KittieKraft

Merry Winter Birdhouse

I am usually greatly challenged when it comes to following the instructions and building items with paper templates. I usually glue the wrong side of a tab or something that makes me have to start over or to just give up.  I was intrigued with the sweet birdhouse template provided for the SCS Technique Lovers Challenge by Brenda Quintana and thought it would be fun to attempt. I instantly saw a little wooden birdhouse decorated for the season hanging out in a snowy winter garden.

I printed the template on vanilla cardstock, cut out and scored the folding lines. I sketched in wood board lines and markings with an artist pen and then watercolored using a brush and Vintage Photo reinker.  Since plain cardstock does not hold color well compared to watercolor paper the ink seemed to fade when dried.  I brought it back to life a little by sponging more ink over the entire area.  I assembled and cut a little red roof with scalloped overhangs to fit on the top.

I love to use old-fashioned decorations for Christmas and evergreen, berries and snow are a perfect combination for this rustic birdhouse. I added sprigs of evergreen and berries to the perch and to the roof top around the hanger using glue dots and then painted on Mod Podge and applied Flower Soft.

I hope you don’t over do on these last few days before Christmas.  Take time to enjoy the season.

Ink:  Vintage Photo     Paper:  Vanilla and Red    Accessories:  Brushes, Sponges, Martha Stewart Punch, Artificial Berries, Glue Dots, Mod Podge, Flower Soft, Scalloped Decorative Scissors, Linen Thread, Hole Punch

Winter Village

This certainly is a busy time of year.  I haven’t been able to post on my blog or play in the SCS challenges for over a week and I sure have missed it. Christmas is almost here and we will soon be turning to Valentine and spring images to play with.  I wanted to do one more good snow scene before I started pulling out my grass sprigs and flower images. I am a little sad each year when the holiday is finally over as snowy Christmas cards are my favorite.

I stamped the Rubbernecker Village on watercolor paper and watercolored with a brush and reinkers. Since I knew I wanted to create snowy roof tops with white craft ink and embossing powder I heat set the color on the houses so the powder wouldn’t stick on wet ink.  I painted the craft ink on the roof tops and ground with a small brush and applied the embossing powder.  I cut the scene out to pop up in front of the forest of trees. I stamped a row of trees on watercolor paper, heat set and then applied craft ink with a brush to create snow on the branches and embossed with white embossing powder.  I sponged in the yellow moon and then sponged the blue night sky around the moon.  I attached the village with mounting tape and then applied glue and white Flower Soft for the soft snow. I didn’t think this project required any embellishment.

I hope you each have a wonderful  Holiday week and enjoy your friends and family.  Merry Christmas!!

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Village and Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose    Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Olive, Watercolor     Ink:  Weathered Wood, Old Paper, Lemonade, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, White and Black Craft    Accessories:  Color Box Sponges, Brushes, White Embossing Powder, Flower Soft, Mounting Tape,   

Victorian Christmas House

This is my fourth Papertrey Home Made house gift box.  I am making them to sell at my work to raise money for our Adopt-a-Family project. I seem to add more stuff on each house and this time I added a fence from Board and Beams and I love this new element.  

All the elements were stamped with black craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  The images would be much sharper if embossed with black embossing powder but I hate how messy it is to work with. If you look close to the window on your left you can see a Christmas tree in the window.  It shows much better in real life than in the photo. I stamped the tree and then stamped the window image right over it with black craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  The green ink was wet enough to hold the powder for embossing and that protected the ink  from running when I painted in the window with yellow the look of night light.

I painted Mod Podge on all the dormers and window elements and attached to the house.  All the bows and evergreen are attached with glue dots as the Mod Podge doesn’t like sticking to the embossing on the windows too well.  It works like cement though when attaching cardstock to cardstock. The evergreens were made with a Martha Stewart punch.

I stamped a continuous line of fence with black craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I used a black glaze pen to fill in each fence post to make it look like an iron fence.  I painted the bottom of the fence with white craft ink and embossed with white powder to create a snowy ground and put the same treatment on the bottom of the front door.

Back View

The snow on the roof is a combination of Sparkly Fluff and Flower Soft.  I painted Mod Podge on the roof with a brush (small areas at a time) and applied the Sparkly Fluff. After it dried I painted a little more Mod Podge to areas and added a the Flower Soft for a softer snowy look.  I used a double layer of mounting tape to attach the fence so it would stand away from the house a little and to add dimension. The shutters being left free add another element of dimension.

I hope you have a good week. 

Stamps:  Papertrey Home Made, Board and Beams     Paper:  Red, Olive, White    Ink:  Black and White Craft, Peeled Paint, Lemonade    Accessories:  Martha Stewart Punch, Paper Trey Home Made Template, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Mod Podge, Flower Soft, Sparkly Fluff, Brushes, Black Glaze Pen, Brushes, Glue Dots, Mounting Tape, Gingham, Bone Folder, Snips,

Fun Christmas Projects and a Challenge

I am having such a wonderful time playing with the new Papertrey Home Made set and template.  This is the third of three houses so far and I’m selling them at work to raise money for our Adopt-a-Family project.  I work in a physicians office and I set the houses and my Christmas cards up on the counter where the patients have to check out and PAY.  Sneaky, huh? Anyway, this is my favorite house so far.  Lots of details and lots of time involved but I love the end result. 

Front view

Roof view

Back view

These houses are really simple to make but you need a little patience to do the detail work.  I love the snow on the roof and on the little green pine wreaths in all the windows.  All the windows and the door were stamped with black craft ink, embossed with black embossing powder and cut out. I painted all the windows yellow to look like the lights are on all over the house. Flower Soft is the perfect product to create that soft snowy roof. I painted Mod Podge on a little at a time with a brush and applied the snow.  I attached them so the shutters were popped out a bit.  It adds lots of character to the house. I would have loved to photograph this with snow all around the base but I used the last of my Flower Soft on this house.  I hope my new bottle is delivered tomorrow. 

Limited Supply Challenge

The SCS Limited Supply Challenge today was a “White Christmas”.  We were to use only white paper and accessories and could only use one ink color. 

I love the stark white frame and background and the simplicity of the green trees.  This is so peaceful to me and a really fast project, too!

I hope you all have a wonderful and restful weekend.

House Project:  Stamps:  Home Made   Paper:  Red, White      Ink:  Black Craft, Lemonade    Accessories: Satin, Flower Soft, Mod Podge, Black Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Punch, Glue Dots, Grosgrain

Card Project:  Stamps:  Rubbernecker Kittie Kits-The Moose is Loose   Paper:  White    Ink:  Peeled Paint    Accessories:  Taffeta, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Winter Snow Scene Tutorial

I receive lots of emails each winter from people requesting tips and information on how to create winter snow scenes.  I wrote this tutorial last year and posted it on the Rubbernecker Blog and I thought it would be worth while to repeat here this season. I hope you will try your hand at a winter scene and if you do please come back and post a link to your blog or gallery upload.  I would love to see what you come up with.

