Fabulous Finds Friday — Blingy Bling Bling

Oh, how I love these sheets of self-adhesive vinyl jewels from The Buckle Boutique! Check out this Fabulous Find:

Isn’t this a sparkly card? These bedazzling gems are actually vinyl sheets, so they are easy to cut and oh, so pretty and sparkly. It’s hard to believe they are not actual rhinestones.

(Background large canvas stripe S5433 by Hero Arts; Happy sentiment by Technique Tuesday; Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2 die edged in Brilliance Gold.

Take a gander at the multi-colored sheet:

(Delicate Flower background CG476 from BasicGrey/Hero Arts stamped in Marvy grey; cardstock from Stampin’ Up!; cloud die from My Favorite Things on Core’dinations cardstocks whitewash; Hello Sunshine CL600 by Hero Arts/BasicGrey)

Here’s another card, with the strips cut even narrower:

And a closer view:

(Radiant Banner CG446 by Hero Arts stamped in Stephanie Bernard ColorBox Banana ink; Sentiment by Hero Arts stamped in Wet Cement.)

Thanks for coming by. Hope you are having a Fabulous Friday!

Another from the Vault

Who knew cleaning could be such fun? Here are some more cards made years ago, when I first started stamping:

When shadow stamping first came into fashion, I thought it was the greatest technique because it was so quick and easy. I first learned the technique through Hero Arts when the company introduced solid stamps in various sizes and shapes, and also ink that was soft and mat and perfect as a base. (I’ll be blogging soon about the newest Hero Arts stamps that harken back to shadow stamping! Or check out the Hero Arts Web site and look at Shari Carroll’s video.)

The shadow stamps are definitely Hero Arts, as are the inks. The fish is from Maryse Carrier, who once designed for Magenta. I was thrilled to find out that her designs are now being carried at Stampotique! Do check them out. I had forgotten how fun and whimsical her designs are, so I’ll be digging out more of those oldies from my collection.

This one is all Judikins (except the sentiment, which I believe is Hero Arts.) The background is a fun retro block with four images on one block; the abstract was black embossed and colored with watercolors.

News You Can Use

Earlier this year I made two jewelry pieces to be donated to a journalism group for a fundraising event.

I used newspaper stories and headlines to create the background on Formica chips, sealed with Mod Podge. When the Mod Podge was dry I used a VersaMark pen on the edges, then added gold embossing powder. And finally, some beads and gems.

Naturally, I needed something cool to hold them, so I fashioned these recycled gift boxes from a box that held soap:

Again, I covered the box with newspaper (hey, this was for a bunch of journalists!) and punched a hole in the sides for a ribbon. But the most fun was the flower, made with the Tim Holtz Tattered Flower die (Sizzix) and, you guess it, newspaper. I spritzed the flower with Ranger’s Perfect Pearls (I think gold and another color… I’m so bad at remembering.)

Here’s a close-up of the flower:

Thanks for swingin’ by!

More From The Vault

Last week I shared some cards I made a megatrillion years ago … here are a few more:

How’s that for heavy masking? Back in the day, “postal” images were all the rage. And obviously, I had just learned how to mask! (Masking is a technique used to put one image behind another. You stamp your foreground image, then stamp it again on scrap paper. Cut out the scrap paper image, cutting a little inside the line. Use that to cover or “mask” the foreground image, then stamp another image over it. The second image will appear behind the first. Make sense? If you stamp your mask on a sticky note or use repositionable glue, then it won’t shift when you stamp over it. Tip o’ day!) (Most of those postal images are from Rubber Stamp Avenue, which is still around and still has fun stuff. The ink is Kaleidacolor from Tsukineko — a fast way to add color.)

Here’s when I learned how to stamp a scene:

I haven’t stamped a scene in ages! I should dig out those old stamps and try again.

And my early infatuation with heat embossing (a life-changing event!):

(Images from Judikins.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cards from the Vault

Yes, once again I am in cleaning mode. (This is a life-long project.)

This time, I cleaned out an old box of cards. Many of these were made when I first started stamping, back in the day when dinosaurs walked the earth.

Let’s open the vault and take a look. See if you remember any of these techniques:

Remember old school dry embossing on metal? I think the process I used here involved stamping the image (Lucy’s stamps) on the back of a foil sheet then going over the lines using a stylus. I can’t remember what I used to color the flowers, but it must have been paint or markers because alcohol ink and Distress markers were not around then!

And remember when dark cardstock was all the rage? (Oy, I still have a ton of it….)

Oh, how I adored (wait…I still adore this image!) this Haiku Bunny from Hero Arts! In fact, I may pull it out and use it on something today!

