Blog Archives

Challenge: Anything Goes

6/29/2017

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, June 28, 2017 is "Anything Goes"! This gives me the opportunity to play with some of my stash and try out a double embossing technique demonstrated by Carolyne Knott in the latest issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft (Issue 170, June 2017; pages 18 - 22, "Double The Fun"). Not that my double embossing worked the way hers did --- I have HORRIBLE luck with embossing folders, and I have little patience with getting stray pieces of EP out of embossed textures.

Still, I liked the look of the end result - some shimmer from Lindy's Gang embossing powder and some color from WOW! embossing powder :

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: "Cameo" by designer Theresa Tibbetts, a freebie on an earlier issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft
Embossing Folders: coordinating folder for "Cameo", also by Theresa Tibbetts
Dies: Sizzix Thinlints "Stitched Ovals" (661188)
Inks: Archival "Jet Black" and Versamark
Embossing Powders: Lindy's Gang "Desert Moon Turquoise" and Wow! "Mint macaroon" (WL06R)
Embellishments: Prima flowers "Raelynn - Ravishing" (574796) and "Pure - Alexa" (581848)
Adhesives: VIva Las Vegas Miracle Tape; EK Tools 3D Foam Squares; Distress Collage Medium

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Challenge: #hipforsummer week 4

6/27/2017

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This is week four of the #hipforsummer promotion being hosted by Tim Holtz and Sizzix.

I tried a new approach this week, Instead of sticking with one of the "hipster" characters, I decided to merge three of them to create a "Hippy Dippy Hipster Ginger Cat"!

I started by stamping the cat three times and partial images of the chimp and the ostrich. I colored in the heads of the cats, using Distress Markers and a blending pen:

I die cut the cat, ostrich and and chimp images and assembled as follows: I cut a white blank on the cat's body and colored the chimps body. I glued the white blank to the colored cat and the chimp's body over that blank. I then shaded in the area of the blank that showed, giving the cat a "bare chest" This resulted in a cat wearing the chimp's vest --- a very hippy piece of clothing! Then I added the die-cut cat head to the cat body using foam dots:

Not hippy enough, though. He needed love beads and a head band! (I was going to use the ostrich scarf as the head band but cat was too broad in the head so I sketched one out using he ostrich scarf as a hint.)

I decided against using the eyeglass die: even though these glasses aren't very hip, I couldn't figure out how to remove them from his face so I could give my cat John Lennon specs so I let him keep his "cat eye" glasses.

Now, for a background. where would a hip cat be but in San Francisco in 1968, the "Summer of Love"? So on a piece fog grey paper (appropriate for the local, don't you think?), I stamped a sketchy cityscape of San Francisco and applied some ChitChat stickers and a Remnant Rub to title the card. The cat was attached and...

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous “Hipster” (CMS288) and “Cityscapes” (CMS224)
Dies: Sizzix THinlits “Hipster Cat” (662247) and “Hipster Chimp” (662248)
Inks” Archival “Jet Black” and “Watering Can”; Distress Markers “Dried Marigold, “Rusry Hinge”, “Spun Sugar”, “Vintage Photo”, “Twisted Citron” and “Old Paper”
Embellishments: Idea-ology Remnant Rubs “Botanical” (TH93119), ChitChat stickers (TH92998) and ChitChat Stickers “Seasonal” (TH990350); Czech Glass Beads 6/0 seed “Yellow/Lime”
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards “Ivory”; Neena “white”; scrap of grey paper
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”, EK Tools 3D Foam Dots; Ranger Collage Glue Stick

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Challenge: Stencil It

6/27/2017

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Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, June 26, 2017, wants us to "Stencil It"! As the say: "There are so many fabulous stencils available right now and there are so many techniques you can use with them. It is fun to ink, spray or use embossing paste, lots of options and the end result is always a little bit unpredictable. It is a fabulous way to create your own backrgounds, or the designs can be the focus of attention. Of course you can always create your own stencils..."

