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Another of my favorite stamp images... I tore the image to soften it and used distress ink over the whole surface.
The first I colored with pink flowers and used a pink lace background. The text is stamped on pink and bordered with brown.
On the other one I made purple flowers and used a ulti-colored dot background. I stamped the greeting on shimmery paper and bordered in purple.
So soft.
Ddd
Oh what a cozy card this one turned out to be!
I used a teddy bear stamp and did some shading to give him some dimension. In my stash I had this plaid background that matched the coloring I had put into his paws. Pinks for the heart and bow cobined with the blue background makes this a uni-sex card.
I pulled in more blue with the diecut text.
Ddd
With this set of cards I added another technique I had not tried before. In this you lay the diecut on the image and lightly mark where the image extends beyond the cutting edge. A craft knife is used to trim along the image up to that mark and then those portions are lifted on TOP of the die with the rest of the image under the die. Through the machine it goes and then all those extension areas are fully trimmed.
The first impression is one of those too-light ones. I mounted it on a green with a subtle pattern and added a die-cut greeting.
I used the same image and diecut technique, changed up the coloring a bit, and mounted to a text-print background. This one got a stamped sentiment on paper that matches the flowers.
Like the technique of cutting but need to use some better-stamped images to make it really work.
Ddd
On with the stamping on watercolor paper...
This birdfeeder stamp is very detailed and does not stamp well on this type of paper. I resisted the urge to touch it up with fine-line marker as that so often goes horribly wrong. I settled for soft coloring and edge distressing.
First is a mounting on a leafy green print that draws attention to the leafy part of the image. I added a gold peel-off greeting at the bottom.
This one stamped a little better. I chose a dotted background with fine text for this one. Check out the greeting! I hacked apart some peel-off phrases to construct this alternate.
Oh, rats! I realized that the glare of the camera obscures part of it. It actually says Happy Birdday.
Ddd
I decided to start a series of cards using stamping on watercolor paper and watercoloring the images with Distress Marker ink and an aquabrush.
So now that I've given away the whole process in one sentance we'll jump right in to the first two cards. For today's cards I used the image of colored bottles on a window sill with flowers. I've always thought this image looked best in watercolor. On both of them I used Old Paper Distress Ink on the edges for some dimension.
Both use the exact same coloring so the difference is all in the mounting and embellishment. On the first one I used a green chevron print background and added a clear sticker for the sentiment.
The next one uses a soft floral background and, again, a clear sentiment sticker - this time without a border.
Love this!
Ddd
I liked the way the rose stamping turned out yesterday so I decided to have another go at it with a different stamp. This thanks daisy stamp is from the same set as the love rose. I had three other daisy stamps in different sizes that complemented it and I stamped them all in full-strength ink on a minimally patterned paper. I used a variety of green, gold and brown Distress Markers for coloring. Each daisy, except the central feature bloom, got a punched daisy mounted in the center and a dot of pearl pen. I stamped a greeting on green cardstock, trimmed it out and mounted it on foam tape.
I rounded the corners, backed with black, rounded those corners, and added a folded card base (with rounded corners)
Ddd
Here's a little bit of romance in a card. I set out to follow an idea from the Penny Black blog on using the 'frame' portion of a die cut. I started with the central stamp that has the wording embedded in it. I stamped it on a background with tiny script and then stamped all around it with other rose stamps but did those as second generation impressions.
Distress markers ere used to color the images. Then I diecut the image as well as two butterflies from its background scraps. These all got Distress ink to tone the edges and I stamped the large Love word.
I diecut and embossed the center of a pink lace print cardstock and mounted it with foam tape on a folded card base. Then I inset the stamped panel down inside it and mounted the two butterflies.
I rounded the corners to soften the look and then added some 'cotton candy' Stickles to be butterfly bodies.
Ddd
This stamp is designed to be two Cardinals but we don't have those in Oregon and I needed to make an Oregon card. So I changed the coloring and made them Stellar Jays. On the stamp they just kinda hang there in space so I grabbed a pine stamp on a cube and stamped it a bunch of times to fill the lower area.
This is all colored with watercolor markers and then I also colored the background. I used a labels die to cut out the diamond shape and trimmed out a slightly larger shape to frame it in yellow.
I added with foam tape to a plaid background along with a green grosgrain ribbon. The text was diecut and glued over another diecut shape which is popped up on foam tape. I added a single yellow rhinestone.
A yellow folded card base echoes the colors in other parts of the card.
Ddd
This is a tutorial on creating these snowy scene cards
THE SUPPLIES:
You will select some stamps with folliage. I chose a mix of wood-mounted and acrylic stamps mounted on a clear block.
You will need a stamp positioner to align (actually, to MISalign) your images.
You will need some clear embossing powder, Versamark ink, and a waterproof black ink pad.
You will need some blue blendable ink (I used Distress Inks) and a foam blending tool. You could also use foam daubers.
Get a large sticky-note pad and cut yourself some pieces of white cardstock. Smooth is good - glossy is not good.
