Mixed Media Hugs

I'm back with a card I have been working on for a few weeks now.  The theme of the card was inspired by a book series I am currently reading.  It is called Madly by M Leighton.  The books are about a teenage Mer Princess who is trying to save her home under the sea called Atlas.  Of course I thought a mermaid card was fitting.  

My card uses a lot of different mediums.  I started off with a plain white tag and embossed it with a Tim Holtz Alterations bubble embossing folder.  Next I sponged on some distress ink in peacock feathers and tumbled glass and some faded jeans distress stain.  I spritz with some Turquoise Tattered Angels mist and then sprayed the entire thing with Shimmer Goosebumps.  That made it slick and shiny.  I stamped the swirl pattern in Scrap Happy glue and then sprinkled with fine glitter.   

Once I had my tag done I colored my stamped images with Copics and added some Frosted Lace and Patina stickler.  I applied the fish on my card with a foam dot.  I tied on some Twinery Twine

To make my background I applied Adirondack Acrylic paint dauber in Pool directly to my Solar White cardstock.  I stamped my sentiment in Teal Zeal Memento Ink.

Supplies- Stamps Sweet November Stamps Current Ebbtide digi, sentiment by Kanban Crafts
Copics: E000 E00 E21 E04 Y06 G43 G46 BG000 B000 BG02 BG45 R56 E08 E07 BV11 YG11 BG57

Scrapbook Expo NJ, thoughts on the day and Copic class

Today was the day.  Scrapbook Expo NJ 2012.  I went, I bought, I learnt, I bought, I sweated... I need a nap! 

 The day started bright and early and it was already hot first thing in the morning.  I lined up before the doors opened with a lot of other eager ladies.  We got some coupons and some freebies.  When they finally let us onto the show floor, I raced to my favorite booth: Scrapmart.  I didn't get much there.  I got some papers and a Copic refill, and some closeout Glitz Design products.  Love their stuff and Scrapmart had them in the bin for cheap!  I got two paper pads for the price of one in the bin as well.  I then ventured around the show to other booths, did some make and takes, and burned  through my hard earned cash.   All in all, there was not much new stuff that I saw there.  I got a bunch of things I have been wanting for a while but felt like I was missing out on all the hottest and newest things.  Prices were not competitive overall.  I was disappointed about that, but my fav local scrapbooking store Scrappers' Cove saved the day.  They had great show special pricing that was lower than everyone else.  I had to move quickly because I had a morning class.  I went across the street to the hotel for classes.  Dear god it was hot.  96 degrees!  Thank goodness they had a free shuttle with the AC cranking.

I took a class called Copic Intermediate with Krazy Kreations.  The class kit contained everything we needed to make 3 cards, Copic markers B91 B93 B95, and a flower stamp.  Of the 3 cards we made, the one pictured above was my favorite.  The two below were nice too.  The company offers some cool products including the plastic pouch and pebbles for the shaker card below.  The pouch is self adhesive so it makes shaker cards a snap.  They also told us about a demo going on in the booth on coloring on glitter with Copic markers.  I went back to the show to check out the demo and fell instantly in love with the technique.  I am vacation this week so I will be trying this method out and will share with you.  I also won a class prize, another Impression Obsession stamp.  Lucky me!  

I also picked up some new mediums today to try.  I got a few more distress markers and some new inks to go with them.  I bought Ranger Archival Ink and Faber Castell Stampers Big Brush which is India ink.  I saw a demo at The Rubber Cafe using the Big Brush colored onto a stamp and then stamped onto Canvas. They then used Gelatos to add color to the image.  Well you know I had to get some of those too.   I decided to do an ink test with both new inks to see how they color with Copics and Distress Markers.

Below is  how the test went.  The top two flowers are stamped with the Big Brush.  The Faber Castell Big Brush smudges when colored with Copics.  I tried it twice just to be sure that it wasn't a drying time issue.  The bottom two flowers are stamped with Ranger Archival Ink.  It works great with Distress Markers, no surprise since it is Ranger. I colored using a Victorian Velvet and Milled Lavender Distress Marker. The image on the right was colored with R08 ad R14 Copic Markers.  Archival Ink held up pretty well to the Copic markers.  There is a tiny amount of smudge in the center of the flower.  I believe if heat set, the ink will not smear.

All in all it was a really fun first day of my vacation.  I will be back tomorrow with a mixed media project to share with you.

Count Your Rainbows

Happy Tuesday!  I wanted to share a quick card I made last - last weekend.  I have had this one done for a while, I just forgot to post it.  I have about 10 projects started right now and can't quite commit to one.  Does that ever happen to you?  I guess my mojo has an attention span problem. 

I found this cute American Crafts rainbow stamp and cloud paper by Echo Park at a store I discovered in New York City a few weeks back.  It is called Paper Presentation and it is down on 18th Street off of 5th Ave.  You can't tell from their website, but they have a whole scrapbooking section with a nice little sampling of products.  They have been there for years and I never knew about the store.  I am so sad.  It would have been much easier to get there when I was working downtown.  Now that I am working in midtown, it takes much too long to get there during my lunch hour.   I can't be sneaking out to go there very often.  Sigh. 

