Bird Crazy stamps and dies and Ranger's Collage Glue Stick tip

So, I got my coordinating dies today (Yay!  Thank you Ms. Alleystamp!) and was trying to figure out how I was going to keep all the dies straight without a lot of guesswork each time I used them.  I came up with this solution.  I used a colored Sharpie (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple - just enough for the 6 crazy birds!) and scribbled a color around the edge (front and back of all the dies.  On the stamp I also scribbled some color to match the dies.  Now all I have to do is look for all the red scribbles to make the owl-ish looking bird, and so forth.

I also thought it would be fun to cut the overall bird out and use it as a stencil or mask, depending on my idea.  Since I coordinate my envelopes with the cards I make stamping just the silhouette could be fun and give the recipient a clue as to what's inside waiting for him/her.

Yesterday I posted a 'find' regarding the Ranger Collage Glue Stick.  You might not have seen it so I'll repeat it here.  I discovered that if you carefully smear it all over a card front (and don't have any lumps) when you apply the vellum overlay and use a roller to smooth it down, you won't see the adhesive!!!  On the back I went around only the edges with the glue stick and it was not easy to detect.  Yay!!!  I think I'll be using vellum a lot more, now.

Faking it

Recently a challenge was issued on the Gingerwood bulletin board (must be a member to participate) to create a winter holiday card using non-holiday stamps or create a non-holiday card using winter holiday stamps.  I opted to create 3 holiday cards using non-holiday stamps.  There was an 'oops' moment when I created a fall card first but that happens.  Sigh.

 
 

White card base, gold vellum, white card layer

Hickory Smoke Distress Ink on music background (CMS048 Festive Sounds); overstamp 'Christmas Carols' (CMS048 Festive Sounds) with gold pigment ink, heat set with gold embossing powder

The Fake Poinsettia features a starfish (CMS194 Nautical Blueprints) stamped numerous times using red ink on red mulberry paper.  It was stamped in green ink on green mulberry paper.  Using a roller ball I furled the petals and leaves.  From a tag used to create a yellow-y background I punched a snowflake 3 times and layered it with pop dots.

Yellow card base, black layer, white layer left over from a previous project

The arrows are actually Christmas trees from a Dylusions border stamp (Christmas Borders DYR 35824).  I painstakingly covered each star on top of each tree with paper tape and inked up the stamp using Snow Cap Pigment Ink.  The tape was removed quickly but carefully so I could stamp the image twice, in two directions.  The second stamping was a bit light so I went over it using a white Gelly Roll pen.


My fall card features a flower (Lower Case Art LCS019) that was stamped three times in orange ink on three scraps of orange cardstock.  The images were cut out and layered with foam tape.  The fake leaves are a small butterfly (CMS123 Attic Treasures) stamped twice on green cardstock and cut out.

The background is a floral filigree stamp (Botanical Art LCS037) that I colored with Peeled Paint and Brushed Corduroy Distress Markers, huffed, then stamped onto the white card base.  The images looked bolder than I wanted so I made an outside card using vellum.  And here's a neat find...I smeared Ranger's Glue Stick all over the card front in a thin layer...and it does NOT show through the vellum!!!  except for that small spot on the lower right..oops! because I got it too thick.  sigh. 

Using black permanent ink I stamped 'Happy Halloween' (Spooky Stuff CMS068) and the spider (Botanical Art LCS037).

I hope these samples encourage you to look at your stamps beyond their obvious intentions.

                   

Yellow Pig Day

What?  You didn't know today was Yellow Pig Day?  But the newspaper article I read said it was celebrated worldwide! 

Watercolor paper; Penny Black Pinky Pig stamp; Jet Black Archival Ink; miscellaneous cardstocks; Sizzix Handwritten Celebrate (660215) die; watercolor markers

Celebrate summer

 

by taking a trip to the water's edge with me.

 

Stampers Anonymous Mariner stamp set; Sizzix (Waves Texture Fade, Celebrations Words: Script, mini bottle); Sarasota Stamps (sand); Copic Marker E31; Ranger (Jet Black Archival Ink, Pumice Stone, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber distress inks, watercolor paper; Core-dinations blue, gray cardstock; plastic packaging 

 



America's big day

She turned 239 this year so I acknowledged her age on my version of Tim's July tag for 2015.

--#8 tag; foam tape; flag charm
--Idea-ology (Seasonal Paper Stash, Remnant Rubs-Numbers, Vial Labels, mini numeral, crinkle ribbon)
--Stampers Anonymous Mini Blueprints 4 (CMS154)
--Ranger (Jet Black Archival Ink, distress watercolor paper, distress markers, distress inks, Fossilized Amber distress paint)

Week 11 - Altered Puzzle Pieces

Last challenge before some time off...need rejuvenation, room needs overhauling, etc.  You can see Christine's samples here.

I used archival inks and distress inks (including all the newest colors) to create my background color.  Hero Arts stamps (E3375 Fall Memories, LL762 Printer's Lowercase, LL761 Printer's Type); Stampers Anonymous stencils (Hearts THS017, Burlap THS007) and stencil (Falling Leaves CMS072); Spellbinders classic oval die (S4-110); Idea-ology (rub-ons); handheld punches (oval, 1/8" circle); misc. leaf punch; cardstock scraps; watercolor paper scraps

Already wondering just how much I'll really accomplish in my art room.  Hmmmmmm.....

Fly away...butterfly

It's week 10 of the altered puzzle piece challenge.  Claudine joined 2 pieces to create one larger surface.

Ranger: archival inks (Pale Ochre, Tiger Lily, Orange Blossom, Jet Black, Leaf Green), Glossy Accents, Yellow Stickles; 3-D butterfly sticker (SpottedCanary.com); Hero Arts Graphic Squares E2470; Penny Black 2712...the butterfly; cardstock scraps, paper flowers