NEW Stampotique Stamps for March: Cupcake

Oh, what fun!  The new stamps for the March release are winners for sure.  Today, I've got a gift tag to share using the new "Cupcake with a Little Cupcake".

Not shown is the little miniature version of the cupcake that comes with it.  It works really well as sprinkles on top.  :) And don't miss out on the coordinating phrase stamp, "Cupcake Text", that says 'You are a cupcake in a world full of muffins".  Ha!  Cute!  Plus, the phrase opens up so many possibilities for ways to use the cupcake stamp; this isn't just for birthdays, peeps...

Check out our Stampotique Facebook page to see what the Design Team has done with all of the new stamps.  Right after that, you'll want to head over to the Stampotique online store to grab some new goodies. :)

Craft My Stash ATCs

Hello there, peeps!

One of the art swapping groups that I participate in has a current challenge called "Craft my Stash".  We each sent an envelope of goodies to our partner and the partner then created an ATC using those supplies and sent it back.  Sounds simple, right?  It's tricky!

Here's a glimpse at the ATCs I made (and the stash it came with):

That was a fun challenge.  Do you make ATCs?  If so, where do you trade?

Have a great day!

Stampotique Word Up Weekend: Puppy Love

Happy Saturday!

Here's my latest project for Stampotique's Word Up Weekend (our weekly celebration of Stampotique's sentiments, phrases and alphabets).  I love, love, love Phoebe Doo, the ultra-sweet dog stamp.  I paired her on an ATC today using the  Dogs laugh... stamp.

How cute is she???  And it's so true...I'm convinced my own pup laughs a LOT at the rate that tail wags.  ;)

The quickie scoop on how I made this:  First came modeling paste through a stencil at the top.  I also added a torn strip of book page at the bottom.  Phoebe Doo was stamped on white tissue paper and then I dabbed on some Copics to add color; I tore around the image and glued her on.  'Dogs laugh..' is stamped on paper colored with Distress ink.  Once everything was glued on and dry, I brushed some diluted Distress ink all around the pup, smudged some charcoal pencil around the edges and added touched of white charcoal pencil over Phoebe Doo (didn't like that you could see the book text through her left paw).  Finito!

Check out more of Stampotique's fab words, phrases, etc.  HERE and have a great weekend!

Stampotique Word Up Weekend: Get Well Soon Card

Hello, friends!

At last...another week has come to an end.  I don't know how it is where you are, but here in the Pacific NW there have been some NASTY bugs going around this winter.  With that being the case, it just made sense to me to pull out Feeling a Little Green... to make a get well soon card.  (In real life the dots are more of a blue-green.  I couldn't tweak the pic enough to make it legit.  Grrr...  Just imagine it with me, folks...)

The handsome mer-dude is from the February release.  We call him Snuhubala.  :D

Check out more of Stampotique's words and phrases at the online store (there are loads of them!).

SDC 267: Seeing Red

Happy Day After Valentines Day!

Thinking that people might be done with hearts and the like I went a different direction for our Seeing Red Challenge over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog.  I absolutely love the design of Kassa's Bloom.

To make my card, I stamped the flower on a variety of red gelli prints then cut each one out.  I stamped the bloom around the edges of the card base too.

The background panel was made using green and brown Color Bursts.  To finish, I splattered bits of black and metallic gold acrylic paint over the whole thing.

Check out the challenge rules and post your Seeing Red project on the SDC blog for the chance to win a $30 gift certificate to the Stampotique online store.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Pink, Gray & Green Color Challenge: Postcard

When The Muse whispers it's best to listen.  I am sending out some gelli prints for a swap and thought it would be nice to add a little postcard note along with them.  I really like the color combo challenge that Rubber Dance Art Stamps has on their blog right now so decided to base my postcard on that.

My base is actually an index card (which means I'll probably need to reinforce it a bit with cardstock on the back).  I didn't think about taking a process photo until I was mostly through, but here's a mid-process glimpse.  :)

I really like to use up scraps as much as possible.  The flowers (from Rubber Dance) are stamped on pink scraps that I had in my stash.  The black stars that you see on the background are from the same stamp set.

To create the background, I brayered gray acrylic paint over the index card.  I intended to just add a smidge of green on top of that, but when I brayered the green it pretty much covered the grey so I added more gray back in by dabbing acrylic ink through a stencil.  I splatted bits of white and dark green over that and when it was dry I went around the edges with black acrylic ink.  To finish up, I glued on the flowers and sentiment.  Wa-la!  Finito.  :)

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Leaky Crown: Stampotique WordUp Weekend

I love this Stampotique quote, but I haven't used it in AGES.  So glad that it caught my eye today for the weekly WordUp weekend inspiration on Stampotique's facebook page.

Last summer I participated in ICAD (index card a day for 60 days).  The base here is an index card that I had used on my gelli plate as a mask.  Quick and easy art warm up for today.  :)

You can find Crown Quote HERE.  Do you have a favorite quote?  I would love to see it!  Please share in the comments below.

52 Card PIckup: Come Fly With Me

Oops.  I failed to blog about my 52 card pickup make last week.  My inspiration started with the color scheme for the challenge over at Rubber Dance Art Stamps.

The base, of course, is a playing card that had been gesso'd, etc.  Several weeks ago I was working on something and had leftover red embossing paste.  I had put it down on this card through a heart stencil and ended up not liking it at all.  Acrylic paint to the rescue!  ;)

The phrase and butterfly/girl image are from Rubber Dance.   Thanks for taking a peek and I wish you a fab weekend.

Butterfly Birthday Card

I was happily perusing Instagram last night when I happened upon a pic of my sister and nieces having a great time in San Francisco.  My niece made a comment along the lines of "Happy Birthday Week, Mom".  Oh no!  My sister's birthday crept up on me.  I immediately got busy making a card to get in the mail PRONTO.  ;)

My muse was Hermine Koster.  She makes beautiful cards.  I used archival inks, watercolor pencils and regular ol' dye ink on watercolor paper.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's matted on navy cardstock to accentuate the blues in the main image.

Thanks for taking a peek.  Happy Wednesday!

Stampotique WordUp Weekend: Fly ATCs

Happy Saturday!

I've been looking at feather dies for a few years and when I ran across a set at one of my fave hangouts (that also regularly offers 40% off coupons) I snatched one up speedy quick.  I was excited to use one of them on these ATCs with Stampotique's Altered Alpha.

The feathers were made from gelli printed junk mail. I added a smidge of InkaGold on the tips of each feather to give them a little pizzazz.

 I drew lines around the edge of the ATC with a Distress pen and then went over that with a water brush. Next came a bit of modeling paste in the upper corner.  'Fly' was stamped with blue archival ink and then, to make it stand out more, I used clear embossing powder over the top of the letters.

Here's another view:

Check out all of Stampotique's amazing words, phrases and alphabets over at stampotique.com.

Have a splendid weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Queen Bee ATC

I think I mentioned in a previous post how much I love the large bee stamp from Stampotique.  It is a recent addition to my stash though I've been eyeballing it for years.  Literally.  Really not sure what took me so long.

I was feeling mixed media-ish recently, and needed to make an ATC for a trade.  Out came the bee.

The background started as a scrap piece of painted paper.  It had some really bright, neon colors on it.  I washed over it with fluid acrylic quinacridone nickel azo which perfectly muted and transformed it.  Next came some distressed book pages layered on top of each other and a piece of teal wire.  The edges are finished off with some gold embossing powder.  I colored the bee with Distress markers and Copics and then cut her out and slapped her on there with some foam adhesive. 

I'm so happy with the way this turned out.  :)  Thanks for stopping by today.