Stamping on Patterned Paper

My post today is for a challenge at Joan's Gardens. Heidi has shown a wonderful tutorial about stamping on patterned paper. I have just learned this new fold and I wanted to use it for this challenge. I used patterned paper from K&CO and stamped the gate, vines, and swirl flowers on it to add decoration. Thanks for a really fun challenge! To see the challenge, you can click the link here -- http://www.atjoansgardens.com/

Doily

At Our Daily Bread Designs the challenge theme is to use a doily. I love this new stamp I bought from ODBD -- Butterfly Corner. I used the saying from the Thinking of You set. Perish the thought , but I cut the saying in half to be able to use it in the doily circle and now I can use it both ways! I also made my roses using a doily. I cut around the top lacy part of a pink doily and rolled it up to make rose buds. Thanks for a fun challenge! You can click here to see the challenge. http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/

Shabby Chic

When I saw that the challenge at Just Rite was Shabby Chic it reminded me of a layered paint look technique that I did a long time ago. I used this for my background on this card. I stamped the saying from the Butterfly Garden set lightly, in a light brown color, several times. I then used a foam brush and brushed a light coating of Elmer's glue here and there over the background. I sponged pink, sage, and lavender Distress inks over this and then wiped off the excess ink. This looks like paint has been peeled off. The other images are form the Butterfly Garden set also. I enjoyed this challenge. I love the shabby chic look, but I find it hard for me to master it. You can click this link to take you to the challenge. http://justritestampers.typepad.com/

Wax Paper Resist

I love trying techniques, so today I was working with wax paper.  I love how this technique turned out! I have never done this before, even though it is an oldie, and I don't know why! Here is what you do. Crumple up a piece of wax paper and open it up. Take 2 pieces of glossy card stock and sandwich the wax paper between the 2 pieces of glossy cs with the glossy side of each piece against the wax paper. Iron the sandwich on medium for about 10 seconds. The wax is now transferred to the card stock and will resist any ink that you brayer or rub on. For the star burst effect, I cut out a circle from the wax paper and kept folding it in half until it was very small. I then opened it out and ironed it between the 2 pieces of card stock. For the grid look, I folded the wax paper over and over, then I folded it the opposite way, then diagonally and diagonally the other way. I am sure there are other ways to make fun designs. Just give it a try! I brayered each one of my pieces using Big and Juicy ink pads. Here are samples of my pieces and then a card I made with one of them.

Outline Glue on Freezer Paper

First of all I want to say to those who are in Irene's path, that I hope you will be safe and that you are ready and battened down. My thoughts are with you!

There was a discussion on the Club Posh board about another way to outline a stamp using a hot glue gun. I tried it today and this is my result!

Stamp a large outline image stamp on the paper side of the freezer paper. Turn it over to the plastic side and rub a little bit of dish detergent over the surface. This acts as a release. Outline the stamped image using the hot glue gun. Put the piece in the freezer for 1-2 minutes then peel off the image. I glued my image to some patterned paper with Elmer's glue and then painted the outline using Posh Impressions Copper Metal Inkabilities. Thanks, Daniel, for the instructions and for this neat technique!

Shabby Chic and Butterflies

I hope you are having a good day. I have been creating today. Here is a card that I am entering in three challenges. Basic Grey's challenge is Anything and I have used their paper from the Out of Print pad. I Brake for Stamps theme is Shabby Chic and Magnolia Down Under wants you to use butterflies! I had so much fun making this card. The plants behind Tilda is an overlay from K&CO. I have had these for awhile and was happy to use one on this card. Please click the links to see all the fun challenges.

http://basicgreychallenges.blogspot.com/
http://ibrakeforchallenges.blogspot.com/

http://magnoliadownunderchallenges.blogspot.com/

Road Trip

First off I want to say I had a very weird thing happen today. I was sitting here in my craft room when all of a sudden the floor and chair I was sitting in started going up and down and my table was swaying back and forth! Yes, I actually was feeling the tremors from the earthquake that hit NY City today. I felt them all the way down here in South Carolina! Very strange for us! That said, this is what I have been working on today. My son's birthday is Sunday, so I wanted to make a card for him. He has a motorcycle and loves to hop on it and cruise. We'll see how much he likes that when winter comes! LOL! So I had this motorcycle stamp that I wanted to use. I am entering this card into two challenges. Simon Says Stamp and Show Some Travel and Top Tip Tuesday Masculine card. At Top Tip Tuesday we are to give a crafty tip and this is mine. To make a faux postage stamp, use scissors with a tiny scallop and cut around the edges with the scallops going out. Use a fine point felt pen and dot around the edges. You can see the challenges by clicking here --
http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/

http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/

Hot Glue Outline Technique

I saw this technique on the Two peas in a Bucket board. Thanks, Anne, for the neat technique! Here is what you will need.