THE PROCESS:
Use black ink to stamp each of your images onto the plate of your stamp positioner. Each one that will be stamped separately needs to be aligned in a separate corner of the plate. CLEAN YOUR STAMPS THOROUGHLY AFTERWARD - NO COLOR RESIDUE.
Use a sticky note to mask off a band at the bottom of the card - I do a one-inch section.
Ink up a stamp with Versamark ink.
Stamp onto white cardstock.
Place plate of stamp positioner over the stamped image so it is slightly mis-aligned down and to one side.
Add your corner piece to the stamp positioner and carefully remove the plate. Ink the image with black ink.
Stamp over the Versamark image with the black image, aligning with the stamp positioner.
Repeat to complete the scene. WARNING: If you are using the same stamp more than once on the same scene, stamp all the Versamark versions before inking any with black.
Sprinkle with clear embossing powder.
Heat to melt the embossing powder.
You can barely see here that both the Versamark and black get embossed by this method and that they are slightly off register.
AND NOW, THE MAGIC:
Tear a sticky note to create a hill (make sure you leave some sticky on it) and put it on the card toward the top.
Working on a non-stick craft sheet, use the foam applicator to apply blue ink to the 'sky' where you have masked off. Work from the craft sheet towards the cardstock and this can be a fairly solid coloring.
Remove sky mask. Tear another mask to create a snow bank, Apply to card about 1/2 way down toward the straight-line mask. This time do the inking more lightly and work from the mask upwards. Add ink a little at a time so you don't get too dark.
Remove this mask and repeat the samy style of inking working upward from the straight-line mask.
Remove the bottom border mask
FINISHING:
Trim the panel
Stamp sentiments in black ink into the white border.
Back with a thin black border.
Apply to white or colored folded card base and you're done!
My original intention to make a slideshow tutorial did not work out. But, this way, you can spend as long as you like on each picture!
Ddd
On several cards over the last year I've used 'scrapper's floss'. It has the look of twine but is really tightly twisted paper! It comes in a package that looks like dental floss.
Then,as a gift, I received a card with three colors of 'baker's twine'. I like this as much as the scrapper's floss and it is softer to work with.
Well, delighted I was to find at the craft store packages of colored twine (15 yards each). There were 12 colors with two rolls of each colors. Yay! One set for me and one set to give as gifts.
And then I found, at the same store, a similar set of baker's twine - 12 colors with 2 rools of each color. Again, I will keep a set and gift a set.
I wanted to be able to see these so I would be reminded to use them and because they are so cute! So I moved some ribbon scraps from a 'candy jar' and loaded it up with my new (and old) twines.
Ready to ROLL!
Ddd
This summer I used some little wooden birdhouses (shaped like lighthouses) to make patriotic decorations. When I bought those birdhouses there were several styles to choose from so I bought two more sets of three with different seasonal projects in mind.
I selected some winter/Christmas papers to cover these three. I started out wanting to make them into 'gingerbread houses' but didn't have any papers that were candy-like to decorate them. So I just made them into Christmas houses. They were designed to be hung but I removed the clunky ropes that came in them so they will just sit on the shelf.
From the left, with a little turn to show more detail - this one has cute little sloping sides, a star cutout for the opening and lapped roof. I used a scallop border punch to make strips for the roof and adhered with double-stick tape. All the exposed wood portions (after covering with papers) were colored with a Krylon gold paint pen.
The next birdhouse is taller than the rest. It is symetrical on all sides which lends itself to a vertical stripe and a roof covering with miters. Again, all the wood surfaces are gold paint.
The third house has a scalloped fascia board and a little shelf instead of a post at the entry. The entry hole is an archway, too. I used gold text paper for the roof and some border print with trees and reindeer for the walls.
I think they turned out very cute. I'm looking forward to creating a Spring set out of the remaining three.
Ddd
I pulled up the last of the garden produce today - the carrots. This is the best crop of them I have ever had, though most of them were stubby they made up for it in girth.
This batch is about 1/4 of the total I got from the single barrel I planted.
I dug the last of the Yukon Gold potatoes last week and transfered them to cold storage. I got tired of throwing out every 5th one because the squirrels ate chunks out of them. Why don't they eat the purple potatoes? We didn't like them much anyway! So I left the rest of the purples in the ground and the squirrels can eat on them all they want this winter. I'll dig up and discard the remains in the spring and plant only the kinds WE like - and then try to figure out a way to keep our squirrel friends out of them.
Ddd
For the Ladies' Christmas Dinner at church I was asked to 'host' a table. Each host decorated their own table on the theme "Glory to God". I used some things from my own Christmas decor plus items I picked up at Dollar Tree.
I started with two $1 table runners in sage green and crossed them over the center of the round table. Red $1 pottery plates were laid out at each place setting. On these are $1 packages of instant flavored coffee as a hostess gift. Angel napkins (leftover from last year) were placed on top of the coffee.
In the center of the table I placed a footed cake plate with three angels from my collection. In the center is a $1 vase filled with $1 red potpourri and a sprig of each green and red $1 berry sprays. I scattered some of the potpourri around the angels and under the cake plate. I added pieces of miniature sheet music that usually goes on my Christmas tree around the base of the cake plate and strung a $1 gold bell garland up and down around the plate. This is all circled with eight $1 angel ceramics alternating in sage green and cream robes.
