using an embossing pen, added some gold embossing powder to the edges. I also added some Wink of Stella to the center of the word plaque (which doesn't show up in the photo --- it's really subtle in real life). Down the left side of the card, I attached a scrap of white ribbon that I had dyed using a Lindy's Gang spray. For some additional "texture", I overstamped with a script text stamp using he same Distress Oxide inks that I used in the blended background:

The next step was to layer Little Birdie flowers, a little Prima wood icon Eiffel Tower (similarly touched up with gold embossing powder), gold sequins and a few gel pen "dots' of gold:

Why is it that I never have the exact same shade of flowers as inks? These really did look pink when I selected them but on this card, they went a bit lavender...

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonyous Visual Artistry “French Connection” (CSS27850)
Inks: Distress Oxides “Worn Lipstick” and “Candied Apple”; Lindy’s Gang Flat Fabio Spray “Plumeria Pink”;
Versamark; Ranger Emboss It pen; Wink of Stella “Clear” (GL999); Uniball gel impact pen “Gold”
Embossing Powders: Up Then “gold detail”
Papers: The write Stock “Tinted Dawn” (P80020)
Embellishments: Prima “Wood Icons” (579586); Little Birdie “Spring” (CR53018); Offray Poly Fleur “white” ribbon (tinted with Lindy's spray); gold sequins
Adhesives: RedLine 1/8” Embossing Tape; EK Tools 3D Foam Dots; Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue

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Challenge: Green

3/16/2018

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The Work It Wednesday Challenge for February 2018 at Simon Says Stamp is "Green". Their instructions are as follows:

"Spring is almost here, as is St. Patrick’s Day and Easter! All of these things have a special color in common: GREEN! So we want to challenge you to make something that is bursting with this refreshing hue. Maybe make a beautiful Easter greeting, a St. Patty’s Day note of luck to a friend, or a card full of Spring florals. Whatever you make, be sure that GREEN is prominent in your design!"

I decided to try out some new dies and use some of my green scrap stash!

I started with a Hero Arts Fancy die and some pale green card which I ran through my Xyron sticker maker before cutting. I mounted resulting wreath on a glimmer green card base:

Using more green scraps, I cut a banner and a bird from another Hero Arts Fancy die set. I stamped a sentiment in a darker green on the banner and placed these images on the card front to complete my "green" card. A dot of "Pine Needles" Distress Marker in the eye of the bird and some sketched in folds on the banner with the same marker completed my card:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Making Memories Magnetic Stamp Alphabet “Express It”
Dies: Hero Arts Fancy Dies “Bird Branch with Frame” (D1488) and “Bird & Banner” (D1487)
Inks: Hero Arts “Pine”; Distress Marker “Pine Needles”
Papers: Soiree A2 Card in shimmer green; scraps of pale green, grey green and patterned lime green paper
Adhesives: Xyron 500 sticker maker; Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue

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Challenge: Easter/Spring Inspiration

3/16/2018

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The challenge for March 12, 2018 over at Simon Says Stamp Monday is to use Easter or Spring as an inspiration. They even included a "mood board" for help!

I don't have a lot of Easter-themed stash whether it be eggs bunnies or religious icons so I opted for "spring" - color and flowers and the like. I started by creating a background using one of my new Ink Road stamps, Versamark Ink and Lindy's Gang embossing powders in three spring shades:

I then overstampsed a Tim Holtz flower in Archival "Jet Black" and "watercolored" it using a water brush and Lindy's Flat Fabio inks. Three colors of Archival Ink and a partially masked Hero Arts sentiment finished this simple card.

If I were to do this again, I would do the image first, mask it off and do the embossing last. Still, I think it did result in an interesting look,

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Hero Arts “Spring” (C3037); Ink Road Stamps “Between The Lines” (INKR025); Stampers Anonymous “Flower Garden” (CMS215)
Inks: Lindy’s Flat Fabio Sprays “Luminous Lemon” and Luscious Lime”; Archival “Jet Black”, “Watering Can” and “Shadow Grey”; Versamark
embossing Powders: Lindy’s Gang “Hi Maintenance Magenta”, “Luminous Lemon” and “Polka Purple”
Papers: Paper Studio “white” notecard (225359)

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Challenge: Girl Power

3/9/2018

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The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, March 7, 2018 was "... to make something for a girl, [to] think feminine."

I work so hoard to NOT make my cards "feminine" or "masculine" or age-defined or..., because I never know when I'll need a card for something and I like to make more generic cards for that card stash. However, I think this Art Nouveau card might qualify as a little more girly than my usual, given the color and the shine and the flowers and...

