Open The Door

Hello!

Today's project is another canvas board as I'm a tiny bit obsessed with doing these at the moment, and Oozak is hosting a fun challenge where Anything Goes with Texture.  To me that means altered art.  Yay!

I wanted to use these hinges that I had made several months ago using grungeboard as the base, then painting/embossing with various metallic paints and embossing powders then doing a final rub with black Staz-On ink.  So as I was playing around with ideas on how to make a doorknob, my daughter suggested I use an antique drawer knob that we bought last summer in a small Texas town we visited.  Perfect!

There are various stamps used, but the black ones all come from my favorite set, Paris, which you can find in the Inspired By Stamping store.

The flower is made of sticky back canvas with various treatments including paint, stencils and inks.  A couple of layers of tulle (painted blue and teal) were adhered and then blasted with the heat tool to cause them to partially melt and curl.  A tiny cupid sits on top, having been inked in black to tone down the bright gold.  That's cheesecloth underneath, dyed with Vintage Photo, adhered with matte medium, then rubbed with gold Rub N Buff.

Here's the vintage drawer knob including the rusted hardware inside.

Because we should let it out.

The tiny bits are watch parts which I found on eBay.

The diamond shapes are molding paste applied through a stencil and painted.

A small tassel and tiny key charm.

And that wraps up today's project.  Thank you so much for joining me, and I wish you a lovely day full of crafting goodness if possible!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Oozak #18 - Anything Goes With Texture
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps #62 - How Charming
613 Ave. Create #29 - Anything Goes

Time To Shine

Hello!

Today's project isn't a card.  I'm taking a tiny break from cards because the urge to put stuff to other surfaces is too much to ignore.  There is SO much inspiration out there in blogland, so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  And here is the result - a 5x7 canvas board that I thought might make a nice, colorful decoration somewhere.

And colorful it is.  I love color, and lots of it.  I've only used three acrylic colors on the base, but I more than made up for it with the decorations.  Every single flower started out another color but was painted with Creative Inspirations shimmer paints to suit my tastes.  And the frame...well, I'll get to that in a bit.  And I'll let the pics do most of the talking this time.

Bits of gold embossing sprinkled about.

The stamps are from the Inspired By Stamping store, Paris for the clock with Eiffel Tower, and French Country Backgrounds for the faint bits of chicken wire pattern that you can see here and there.  I embossed the clock with black embossing powder to make it stand out.

Lots of color and texture.  The small clock is wood.

A tiny prize in a Christmas cracker.

This little frame started out bright silver.  I think it was the prize in an English Christmas cracker several years ago and has been floating around the house ever since, too small to use but too cute to discard.  So glad I didn't.

I gessoed it and then coated it with several layers of shimmer paints.  The flowers and leaves were colored with Copics then accented with more shimmer paints.  Black ink was sponged over all, then wiped off, leaving the colors dulled down a bit.

Sweet little birdie.

Thank you for stopping by today, and I hope you, too, take a notion to do some crafting.  I have to let the smell of E6000 filter out of my craft room before I go back in, but I can hardly wait to try the next project!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Stampotique Designers Challenge #105 - Anything But a Card
Oozak #16 - Anything Goes w/a Sentiment
Creative Card Crew #38 - Metal
Divas By Design - Distressing
Sugar Creek Hollow #63 - Mixed Media
Eclectic Ellapu - Summer Sunshine

Paris (or...I can dream, can't I?)

Hello!

Today's card is a "just because" kind of card that I've made using the ever delightful Creative Inspirations paints.  I love, love, LOVE them, and one of my favorite ways to use them is the marbled background technique, which you can find here.  It is my new favorite technique and I've already done it several times.

This time I've used Tutu Pink, Mellow Yellow and Pink Highlights, the last of which is interesting because it looks ivory until you turn it towards the light, then the shimmery pink shows up.

I had to photograph the card at a couple of different angles to try to capture the shimmery goodness.  See that slight pink?

