Tuesday, April 29, 2014

My PaperArtsy {3UP} Project

Here's the snippet of my PaperArtsy {3UP} project that I posted yesterday.


As you read yesterday, I received Eclectica/Darcy 08 rubber stamp set. One of the buildings in this stamp set has a roof part that reminds me of a funnel. I had some Prima Water Pipe Part Junkyard Findings, which contained a faucet. An idea began to form. I knew that the project would end up being a bit bulky and dimensional, so I decided to make a flat canvas wall hanging.

Now I'll go into excruciating detail about the construction of my {3UP} canvas. Go grab yourself a cuppa and get comfy. 

My mother is a travel agent and ends up with lots of maps and brochures. She rotates the older material to the basement, but was running out of room, so I went over to help clear some space. Most of the brochures went into recycling and I claimed the majority of the maps to upcycle.

I knew that I didn't want the canvas texture, so my first step was to adhere one of these old maps to the canvas.  Pea Coat and Eggplant Fresco Finish Acrylic paint were watered down to increase their translucence, painted onto the map-coated canvas, and heat set.


If you're eagle-eyed, you'll notice that the map is of the Balkans and is seriously out of date.

A thin layer of Fresco Finish Crackle Glaze was spread over the outside 2” perimeter of the canvas, and heat set. Nougat Fresco Finish Acrylic was painted over the Crackle Glaze, heat set, then lightly sanded to reveal more cracks. Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord Distress inks were sponged onto the edges.

The Gears stamp from Darcy Eclectica 02 rubber stamp set was repeatedly stamped onto the cracked surface using Watering Can Archival ink. The innards of the gears were colored using a Chipped Sapphire Distress marker. 


Each of the three buildings from the Eclectica/Darcy 08 rubber stamp set was stamped twice with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock, colored with Copic markers, fussy-cut, and edged with black markers. The gears, windows, clock, doors, and flowers from the duplicate set were fussy-cut, edged, and pieced over their counterparts. The windows and clock face were coated with several layers of Clear Gelly Roll Glaze pen to give them a glassy look.
The stars from the stamp set were repeatedly stamped onto a piece of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock by Strathmore using Dandelion Memento ink, colored with Copic markers, coated with VersaMarker, and heat embossed with Filigree Clear Detail embossing powder. The cardstock was painted with watered down Pea Coat and Eggplant Fresco Finish Acrylic paints and heat set. The embossed stars resisted most of the paint. Excess paint was gently cleaned off of the stars using a baby wipe.   Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord Distress inks were sponged over the Punchinella (stars), Gears, and Time Travel stencils by The Crafter’s Workshop.
The painted cardstock was adhered to the center of the canvas. Washi tape was adhered to the base of the cardstock and the pieced buildings were adhered over the Washi tape. 
I wanted to frame my scene and also wanted to use some of the Water Pipe Parts Junkyard Findings, but was flummoxed. Then I remembered that I had seen a cool Steampunk piece on Pinterest that used drinking straws as piping. Better yet, I had some in the house! 
I grabbed a handful of Bendy plastic striped drinking straws. I first tried to paint them with Brushed Pewter Distress paint, but that didn't work. So I grabbed a second handful, primed 'em with black gesso, and left them to dry. They were then painted with Brushed Pewter Distress paint, propped up on toothpicks that were stuck into styrofoam, separated by pencils, and allowed to dry. 
The painted straws were bent and adhered around the stamped scene via slicing and splicing. A pipe and faucet from Water Pipe Parts Junkyard Findings by Prima were added in the same manner. A slit was cut in the straw and the pipe parts were inserted.


A piece of Mixed Media cardstock was painted with Pea Coat and Eggplant Fresco Finish Acrylic paints and heat set. A thin layer of Crackle Glaze was spread over it, heat set, and Nougat Fresco Finish Acrylic was painted over it, and heat set. The sentiment was stamped with Majestic Blue VersaFine ink and heat embossed with Clear Detail embossing powder.
A gazillion gears were adhered along the right side of the canvas. An Ideology  Timepiece and Game Spinner were added to the lower left. The sentiment panel was popped onto multiple layers of foam adhesive and adhered to the top left corner. Pewter Treasure Gold was used to edge the piece and to highlight the edges of the gears. And finally, here's the photo of the finished canvas!
 
Thanks for visiting today and for reading all of that!

