Monday, April 28, 2014

CLEAN GRUNGE

Oxymoron.

This week's ADDICTED TO CAS challenge #37 is GRUNGE. Hmmmm.

How do you get grungy And be clean and simple? It's like getting dirty in your Sunday best. I'm game. Speaking of game... A moose will do, how about two in a muddy fight?

To keep my card CAS, I made it one layer with several stencils, one on top of another in lots of hues of browns, golds and yellows. Distress Inks: wild honey, squeezed lemonade, walnut stain, vintage photo and tea dye. The sentiments are stamped in black stazon. I think I need a shower after this mud fight.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Birds in flight

 

New Impression Obsession Challenge - Outside of the Box!

Use a stamp in an unusual way, or do something that is outside of your normal "box".

For this card I used the large bird die from Impression Obsession and ran it through my Big Kick vintage several times. Twice on a piece of Neenah solar white card stock with an embossing mat to place the birds in flight and then on another piece of cardstock to create a stencil, finally I ran it through the die cutter twice more on contact paper to create two masks.

I placed a circular sun mask in the corner and the two bird masks onto the impressions then applied stormy sky distressed ink with a dauber to the background. I then removed the masks, used squeezed lemonade on the sun then placed the negative die stencil over each bird, outlined in silver gel pen and applied pumice stone distress ink for color. For the sentiment I used Versamark ink and silver embossing powder with a heat gun.

I am submitting this as my Impression Obsession challenge.

DIE078-F and stamp C8859

FRIENDS in browns

 

I am combining a few challenges today with this one card.

  • Papertake weekly challenge White + 1 (my one is brown)
  • My Favorite Things lets get sketchy #173
  • Crafty Hazelnut's pattern paper for April

I used the MFT sketch for the layout. Cardstock from DCWV Mariposa, Inkadinkado sentiment stamped in Stazon Brown and a penny black butterfly die.

 

Dreaming Try Folds

I have been busy the last few weeks working on try folds. These have a lot of coloring, but I am getting better at it. I have tried different media.. Distress markers, distress ink with daubers, water colors, pebbles chalks and as this one, prismacolor pencils with Gamsol.

Try fold card cover
The pencils were taking a long time, but I think I have it to a science now, so I can whip color on pretty quickly. I have 6 more to complete and then my task is finished.
Try fold inside

I am submitting this for the ANYTHING GOES challenge #7at A Random Fan. I found this blog earlier this week and I am smitten.

Friday, April 25, 2014

My hero

I got this lawn mower guy stamp from Art Impressions a while ago. When this week's challenge came along as MASCULINE cards, I knew exactly what to use.

 

I stamped the image twice, colored one with distress markers and the second all in gray. I fussy cut both and glued them together. I used the barn from the Try-Fold harvest set as the background on Neenah solar white cardstock and colored it with distress markers and pebbles chalk. The sentiments I printed and cut on my silhouette cameo using a black gel pen and bordered with pattern card stock also cut from the cameo. I used distress ink shading on the lower portion of the card and attached the sentiments and lawn mower guy with adhesive strips. Lastly I colored a small heart die cut with red and applied glossy accents and used wink of stella to give his teeth some some shimmer.


The only thing missing is a beer can and my hero would be complete.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

BIG Stamp

Simon's Monday Challenge this week is BIG STAMP. I went into my arsenal and found the biggest stamp I owned that was not a background. When I ordered this skyline from Hero Arts, I actually did not know it was going to be so big. But I have used it a few times and today I decided to make two cards, same motif, different sentiments.

 

I started by making masks out of my dollar store contact paper for the moon and sentiments. I used a circle stencil to color the moon with squeezed lemonade distress ink on a dauber, then covered it with the mask. Then I colored the background with broken china and pumice stone to get a night sky. I used Versamark on the sentiment stamp and heat embossed in white, then covered it with the mask.

 

 

I then stamped the skyline with stazon black and touched up the street level with pumice stone. I removed the mask and used the negative mask to color the inner with wild honey to help the sentiment stand out.

For the second card I reversed to a setting moon and used Zing yellow for the sentiment. The background is a combination of charcoal grey and salty ocean and shabby shutters along the bottom.

For a touch of shimmer around the moon I used a gold gel pen.

 

Monday, April 21, 2014

Random happiness

I was perusing my some 33+ blogs I follow to check on my recent challenge posts. When I checked on Addicted to stamps, I noticed the Sponsor was 'A random fan'. Having never seen this company before I sought it out to find digi stamps in etsy, not only that but another challenge opportunity. Not sure how to keep them all straight... But I try.

 

The current challenge on that blog was to use one of the digi stamps on the sketch. So I purchased Monet on her bicycle, downloaded it to my silhouette cameo and sketched it twice, cut and colored with distress markers. Then I matted it and tied it with a bow. The sentiment was from the Simon Says stamp Color Me set.

