tissue paper on acetate

I never made it to the game, but CAS Mix Up had a fun technique in the July challenge - using tissue paper. In various ways actually.

Now I'm a big one on using up leftovers as you know. I often reach for scrap or toilet or tissue paper to mop up leftover ink when I'm doing a technique. And I really love Loll T.'s idea of adhering it to acetate and die cutting it.

Did you see my Spotlight post over at STAMPlorations two weeks ago - Water Bleaching Distress Oxides? Well I had a blob of leftover ink on my craft mat during my project and tissue paper came to the rescue. This week's Spotlight post - The Joys of Tissue Paper - explained how I made a card with it. And today's post uses up the last bit of the tissue paper/acetate. And watercolored tissue paper!

Whew! Ready?

I attached (with multi medium matte) the last bit of torn tissue paper (mopped up Wilted Violet, Broken China and Iced Spruce Distress Oxides with it) to a card stamped with a freebie from Sweet Stamp Shop. Adhered a frame (Simply Graphic Rectangles) and outline dragonfly (CUTplorations Dragonfly Layering) cut from hammered gold CS. This die is new to me. I love it.

Then I glued on the tissue paper/acetate solid dragonfly. Voila! If you haven't tried this technique yet, trust me you're gonna love it!

See ya next week.

spotlight on the joys of tissue paper

Have a story and tutorial for you over at STAMPlorations today. About leftovers. And tissue paper. And acetate. Check it out.

we three kings, well, six

Did you see the card I created using Shirley's Three Kings from the new STAMPlorations release?

Here's another version using a hot current trend of stamping a black  image over a background watercolored with areas of colors and calling it good. Not being a great colorer, I like this idea!

Once in yellow,teal and blue Gansai Tambi colors.

And a more royal version in pink, blue and purple. BTW, I used normal CS for these top-folding cards. TIP: To reduce warpage if I don't want to put the card through my Big Shot, when I finish a card I open it, spritz it a couple times with water, close it and press it between books. Usually takes care of the warping as it loosens the paper's fibers which are kept flattened as it dries.

I think I like the royal colors better. Which do you prefer? With the addition of a platinum heat embossed sentiment I think these are trendy as well as easy to make and definitely mailable.

I'm still enjoying MI at the moment but will be back next week with non-Christmas cards for your enjoyment. Have a nice weekend.

away in a manger

Did you see this CAS manger scene card of mine using the Christmas Icons die from the new STAMPlorations release?

I took it up a notch. Here's another version.

I had die cut the manger once from gold and once from silver glitter CS. Today's card was made with the leftovers from my first card. In addition I added a hill with a couple trees (Stitched Spring Landscape) to ground the scene. And gold heat embossed a large sentiment from Homespun Christmas that seemed very fitting.

more ideas with STAMPlorations Christmas release

If you missed the big release hop last week over at STAMPlorations, there's still time today to hop around and leave comments for your chance to win a gift certificate or new product.

I made some additional cards when I received the new sets and want to share them with you today in case you're wondering if some of the sets should come to live at your house ;) Remember to use my discount code of STAMPGIRLMARIA to get 20% off any order you place.

First off, made with Becca's Christmas Cookies set. Sorry I forgot to put a nice pink bow on this, but this will go on one of my cookie bags for neighbors this Christmas. With all those tiny little cookie design stamps in the set you can decorate small tags easily.

I used the Luggage Tags die and the scallop from ATC Tag Builder. Stamped the pink cookies with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide.

Next up is Dee's Yuletide Deer. I really love the images in this set, the different poses. For the hop I played with the individual antlers. Today's card features the fabulous geometric image, heat embossed gold, watercolored pink and splattered.

I fussy cut the head and adhered it over the heat embossed image with foam tape. The sentiment is heat embossed gold too.

I was inspired by Pinterest for this next card using Shirley's Three Kings. My take is a very pared down version of the pin, I just swiped Distress Inks down my card before stamping the kings.

 I heat embossed the shining star gold and colored the chalices with a gold gel pen.

