Birthday RAKS for me!

I feel so fortunate to have received these two cards from my Technique Junkie friends! I've already thanked them privately but asked for their permission to share them with you because I knew you'd enjoy them as much as I do.

Birthday card sent to me from Trudy P.

(click photo for detail and you can really see all the layers, and the awesome map bkgd)

This one is based on the TJ Layered Collage technique and the stamp credits are:
Stampers' Anonymous: D3-613 Beaux Arts, Just for Fun: ballerina, Art Impressions: Eiffel Tower, mini Arc de Triomphe, Destination Stickers and Stamps Inc (1-866-806-7826): Paris script, See D's Travel #50220: Mona Lisa, See D's French Fancy #50190: Bonjour.

The map background is a copy of an actual map that was photocopied and altered.

Birthday card sent to me from LaVerne W.

(click photo for more detail and you can see all the coppery accents)

This one is the TJ Cling and Scrunch technique, with copper highlights. Stamp credits are: Stampin' Up! background flowers, I think, and the rest are I Brake For Stamps

Thanks again and warm fuzzy hugs LaVerne and Trudy!! :o)

Inspired by Teri Anderson

There's nothing I like better when browsing thru Take Ten magazines than coming across a creation by Teri Anderson! Her artwork just speaks to me - it's happy, it's off-beat in the best way, and for as simple as some of it might look you can definitely tell it was created by an artist.

So here are some cards I put together yesterday with her style in mind, but of course they are all mine so you should go look for her stuff to get the best idea of what she does (you can see her gallery on Art Declassified! and I believe she has a blog and she's been published a ton!)

I had so much fun doing these - I loved putting just a few images, colors and loose layers together, and throwing some office supplies in the mix LOL They go so fast!! As you know I kind of have an aversion to using preprinted designer paper but I made an exception and used some old found papers that I've piled up over the last few months. I need to get some cool old books that are worthless enough I can tear them up and stamp on them ;o)

(Click on photos for more detail)

Stamps: all - I Brake For Stamps (seaweed is actually grass from cactus silhouette stamp)

Inks: acrylic paint, Distress Antique Linen, Stampin' Up! Kiwi Kiss and Bordering Blue

Supplies: staples, silver paper clip, twine, satin ribbon

Notes: used a foam brush to swipe acrylic

*tip*

Staz-On inks work great for stamping over acrylic paints (just make sure the paint is thouroughly dry LOL)

Stamps: cat - Rare Image (see my sidebar), flourish - I Brake For Stamps, calender words - Inkadinkado, phrase - partial Verses Rubber Stamps

Inks: acrylic paint, Stampin' Up! Pink Pirouette ink, Pallette Burnt Umber ink

Supplies: staples, note paper, Stampin' Up!'s spiral punch, brushed silver brad, paper flower

*tip*

If you want to add lighter color over dark, you can't beat acrylic paints! Just make sure you wash it off your stamps and brushes right after use (normal water on a scrub pad works fine for the stamps after you've rubbed extra paint off on a scrap of paper)

Stamps: dog - Rare Image (see my sidebar), ruler & phrase - I Brake For Stamps

Inks: Distress Antique Linen, Stampin' Up! Night of Navy, Staz-On Timber Brown

Supplies: hole punch, rectangle slot punch, twine, metal alphabet charms

Note: notebook paper is thin so I layered two pieces with the lines perpendicular to add visual interest (shows up more irl)

*tip*

When using fewer elements, add in texture wherever it fits by using torn edges, textured paper, sponging or direct to paper

Stamps: alphabet - Studio G: Series 3, all the rest - I Brake For Stamps (Stampinback line)

Inks: Distress Old Paper, Peeled Paint and Fired Brick inks, Staz-On Timber Brown ink Supplies: paper clip, National Brand ledger paper

Notes: to get the circle around the number I just used a pen cap

*tip*

When using just a few colors try second generation stamping (ink stamp, stamp off on scrap paper, then stamp project) to add variation of color

Stamps: diamonds - Stampin' Up!, fern - Hero Arts, phrase - , butterfly -
Inks: Distress Fired Brick, Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery, Staz-On Jet Black, acrylic paint

Supplies: string tag, paper clasp, foam brush

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed this alternate format :o)

Penguin Family

(click photo for more detail)

This card background features the Cling and Scrunch technique from the Technique Junkie June 2007 newsletter.

The penguins, by Inkadinkado, were stamped on white cardstock using Versafine black ink. I stamped it again on copy paper before cleaning so I could make a reverse mask. I trimmed out just the white body sections for each penguin and laid this copy paper mask over the first stamped image. I inked up the snowflake swirl with Stampin' Up!'s Pacific Point and stamped it as shown.

*tip*

When you're filling in stamped images with color or pattern try to avoid the facial areas as anything too bold will usually look odd, plus the barer area will give the eye someplace calm to focus on.

There were a couple spots that didn't get enough black coverage so I used a Slick Writer to fill in all the black space (I love those pens because they are pure black with no bluish or irredescence, they come in Fine, Medium and Broad, and they write on acetate, vellum, etc.) I used a small stipple brush and the curved side of part of the mask to stipple some of the ink around the inside edges of the baby penguin as shown. I trimmed the penguins out as one piece, leaving a sliver of white around the edges.

I trimmed two panels into graduated tag shapes, stamping the lighter blue sparkle cs with the blue ink and a Stampendous Mosaic Tile stamp. The darker blue piece has a linen finish and the sun/moon is a piece of punched vellum.

