Gina K. Stencil FLowers

Hiya, First, apologies for being slow in returning visits. I have to remember to go check the Awaiting Comments (as I'm sure a lot of you are having to do as well) to publish. I have a backlog of visiting to do, and I promise I'll catch up. We've been having some rainy days most of this week, with intermittent thunderstorms. Even though the computer has a good surge protector, I still power it down when the thunder starts.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. Recently I got 2 pretty stencils from Gina K. I decided to try using a dauber and some pigment ink over a dark cardstock to see how it would look. Here's the result:

Used a pale & darker yellow (don't remember what brand, but it was pigment ink) and then Hero Arts Unicorn white - daubed with a finger dauber, trying to do a little shading. A light green was used on the leaves and probably should have been a darker green to show up better. The cardstock was a navy blue, no texture. After finishing all the inks, went back using versamark on a finger dauber, covered all the stencil design. Then sprinkled some clear embossing powder. It has quite a nice shine IRL.

Did the same with the simple sentiment. Inked with the Unicorn white, used a WOW pearlized EP over it. Decided the bottom corner needed a little 'something', and these little embellies were in my line of sight. So there you go. I always need a card of this type, so I'm trying to build a little stash of such. Gina K had done a video using this stencil with a beautiful Gold ink & white card stock, and I hope to try that one of these days.

Recently read a post by my blog pal Loll  with a technique she calls Embedded Brusho technique (and she has a link to a good video, so check her post for the vid). Now I had seen another Youtube on this technique, tried it, and it didn't turn out well at all. (Trash offering). After reading Loll's instructions, I tried again, with much better results. (I did check out the video link first though).

Here's a couple of the results:

This used some Nuvo Shimmer Powder, Violet Brocade & Cherry Bomb and a WR Memory Box EF.

 

 

#1 was the first impression. (Shimmer Powder is rather similar to Ken Oliver Color Burst - powder rather than crystals.) Sprinkled it on the watercolor paper, then embossed & spritzed the w/c after this came out of the Big shot, but still in the folder. The folder had picked up some of the powder as it embedded into the w/c paper).

 

#2 (bottom example)  - 2nd pull after spritzing the product that got on the folder and it's much lighter.

 

#3 (top example)- 3rd pull, as there was still some color droplets left on the folder, so spritzed it again, got the color on the w/c paper; used a brayer to try to get most of the droplets off, but also since #1 was still quite wet, I pressed this piece into some of that color.(hope this makes sense).  #1 was quite vivid. Decided it was brighter than I wanted it, (a bit garish actually!) so I sprayed some pearlized mica spray over it, and that softened up the colors. I've made a card, which I'll share later.

 

This set was actually my first try with the EF, and used Brusho Turquoise and a Ken Oliver Color Burst in one of the newer orange colors that just came out. Didn't like this color effect too much. I tried swiping an old colorbox cats eye pad in a popcorn white over it (as the lady does in the video to tone down the colors). I couldn't really see much effect - but I didn't want to perhaps ruin one of my good white inks. Decided to spray the iridescent pearl over it, and I'm liking it better. Now what to do with it? The 2nd piece is just from dabbing (or smooshing - if you will!) this w/c piece over the wet on #1 before I put the spray on it.

I used another folder with some turquoise and Lime Green Brusho- and got about 5 pulls off it. Will show that in another post. This is a great technique when it works right LOL!

I had fun! My problem is I don't always know what to do with my results? You ever have that problem?

Will be trying to catch up visiting in the new few days. Don't give up on me. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and Big hugs to anybody who might need one today.



 

Dirty Pour Acrylic Experiment

Good evening, welcome. Please help me welcome some new followers, and then we'll get to the dirty pour acrylic results that I told you about earlier.

Patti of Stationery Styles

Marianne of Marianne's Craftroom

Nancy of artful notions

Colleen of One Smile Lifts A Spirit

 

 

Thank ya'll for joining this blog as new followers. I'm so pleased to have you visit, and I'm hoping my visitors will follow these links, pop over, say hello and enjoy some fabulous creativity. It's nice to have some new followers, as things have been rather slow in that department for a while.

 

Additionally, the comment notification is still not working as it used to do. So if I miss visiting you, please let me know. I'm looking in several places to try to make sure I reciprocate any visits here, so I hope I'm not neglecting anyone!

 

OK..a couple posts ago I mentioned a technique I had seen on Cathy's Card Spot with a technique that I'd never heard of. Now Cathy does fab cards, so I always love her work. Then while visiting my friend Loll I saw another example of this technique. Well, why hadn't anybody told ME about this? Cause their cards  sure looked amazing. Of course I go to youtube and type Dirty Pour Acrylics and spent the afternoon watching videos  (it was a rainy Sunday afternoon anyway!) Finally called the Mr in, had him look at one, and said "you think we could try this?". He used to be a pretty good painter, and on occasion can get pretty creative - more so than I. Only linked the one we watched, but there's lots of videos available. Some are better than others.

 

Gathered some supplies, (like canvas, pouring medium and silicone liquid). One afternoon when we didn't have other obligations, and again it was a dreary afternoon, we headed for the basement airbrush table, and started to work. I have bottles of craft paint from long ago hobbies, but you can use just about any paint I believe. Don't think you need the pouring medium, water would probably work, and the silicone isn't mandatory either.  We had some little condiment cups that had been washed out very thoroughly; I poured  bubblegum pink, a pale blue, a bright yellow, some gold and finally a pearl white in each of 5 small cups. I didn't want large amounts of mixed paint left if this didn't turn out to be something we liked. Added the Liquitex pouring liquid, stirred with a craft stick. Didn't seem thin enough to pour easily, so took a pipette and added some water slowly, stirring all the while, until it felt like it would do the pour on the canvas. Mixed all these paints into a large Dixie drinking cup. The video instructions said it didn't matter the color order, but we added the white last, and it did sink right to the bottom. Then Mr. slowly added some of the silicone in drops. The silicone makes the 'cells' or the little blobs you can see on the canvas. Then slowly poured some of the Dixie cup contents and watched it spread over the canvas, drip down the edges.