Our table will be using flatware that is provided at the food service. The other tables were elegantly beautiful.
Ddd
So... I ran across this free quilt pattern that just made me swoon and had to have a go at it. It is from Anna Marie Horner and it is called Feather Bed (http://www.annamariahorner.com/make.html). What an awesome title for a pattern!
I used scraps I had on hand from all my previous projects to create a little over a yard of striped fabric to cut the feathers from. I used some fabric from the donation stash for my background (which, to me, looks like pajama fabric) instead of the plain white in the sample. The feathers are HUGE, at about 18 inches from tip to tail.
I was loving the red I used for the quill portion so used more of that on the border. Still loving it so I quilted by doing a decorative stitch in red around every feather.
It is bound by wrapping the backing to the front and top stitching with the same red decorative stitch.
This lap quilt for Passages is about 56-58 inches square.
Ddd
Since everyone needed a break from Christmas projects on one of the lists we were challenged to make a Spring card in December. I'm one to jump on board with a butterfly any time of the year so that is what I chose to stitch.
I pricked out two butterflies with the pattern onto shimmery white cardstock and stitched with verigated thread (orange, green, red, blue). I rounded two corners and added some simple borders in colors to match the thread.
I found the perfect sentiment in a package of clear stickers.
Ddd
Way back in 2007 I listed a bunch of authors I like to read because they include crafts in their fiction. Since they write in series there is always something new coming from them.
Since I started this new hobby of quilting I have discovered another list of crafty authors that delve into the topic as they solve their mysteries or tell their story. YAY! So, I now share these authors with you.
FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:
Thayer, Terri
Zane, Carolyn
Chiaverini, Jennifer
Bostwick, Marie
Sachitano, Arlene
O'Donohue, Clare
Fowler, Earlene
There are many others that have written a single book that combines quilting and fiction. I've just included the series writers.
Ddd
Though this bird is not nearly as large as the one used yesterday, I still had to trim it pretty close to make it fit the card well. I liked the method of making the background recede that I used on the blue birds so I used the 'pumice stone' distress marker on the backgrounds of these again. I did not do anything to the bird, itself, though.
For the first one I picked up the blue in the wings with a robin's egg blue frame, the green to pick up the leaf color and a yellow card base to pick up the color of the belly. I added the doodle lines around various parts and added a sentiment with a gold peel-off sticker.
With the same coloring and layout I used coral tones to bring out the color of the cherries and the speck of color around the eye. I changed up the faux stitching style and the script greeting.
Still not done with all these backgrounds so you'll see more pop up from time to time.
Ddd
If you saw this in the original paper you would probably not recognize it now! The birds on this paper were very large for a card so I cut them down to use only the front half of the birds. I rounded the corners and then stared at them for quite a while... (insert 'Jeopardy' theme music). I decided the problem was that the whole thing was too much the same tone. So I used a 'pumice stone' distress marker over the whole background and then went over the whole bird with a 'picket fence' distress marker. This made the bird pop off a subdued background. I used 'old paper' distress ink with a blending tool over the bird to bring back a little color.
For the first card I backed the illustration with a lemon yellow with rounded corners. Behind this I layered a yellow/blue dot and a grey folded card base. I did some faux stitching with a fine line pen and added a diecut white script.
I added a few fine lines to the illustration on this next one but did the rest of the coloring the same. I bordered it with a robin's egg blue and a burgundy strip over a pink folded card base.
The text on this one is proveded with a gold peel-off sticker.
Ddd
The background that included birds in a cage was just not working as a whole piece so I cut out the cage and traced out all the bars and framing with peel-off gold stickers.
For the first I used a tone on tone orange background paper and repeatedly stamped the sentiment on it. I toned the edges with 'black soot' distress ink and added a gold peel-off scroll at the top. More peel-off trim creates a chain and I popped up the cage on foam tape over it.
You can see that these birds and the cage has that shiny glittery surface. For the next one I used the same exact treatment but over green paper with a pre-printed corner bracket. The hanging bracket I added is different on this one, too.
Now those are love birds.
Ddd
From those 12 x 12 sheets I cut up some time back, I'm still coming up with parts to use as backgrounds. I had two that had script in a framed area with some floral accents.
First I used 'aged mahogany' distress ink to tone the edges (darker on the corners) of the panel and a peach dotted paper. These were layered together and I placed two vellum script stickers which are printed in gold. That left some open space so I placed a gold peel-off scroll in the middle and then filled a heart opening with a pink heart brad.
You'dhardly know this was the same illustration! I did toning with 'old paper' distress ink only in the script area and then overstamped it with more script using 'espresso' Adriondack ink. I used parts of silk flowers to build on top of the printed ones and added a 'ColorMe' papers tag with a stamped sentiment. The tag fot a burgundy border and a bow tied with scrappers floss. I bordered the illustration with burgundy and placed it on a cream and black striped paper.
The open flower got a little heart brad for the center.
Ddd