Hopefully I will find some really great things this Friday at Scrapbook Expo in Somerset NJ.  I am so excited.  I will be there bright and early and signed up to take a Copic class while I am there too. 

Supplies-
American Crafts Rainbow Stamp,Inkadinkadoo Friendly Advice Kid's Quotes stamp, Echo Park Sweet Day Up, Up and Away Paper, Solar White 5 X 7 Cardbase, Pastel Bristol, Want to Scrap Pearls, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink, PTI die, Foam dots
Copics: R24 Y13 G02, G05, B000, B24, BV13

Summer Distress Ink Part 2: A Tutorial

Hi Y'all!  I am watching Dallas so this greeting seamed fitting.  I am back with part 2 of my Summer Distress Ink post.  I wanted to share how I made my Tim Holtz inspired tag.

To do this you will need the following supplies:

1 White Card Base ( I have used a 5x7 Solar White Card Base)

1 Manilla Tag ( I have used the Inksentials Manilla Surfaces tag)

Tim Holtz Summer Distress Inks (Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, and Picked Raspberry)

Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Picket Fence

1 Minimister Bottle- filled with 1 part Perfect Pearls and 3 parts Alcohol

Heat Tool

1 Spray Bottle filled with water

Ink Blending Tool

Sandpaper/sanding tool

Waterbrush

1-2 Bold Stamps (I have used Teresa Collins Spring Fling stamps)

1 Open Line Image Stamp

Craft Sheet

Bakers Twine

Stapler

 Crumple up your tag twice then unfold and smooth out.  Sand it a bit to distress the surface.

Swipe some ink from all three ink pads to your craft sheet.  

Place your tag over the ink and smoosh it around and swirl it through the ink to your liking.

Spritz your tag with water.  

Apply more ink to the craft sheet and spritz with mini mister with perfect pearl/alcohol mixture.  Smoosh and swirl your tag in the ink again.  

Dry the tag with your heat tool.

Ink the edges of your tag with Ink Blending tool.  I used Pink Raspberry.  

Apply Picket Fence Distress Ink Stain to an acrylic block or your craft sheet.

 Ink your stamp with Picket Fence stain.

Stamp your image onto tag in Picket Fence Distress Stain and then stamp your image with Salty Ocean Distress Ink overlapping to create a ghosting effect.

Finish your main background for your card by stamping an image in Pink Raspberry Distress Ink onto white card base.  Fill in the image with Pink Raspberry Distress Ink applied with a water brush.  Ink the edges of your background with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  

Tie some twine through the hole in your tag and then adhere the tag to your card base.  I folded the edge of my tag over and applied some Salty Ocean ink with blending tool then stapled the edge.  Stamp sentiment onto card base in Salty Ocean.

Embellish your card as desired.  I added some Kaisercraft pearls to the flower centers.

Summer Distress Ink Part 1

I received my Summer Distress Inks on Friday and have wanted to see how the colors compared to the other Distress Ink colors I already have.  I made this chart so I could stamp samples of the colors and have a handy guide. 

Below you can see the seasonal colors and how bright the Summer Distress Inks are compared to the other colors. 

Here is a preview of my first project using the Summer Distress Inks. (This is how they look on a manilla tag).  I will do a part 2 post later in the week with a step by step of the project.

Here is a blank chart for your use.  Enjoy!

Ahoy Dad!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

This is the card I made for my Dad.  He loves going out on his boat fishing.  I made him a gift basket of all sorts of things for his boat including the wood Ahoy sign below.  I got it at Michael's.  It was covered with a plain canvas.  I painted it gold with an Adirondack paint dauber and then sprayed it with Shimmer Goosebumps.  

 A little bit of shine!

 Supplies- Sentiment- Studio G clear stamps, Recollections Stamps Ahoy and Stern, Bristol cardstock, Kaisercraft Seaside Papers, Tim Holtz Wild Honey Distress Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Copic Y26

Shore It's You're Birthday

Sometimes, very rarely I will make a card that is "out of my comfort zone".  This card is definitely one of those.  First I made my card really large- 5X7.  Next, I selected a color palate that I would never use- orange and blue!  Finally, I decided to finally use a technique I learned at a show last year for stamping with glue and glitter. I have done this in the past using a glue pad but never liked the results.  This way uses a liquid silicone glue applied directly to your stamp, stamping it on your paper and then adhering super fine glitter.   I really like how it came out. No fall out!   During this fun journey, I learned that you should sponge your background first, otherwise a little glitter will get on your sponge and your ink pad.  I have almost got all the tiny particles of glitter off my distress ink pad.  Almost!  I hope you like my card!

Supplies:

Stamps- Kaisercraft Seaside and Magic Happens

Sentiment- Doodlebug Beetle Black Sticker

Kaisercraft Seaside Patterned Paper, SU! Cardstock, Bazzil Smooth Cardstock

Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Wild Honey SU! Old Olive Marker

Accessories- Want to Scrap Pearls, Rubber Cafe You're So Fine Glitter and ScrapHappy Glue, American Crafts rick rac, Diamond Stickles

Copics- YR20, YR23, YR21, YR27, E07

Trimmer Woes No More and New Summer Distress Ink colors!