I couldn't resist a little pink and blue scene with Shery's Homespun Christmas. This set is chock full of wonderful sentiments for Christmas cards. I heat embossed one onto blue CS (it looks black in the photo) and fussy cut it. Watercolored my stamped-in-blue scene with Picked Raspberry and Abandoned Coral Distress Inks and splattered what was left on my acrylic block over the top half of the card.

Sure hope you've enjoyed our STAMPlorations Christmas in August parade of ideas. I appreciate your stopping by today. I've a bit more inspiration coming at you later this week ;)

STAMPlorations Release - Christmas in August Day 5

It's Christmas release time at STAMPlorations! Every day this week, the STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new products. Be sure to hop along!

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the comments on the blogs will win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store or one of the new products. And there are prizes on Facebook and Instagram too! You have until the end of the day August 21 to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on August 24.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on the new Christmas dies coming to the store. 

Ready for my projects? Be sure to check out the other gals' projects here.

First using the fabulous Layering Baubles #1 and Merry Christmas Word Art, CAS and pretty easy to mass produce if you're good at glueing stacked die cuts! I spent the most time fiddling with the bow!

Double stacked the die cut sentiment. Swiped Broken China, Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks across glossy cardstock to create the solid ornament backing. So easy and what a great effect! Just be sure to let it dry.

A snippet of silver string to attach the ornament to the die cut sentiment and voila!

My next card using one of the Christmas Icons uses the classics of dark blue, silver and gold. I white heat embossed a tiny sentiment from Homespun Christmas too.

Using the angel from Christmas Icons, I felt the need to create a shaker.

I die cut the angel from the white panel and a panel of fun foam to create the shaker area. Filled it with seed beads and backed it with PP. Heat embossed a sentiment from Homespun Christmas onto a snippet of the same PP.

I won't keep you any longer. Thanks for stopping by today. Remember there are prizes for comments. You can start the hop here if you'd like.

STAMPlorations Release - Christmas in August Day 4

It's Christmas stamp release time at STAMPlorations! Every day this week, the STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new products. Be sure to hop along!

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the comments on the blogs will win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store or one of the new products. And there are prizes on Facebook and Instagram too! You have until the end of the day August 21 to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on August 24.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on the stamp sets designed by our fearless leader, Shery. 

Here's what I did. Extreme CAS again, but come back by my blog next week to see more creations - not so extreme - with the new products.

This card was Pinterest inspired. Used the log cabin image from Homespun Christmas and masked and stamped up top. Keeping with my non-traditional-colors-for-Christmas approach to this release, I repeat stamped the sentiment along the bottom with neon pink pigment ink and added a couple birdies from Fowl Play too. The tiny little seeds they're pecking on were created using the end of a paint brush tapped onto the ink pad!

So off you go to leave comments for your chance to win. You can start the hop here if you'd like. Thanks for stopping by today. Tomorrow it's all about the new dies in the release. 

STAMPlorations Release - Christmas in August Day 3

It's Christmas stamp release time at STAMPlorations! Every day this week, the STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new products. Be sure to hop along!

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the comments on the blogs will win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store or one of the new products. And there are prizes on Facebook and Instagram too! You have until the end of the day August 21 to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on August 24.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on the stamp sets designed by Shirley. I've used a great set called Three Kings. 

Here's what I did. (You've probably noticed that all my creations this week are extreme CAS. Come back by my blog next week to see more creations using the new products. I created a card inspired by a Pinterest photo that you should also see.)

I used the secondary images in the set for this platinum embossed CAS card. I love the starry sky!

I won't keep you any longer. Thanks for stopping by today. You can see the other gals' creations here if you'd like.

STAMPlorations Release - Christmas in August Day 2

It's Christmas stamp release time at STAMPlorations! Every day this week, the STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new products. Be sure to hop along!

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the comments on the blogs will win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store or one of the new products. And there are prizes on Facebook and Instagram too! You have until the end of the day August 21 to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on August 24.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on the stamp set designed by Dee, Yuletide Deer.

Here's what I did. I should mention all my creations this week are extreme CAS. Come back by my blog next week to see more creations - not so extreme - with the new products.

This one's pretty self-explanatory I think! Just added a red heat embossed nose with a small circle stamp and the fun sentiment from Joyful.