I opted to make a background using Distress Inks, Distress Oxides and a Tim Holtz layering stencil ("Feathers") I started by blending Distress Oxides on a sheet of Neena white card and splattering it with water. After drying the background, I applied Distress Inks through the layering stencil to get my background:

I hae a new stamp/stencil/die set from Stampendous called "Blossoms" by Laurel Burch. I stamped three blossoms and some leaves, colored them with Distress Markers, die cut them and layered them and a die-cut sentiment on the background (trimmed to fit my card front) using double-sided tape and foam dots:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampendous! Laurel Burch “Bossoms” stamps et (LBCRS05) and Seasde Stampin’ Inc E911)
Dies: Stampedous! Laurel Burch “Blossoms” (LBDCS05) and Sizzix Thinlits “Stitched Rectangles” (661189)
Stencils: Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil “Feathers” (THS079)
Inks: Archival “Jet Black”, Distress Inks “Forest Moss”, “Mowed Lawn” and “Peeled Paint”; Distress Oxides “Cracked Pistachio”, “Iced Spruce” and “Peeled Paint”; Distress Markers “Festive Berries”, “Dusty Concord”, “Carved Pumpkin”, “Tumbled Glass”, “Mustard Seed”, “Mowed Lawn”, Pine Needles” and “Forest Moss”
Papers” Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards “Ivory”; Neena “white”; scrap of pale green paper
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”, EL Tools 3D Foam Dots

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Challenge: With This Ring

6/24/2017

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Frilly & Funkie is looking for wedding cards in their June 21 challenge "With This Ring". Well, I've been on this earth for a long time and all of my immediate family and close friends who are going to get married, ARE married. I find it difficult to make a card that has no purpose --- no-one to mail it to. I had to come up with a "generic" card that could PASS the wedding test but could also be used for other special occasions (anniversaries, births, etc.). I decided to CASE a special occasion card I saw on You Tube, but I changed out the color scheme and the embellishment of the top layer.

I started by making a side-folding card from Neena white card and the first layer from silver card:

Next, I stamped two panels of Neena shite card using Archival "Shadow Grey" and two different "damask" stamps from Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz:

I edged both panels with the "Shadow Grey" ink and used a blending tool and the same ink on the smallest panel.

Next step was to stamp three butterflies on pale grey paper, using Versamark Ink, and heat-emboss them using WOW! silver EP:

I die cut these with the coordinating die set and die cut another set of butterflies from plain dark grey card. I glued the embossed butterflies to their grey counterparts, using glue only on the bodies of the butterflies:

what looks like shadows is actually grey cardstock

Time for assembly!

I layered the silver panel and the larger damask panel onto the card base:

I attached a rhinestone buckle slide to the smaller damask card using glitter tape:

I thought I had silver ribbon in my stash but it apparently is used up --- or gone walkabout --- so I improvised.

Next step was to layer the smaller panel on the card using foam squares:

and then add the butterflies, again, gluing only by the bodies so there would be some texture:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous “Damask” (CMS190), “Webs & Damask” (CMS276) and “Flutter” (CMS294)
Dies: Sizzix Thilits “Flutter" (662269)
Inks: Archival “Shadow Grey”; Versamark
Embossing Powder: “WOW! “Metallic Silver Super Fine” (WC05SF)
Papers: Shimmery silver, Neena white and dark grey cardstock, light grey paper
Embellishments: Paper Studio Spare Parts “Buckle Slider” (287995); American Crafts “Glitter Tape” (96073)
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”; Distress Collage Medium; foam squares (maker unknown)

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Mini-Challenge: He

6/24/2017

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More Than Words issued its mini-challenge on June 23, 2017: Use the word "He" prominently in a small project (tag, card or ACT) and celebrate "fathers". Well, much like the May mini-challenge, where I had no mothers in my life, I also have no fathers in my life. My Father and Father-in-Law are deceased, my husband isn't a father and I can't see making cards for relatives or friends who may be fathers but are more distant in my family circle. So I had to come up with a "masculine card" using the word but not specifically a "Father's Day" card.

I started using some Altenew layering stamps ("Big Earth") on pearlized white card, using Archival and Distress Oxide inks. Didn't work --- the Distress Oxide would NOT stick and would not dry. So I turned the card over to the more-matte side and tried again. Still had issues but at lest the ink would dry --- although it looked oddly streaked. After I finished, though, the streaks linked like ocean currents/waves and terrestrial streams/valleys in my map of the Earth so I kept it.

