March - music and April - craft squares

 March - music and April - craft squares

  I belong to a local card swapping group, that gets together once a month.  Sometimes we need to skip a month, and that is why I am showing two today.

Theme for March was music.  I went into my wood stamps from way back when for this card.  The main image is a CD or big record, which ever you would like it to be. 

I stamped it a couple of times to get the two colors on it, then stamped some small music notes/saying around it.  All these stamps are from companies that are long around, so no reason to name them.

April theme is Crafty squares.  These squares are 3 1/2" so you can fit nine of them together in a frame, that are called Sampler squares.  Again I got out some Hot Potatoes old wood stamps that are longer available.  I have a large selection of stamps in my stash that I can work from ... so why not. 

You can see what I mean here in this post from 2018.  

Here's also another one done that same (2018) year.

Back in 2018 we did this idea a couple of times.

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back soon.

 

Holiday candies and Holly

 Holiday Candies and Holly

stamps used:  Hot Potatoe stamp co. candy and holly, sayings from various stamp companies

Just had fun with these cards.  I started with a sheet of white (8 1/2" x 11") cardstock.  For one sheet I randomly stamped the candies all over the cardstock.  Added some red splatters for a little more interest.  On another sheet of white cardstock, I randomly stamped the holly.  Next I cut up each sheet of stamped cardstock in different sizes.  

Actually, I guess you could call it a one sheet wonder, but I didn't write down the measurements or make a template of it.  Maybe next time I will be more organized to do just that.  I didn't even keep track of how many cards/projects I made with these two sheets of cardstock.  Oh, well better luck next time.  teeheehee  That's just me ... when I get on a roll I just go for it.  Already sent some out so can't give you a count of how many cards and projects I made out of them.  I will do better next time.

Just have FUN making cards and projects this season, and all year round!

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back again soon.

Gel plate printings

 Gel plate prints!

This post is going to have lots of photos.

stamps used:  Hot Potatoes --- die: Unity stamp co. Thinking of you

Gel printing is a fun process but can get very messy.  

Above is a photo of a print being pulled off the gel plate.

The prints showing are either on 80 lb. cardstock, or Rice paper.  Rice paper is very thin, so when I added to a card I needed to back it onto cardstock.

I die cut some of the prints that I created.

I have lots of prints ... so I will be making lots of cards.  Think I might even add a few of these prints into Treasure books I have created just for fun.

Thanks for stopping by.  come back again soon.

Mixed Media Morsels #4

 Mixed Media Morsels #4

For my #4 MMM altered playing card, I kept it simple with some old stamps from my collection.  The little clusters of grapes is a Hot Potato stamp ... and yes, it is so old it is on wood.  The flower is from Endless Creations, which is also a wood mounted stamp.  It's hard to see in this picture but I did watercolor the three flowers ... that was the technique for this card.  Others things to do were use a security envelope ... done ... and a tag ... done ... add fruit/vegetable ... done.

If you want to see my first three MMM altered playing cards, just type MMM playing cards or Mixed Media Morsels in the search box.

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back soon.

September Moon Corn

 Corn Moon

stamps used:  MFP, Rubber Moon and Hot Potatoe

Here is my Corn Moon swap card.  This is an ongoing swap with local friends so we can stay in touch during these trying times.

Measurements:

base - 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

black layer - 3 3/4" x 2 1/2"

white stamped layer - 3 1/2" x 2 1/4"

back layers - 4 3/8" x 2 3/4" and 4 1/4" x 2 5/8"

all the above measurements are approximately for my card.

Basic instructions:

front:

1.  base card is embossed with TH Alterations texture fade - Distressed Frame.

2.  adhere black layer and stamped corn layer to front of embossed card.

3.  the corn image is stamped onto white layer.  husks of corn are colored with marker.  corn section is paper pieced.  

back:

1.  adhere black layer.

2.  adhere white layer that has been printed with description of Corn full moon.

3.  stamp images with yellow and green ink.

4.  sayings stamped with black ink.

Simple but effective.  don't you think?

Thank you for stopping by and come back soon.

***not affiliated with any of the above companies just customer***

July/August Moon swap

July and August Moon swap

July is Buck Moon

basic instructions:

1.  masked off a circle to create a moon.  blended some gray inks to color the moon.

2.  around the moon I blended blues.

3.  stamped the buck/deer over the moon with black ink.

4.  stamped leaves around the edge with blue and white ink.

For more masking ideas look here, a different style of masking, ripping paper masking, yet, another masking idea.  there are lots of way to masking ... you can type masking in my search bar to see them all ... remember to click next post at the bottom of the post to see more.

 stamps used:  Hot Potatoes, Rubber Moon and Stampin' Up

August Sturgeon Moon

basic instructions:

Grid technique

1.  masked off sections with post it notes.  stippled some color off the edge of the post it note.

2.  after done stippling color I masked off one section at a time and stamped an image inside the section.

For grid ideas look here for faux grid technique with a video, basic grid technique with video.  You can type grid technique in search bar to find more.

stamps used:  Stampin' Up and Rubber moon 

Above are the Sturgeon grid card before I made them into full cards.  As you can see I did them in all different colors.