Monday, April 28, 2014

My second time doing PaperArtsy's {3Up}!

As you might know, last year I discovered and became a huge fan of PaperArtsy. Then I got lucky and participated in the last PaperArtsy {3Up}, which was to celebrate PaperArtsy's 10th Anniversary.

You might be asking, "What is {3Up}"? Here's an explanation from Leandra, the PaperArtsy Queen!
"What is #3UP?  If you are a new follower to the PA blog, you can read about our first 3UP here, but in short, as the semester comes to a conclusion at the end of the 4 month period, we end up with a spare week before the new semester commences."
Recently PA blog readers were asked to submit applications along with a request to showcase our choice of the newest stamp sets that were released in February. I asked to use Eclectica/Darcy 08 stamp set, which is a whimsical Steampunk set. The applications were to be sent in by March 22nd and we were to be notified by email. I didn't hear anything, so I went back to business as usual.

Then my mail arrived at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 10th. Imagine my surprise to find a packet from England containing the wonderful Eclectica/Darcy 08 stamp set. Imagine my further surprise to discover that I needed to have my project finished, photos taken, and blurbs written by that Sunday, April 13th. And do you know what? I pulled it off AND liked my project!

Here's a teaser photo of my project, featuring PaperArtsy's Eclectica/Darcy 08 stamp set, PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic paints, and four odd things from my pantry.


Now click on over to the PaperArtsy Blog to see more of my project and the other projects from other lucky {3Uppers}!

Come back here tomorrow and there will be a full blog post about my project that will be tediously verbose and contain more photos!


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Spring Birthday Card!

I made this card for my Mom's birthday when I realized that she really did not like cats. I had always thought that her dislike was a pretense. I was surprised to discover that she really does not like cats and is actually a bit frightened of them. Very odd. My Dad didn't like cats either, which further supports the theory that they got me at Gimbels (a very old, very defunct department store).

Mom really does like birds as did my Dad. So I figured that she would like this card. I was right.

Here it is!

The images are all from Paper Artsy's JOFY Collection 15. The birds, branch, leaves, flowers, and bird house were all stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink, colored with Copic markers, and fussy cut. By the way, my husband and daughter have blue eyes. I have brown eyes. Hence the coloration for the birds' eyes. :D

The patterned papers are from scraps of hoarded Basic Grey papers. I used Memory Box's Grass and Delicate Chain dies. Part of Poppy Stamps' Antique Lamp die was used as the pole for the sentiment, which is a justjohanna/Odd Bird Planet stamp.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges: Big Stamp (that branch is really BIG)

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Bombshell Sketch Challenge!

Whereas I did post my take on Bombshell's blog for the sketch I created for April's Bombshell Sketch Challenge, I forgot to post it on my own blog!

So, here's the sketch:

 If you like the sketch, feel free to take it. Flip it, flop it, and make it your own. Then enter your project into the challenge on Bombshell's Blog. You don't have to use Bombshell's stamps, but if you do, you'll receive an additional chance to win a $20.00 gift certificate to Bombshell's store!

Here's my take on the sketch using Bombshell's Homeward Bound set.

The ship from the Homeward Bound set was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. 

The patterned papers are all from the Maritime 6x6 pad by 7 Gypsies. The edges of all the papers were distressed using Tonic Distressing tool, then a scissors' edge. When they were suitably shready, they were sponged with Distress ink. 

The sentiment from the Homeward Bound set was stamped onto a scrap leftover from one of the layers. I freehanded the banner, then cut it out, and distressed it. The card was finished with hoarded Black Raindots.

Thanks for visiting today!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Oh Gnome! Not another bad Gnome pun?

Yes, indeed. I had to do it. I do love my puns and any sort of word play. And I had a new gnome to play with, specifically Gnomey Peter, a digi stamp from Make It Crafty, the sponsor April's challenges at the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group. 

This week's challenge at the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group is "Anything Goes and/or Christmas". You should go visit my teammates blogs to check out their work and should also play along with the challenge and share your project for a chance to win a prize from Make It Crafty!

So without further ado, here my bad pun card!


Gnomey Peter was resized in PhotoElements and printed out onto Neenah cardstock using my laser printer. He was colored with Copic markers, then fussy-cut.