 

What resulted was pretty much as the video shows....BUT as the lady in this video used an offset spatula to move the color around, Mr. decided to try that. Only he used the flat craft stick. Basically this scraped rather than moved paint.  Should have used one of the embossing paste knife spatulas....the stick sort of just muddied the colors...as we didn't have a speck of green that shows. Also I may have gotten the paint mixture too thin, as there are white spots in the canvas, and the canvas was not covered very well either. I've been advised that we can apply gesso over this, cover up, and try again.  I wanted to share the results here first. It's messy - so wear gloves. I think this could be lots of fun, but I have no idea what to do with the finished canvas! Another idea that Loll gave me, was to smoosh a thick cardstock in the drips left in the pan...which I tried with some watercolor paper that was handy (it isn't working great for water coloring of late, so try something else!) Basically I got pretty much a muddy look, but might be something I can die cut.

 

Oh yes, preparation of the work surface: Used a Dollar Store thin shallow aluminum baking pan, set the canvas up on 'legs' made from other small condiment cups (like applesauce comes in) - so that it would drip. We did do a little tilting to spread the paint too. As I said, it was not too bad, until we started getting mud. If you see the little 'spots' along the canvas, that is from the silicone oil. It dried faster than I expected.

 

Ok...that's it for me! Still working on Easter Cards. Best get crackin'. Ya'll enjoy the rest of the week and thanks for popping by. God Bless & Hugs.  Come again when you have time.

 

 

Christmas Card Club - Mixed Media

Hello and welcome to a Christmas Card Club post. This great group of cardmakers have a challenge every 2 weeks, and one member selects the challenge for that week.  I've not participated in a long time due to all the family things we've dealt with for a while. However, since I picked this week's challenge, I felt honor bound to try to get something ready to join in. (hanging head in shame for being away from my CCC pals for such a long time. We're praying that 2018 will be a quiet year and we can get back to our normal routines once again).

So here goes:

 

 

 

- Ken Oliver Metallic Sky Mineral Burst applied to Mixed Media c/s. This is a liquid product that spreads easily as a wash, and is a gorgeous blue. It can be mixed with acrylic paint and other products, and Youtube has some good videos on it. While this was wet, sprinkled Color Burst Osta Blue and some yellow Ken Oliver Color Burst (more powdery than the colorburst crystals). Spritzed some pearlized spray over the surface to help the crystals & powder bloom. After using a spritz tool to blow the puddles around the card surface, let this dry well. This certainly doesn't look as though it started off blue, does it?!

 

Stamplorations Christmas Tree stencil used with Golden Glass Gel Beads to create the dimensional tree. It's been a while since I used this product, and left it a bit thicker than it should be.

 

Let the piece dry overnight, trimmed down. Added 2 mirror gold strips to each edge. A Memory Box tiny snowflake stencil used with pearlized texture paste to add dimensional edges at the sides.

 

- Echo Park die cut from the same gold mirror paper. Remembered to use double side adhesive to the c/s before die cutting. Usually think about that as I'm tediously applying glue to the letters. Recently got a Penny Black O Holy Night die, tried using it, and the slender shapes of the words made it very tricky to glue & put in place properly. (that was the first card I meant to use today! May share it later, but needs some TLC first). Added a few little bits of color around, and called this one done. Mixed media is always fun to experiment, even when it turns out not like your first plan :-)

 

Please do visit my fellow team members to see what beauties they shared today. You will see links to each member's blog in the right sidebar.

 

Would encourage you to check out some new Thanksgiving cards shared on the Cards by Friends page as well. We were so blessed to enjoy these gorgeous cards by such sweet friends.  

 

Also would like to extend a warm welcome shoutout to a lovely new follower, Mac M. of The Sweetest of Peas. Thanks so much for becoming my newest follower. It's been a while since I have been able to make some new friends, so I was delighted to see your name in the lineup! Do check out Mac's work...you'll enjoy it, I promise.

 

Thanks for joining me today, and I'll try to get back to post a couple Thanksgiving cards that were made, but not sent. I seem to be developing a very bad habit with that! Certainly need some improvement on the Christmas cards!!

 

Hugs & God Bless.

 

 

Birthday with Oxide Background Stenciling

Good evening. Thanks for such a wonderful response to my post yesterday. It was such fun seeing old friends again. I'm still trying to get back in the groove, and will share some of the pictures of our trip soon. This post is a card from August, for my #2 Brother's 87th birthday. It was a tough day, and all his kids and grandkids, some neighbors & ourselves showed up for a cookout. The hard part is that SIL's birthday was 2 days after his, and usually his daughter had a party for the both of them. But we got through it; by and large - it was nice. I think it was just a bit much for him though, although he hid it well. We didn't tell him so many folks would be there, just that a couple of us would be at the cookout. (Not my idea to surprise him...I didn't think it a good idea not to be straightforward about it).

 

 

The background was made using some DI oxide inks through 2 different stencils (which I don't remember what they were, but will check if someone is interested).

 

The leaves were cut from a die set (thought it was Lawn Fawn**, again I'll look it up if need be). Cut from white c/s, then used versamark, copper, gold and silver embossing powders.

 

The sentiment was also cut from white c/s, then heat embossed with the same gold as on the leaves.

