Love & Romance

Ah, love...

Isn't it romantic?

Merely to be young on such a night as this?

Isn't it romantic?

Every note that's sung is like a lover's kiss

Sweet symbols in the moonlight,

Do you mean that I will fall in love, per chance?

Isn't it romance?

Love creates such a cluster of emotions in us, and what better way to express that than with an artistic collage!  And yay, my daylight light bulbs were delivered just in time, so the color rending of the photos is right on. J

A Few Quick Details:

• The base on this collage is a 12"x12" pressed tin tile that I painted red and distressed with black antiquing gel and steel wool.
• "LOVE" was cut from recycled cardboard using my Cricut, then painted and glittered. The L is positioned atop a 7 Gypsies journaling card that has been distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a water pen. The O is accented with a felt heart sticker.

• The romantic couple image is "framed" by a K&Co paper picture frame and accented with a rhinestone heart. A Tim Holtz adage ticket and flower image adorn the frame.

• In addition to the adage ticket, I used several other Tim Holtz embellishments in the collage along with wide satin ribbon and silk flowers

Challenges:

The Cheerful Stamp Pad:  Challenge #35 - Romance is in the Air

4 Crafty Chicks: Love is in the Air

Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog: #191 - Have a Heart

Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog: #59 - Love is All Around

The Sisterhood of Crafters: Valentines

Simon Says Stamp: Simon Says Love is in the Air

Queen of Hearts

My, how time flies!  This tag was supposed to be for the Simon Says Stamp and Show Kings & Queens challenge, but alas, it's past the deadline.  I think if I had 4-6 more hours in each day I might actually get some things accomplished...maybe even caught up!  LOL!

Anyway, I'm thinking of using this Queen of Hearts tag as a Valentine.  I know plenty of people who appreciate  an artistic tag!

Some Details:

• I had a heck of a time figuring out how to color our royal highness to match the papers without looking garish.  Finally, I realized the key is to keep it simple.  Instead of starting with neutral card stock, I used Stampin' Up! Ruby Red and highlighted the embossed areas with Barn Door and Black Soot Distress Inks.  For some crown "jewels", I added some Fired Brick Distress Stickles and a stamped crown colored with Distress Stain and accented with Rock Candy Distress Stickles.

• "Love" is part of the patterned paper, but to make it stand out against the background, I added Glossy Accents to the letters and Walnut Stain Distress Stickles to the border.

• Glossy Accents and some foam tape really make these hearts "pop"!

• Who says that doilies always have to be white?  I really wanted to incorporate a doily into this tag, but obviously, a bright white one was not working with my distressed color palette.  So, I experimented.  I used Pumice Stone Distress Stain as the base color, then applied layers of various neutral Distress Inks, then finally, some Black Soot Distress Ink with a foam ink blending tool.  I didn't think I needed another black ink pad, but my sister convinced me that she uses Black Soot all the time and so I finally purchased this color a few months ago.  She was right (don't tell her!), I use it much more than I thought I would.

Challenges:

Catered Crop: Hearts

Come and Get it Challenges: Love

Crafting When We Can Challenges: #11 - Valentine / Love

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Ruby Red’; manila tag
Pattern Paper: My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found ‘Union Square’, ‘Market Street’
Stamps: My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Rosy ‘Everything’, Breeze ‘Dream’
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’, ‘Black Soot’, ‘Tea Dye’, ‘Barn Door’; StazOn ‘Jet Black’; Distress Stain ‘Brushed Corduroy’, ‘Pumice Stone’; SU! craft ‘Ruby Red’, ‘Creamy Caramel’
Embellishments: paper baking doily; Distress Stickles ‘Rock Candy’, ‘Walnut Stain’, ‘Fired Brick’; Papertrey Ink baker’s twine; Tim Holtz texture fade ‘Queen of Hearts’; Glossy Accents
Tools: scallop scissors; TH paper distresser; Wondertape; Sizzix Texture Boutique; foam tape

CADB Super Bowl Blog Hop: Masculine Card, a Tutorial, & a Free Digi!

Whew, what a mouthful!

