Summertime Update

Hello everyone!  Hope you are all having a great summer.  I have been watching and enjoying the Olympics NON-STOP!!  I always enjoy seeing the world's best come together in the spirit of friendly competition.  Humankind can be so amazing sometimes!  Here are some cards I have made over the last couple of months...Peace.

This first card was for my train-loving father-in-law for Father's Day.  I used Tim Holtz' CMS127 "On the Railroad" stamp set for this.  I stamped the giant locomotive on the background, then stamped the train track on acetate with Archival ink and attached it with the Tiny Attacher, adding the typewriter keys with brads.  Finally, I stamped the Railroad Crossing stamp on shrinky-dink plastic and cut it out, then shrank it with my heat tool, painted the back with Snow Cap acrylic paint dabber and adhered it with Glossy Accents.   

This card was made using a Dreamweaver stencil in a weird way.  I covered the stencil with Versamark ink and stamped it on the tag and embossed it using clear embossing powder.  This created a resist of the "negative" of the stencil.  The Versamark did not stick completely, so I got a really distressed look, which, I really liked!  Then I inked the flower with various colors of distress inks.  Since the majority of the tag was embossed, the ink went only on the flower and the top and bottom edges of the tag.  Pretty cool, right?  For the ribbon, I started with white satin ribbon and custom-colored it with the same colors of distress stain that I used for the flowers.

I have been wanting to try out this hot air balloon stamp for awhile and finally came up with this card.  It features Tim Holtz' CMS130 "Remnants" stamp set.  First, I sprayed the background with some Dylusions ink spray.  Then I stamped the balloon with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Then I colored the balloon with Copic markers.  I used yellow for the actual balloon, which came out looking green because I colored over the blue background.  I then stamped the red star to finish the balloon.  For the sentiment, I used Tim's Sizzix "Tattered Banners" die which I also spritzed with Dylusions ink spray.

Wow this Blog has been Neglected!

Howdy Friends!  I have not been too great at posting here lately so I have a ton of cards to show you!  I hope you enjoy these pictures.  Have a very happy Easter!  Peace.

Randomness -  inch by inch.

Love Love Love gears and clocks and such!

Don't look now but there is a bird on your head.

What does it mean?  I don't know but I like it!

I was feeling quite circular that day...

Here's where I learned how to weld letters together and cut them with my Cricut.

Fun with heavy-duty household aluminum foil and alcohol inks.

Perfect Pearls Interference colors and a Pearl misted background.

I really love the classic simplicity here.

November Birthdays!

Hi all.  I hope you had a nice pre-Thanksgiving weekend.  Ours was great fun!  We celebrated Thanksgiving early along with a GINORMOUS family birthday party!  I wanted to share some of the cards I made for this event.  Peace.

I was unsure about this Tim Holtz butterfly die ("Fanciful Flight") at first, but now I LOVE IT!  Also, his "Tattered Banners" really rock!  After this card was all put together, I misted it with turquoise Perfect Pearls mist.

I had so much fun making this card for my nephew.  It features the Tim Holtz' "Regal Crest" die and the "Bricked" embossing folder.  The brick background really adds to the theme (whatever the theme is, that is!)

I don't use my Copic markers nearly as much as I should.  Since Copics are so easy to use, I almost feel like a real artist when I use them.  Hee hee!

I love the way this card turned out.  Again, this is classic Tim Holtz goodness through and through.  It features Timmy's "Old Jalopy" die.  After assembling the car, I covered it in Clear Rock Candy crackle paint.  Pure awesomeness!  I even used some of that plastic packaging stuff for the car windows.  You probably can't see that in the photo, so just trust me on this, 'k?

What?  More Tim Holtz?  Yeah, that guy just makes me smile.  For this card, I used the "Weathered Clock" die with some crackle paint.

Any other Twi-Hards out there?  Wasn't Breaking Dawn Part 1 awesome?  After seeing it last weekend at midnight with my Super-Twi-Hard sister-in-law, I made this card for her.  I found the SVG chess pieces online here (http://mytimetocraft.com/2010/06/02/chess-pieces-svg/) and downloaded them and cut them with my Cricut Expression.  (In case you are curious, I am TEAM EDWARD, but really, could you go wrong either way?  I don't think so!)  ;-)

Tag Card Times Two

Howdy y'all.  It sure is hot out this summer.  I am patiently waiting for the fall temps to kick in, but in the meantime, I guess I'll stay inside and make some cards.  Here are two cards I made for two of my nieces' birthdays.  I really love the way these both turned out!  What do y'all think?  Peace.

Mother's Day

Here is the Mother's Day card I made for my amazing Mom who is 94 years wise!  Yes, that is a picture of my Mom and me!  The flowers were colored by inking the tag with appropriate colors keeping in mind how I was going to position the flower stamp.  Then I stamped the flowers with Versamark ink and embossed the stamped images with clear embossing powder.  Once the embossing was done, I went over the entire tag with the darker ink and the embossing acted as a resist to allow the first layer of color to pop out.  Pretty cool technique!  Thanks to Jane and T!m for the inspiration.  Peace.

Celtic Cross

Hi everyone!  Here is a card I made for our nephew's Confirmation.  I found and downloaded the free svg file of the cross here (http://www.svgcuts.com/blog/2010/11/01/free-svg-file-sure-cuts-a-lot-11-01-10-celtic-cross/).  I used my Cricut Expression and the "Sure Cuts A Lot" program to cut it out.  This was a manual-intensive card, because of all the tiny little pieces that make up the cross.  Thank goodness for my Xyron!  Peace.

Foil Tag Technique

Howdy bloggers!  Well, Fiesta is over in San Antonio.  Maybe you've heard the saying, "Ain't Gonna Resta 'til After Fiesta."  I took that a little too literally this year!  We worked or attended too many events.  I, for one, am glad it's over!  I think next year we will take it a little easier.  OK, enough about that.  Today I am showing you a tag card using heavy duty aluminum foil.  I started with one of my homemade tags and adhered the foil to it.  I used liquid Scotch Quick Dry adhesive, but since then I have bought some spray adhesive for the next time.  I think that may be a better choice.  I trimmed the foil to the size of the tag.  Then I ran it through my Sizzix Big Kick with the Tim Holtz "Patchwork" embossing folder.  After that, I pounced on it with some alcohol inks.  To make sure the foil didn't separate from the tag, I alcohol-inked some aluminum tape and applied it to the edges of the tag.  The stamped butterflies along the right side are painted with Perfect Pearls powder mixed with water.  I colored the large butterfly with Copic markers.  I should credit my teacher Inky Jane for the design.  I shamelessly stole it from a card we made in class recently.  Thanks, Jane!!  Peace.