Here's another closeup.  You can see more of the pink down there to the right.  I really wish I could have a video within a picture so I could move the card around and show you the shimmer.  It is a fascinating way to create an interesting background that can pretty much stand on its own.

I used some lovely product from the Inspired By Stamping shop, including the always versatile Paris stamp set, the new Background Basics III stamp set (behind the word "Paris"), the Fancy Labels Die, and some Colonial Rose Satin Ribbon.  Some dots of gold glitter glue at the bottom finish this card.

And that, dear friends, is today's card.  Thanks so much for joining me and I wish you a lovely, craft-filled day.

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons #45 - No Design(er) Paper
Delightful Challenges - Stash It (use from stash - gold embossing powder, gold glitter glue)
Fussy and Fancy #88 - Anything Goes

Paris Roses and Challenge Day at IBSIC

Hello crafty friends!

Today is my second week to play with the girls as March Guest Designer over at the Inspired By Stamping Inspiration Challenge (IBSIC) blog, and once again there is a luscious color combination with which to play.  This is just SO much fun!

Aren't these colors gorgeous?  I love pastels and had a wonderful time playing with the paper and embellies and came up with this:

This card needed to be a little bigger than a standard A2, so I added an inch in both directions (6.5 x 5.25 in.), and I'll be honest - there was some white involved, but try as I might, I couldn't live with it, so I "fixed" it by stamping the first layer with blue French script and then sponging the three challenge colors on top.  The lace peeking out from under the pale green layer started screaming "I'm white too!" which of course then looked out of place, so it received some airbrushed Copics in pastel pink and blue.  Aaaah...all better now.

White just isn't my thing.

The paper with roses is from a deliciously rich pack of dp by Prima called "Annalee," and I've been eyeing this sheet of paper for the longest time until this particular sketch called out for them.  How's that for making dp work for you?  I stamped "Paris" (from the Paris stamp set by IBS) in Baja Breeze, but it was a wee bit faint in places so I used my SU Baja Breeze marker to darken it just a bit.

I embossed the clock face from the same stamp set with glittery gold embossing powder on another piece of dp from that same stack, then layered it onto a plain circle and a doily die cut.  The first doily was white.  It bothered me.  I changed it.

I made the bow using some wonderful silk ribbon in my stash and hung a charm from it that I made myself, then used a gold spacer with a rhinestone for the top. For this bow I used my handy dandy brand new homemade bow maker that I was inspired to make because of Joanna's bow tutorial (here).  Now granted, my bow maker doesn't look nearly as pretty and polished as the lovely one her darling FIL made for her, but it gets the job done! 

I could add more holes, but I find these serve quite nicely for various size bows.  The block of wood is far too long (originally meant for whittling) and you could use a scrap piece instead of wasting so much space.  Hmm... maybe I'll cut it in half and make my daughter a bow maker...

The flowers are from IBS and I've added some die cut leaves and flourishes.

A little stitching and some pearls finish this card that I enjoyed making every step of the way.

Thank you so much for joining me on my wordy, photo-heavy adventure today, and please don't forget to head on over to IBSIC to play along and see what the lovely design team have created for you!  They'd love to see you!

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamps: Paris (IBS), En Francais (SU)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Bashful Blue (SU), Versamark
Paper: Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi (SU); Annalee (Prima)
Extras: Dies: Circle Stax, Dainty Doily Duo, Fancy Flourish (all Dienamics); Foliage (SB); crochet lace, Copics, airbrush, IBS roses, silk ribbon, custom charm, rhinestone, pearls, bead spacer, sewing machine, SU marker, gold ep (Zing).

Challenges entered:

The Shabby Tea Room #157 - Oh-So Pretty in Pink
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Chic to Be Shabby
Incy Wincy Designs - Things That Being With "F" (flowers, flourishes, French script)
Ladybug Crafts Ink - Springtime
Creative Card Crew #31 - Ribbon
Divas By Design - Put On Some Pink
Crafts and Me #124 - Ribbons and Lace
Allsorts #197 - Springtime


Mojo Monday Sketch #284

IBS Inspiration Challenge

Hello and good morning!

