Gentler Times Vintage Card

Hello everyone, and happy March!  I can hardly believe it is March already.  I guess time flies when you are having fun, and I am certainly doing just that when I get to play with these fabulous stamp plates from Sin City Scraps.    Today, I am using one of the images from the Sin City Scraps Clocks and Birds Rubber Stamp Plate.  I also made another wonderful discovery.  I found yet another die that fits another clock on this plate.  So, check out your own inventory of dies and see what you can come up with to work with these wonderful stamp images. 

1.  Stamp image onto Specialty Stamping Paper using Black archival ink.  You want to use a waterproof ink so that it will not bleed during the coloring process.

2.  Pick up various colors of Terri Sproul's Mixers with a water brush and color the image.  You can see where I was testing my color choices out on the perimeter of the paper before actually coloring my image.  

Terri Sproul's Mixers used:

Dress:  Pink Sapphire Pearl and Shimmer Garnet

Chair:  Aquamarine Pearl

Ladie's fan:  Citrine Pearl & Garnet Pearl

Skin:  Shimmer Garnet

Cheeks:  Shimmer Rose

Gentleman's Suit:  Silver

Background:  Aquamarine Peal & Citrine Pearl

3.  Blend Bundled Sage and Evergreen Bough distress inks to image.  Add Old Paper Distress Ink to image to make it more vintage looking.  Apply a coat of 3D Crystal Lacquer to both the man and woman images. The dimension it gives is subtle, but very effective.  

Colored image, pencil marks show where to trim away excess

4.  Die cut weathered clock from chipboard.  I ultimately did not use the two elegant scrolls pictured.  

5.  Paint the clock and clock hands (not pictured) with burnt umber paint, let dry.

6.  Cover the clock with one step crackle medium, let dry.  

7.  Add a light coat of metallic copper acrylic paint, let dry. 

8.  Use a foam blending tool to apply Black Soot distress ink.  This step really gives the clock a distressed and aged look. 

9.  Place clock diecut over stamped image and draw pencil marks around the clock to determine where to trim the image.  (See photo above).

10.  Glue die cut over image, as shown.  Attach both clock hands to center of image with a brad.

11.  Choose a piece of coordinating printed scrapbook paper, trim to 4-3/4" x 6-1/4".  Dry brush edges with copper metallic paint.  Adhere to card front.  

12.  Distress edges of card front with Old Paper Distress ink.

13.  Glue clock piece to front of card.

Close-up of 3D Crystal Lacquer applied to man and woman images

Supplies Used:

Sin City Scraps Rubber Stamp Plate Clocks and Birds

White A7 Card (6-1/2" x 5")

DCWV 8x8 Stack-Timeless Type

Specialty Stamping Paper (Ranger)

Archival Black Ink

Distress Ink (Bundled Sage, Evergreen, Old Paper, Black Soot)

Chipboard

Terri Sproul's Mixers (Sakura)

3-D Crystal Lacquer (Sakura)

Weathered Clock die (Sizzix-Tim Holtz)

Acrylic Paint (Burnt Umber, Metallic Copper)

I hope I have been able to inspire you to try some of Sin City Scrap's wonderful stamps, and shown another way to make them really stand out on your art work.  So go on over to their online store and check out their fantastic products.  And while you are there, you might like to visit their blog to see what else the design team has made to further inspire you and get those creative juices flowing.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  

Barbara

Two Cards, Two Looks

Hello everyone.  Welcome back to my blog, and my second monthly post for The Robin's Nest.  Before I get to the project, though, I want to tell you about a fabulous sale going on this month.  All tear shaped dew drops are 20% off this month.  There are not only new shapes, but new sizes and colors, too!  So head on over to the the store and stock up now.  We are also teaming up with Mod Podge this month, so I will be using their Mod Podge One-Step Crackle Medium in one of my projects today.  This product is awesome and I hope you will also visit their website to check out their line of products as well.

