here's to us, crafty friends

Hi, hello and how are you? It's been extremely quiet around here over the holidays. That will change soon, but before it does I'd like to thank you all for coming by and leaving lovely comments. I'm so  happy to hear I inspire you with my creations, as you inspire me.

Today I want to thank Craft Stamper mag for the feature they did on me as the winner of their November challenge. What an honor, especially since my card had a lot more white space than you usually see at Craft Stamper! You can find a tutorial for my project here, BTW. I'm looking forward to my upcoming guest design with those talented gals.

It was a fun and productive 2018. As the virtual world seems to take up more and more of people's time these days, I'm happy to be a part of a paper, ink and scissors community of artists who even manage to send their "real" creations around the world to brighten other people's days. Here's to us! And here's to an even more creative 2019!

Happy New Year, my friends.

spotlight - stencils and glitter

I'm so excited! I've got my first official Spotlight post up on the STAMPlorations blog today. Wanna see how I created this card? Check it out here.

So I'm taking my glittery texture over to the June challenge at Craft Stamper, Take it, Make it where it's all about Texture.

hello flowers

Hope you are having a beautiful Memorial Day (if you're in the US) or Pfingsten (if you're in Germany) weekend. I'm sharing a card I made based on two challenges whose deadlines I totally missed. But I'd had the idea and had even made a start... so I finished it up to share.

Saw this gown at RIC. If you look closely, you'll see that those are actually photos of the blooms on the fabric. At least I think they are. Which had me wondering how to recreate that vibrancy.

Saw this sketch during the Winnie Walter/Pinkfresh iNSD week.

I had decided to vibrantly watercolor some In Bloom: Addie's Garden blooms, then fussy cut them and adhere them to black CS. Didn't really know what I'd do after that. So I did some no-line watercoloring. Put them to the side to dry. And forgot about them.

Then the sketch prompted me to think about punching portions of the blooms on squares and circles (still fussy cutting the blooms and then adhering them to black squares and circles). Well I got real lazy on that one and just punched portions of the blooms. And this happened.

The design reminds me of a wall in an art gallery (not cuz of the quality of the painting!). Although I must admit I am happy with how the yellow tulip turned out.

And notice how the circles also made their way into my design? (And stray glitter from that dang Ranger Enchanted Gold embossing powder!)

I'm joining in at:

Craft Stamper - Take It, Make It for May to use a stamp

Uniko Studio - #21 Flowers (Happy Birthday to Bev!)

Have a great weekend. I appreciate your visit.

love with buttons

Stencils and ink and paint and golden paste and stamps and dies - Oh My! This card was an adventure that started with a stencil and the need for a Valentine for DS. I knew I wanted to use the loving birds from Hero Arts.

I also decided to create a personalized sentiment - "you have my love". I sometimes tell DS I love him, but don't like him/his behavior. Decided to reinforce the love idea. Used various stamps from STAMPlorations for my sentiment.

I paper pieced the birds and adhered them onto a piece of scrap paper I had used to clean up with when working with paints. The "love" circle is from same paper. The other circles were punched from scraps.

My background was created by:
1. tracing around a few shapes in the ARTplorations Shutters stencil with a black Sharpie
2. stamping over/through the stencil with a CHF polka dot BG stamp and Archival ink
3. applying gold embossing paste through a few random shapes onto the CS
4. splattering with Dylusions Turquoise and then misting with water

Remember, you have until Feb 25 to join the Love and Buttons challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge. And Craft Stamper Take it, Make it is all about stencils this month so I'm hooking up there.

As well as at the Nature Challenge at Hero Arts.

And Add a little Texture at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

hello mixed media

Got my CAS fix last week. Now I've been having some fun with ink, stamps and stencils. Ready?

Inked up a piece of CS with Distress Inks in ombre blue tones. Spritzed water onto my ARTplorations Hearts All Over stencil and pressed it down onto the inked piece. The water reacts with the ink and "bleaches" it, leaving the hearts the original color and the surrounding space lighter. Coolio. This is what Dyan Reaveley refers to as "ghosting".

Next step was to sponge more ink through the "love" word on my ARTplorations Hello and Company stencil in three corners and then stamp "love" from STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders: Love next to the sponged words.

Then I applied clear embossing paste through just a portion of my ARTplorations Shutters stencil. You can see it better here. Love the shine and texture, but it's oh-so-subtle.

To finish up my Valentine for DH, I heat embossed a sentiment made with Sentiment Builders: Love and attached snippets leftover from this card behind the black blocks. I added some funky red circles and glittery gold heart die cut negatives (from SSS Mini Hearts) for fun.

Now for less than subtle... This will be DD's Valentine.

Notice the lifted front panel and beautiful blending of pinks and reds under it? Still enjoying the Jocelyn O. and Joni A. thang.

And I revisited whitewashing, which I saw Jocelyn do recently. Can you see it? It's watered-down white acrylic paint brushed over my panel which I had created by first inking randomly through my ARTplorations Hearts All Over stencil in red, purple and pink Adirondack tones and then stamping over the stencil (and consequently through the heart openings) with a script text background stamp.  I love the effect the wash has on the dye inks, smearing them and softening the entire panel.