Step 1:  Plan your Scene.

The first thing you want to do is decide what images you want in the foreground of your scene and stamp them first. I choose to stamp my images with waterproof pigment ink since watercolor is my medium of choice. You should make your choice of ink based on the coloring tools you will be using.

Step 2.  Masking.

Create masks for your first images and begin building your scene by stamping more images over the mask.  See the fence being added to the trees.

You can see in the next few pictures that I move the masks around as necessary to continue building the scene.

I add masks over the fence area so I can begin adding trees in the background of the scene.

I stamp trees in the background of the scene by stamping over the masked fence and trees.

I move the fence mask around to add the final trees to the scene. Look how the whole scene became more lifelike than the three original stamped trees.

Step 3.  Add Color.

Color your images and breath life into your scene. Isn't it amazing how color explodes an image to life. I watercolored my images with reinkers mixed with water using watercolor brushes. There are so many other choices of coloring for you to use so find the one that works best for you. Watercolor Markers, Watercolor Crayons, Watercolor Pencils, Twinkling H20's, Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol, and the ever popular Copic Markers.

Add color to your sky by painting with a brush or by sponging color .  I love to use sponges to apply sky color.

Step 4.  Add Snow.

I squeeze white pigment reinker into the ink pad lid to make it available for me to pick up with a brush.  I lightly paint the ink over the areas I want covered like the top of the fence  rails and posts, the ground areas and tree branch tips.

I use different size brushes such as tiny fine ones for the tree tips and fence and a large one for the ground area. You can create a real looking ground cover if you paint on a fine layer of ink, emboss and then apply additional  layers where you want to build up the embossing to create ridges, etc.

Note the delicate little tips of snow on the trees.

Use a snow image and stamp the pigment ink over the scene to create the falling snow.  You can choose to wait until all of your pigment ink is added to emboss all at once or do it step by step.  I tend to do it step by step as it seems to help me not loose track of what I am doing in the scene.

When I do a scene card like this I tend to use simple embellishments and sentiments as I love to have the scene speak for itself.

Let it snow...Let it snow....Let it snow!

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Tree Set and Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose, Peace Sentiment and Snow Image Winter Holiday Collection,

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Watercolor

Ink:  Brilliance Black Graphite, Distress Peeled Paint, Old Olive, Caramel, Soft Sky, Barely Banana, White Craft,

Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Brushes, Masks, Twill

Vanilla Winter Snow Scene

The  Color Challenge on SCS this week was to use vanilla, black and a soft brown.  When I saw the challenge I instantly thought of the stark bare winter trees in the Lovely as a Tree set and a brown pathway in the snow.

  

I stamped the tree line on the paper with black craft ink and embossed with black embossing powder.  I used a dry brush and gathered ink by wiping directly on the brown ink pad and then lightly stippled in the pathway.  I sponged the sky area with Old Paper and then heat set both the sky and path area so powder wouldn’t stick when I did my snow embossing. Hint:  Ranger Adirondack and Distress inks dry much slower than Stampin’ Up inks.  You can actually do a great job of embossing with those inks.  You will always need to heat dry any area where you don’t want powder to stick or at the least allow the project to sit and air dry (I don’t have that kind of patience). I painted the ground area with a layer of vanilla craft ink and embossed with vanilla embossing powder.  I added a couple extra layers of ink and powder along the path and the tree line to definition to the snow. I painted on falling snow flakes and embossed with the vanilla powder. 

I love the contrast between the black and vanilla and the addition of the little brown pathway.

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree     Paper:  Vanilla, Black, Watercolor     Ink:  Black and Vanilla Craft, Close to Cocoa, Old Paper     Accessories:  Grosgrain, Vanilla and Black Embossing Powder, Brushes, Sponges

Make a Bow- Stampavie Challenge #18

The Stampavie Blog Challenge today is to create a project with some type of bow. Ribbon is my most favorite and frequently used embellishment.  I grew up in my mother’s flower shop and learning to use ribbon was a must in floral design. I use the same bow tying technique to create bows on a much smaller scale for my craft projects. I love knots, single loop and multi loop bows and I have recorded a series of ribbon tying tutorials  here on my blog to show how easy ribbon can be to work with.  Now is a good time take a look at the multi loop tutorial since Christmas is near.  You can learn to make any size bow, from tiny for a card to a massive bow for a wreath or package.  The technique is all the same.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper and painted with reinkers.  I painted the white fur on both the coats with white watercolor paint to make it stand out on the bright colors.  I sponged in the sky area and heat set.  I dotted the sky with white craft ink to create falling show and painted the ground area and then embossed with white embossing powder.  I added a fine layer of Flower Soft and then attached the frame with mounting tape.

I thought the BasicGrey designer paper was perfect for the background layer and the bright cranberry bow was the perfect embellishment to finish the project.

I hope you will create a bow project and link it to our challenge.  Check out the challenge details here and see how you can win a surprise from Stampavie. Have a great week.

Stamps:  Stampavie Mo Manning   Paper:  Aqua, White, BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses, Watercolor   Ink:  Cranberry, Aqua, White Craft, Vintage Photo, Blush Blossom    Accessories:  Chine White Watercolor Paint, Flower Soft, White Embossing Powder, Grosgrain, Crimper, Sponges, Brushes

 

Christmas Tree and Holiday Home

I have had a great Sunday playing in my stamp room.  First I created a peaceful tree card using Lovely as a Tree.  I love filling in the image with ink and then painting on snow with craft ink.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper and heat set the ink.  I used a dry brush and wiped it directly on the ink pad to pick up the ink and used a stippled motion to apply to the image.  I first filled in with green and then used brown to add the trunk and limbs.  I heat set again and then painted on the falling and ground snow with white craft ink as well as the snow laying on the tree branches and embossed with white embossing powder. I sponged the yellow background around the tree to highlight it. I thought the multi loop gingham bow was the perfect finishing touch.

I had so much fun yesterday playing with the Home Made set and template that I had to make another one today.  The houses are a little time consuming but are very easy.  The instructions that come with the template are very easy to follow.  Believe me….if I can follow them then anyone can as I am template challenged. 

 

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the two houses together.  Now I am going to have to make a third to create my little Christmas community. I should take these to work and sell them for our Adopt-a-Family charity project but I can’t decide if I can part with them or not. Oh wait……I can always make more.

Have a great week.

Lovely as a tree     Paper:  Red, Olive, Watercolor   Ink:  Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, White Craft, Lemonade    Accessories: Gingham, Brushes, Sponges, White Embossing Powder

Home Made   Black Craft, Martha Stewart Punch, Flower Soft, Mod Podge, Satin Ribbon

Home for Christmas

I had lots of fun today playing with my new Papertrey Home Made set and template.  It was fun and easy and there are tons of possibilities.

