Laugh

For years, I’ve wanted to be able to make frames easily – without all of that tricky measuring and mitering – and I also wanted to be able to make a huge variety of sizes for any card project I had in mind.  Sound impossible?  Happily, the folks at My Favorite Things didn’t think so . . . 

This Die-Namics set of 7 dies will make any square or rectangular size frame I could possibly need.  Check it out HERE

TIP:  I assemble the die cut pieces face down and tape across the corners so that it holds its shape.  Then apply your tape or glue, turn it over and add to your card.  Having it already assembled makes it easier to keep the pieces straight and to position the frame where you want it.

Frames used to be a chore to make – now, I look forward to the opportunity!

Cardstock:              Marcos Jute, Bazzill Monochromatic Orange,

                                     Generic Oatmeal, Designer paper

Stamps:                   Stampendous Enjoy Wave, Starving Artistamps

                                      “Laugh”

Inks:                          ColorBox Black

Colored Pencils:     Inktense Burnt Orange, Sienna Gold

Emb Powder:          Judikins Detail Black

Dies:                          Die-Namics Chalkboard Frame Builder,

                                    Simon Says Tilted Banners

Emb Folder:             Cuttlebug Herringbone 

In Deepest Sympathy

Shari Carroll recently shared an idea using gesso to prime her card front . . .

It’s a wonderful idea, as gesso is easy to apply, dries very quickly, and adds “tooth” that can enhance your layout with a little texture.  Also, the inks will stay on top of the gesso and not be absorbed into the cardstock – this makes it easy to get more intense color if that’s what you’re after.  After white-embossing your image over the gesso (make sure it’s dry), you then sponge on some Distress inks, spritz them with water, and then watch a lovely misty pattern of white droplets appear.

I plan to have a lot more fun with gesso in my future – stay tuned!

Cardstock:   Bazzill High Heels, Neenah Solar White, Marcos White Linen

Stamps:        DRS Designs Calla Lily Sympathy Frame

Inks:               Distress Peeled Paint, Evergreen Bough, Seedless

                          Preserves, ColorBox Frost White

Emb Powder: Judikins Opaque White   

Dies:              Marianne Anja, EK Success Cross punch

Doo Dads:    White gesso, Perfect Pearls Mist, flat sequins Marshmallow 

It's Your Day

 Pretty pickings from my Scrap Stash once again . . .

 

If you’ve been stamping for awhile, you may remember a clever little tool from ClearSnap called the “RolTap” . . . a mini-brayer with a ½“ wide firm sponge roller on both ends of the handle.  After inking it up from a stamp pad, it’s very useful for laying down stripes, making plaids, and rolling out quick borders.  It makes soft, diffused edges and is great for blending.

Sadly, they’ve gone the way of the dodo bird – probably thanks to some short-sighted non-creative bean counter – so I’m glad I stocked up while they were still available.  I used it to make the quick background on this card and then topped it with my new all-time favorite UTEE:  Shabby White from Stampendous.   A little bit of chunky, a smidge of gold, and a dash of glitter . . . gorgeous to the max!

Cardstock:   Bazzill Jacaranda, Beckett Iceberg

Stamps:        Too Much Fun “It’s your day”
Inks:               Encore Teal, Pink, Purple, Honeydew, ColorBox White,
                          Glaze White pen
Emb Powder: Stampendous Shabby White, Judikins Opaque White          
Dies:              Spellbinders On the Edge, Classic Postage Stamp,
                          Memory Box Fresh Daisies, Impression Obsession
                          Flags, Mama Elephant Dainty Bow

 

I Am the Way

This layout was supposed to turn out very differently and I remain unsure as to what exactly happened along the way . . .    

                   

Things started off well enough:  I found a fabric-flowered wisteria tree next to the dumpster down the street and dragged it home.  Those lovely purple flowers and green leaves had my name on all of them and I am now well supplied with fabric foliage into the next millennium.

But my best attempts at using them went south, regardless of how well the design worked in my head.  So be it:  maybe my next attempt with this purple windfall will turn out to be more like what I originally had in mind. 

Meanwhile, the message of this most blessed day of the year overrides all other concerns . . . indeed He has Risen!

Cardstock:   Ponderosa Pine, Neenah Solar White

Stamps:         Stamp Magic “I am the way . . .”, Inkadinkado Pebble
                          Background

Inks:               Encore Silver, VersaCraft Peony Purple

Emb Powder:          B’Muse Deep Indigo

Dies/Punches:        Spellbinders Crosses Two, EK Rectangle Tag, Flower

                                         punches

Doo Dads       Fabric Flowers, Purple brad

Rainbow Fish

This is about as close as it gets to Clean and Simple for me . . .