Notice the scrap in the middle with my heat embossed sentiment on it? That was from cleaning my stencil. I misted it with water, flipped it and pressed it onto scrap paper, getting this yummy negative! I couldn't resist incorporating it into my card.

A few metallic white embossing paste hearts, a couple gold glitter CS die cut hearts (SSS Mini Hearts), a tissue paper scrap, a strip of washi tape and some iridescent sequins finished off my card.

I'm playing with both cards at:
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Bright and Beautiful
Craft Stamper Take it, Make it - February Stencils
SSS flickr challenge #12 - Sparkle (glitter CS hearts/negatives)
SSS Work it Wednesday - January New (my ARTplorations stencils)

and the second card at:
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #9 - Think Pink

Hope your weekend was great. Happy new week.

hello from the rooftops

Hello. Can you say fun? How fun are the cute little houses from The Bee's Knees: Houses set? So how much "funner" would a whole village of them be?!?

I love the - I'm calling it a trend - "illustrated" (or sometimes "looks like it was done by a child") style that's popular these days. Super easy to achieve with these houses. And some masking.

And I've been wanting to join the Little Tangles Challenge #52 ("HI" to the wonderful new DT over there) at Neat and Tangled so I used some NT stamps for my sentiment. Stamped the circle hello from Everyday Circles in neon yellow pigment ink and heat embossed it. Stamped the sentiment from Winter Wishes in black and heat embossed it. I love the look of that font with the illustrated houses! Even sneaked a little Avery Elle birdie into the scene. See him? (kinda like a Richard Scarry book, eh? "Where's Goldbug?")

Since there was some serious stamping happening here, I'm also joining the fun at Craft Stamper, Take it Make it where it's Anything Goes as long as you use a stamp.

Hope you enjoyed. Have a good one.

casual wedding

Inspired by "Inspired By #90" I was.

I think that is the coolest inspiration photo. Conjures up all kinds of images - Paris, fog, rain, togetherness, love. Well I followed the "romantic" vibe and made a wedding card with my STAMPlorations The Bee's Knees Newlyweds Extras set.

Do you recognize inspiration from Danielle F.'s MIM a few weeks back? I found the idea of cluster stamping a corner and barely-there stamping the rest of the card very appealing. I used SSS dye ink in Fog for the churches and Memento Luxe pigment ink in Morocco for the bouquets. That dot cluster is from Winnie and Walter's Big Bang Confetti and I stamped it with a darker red pigment ink.

The wonky sentiment treatment? That was pure Maria ;)

ETA: Also joining the great party over at Craft Stamper, Take It Make It Challenge. They've revamped their challenges and have a great prize up for grabs. Check it out.

Stop by on Friday for a cheesy anniversary card inspired by the same photo. And next week I'll be spotlighting the latest release from STAMPlorations. There's a rainbow-colors-and-white-space-loving-french-fry-fanatic card genius joining us too, so don't miss it.

JIT magic slider

I remember when "just-in-time" (JIT) was something new in the automotive world. Now it's pretty much the story of my life when it comes to Christmas shopping. Where would I be without online shopping?

It also applies to today's card. DD asked me to make a magic slider (after I'd made this card) for her girlfriend whose birthday was back early November. Her party is today. I made the card... yesterday. See? JIT. Dang.

Can't say I whipped it up in ten minutes. Cuz my non-spatial-thinking brain still has to wrestle with the slider card concept each time. But it does get easier with practice. I'm happy with the result, it's a slider, although not 100% magic ;)

Found a sketch and some colors for inspiration and then created, stamping (in my case heat embossing) with white cuz I wanted to join the Take It, Make It December Challenge at Craft Stamper too.

DCWV December

CQC 272

I knew I needed a magic slider. The sketch had me at the star. Which led to the PTI Star Gazer Additions stamp set. Which I decided to stamp in white on black. And although you'd normally go with blues for the firmament on the colored portion of the slider, I'm not normal. That didn't feel right to me for DD's friend. These colors did.

The rest was cosmetic. Some stars sponged through a stencil onto the card front. Some star PP. Some gold stars, including one as the pull mechanism for the slider! See the tiny "pull here" up top? That has been my most used stamp of the PTI Movers and Shakers set!

So I'm curious. What percentage of your Christmas shopping did you do online this year?

There's a good deal at STAMPlorations should you still need a quick present for a crafty friend...

oh christmas tree... which isn't

actually a Christmas tree stamp.

See the Sweet Stamp Shop Sparkle and Shine set?

 Meet my card.

Started with a stitched rectangle die cut stamped with that gem (once in Adirondack Bottle and once in Lettuce and then swiped lightly with my water brush) and given white embossed dot trunks. Balanced with a die cut Impression Obsession cardinal and a Technique Tuesday sentiment, stamped onto the base and die cut for interest.

Now, See the Aha Arts Geometric Borders set?

Meet my card.

Get the picture.

Squeaking in before the gates close at Craft Stamper's Take It, Make It for November. Use a non-Christmas stamp to make a Christmas card. OK :)

Also joining the fun at Stempelkueche #8 Untypische Weihnachtskarte. I think this qualifies as a non-typical Christmas card.

