Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Naughty or Nice? You decide!

This week's Stampotique Designer's Challenges (#262) is "Naughty or Nice". Here's a blurb about the challenge:
"Have you been naughty or nice this year? Will Santa visit you or are you on the naughty list? Let's see your best "Naughty OR Nice" project this week."
If you'd like the chance to win your choice of $30 worth of Stampotique stamps, you should 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 that great prize!!! Remember to check to see the deadline for all of this month's Stampotique Designers Challenges!

Here's my card featuring Stampotique's Flying Monkey (Janet Klein) and Towering Gifts (Daniel Torrente).


Flying Monkey was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts), colored with Copic markers, fussy-cut, edged with a Black Pitt Artist pen (Faber Castell), and set aside.

Towering Gifts was stamped several times with Tuxedo Black Memento inks. One version was colored with Copics, fussy-cut, and edged. I fussy-cut several of the gifts from the other Towering Gifts stampings, colored them, and edged them. The separate gifts were adhered on top of the full image using dimensional foam adhesive.

Then I got all fiddly. I thought I had a mesh fruit bag in my stash, but apparently I had used it. So I had to go with Plan B. A length of tulle was cut, folded over, and the edges were sewn together badly as I am a horrible seamstress. The upside is that I didn't bleed on the tulle. The Towering Gifts were inserted into the tulle bag, which was tied with red and white Baker's twine.

White cardstock was die-cut with the Puffy Clouds die (Die-namics). Red cardstock was die-cut with the Naughty or Nice die (Cottage Cutz) and Merry Christmas from the Merry, Happy, Christmas, Birthday set (All Occasions).

The clouds were detailed with Copic markers, then adhered to a card front. The sentiments, Flying Monkey, and the sack of Towering Gifts were adhered to the card front. An additional bit of Baker's twine was looped around Flying Monkey's paw and the top of the Towering Gifts sack. The card front was edged with Picket Fence Distress ink (Ranger), then adhered to a #10 card.

You get to decide if Flying Monkey is naughty or nice. Is he stealing the gifts or bringing them somewhere!

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:
Fashionable Stamping Challenges: 'Tis the Season
All Sorts Challenges: Anything Christmas
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges: Anything Goes

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Another Bad Pun. Happy Christmoose!


I apologize for my bad pun but I really couldn't help myself. Really. The aptly named Moose is one of the fabulous digital stamps available at I Brake for Stamps.

Moose was resized in PhotoElements, printed out onto Copic-friendly cardstock with my laser printer, then colored with my Copic markers. I added holly vines and berries to Moose's antlers using very old Christmas-themed rub-ons (QuicKutz).

The image panel was die-cut with one of the dies from the  5x7 Card Creator die set (Spellbinders). The image panel was left in the die and Stormy Sky Distress  and Bundled Sage Distress ink (Ranger) were sponged over the die to create a bordered background around Moose. The die was lifted and the image panel was set aside.

Ancient Christmas-themed patterned paper was edged with Gathered Twigs Distress ink, then layered. Red cardstock was die-cut with the Merry die from the Happy, Birthday, Merry, Christmas Small Words die set (All Occasion). The rest of the letters for the sentiment were die-cut with the Small Alphabet Upper and Lower Case set (All Occasion). The Christmas rub-on set had some little white snowflakes and xxxes, so those were used to add to the sentiment panel and the upper part of the image panel.

The card front was assembled and adhered to a kraft card.

I  Brake for Stamps has a great collection of digital stamps plus a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click on my badge below to be whisked over to I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! Best of all, if you buy something, you can get a 10% discount off of your purchase if you use this code: SAVE10KATHI!


Thanks for visiting today!

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Thank You Fairy Much!

Here's my card with Dancing with Dragonflies from the wonderful Natural Beauties Collection of rubber stamps by Carmen Medlin Designs available at I Brake for Stamps.


Dancing with Dragonflies was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) onto white cardstock and was colored with Copic markers. Blue Stardust Glitter pen was used to add a glittery touch to the dragonfly in Dancing with Dragonflies' hair, her anklet, and the body of the dragonfly that she's holding.

Patterned paper was layered and Dancing with Dragonflies was adhered. A Thank You rub-on (Basic Grey) was added to a pink die-cut (Memory Box), which was then adhered. The card front was adhered to a pink card and I called it done.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click on my badge below to be whisked over to I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! Best of all, if you buy something, you can get a 10% discount off of your purchase if you use this code: SAVE10KATHI!


