Fishing Tackle Vintage Collage and Flying Fish Get Well Card

The 1952 Hammond's Nature Atlas of America in my stash is full of beautiful images that I've started to mine for collages.  Today I'm sharing two projects featuring fish.

This collage started with the lovely brook trout.  He appears to be leaping out of the water after a fly, which sent me on a search through some old geography textbooks for water photos.  The fishing tackle text came out of a reproduction 1900 Sears and Roebuck Catalog.  I chose the vintage orange postage stamp because its color complimented the fish, and the final touch was a postal cancellation mark stamped on top.

Since the first fish collage turned out so well (if I do say so myself), I made a second one as a get well card for a co-worker who was recently in the hospital.  She and her boyfriend love to fish, so I think she'll like this card.  I believe this fish is a tuna, and he is really leaping out of the water.  I chose a pink vintage postage stamp which played nicely against the green water, and stamped on two postal cancellation marks.  This collage was matted on vanilla cardstock before being adhered to a black card base.

In case you're wondering where I got a 1952 Hammond's Nature Atlas of America:  it was in a box of books that my dad purchased at an auction.  After he pulled out the books he wanted, he let me sort through them and take what I wanted.  My vintage book stash has definitely benefited from my dad's joy of reading!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fabulous day.

Froggie Went a-Courtin' - Get Well Card

I just couldn't resist this adorable bicycle-riding frog when I saw him recently at my local Michaels store.  He's so dapper and is sure to bring cheer in any number of ways.  Today, he's gracing a get well card that I'm sending to someone having surgery.

Froggie was stamped on whisper white cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The patterned papers by Bazzill are in a color called intense kiwi.  Indeed!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Purple and white cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; frog image by Inkadinkado; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; Martha Stewart border punch; corner rounder punch.

Home Run Hitter

A friend of my parents was recently diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatments.  We just went through a similar ordeal with my dad, and I remember how grateful we were to have the support of our friends and extended family.  A fun piece of mail was also a welcome treat.

Since Al played softball with my dad in Arizona, I pulled out my Cracker Jack stamps from Artistic Outpost to make a card for him.  The color scheme was set by the vibrant piece of teal cardstock that I selected for the base.  The background was created by stamping the stadium names in watering can ink and then over-stamping the baseball in a ColorBox ink called sapphire silk.  My home run hitter was stamped in black and colored with Prismacolor pencils.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a grand slam day.

Supplies:
Teal and aqua cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger black Archival Ink; Ranger watering can Archival Ink; ColorBox sapphire silk ink; Cracker Jack stamps from Artistic Outpost; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits.

Pip Pip! Get Well Card

A good friend of my parents just had surgery, so I created this card to send him some cheer.

I'll tell you a little secret:  all of the papers (except the brown cardstock I used for the base) came from my stash of paper scraps.  I rummaged around until I found four pieces that kind of went together, and then sponged on distress inks to further integrate the various designs.  I stamped the Union Jack collage onto the rust-colored paper to start my background.  For the focal image, I stamped the London/Queen's Guard collage image onto a light-colored paper with black ink (all stamps are from Artistic Outpost, by the way), and used wild honey, barn door and walnut stain distress ink to tint it.  My dapper gent was stamped in black on the same light-colored paper, tinted with old paper distress ink, and fussy-cut.

The sentiment was stamped with rusty hinge distress ink and heat embossed on the same paper that the gent and the London collage were stamped on.  It was mounted on a scrap of the rust paper, distressed, and accented with two antique copper brads before being adhered with foam tape.  It's been a long time since I used a brad, but in the past they were practically a given on my cards, especially those made for guys.  That touch of metallic just reads masculine to me.

Have a great day!  Thanks for visiting my blog.

Supplies:
Brown cardstock by Bazzill; four various patterned papers; stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; wild honey, old paper, rusty hinge, barn door and walnut stain distress inks; Ranger potting soil ink; clear embossing powder; border punch by EK Success; foam tape.

Cheerio!

I know that "Cheerio" generally means good-bye in Great Britain, but in my case I'm using it to say hello on this greeting card.

To create the background, I randomly stamped a collage image from Artistic Outpost's Loverly London set onto vanilla cardstock.  I blended scattered straw and gathered twigs distress ink around the edges and sponged on barn door distress ink through a piece of punchinella.  For the focal image, I stamped the Big Ben images onto the same vanilla cardstock and then die cut the oval.  My top hat guy was stamped separately and trimmed closely before being adhered.  The sentiment is from Artistic Outpost's London Underground set.

Thanks for stopping by.  Cheerio!

Supplies:
Blue cardstock by Bazzill; black and very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; images from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black and watering can ink; barn door, scattered straw and gathered twigs distress inks; punchinella; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; pop-dots.

In Time

Last night we learned that my mom's sole surviving uncle had a fall at home, broke his leg, and is rehabbing at a local care center.  We don't know how long he'll be there, so I made a card to go into the mail ASAP.

For this card, I used an image by Paperbag Studios that was one of the early stamps I bought when I started to make my own greeting cards.  I stamped it on a Daisy D patterned paper from my stash and set it aside until I chose my overall color scheme.

