Friday, August 30, 2013

Fake it Friday, August 30

Hi everyone.  Today's FIF is brief, just have one hand to do my work, the other one was hurt.

Ok, so you know how working with glitter can be messy at times.  you try to capture the extra on a sheet of paper or in a tray, but there is always glitter that gets everywhere.  I found a trick to pick up that stray glitter that is cheap and cheerful. I have used those sticky back tape like lint brushes, damp cloths, wipes and a little hand held vacuum.  Now I use a silicone egg cup from the dollar store.  Actually any silicone type coaster or flat surface item will do, as long as it picks up that glitter.  You then rinse it under water and your glitter picker upper is good to go for another time.





I bought these at the dollar store in the cooking utensils section.  They are sold two in a pack and are called egg poachers.  I like how my hand fit nicely and made cleaning a lot easier (picture was taken before injury).

I hope that you enjoyed this brief but hopefully helpful tip for FIF.  Thanks for viewing.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

WOYWW August 28



It's that time of the week where we get to show What's on Our Work desks Wednesdays.  Thanks to Julia over at The Stamping Ground for organizing this EVERY week.

My day is starting just now, I am behind today... I woke up to this incredible fog outside, very eerie!  I had to force myself out of bed, hmm maybe some putting around my studio will wake me up.  So here is a pic of what I left my desk looking like yesterday following a crazy two day crafting one project.  Some times what seems like a quick project ends up taking a lot more time.



Frankly, this does not look impressive.  I tend to clean up as I go making piles of the same left overs and crap.  I then put away and toss.  I am keeping those used baby wipes for some other project, not sure what , but if anyone has any suggestions please share.  Those are wipes I used to clean the inks off my hands, nothing nasty.  Now that they are dry they look so sheer and pretty, seems like a waste to just throw them out.  The card stock on the left can be saved too, I will cut those up into same size swatches and have them ready for other projects that require a small piece.  The balls of yarn will go back into my stash they are already left over from some ancient knitting projects and happened to be the right colour for my project.  There is my tall latte and breakfast cookie, very much needed.  The rest of the clutter on my desk is the organized mess I uses constantly.  :)  So what was I making, you might ask?  I  made a Happy Birthday banner.  Of course I can not show you the entire thing as it is waiting to be published next week or so.  I can tell you though it is BIG.

Here is a really bad picture of it, just to give you an idea.
Well, thanks for stopping by and I lok forward to peeking into the other WOYWWers later today and tomorrow.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Mixed Media Monday: Flower from my Garden cards



It's Mixed Media Monday time once again. Here and at the All That Stickles Blog where there is still the Great Outdoors and Nature Linky Party happening.  For this week I am sharing one part of a multi part project I am working on.  Here is one of the cards I made for the said project.







For the project one needs:
A pre folded card (or make one from plain card stock)
A sheet of water colour paper larger than the card.(Canson)
Gelatos; pinks, blues, mauves (Faber Castell)
Pitt pens: red, blue(Faber Castell)
Stamps (I used the clear acrylic stamps that came with the gelato sets) and acrylic block(s)
Double sided tape(3M)
Ribbons (long enough to place width wise on card)
Dried flower (this one came from my garden)
Lavender Stickles (Ranger)
Modge Podge
A sponge
A scrap of white card stock
A stamp with a sentiment (this one is from Michaels) 
A large circle punch (Recollections)
A tag punch (Stampin' Up!)
A spray bottle filled with water