Thanks for visiting today!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Steampunk Thanks Card


Here's a thank you card that I created with Steampunk Peg, a Rick St. Dennis digital stamp exclusively available at I Brake for Stamps.

Steampunk Peg was resized in PhotoElements, then printed out onto Copic-friendly cardstock with my laser printer. Steampunk Peg was colored with Copic markers, then several layers of Clear Gelly Glaze pen (Sakura) were added to the skull and dagger, her earrings, and her brooch to add glossy dimension to those elements.

The image panel was matted with one of the patterned paper from the Steampunk Debutante 8x8 pad (Graphic 45), which was edged with Black Soot Distress ink (Ranger). The same pad supplied the other patterned papers which were also edged with Black Soot Distress ink then layered.

 Gold metallic cardstock was die-cut with my Steampunk Corner die (La-La Land), Thanks (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Mini Gears (Memory Box), and the Gears corner from the Set of Three Corners (All Occasion). The Gears Corner die-cut was adhered over the horizontal strip, then the image panel was adhered. The card front then was adhered to a grey card, and the Steampunk Corner, Mini Gears, and the sentiment were adhered to finish the card.

I Brake for Stamps has a great selection of Rick St. Dennis digital stamps, plus a ginormous collection of fabulous rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click on my badge below to be whisked over to I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! Best of all, if you buy something, you can get a 10% discount off of your purchase if you use this code: SAVE10KATHI!


Thanks for visiting today!

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Stampotique Word-Up Weekend!

Stampotique's Facebook Group has started "Word-Up Weekends" where we share projects created with Stampotique's many Words, Phrases, Letters, and Numbers.

I've finally gotten a chance to play along with this card featuring Word Collage (Amy Wilson-Wellenstein) and the Fairy Queen from Peace and Love with Words on the Side.


Here it is! It's rather bright, but I'm trying very hard to get out of my usual blue, purple color palette.


The Word Collage was stamped with Onyx Black VersaFine ink (Imagine Crafts) on 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock (Strathmore) and heat embossed with sparkly Galaxy Black embossing powder (Sparkle and Sprinkle). The cardstock was spritzed with water and several colors of Brusho Crystal Colours (Colourcraft) were sprinkled onto the water and misted with water to make the powders move and spread. This process was repeated until I was happy with the color coverage, then the piece was heat set. When it was totally dry, I scored lines around the edges to facilitate tearing, then tore the cardstock, and tattered the edges with a Distress Tool (Tonic Studios).

The Fairy Queen was stamped onto the excess Brusho-colored cardstock with Jet Black Archival ink (Ranger), onto Copic-friendly cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts), and onto white glitter paper (American Crafts) with Palette Noir Hybrid ink (Stewart Superior). The Fairy Queen's body was fussy-cut from the Brusho-colored cardstock, her head was fussy-cut from the Copic-friendly cardstock, and her wings were cut from the glitter paper.

Distress Markers (Ranger) were used to color the leaves and the color on the Fairy Queen's dress. Copic markers were used to color head, then the crown was enhanced with several layers of Clear Gelly Glaze pen (Sakura). A Black Spica Glitter pen (Copic) was used to go over the word "love" in the Fairy Queen's hair and to add a beauty mark to her face. A black Sharpie pen was used to trace the detail on her wings. All fussy-cut colored parts were edged with a Black Pitt Artist pen (Faber Castell).

A variety of red shades of Brusho Crystal Colours were sprinkled onto a damp scrap of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock, misted with more water, then heat set. An old Primitive Heart punch was used to punch the red cardstock, which was then edged with a Black Pitt Artist pen.

The word panel was matted with black metallic cardstock, then adhered to a sheet from the Vintage Double Dot 6x6 patterned paper pad (Bo-Bunny). The multiple parts of the Fairy Queen were adhered over the Word Collage matted panel, which was then adhered to an A2 card.

Thanks for visiting today!

Friday, November 11, 2016

Got Calm?

Here's my card with the monster from the Got Zen set from the Curiosities Set Five, which is one of the wonderful rubber stamps by Carmen Medlin Designs available at I Brake for Stamps.