Thank you for stopping by and come back again soon.  When you watch my videos please give them a thumbs up to show you like them.  comment here on my blog anytime.

Tie dye with stamping

stamps used:  Hot Potatoes

I decided to stamp on some of the silk cloths I tie dyed a few weeks ago.  Not sure but think they could be silk handkerchief but not sure.  They are about 10 1/4" square in size.  Anyway had fun pulling out my Hot Potatoes stamps to stamp onto these silk pieces.  Unfortunately Hot Potatoes stamp company is out of business but I still love these big bold, solid images to use with paints.   I have plenty of them so guess I will be stamping on the cotton cloth dish towels that I tie dyed, too but at a later time. 

Basically all you do is get out your old fabric paints ...... that I thought I got rid of years ago but found them tucked away in a corner ..... sponge the paint onto the rubber stamp then press on the fabric and lift off .  that's about it.  I let them dry completely overnight then went into the hall closet and pulled out ..... again .... my old iron that hasn't been plugged in for years!!!  I was surprised it worked!  Anyway I gave them a quick iron to set the paint and get out as much of the wrinkles as I could. 

It's always fun to do something you haven't done in years!  So everyone go looking around in your stash and see what you find from days gone by and HAVE SOME FUN doing something old again.

Thanks for stopping by and come back again soon.

Sunflower

stamps used:  Hot Potatoes sunflower, saying unknown

This card started out as a tag that was around 6 inches long but I cut it down so I could add it to a regular note card.  Yes, it started out as a tag that I was helping my friend make 50 or so of them for her sister's birthday.  They are going to go on a bag of treats.  So we made a some extra so we could both make more on our own.  I took home 5 of the tags that were just stamped with the big sunflower stamp.  First I cut the tag down to fit a note card then I added either self-sticking gems or Nuvo drops to the center of the flower.  On the bottom of the tag I added some grass I punched out of an old border punch I have in my stash of paper punches.  On the card I embossed a piece of cardstock with a SU bubble embossing folder next adhere the tag and I'm done.  Simple but effective.  They will make nice birthday cards.

Hope you like them.  thanks for stopping by and come back again soon.

Joseph coat technique

stamps used:  Hot Potatoes, DeNami Design, Sunday International

(unfortunately these companies are no longer in business and I don't know if any have been taken over by other companies.)

Joseph's Coat technique is an old technique that is coming back.  Basically this is a resist technique with a fancy name.

Basic instructions:

1.  color sheet of cardstock by stippling, sponging or blending on different colors.

2.  Cut the colored cardstock into four pieces 4" x 5 1/4"

3.  stamp bold images with clear ink and clear embossing powder.  The colors will show thru the clear embossing.

4.  color the embossed piece with a dark ink.  I used a purple ink pad which I just dragged over the piece to cover it.

5.  buff the card to remove any ink from the embossed images and you are done with this technique, now you can create your cards.

What do you think?

thank you for stopping by and come back soon.

Double gate peek-a-boo card

Here is a double gate peek-a-boo card

card closed - this is the front of the card.

stamps used: Hot Potato and various other stamp co. that have gone out of business.

When you first open the card you see four panels. Two of the panels have circle cut outs to see the saying inside the card.

Here is the card fully open to see all the panels inside the card.  So far I have only made one of these cards but plan on doing more.  This was sent to a friend for her birthday.  This is one of those cards that is a bit time consuming with all the layers and a little heavy so I put extra postage on it when I sent it.  I saw this card on Dawn's Stamping Thoughts blog.

thank you for stopping by and please come back soon.

Bokeh with video

Today I'm showing you a technique called Bokeh that is actually a photography term which in simple terms means ... out of focus.  But knowing us stampers we brought into the stamping world so here is my take on the Bokeh Technique.  

Please continue to the bottom of this post to watch my video or go to Sue's you-tube channel to see this video plus others.

here are a samples of the blended cardstock and the technique.

card samples using Unity stamps

stamps used:  HouseMouse by Stampendous! and Hot Potatoes

thank you for stopping by and remember to give a thumbs up to my video if you like it.  come back again soon.

Last of the leaves

stamps used:  Hot Potatoes, RBBB, Museum of Modern Rubber - unfortunately all these stamp companies are gone with the wind.

These postcards are the last of the leaves from the Duoprinting with chlorophyll technique. The leaves on the beverage postcards are from the Sassafras and the radish postcards are leaves from the radish.
 I've had so much fun doing this technique which you can find at Splitcoaststampers - Resources for all the details.  That's not to say I won't do more before the summer is done ... I'm sure I will but for now I'm taking a break from this technique because I have plenty of cards and postcards to send out to friends and family for right now.  But if you would like to see more of my cards/postcards with this technique you can go here or here for another look.   

more Gelli play

stamps used:  Hot Potatoes

Here is a postcard and a couple of finished tags from my gelli play at friend's house last weekend.  I do like this color scheme with the blue, purple and a bit of white metallic paint.  you can see on the postcard used the raindrop stencil and on the bug tag it is just paint that was brayered in spots.  the tag that is all blue with summer things and bee had a piece of string embedded on the gelli plate when printing.  it was fun like I mentioned before because did it with a friend but I'm still on the fence about purchasing a gelli plate of my own.  what do you think?  are you for it or not?????  let me hear some comments.