For the "ice" I ripped a piece of vellum and folded it over the bottom and then the side edges of the background panel, using some doublestick tape under it where the penguin panel would be over it.

I layered the background panel onto white, and then dark blue, wrapping it with a little fiber that blends better irl LOL

Thanks for looking!

3 Cards

The background on this first card features a Technique Junkie technique called Rainbow Cuttlebug that you can find instructions for on Pat's blog, and the stamps are all from I Brake For Stamps, mostly the two newer sheets of Birds and Flowers. The ink is all from the Kaleidocolor pad titled Cappucino Delight, except the green which is Stampin' Up!'s Always Artichoke.

(click photos for more detail)

I made the background piece first using Pat's directions. Then I used the same inks on the main panel, stamping the flowers, then the edges of the marbled square from the birds sheet, then overstamping with flourishes. I added the verse in green to take up some of the open area, and added a SU Copper buckle with ribbon in one corner and three brads in the other.

For the faux frame I stamped the marble and edged it all with a sponge. To get the frame effect I just laid two pieces of cardstock at the corner angles and sponged in the gap.



This card is pretty basic. I still had all the supplies out so I made another Cuttlebugged background panel using the Branches folder, and then added stamped images from the new birds sheet of rubber and the branch and words from the Time to Stamp line sheet of birds, also carried by Della at IBFS.


The main image panel on this card is actually a reject from the first card. I used SU's white pigment ink on the crackle stamp. The hardware is SU Copper, and the edges were distressed with the Tim Holtz tool.

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Frosty Penguin

Another Technique Junkie Holiday Blogstravaganza card! Don't miss checking out more on Pat's blog :o)

(click photo for more detail)

This card features the Ribbon Punched Thru technique from the current newsletter. The inks I used were Stampin' Up!'s Bashful Blue and Night of Navy.

I started by using the scrap from the previous post - the white piece shown that I had punched the snowflakes from - as the starting point for this card. I sponged the lighter blue ink thru part of it to get the background, using more and less pressure as needed to get a kind of airbrushed look.

I used a stamp positioner to repeatedly stamp the Hero Arts Merry Christmas word collage down the side as shown, and the snowflake swirl by Inkadinkado. I stamped the penguin (also by Inkadinkado) on a white scrap with black Staz-On and colored his scarf in with a blender pen and the two blue inks. I used colored pencils on his beak and chest, then added a shadow line with a gray Tombow marker.

I tore some vellum to fit behind the penguin, and mounted him on the cardfront with with foam tape. I also tore a piece of the vellum for the other side, drawing around the greeting of choice with a pencil and then trimming it out with an Exacto blade. I wanted to balance the bright color of the bird accents so I added a bow under the greeting, and little flat-backed faceted gemstones to the corners of the ribbon panel. And that's it!

Check back - I couldn't resist buying the new I Brake For Stamps Birds and Flowers sheets so I think those will be up next, in shades of orange and brown :o)

Three kittens with mittens

Ah! Finally a card to post so I can join in on the Technique Junkies Holiday Blogstravaganza. Go see Pat's blog for links to more fun - giveaways, holiday card samples and links to other blogging TJ designers participating thru-out the month!!

(click photo for more detail)

This card features an image from my Rare Image 'Family Pets' rubber sheet (see sidebar). This little kitten is originally from a vintage childs' reader - so cute! The plaid background and snowflakes are Stampin' Up!, the Snow circular words stamp is by Hero Arts, faux stitching from the Paper Salon tailored tins 'Hemlines' set, and the Holiday Cheer word stamp is Anna Griffith, I think (the set is unlabeled but looks like her line).

I started with a piece of kraft cardstock and stamped the distressed plaid background in black having inked only the outer edges of the rubber randomly and not the center, and then I sponged more black on the edges of the cs. I overstamped the snowflakes from the Lace Snowflakes set with white pigment ink, then embossed with white. I used Distress Weathered Wood to stamp the circular words randomly.

*tip*

Always make sure previous ink is dry and use the anti-static bag to swipe over your cardstock before adding any images that need embossing.

For the main panel I chose three different sheets of blue cs and stamped the kitten twice on each one, trimming one of each into a rectangle as shown to do the TJ Warhol technique. On the remaining pieces I stamped the plaid in white and then trimmed out just the dresses. I glued these onto the panels as shown, and also adhered mittens stamped on white cs.

I colored all the kitten fur in with white pencil, and then colored over this with colored pencils, using some white gel pen on the eyes. I really wanted the kittens to stand out from the background so I went around all the edges with a dark gray marker.

Next I adhered the three panels to a scrap, evening up any uneven edges with a paper trimmer before I stamped and embossed some faux stitching in white along the seams. This panel was layered to a black panel, then mounted onto the background panel. For the snowflakes I just punched white scraps and then stamped the words onto them with the blue ink. I wanted a little finishing so I lightly edged each one with a Sakura Gelly Roll shimmer pen.

For the word panel I used a Cuttlebug die, cutting one oval tag from blue and one from white. I overstamped the blue tag with the words and the blue ink, then the small snowflakes (PSX) in white, and then the Holiday Cheer in black Staz-On. I punched some holes around the edges, backed the blue oval with the white one, and then sponged black ink around edges. I threaded black gingham ribbon over white grosgrain thru the end slots, and then affixed brushed silver brads to each side.

*tip*

When you're going to put brads thru ribbon, use an Exacto knife to pierce the fabric first and you won't end up with those annoying pinched marks in the ribbon.

Also, to trim ribbons like this just fold the end in half lengthwise and use sharp scissors to cut diagonally.

Stay tuned - next up is a holiday card with a penguin!