Cardmaking with Altered Pages and German Scrap

Hello everyone!  Did you know that March is National Craft Month?  Not only that, but this month, the Altered Pages design team is thrilled to be partnering with KUNZE Deco-Accessories, makers of German Scrap.  We are also featuring the Mailbox Muse kits, too.

There is so much in these kits that you will have plenty of products to play with.  I saw this beautiful pink print paper in the kit, and I knew I had to use it for a card.  Perhaps this card could be used for a baby shower, or to congratulate a couple on their new arrival.  

Make pink card to measure 4-1/2" x 6-1/2".  Trim pink print paper to 4-1/4" x 6-1/4".  Curl two ends, as shown.  

Color CHERISH bingo card with  pink distress ink, edged with brown.  Adhere to card at an angle. 

Use die to cut out doily and ink with brown distress ink.  Use circle die to cut out collage image sized to fit center of doily and adhere to card front.  

Brush red gel paint over daisy border German scrap and adhere with tacky glue around collage image.

Cut German scrap crown apart, as shown, and add black archival ink to bring out embossing.  Adhere top part of crown over baby's head.

Add dots of silver Pico Embellisher to the top of the crown and allow to dry.

Add piece of colored-to-match seam binding ribbon along top edge.  Add a double bow with a creamy yellow rose and leaves.

Highlight pennant point border German scrap and two leaf corners with black archival ink to bring out the embossing.  Add the pennant borders to the top and bottom of the card, as shown, and insert the two corners beneath the curled edges.

Supplies:
Altered Pages:  Mailbox Muse Kits:  Winter 2015 Baby Baby Baby Kit (print paper, yellow roses & leaves, collage image from Winter 2015 Baby Baby Baby #3)
     German Scrap (Daisy border, Pennant Point border, Crown, Leaf corners)
     Dieable seam binding ribbon
     Cherish bingo card (Kaisercraft)
     Aleene's Tacky Glue

Other: Pink card stock, Prima doily die, circle die, Vavoom Red Radiant Gels (ColourArte), black archival ink, brown distress ink, Beacon Zip Dry glue, Silver Iresistible Pico Embellisher (Imagine Crafts)

There are over a dozen Mailbox Muse Kits available!! 

Check all of them out HERE!!!

The month of March is time for spring cleaning!   You get to save like crazy!   Today is the last day to check out this awesome sale.  PAPERS, BOOKS, PAINTS, INKS, STAMPS, PENS, TRIMS, COLLAGES ALL PRODUCTS 40% OFF!  

(EXCLUDES MAILBOXMUSE KITS AND POSTAGE) 
Valid March 6  through 9, 2015
USE CODE  SAVE40 
SAVE 40%

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoyed my fun card project.  Be sure to visit the blog regularly to see all the fabulous projects for the rest of the team!

Have a wonderful, creative week!

Barbara

Altered Trading Blocks and Altered Pages Birdhouse

If you've been following along this month, you already know that Altered Pages has partnered with The Artists on the Block, sharing our Altered Trading Block creations, aka, ATBs.  These fun, easy to alter, blocks are made with Eileen Hull's Sizzix block dies.  

As this is the last Thursday of the month, I believe I am the last to submit my creation.  However, I am so excited to present my double-decker bird house.  Can you see the tenants inside?  I had my husband hold a flashlight and shine it into the hole so I could take a picture.

Supplies used:

Altered Pages collage sheets:  AP-2220 Chirpy Goodness; AP-1566 Feathers; AP-1564 Vintage Eggs; AP-1478 Vintage Wings

Metallic Rubon Sets: Rich Primary #1; All Metals #2
German Scrap
Eileen Hull's Sizzix Box, Square XL die

Eileen Hull's Sizzix Blocks/Cubes, 3-D XL die

Sizzix mat board

Sizzix embossing folders: Bricked, Woodgrain

Metal candle holder

Rustique Tin Can embossing powder

Clear Embossing Ink Dabber

Corrugated cardboard from packaging

Acrylic paint, matte medium, Cobalt Teal, Rust

For a complete tutorial and more pictures of my double decker ATB bird house, especially a closer look at those cute little tenants living inside, please visit the Altered Pages blog.  

