The Christmas winner

Congrats!

Catch

So I have been experimenting with a few things.  I used blender sponges that were dampened, a stencil, and heat gun to make the paper that the fish was stamped on.  I heat dried it.  Then I stamped the fish and coated the paper in glossy accents that I spread on with a squeegee. After spreading the glossy accents I used a firm bristle brush to add a bit more glossy accents wiping in many directions.  I wanted the look of a wet slimy fish jumping out of the water.  Then I crumpled up the blue paper really tight and wiped the paper with stormy sky distress ink.  I sprayed with water and ironed dry to give it a look of water with movement.  I added a real hook and sinker.  The fishing line did not look right so I unraveled some yellow string and tied it on to the hook with a 8 hook knot. I added a bit of glassy accents to dual the barbs.  Although not my normal look to a card, I like the dimensions the colors and accents give.

Your choice of stamp

This is for the your choice of stamp tracker.  This card is made with 2 store bought stamps. The background paper is made with one and the owl is the other. 

you can follow the making of the card step by step on my other blog:  http://studioscrafthacks.blogspot.com/2014/12/choice-of-stamp-process.html

Mixed up stamp

So I am in a tracker to use up scraps and miscellaneous stamps and inks.

This card has been created by using scrap paper only. The speckled paper is handmade and left over from another project, the stamp is one that was carved and did not have the look I was after, the dark ink on the card is from a dried up ink pad that I added water and glycerin too rather than tossing it. All items were glued together with rubber cement.  

Jabber's Kitten

Jabber completed a great card!  

I love that there are not layers of paper, one focal point, clean, crisp lines, the perfect clashing color.

There is a real challenge to card making, making a card that holds its own.  Sometimes background layers are needed, sometimes colors and additional "embellishments" or stuff .  Then sometimes th "stuff" take over the card and the viewer has too much to look at. With pattern upon pattern sometimes the work is lost as the eye wonders everywhere. This card is a perfect example how a person can put together a card that holds its own without all the other "stuff". The viewer can see movement, playfulness, the love of a pet and get a feel for the art aspect of the card. The photo does not do it justice.  This is such a bright, crisp card.  It takes talent to put together a card like this without using tricks to hide, shade, or enhance an area.  

I usually take my photos on white, but I wanted to show how crisp this card is. 

Thank you Jabber for all you do for the community and allowing me to share this piece of work.  It really held my attention for quite sometime.  Bravo!

Christmas drawing

So I have another drawing to do.

This time... You CANNOT enter your own name. Enter a friend. Post something cheery, nice, a nice sentiment.  Be sure to include their trail name.  

This drawing is for AQ members only (hat and feather not needed)

I cannot enter this (not allowed)

To enter someone post in the comments.  There is a limit of entering 2 people. However, each person can only be entered once.

I will close this at midnight Dec. 20, 2014

O Holy Night

This was carved on SLQ,  A fun card for the Holiday Spirit tracker. This started as white paper.  The back is layered distress inks used to emphasize areas of the stained glass. The stained glass image was colored using  inks and water colors.   While the inks were wet a layer of distress candy coat was added.  I then used a squeegee to wipe most away leaving a thin layer of the paint.  Since the inks were wet it helped bleed some of the colors and add depth to the card.  The 2 layers were edged in black and glued together with rubber cement.  After applying the rubber cement to both the front of the back paper and the back of the window I let it dry and then put the pieces together to make a permanent bond.

Congrats! We have a winner!

Thank you everyone for playing!  Wishing you a very blessed Christmas.

The prize ready for the mail....

The empty bowl

The players

In the bowl

Holland stirring it up real good

The pick

The winner

Quick card and Hollands first card

A special treasure by topcollector

Topcollector sent me a special LTC in the mail.  I am so drawn to the fabric and thread.  So this was a great treat!

This jewel is called:

Stitched: Spinning Tops Quilt Block

Counted cross stitch and embroidery.

Let's start with just the card- this is delightful to the eye.

The colors of this card as very pleasing to the eyes. The red and green have a peaceful cheer that is not too powerful. The card is red and green- usually I think of Christmas time, but the muted colors give the feel of spring.  (However- I plan to add it to my Christmas frame for the up coming holidays because I really like it)

The front of the card is a beautifully stictched square.

