Shook Up Seahorse

I had so much fun creating the Umbrella Man shaker card, I decided to try this seahorse die from Tim Holtz.  It was a little challenging, because there are a couple of shapes on the die, and it was very tricky getting the paper to fit through my machine with the die positioned where I wanted it.  If you look closely, the clam shell cut a little on the left side of the tail, so I decided to work with it anyway.  I just cut several more odd notches around the card, and I think it really works with this card.

Someone commented on my last post about the cleverness in using the Umbrella Man for a shaker card.  I have to give credit to Jennifer McGuire's blog post, which gave me the inspiration.

The background was created, once again, using Wendy Vecchi's alcohol + reinker technique using her Ranger Archivals in Cornflower Blue & Leaf Green, plus some Gold Alcohol Ink by Ranger on Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper.  The hexagon confetti is by Martha Stewart, and the saying is embossed with Ranger's Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder (sorry, don't know the name of the stamp's company).  I also used a spritzer to get the gold specks with my Zig Painty Pen.  I used craft foam to pop it all up and mounted it on a Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake base card.

The Wednesday Challenge on Simon Says Stamp's blog is Anything Goes, so this will be my entry.

Anything Goes on Simon Says Stamp

 

Today's challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog is Anything Goes, so here is my entry.  I created the background using Wendy Vecchi's alcohol & reinker technique (Ranger's Archival Cornflower Blue, Orange Blossom & Ranger Alcohol Ink in Gold) on Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper, and one of her stamps.  The Umbrella Man is from the Tim Holtz Alterations line, and the hexagon glitter is from Martha Stewart.  It's hard to see, but the card front is mounted on a Basic Black (Stampin' Up!) card base.

Watercolor Play Weekend

I had two days off from school for a lovely 4-day weekend!  I promised myself some creative play time, and boy, did I have some!  I decided to restart the online classes I was working on last year.  If you haven't tried any of the Online Card Classes yet, you're really missing a great value.  They offer lots of videos, PDFs, inspiration, and the best part is, you have access for life!  I've taken the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101, 102, and now I'm taking Watercolor for Card Makers.  It took me until Tim's CC102 came out before I got off my butt and finished CC101.  I still haven't finished CC102 (I like to think I'm savoring it), and after logging on to the Watercolor classes, I realized I was only on lesson 2.  See what I mean?  Who cares if the classes began a year ago!  I can do them at my own pace.

So, this lesson was about masking.  I pulled out my fabulous, new Kuretake Gansai watercolor set I got for Christmas.  I learned about this set from Jennifer McGuire's blog (here's her video about them), and she happens to be the instructor for this lesson.  The idea is to mask off your stamped image, leave it uncolored, and watercolor the background.

I began with this image from Tim Holtz.  It looked like a simple image to mask off ... a large, plain rectangle.  Fun, but I was ready to add more color.

Next up, this flower image from Stampin' Up!  If you use the right brush, it's no problem masking off any area.  Simple, but not my cup of tea.  Oh, the birthday sentiment is from Close to My Heart.

Now, this was more me!  I've been dying to try this Dina Wakley set, and it didn't disappoint!  I kept the watercoloring bold, but simple, and I just love it!

This was a different masking technique using clear embossing powder.  I stamped the background (a plaid stamp from Stampin' Up!), embossed it, and painted away.  I then removed the embossing powder and stamped the images (not sure of the companies).  The word heart was painted over using Ranger's Black Enamel Accents. 

And finally, my favorite.  I did the same technique as above, but with a more subtle background by Impression Obsession.  I laid the seashell stamp (Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous) on the paper, and painted around it.  I removed the stamp and added the very watered-down red in the center and blended it around the edges.  I added some Walnut Distress Ink around the edges of the card.  Sorry, but I don't know what company made the Discover sentiment stamp.

And, this card will go nicely in the Monday Challenge for Simon Says Stamp blog.  The randomly chosen winner of this challenge will win a $50 gift card for Simon Says Stamp!  One of my favorite shopping sites!

I've got a few creative obligations I've got to make time for, but after this weekend, all I want to do is the next lesson in this Watercolor for Card Makers class!

February Make ART Challenge - Hearts

Now that I have more time for this challenge, I can explain what it's all about.  There's a new blog out there in blogland that celebrates the art & products of Wendy Vecchi, who's a Signature Designer for Ranger Ink.  The blog is called Make ART Challenge Blog, and you can find it by clicking here.  Each month a new challenge will be posted on the first Thursday.  This one posted Thursday on the 5th, and we've got until Feb. 25th to complete the challenge and post it on their blog.  Oh, and the best part ... each month a company is offering a prize for a random winner.  The prize this month will be for $25 gift certificate for The Funkie Junkie.  (Love this site!)

There are a couple of rules though, one being you have to actually use what's called for in the challenge, and two, you have to use at least one of Wendy Vecchi's products.  Done & doner.

