More Halloween

Ah, I'm in the Halloween mood now. I bought some spooky stuff to put in my yard, and I've made another card.

This one is for my granddaughter, Rachel.  Rachel used to spend her afternoon after school at my scrapbook store and has become quite the artist.

Anyway, this is another of the $1 stamps from JoAnn's.  I like sugar skulls, and Rachel does too.  She's also a Batman girl.  She loves anything Batman.

More polka dots, and small spiders this time.  Also, a star brad to add a little interest.

I hope you get to make something beautiful today.

Halloween Time

Not only do I like Fall/Autumn, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I like to dress up in costume to give out candy.  I've done it for as long as I remember. Some years my hubby dresses up in costume, too, and we have even won prizes for best costumes.  I'm thinking about what I am going to be this year. Maybe a black widow.  I might even post pictures.

So, it's time to make those Halloween cards for some of my favorite people.  I picked up some $1 stamps at JoAnn's a few weeks ago, and decided to give them a try.

This card is for my granddaughter, Emilie.

The ribbon was also in the dollar bin, and is self adhesive. There were 3 or 4 foot long strips in the package. I stamped the spiders on the orange cardstock, as well as white cardstock. I colored them, cut the bodies out and adhered them to the stamped orange cardstock.  I made big black polka dots with a marker, then put some black glitter glue over them. And the googly eyes just made me giggle.

I think she'll like the card.

Hope you have a crafty day.

Another autumn card

Did I tell you how much I like autumn and autumn leaves?

This was another experiment, using a stamp set from The Angel Company. This is my favorite fall set. I just love this leaf. I think you can click on the picture and get a larger version of the card.

I basically did it the same as I did the card in the previous post: I stamped the handwriting stamp on the glossy cardstock  with Versamark and let dry. This acted as a resist. I used blended alcohol ink and let the Versamark handwriting show through.  Then I stamped the leaves.  Not all of the resist showed up, so I spritzed with alcohol, which gave it the spotted look.  Then I "painted the leaves with various colors of alcohol inks (some were Ranger and some were Copic refills).  When they were dry I covered them with Ranger Glossy Accents, and while that was still wet, I sprinkled (very sparingly) some copper/gold/orange glitter.  When it was dry, I used a leftover piece of brown cardstock (I made it to look like woodgrain) and stamped the ":fall is best of all" sentiment.  I used a marker to make little "nails". Lots of texture in this card also.  And I like the fact that it's one layer but looks like more.

I was pleased with the way it came out.  

I hope you get to be crafty today.  :-)

I love Autumn

I love autumn.  There is just something about that time of year. The cooler mornings, the leaves changing colors.  I just love it.  Of course, in Florida, we don't have the crispness of the air like in, say, New England, but you can still smell the "newness" of the air. It's not so humid, it's not so hot. And you know it's just a matter of time before the weather gets cool enough to turn off the A/C and open the windows and let the cool breeze blow through the house. Mmmmmm....I love autumn.

And autumn leaves.  Here is a small stamp I got from The Angel Company several years ago.  I like the smallness, since you can use it so many ways.

(The scan is crooked, not the card.)  Anyway. the background for the leaf was made by stamping the handwriting stamp on glossy cardstock with Versamark. I dried it with my heat gun, then used alcohol inks to color the cardstock. I like the way the Versamark resisted the alcohol ink.  Then I stamped the little leaf, and "painted" it with alcohol ink and blending solution.  I layered that on a piece of brown cardstock that I had run through an embossing folder in my Cuttlebug, then used a dark brown ink to  highlight the raised parts.  Then I layered in on another piece of brown cardstock, and onto a piece of patterned paper.  I added the pearls to give it a little interest. Lots of textures going on here, but it was a fun card to make. And easy, really.

What is your favorite season of the year?

I hope you have a crafty day...

Travel Triptych

Good morning.  Before I get back to my Christmas cards, I want to share another triptych I made.  This one is also ATC sized.

(click for larger view)

This ATC triptych was made using stamps from The Angel Company.  I love the little "scrabble" tile letters.  I wish TAC was still in business.  I loved their stamps.  

Anyway, this one is for my travel friends.  I used crackle glaze on the "travel" letters and also the labels on each panel.  It was colored with copic markers.

And here is the back:

(click for larger view)

I believe these stamps are 7 Gypsies.

Hope you have enjoyed. Now it's back to making Christmas cards for me.

Floral Triptych

Hello!  It's been a bit since I last posted, but I've been rather busy.  It's the time of year to make Christmas cards, but I wanted to take a break from that.

I love ATCs.  To me, they are the perfect sized canvas to work with.  And they are much easier to store than regular cards.  I do make regular A2 sized cards on occasion, but I'm addicted to the ATCs.  So, today I am sharing the triptych I made of some flower stamps and punches. Each of the panels is ATC sized (3-1/2 x 2-1/2), but they are folded so that they are in a Z shape, and will sit nicely on my desk.  So the entire panel is 7-1/2" x 3-1/2".

(click for a larger image)

This would be the front. of the panel.  Since it's folded, it's easy to make each panel have a different background without too much masking. The round letters that spell "flower" are stamped, punched out and then layered with crystal lacquer. They are from EK Success.  The flower stamps are from The Angel Company.

And here is the back:

(click for larger image)

It looks pretty sitting on my desk at work, since you can see the front and back.  And it reminds me that at some point I CAN go home and play.

Making this one has given me an idea to make some for some people I have working relationships with.  I can tailor them to suit their interests, and they will look nice on their desks, too.  ;-)

I hope I have inspired you today. 

Using Markers For Backgrounds

Good morning!  Hope you are having a great day.

My friend, Shelly, asked about using Marvy markers in different ways.  So, I sat down and tried some different things, and following are the results of my "experimentation".

I had some black and white patterened paper, so I decided to color it with my markers.  I like this idea...you can use a specific color palette to match your artwork.  I also tried spritzing it with water, which blends the colors if you'd like to blend. This also looks awesome using alcohol markers, which you can blend.

The next piece was fun to do.  I scribbled with my markers on a piece of acetate, then spritzed with water and then put white cardstock down.  I used a lot of colors, just to see the effect, which I like. 

The following card uses the rest of the piece of cardstock for a background for the card.  I liked this technique, too.

I think it would make a fun background for embossing folders, subway art, or graffiti or celebrations.

The next piece was made by heat embossing regular white cardstock with swirls, using white or clear embossing powder. Then I again scribbled on acetate, spritzed with water, and lay the cardstock in it to absorb the water.  Then just wipe the embossed area with a tissue or paper towel to remove any color from the embossing.

The following piece was done the same way, only I used glossy cardstock. To remove the embossing, you could iron the piece after coloring, kind of like faux batik.  Just make sure you use plenty of plain paper over the image to absorb the melted embossing.

The next piece also uses glossy cardstock, but I used versamark to stamp the swirl, then let it dry. I did not heat emboss it.  But again, I scribbled on acetate, then spritzed with water and put the cardstock in it.

I know there are a ton of techniques out there to use your Marvy/Tombow markers with, but it was fun doing these experiments.  If you have other techniques using markers, please leave a message in the comment section so I can try them out.

Have a crafty day...