I printed the templates out on white and red cardstock and assembled. I used black craft ink to stamp the windows and shutters and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I attached the door, windows and bows and painted on a fine layer of Mod Podge around the roof area and dropped Flower Soft on for a soft snowy effect.  The roof top comes off and you can fill the little house with cookies, candy or even stamping supplies for a sweet gift. 

Stamps: Papertrey Home Made Set and Template    Paper:  Red, White   Ink:  Black Craft   Accessories:  Flower Soft, Clear Embossing Powder, Glue Dots, Mod Podge, Snips,  Grosgrain

Caroling, Caroling,

Caroling, caroling, now we go
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling thru the snow
Christmas bells are ringing
Joyous voices sweet and clear
Sing the sad of heart to cheer
Ding dong, ding dong
Christmas bells are ringing

Can you hear Nat King Cole singing these words?  I love this song and thought of it as I created my snowy caroling project yesterday for the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS.  Birgit (Biggan) was the featured stamper and I was so inspired by this project using fall colors and two darling children. I wanted to keep the theme of using two children and keep the same layout but changed the color combination and the seasonal theme.

This Elzybells image has three children in it but I covered one up as I inked the stamp so I could just have the couple for my scene.  I stamped the image, masked and then stamped the trees several times around the masked image to create the background. I chose to color the kids in bright colors as the images are very mod and I especially love bright blue and red together. I sponged the sky using a light layer of the same blue that I colored the boy’s coat and hat with and then heat set.  I added snowflakes and the white ground snow with white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  I sponged yellow around  the lantern to show a glow in the night sky.  I used a white Sharpie to color the girl’s scarf and mittens and Liquid Appliqué for the pompoms.  I covered the ground snow lightly with glue and added Flower Soft as the finishing touch to the scene.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving week.  We are happy to have Bob’s mother with us for this holiday and are already having great meals of Bob’s favorites.  Yum!

Stamps:  Elzybells, Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose   Paper:  Ballet Blue, Red, Watercolor     Ink:  Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Ballet Blue, Lemonade, Blush Blossom, Caramel, White Craft, Black Craft     Accessories:  Grosgrain, Flower Soft, White Embossing Powder, Brushes, Sponges

Pine and Poinsettias- Quick and Easy

The SCS Color Challenge on Tuesday was to use red, chocolate brown and artichoke green.  I thought this was the perfect opportunity to pull out my sets with poinsettias, pinecones, and pine sprigs and make a quick and easy old-fashioned Christmas card. Well the truth is the poinsettia image is not a poinsettia at all and can be used in many ways.  It is from a retired SU set called Paint Prints and one I will never part with. 

I started by stamping the flower image five or six times around the top part of the paper and then stamped the pine image several times over top of the flower. I cut a quick flower mask and masked one of the center flower images and then then stamped the pinecone with chocolate craft ink.  I repeated this two more times as I wanted the pine cones to look like they were coming out from under the poinsettia petals.  I then stamped full pinecone images a few more times over top of the flower images around the outer border and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I stamped the individual leaf image several times with artichoke, stamped the flower center and sentiment with craft ink and them embossed with gold embossing powder.  My happy mistake is that the green ink wasn’t totally dry and a faint whisper of gold powder stuck to them as well giving a nice rich feeling to the arrangement. The pinecones and leaves looked so pretty and shiny but made the red flower petals look dead in comparison so I decided to lightly pat my versa pad over the whole arrangement and emboss with clear embossing powder. This made the whole card pop to life.  I added the twill across the top corner and attached to the card base.  This sounds like lots of work but the whole project only took about fifteen minutes which is really fast for me compared to my scene cards. This card could be easily mass produced to send for holiday greetings.

Stamps:  SU Paint Prints, Peaceful Wishes, Seasons Greetings-all retired, Rubbernecker Pine Set-Winter Holiday Collection   Paper:  Artichoke, Red, White    Ink:  Fired Brick, Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Craft    Accessories:  Gold and Clear Embossing Powder, Versa, Twill

Stampavie “Create a Little Scene” Challenge #17

The Stampavie Challenge  this week is to create a scene. Check out the details, come play along and you will have a chance to win a secret prize.

I have been doing so many snow scene holiday cards lately that I decided to change it up a bit and do a green scene. The Rachelle Anne Miller Going Fishing elephant is darling and perfect walking down the lake path to go fishing.

I stamped the image and covered with a mask to protect while I sponged on the brown path, green grass and the blue water and then stamped the trees.  I used a small sponge dauber to apply an additional bit of color at the base of the trees along the far side of the lake and then stamped in a few sprigs of grass along the path. I removed the mask and painted the image using reinkers, water and a brush. I sponged in the sky area with a bit of yellow and blue.

Stamps:  Stampavie Rachelle Anne Miller Going Fishing, Rubbernecker Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose , Kittie Kits Outdoor Master     Paper:  Red, Creamy Caramel, Watercolor     Ink:  Black Craft, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Going Gray, Banana, Bashful Blue, Fired Brick    Accessories:  Eyelets, Crimper, Sponges, Brushes, Duaber

Home for the Holidays

I set a reminder on my Outlook calendar to remind me to check out the new Papertrey Home Made set and template that is being released today. When I went in to see it I realized that some of the pieces of the Boards and Beams and Home for the Holidays sets would work with them as well.  That reminded me that I haven’t played with either of those sets for a long time so I pulled them out to use for the SCS Featured Stamper challenge today.  Dawn Easton (TreasureOiler) is our inspiration artist and here is a link to the project that inspired me.

I stamped the trees on the left side of the watercolor paper, masked them and stamped the house.  I masked the house and stamped trees on the right side.  I painted the house with reinkers and stamped the wreaths on the door and windows.  Sad that I couldn’t line them up evenly.  Duh!  I stamped the roof line with the snow border images and then added white craft ink along the roof top, window sills and ground area and embossed with white embossing powder.  I sponged the sky with blue and added a little cut out snowman to the front yard.  I assembled the card and added a multi loop bow. I finished by adding a touch of glue and white Flower Soft to the ground area.

Have a great week!

Stamps:  Papertrey Boards and Beams, Home for the Holidays, Rubbernecker Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose    Paper:  Burgundy, Olive, white, Watercolor    Ink:  Black Craft, Peeled Paint, Cranberry, Going Grey, Lemonade, White Craft Ink, Bashful Blue    Accessories:  Flower Soft, White Embossing Powder, Clear Embossing Powder,  Gingham, Brushes, Sponges

Inspired Away in a Manger

Don’t ask my what I am doing stamping this morning.  My mother-in-law, Marie is coming next week to spend the holidays with us and my house is not exactly company ready.  But….after a hard week of work I needed a little stamping therapy to sooth my rough edges before I started tackling the house,

This project is for the SCS Inspiration Challenge and   Lorelie Kay Designs was inspiration site.  I was intrigued by this little Christmas Box Scene because of the sheet music.  I wanted to combine the sheet music with the sweet little Sarah Kay angel waiting in the wings to play her part in the Christmas program.