1. Spritz the watercolour paper with the water, just so it is wet but not soggy.
2. Randomly add spots of colour with the gelatos directly to the wet paper.  Spritz more water and with your hand or hands get messy and cover the paper with colour.  You can also use a brush and more water.
3. Be patient, or not and use a heat gun or hair dryer to dry this background.
4. Prepare your stamp(s), and colour it or them with the Pitt Pens.
5. Stamp randomly or in a pattern.  I also made ghost images from the same stamps by misting the stamps with water after the initial stamping was made and stamped again.
6.On a piece of white card stock, stamp using the sentiment stamp coloured with a Pitt Pen.
7. Once everything is dry, measure and cut the watercolour background to fit the front of the card.
8. Using a large circle punch or an exacto and mat and a glass, cut out a large circle opening close to the edge of the background panel.  
9.  Temporarily place the watercolour paper over the card base and use it as a stencil to mark and colour in with a Pitt Pen the inner circle on the face of the pre folded card.
10. Using a Pitt Pen flick or blow on the end to make tiny splatters of colour onto the circle .  Using Modge Podge and your finger delicately glue down the flower.  Go over the whole (blue) circle with flower with a sponge and some more Modge Podge (do this delicately)  This should leave behind some bubbles that will imitate rain drops.
11. Let dry, meanwhile adhere the ribbon(s) to the front of the water colour panel with double sided tape or any adhesive.
12. Punch out the sentiment with a tag punch or cut with scissors, ink up the sides of the tag with a Pitt Pen.  Glue tag over ribbon.
13. Glue down watercolour panel to the front of the card making sure the blue circle lines up with the opening.
14.  As a final touch use some Stickles (glitter glue) in a complimentary colour to bling up one side of the circle window.


                                        1,2


3,4,5

6,7

9,10

    8 


Thanks for stopping by!




Friday, August 23, 2013

Fake It Friday #7: Make Your Own Antique Book Pages

Hello, it's Friday and here is how I make some faux vintage book pages if I have run out of actual vintage paper.
First off I go to the Dollar Store and purchase an inexpensive book, usually a dictionary, that has a lot of words and thin paper.  Back at home I spread open the book and place it inside a large bowl.  I boil some water and add it to yesterday's forgotten tea pot,  I will also pour in the morning coffee that has gone cold.  After I have made my book soup I set the bowl outside in the sun and let it "cook" for the day.  The next day I pour out the liquid, squeeze out as much as possible and let the book dry out in the sun.  Of course this works better during a few hot summer days.
As the book is of a cheaper quality paperback it falls apart easily.  The pages are brownish in colour and look like they have been around for a long time.




So what to make with these vintage pages? Anything you want!  The colour and print make any shape look interesting.  In the example below I cut some sea shells out of real vintage pages and added them to my art journal page.


I hope you enjoyed your visit.  Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

WOYWW August 21, 2013







Time for another What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday, thanks to Julia over at The Stamping Ground.

Here goes:




I am working on a birthday card for my son.  It is also going to hold a gift card.  I don't want to show off the finished project because he hasn't gotten it yet.  It is always challenging to come up with cards for the men in my life.  I m glad that I have this set now from Get Inky! stamps because it is perfect for my guys.  It is called "Geeky Fun" and has 21 sentiments and 11 icons all with that Geeky feel.  I can also use it for its plain sentiments for anybody.  I have these stamps because I am on the Design Team for Get Inky!, but I would definitely buy these even if I weren't, as they are such a great deal.  If you are interested in checking these out for yourselves go here.

Well now off to buy the ingredients to bake a Lemon White Chocolate Cake.
Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Mixed Media Monday: Bird on a Branch


Another Monday!  Another Mixed Media by me!  


Hi everyone, thanks for stoping by to see what I have been up to.  I designed this 12"x12" canvas wall hanging for the All That Stickles Blog Linky Party: Nature/Outdoors.  I have fun every week coming up with art works that incorporate those lovely Stickles, and the Nature theme turns out to be perfect.  I really love nature especially living where we do, I would be so miserable if I were more of a city girl!  Here, we have many varieties of birds mostly woodland but we also have some bigger fouls, some wetlands and of course the open air birds because of all the farms around.  We live close to one of the only remaining untouched bogs in the world where there are even more rare and unusual varieties.





On this piece I couldn't tell you with certainty what bird this is as there was no description with the stamp.  It appears to be a type of Warbler, perhaps even a Swallow.  I went with the Warbler.  I have both here so it was a toss up.  Funny thing about the branches I used, they are actually over grown Dill Stems, and not tree branches.  The light weight of them makes them a perfect material for wall hangings.