Today, we are going to play with die cuts and fabulous papers from The Robin's Nest.  There is just no better combination, in my humble opinion.  So, let's take a look at my first card.

1.  Die cut both butterfly shapes from Mango and Birthday Glitter Stars card stock.

Photo 1

2.  Ink solid butterfly wing using white pigment ink, direct to paper.  Remove excess ink with clean paper towel.

Photo 2

3.  Apply Twinkling H20's to solid butterfly wing.  I discovered that the white pigment ink mixed with the H20's to give a bit of an opaque, pastel color.  As it turns out, I liked this effect a lot.  Allow the H20's to air dry for a more sparkly shine.

4.  Stamp News Print stamp onto solid butterfly with black ink.

5.  Use your finger to apply glitter glue to open butterfly, then adhere to solid butterfly.  Layer both  butterfly bodies and adhere to wings.

6.  Adhere open wings to solid wings.  Cover body with Walnut Stain glitter glue.

Close-up of glitter glue on body of butterfly

7.  Die cut two leaf shapes from Kiwi Glitter Sorbet Card Stock.  Color with Moss Green H20s.

8.  Trim gray card stock to 6-1/2" x 9".  Fold in half to make 6-1/2" X 4-1/2" card.
9.  Trim Awning Glitter Card Stock to 6-1/4" x 4-1/4".  Adhere to gray card.
10. Adhere leaf stems to card front, as shown.  Attach butterfly with foam dots.

Close-up of wings popped with pop dots

My second card is basically using the same supplies, but achieving a very different look.

1.  Die cut both butterfly shapes from Mango and Birthday Glitter Stars card stock.  (See photo 1).
2.  Ink solid butterfly wing using white pigment ink, direct to paper.  Remove excess ink with clean paper towel.  (See photo 2).
3.  Apply a coat of white pigment ink to inside of embossing folder.

4.  Run Mango butterfly wing through your die cut machine to emboss.  The white pigment ink lightens the card stock in the debossed areas.

5.  Continue to add various colors of pigment ink to the high spots on the wings.  (NOTE:  Remember these duo daubers from years ago?  These work really well for adding spots of color to your work).

6.  Adhere open wings to solid wings.  Cover body and wings with mini dew drops.  Adhere tear shaped dew drops to outer edge of wing.

7.  Die cut two sets of poppies from green card stock and scraps of Mango Card Stock for the poppy flowers.  Attach the Mango flowers to the green flowers and coat just the flowers with a coat of Mod Podge One-Step Crackle Medium.  

8.  Allow the medium to dry.  Heat the crackle medium with a heat gun until it begins to burn.  It will leave this beautiful shadowy look to your flowers.  Of course, be careful whenever heating your paper and mediums.  

Top flower unburned, bottom flower burned

9.  Die cut Blue Raspberry Glitter Sorbet Card Stock with Catillion Frame die and adhere to light gray 5"x7" card. 
10.  Glue poppies and butterfly to card, as shown in finished card photo above.  Add foam dots to the butterfly for dimension.

Supplies Used:

The Robin's Nest Mango Card Stock
The Robin's Nest Birthday Glitter Stars Card Stock
The Robin's Nest Awning Glitter Card Stock
The Robin's Nest Blue Raspberry Glitter Sorbet Card Stock
The Robin's Nest Kiwi Glitter Sorbet Card Stock
The Robin's Nest tear shaped dew drops
Mod Podge One-Step Crackle Medium
Memory Box dies (Maribelle Butterfly) (Selena Butterfly) (Cottage Leaf) (Catillion Frame) (Prim Poppy)
Cuttlebug embossing folder (Paper Lace)
White pigment ink pad
Black archival ink pad
Twinkling H20's (Pink Azalea)(Sky Blue)(Sunflower)(Moss Green)
Inkadinkadoo News Print rubber stamp
Stickles glitter glue (Tropical Tangerine)(Walnut Stain)
Foam dots


I sure hope you enjoyed my cards and will be so inspired by The Robin's Nest beautiful papers and embellishments that you will stop on over to The Robin's Nest online store to stock up on those fabulous tear shaped dew drops and gorgeous, high quality papers and embellishments.  I also want to encourage you to visit The Chattering Robin's blog for more inspiration from the wonderfully talented design team.  Oh, and just a quick reminder to enter their monthly design challenge for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate in their online store.  How fun is that?

