Challenge: W is for White!

This week, Simon Says Stamp issued a challenge to use the color white. I thought it would be interesting to stamp and emboss in white on kraft colored cardstock. Here's how it turned out:

Kraft cardstock is great because it lends itself to any color combination you like. It can have a masculine or feminine feel, depending on what you do with it. I chose to use a flower flourish stamp with rather bold lines. I stamped with Ranger's white pigment ink, and heat embossed with white powder. I've learned the hard way that it's worth it to take the time to prep the paper before stamping or adding the embossing powder. Otherwise, little specks of embossing powder end  up where you don't want them and it's a pain to try to brush them off! I use a powder applicator by EK Success, but any brand will do.I stamped the sentiment on a separate piece of paper using ColorBox Warm Red chalk ink, and heat embossed that with a red powder. I ran some red ink along the edges after notching the ends. I trimmed the kraft piece down to fit on a white speckled card base, allowing the white to serve as a frame.

This was a quick and easy project, and I'm happy with the way it turned out. I hope the recipient likes it!

Immi

Challenge: I ought to use this more!

The Monday challenge for this week from Simon Says Stamp is to do something or use something that has been "neglected" for a while.

I decided to post a card I made for Operation Write Home that uses a stamp I've had for a long time, but haven't used much lately. It's part of a Stampin' Up! set that I still like a lot. I have to be in the mood for coloring to use it - it lends itself really well to watercolor.

The background is made from a couple of pieces of paper, stitched together on my sewing machine. The bird image is stamped on a plain old shipping tag with black Archival ink. I added color with a small watercolor set. The blotchy color on the tag background was done by pressing the tag repeatedly onto some of the watercolor which I'd dabbed onto my Ranger craft sheet. I also used a marker with a weird little tool called (I think) an ink spritzer. I've had mine for years, and I notice that now they are back in vogue! The spritzer forces air past the tip of the marker, which adds tiny little bursts of ink dots. I added some color to the edge with Distress ink and a blending tool, and attached the kraft colored heart from a cheapo set of stickers I think I picked up at the Dollar Spot at Target.

Even though there is a lot going on here, it really was fairly quick and easy - just the way I like it!

Happy crafting!
Immi

Mission: Stash Reduction - Belated Father's Day

Hi, all. Although Father's Day has come and gone, I did make some cards that I sent off to Operation Write Home that I meant to post. I am still working my way through papers that I'd like to use up, and enjoying stamps I haven't touched in a while. Here's a sample of some cards I made.

These cards are part of a larger group of miscellaneous cards I made using up a sheet of dimensional white letter stickers, called "Thickers". I'd had them so long that the adhesive on the back of the letters wasn't very good anymore, but I hated to throw them away. So I laboriously put drops of a strong liquid adhesive on the backs of the letters, then weighted each card down with books. (I keep a box full of old telephone books just for this purpose.) I always put a sheet of waxed paper between the project I'm drying and the book so that if any adhesive leaks out, it won't make my project stick to the book. Although it took some time, I was very pleased with the results of the white letters against darker backgrounds. Can you tell that I cheated on the second card and used "p" stickers upside down in place of "d"?

The next two cards make use of some Stampin' Up! sets I have. I stamped with Ranger Archival Ink (it won't bleed when it comes in contact with water) and used a brush loaded with inks diluted with water to color the images. Very quick, easy, and I love doing it!

I hope some of our military personnel enjoyed sending these cards home.

Till next time,

Immi

Challenge: Anything Goes

This week's Monday challenge from Simon Says Stamp was "Anything Goes". That leaves the door wide open for me to have some fun!

I decided to submit a card I made a while back while playing around with alcohol inks and glossy paper. It's kind of messy, so I don't get those out very often, but the results are very cool. I always use latex gloves to prevent staining my fingers, and Ranger's craft sheet is indispensable for this technique.

Here's the card I made:

The portion of the card with alcohol inks is the multicolored background behind the filmstrip stamp (made by PaperArtsy). The card base is stamped with Architectural Elements from Stampin' Up! in a light color, with a splatter stamp used over that. The rest of the card is layers of miscellaneous scraps, including a tiny tag from a package of Grungeboard that had been in my stash for a long time. It was nice to finally find a use for it. The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz set - it seemed to fit the "feel" of the image with the man walking away.