I used raw and unprimed canvas to make the background which I painted with Golden Fluids and Acrylics.  When it was dry I stamped on some music notes.
 I made the bird appliqué from a smaller piece of raw canvas that I first prepared with clear gesso, used a permanent pigment ink with a bird stamp and applied another coat of clear gesso before applying the colours with Gelatos.
 When I used the gelatos I spritzed water on to my non stick craft mat, coloured with a Gelatos and made a little soup spot, and used a brush to apply some colour to the bird.  I used Silver on its legs, Yellow on its belly and head, and Brown on its back.
 I machine sewed the bird onto the canvas leaving a small opening so I could stuff it with some leftover batting and I hand stitched to close that opening.
   Finally I applied some stickles: a drop of Walnut stain for his eye, some brushed on Walnut stain on the back, Goldenrod on the belly and beak, Scattered Straw on the branch,  and the Eucalyptus, and Waterfall on the background.

I made holes in the top of the canvas and installed some very large eyelets and hooked up some shower curtain rings.



Supplies:
Raw canvas (Frederix)
Acrylic Paints:  Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Hansa Yellow Light, Titanium White, Cerulean Blue Deep,  Cobalt Blue (Golden)
Bird Stamp (Magenta)
Music Notes Stamp (Michaels)
Ink: Black (Staz-On)
Gelatos: Brown, Silver, Lemon (Faber Castell)
Branches (my garden)
Large brass eyelets (Dollar store)
Shower curtain rings (Dollarama)
Batting (Fabricland)
Thread  (Coats)
Clear Gesso (Liquitex)
Heavy Gel Medium (Golden)
Glue (Weldbond)
Black pen (Sharpie)
Stickles used:  Golden Rod, Eucalyptus, Waterfall (Ranger)
Distress stickles:  Scattered straw, Walnut Stain. (Ranger)

I hope that this entices you to look at nature and be inspired.  Thanks for viewing.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Back To School Blog Hop

Welcome to the 1 + 2 = Stickles Blog Hop brought to you by the All that Stickles design team!


Back to school is just around the corner, and what better way to start off the school year then with a bit of sparkle?! Today the design team is showcasing all sorts of glittery back to school projects that kiddos and teachers will love!

If you've come from Tonya's blog, you're in the right place! If you have just come across the hop and would like to start from the beginning, please visit All that Stickles.

For my project, I made a binder for mom (or whomever) to keep by the front door or command central where the kids can slide in all those papers that parents have to read, or sign.  I did this for years when my kids attended public school, as they would bring home so much bureaucratic paper work, notices and calendars.  By filling the binder with plastic page protectors I was able to insert all those papers into the pages where they would stay dry and relatively clean for the rest of the school year.  Oh yes, some papers had to be referred to later in the year and other parents knew of my system and would often call me and ask "Do you still have that paper about...that lil' Johhnny got at school way back in September?  "  Yup, I sure did! And I would make them a copy.
Having some pens and pencils near by is always and was useful to quickly sign off those forms in a mad dash before everyone had to get out the door in the morning.  Now, if only I could have made a home version of an ATM, I would have stickled that too!







Supplies:  one  1" plastic binder (Jean Coutu)
2 big googly eyes (Dollarama)
Glittered Sticker letters (Dollarama)
one plastic pencil/pen holder cup (Dollarama)
Lepage Super Gel glue (Lepage)
Stickles: Green, Midnight Blue, Xmas Red, Gold

Putting these together is a simple decorating project that even the kids can participate in.  Plus, it is so fun!

We have blog candy for those who are a follower of All that Stickles and leave a comment on every stop of the hop! Winners will be announced Wednesday August 21st at All that Stickles.
Having said that, I know that there have been issues with commenting on my posts.  I have surrendered in a frustrating defeat after my battle with; Blogger, Google, and even Facebook, in trying to fix this situation for EVERYBODY.  Sorry, some of you may still have issues, if after trying the many places on my own blog to post comments or emails you are unsuccessful, please just go back to Tonya's and let her know I sent you.  Thanks for your understanding.



