Monday, June 30, 2014

Summer Tag


The current challenge at Frilly & Funkie challenges us to CASE one of Linda's tags from her 2013 Christmas tag challenge, but give it a summer flair. I chose the tag from Week # 6 (October 28, 2013). As you can see, I gave my tag a 4th of July theme. I started with a tag cut from kraft cardstock. I used designer paper from Graphic 45 for my background. OK, I admit that I don't sew anymore so I added faux stitching. For the top panel I stamped some fireworks (Northwoods stamps) and adhered the die cut number 4 and star. The die cut flag was adhered to the bottom of the tag. I made the bow from organza ribbon and topped it with sunshine (a small rosette stamped with the sun face (Rogue Redhead Designs). All die cuts are from Tim Holtz.
My tag is being entered into these challenges: Frilly & Funkie -- Just Case It; SweetStamps -- summer; Marks Finest Papers Colors Challenge -- red, tan/sand, blue; Addicted to CAS -- sun; Kraft Journal -- red, white, and blue; Work It Wednesday --patterned paper; Craft-Dee Bowz -- anything goes, but must have a bow.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Genius

This will be the last post for today. I'm going to try and enjoy the end of a beautiful summer day outside. My card features a dapper gentleman with a steampunk attitude. The background features the painters tape technique using rust, gray, and blue ink. I overstamped the inks with a SweetStamps medallion stamp and embellished it with various gears. Dapper Dan stands there telling us that "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." (Artistic Outpost) This card is being entered into these challenges: SweetStamps Monthly Challenge -- painters tape technique and SanDee & Amelie's Steampunk challenge -- shades of grey, blue, and rust.

Leave Ordinary Behind

I must explain myself today...my grandchildren were occupied today, so I got lots of time in the studio. The result is a flurry of posts. This card is the result of two great challenges. A Vintage Journey challenged us to use every stamp in a set and Simon Says Stamp Monday said we ought to use this more. I love  stamp challenges. The stamp set I used is Tim Holtz's French Marketplace. I used the four stamps to create my collage background. All of the stamps I used, except the sentiment, qualified as stamps that I have hardly used at all. In fact, only one had seen ink before. Tsk! Tsk! I like the stamps a lot; I've just overlooked them.

Christmas Greeting

It might be summer in Chicago, but Christmas challenges are here. My card today is for Cheery Lynn Designs challenge -- Christmas in July and for Inspiration Journal -- Christmas in June. I started with a red card base and dry embossed it with the December calendar folder (Tim Holtz). I used black soot distress ink to highlight the embossing  Both the tree and the train are die cuts from Cheery Lynn. The sentiment is an outline sticker.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Friendship


This week the Bloggers Challenge is friendship. I used the Mojo Monday challenge sketch as the layout for my card. The background design papers are from Graphic 45. Aren't those two girls adorable? The doily and butterfly are Cheery Lynn die cuts. The sentiment is a Quietfire stamp.
I am also entering this card into these challenges: Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- green; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge -- anything goes; and Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Celebrate With a Friend

The 4th of July is next week. It's time to celebrate the red, white, and blue. It's also time to bring out my flag background stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs. I thought I'd try something a slight bit different. I colored the sections with distress stains and then stamped on watercolor paper. I used the textured side of the paper to achieve a textured look. Since the 4th is the birthday of our country, I added a birthday sentiment. I wanted a star frame for my little friends (ODBD), but wouldn't you know, with the hundreds of dies I own, I didn't have a star that was the right size. So, I turned to something that I never thought I'd use again -- my Coluzzle. I'll bet many of the paper crafters out there never heard of the Coluzzle. Briefly it is a bunch of plastic templates with a special cutting pad and a swivel blade knife that you can use to cut out shapes. I had the perfect sized star with a background panel sized star. I cut out my friends on the smaller star using the outside the box technique and layered it on the larger star. I used red cardstock as my base card.
I am entering this card into these challenges: Our Daily Bread Designs -- birthday with ODBD stamps; City Crafter -- red, white, and blue; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- you gotta have friends; and Artistic Stamper -- color it red.

