Virginia Tech Hokies Doodle

I've been seeing a lot of doodles on Pinterest lately and have been amazed by many of the images.  I've also seen the term zentangle which is apparently  a more structured or organized doodle.  So I figured I'd give it a try.  I used a black gel marker and Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils.  Go Hokies!

 

Embossed Embossing Swap

For this month's technique swap I used versamark to highlight one of the embossed chevron rows and then applied clear embossing powder.  Then I  stamped the shell background using the By the Seashore set and covered the image with a piece of vellum to tone down the dark color.  The crab came from the same set and was cut out by hand.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2012 (August)

This month's tag involved using a cameo or silhouette type image with a frame.  I started with basic gray textured card stock and used a texture plate in my big shot to add a slightly raised grid pattern. I then embossed portions of the grid with black embossing powder. The silhouette and the frame were cut out of basic black cardstock with my silhouette. I then used several stampin' up! punches to create the flowers and the petals. I finished the card by sponging silver ink over the frame, the flowers and the rhinestones.

Technique #6 - Embossed Embossing

This month's technique involves embossing cardstock that has been textured with an embossing folder.  A brayer was used to apply the versmark to the raised areas of the textured pattern.  If you don't have a brayer you can carefully swipe the versamark over the raised areas before applying the clear embossing powder.

Vintage Sewing Pattern Tag

Several months ago I made a tag using a vintage sewing pattern that I had purchased on Etsy.  The tag below was made with one of the leftover tissue paper prints.  I  used a marker to color in the dress and applied some cutouts from a scrap of patterned paper.  I adhered the print to a piece of crumb cake card stock and sponged the edges.

Vintage Faceted Button

Today's card features the butterflies from yesterday's emerging color technique and one of Stampin' Up's new vintage faceted buttons.

Emerging Color Card Swap

The toughest part of this technique is finding just the right stamp.  Ideally you want to use a stamp with a decent amount of surface area but you also want some negative space for the ink to penetrate between the embossed areas.  I choose to use the new Papillon Potpourri butterfly stamp set from Stampin' Up!  Below I included some step-by-step photos to go along with the previous directions.

I started by stamping solid circles onto whisper white cardstock using daffodil delight and calypso coral ink.  Now that I'm looking at it on the screen, I'm thinking that perhaps a patterned paper might also work well for this.

Once I had my background stamped I ran a heat tool over the surface just to make sure the clear embossing powder wouldn't stick to the circles.  I then stamped the butterfly images in versamark and applied clear embossing powder.

Next I used a sponge instead of a brayer to go over the embossed images with island indigo ink.  I chose to use the sponge because I wanted to control the intensity of the ink so it wouldn't totally wash out the color of the circles.

Here is a closer view of the finished product.  The texture on background paper is from the new chevron embossing folder. 

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2012 (July)

Happy 4th of July!  This month I decided to do two tags since I was feeling patriotic.  The stamp set is is an oldie but goodie from 2001 called Liberty for All.  Once again the stamp set and all the products shown are from Stampin' Up!  Unlike most of the country, our weather has been wonderful (i.e., less than 80 degrees) so I took these pictures outside. Enjoy and let me know which tag you like the best.

Technique #5 - Emerging Color

This month's technique involved embossing over stamped images with clear embossing powder and then finishing off the card with a brayer and raspberry ripple ink.  The other "In Color" used was summer starfruit.

Burned Batik Swap

Here is my Burned Batik swap for this month.  I used lucky limeade and daffodil delight ink over the embossing and accented the card with a matching ribbon.  The eiffel tower is from the Artistic Etchings stamp set.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2012 (June)

I really enjoyed this month's tag.  The two boys in the photo are my husband's uncles from Ireland, Thomas and Sean Walsh.  I printed the photo on my inkjet and used Stampin' Write markers to color directly onto the photo to change the color of their shirts.  Once again, all products used were Stampin' Up! except for the little piece of film.

Technique #5 - Burned Batik

This month's technique involved clear embossing on whisper white cardstock and then sponging various colors over the image to create a simulated batik technique.  When it's all finished you get a custom made piece of cardstock.  Tip: Start with the lightest color first when sponging.

Black Magic Technique Swap

Here is my card swap for the black magic technique that I previewed earlier. The grasses in the background were stamped using versamark.  I also used white stazon instead of the white stampin' up! craft ink.

Honorable Mention

My acetate and tissue card using the Faith In Nature stamp set was featured in June's Stampin' Success magazine!

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2012 (May)

Here is my interpretation of Tim's tag for May.  Once again all the products used are from Stampin' Up!. The only exception is the sewing pattern pdf which I purchased from Etsy and printed on tissue paper.  I used real red ink for the Eiffel Tower (Artistic Etchings stamp set) and distressed everything with chocolate chip ink.  As for the flower, I used the Blossoms Petal Builder punch, glued everything together and covered it with crystal effects.  The stem was made using Pear Pizzazz seam binding ribbon.

Black Magic Beginnings

I started working on my black magic card swaps for this month.  Now I just need to figure out what to do with the fan.

Photo Challenge Winner

My photo of Kobi our lab mix adopted from a lab rescue last summer was selected as last week's winner on a popular scrapbooking site.  Pretty cool.

Earth Day Tag

On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2012 and help Mobilize the Earth™. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part.

Technique Class #4 - Black Magic

This month's class featured the Black Magic technique.  The only thing I did differently was to go over the colored pencil with a watercolor brush to smooth out the coloring lines.  The results are pretty dramatic.

Never Forget

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

Photo by Sam Dean - The Roanoke Times