Monday, December 30, 2013

A gift!

I don't know if it's an age thang or a space cadet thang, but I need to have calendars throughout the house so that I know what day it is!

I've already made two calendars for my house and am sending a few out as gifts. This is one of them. Since the recipient doesn't visit here often, it will be a surprise!

I purchased several small tear-off calendars that were perfect for inclusion in a stamped piece. I also had a nice thick 6x6 piece of chipboard that was backing some patterned paper. So I upcycled it to back the calendar. It warped a tiny bit when I added glue, but such is life.

Here's the calendar!


I cut a piece of cardstock to 6x6 and stamped the mermaid from Bombshell's Mermaid Treasure set using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. A stamp positioner was used to place the treasure chest. The mermaid and the treasure chest were colored with Copic markers. I then stamped both the mermaid and the treasure chest onto Eclipse tape, fussy cut them, and placed them over their stamped colored counterparts on the piece.

Four Post-It notes were taped together then cut in a wavy pattern. This was placed over the bottom part of the scene, under the treasure chest. The Copic Airbrush system was used to airbrush the "sea" using various BG markers. When I was happy with the color, I took the other part of the Post-It note mask, positioned it over the "sea" and airbrushed the sea bottom using E40 markers. Palette chalk was used to add additional interest to the sea bottom.

The seaweed stamp, included in the Mermaid Treasure set, was stamped repeatedly along the sea bottom and along the sides of the piece.

The masks were lifted and the entire piece was airbrushed with BG11 to give it that under-the-water look. Then gold glitter was added to the coins and around the treasure chest and left to dry while I had a beverage and took an internet break.

Golden Glitz Delicata ink was used to ink Darling Dear wood-veneer numbers by Studio Calico. They looked odd floating above the calendar, so I added some very, very old gold mesh stuff to the upper right corner to anchor the letters and the calendar. It still looked a little sparse, so I added a big starfish charm (same shape as the starfish in the mermaid's hair don'tcha know) and a tiny starfish gold prongy thing (metal with prongs in the back that can stab you and draw blood, though they are really supposed to go through cardstock or fabric).

Now the piece looked unbalanced, which is not good. I'm the only unbalanced thing allowed in my craft room. So, I added another strip of the gold mesh stuff to the left side, added a shell charm, and a little gold crab punchy.

Since this is a gift, the back needed to look nice too, so I started to paint it with Tarnished Brass Distress paint and had a mishap. The paint wasn't flowing, so I squeezed the bottle very gently and paint kind of burst out of it . . . onto the chipboard, onto my hands, onto my hair, my sweatshirt, and my glasses. Yippee. Big fun. I was able to apply some of that paint to the piece, then cleaned myself off. The paint was flowing nicely now, so I finished painting the back, heat set it, added another coat, heat set that, then sponged Tempting Teal and Azure StazOn ink over a Prima Garden Gate stencil.

Here's a peek at the back!



The stamped, embellished cardstock was adhered to the chipboard and left to dry overnight. It is now residing under some heavy books in an attempt to flatten it out before mailing it.

Thanks for visiting today!

P.S. More calendars to come, so stay tuned.

I shall my calendar in the following challenges!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Bling!
Fairytale Challenge Blog: Lucky Charms and New Year's Wishes
Crafter's Cafe Challenge #43: Happy New Year
Tando's Creative Challenges: Let's Sparkle

Sunday, December 29, 2013

SS&S, DD = Same Set & Sketch, Different Day!

I had the Kraftin' Kimmie's newish Just Chillin' set, out. I had my winter paper stash out (including papers that I was thinking about using for the last card, then rejected), and I still had the sketch on my table, so I decided to make another card using the same stamp set and the same sketch.

I should mention that I rarely leave things out after I project. I usually put things away so I can start with a clean space on my table. So obviously this card was meant to be!

Here's the sketch:

And here's what I did with it!


I should mention that clearly I can not follow a sketch. Oh well. :D

The penguin was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and onto a sheet of patterned paper from the old and retired Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses 6x6 pad. The penguin on the Neenah cardstock was colored with Copic markers. The panel took a ride through my Big Kick and stayed in the die while I lightly traced the interior of the it. I popped out the panel and added a background scene using Copic markers.

The penguin's hat and scarf, stamped onto the patterned paper, were fussy cut, lightly shaded, and adhered to their counterparts on the stamp scene.  Clear Gelly Glaze pen was used on the penguin's beak and white flock was added to the hat's brim? and pom-pom. The final touch was to add some glitter with Hologram Glitter Liner by Viva Décor.

This time I decided to make the card a bit smaller than the last one, so I had to do all that pesky math again. I added the sentiment to the fishtail die cuts using Doodlebug Rub-ons. I wish I could still find those as they're the perfect size for sentiments on cards! The layered papers were edged with Black Soot Distress ink. I repeated the coat the Making Memories button with patterned paper thing again, but edged it with Black Soot Distress ink. I had some sparkly red floss which I used to thread the button.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge #210: Sketch
7 Kids Challenge Blog #89: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Bling!
Oozak Challenge #28: Anything Goes!
Color Me Creative Challenge #83: Holiday Themed
Stampin' for the Weekend: Anything Goes

Friday, December 27, 2013

Just Chillin' with some penguins

If you know me, you know that I love cats and birds. I especially love penguins and owls. My stamp collection reflects this love. So when I saw Kraftin' Kimmie's newish Just Chillin' set, I knew that I had to have it.