$15 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

10 Digis of Winner's Choice

Your next stop is 
Karen's blog.

Here's the complete lineup:
Thanks for hopping! :) Don't forget to check out our Nature/Outdoors Linky Party!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Fake it Friday: Gel plate printed flowers

Hello, and welcome to another instalment of Fake it Fridays.  Today I am sharing something new to me.  Making my own prints with a gel based printing plate that I made from scratch literally.  I got the original recipe and instructions from "Lindsay The Frugal Crafter".  I thought that it looked so neat that I had to try it for myself. Here is my version:



As you can see from the picture I keep my gel plate in a re sealable plastic container that I bought at the Dollar store (Dollarama), it is a perfect size for printing on 8 1/2" x11" paper. Those are some of the prints I made to the side of the gel plate . To use the gel plate I slide it out of the container onto a glass cutting board (also from the Dollar store), when I m done I clean the gel plate with some water before returning it to the container and putting the lid back on to keep the dust off until the next time I want to use it.  What is really fun about this gel plate is that if it tears or gets damaged in any way I just need to pop it (while in the container) in the microwave for one minute let it melt, take it out and let it reset.

This is my recipe:

8  envelopes (envelopes contain about 1 TBSP each ) of Knox Gelatin powder (Jello with no colour or flavour, available at the grocery store in the baking isle)
1 1/2 cups glycerin (available at the drugstore/pharmacy even Walmart).
1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol (70 or 90% will do)
1/2 cup boiling water (this is really just to help dissolve the gelatin powder.
* by the way this makes a pretty big and thick plate.

I pour the gelatin right into the container stir in the boiled water briskly to dissolve all the powder, add the other ingredients, sitr and let set.  To use the gel plate I use a knife or cake spatula to help dislodge it from the sides and slide it out onto a flat surface such as a piece of glass or non stick type board.  Just to make it easier to carry to the sink if I need to clean it off.  I pour paints onto the surface, make marks or use stencils, a brayer, and then pat down the paper.  I try to get more than one print from each.  Set the prints aside to dry and keep playing.  The gel plate can be easily wiped clean with a wet rag or if your sink is large enough it can even be rinsed ever so gently in the sink while still on the glass.  Pat it dry and return by sliding it gently back into the container.  A lot of people just use an inverted plastic photo frame (the deep kind) or a a cookie sheet.  Just remember to keep your plate covered when not in use because dust does stick to its surface and renders it icky.  Because of the alcohol and the glycerin this plate should be permanent to semi permanent.  If you can not find the commercial gel plates and want to give this a try it won't cost much.  Please remember that this is absolutely inedible.


Some of the prints I made using acrylic paints and found objects.


Paper flowers I made with some of the new papers.



Mixed Media Canvas I made and used the paper flowers I made out of my prints.

I hope that this inspires you to try something new as well.  Thanks for viewing.


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

WOYWW August 14 2013


*****If you are here and wondering what happened to my woyww post for August 21, it is further, sorry for the misdirection.*******


Another Wednesday, another picture of the creative process of my mind.  Lots more interesting pictures and neat blogs to discover along the way too.  I enjoy this concept of show and tell every Wednesday I find it to be enticing me to make sure I am creating something, anything because I have to have something to show on Wednesdays!  But what I really enjoy is seeing what others are up to and how they set up their spaces. Thanks to Julia over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.ca.

Here is my production site:

I added the foggy vignette to make it look romantic!  Lol.

In the forefront is my breakfast in a glass and to its left is a converted Scrabble board game box lid converted into a tray (a DIY project that a pre schooler could pull off). Going counter clock wise now, a book on North American Birds to serve as a guide so I get the colours close to real on my project, my basket of ever so precious golden acrylic and fluid paints, a sketch book that I clean my paint brushes on, a stamped bird on newsprint, the project I am working on for next week's Mixed Media Monday at the All That Stickles blog, a crop-a-dile and hammer, a DIY fabric thread bin catcher, scissors and scraps of raw canvas.