Check out this awesome special sale, through the end of the month.  We will add a FREE 6 well plastic palette and 1 ready to fill mister bottle when you purchase Splash Inks at the special limited sale price of 26.98!    Supplies are limited to on-hand quantities, valid until May 31, 2014 or until supply is gone. NO coupoon needed.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

Barbara

Mixed Media Journal Fun with Sin City Stamps and ComposiMold

Hello everyone.  Today I am going to share a project I made using Sin City Stamps and a really fun product  called Composi•mold reusable mold making material.  I started this Faber-Castell mini mixed media journal in a previous post, entitled Things I Love.  You can see my previous post by clicking here.

To learn more about Composi•mold, I found a wonderful video tutorial here which explains how easy it is to use.

Here is the first side:

Here is what I did to the reverse side.

Supplies:

Sin City Stamps:  Dressforms; Wing-It 

Composi•mold reusable mold making material
Mixed Media Mini Journal (Faber-Castell)
Burnt Umber acrylic paint (Plaid)
Copper Gilder's Paste (Altered Pages)
German Scrap (Altered Pages)
Scor-Tape (Altered Pages)
Versamark Ink
Black embossing powder
Distress Inks, Stains, and Markers:  Rusty Hinge, Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint; Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Vintage Photo (Tim Holtz)
Crackle Accents, Glossy Accents (Ranger)
Niji Water Brush (Altered Pages)
Metal embellishments (various)
Helmar 450 glue

Complete directions for how to make these embellishments can be found on the Sin City Stamps Blog.

I hope you are enjoying all of this month's DT posts and inspiration using stamps, embellishments, and Composi•mold.  As I said before, this is so easy to use and lots of fun.  I hope you will give it a try.  Be sure to pop on over to the SCS Store to see all the new products and the SCS Blog for tons of inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful and creative weekend.

Barbara

Christmas Triptych with Altered Pages

Hi everyone, Barbara here with one of my favorite art forms, the triptych.  With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, I wanted to make a Christmas triptych.

So,  some of you have asked, what is a triptych?  Wikipedia defines it:  

A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ trip-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον ("three-fold"), from tri, i.e. "three" and ptysso, i.e. "to fold" or ptyx, i.e. "fold")^[1][2] is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels.

Side 1 - Vintage Christmas

Side 2 - Traditional Christmas

Supplies used:

Altered Pages collage sheets:  Happy Holidays (AP-505), Holiday Postcards (AP-1155), Ivory Angels (AP 2090), 
Christmas Emporium 8x8 paper pad (Graphic 45)
Graphic 45 Coredinations Cardstock
Vintage Text Paper
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen (Brown)
German Scrap
4x6 chipboard pennants 
Old Paper Distress Stain
Copper Metallic acrylic paint
Ink Pads:  Dark Moss Chalk 
Dies: Doily, Ornate Frame, Mini Rosettes
Botanicals, decorative brads, bling

I made this by first covering chipboard pieces with Graphic 45 paper and adding hinges to hold it together.  I used die cuts and collage images for the focal points on each panel.  Mini rosettes were made from vintage text papers, while botanicals and bling were added for extra appeal.

What I love about this particular piece is that I have made one side of my triptych very vintage, while the opposite side is more traditional.  So, you can change your piece to suit your mood simply by turning it to one side or the other.

I hope you like my Christmas decoration.  I think it will make a lovely display piece for the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a very wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving.

Barbara

Artist Trading Cards with Sin City Stamps

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the blog.  As I promised you in my last post, I want to share with you today the ATCs that I made to fit in the altered ATC box, which can be viewed here.

So, what are ATCs?  They are Artist Trading Cards, similar to baseball cards, at least in size.  ATCs are always 2-1/2" x 3-1/2", and can be decorated in either a horizontal or vertical format.  I tend to prefer the vertical format, but this is just a personal preference.  ATCs are meant to be traded only, and unlike baseball cards, are never to be sold.  You always want to sign, date, and number your ATCs.  If you make one ATC or 10 ATCs, number it 1 of 1 or 1 of 10, 2 of 10, and so on.  So let's get started.

