Blog Archives

Challenge: Anything Goes

5/31/2017

The challenge issued by Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog on May 31, 2017, is "Anything Goes" and spotlights stamps/dies from Technique Tuesday (use if you have 'em). Well, I do have one set, which I used for a previous Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. I'm not sure it's that versatile a stamp set (I bought it for the "punny" sentiments more than for the images) but, what the heck...!

I layered black and gold card and black-and-white striped paper to create a backdrop for my cat in a hat. I stamped the cat on olive green patterned paper and a sentiment on a scrap of the same color paper, different pattern. I stamped the hat and a second cat on white card and fussy cut the hat and the cat's mustache, after coloring them with Distress Markers. I assembled all on a top-folding ivory notecard:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Technique Tuesday "Kyle the Cool Cat" set (KYLE)
Dies: Technique Tuesday "Kyle the Cool Cat" coordinating set (DiKYLE)
Inks: Arhival "Jet Black"; Distress Markers "Forest Moss" and "Crushed Olive"
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "Ivory"; scraps of black, white and gold metallic card; scrap of olive green patterned paper and black-and-white striped paper
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Ranger Collage Glue Stick

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Challenge: More Circles

5/29/2017

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Still working within the theme of the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for May 29, 2017: We're Going Around in Circles... but I forgot to take step-by-step photos.

First, I tried making a background with two "circle" layering stencils: the "Mosaic" (TH084) and the "Dot Grid" (TH083). I blended Distress Inks through the Mosaic stencil on two-thirds of the front of a pre-folded card. Once it dried, I blended the Dot Grid and Black Soot Distress Ink over the mosaics. It resulted in a series of black dots on a rainbow background, with the mosaic pattern totally disappearing...

I added strips of scrap yellow and black card to the part of the card which wasn't covered by the stencil and then trimmed with some Idea-ology design tape.

I then stamped Altenew "Adore You" blossoms and leaves with Distress Oxide inks on yellow and olive green card. I then fussy-cut the leaves and flowers and touched up the flower centers using a Distress Marker. I arranged the flowers and leaves in a swag along the left and bottom of the card.

I stamped a sentiment from the Adore You set in Archival "Jet Black" and in Distress Oxide "Fossilized Amber".

The card looks like this:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Adore You" set
Stencils: Layering Stencils "Mosaic" (TH084) and "Dot Grid" (TH083)
Inks: Distress Inks "Mustard Seed", "Cracked Pstachio", "Salty Ocean", and "Wilted Violet", "Black Soot"; Distress Oxides "Fossilized Amber" and "Peeled Paint"; Distress Marker "Criushed Olive"; Archival "Jet Black"
Papers: Paper Flair by Hot Off The Press pre-folded card "ivory", scraps of yellow, olive and black cardstock
Embellishments: Idea-ology Design Tape "Rose" (THS93354)
Adhesives: viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"

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Challenge: We're Going Around in Circles

5/29/2017

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Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "going around in circles". Or at least, that is their challenge for May 29, 2017.

And I have this new background stamp that I've been wanting to test out... Wendy Vecchi's "Circle Collage". Seems like just the thing, right? To use a background stamp as a focal image? Why not?

I stamped the image three times on a pr-folded ivory notecard, in three different Distress Oxide Inks. I stamped the image again on black card using Versamark, and heat embossed it in white. I fussy cut the black image and attached it to the card front; stamped a sentiment (more of a spiral than a circle but...) in Archival "Jet Black"; and added a few sequins in coordinating colors:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Studio 490 "Circle Collage" (WVBG034) and Stampendous! "Sending a Hug" (D071)
Inks: Versamark; Distress Oxide "Fossilized Amber", "Fired Brick" and :Spiced Marmalade"; Archival "Jet Black"
Embossing Powders: Top Boss "white regular"
Embellishments: Doodlebug "Rainbow Assortment" sequins (4268)
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory", scrap of black card stock
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Distress Collage Medium

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Challenge: Something Old

5/25/2017

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Frilly and Funky Challenge Blog posted a challenge on May 24, 2017 to use something old in our project.