The sentiment was stamped in Archival "Jet Black" which didn't seem to mind the coated surface.

The final assembly involved layering the image on different colors of green card stock (including an ivory notecard that had Distress Oxide Ink blended onto it's edges) and, while covering the globe, spritzing the card with Distress Markers:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew “Big World”; Making Memories Magnetic Stamp Alphabet “evolution”
Inks: Distress Oxides “Peeled Paint”, “Broken China” and “walnut Stain”; Distress Markers “Peeled Paint” and “Broken China”; Archival “Jet Black; and “Watering Can”; FudeBall1.5 “black”
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards “Ivory”; scraps of ColorMates “Light Lucious Lime” (CML854), olive, and pearl white card stock
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”; Distress Collage Medium

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Challenge: #hipforsummer week 3

6/22/2017

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After making my own pattern paper for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, June 21, 2017, I decided to try again with a packet of patterned paper from designer Brutus Monroe. I liked how my background turned out... I die cut three sheets of the paper pack and pieced together a background with a "border, a frame and an inner pattern:

But what to frame? That was my problem. And then I remembered: this is week three of the Tim Hotz/Sizzix promotion #hipfor summer and I had been planning on doing something with the "Hipster" bird stamp and die set. But a backstory was needed!

The first time we ever visited Baghdad by the Bay (summer of 1964), we were taken to a bar for dinner by a friend --- and the place was full of cross-dressers in all their glittery finery. This image has stuck in my mind ever since so I decided that my little hipster purple bird was trying out to be a contestant on RuPaul's "Drag Race! In the process, he was so nervous, he was shedding feathers all over the place!

I stamped the Hipster bird in two colors of Distress Oxide Ink and in Archival Jet Black. I die cut the pieces for the colored images and from a sheet of glittery paper as well. After assembly, here is my hipped-up, glittery bird:

I die cut a stitched oval from more glittery card and mounted the bird on this oval with foam squares and the oval on the card base with yet more foam swuares.

He needed a sentiment so I stamped "Cray" on a scrap of mixed media heavystock and cut out a word bubble:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous "Hipster" (CMS289)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Hipster Bird" (662246), "Stitched Rectangle" (661189) and "Stitched Oval" (661188)
Inks: Distress Oxides "Broken China and "Worn Lipstick"; Archival "Jet Black"; "Distress Markers "Broken China", "Worn Lipstick", "Spun Sugar", "Dusty Concord", "Mustard Seed" and "Fossilized Amber"
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory"; Brutus Monroe Shimmer Elements Paper Pad "Spring Water Color" )BRU4192); Distress Mixed Media Heavystock (TDA53835)
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; foam squares (maker unknown); Distress Collage Medium

I'm also entering this in the Tim Holtz and Sizzix "Get Hip for Summer" Week #3 Promotion

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Challenge: Use Patterned Paper

6/21/2017

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Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, June 21, 2017, wants us to use patterned paper in a project. It can be " paper from a pack [or] choose to make [our] own patterned backgrounds." For this card, I chose the latter! I used the "template" (AKA stencil) that came with a set of Stampendous! stamps, a blending tool and three Distress Ink minis to create this background on a folded piece of ivory cardstock:

I stamped five images from the same stamp set on Mixed Media Heavystock card and colored them with Distress Markers:

After die-cutting these images using the coordinating die set, I mounted four of them on the background using foam dots, and added antenna to the butterflies using a black pen:

I stamped a "sentment" in Archival "Jet Black":

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampendous! Laurel Burch “Indigo Cats” (TDA53835) and Brett Wedele “Mr. MeowMeow & Tweets McGee” (BWC008)
Dies: Stampendous! Laurel Burch “Indigo Cats” (LBCRS02)
Inks: Archival “Jet Black”; Distress Markers “Chipped Sapphire”, “Faded Jeans”, “Stormy Sky”, “Peeled Paint”, “Forest Moss”, “Shabby Shutters”, “Spiced Marmalade”, “Mowed Lawn”, “Candied Apple”; Distress Inks “Broken China”, “Mowed Lawn”, “Forest Moss”; Pigma Micron 05 #1 Archival pen “black”
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards “Ivory”, Distress Mixed Media Heavystock (TFA53835)
Adhesives: foam squares (maker unknown)

