Rainy days

stamps used:  Stampin' Up, Stampscapes

Created a few rainy day cards because over the past few weeks it has rain here off and on quite a bit.  Simple cards but I like them.

top card:

1.  stamped trees with distress linen oxide ink.

2.  stamped saying with brown ink.  think is was SU cocoa ink.

3.  stamped the lady with same brown ink on separate piece of cardstock.  watercolored her with ink from same ink pad then fussy cut and adhered to stamped layer.

4.  layered stamped piece on brown card then to butterscotch note card.

bottom card:

1.  stamped lady and saying with black ink on dark grey cardstock.

2.  added highlights with prisma white pencil.

3.  stenciled the raindrops with white pigment ink.

4.  layered stamped piece on pink cardstock then to dark grey note card.

thanks for stopping by.  let me know what you think of these two simple style cards in the comment section. 

Art Journal wk#51 Trees

Week #51 - Trees

stamps used:  Stampscapes

Kept this theme of trees black and white.  Went into my Stampscapes draw to look for images with trees ... big and small.  started out stamping the cabin in the woods then added some extra evergreen trees and a bare limb hanging off the top of the page.  The second side of the layout just has bare limbs hanging out all over the page with a swarm of birds flying in the air.
Toward the end of this journal I did start to keep it simple but sometimes simple is the way to go.  I knew if I kept trying to be artsy with different techniques and such I would have never finished this project and I did want to finish it.  don't get me wrong I still have a couple other art journals with techniques and only half full so they will be continuous but for this journal it is done and I am happy I followed thru the whole year.  Last pages will be shown very soon.

Art journal week#48 Splash

stamps used:  Stampscapes

Week #48 theme: Splash

I guess because these layouts are toward the end of the year I kept them simple.  Color palate is blue for this theme ... nothing out of the ordinary there and water theme stamps.  The stencils used on the left page is a design stencil that I have in my stash and I thought it looked like waves.  

That's all there is for today.  Thank you for stopping by ... see you again soon.

Art Journal week #25 random things

stamps used:  Stampscapes

Week #25 prompt was an either/or idea so I took the "or" idea - pick random things 

I picked a random draw of stamps which turned out to be full of Stampscape images ..... and then I also just picked random things that were sitting out on my table ..... peerless watercolors and mica watercolors.  I went to town and made a simple watercolor background which turned out to look quite stormy ... but ... that worked out great with the stamps I grabbed out of my draw..... so here is my finished page ..... stormy night.

Art Journal Adventure wk #19 - colors outside comfort zone

Wk #19 colors outside comfort zone

stamps used:  rose by Endless Creations, flock of birds by Stampscapes, A kind of summer by Uptown Rubber stamps

inks used:  Ranger distress ink lemonade and worn lipstick

colors out of my comfort zone here are yellow and pink.

I started by just swiping the lemonade ink pad on the page then worn lipstick.  

next I stamped images with black ink.  I'll give you one guess why there is pattern paper on this page layout.........what's your guess?  leave comment and I'll check in a couple of days to see if you figured it out.

these colors really are out of my comfort zone although I'm not hating this layout but would like it a lot better if there was some greens, blues, purples or browns.  thanks for stopping by.

Happy Mother's Day

stamps used:  Stampscapes

I punched out a small circle to make a mask for the moon.  next I stamped all the images with a basic black ink.

for the background I ripped text weight paper then sponged the colors to form the clouds.

layered the stamp piece on black then onto kraft cardstock.

A Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

and to all beautiful sunsets and sunrises!

ATC's

 
 ATC's - Artist Trading Cards
Still on a kick making ATC's.  this time I went into my drawer with
Stampscapes stamps and a couple other different stamp companies.  If I remember the backgrounds are left-over pieces of alcohol backgrounds then stamped images with black ink.
my favorite is the lighthouse atc.  look to the right and you will see some shine if you click on the pic to make it larger.  dragonflies has a piece of Ranger frosted film...it's a really cool way to add a bit of shine..... the frosted film has a sticker back.  the fisherman atc was sprayed with Perfect Pearls mist.  hope you are enjoying my atc's this month.
Here is a write up I did for atc's.

ATC - Artist Trading Cards

by Sue Wisniewski

Think of an ATC as miniature works of art. Just keep in mind that these are trading cards and are for trading/swapping only.

The basics:

You'll need a piece of cardstock or thin cardboard, 2½ by 3½ inches in size for the base of your ATC. It may be in either portrait or landscape orientation, and the corners can be either rounded or unrounded; it's purely a matter of personal preference. It's usual to use cardstock, but other possibilities include fabric, canvas, leather, acetate, metal and cork sheet. You could even use playing cards for the base of your ATC, if they are the right size.

Whatever you use has to be fairly flat; although artist trading cards may include three-dimensional elements like buttons and charms, they should be thin enough to fit in a standard trading card sleeve. It also needs to have a certain stiffness, so you might have to back fabric or canvas, for example, with cardstock.

Backgrounds:

A source for backgrounds is all the designer papers intended for scrapbooking. These can be found in a wide variety of colors and designs to suit every subject. Look out for interesting things like pages from an old book, music and maps. You can cover the whole card with one piece, or with several different pieces torn into strips or any shapes. Many of those who make artist trading cards prefer to create their own backgrounds using paint, color washes, chalks or inks. Brush, sponge, stipple, spray your chosen medium onto the card, and try blending different colors.
My favorite way to create backgrounds or focal points for an ATC is with my rubber stamps. Rubber stamps are very versatile and can be used in many ways to create interesting backgrounds.

Template:

8 ½” x 11” cardstock -

measure 3 ½”, 2 ½” and 2 ½” on the 8 ½” side

turn cardstock measure 3 ½” across

see diagram for cutting. This will create 10 ATC's.

Fun with scene stamping





A couple of weeks ago I had a class where we did scene
stamping mostly with Stampscapes stamps.  It was a lot of fun and everyone seem to be enjoying Stampscapes style of scenic stamping.  We started out making postcards but then made them into cards.  Since I showed you some of my cards in a previous post I thought this time I would show off a few of my students.

stampscapes are back....

for me anyway.  my stampscapes drawers have been neglected for a
few years so I decided to get them out and play.  here are some postcards I created and hope to teach at an upcoming class next month.  you can see on three of these postcards they are using only stampscapes image but then there is the one with the face on it.  that face has been one of my all time favorites for years but the company is no longer.  had fun with the lighthouse one by using some post it tape to block out some light to shine out over the sea.  think I might get out some more of my stamps and do more!  need to just play some more.