According to the design team: "...there will be lots of you who love all things vintage and enjoy nothing more than discovering old and unwanted treasure at thrift shops and junk markets." Well, that is NOT me. True, my husband and I haunted the "dirt" markets of Beijing and the street stalls of both Beijing and Shanghai for antiques but these "old" things have value and meaning to us; I would never disassemble them or alter them for a crafty project any more than I would deface a book, however old. It's just not me... And I do not do "junk" or "antique" fairs, flea markets, garage sales or rummage sales. They make me as anxious as do used book shops with books not shelved by author! Call me wierd, OK, but my incipient OCD comes out in places like that and I rush through them like I am being chased!

What is more, unlike many, I do not have a treasure trove of "stuff" from my Mother or Grandmothers. I know that my Paternal Grandmother crocheted (she tried to teach me but failed) but my Mother and Maternal Grandmother (who was nearly blind when I knew here) did not sew or paint or craft in any way other than gardening. And none of them wore much jewelry and what they did wear was not costume. This kind of family history means no button boxes or vintage fabrics, clip earrings or false pearls in the attic!

So I was limited to what I have in my stash, which is my own "button box" which contains buttons shed from various garments (history unknown) over the years. Since I am nearly 75, I hereby declare this buttons "vintage" and have used some of them in this challenge!

I started with a background using "vintage" papers from Maya Designs and some not-so-vintage lace on an ivory notecard:

sentiment from Hero Arts, stamped in Distress Oxide "Peeled Paint" ink

I die cut some "tattered florals" from more "vintage" papers and added my buttons, using Distress Collage Medium:

I stenciled the veins on the leaves using the die as a stencil and Distress Oxide ink on a blending tool

Final assembly of the card:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Hero Arts "Time To Enjoy" (F1843)
Dies: Sizzix "Tattered Florals" (661806)
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory"; Maja Designs "Vintage Summer Basics" 6x6 pad; Michael Powell "Designstax" 4x6 double sided cardstock
Embellishments: lace, "vintage" buttons
Adhesives: Vival Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Distress Collage Medium

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Challenge: Sunshine

5/25/2017

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Work It Wednesday over at Simon Says Stamp wants us to put some sunshine in a card for May, 2017.

For me, sunshine is yellow --- all shades of yellow. So I made a monochromatic card. I blended Distress Oxide and Distress Inks to make a background, blended two Distress Inks through a layering stencil, stamped a sun and sentiment in Distress Ink and embellished a banner with Distress Markers, all in shades of yellow and yellow orange:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Paper Smooches "Cosmos" (SES171) and Hero Arts "Life With Sunshine" (D3055)
Stencils: Layering Stencil "Rays" (THS003)
Inks: Distress Oxide "Fossilized Amber"; Distress Inks" Wild Honey", "Mustard Seed", "Scattered Straw", "Squeezed Lemonade", "Dried Marigold", and "Spiced Marmalade"; Distress Markers "Dried Marigold" and Spiced Marmalade"
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory"; scraps of yellow and beige card stock
Adhesives: Vival Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"

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Challenge: Furry Friends

5/25/2017

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The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, May 24, 2017, wants us to portray our "furry friends" in our project this week.

Well, my furry friends are, and all my self-aware life have been, cats (I know that my father owned dogs - Doberman Pinschers) but they died when I was very young and I don't remember them at all). From the abused black kitten (^Tux^) that Dad brought home when we were kids to ^Beatnik^ when I was in undergraduate college to the rescue family of ^Runt^, ^Flicka^ and ^Freshman^ when we were in grad school to the one rescue rescue ^Tribble^ and large number of purebreds (Himalayan ^Misty^, Abyssynians ^Mau'ss^ and ^Sam^, and Bombays ^BeauJangles^, and ^Shadow^) since graduation, we have always had cats in our family. Faith, Kathy and Dominic are our current fur babies - a trio/family of Bombays, and they literally rule the roost here at Chez Harper!