 

Mounted the leaves on a stitched die cut rectangle, called it done. It was one of the cards made from bits and pieces that had been done earlier. I thought it had a bit of a rustic feel to it. Planned to add a twine bow to it, but that looked too much so I didn't.**

 

Added some cards sent by lovely people on the Cards by Friends page...hope you have time to look at those.

 

Until next time, God Bless and many hugs. And thanks for looking in.

 

**Edit: Enlarged the picture to check it and realized I'd used a Paper Trey Cover plate, with a feather quilt design to emboss this background.

**It's Concord & 9th.. Thanks Anita for sending me the info so I didn't have to hunt through dies :-)

Penny Black Hedgie Says Happy Easter

Good evening, and thanks for stopping for a visit. Thought I'd give you a break from St. Pat's cards, and finish up an Easter card. This cute little PB Hedgie lady was colored years ago. It's a clear set called Tiny Wishes.  Found the colored image in the stash, added more contrast to her dress, selected a S/Binder to die cut, and off I did go.

- Miss Hedgie was shopping (I think), but decided to go with the 'Easter Bonnet' and use this as a card for Easter. When I was a child, everyone had an Easter outfit to wear, and the ladies wore hats (sometimes the little girls did too). I think that's a tradition that has disappeared these days. Copic coloring, WoS on the Rose, and although the photo doesn't show it, a little drop of Nuvo Jewel Drop (Grey Mist) - which dries clear and looks like dew on the flower. These Nuvo Crystal and Jewel drops are easier to control the size of the 'drop' (at least for me) than the liquid pearls were. Really like the ones I've used.

- S/Binders Oval Bliss to die cut Miss Hedgie, then used Memento Dewdrop sized inks to add some color at the edge. After making the background, thought there needed to be another color between Ms H and the background, so found an oval S/B that sort of fit the shape, to do an underlayer.

- Artplorations Delicate Leaves stencil - embossed over white c/s, then used brushes to add color: DI Milled Lavendar, Dewdrop size turquoise shade, keeping the corner areas darker. Then used some old small floral stamps to add darker pink & some turquoise flowers over the stenciling. Trimmed down this piece, added tiny strips of the same turquoise mat shade at the edges of the white card base.

- Sentiment stamped and punched with an oval punch. Yay, first Easter card done!!!

Big Hugs, and hope it's nice where you are this afternoon. It's been overcast here with some very early morning rain. Come again when you have time. I'll be back to visit you too. Sometimes when leaving comments, I'm not always certain Blogger publishes - if I have time, when I go back to check, I don't see my comment. I know with comment moderation on, it won't publish immediately - but I do try to get back to all my sweet visitors.

Christmas Club - Mixed Media and Trees

Welcome to another Christmas Card Club post...and this time yours truly picked the challenge: Mixed Media with trees (the mixed media could be sponging, paste, sprays, texture or anything of that sort.)

Recently received some stencils from Stamplorations and decided to use one of those with Brushos, then try it with some embossing paste. First made a background with greens using Brusho crystals, Nuance, Colorburst and Infusion powders. Started with a slightly damp piece of 148# Strathmore water color paper, sprinkled the crystals and powders very carefully, then used Dylusions sprays that had been either diluted with water or mixed with the white Dylusions. It created an interesting color.
Then used the stencil over a slightly dampened w/c cardstock, sprinkled very carefully the same products through the openings of the stencil. That didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped, but I'll share it anyway. Then tried the same stencil using some Silver Dreamweaver embossing paste. I liked that one better.

- Christmas Trees Mini stencil - sprinkled the crystal & powder products over the stencil after slightly dampening the white Strathmore water color cardstock prior to placing the stencil. (masked off the sencil design I did not want). Spritzed the powders very lightly to create movement, then blotted with a paper towel. When this dried completely, replaced the stencil, spread some Golden gel beads over the stencil.(clean the stencil quickly after using this gel bead paste or embossing paste- before it hardens on the stencil). The beads paste is starting to harden or dry a bit in the jar; did not spread easily, and I was not pleased with the result. (one of the times I say "now why did I not leave well enough alone?"). Also got some of the color out in the white area surrounding the tree....so how to fix this? Since the gel beads are quite dimensional, die cutting was not an option. Traced an oval die, hand cut the motif.   First tried a white gel pen to cover the problem areas but that wasn't very effective. Then used white acrylic paint, dabbed it around the background area. The white paint picked up some of the extraneous colors, and changed to a dappled blue green, which looked better.

Memory Box die to cut the green brusho background (this has an oval in the rectangle die).
Tim Holtz Texture fade embossing on the white background. Placed the oval tree shape onto some white fun foam, for the design as you see it.

M.Box Merry Christmas die for the sentiment - 3 layers, embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold. The star is 2 layers, from a tiny punch, same Queen's Gold. This one is definitely an experiment in mixed media.

Next try:

Same stencil over water color #148..using Silver Dreamweaver embossing paste, and this time included the star at the top of the stencil. Removed the stencil, and while the paste was still wet, sprinkled some coarse Martha Stewart glitter over it. Doesn't show too much in the photo, but IRL, it sparkles beautifully. I was much happier with this effect than that with the green.

Hand trimmed the tree piece..the silver mat is a textured lightweight silver DP. Embossed this mat with a PTI die. Jennifer McGuire has an excellent video showing how to emboss using dies.

T.Holtz Texture fade embossed white card stock, then sponged it lightly with Delicata Silver. First I had tried using Versamark on the EF, then sprinkling a Silver EP over it after embossing. Evidently didn't get a good layer of the versamark, because the EP didn't stick in a lot of places. Brushed all of that off pretty well, then sponged it with the Delicata Silver.

- M.Box Merry Christmas die - 3 layers of the same dp as the mat. The Dreamweaver paste spread like butter...