Until next time, I hope everyone has a wonderful, crafty week, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Barbara

Clockworks and Resist Embossed Cards

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.  Today I am going to share with you a really simple, but very feminine, card that I think you will enjoy.  Once again, I am going to be using a really fabulous plate from Sin City Scraps, Clockworks Inspired by Terri Sproul.  Here is a picture of the finished card.

1.  Select your printed background paper and any of the number images from the Clockworks plate.
2.  Attach your number(s) to an acrylic block, ensuring they will stamp properly.  As you can see in the photo below, the images are actually upside down on the acrylic block.  If you are not sure they are positioned properly, just stamp them onto a piece of scrap paper first.

3.  Ink stamp using either the Distress ink pad or marker and stamp onto the background paper, as shown.  It is always a good idea to let some of the stamped images bleed off of the paper.

4.  Distress and ink the edges using the Distress ink pad.  Stamp the key from the Clockworks plate in the pink banner area in the upper right hand corner.  (see finished card)  

5.  Use the three flower punch and leaf die to punch out flowers and leaves from the scraps of paper and ink with Distress ink in pink and green.

6.  Optional:  I added Mod Podge fragile crackle to each flower and leaf for added strength.

7.  Crinkle the flowers and layer smallest to largest, inserting a tiny brad in the center of each.  I placed the flowers where I wanted them and made tiny holes in the background paper to insert the brads.

8.  Arrange the leaves and two small pieces of burlap ribbon behind the flowers.  

9.  Add flourish gems to background.

10.  Glue finished background piece to card.

11.  Stamp four screw heads onto a scrap piece of background paper using distress ink, punch out with 1/2" circle punch.  Adhere to each corner.

My second card is a fun technique called resist embossing.  It is not a new technique, but still lots of fun, and quite easy to do.

1.  Stamp and clear emboss bird image onto a piece of colorful printed paper from the Stardust mat stack.  

2.  Color over embossed image with Black Soot distress marker.

3.  Place image between two pieces of newsprint and iron over the image.

The embossing will melt and absorb into the newsprint.  This is what the newsprint will look like when completely melted.

This is what the image will look like when the embossing powder has been removed. It is now matte and no longer shiny.

4.  Repeat step 3 for the second bird image.  

5.  Cut out both bird images.  Voila, instant coloring simply by letting the paper colors do the work for you.  

6.  Die cut three shapes using the Marianne Design die and two coordinating papers from the Crate Paper pad.  Layer these three shapes and adhere to the card front.  (See finished card)

7.  Die cut the bird cage using the Spellbinders die and a piece of Quickutz double-sided adhesive chipboard.  Remove protective release papers and adhere bird cage to a non-stick craft sheet.

8.  Cover the bird cage with the glass glitter, and then fill in any open spaces left using the finer Mica D'Lights glitter.

9.  Attach the bird cage and birds to the front of the card, as shown in the finished card photo above.  For added dimension, adhere the winged bird with pop dots.

Supplies used:

Sin City Scraps Rubber Stamp Plate Clockworks Inspired by Terrri Sproul (Roman Numerals - 15)

Sin City Scraps Rubber Stamp Plate Clocks and Birds (birds)

Hero Arts Textured Notecards (4-1/2" x 6")

My Minds Eye 6x6 pad-Follow Your Heart-Be Happy

Crate Paper 6x6 pad-Portrait Collection

DCWV Stardust mat stack

Distress Ink (Old Paper, Spun Sugar, Forest Moss)

Distress Ink Marker (Old Paper)