I decided to use a black cat to represent our Bombays and a single "sentiment" to express their opinion of our service to them:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Technique Tuesday's "Kyle the Cool Cat" (Kyle)
Dies: Technique Tuesday's "Kyle the Cool Cat" (DIKyle)
Inks: Versamark
Embossing Powders: Top Boss "white"
Papers: natural notecard; scraps of black card stock; Graphic 45 "Raining Cats and Dogs" 6x6 paper pad (4500968)
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Xyron 250 sticker maker

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Mini-Challenge: She

5/23/2017

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The mini-challenge for May over on More Than Words is "use the word 'She' on a card, tag or ATC".

I started by looking for the word in my stash of stamps, stickers and stencils and found some in Tim Holtz' new Idea-ology collection "Clippings". The one I chose drove my design.

First, I took the Heidi Swap Torn Tag I made here, and mounted it on a leather-textured tan cardstock:

I selected a little girl from the Idea-ology collection "Paper Dolls" and tinted her with Distress Markers:

Note --- she is wearing a shooting jacket and a holster! Little Annie Oakley, maybe? I took it to be so!

I mounted the little girl, my sayings and the tag on a small notecard:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Inks: Heidi Swamp Color Shine sprays "Georgia Peach", "Gold Lame", "Mint Green", "Chartreuse", "Tropicana Teal", "Amethyst"; Distress Markers "Tattered Rose", "Spun Sugar", "Tea Dye", "Tumbled Glass"
"Chipped Sapphire"; Distress Ink "Old Paper"
Papers: "natural" pre-folded notecard; scraps of white paper and card, leathered tan and rust card; Paper Studio 5.25 x 2.625 white tag
Embellishments: Idea-ology "Paper Dolls" (TH93555), "Small Talk" (TH93193), "Chit Chat" (TH92998), and "Clippings Stickers" (TH93583
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape", EK Tools 3-D Dots; Ranger Collage Glue Stick

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Challenge: Little Critters

5/23/2017

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Over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog, the design team wants us to focus on "Little Critters" for the May 22 challenge. We can "feature [our] own pets or ... delve into the wider animal kingdom" for this... I opted for the latter - more specifically "birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes about 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight". That is... OWLS!

There was a time when owls were all the rage but, while there is an owl spokes-bird for a local eyeglass business, I haven't seen that much of them of late. And I only have two owl stamps, neither of them "realistic", but I haven't used either before. I picked the one with the coordinating die set from Tailored Expressions and went for a "cute" critter card (not my usual style).

I started with a small vignette panel which I smeared with Distress Paint "Weathered Wood" to take away the dark orangey brown look of it.

I stamped the images from the stamp set in Archival Ink on scarp white paper, die cut them, and colored them with Distress Markers before using collage medium to attach them to the panel. I also stamped a "punny" sentiment from the same stamp set on scrap white card, using Archival Ink, and I then blended Distress ink "Black Soot" around the edges before attaching it:

Finally, I cut a piece of dark aqua card to fit a pre-folded note card, blended Distress Ink "Mermaid Lagoon" around the edges so it would match the "bey" owl, and attached it and the panel to the card:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Tailored Expressions "Hoot Hoot Hooray" stamp set
Dies: Tailored Expressions coordinating die set for "Hoot Hoot Hooray"
Inks: Archival "Jet Black"; Distress Markers "Walnut Stain", "Gathered Twigs", Bar Door", Worn Lipstick", "Mermaid Lagoon, "Rusty Hinge" and "Dried Marigold"; Distress Inks "Black Soot" and "Mermaid Lagoon"
Papers: pre-folded ivory notecard; scraps of white paper and white and aqua card
Adhesives: Vival Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Distress Collage Medium

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Just Playin' wth Ink, Day 2

5/21/2017

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I hadn't finished with all the spray inks and stains in my stash. I have some that have been in drawers, unopened for almost ten years now! So today, I took out these antiques (although they are still being sold, to my knowledge) and played with them in the same way I played yesterday with Distress Spray Stains, Dylusions, Glimmer Mist Chalkboard and Lindy's: I made four torn tags!

Tag #1 used Smooch Spritz sprays - "Tea Party", "Carrot Cake", "Gold Glow", "Emerald Sprinkle", "Sea Kiss" and "Mixed Berries". Lots of sparkle with these but it's more metallic than glitter in this spray::

Tag #2 used Glimmer Mist sprays (Not the Chalkboard ones of yesterday but the originals) - "Oriental Poppy", "Copper", "Lemon Zest", "Lily Pad", "Moonlight" and "Fully Purple". Sparkle here too:

I did find that some of my Glimmer Mist sprays were VERY hard to spray --- not sure if it was how old they are or how they are stored... but I finally got them to work.