The Got Zen monster was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) onto white cardstock and was colored with Copic markers.  A huge cloud was drawn in under the Got Zen monster and a dotty sky background were added with Copic markers.

The image panel was matted with black cardstock and adhered onto a card panel cut from a piece of rainbow-patterned cardstock that I found in my stash. The patterned cardstock was edged with Black Soot Distress ink (Ranger).

A word sticker from the Big Chit-Chat stickers was used as a sentiment and black rhinestones were added to finish the card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click on my badge below to be whisked over to I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! Best of all, if you buy something, you can get a 10% discount off of your purchase if you use this code: SAVE10KATHI!


Thanks for visiting today!

Thursday, November 10, 2016

I Choose a Positive (c)Attitude!

This week's Stampotique Designer's Challenges (#261) is "Human with an Animal Head". Here's a blurb about the challenge:
"The possibilities are endless. Use a human Stampotique body and add a Stampotique animal head. Everything is okay with this challenge as long as you do not digitally alter any of the stamps."
Here's a journal page with Toby (Daniel Torrente) and Nerd Cat (Kira Nichols).



Toby and Nerd Cat were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts). They were both decapitated, colored with Copic markers, fussy-cut, and edged with a Black Pitt Artist pen (Faber Castell) and set aside. 

A journal page was brayered with layers of Dioxazine Purple, Quinacridone Magenta, Cerulean Blue, Ultra Marine Blue, Medium Grey Value 6, and Translucent White Media Fluid Acrylic (MFA) paint (DecoArt, then heat set.

Titanium White Media Fluid Acrylic paint was sponged over certain words and designs from the Text and Texture Transform stencil (Stencil) girl. White Simply Sweet rub-ons (Doodlebug) were used to add the date to the bottom of the page). Big Chit-Chat stickers (Idea-ology) and a capital "C" sticker were added to the page. A strip of washi tape was added horizontally. The page was then coated with a layer of Media Matte Medium to seal the stickers, rub-ons and washi tape.

New Canvas Palette ink (Stewart Superior) was sponged over the Positive Times stencil (Green Pepper Press) and the Jigsaw Puzzle stencil (Stencil Girl), then heat-set.

Toby with Nerd Cat's head was adhered to the page with Media Matte Medium then the page was sealed with another layer of Media Matte Medium. Several layers of Clear Gelly Glaze pen (Sakura) were added to Nerd Cat's to add a touch of glossy dimension.

I think that Toby with Nerd Cat's head looks very hipster. I will also admit that the page itself was inspired by Tuesday's election results.

Thanks for visiting today!

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

VOTE: Revisited


Read My Lips Lucille, from the fabulous and funny Humorous Senior Collection of stamps (I Brake for Stamps)wants you to vote today. Lucille doesn't even care who you vote for, just as long as you vote. After all, if you don't vote, you can't complain.

It's your right and your privilege to vote, so go VOTE now!!!

Lucille was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts). First I colored Lucille's sweater and dress in E43, E42, and E41 Copic markers. I grabbed a knit-textured orphan sock, put some Colorless Blender on it, then pressed it onto the colored sections which created instant knit texture on both the cardigan and dress! I finished coloring Lucille, fussy-cut her, edged her with black marker, and used gold gel pen to add a touch of gold to the buckle of her bag and the clasps of her sweater. Startdust glitter pen (Sakura) was used to add glitter to her glasses, since Lucille does like her glitter!

Blue cardstock and patterned paper from an old 6x6 pad by Authentique was die-cut with two of the dies from the 5x7 Card Creator Nestabilities (Spellbinders) die set. Antique Linen Distress ink (Ranger) was used to cover the white edges of the patterned paper. The image panel was adhered to the matted blue cardstock.

A piece of star-patterned paper from the same pad was die-cut with the Mermaid font die (Die-Versions). The second part of the sentiment was created with blue Dymo tape and my Dymo Caption Maker). 

The tape sentiment was adhered to a 3.75" x 5.75" piece of patterned paper from the same 6x6 patterned paper pad. The matted image panel was adhered atop the Dymo tape sentiment and the die-cut letters were added to the top. The letters didn't stand out enough, so I used a fine tip Multi-Liner (Copic) to outline the die-cut letters. The edges of the panel were sponged with Fired Brick Distress ink then matted onto a piece of  4" x 6" navy cardstock.