In the background (upper right corner) is another project drying waiting to be photographed and uploaded to my blog for the weekend's blog hop, again with All That Stickles.  It is sitting on my drawing table that is laying flat at the moment.  That table is surrounded by lots of drawing and colouring supplies.  Beside that is a dresser from my younger years full of various supplies and with more supplies on top, next to a rolling drawer tower that holds my steel dies.  Finally, that table just beyond my hammer is my die cutting station where I have another cardboard lid thing working as a holding tray for another group of projects.

I apologize for not taking the time to edit my writing this morning, but I have quite a lot to get back to.

I hope to find some time later to go visit the other WOYWW's.

I hope you enjoyed.  Thanks for stopping by.

ps. I have given up on trying to fix the comment box situation, I have been frustratingly defeated in my battle with; Blogger, google, and Facebook,  So do your best to leave me a comment below or in an email.


Monday, August 12, 2013

Mixed Media Monday: Beauty is truth... canvas



 Over at the All that Stickles blog I have posted my project for this week's link party: Anything Goes.
I made this 7x7" canvas by trying different and new to me techniques.  I had a blast.  I hope you like it.





Here is my long list of what it took to make this (just in case you are wondering):

1 7"x7" ugly canvas from a liquidation sale at a discount store that was closing
1 very big box of used acrylic paints bought at a Church rummage sale
1 stack of card stock(Staples)  bought for the purpose of stamping on but the paper turned out to be unsuitable for the inks but fine for the paint
1 gel (aka Gelli) plate made from scratch (8 boxes of gelatine, some water, alcohol and glycerin)
1 brayer
2 Flower border die cutters from Ek Success
Stickles by Ranger in colours; Copper, and Diamond
Distress ink by Ranger in Vintage Photo
Goosebumps by Tsukineko
Dry wall tape
Masking tape
1 plastic berry basket from the recyling bin
1 piece of plastic mesh from the recyling bin
Heavy Gel Medium by Liquitex
Mat Gel Medium by Golden
Gesso from Omer deSerres
Aleene's Tacky glue
Tombow glue
Lepage Super Gel glue
3 feathers bought at Dollarama
1 cocktail pin stick from Dollarama
1wooden snowflake die cut (Michaels)
2 vintage bingo chips from my stash of ephemera
1 brass label holder (Dollar Tree)
Natural air drying clay (Crayola)
1 Dymo label maker and black tape (Village des Valeurs)
vintage beads and jewelry bits from various thrift stores
a variety of paints were used in the making of this project:  Golden, Americana, Deco Art, Plaid, Lumin'arte
acrylic glazes: Silks (Dreaming Colours)
Gold Leaf Rub'nBuff
Java Walnut Ink (Tsukineko).


Thanks for viewing.


Friday, August 9, 2013

Get Inky! Halloween Spooktacular Blog Hop

Hellooooo!  Welcome to the Get Inky! blog hop and NEW Halloween 2013 stamp reveal  and SALE! You should be arriving from  La-Vie' s site.  If not please start at the Blue Moon Creation Blog where you will find the complete line up.

During this weekend only (August 9-11 midnight PST) we will be taking 20% off of your entire order at our Etsy Shop.  No minimum purchase required, just use coupon code 2013SPOOKTACULAR20 upon checking out.

The Design Team has been busy creating with these new stamps to show you some samples of what you too can do.  We have prizes for some, but first you must hop along to each blog, comment and follow.  Now, I know that Blogger sometimes has issues with the comment box on my blog, please be patient and if even jiggling the mouse doesn't work just come back Directly to my site, not from a link, and then you should be able to comment.  I know it is a hassle but there is nothing else I can do about this.   