Finally! I have found a portable trimmer that works for me.  I have had no luck over the years with buying portable paper trimmers.  They either don't cut straight, are awkward to use, or the swing arm breaks off (3 times that happened!).  I have been hesitant to buy another portable trimmer but I need one for a class I am taking at the end of the month.  I was in Michael's Friday night and saw a few of this model in the clearance section.  It is the Portable Fiskars Rotary Trimmer with Swing Out Arm and it was marked down from $39.99 to $14.99.  My immediate response was "What's Wrong With It?"  I saw that there seemed to be a new White Fiskars trimmer in the tools section that is probably a new model replacing this one and they must have marked this one down to get rid of them because they had no wall space for them.  Well, I decided to take a chance.  Why not!  I am so glad I bought it.  It works great.  After the initial learning curve of figuring out how to measure between 5 and 6 inches where the split for the arm is, I have no complaints.  I just used a sharpie marker to mark the measurements that are not printed.  The cuts are crisp, the paper locks in place and I get a good cut every time.  It is a bit awkward to have to squeeze the tabs at the top and bottom of the rotary arm every time you want to place your paper, but it is work it to get a nice straight cut because the paper doesn't shift.

I was also excited to see some new items on the shelves at M's for a change.  They actually had  Memento Tuxedo Black Stamp pads, the new 2012 Memento dew drops in the Dolphin Play set (teal zeal, nautical blue, elderberry, and gray flannel), and ....Distress Markers. 

I was super shocked.  I was able to use my loyalty discount last week of 40% off Tim Holtz products and got one of the 5 marker sets for $8.99. 

They had the Victorian Shabby Collection (Picket Fence, Broken China, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, and Spun Sugar) and the Country Fair Collection (Black Soot, Faded Jeans, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Barn Door) at this particular Michael's a few towns over from me.  My local Michael's didn't have any :0( 

I need to find the Memories Past set (Crushed Olive, Worn Lipstick, Wild Honey, Tumbled Glass, Vintage Photo). 

And have you seen the new Tim Holtz Summer Distress Ink release colors?  There is a video on the Ranger Ink website. I just decided I didn't need anymore colors, darn it! These are so bright and vibrant and summer pool partyesque!

 

Corrosive Challenge #151

This my card for the Corrosive Challenge # 151.  The theme is Feeling Punchy.  I layered a number of different dies for this, Nesties, Sizzix, Memory Box Debutante Frame, Puffy Clouds,  and Lil' Inkers Designs Flags and Tags.

I masked off my image and then sponged a cloudy background using Stormy Sky Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.

Supplies: 

Looks Like Rain Xandra- MayzyArt Stamps

Dies, Coordinations and PaperSource cardstock

Flags and Tags Stamps and Die Lil' Inkers Designs

Copics- B02 21 E31 E35 E37 E29 E00 R01 V01 V06 R32 RV34 

Saturated Canary Challenge #19

I had so much fun making this card!  It is for the Saturated Canary Challenge # 19: Anything Goes.  

I decided to really get inky and messy on the background. I made my first Tim Holtz inspired tag. I made my own glimmer spray with perfect pearls and  I used actual glitter too.  I finally cleaned up my workspace last week enough to really have a space to do some messy work.

I found the cool Tim Holtz Alterations honeycomb embossing folder last week at AC Moore and decided to run a tag through in it.  Then I sponged on some of the new Tim Holtz Spring Distress Ink Colors.   Then I got crazy and spirtzed the whole thing with water a few times and blotted it with paper towels. I applied a final spritz of Turquoise glimmer mist and then sprayed the whole thing with my perfect pearls shimmer concoction at the end.   Once dried I decided to stamp a butterfly stamp in ScrapPerfect glue and then adhere some super fine glitter to the image.  Finally I used a memory box die cut from 3M Post It Craft Paper  over the edge and then distressed some bits on my card.  For the sentiment I used the glue again with the glitter for the word Dream.  This card was so fun and messy to make!  Truly anything and everything goes on this one.  Stamping, DigiStamping, Embossing, Sponging, Spritzing, Oh My!

Supplies:

Digistamp- Saturated Canary Butterflies

Sentiment Stamping Up! Elementary Elegance; Butterfly- Kaisercraft Magic Happens

Cardstock- Stampin' Up!, Bristol Copic Xpress It Blending Card, iCraft Tags, 3M Post It Heather Craft Paper

Lil Inkers Designs Flags and Tags Die, Stampin' Up Framelits Die, Want to Scrap Pearls, Smooch Paint, Tim Holtz Alterations Honeycomb Texture Fades folder, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac, Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, The Rubber Cafe You're So Fine Glitter and ScrapPerfect Glue, Perfect Pearls, Tattered Angels Turquoise Glimmer Mist, Memory Box Cherish Border

Copics: E00 E01 B02 R22 Y11 V91 V93 V95 E31 E35 E37 E57 E49