Aviation Pioneer Amelia - ATC

This ATC is very similar to one I made in July for the library card catalog swap.  I decided to make a second one to trade with a different ATC group that I joined.  My plan is to make a companion card featuring Charles Lindbergh, to possibly make a 2:2 trade with someone.

The Amelia and aviation stamp are both from Artistic Outpost.  Amelia was colored with Prismacolor pencils and the rest is a combination of distress inks and acrylic paint.  I don't think this scan does the card justice (not on my computer, anyway).  Amelia's face actually has a lovely peach glow and her coat is a richer green.  Some colors are just harder to scan than others.

Thanks for popping in!  Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Supplies:
Strathmore bristol vellum ATC blank; map from an old geography textbook; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; rubber stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival jet black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; white acrylic paint; wild honey, rusty hinge, barn door, crushed olive, frayed burlap, and vintage photo distress inks; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; scratched grid background stamp by Cornish Heritage Farms; Adirondack espresso acrylic paint dabber; Derwent peat and mustard tinted charcoal pencils; punchinella.

For Stella and Henry

I created this card for my friend Mary who has two very sweet Irish terriers named Stella and Henry.  I immediately thought of them when I saw this stamp, because their wirehaired coats give them a cute scruffy look.

I stamped the image on cardstock and colored it with Prismacolor pencils before die-cutting it.  The background consists of one of the Gelli prints I made during our Gelli Plate play date.  The Glossy Accents on my little dog made it difficult to photograph this card without getting some glare.  I'll try again later using different light.

Have a great day!

Supplies:
Black and gray cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; focal image stamp by American Art Stamp; Ranger Archival jet black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; handmade gelli print; Martha Stewart scalloped border punch; Glossy Accents; pop-dots.

Just Like Bogey and Bacall

I was saddened to hear that Lauren Bacall passed away a week or so ago.  She was such an icon from the Golden Age of Hollywood (one of my favorite eras), a great beauty and a talented actress.  Her legendary romance with Humphrey Bogart didn't hurt, either!

Since my Harold Lloyd envelope was such a big hit, I decided to do something similar with classic black and white photos of Bogey and Bacall.  Originally I meant to use both photos on an envelope, but I didn't print them large enough.  So instead I created two separate postcards.

I used 100 pound Bristol vellum paper by Strathmore for my base.  After stenciling on a background with distress inks, I adhered the photos and added some shading with charcoal pencil.  To finish the edges, I brushed on a thin border using a Krylon silver leaf pen.

For the address side, I simply stamped on a vintage postcard header by Tim Holtz.  Because these are not large postcards, I wanted to make sure I had plenty of room for a postage stamp, address, and a short message.

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Strathmore Bristol vellum paper; Heidi Swapp stencil; worn lipstick, broken china, and black soot distress ink; Derwent deep ocean charcoal pencil; Sakura gelly roll metallic purple and silver pen; postcard image by Tim Holtz; sentiment by Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; Krylon silver leaf pen.

With Sympathy

A friend of my parents' (who actually was a cousin to my grandma, but my mom never knew him until about ten years ago) passed away last week.  Vic and his wife Edna wintered in Arizona, not too far from where my folks stay when they are there, and they became good friends after being introduced by another family member.

Since Vic and Edna have been life-long farmers, I decided to use this tractor image by Oxford Impressions as my focal image.  I heat-embossed it in black on a patterned paper by DCWV.  The embossed birds were already on the green paper which is from the same paper stack.  I thought it made a fitting background for the tractor and for this particular card.

I hope you're having a grand weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Dark brown cardstock by Bazzill; soft suede cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by DCWV; tractor image by Oxford Impressions; Versamark ink; black embossing powder; frayed burlap distress ink; Martha Stewart border punch; corner rounder punch; pop-dots.

Who is Harold Lloyd? Envelope Mail Art

My July altered envelope partner says, "I would have Harold Lloyd's babies if I could."  Since that's not possible, she'll have to make do with this graphic altered envelope featuring his photo.

Harold Lloyd was a silent film star in the 1910s and 1920s, and from what I've read he was quite the comedic innovator.  I don't think I've seen any of his movies even though I watch a lot of old movies (TCM is one of my favorite cable channels).  I'm just not a big fan of the silents; I think it's the subtitles because I don't enjoy watching foreign films either. 

I found the Harold Lloyd images on the internet and printed them as 5x7 photos, then trimmed them closely.  On the front of the envelope, I used distress inks for the background and added a stamped border.  On the back, the background was created by scraping on acrylic paints through a stencil.  Once they dried, I laid the stencil back down and traced the design using a black Pitt artist pen.  The final result reminds me of old textured wallpaper.

Have a great day!

Supplies:
Strathmore Bristol vellum paper; Golden soft gel medium; picked raspberry, tumbled glass and faded jeans distress inks; miscellaneous blue and green acrylic paints; Ranger Archival jet black ink; Versamark ink; clear embossing powder; Prima Marketing stencil; rubber stamps by Artistic Outpost, Stampabilities, 7 Gypsies and Red Lead Paperworks; Marvy hot pink marker; Pitt black artist pen; Derwent ocean tinted charcoal pencil.

Coneflower Doodle and a Recipe

A couple of months ago my dad found several unused (brand new, still in the package) 2012 Dayrunner calenders in a desk he was cleaning out at work.  Since he knows I'm a paper fanatic, he asked whether I might have any use for them.  Of course I said yes!  I grabbed some metal rings I already had in my stash and had myself a free pad of scratch paper.  I use it to make lists, sketch card ideas, write myself reminder notes, whatever.

The other night I was watching a cooking show where they made a watermelon cucumber salad.  Our garden is going to be exploding with cucumbers soon, so I quickly jotted down the recipe.  And then while I watched the rest of the show, I doodled a little coneflower in the corner.  I've been thinking about doing a watercolor of a coneflower, so I've been practicing sketching them.  I may have to do something with this one even though it's small; perhaps put it on a moo?

Here's the recipe for the salad.  They didn't provide the amounts for each ingredient and I haven't been able to find the recipe on the show's website, so you'll just have to wing it if you try to make it yourself.

Watermelon Cucumber Salad

Diced watermelon and cucumber (small dice, equal parts)

Diced avocado (small dice, equal part)

Fresh mint, chopped

Fresh parsley, chopped

Fresh-squeezed lime juice

olive oil

Combine ingredients in bowl and chill before serving.

Doesn't that sound like the perfect summer salad?  I bet it's delicious and refreshing, and it's definitely light.  Here's a very similar sounding salad I found during my online search.  The only difference is that they used cilantro instead of mint and parsley.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Scratch paper; blue ink pen.

Be Yourself

I was looking forward to a quiet evening of card making last night, but certain people in the house had other ideas for how I should spend my time (you know how that goes!).  Before going to bed I did manage to create this simple card to send to someone "just because."

I thought this scruffy little dog was just the cutest thing, and I love the sentiment.  I stamped him on a solid paper from the Authentique Renew collection and colored him with Prismacolor pencils.  The patterned papers are from the same paper pad.  The green cardstock was embossed in the Cuttlebug using the distressed stripes folder.  I added some Glossy Accents to his collar and his little pink tongue (I think it's his tongue; if not, I made it into one).

That's good advice.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Black cardstock from Stampin' Up; green cardstock unknown; patterned papers by Authentique; focal image by American Art Stamp; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; Cuttlebug; distressed stripes embossing folder; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; Glossy Accents; corner rounder punch; pop-dots.