The back shows the original stamp.  

The embroidery is tightly stitched making a perfectly smooth cards.  The cut corners make a romance feel to the card. The subtle blending of papers is remarkable as the is no paint or ink involved.  

The only thing that would make this better is if I hade 8 more to make a wall display of these little treasure of quilt blocks.   I absolutely love this card!

Big cheers to topcollector for sharing beautiful art with me, love the special surprise!

Florida Four's fabulous cards

So I recieved a beautiful surprise in the mail.  It was so touching and wonderful, it came at the right time as I was having a rough day.  Florida four sent me a nice card with some special cards.  There is no doubt that she has an artist eye is absolutely incredible.  I am going to say that these are definitely art cards.  The pictures do not do them justice, but these are magnificent.

So before you look at the cards, notice the colors, the handmade papers, the texture, and story.  Notice that the stamp is not colored in with markers, but is expressive in a true artistic way.  Read the card and see the story that it shows. 

This is a self portrait

The tinting and colors are so vibrant. Perfect for such an artist.

Cutey Pahooty (each card is unique- same carve)

The bright, vibrancy, and texture of this card reminds me of the bright sun peeking over the horizon, I just see this little guy getting caught by it.  For being a vibrant color it is a warm card. Very hard to achieve warmth with brightness.

Christmas Cards 2014 Father Christmas and friends.

The layers of this card are simply amazing. The layers and layers of work. The story, the animals, the cold you feel with it.  Did you count the animals?

Rustic Luna Moth

Here is an amazing card, the moth is so well done and smooth. The background brings out the gentle nature of the moth, shows movement, and a peace. The paper is hand painted. Just amazing.

Deep!: Edward Scissorhands

Edward scissor hands. This character was such a wounded hero.  He was graceful, awkward, lovable, and damaged.  This card shows who he was and shares a struggle that is inside.  

Timeless Tales (velveteen Rabbit)

The velveteen rabbit such a well know story.  This card shows how much the character interact with one another. Perfect colors to show love and gentleness. Subtle additions make this card so great.

Laminated envelope

So this is not my idea- totally ebda's.  Copied and used!

Laminating machine, laminating plastics, envelope- laminate it closed.

Cut through the laminate to the paper following the curve of the envelope flap. 

Pick up the blade and cut the rest

Gently put the blade under the flap cutting anywhere that was not cut all the way through

Cut off the excess

Perfect envelope!

fun with chip bags

The craft mats that are sold at stores are great and very useful, however there are many things you can do with chip bags. (sometimes even better)


To start clean a chip bag.  Tortilla chip bags do not work the same way as a craft mat, but they still work for what we are doing.  We are going to make a craft mat that has the fold in the middle. There are many ways to use this little mat.

large chip bag clean and dry

Cut off the bottom

I like it as straight as it can be so I use a cutter.

Cut off the top

To get this straight you have to take care and line up the bag on the cutter

Cut one side off

I usually cut about an inch off here

here it is opened on top of the large Ranger craft mat. (sorry for the blurry pic - had to turn off the lights to avoid reflections)

He is plain white card stock, you can you glass, photo paper, even colored papers.  I am using dylusion sprays, but you can use markers and water base inks for this trick)

I just sprayed the inks on the "mat" you can use ink pads (water based) or markers (even Crayola)  Add some color

Spray the ink on the mat with water

You will see the ink pool together in the water and blend some

Take your card stock and place on the mat

Fold the bag mat closed and rub the outside of it. 

What you see when you open it up. The more ink on the mat the more coverage.

Add more water to your sheet (saturate it)

add another piece of card stock on top (fold bag over and rub)

removing the sheet

leave the bottom sheet there (re-saturate the paper with water) add another sheet of card stock on top and peel away

Continue to rewet the bottom sheet and add another on top until the card stock gets lighter and lighter.

Here are 6 sheets all created with 8 sprays of ink and water.  The picture does not show the vibrancy very well as these are all wet.  The top center piece was my base paper and the rest were created from it.