Auld Lang Syne - Gift Set

My last project for 2016 is a gift set consisting of a greeting card and a pair of earrings in a matchbook holder.  I made them for my friend Mary, who has invited me over for New Year's Day.  We and the dogs are going to "power lounge" all afternoon in our casual clothes (aka yoga pants), noshing on snacks, imbibing in semi-hard beverages, and gabbing away.  I am really looking forward to it!

Of course I can't show up without a hostess gift, so I decided to make Mary a pair of earrings.  I still have a lot of supplies from when I was making jewelry (pre-rubber stamping days).  I selected some square red coral beads and paired them with silver seashells and findings.  Then I created this matchbook to hold the earrings.

I followed the basic instructions in this Youtube video to make the matchbook, although I had to alter the dimensions a little so that the earrings would fit inside.  I decorated the front of the matchbook with a patterned paper scrap, a small piece of torn sheet music and a vintage postage stamp.  The earrings are attached to a matching piece of gray cardstock and simply tuck inside.

To complete the set, I made this greeting card using images from Artistic Outpost's Auld Lang Syne plate.  I heat embossed the background image on a patterned paper that had come out of a Stampington magazine.  I heat embossed the baby image on a separate piece of cardstock, cut it out and mounted it on pop-dots for dimension.

It feels good to be ending the year on a creative high note.  Thanks for coming along this journey with me!

Supplies:
Earrings: dyed red coral square beads; round seashell silver beads; silver-plated brass beads; sterling silver head pins and French wires.
Matchbook: gray cardstock by Bazzill; patterned paper by the Paper Studio; vintage sheet music; vintage postage stamp; pumice stone distress ink.
Card:  gray and red cardstock by Bazzill; patterned paper from Stampington and Company; stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger watering can ink; clear embossing powder; pumice stone distress ink; pop-dots; corner rounder punch.

Happy Birthday - Shaker Card

A friend of mine who is also a rubber stamper sent me an envelope of transparencies and issued a challenge: I am to make her a shaker card, and she will do the same for me.  As long as I've been stamping, I have never made a shaker card!  So I watched a few tutorials and as practice, made this shaker card for my mom's birthday card.

I didn't feel like stamping, so I selected this sweet girl from a pack of Tim Holtz instant ancestors.  Then I shopped my stash for a vintage-style patterned paper and found this collage print by Basic Grey which was just perfect.  It was a little more difficult to figure out what to put in the shaker.  Seems like most people are using sequins or shaped confetti, of which I have none.  But I have several colors of microbeads and they are ideal.  Not only are they small enough, they make a wonderful sound when you shake the card.  I added some freshwater pearl beads that I originally bought for jewelry making but wasn't able to use the way I wanted because the holes are too small.

The lace along the bottom was in a small package of miscellaneous laces I purchased at an antique shop.  The final touch was the green scalloped oval frame that I made using two Spellbinders dies.

This shaker card turned out pretty cute considering it was a spur of the moment decision to make it and I didn't buy any new supplies.  I think my mom will like it, too.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a grand day.

Supplies:
Green and ivory cardstock by Bazzill; patterned paper by Basic Grey; Tim Holtz found relative; copper microbeads; freshwater pearls; foam adhesive strips from Stampin' Up!; Scotch foam tape; transparency; scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; vintage lace; brushed corduroy distress ink.

Merry Christmas!

May your holiday season be filled with love and laughter.

My First Hand-Carved Stamp!

The hospital where my dad had his cancer treatments sent us a flyer recently with a list of support activities for patients, their families, or caregivers.  One activity that caught my eye was an art therapy group meeting at a local arts academy.  I called to get more information and although the person I spoke with did not know what type of activity the group would be doing, I was encouraged when I learned that Russ Fagle was the facilitator.  He's a local artist who I've actually met through a friend of mine.  So I decided to give it a try and boy, am I glad I did because the activity was carving our own stamps!

Carving my own stamps has been on my art bucket list for a while now, and especially after I obtained an instruction booklet and linoleum cutter that had been my grandmother's.  She had passed it on to my cousin Lisa years ago, but Lisa decided it wasn't something she wanted to try so she passed the items to me about two years ago.

Linoleum cutter and block printing brochure (copyrighted 1949).

At Thursday night's get-together, we were given several small erasers from a dollar store, a cutting tool, sketch paper and pencils. After some brief instructions from Russ, we were set loose to design and cut our stamps.  Because the erasers were pretty small (only about 3/4 of an inch by 1 inch), a simple design was in order. I settled on a tulip, my signature flower for years.  I sketched my tulip on the paper using a 3B Staedtler pencil, which allowed me to transfer the image to the eraser simply by pressing the eraser against my drawing.  I used the smallest blade available to cut out the tulip and voilà!

My first hand-carved stamp!  I couldn't have been more thrilled.  Here is what it looked like once I got home and stamped it on smooth cardstock using black ink.  I love the extra marks along the bottom and how the flower is out of proportion; it gives the image a vintage folk art feel.

While I was at it I stamped several more tulips, colored them with Prismas, and created these simple note cards to add to my stash.  Then I was ready to carve a couple more of my own stamps, using the extra erasers I brought home from class.

But alas, carving more stamps will have to wait. I'll give you a clue as to why.

Notice anything?  Yep, there are NO BLADES!  Either I didn't notice this when I first received the cutter, or I had forgotten this fact.  So, no more hand-carved stamps until my order arrives from Dick Blick.

In the meantime, my mind is full of ideas for images I'd like to carve to use in my artwork.  Tell me, what would you carve?  (Annie, you don't have to answer that!)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Man's Best Friend

My big brother's birthday is this week and although I'm not certain he really appreciates a handmade card, that is the only type I send (if I send one at all).  In this case, I'm using one of my earliest Tim Holtz stamps which features a little boy and his dog.  It's pheasant season right now and my brother has been spending a lot of time with his dog, so I think he'll like this image.

As part of my effort to use supplies that I have, I pulled out some Bo Bunny papers that I've had for at least three years and have used only once (to make this Mother's Day card in 2013).  I like the rich hues in this collection (called Serenade) and the fact that the patterns are appropriately sized for smaller projects even though the papers are 12x12.  The focal image and the sentiment were stamped on one of the solid papers in the collection and die-cut.  I sponged scattered straw and vintage photo distress ink around the edges to age the papers a little.  The square brad is another old item from my stash.  Its main purpose is to finish off that awkward, straight end of the banner.

Winter has arrived with its old pals Snow, Cold and Wind, so I'm happy to stay inside and be creative.  Thanks for stopping by to share this day with me!

Supplies:
Black cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Bo Bunny; focal image by Tim Holtz; sentiment from Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; scattered straw and vintage photo distress inks; oval, scalloped oval, and banner dies from Spellbinders; border punch by Martha Steward; fancy brad (unknown); pop-dots.