This turned out to be a fairly quick and easy card. While I had the alcohol inks out, I made some other backgrounds for cards. I like to do things in batches - it seems to save time in the long run.

Till next time,

Immi

Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge #18

I'm back with my take on the challenge issued this past Monday based on this image:

I drew inspiration from the dots on the pegboard, the colors orange and turquoise, and the black circle with white text on the jar. There is a lot to look at here, so I needed to whittle it down a little bit! Here's what I did:

I used a white card base, adding some orange textured paper as my background. I was excited to find some black dotted tape in my stash, which seemed like the perfect nod to the dots on the pegboard in the photo. I used a small alphabet stamp set to stamp the word "hello" in Ranger's white pigment ink on some black cardstock. I embossed the letters with white embossing powder. (I was careful to brush powder with my EK Success Powder Tool to keep the embossing powder from sticking all over the paper - just to my stamped letters.) After stamping and heat embossing, I used a circle punch to get that perfect circle. Believe me, there's no way I can cut anything as nice as a punch can do in no time! 

After mounting the circle on the card front, I wanted to include a little of the turquoise (seen in the stack of washi tape in the original photo). I pulled out some tiny buttons I have, and used three - groups of odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye than even numbers. I attached the buttons with Glossy Accents, which holds so well.

This is much more clean cut and graphic than what I usually do, but I enjoyed the challenge.

Happy crafting!

Immi

Challenge: Botanical

The Monday Challenge Team over at Simon Says Stamp issued a challenge today with a botanical theme. There are some really nice samples of artwork created by the team members. I decided to make a card to answer the challenge.

I started with the Watercolor Garden set from Stampin' Up. I wanted to try to create a garden scene or a bouquet of flowers, but I've never had success at that type of stamping. I ended up creating a background, though, that I really liked. I used  Distress Inks on my stamps and lightly misted them with water before stamping on the paper, creating a slightly watercolored effect. It really didn't look like much until I added a script stamp, also from Stampin' Up! on top of the flowers. I used Distress Ink in Vintage Photo which is quite dark, also spritzing with water before stamping. I am very happy with the way the water blurred the script - I just think it's a cool look.

I cut a couple of very thin strips of brown to "frame" the stamped paper, and mounted everything on a green cardstock base. The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz set, called Simple Sayings. After cutting my strip of cardstock with notched ends, I added Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick using a foam blender, I also used a little Tea Dye Distress Ink over that. I mounted the sentiment strip on a piece of mustard colored cardstock and notched the ends. I glued it to the card front at an angle, and then added the punched bird, using a tiny bead for the eye. I will admit that I'm not too thrilled with the bird, but what's done is done!

Till next time,

Immi

Challenge: Cure for the Monday Blues

I stumbled across another card challenge this week and decided to participate. This involved taking inspiration from an image provided in the blog post. Apparently, this is a regular feature on this blog, and I thought it would be fun to play along. Here's the image:

The colors alone are enough to cure Monday blues! I knew right away that I wanted to incorporate a lot of white space with the yellow stripe at the top. I also wanted to include the pink and turquoise and somehow use circles. Here's what I did:

I started with watercolor paper, and used Distress Ink in Squeezed Lemonade with a little water to paint the yellow stripe across the top. I roughed up the edges of the paper with my Tim Holtz distresser. The flower image was stamped on a piece of white cardstock and colored with pencils. The dots are stamped with some old-school Stampin' Up! inks. I mounted the stamped panel on some matching turquoise cardstock, then adhered it to the watercolor panel. That was then mounted on a pink cardstock base. The sentiment was stamped on a scrap of white cardstock with the ends notched to make a banner. That was mounted on yellow and put on top of the card with some dimensional adhesive dots to make it stand up a little from the card base.

I am quite happy with the way it turned out - I love the bright colors! It was also an interesting experience for me to look for inspiration in an image that had nothing to do with stamping. I enjoyed the whole thing, from beginning to end!

Happy crafting!

Immi