I ran my brayer over the rainbow pad and then laid down the colorful background in one pass.  After stamping, I used leftover scraps on each side to bracket the fish.  A few dabs with the Stickles and I was DONE!  Clean and Simple really comes in handy when life is on overload . . .

Cardstock:   Beckett Iceberg, generic Pink

Stamps:        MJ Barber San Blas Fish

Inks:               Document Black, Fabrico Rainbow Pastel

Doo Dads:    Stickles Icicle                       

Dropping You a Line

The theme for our recent stamping club meeting was to make something with Washi tape, so here’s what I came up with . . .

 

Though I’ve collected a number of these fabulous tapes, I’m still rather new at using them.  One thing I picked up this time around was the fact that Washi tapes are usually translucent.  So when I layered the tapes on black cardstock for some added dimension, the three light colored strips came out muddy and very blah.  Their true colors were retained when I layered the three over oatmeal cardstock.  A sea change for sure!

 The text on the last strip is upside down – a quirk I hadn’t noticed until I was done with the card.  I’ve decided that it doesn’t really matter – it’s just texture and I’m fine with it. 

Well, mostly . . .

Cardstock:   Black Bazzill, generic oatmeal scraps

Stamps:        Starving Artistamps Altered Stitches/Harlequin, Amuse
                         “Dropping You a Line”
Inks:               VersaMark, ColorBox Black, Distress Old Paper
Emb Powder:     PSX Ochre Tapestry, Judikins Detail Black
Dies/Punches:   W+9 Banner Trio, EK Success corner rounder
Doo Dads:          5 Washi tapes, wooden buttons, black floss

Live for Today

Melanie Muenchinger is one of Gina K’s designers and she recently posted a coloring method she calls the Whitewash Technique.  It gives a soft look reminiscent of vellum and I can see scores of applications for this . . .

The technique couldn’t be simpler:  stamp and emboss a line image, then tap your waterbrush onto a white pigment ink pad and color!  How hard is that?  When dry, you can do the same thing with a light-colored inkpad such as pink or green and add some highlights to the image.  You can find a link to her video on this process HERE.

I think this method would make great ghosts, curtains, window panes, summer clothing, clouds, or anything you want to have a misty look to it.  Have some fun and give it a try!

Cardstock:              Marcos Jute, Bazzill Rain Forest, Forest Green

Stamps:                   Great Impressions Random Dot Background,
                                     Stacy Stamps Fern, Studio G “Live for Today”

Inks:                          ColorBox Cream White, Frost White, Distress

                                     Bundled Sage, Brushed Corduroy, Ancient

                                     Page Pine

Emb Powder:          Stampendous Ivory Pearl, Shabby White

Emb Folder:             Spellbinders Bricks & Bark 

Dies:                          Spellbinders Back to Basics tag

Love

Thanks to some really lovely inspiration from Pam via her Expressions With Heart blog HERE, I tried something a little different today.  My adventure involved embossing with a stencil and using the debossed instead of the embossed side ...

 . . . then I decided to gild the lily (in this case, a fern spray) and I sponged with VersaMark through the stencil and white-embossed.  After that, I spritzed with blue, green and purple sprays.  When dry, I masked the fern and stamped a couple of word backgrounds in Dusty Concord.  The Pewter and Perfect Pearls sprays I used to finish off the card don’t show, of course:  all glimmer gets locked in the bowels of my camera, but trust me, the card gleams and looks lustrous without too much flash.

Thanks to Pam for such beautiful ideas and also for her meticulous tutorial which even includes the sandwich recipe for embossing with your stencils – I hope you give it a try!

Cardstock:   Neenah Solar White, Bazzill Blackberry, Robin’s Egg

                           Blue, Marcos White Linen

Stamps:        Above the Mark Sonnet, Art Impressions Mini Travel

                           Background

Inks:               Stamp Zia sprays:  Magic, Iris, Emerald, Distress

                          Dusty Concord, VersaMark, Memento Grape Jelly,

                          Gelly Roll Clear Star pen

Stencil:          Club Scrap Fern

Emb Powder:  Judikins Opaque White, VIP Transcendence 

Punches:      McGill Heart punch, 1/8” corner rounder punch

Doo Dads:    Perfect Pearls, Pewter sprays