Can This Mess Be Saved?

I remember from years ago a regular feature in a woman's magazine called "Can This Marriage Be Saved?". While this is not nearly as serious as that, sometimes I wonder if I can salvage some of the messes I create.

This started out as a blank canvas and as usual, I had no idea where I was  going with it. I started gluing down some random pieces of torn newspaper and messing around with paint and stencils. At this point, it looks like it's ready for the trash bin! Now there are times when I will give up on a card, but I figure that if I just keep going, I can always rescue a canvas. 

I soldiered on, adding more layers of paint, glaze, and stenciling. When I was happy with the background, I had to figure out what the point of the canvas would be. I had a new set of bird stamps (Ranger Dina Wakley Scribbly Birds) that I was anxious to use, so I decided my canvas needed a bird. I stamped the bird on watercolor paper with Ranger Archival black ink and colored it with watered down Distress Inks. Then I cut around the body (I didn't try to save the legs since they'd be almost impossible to cut out). I had some newspaper that had been used to protect my work surface when spraying inks, so I die cut some leaves using Tim Holtz' Tattered Leaves. I glued them down starting at the top left corner, trying to create the impression of falling leaves. I freehand sketched a branch as a perch for my bird and filled it in with some brown paint, then glued the bird down allowing the tail to hang off the edge of the canvas.

I chose a scripture from Psalm 98:1, stamping each letter with an alphabet set I've got. After cutting all the letters out, I glued them into place and called it finished. I hope you enjoyed this - it was a lot of fun to see it finally come together!

I'm linking this up to the current Craft Stamper Magazine's "Colour" challenge. Wish me luck!

Immi

Thanks!

Today I'm enjoying a day off from work. I recently started a new job, and I'm missing my craft time! I decided to make a "thank you" card today for a co-worker of mine. She made a little sign with my name for my work space as a welcoming gesture - so nice of her! I thought it would be fun to use the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge, A Piece of Paradise, to jump start my project.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper, cut to A2 size. I sprayed it with water, then had fun with several spray inks (Glimmer Mist & October Afternoon), letting the colors run and blend together. After drying it with my heat gun, I took a Tim Holtz stencil (Burlap), and spread Ranger's Texture Paste randomly through the stencil. I let that air dry for a little bit, then finished the drying with the heat tool. I used some Mini Distress inks and blending tools to add some color to the top of the texture paste. Next I die cut watercolor paper into flowers & leaves using Tattered Florals and Tattered Leaves dies from Sizzix. I sprayed those with inks as well, but they seemed a little blah. I added some interest to them by using various stencils & stamps. For the leaves, I used the Typewriter Background stamp from My Favorite Things and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. For the purple flower layer, I used Tim Holtz' stencil, Dot Fade and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. For the yellow flower layer, I stamped with Dandelion Archival Ink and a Penny Black stamp called Penmanship. The blue flower layer is stamped with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and a mini script stamp from Prima. I also edged the leaves with a Black Soot Distress Marker to help them stand out more from the background. I glued the leaves & flower down with Perfect Paper adhesive. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! (Many Thanks). That was stamped on a scrap of watercolor paper with Versafine Black Onyx, covered with clear embossing powder, and heated. I trimmed closely around it and sprayed it with Sea Glass Glimmer Mist. Then I mounted it on a scrap of purple cardstock, notched on the one edge. I tucked the opposite edge under the leaves when I glued it down. The finished panel was mounted on purple cardstock, using Tombow's Extreme Adhesive. For one last touch, I glued a clear gemstone from my stash as a center for the flower.

That's it for today - happy Monday to you all!

Immi

Valentine's Day Card

I decided to do a little cleanup the other day in my studio. It gets messy really quickly in here! One of the things I chose to tackle was some paper that I use to cover my work surface when I'm using ink sprays. The spray tends to get all over everything, so I keep newspapers or large paper bags on hand to put under my project. I get some interesting colors and patterns as they get all dirtied up. I took some of those pieces and die cut them into flower and leaf shapes, using Tattered Leaves, Tattered Florals, and Jumbo Tattered Florals by Sizzix. But now I'm left with a pile of these pieces and need to figure out what to do with them.

I thought it would be fun to layer some of them on a card. I started with a piece of watercolor paper and some ink sprays, I used several shades of red and pink, along with some gold & bronze to create a background. Next I layered some decorative washi tapes over that, gluing them down since the adhesive on these tapes is not quite strong enough for the textured watercolor paper. I glued down a couple of flowers & leaves and set it all aside to dry between a couple of books to help keep it flat. (I keep waxed paper handy to prevent sticking when I use books as weights.)

I had a chipboard heart that I hadn't used on another project, so rather than put it away I decided to use it. I sprayed it with some inks, then put on a layer of Distress Crackle Paint in Clear Rock Candy. 

While that was drying, I decided which sentiment stamp to use - the one I chose is by Heidi Swapp. I added some additional stamping on the lower left since it looked rather bare, using French Post by Hampton Art and Flourish Wave with Hearts by Hero Arts. Next I added my sentiment.

Once the heart was dry, I attached it to the flowers, and rounded the lower right corner of the panel. I folded a heavy piece of cardstock to use as the card base, and rounded the lower right corner of that as well. I used Extreme Adhesive to mount the watercolor panel since it's so heavy.

I can't say that I got very far in cleaning up my space, but I got a little bit done and had some fun along the way.

Happy crafting!

Immi