After a fairly frenetic few weeks, I finally had time to get the set inky and decided to use the current sketch, which is the challenge over at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog.

Here's the sketch:

And here's what I did with it!
The penguin pair were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. The panel took a ride through my Big Kick and stayed in the die while I lightly traced the interior of the it. I popped out the panel and added a background using Copic markers. Then I added some glittery lines to the ice using a Wink of Stella Glitter pen. Clear Gelly Glaze pen was used on the penguins' beaks. The final touch was to add some glitter with Hologram Glitter Liner by Viva Décor. Sadly, the noontime sun washed the glitter right out of the photo. Bother!

The patterned paper is all from last year's  Winter Wishes 6x6 pad by Echo Park. The button is an Making Memories Chipboard button, which was updated with patterned paper. The Baker's Twine was originally purple and white, but I used a Copic marker to make it all matchy matchy because I'm cool like that.

Thanks for visiting today.

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge #210: Sketch
A Creative Romance: Sparkle at Christmas
Southern Girls Challenge: Christmas Wishes
7 Kids Challenge Blog #89: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Bling!
Oozak Challenge #28: Anything Goes!


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

 There's still an Anything Goes challenge going on right now on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog, so I made another Christmas card, which is ever-so-timely today. I planned that, don'tchaknow.

This card features Stampotique's Stack of Birds.

 
As a bonified birdbrain and a birdwatcher, I love and collect bird stamps. Sometimes I even use 'em. Imagine that! There's something about this Stack of Birds stamp that makes me smile. It's so cute and cheerful that you can almost hear the birds singing. In this case, they're singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas!"

They're a talented bunch and have a vast repertoire, so I'm sure they'll be singing on another card real soon. They also change their colors often to reflect their latest acapella rendition.

Anyway, Stack of Birds was colored with R00, R02, R04, and R17 Copic markers. After coloring them, I painted a thin layer of Matte Glue and Seal over them to act as a mask and add some texture. When it was dry, I sponged Old Paper Distress ink over them, then sponged China Blue Distress ink over the Dot Fade Layering Stencil. 

The focal image panel was matted with snowflake patterned paper from an old holiday 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. I took a music print paper from the same pad (which contains the words to "We wish you a Merry Christmas!") and sponged Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress inks over the Hollybough Layering Stencil. The panel was edged with Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, and Walnut Stain Distress inks.

The sentiment was added with Kraft-colored stickers from the Chitchat and Seasonal Chitchat pads by Idea-ology. The edges of each word sticker was sponged with the aforementioned Distress inks.

Sheer music note ribbon was colored with Copic markers and added to the bottom of the card to reinforce the card's musical theme. A somewhat crinkled bow was added because I felt like it.

A scrap of the music print paper was die-cut with old poinsettia and holly dies. The poinsettias were colored with Copic markers, then molded with various stylus balls to be dimensional. The holly leaves were colored with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress inks. The layered poinsettia and the holly leaves were added to the upper left corner to finish the card.

Thanks for visiting today and Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

There's an Anything Goes challenge going on right now on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and I'm still in a holiday card making mood.

Here's my card featuring Stampotique's Merry Fairy!



Merry Fairy was stamped twice, once onto Neenah cardstock, the second time onto Eclipse Tape. The Eclipse Tape version was fussy cut to be used as a mask. The Neenah version was colored with Copic markers, then masked with the fussy cut Eclipse Tape.

I punched a moon from the Eclipse Tape and positioned it above Merry Fairy. The background was then airbrushed with a variety of Copic markers until I was happy with the color. Copic Opaque White was applied to a toothbrush with a toothpick, then spritzed from the toothbrush over the masked images onto the sky to create stars.

The masks were lifted and I discovered that some Copic ink had leaked under the moon mask, so I punched another moon from a Post-It note. I used the aperture as a reverse mask, placed it over the moon, and dabbed some white acrylic paint and then added some white shimmery Ice Silks Glaze paint. When the paint was dry, I drew on the closed eye.

Merry Fairy needed a bit more detailing, so I used chalk pencils to add blush and shading and used some Prismacolor pencils to add some color and texture to her hair. Her wings were outlined with a Black Wink of Stella glitter pen, but the photo does not capture the lovely blinginess (new word).

The sentiments are both the Christmastime Remnant Rubs by Ideology. I won those over the summer along with The Chemist stamp set and the Eye Chart Layering Stencil which are both by Stamper's Anonymous. The Eye Chart will be seeing (pun intended) quite a bit of use within the next few months for somewhat scary reasons yet to be disclosed.

