davebrethauer

Stamp n Hand

Stamp n Hand, a store stuffed with an eclectic variety of stamps, collectibles and gifts, is in the heart of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Margie hosted me for a day's worth of classes on the final day of my Midwest tour. Now when I say the store is packed - I mean it is Packed! Lots to look at in here! Plan an hour or two to comb through shelves and boxes in all the areas set up in the store - and Margie is enthusiastic about all that she sells. I enjoyed browsing through old issues of Somerset Studio when I was picking up after the workshops. There were a lot of students, so Margie set up a class space next door to accomodate the group. So grab your cheese curds and your wish list and head over to Stamp n Hand!

The Spooky Collage

 

Without a doubt, the most asked about sample on my Class tour this year was the Spooky Collage. Ready to have some fun with glaze and alcohol inks? Well, here's all you need to know!

Remember to breathe! This is all about making it uniquely your own and embracing imperfection (this is what makes the project so beautiful!).

So the Spooky Collage (G1387) is the image we will start out with:

You'll also need:

1 sheet of our Soiree Opal Cardstock

Glossy Accents (or Diamond Glaze) - a clear, thick glaze

Copic Reinker (or alcohol based ink) in yellow, orange, red and brown

Foam brush

Sponge Dauber

Acrylic Paint in Yellow and Green

Clear Embossing Powder

Brilliance Graphite Black inkpad

Versamagic Gingerbread inkpad

Begin with a 4 x 5 piece of Opal cardstock - the sturdy weight and coated surface will hold up to all the work we will be doing to the paper. 

Brush the paper with green acrylic paint (I used a bright, lime green). Just lightly coat the paper, allowing some of the paper to still show through - don't completely cover it.

Add a layer of yellow acrylic paint - covering some of the green, but being careful not to completely cover the entire paper. Just brush it on, be a little messy.

Pour a small pile of clear embossing powder onto the lower right corner of your paper. This is where the word "spooky" will be stamped. You can use any type of clear embossing powder - Ultra Thick, Regular, Detail. I have a jar of powder has been contaminated from old projects. Rather than throw out the powder if it gets some glitter or other embossing powder mixed into it, I save it for projects like this!

 

 

Using a heat gun, heat the powder (from the underside of the paper so that the powder doesn't blow off) until it melts and forms a puddle. Have your stamp inked with the Graphite Black ink, so that you can stamp it into the hot embossing powder before it hardens back up.

The rubber will press into the melted embossing powder and mold around the image slightly. The look is very cool - like a wax seal. Just press and hold the rubber stamp into the melted powder for a good 30 seconds - the puddle will cool and harden. Then carefully pull the stamp off the paper. Allow the ink to dry for at least an hour before handling further (you can heat set it with a heat gun - but don't heat the embossing powder area or the "spooky" word will melt and spread out!).

Cut the paper down - right to the edge of the image. Using a Gingerbread inkpad, brush the edges (directly onto the paper). This step will antique the edges and allow some of the brush strokes to show up from the acrylic paint. Remember, the more layers we do, the more interesting this piece of art will become. Heat set or allow to air dry (remember to avoid the embossing powder area).

Time to roll our sleeves up! Pour some Glossy Accents (about the size of a quarter or so) onto the paper and spread with a foam brush. Drip some Copic ink (or other alcohol based ink) around the edges of the paper - a couple drops of yellow, a couple drops of orange, maybe a little red in the upper right and maybe a little brown here and there. Don't drop any directly on the bird - the ink will travel through the glossy accents and we don't want to obscure the bird (or the word "spooky"). Use the foam brush to help pull and blend the ink away from the bird.

The glaze helps float the ink and you can make terrific blends this way. Carefully use the brush to overlap areas of color.

Allow to dry completely - at least 2 or 3 hours (overnight is best). Then mount onto a notecard or into a frame - you'll love the result! If you want a little more embellishment, try one of our new Design Adhesive! These cool double sided adhesives are rub-ons and work with foil, glitter, flocking and Flower Soft! 

I'm going to use the Fright Night Design Adhesive (item number D10160) and some gorgeous black glitter. The sparkling black glitter, "Nuit", is from Scarlet Empress, a great store in Olympia, Washington owned by my friend Teri Dickason.  

 

To demonstrate how they work, I'll glitter one of the spider images from the pack. Cut off the spider design and peel off the backing. Place it face down onto a piece of paper and burnish it with your fingernail or a bone folder. Peel off the rub on paper and the sticky image will be adhered to the paper.

Pour the black glitter over the Design Adhesive sticker. If you look closely, you can see the transparent spider legs on the paper not quite covered yet by the glitter.

Tap off the excess glitter and you'll see that the spider is now covered. Now that you've seen the process, we'll try one out on the spooky collage.

I am going to use the web in the corner of the card. The Design Adhesive will conform to the layers of paper - I'll place it so that it spreads over the collage, black layer and Jack O Lantern notecard. Rub the backing so that the web image transfers.

Peel off the backing and you'll see the thin lines of the web image - ready to be glittered!

Cover the entire corner with glitter - then tap off the excess.

 

And there you have it - the Spooky Collage! Try it out - and email me a picture of how yours turns out!
 

  

    

The Stamp Shoppe

The Stamp Shoppe, located in Schofield, Wisconsin, is located in beautiful Northern Wisconsin. The drive up north into the wooded areas and rich farmland was full of wildflowers - more flowers than I'd seen my entire trip. For a nature lover, the trip was beautiful. The store was equally inspiring! Heidi's layered cards combine a controlled collage style with beautiful coloring techniques. She has packed the store with lots of supplies, so you're sure to find something you need when you visit. Her mom, Joanne, helps out with this family business and you can tell a lot of care is put into this store. Food of choice for Wisconsin? Cheese of course! Heidi gave me a bag of cheese curds to try - imagine jumbo cottage cheese pieces -and they were amazing (and addictive). Remember this tip from the locals - "They squeek if they're fresh!". The store has a separate classroom where I taught for the afternoon and evening. If you're in the area plan on taking a class or stop by and check out the store - and bring some cheese curds to munch on!