Thanks for coming by today. You can start the hop here if you'd like.

STAMPlorations Release - Christmas in August Day 1

It's Christmas stamp release time at STAMPlorations! Every day this week, the STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new products. Be sure to hop along!

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the comments on the blogs will win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store or one of the new products. And there are prizes on Facebook and Instagram too! You have until the end of the day August 21 to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on August 24.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on the stamp set designed by Becca. 

Here's what I did. I should mention all my creations this week are extreme CAS. Come back by my blog next week to see more creations using these new products. Might help you decide which sets need to go onto your wish list ;)

What better way to get in the Christmas spirit than with Christmas cookies?!? Better yet, ones decorated with pink frosting (translates to Copic colored and topped with Glossy Accents)?!?

Couldn't resist heat embossing my sentiment onto a cookie sheet fussy cut from an old envelope with a metallic liner. I just love how it crinkled a little bit with the heat. Reminds me of well-worn cookie sheets.

I won't keep you any longer. Thanks for stopping by today. You can start the hop here if you'd like.

extreme cas baby card again

Ready for another extreme CAS baby card? This time it's one for the boys.

Went with the trendy, block of letters style and used a fantastic alpha stamp, Emmett from Studio Calico. Neon pigment ink. And a rubber ducky from Klartext Karten.

See ya next week for lots of fun with the STAMPlorations Christmas release. Hope you're ready for some Christmas in August ;)

extreme cas baby card

Ready for an extreme CAS baby card? Don't blink or you might miss it.

Went with the trendy, block of letters style and used a fantastic alpha stamp, Emmett from Studio Calico. Neon pigment ink. And a rubber ducky from Klartext Karten.

See ya tomorrow!

spotlight on water bleaching distress oxides

Check out my tutorial over at STAMPlorations today. I've played with  Distress Oxides and used water to "bleach" them.

simply graphic on distress ink smoosh again

Yep, that's what today's post brings - another twofer with one of the smooshed Distress Ink backgrounds I created.

You met my new Simply Graphic crocodile yesterday. Is that what he is? Don't really know but he's lean and lank and I like him!

Today's card used the negatives (yesterday's leftovers) from Rectangles and Doudous from Simply Graphic, some stamp surgery on Papertrey Belated Birthday Mini and a word from Tim Holtz Holiday Words Block (which obviously isn't just for the holidays!)

I couldn't resisit using that negative of "wishes" to go with the negative of the croc, whom I decided to back with some zebra striped PP. I love all the B/W on this. So playful, don't you think?

Have a great one! I'm enjoying some vacay with my Dad in MI as you read this... CU again next week.

simply graphic on distress ink smoosh

Yep, that's what today's post brings.

I had a go at another of the smooshed backgrounds I created. Picked the faint blue/green one that you can barely see in the upper right corner of the IG photo. (Actually... notice the grid pattern on it? That's cuz I used my lined acrylic block and used the lined side to smoosh with. Oops. It leaves a line where the ink pools on the block. Well for this session it didn't really matter :)

Of course I had to reach for my new Simply Graphic dies again - I like the twofer effect, like in this post. Today I used Rectangles and Doudous.

To finish it off I did some stamp surgery on Papertrey Belated Birthday Mini. A strip of B/W PP along the bottom and voila! (When you see tomorrow's card, you'll know where I got the inclination to use a pop of B/W!)

Have a great one!

zig clean color and bristol smooth again

Did you see yesterday's post?

I've been wanting to make the Zig clean color brush pen to paper watercolor thing work, ya know?

This Bristol paper is the answer. Its smooth nature makes moving and blending the color with a water brush pretty darn easy. FYI, the color of the paper is quite creamy. Since I kept my panel nearly full-size, that's why I chose to use a colored cardbase.

Yesterday's card was pretty in-your-face as far as the colors go. Here's my second example. I pulled out light purple and ochre (yeah, whatever) to color this STAMPlorations In Bloom Plumeria.

Added a  sentiment from Avery Elle Simply Tags Everyday and voila!

Next up, more Simply Graphic die fun. Have a good day!