Comfort and sympathy

Another bad week for friends and family...3 members within my circle have lost loved ones in a space of 4 days.  Here's one of the cards I made for a cousin who lost her husband.

Simon Says Stamp: Abstract Triangles

Ranger:  clear embossing ink and powder; distress markers and inks (Scattered Straw, Carved Pumpkin, Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint); Perfect Pearls Mist (Biscotti); Black Soot archival ink

Sizzix:  Fall Foliage thinlits dies

Watercolor cardstock, unknown cardstocks

DRS Designs: stamp

RIP, Joe.  You were a good man.

Comfort and sympathy

Another bad week for friends and family...3 members within my circle have lost loved ones in a space of 4 days.  Here's one of the cards I made for a cousin who lost her husband.

Simon Says Stamp: Abstract Triangles

Ranger:  clear embossing ink and powder; distress markers and inks (Scattered Straw, Carved Pumpkin, Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint); Perfect Pearls Mist (Biscotti); Black Soot archival ink

Sizzix:  Fall Foliage thinlits dies

Watercolor cardstock, unknown cardstocks

DRS Designs: stamp

RIP, Joe.  You were a good man.

Happy anniversary

Celebrating a fall anniversary...or 2...actually 4 this month among my circle of family and friends!

Yes, this is virtually the same card as the 10/12 birthday card post.  I was on a roll, fell in love with it and kept on creating!

Decorative cardstock (base); kraft paper colored with Walnut Stain distress stain for the layer; mixed media cardstock for the top

Stamp Camp "Love" and Hero Arts heart (found in the Sunny Lower Case Letters set) in Ground Espresso archival ink on Recollections cork tape.  The edges were smudged with the same ink.

Washi tape gave me a an area to merge 3 of my favorite fall colors using a blending tool (Wild Honey, Ripe Persimmon and Fired Brick).

Sizzix Fall Foliage thinlits die (leaf) was cut from mixed media cardstock.  Before the die cut was popped out of the die I smeared Tree Branch archival ink onto the veins of the leaf.  I puddled Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Forest Moss distress stains on my nonstick craft sheet, spritzed with water and drug the leaf through the mix.  I let them air dry so the color would be more dramatic.  CMS266 Newsprint & Type was stamped over the dry leaf using Ground Espresso archival ink.

Hint for the color-blending:  if you lightly go over the entire strip with the lightest color (presuming you are using the a range of similar colors) then any 'lines' will be kept to a bare minimum.  They really do gradiate nicely if you go in with a gentle touch.

October tag remix

Have you tried the latest remix of techniques that Tim Holtz shared on his monthly blog post for the 12 tags of 2016?  While the first technique left me feeling kind of 'meh' I had much more fun playing with the second one.

Here's a list of the items I used to create my version of this month's tag.

Stampers Anonymous CMS 236 Crazy Talk, CMS 140 Mini Halloween

Idea-ology: long fasteners, Regions Beyond Paper Stash

Sizzix:  pumpkin mini mover & shaker, Candlelight Bigz 660029, Garden Greens thinlits 661206, Dot-trix texture fade, Rulers texture fade, Swirls texture fade

Ranger:  distress crayons (Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Picket Fence), distress paint (Forest Moss, Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Walnut Stain, Black Soot), distress collage medium (matte), distress embossing ink, Melt Art Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE), Glossy Accents, distress collage medium (crazing), Peeled Paint distress marker (witch's face); Vintaj patina paints

Miscellaneous:  green gem (pupil of large background eye), witch's hat charm, silver foil tape, card stock scraps, ribbon scraps

***

I didn't have any Halloween ephemera so I took a sheet from the paper stash, cut it up, arranged the small tiles then glued them down and continued with the process.  The UTEE was used to create the faux enamel label.  The charm was all silver but I v-e-r-y carefully painted it using Vintaj patina paints (black, a yellow, a green and an orange).  And it is sized perfectly to fit the woman's head.  I know the candle should also be yellows and oranges instead of the black but it just wasn't showing up very well.  And I didn't care for the drips when I did them in black.

Here's the tag in a slightly larger size.  Maybe you can see the details a bit easier.

Happy birthday

Celebrating a fall birthday with you!


Decorative cardstock (base); kraft paper colored with Brushed Corduroy distress stain for the layer; mixed media cardstock for the top

Stamp Camp "celebrate" in Ground Espresso archival ink on Recollections cork tape.  The edges were smudged with the same ink.

Washi tape gave me a an area to merge 3 of my favorite fall colors using a blending tool (Wild Honey, Ripe Persimmon and Fired Brick).

Sizzix Fall Foliage thinlits die (leaf) was cut from mixed media cardstock.  Before the die cut was popped out of the die I smeared Tree Branch archival ink onto the veins of the leaf.  I puddled Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Forest Moss distress stains on my nonstick craft sheet, spritzed with water and drug the leaf through the mix.  I let them air dry so the color would be more dramatic.  CMS266 Newsprint & Type was stamped over the dry leaf using Ground Espresso archival ink.

“Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim”

“May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”   To all my Jewish family and friends, "Happy New Year!"

Ranger: Adirondack acrylic paints (Cranberry, Raisin, Espresso, Butterscotch, Terra Cotta, Pesto, Metallic Pearl); Glossy Accents: Multi Medium-Matte; Texture Paste-Transparent Gloss; Faded Jeans distress ink

Sizzix: alphanumeric 3/4" thinlits dies

Studio 490: Vintage Quilt Stencil

Miscellaneous:  Carta Bella Apple Slice Die set; Floracraft-Diamond Dust; Martha Stewart border punch; Bazzill cardstock-blue; white cardstock

Note 1:  the apple and honey were white cardstock that was painted with the appropriate colored acrylic paints.

Note 2:  Diamond Dust was a bit large and chunky but I hope it looks like real sugar and gets the message to the recipient that they are wished a sweet new year.

Celebrating World Card Making Day!

I haven't always been able to participate but this year I did in a rather large way.  A very good friend retired yesterday from his position as a head librarian from an upstate NJ college.  Since we couldn't be with him to celebrate I created an 8-panel accordion fold card to acknowledge his new status of 'retiree'.  Got this finished just in time to get this in the mail before our local station closed at noon.

The font was computer-generated (AR Christy I think on the Printmaster 15 application). Here's a list of everything I used:  washi tape; fire hydrant stamp (Kathy Davis); watercolor pencils; Strathmore Mixed Media cardstock; distress inks; distress markers; archival inks; Stampers Anonymous mini stencils 003, 013; Stampers Anonymous stamp sets 064, 094, 212, 237, 250, 251, 271, 272; Sizzix dies 660953 Crazy Things, 661593 Crazy Dogs, 661209 Crazy Cats, 660949 Mini Bird Crazy & Things, 661594 Mini Crazy Cats & Dogs, 657469 Holiday Lamppost, 38-0289 Baseball Gear, 658252 Cobblestones; Martha Stewart ice cream punch (aka 'flower pot'); Studio 490 Cracked Brick Wall stamp WVBG031, Card Art Sentiments SCS146