I stamped the image on a piece of designer paper with black craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I stamped it a second time on watercolor paper, colored and cut out to paper piece on the designer paper.  I placed a coluzzle over the designer paper and roughly cut out a frame to allow the sheet music to show.  I hand cut the frame a little to give more drape feel.  I used a black glaze pen to add additional lines to the drapes. I printed sheet music off of the internet on to parchment paper and then sponged with antique linen to age.  I attached the music to the card base and then attached the frame with mounting tape.  The angel was attached and I applied a little Rock Candy Stickles to the star and the wings. This is a simple vintage Christmas card that brings back my childhood memories of singing in holiday programs with the sweet innocence only found in the heart of a young child.  Can’t you just hear the little voices singing Away in a Manger?

Have a great weekend.

Stamps:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Peace    Paper:  BasicGrey, Parchment, Vanilla      Ink:  Black Craft, Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Cranberry     Accessories:  Taffeta, Black Glaze Pen, Clear Embossing Powder, Rock Candy Stickles, Coluzzle, Mounting Tape, Brushes, Snips

A Spoon Full of Sugar Scene Challenge

Greetings!  It has been a while since I have posted as we had a death in our family and traveled to New Jersey.  I hope this finds all of you well. 

I am excited to be the guest designer for A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge blog post.  This is a weekly challenge posted every Tuesday and the challenge today is to create a scene. That is right up my alley.  I decided to do a snowy winter scene with a bright Christmas star in the sky.  I love making falling snow and painting icicles from the roof tops.

I cut two pieces of watercolor paper, one for the scene and one for the frame.  I started by stamping several trees on each side of the frame layer leaving enough space for the scene to show through.   I placed a rectangle coluzzle over the trees and cut out the frame above and below the tree line with the blade.  I hand cut out the trees with my snips to allow them to create the soft branch frame for the scene. I sponged the blue sky on the frame.

I stamped the neighborhood of houses on the second piece of watercolor paper, masked and stamped trees all around the background. I stamped the little star and painted both the star and  the windows of the house yellow using reinker and a blender pen and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I painted the house and then sponged in the sky area.  I heat set the ink on both the frame and scene so embossing powder wouldn’t stick when I created the ground and falling snow and icicles.  I painted the little roof tops and window sills with white craft ink using a tiny brush.  I dotted both pieces with tiny falling snow flakes using a tiny brush and white craft ink.  I finished by painting the ground area using a larger brush with white craft ink and then embossed both pieces with white embossing powder.  I applied glue on the ground area in front of the houses as well as the whole ground area around the framed trees and then applied white Flower Soft. I allowed the glue to dry and then attached the scene to the card base and then attached the frame to the scene with mounting tape.  The only thing missing is a sled leaning up against the wall of one of the houses.  Hint:  I emboss the ground area with white to create a perfectly white palette for the Flower Soft. 

I hope you will go and check out all the other gorgeous scene designs at A Spoon Full of Sugar.  If you play along you will have a chance to win a prize.  Have a great week.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Neighborhood, Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose, Flaky Friends (star)   Paper:  Watercolor, SU Baja Breeze     Ink:  Bordering Blue, Lemonade, Peeled Paint, White Craft, Black Craft    Accessories:  Coluzzle, Brushes, Sponges, Mounting Tape, White and Clear Embossing Powder, Glue Flower Soft, Deckle Scissors

 

Weekend Holiday Stamping

I spent all my weekend stamping time creating Christmas cards.  What fun it is for me to figure new ways to make snow or to paint a vintage scene. I would like to share the three very different cards that I made.

I wanted to create a simple nature type winter scene so I pulled out my Kittie Kits with the cabin and three different size trees.  I stamped the cabin with black craft in on watercolor paper and heat dried.  I masked the cabin and stamped the trees all around it using darker green ink. I stamped a few tree tops using a lighter shade of green to make the trees appear to be in the distance and then painted the cabin.  I heat set all the ink and then sponged  pale yellow along the tree tops and then lightened the shade as I moved upward in the sky. I heat set again. I used a small brush to paint white craft ink on the roof top and around the windows and then used a larger brush to paint all around the ground area and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I put a fine layer of glue on the roof and ground area and applied white Flower Soft to create a soft natural looking snow. I finished the card with simple designer paper, crimped crisp white paper along with brown gingham.

 

I love all the Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel 2009 collection and I think each image is my favorite as I use it in a project.  They are all so full of detail and bring back memories of old-fashioned holidays.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and again on scrap watercolor with black craft ink and heat set.  I painted all the images using reinkers and then began cutting out the skillet, coal bucket, teapot and dress to pop up over the scene.  I embossed all the pieces and scene with clear embossing powder while the ink was still wet to create the appearance of a tile. I popped up the images with glue dots and then layered over Graphic 45 designer paper.  I ran white taffeta ribbon over an Antique Linen ink pad to color for aging and created a multi loop bow.

I wanted to create a shaker card using my new Shake It window pouches and fill it with white Flower Soft for snow.  I stamped the Rubbernecker trees and moose on watercolor paper and painted andI sponged in a light blue sky   I used a small brush to paint in falling snow and snowy ground and embossed with white embossing powder. I cut the moose heads out to pop up out of the trees with glue dots. I applied a small bit of Flower Soft in the pouch and attached it over the scene.  I cut a frame with Nestabilities using BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses and popped it up over the pouch and finished my card. I learned a lesson with this project.  Do not use glue dots when creating a shaker card as the snow will stick to it.  Duh!

Project 1:  Stamps:  Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose    Paper:  Watercolor, SU Designer Paper, White     Ink:  Black Craft, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Scattered Straw,  Vintage Photo, White Craft   Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Flower Soft, Gingham, Crimper

Project 2:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Eve    Paper:  Graphic 45 Designer, Watercolor ,Vanilla   Ink:  Black Craft, Fired Brick, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Fired Brick, Sahara Sand, Going Gray, Really Rust, More Mustard    Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder, Versa Pen, Taffeta, Deckle Scissors, Sponges, Brushes, Glue Dots

Project 3:  Stamps:  Rubbernecker Moose, Trees    Paper:  BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses, Watercolor, Olive   Ink:  Black Craft, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, White Craft   Accessories:  Shake It Window Pouch, Button, Grosgrain, White Embossing Powder, Brushes, Sponges, Glue Dots 

Fun Challenges

I really enjoy taking part in the Splitcoaststampers challenges.  They always present an opportunity to try something new, push out of a comfort zone or stretch to accomplish greater skill on a technique that can already be done well. 