Tag #3 used Memories Mist - "Orange Juice", "Mango Lemonade", Margarita", Wheat Grass", Blue Martini" and "Merlot". My color selection was limited here as I only own a few of these sprays. A very matte finish resulted so I tried the water spritzing and metallic droplets here to get texture. Water droplets had little effect though, and the surface seemed to reject the Distress "Tarnished Brass". Also issues with two of the sprays which preferred to leak (HEAVILY) from the top to spraying.

Tag #4 used Heidi Swamp Color Shine sprays - "Georgia Peach", "Gold Lame", "Mint Green", "Chartreuse", Tropicana Teal", and "Amethyst". This resulted in a metallic shine rather than a sparkle:

I'm totally out of brands of sprays to compare so I'll conclude this experiment with the observation that it's not so much that the torn tag technique requires a specific brand but that what impact you want the tag to have will define what type of spray you should use.

I'll set these tags aside, perhaps to find their way on a card in future.

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Just Playin' with Ink!

5/20/2017

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Over on the Lindy's Stamp Gang home page, there is a new post with a step-by-step by Kerry Fellowes on her "Torn Tag" technique. It intrigued me but, since I don't have the full range of colors of sprays in the Lindy's line, I was wondering if it would work with other inks and sprays.

I made four cards using four different brands of ink sprays: Distress, Dylusions, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, and Lindy's. Products used in common for all four cards were:

Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Scribbles & Splat" (660222) and "Friendship words: script" (660225)
Papers: Paper Studio 5.25 x 2.625 white tags; Reverse Confetti 6x6 pad of "Free Spirit" patterned papers; scraps of white, black, shimmer gold and shimmer steel; "Ivory" notecards
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Ranger Collage Glue Stick; Xyron 500 sticker maker; Distress Collage Medium

Card #1: The white paper strip used in making the tag was sprayed with Distress Spray Stains - "Festive Berries", "Dried Marigold", "Mustard Seed", "Twisted Citron", "Blueprint Sketch" and "Dustry Concord". After it dried, I spritzed it with water, blotted it and dried it again, and then dotted it with drips of "Tarnished Brass":

Card #2: The white paper strip used in making the tag was sprayed with Dyusions Spray Stains - "Postbox Red", "Squeezed Orange", "Lemon Zest", "Cut Grass", "After Midnight" and "Crushed Grape". As in Card #1, after this strip dried, I spritzed it with water, blotted it and dried it again, and then dotted it with drips of Distress Ink "Tarnished Brass":

As one might expect, the colors in the Dylusions tag were much more intense than in the Distress Spray Stain tag.

Card #3: The white paper strip used in making the tag was sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Chalkboard sprays - "Calypso", "Cornflower Daze", "Inchworm", "Sprout", and Fern" (I didn't have a full rainbow of these sprays so I opted to go with cool colors only here). I didn't spritz with water or dot with "Tarnished Brass" in this one as the glimmer mists were already pretty sparkly. The resultant color palette was almost monochrome, less bright compared to the Distress and Dylusions versions, and more neutral in color given the ink choices I made:

Card #4: The white paper strip used in making the tag was sprayed with various Lindy's sprays and stains - Starburst Stain "Marigold Yellow"; Starburst Sprays "Cosmoplitan Pink", "Rusty Lantern Lime" and "Blue Hawaiian Blue"; and Flat Fabio Spray "Pop Rock Purple" After it dried, I spritzed it with water, blotted it and dried it again, and then dotted it with drips of Moon Glow Moon Shadow Mist "Gossamer Gold". The end result was VERY pastel and glittery, presenting with an almost "ombre" effect as opposed to the rainbows of Cards 1 and 2:

Clearly, the four cards, despite being made in the same way, present very differently. The technique can be adapted to any spray ink or stain but the differing properties of these different products needs to be taken into account when considering the overall impression the tags will give: matte v glittery; intense v pastel, etc.

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