Since I had to make a holiday card and since that raised finger made me think he was issuing a warning, I decided to play a bit with the song Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. I googled and after a while, finally found free downloadable sheet music for the song. PhotoElements was used to erase the existing song lyrics and I typed in a substitution. The music was printed out onto regular old printer paper and airbrushed with Copic markers to make it all matchy, matchy with my coloring. Some patterned paper from an old My Mind's Eye 6x6 Christmas-themed pad was adhered to the bottom to "ground" Gnomey Peter. Pine Needles Distress ink was used along the edges of the papers and the piece was adhered to a green card. The final touch was to add ancient transfer type to a Talk Bubbles die-cut by Simon Says Stamp. 

Thanks for visiting today! 

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Postcard!

Sue is hosting this week's Stampotique Designers Challenge, which is "Postcards". If you'd like to play along with this challenge, visit Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and be sure to read the rules, so that you'll have the chance to win a great prize!!!
This is what Sue said about her challenge.
"Good morning everyone, it's Sue here and I'm delighted to be hosting this week's challenge. I'm sure that every crafter has had that block where their mojo has packed its bags and gone on holiday. I know I've sat and looked at a sheet of card and had no ideas at all. One way I've got to get over this is just to decide what size or shape I want to make. So I pick a card, a tag, or in this case a postcard. Postcards are great fun and it's amazing how much you can get on a 6x4 (inches) area. So this week I would like you to make a postcard. Have Fun!"
Here's my postcard, that features the fabulous, fun, and new Smitten Moustache Monsters stamp.


Being me, I took the postcard bit too literally and made a postcard of Manhattan, aka "The City" to us locals. Also being me, I googled until I found a photo that I liked AND was public domain. Photographers work hard for their living and their photographs are both their livelihood and their art.

Oops. Guess I digressed again. I do have a habit of doing that, don't I? Anyway, I found a suitable photo of the NYC skyline, resized it, lightened it up a bit in PhotoElements, added a slightly altered quote which I should have attributed to Stevie Wonder, and printed it out onto Neenah cardstock.    

Smitten Moustache Monsters was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock, colored with Copic markers, and was fussy-cut. Several layers of Clear Gelly Roll Glaze pen were applied to the monster's horns and Glossy Accents was added to their eyes, which didn't hurt them at all. Smitten Moustache Monsters have a high pain threshold. Plus these monsters are rather dapper, a bit vain, and understood that the clear dimensional adhesive would enhance their looks.

The Tim Holtz's Commute Tissue tape by Idea-ology features one tape that lists New York City areas, streets, and avenues, which made it absolutely perfect for my postcard. I measured the width of the tape and using a stamp positioner, stamped Smitten Moustache Monsters so that they would appear to stand upon the tape, which would keep the hearts above their head in a clear area of the photo.

The Commute Tissue tape was adhered to the bottom of the photo, then the fussy-cut Smitten Moustache Monsters were adhered over their counterparts on the postcard. The hearts over their heads were colored with Copic markers. Then I realized that the photo was a smidge smaller than the 4" x 6" postcard size, so my postcard was first sponged with Black Soot Distress ink, then matted with the appropriately sized black cardstock.

By the way, have you checked out Stampotique's most recent release? If not, you should click on over and check out Stampotique's fantastic new stamps!

Thanks for visiting today!

Color Me Creative Challenges: Anything Goes
• Simply Less Is More: Make Me Smile
Creative Knockouts: Furry or Feathery


Saturday, April 19, 2014

Meet "Earth" from SCACD's The Elements collection

Have you seen SCACD's The Elements rubber stamp collection yet? Here's what the web site says about this gorgeous collection!
"The four forces of nature served as inspiration for this collection. The essence of water, wind, fire, and earth are captured in these female images thru collaboration with SCACD Artist Carmen Medlin."
Here's my first card using Earth.


Earth was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. I gave in to my inner-Virgo-control-freak-tendencies and googled iguanas to find out about their coloration. I also googled until I could identify the flower on the left side of her face. They're Anthurium and have a variety of colorations, though most are red. They have a waxy shiny look, which I definitely did not capture.

But I digress. Shocking. Just shocking. So she was colored with Copic markers. Since she's got Hibiscus and Anthurium flowers, an iguana, and a snake — all of which are decidedly tropical,  I decided to go with papers from the sadly diminishing Tropical Travelogue 8x8 pad by Graphic 45.