I started with a scrap of pale purple card, cut to size for a pre-folded white notecard base. I used my MISTI and stamped some Art Nouveau corner images in Versamark and then heat-embossed them in silver. I stamped a sentiment, again in Versamark, and this time I heat-embossed it in a glimmery purple. I edged the pale purple card with some dark amethyst ink. Finally, I colored in the open spaces in the corner sprays using a water brush and the same dark amethyst ink.

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: SC Design: "Sincere Sentiments" and Jennifer Ellory "Art Nouveau" (both free cover stamps sets from Cardmaking & Papercarft Magazine issues)
Inks: Versamark; Hero Arts My Monthly Hero "dark amethyst" mini-cube
Embossing Powders: Top Boss "silver" (002161); Lindy's Gang "Polka Purple"
Papers: Paper Studio "white" (225359); scrap of pale purple paper
Tools: MISTI stamp positioner

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Challenge: Whatever the Weather

3/9/2018

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"Whatever the weather!" That's what they are saying over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog on March 5, 2018.

Well, that's what everyone hereabouts has been saying as well. More or less along the lines of "wait fifteen minutes and it will ..."! So I made a card that reflects what happened in my neck of the woods weather-wise on March 5:

It started out rainy,
The sun came out and shone brightly around 3 PM.
After sunset, it started to snow!

First, I made a basic card base using masking tape and blended Distress Oxides; I basically made three background stripes - a dusky dark rainy day, a bright sunshine day, and a grey snowy night. I sealed the background with Distress Micro Glaze. I added sun rays using scribble sticks, snowflakes using a white gel pen, and rain using a black Fude-ball pen, scribble sticks and a little Wink of Stella. I stamped a row of trees using a Memory Box wood-mounted stamp and some Archival "Jet Black" Ink.

I hand-lettered the challenge title on a strip of black card to finish this piece:

By the way, this weather pattern repeated on the 6th, the 7th and the 8th, and this morning, when I got up, it was snowing again!

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Memory Box "Linden Allee" (D1318)
Inks: Distress Oxides "Faded Jeans", "Fossilized Amber" and "Hickory Smoke"; Archival "Jet Black"; scribble Sticks "Sky", "Lemon", "Tangerine" and "Turquoise"; Signo Uniball "white"; Fudeball 1.5 "black"; Wink of Stella "Clear" (GL 999)
Papers: Paper Studio "White" (225359); scrap of black
Adhesives: RedLine 1/8" embossing Tap
media: Distress Micro Glaze

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Challenge: Get In On The Action

3/1/2018

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Frilly & Funkie are challenging us to make something interactive in their February 28, 2018 challenge.

Now I confess I have had terrible luck with interactive cards. They simply do not WORK for me --- either they get stuck or they fall apart or... I suspect my klutzy fingers have a lot to do with this. But I decided to try anyway, and this card likely will not last past the first attempt to work it. Still...

I started with a series of templates for a "Waving Arm Card" by Sara Sandburg at www.cardmakingparadise.com. My first step was to cut out the pieces and assemble them as the basic card:

You can see the "arm" at the top and, the "wheel" at the side. This was the first build --- it was rebuilt twice in the course of embellishing the card and probably, like I said earlier, will last one more circuit before the wheel goes off its paper-based bearings.

Since I was using brushed metallic card, I decided to go industrial and embossed the lower right with a Sizzix thinlits die and a Spellbinders embossing pad. I rubbed Distress Crayon over it to bring out the gears (didn't work really well through).

Next was embellishing the card with more gears, using more brushed metallic card in a lighter copper color:

The larger gear at the top was layered on a circle of the darker copper so that the card behind would be blocked from view when the moveable gear was "resting"...

Spin the wheel on the right clockwise and here is what happens:

The gear moves up (1) counterclockwise, (2) gradually exposing the message below it before it (3) reverses direction and comes back over the top and (4) down to cover the message again.

Lessons learned:

use stronger card (or even stencil mylar) for the workings and card base
use stronger tape
and don't ever do this again! LOL

Products used in the making of this card were:

Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Gearhead" (6621184) and "Adventure" (660224); Sizzix BIGZ "Gadget Gears #2" (661193)
Papers: pre-folded burgundy card base, cut to 5 x 5; scraps of brushed copper and brushed light copper card from Stampin' Up! and gloss white card
Adhesives: redine 1/8" Embossing Tape; Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue

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