The patterned paper is from Echo Park's Winter Wishes 6x6 pad. A die cut border topped with a sparkly strip sticker was used to finish the card.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall be entering this card in the following challenges:
Die Cuttin' Divas #146: Happy Holidays
Luna Girl Challenge Blog: Blue Christmas
Paper Playtime #26: Winter Fun
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges: Stamp Out 2013
Tando Creative Challenges: Let's Sparkle

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Bombshell's December Sketch Challenge!

Here's the sketch that I created for Bombshell's December Sketch challenge!



Here's the card I created using the sketch!


The card features Bombshell Stamps' Girl's Ruin and Holiday Accessory sets. The Santa hat from the Holiday Accessory set was stamped onto white cardstock and onto a Post-It note which was used as a mask. The Pin-Up in a Shoe from the Girl's Ruin set was stamped over the masked Santa hat, the mask was removed, and the image was colored with Copic markers.

The patterned papers are from a 6x6 holiday pad by Little Yellow Bicycle. I used old Emaginations punches for the snowflakes. They were punched from sparkly white metallic white cardstock.

The sentiment, from the Holiday Accessory was stamped onto white cardstock using Onyx Black VersaFine ink, then die cut.

Thanks for visiting today!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Pink Flamingo

After all the holiday fun and hoopla last week, it's no surprise that unlike the fellow below, I am not in the pink. Not even remotely.

What happens chez moi is that when someone gets sick, s/he passes the little bug along to me, and it becomes a big bug. Since my last post, I've been trying to recuperate. I do feel better, though you'd never know it if you were around me. I sound like a coughing frog. Fortunately, I don't think I look like one, but one never knows, do one?

Anyway, here's the spiel about my project. It features Stampotique's Flamingo, who I think is just adorable. I do love flamingos and would like to have some fake plastic ones in my yard. My husband vetoed that. Spoilsport. Sadly, this guy will have to suffice. For now.

Coughing up a lung whilst coloring wreaks havoc upon said coloring, so I opted to make an almost completely paper-pieced, punched, and die cut card.

Here it is!


I stamped Flamingo several times onto pink, yellow, and greenish-bluish patterned papers from a variety of My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 6x6 pads. They're perfect for this sort of thing because they feature some smallish patterns. Once stamped, the various parts were fussy-cut and edged with black marker. Some parts, like the wing and the water ripples, were colored with Copic markers between coughs. Other parts, like his raised foot and beak, were coated with a few layers of Clear Glaze Gelly pen to make 'em dimensional and shiny. More patterned papers were cut, edged with Distress ink, and layered to form a scene. Then the Flamingo was pieced back together.

A punched sun and a whole mess of colored die-cut clouds were added.

I was going to make the Flamingo into a Santa, but I just wasn't feeling at all merry. So he's just relaxing in the sunlight.

Thanks for visiting today!

This card shall be entered in the following challenges.
Stampotique Designer's Challenge #128: Anything Goes
365 Cards, Day 338: Word Wednesday -- Feathered
Challenges 4 Everybody: Anything Goes
Hobby Cutz Challenges: Make a Scene



Sunday, December 1, 2013

Good News!

 I'm on Cloud Nine and over-the-moon excited that I was chosen to be part of Stampotique's Design Team for the first part of 2014! Woo-hoo!

Here's the roster!
Designer's Blog Team:
Janet Klein    http://Veralanestudio.com
Roc Nicholas    http://www.whatsuproc.blogspot.com
Coby van Willgenburg    http://cobyskaartenenatcs-coby.blogspot.nl
Sarah Anderson    http://sarahanderson1.blogspot.co.uk
Claudine C.     http://Claudinesartcorner.blogspot.com
Valerie Wilson    http://valeriewilson.blogspot.com
Astrid Stulemeijer    http:/www.assicrafts.blogspot.com

Designer's Challenge Team:
Carol Fox    http://gingernonutsbits.blogspot.co.uk/
Sue Davies    http://suetheiron.blogspot.co.uk/
Kaz Boughton    http://www.kazscraftbits.blogspot.com
Maria Sabina Raita    http://lollyrot-scrapbooking.blogspot.com/
Corrie Herriman    http://MadeByCHook.blogspot.nl
Kathi Rerek    http://kathstales.blogspot.com
Kay Wallace    http://kaywallaceartjournaling.blogspot.com
Samantha Read    http://www.crafty-sam.blogspot.co.uk
France Papillion    http://www.france-papillon.com
Kristen Catalano    http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.com
Tanja Kewel-Neef    http://www.stempelspielplatz.de/
Nellie van Leeuwen    http://dutchstamptramp.wordpress.com/
Kim Howard    http://basementstamper.blogspot.com
Arwen McCullen    http://arwen-mccullen.blogspot.de/  
Magda Polakow    http://littleeverland.blogspot.com/
Jackie Payne    http://scrapbangwallop.blogspot.co.uk
Gez Butterworth    http://gezzybscraftybits.blogspot.com/

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Here's a tag to prove how happy I am!
 My tag uses one of the kitties from Stampotique's Line-Up with hand drawn clouds. The sentiment, "Good things, good thoughts" seemed appropriate.