SCACD's Contempo Compass Statement Corner die was used to die-cut metallic black cardstock and green patterned paper from the aforementioned pad, which were pieced back together to adorn the lower right hand corner of the card. One of the two dies included in SCACD's Classic Corners die set was used to die-cut black metallic cardstock and positioned on the upper left of the stamped panel.

Soft Pink and Mint Green rhinestones by KaiserCraft were used to finish the card.

Thanks for visiting today!

Friday, April 18, 2014

April Showers

It's Friday, which means that it's time for me to post my card for the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group! Our sponsor this month is Make It Crafty, so be sure to join April's challenges for a chance to win a prize from them. Even better, they've offered up an extra prize for an additional draw for those who use a MIC image.  Such a great prize so make sure you get those alcohol markers out and get colouring!

This week's challenge at the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group is a photo inspiration.


Here's the photo:

My card also qualifies for the current Stampotique Designers Challenge, which is April Showers! Here's what Carol, this week's hostess, had to say about her challenge.
" I love the early months of the year and to me I only have to hear the month April and instantly in my head the song from Bambi is playing, and I am now humming, drip, drip, drip, little April showers, so use water, rain and April showers as your inspiration this week"
Here's my card, using Yum Yum and Rain Drops.

Yum Yum was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and onto Eclipse Tape. The Eclipse Tape version was fussy-cut to be used as a mask. The umbrella stencil from the Accessories 6x6 stencil by Tando Creative was positioned over him so that the umbrella's handle was atop the seed held by Yum Yum, then the umbrella was traced into position. Rain Drops was stamped repeatedly using London Fog Memento ink.

Yum Yum, all the Rain Drops, and the sky between the drops were colored with Copic markers with colors (very loosely) taken from the photo inspiration (above).Yum Yum's mask was adhered into position and the area above the umbrella was covered with Post-It notes. TG01 Copic marker was used to airbrush the background behind Yum Yum.

The umbrella stencil from the Accessories 6x6 stencil was traced onto patterned paper from an old 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye, fussy cut, shaded with Copic markers, shaped, then smooshed into a VersaMark inkpad, and heat set with two layers of Clear Detail embossing powder. This umbrella was adhered into place using dimensional foam adhesive.

Several layers of Clear Gelly Roll Glaze pen was added to Yum Yum's eyes, the umbrella handle, the embossed umbrella, and each of the Rain Drops. Since you can't see the effect of the Clear Gelly Roll Glaze pen in the photo above, here's a close-up photo, which was taken at an odd angle.


The patterned papers are from an old 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. All layers were edged with either Victorian Violet or Peacock Feathers Distress inks. The sentiment was computer generated, die-cut, sponged with Pumice Stone Distress ink, mounted on another die-cut, then adhered to the card.

Thanks for visiting today.

This card shall be entered into the following challenges:
Charisma Challenge #8: April Showers
Creative Knockouts #33: Furry or Feather Friends
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Animal Antics


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Stampotique New Release Blog Hop!

If you are a fan of our Facebook page you may have already gotten a sneak peek of some of the new images we are excited to be releasing today.  We hope you will join us for the blog hop to see a variety of those images.

There are lots of new images from our favorite stamp designers and we are proud to welcome one of our newest stamp designers, Magda Polakow. You have seen tons of her fabulous creations as part of Stampotique's design team.  We think you will find a few stamps that you must have!

Join us through the blog hop for your chance to win some random goodies – we will be randomly drawing two winners for a $30 gift certificate for Stampotique stamps at the Stampotique online store.  The new stamps should be available over there now.

Also, make sure you hop all the way through for an exciting announcement on our Stampotique Designers Blog for an additional chance to win some goodies and some additional recognition as an artist.

You should have arrived to my blog from Kay Wallace's blog, if you did not arrive from there you may want to start the hop at the Stampotique Designer's Challenge blog.   

When you are finished visiting my blog you will want to hop on over to Coby vanWillingenburg's blog, where you're sure to see something fabulous.

Here's my card, which represents my future. It features the kitties from Kitty Squad (#4041Q) and Verdette (#9260).



 Kitty Squad (#4041Q) was stamped several times using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Verdette (#9260) was also stamped the same ink. All images were colored with Copic markers and fussy-cut. 

The patterned paper is from the Miss Caroline 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. The Grand Madison Window die is from Poppy Stamps. The bird die is from Memory Box. I don't recall who made the branch die. Bad me. 