If you have time, please visit my fellow team members, whose blog links can be found in the right side bar. And thanks for joining me today. Hope you liked these cards, and enjoyed my adventures. I like to know when other card makers have problem cards, and what they do to try to salvage the project. I learn as much from mistakes as I do from a well executed card. Hope you don't mind that I share my boo-boos! You can always skip over that part, if you don't want to read the story.

And we did have a lovely family Thanksgiving to all who asked. Big hugs, and prayers too for some of my blog buddies who are in need of them just now. Come again when you can.

Oval Cornucopia

 

Good morning - wake up to a scheduled post. We have a very early dermatology appointment (Mr made it, I didn't!) so back here sharing another of the Fall/Thanksgiving cards I've been trying to get finished.

 

 

- Sweet & Sassy clear image stamped & colored with copics, some WoS, white gel pen. Got a smudge by the leaves around the right, bottom pumpkin. The clear set has an extra leaf, so stamped a few, colored & fussy cut out to add over the boo-boo. Think it got hidden pretty well! Die cut with the S/B beaded oval. Used another oval die that would fit the shape to cut teh coral mat (this may have been a faux mat, where the outside was traced and fussy cut...)

 

- background started as kraft c/s that was left from another project. Taped TH Mesh stencil (a gift from a sweet blog friend) in place. Dry embossed with the Big Shot, then used 'orangey' shades of DI to sponge over the embossing. The kraft color shows in the stencil pattern.

 

- 1/4" scor-tape added top and bottom, then covered with Orange Glitter Ritz, burnished very well.

 

- added some of the soda can metal leaves. Might be too many leaves with the boo-boo fix ones, but hey, it is what it is. Didn't think about this until I saw the photo! Am I the only one that does this???

 

An old sunflower button was on the crapalanche pile, so thought it might make a fitting embellie. Used Dark Walnut Nuvo Crystals to cover the center (where the button eyes are). Had to appy 3 layers of the Nuvo. When it dried, it would sink into the depression where you'd sew the button on. Finally after the 3rd time applying, it stayed raised up. This will definitely need some padding when it goes into the mail.

 

- stitched tag cut out the sentiment that is in the same small set...another one ready for an insert.

 

Ya'll enjoy the day. Thanks for joining me  here. I'll try to get back this afternoon to post a tag.

Big hugs and prayers for those friends who are in need of comfort & strength just now.

 

 

Embossing Paste and Copper Frantage



Hello and welcome to a scheduled post. Today's card has been finished for a while, but has been weighted down due to curling edges! The card front is a heavier water color paper. Started off with a Tim Holtz Scribble stencil, mixed up some white embossing paste with acrylic inks. Then think some watercolors were puddled around (smooshed) to create the top colors. (gosh, it's been so long, I don't honestly remember what created the background, but pretty sure it was watercolor of some sort).

Once again, tried my hand at frontage**. This stuff is a copper flake type of stuff, think it's made by Stampendous. On the stenciled area, dropped the flakes into the still damp paste, and then once this had dried, used some versamark over the top area, dropped some more copper flakes. Used a heat gun from underneath to try to adhere it. Something I must be doing wrong, cause this stuff just doesn't like me. Finally put out some glue, used tweezers, dipped the flakes into the glue, onto the card. The stuff is still falling off! What has stayed put, looks ok I guess.
**Edit: For the sweet commenters who suggested trying to heat the frontage from underneath, I did try that. (and  have with other efforts). Also very gently from the top, with the heat tool a distance away, moving and not staying on one spot. I just can't seem to manage to get the stuff to stick. This particular one was more of a 'flake' than the chunkier powders I've tried that are labeled frontage. But it was _supposed_ to stick when heated, according to the directions on the jar.

 

 

Butterfly has been floating around in the Crapalanche for a while, and it had been colored with Zig watercolor brushes, after being embossed with clear EP over black inking. Added some Bronze irResistible pico overe the body and on the wings. Doesn't show well in the photo, but IRL it looks quite nice with the copper flakes.

 

A die sentiment was covered with versamark, embossed with a WOW copper EP. While still warm from the heat gun, applied more versamark, EP, heat...Did this 3 times to get a very textured and dimensional appearance to the die cut that I liked.  Rounded off the corners, and called it done. Then put under a stack of acrylic stamp blocks to press out the curling watercolor front.  This will probably become a birthday card.

 

Ya'll have a grand day. Sharing a couple photos of the bathroom project...the demolition crew showed up Tuesday, in the rain. We'd had lovely days, so of course it's Murphy's Law, that it would rain on the day this tear out would take place. A bathroom window had to be dismantled in the pouring rain, so that the crew could toss the debris into a waiting dump truck. I could just envision them having difficulty replacing the sashes back in the track, and me being stuck with an open window and it raining. Pleased to report the crew were efficient, professional, and despite having to track in through the wet, left the area pretty clean. Hope the rest of this project will go as smoothly as this part did!

 

Come again when you can. Blessings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wood stuff was something from another project that was going to the dump. Our stuff is just the old marble walls and the glass blocks. Hopefully in a few weeks, I can share pictures of the finished project (fingers x'd!)

 

 

 

 



 

 

Teal Butterflies Embossed with a Stencil



 

Hi, and in case you didn't already know this, I spend a lot of time watching Youtube (could this be why I accomplish so little during the day? Nah, probably not!)

 

 

Caught this video from Ellen Hutson using a plastic stencil. I'd seen this done before, and had tried it, but never felt like I got a good embossing. Loved the Hero Arts stencil used in this video, but don't have it (_yet_!). Hunted through my stencils, and thought to try this MBox stencil. Mrs. A's  Butterfly Challenge #53 was for teal & texture, and this was started with that challenge in mind. Doing my usual ploy of missing the deadline, decided this would also work for the May CAS Mix Up Challenge.