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Challenge: Let's Take a Vacation

6/20/2017

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Let's take a vacation! So say the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, June 19, 2017. They were thinking sunbaked beaches and hammocks hung on palm trees, but we haven't done that kind of vacation since our French Polynesian cruise back in 2015, and even then it was more like deck chairs and glass-bottomed boats. Other than cruises, brief and all-to-infrequent stays at an ocean-view second home (we sold it five or six years ago because we really never had a chance to go that far for just a week), and one-or-two-night visits to friends while on the way to or from a daylily convention, we really haven't taken a vacation of the classic kind (you know, fly or drive to a place you've rented and spend two weeks doing the tourist thing?). So this started out as a "puzzlement"!

I decided to go with a vacation we haven't done, a road trip to visit a friend who recently moved to Montana, that we are tentatively planning for September. After all, from where she lives, there are at least three National Parks within a day's drive and at least two National Monuments on the way - none of which we have ever seen! Great way to mark off our bucket list at least three states we have never been to as well!

I started with making a card base. I die cut a US map from a piece of scrap card (it took three different types of card before I found one that blasted die would actually cut all the way through, and even here, it somewhat distorted Texas!) and used the negative space as a stencil to blend in earth-tone colors, a la those usually seen in satellite photos of the earth. I then place the map outline on the background using collage medium and used that medium to further blend the colors of the background.

I stamped a vehicle in Archival Ink, fussy cut it and doodled color onto it using distress markers, a silver metallic marker (which I also used to denote our starting and ending points) and a white gel pen. I added it to the card (covering the Texas boo boo) along with a drawn "route" which we might take. Finally, I die cut the words "road trip" from two different colors of card, layered them for a drop-shadow effect, and place them on the card:

Products used in the making of this card were

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi “Gentleman’s Art” (SCS059)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits “United States” (660228) and "Vacation Words: script" (661288)
Inks:Archival “Jet Black"; Distress Markers “Black Soot”, “Pumice Stone”, “Hickory Smoke”, “Brushed Corduroy”; Distress Inks “Brushed Corduroy”, “Pine Needles”, “Shabby Shutters”, Broken China”, “Mowed Grass”; Signo Uniball pen “white”; MArvy Uchida Fine Line "Liquid Silver" pen
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards “ivory”; scrap white, silver-grey, black and pale blue
Adhesives: foam dots (make unknown); R=Distress Collage Medium; Xyron 500 Sticker Maker

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Challenge: June Color Challenge

6/16/2017

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The color challenge for June 2017 over at the Lindy's Gang blog is represented by this image and palette:

And, as in the past, the rules include using only this palette (with the possible addition of white, black/grey or brown neutrals) and using at least 2 Lindy's Gang products.

I decided to take my inspiration from the photograph provided and use the sprays and embossing powders from the special set that was made up to go with this challenge.

My first step was to gesso three chipboard discs and a 5" X 6.5" card front. Once the gesso was dry, I sprayed the discs using (1) Starburst Shabby Turbine Teal, (2) Flat Fabio Bonjour Butter and (3) Moonshadow Peg Leg Pete Purple sprays. Once that was finished, I spot embossed each disc with (1) Desert Moon Turquoise, (2) Bonjour Butter and (3) Angel Wings Mauve. I then stamped each with a bird cage from Brutus Monroe's "Angel Wings" set, using Archival Jet Black ink:

From left to right, (1) Starburst Shabby Turbine Teal embossed with Desert Moon Turquoise, (2) Flat Fabio Butter embossed with Salt Fabio Butter, and (3) Moonshadow Peg Leg Pete Purple embossed with Angel Wings Mauve

I spread texture paste through two different layering stencils on the card front and once that was dry, I stamped the birdcages again:.

My final step was to spray the card front with Flat Fabio South Shore Sand, Starburst Alpine Ice Rose and Fat Fabio Bonjour Butter. I added two birds from the Bruno Monroe set as well as a sentiment using Archival Jet Black ink, and attached the discs so that they corresponded to the stamped cage images on the card front.