I was going to use the sentiment "You say Cat Lady like it's a bad thing." Sadly, including thirteen cats in a scene took more room than I thought, so I went with Plan B and used my trusty label maker.

Here's my second card that features Happy, Happy, Happy (#6175T).
 
Happy, Happy, Happy (#6175T) was stamped onto a sheet of ledger patterned paper from an old 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. Surprisingly, it was colored with Copic markers. The balance of the patterned papers are from The Life of the Party 6x6 pad by Basic Grey. All edges were sponged with Walnut Stain Distress ink!

Now that you've seen my two cards, thanks for visiting, and  hop on over to Coby vanWillingenburg's blog!
  
Have fun hopping, we will be pulling the random winners of the blog at our next challenge on April 23, 2014.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Celebrating Spring!

It finally feels like spring here in the Northeast. The weather is warmer, the trees, bushes, and flowers are beginning to bloom. The bunnies and chipmunks are back. Best of all,  the birds are in the breeding plumage and singing!

Here's a tall card featuring SCACD's Folk Heart Bird digital stamp.


Folk Heart Bird was resized in PhotoElements and printed onto Neenah cardstock using my laser printer. She was colored using Shinhan Touch Twin Brush markers and Copic markers. Shinhan Touch Twin markers are new to me and I wanted to check 'em out. I used three of them for the lavender/purple parts of the bird. The balance of the bird was colored with Copic markers. she was then fussy cut and put aside.

SCACD's Breezy Branches Statement Corner and Classic Timepiece dies were used to die-cut white cardstock. The branches and leaves on the Breezy Branches Statement Corner  were colored with Copic markers. The flourishes and hands of the clock face of the Classic Timepiece were popped out and colored with Copic markers. The rest of the clock was colored with the Shinhan Touch Twin markers. The flourishes and hands were placed back into the clock face. Some Pink Rhinestones by Kaisercraft were added to the clock face to add a bit o' bling!

Blue cardstock was used as the card front. The colored Breezy Branches Statement Corner die-cut was adhered to the upper right. The clock was "dangled" with thread from the branches of the tree. The bird was positioned on top of the clock.

A Memory Box Grass die was used to die-cut white cardstock and was then colored with Copic markers. The grass was adhered to the bottom of the blue card front. White cardstock was colored pink, yellow, and orange, punched with a hand-held flower punch, then shaped. The flowers were adhered to the tree, in the "air", to the clock, and to the grass using ScraPerfect Best Glue Ever. An old Paper Shaper dragonfly punch was used to punch white cardstock, colored with the Shinhan Touch markers, then brushed with several layers of Clear Wink of Stella Glitter pen. The wings were folded up and the dragonflies were adhered to the card front.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges!
A Little Bit Crafty Challenge: The Birds and Bees
Animal Friends Challenges: Springtime
Crafter's Café Challenge Blog: Spring
Crafting for All Seasons: Dies and Punches
Creative Card Crew: Spring

Friday, April 11, 2014

Keep Calm and...

It's Friday, which means that it's time for me to post my card for the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group! Our sponsor this month is Make It Crafty, so be sure to join April's challenges for a chance to win a prize from them. Even better, they've offered up an extra prize for an additional draw for those who use a MIC image.  Such a great prize so make sure you get those alcohol markers out and get colouring!

This week's challenge at the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group is "Keep Calm". Now I have a bunch of images that I could have used that would have reinforced the theme, but I went with something a bit different.

Here it is!

The Wine Bottle and Glass stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie's Wine Me, Dine Me set was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock and colored with Copic markers. I debated adding my personal wine label, Grapes of Kath, but resisted temptation as the image was already colored to my liking.

Believe it or not, I had "Keep Calm and Carry On " Washi tape, so that set my color palette. I found a wonderful gradient grey and white patterned paper in the Elegant 6x6 pad by Authentique that worked really well with the Washi tape and the colored image panel.

"Keep Calm", the matted image panel, and "and" were adhered the patterned paper. I grabbed a very, very, very old pack of alphabet rub-ons by Making Memories (company defunct) and used that for the "Drink Wine" part of the sentiment. "Good" was from the Christmas Remnants rub-ons by Idea-ology.

I matted the layers, added ribbon, tied on a grapes charm, and called it done!

Thanks for visiting today!

Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday Challenges: Anything Goes
 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Lovebirds!

Magda is hosting this week's Stampotique Designers Challenge, which is "Use a Pen". If you'd like to play along with this challenge, visit Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and be sure to read the rules, so that you'll have the chance to win a great prize!!!
This is what Magda said about her challenge.
"I always have a pen or pencil with me. Always with notebook full of drawings and doodles. I'm sure not only me! I would love to see a pen in your project. It can be a drawing, doodles, or simply some journaling. It might be even a single word. I'm looking forward to see your entries for this challenge!"
Apparently I misunderstood this challenge. I thought I was just supposed to use markers. Maybe that was wishful thinking on my part since I rarely (never) doodle and also never use my own handwriting in any of my work. I can't imagine doing so. It's not that I don't have good handwriting. I do. I just get really, totally, absolutely neurotic about my writing or doodling. If it's not perfect, I re-do it. Over, and over, and over, ad nauseum. Literally. Oh well. It's not easy being me.

So my project uses Copic markers. I tried to do a lot of blending to show my m/bad Copic skillz. You can be the judge of that.

Here my card that uses Stampotique's Lovebirds stamp.

Lovebirds was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers, based on the coloration of the Fischer's Lovebird. Since the birds are so colorful, I kept the design simple and used a sheet of patterned paper from Graphic 45's Tropical Travelogue 8x8 pad, some cool gold and green mesh I've had forever, a die-cut, and some gemstones.

If you're interested about how I found out about loveirds,  I "googled" for information, as I often do when I'm stymied.

Wikipedia states:
"Lovebirds are 13 to 17 centimeters in length and 40 to 60 grams in weight. They are among the smallest parrots, characterized by a stocky build, a short blunt tail, and a relatively large, sharp beak. Wild-type lovebirds are mostly green with a variety of colors on their upper body, depending on the species. Their name stems from the parrots' strong, monogamous pair bonding and the long periods which paired birds spend sitting together."
So apparently lovebirds are a kind of parrot. That was my new fact for the day. I've always loved parrots and especially love seeing them in the wild. That's why I wanted to get Stampotique's Lovebirds stamp.

Here are some stories for you to read if you're bored.

When Beanie, our first cat passed at the age of eighteen, our daughter, aged nine at the time, told us,
"I've been doing some research. Our next pet should be a parrot since they live up to eighty years and I don't want to go through this again."
Here's another parrot story. My parents used to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends, one of whose birthday was January 1st. My parents and their friends liked to partake of spirits and that particular New Year's Eve, they did just that. They woke up the next day and my dad looked out the bedroom window, only to see a parrot in their crabapple tree. At first he thought he was a wee bit hung over and was hallucinating. So he called us all into the room and we told him we saw the parrot too and since we were young children, he believed us. So he decided he was being pranked and called the birthday boy to congratulate him on a great joke.  The birthday boy claimed innocence. So we concluded that someone's parrot escaped...

So there you have it.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:
Catered Crop Challenges: Put a Bird on It.
Hobbycutz Challenges: Flora and Fauna
The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge #67: All Creatures Great and Small

Monday, April 7, 2014

SCACD Elements Rubber Stamp Blog Hop!

SCACD is releasing four rubber stamps which are collectively called The Elements Collection. The four forces of nature served as inspiration for this collection. The essence of water, wind, fire, and earth are captured in these female images thru collaboration with SCACD Artist Carmen Medlin.

SCACD's fabulous design team, along with amazing guest designers, has created an inspiring blog hop showcasing SCACD's new rubber stamps. If you missed part of the hop list, check out all the details at the Store Blog today!

If you live in the U.S., you can now purchase The Elements Collection at SCACD. American and international customers can purchase SCACD's fabulous Digital Stamps at SCACD as well.

If you live outside of the U.S., Quixotic Paperie is your source for SCACD's rubber stamps, including the new release, and for SCACD's incredible dies.

You should have arrived here from Penny's blog, where she no doubt wowed you with a wonderful project! 

Here's my altered notebook featuring Wind, one of the The Elements Collection.

Front Cover

Inside Front Cover and pen using the Feather stamp, that comes with
Wind.

Inside spread with the pen in its place. 

Here follows my incredibly verbose description of the creation of the notebook. If I were you, I'd just skip ahead to the next stop on the hop, which is Susan's blog.