 



 

 

 

 

MBox Butterfly Vine Stencil was taped over white card stock, run through the Big Shot as instructed in the video. However, I had to go to Tab 1, and add a lightweight shim (cut from a tv dinner box). My B/S is a newer one, and the sandwich used in the video was too 'tight' to go through on Tab 2. Worked good on Tab 1, with the shim, and got a very nice embossing.

 

Used Memento Teal and DI Concord Grape to sponge over the still taped stencil.

 

MBox butterfly (solid die cut from a snippet from a heavier weight paper that came from a set of sheets..it was part of the packing that helps keep the sheet package in a shaped form. It was white on one side, so hmmm...to the craft room instead of the recycle box. It cut very nicely, and there's 2 layers). The matching overlay die was used to cut the top butterfly, and this was sponged the ink remaining on the sponge from the Concord Grape. Added a couple rhinestones for a little glitz.

 

Sentiment is from a PBlack clear set, chosen primarily because it fit the space where I wanted to put it. Inked with the Memento Teal, heat embossed with Ranger Clear EP.

 

The stitched edges were made from a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle. (Jennifer McGuire recent video showing how to do this. Cut the rectangle shape. Replace the rectangle die so that it is only going to cut on a 2nd edge..and then you have the skinnier rectangle with the stitching all around it. Would post the link, but can't find it just now!). If anyone is interested, I'll try to hunt it up. I learn a lot from Jennifer!!!

 

Hope this will fit the bill of fare for CAS Mix Up. So thanks for skipping by and come back when you can. Blessings & Hugs.

 

 

 

 

Green & Gold - Happy

Good afternoon, and welcome. Today's card is a scheduled post, with a card made from some bits that were in the Pile. The piece was done on watercolor weight paper, probably using sprays and micas. Found it, decided to try the Viva Décor Gold modeling paste through a Tim Holtz Flourish stencil. After looking at it for a while, decided to try to finish off something to use it.

- a die from a very old S/B set cut the corners, can't decide if some gold pearls should be placed on each corner, or just leave as it is.

- purchased prefolded chartreuse card from The Paper Cut at a craft show (on a great sale due to the color I'm sure...). Stamped with an Impression Obsession Cover a Card  Thin Stripes CC001 which had versamark applied. Then used WOW Gold Pearl to eat emboss and was quite pleased with the results. Dressed up the plain card but very subtle so as to not compete with the gold flourishes of the embossing paste design. Only used one coat of EP for this effort.

- Memory Box Painted Happy die cut 4 layers of watercolor weight white (snippets) - colored each layer with a Gold WoStella pen. Then used versamark on the top layer, heat embossed with the WOW Gold Pearl, 2 coats. One coat does not give the coverage that I prefer...after applying the first coat, it's dipped back on the versamark pad, more EP applied, and reheated. The 2nd coat gives this effect that looks like gold metal, which I think is quite pretty. Photo does not show this well.

No other sentiment on the front, but I think this will have an anniversary verse on the inside, as our DD has one coming up in May. Came together fast (for me!) once I thought of how to use the snippets. Little by little, some of the stuff in the pile is getting  put on cards.

Thanks for popping in to visit, and hopefully there will be a few more scheduled posts this week. In the meantime, Big Cyber Hugs to all!

Happy Little Stampers Sketch Challenge - May 2015

Good Morning friends, and welcome. So far it's been a rather overcast day, and we had a most intense rain & thunder storm last night. Thankfully, it didn't last long, but that rain was so hard when it came down & we had several hard cracks of thunder very close by. However, it was nothing like to what those poor folks out in Texas had and are having to endure. Prayers go out to those families who lost or are still searching for their loved ones.

Today's card is an entry into the Happy Little Stampers Sketch Challenge, one I've not participated in so far. Let's get right to it - and actually it's another UFO:

I'm not great with sketches, but here's my take:

 

- Background is a Brusho gone wrong. Still liked the colors but it didn't work for what was in mind when messing about with it at first. While doing a bit of cleaning on the stamp desk (remember when I was looking for missing stuff earlier? LOL) found a Zen sort of looking stamp...decided to stamp it with Versafine Onyx and just have a play with Pentel and the Staedtler pens.  Still didn't really have any ideas about what to do with it - but just doodling one night while watching Netflix.

 

Located a brass stencil in the floral shape that you see in the top right. (Jennifer McGuire has a recent video on using intricate dies to emboss which gave me the idea*). Embossed that onto the paper, liked it better. However, the embossing would not have shown up in the photo. So...took a sponger and some DI Faded Blue Jeans and wiped it over the embossing. Hooray...that showed very nicely.

 

- Bottom white part was embossed with an Anna Griffin EF that is still in the pile, then die cut the edge with a S/B Curved Bracket. Hmmm...if I put the 2 together, that might work for the HLS May Sketch Challenge.

 

- SU scallop punch for the snippet sentiment, a clear stamp from a Gina K set received last week. Lesson learned: stamp it, then punch it. Used the Misti to place the stamp, but it was tricky to keep this little bit of paper from moving when the Misti cover is opened for inking the stamp...even with the strong magnet holding it. Because the bit is so tiny, when placing the stamp in place for inking, then lifting to ink it - the tiny scrap would slip - just a tiny amount. Finally got it done though, and I think the sentiment looks straight!!!

Hoping that this card fits what the sketch is meant to be, I'm off to link up with HLS Sketch Challenge for May 2015, which is still open for 3 days. Thanks for visitin'...come again when you can.  Hugs

*Tried to find the link to Jennifer's video, but was spending too long searching for it. Believe it was done last week.

More St. Patrick's Day Brusho Fun

Happy Tuesday, and please help me say a Warm Hello to some lovely new followers, whom I hope you'll have time to visit...

