Night Creatures

I mentioned in my earlier post that I had some time today to play in my studio. It was a perfect time to create a page in my art journal. This piece just developed one step at a time. I started with my Dylusions sprays and a stencil from Club Scrap. Since one of the challenges (81) at Stampotique is a journal page, I knew I would be using my Stampotique stamps. Three Muses also challenges us to do a journal page. 
The darkness of the page and the unique look of some of the Stampotique stamps gave me the idea for Night Creatures. The owls, starry head, Leopard Queen on the mushroom, fireflies (formerly bees), and the  heads shadows fit right into the night scene. Baby Cthulhu flies above reminding us that "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." 

Funny Halloween

Here's one last Halloween challenge card. At Stampotique Designers we were challenged to create one more funny Halloween card. (The challenge did come out on Halloween day.) To create my card I stamped Tangled Enthusiasm and Twinkie on kraft cardstock and colored them with Tombow markers. I masked them and stamped and embossed  owl tree behind them. The two jack-o-lanterns are Sizzix dies. They are actually cut from orange cardstock, but my scanner always fades the orange cardstock. Hopefully this card brings a smile to your face.

Florals

I am slowly getting back into my usual challenges. This card represents the Stampotique Designers Challenge #69 which is Scrap it and the Stampendous monthly challenge of fabulous florals.As I'm not usually a scrapper, I went with a scrap card rather than page. The image is of my dear daughter standing at the gate of Mt. Vernon. (Since the deadlines for these challenges are here, I had to temporarily use this image. Of course, my printer ink went low just as I printed this. As soon as I replenish the ink, I will replace the photo and upgrade the blog picture.) The floral image on the card is from Stampendous and the bees are from Stampotique. I used the marker watercoloring technique (TJ June/July 2008) to color the flowers.

Case Study Inspiration

Stampotique Designers Challenge 71 was to case one of the Design Team. I chose to case Kim Howard's card from her September 5th posting.

When I saw this card, I knew I could use my new  Baby Cthulhu stamp.

As a coincidence this layout also works well with the sketch challenge at the Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy challenge.

Believing in Ghosts

Stampotique's new policy of grouping all of its weekly challenges into one monthly drawing certainly has given me a chance to catch up with challenges I would otherwise have missed. This card is for Challenge 70 - backgrounds. I am also entering this card in the Take a Word challenge with the theme wings.
I used the stamp Heads as my background. I stamped it with Versamark and then embossed it with cement white embossing powder. I wanted to do Leopard Queen in bright colors to counterbalance the black and white. She is popped out from the background. The sentiment was created from Tim Holtz's ChitChat.

The Crafter

Combine a sketch challenge from Critter Sketch and a challenge from Stampotique with the theme of squares and this is what I came up with. (I did turn the sketch a quarter turn.)
 I started by embossing my background with an embossing folder. I thought that the background went nicely with the stitching motif. My squares are actually squares of squares. I used faux stitching to give a patchwork appearance. It looks like the crafter has been quite busy. All of the images (crafter, heart, buttons) used are from Stampotique.

Collage

What fun! This week the Stampotique Designers challenge was to make a one layer card. This challenge worked along perfectly with the Design Junkies Try That Technique challenge which was block college from the Feb/Mar 2009 TJnewsletter.
My focal image, the little sentiment in the top corner, and all of the collage stamps are from Stampotique. I used Ranger's sandal and rust inks for the stamping. this is such an easy technique, but the results are amazing.

Love is in the Air

Stampotique had a fabulous challenge this week, but it wasn't an easy one. The challenge theme was out-of-the-box. We were to create something outside our usual comfort zone. For the longest time, I have wanted to try and start an art journal. I guess Stampotique gave me the needed push. This is my first attempt ever at art journaling.  I really enjoyed the experience. I know I need a bit more practice, but at least I've taken the plunge. For the background I used Dylusions sprays (another first for me). All of the stamps are from Stampotique. I'd love to hear what you think. I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge: spritz, spray, or stencil. I did some of each on these pages.

Parrot Times Two

At Frilly and Funkie the challenge was an inspiration one based on this picture of the parrot. The Stampotique Designers challenge was twin images, to use the same image twice on our piece.
My parrot isn't an elegant parrot in flight; he seems more to be in need of a little more self esteem. He is, however, a parrot (Stampotique). He seems to be looking at his refelection. To create his reflection, I stamped him on a flat piece of rubber and then stamped the new image on my paper. Then, using the stamp positioner, I stamped him again on the paper. I colored the parrots using Prisma pencils and gamsol. I used glimmer mist sprays to color the two halves of the image oval. To frame the image I used a Spellbinders oval. The front of the base card was dry embossed using a Sizzix folder. The sentiment, which I love, is from Stampotique designs.

The Angel Family

The current challenge at Stampotique Designers is family. Don't you think that Angel Boy, Angel and Moon Girl make an adorable family. I used Creative Inspirations Paints to color them. I love the shimmery look--quite angelic I think.

Doodling with Zentangles

I must admit, it was playtime when I made this card. When Stampotique Designs challenged us with oodles of doodles, I knew I had to try my hand at Zentangles.  Isn't she wearing the most fashionable outfit! I also used the heart which looks like it has doodles and the sentiment (all Stamps are Stampotique) which seemed to be word doodles. Even my embossed background looks like doodles. This card also meets the challenge at Fashionable Stamping which is embossing.