Wind was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers. I extended the forest scene at the base of the stamp horizontally. The colored image was fussy-cut, then edged with a black marker to avoid those ghastly white edges that I abhore. Wind was set aside while I continued to work on the notebook.

A while back Target carried a wonderful line of spiral-bound kraft colored notebooks. These notebooks were so easy to alter. All you needed to do was to take off the front and back covers, decorate, and then reassemble! So I stocked up on them, which was a good thing because they're discontinued. 

As stated above, the covers were removed, tissue tape was placed over the canvas portion of the covers to mask them, then the covers were painted with Honey Dew, Tinned Peas, Moonlight, and Lake Wanaka Fresco Finish Acrylic paint. Each layer was heat set. The front cover received special treatment, as was its due. Tinned Peas Fresco Finish acrylic paint was lightly sponged over the Sketch Grid stencil by The Crafter's Workshop, the Gothic Romance stencil by TCW, and the Leaf Frame stencil by TCW. The piece was heat-set every time I switched out a stencil.

The inside front cover and both sides of the back cover were painted with Honey Dew Fresco Finish Acrylic paint. A piece of cling film was scrunched up and used to apply Tinned Peas FF paint over the Honey Dew paint. Again, the paint was heat set.

The tissue tape was pulled off the front cover only to discover that some paint seeped under the tissue tape on the front cover. Bummer. However, there was an easy fix. I grabbed some Washi tape, colored it with a Copic marker that I had used on the Wind image, and applied the tape over the black canvas and discovered that the canvas was not straight. Oh well. It wasn't my mistake and it didn't make me nutsoid, so I let it ride.

I retrieved my colored and fussy-cut Wind piece and used Matte Glue and Seal to adhere it to the painted cover. A Compass Coin, a Game Spinner, and two Adornment wings, all by Idea-ology, were adhered to the cover using Best Glue Ever by ScraPerfect. A Word Band was painted with Moonlight and Eggplant Fresco Finish Paint, then the paint was wiped off the surface, but remained in the debossed words. The Word Band was adhered using Best Glue Ever by ScraPerfect, then colored twine was used to attach three feather charms.

I found a suitable quote online, printed it out onto parchment paper, die-cut it, and edged it with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink. The feather stamp, available with Wind was stamped with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink and colored with Copic markers. The die-cut was adhered to the inside front cover.

The inside back cover had a pen which was attached with a loop. The cartridge of the pen was kraft-colored cardboard. I painted it the same way I had painted the inside and back covers and heat set it. I flipped the feather stamp rubber-side up, inked it with the Chipped Sapphire Distress ink, and rolled the pen across the stamp. I didn't get perfect impressions, but I thought they looked cool, so they stayed. I colored the feathers with a China Blue Distress marker. 

Now that you've seen my project and read my dissertation, Susan's blog is your next stop! I'm quite sure she has some wonderful eye candy for you!

If you've gotten lost along the way or want to start over, Alex's blog is the first stop!

I shall enter this project in the following challenge:
Moxie Fab World: Stylin' with Stencils!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Boing! Boing! Spring has sprung!

It's Friday, which means that it's time for me to post my card for the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group! Our sponsor this month is Make It Crafty, so be sure to join April's challenges for a chance to win a prize from them! This week's challenge at the Outlawz Alcohol Marker Group is "Spring has Sprung" and don'tcha know that I had the perfect stamp for it!

Here's my card, using the Steampunk Birds sheet from Chocolate Baroque.

The two-birds-on-springs and the small-bird-on-a-spring were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock. I decided that the birds-on-springs were bluebirds-of-happiness, so they were colored as Eastern Bluebirds using Copic markers The grass and cloudy sky were also created with Copic markers.

The patterned paper is from the Kioshi 6x6 pad by Basic Grey. It's an old pad, but I love the colors and patterns!

Vellum was die-cut with the Talk Bubbles dies by Simon Says Stamp and the "Boing, Boing" sentiment was stamped onto it with Palette Hybrid ink.

SCACD's Breezy Branches Statement Corner die was used to die-cut white cardstock, which was then colored with Copic markers. The card was assembled and the die-cut was positioned in the upper right hand corner.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card into the following challenges.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

My Little Friend

Nellie is hosting this week's Stampotique Designers Challenge, which is "A Bit of Humor". If you'd like to play along with this challenge, visit Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and be sure to read the rules, so that you'll have the chance to win a great prize!!!
This is what Nellie said about her challenge.