1. several colors of acrylic paint plus white
2. medium ans small paint brush
3. large outline stamp, flower, butterfly, etc.
4. metallic acrylic paint
5. several small solid stamps
6. watercolor paper
7. black permanent ink
8. hot glue gun

Stamp your large outline stamp several times onto your watercolor paper using your black permanent ink. Outline your images using the hot glue gun. I have a low heat gun that is for children. This worked very well. Now paint your images with acrylic paints making strokes. You don't have to blend well. Then paint the back ground the same way. Let dry and then go back over all your painting using white acrylic paint and let the brush strokes show. Paint the hot glue outlines with your metallic color using a small brush.  Now stamp your smaller stamps using acrylic paint to stamp various places on your piece. Attach this piece to a card base and you are done! I hope you like this and will try it! The first picture are of some pieces that i made and the second is a finished card from one of the pieces.

Shaped Holiday Card

The Just Rite challenge is to make a shaped holiday card or tag. I had such fun making my card for this challenge. Yesterday I went with a group of friends to a scrapbook store to work on projects. We learned how to make this fun star card. This is perfect for a Christmas card! I used the winter birdhouse from the Just Rite Birdhouses set, the frame from the Kindness set and the saying from the Fancy Frame set. You can hop over the to see the challenge here -- http://justritestampers.typepad.com/

Fruity

At House Mouse and Friends we are getting fruity! The challenge is fruit so I used my cute little House Mouse lying on a bunch of grapes. He is really taking it easy! I was glad to use my new lattice die too. Thanks for a fun challenge! You can see the challenge and other fruity cards by clicking here -- http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/.

Touchy Feely

At Penny Black this week the challenge is Touchy Feely. We are to use texture on our project. As you can see I used buttons, ric-rac and a flower for my texture. This was a fun challenge. If you would like to see it, then you can click the link here. http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/.

So Salty

I have been working with another technique today. This is a background using sea salt. Here are supplies you will need.

1. table salt or sea salt -- I used sea salt in a table grinder
2. glossy card stock
3. brayer
4. water spritzer
5. multi-colored ink pads -- I used Big and Juicy pads

Brayer your card stock using a multi-colored ink pad. Spritz the card stock with water and sprinkle salt all over the card stock. Spritz one more time over the salt. When the piece is dry rub off the salt. You will have a neat background. I found that the darker the colors of ink, the better the background shows up. My first picture is of some backgrounds that I did with this technique and the second is a card I made using one of backgrounds. I hope you will try this fun technique!

Straight Edges

This challenge was a challenge for me! At Top Tip Tuesday the challenge is to only use straight edges on your project! With all the frilly dies, etc. it is hard to stay straight! LOL! So I had to really put on my thinking cap and this is what I came up with. This is a good way to use up some paper scraps too. Also my TIP is -- in order to make your project look antique, rub the edges of your pieces with dark ink and also use a distress tool to rough up the edges. You can click here to see the challenge and other wonderful projects. http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/.

Sea Sponge Background

On the Posh Club board, Andrew once again gave instructions for a neat background using a sea sponge. I tried it and I really like it! Here are some samples that I made. On the first samples I used black glossy card stock, wet my sponge and wrung it out real good, then I patted it in metallic re-inkers and dabbed the sponge lightly onto the card stock. I used gold, silver and copper re-inkers. On the second samples, I used matte card stock and denim, green and purple colors of re-inkers. The last picture is the card I made using one of the colored backgrounds. I just love the look of the background on the card.