I began by creating my background.  On my craft sheet, I put 3 drops of Wendy's Carnation Red reinker, and 3 drops of Wendy's Dandelion reinker.  I poured some denatured alcohol generously over them, and mixed the ink and alcohol together.  I then added a couple of drops of Ranger Pearl Alcohol Ink.  I then took a piece of Ranger Specialty Stamping paper and slid the paper around in my big colored puddle.  I turned it around, and leaned the card to & fro while drying it with my heat gun.  I again dipped my paper in, and dried it.  I did this a few times, until I was satisfied with my layers of color.  Dried one last time.  I used Wendy's honeycomb stencil and the Coffee Adirondack ink and added a couple areas.

I stamped the hand from Wendy's #077 set Worried About Art with Jet Black Archival Ink.  I grabbed some Inky Antics Honey POP paper for my dimensional honeycomb heart and cut it out using Tim's Base Die with a Movers & Shapers Heart die (I only cut half the heart).  I used the new Tombo Extreme adhesive on one side of the half heart and glued it on my project.  I added lots more Extreme glue to the other side, and then 'pulled' the other half of the heart over and adhered to card.  I decided to doodle around the heart a bit, so I used my Ranger Black Fude Ball pen.  I also added scritchy lines around the edges of the card.

I decided on a quote (from Be Inspired ... Make Art #027) to add to my card with Ranger Jet Black Archival ink.  Then, I decided to fill in some blank areas with the Ranger Archival Coffee ink with the Script background stamp from the Live and Make Art set #038.

For the string, I used some of Stampin' Up!s Linen Thread and poked a hole as far down into the point of the heart as I could get.  I got the thread through the hole, and poked another hole under the bottom edge of the finger where I pulled the string through from the back--I pulled out enough to make a bow.  For the other end of the thread, I had it coming from the tip of the heart on the front of the card--I made a larger hole under the finger, and pulled these threads thru to the back.  I made a hole above the finger, and pulled the first thread up to this one to tie a nice bow.

These challenges are also of fun because you just have a small hint of what to use ... the rest is up to you.  Wendy's got some fabulous stamps, inks, stencils, SiSi, and so much more.  Have fun playing, get creative, and post your creation.  Ya never know ... you just might win!  Good Luck!

2015 February Tim Tag Tutorial

It's the beginning of the month, and you know what that means!  New Tim Tag!  You can view Tim's original tag and his tutorial here.  I gotta admit tho, I wasn't that crazy about it.  I'm not into holiday themes, which usually isn't a problem, cause then I get to really get creative and put my spin on it.  But this month's tag is a collage, and I'm not crazy about those either!  Well, using his highlighting techniques, I went for it, and I really like it ... plus I had fun, and that's the whole point of making these tags ... to learn new techniques, and to have fun!

I actually remembered to take pictures as I was making it, so here we go ...

I laid out my papers on the tag how I wanted them.  I chose to do a floral theme, and this black text paper had some beautiful. embossed flowers on it, so I decided to cut around the 3 leaves on the left so I could tuck the other papers under them.

I glued the papers down with Glue n' Seal, being careful not to get any under the leaves I cut around.  The papers seem to adhere better if you add adhesive to both the tag, and the papers you're gluing down.  When finished, I used the brayer to roll out air bubbles and get good adhesion.  Now to let it dry a little.

Once dry, I was able to trim around the tag's edge.

I sanded the edges of the tag, and the edges of each paper.

Coated with a thin layer of glue n' Seal, and let dry again.

After impatiently waiting for it to try, I put some Picket Fence Distress Paint on my craft sheet, and applied lightly to tag with my finger.

Skipped a pic here, cause it would've practically been the same as before.  lol

I added another thin layer of Glue n' Seal, and let dry (so much drying time in this tag!  Ugh!).

Using a Black Soot Distress Marker, and working one small section at a time, I drew between the papers and immediately smudged with my finger.  (At the end, I also did this step around the edges of the tag.)

I added a small Industrious Sticker frame, and repeated the process with the Distress Marker.  I also added some to the top of the sticker to get some black in the details.

I found some wool felt, and some weaved fibers and cut three layers from the Tattered Florals die.  I used my new Brother sewing machine (Christmas present!), and stitched the layers together.

I poked (gouged, really) a hole in the center to add the flower with a brad. 

*inky, messy backside of tag

The good part about hoarding is that you can find some really cool stuff!  I found the decorative button brad and this Stampin' Up! lace ribbon.  I stitched a scrap of the lace ribbon to the tag.

Can't remember what these thingys are called, but they're from Tim's Idea-ology line.  I didn't want white, so I used 3 drops of Mushroom Alcohol Ink to tone it down and age it a little.

Perfect!

I added it on the lace ribbon with 2 pewter brads, and then smashed them with my hammer!

I wanted to repeat this embellishment like Tim did, so I used one of his Typecharms, with an 'F' for flowers.

I added some Picket Fence Distress Paint to the arrow ...

and, while it was out, on a Wordband too.

After letting it sit for a few seconds, I gently wiped the excess paint off the surface, and the paint remains in the recessed areas.

Adhered the Wordband to the tag with 2 more brads, and smashed them too!  I also did the Black Soot Distress Marker around the edges of this as well.

I wanted to bring in the lace ribbon again for the top, but I didn't want it to be so matchy-matchy.  I found this leaf ribbon and decided it was meant to be.

Here's a look at the final tag again.  I made this over a 2-day period because of all the drying time.  I was playing computer games in between, and at one point, I had to go to bed!