Sketch 31

Happy Thanksgiving! Here is a quick layout for Shimelle's Sketch to Scrapbook page, "Showcase a Photo with Borders". I substituted a shoelace for the borders  and added a little bit of paint behind the photo. The papers and the title stamp are from Stampin' Up!

OWH - Sketch #200

This week's card for Operation Write Home's sketch #200 started off as a Thanksgiving card and then turned into a Hanukkah card. I'm not quite sure how that happened but overall I'm pleased with the results. All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

 

OWH - Sketch #198

Here is this week's card for Operation Write Home's sketch #198. The snowflake is from Stampin' Up's "Festive Flurry" set and the sentiment is from the "Word Play" set. Have a great holiday weekend!

 

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2013 (Nov)

For this month's tag Tim used the Chalkboard Stamping Technique taught in Creative Chemistry 102.  Once again I used all Stampin' Up! products except for the purple chalk and the frosted crystal embossing powder. I used the "Form & Function" background stamp and masked the area for the leaf. I then embossed the background with silver embossing powder. Next I stamped three images of the leaf from from the "Autumn Splendor" set and embossed with the frosted crystal. I applied the purple chalk over the embossing and cut out two of the leaves as Tim demonstrated. I then reapplied both layers of the leaves using Stampin' dimensionals. I finished off the card with a rubon sentiment and a paperclip.

OWH - Sketch #197

Happy November! Can you believe it? Christmas is only 51 days away. Anyway, here is my card for Operation Write Home's sketch #197. My stepfather is having shoulder surgery this week so I wanted to make a get well card. I turned the sketch horizontally and used one of the stamps from the Stampin' Up! "Word Play" set as the focal point. All of the products are Stampin' Up! except for the string...it came with a tag from a Tommy Bahama pullover.

Card Swap - Treat Holder

Here is my treat holder for this month's card swap. I used the largest framelit from the Labels Collection and folded it almost in half to line up with the tab. The space created by the fold turned out to be ideal for pixie stixs, twizzlers and the like. I used the same size framelit for the piece under the turkey and used the Woodgrain embossing folder to create the texture.

 

Photo Tinting with Markers

Here is a tag that was inspired by Tim Holtz's photo tinting technique. Basically you can take any sepia or black and white photo printed on an ink jet and colorize it using markers. In this case I used Stampin' Write Markers to colorize the boys shirts. What makes this extra special is that the boys are my husband's uncles from Ireland.

Happy Birthday - Japanese Style

Since I'm currently in Japan at the moment I thought it would be nice to share two cards that I made for friend's teenage daughter. The theme for both cards is based on a lost city in Japan.  I found both images through a google search and printed them on cardstock using my inkjet.  The sentiment in Japanese says "Happy Birthday".

Embossing Effects

Here are two tags I created as part of an online class I've been taking.  The focus of Day 5 was Embossing Effects.  The technique shown on the first tag is "Sticky Powder with Glitter". Since I didn't have Sticky Powder I used Stampin' Up's Heat and Stick Powder and then applied glitter. The stamp featured is part of the new Festive Flurry set.  

The second tag is showing the "Chalkboard Technique". For this this tag you must use Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder on black cardstock to create the embossed texture essential for applying the chalk. Yes, plain old school chalk.  I used a retired stamp set and brads from Stampin' Up!.

Witches Broomstick Lollipop Treat Holder

For this month's technique we created Halloween treat holders for Charms lollipops. In lieu of instructions, I'm linking to Beth's blog where she used licorice as the base for her broomstick but you get the idea. If you want your broomstick to stand up like mine you'll need to cut off some of the wrapper at the top of the lollipop and make sure your broom pieces are long enough to stabilize the lollipop once you turn it upside down.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2013 (Oct)

Here is my version of Tim's tag for October. Since I didn't have any owl products I went searching on the internet and found this owl clipart (here). I printed the image on craft cardstock and used a brush and ink refiller as a watercolor. The background was distressed using several inks, stamp sets and a spider web rub on. The only other non Stampin' Up! product I used was the burlap stencil which I used with versamark and glitter embossing powder.

