Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Seeing Stars

Hello again, all! I'm on kind of a roll here with the crafting and actually posting this week. =) Today I have an ATC to share, inspired by this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, which is all about stars. As soon as I saw this challenge I knew I wanted to try and use some of my Studio Calico mistable Thickers stars which I've had sitting on my desk for ages and never opened. I love these mistable shapes but it occured to me that Studio Calico seems to have stopped making these....at least I don't remember seeing any in their upcoming releases. Maybe I'm the only one that loved them. =P Here's a couple of my other favorites, here and here. Anyway, enough gushing about product...on to my creation!

 
I made this cute little ATC using some pre-cut watercolor paper and my probably-should-get-it-patented Distress Inks on watercolor background technique. Although this time I just used plain water to blend rather than Perfect Pearls mist. The colors I used were Squeezed Lemonade, Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, and a touch of Seedless Preserves around the edges. I stamped the stars on the background using a stamp from this MME set. I used Seedless Preserves and then stamped again with gold paint to add a little bling and texture. The ticket was made using Tim's Odds and Ends stamp set, using Plum Archival ink for the outline and Walnut Stain Distress for the sentiment. I misted the stars with some mist I had already made up in a mini mister, first with Squeezed Lemonade mixed with some Perfect Pearls, and then with a tiny little spritz of Vintage Photo so that the yellow wasn't so bright on this slightly grungy tag. A little twine and an Idea-ology file tab finished it off.
 
 
Thanks for looking! =)
 
*~M~*


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

A Pair of Cards

Hello, all! I've got a couple of cards to share today. Over the weekend I was fairly productive and made a few cards, and these two were inspired by a sketch from Retro Sketches. I've been following their blog for a while and saving their GREAT sketches to my inspiration files, but this is the first time I've actually made a card in time to post them to the site. I loved the simplicity of this week's sketch and couldn't wait to play with it. Here's the original sketch:


And here's my first card:


 
 
I used stamps and bits from the Simon Says Stamp February card kit. The little hanger embellishment was from the kit....I'm sad there was only one, it's so cute! The washi tape is from my stash, so I'm not sure who makes it.
 
Here's my second card:
 
 
 
This one uses stamps from Lawn Fawn's Love and Breakfast set. I just did a little Copic coloring, cut the toast out and adhered it with some foam squares so they would look like they were popping off the card.
 
This sketch was super fun and I'll probably use it to make some more cards in the future. I think I might try a square one next. =)
 
Thanks for looking!
 
*~M~*
 

 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

January Tag

Hello all.....or anyone who is still reading this blog after a period of long neglect! I've been a baaaaad blogger. =P Anyway, I finally have a tag to share. I really wanted to have a go at making a tag for this month after seeing the January tag on Tim's blog. I didn't do any of the monthly tags last year (how did that happen?!?!), but this month's seemed easy enough and I have a close approximation of all of the supplies. I was finally getting around to it this week and decided to combine it with this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, which is "what are you known for". I don't feel like I'm really "known" for anything, but if there's one technique I go to time and time again it's making blended backgrounds using watercolor paper, Distress Inks, and Perfect Pearls mist. So I decided to use Tim's basic design but change up the parts a little to make a tag that is entirely "me". =)

 
 
Here's a shot of the background before I put a bunch of stuff on it. I used a different embossing folder for my tag since the clocks didn't really match the theme I was going for. I used Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks for the background and added a touch of Vintage Photo on the edges to define them a little. I sprayed the whole thing with my beloved Biscotti Perfect Pearls mist, which of course you can't see. Someday someone will devise an ingenious way to photograph Perfect Pearls without washing out the rest of the piece. Alas, that someone will not be me. =)
 
Here's the finished tag:
 
 
 
 
I changed all the gear bits to flowery bits and stamped the ribbon with butterflies, which is another thing I tend to stick on everything. I love my butterflies. =) I kept the film strip because, let's face it, that stuff goes with everything. I didn't have the same sentiment Tim used so I went with this one about dreams, which is why I tried to give the rest of the piece a bit of a dreamy feel.
 
 
 
 
I used the metallic Distress stains on my flowers, leaving out the silvery one since it didn't seem to match. I have to admit I was not overly excited about these stains until I saw them in action - they are AWESOME. Way easier to use than paint and the shimmer is fantastic. I used a little tissue tape and one of Tim's little word stickers in the corner instead of the label since I felt they went with my theme better. Overall a very girly, shiny tag which is very me. =)
 
Thanks so much for looking!
 
*~M~*
 

 









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