Tis the Season

We are almost through the Holidays - January 1, 2012 is a day away. I always find it a difficult time of year to get into the Studio. Kids are home from school (college) and family time takes precedence. I have cleaning to do all over the house, including the studio. This is one of the times that I give myself something of a pass for creating. Given the different family activities ( and some travel), I tend to get caught up on magazines that have been stacking up. I dog-ear page corners, or tear out ideas to be tried during the new year. Do you get in some studio time or take a break?

Tuesday's Tip

As the year is drawing to an end, many of us think of cleaning, purging, and organizing. I have made a list of rooms in my house that need all of the above! As you are tossing old materials, keep in mind some things may be great crafting fodder. Recycle old phone books and magazines as background or unique "papers" on which to stamp and die cut. Old maps can be quite interesting in collage. Keep your eyes and mind open as you clean!

Merry Christmas to All

                     Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas - enjoy the time with family an friends!

Christmas Cards

Finally completed my Christmas cards - in the nick of time! I showed an "in process" shot earlier this month. I stamped the white glossy panel with stamps from Stampers Anonymous and Technique Tuesday, using Distress Inks and Brilliance Galaxy Gold. The mats and card are from Club Scrap. I die cut the deer and then embossed  with a snowflake pattern. A little Distress Ink was sponged on to add dimension. A quick die cut of a ticket, more inking and stamping, and a strip of  Washi tape - the card is complete!

In continuing with the Double Embossing technique, I used a Christmas tree border folder with my Top Boss pad and Big Shot. The embossing powder is an abalone pearl I bought years ago. The color and texture always look better in person. I decided I wanted a lighter look to the embossed background (the card stock was a dark green from Club Scrap). So, instead of clear Top Boss, I used Colorbox white pigment ink:

I liked the look of this combination much better...so I made a handful more!

Double Embossing

Here is one of the many gift tags I recently made. The background was created using an embossing folder and heat embossing. I inked up the folder with a Top Boss embossing pad and placed a glossy panel into the folder (glossy side to the ink). I ran it through my Big Shot. After dry embossing, I dumped some (very old) Embossing powder onto the panel and heat embossed. The technique is known as double embossing. I had a fun time trying different combinations of card stocks, inks, and powders. The swirl tag was stamped with Pool Adirondak ink on a white scrap and punched out using a Stampin' Up punch.

Tuesday's Tips

I have been discussing the use of everyday objects in stenciling/painting/stamping. I found a great technique from Christy Tomlinson of  Scarlet Lime. She used steel wool for a very cool texture effect. Needless to say, steel wool is on my shopping list!

Happy Birthday

My daughter turns 21 years old today. Happy Birthday, Megan!

Tag, You're It

Another fun little tag I made for a friend. Similar technique in that I created my own collage with winter/snow stamps and Distress Inks. The little round disc I bought years ago and used similar ones quite a bit. Then, they languished in my stash until just recently. I thought to imitate a little snow globe by filling the disc with glitter glue.

Tag Team

I have busy working on Christmas art - cards and tags, specifically! The cards are almost done and I am in desperate need to gift tags (especially since I need to get several packages in the mail!) I guess you can figure out what I will be doing today!
Earlier this week, a couple of my friends and I had our annual Christmas lunch and gift exchange. We call it "Christmakkah" - it was so christened many years before the TV show (The OC?) ever used it. I made a couple of tags early for Nancy and Tracy.

For this tag, I gathered together some small Christmas images and made my own Holiday collage. The background was colored with Distress Inks. The little charm is actually a green plastic disc game piece. The mini tree was stamped, the disc glued to the image and the then trimmed. I added foil tape around the edges. With all the fervor over Tim tags and his collage background, I thought I would make my own and save a few bucks! The greeting was stamped on a die cut ticket.

Tuesday's Tip

We are mid-way through the Christmas bustle. I am still working on Christmas cards, tags, wrapping, etc. I am not using any flocking or Flower Soft on cards and tags this year. It is a fun accent to use flocking for Santa's beard and trim. After applying the glue and a generous amount of flocking, place a piece of card stock, or part of a non-stick craft mat, over the top. Roll you brayer over the area a couple of times. Then, leave it to dry thoroughly. You should find that the flocking will stick better and provide better coverage. This will also work when using Flower Soft.

In Process...

I am currently working on Christmas cards - as well as gift tags. I always think I will start during the summer, but that has never happened! Since I am a bit pressed for time, I thought I would use a die cut image to save steps and time. I use the Sizzix/Tim Holtz reindeer die to cut out the deer. The were then embossed and inked with Distress Inks. The other images were stamped in Distress Inks and Brilliance Galaxy Gold. I still have several more steps, but they are moving along! When you make your cards, are you a stamping purist, or do you use die cuts, stickers, etc?

HM Transparency

Last month, I was in Boston visiting my daughter. The weather was great and the Common and Garden were in full Fall foliage. While she was busy with classes, meetings,etc, I would wander about taking photographs. I thought some of the pictures would make a great Fall journal page. After inking, stencilling, and spraying mists,  I had to decide which photo(s) and what sizes. Since I like the idea of color peaking through, I printed the photos on plain, inkjet transparencies and cut them to size. They turned out fairly clear considering I do not have a transparency mode on my printer. It also started my thinking it would be fun to print up a bunch of different photos on transparency to use in journals and collage. Have you printed your own transparency? Give it try!

Pantone Color for 2012

This past year, pink was the premier color used in fashion and design. I have always liked pinks - they actually mix well with a number of neutrals, primary and secondary colors. The Pantone color announced for 2012 is an orange.

It is called Tangerine Tango. I have never been a big fan of the color orange. so I  will have to wait and see...

Tuesday's Tips

I was cleaning up a bit in my studio - needed room to start on Christmas cards. I found a couple of sample books from painting class. It reminded me why I had kitchen utensils in my studio! Spatula's and cookie cutters are fun stencils - and sponges create a variety of textures. Old graters make some fun designs as well. Next time you are purging your kitchen wares, you may want to give them a second life as an art tool!

A Little Stamping

It seems like a very long time since I stamped a card. I made the above card for friends who were married back in August. Yes, I am a bit late! I thought a something simple using similar colors to the colors of the bridesmaids dresses. Making this card reminded me why I became interested in rubber stamping - making my own cards. I am currently working on Christmas cards (about halfway done) and getting caught up on real life since I have been home.

Mr Bill

When I work in my Art Journal, I tend to use magazine page images. I have a couple of quirky magazines that I specifically buy to pillage-Juxtapose and High Fructose. These are not for everyone, but I do love the interesting graphics. I found a page of Bill Murray paintings that I could not resist. I turned them into a couple of Retro pages using Washi tape, transparencies, and patterned paper.

Elemental ATC

I made this ATC as part of my Elements swap. I thought, given that Halloween had just ended,  it would be a fun premise to explore. Pepto Bismol contain the element  Bismuth so I thought I would use it in conjunction with eating, The background was stamped with an old Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers food background stamp. All of the other images were stamped and cut out. A clever trick I learned from my friend, Elaine (a Stampin' Up demonstrator), is using the scalloped oval punch to look like teeth marks.