Freakin' Great

Paper Smooches is challenging paper crafters to include animals in their projects.  My latest favorite stamps are these adorable cat stamps from their Feline Friends collection. With the addition of these adorable googly eyes these little kitties make me giggle every time!

 Paper Smooches stamps and dies. Tim Holtz label die. Club Scrap paper and ribbon. Cuttlebug embossing folder.

This card includes black doilies that I purchased on clearance but found their way to the bottom of my tag drawer. They're a perfect embellishment the Snarky Stampers Lost & Found challenge.  

Paper Smooches stamps and die. Impression Obsession background stamp. Elizabeth Craft Designs square die. Recollections doily. Nuvo drops. Club Scrap paper. 

September Paper Smooches Challenge

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

Lost & Found Challenge

Word Finders and Stickers

Have you ever played Words with Friends? Did you cheat? Did you use an on-line resource to help you find words with your letter combinations?  I do use these sites to help me create words with my left over alphabet sticker sheets.  Look at all these words I got from one incomplete sheet.  Most of these would eventually be for cards but a few I can save for fall layouts.

 Club Scrap Farmer's Market alphabet stickers.

 

Club Scrap paper, felt leaves and stickers. Darice embossing folder. 

Club Scrap papers, stickers, stamp and acrylic dots. Sizzix embossing folder. Fiskars leaf punch. Impression Obsession stamp.

Club Scrap papers and stickers. Tim Holtz Oxide inks. Fiskars leaf punch. Elizabeth Craft Design circle die. Queen & Co. pearls.

 

Here's a few word finder sites:

Word Find

Word with Friends Word Finder

Word Plays

 



Orchard Watercolor

Welcome to September's Artist Team Blog Hop brought to you by Club Scrap. This month we've been challenged to incorporate watercolor techniques with our projects. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to dust off those Faber-Castell Gelatos. 

If you just happened on the blog hop today because you're a regular reader of my blog, and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can start back at Club Scrap. If you're already hopping and linked to me from Tina's Blog, you're in the right spot.

Gelatos are acid-free pigment ink sticks that can be used with or without water.  I love the bright colors and creamy texture of the Gelatos.  The fact they look like lipstick tubes is kinda cute too.

1. Directly color the stamp with your gelatos. I usually start with the lightest color first and work to the darkest.

2. Mist water directly on to the stamp.

3. Stamp image onto paper.  I used all sorts of papers: cardstock, watercolor and mixed media papers. I didn't find one worked better than another.

You don't need a Misti, I was making a ton of panels.

4. Repeat the process.  I usually got two good clear images without misting more water onto the stamp.  After two imprints, I would re-mist without recoloring.  It just changes the boldness of the image.  I like all the different varieties you can get.

I could have easily created other images with the gelatos but I wanted to challenge myself and use the same image in different ways. Let's start with the simple designs first. Simply mat the collage image and add a greeting.

Club Scrap papers and stamp. Gelatos. Darice embossing folder. Spellbinders die. Pretty Pink Posh sequins. 

Club Scrap papers, stamp, ribbon and tag. Nuvo drops. Gelatos.

Trim panels and triple mat images. Stack images.

 Club Scrap papers, stamp, ribbon, bottle cap and tag. Sizzix embossing folder. Gelatos.

Trim collage image into quadrants and mat. Stamp sentiment. Color images with Copic markers and fussy cut. Slice a opening into the basket to tuck in peaches. Stamp background multiple times and apply splatters.

Club Scrap papers, ribbon and stamps. Copic markers. Gelatos. Martha Stewart punch.

Here's my favorite of the group! Stamp words on dark background with oxide ink. Ink edges and spray with water. Let dry.  Take gelato panel and distress edges. Stamp images and color with copic markers. Fussy cut images. Die cut a sign out of wood paper and stamp sentiment. Attach sentiment to a wood stake. Slice a opening in the basket and tuck in sign and fruit.

 Club Scrap papers, stamps. Gelatos. Tim Holtz label die and oxide inks. Copic markers.

Thanks for hoping with us today.  Hope you gained inspiration to create watercolor images. Please continue on to see what fabulous creations Wendy has for you.

Other Gelato ideas:

Just Dandy Stencil

Acrylic Block Stamping

Gelatos on Dark Backgrounds

Faith Love Hope

Bowman Orchards

The wait is over! My Orchard kit has arrived and is as beautiful as everyone has raved. The watercolor images by Swarup Murthy are just stunning. I knew that the photos from my recent trip back east would be perfect.  My dear friend Melanie and I went blueberry picking one morning and ended up picking much more than blueberries.  Of course we ate quite a few also...you know...quality control ;-)

 

I chose the ALSB directions for Layout 5&6 to complete these pages. 

 

Why struggle over page design when Club Scrap does that for you? Every kit comes with it's own separate cutting and design instructions. I changed some small aspects of the design to better fit my photos.

 

 

How cute are those bottle cap embellishments?

 

 

The Card Concept Wooden Grain

Last year I did a post on creating your own faux wood grain.  Well I came across this panel in my basket of backgrounds and thought it would be perfect for the latest Card Concept challenge.

The design for my card is a mix of shabby chic and mixed media, using hot glue lines for my wood texture. I'm really over flowers at this point in the year and just want fall to arrive.  Bring on the pumpkin spice!

 Club Scrap papers, stamp and alphabet stickers. Fiskars leaf punch.

 

 

Diamond Hello

I'm bound and determined to use up my embellishment stash! I embarrassingly came across these clear metal ringed tags from Making Memories I bought probably a decade ago.  They were tucked away in a tag drawer just screaming from neglect. 

 

This very simple card was created using September's card sketch at Club Scrap. I really didn't have a punch that shape so I used a diamond shaped stamp. I even stamped this free hand...no Misti. Not bad if you ask me.

Club Scrap paper, stamps and ribbon. Making memories tag. Prima flowers. Queen & Co. pearls.

 

Just Add Ink Challenge #376

Shaving Cream Stencils

I'm blogging today over at Club Scrap and challenging you to create art panels using the shaving cream marbling technique with a twist. Let's get messy and combine the marbling technique with your stencils.

Club Scrap papers, stencil, ribbon and leaf charm. Hampton Arts stamp. Pretty Pink Posh sequins.

 



1. Start with a paper plate full of FOAM shaving cream. Smooth out shaving cream. It doesn't have to be like a frosted cake but someone flat.

2. Add drops of re-inkers onto the shaving cream.  I'm feeling like some fall colors so I used Tangerine, Peridot and Topaz.  Now you could slightly swirl the colors together with a toothpick but I left them just as is.

3. Cover a paper panel with a stencil.

4. Take an old store rewards card and scoop up a section of cream and color.

5. Run the shaving cream over the stencil in one direction. Start from the top and work down until paper is covered.

6. Clean off card with a paper towel and scrape any gobs of shaving cream off your work surface.

7. Remove stencil and set aside to dry.

 

Let's make some fabulous cards with these panels.

Club Scrap papers, stencil and ribbon. Fiskars leaf punch. Cuttlebug embossing folder. Unknown charm.

 

Club Scrap papers, stencil and red jewel. Hampton Arts stamp. Close to My Heart fiber.

Club Scrap papers, stencil, ribbon and stamp. Martha Stewart punch. 

Club Scrap papers, stencil, ribbon and tag. Fiskars leaf punch. Pretty Pink Posh sequins.

 

 

I hope you have fun trying this combination.  If you create a project link it to the linky party at Club Scrap for a chance to win a gift certificate.