This weekend is SUPER regardless of whether you'll be watching the big game. In honor of this very Man-Oriented weekend, we designers at Card A Day Blog decided to do a Blog Hop with a Masculine Theme. Come on, we all need as much inspiration as possible for creating non-girly cards, right? Oh, and of course there are giveaways, so be sure to visit all the blogs (list at the end of this post)!  

Now, put your lace, ribbon, and flowery papers away! I'm going to give you a tutorial on how to make this very masculine (and very cool) metal gear panel I used on my brother's birthday card, but first let's talk about the card...

A Couple Details:

• My brother is a painter by trade, so I loved this 7 Gypsies "News Flash" card (I know, the guy's hanging a poster, but he's got a brush in his hand, so it made me think painter). The vintage feeling, male image, and neutral colors keep us well within the manly realm.

• When in doubt for masculine images to use, reference Tim Holtz!  While he can branch out into feminine, the king of distress keeps things pretty manly-to-gender-neutral.  This large TH clock image was stamped onto vellum with StazOn Jet Black.  The vellum started out white, but I colored the BACK side with distress stain to make it work with the other elements.
• The clock button was also distressed to make its original bright finish more brassy and antique.  On this element, I used Alcohol Inks to adjust the color.

Okay, on to the star of this card...the embossed and distressed metal panel...

Metal Panel Tutorial:

Note:  The process to create this metal panel contains many techniques by Tim Holtz.  I give credit where credit is due, however I have not seen a project where he combines them in this way.

• Start with a strip of aluminum duct tape from the heating and cooling department of your local home improvement store.  Adhere this to Ranger glossy cardstock and emboss with Tim Holt'z Retro Circles texture fade.  Tim himself recommends using glossy cardstock as a base when embossing metal tape and he's right...it really makes the embossing crisp.

• Pounce on Alcohol Inks and Blending Solution to "tarnish" the metal.  I used Ginger, Mushroom, Caramel, and Copper Mixative colors.

• Pounce entire strip with VersaMark ink pad, then apply clear embossing powder.  Hold the strip by the edges over a trash bin and flick the back hard with your finger.  This removes the excess embossing powder. I gave mine several good flicks because I wanted a random, bumpy texture.  Tim Holtz calls this the "Orange Peel" technique and it's a good description for the texture you'll get. 

• Melt embossing powder with heat tool.  Make sure embossing is completely cool before continuing to the next step.

• Pounce on brown acrylic paint, followed by black acrylic paint until desired coverage and color is achieved.  I used Americana Burnt Umber and Lamp Black.  Allow to dry completely before continuing to the next step.

 

• Using a damp paper towel or baby wipe, rub the high areas lightly to remove some of the paint.  Continue until the desired effect is achieved.

• Spray metal strip with Krylon Crystal Clear to lock paint in place and give it a beautiful shine.  Truly, don't skip this step, it makes overall effect and color so rich!

That's the tute!  Hope you get a chance to play with this combination of techniques, it sure was fun!!

Now, don't miss out on the other blogs in the hop.  Many are giving away prizes on their individual blogs PLUS there's a big prize on the Card A Day Blog.  Check out all the details below.

Oh, that reminds me, this weekend only, I've got another free Valentine digi for you.  I'm calling this one "Love Nest".  Get it while the gettin's good, because on Monday, it's GONE!  Happy Hopping!

**EDITED**

This digital stamp is now available for purchase. To order, go to the side bar, enter the stamp name shown below and click 'buy now' to pay via Pay Pal.

Cost: $2.00

Stamp Name: Love Nest

I will email you the file within 24 hours of receiving payment.