And cuz I really do love red and green at Christmas and that's what Bonnie wished for over at Merry Monday.

Thankful... for your visit. Have a lovely Thanksgiving.

beauty markers (Craft Stamper, ATSAM, SSS)

I love this technique. Apply various colors of waterbased markers to a stamp (TIP: works best on a rubber one), spritz with water and stamp. Then spritz and stamp again. Two images for the price of one. And usually the second is purtier.

I have to say that this time, cuz I sent out the first one without taking a photo of it for you to see and decide for yourself. Duh.

Here's the second print.

A bit hard to imagine the blooms and berries in the negative spaces, eh? Wanted to share the stamp set with you, but I can't find it on the web, so... I think it was Hero Arts.

I'm joining the fun at:

Take It, Make It - October Multicolored Stamping
Addicted to Stamps and More - #117 Make your Mark
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Letter "O" for ombre

Fall break has arrived in these here parts. Yippie. Happy weekend everyone.


Supplies:

Paper:  cardbase The Paper Studio

Stamps: Hero Arts, sentiment PTI

Ink : markers, Hero Arts

Tools: 

Other: water

exploration STAMPlorations sketched: simple gift (Craft Stamper, YNS, Seize the Birthday)

For day 3 of my exploration STAMPlorations, I'm working with this stamp set,

SKETCHED: Simple Gift

this card of Shelly K.'s which inspired me, and these challenges:

Seize the Birthday - Stars and Stripes (no toppings for me on this card)

Craft Stamper Take it Make it - Emboss Resist

Your Next Stamp - #14

Created two masks of the gift, placed them on the CS and stamped the sentiment randomly. When dry, I heat embossed the gifts and then inked them with rainbow colors. Put the masks back on and splattered with black Heidi Swapp spray ink. Rounded two corners and I was done.

I'm lovin' these sketchy stamps for artsy techniques like distress inking or watercoloring. More rainbow action coming your way tomorrow... And rumor has it there might be a giveaway ;)

Thanks for looking.

exploration STAMPlorations sketched: birthday cake (CASE, Craft Stamper, AAA)

You may have seen the latest STAMPlorations release. We hopped last week. Today I'm exploring these two sets

SKETCHED: Birthday Cake

SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Celebrate

and playing along at CASE Study #198 where the muse is none other than the amazing Shari Carroll with this beauty that speaks to my graphic-loving heart!

This is what I did.

I CASEd myself on this one too, but definitely went all girlie this time. I love playing with the wonky cake and inking it up two tone.

I got an "office supply" vibe from Shari's card. I used a layer of vellum with a circle die cut from Amy Tangerine's Plus One paper pack on top and a little tab from another die cut circle tucked underneath. I stamped "big day" from the sentiment builders set on the tab. Figured I could handwrite the recipient's birthdate to personalize the card even more. Cool, eh?

Layered focal point. Sequins. Gold splatter to mimic the flow of Shari's sequins.  A die cut number. It's a CASE.

Then I broke out the watercolors, inspired by the July challenge at Take It, Make It - Emboss Resist and the AAA Cards Challenge #10 - Watercolor Techniques.

(This photo looks like it needs to go into the washing machine to get rid of the grime - UGH - it's actually a nice cream colored CS)

Heat embossed the images and partially watercolored them. Some pink splatters and Wink of Stella shimmer to the swirls on the frosting and voila! It's "12 candles for you".

You could also fussy cut the cake and pop it up like Monika did here. And I'm thinking it would look pretty cute paper pieced on tiny polka dot PP too.

Come back and visit tomorrow when it'll be about shaking your cupcake. And if you participated in the birthday blog hop the winners have been announced here. If you didn't win, there's a great deal in the shop until July 11 - all six sets for $30. TTFN.

5 to go (AAA, Craft Stamper)

Have you seen the July release/birthday blog hop happening over at STAMPlorations? You might want to check it out. There are some fabby stamp sets in the release and you could win some too.

I've made two more invitations. Green. Me? Maybe this can be blamed on the number of soccer pitches that have bombarded my eyes lately ;)  Actually, it probably started with this card a few days ago. Do you get a sky, pitch and soccer ball vibe? Well it continues with this card.

I used STAMPlorations Sketch #14 again and the negative leftovers from the Dieversions die cut. In a nod to my teamie Shirley B., I've again tried the bleach blocking technique from Craft Stamper's Take It Make It challenge and this time it worked! See the faint "party time" which I randomly stamped with my die cut craft foam and water?

And I'm CASEing teamie Vicki D. cuz that's what we're supposed to do over at AAA Cards this week.

Kept the color scheme going in this next one. And used up another leftover negative die cut (notice the mixy matchy this time).

On this card I've used the STAMPlorations Celebrate Artsy set to create a flower. Don't ya love these "crayon strokes"?

Have a great weekend. Happy World Cupping!

Supplies for party time:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, Neenah, PP Pebbles

Stamps: STAMPlorations 

Ink : Distress inks

Tools: die Dieversions

Other: water, scoreboard