Today is a good day...

to celebrate your birthday!

Red Bazzle cardstock base; metallic adhesive paper; watercolor cardstock; Watering Can archival ink; Glossy Accents; metallic thread; red, brown distress markers; Stampers Anonymous 'Fresh Brewed' stamp

It's your day...hope it's filled with lots of joy!

Watercoloring flowers

Gasp...it's past time to use this stamp I thought I just HAD to have...back in 2006!  I stamped the image in Jet Black archival ink on watercolor cardstock.  Plenty of Caran d'Ache watercolor pencils were used to create the layers of color...because one color is never enough!  I also added a bit of white gel pen lines to the tips of the flowers. 

The watercolor cardstock was  layered on to light green paper that was coated with Peeled Paint distress paint (the light green just wasn't enough).  These layers were then put on a piece of gorgeous blue textured card that really picks up the Gentian color scheme.

The card's recipient is a family member who is pretty much confined to a nursing home these days and I just can't get over there to visit as often as I'd like so I hope she enjoys my paper hug!

Just can't get enough of these Crazy Birds!

On glossy cardstock I stamped the Wildflower image in Versamark ink; heat set.  Using archival inks I smudged in green and blue colors to create grass and sky.  I placed a new TH layering stencil (from mini #1) over the card and pounced alcohol over it.  I didn't care that I used more alcohol than I should have; I didn't want to be able to see the ghost image clearly, only a hint.

Using Jet Black archival ink I stamped the bird, hat and flowers on watercolor cardstock and colored them with tons of distress markers and my waterbrush.  I cut them out with the coordinating dies (thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).  On the back side I used several roller balls to make the pieces pop and be more dimensional.  In the indentations I added layers of adhesive foam.  In real life this is so much more 3-D.  The sentiment (Handwritten: Celebrate) was added in Jet Black archival ink.  A snippet of green embroidery thread was tied around the bunch of flowers.

White satin ribbon was wrapped around the card which was layered on blue cardstock by Bazzill.  She rather looks like the bluebird of happiness so I hope that's what she brings to the recipient!

Sharing the love

with my youngest niece who's attending college several hours from home.  O is a wild child when it comes to color so I knew this wouldn't 'scare' her.  She's one of those who wears socks that don't match.  Always has been and hope she always will.  Definitely hears a different drummer than most.

I smushed the blue and purple distress inks onto the Nordic stamp, misted lightly with water then carefully rubbed the watercolor cardstock over the stamp.  Heat set.  Edged with brown distress ink.  Whatever was left on my craft sheet I misted with water then placed the card in it and let the colors run.  Heat set.  My PPMist sprayer dnesn't work so I flung droplets directly from it onto the cardstock.

From cardstock scraps I cut out the heart and letter.  More PPMist was flung onto them.  Heat set.  To the heart I pounced embossing ink on it in a random pattern and sprinkled it with the embossing powder; heat set. 

Using the stencil I pounced more embossing ink through the word and used more embossing powder.  Heat set.  With a small sponge applicator I pounced red ink through the '14' and 'XO'.  Red dots around the border were created using the Candy Apple Red distress marker.

The bird (regular size, not mini) was stamped in Jet Black archival ink twice on a watercolor cardstock scrap.  I always color my images with at least 3 from each color family to create shadow and depth.  I saw a really neat tip on somebody's blog re: cutting out the extra pieces; sure wish I had written it down so I could share the source with you.  (If anyone reading this knows the source, please share it with me so I can update this entry.)  The tip was to cut out the die(s) from scrap cardstock then place the negative over the stamped image.  Tape in place; put the die(s) into the positive space and tape in place.  Cut with your machine of choice.  It may seem like extra work but if you have trouble with your dies moving on you or just not being as centered as you would like, this makes that all go away.  Extra steps but SOOOO worth it for me.  I ended up using the positive scrap as a purple shadow under my bird.  I did use a ball roller to round out the wing then added a bit of foam tape to keep it dimensional.  You can always keep these negative die cuts with your dies for future use.

Here's what I used to create my Valentine..........
Sizzix:  Bird Crazy, Scribbles & Splat, Word Play
Stampers Anonymous: stamps (Bird Crazy, Plaid & Nordic); stencil (Valentine)
Ranger: distress markers (Candied Apple, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin, Rusty Hinge, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon); distress inks (Gathered Twigs, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Dusty Concord); Jet Black archival ink; Antiquities Chinese Red embossing powder; embossing ink; Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist
cardstock: watercolor paper, blue, red and purple cardstock

Happy Valentine's Day, O!

In search the world over

I used Watermark Ink on the Traveler stencil; heat set.  From distress watercolor cardstock I cut the Sizzix globe die.  After scribbling the markers on my non-stick craft sheet I picked up the colors with a waterbrush and kept layering (light to dark) until I was happy, heat setting between each color.

The Fiskars hand held heart punch created the tiny heart in the approximate space where we live (east central Illinois).  I stamped my sentiment using the Hero Arts alphabet stamps and JBAI on white cardstock.  The words were cut out and one of the above named blue distress markers was used to draw around the word boxes.

Silver distress paint was applied several times over the gray cardstock scrap to achieve a metal look; Hickory Smoke distress marker was run along the underside of the plane for shadow.  The rest of the sentiment was stamped on more white card stock then cut out and edged as above.  I folded over the one end and ran a snippet of gray embroidery floss to create a banner being flown across the sky.

My hubby and I used to travel a great deal but can no longer do so because of his health.  I hope this brings a smile to his face and some memories of our days abroad.  Happy Valentine's Day!

