Since I pretty much missed October, I decided to use a few new items that I purchased to make Halloween cards. At least it's still Fall!

The latest journal page for my swap with Kate. Stains, sprays, inks used with stencils and stamps. The fun Halloween saying is from Artistic Outpost. I had "Nightmare Before Christmas" playing in the background - the three fellows in the circle (Stampotique) reminded me of Oogy Boogy's henchmen!

Faux Fresco

I signed up for an online card class, Holiday Card Workshop, to get back into the spirit of creating. Plus, I really need some Christmas card ideas for this year's cards. One of the techniques demonstrated was a "Faux Fresco" using an embossing folder,markers and paint or Distress Stains. I cut my embossed card stock in half to create 2 cards using this technique - one with white paint and one with white Distress Stain.

The folder is by Cuttlebug, actually both folders used are from them. After running a piece of card stock through my Big Shot, I very sloppily colored with light markers (an eggshell/light tan and a light blue/aqua). Once dry, I dapped a Ranger  white paint Dabber (top card) and Picket Fence Distress Stain (bottom card). When the panel was dry, I sponged along the edges with Old Paper Distress Ink. I used glossy card stock, since I already had it on my desk. I think I might try again Bristol for a different look.

Star Bursts and Layers

These are two things that are new for me. I used the star bursts on a Graduation layout class, but I have not used it in one of my layouts. This one page layout is based on a sketch/technique from May Flaum's Camp Scrap:

I used a bit of layering - card stock, Washi tape, and a "Howdy" banner.  The stars and circles are my burst of embellishments. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye - it was fun to use patterned paper as the basis of the page! Stamps are from Club Scrap. I used Aged Mahogany Distress Stain on the Grunge board letters. To highlight them a bit, I edged them in black. (If you read regularly, you know I edge everything!)

A Little Bird...

Last weekend, Nancy and I took a class with May Flaum. During the self-paced class,
we had the opportunity to play around. The tag was colored with Paint Dabbers and Distress
Stains. The Hero Arts bird was stamped with 2 colors of Distress Markers. I cut it out and
popped it up, added a die cut branch and fabric flower. I love to mix media, usually I do this
in my art journals. So, it was fun to work on a tag.

Chipboard Letters

So, have you ever forgotten some of the items that you have, um, bought? I have been doing a bit of cleaning out and re-organizing and found a large quantity of chipboard letters I bought at an extreme discount. So. since I was scrapbooking (for a change!), I decided to use them for titles.

For the above title, I used the Picket Fence Distress Stain and covered the front of the letters. Once it was dry, I stamped small snowflakes in Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass, I think).

For this title, I used Tattered Rose as my base, and stamped leaves in Pine Needles and Persimmon. Super easy - and I am using up my stash!

Done!

A couple of weeks ago, I completed some projects that were laying around awaiting the finishing touches. (I posted the Shadow box a couple of days ago.) Back at the end of July, I took a couple of Tim Holtz's classes when he was teaching in the San Jose area. Well, the largest of the projects has finally been completed. The great thing about this class and project was the variety of techniques it showcased. We used tapes, paints, alcohol inks, stains, embossing, chipboard, and metals. Most of the techniques were not new, but the class was a great reminder of using your materials!

We even added a cute (or so my friends think "creepy") little porcelain doll, and some fun gears and watch parts. If you have a chance to take this class, I highly recommend it!

Upcoming Classes

I will be doing a 2 part scrap class at A Work of Heart in Willow Glen. I will be teaching a 2 page layout class using a variety of media and techniques, including heat embossing, resists, stamping on acetate and punches/die cuts. Below is the layout :

                               
The dates of the class are: September 21 and 28 from 6:00 to 8:00pm. For more information, click here.

Mini Book a la Tim

As I have mentioned, I took a couple of classes over the weekend with Tim Holtz. The book above was made in the Sunday morning class. The covers and spine are chipboard, covered in Tim's paper and sticky back canvas (on the spine). I used Distress Ink and Stains to color the covers and spine. I used acrylic Paint Dabber to add a little gold to the metal frame and key.

The spine contains a bar and binder ring assembly. These are sold as a set and are pretty easy to attach to chip board. You can see a few of the pages - which have been distressed, painted, and/or stained.

Some of the pages were made into pocket pages using tissue tape. Quite and fun and easy little book. I plan to add more pages to it.

MIA

Yes, I am still around - just missing in action. Real life became oh so busy - a couple of days in San Francisco for "Billy Elliot"(fantastic show), SFMOMA for the Stein exhibit (excellent) and a lot of time with friends and family.  As much as I have been enjoying myself, I have felt guilty to have let my blog posts lapse. I have been busy with creating, and I will share some of the things going on.

