Fabulous Finds Friday — Spellbinders

I’ve had Fabulous Finds all week as I recoup from the Craft & Hobby Association winter show! (Yikes … this never got posted on Friday…)
Today, it’s Spellbinders’ turn to shine.

If you love the embossing of Spellbinders’ double sided M-Bossabilities, you’ll be ga-ga over the deeper, more sculpted looking 3D M-Bossabilities.
Here is one example:

These folders are a tad thicker than the others, so your sandwich will use the pink embossing plate and the raspberry adapter plate, rather than the normal base plate. Also, mist your cardstock first to loosen the paper fibers for an even deeper impression. The folders snap apart, making it easy to ink the plate itself for a letterpress look. Check out this video:

Here is a finished card:

And a closer view:

For this project, the embossing plate was inked first with gold Delicata ink from Tsukineko.

Then there’s the exciting collaboration between Spellbinders and Susan Lenart Kazmer, creator of ICE Resin, who has designed the Media MixageTM line of bezels, papers and dies to use with Spellbinders new Artisan X-plorer MachineTM. Here is a sample of a pretty bezel:

Besides bezels and blanks, there are matching templates, metals and more. The new Artisan X-plorer Machine, which I have not played with yet, is a multi-purpose high pressure machine that cuts, embosses and presses a variety of materials, including metal.

Stay tuned for more samples, examples and projects … including Valentines! Thanks for stopping by.

Dude, This Is A Manly Card

This new set from Stampin’ Up cracks me up! Check it out:

It’s a stamping kit for men. The only thing missing is a power cord!

The instructions are a little hard to read here, but it starts, “As a guy, it’s not always easy to express yourself….” and continues:
“The guys at Stampin’ Up! have an idea — build a card…” (Yes, guys don’t make things, they build them!!!)

Thanks for stopping by — more CHA pictures coming!

My Adventures at CHA

Am I a lucky gal or what? I spent 3 1/2 days at the big Craft and Hobby Association show in Anaheim. I posted some pictures from the show… not much explanation, but just a glimpse of what I was finding.

I’ll be writing up a CHA Hot List for Crafts ‘n things magazine, but in the meantime, here are some quick peeks:

First the lowdown on new Tim Holtz products from Ranger. Tim has so many new goodies he needs his own post! (For a comprehensive look at what’s new in Tim-world, go directly to his blog, www.timholtz.com.)

Perhaps the most exciting are the Distress Paints — a paint-like medium that behaves a lot like ink. Here are some photos:

This tag was made using the same technique you’d use for distress stains — dab some on your craft sheet and swipe you tag through.

You can also swipe the paints directly on your surface, then blend, mist, wet, etc. While the inks are wet, you can manipulate them. Once they dry, they’re done, baby.

And check it out … you can stamp with the paints. They create a nice, flat finish, just as inks do:

Stay tuned for more exciting CHA coverage! Thanks for bearing with me…

Quick Pics from CHA

Cool new distress paints from Tim Holtz

Fresh from CHA

Here are some great finds from CHA:

Wow, What a Challenge!

Wow, talk about a personal challenge! Using 10 embellishments on one card? Yowza! I had to do it. The challenge is from Moxie Fab World and did I mention it required me to use 10  — count ’em 10! — embellishments?

Why was this such a challenge? Because I tend to hoard things, saving them them for the “perfect” project. So I broke into my stash of flower embellies and found these cute pressed flowers from Petals & Possibilities that I got a few years ago and never used. (Shame on me!) (Sorry, I couldn’t find a viable web site for the company.) Since I’m into Valentine mode, these heart shaped beauties were the perfect fit.

Take a look:

Here’s the scoop: paper from Bazzill Basics Miss Teagen Sue collection; bird stamp with matching die from Prickley Pear, stamped with Hero Arts Cup O’ Joe, then highlighted with pearlescent chalk from Pebbles;  twill ribbon from Making Memories; baker’s twine from Close to My Heart; pressed flowers from Petals & Possibilities; pearls from Hero Arts.

The Moxie Fab Blog is offering several challenges from Paper Crafts’ new publication, “75 Creative Card Challenges.”

Do check them out! As for me … I’m going to dig out some of my stash and use it with wild abandon!

Notes from the Imperfect Stamper…

Do you ever have one of those days? I just got this Number Pattern stamp CG516 from Hero Arts and couldn’t wait to mix up some embossing goodness. But see that brown splotch in the top center of the card? Yes…. got a little overzealous with the heat tool.

But since nothing goes to waste here, I punched out the good parts and made two cards! I used three different sized circle punches. (The embossing powders are all from American Crafts — yum, I love the colors! They are Neon Yellow, Neon Green, Apricot and Grapefruit.)

First, the secret to getting just the right spot on your punch — turn over the punch so you can see where you are punching:

Easy, no?

And here are those punched circles hard at work:

Sentiment is from Hero Arts Hip Hip Hooray set CL497; Punches are from McGill and Tonic; Paper … not sure.  I edged the circles with a black marker, but I’m not sure I like them edged in black. Letters on Happy Birthday were colored using gel pens:  American Crafts Bright Pink, Sakura Gelly Roll orange; Spica melon green.

Plain white card stock run through Cuttlebug folder. Three of the circles were simply glued down; the fourth (the little pink 3 to the right) was adhered with a foam dot to make it pop. The sentiment is from Hero Arts’ Hip Hip Hooray set CL494.)

Stay tuned some other cards I made using this numbers background (which I love!) that came out better!

 

Fabulous Finds Friday — New Stamps to Adore

When I get a new stamp I’m like a 5-year-old. I can’t wait to ink it up and play,  so my first go-round is usually a quick-and-easy card.

How fun are these two new images from Hero Arts? Dontcha love the “Real Card” stamp? I can see myself using this a LOT!

Hexagonal Background was stamped in Neon Pink; the sentiment was embossed using Zing Teal powder from American Crafts. I love the creamy opaqueness of these powders and I have several zingy neon shades! I believe the cardstock is from Stampin’ Up.

It’s hard to see, but I added some drops of Ranger’s Stickles Diamond to the dots on the Special sign (because Stickles makes everything better!):

I love that I can make quick cards using a few basics.

Next up — stamping disasters from the Imperfect Stamper!

New Year, Bright Beginnings

It’s the new year … and it’s been gloomy here in normally sunny Southern California. Which made it a perfect day for stamping something bright! Thank heavens I just read a newspapere article that said neon was still hot.

I pulled out my Hero Arts Neon stamp pads and some new-ish images and played … Nothing too exotic, just a slap-dash bit of fast and easy stamping to satisfy my stamping urge.

Been anxious to put this fun new set to work … Homey Patterns from Basic Grey and Hero Arts. Aren’t the house divine?  The pennants were mounted on a piece of baker’s twine from Close To My Heart.

Don’t these fish cry out for neon? This card needs a greeting, but again, it satisfied my stamping jones. Images are from Rubber Stamp Plantation. Tape is from EK Success.

Thanks for putting up with me!