Stampin Up Three Flower Punch

Stampin Up Champagne glass glitter

USArtQuest gold Mica D'lights

Spellbinders Botanical Swirls and Accents dies (leaves)

Spellbinders Bird Sanctuary die (bird cage)

Marianne Design Creatables die LR0236

Quickutz 4"x12" double-sided adhesive chipboard

1/2" circle punch

Mod Podge fragile crackle (optional)

Flourish gems (champagne)

Mini brads

Paper Studio Burlap ribbon

Versamark ink pad

Clear detail embossing powder

Craft iron

I want to thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my projects today.  In addition, Sin City Scraps has a beautiful selection of rubber stamps and accessories, and I hope you will take some time to visit their online store.  I guarantee you will love their products as much as I do.  Also, please be sure to visit their blog for more inspiration from the design team.  They are always coming up with wonderful projects to get your creative juices flowing.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Barbara

Leslie-Rahye's Very Steampunk Valentine Blog Hop 2013

Hello everyone.  I'm so glad you decided to stop by today, because you are in for a real treat.  The ever-so-talented Leslie Rahye is once again hosting today's blog hop, and the theme is anything combining steampunk with valentines.  So get yourself a cuppa, pull up a chair, sit back and enjoy the inspiration and ideas from each of the wonderful designers participating today.  A complete list of blogs is at the bottom of this post to make it easy for you to hop along.  And as always, if you would like to enter the giveaway, please leave a "love"ly comment on each blog.  It would also make each of us very happy if you were to follow our blogs, as well.

My project for today is a steamy Valentine's Day card with a bit of punk added.



1.  Choose three coordinating sheets of printed paper from the Harper's Boutique pad.
2.  Cover ivory card with third piece of coordinating printed paper chosen in step 1, and add Spun Sugar distress ink to background.
3.  Glue two of the sheets to chipboard and cut using the Sizzix die.
4.  Set the base heart shape aside.
5.  Using the heart die, cut a heart template from white card stock, fold in half, and lay on top of "bodice" heart shape, as shown.  Trim away excess.

white card stock template folded in half

section of bodice heart to be trimmed away

6.  Reverse trimmed piece and use to trim excess away from opposite side of "bodice" heart.

trimmed piece reversed to remove excess from opposite side

7.  Keeping white card stock template folded in half, use a paper punch or cropadile to punch the holes for the eyelets.

heart bodice template

template folded in half with holes punched

heart bodice template with holes for eyelet positioning

8.  Use the paper template to punch your heart "bodice".  Attach eyelets in each hole.

base heart (L) and bodice heart (R)

9.  Add Fired Brick distress ink to the "bodice" heart shape, and Antique Linen distress ink to the base heart.
10.  Thread pink jute ribbon through eyelets and tie in a bow at the bottom.
11.  Glue "bodice" heart to base heart, then to card front.
12.  Cut layered angel wings from tan Kraft-Core paper, then place inside embossing folder to emboss.  Sand high spots and add spun sugar ink.
13.  Layer wings and attach beneath heart.
14.  Add Tim Holtz Idea-ology trinkets, as shown.

close-up of heart and trinkets

Supplies Used:

6-1/2" x 10" Ivory cardstock folded in half to make 6-1/2" x 5" card
Paper Studio 8"x8" Harper's Boutique paper pad
Making Memories 1/8" red eyelets
American Crafts pink jute ribbon
Sizzix die-Heart #1
Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Flourish & Wings
Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz Die - Layered Angel Wings
Distress Inks (Spun Sugar, Antique Linen, Fired Brick)
Kraft-Core Nostalgic Collection card stock
Tim Holtz Idea-ology trinkets

I hope you have enjoyed my steampunk Valentine's card project and that you will be inspired to try something with a steampunk style, too.  Now, on to the next blog, so just click on the links below and follow along.  Thank so much for stopping by, and please be sure to leave everyone a bit of love in the form of a comment. We do love your comments.


Have a wonderful week, and happy crafting.

Barbara