I love paper piecing. It seems a stamped image can be brought to life by adding layers upon layers to the main base of the image.  For this month’s Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge we were asked to create a project using paper piecing and either fall or Christmas colors. I wanted to create a life like project using Noel Stocking by Sarah Kay. The image has so many details that allow for layering from the stone fireplace right down to the little black and white cat.

I stamped the image a few times with black craft ink on burgundy designer paper, white cardstock and watercolor paper and embossed them all with clear embossing powder.  I painted the fireplace opening on one piece and the stone on another, clear embossed over the wet paint and then cut them out and pieced them together.  I painted and cut out an additional burning grate of wood to pop up over the original. I cut the girl’s dress out and popped it up over the original image, painted and cut out an additional head and apron and popped them up as well.   I created the stocking with designer paper and painted the toys and candy cane portion on watercolor paper and pieced together to hang from the mantle.  The tiny little cat was popped up in front of the fire with the the intent  that his little tale would hang out of the frame.  I painted a wood panel background as a base to build the scene up on and then finished the scene by attaching a frame.  The perfect finishing touch to me was to add an old fashioned Christmas tree complete with gold bows and tiny ornaments.  Well…..in truth….the ornaments were added because I somehow got a puncture wound on my finger without realizing it and bled on the beautifully finished tree.  I was not going to start over due to a couple drops of blood so I punched out several ornaments with my 1/8th circle punch and attached them as camouflage with Crystal Effects.  I love the multi loop gold bow on the bottom of the tree.

Last night I had the opportunity to play in the CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge.  This style of card is much harder than it looks and is not really my forte but I enjoyed stretching myself to try. I thought this large leaf stem from Rubbernecker could stand on it’s own as a feature for a simple card.

I stamped the image with medium green ink and used a blender pen to add pale yellow and darker green to the leaves and stem.  I put clear embossing powder over the wet paint and heat embossed to make the leaves pop.

Project 1:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Stocking, Lovely as a Tree   Paper:  BasicGrey DP, Watercolor, Natural Vanilla, White, Cranberry Crisp   Ink:  Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick, Black Soot, Lemonade, Going Gray, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard     Accessories:  Gold Metal Ribbon and Cord, Glue Dots, Brushes, Mounting Tape, Black Glaze Pen,Gold and Clear Embossing Powder, Snips

Project 2:  Rubbernecker Fall Trilogy   Paper:  Watercolor, Old Olive    Ink:  Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Scattered Straw   Accessories:  Blender Pen, Clear Embossing Powder, Grosgrain

Weekend Stamping Fun

Good Monday morning.  I hope you had an enjoyable weekend.  Our weather cooled down here in Florida dropping into the 40’s at night and the high yesterday was in the low 60’s.  We have been having exceptionally high temps for this time of year with highs in the 90’s so I enjoyed the cooler weather. I had a three day weekend and enjoyed being home, relaxing and having some wonderful stamping time.

My first project was made for the Stampavie bi-weekly challenge. The challenge was to make a Halloween card using at least one Stampavie image.  I must admit I was stumped as Stampavie has no Halloween images in their line.  Jay Jay, our challenge coordinator suggested that we modify an image so I finally decided  to “spook up” the Rachelle Anne Miller’s owls, Hoo Hoo There and use them with a spooky tree and old cemetery images from the Rubbernecker Halloween collection. I modified the image by cutting off the existing branch so they could be placed in the tree.

I stamped the owls on scrap watercolor paper, painted and cut out.  I stamped the tree and head stone images with brown craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I punched a circle out of scrap paper, placed the mask over the sky area, sponged the circle with bright orange ink to create the moon and embossed with clear embossing powder. My final step was to watercolor in the sky and ground area. I love the color combination on this project.  I wanted the sky to appear dark but not actually spooky Halloween black as these owl characters just can’t pull that off.  They only thing they could do to you is hoot you to death. I hope you will come and join us for the challenge and have a chance to win a prize.

My second project was made for the SCS Inspiration Challenge. Xanier Taler decorative tile site was given for our inspiration.  I was inspired by the tile below but decided on creating orange fall leaves instead of flowers and used the new Rubbernecker Fall Trilogy set.

I used Joan’s tap and smash technique to ink up the stamp.  I chose to work with three colors of ink, Dried Marigold, Peeled Paint and Aged Mahogany.  I tapped and smashed the ink pads directly onto the stamp starting with the lightest color first and then repeating with the darker colors.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and heat dried.  I used a wet brush to fill in the leaves and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I love the simple image layered over the dark green background created using the same image.

My third project was created for SCS Featured Stamper challenge. Riley, aka dancerriley was our featured artist and here is a link to the project that inspired me.

 

I stamped the Tim Holtz image on natural white cardstock with Aged Mahogany ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I thought this image would look great paired with this BasicGrey designer paper.  I sponged all the paper with Old Paper to give an aged appearance. I had the whole card almost totally constructed and got a big brown ink on the main image layer.  Ugh!!!!  I decided to try and cover up the boo boo by taking the ink pad directly to the paper to create an aged background. I created a multi loop bow with cream organdy ribbon and heated to curl and age.  The ribbon color was still to bright and new looking so I finished by sponging on Old Paper ink. This was a fast and easy holiday card that took only 15 minutes or so and could easily be mass produced.

Project 1:  Stampavie Rachelle Anne Miller Hoo Hoo There, Rubbernecker Halloween Collection    Paper:  Brocade Blue, Pumpkin Pie, SU Designer Paper, White, Watercolor    Ink:  Black Craft, Close to Cocoa Craft Ink,  Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Pumpkin Pie    Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder, Deckle Scissors, Crimper, Circle Punch, Rice Baggy (for background)

Project 2:  Rubbernecker Fall Trilogy    Paper:  Old Olive, Watercolor, Cranberry Crisp    Ink:  Dried Marigold, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany   Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder, Grosgrain

Project 3:  Tim Holtz Collection    Paper:  BasicGrey, Natural white   Ink:  Aged Mahogany    Accessories:  Organdy, Clear Embossing Powder

Winter Love

I had lots of fun this morning creating a winter card with a darling snowman couple in the Let it Snow set by Impression Obsession.  I think they are so cute.

