HIPPEST CHAIR

 Hi friends!

Playing along with this RETRO RUBBER CHALLENGE

These unmounted red rubber stamps from Paper Candy were purchased sometime between the late 90’s and early 2000’s!

This card is pretty straightforward, following the sketch - just some alcohol marker coloring and some accents with the silver pen on the chair legs and white gel pen highlights. Fussy cutting and a circle die for the clock. Clock and sentiment were foam mounted. 

Does anyone else feel like they are sitting in Grandma’s living room?! Mine was very hip in every decade 😍

SUPPLIES

chair, table, clock and sentiment stamps - Paper Candy

enamel dots - BoBunny Beautiful Things

Copic alcohol ink markers

silver pen - Pentel Slicci

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NIFTY CHAIR

Hi friends!

Playing along with this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES CHALLENGE

These unmounted red rubber stamps were made long before many of us dreamed of die cutting images in our own homes! So lots and lots of fussy cutting. But I love them so they get to stay :o)

The border stamp is 7 squares long so I stamped that repeatedly - pretty easy to line up as one end has a connecting line and one doesn’t, and I still have some ProvoCraft acrylic mounting blocks with grid lines incised. Then I used an Exacto style pen knife to trim the edge of the panel - not as torn as the sample but close enough, I think, and more in keeping with the overall style. The rest is pretty straightforward - just some alcohol marker coloring and some accents with the gold pen on the lamp and chair legs to coordinate with the matte gold panel behind the main white one. Sentiment was stamped in SU Blue Bayou. 

SUPPLIES

chair, lamp, border, sentiment stamps - Paper Candy

enamel dots - Echo Park New Day

Copic alcohol ink markers

gold pen - Pentel Slicci

The inside of the card, which is as white as the outside square, but keeps photoing yellow-toned because there is no daylight to work with. The “picture” frame is gold, as are the chair legs. 

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CHICKEN THANKS

Hi friends!

Playing along with this CREATIVE INSPIRATION CHALLENGE #37 Anything Goes (ends 4/30)

and this DL.ART CHALLENGE April Anything Goes (ends 4/30)

A quick and easy card made specifically to send along with a package today to a Penny Black fan. 

I stamped the image in Memento black ink, and colored it in with alcohol markers. Some days I really appreciate the colored index stickers on wood mounted stamps as coloring guidance. Today I probably couldn’t ring the bell on the creativity meter if a jumbo carnival prize depended on it :o) I loosely covered the image with a torn Post-it and blended Yo-Yo yellow ink through the stencil as shown. I attached a flat back faceted heart gem to the envelope part of the image. Torn chicken wire was stamped in gray ink to make it more silvery feeling. 

SUPPLIES

 chicken stamp - Penny Black What a Day! #2350F

chicken wire - Stampendous Chicken Wire #CRR318

ray stencil - My Favorite Things

heart gem - Park Lane

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OVAL SWEET PEAS

Hi friends!

Playing along with this Sunday Stamps Challenge (ends 4/3)

Love the CAS elegance and versatility of this sketch!

Two flowers were heat embossed in white on Kraft card stock. I stamped and die cut a third flower for foam mounting, and ink blended some Distress Oxide blue onto it. I used a tissue to wipe the blue ink off the white lines and all was looking good. Then tragedy in the craft room struck - in the process of splattering it with black India ink, I managed to let the puddle of ink run off the acrylic block, down my finger, and onto the cardboard box top I use to splatter in. It didn’t land on the flower, but right next to it, where the ink immediately ran under the stem and started soaking into the edge and underside. When they say a little bottle goes a long way, they aren’t joking - it seems thinner than water! 

* TIP To get delicate spatters a fan brush works best* 

I did find it necessary to restamp and emboss the white because it was looking too dark with all the black over it. I didn’t get things exactly right but a white gel pen helped. 

The leaves are accented with a lighter green pencil in the centers, where they embossed themselves. I use an Anna Griffin electric machine and the pressure is enormous, which I’m not mad about! After 20 years of a hand crank machine that got pretty sketchy towards the end (my bad for putting all manor of thicknesses through it) I couldn’t appreciate the AG machine more.

The background panel was made by brushing the background text in areas with a small blending brush smooshed in blue Oxide ink. Oval was backed with a heavyweight scrap, cut into the same size, for subtle dimension. Since I’m nearly down to the end of my roll of foam, I’ve been experimenting with other methods. 

SUPPLIES

oval die - Spellbinders Radiant Oval set

banner die - Stampin’ Up! Bitty Banners set

spiral notebook punch -  Stampin’ Up! (long)

leaves on stem die - Sizzix Thinlits #661206 set

flower stamp - Altenew Sweetest Peas set

sentiment stamp - LDRS Creative Just a Note set

handwritten text stamp - Stampabilities Le London Script #TR1008

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HELLO FLOWER.

Hi friends!

Playing along with this Freshly Made Sketches challenge (ends 3/30)

Update!

I got a shout out as Princess this time around - thank you Michele!! 😃

Flower was stamped repeatedly in a stamp positioner by using a Post It to cover the stem area, and then the flower area. Alcohol marker was used to color the sentiment strip and add more dots to the flower center. Plaid / gingham was made with a stripe background stamp, stamped once vertically and once horizontally. Splatter was made by dipping in the bottle and dropping spots of Dina Wakely Media Gloss Spray in White on the kraft background. Oval and sentiment were backed with a heavyweight scrap for a little dimension. 

SUPPLIES

oval die - Spellbinders Radiant Oval set

 frame die - My Favorite Things Wonky Stitch Rectangles set

scallop edge punch - Stampin’ Up!

flower stamp - Stampin’ Up! Bella Blossoms set

stripe stamp (used for plaid gingham) - Stampin’ Up! Stripes

sentiment strip - preprinted (covered with Coptic marker)

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SPRING CIRCLES.

Hi friend!

Playing along with this Freshly Made Sketches #728 challenge (3/23).

and this Little Red Wagon Challenge #850 - Signs of Spring (3/24).

I love to have a crafty session using up scraps!  I keep all the off-cut strips in a cup near my desk, and every once in awhile I dump them all out and use this simple method. I start by placing Scrapbook.com 4” double-sided adhesive on a scrap piece of white cardstock about 8” long, then I peel the protective layer back a few inches at a time as I work down the strip, laying my colored scrap strips as shown. It can be tricky at first but I have the best results if the top strip is lined up exactly with the top edge straight across. Once the strips are all laid down, the panel can be embossed, die cut or stamped on - so many options! I try to include some metallic strips in each panel for added interest. 

On this card the butterflies are two layers - a base of colored card stock and an over layer of white vellum. The sentiment is gold embossed. Two circles are foam mounted, and also the tips of some leaves. 

SUPPLIES

circle dies - Crafter’s Companion Gemini Elements 

leaf dies - Sizzix Thinlits set #664164

butterflies - Sizzix Embosslits Beautiful Wings

sentiment stamp - Creative Worship Stamps Be Encouraged 2

Thanks for stopping in today!