More Experimentation

As mentioned in my last post, I joined the Stretch Your Stamps 2 class recently and have been having some fun trying my hand at stamping.  The techniques shared in the classes are really wonderful and I can't wait to try more of them but, unfortunately, I didn't have much free time in the last two weeks so I only completed three cards.  Here are my two most recent attempts at Stretching my Stamps:

Paper Pieces Stamped Images -- Reindeer Fun:

 I stamped the reindeer on 3 different colors of paper, cut up the pieces, inked them and put them together.  I used a Wink of Stella pen to add some shimmer to the sweater details then popped him up to add some dimension.  I love this technique and will continue to play with it in the future.

Letter Stamping:

I like the technique but don't love the way I executed it.  I created a few words with tiny letter stamps (hugs, love) and then stamped them on the heart.  I didn't really have the right ink for this technique so it's hard to read the words.  The colors are a little odd too.  So let's just chalk this one up to experimentation and try again another day.  I do LOVE the sentiment stamp and how nice it looks embossed with black embossing powder.  I'll do more of that for sure.

I wish I had more time this week to play around with all the fantastic techniques I learned in the class but maybe I can squeeze some time in this weekend for stamping fun.

Thanks for visiting!

Snow Globes and Icy Snowflakes

Today's post is inspired by winter, snow and ice.  Although I live in Southern California where we never get snow, I love being in the mountains and watching snow fall -- especially when they're those big, fat snowflakes that slowly spiral down from a night sky.

It is with that in mind that I challenged myself to create this snow globe card.

I looked on You Tube for some tutorials to get me started and got some construction ideas from Libby Hickson's blog, Libby's Little Addiction.  But, in the end, I kind of winged it.  Here's how it did it:

Step 1: Gather your supplies.  I used paper and stickers from the Peaceful collection by Authentique that I purchased at cropchocolate.com, kraft, brown and green paper from Bazzill, twine from The Twinery, Color Box chalk ink in Moss, and pigment ink in Frost, foam adhesive and sparkle embossing powder from Recollections, Holiday stamps from Hero Arts, Perma Tac adhesive from Glue Arts, Beacons 3 in 1 glue, and buttons from my stash.

Step 2:  Cut brown cardstock to 11 1/2" x 5" and fold in half.  Using a circle cutter positioned slightly off the top of the fold, cut a 4 1/2" circle in the brown card -- CAUTION:  Do not cut a complete circle -- you need to leave the fold intact at the top of the card and leave the circle connected to the base at the bottom.

Step 3:  Cut the inner circle 3 1/2" -- this will be the opening of the snow globe. Then make angular cuts on the sides of the base of your snow globe -- 1/4" narrower at the top of the base than the bottom.

Step 4:  Cut a 4 1/2" circle in contrasting paper, make a straight cut across the top to fit the inside of the snow globe and adhere.

Step 5: Now for the fun stuff -- the decorations!  I cut pieces of patterned paper and Kraft card stock to layer on the base on the front and inside of the card.  I also fussy-cut the bird from the Authentique Peaceful Collection (Solitude pattern paper). Next I inked the edges of all the papers and applied foam adhesive to the bird.  I placed some pinecone stickers on the green cardstock and then adhered the bird on the green circle cut paper.

Step 6:  Cut a 4 1/2" circle out of acetate or plastic.  I used some packaging I had laying around.

Step 7:  Stamp snowflakes on the plastic circle using pigment ink, cover with sparkle embossing powder, remove excess embossing powder and set using a heat gun.  Be careful not to overheat the plastic -- it will melt.  (I found this out the hard way!) Now, glue the plastic to the inside front of the card with the  embossed snowflakes facing outward.

To finish, decorate the front of the card using stickers from the paper collection, buttons and twine and you're done!

Here is another card using this same technique I made for Christmas using Echo Park This & That Christmas Paper and stickers from Carta Bella Christmas Day collection.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

I love this time of the year -- parties, baking, family time together, the smell of the Christmas tree, Christmas music -- all of it.  Sure, it gets stressful but I love it!

This year seems to be especially busy and I haven't found as much time to get crafty in my studio.  So, I decided to post some photos of projects I made last year and will hopefully update with some newbies soon.