It's BLOG HOP TIME!
The designers at Card a Day Blog are joining together to do a blog hop this weekend! The theme is Masculine cards! Let's not let the guys have all the fun on Super Bowl Sunday....let's get a little of our own fun in!
To join in....visit all the participating designers by visiting their sites, some are having prize give aways...so make sure you pop in! Make sure you comment on all the blogs too, because at the end of the weekend, they are going to send a list of all who commented on their blog, and we are going to do a grand prize drawing of all comments on each blog!
So JOIN IN TODAY....comment on the main blog page, and visit the other hop pages and comment there too!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Ranger Glossy cardstock
Pattern Paper: Cosmo Cricket ‘Circa 1934’; vellum
Stamps: Stampin’ Up! ‘It’s Your Birthday’; Tim Holtz ‘Life’s Possibilities’
Inks: VersaMark; Alcohol Ink ‘Ginger’, ‘Mushroom’, ‘Caramel’, ‘Copper Mixative’, ‘Blending Solution’; Americana acrylic paint ‘Lamp Black’, ‘Burnt Umber’; StazOn ‘Jet Black’; Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’; Distress Stain ‘Brushed Corduroy’
Embellishments: Aluminum tape; Tim Holtz texture fade ‘Retro Circles’; Zing embossing powder ‘Clear’; 7 Gypsies journaling card; JHB clock button
Tools: Sizzix Texture Boutique; Krylon ‘Crystal Clear’; heat tool; foam ink blending tool; deckle scissors; vellum tape; Wondertape; tweezers; TH paper distresser; Zot glue dots

Free Digi Friday: Conversation Heart

Yay, Friday's here!

Before I get to today's digi, I want to remind you that the Card A Day Blog Super Bowl Blog Hop starts tomorrow!  Be sure to stop back this weekend for the hop list to some Masculine-themed card inspiration and a chance to win a great prize on CADB...and...

another FREE Valentine Digi

from me, available Saturday and Sunday only.  

Don't miss out...it's super cute, if I do say so myself. J

Now, here's this week's new digital stamp for your crafting pleasure.  In honor of upcoming St. Valentine's Day, today's image is a Conversation Heart...you know, those little pastel candies that express mini sentiments o' love.  Have fun with it and stop back tomorrow for another!

**EDITED**

Friday Free Digis are free for one week. This digital stamp is now available for purchase. To order, go to the side bar, enter the stamp name shown below and click 'buy now' to pay via Pay Pal.

Cost: $2.00

Stamp Name: Conversation Heart

I will email you the file within 24 hours of receiving payment.

A Rose is a Rose...

When I saw this vintage rose image from Free Vintage Digital Stamps, I knew that I had to create something with it.  Such a gorgeous image!  I made my rose pink in honor of the pink roses I received for my birthday (from my valentine J).  Pink because "the red ones didn't look very good".  I love the pink and they smell divine!

A Couple Details:

• I hadn't paper-pieced in a while and thought this was a great image for the technique and would also use up some scraps.  I printed it fairly large onto Stampin' Up! "Sahara Sand" card stock, then printed it three more times onto pink and green patterned scraps for the rose, front leaf / stem, and back leaf.  
• TIP:  don't waste ink and paper by printing the entire image for one small section of piecing.  For the leaves, I cropped the image as small as possible to capture the leaf image.  

• Since the rose is "drawn" in black, I accented with black elements throughout for drama.  It really makes that rose pop!
• To make the tails of the seam binding bow into ringlets, I wrapped the seam binding around a pencil and held it under a heat gun for a few seconds.  Let cool, then remove the pencil.

Challenges:

Divas by Design: Challenge #20 - Anything Goes
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges: #106 - Use a Digi Image
Stampin' Royalty: Challenge #109 - Valentines Day-It's All About Love!!
Ribbon Carousel: RCC38 - Paper Piecing With Kim

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Rose Red’, ‘Sahara Sand’
Pattern Paper: scraps; Making Memories spiral journaling page ‘5^th Avenue’
Image: Free Vintage Digital Stamps 'Vintage Rose'
Stamps: SU! ‘All Year Cheer’, ‘French Script’
Inks: StazOn ‘Jet Black’; ‘VersaMark’; ‘Distress Stain ‘Victorian Velvet’, ‘Pumice Stone’; Perfect Pearls Mist ‘Heirloom Gold’
Embellishments: Hobby Lobby crochet lace; ribbon; Hug Snug seam binding; photo corners
Tools: ink jet printer; Stamp-a-ma-jig; heat tool; Wondertape