I am submitting this card for the following challenges:

Addicted to stamps: ANYTHING GOES challenge #91

A Random Fan: Sketch #4

 

Best Friends

 

I used a combo of stamps on this birthday card. I used one of the Art Impressions try-fold Gazebo stamps, stampavie "friends forever" and a Stampendous party balloon. I had to mask off each of the stamps to place and apply color.

I used distress inks and markers for color.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Gruffy's dream land

This mini 4 bar note card was created using Neat and Tangled "just thinking of you" and Stampendous "Gruffy". I colored the sentiment with purple gel pen and the heart with red marker and placed both inside the cloud which was colored with memento angel pink on a dauber.

For Gruffy, I used memento desert sand, angel pink and distress walnut stain for color.

For the background I used baby blue and shabby shutters distress ink on a dauber and stamped the grass in black.

All pieces were cut out and mounted with adhesive tape onto the base.

I am submitting this card for:

  • Little Tangles Challenge #35 Mini Cards
  • Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Animal Antics featuring Stampendous

 

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Egg-cel lent

 

I downloaded this pattern and created this oval on my silhouette cameo. I used pink cardstock for the decorative die pattern and cut the ovals from gingham print and white cardstock.

I made these in yellow, green, blue, pink and two in purple. The bow was cut from white cardstock and folded. I used adhesive squares to prop up the bows. The tag was created using an inky antics stamp with memento rose bud ink, attached with silver yarn and embellished with a matching pink flow die cut.

This version goes in the mail tomorrow so it can get to California for my grand daughter by Easter.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Spring in the air and air in the tires

I broke a tooth the other night eating popcorn. Ouch. I got a dentist appointment for 11:20 am the next day. Well then the dentist calls with a cancellation, can I come in at 9:30? Shoot, that means I miss exercise class, but they are doing me a favor, so I change my schedule. If only I had blown up the tires on my bike before today I could have taken a quick spin so I could at least get some aerobic exercise this a.m.

Note to self: get bike ready, it is spring!

 

 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

You are my sunshine

It is a beautiful day in the low country. Lots of glorious sunshine, warm temps and low humidity. Wish it should stay like this until Christmas, but hot and humid lies ahead, I will just have to deal with it.

 

For this week's Impression Obsession challenge I used two stamps, D7744 chick and A6385 flowers. I colored the chick with prismacolor pencils, shaded the background with distress squeezed lemonade then cut a circle with the EK Success circle cutter. She is my sun. Using a mask, I stenciled the sun rays in yellow and stamped a floral pattern on the bottom with bamboo green memento ink. The sentiment was printed on the cameo using a sketch pen and cut into an oval with the die cutter.

 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Metallica

This was another new technique I learned last week. The cat was stamped with Versamark and I used Pebbles chalk over it to get color. Then I used my new metallic gel pens along with atyouSpica glitter pens to boost the color.
I used a Versamark pen to write MEOW then heat set white embossing powder.

Monday, April 7, 2014

New techniques

I am into a few new techniques this week. The first one is using alcohol inks on acetate. Wow, what a finish! I love love love this coffee card. I used a dauber to apply 3 different alcohol inks including a copper one onto a small piece of acetate, then mushed it around with a little alcohol. .... I always find myself mushing with a little alcohol! Side bar... Oops. Then I stamped the coffee cup on the reverse with archival black. I used a sharpie permanent marker to draw the heart. Then on the reverse, I dabbed off the ink with a q-tip behind the coffee cup to make it visible.

I stamped "oh yeah.." In black on metallic paper and tied on a metallic cord then mounted the acetate on brown cardstock, that on black and finally onto the dark espresso card base. Gorgeous, if I may say so!

Anybody wanna dance?

Anything goes! Papertake challenge 1st week of April.

This is a party girl stamp by Leere Aldrich. About five years ago she had a number of stamps from this line. But I wasn't able to find anything current. I stamped the image and colored with markers then fussy cut. The background is by Darcie and stamped with Memento rose bud. I cut the frame with the cameo and attached used a dauber to ink in angel pink. The floral design is a grouping of die cut flowers and gems. The sentiment from Fiskars. I think she is scouting for a dance partner.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Tangled in the garden.

The Little Tangles challenge this week is #34 Masking. I enjoy masking my cards to get good layers without overlays. I downloaded one of the digi stamps and developed the card around it.

I cut two masks out of contact paper I bought at the dollar store. One of the bird above and a second of a hello butterfly stamp. I stamped the butterfly on the card stock in black dye ink and coved it with mask, then placed the bird mask along side. Using flowers and leaves and various colors of ink I created a garden on top of the masks. Then I removed the masks and colored the bird and butterfly with distress markers.

I edged the card base with black washi tape strips and mounted the garden on top then used wink of Stella to add some shine to her belly. She looks pretty happy in her garden.

 

Simon at Five

Celebrating a very special birthday. You have come so far in 5 years. Congratulations to all!

 

It's a good day for daubers and distress inks! Cut this with the silhouette cameo and backed it with colors of peacock feathers, broken china and salty ocean. Happy Birthday Simon Says.