Scrapbook Memories

Scrapbook Memories has 2 large stores in Janesville, WI and Madison, WI. I've always enjoyed seeing stores that offer the best of stamping and scrapbooking, and these stores certainly do! It was exciting to see our Memory Box Halloween display front and center as you walk in the door! The owner, Brenda, and manager, Maureen, have been great supporters of Memory Box - and always so nice to work with. They get every new release into their stores and reorder special requests for customers regularly - so if you are in the Janesville or Madison area (beautiful country) they will be your number one source for all things Memory Box!

Scrapbook Friendz

I continued my 2010 Class Tour with a stop at Scrapbook Friendz in Bloomington, Illinois. I have enjoyed local cuisine at each of my stops - so I was excited to try out Bloomington's gastronomic gift to the culinary world, Beer Nuts! Linda Broom (the talented stamp instructor, and latest addition to the Memory Box Design Team) surprised me with 5 lbs. of those tasty little snacks! Two of the students treated me to "gondola sandwiches" and white chocolate dipped Oreos! The store, owned by Jim and Margaret, boasts a large shopping space and separate classroom area that seats 24. Margaret has been ordering from Memory Box for several years, so it was fun seeing some sample cards from years past. Linda helped the classes run smoothly along - and most of the group knew her and they all shared a warm and funny sense of humor. Such a nice experience to teach at this big store. The weather was warm too - 105 degrees with the heat index (super high humidity!). When you visit Bloomington in the summer, stop by the air conditioned comfort and papercrafting bonanza of Scrapbook Friendz!

Papertrix

Papertrix is a super fun, cozy store in the busy little town of Nashville, Indiana. Filled with eclectic shops and eateries, this former artist colony area is a perfect fit for Papertrix's beautiful displays and products. The store is owned by Cindy and her husband - and I've rarely met two more gracious and talented papercraft enthusiasts! I stayed at the Cornerstone Inn bed and breakfast - we had a workshop room there to fit all of the students (and later I could sip fresh lemonade on the porch balcony or enjoy some homemade treats for breakfast). Cindy started her store small and slowly has built her well edited inventory to fill the 100 year old building she currently occupies. Her husband, a former head chef who is as quick to shake your hand as he is to give you a hug, will teach you brayer techniques while Cindy lines up the latest products to show you. This team has attracted a wide following and people travel far to visit their store. The hills around the town, carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago, make the whole setting quite picturesque. This destination store is worth a weekend trip!

New friends from Simply Scrapbooks

Here's photos from 2 very thoughtful students at Simply Scrapbooks (In Kettering, Ohio). Mary made me a bag of homemade "buckeyes" (chocolate and peanut butter heaven!). I asked her to send me the recipe - they were absolutely delicious! Kate made a beaded charm for my daughter Emma - a sparkly little embellishment which I am sure she will love. Thanks again to both of you for showing me some Midwest love! Thanks also to the student who bought me a jar of Tim Holtz Rock Candy and told me, "You must try this!". Can't wait to get back to the studio and test it out!

Simply Scrapbooks

Vicki and Steve, owners of Simply Scrapbooks in Kettering, Ohio, have a full concept papercraft store if I've ever seen one. Space for 60 in their large class area (complete with large flat screen TV), a large scrapbook and stamping department, albums, supplies and you name it! I filled 40 spots for my sessions that day as we worked our way through watercolor and colored pencil techniques - and I met so many wonderful people. Jennifer McGuire attended my classes (we're both former Mechanical Engineers turned papercrafters!), and it was cool to get to know her! Vicki creates full size posters for upcoming teachers - and I enjoyed seeing my face poster size at the front of the store (first time I'd seen that!). The store stays busy with lots of traveling teachers - and as you can see from the pictures, the store is so huge that people will come from far away just to see all the product in it! I was happily surprised by a student named Mary who had been following my travels and came to class with a bag full of homemade buckeyes (if you visit Ohio, you must try these! 100 times better than a Reese's peanut butter cup!). Thank you Mary, they lasted a whole hour once I got back to the hotel! Stop by Simply Scrapbooks - a terrific store!

Scrapbook Art treats

While you are in the area, you might want to check out these treats that Amy and Caron, owners of Scrapbook Art, introduced me to! Buckeye Candies (warning: highly addictive) and Edgeless brownies from Sugardaddy's will give you your sugar fix for the week! Thanks Caron and Amy!!

Scrapbook Art

My day at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center, Ohio was nothing short of wonderful. Caron and Amy had called my wife Monica to find out if I had a sweet tooth (Yes!) and showered me with local treats - buckeyes (peanut butter and chocolate heaven!) and a sleeve of brownies and blondies from a local gourmet store called Sugardaddy's. Needless to say, I had plenty of energy to teach 3 sessions in their giant teaching space! Caron and Amy are enthusiastic about their store and are rapidly expanding their Memory Box collection. They order from us all the time and have some serious Memory Box fans! A great group of students helped the day go by quite easily - and hopefully everyone walked away with a new set of skills that they could apply to their own work. For some students that took both sessions (watercolor and pencil) AND then stayed for the crop until midnight, it was a day of amazing creativity! Amy and Caron know how to keep the store cracking with excitement! Can't wait to come back someday!