I stamped the image with black craft ink and heat dried. I masked the snowmen and stamped the trees from Flaky Friends and Loads of Love and heat set.  I painted the whole piece of watercolor paper excluding the snowman images with clear water to prepare the paper for accepting my blue sky wash. Leaving the images dry keeps the color wash of the sky from running into them. I painted in the sky area and over the trees with a wash of aqua reinker and then added a light blue to create the night sky. I used a light wash of yellow around the star to create a glow. I painted the trees and snowman using reinkers and a brush and heat dried.  I used a small brush and white craft ink to paint in the falling snow and the snow on the tree. I wanted to cover the bottom image lines of the snowmen so I also painted the white craft on the ground area.  I heat embossed the whole project with white embossing  powder.  I then applied glue to the ground area and applied the white Flower Soft.  I added a touch of Flower Soft to the pompom of the snowman’s hat. I cut an additional star and popped it up over the tree and added Stickles to add some sparkle. I love the new Eskimo Kisses paper by BasicGrey and thought it was the perfect thing to layer behind this snow scene.  I tried out my new Shapeabilities snowflake dies to complete the project.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Stamps:  Impression Obsession-Let it Snow    Paper:  BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses, Burgundy, White, Cold Pressed Watercolor   Ink:  Black Craft, Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Aqua, Bashful Blue, Going Gray , white Craft    Accessories:  Flower Soft Polar white, Shapeabilities, Crimper, Needle, Piercing Template, Stickles, White Embossing Powder, Glue, Brushes

Holiday Inspiration

After a long work week with no stamping I’ve enjoyed getting my fingers inky today.  There is nothing more fun and relaxing to me than putting all my focus on a creative project.  I started my morning a with few good cups of strong coffee and then set out to play in the SCS Inspiration Challenge.

My first project was an experiment to create a spooky Halloween sky with watercolor.

I punched out a circle mask and placed the hole over the top part of my watercolor paper. I painted the moon in with a bright wash of reinker and then heat dried so the ink wouldn’t run.  I removed the mask and washed on a fine clear water base on the rest of the watercolor paper to prepare it to accept the blue ink and allow it to run down the paper. I then began applying a wash of blue reinker to create the night sky.  I purposefully pulled some of the blue over the moon to create cloudy shadows.  I had the paper sitting on an angle to allow the darker blue ink to run down the paper. I heat dried the whole piece of paper and then applied the images with versa and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I may have gotten a little too much blue on the moon but I really like the outcome.

My second project was a delight to create.  I love the darling little girl delivering her Christmas package.

I stamped the image on cold pressed watercolor paper with black craft ink and heat dried.  I painted the door by outlining all the lines with dark brown reinker and then used a brush with clear water to pull the color out to the panels of the door. This technique leaves darker shading around the seams and frame of the door . I used the same technique to paint the little girl’s clothes.  I applied a finely painted layer of Liquid Appliqué to the pompom of the hat and to the snowy steps and heated.

I love the touch of white in the designer paper and the white mat with all the olive and think this allows the painted image to pop and allows nothing to distract from it.  I thought the touch of red in the gingham multi loop bow brought out the red in the scene.

Project 1: Stamps: Rubbernecker Halloween Set 1, Rubbernecker Stamp Oasis Spooky Tree
Paper: Black, Watercolor, Barely Banana
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Lemonade, Versa
Accessories: Black EP, Deckle Scissors, Crimper, Oval Punch, Brushes, Heat Gun

Project 2: Stamps: Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Charity
Paper: Cold Pressed Watercolor, White, Olive, Designer Paper
Ink: Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Mustard (hair)
Accessories: Gingham, Liquid Appliqué, Watercolor Brush, Nestabilities, Baggy of Rice (frame background texture), Nestabilities 

Stampavie Box Challenge #14

I had fun this weekend coming up with a box project for the Stampavie Design Team blog challenge. Please come and check out the details and play along with us.  You may even win the secret prize.

I wanted to make a box that would be useful as well as a decorative gift.  I found a box template by Mel McCarthy  on Splitcoaststampers that would be perfect to fit 3X3 note cards and envelopes. I printed the template on white cardstock as well as on a piece of decorative paper and adhered together.  I scored and built the box and attached the decorative trim around the lid.  I painted the images and cut out. I applied liquid appliqué with a tiny brush and lightly dabbed with my fingers before heating to avoid the the dreaded blobs. I used mounting tape to attach to the box top. I thought the sweet girl dropping her letter into the mailbox was just perfect for this little box top.

I had the opportunity Saturday to walk with more than 5,000 people in the Orlando American Heart Walk.  The weather was beautiful, the traffic was blocked on our gorgeous tree lined street path of 3.5 miles and it was an exciting event.  I walked to honor my parents, Nellie and Richard who both lost their lives to heart disease.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Noel Faith

It’s Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Wheeeeee!! I got home early enough this afternoon to play in the SCS Limited Supply challenge.  The challenge was to create a project with a Christmas tree.  I instantly thought of this sweet Stampavie Sarah Kay image- Noel Faith.

I stamped the image on cold pressed watercolor paper and then used my artist pen to sketch in the floor, baseboard and wall.  I watercolored all the images with a brush and reinkers.  I embellished the project with a multi loop bow using taffeta ribbon. There’s really not much else to say. It was fun to get my fingers inky after a long work week.  Have a great weekend.

Stamps:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Faith    Paper:  Olive, Ruby Red, Designer Paper, Watercolor     Ink:  Aged Mahogany, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Going Gray, Mustard    Accessories:  Taffeta, Brushes, Artist Pen

Holiday Cards

I enjoyed stamping on Sunday in between laundry and a shopping trip to Costco.  Oh man……….don’t wait to go Costco until late in the day on a Sunday as you can barely push your cart through the crowd.  I got behind the same older couple several times and found myself having to count to ten to keep my cool.  They were so slow!!!  I had to remind myself that my hair is plenty gray and my day of slow shopping is coming pretty quickly.

I had lots of fun creating my two projects. My first one is a Halloween project using an image from Rubbernecker’s new Halloween collection.

I stamped the little dragon boy on watercolor paper, colored with a brush and reinkers and cut out.  I created the simple fence and moon scene behind him with plain white cardstock using a circle punch and word punch. I used my deckle scissors to cut the tops of the fence posts.  I love the contrast of the black and white with the designer paper. Simple but fun project.

This is the sweetest shepherd boy from the Noel 2009 collection by Sarah Kay from Stampavie.  I stamped the image on cold pressed watercolor paper and heat dried to set the ink.  I brushed on a light yellow wash around the boy and dried again with my heat gun.  It is important to remember when watercoloring that your ink colors will run into each other if the ink is wet.  I have ruined many projects by not being patient enough to wait.  I completed painting the boy image and decided to stamp an additional image on scrap paper so I could cut out the lamb and the star to pop up. I don’t think it shows well in the photo.  I was going to pop up the staff as well but didn’t think I had what it takes to cut something so thin and make it look good on the project. I created a Nestabilities frame for the image and popped it up on the base of the card. I thought the holiday sentiment was perfect for this little shepherd boy.

Have a great week.

