Dream of More

Sometimes it's nice just to play around with backgrounds, isn't it? That was my mood when creating this tag. I just wanted to play in the ink.  The only requirement I had for myself was to include this lovely Queen Anne's Lace chipboard image.

A Few Details:

• Starting with a plain manila #8 tag, I roughly colored the entire tag with Old Paper Distress Stain.  I then pounced some Old Paper and Crushed Olive Distress Stains onto my craft mat.  I spritzed them with water, then spritzed a little Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist.  I then laid the tag face down into all that inky goodness, pressing it down to make sure the whole face got a good dousing.  I used a heat gun to dry it.  The result was an organic marbling effect with hints of gold dust.  Just lovely!

• Along the bottom, I stamped a harlequin pattern in VersaMark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  It's very subtle, but adds that "little something".  The butterflies are stamped in Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Simon Says...Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers:  Challenge #69 - Distress It
That Craft Place: Trees & Nature
Shopping Our Stash:  Challenge 53 - May Flowers

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Birthday Bear

May is a big birthday month in our family. Today's card is for my youngest nephew's 4th birthday.

Just a Couple Details:

• The adorable teddy bear stamp is from Dovecraft. I stamped him onto kraft cardstock and then onto patterned paper. I paper-pieced the patterned paper for his patches, then shaded and highlighted with watercolor pencils and a water pen.
• His pennant is just a piece of cardstock cut into a long diamond shape and wrapped around a colored toothpick. The "4" is handwritten in marker.

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Altered Dressform

We have a really fun challenge for you over at Scrapalicious USA blog for the next two weeks..."Altered Art"!  Come on, dig in that stash and altered something you've had squirreled away for a while.  Oh, is that just me...noooo, I know you all do it too!  :-)  Join in the fun and you could win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrapalicious USA store!  Also, be sure to sign up for the newsletter so you can receive sale and giveaway information.

So, setting out on my own altered art journey, I dug in my extensive stash and pulled out this papier mache dress form that I'd had in there for YEARS.  I'd recently gotten some paper and stickers from the lovely Bo-Bunny "Et Cetera" collection and decided to start there.  Once I had that as a base, I just kept pulling out things that seemed like they'd work together.  The result...this shabby chic dress form that honors every crafty woman's basic inner need...to CREATE!

The Details...and a confession:

• I started by painting the papier mache with Antique Linen Distress Crackle Paint, then added areas of Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint.  
• The next layer was torn strips of Bo-Bunny Et Cetera Symphony paper decoupaged on with Matte Multi-Medium.  I will warn you, the paper turned very salmony/coral as the Multi-Medium dried.  Thankfully, I was able to work with it by added coral accents.
• Next up was the doily, scalloped border sticker, postal stickers, and alpha stamps.  All given another good coat of Multi-Medium.

• I have to fess up about that doily.  It was on my plate at a restaurant a few months ago.  It was just the prettiest and most delicate paper doily ever, so I snatched off the plate before it could get soiled and stuffed it in my purse.  Luckily, I was with my best girlfriends who are also crafty and know all about my addictions.  But, yeah, I still endured some teasing over that one.  LOL! 
• I layered the lovely Bo-Bunny Et Cetera silhouette sticker onto some My Mind's Eye patterned paper and scalloped the edges.  She's attached to the dress form with foam tape for dimension (and the fact that she was not going to look right if I tried to make her fit the shape of the dress form surface!)
• Some velvet rick rack trim finishes off the bottom edge and neckline.  I also clustered some vintage buttons along the bottom and one large one on the top of the neck.  Gorgeous Jolee's embroidered lace flower and Prima flower are grouped with a Hobby Lobby bridal pick as a sort of "corsage" at the shoulder.  And of course no corsage is complete without a pearl-headed pin...this one was colored to match with Alcohol inks and features a bit of bling with its dangling jewels, which were also colored with AI.

• The back needed a little something, so I gave her a seam binding bow "bustle".

This was a fun piece that went together pretty quickly.  Once I started pulling out possible elements, everything just came together!

Challenges:
Wishcraft: Waste Not Wednesday - Week #20
Flourishes: Timeless Tuesday #170 - Use a Flower
Top Tip Tuesday: #77 Dig Out the Old (papier mache dress form)

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Inks:	Distress Stain ‘Old Paper’; Distress Crackle Paint ‘Antique Linen’; Alcohol Ink ‘Aqua’, ‘Latte’; Perfect Pearl Mist ‘Heirloom Gold’
Embellishments:	Paper doily; Celebrate It ribbon; Blue Moon Lost & Found beads; The Jewelry Shoppe jump rings; Hobby Lobby bridal pick; corsage pin; vintage buttons; Hug Snug seam binding
Tools:	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Matte Multi-Medium; Wondertape; felt ink blender; scallop scissors; tweezer; foam tape
Misc:	Papier mache dressform

Make A Wish!

Masculine cards can be a bit of a challenge, but I've found that the key is to keep the design simple.  This card is for my oldest nephew who turns 20 today (yikes).

A Couple Details:

• Kraft cardstock always makes a good base for masculine cards.  It just seems to neutralize and ground other colors.  I layered the blue surf paper, a strip of polka dot paper, then a banner cut from coordinating solid paper on top of the kraft base.
• "Make a Wish" is stamped in brown, then the distressed polka dot border is stamped on top of all the layers in red pigment ink.

• The card needed some embellishments, but what to use to keep it masculine?  Ah, Tim Holtz accents of course!  A strip of tissue tape and some salvage stickers add color and a "grown up" vintage touch.  In keeping with the Tim goodies, I used my tiny attacher to make sure the stickers stay put.  This area is my favorite part of this card.  And of course...notice that I used the ruler strip with "20" on it since it is Cal's twentieth birthday.

 

Challenges:
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenges: #13 - For the Boys
Glitter Geeks: Week #20 - Polka Dots
Southern Girls Challenge: #44 - About the Boys
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Simon Says...Clean & Simple
Simon Says Stamp & Show: Anything Goes

Supplies:
Cardstock:	Papertrey Ink ‘Kraft’
Patterned Paper:	Fancy Pants ‘Beach Bum’
Stamps:	My Mind’s Eye Miss Caroline Dilly Dally ‘Adventures’
Inks:	Stampin’ Up! craft ‘Real Red’; StazOn ‘Timber Brown’
Embellishments:	Tim Holtz salvage stickers ‘Lost & Found’; TH tissue tape ‘Symphony’
Tools:	TH Tiny Attacher