One Stamp Set, Three Different Ways

I liked this challenge over at Paper Crafts Connection.  She asked us to use one stamp set to create three different projects.

The stamp set I chose is by My Favorite Things.

You may recognize the card on the right from my post yesterday.  I used the hearts not only for a background but also as patterned paper for the die cut clouds.

 

 

 I sprayed this tag with Dylusions inks and the plan was to use the ghost technique with the heart stamp.  To do this I spritzed some water on my mat and tapped the stamp on top of it.  The result was a gloppy, round pattern.  Not what I was going for, but it ended up making a cool background so it's all good.  Next I stamped the hearts over that with red ink and again on the sentiment strip.  To make them stand out a bit more I drew around some of them with my white Signo marker.

On the left card I used the single heart image to create little flowers and added a dab of Stickles in the middle of each,  I like the little twine stems.  :)  The sun is cut from a tag that I experimented on by combining embossing paste with Pure Sunshine Dylusions ink spray.  In person it almost looks like felt - cool stuff.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Wishing you sunshine!

Showered With Love

When I made my Greetings from Seattle card a few days ago I rediscovered a stamp set that I had forgotten about.  The umbrella die came with a stamp set featuring some rain-ish images and quotes (very Seattle-esque, yes?).  With Valentines Day on the horizon, and attempting to get away from lavendars, pinks and reds, I made a little love card.  This would also be great for a baby or wedding shower so I'll either send it on its way to one of my favorite valentines or keep it in my stash.  ;)

My sewing machine is in a different room and it's kind of a hassle to haul it out.  One of my favorite little tricks is to use one of those sewing tracing wheel thingies to make stitch-like edges around cards.  For this one I added a few lines under the clouds as well to look like rain (use your imagination!)  :)

I haven't decided if this card is a little TOO clean and simple or if I like it as is.  Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.

My next card is very Valentines-ish with those very colors that I avoided in the card above.  ;)  I made this to combine two challenges:  CASual Fridays - Make Your Mark and Stampotique - Love.  I wanted to do something different with the marker challenge so that was a little tricky for me but I'm a happy camper with my experiment - I think it worked.

Now chances are this has already been done but for me it was totally experimental.  I took a square background stamp and colored the top half with Copic R29 and the bottom half with Copic V17 (I had a thing for purple and red combos when I was little).  Next I randomly dripped some Ranger Blending Solution over it and quickly stamped on cardstock.  I freehand drew the hearts and punched out squares.  Pretty cool watercolor effect, doncha' think? 



 Off to make dinner.  The natives are getting restless...



Martini, anyone?

I'm having fun with my new dogs stamp set (i.e. expect more of these to follow).  Tell me I'm not the only one who feels a sorry for the pooch walking down the street with the cone on his head.  They always look embarrassed, don't they?

This card is here in my Etsy shop, but I'm thinking I'll make a few to have on hand to invite some friends to a Girls Night Out.  I'll try to take it easy on the martinis...

Mojo Monday & PDCC Challenges

Second post of the day - woo hoo!  This is just a quickie to add a card I made last night for a couple of challenges, Play Date Cafe (Black, White & a Splash of Green) and Mojo Monday's sketch challenge.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Valentine Wanted ... or Not.

Here is my last Valentine offering for the shop (I think). 

These little wonders are perforated so you can hand them to your wanna-be Valentine and get a response back.  Great for the shy ones.  ;)  Get more info on them here.

It's funny.  My beloved and I don't really 'do' Valentines' Day because in our little kingdom every day is Valentines' Day (feel free to alternately say "Aaaaahhh..." or resist the gag reflex - whichever works).  At the beginning of the year I decided I really need to go through my supplies to get rid of things I haven't used.  I came across a lot of cool stamps that I had forgotten about.  Hence, Valentines' Day for Elves In The Attic was bigger this year than in years past; have to justify keeping all these little goodies that I still love.

On a totally different note, one might even say completely opposite, I have a new batch of stamps that I couldn't resist playing around with.  A good friend of mine recently finalized her divorce - it wasn't a pretty process.  To cheer her up I made this card for her:

 

 

Yeah.  I know that's not very nice, but it is kinda funny and I think it will make her grin.  That's what friends are for, right?

 

Cheers to you and Happy Friday!