-Sizzix:  Globe, mini airplane
-Stampers Anonymous:  Traveler stencil
-Fiskars heart punch
-Hero Arts Printer's Type upper/lower case alphabet
-Ranger: Jet Black Archival Ink; distress markers (broken china, mermaid lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans, Twisted Citron, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke, Ground Espresso); distress watercolor cardstock; silver distress paint; Watermark Ink
-Miscellaneous:  cardstock (gray, white, red); gray embroidery floss

Suzy Snowflake

is always on the lookout for the presence of wonder.  She loves to watch the flakes fall and you can often find her trying to catch them on her tongue.

Here's my version of Tim's February 2016 tag.  I used the following items:

manila tag; distress inks (Broken China, Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Antique Linen); distress stain (Tumbled Glass); distress markers (Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Rusty Hinge); Detail Silver Embossing Powder; Texture Paste; embellishments (Sizzix mini snow flakes dies, alphabet strip die, holiday token, mini pin, jump ring, remnant rubs, crinkle ribbon, vial label, photobooth); layering stencils (Christmas, Snowflakes, Holiday Knit); Snow Cap pigment ink

You can see Tim's tag and instructions here.  Love the remix techniques he used and the variations that others have shared.

We've had some flurries this week...just enough to be pretty and cold enough to to keep them around all week.   

Bet you didn't know that I always ask for a bit of snow on my birthday...and I got my wish this year!

Moving on

A dear friend has sold her home in Michigan.  It's a bittersweet time for her as she recalls the memories the family made while growing up in this location.  She's also leaving behind a friendship of many, many years.  I know today is hard for her as she hands over the keys to the new owners.  I'm sure they are anxious to create their own memories.

Studio 490 stamps were perfect for this card, as was Tim Holtz' Blueprint Sketch distress ink pad.

Studio 490 stamps:  Homemade Art, Residential Art, The Essence of Art

Studio 490 stencil:  Basically Bricks

Ranger:  distress inks (Blueprint Sketch, whatever was on my yellow, orange, red and brown pads); archival ink (Jet Black,  Watering Can)

Misc.: Heidi Grace Designs wood tiles; card stock (white, tan, blue)

The message inside is another Studio 490 stamp and reads:  A home is not a transient shelter: its essence lies in the personalities of the people who live in it.

Home is where your heART is, whether it be in Michigan or anywhere else.  

Celebrating my birthday

My birthday was Monday and just wanted to share the handmade birthday greetings I received.  I always enjoy seeing the talents of others and to have them share their gift with me is extra special.  Thank you ladies!

CF

NC

CG

DP

KL

LH

NG

PS

I am not one to make a big deal of celebrating my birthday.  It's just another day and I prefer to keep it low key.  Today I tried a new recipe for No-Knead English Muffin Bread.  It was scrumptious!

Better than cake and candles in my book!

Hope you're feline better soon!

I just couldn't wait for my Mini Bird Crazy and Crazy Cats stamps to arrive because I just HAD to get them inked up A.S.A.P.!  I already had this idea in my head. 

I stamped the images using Jet Black Archival ink onto 140# watercolor paper.  Nearly 2 dozen distress markers were used to color the bird and cat.  Using the edge of an acrylic block I ran the Pumice Stone mini distress ink pad to create a straight line to ground my subjects.  With a flat waterbrush I pulled the color down towards the bottom of the page, allowing the color to fade out.  Around the images I smudged Hickory Smoke distress ink for shading and dimension.

L-o-v-e the new mini stencils!  This plus sign reminded me of a Red Cross so it's perfect for a get well card.  With the stencil in place I lightly drew around part of a few plus signs then took a regular waterbrush and lightly filled in the space with water, again allowing natural wicking/shading to take place.

On a watercolor cardstock scrap I stamped the 3 sentiments (2 from Brett Wedele's 'Mister Meow Meow and Tweets McGee' and the other from Repeat Impressions) in Jet Black Archival ink.  I traced around a Claudine Hellmuth 'Chit Chat' stencil with a black Micron pen.  After the sentiments were cut out I smudged brown and gray distress inks on the lower left corner for dimension and shading.  A bit of dimensional tape was applied to them before adhering them to the card front. The card was placed on black cardstock then a bright pink card.

These two new sets, along with the larger version of Bird Crazy, are definitely going to get a lot of use!  I have so many ideas...I don't know where to start!

Travel-themed pocket letter

Card: white cardstock edged with a gold marker.  Across the front blue distress ink was smushed into a TH layering stencil.  A scrap of dictionary paper was torn and added to the bottom; a gold metallic corner piece added to the upper right hand corner.

A tag was cut down and edged with a blue glaze pen.  On watercolor paper I smeared green and brown inks; spritzed with water then heat set.  It was backed with black cardstock.

A simple gift of a travel-themed pocket letter was included in the envelope.  The bases are watercolor paper.  I used plenty of layering stencils (traveler, bubble, stripes, arrows, bricked, treads, speckles); stamps (Warehouse District, Travel Ways, Documented, The Journey, French Market, Lost & Found, Playful Journey).  All images and sentiments were stamped with archival inks; lots of distress inks color the backgrounds.  Some images were stamped onto dictionary paper then cut out and glued to the cards.  Black embossing paste was used on 'world map' and an authentic cancelled French stamp was added to the top middle card.

Happy birthday to a friend who loves to collect my ATCs!

Taking time to say hello

White cardstock base; core'dinations layer; Watering Can archival ink; stamp from Simon Says Stamp/Tim Holtz 'Stamptember 2015''; self-adhesive gemstones painted with Worn Lipstick distress paint

A simple card to let others know I'm thinking of them.  Not everyone likes the distressed or grungy look so it's nice to change up my look and go for a cleaner, neater appearance.