Monday, June 23, 2014

To Have and To Hold

Ever since I received my Cheery Lynn Beautiful Bells Doily, I have had this card design in mind. This week I was finally able to create my card. I used shades of kraft and beige as the background. It's not the traditional colors for a wedding card, but I love the white doily against the kraft. Adding the mini fanciful flourish and baby's breath flowers complete the wedding theme. In addition to the Cheery Lynn Designs challenge of weddings, Kraft Journal had a summer color challenge. The colors worked perfectly with my card. The wedding sentiment is a stamp from Stampsmith.
I am also entering my card into these challenges: Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes and Dies R Us -- weddings.

Way 2 Go

My caard today is a window card for a graduate. I used a set of Club Scrap Stamps. Aren't they cool! The background is a piece of designer paper which I stamped directly on.
My card is being entered into these challenges: Tuesday Throwdown -- celebrations; Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- graduation card; Stampendous Impressions -- Dads and Grads.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Thanks


Different things inspire my muse. Today I used one of my favorite inspirations...new stamps. I received some new stamps from Quietfire Stamps. The "Thanks" stamp was one of them. I love the open T. On this card I used paper piecing to decorate it. My layout is based on this weeks Mojo Monday sketch challenge. My flower and leaves are SweetStamps stamps. The design paper (background and T) is from Heartfelt Creations. Although the photo doesn't show it very well, the flower is highlighted with Stickles.
I am entering my card into these challenges: SweetStamps -- anything goes; Stampin' for the weekend -- anything goes; and Mojo Monday -- sketch.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Live Life

It's always fun creating something for the Compendium of Curiosities III challenge. Tim Holtz's techniques result in so many unique works of art. There is a new challenge every two weeks from his book, A Compendium of Curiosities III. The current challenge is Layering stencil: texture paste from page 49; and a special thanks goes to Inspiration Emporium for their generous sponsorship. Of course, I can't reveal the technique (but it's laid out clearly in Tim's book), but I will say that I used several stencils, a couple of Stampers Anonymous stamps and lots of color (distress stains and distress ink).
I am also entering this card into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge -- anything goes; Kraft Journal -- shabby chic; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- stencil it.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Paint the Sky

This afternoon I had a little time to play. I just received the two new smaller Gelli plates. I like the 5x7" plate because it is the perfect size for a card background. I had this bird stamp from Club Scrap that I wanted to use. The Gelli plate background (acrylic paint) was perfect to use with the stamp. My sentiment is from the Cosmo Cricket Tiny Text stickers.
I am entering this card into these challenges: City Crafter -- for the birds; Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge -- paint.

Call Him Father

My card is a CAS card honoring all fathers. I started with a teal base card. The sentiment strip across the middle is a piece of design paper from my stash. The sentiment is a stamp from Club Scrap. My focal image is from SweetStamps and is colored using distress markers.
I am entering this card in these challenges: SweetStamps -- for Dad ; Tuesday Throwdown -- special man; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations --Father's Day; Stampin' for the Weekend -- anything goes.

Father's Day


"What makes a Dad" 

 God took the strength of a mountain,
 the majesty of a tree,
 the warmth of a summer sun,
 the calm of the quiet sea,

 The generous soul of nature,
 The comforting arm of night,
 The wisdom of the ages,
 The power of the eagles flight,
 The joy of a morning in spring,

 The faith of a mustard seed,
 The patience of eternity,
 the depth of family need,
 Then God combined these qualities.

 When there was nothing more to add,
 He knew his masterpiece was complete,
 And so,

 He Called it......DAD 

 Author: Unknown 

Miss you and love you, Dad! Happy Father's Day!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Bon Voyage

Another fun afternoon playing in my art journal! My background started with two shades of blue distress paints. Next came stencils of clouds and distressed stripes. These were added using Dylusions sprays for the clouds and Glimmer mist for the stripes. I then stamped the ship and the sentiment. Once I finished stamping I added more bits and pieces of stenciling. The clocks were done using reverse stenciling and paints. The rest of the stencils were added with distress markers and distress ink.
I am entering my page in these challenges: Fashionable Stamping -- clockwork; Tuesday Throwdown -- paint or mist; City Crafter -- Nautical; Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- paint.