Greetings from Seattle

I was supposed to be hard at it making things for the shop, but decided instead to give myself some time to play around.  I created a couple of cards for challenges.  Love challenges - they get my creative juices going.

This one is for the Stampotique Die Cut challenge.  The umbrella is a die.  I used red and white polka dot washi tape since I didn't have the paper I wanted.  This really does yell "Seattle!", doesn't it?  I think this will go to my mom.  She gave me an earful the other day because I haven't sent her a card in a while.

This next card is for the Paper Craft January Challenge - Milestone Birthdays.  I have a few wonderful people in my life who will be celebrating the big 5-0 this year.

That's it for today.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Hockey All Star

I live with a bunch of hockey players.  In fact, with my husband playing, running a couple of adult leagues and coaching I feel like a bit of a hockey widow sometimes.  Don't even mention the NHL lockout around here...oh, my.

The challenge this week on the Less is More blog is Sports and Exercise and the first thing that came to mind was this hockey player stamp.  One layer challenge too - yikes, those are tricky for me. 

We head down to Portland this weekend for a tournament for one son and the other is guesting for another team.  The first post-lockout NHL game is this Saturday too so somebody is bound to be deserving of an all star card. As for Me?  I'll be freezing in an ice rink or deodorizing a hotel room on an regular basis...ewww...

Equal Opprtunity Valentines

My brother-in-law is gay and he and his partner got married a year and a half ago.  They are both wonderful, amazing people and I am fortunate to have them in my life.  I thought of them when I made these Valentines Day cards which I listed today at Elves In The Attic.

Wishing you love...all of you. 

Unmounted Stamps - Hot Tip

I just bought some stamps from Art Neko and while browsing their site found this great tip:

"Many stampers have found that cutting their stamps out with a scroll saw is a quick and easy option, especially when the stamps are on a sheet of mounting foam. For anyone who sews it is like feeding fabric under the foot of the sewing machine. We use a saw blade with 18.5 teeth per inch for trimming our stamps."

I prefer unmounted stamps since there is usually a pretty decent cost savings vs. mounted ones.  I've always cut mine out by hand after attaching to cling mount.  It never occured to me to use a scroll saw though - love that idea. 

Artsy Calendar

I have seen so many great art journal calendar pages whilst roaming around the internet.  I decided that one of my goals this year is to make artsy fartsy calendar pages every month.  As luck would have it there was a challenge for that last week at the Stampotique Designers blog.

Rainy, cloudy skies are the norm in Seattle this time of year and I drew my inspiration from them as I heard the drip, drip, drip from my eaves. 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.  Happy January!

Gettin' Jiggy With Java

I seem to be accumulating a collection of coffee stamps.  Can't seem to get enough of 'em.  'Tis true enough that I really do enjoy my morning cup (or two or three) and the occasional evening one as well.  I always loved the smell of brewing coffee as a kid too.  The other day I blogged about some coffee thank you cards I made.  I ended up being one shy so whipped up another this morning.  This one I'm entering into a couple of challenges as well, Less Is More Black & White and CASual Friday Thank You. 

 The tag is made from a combo of tapes and border stamps then inked around the edges and topped with a twine/floss combo.

From the same set I made the following card for my Etsy shop; cracks me up and most days I can completely relate!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Mixed Media-ish Card

All of my good intentions to clean up my creative space are still waiting to be fulfilled but I decided to get in there anyway and get messy.  My nephew recently bought his first home.  I whipped up some funky coasters as a gift for him. 

They remind me of a tidepool - a mix of anemones, crabs, seaweed, and cold, clear seawater.  The bright colors on these inspired the colors on this card:

 Lots of fun playing around with various inks on this baby.  Started with a white base then I put a number stencil down and sprayed it with blue Dylusions ink.  It ended up being a bit too intense so I toned it down by swiping Picket Fence Distress Stain over it.

The houses were stamped on a separate piece of cardstock and cut out.  I colored them with copics; they remind me of houses in San Francisco.  The grass is embossed with a TH ledger embossing folder and direct-to-papered over the top with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

I cut out the clouds with a Memory Box die and stenciled over the top with some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  They needed the pen outline to help them stand out from the "sky".  A little honeycomb background stamp is on the sun.  The banner is pieced together with the middle piece lifted off the back.

 I'm surprised I found room (or supplies) in here to make ANYTHING!  Maybe now that I got some creative juju out of my system I can get busy...