Today's card is for a friend who isn't feeling very well.  I hope it cheers her up.  I'll get right to it since there are several pics.  I can't even begin to tell all of the techniques since I used so many on this card and I don't want to bore you to tears, but it was a lot of fun to make.  You should have seen my craft table afterwards...

BTW, I'm going to try to start shortening my posts somewhat, though I'll still post multiple pictures.  I love seeing the details of others' cards and will share mine too; however, I do tend to get a bit wordy and probably don't need to spell out every single thing I do to every single card.  If anyone has any questions on a particular design element that I haven't covered, please leave me a comment and I'll respond as quickly as possible.   Thanks!

 
The inspiration for today's card comes from Joanna over at IBS Inspiration Challenge who seems to always choose the most lovely images and color schemes with which to play.  This week is Challenge #41, and we are to use the colors light tan, rose and light brown.  Delicious.  Just like a softly colored hot fudge sundae (it's always about food with me).

And the sketch that I followed was designed by Julee over at Mojo Monday.  I love this kind of sketch, full of fun layers and embellishments.  And this is the first sketch of the month, so there's the prize factor as well! 

Note:  All paper edges have been inked.  And what started out as light tan has been inked up half to death, but you can see the tan on the inside of the card (photo included below).  :) 

I stamped the first layer with an allover French script stamp, them heat embossed the Eiffel Tower in gold.  Whoops, there I go, spelling things out.  OK, the two elements that ARE special enough to talk about are the flower and the heart charm.  

Aren't they cute?  The flower was pretty straightforward - die cut the shapes from printed and solid papers, spray them with water, scrunch them up, flatten them back out, stack them, and put an antique brad in their middle.  Oh yeah, and ink the petals.

The heart was the fun piece.  It's a Shrinky Dink that I die cut, stamped with rose Copic, shrunk with my heat tool, drew around the edge of the heart with a dark rose glitter pen, stamped overall with a French script stamp (I love that stamp), inked the edges, then coated with Glossy Accents.  Once that was dry, I applied gold leaf to the edges.  How CUTE is THAT!  It looks like a little jewel when the light hits it just right.

You can see the gold embossing on the edges of the greeting, and you can barely see the small strip of coarse burlap shot through with gold threads under the centerpiece.

BTW, the music is real music from over 40 years ago that was mine as a child when I was learning to play the piano.  It, too, has been sprayed, scrunched, misted, and inked to distress it because it was in surprisingly good condition when I rediscovered it in the garage a couple of months ago.

Here's a pic showing the different layers, and a peek at the inside.  Speaking of which...

See?  I really DID use a light tan.

Thank you for joining me today, and I wish you a lovely day with hopefully at least a little crafting time in it. 

Happy crafting!!

Supplies:

Stamps: Take It To Heart (on the little charm) - SU; All Year Wishes, Paris (IBS)
Paper: Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla Neutrals DSP Stack, Regal Rose, Soft Suede (SU), rose-printed scraps
Ink: Versamark, various TH Distress inks for distressing edges
Extras: gold and brown embossing powders, music, Antique Brad, Shrinky Dinks, Glossy Accents, gold leaf, metallic burlap ribbon, crochet ribbon, SB Labels One, SU Framelits Hearts, Decorative Label punch, TH Tattered Flowers, Spica Garnet glitter pen.

Challenges Entered:

IBSIC #41 - Color Challenge 
MOJO Monday #275 - sketch
Oozak #10 - Anything Goes + Pink and Bling 
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Embrace the Old (vintage look, authentic vintage music)
Anything Goes - Just Good Friends (which is who this card is for)
Divas by Design - Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges - Add Hearts 
SCS F4A151 - X Five