Friendship Bouquet

Today I have a card for a friend. I started with a light gray polka dot background. I decided that a Cheery Lynn doily would make the perfect frame for my bouquet. I stamped the SweetStamps bouquet on a piece of white cardstock.Then I cut it out in a circle using the out of the box technique. Distress markers were used to add color. The side ribbon holder was cut using a punch. To finish off the card I added a few bright pink buttons and a tiny tag with the sentiment "Friend".
My card is being entered into these challenges: SweetStamps -- ribbons, buttons, and bows; Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- friendship; and Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Father's Day

It's Friday and that means it's time for Bloggers Challenge. I've been missing in action for a couple of weeks, but I'm back today! This week the challenge is masculine since June is the month of Father's Day.
Today's card is based on the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. My background panel is a piece of Tim Holtz design paper. The strip down the side is a Cheery Lynn die cut. The father's day stamp is from Club Scrap and is stamped on a Cheery Lynn die cut. The image and sentiment (stamped on a Spellbinders die cut) are stamps from Artistic Outpost.
I will be entering this card into these additional challenges: Dies R Us -- one for the boys/Father's Day; Frilly & Funkie -- for all fathers; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge -- Father's Day/masculine.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Down By the Sea

I was in my element as I was making this card. Add lots of texture and some vintage images and I'm happy. This week there were several beach/water challenge themes and a couple challenges calling for texture. I started with a piece of kraft cardstock and embossed it using one of Tim Holtz's texture fades. I then added distress embossing powder to the bottom of the panel to represent sand. I used Tim's Chevron die to die cut the waves. I added distress glitter to the waves like white caps. Texture fades, distress embossing powder, and distress glitter are all texture techniques that Tim Holtz uses to add texture to his art. The beach house and bathing beauties are stamps from Artistic Outpost as is the sentiment.
 I will be adding my card to these challenges: Kraft Journal -- water, water everywhere; Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy --beach theme; A Vintage Journey -- texture; Addicted to CAS -- texture; V's Sweet Ideas --Summer fun; Art With Heart -- summer celebration.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

12 Tags of 2014 -- June

This must be a shock to those who know me well. I have finished my June tag for the 12 Tags of 2014 and it's only the 3rd of the month. I usually manage to finish sometime during the last few days of the month. While I was working on my tag, I wasn't sure if I was happy with my results. But after I added all of the elements, I decided that I really like the watercolor monoprint technique using a stencil.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Little Voice in your Head

It's a gloomy, rainy day, so I decided to play in my art journal. That always cheers me up. I have had this stencil for ages from The Crafter's Workshop. I fell in love with it, but never found a reason to use it...until now. There are several  challenges which screamed at me to use this stencil. Mixed Media Monthly published its first challenge which is spray inks. Tuesday Throwdown challenged us to show wildly colored hair. Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge had girls as the theme. So out came the stencil and my Dylusions spray inks to start my page. The background color came from wiping my clean up towel on the paper. The stamps are from Sweetstamps and Club Scrap.
I am also entering my page in these challenges. SweetStamps -- no design paper; Marks Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends -- vintage.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Creativity

I couldn't miss this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challege. The theme is to use an artistic stamp. Has someone been peeking at my stamp collection? After a difficult time deciding which stamp I wanted to use, I pulled out David. For my background I went back to Creative Chemistry 101.I used the archival resist technique. The sentiment is also one of Tim Holtz's stamps.
I am also entering this card into these challenges: Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations --cardstock only; Word Art Wednesdays -- anything goes.

Birthday Celebration

Today I created a birthday card. I used the sketch from the Mojo Monday challenge. It's a tall and skinny card (3 1/2 x 5 1/2"). The base card is actually  a bright pink cardstock, but that color always scans purple. Hmmm? The background panel is a piece of design paper which I stamped with a background "Happy Birthday" stamp from Hero Arts. Instead of the plain center panel, I used pennants die cut using a Tim Holtz edger die. The bird is a Sizzix die cut. The flower parts are cut from several Spellbinder dies and combined together. to make one flower.
I am also entering my card into these challenges: City Crafter -- birthday banners; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- anything goes.