This coming Sunday, July 31st, I will be teaching a beginning Scrapbook class at A Work of Heart. This will class will be re-vamped in the future since the 6 page ALSB kits will no longer be available. The kit I will be using is Calypso:

I will also be teaching another card class using Distress Stains and Stencils. I changed it up a bit after my June class. The card stock is from the Welcome kit:

Stains/Stencils Class

My Distress Stains and Stencils class was this past Thursday, June 30th a A Work of Heart in San Jose.  Six of the seven ladies were able to attend. Some photos of the ladies busy with the stencils and stains!

Some of the ladies with their favorite completed card. Many had never made a paper card before this class.

Every one took my original samples and made changes to create their own designs. They all did a fabulous job!

Distress Stains and Stencils Part 2

After making cards with the Distress Stains ans stencils, I thought I would play on my journal. Of course, the final outcome was not quite what I had originally had in mind! I used 2 colors of Distress Stains on my background - then stenciled the numbers. Then, after a bit of stamping I had a very busy background. I added some Washi tape and vellum, more stamping and a focal image:

You can click on the image to enlarge it. It is a bit of a commentary on having both kids home from college this summer. I do love it when I can use techniques on a multitude of projects!

Stains and Stencils

I have been enjoying playing with Distress Stains and stencils. In addition to the myriad of stencils from Club Scrap, I have quite a few from Crafter's Companion. At the end of June, I will be teaching this class at A Work of Heart. I thought that some of the Distress colors would work well with Club Scrap's Raku kit.

In addition to stencils, I lightly stamped a cluster of butterflies in the background. I added a punched greeting and a couple of die cut butterflies.

The number and clock stencil needed a little extra care in applying the stain. Some of the graphics have small cuts that would be easy to bend/break if you are heavy handed with the stain applicator. In the class, we will be making a 12 x 12 background that will be cut to make 6 cards (with some leftover pieces).

Mail Art

I made a little bit of Mail Art to send to my friend, Nancy. Since she likes bird images, I thought I would use a new set I bought from Stampin' Up. On the background of the matte coat postcard, I spritzed some water and added 3 complimentary colors of Distress Stains. Once the background was dry, I added the vintage flower page. The images were stamped in India Ink black and Distress Inks. Washi tape was added around the borders. Then, to tie the whole card together, I added a wash of Distress Stain.
Mail art postcards are a quick, easy and fun little project for times when you do not have a lot of time. You can still create something fun and brighten the mailbox of a friend!

More Stains

Last post, I applied the new Distress Stains from Ranger onto card stock. For this next experiment, I applied pools of stain on a non-stick craft sheet. I used the same 4 colors as before. I cut my card stock into mat size pieces. I sprayed the cut pieces with water, but I did not saturate them. I then placed them into the stains and gave a slight turn. I wanted to get a fairly covered piece of card stock. The photo below was the result:

These were the panels. (The upper left was slightly different and will be covered at a later date). By wetting the card stock,  the stains flowed and mixed better. I  made the mats into cards.

Here is one of the cards I made with the Stained background. I over stamped the background with one of Club Scrap's newest stamps from the Raku kit. The colors are much brighter in person. Can you tell I am enjoying playing with the Stains?!

Distress Stains

I admit it - I was quite enamoured of the Distress Stains from Ranger. Tim Holtz demonstrated their uses at CHA, which was filmed. I did not want to like them, but I did, So, I found the Stains at a great price and had them shipped. I decided to try a few different techniques.

 I picked 4 colors and just applied them to card and 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of card stock. There was nothing special about the card stock, I just scribbled/swirled them on. They soaked right into the paper, so blending was out of the questions. I did soften some edges with matching Distress Inks and a sponge applicator. The parent sheet was the cut up and used a card backgrounds.

This card was made with part of the sheet. The colors are much more vibrant in person. I wanted to keep the card fairly simple since there was so much color going on in the background. Below is another card made from the same parent sheet:

Once again, I kept the card fairly simple, adding a punched border on which I sponged Distress Ink. In my next post, I will show another way in which I used the Stains. I must say that they are very fun. You really do not "need" all 12 colors - but they sure are nice!                                                                                          

Makeover

I made and posted the above card to show how Washi and decorative tapes can be used on cards. In retrospect, I thought it was a bit plain and in need of a focal point. So, I was playing around with Grunge Board, Mini Paper Rosette die, and Distress Stains. This card became:

I like it a bit better. Have you made a card,scrapbook layout, or journal page that just was not quite what you wanted? Try a little makeover for yourself!