Donna of Indiana Inking
Kelly of Sandcastle Stamper

Jennelle of Blue Lily Sentiments

 

 

I'm so happy to have you all join me on this fun journey throughout Blogland. It's always so exciting to see new faces, meet some new friends, and enjoy wonderful inspiration with the diversity of talents seen on new blogs. So Sweet Visitor, please do pop over to say Hi to these talented Bloggers.



Today's card uses a background created on an earlier Brusho play date. Here goes:

 

 

- Brusho background using green & blue crystals over wet. Think this one may have started with a Dylusions yellow sprayed background. (This is the 'master' piece, that I mopped up the excess runoff with a brush, swiping over another white piece of watercolor cardstock. You saw that result on an earlier card).  By the way, what I have been using is a Bristol Smooth paper. I want to try using a glossy piece next play day, as I saw a wonderful result here using glossy paper. Do take a peek at this beauty.

 

- over air dried background, placed TCW Mini Ceiling Tile stencil, swiped Versamark over the openings. Then pounced Pan Pastel chalks using yellows & golds. Loved the way it looked. Let it dry for a bit, then inked up Stampendous Agapanthus Cluster with a Turquoise ink, stamped. The Staz-On worked well to get a good impression. Had tried Memento ink on an earlier effort, not great results (could have been the Operator --however.. the Staz-On worked better for me).

 

- Older wooden stamp sentiment - no name.

 

- Again with the Frantage - using Stampendous Powder Blue. Sprinkled a bit over the surface, heated it from behind (blows off if you try to heat it from the front!). Well, it's stuck pretty well, but I'm still not pleased with the results of this product -- in my hands anyway. After I saw it, wished I had left it off. I keep trying to get the fantastic look I see on so many blogs as I surf through Blogland.

 

- Decided to add a green ribbon bow, and daggone it, once it stuck fast, saw that it had covered up part of the sentiment. Have a lucky ?what? - Hope the recipient sees that there is a Day hidden under the ribbon!! This one was so much fun to create the background.

 

Now for a little chit-chat: I have movies & books that I periodically will either re-read or rewatch. Example: Gone With the Wind - re-read and re-watch the movie about every 5 years or so. Driving Miss Daisy, Fried Green Tomatoes, and To Kill a Mockingbird are just a few others. Recently TKaMockingbird was on television, so recorded it on the DVR (we have the dvd, but too lazy to hunt it up!). Enjoyed the performance of every actor in the movie and remembered when I first read the book in 1962, as a senior in High School. I think it's just as relevant today as it was so long ago. I always get misty-eyed at the end. This is my favorite of Gregory Peck's movies. Anyone else love these oldies????

 

Think I'll pop over to The Mixed Media Challenge with this card, as the March Challenge is Hints of Spring. Hey, I have greens & gold on it, that signals Springtime, right????



Ya'll have a grand day. Thanks for stopping in, God Bless & Hugs too.

St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun - March 2015

Top O' th Mawn-ing to ya and thanks for joining me today for a little visit. We have St. Pat's and Easter holidays drawing nigh, so I'm trying to get in the spirit for each of these holidays. Today I've used one of my favorite St. Pat's image, which was one of the first I ever bought. A cute Art Impression gnome (or leprechaun). He's very easy to color, but I had to fight my tendency to want to color him all in greens. Harder than it sounds, for me to do that.

- Art Impression cling rubber image, colored with copics. Die cut with MFT stitched label. (can you guess I love these stitched dies?) A gold Slicca Pental .025 pen did the stitching in the shirt front.

- Brusho created background, stenciled with Heidi Swapp mosaic stencil using Golden gel beads. Die cut with S/B Ribbon Die. Glued to the green card base, added the image to the left to allow the pretty Brusho background to show as much as possible.

- Taylored Expression March Pockets & Pages sentiment on a snippet of green c/s

- Impression Obsession small Shamrock die, and MS die for the 2 larger shamrocks. After adhering the shamrocks, gave each a coating of Glossy Accents. These were cut from the remaining snippet piece used for the sentiment. Always good to have those snippets handy!

There won't be as many St. Paddy's cards as were done for Valentine's Day, but we do need a few. Hope you enjoy this one, and come again when you have time. Big Hugs.

Sparkle n Sprinkle Red Hat Lady

Good morning. Please help me welcome two new followers:

Maarit of Violet's Corner

Dawn of LilyPinkScraps 

Thanks so much for becoming followers here.

 

Have been MIA for the last couple of days after our trip to North Carolina for a very exciting craft garage sale. We left Friday morning, made a stop at Spartanburg's Scrapbook Creations, where 2 stamps were being held for me. Of course I also found some of the new Elizabeth Crafts embossing folders. Had a nice little brunch, and headed on up the road to Greensboro, which was about a 3 hour drive. We had the opportunity of going into the Event Room to look over what had been brought into the sale at that time, which was helpful in deciding what my main interests would be the next morning when the sale was opened.

 

Customer numbers were to be given out at 7am on Saturday, so we thought we'd be early birds and arrive at 6ish. At 6:15, we were assigned #14 & #15, so that shows you how many folks got there much earlier than we did! Once numbers were assigned, then off to find some coffee & breakfast, and be back for a 9am opening. Only 25 people were allowed in at first, and as those folks began to leave, the next 25 were allowed in the room, due to Fire Regulations...plus size of the area. There was so much stuff on lots of tables, that it was sometimes difficult to get to see something that really caught the eye. I managed however!! We had a good time, but were tired when we finally got back home that evening, and we've been sort of dragging around ever since. It was fun though, and I did snap up a few things I wanted.

 

Here's today's card, which has been in process for a bit...just being slow to finish it.