So here are two of my projects:






For both cards I used the New GI Halloween 2013 stamps.
I used black card stock from American crafts, and yellow card from Staples. I stamped with Ranger archival Black ink and inked the edges with Ranger Distress Black Soot ink.  For the bat card I painted with Lumin Arte water colour H2O's:  Mango Mamba, Siam White, China Black.  The bat's wings wings and ears were glitered with Martha Stewart glitter and I used Sook Wang Score tape.
For the broom card I also used Stampin' Up! pastels to add some colour and Black Diamond stickles by ranger for a little bling.



We promised Treats not just tricks:
(Providing you follow the rules)
1 winner will receive one 2013 Halloween Spooktacular Stamp Set (value 27.99$, winner is responsible for shipping charges and will be billed via PayPal emailed invoice).
*To be eligible in the drawing for this set, you must complete 2 easy steps...
-Follow ALL blogs along the hop if you aren't doing so already.
-Comment on EVERY blog post along the hop.

We also have 3 $15 gifts to our Etsy shop!!!
*To be eligible for one of these prizes, you must...
-Follow ALL blogs along the hop if you aren't doing so already.
-Comment on ONE blog post.


Your next stop is: Sarah.
 Thanks for stopping by!
  


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

WOYWW August 7, 2013

So here again for anyone who is interested is a peek at my messy work stations.  I am enjoying these WOYWW's, although I have to remind myself to take pictures on Tuesdays before I clean up for the day so I have something to show for Wednesday.  Good thing I was lazy last night cause my iPad picture did not link up this morning so I had to pull out the camera and reshoot.  I enjoy checking out what others are doing too, but I find it hard to get through the whole list there are a lot of us!  WHooo!
Thank you Stamping Ground!

I am running out of work desk room!  Aghhh!  I have several projects going on and still lots of stuff to organise and put away.  The first picture is of a package I just received this morning it contains some lovely new QuickKutz cutting dies  by Lifestyle Crafts !  The packaging itself is so pretty.  I can not wait to plat/work with these.  Behind that is my piled up stack  of permanent ink markers, a hole bunch of recyclables waiting to be used as organizers and some miscellaneous tools I have been using.
Including my home made gel printing plate.


 This is my heavy duty work shop desk (I ran out of room on my desk)  where my art journal was left to dry after an art fiasco.  Yup, mistakes can lead to other creations.  In this case it has to!  I was playing with my Pan Pastels, and I was happy with my background, until I went just a little bit too far and goofed.  So more gesso to the rescue and the dried flowers and rub ons are to be used later on the same project.  the empty tea box is for another up cycling project I have in mind.


 Finally here is my actual work desk with remnants of yesterday's flower making project.  I used my fancy shmancy punches by EK success that I found for such a good deal at Winners (like Marshalls in the USA)  these punch out frilly borders that can be quilled into flowers.  Awesome.  I decided to use some paper I had made gelli prints on over the weekend, and I really like the effect.  Of course my flowers were not complete with out much inking and Stickles.


Well, I have to get back to writing up some posts for a blog hop this weekend, come back on Friday and see what I m up to.
Thanks for viewing!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Mixed Media Monday




Hello and Happy Monday to everyone! I am so excited to be doing this new feature about Mixed Media, as part of a NEW feature over at the " All That Stickles" blog  The idea is that each week I will present a Mixed Media piece of my own creation with the theme of the Linky Party going on.  Now the Linky parties run for two weeks at a time and our Design Team creates some really beautiful and fun samples to inspire your own creations that you can link up to the blog and have the chance to win some prizes from our ever so nice and generous sponsors for that month.  Remember, keep the theme in mind and most importantly:  STICKLE away!  We love to use those shimmery little bottles of greatness and we hope you do too!


So here goes, my creation this week: 



A two page spread in one of my Art Journals, "Options".  As you may already know Art journals are about anything you want them to be.  Mine are especially random and eclectic.  This journal is the one I keep around in my studio and take with me to classes and crops.  I use it to clean my paint brushes and other tools.  Really.  It is a way for me to create backgrounds in advance.  Then later when ever I have the need to make something, express some sort of feeling or just try out a new technique I can pull out this journal and already have a page or two that are not blank.  Artists and crafters are often scared of that blank page or canvas, so having some mark already made can be the catalyst to something unexpected and creative.  