I used two patterned papers by DCWV for the bottom layer, but of course had to doctor them up a bit.  I stenciled distress ink through a piece of punchinella, then added coarse molding paste through a measuring tape stencil.  Once the paste dried, I tinted it with stormy sky distress ink.  I added more stenciling using just the ink.  Then I went back to my focal image and sponged on coordinating inks to tie everything together.

Making my own cards brings me such joy, and I don't know anyone that doesn't appreciate receiving a card or letter in the mail.  I think this is especially true of my generation and my elders, who grew up without email, texting or Facebook (or even cheap phone calls!  Remember how expensive it used to be to call long distance?).  For past generations, the mail was the method used to keep in contact with friends and family, both near and far.  It feels good to carry on that tradition.

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Dark gray cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by DCWV and Daisy D; In Time stamp by Paperbag Studios; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Ranger Archival ink jet black; punchinella; Tim Holtz measuring tape stencil; Golden coarse molding paste; bundled sage, stormy sky, brushed corduroy distress ink; Ranger Archival ink watering can; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; EK Success border punch; pop-dots.

Cute as a Button

I don't make many "cutesy" cards; they just don't come very easily to me.  But once in a while that's exactly the kind of card I want to send to someone.  In those cases, I've discovered that the right images will do most of the work for me.  So when I found this Cute as a Button stamp set by Red Lead, I had to buy it.  The set includes three stamps: the dress, the button and the sentiment.

I paper-pieced the dress by stamping it on yellow, blue and white papers, then I cut out the blue and white pieces and adhered them to the yellow.  Although I have a stash of real buttons I could use, they add weight and bulk which means using a padded envelope and paying more postage.  Even if I add some thread to my paper buttons like I did here, I should be able to use a regular envelope and just an extra piece of lightweight cardstock to protect the front of the card.  (Oh, and 21 cents more postage because it's a square card!  LOL!  But it's still less than package rate.)

I'm sending this to a friend who recently had surgery.  I thought some unexpected happy mail would be appreciated.

Have a great day!

Supplies:
White textured cardstock by Bazzill; patterned paper by Basic Grey; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; stamped images from Red Lead Paperworks; Ranger Archival jet black ink; Cuttlebug Swiss dot embossing folder; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; scalloped border punches by EK Success; oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; scrapper's floss by Karen Foster Design; corner rounder punch; 5/8 round punch; pop-dots.

School Memories Get Well Card

I've worked in education for all of my adult life.  So when I found some school-themed papers with a vintage vibe (the School Memories Collection by Prima Marketing) while on vacation in January, I just had to buy them.  And finally I'm getting around to using them: on this get well card for a colleague who recently had surgery.  This card didn't involve any stamping (except for the inside sentiment), although I did ink up all the edges and distress the report card to make it look genuinely old.

To accompany the card I created another moo-sized magnet.  I just love making these!  I even went and bought more magnets today because I was running low.  I won't say I'm obsessed, but I know I will be making more moo magnets in the near future.

Welcome to my new followers and thank you all for stopping in for a peek at my blog. Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Card:  Black cardstock by Bazzill; naturals white and gray cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by Prima Marketing; pumice stone and vintage photo distress inks; pen nibs by Tim Holtz; pop-dots.
Moo Magnet:  140 lb watercolor paper; patterned paper by Prima Marketing; vintage Czech book text; white acrylic paint; focal image by Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; very vanilla cardstock by Stampin' Up; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; dream sticker by Tim Holtz; peat charcoal pencil; Adirondack gold and espresso acrylic paint dabber; Plaid gloss acrylic spray sealer.

Feel Better Soon

I created this card for my mom to send to one of her "snowbird" friends who had back surgery yesterday.  I don't know this friend well, so I let my mom choose the stamp. 

She selected this lovely image by Artistic Outpost, which I colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The patterned papers are by My Mind's Eye.  I inked up a white Heidi Swapp butterfly with distress inks and only then discovered that it was embossed with the lines.

It's Friday!  It's Friday!  Thank goodness it's Friday!  Have a fabulous weekend.

Supplies:
Dark cerise and gray cardstocks by Bazzill; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; Stazon black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; pumice stone, black soot, and Victorian velvet distress ink; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities; EK Success scalloped border bunch; chipboard butterfly by Heidi Swapp; silver pearls by Recollections; pop-dots.

A Speedy Recovery

I created this card for a friend's husband who recently had surgery.  He's a motorcycle rider so I think he'll appreciate the image I used.

 
The Texas map is from an old geography textbook that belonged to my grandmother.  The circular die cut includes the counties around their town.  I wonder if they'll notice?

Have a great day!

Supplies:
Stamps from Artistic Outpost; lavender, green, very vanilla, and crumb cake cardstock from Stampin' Up; Color Box black pigment ink; clear embossing powder; herringbone embossing folder; round and rectangle die cuts by Spellbinders; Stazon black ink; old paper distress ink; pop-dots; corner rounder punch.