Revisiting an old friend

That what it felt like when I pulled this stamp out to work with.  Halloween Collage (D1395) is one of my all time favorite stamps, and one I tend to go to a lot.  This time it was for this week's Make-n-take at One Little Spark

The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah white.  The second layer is black card stock and the base card is Mango - you will not find a prettier color anywhere for Halloween/autumn cards than this one!! I love it! 

Take a close look at the creepy crawlies  -  can you guess what gives them their sparkle?

If you guessed Pumpkin Smooch by Clearsnap, you're correct!  It matches the Mango base card to a "T".

This is a super simple, super fun card to make and everyone who stopped by for our weekly Monday Make-n-Take loved it! 

Enjoy!

 

 

 
 
 

Brrr Bear Collage

Ready for a Christmas card idea?  I think this little bear is the cutest.  From the time I received my stamps, I wanted to combine the collage stamp with Fred P. Bear.  I thought the collage would perfectly spotlight Fred.  Hope this gives you another idea to add to your Christmas card file. 

Here are the details.  The card base is a shimmery Soiree Lagoon note card.  Cut an oval mask (I used a nestabilities die.) and place it on the G1411 Peace Collage.  Place the mask on the stamp and ink the stamp with brown dye ink.  Remove the oval mask and stamp onto Eggshell cardstock.  You will have an oval blank on the collage.  Next ink C1409 Fred P. Bear with dark brown pigment ink and stamp in the oval that was omitted from the collage stamp.  (Use a stamp positioner for perfect placement.)  Sprinkle the bear with clear embossing powder and emboss.  Place the oval mask back over the top of the bear and sponge with Distress tea dye ink.  Use Twinkling H2Os to color in Fred's scarf (more shimmer).  Trim around the stamped collage piece.  Punch snowflakes from dark brown metallic lightweight paper and glue over top of snowflakes on collage.  Layer collage onto shimmery Chocolate Soiree paper. 

Thanks for looking!

Happy Halloween Book

Last Monday's class at Your Maine Stamper involved the beginnings of a Halloween book which participants finished on their own and brought back today to share.  We began by stamping in black on white or cream cardstock and clear embossing as many Memory Box Halloween-appropriate images as we could in the first 45 minutes of class.  These we mounted on black cardstock and set aside.  The next task was to paper the pages of the Bo Bunny Wavy Edges albums using Memory Box 12X12s from the Blackbird Collection. Assembling the books using beribboned binder rings and adding the stamped/embossed images and other embellishments was sooo much fun!  Each book was unique in the way that papers and images were chosen and used to create the pages.  Some people even split their books into two smaller ones in order to gift them to a couple of people.  Here's Connie's finished book.

And here's my favorite page.

Do you recognize the Egg Tree???  Connie colored each little egg with a black pen, drew on some legs, and then added a drop of Glossy Accents on each one to create her very own Spider Tree!  How cute!!!

Happy Stamping!

  

Shades of fall...

A pumpkin, a spider's web and a crow! All signs of what's to come - Fall and Halloween. 

The main image on this card is the Old Fence stamp (E1392).  I like it because it can be a little spooky, or by adding the smiling pumpkin image as I did, you can soften the look and make it more fun.  To create the background, I used several Brilliance tear drop inks in fall colors and lightly rubbed them directly onto a piece of white cardstock.  I stamped the fence over it with Versafine black ink, and I used a distressing tool to ruff up the edges. I layered this piece onto black glossy and then over a piece of the new Evening Roost paper that was distressed with Brilliance Pearlescent Rust ink.  I just love this black netting from May Arts as an accent. I took a strip of the background paper created earlier and stamped the Halloween greeting (B1391) on it, then attached it with black brads from American Craft.  To enhance the crow, I colored over it with a black Sakura Glaze pen; the pumpkin was colored with an orange Prisma and clear Glaze pen; the spider's web was traced with a clear Glitter pen.  The card base is Sweet Corn which is a nice match with the Evening Roost paper.

This is one of the five cards I will be teaching in a Memory Box Fall & Halloween card class at Ink About It on Wed, Oct 6th. Give us a call if you are in the area and want to join this fun workshop.

Enjoy the weekend.

Frightful Flight

Bird in Flight (D1393) and Crow (B1389) are descending upon Night Cat (#1403) here, out for his evening walk. There are several elements on this card...but it's quick and easy to make. It took longer to give it a title than it did to make the card.  I wanted to call it "Hello Kitty" - but that wouldn't have been a good idea.

The stars - from the Fright Night Design Adhesives - are glittered in Charcoal for an eerie sparkle.  You could also emboss them with gold embossing powder - or use them with the new Designer Foils from Clearsnap.  

If you like multi-tasking your stamps, here's an idea for another card...using the Old Fence (E1392) with the Bird in Flight and Crow.

Read more...

Card Class at Scrapbook Memories

 

These cards were submitted by Denise VanBlaricom and Trista Schmidt a mother - daughter team that teach at Scrapbook Memories in Janesville Wisconsin.  

 This card uses the Poppy Collage stamp.  They used this distressing technique for the background:  1. Crumple cream cardstock.  2. Add Tim Holtz distressing ink directly onto the paper by swiping the pad over the top of the paper. 3. Spritz cardstock with water. 4. Iron the paper flat. (everyday iron on the lowest setting -place the paper under a thin dish towel) 5. Once it was completely dried stamp directly on to it.