The journal is a Canson XL Series Mix Media, 98 LB, 7x10".  The pages had a splattering of mossy green and smokey blue acrylics(probably a combination of Liquitex basics and Dollar store)  to begin.  the pages had stuck together in some places and when opened the pages tore a bit which gave it that texture that is hard to see in this photograph.  I used white gesso (Omer deSerres)  and some homemade stencils for more texture and to brighten up the pages.  The figure was made from the outline of a Prima Doll stamp and Black India ink (Pemco)  that I brushed on.  I used fine and extra fine tip black pens and markers (Staedler, Staples, Bic, Copic), some white chalk pastel (Galleria), charcoal coloured conte, rub ons (Dollarama and Staples), recycled tags, oil pastels, water soluble oil pastels (Binney & Smith), shimmery mica and ink sprays, extra heavy duty clear gel (Liquitex) to adhere the sparkly bead trims (recycled from old upholstery), Aleene's tacky glue, Distress inks by Ranger and STICKLES! (Blueberry Ice stickles, Rock Candy Distress stickles, and Gunmetal stickles).

In my work I use tools that range from high end expensive to downright cheap and cheerful.  Very good tools are worth investing in and cheaper tools that will get easily ruined should be cheap as long as they do the job, that's just my opinion.

Don't forget to head on over to the Linky Party and challenge yourself, right now the theme is "Anything Goes".  Have fun.  I hope you enjoyed this and thanks for viewing. :)

By the way I love viewer comments and would be delighted if you chose to follow my blog!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Anything goes with Stickles

Hello, here is the card I made for the Linky Party: Anything Goes at  the All That Stickles blog.  Go check it out and enter.



To make this Step card I used the digital stamp "Girlz - Get Your Craft on" from Bugaboo.  I used Distress inks: Squeezed Lemon, and Peacock blue.  I coloured with copics: E11, E13, E15, E00, E000, RV23, RV09, Y21, YG03, YG0000,Y08,Y11, C1, C3, BV00.  The papers and trim are from my stash.  Finally the Stickles: Pink, Yellow, Firefly.

  Come back on Monday I will have something new to share with you and the All That Stickles fans!
Thanks for stoping by.


August Sponsors for All that Stickles:






Friday, August 2, 2013

Fake it Fridays #5:Make Your Own Custom Washi Like Tape.

Hi everyone.  Welcome to another Fake It Friday!.  Today I am going to show you how to make your own custom washi tape (sort of).  Ok, this is made with regular masking tape, it tears easily so it is pretty close to the real thing.  To make your own decorative a.k.a washi tape you will need:
Masking or painter's tape (any width will do)  some rubber stamps(optional) and ink.  I like to use a black dye ink such as Memento. You will also need a waxy type paper base to temporarily hold the tape in place.  I save the sheets of sticker backing just for this purpose.  Also, something to colour with, copics and Sharpies work great.

Stick a piece, as long as you want, onto the non sticky waxy paper.  (I like to cut a 12" +, in case I want to use it on a scrapbook layout).

Ink up some stamps and stamp away on the tape.  Let it dry completely.  Test with your finger to make sure the stamped image is completely dry.  Colour in the design if you wish.



note: in the sample above I used the new Holidays 2013 stamp with the string of lights from Get Inky! stamps for Blue Moon Creation. 

You can also forego the stamping part and just doodle on the tape with inks.

To store your tapes you can keep them on the sheet and store in a file or plastic page protector.  I also have stored my homemade tapes onto empty rolls of tape (plastic) and empty spools for thread, I like to recycle.

note: I used random stamps from my kids toy box here



I hope you enjoyed this and are inspired to go and make something of your own.  Thanks for viewing.
By the way I love comments from my viewers (the comment linky can be finicky if you came here from another site, blogger has issues, sorry)  and if you want to keep up with my latest projects just let me know in one of the boxes in the side bar.