You really ought to go check out  Humorous Senior Collection of stamps and all the other great stamps at I Brake For Stamps. Click on my badge below to be whisked over there to check out their fabulous images! Best of all, if you buy something, use this code: SAVE10KATHI  and you'll get 10% off your purchase.


Thanks for visiting today! BTW, if you thought you've seen this before, you have. :D

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Twinkie is My Favorite Martian

This week's Stampotique Designer's Challenges (#260) is "Outer Space". Here's a blurb about the challenge:
Whether you're looking to the stars or flying across the sky in a space ship, show us your best outer space project for this challenge.
If you'd like the chance to win your choice of $30 worth of Stampotique stamps, you should 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 that great prize!!! Remember to check to see the deadline for all of this month's Stampotique Designers Challenges!

Here's my card with Stampotique's Twinkie (Daniel Torrente), who is now a Martian.


Twinkie was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts), colored with Copic markers, fussy-cut, and edged with a Black Pitt Artist pen (Faber Castell). Twinkie's shoes and outfit were painted with a wash of  Silver Media Fluid Acrylic (MFA) paint (DecoArt). His head was pierced and two jewelry finding thingies were inserted into his head to become antennae. Twinkie's eyes were coated with  Media Liquid Glass (DecoArt), then was set aside while I created the rest of the card.

140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock (Strathmore) was painted with Pthalo Blue and Dioxazine Purple MFA paints and heat set. The surface was then flicked with Titanium White MFA paint to add a plethora of stars. That layer was heat set.

A circular lid was traced with a chalk pencil, then Black Media Gesso (DecoArt) was thickly applied with a palette knife, then left to dry overnight. The next morning, I gave it a blast with my heat gun to make sure that the Black Media Gesso was completely dry. It did bubble slightly, which added to the texture! Primary Yellow, Diarylide Yellow, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, and Quinacridone Red MFA paints were dabbled onto the semi-circle to make it look like Mars. 

140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock was die-cut several times with an Earth die (QuicKutz), the circles were stacked to add dimension, then Earth was painted with Ultramarine, Blue Green Light, and Pthalo Green-Yellow MFA paint. 

140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock was punched with a Moon punch (Family Treasures) and painted with White Media Gesso and allowed to dry. Some details were added with both Grey and Black Pitt Artist pens.

A length of wax floss was tied around Twinkie's hand and Twinkie the Martian was adhered to the card front with dimensional foam adhesive squares. The Earth was adhered over the other end of the wax floss using dimensional adhesive. The moon was adhered to the upper left of the card front. My Dymo Tape Labeler (Esselte) was used to create the sentiment, which was then adhered to the upper right. The card front was edged with black marker and adhered to a black card.

Thanks for visiting today!



Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Day of the Dead Thanks!

Here's my card with Mr. Bones from the Mr. and Mrs. Bones collection, which is one of the wonderful rubber stamps by Carmen Medlin Designs available at I Brake for Stamps.


Mr. Bones was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) onto white cardstock and was colored with Copic markers. The colors used to color Mr. Bones were selected to match one of the rose patterned papers from the Bramble Rose 6x6 pad (My Mind's Eye).

Mr. Bonessombrero was partially fussy-cut, then the image was placed into one of the dies from the Stitched Rectangle Stax die set (Die-namics) and die-cut. The next largest die from the coordinating Plain Rectangle Stax die set (Die-namics) was used to die-cut a matching piece of patterned paper from the same pad, which was then trimmed, so that just the rectangular portions of the image panel would be matted with it. The matting panel was edged with Pumice Stone Distress ink. (Ranger).

The patterned paper used for the mat layer was also die-cut with one of the smaller Stitched Rectangles dies and edged with Pumice Stone Distress ink.

Kraft cardstock was die-cut with the Thanks die from the Party die set (Little B) and with one of the stitched borders from one of the Blueprints die sets (Die-namics).

The rose patterned paper was trimmed to size and edged with Pumice Stone Distress ink. The matted image panel, the stitched border, and the small stitched rectangle die-cut were adhered to the card front. The die-cut word Thanks was added to to the small stitched rectangle then the card front was mounted onto a kraft card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click on my badge below to be whisked over to I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! Best of all, if you buy something, you can get a 10% discount off of your purchase if you use this code: SAVE10KATHI!


Thanks for visiting today!