 

 Sparkle n Sprinkle Hat Ladies (00-222P4) bought at an estate sale. The set caught my eye, because I have a cousin who does the Red Hat Ladies bit.

 

Stamped on Xpress, Memento Tuxedo Black, colored with copics*. Spica & WoS sparkles added

 

Versamark applied to the drape at her shoulders, then sprinkled with SnS Morning Glory EP and heat embossed

 

- Image was fussy cut and adhered with dimensional tape over a lavender S/B Label 18 die cut

 

- Cut a piece of SnS Adhesive sheet to the size needed. Used a TCW Mini Kaleidoscope stencil, versamarked the surface that would be against the adhesive. Sprinkled Amethyst Silk Glitter over the stencil, brushed off the excess, and burnished. Removed the stencil, sprinkled Lavendar Silk Glitter over the remaining surface. Cleaned excess & burnished. I had already removed the center portion of the adhesive sheet (where the main image would go) prior to applying the stencil.

 

- adhered the glittered piece to the white top fold cardbase. Then placed the die cut with the image over the cut away portion.

 

Decided that I didn't like the white edges at each side of the glittered piece, so used a narrow S/B border left from the sentiment matting to cover the white.

 

- Elizabeth Craft die sentiment on a snippet of red glitter paper. This was thick, and did not cut well (paper problem, not the die..this was thick paper that had sort of a 'backing' on it.).

 

- card base had been edged with S/B Curved Borders Two. Inside is trimmed with the matting lavender, using another of the Curved Borders so that it shows through the front die cut.

 

 

 

 

*If you look closely at this image, you will see why I had to fussy cut for the card. I was being very careful with the red, but it still managed to bleed outside the hat area. Sometimes the colorless blender will move the red back inside the lines...sometimes it won't. My mistake on this piece was that I should have done the background area first...instead of doing the red first. The image was finished, looked fine. When I went to do the blue background - just using the marker & not airbrushing since I didn't want to make a mask, there were several bleed areas. Had been pleased with the facial coloring. Used darker markers than I normally would choose - my normal would be E0000, E000, E00, & E01. I used E11 and some darker E colors, just experimenting - and was pleased with the look. Until I messed up the reds when doing the background! Fussy cutting was the only way I could think to save the image.

 

Sorry this is such a long post!  This image will be submitted to:

 

Sparkle n Sprinkle's April Monthly Challenge

 

Pixie's Crafty Workshop Week 119

 

So thanks for your visit today. Have a wonderful afternoon, and come again soon. Hugs

 

 





Stenciling and Paste

Good morning everyone. It's a lovely sunny & fairly warmish day in Upstate South Carolina. We did have some rain early in the wee small hours, but it's very pretty now. My heart goes out to all of you who are dealing with yet _more_ snow and for my UK friends - this awful rain & wind. God keep you all safe!

Here's some new friends I hope you'll find time to say Hello to as you surf around checking out blogs.

 Bobbie L (and Bobbie is in the Circles stuff, but I can't find a blog for her. Bobbie if you can tell me how to find you, I'll add a blog link for you).

Beth F. of Beth's Beauties

Laurie Unger of  Laurie's Stampin Place

Please do visit these blogs if you can, say hello and enjoy some wonderful projects. Thanks folks for becoming new followers.

Here's my card for today - another stencil & paste experiment. Liked this one better than my first attempt. I used a lighter texture paste, plus was careful to apply less thickly and only to part of the gesso'd cardstock. I believe it yielded a better result, although it is quite bright. I was working on one of our dark 'weather' days, and thinking 'sunshine & green'

- TCW  Mini Art Flower stencil, using stencil paste over transparent gesso coated & dried cardstock.  Did not sand anything on the dried paste; Viva Décor Inka Gold Mint Green spread with my finger over the stenciled flower.  (This product is more 'goopy' and spread easily than the other paste stuff I've used). Dried naturally - then sprayed diluted Dylusions Fresh Lime, Pure Sunshine yellow and Lemon Zest. Tried to spray through the same stencil in another corner, but not happy with the results. (peeking out in the top right corner..)That needs more work for me to do well!

- stamped an Impression Obsession CAC029 music stamp using Memento Cottage Ivy in the blank spots.  S/B Curved Borders Two (S5-201) cut the textured green Bazzill card base front.

- Trimmed the stencil piece with a plain bracket shape from the same set. Mounted this on the cardstock, and used the remaining edge of this trimmed piece on the inner side of the card base.

- Marianne Creatables LR0168 flower cut in yellow, then green, smudged DI green on the yellow flower (snippet) and some Lemonade yellow on the underneath green flower (snippet). Shaped the yellow flower & lifted for a bit of dimension, added a green rhinestone center.

- Sentiment from the new 3 Twenty Crafts Simple Sentiments set onto a snippet - (the smooth side of the flower paper), punched with an SU oval punch, smudged DI green around the edge .

That's it! I'm winging across the water to the Snippets Playground where construction of an Ark is underway, but also nifty prizes to be won. If you bring a card that has even one snippet (or scrap as we Yanks would call 'em) Little Parsnip will let you through the gate. C'mon...it's lots of fun!

In the meantime, have a Blessed day, and there's a new stamp reveal later on this afternoon, so I hope you'll pop back to join me. Until then, many hugs.

A Stenciling Experiment

Good evening and Upstate South Carolina got the predicted 'weather' today. Nothing really drastic, just some pretty swirling snowflakes. I think the temps were in the mid 30's F. We're being advised that overnight & tomorrow will be much worse, with a sleety ice mixture and more snow. Usually we see quite a bit of traffic go by our home - as we live on the corner of 2 streets in a rather largish subdivision. There's been much less traffic today, but still some. In past winters, we've been able to stand at our front windows and watch our neighbors navigate the icy corner, heading for the steep hill that is the exit from the neighborhood. Very shortly, we see the same car come sliding slowly back past our view. We are both always thankful that we aren't the folks who are having to brave the roads to get to a job. (Well, I'm always more thankful than DH, who is sure He could manage the roads much better! NOT! He learned to drive in South Florida, just as I did!).