Supplies:

Sin City Stamps:  Art Journaling with Terri Sproul

                             Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2

                             Love of Butterflies

                             Rosette Hearts

                             A Wing Above the Rest

                             Birds and Clocks

Gold Glitter Cardstock (The Robin's Nest) 

Kraft Cardstock (Paper Studio)

Encore Gold Metallic ink (Tsukineko)

Black archival ink (Ranger)

VersaFine Onyx Black archival ink (Tsukineko)

VersaFine Vintage Sepia archival ink (Tsukineko)

3-D Crystal Lacquer

Distress inks:  Evergreen Bough, Spiced Marmalade, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint,  Faded Jeans, Dried Marigold, Picked Raspberry, Fired Brick, Soot, Brushed Corduroy)

Woodsies wooden shapes

Helmar 450 glue

German paper scrap (gold embossed borders)

Directions:

First, cut pieces of Kraft cardstock into 2-1/2" x 3-1/2".

The most cost-effective way to cut a piece of 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock that will yield 10 ATCs is shown below:

Stamp background image from the Rosette Hearts plate with Encore gold metallic ink.  

I chose to heat emboss  the ATCs on the left with gold embossing powder (EP).

Stamp background image from the Rosette Hearts plate with VersaFine black ink on one ATC, and VersaFine sepia brown on the other.  Here are the four bases for my ATCs.

TIP:  When stamping a large stamp onto a smaller piece of paper, I find it easier to turn the stamp over and lay my paper piece down onto the stamp.  That way, I can see exactly where I am stamping.

Allow the inks to dry before proceeding, or speed it up with a heat gun.  Patience is never a virtue when it comes to art.

I made four heart shaped woodsies, similar to the ones I made in my last post.  You can see the tutorial there.

I placed my woodsies on each of the four ATCs to audition their placement.  Then I decided what stamps I wanted to use around them.  

I used the gold stamped piece for my first ATC.  Stamp the small flourish and "ART" from the Art Journaling with Terri Sproul plate with black ink.  Stamp the script background and rosette from the Rosette Hearts plate.  (TIP:  When stamping script background images, ink portions of the image unevenly for that artsy look.)

I rounded the corners on my ATCs, but this is just a matter of personal preference.  Then I distress inked the edges.  

Adhere the woodsie and sign the back of your ATC.  (TIP:  If you add dimensional objects to your ATC, it makes it easier to sign the back first.)

Here is a free ATC back template I found online from craftingwithstyle.blogspot.com.  

The remaining ATCs were made in a similar fashion.  Close-up pictures are provided below.

Background stamped with Vintage Sepia archival ink, add Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, and Dried Marigold distress inks to background; stamp Rosette Hearts border,  Love of Butterflies mini butterfly, Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2 brick background and Friends with black ink, sponge on Encore gold metallic ink randomly, ink edges black, fussy cut butterfly, add woodsie, bling, and a piece of German scrap that you antiqued with archival black ink.   

German scrap antiqued with archival black ink

Background stamped with Black Onyx ink, Spiced Marmalade,  Peeled Paint,  Faded Jeans, Dried Marigold, Fired Brick, Soot, Brushed Corduroy sponged over background; A Wing Above the Rest STEAM (black) and steam engine gold embossed, small piece of German scrap, tiny gear.

Background stamped with Gold metallic ink and gold embossed, sponged black soot distress ink over all,  Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2 small flourish in black archival ink, Birds and Clocks hummingbird in black ink, colored with Peeled Paint, Picked Raspberry, Faded Jeans, Scattered Straw distress inks, cut out, added to front with woodsy, heart locket charm, small bits of German scrap.

I hope I have inspired you to try your hand at making some ATCs and swapping with friends.  I also like to use ATCs as focal points on cards, in my art journals, altered books, and scrapbooks. Can you think of some more creative ways to include ATCs in your art?  

