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This blog is for sharing a love of paper crafting. You can also check out my Pintrest pages. If you find the ideas here to be helpful, I'd love to hear from you. It is what helps make the time I put into this blog feel worthwhile, and always brightens my day. I love hearing your ideas too!

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Friday, September 30, 2016

She gave ALL


This page is discussed here.  This is how I created it:

1) Scribbled a bit of "Metallic Blueberry" gelato on a craft sheet, thinned it with water using a water brush, and brush on to the page.  Colored it with a light coat - all except the verses I wanted to highlight.
2) I typed up the words on my computer, finding fonts that I wanted to use - then printed them.  Also, I printed a pile of coins I found on the internet.
3) Using my ultra thin light box, I traced these words & coins onto the page using a Staedtler triplus fineliner black marker/pen.
4) Next, I drew in my "two small coins".  I colored the small coins copper using Silks "Harvest Sol" acrylic glaze.
5) I used "Gold Lame" Smooch ink to color the other coins, the words "ALL" and "shine lines" coming from the small copper coins.
 

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Me and My House

This Bible journaling piece is fairly simple.  To read about it's inspiration, check Me and My House on my other blog.  I started by preparing the page with clear gesso (Art Basics) as usual.  The rest is just some lettering & a house illustration:

House Illustration:
  • Stamped using my navy Scroll & Brush marker to color the house stamp (from HOTP "Welcome Home stamp set.
  • Colored with gelatos - scribbled on my craft sheet, made into a "paint" & painted with a water brush.  The blue used 3 colors - one a shimmery one.  I also used the the dark yellow.

Words:
  • I created a mock-up on my computer using fonts I liked - then traced them using the fine tip of one side of the "scroll" part of the Navy Scroll & Brush Marker.
  • "Choose Today" words were colored in using gelatos as for the house illustration.
  • Reference & date added with a fine-point Sharpie.
The other thing I did - which you can't see in this picture - was to highlight the text itself using the same yellow gelato solution used on the house & "TODAY". 

Thursday, September 22, 2016

House Pivot Card


Here's a card I made sometime back.  It's not really finished - waiting to add a sentiment when I decide when I'm going to send it.  But, I did want to record it here before I completely forgot what I did.  The card was made using the House Pivot die from Elizabeth Crafts, as well as pieces from their Holiday House die.  

I cut a piece from camouflage paper for the ground.  I found a branch cutting die I had & used multiples of it to create some trees. Parts of the house are cut from various papers, and parts were colored with smooch ink.  Flowers are small paper flowers with Jewel Dazzles centers. 

Here's the front of the card - you can see I've left space for a sentiment in the upper left corner - and added a Dazzles butterfly to the bare tree.


Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Snow Christmas 2


Here's the second card - using the same paper & Color Me pack of card toppers as the card posted yesterday.  I colored them in the same way, using Scroll & Brush markers & baby wipes.  A little bow finishes the look.  Here's the inside (cut from around the piece on the front):


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

A New Creature


Here's another Bible Journaling page.  This one uses Stampendous Pop-Up Kitties stamp set.  Here's what I did:
  1. Applied 3 thin coats of clear gesso (Art Basics) to the page to prevent bleed-through.  
  2. Stamped the kitty at the bottom using black VersaFine ink.  I forgot to mask so the upper part of the kitten's body wouldn't show on the face, so I used a little heavy white gesso to cover the extra stamped lines that I didn't want.
  3. I printed the text onto a sheet of scrap paper and then copied it into my Bible using a light box (this thin one works marvelously for this) and a Zig marker with a fairly thick tip.  
  4. Using a fine-line Sharpie, I added the text reference and date.
  5. Next, I colored the cat in using my pastel chalk set, coloring a bit like I did here (though I didn't need to go back over the stamped lines again).
  6. After the cat was colored (all except her eyes), add added green chalk to the rest of the page for a background.  Then, before the chalk had a chance to set, I erased the chalk from covering the verse itself.
  7. For a finishing touch, I combined two Smooch inks (green & gold) to make the cat's glowing eyes.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Snow Christmas 1


Here's the first of a couple of Christmas cards that were made using HOTP's Color Me Snowflakes Card Toppers. I colored them with Scroll & Brush markers - faded out using baby wipes.


For the inside, I added strips of patterned paper (including from HOTP), and Dazzles borders.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Stampscapes 6


This Stampscapes ocean scene is 5 1/2" by 8 1/4" - once again on glossy card stock, stamped with StazOn, and Scroll and Brush markers.  This scene made use of several types of stamps - from ocean to lakes & streams to people, animals, and birds, to sky stamps.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Stampscapes 5


Here are two scenes that started with the same base stamp - Country Stream (small one in the scene above - large one in the scene below).  This top one adds foliage & water stamps along with a canoeist & some birds. 


This one added trees, trees & hills, and a buck.  Both scenes were stamped with StazOn on glossy card stock - colored with Scroll & Brush markers.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Stampscapes 4


Moving into Stampscapes scenes, this first one started with the waterfall stamp.  The addition of sky, rock, trees, & a hiker came together to create the scene.  As before, it is stamped on glossy card stock with StazOn ink & Scroll & Brush markers.


Thursday, September 15, 2016

Stampscapes 3


Here I was playing with a stamp called "Country Road Small" as a base, adding trees, a person with a dog, birds, and clouds.  I used the same technique - glossy card stock, black StazOn, Scroll & Brush markers.  I used a small portion of the clouds stamp to add texture to the path forground.


This longer one is about 11" long.  It started with the "Country Road Small", added "Trees & Hills", along with birds, buck, and trees.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Stampscapes 2

Today's Stampscapes scenes started with a single stamp - colored & enhanced with a few little stamps.  Once again these were stamped with black StazOn on glossy card stock - colored with Scroll & Brush markers.


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Stampscapes 1


I recently got some Stampscapes stamps.  I've been wanting these for a long time, as I love the variety of scenes that can be created with them.  But today's examples are of a few single stamps, stamped with StazOn onto glossy cardstock & then colored with my Scroll & Brush markers.  Sometimes I used the markers straight, sometimes I added a dash of color & then wiped with my finger to spread the color & create color that was less intense.  A combination of these techniques - along with using various colors, gives me a start of creating depth in my images - though some are better than others.




Monday, September 12, 2016

Background Techniques


Today's post is all about playing with a background stamp (JustRite - Lace Background Stamp).  I started out trying the Black Magic Technique I saw here.  My first try (as you see above) turned out to be a much more "distressed" look than intended.  Next time, I would be sure to use a stamp buddy to prepare the surface before stamping and adding the clear embossing powder.  But, the technique was fun.  I started with a piece of card stock, colored it with distress inks, and then stamped using a background stamp, embossing ink, and clear embossing powder.  After heating the embossing powder, I used black ink over top of all - rubbing it in - except where it didn't stick to the embossed areas.



This next example was done in a similar way, but the black showed so poorly that I tried rubbing in some Silks Acrylic Glaze. This took off the black ink & the resulting pattern was interesting.


My last example dispensed with the black ink entirely. This one was done on glossy card stock.  I colored the background with distress inks, and then stamped/embossed with fine black powder.