Happy birthday ala the Crazy Dogs!

Here are 2 variations on the same idea for friends who are dog lovers.

 Ranger:  distress markers (antique linen, old paper, wild honey, candied apple, faded jeans); distress inks (tea dye, old paper, twisted citron, ground espresso, chipped sapphire); archival inks (potting soil, tree branch, jet black); Gold Liquid Pearls

Sizzix:  lattice on the edge die, crazy things and crazy dogs thinlits dies

Stampers Anonymous:  cms 237 crazy things, cms241 ledger script, cms271 crazy dogs

Misc.: twine, Zing embossing powder/Neon Green, rubber stamps (The Cottage Stamper), Typeset embossing folder/Cuttlebug, Bazzill cardstock, mixed media cardstock

Idea-ology: textured surfaces/burlap



Both stamps were used either on the front or the inside of each card.  I couldn't decide which option I liked better so I created one of each.  One friend has 2 black labs, the other 2 yorkies.  Thought these crazy dogs fit each owner quite well!

RAKs

I'm behind in returning RAKs so I thought I'd play with some of my older toys and see how creative I could be using newer coloring mediums.

The top layer is mixed media cardstock because I wasn't sure what coloring agents I would be using.  I ran the top one through the Cuttlebug/ProvoCraft 'Friends Forever' embossing folder and colored it with distress markers (Twisted Citron, Fossilized Amber and Old Paper) and a water brush.

In the bottom one  I painted the embossing folder with Ranger's Pearl Paint before running the cardstock through the embossing folder.  Immediately wash your embossing folder unless you want it pearlized forever! Using the mini ink pads in the same colors I rubbed them over the raised and not raised areas then wiped a slightly damp towel across the card front.  The paint acts as a resist; mine was probably too dry to really act as a resist but it did give a neat look (IMHO) in real life.

Two looks using the same colors but different mediums.  Fun!

Delayed World Card Making Day

I wasn't able to participate in World Card making Day last Saturday so I made up for it this past Saturday by creating 2 cards, a tag for Tim's 12 Tags of 2012, a card for the Compendium challenge and I got started on Thanksgiving cards.  Oh, and I made homemade white bread from scratch and a pot of chili.  It felt good being so productive.

Here are photos of the two cards and the bread.  I'll be sharing the other 2 projects later this week.

The bread was just as delicious toasted!  It's a simple recipe that you mix up, let sit 8-14 hours (I tend to do this before I go to bed - preferably the weekend), knead a tiny bit, let rise, bake.  It can also be used for a luscious Cinnamon Swirl loaf.  Still warm and creamery butter?  Over the moon yummy!  Next time I want to try incorporating some whole wheat flour into the recipe.

Dream big!

I used stamps from 8* of Wendy's sets on this one 4"x6" card!  Six on the outside and two on the inside.  Lots of chipboard, grungeboard, grungepaper and cardstock and plenty of Ranger ink products (distress and archival) as well as Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  One flower was even embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  A few buttons became flower centers, one went from gold to silver with the help of a Sharpie.  There are also a few flowers cut from Tim's Tattered Florals die.

See that silver flourish?  IRL it does look like tarnished silver.  Cool!  I saw Shelly Hickox post about a Faux Tarnished Metal treatment she gave to a birdcage die - beautiful! 

This cards heads to the UK Tuesday so hopefully the recipient will receive it before her birthday on the 5th. 

*Alphabetically Art, Dimensional Rose Art, Let Your Art Have Wings, Art Parts, Forever Art, Love to Make Art, Card Art Essentials, and Be Inspired...Make Art

Last of the tissues so no more issues

Last tissue box cover this year.  Had it in my head to do a real glitzy one.  I used a Cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder and plenty of Stickles on all the embossed areas...maybe Diamond?  My hand really got some nasty cramps.  The camera angle didn't pick up the glitter effect but it is pretty when light shines on it.  I edged the pieces with the silver paint dabber.  A friend may be bringing me some lemons and kumquats from her yard in southern Alabama so I wanted to have a little something to say 'thank you'. 

Here's the card!

This is the card I made that will accompany yesterday's wall art for my mom.  The background was created by following the Antique Wallpaper tutorial that is in the June/July 2010 Technique Junkies newsletter.  I chose the Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder; Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Stormy Sky, and Old Paper Distress Inks.  The green layer has been severely distressed around the edges before it was placed on the white base.

