Are You Feeling Lucky? Well, Are Ya?

My brother's birthday is tomorrow and I figured it might be bad luck if I didn't at least send him a card.  (I'm just kidding.  I'm not superstitious about Friday the 13th.  Are you?)  I was just happy for the excuse to do something creative, since I haven't had much time for art this month.

I used several stamps from Artistic Outpost to create this card.  The focal images were colored with Prismacolor pencils and distress inks.  The strip of burlap hides the fact that the little boy image ends at the waist.  The vintage buttons are from my stash.  One still had old thread in the holes, so I just left it there.

ETA:  This card was selected by the Artistic Outpost Referral Program as a "Top 3" for the month of December!   This is the second time in six months that I've received this recognition.  Fun!

Have a great day.  Thanks for popping in!

Supplies:
Brown cardstock by Bazzill; crumb cake cardstock from Stampin' Up; rubber stamps from Artistic Outpost; patterned papers by Prima Marketing; Ranger archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; vintage photo and forest moss distress inks; peat charcoal pencil; round and scalloped round Nestabilities by Spellbinders; corner rounder punch; burlap scrap; vintage buttons; heavy gel medium.

2014 Art Calendar Challenge - November

I finished my November calendar earlier in the month but never posted it because I couldn't get any good pictures of it; the colors were off no matter which lighting or setting I tried.  Now it's the end of the month and I decided I just need to post what I have and move on. 

My background started with some Tim Holtz tissue wrap that I dry-brushed with gesso.  I then added the hexagon stenciling using acrylic paint and once that was dry, I adhered the circles for each day.  I needed something to distinguish the circles from the background more, so I rubbed on some Gelatos and that's what really brought this calendar to life.  The final steps involved stamping on the swirl border, highlighting the circles and hexagons with black Pitt artist pen, and adding the letter stickers.

Besides the lovely color achieved with the Gelatos, this month's calendar also has some subtle texture thanks to the acrylic stenciling and the tissue wrap.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; Tim Holtz tissue wrap (Melange); Heidi Swapp stencil; Liquitex acrylic paint; black Pitt artist pen; Faber-Castell Gelatos; patterned paper from Stampington and Company; swirl border by Stampabilities; Ranger archival black ink; letter stickers (unknown); white gesso; soft gel medium.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving,

 with many reasons to give thanks!

Birthday Fortune

I am horribly behind on sending birthday cards to my friends.  I have a good excuse:  I'm swamped with work this fall.  But I still feel guilty so I'm determined to make some cards this week and get them in the mail.

The main image from Artistic Outpost was stamped on kraft cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I highlighted her jewelry using Glossy Accents.  The patterned papers are by 7 Gypsies.

Have a great day!  Thanks for popping by.

Supplies:
Brown cardstock by Bazzill; kraft cardstock by Stampin' Up; patterned papers by 7 Gypsies; stamped images by Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; vintage photo distress ink; copper brads from Michaels; pop-dots.

Happy Veterans Day

Please find time today to thank the veterans in your life for their service, and continue to hope that all of our current military men and women return safely home.

Feel Better Soon - Masculine

A dear friend of the family is in the hospital and not doing too well, so I created this card to send to him.

I stamped the image by Artistic Outpost on a piece of ledger paper, colored it with Prismacolor pencils and distress inks, and tied a piece of scrapper's floss around it.  His hat, vest, and red bowtie received a treatment of Glossy Accents. The focal image was adhered with pop-dots on top of some other patterned papers by My Mind's Eye for a simple and graphic card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Black cardstock by Bazzill; kraft cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; collage image from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; vintage photo distress ink; Karen Foster's scrapper's floss; pop-dots; Glossy Accents; corner rounder punch.

You Can't Get a Man with a Gun - Bookmark

I'm sending a book to a friend for her birthday, so I decided to make a bookmark to coordinate with her card, which you can see here.  This was my third attempt at this bookmark and I was ready to give up, let me tell you!  But the third time was the charm and I'm happy with how it turned out.

For the background, I started by adding some vintage text scraps to a piece of Cosmo Cricket patterned paper.  I then dry-brushed some warm white acrylic paint and over-stamped a crackle background.  My cowgirl from Artistic Outpost was stamped on vanilla cardstock, colored with pencils, and trimmed closely before being adhered.  The sentiment (also from Artistic Outpost) was stamped on the margin of an old piece of sheet music.  Final touches include some charcoal pencil outlining, white acrylic paint stenciled through punchinella, and a black acrylic border.  After spraying the bookmark with acrylic sealer, I reinforced the back with a piece of Bazzill cardstock and added the large eyelet and ribbon at the top.  This bookmark measures 2.5 x 5.5 inches.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Cosmo Cricket patterned paper; vintage book text; frayed burlap distress ink; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; sentiment and image from Artistic Outpost; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; crackle background stamp (unknown); Adirondack white and black acrylic paint dabber; punchinella (sequin waste); dark charcoal pencil; extra large copper eyelet from We R Memory Makers (I think!); ribbon from Michaels.