Before I close, I also want to tell you about these two fabulous stamp plates that are now available; Nautical 1 and Nautical 2 are ready for shipping.  I love both of these sets and I think they would make great summer page layouts for those beach vacation pictures, as well as making great masculine cards.  Or how about a mini album for saving your beach treasures.  Check these out in the Sin City Stamps store.  

Best of all, you can get 20% off your entire purchase during the month of July.  Just use the coupon code:  nautical20 .  So go stock up now!  And with every purchase, you are entered into the Sin City Stamps $1,000 Giveaway.  Click here for the official rules.

Also, be sure to visit the Sin City Stamps blog often to see what wonderful creations the design team has in store for you!  They are extremely talented and full of wonderful ideas to share with you.

Have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks so much for stopping by.

Barbara

The Robin's Nest/Helmar Home for the Holidays Blog Hop

Hello everyone, and welcome to this special Home for the Holidays blog hop featuring The Robin's Nest and Helmar products.   I am so excited to be a part of this wonderful group of designers from both design teams, and I hope you find lots of inspiration here for your holiday crafting.  Be sure to visit each blog, leave a comment, become a follower, and you will automatically be entered to win a prize from each blog, as well as from  The Robin's Nest blog, The Chattering Robins, and Helmar.   So get some coffee, pull up a chair, and enjoy the hop.

When I think of going home for the holidays, I think of warm gatherings with my family, steamy windows, great home cooking, and lots of love.  So, in keeping with this theme, I found this paper mache box that I wanted to turn into a box with a hinged lid.

So, I first had to remove the excess paper mache from around the bottom piece.  I made some hash marks along the piece I wanted to remove.   See picture below.

Then, I covered the bottom of the boxwith Winter Retreat Glitter Swirl with Snowflakes Cardstock  and Calamity Jane Diagonal Glittered Cardstock for the roof.  This paper is absolutely gorgeous, and it reminds me of aged copper that has that beautiful blue green patina.  Here is what the finished box looks like.

If you look closely, you can see Santa in front of the fireplace.

I corrugated the Winter Retreat Glitter Swirl with Snowflakes Cardstock and used the reverse side to cover the chimney and the front eave.  I used the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to glue the corrugated paper so that it would not flatten the corrugations.   This is a fantastic glue that sets and dries quickly.  It holds strongly and also dries clear and is acid free.  I also used the Helmar Gem Adhesive to apply the dew drops.  This was also a fantastic glue for this purpose.

Front Roof, Corrugated Chimney, German Scrap & Dew Drops

I used some resin window pieces, but had to make my own door using part of one of my window resin pieces.  I added German scrap along the roof line, and I painted not only the windows, but also the German scrap with acrylic paints.

This little box could be used as a recipe card holder, but I chose to make a mini album to keep inside.  

Here are a few pictures of the book and some of the inside pages.

Front Cover

Inside cover and Vellum Envelope with snowflake embossing

Page 1 with punched strip to hold tag

Dymo Labels painted to look like copper

Inside Back Cover, wooden tree ornament

 Here are a couple of tags I made to insert into the vellum envelopes.  I used Robins Egg Blue Glitter paper and folded it in half.  You can then write notes, recipes, traditions to remember, funny or memorable things, pictures, you name it.  In the picture below, I used one of the gold journal tags, cut it out, folded it in half around the tag, and only glued the ends so that I could insert these tiny little tags beneath the journal tags.  Just more room to keep memorabilia.

Vellum envelope tag with tags.

 This tag is also folded in half and I used a snowflake rubon in the corner.  It is waiting for more memorable things to be saved on it.

Folded tag with snowflake rubon

Robin's Nest Products Used:

Calamity Jane Diagonal Glittered Cardstock

Winter Retreat Glitter Swirl with Snowflakes Cardstock

Glitter Reindeer Stripe

Robin's Egg Blue Glitter Cardstock

Snowflake Rub On 

Hillside Mini Dew Drops 

Cherry Chocolate Dew Drops

I hope you are enjoying the blog hop.  Don't forget to leave comment and become a follower to be entered to win one of the fantastic prizes.  And be sure to visit The Robin's Nest online store for more fabulous products.  Thanks so much for visiting today, and enjoy your weekend.

Barbara