OWH - Sketch #193

Here is a quick card for Operation Write Home's sketch #193. I used the Witches Brew DSP as the focal point for the card and added three bats from the Googly Ghouls stamp set in place of the brads in the sketch.

World Card Making Day - Blog Hop

Welcome to my site and Happy World Card Making Day! For those of you not familiar with Operation Write Home (OWH) please take some time to explore their site and their worthy cause. It only takes a few minutes to make and send a card but it makes a world of difference to those receiving cards from loved ones serving our country.

Below is my "Thank You" card and here is a link to the OWH sketch #101.

Click here to return to the Blog Hop.

OWH - Sketch #192

It's not quite October but I thought I would get jump on my Halloween cards using Operation Write Home's sketch #192.  I used Stampin' Up's Witches Brew Designer Series Paper. The bat is from the retired "Googly Ghouls" set.

Card Swap - Masking Tape Technique

Happy Wednesday! Here is this month's card swap for the Masking Tape Technique. Rather than try to create a faux background or some type of distressed look, I kept it simple and applied the inked masking tape in stripes. I finished the card with a classic stamp from Stampin' Up!, "Lovely As A Tree."

OWH - Sketch #191

Happy Fall! Can you believe it? Here is this week's card for sketch #191 from Operation Write Home. Once again I used all Stampin' Up! scraps and a sentiment stamped on vellum from who knows how long ago. Enjoy!

OWH - Sketch #190

Here is this week's card for sketch #190 from Operation Write Home. The embossed background was made using the Alphabet Press embossing folder from Stampin' Up! The brads and the leaf stamp are both retired.

Let's Be Adventurers

I started this layout over a year ago and put it aside because I really didn't like how it was turning out. The original layout was on a 12x12 piece of purple paper and I think I was trying to create a pocket page type look. Anyway, I cut down the paper and started over by adding multiple layers of coordinating scraps on a new piece of 12x12. I'm not 100% happy but it's definitely much better than before. All the papers are from Stampin' Up!, the tickets are from a raffle (that I didn't win) and the dog print ribbon was a gift that I received years ago.

OWH - Sketch #189

Happy Sunday! Here is this week's sketch for Operation Write Home. I used mostly scraps and the same sentiment (retired) from the tag I posted on Labor Day. All products are from Stampin' Up!.

Masking Tape Technique

This month's technique involves placing a large piece of masking tape onto a stamp pad to create a weathered and distressed look. To create the card below  I applied very light ink layers to the masking tape and continued to apply the tape in different directions to stamp off all the ink. If you want a more bold or distinct look just press the tape harder onto the pad. You could even make distressed stripes. I would definitely recommend using the blue or green masking tape used for painting your house. 

OWH - Sketch #188

Happy end of summer 2013! Here is this week's sketch from Operation Write Home. I started to add faux stitching to the left side of the card and ultimately cut it off and covered up the edge with black cardstock. I'm still not crazy about it...oh well.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2013 (Sep)

The theme for this month's tag from Tim is layered stencils. Although I don't have any stencils, I used a chevron paper punch and a serif alphabet die from Stampin' Up! and applied crackle paint and ink through them as if they were stencils. The hexagons were stamped with versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.  The butterflies were stamped with StazOn so the ink would adhere to the embossing. The only non Stampin' Up! item is the typewriter letter from Levenger (no longer available).

Card Swap - Grid Technique

Here is this month's card swap for the grid technique. Rather than use a scoring board to create the grid lines, I used a texture plate which essentially achieved the same look but saved lots of time. The two-step butterfly stamp is from Stampin' Up?. 

OWH - Sketch #187

Here is this week's card for sketch #187 from Operation Write Home. I used scraps from last week's card and stayed with the blue/green theme. The dragonfly is from the retired Stampin' Up! set called "Wonderful Wings (2001)". The double bow was tied using the bow maker from Lee Conrey.