Single Layer Card Ginspiration

Things are back to a normal routine today - DH is back at work, the kids are back at school.  I love the holidays, love having the family around every moment.  But these days are nice too - sort of a sigh of relief after the hustle and bustle.  I have major post-holiday clean-up to do, but it'll get done.  I just had to get in a little craft time to coax my listless mojo a little more out of hiding!

Today I have another card inspired by the Gingers' Ginspirational Challenge.  This challenge was thunk up by Jo Capper-Sandon: to create a single-layer card.  Yep, no patterned papers, doo-dads, ribbons, rhinestones, brads... nuthin'!  You can see Jo's glorious creation HERE, soooo beautiful!

So, I first tapped a background stamp by Stampers Anonymous (Tim's Slight Alterations set) with a few distress inks (tumbled glass, broken china, shabby shutters, and peeled paint), then I spritzed the stamp with pearl Glimmer Mist before stamping it on linen textured cardstock. Next I stamped some favorite images from Artistic Outpost's Birds of a Feather set. It's hard to see, but as a little textural detail, I used one of the floral stamps to clear emboss a little border across the bottom.  Just a little subtle thing to add interest, like the pearl shimmer.  Last I added two stamped "photo corners" so that it looked like it was ripped from a bird watcher's notebook.  That's it.  Totally mailable, LOL!

I'm looking forward to more challenges to get my creative juices flowing.  For this particular challenge, you have until January 25th to try one or try them all - check it out at Gingersnap Creations. 

Distress Crackled Things with Wings - CCC#9 and SSSS#1

How's that for a goofy post title?  Hmmmmm... I must be combining challenges again.  I'm getting over my guilt about that (slowly!).  Anyway, I made this little card with two challenges in mind: Linda's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #9, where we are to use the Distress Crackle Technique according to Tim's instructions on page 42; and, for the very first Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, which is "Things with Wings."

Okay, so you just saw this little gal yesterday, but ever since I got her I've had the urge to put wings on her!  So I got out Tim's Flights of Fancy clear stamp set and surrounded her with wings - Rock Candy crackled wings, to be exact.  (BTW, not lovin' these clear stamps so much.... did all the tricks in the book to stop the inks from pooling, with no luck. Just an aside.... still love the images.  Rubber rules!)  Anyway, the background is also crackled, as you can tell.... I ran some cardstock through Tim's damask texture fade, then dabbed on some Distress Crackle in Old Paper.  I wanted it to look like vintage wallpaper that had been painted over and was starting to crackle.... ya think?  That lovely little sentiment is from a very vintage and falling-apart copy of Little Women.  Oh, and the clock (also crackled) is from a piece of truly ancient Tim paper from way before you knew he was designing paper, LOL!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll have a chance to get crafty with one or both of these fun challenges (and check out the candy, too!). :)

Paint with Gingersnap Creations

Hello bloggers! Today Gingersnap Creations has a new challenge for us.... use paint on our projects.  Now, you know I am primarily a card-maker, so I wanted to incorporate my favorite type of paints - watercolors - into my cardmaking.  Oh boy, did I have fun.  So much fun that I couldn't stop. :)

I started this little project by stamping my image (from The Girls set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) using brown StazOn ink onto watercolor paper.  Then I got out my watercolors (had to dust them off first - sadly) and had at it.  You obviously don't have to be an expert at watercolors to add a little pizazz to an image - especially a collage image, where the line between one object and the next is a little, well, "indistinct."  Just a few colors is all you need.  But I couldn't stop there, oh, nooooo.  After I cut out my background papers (from the Ella Blue Collection by GCD Studios), I decided to distress the edges with those very same colors of watercolor paints.  (Why not?  I was about to do it with Distress Inks anyway.)  This also allowed me to make my blue paper a little *more* blue.  I added a touch of vintage lace to the edge of the image (this was safe from my paintbrush - it looked beautiful as-is).  Needed something a little more... how about vintage mother of pearl buttons.  Yeah.  Only..... hmmmmm..... got out that paintbrush, smothered them in Prussian Blue, then wiped off the excess.  I ended up with just a tiny tinge of blue in my buttons - love it!

Got any paints getting dusty in your stash?  Or maybe you are a painting mixed media-type goddess already?  We'd love to have you play along.  You can see what the other members of the DT came up with (hugely inspiring, I tell ya) and link up your project at Gingersnap.  A fun project to see us into the weekend, I think. ;)

Gingersnap Creations Challenge - Use Markers!

It's Wednesday, so that means another brand new challenge over at Gingersnap Creations.  This time it's one that I know *many* of you will appreciate..... a Spicy Supply Challenge to Use Markers! 

Aaaah, we DO love our Copics, those of us who are addicted.... but for this challenge I decided to do something different.  (After all, there are tons of excellent tutorials on Copics out there, and I've never even been to a class!)  I've had this idea swirling around in my head for a while. 

For both the background paper (the damask-looking design) and for the bird, I used a combination of ink pads and water-based markers.  I first inked up the stamp (for the damask I used Desert Sand (Memento), and for the bird I used Baja Breeze (SU!)), then took a brown maker and drew all around the outside edges, as well as into the interior of the design to highlight it.  You can achieve this design on the outside edges of any stamp by doing the "rock and roll" method, where you lightly run a contrasting ink pad around the outside of the image.  But I wanted to get some of the contrasting color into the nooks and crannies in the interior of the image. 

Here's a close-up below that shows what I mean (you can click to enlarge).

As you can see, this is a very imperfect, shabby effect, but that's what I was after.  The damask background image is from Inkadinkado - I just inked, traced the edges, and stamped repeatedly to form the design.  For the sentiment, I inked up the words with Baja Breeze, then touched the bottom edges of the letters with a brown marker.

I used a brown Copic marker to edge both sides of the plain blue seam binding from Martha Stewart, to shabby it up and make it coordinate with the rest of the project.

So... time to get out your markers and play, LOL!  The other gals on the design team have come up with some positively stunning cards to inspire you over at Gingersnap Creations.  If you decide to play along, be sure to link up your project over there for all to see.  Have fun!

Quick and Easy Big Boy Birthday Invites

These are the invitations I made for my son's 8th birthday party, which is being held at one of those places with giant inflatables to bounce in, and lots of big screen TVs with Wiis. Okay, I know what you're thinking.... why in the world would anyone do handmade cards for 8-year-old boys, who are very probably going to be the least appreciative recipients of anything artsy/scrappy? Well, I'll tell you my excuse(s)....1) the only invites available from the inflatables place were the kind you print out on a sheet of A2 paper (phfewie! these daggone things were u.g.l.y.!!) AND 2) they cost next to no time or money (no embellishments except for staples from a regular old desk stapler).

Anyway, the skateboarder image (and "Air") are from I Brake for Stamps, the guitar is from the Little Paper Shop, and the bingo numbers in the corner are from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous line at Michaels. A little stamping, a little ripping and tearing, a little distressing, and I was almost done. I computer-generated the "You're Invited" using a free font I found online (called S'Awesome), printed it out on regular letter paper, stapled it on, and DONE!! So it really won't matter that much that it goes into the trash almost immediately. As a card-maker, I just couldn't bear to send out a printed-out sheet of paper with ugly graphics... so I still have my pride :) Thanks for looking and have a great day!