Treat Me Like the Queen

Here's a birthday card I made recently for a friend of mine.  It looks fairly simple but that didn't come easily.  I actually went around and around with this one for quite a while, trying different things that just weren't floating my boat, before finally scaling it back to this.  Sometimes less is more, especially when you need to get something into the mail sooner rather than later.

I used one of my favorite color palettes for this card: black, red and off white.  The patterned papers are by My Minds Eye.  The focal image is from the Loverly London set by Artistic Outpost.  In my imagination she's an Eliza Doolittle type a la My Fair Lady.  I stamped her on vanilla cardstock and colored her with Prismacolor Premier pencils.  She ended up getting die-cut a couple of times to reach this final size.  To jazz up the red background, I embossed the paper with a Cuttlebug embossing folder called geometric rings; the pattern reminds me of an old tin ceiling tile.  The sentiment is also from Artistic Outpost.  Say it out loud in your best Cockney accent.

TGIF!  Make it a great one!

Supplies:
Charcoal gray/black cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by My Minds Eye; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; old paper and gathered twigs distress ink; EK Success border punch; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; geometric rings embossing folder by Cricut Cuttlebug; pop-dots.

Mysterious Eyes - Altered Canvas

Once or twice a year, the altered envelope group I participate in has a "Weirdy Mail" option.  By weirdy mail, we mean an artsy bit other than an envelope or postcard, preferably sent through the mail "naked" (without packaging).  It's always fun to see what people manage to send through the mail with only a label and postage adhered to it.

I'll admit, I'm a little leery about sending naked weirdy mail, especially when I've spent so much time making something special for my partner.  I was doubly concerned this time, because my mail had to go to Canada (and Canada Post has been threatening to strike in recent months).  So I settled on a basic 8x8 wrapped canvas that could potentially go naked, but decided to wait until I was done with it to make a final decision.

Based on my partner's profile, I chose a Halloween theme and got to work creating a 4x4 collage for the hole in the back of the wrapped canvas.  The base of my collage was an old bingo card cut to size, and the focal point would be this lovely bat image from Oxford Impressions.  I stamped the bat on white cardstock and colored it with Prismacolor Premier pencils, then trimmed it closely.  I tinted the bingo card with distress inks and acrylic paint and added some rub-ons (the black grungy stuff) before adhering the bat.  The text was cut from an old novel.

Once I had my collage largely done, I turned my attention to the canvas itself.  First I gave the entire thing a coat of black gesso, then I painted the canvas with a mixture of black, purple and white acrylic paint.  Next I adhered a vintage-looking scrapbook paper to the wooden frame portion.  That paper was tinted with paint and ink to match the bingo card, and also received a few spots of the grungy rub-on.  At this point it was looking pretty good, but I still felt it was lacking something; it needed texture.  Molding paste to the rescue!  I applied molding paste through a stencil to the entire frame as well as to the central collage.  This turned out way better than I could have hoped, and it pulled the entire piece together.  Once the molding paste was dry, I tinted it with distress paints.

I adhered the central collage and outlined it with antique bronze Stickles.  I spattered white acrylic paint onto the entire thing (again, to integrate the collage with the frame) and then sealed everything with an acrylic spray.

I suppose you want to know whether my canvas got to travel naked or not.  Well, it did not.  I chickened out.  I didn't want it to get damaged or, God forbid, stolen by some crazed fan of winged mammals.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

A Lady Never Reveals...No. 2

I had so much fun with this envelope that I decided to make a similar one as a greeting card for another friend celebrating a birthday.  Since I had a duplicate sheet of the red patterned paper, I was able to make a matching envelope as well.

These patterned papers from Stampington will make a 4.25 x 5.5 inch envelope, so my black cardstock base was a quarter-inch smaller than that, or 4 x 5.25 inches.  I cut the patterned paper to fit the front of the base and adhered my lovely lady (also from Stampington).  I added some squiggles to the background using a white gel pen and a black PITT pen.  The words were computer generated.

So, what won't YOU reveal?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Have a fabulous day.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

I created this card for a friend who is turning the big 4-0.  We had a great time celebrating the occasion and I'm happy to say that she can still party like a rock star.

Since she's the baby of the family I decided to make her a sweet card using one of my favorite Tim Holtz images.  I combined it with pretty papers by My Mind's Eye and used four different Nestabilities to create some lovely layers.   The large ribbon flower from Michaels was jazzed up with a little glitter glue.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a grand day.

Supplies:
Dark pink and light pink cardstock; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; focal image by Tim Holtz; Ranger Archival jet black ink; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; banner die-cut by Spellbinders; birthday sentiment from Stampin' Up; pumice stone distress ink; flower from Michaels; Stickles glitter glue.

Collage Owl - Altered Envelope

I was digging through my clip-art file this week in search of inspiration, and discovered this fabulous owl image that was perfect for my October Envie Addicts exchange.

I created the envelope using a piece of patterned paper from one of my Stampington magazines.  (I have a huge stack of these papers, and I've decided that this is a good use for them since many have designs or colors I might not like at first glance.)  The patterned paper is glossy, so I used an old credit card to swipe it with titanium white acrylic paint; the paint gives the next layers something to cling to.  Along the bottom of the envelope I adhered some old book text, then stenciled the trees using dusty concord distress ink and stamped on the spatters using Ranger Archival Ink in a color called watering can.  After adhering the owl, I tinted it lightly with markers.

I added some shading around the owl using a black Stabilo All Pencil and smudged some gray Gelatos around the edges of the envelope.  A suspenseful sentence cut from my favorite old novel finished off this collage.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Patterned paper and clipart owl from Stampington and Company; We R Memory Makers envelope board; titanium white acrylic paint; tree stencil by The Crafters Workshop; bubbles stencil by Tim Holtz; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Ranger watering can Archival Ink; dusty concord distress ink; Derwent forest green tinted charcoal pencil; black Stabilo All Pencil; water pen; book text; Faber-Castell PITT artist pen; Gelatos.