"I love cards with a wink. They often bring a smile to my face. Stampotique has so many fun stamps to make these cards, images as well as words. So come on, show me, use a bit of humour in your card or project. Who makes me laugh out  the loudest this week?  I am already looking forward to your entries for this challenge!"
Here's my card using Wee Owl and Chessy.

Chessy was stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock. Using my trusty stamp positioner, Wee Owl was stamped on his tail. The images were colored with Copic markers, die-cut using a Die-Namics die, and the background was added with Copic markers. 

The patterned papers are from two of the Collectible 6x6 pads by My Mind's Eye and matted onto silver metallic Bazzill cardstock. The sentiments were computer-generated and added to Talk Bubbles dies by Simon Says Stamp.

The finishing touches were to apply Clear Gelly Glaze pen to Wee Owl's beak,Chessy's
eyes, and Glossy Accents to  Wee Owl's eyes.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Junk It Challenge!

Betz Gibson, Bombshell's Ms. April, has set her challenge for the month. It is "Junk It!". She challenged us to use junk mail, old packaging, etc. to create a project. You can take her challenge and enter your project at Bombshell's Blog. This challenge is open to everyone using any company's stamps. However, if you use Bombshell's stamps, you'll receive an additional chance to win!

Since it's finally spring time and we're enjoying somewhat warmer weather, I decided to make a wall hanging.

Here's my project using the Butterfly Dreams set and recycled corrugated cardboard.


Corrugated cardboard, from a used USPS Priority Mail Box, was die cut using an Alterations Tag die by Sizzix. The Alterations Pediments die was used to die-cut two sets of pediments. The top layer of the tag was pulled off. Then the tag was painted with Sky and Ice Blue Fresco Finish Acrylic paints by Paper Artsy and heat set. The pediments dies were stacked and painted first with Chocolate Pudding and Toffee Fresco Finish Acrylic paint and heat set. A thin layer of Crackle Glaze Fresco Finish was spread over the dry brown paint and heat set. A mixture of Sky and Ice Blue Fresco Finish Acrylic paint was painted over the Crackle Glaze and heat set, which produced lovely cracks. The pediments were sponged with Tree Branch Archival ink from Wendy Vecchi's collection for Ranger.

A scrap of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock by Strathmore and two old fence die-cuts were painted with Chocolate Pudding and Toffee Fresco Finish Acrylic paint and heat set. A thin layer of Crackle Glaze Fresco Finish was spread over the dry brown paint and heat set. Snowflake Fresco Finish Acrylic paint was painted over the brown paint and heat set. The crackled white cardstock was die-cut with a Die-Namics banner die and the sentiment was stamped using Tree Branch Archival ink, which was also sponged along the edges and the back of the die-cut. The fences were stacked to make 'em sturdier.

White cardstock was painted with a combination of A mixture of Sky and Ice Blue Fresco Finish Acrylic paint and heat set. Three butterflies from Bombshell's Butterfly Dreams set were stamped onto the painted cardstock using Jet Black Archival ink. The same butterflies were stamped two times onto Neenah cardstock, colored with Copic markers, and both their bodies and the butterflies minus their antennae were fussy-cut. The butterflies bodies were adhered over their counterparts on the fussy-cut butterflies, which were then parts of the butterflies were adhered to the painted cardstock. Their wings were left adhesive free and not attached to the painted cardstock at this point.

A strip of old fabric paper that I've had in my stash since my days as a Pink Lady at Scraptalk was painted with a combination of Hyde Park, Hey Pesto, and Limelight Fresco Finish Acrylic paint and heat set. This strip was die-cut several times using a Grass die by Memory Box.

The painted cardstock with the butterflies was adhered to the corrugated cardboard tag. The painted grass fabric die cuts were cut down width-wise and layered over the bottom of the tag. The stacked fence die-cut was layered over the grass. The pediment dies were adhered to the top and bottom of the tag, then the sentiment banner was folded and adhered using dimensional foam adhesive. The butterflies' wings were bent upward and adhered using dimensional foam adhesive.

The tag still needed something so colored twine was used to adhere a pocketwatch charm to the bottom and a layered metal flower to the top.

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenges: Anything Goes
Come and Get It Challenges: In The Garden
Frilly and Funkie: Time After Time