Wearable Art

The current Stampotique Designers Challenge is wearable art. Here is my pin made from a domino. First, I used alcohol ink to color the domino. I then stamped hexagon using Adirondack sepia archival ink. The bee was stamped in jet black archival ink. The wings were highlighted with rock candy distress stickles. The sunflower and sentiment were then added and a pin back was attached to the back of the domino so it can be worn. I like the resulting color and dimension of the pin.

Good Things

Purple, pink and black is the latest challenge at the Stampotique Designers Blog. The challenge at Tuesday Throwdown is new life. At City Crafters the challenge is seeing double -- to use both the positive and negative of a die cut or punch.
To create my card I started with the background of air blown alcohol inks (Tim Holtz technique).  I used pink sherbert, purple twilight, and pitch black alcohol ink. For the frame I cut the wonky rectangle from the panel. The part cut out was used for the sentiment panel. I stamped mother-to-be, colored her with Copics and cut her out. I stamped the sentiment and cut out the individual words to add to the sentiment panel. Oh, by the way, a friend of the family just found out she is pregnant. Coincidence??

CAS CASE

Well, here I am again, just under the wire; but I just had to enter the Stampotique Designers Challenge. We were to CASE one of the Stampotique designers.

Just selecting a designer and then her card was a challenge in itself. I looked for quite a while until I came across this card from Joanne Wardle. You can see several views of the card and the description on Joanne's Blog. I love Joanne's style and I adore this owl. OK, I didn't recreate her card exactly. I changed the color of the card to a light blue and I added a kraft panel behind the front of the card. I got this idea from one of the photos in her posting. I didn't have the "Thank You" stamp so I used an Outlines sticker which said "Happy Birthday". To create a decent circle cut out, I got out my Coluzzle. Every once in a while, I dust off the box and use it. Sometimes it's the perfect answer to a need. Thanks Joanne for the great card to CASE.

Altered Cork Hot Mat

Bloggers Challenge and the Stampotique Designers challenge want to see us "Alter it." I had purchased some cork hot pads at IKEA a while back. I thought it would be fun to alter one for the challenge. I used a morphed smooched cork technique. Instead of smooch paint, I used Creative Inspirations Paint. I stamped my Stampotique images on the cork with Jet Black Archival Ink. Using a water pen and the paints I painted the images. The edge was done by sponging on paint along the sides and edges. The finished piece can be used as a wall hanging or to hold hot dishes.

Purse Calendar 2012

Closed

Open

The current challenge at the Stampotique Designers Blog is to make a purse or pocket calendar. I used a matchbook design for my calendar. It folds and closes to protect the calendar. Plus, there was lots of space to stamp. I grunged up the background and stamped my images (all Stampotique). I used one of the wonderful small calendar pads for the calendar. It's a perfect size to carry in a purse. Now at least I'll know what the date is.
By using "I Can See Clearly" as one of my images, my project worked right into the Sunday challenge at Ink on My Fingers which is eyes.

Wish for the New Year

The current Stampotique Designers Challenge is Wish for the New Year. My wish for everyone is "Good things, good thoughts" and lots of hugs and kisses. Angelboy holds the wish in his hand. I used Creative Inspirations gold paint on his wings to give him a beautiful shimmer. The background of XOXO's was stamped with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.
I used teal and kraft as the main colors of my card. Just ask my grandson what my favorite color is and he'll tell you blue/green which is another way of saying teal. I love the pairing of it with the kraft color. Since the challenge at the Kraft Journal this week is favorite colors, this card fits in perfectly.
The Chestnut Theme Challenge at Gingersnap Creations is to use a set or a line of stamps. The sponsor for this challenge is Stampotique, so I thought it was appropriate to showcase my Stampotique stamps.

Non-traditional Christmas Card

Purple and teal are great Christmas colors, don't you think? The current challenge on the Stampotique Designers Blog is to create a non-traditional Christmas project. We couldn't use red or green. My colors came about because I received a package taped with the snowflake packing tap. I just had to use it somewhere. I just coordinated my colors with the tape. No red or green!

A Study in Browns

The current Stampotique Designers Challenge is a sketch challenge which was

designed by Lisa Somerville. I love sketch challenges and they can usually be combined with other challenges. The challenge at Critter Sketch is monochrome. With this card I combined the sketch with the shades of brown. My stamp is from Stampotique. I used the out of the nestie (Spellbinders) technique from Technique Junkies for the image circle. The background square panel is also a Spellbinders die cut. The middle panel was cut from a piece of Club Scrap design paper. The leaf ribbon was cut using a punch. The background panel is also Club Scrap. I really love the look of monochrome, but it can be a challenge to stick to shades of only one color.

Halloween Tag

The challenge at the Stampotique Designers Blog is It'sTag Time. I started out with a black glossy tag. I thought that Heads, the Owl, and Puss Puss were perfect stamps to create a Halloween tag. I added the word Halloween and the Jack-O-Lantern from Artistic Outpost to finish the tag. This tag makes me smile. It was a lot of fun to make.

Stamps used:
Stampotique
3040 Owl With Wings
6097 Heads
6105 Puss Puss
Artistic Outpost Vintage Halloween sheet
sentiment
pumpkin