Free Collage Image Sheets

Check out this page from Ten Two Studios. The Original Printables Holiday Countdown Lisa has created a Countdown to Christmas calender that reveals a new free image sheet each day. From Dec 1st through Christmas day she will reveal a new image sheet for you to download for free! Check it out! Thanks Lisa for the generous Christmas gift!!

Vintage Veranda Fun Pack Treasure!

I won this great treasure trove of goodies on the Vintage Veranda website!! Everyone who participated in the 2nd challenge for October was eligible to have their name drawn! I WON! Yahoo!! So here is a picture of all the goodies I received. Lots of options to make some great projects here. I'm particularly facinted by the little croched flowers on the right side of the photo! I think if you click on the image above it will enlarge so you can see the details in the phot better.

Vintage Veranda 2nd Challenge for October 2008

Here is my card for the 2nd challenge on the Vintage Veranda website. The challenge was to create a harvest piece. This scan looks much darker than the real card. If you double click on it, the close up is much more like the actual colors. I did a collaged background with many layers of bits and pieces of images layered with lots of gesso, acrylic paint and inks. The stamped images are from Stampin' Up (SU) Autumn Harvest and Lovely as a Tree; and a pear from unknown. The button is from Stampin' UP. The cardstock is SU's River Rock, Really Rust and a piece of Bazzill. I made the label with my label maker and added color to it with SU Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust. I did a lot of distressing on the edges, piercing on the photo corners and used some direct to paper ink on the outermost edge. I liked this piece much better than the previous one!

Vintage Veranda First Challenge

I made this for the first challenge on the new Vintage Veranda forum website. If you like paper crafts, mixed media, etc. in the vintage style, you will love it! Lots of nice friendly people. You can see the website here http://www.vintageveranda.com/.

The challenge was to create a piece using recipe as the inspiration. For the background I used a printed scan of an old recipe booklet from a waffle iron my inlaws received as a wedding gift in 1948. The man and woman eating is an image transfer over gesso and acrylic paint. I added some color to it with gel pens to try and bring it out a little more as it seemed kind of lost. The photo doesn't show it very well but I added silver glitter with a gel pen on the birds, the little flower edges and the star fish. If you click on it to see it really close up it shows much better.

I used Stmapin' Up Always, French Script background and Balmy Breezes stamp sets. It took me forever to get this one done. Just couldn't seem to get it to come together. I finally decided to just stop!! LOL

Card for Guys

I need a lot of masculine cards and they seem to be hard for me to come up with. This is one I made using Stampin' Up's Artifacts and Alphabits stamp sets.

I started with olive green cardstock for the base. I added a green/blue small check background. Navy blue cardstock behind the circle. I stamped the star with navy ink and cut a circle around it using a Coluzzle circle template.

The Alphabits stamp was stamped with navy and then I used a 1/4 inch circle punch to punch out the letters I needed. I could have used a "happy birthday" stamp instead of using the alphabits stamp. The little letters were really tedious to get glued down and get the spacing right. I had more glue on my fingers than on the letters!

The center of the star is a flat top eyelet. I really like these. They look like a brad but don't leave bumps under the card stock from the prongs. They are a little bit hard to find in stores.

This was a very simple card to make. I kind of like the way it turned out, I hope you do too!

Halloween is Coming!

I love making Halloween Cards. This set of stamps I bought off of eBay from a site called Cobalt Moon stamps. I used yellow cardstock to make the card. Then I used a light blue cardstock and sponged the edges with purple ink and stamped the bats with black. I used black behind the dark orange to make the stripe across the middle of the card. Black cardstock frames the main image. The witch stamp was stamped on white cardstock with black Stazon ink. I used Prismacolor pencils to color the image and used Gamsol to blend it. I used gel pens to draw the little spiders hanging down. I saw this on a card on Split Coast Stampers. So cute! I used a marker to make the uneven stripes around the edge of the card. That's it for today, lots more to follow!

LIFT OFF!!!

I've taken the plunge and started this blog to document my "adventures" in art. I have been creating since I was very young and have delved into numerous crafts and art mediums. My current obsession is for paper crafts. I think what I love most is a challenge and the learning and discovery process!! I've recently been making greeting cards using rubber stamps. Greeting cards seemed like the best place to start paper crafting because they are small so I don't feel bad if I have to pitch a few of them. I can experiment and not feel like I am wasting money on supplies. People seem to be really pleased when they receive hand made cards even if they aren't the greatest in the world. Most seem to appreciate the time and thought that went into making something just for them. Also they don't have to display it in their home for the next 5 years! That is one thing I always worried about giving people home made crafts. If they really didn't like it, or it wasn't really their style, I worried that they would feel obligated to display it in their home anyway!! I also thought I could save money by not buying those expensive store bought cards, therefore not feel guilty about spending money on supplies and tools. Don't fool yourself!! LOL Once you really get into this hobby it isn't cheap, but it doesn't have to be super expensive either. I love to make my own embellishments and try not to go overboard buying every stamp set I see either! Part of the fun and creative outlet for me is to see something and find ways to make it myself or get the same effect without spending a ton of money. I have been amazed at the progress I have made in a very short time. I am going to be brave and post my first attempt at making a card that I have a scan of.

Now be nice!! I am just posting this for people to see that however "bad" (bad is a relative term) they think their first attempts are they should not just give up. If you keep at it and keep learning you will find that you will start really liking some of your creations!! I have also had the experience of not liking a particular card I made and when others looked though my cards it was many of their favorites!! Go figure!

Below is a more recent card for comparison made with Stampin' Up stamp sets In Full Bloom and Touch of Nature. I colored the flowers with colored pencils and blended with Gamsol. See any improvements?

So here I go off on my journey... follow along with me or meet up with me occasionally to see where I have traveled!!