Art Journal wk# 21 brayer paint

week #21 - brayer paint

stamps used:  big fern Hot Potatoes, rain cloud and boots MFPandstamps

the prompt for this week was to brayer layers of paint onto my art journal so that is just what I did!  I got out my Ranger dylusions paint....mainly because they are handy and usually out by my table.  picked random colors and went for it.  It's been rainy here for over a week ... probably closer to two weeks but I need to get over all the rain ..... anyway back to my journal pages ..... I did a rain theme.  you can see the raindrops stencil on the gelli printed tag on one side and clouds with red rubber boots on the other side.  yes, I am starting to finish the gelli prints I created over my friends' house last weekend.

Art Journal adventure - silhouette

stamps:  MFP fairy and sayings, Hot Potatoes mushrooms, chandelier, MoonRose woman saying, SU be yourself

stencils Ranger Dyan Reaveley

This time for the prompt of silhouette I did a two page layout but did the pages differently so they are separate from each other.  the fairy page is all stamped then blended with distress ink. the actual fairy stamp is an outline image...I just took a sharpie to make it solid.  the woman page is stenciled with Dyan Reaveley green and purple paints then doodled around each figure.  the chandelier and sayings are stamped.

I'm having fun with this journal adventure....as long as the prompts keep coming I will try to continue.

Paints, stamps and tags

the tag on the left I started at a friend's house a while ago.  we made several big tags using her old acrylic paints she found in her stash.  the fun thing besides stamping with a friend if the paint was caked or dried out we just dropped the bottle of paint in the trash.  sometimes it's just satisfying to clean out our stash we have had for years and years.  back to the tag ... first painted the background with a couple of colors of paints, stamped with big Hot Potato stamps over the painted background and that is where it was till I took it off the pile on my table of unfinished tags/cards ..... I added an outlined butterfly that I first stamped onto cardstock I colored with inks and stamps .... fussy cut it out...glue on some prisma color easter grass ... stamped, colored bird, fussy cut and mounted to tag.  Now for the other tag on the right.......this tag is another big tag that is full of dylusion acrylic paints, stencils, colored embossing paste, and stamps.  the background is Dyan Reaveley's technique with brayer.
left tag details:
craft acrylic paints
Hot Potato stamps - big leaf, sun swirl
Just For Fun stamps - outline butterfly, swirl, grid 
Stampers Anonymous - crazy bird
Dollar store find - easter grass
--------
right tag details:
Ranger - dylusion paints, dylusion stamps: house
Stampers Anonymous - crazy bird
various companies - stencils
brayer

Happy Thanksgiving...already?

Guess I'm a little early just like the stores but when making cards you just go with what inspires you so here is a thanksgiving card.  This is a ribbon message pull card.....easy to make but impressive to receive.  you can see full instructions on this post.  on this card I used Hot Potato (no longer in production) single acorn and acorn branch with an old saying from Inkadinkado.  Sorry for the shine on the photo but that is from the Brilliance inks.

Tea time

Went to a friend's house a few days ago just to play or should say
stamp!  always have fun when stamping with a friend and this was no exception.  we got out tea cup stamps then masked things inside the cup.  If you look to the left you will see Roberta's postcards...like her style of stamping with simple bold images.  Look to the right to see mine ..... a little more silly or out there with what I filled my cups.  Used some Hot Potato stamps and then I just went a little wild with the alligator card!

Christmas in July card swap

This month at Maggie's Place card swap theme is Christmas in July.  If
you click on photo you can see the names on the cards.  So many great ideas for Christmas cards.  Mine is the velvet stamping....haven't done that technique in years.  Used a bold image from Hot Potatoes.

Playing with masking tape

Went to a friend's house to play...yes, a play date just like we were kids!  we played with masking tape,(ordinary masking tape you can get anywhere...Lowe's, even some grocery stores) acrylic paints, stencils and stamps(Hot Potato stamps! haven't used them in years!  what fun!)...Of course! can't play without stamping!  basically we put the tape down onto our craft sheet, painted a base color over the masking tape and let it dry.  After it is dry you just start stamping with the same old acrylic paints in a random fashion all over the masking tape strips you put on craft sheet.  when all is dry you carefully remove one of the masking strips and tape it to a piece of postcard size cardstock or any cardstock for a base.  you can cut it to size when you are all done.  back to technique.....remove another strip of masking tape but you take every other strip and tape it to cardstock base.  you are making a ..... oh, no!  having a brain freeze...what did my friend call it....ABSTRACT effect....yeah brain is back!  or what I like to call the Picasso look.  after all is tape done you cut to whatever size you want...postcard (4" x 6"), ATC, tags then finished decorating or add some more stamping to bring it all together.  clear as mud, right?  check out the pics then you can get the idea.