Happy St.Patrick's Day!

Did you know that legend has it that St.Patrick used a shamrock to illustrate the Trinity of God to the Irish people? His story of capture, escape, and later return to Ireland is an amazing story! Enjoy your day, and go make something green LOL ;o)

Country Girl

I had such a good time making this card using the stamps in the new Oxford Impressions sheet of rubber called Country Girl. I'm such a huge fan of vintage-feel images, and these all go so great together. I have another card from the same sheet that I'll share in the next couple of days...

Click photo for detail

Card measures 5" x 6 1/4"

I started this card with a background I had made previously using my most favorite ever technique from the TechniqueJunkies Feb 2007 newsletter - it's called Water Color Distress. I think the colors I used here were Weathered Wood and Vintage Photo or Brushed Corduroy.

I stamped the house on semi gloss paper using Staz-on Stone Grey and colored it in with inkpads and a blender pen. I stamped the girl in the Grey ink too, but she turned out looking green around the gills LOL so I restamped her in Memories black ink, let her dry and colored her in the same way. Then I trimmed both pieces out closely.

*tip*

Most unmounted stamps work just fine for me with no cushion aside from the Tack n' Peel on the acrylic blocks, but for photo stamps with incredible detail it's best to mount them on cling cushion and use an ink that is not too wet.

I laid all the elements out on the background to check on the best placement, using a stamp positioner for the words. I adhered the house panel, stamped the words in the Grey ink, pop-dotted the girl, put an antiqued silver brad thru a paper flower and used Glue Dots to adhere.

For the first patterned layer I stamped the chicken wire background repeatedly using a stamp positioner and edged it in the same ink with a sponge. For the second layer I stamped the Chicks ad words rectangle repeatedly in the Grey ink and edged it with a sponge. I overlapped these at angles, using a scrap cut to the same size to cover what I'd already stamped.

Thanks for looking!

Eiffel Tower Top

I felt so guilty about not posting artwork in so long that it's just about 1 am and I just finished scanning a card that the ink is barely dry on ;o) Hope you like

(click for detail)

Card measures 5 1/2" square

The main panel is using one of the current TechniqueJunkies techniques called reinker splash. I used Distress inks and gold mixative, which is very, very faint, even irl. The image is the one my friend Cheri just gave me a few days ago (marked Eclectic Omnibus, which I believe is now out of business, but you can get this image on Plate #62 from the Frantic Stamper - just go to the Rubber Stamps category on the home page) and the word stamps are some unmounteds I bought at the used stamp sale over the weekend, and would love to know the manufacturer of them. For those panels I stamped the words in black Staz-on, the collage elements over in 2nd generation VersaMagic dewdrop Niagara Mist chalk ink, and used a sponge to edge them with Distress Old Paper. The postage elements are from the same sheet as the words, and the map is Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers, now out of the stamp business, but check with StampFrancisco.

On the dark background, I stamped the map of Paris and the Eiffel tower (unknown) in 2nd generation black Marvy ink. I used the jumbo Stampin' Up! Rough Texture wheel and white pigment ink to add some visual texture over this and tie in the main panel. The three black brads are a nice matte finish.

Thanks for looking,

Stamping Stuff Tips

Hi! I desperately wish I had a fresh card to share with you, but I've not been able to stamp a card in the last couple days.

BUT, I do have some great tips for you! I had the thrill of going to a used stamp sale on Saturday (love finding images I didn't buy when they came out and have grown to love seeing others using them, and seeing other stampers I don't bump into very often but like very much :o) Also picked up a couple new embellishments at a stamp store on Friday, all of which brought these tips I like to use to mind.

1. When you get home with embellishments, put them in a basket on or near your stamping surface so you remember to use the new and trendy while it's current.

2. Attach the receipts to the items in case you realize you made a spur-of-the-moment purchase that's going to turn into a oops, shouldn't have thrown that in my cart! LOL

3. Go thru the basket about once a month and return/exchange/give away what you know you won't use, and put away the rest into categories amongst your stash.

4. Stamp your new stamps into an index and toss into the "hot new items" basket so you remember to play with them.

5. If I get a new stamp image that I have an idea of how to use with other stamps I already have, I use a large blank index card and black ink to stamp them out in the vague format while I'm thinking about it.

6. If a stamp is a gift, like my cool new Eiffel tower tip-top-view stamp from my stampin' friend Cheri (a recent out-of-state-vacation score :o), I like to jot a note about that in my index.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment - I'll add more if I think of something later LOL

One Day Only Sale!

There is a fabulous 20% off sale today only March 10 at Oxford Impressions - discount code is march10 and is good on all rubber sheets! Go check out the brand new sheet called Country Girl (there are so many great images all together!) - it contains a little girl in overalls, a sprawling Victorian home, wheat stems, a sketchy tractor, chicken wire background, a chicken, vintage labels, photo images of a child on a pony, and more! Can you tell I love the images on this one? LOL If you need inspiration check out the Country Girl gallery on the site for lots and lots of ways to use these images.

A little note and some fun

Oh my goodness, I have been a very bad blogger this past week! Sorry for my absence - I have been working like mad in my spare time to get my TechniqueJunkie sample cards for the April newsletter ready. If you haven't gotten yourself a subscription for the year you might miss my debut issue as a 2008 designer, and that alone would be horrible!! LOL Seriously, you can't buy more stamping inspiration for a $20 bill.

I have a little stamping entertainment for you though - go to Susan's Smartworks blog and check out her wonderful mini tutorial this week. That should keep you occupied for a little bit, and if you finish that up I believe the company is having a 35% off sale as seen on Mama Dini's blog (see sidebar) so head on over to browse.

Have fun! :o)