The positioning of the discs over the textured background was my interpretation of the lanterns hanging in the framework in the photograph (although it might be interpreted as a pastel Christmas ornament display! LOL).

Products used in the making of they card were:

Stamps: Brutus Monroe "Angel Wings" (BRUR4289)
Stencils: Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencils "Doodle" (THS072) and "Crackle" (THS039)
Dies: Spellbinders Cotour Steel Rule Die "Hexie and Friends " (SR002)
Inks: Archival "Jet Black"; Versamark; Lindy's Gang Starburst Sprays Shabby Turbine Teal and Alpine Ice Rose, Flat Fabio Sprays Bonjour Butter and South Shore Sand, and Moonshadow Spray Peg Leg Pete Purple
Embossing Powders: Lindy's Gang Desert Moon Turquoise, Bonjour Butter and Angel Wings Mauve
Other media: Liquitex Acrylic Gesso; Ranger Texture Paste
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory", chipboard
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape" foam squares (maker unknown)

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for June 14: Emboss It

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Challenge: Emboss It

6/15/2017

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Over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog, June 14, 2017, we were asked to "Emboss It". We could "heat or dry emboss or ... emboss with paste or use an embossing tool..." I decided to do both heat and dry embossing.

First, I used an embossing folder to add texture to a scrap of pale blue card, matted with a darker blue card and then layered on an ivory card:

I took a layering stencil, a blending tool and some Distress Ink to put a pattern on another scrap of pale blue card and layered it on a darker blue card as well:

My next task was to create some heat-embossed elements. I decide to use the technique Shari Carroll was demonstrating at Simon Says Create 2017 - it involved parchment paper, chipboard, a selection of WOW embossing powders, a spoon and a heat gun.. I can't find a tutorial anywhere online so I will tell you how *I* did this, based on my sketchy memory!

First I cut some chipboard shapes using a steel rule die; then I painted them all with gesso so I could have bright white background (I can't remember if the shapes we were provided at Create were gessoed or not):

I placed each diecut on a piece of parchment paper, sprinkled embossing powder on the DRY diecut (that's right --- NO embossing ink!), folded the parchment paper over the top and, while holding the paper down with a craft knife (A stiletto would have been better but I couldn't find mine!), and heated the paper over the shape. Once the embossing powder showed signs of melting, I put the knife away and continued to heat, first from a distance and then close up --- actually with the heat gun touching and pressing the paper down, which resulted in a movement of the melting powders and blending of the colors. As the powder melted, I used the back of a metal spoon to smooth out the parchment paper on the shape. After the shape cooled, I peeled the paper off and got this:

My old (I've had it since Said Arabia!) Marvy heat gun died in the middle of doing the diamond on the far left and I had to switch to my Ranger heat embossing tool. The Marvy gun didn't fully melt the EP on the the diamond on the left OR the diamond on the right, so I used the Ranger tool on them to remelt the embossing powder to shine them up a bit.

These diamonds were shiny, a little bit sparkly (some of the WOW products I used were embossing glitter) and textured --- partly because of the thickness and manipulation of the embossing powder and partly because of some residual texture from the gesso.

Time to assemble. I placed the harlequin strip on the left side of the card base and arranged the diamonds using foam dots:

The final step was a sentiment, die cut from a scrap of shimmery white card which had been run through my Xyron 250 sticker maker (which is now out of stickyback!!).

Products used in the making of this card were:

Dies: Spellbinders Contour Seal Rule Die "Hexies and Friends" (SR002) and Sizzix Thinlits "Freindshipw OWrds: Script" (660225)
Stencils: Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil "Harlequin" (THS016)
Embossing Folders: Cricut Cuttlebug "Chicken Wire" (2001398)
Inks: Distress Ink "Chipped Sapphire"
Embossing Powders: WOW! "Metaline Violet" (WC04R), "Earthtone Blueberry" (WJ06R); "Metallic Platinum" (WC06R)
Embossing Glitters: WOW! "Persian Indigo "(WS43R), and "Sparkling Snow" (WS31R)
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory"; chipboard; scraps of pale blue, medium blue and shimmery white card
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; EK Tools 3D Foam Dots; Xyron 250 sticker maker