Project 1:  Stamps:  Rubbernecker Halloween Set 3    Paper:  Black, White, Watercolor, SU Designer Paper     Ink:  Black Craft, Peeled Paint, Pumpkin Pie, Tattered Rose, Caramel    Accessories:  Word Punch (fence), Circle Punch, Nestabilities, Brushes, Deckle Scissors

Project 2:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Shepherd, All Year Cheer I     Paper:  Hunter Green, Riding Hood Red, Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper    Ink:  Aged Mahogany, Pine Needle, Black Soot, Going Gray, Lemonade, Vintage Photo, Tattered Rose      Accessories:  Nestabilities, Oval Punches, Decorative Scissors (tag) Clear Embossing Powder, Mounting Tape, Stickles (star, holly) Brushes, Grosgrain

Inspiration Saturday

The SCS Inspiration challenge was a fun treat today.  The Pajama Squid was the site we were provided to browse for inspiration.  There was lots of it. I especially loved this sweet dress with its rich colors.

I looked through my stamps and decided to use a sweet image from Stampavie by Tina Wenke called Mouse in  Nutboat.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper with black craft ink and heat dried.  I watercolored the sky with blue and yellow reinkers washed with water and heat dried.  I painted the ground and water areas and finished by painting all the sweet images. I stamped an extra scene on scrap watercolor paper so I could cut out the little heart flag and butterfly to pop up but it doesn’t really show in the photo.  I created the frame with Nestabilities and mounted on the card front with mounting tape.  I think this little scene is the sweetest ever with that darling little mouse. 

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Stamps:  Stampavie Tina Wenke Mouse in Nutboat     Paper:  Rose Red, Olive, Designer Paper     Ink:  Black Craft, Lemonade, Cranberry, Aqua, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo     Accessories:  Nestabilities, Brushes,

Rubbernecker Blog Stroll

It’s Friday and I only work a half day.  I’m looking forward to some good quality stamping time. I haven’t been able to post on my blog during the week lately because of work responsibilities but the Red Hot Mommas are having a blog stroll to celebrate the recently released Rubbernecker Halloween stamps and I wanted to stroll.

Would you like to win “your choice” of one of the darling new Halloween sets? All you have to do is leave comments on each blog along the stroll including the Rubbernecker blog. The winner will be randomly chosen from all the comments left on the stroll. The stroll is open until noon on Monday, September 28th and the winner will be announced later that day.

 

I made this quick and easy card for our blog stroll.  I love the little guy with his mom’s old sheet and pillowcase.  He didn’t want to put much time into creating a costume. He was just going for the treats.     I stamped the image on watercolor paper, painted and cut out. I thought the image would show so much better popped up in front of the bright orange paper.  I love the contrast between the designer paper and the crimped layer.

Are you ready to stroll? This one is oh so easy! Just visit these blogs, enjoy the inspiration, leave a comment at each stop, and you might be the lucky winner of your choice of one of the new stamp sets! Here are your stops along the stroll:

Rubbernecker blog
Broni
Joan

Candy

Bev

Juliana

Tammy -welcome to our Guest Designer, Tammy Hershberger

While your are looking around on the Rubbernecker site for the new Halloween sets you may want to check out the new sets and background stamps  that Mr. Rubbernecker has on a Pre- Release sale.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Halloween Set 2    Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Designer Paper, Watercolor    Ink:  Black Craft, Pumpkin Pie, Black Soot, Going Gray    Accessories:  Grosgrain, Crimper, Brush, Black Embossing Powder

Snowball Fight and Yummy Soup Recipe Card

Check out the Price Reductions on my Stamp and Accessory Sale

I’ve had a fun Sunday. It doesn’t really matter whether it is a work day or weekend…my body clock wakes up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. no matter what.  I really enjoyed drinking my coffee early this morning and browsing through the SCS galleries and making comments on the beautiful creations. There is so much talent in the stamping community.

I especially had a great time searching through Heather’s (tankgrl) gallery since she was chosen to be the SCS Featured Stamper for the day. I was inspired by the simple and clean layout of this card of Heather’s. I kept the same basic layout but changed the color and theme for my project. I received a darling new set from Impression Obsession this past week and I just had to use it for the challenge.

I stamped the  snowmen images, masked and stamped the trees around them.  I painted the images with a watercolor brush and reinkers.  I heat dried the paint and sponged in the blue sky in the background.  I dotted falling snowflakes with a white Sharpie marker and then applied glue to apply the Sparkly Fluff for the hat, snowballs and snowy ground.  I love the simple crimped and pierced layer under the scene and the darling gingham knot with the tag.

I also had the opportunity to play today in the monthly Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge. Betty Wright was today’s challenge host and you can see the challenge requirements below.

Challenge: Dirty Dinner Recipe paper project. Share at least one tried and true prepared entree recipe in decorative paper crafting format of choice.
Restricted Element: (No food images...just kidding...lol!!!) There are NO restrictions...bring on the calories, carbs, fat grams, and sugars!!!! We can alter it on our own if need be.
Required Element: It must be something you have cooked and your family LOVED it!!!! Also, share a little bit about the history of this recipe and how it came to be.

I chose to create a recipe card for Tomato and Spinach Soup, one of my old faithful recipes that I got out of Cooking Light years ago.  It is fast, easy and a delicious soup and is a perfect to cook on Sunday and have in the fridge for an easy meal on busy work nights. I have a pot on my stove as I write this. 

I created the recipe in Word and printed on white cardstock.  I do not have any food images so I sketched out a few tomatoes, garlic cloves and some spinach leaves.  Do you think the leaves look more like basil?  I sure do! I painted the images with reinkers and a brush, and cut out. I attached them to the base of the card and allowed them to overlap the recipe card. This is simple but I really like the pop of color from the veggies on the stark white. I hope you can read the recipe and that you give it a try.  Have a great week.

Project 1:  Stamps:  Impression Obsession-Let it Snow, Loads of Love (tree)  Paper:  Cranberry, white, Olive, Watercolor    Ink:  Cranberry, Peeled Paint, Sailboat Blue, Going Gray, Black Craft   Accessories:  Brushes, Color Box Stylus, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool,  Sparkly Fluff , white Sharpie, MS Glue Pen, Word Punch, Gingham

Project 2:  Paper:  White, Olive, Watercolor   Accessories:  Computer, Artist Pen, Watercolor Brushes, Snips, Glue Dots

 

Saturday Inspiration

Check out the Price Reductions on my Stamp and Accessory Sale

I always look forward to the SCS Inspiration Challenge. It’s fun to get on up Saturday morning and know I don’t have to go to work and that I can enjoy stamping. Today we were given a Latin American site called LAMA and it had lots of fun stuff to be inspired by. I used the colors of the table cloth pictured below for my first project.  I liked the orange, pink and green with the white background.

    

I stamped the little Stampavie Sarah Kay Lucy twice on watercolor paper and painted.  I cut out the full image of one girl and just the cat and pinafore portion of the second. I sponged on the light green, yellow and blue scenery on a piece of watercolor paper for the background and added just a few touches of grass sprigs. I created a double frame with oval Nestabilities and attached to the scene with mounting tape. The little girl is so sweet and I thought popping up her head, the cat and top part of her body and allowing her feet to be out of the frame would bring her to life.  I love how she turned out. The tiny Love tag was just the perfect little sentiment for this sweet pair.