Summer Hummer

Hi everyone. I hope you are able to chill in this heat today! At Basic Grey the challenge is Sizzling Summer. They are right about that. We have been sizzling ALL summer! LOL! I made this card for the challenge because I have been enjoying the hummingbirds at my feeder this summer. It is fun watching them flit around, chase each other and contend with the bees that like their feeder too! I will certainly miss them when they leave in about a month. This hummingbird is from an Inkadinkado clear stamp set. The embossing folder is a sizzix, Tim Holtz folder, and I used paper from the Basic Grey Out of Print pad. You can see the challenge by clicking here --
http://basicgreychallenges.blogspot.com/.

Color Orange Challenge

The challenge at Impression Obsession is to use the color orange. I had some beautiful orange K&CO. paper that I used as a background on this card. The white border was made by using the Martha Stewart lace corner and border punch. My image is from the Impression Obsession Cupcake set (MC181). The leaves are stamps from Heartfelt Creations. The flowers are some that are handmade. I added white Liquid Applique to the cupcakes for dimension. To see the challenge and other challenge cards, please click here -- http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/.

Top Tip Tuesday Challenge 45

It is still hot and steamy here, but we had a wonderful rain yesterday. I hope you are staying cool today. I tried this challenge at Top Tip Tuesday. It is a color challenge using blue, green and brown. I usually don't put these colors together, but I think I like them! You can see the challenge and other challenge cards by clicking below. My tip is to make colored pencils look soft and to have a water color look, use odorless mineral spirits to blend the color.

http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/.

Technique Time

I have been playing with one of my very favorite techniques today. I call it Julie's technique because she was a wonderful lady in our local stamp club that taught us this. Sadly she lost her battle with cancer a few years ago, but every time I use this technique I think of her and her sweet spirit.

Supplies --

1. multi-colored dye based ink pad
2. black or dark permanent ink
3. bold stamps
4. glossy card stock
5. brayer
6. Marvy metallic markers
7. water spritzer

First you roll your brayer over the multi-colored ink pad several times, going in one direction. Spritz the brayer with water and dab dots of color right on the brayer with your Marvy marker. Now roll your brayer in one direction across your glossy cs. You can do this several times before inking up again. This makes a wonderful background, great for scenes. Last, stamp bold stamps in black permanent ink onto this background. The first picture is the card I made using one of the backgrounds. The second picture is of more backgrounds I made with this technique. Can you see how it looks like a sun burst behind the sailboat and the ocean in the forefront? If you look closely at two of my backgrounds, it looks like there are mountains in them. I hope you try this technique and see what fun cards you can make with them.

Buttons, Bows and Blooms plus a Sketch

I couldn't wait to do this challenge because buttons, bows and blooms are just right down my alley! This is the challenge at Just Magnolia. I also used the sketch from Magnolia Stamp Lovers. You can see the two challenges by clicking here - http://justmagnolia.blogspot.com/  and  http://magnoliastamplovers.blogspot.com/

House Mouse ATC

At House Mouse and Friends the challenge this week is to make an ATC ( artist trading card ). Not only are these fun to swap, but they can also be used as a focal point on a card. I had fun making this ATC. The little mouse looks like he is being very diligent with his writing. You can pop over here to see the challenge and other wonderful entries. http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/

Toothbrush Technique

I tried a technique that was discussed over at the Posh board. I enjoyed doing it and I think it turned out well. Here is what you need.

1. old toothbrush with firm bristles
2. 2 colors of re-inkers -- one light and one darker
3. gold or silver re-inker
4. small paintbrush
5. white or cream card stock

The new toothbrushes these days have uneven bristles, so I pressed my brush in the ink and then used a loose wrist action to pounce it on the card stock. Also most of my re-inkers are very dark, so I used my alcohol inks and had to work very fast since it dries quickly. After applying the 2 colors I then dipped my paintbrush into gold re-inker and splattered it over the card stock. The first picture shows samples of the backgrounds I made with this technique and the second picture is the card I made with one of the backgrounds. I hope you will try this simple, but pretty technique.

Cute as a Button

At Daring Cardmakers this week, the theme is to use buttons as your focal point on your card. I was very excited about this challenge because I had made some button projects last month to add to cards, so I was able to use one for this challenge. Here is the link to the challenge -- http://daringcardmakers.blogspot.com/