The end is near!

Ack!  Just a few more sets of cards until we've run through the deck of cards for the Altered Playing Card challenge.  But Claudine has assured the group that the fun isn't over yet...she has more in store!

Inkadinkado - girl grad stamp; unknown word stamp; Jet Black and Cobalt Archival Inks; paper tape from Cavallini & Co.; white card stock scraps; colored pencils; Multi-Medium (matte)

Tim Holtz washi tapes*; Sizzix dies; Silver Fox Stamp (text); JustRite stamp (word); Cracked Pistachio distress ink, marker and paint; Punchabunch punch; Glossy Accents; Multi-Medium (matte)

* my tape roll is a mess.  The layers have fused to themselves and couldn't get them to separate without tearing into thin, irregular strips.  My others aren't like this but this package had 2 of the 4 rolls that are an absolute mess.

Happy birthday!

Simple cards sometimes say it best.

A Martha Stewart punch for the flowers; a Punch Bunch punch for the flower centers; Bazzill card stock for all.  The sentiment is from Tim Holtz' Simple Sayings.  It's hard to see but the color palette is purples.

Kraft card stock and strips of scrap paper in a masculine color palette.  Again, the sentiment is from Tim Holtz' Simple Sayings.  I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest.

Friends, Flowers and Art Parts - a winning combination

Have you used Studio 490 Art Parts yet?  If not, what are you waiting for???  There are so many to choose from and most of them coordinate with Wendy's stamps.  Here I've used a rectangle frame and it's base to create a stand-up piece for a special birthday present. 

The frame was covered with Tim's tissue tape.  I smeared Liquitex Ceramic Stucco goop over it.  Once dry I smeared various distress stains and paints over it...love the texture and coverage. 

The sentiment was stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink onto specialty stamping paper that had been treated to gesso smears, distress stains, glue & seal smeared over drywall tape and distress paints.  Heat to dry, intermittently misting with water to get the look I wanted of marble.

I punched out several strips of white cardstock using Tim's Tattered Floral Garland die.  Numerous green, yellow, orange and red distress stains were applied to my craft sheet so the flowers and leaves could soak up the color.  I did have to spritz them with water to help make the stain soak into the cardstock.  Using roller ball tips of various sizes I formed the flowers and leaves; air dry.  The flower centers are brown cardstock using Punch Bunch sparkle and twinkle punches - also formed with roller ball tips of various sizes.

Behind the art part rectangle frame is a piece of clear plastic packaging then a spacer frame made from chipboard.  The specialty stamping paper was then adhered to the frame...do it this way in case your stamped image isn't centered (learned that the hard way!).  Lastly the art part base was glued to the other layers before adding all the flowers, leaves and fern fronds.  From chipboard I cut a small easel so the piece would stand up wherever my friend decides to put it.

I needed to include a card so I took the leftover flowers and added them to the top of Wendy's solid flower image from Art-fully Said.   That couldn't have worked out better!  Several green distress markers were used to color the stems and leaves.   Using Peach Bellini pigment ink I randomly stamped part of the large alpha background stamp all over the card.  You can just catch hints of it here and there.  The sentiment (Life & Art) was stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink on white cardstock, cut out and mounted on to the same Bazzill cardstock as the middle layer and cut out again.  I thought this was a fun way to use this sentiment...I had already cut the flower off because I tend to use it more without it.

Since I can't be with my friend on her extra special day, I hope this gift will bring a smile to her face.

*Hey, do you see that tiny dark dot on the framed piece at the end of 'do your best'?  It's actually a pit in the gesso where ink pooled...so it's okay to be there and not a mistake!  lol

Happy Mother's Day!

What fabulous timing!  Sizzix issued a Mother's Day challenge last week, my mom called to say they would be here later that same day, and I didn't have a card...or a gift.  Uh oh.  Better get busy!  I just had picked up Susan Tierney Cockburn's gorgeous Lily Die by Sizzix.  While it's too 3-D for a card it would be perfect for a box (as shown on the Sizzix site in the projects area) or on an envelope...because the card I made was too large for a traditional envelope.  Sheesh.  Lots of Sizzix going on here....

This is an A-2 card; the base is a taupe Bazzill cardstock that I smushed some distress ink through a scrap of wall mesh tape.  The cameo frame and medium rectangle were die cut from a light yellow Bazzill cardstock and run through the Damask embossing folder, inked with distress ink, embossing powder and Ranger's Cement Antiquities embossing powder (scattered spots).

'Mom' was cut from light pink Bazzil cardstock using the Typeset die.  The flowers (Tattered Floral Garland die) were cut from crinoline and colored with distress inks.  The mini flourish was cut from a scrap of paper and colored with distress stains and distress paints.

That is me at 2 1/2!

 This is an over-sized envelope that I covered with scrapbooking paper that had been cut with the Moments die.  The pocket watch die was cut from green paper, as was the mini heart.  The mini cameo was cut from a coral Bazzill cardstock scrap.

The lily is from Susan's Garden collection at Sizzix - quite appropriate, don't you think?  It and the silk ribbon (closure) add a bit of class, imho.

Don't you just LOVE this die????  Oh my gosh, I can't wait to get the entire collection!











Wow, I used 10 Sizzix dies and 1 embossing folder!  I'll be entering this card/envelope combo in the Sizzix challenge for May.

I picked up some sun-loving perennials for my mother's front flower bed where they are sure to be happy and healthy for a long time to come.  BTW, mom loved my card and envelope!

Stamping over a stencil

Have you ever tried this technique?  Obviously some stencils work better than others...you need to be able to see what you stamped...at least a little bit.  In my case, only very little.  Sigh.  But it's there, really it is!  The challenge on the EverythingWendyVecchi Yahoo group is to feature stamping over a stencil. 

The background colors were achieved by trying to follow Tim Holtz' April 12 Tags of 2013 technique - marbleizing the new distress paints.  Mine blended instead of marbleizing but put the tag aside for future use.  Well, today's the future! 

I applied Studio 490 white embossing paste through the Studio 490 'Lovely Leaves' stencil, flipping it over for one of the images.  Once dry I colored the leaves with markers; let dry then replaced the stencil and stamped background text (Lowercase Art) in Olive Archival Ink over the stencil.  To clean the archival ink from the stencil you can use rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer.

More images from the background stamp were rolled on to the tag in various places.  I also adhered drywall screen tape in spots and went over that with red distress ink.  The sentiment (Lowercase Art) was stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink; both ovals were cut using Spellbinder dies.  The key was cut with an older Sizzix die.

Love, love, LOVE the Wendy rose!  I'll never forget the first class I took of Wendy's..make this rose.  Using another 'botched' tech tag (or 2) I stamped 4 roses of both sizes on the back.  Once cut and shaped they were glued down with Multi-Medium (Matte).  The other flower is a Gingko Leaf Punch (Punch Bunch) and a Sparkle Punch (Punch Bunch).  Kind of reminds me of a pansy.

More rain on tap for the weekend and next week (heavy sigh)...so I should have more time in my creative space to try this technique again.