My second project was a play off this throw pillow.  Ugh!  I do not like scary skeleton things like in the photo below but I was inspired by the black and white.  I thought it would be fun to do a reverse white on black Halloween project.

 

I stamped these new Rubbernecker Halloween images on black paper with white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  The moon is a circle punched piece of white paper and the cat was stamped on white with black ink and black embossing.  I thought this was fun and different take on spooky Halloween images.

Project 1   Stamps:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Lucy & Kitty      Paper:  Pretty in Pink, White, SU Designer Paper     Ink:  Black Craft, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Regal Rose,  Weathered Wood, Shabby Shutters, Tattered Rose        Accessories: Nestabilities, Crimper, Scalloped Border Punch, Gingham, Brushes, Color Box Stylus, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Mounting Tape

Project:  Rubbernecker  Halloween Set 1     Paper:  Black and White    Ink:  Black and White Craft     Accessories:  Black and White Embossing Powder, Nestabilities, Mounting Tape

Blog Candy Winner

I have a winner for my Monday’s Country Girl blog candy contest. Congratulations to Crystal for being the 13th post telling her favorite technique for adding color to her stamping projects.  Crystal has won a new and unmounted Stampin’ Up! 2007 set-Delight in Life. Check out Crystal’s lovely blog “Sugar Crystals”

Kittie: you never fail to produce such beautifully colored images... wow ! My fav coloring technique is with Copics ... I finally gave it and bought some ... well, actually lots !

Posted by: Crystal | September 15, 2009 at 08:28 PM

Sunday’s Country Girl and Blog Candy

Check out my Stamp and Accessory Sale.

My Sunday was quiet and restful with lots of time to stamp. I love easy weekends with no commitments and no place to go.  Of course there is always laundry and household chores that have to get done but I can always paint in between trips to the washer and dryer.  I took the time to dig through the stamp sets that I have up for sale and have several that are brand new and unmounted.  I thought it was time for me to give away blog candy since I haven’t in a while. Watercoloring is my favorite technique for adding color to my stamped image.  Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite coloring technique and you will have a chance to win Delight in Life -2007 by Stampin’ Up! I will announce the winner Wednesday morning the 16th.

I am in love with the Stampavie Sarah Kay images and especially the girls in their jeans, overalls, halter tops and big hats. I enjoy painting these images and putting them into scenes. I had a wonderful time painting Country Girl and choosing the colors and card layout that would enhance the image.

I stamped the twice, once for the main scene on watercolor paper and again on scrap watercolor paper to cut pieces out to pop up for dimension. I painted the images with reinkers and water using a watercolor brush. I watercolored the green and blue areas with a light wash and then sponged lightly over them using a Color Box stylus and foam tip. The texture of the foam tip allows me to smooth out the color on the smooth hot pressed paper. I added a little texture to the grass with a background image and smoothed over it with the foam tip to soften. I cut out the second chicken and overalls and popped them up with rolled up glue dots.  This adds so much dimension to the scene but it is hard to see in the photo. I loved the bright pink and green with the white contrast elements and feel it allows the girl to be surrounded with color without distracting from her.  I enjoy creating frames with my Nestabilities to add an extra layer of dimension and interest to the project. 

I hope to have more time to stamp in the daily challenges on SCS this week but I never know what the work week will bring. If not I will I hope you have a great week.  look forward to stamping and posting on my blog next weekend. 

Stamps:  Stampavie Sarah Kay Country Girl   Paper:  Regal Rose, White, Watercolor Debbie Mumm    Ink:  Black Craft, Bordering Blue, Regal Rose, Bashful Blue, Caramel, Vintage Photo, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Lemonade Accessories:  Nestabilities, Color Box Stylus and Foam Tip, Brushes, Mounting Tape, Scalloped Border Punch, Glue Dots

Halloween Play Day

Check out my Stamp and Accessory Sale.

I have had a wonderful time today participating in the SCS Inspiration Challenge. CWD Kids’ Halloween clothing line was provided for inspiration and did I ever have lots of fun stamps to work with.  Rubbernecker has just released three fun new Halloween sets and I got all three of them in the mail yesterday when I got home from work.

I really enjoyed working this darling dragon suit and boy image.  I thought he needed to be shown walking along a sidewalk on his way to Trick or Treat.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and then again on a scrap to have an additional dragon head and treat bag to pop up.  I painted the image, masked and sponged on a little grass and sidewalk area.  I used the grass sprig image from my Kittie Kits Outdoor Master to add texture to the grass and sponged in a blue sky area.  I cut the little boys face out of my second dragon head so when I popped it up it would have dimension. I made the frame with Nestabilities and then ran it through my crimper for added dimension. I love how the image pops out of the orange and green frame.

I stamped the pumpkin and kitty image on watercolor paper and then again on scrap paper so I could pop up the cat, tail and treats. I painted the images, sponged a little yellow highlight and then attached the additional images with glue dots.  I used Nestabilities to create the frame.  You can’t really tell in the photo but the background scalloped layer is partially crimped and added so much dimension. I used scalloped decorative scissors to cut around the sentiment layer so it would match the background scallops.

I tried my hand at Michelle Zindorf’s background technique.  I thought the big orange moon was perfect with the silhouette tree and bats. Don’t look too close but I stamped my bats upside down by accident and I wasn’t going to toss the project for that. I stamped the little witch, painted, cut out and popped up over the framed scene for a fun twist.  The scene is so dark and she is so bright and sweet.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a great week.

Project 1:    Stamps:  Rubbernecker Halloween Set 3 , Kittie Kits Outdoor Master    Paper:  Eggplant, Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Watercolor Ink:  Dusty Concord, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Going Gray, Black Craft, Fired Brick (cheeks)    Accessories:  Nestabilities, Brushes, Sponges, Crimper, Glue Dots, Word Punch, Clear EP, Grosgrain

Project 2:  Rubbernecker Halloween Sets 3 Paper:  SU Designer Paper, Pumpkin Pie, Watercolor, White    Ink:  Black Craft, Pumpkin Pie, Dried Marigold, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Dusty Concord, Black Soot , Lemonade  Accessories:  Nestabilities, Scalloped Scissors, Brushes, Sponges, Grosgrain, Scalloped Border Punch

Project 3:  Rubbernecker Halloween Sets 1 and 2    Paper:  Black, Pumpkin Pie, Watercolor    Ink:  Black Craft, Dried Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Black Soot  , Lemonade, Vintage Photo, Not Quite Navy, Dusty Concord,    Accessories:  Black Glaze Pen, Brushes, Sponges, Black EP, Glue Dots, Circle Punch