The Sizzix Floral with Leaves Flourish (656520) was cut out of grungeboard.  I covered it with Espresso Pigment Ink then brushed Distress Crackle Paint (Broken China, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed) over the pieces and let air dry.  I smudged Tea Dye Distress Ink over the cracks to make them more visible.

I stamped '76' on cardstock then punched it out using a handheld punch (5/16").  Put it on my craft sheet then placed Tim's memo pin over it and filled the opening with Glossy Accents (recently seen on Wendy Vecchi's blog - thank you!).  I edged one of Tim's tickets with Broken China Distress Ink, ran the pin through it.  There is mounting foam to raise it up for dimension.  The ribbon is from Michaels (long ago purchase).

Penscore Magic Foam Stamps

Remember these? I got some at the 1st convention I attended eons ago. I got mine as individual blocks but you can purchase them as 4/pkg or in 8"x10" sheets.

You heat the moldable foam up with your heat tool then press the foam into the object of your choice. Color with dye based ink and stamp. If you color with any other medium it could be there permanently (affects the looks, not the use). Wipe off on a damp towel and the block is ready to be reheated and used again.

Here I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder so that I could coordinate my mailing envelope with my ATCs that are going to be swapped out later this month. The stamp is TH, all inks by Ranger, and the ATC is edged with the copper paint dabber. Behind the postmark is also a splat of copper paint dabber.

The ATC white cardstock was double-bugged. I ran the ATC through the Distressed Stripes folder and lightly ran red ink over the raised portion. I then ran the ATC through the Fleur De Lis folder 3 times before running blue ink over the embossed portion.

Note to self: figure out how I can have the photos going across the top of the entry, not in a columnn. Blogger needs better photo placement options or this user needs to become better informed on how to use this feature.

Distressed watercolors

I love Ranger's Distress Inks so much that I even watercolor with them. The image is stamped with Ranger Archival Black ink onto watercolor paper. It's easy to use the ink pads for watercoloring. I just smush a corner of the pad onto my craft sheet and use a wet paint brush (or water brush) to apply the colors. The image and blue layer were cut from a Spellbinders die. Subtle texture is added to the far right side with a Cuttlebug border embossing folder; the straight border line I created on my Scor-It. The rabbit's tail looks flat but I don't have anything dimensional on hand. Whatever I do I'll have to do times 18 because that's how many I made. The computer-generated sentiment is 'You...turn my world upside down!' Happy spring!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Well, it IS very cold out but that has nothing to do with this precious (IMHO) card recognizing the birth of a new family member. I used 2 white layers on the white base. Sue Nelson (Heart Prints)uses this a lot and always looks stunning.

First I printed the baby's name (Hawaiian) on the top layer, embossed a line above and below that on my Scor-It board, then embossed the top portion with Provocraft Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy embossing folder and the bottom with P-C Swiss Dots embossing folder. The 2 hearts are also from P-C. I cut a pink one and a white one, embossing the white one. The narrow pink ribbon anchors the slightly off-set hearts. A beautiful card for a precious little girl.

I've gone and done it!

I've been saying I wouldn't do this, didn't have the time, energy, art, etc. However, I've been rethinking my reasons and have concluded that having one would probably be infinitely easier than loading my artwork in numerous galleries unless doing so for a specific reason. Just sharing can now be done globally in one place. Whew! But, something tells me that I'll still end up adding my pics to all the groups I belong to anyway. Oh well.

I know I won't have any time to create anything before the new year begins (what happened to the old one????) so I'll share my latest creation with you. It's sure to brighten your day (it's dazzling with the lights shining on it!) with it's bling-yness. I got the inspiration from my friend Lori's blog (I Been Thinkin' About Inkin').

My 11" wreath is full of glitz and glam. The stamps are all from Wendy Vecchi's collections. I also used a Sizzix die, paper clip flower, bottle caps, buttons, Ranger Distress Inks, Ranger Paint Dabbers, Ranger Stickles, Ranger alcohol inks, wire, beads, lots of adhesive, foil, chipboard, cardboard, wired ribbon, grungepaper and grungeboard (Tim Holtz), adhesive-backed foil, and metallic paper and a Cuttlebug embossing folder (Divine Swirls). The first pic I took without using the flash so you could see the actual colors better. The 2nd one was with the flash so you could see the dazzle.