The Poppy Collage was stamped twice.  Once on the distressed background and the second time onto cream cardstock.  The poppy was then cut out and added over top of the poppy on the distressed image.

Here are pictures of other cards done in this class:

 

Hope you enjoyed these!  Next up - 12x12 scrapbook pages done with the new Halloween images!

Happy Fall

We haven't quite reached the cool weather associated with Fall but we can start card-making in anticipation of the changing colors.

The fantastic Blooming Tree F1338 was stamped first on scrap paper and hand cut to create a mask. Ink up the tree stamp with Rangers Distress Inks (Mustard, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, and Fired Brick) and edge with Memento Rich Cocoa. When inking up the stamp with multiple colors always go lightest to darkest and as  you add the layers of color dab the ink pad on the stamp partially to allow the other colors to show. Color the tree stem and branches with a brown watercolor marker. Stamp in center of ivory cardstock. Repeat the process but mask the center tree and stamp another tree on the right and left. Clean your stamp before inking up for each tree to prevent any darker colored inks from getting on your ink pad.

Using a sea sponge ink up the sponge with the dye inks and sponge along the bottom of the trees to create your fallen leaves below your trees. 

Stamp Happy Fall sentiment on bottom left corner using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.

Add a few hawks in the sky using the Very Best B1359 stamp and the Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink.

Mount the image onto a piece of the Truffle cardstock. Cut a few strips for the stripes behind the image. Place onto an A2 Jack O Lantern card base.

Have a lovely Monday!

Suzz

 

Cards for a Cure

Hello from sunny San Diego.  Every Labor Day I help answer the phones for the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon during the Charger Hour of the telethon. This year during that hour I will be doing a donation on behalf of The Stamp Addict. The money will come from customer donations and 2 classes that are being taught on Labor Day weekend, which the class fees will be donated.  For my class I will be using a few Memory Box stamps. I thought I would share with you my favorite. 

For this card I used Memory Box stamps "Candy Cane Bird" (D1377) and "Holiday Treat" (B1380), along with the Glimmer paper from the Spearmint line. I Cut the Glimmer paper out with Spellbinders Labels 1 and also a white piece of paper which I then stamped the "Candy Cane Bird" on.  I colored the bird with Copic Markers (R29, G97, G21, Y38) then used Stampendous "Cotton Ball White" Fun Flock on the birds body.  I used Memento " Rich Cocoa" to ink around the white paper and also to stamp "hope your holiday is a TREAT" on a green piece of paper.  If you would like to make this card (plus 4 others) and contribute to a great cause give us a call to sign up for the class which will be Sunday September 5th from 1 to 3PM. Call 619-667-5060 to sign up and contribute to a great cause. The entire class fee is being donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Hope you enjoyed!

Spiders anyone?

I must admit, I don't like spiders.  When the kids were little I had to pretend to be brave so that they didn't freak out even more.  Having said that, I think this spider collage stamp is cute.  Go figure!

To make this card you'll need a mango notecard for the base.  Using black ink, stamp Vintage Scroll E1388 and set aside.  On ivory cardstock stamp Halloween Collage G1395 with black pigment ink and emboss with clear embossing powder.  Cut out image with a rectangle Nestabilities die.  Swipe Distress Scattered Straw ink onto a nonstick craft sheet.  Spritz ink with water, and press the embossed image into the spritzed ink.  Using a foam blending tool, apply Distress Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade.  Add a few drops of water to make the background a little more interesting.  Ink edges with Distress Rusty Hinge.  Attach collage piece to a licorice panel.  To make the spiders "pop", first punch 1/4" and 5/16" circles from Blackbird patterned paper and glue onto spider bodies.  Apply Diamond Glaze to spider bodies to add dimension.  Attach finished collage layer onto notecard. 

I'm hoping this card puts you in a fall mood after the steamy summer we've been having!  If you'd like to learn how to make this card plus three other fall cards, I'll be teaching at Baas Junction in Toledo and Scrap Happy in Tiffin, Ohio.  The Toledo classes are full, but there are still openings at Scrap Happy for September 18th.  Call Susie at (419) 443-0882 to learn some new techniques and have some fun.  Hope to see you soon!

Reindeer Romp

These sparkly reindeer are kicking up their heels and running through the snow on a wintery day.  Don't look for a stamp--nope, these reindeer are from the Design Adhesives collection.  

I pressed gold designer foil (shiny side up) onto the sticky image to transfer the foil.  After doing so, I noticed tiny blank areas where the foil didn't completely cover the image so I added some ultra fine gold glitter which filled in those tiny crevices.  What a happy discovery--the reindeer are now foiled and glittered!  

   I layered the beautiful "First Snowfall" from the Mistletoe collection over a white notecard and added the green ribbon to resemble gift wrapping.  The wired gold trim was wrapped tightly around a slim paintbrush handle to achieve the "corkscrew" effect and secured behind the reindeer panel with glue dots.

 

 As you can tell all that sparkle and shine is a little hard to photograph well.  But here is another happy discovery...the left over foil makes a great design element too!

 

I plan on using this remnant for another project.  Nothing goes to waste in my studio! Do you find yourself saving scraps too?  

 I hope you're planning your Christmas cards now and this card gives you some inspiration!  Thanks for visiting our blog today--it's good to know you're dropping by!