Let me say warm welcome to Ignacio Molina of Nicecrane Designs who has joined as my latest follower.

I'm sure that many of you visit here, know these beautiful Nicecrane images. I've seen them used so skillfully by many blogs that I follow, and just purchased some of the designs. (Check Redanne and Stamping with Klass to name 2 very enjoyable places where I had seen these designs used. There are quite a few others too, but these particular blogs were fresh in my memory). I finally got my brain & my fingers coordinated at the same time and ordered a couple of the bird images. You do know, I like birds, right? See my lovely new blog header?? Well, it was designed by Ignacio of NiceCrane and I am just over the moon with how pretty it is. THANK YOU, Ignacio!

Decided to change some of the other colors to complement the new header. What do do you think? And please do yourself a favor, and visit Nicecrane to see the beautiful images...which are extremely reasonably priced. Stay tuned...I hope I can soon do justice to the pretty bird sets I ordered.

I'm sharing my stencil experiment I mentioned in an earlier post. It's really more of an example of: Don't do what I did!

- card stock was coated with gesso and dried overnight. Used some modeling paste over a Memory Box vines stencil. Think I used a stencil that was more intricate than I should have for this attempt and also probably got the paste on too thick. Let this dry overnight, and made sure to clean the stencil immediately when I lifted it from the paste. Still had a little shifting mishap as I lifted the stencil, which yielded a raised surface after drying. (if that makes sense..it was a rough raised place that should not have been there!)  Used a sand block to sand the dried surface, and that helped.

- painted some acrylic paints in golden & turquoise greens that were mixed with a cream color - over the entire surface;  using a small brush, painted in the depressed areas of the vine motif, with the turquoise green. I was liking the effort a bit better after this dried.

- smudged some Viva Décor Inca Silver paste with my finger over 2 corners - where you see the glimmer. Used some Viva Stempel paint in a turquoise color and smudged that around in some areas. The silver gleams nicely - no that is not a camera flash, but the silver that you see!

- MB Serene Bird die in navy blue Bazzill, popped up over a Die-namics Leaf Filled Flourish.
The leaf was cut from a snippet of dp, further shaded with copics. Lighter green leaf  was in the snippets pile, probably is a MB diecut from white c/s, shaded with copics. Used some of the 3D Crystal Effects on the leaves, let that dry overnight. Attempted to add the MB leaf around the bird with Glossy Accents. Where it touched the navy bird, the GA left 2 small smears. Thought it would dry clear. Didn't! Tried covering the edge with some glitter, intending to shade the glitter using dark blue copics. Alas, the copics pulled up the glitter. (I've seen that done on some other blogs, so not sure what I did wrong.).  This bird looks like he's been at our bird feeder and got some ice crystals on his feathers! I don't like it that he looks like he's got sugar spilled all over him, so this will go in the samples stash.

I had been a bit dissatisfied with the stencil results at first. As I kept working on the piece, I was liking it a bit better. As I was putting the dies atop the piece, I was getting happier. When I got the Glossy Accents smears on the bird, I was not pleased. I've always heard this stuff dries clear...well, it didn't on this navy Bazzill.

Dream sentiment is from mirror paper snippet using an Elizabeth Craft die. I enjoyed this experiment enough to try it again. I will use my Aileen's Easy Flow glue to adhere in future. I know this stuff dries clear...

Hope you enjoyed my ramblin's this evening. Also hope that should you be in the path of this storm front, that your power is staying on, snow is not endangering your roof, or any dreadful stuff like that. We're staying cozy, and I even cooked today - also baked a carrot cake for snacking tonight. Remember...I don't cook!

Thanks for your visit, and many Cyber Hugs. Come again when you can.



Friday Fun Day Challenge

Happy Friday and welcome to Friday's Fun Day Challenge #32 at Jo's Scrap Shack where the theme is "Anything Goes". I invite you to join in & play along with us. Here's my card:

 

I would like to extend a warm welcome to a new follower Sarah George of Sarah's Art Corner and say thanks for helping me reach my current goal of 200 followers. We're getting closer to Blog Candy Day!! I hope you'll take a few minutes to zip over, say Hi to Sarah, and tell her I sent you. Her blog is lovely.

 

Here's the card specs:



- Northwoods image colored with copics, spica pens with just a bit of Glossy Accents on the perched cardinal & tree stump where he perches. DI Vintage Photo was smudged around the edges of rectangle. EK Success punched photo corners from a snippet of red foil left from Christmas projects. There was a tiny snippet left, just large enough to diecut some Memory Box Resting Birds to add to the trees.

- background created using a metal Dreamweaver Birch Tree stencil over white GP; pan pastels in various shades of blues, with a bit of dark purple added in the top right corner. I quite liked this as a background, but sponging over the metal shreds a sponge quite badly. I had first tried using some Dylusions sprays over a purchased card blank. The paper was not strong enough to take the sprays and warped, although it did give a nice look. Adhered the background to a stone colored card blank from a sale package.

In the photo it looks as though the stamped image is placed a bit crooked, but when I look at the card, it looks straight. Hmmmm...so aggravating.The outer dark blue is a piece of navy cardstock placed behind the card for photographing. The card itself is the stone color.

So please take time to check out what the other DT mates have created for today's challenge over at Jo's and maybe join in the Friday fun. Rules are posted at Jo's, are very simple & it's very easy to link up. We'd love to see you there!

Have a great afternoon, a wonderful weekend, and Cyber Hugs.