Then there was the stipple background technique:

The “Uncle Enos” image (from River City Rubberworks — they have some hilarious stamps, check them out) was stamped in black then masked using a torn piece of paper. The background stamp (A Stamp In the Hand) was stamped, then the mask removed and I stippled on various colors (I think from a Tsukineko Autumn Kaleidacolor ink pad). The fine bristles of a stipple brush leave a cool textured look.

Hope you had fun with this stroll down memory lane. My next peek into the vault will feature “shadow” stamping — when it was first introduced.
Thanks for stopping by!

Living on the Edge

In my last Fabulous Finds Friday post I worked with Spellbinders’ 3D M-Bossibilities dies. Today, I played with edge-cutting dies — such fun!

Check it out:

How fun is that?

Here is a finished card:

(Cardstock from Stampin’ Up; Hero Arts pinwheels stamped and embossed on scrap paper, finished with rhinestones; sentiment from Hero Arts, edged with Stampin’ Up True Thyme ink and attached with a Ranger Tiny Attacher.)

For the pink card, I tried a different border. At first, I was going to just leave the border as it was, an open-cut. But when the card was closed, it was hard to see the pretty cut-out. (Also, some of the edges were fragile!)

So I added a strip of off-white card stock underneath:

(The hearts are Hero Arts images left over from my wild Valentine’s Day stamping and embossing spree!)

Thanks for coming back!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Spellbinders 3D Dies

Who doesn’t like a deep impression? I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the new 3D M-Bossabilities deep impressions embossing folders from Spellbinders. This is dry embossing at its deepest, giving your cards an almost sculpted look.

(For a recap on these embossing folders, check out this post here There is also a link to a great video.)

The folders are made to snap apart for easy inking for a debossed, letterpress-like look.

Here are two embossed pieces made from the same folder (E3D-004):

The pink sample was made using the regular embossing technique on a shimmer pink paper (source unknown.) The yellow was created using a debossing method. I inked the plate using ColorBox Butter Chalk Ink. Can you see how it is pressed into the paper?

Here are two cards made using these pieces:

(Other Spellbinders dies: Antique Frame & Accents and the cut/fold/tuck die, which was attached with a pop-up Glue Dot for added dimension. And a rhinestone. Can’t forget the rhinestone!)

I cut the yellow, debossed piece and got enough for three cards. Here’s just one:

(The frame, from Close To My Heart, was stamped and heat embossed using American Crafts’ Zing apricot powder; the background wood grain stamp and the sentiment are from Hero Arts.)

Thanks for stopping by! Next up is a look at some edge-cutting dies.

Random Acts of Stamping

Oh, boy, is my desk a mess. It’s time to clean up and make a fresh start. For a cardmaker, cleaning means using up all those bits and pieces left over from other paper projects. What a great way to clean! Here are some Random Acts of Stamping:

Buried among other bits and pieces was this cool background piece made by rubbing Gelatos (see this post and this post for more info on Gelatos) on water color paper. The big fish is from Rubber Stamp Plantation.

Here’s another card made using random pieces found on my desk.

The birdcage (a stamp and die set) is from Prickley Pear; the quote is from Hero Arts; the die cut border is a Spellbinders die; the gold paper is, I think, Die Cuts With a View.

There is so much more to clean! Stay tuned….

Fabulous Finds Friday — Easy Cardmaking

In a rush? Have a card emergency? David Tutera (working with Core’dinations) has come to the rescue, making it easy for anyone — even non-stampers — to make several cards in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

The collection is a great introduction for beginning crafters, but experienced cardmakers will find it easy to turn it up a notch. There are three basic steps: Pick your card base, add a layer, and finish with a sentiment and embellishments. Stampers, of course, can add a stamped sentiment or embellishment. Don’t forget to stamp the envelope!

Here are a few samples:

(I chose a pearly card base and distressed the butterfly to show off the colored core of the Core’dinations distressable stock. See the stamped envelope peeking out from behind? Butterflies (Hero Arts) stamped using a Kaleidacolor Tahiti rainbow pad from Tsukineko, now known as Imagine Crafts.)

(oops! I used a Tombow Multi Purpose glue pen to attach the top layer but got a splotch on the bottom part of the card. I covered it with this felt self-adhesive trim from Queen & Co.)

I added some text stamping (Hero Arts 5344) to the butterfly on this one. Here’s a close-up:

(Ignore the speck of glitter … from another project … that I neglected to remove before taking the photo!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, Happy Day!

This card was a happy accident. While writing about the trendiness of all things camera, I came across this cool Polaroid paper from Die Cuts With A View.

The background paper is also DCWV and the squiggly pink border is an old one from Queen & Co.

I masked the Poloroid before stamping with VersaMark and embossing in white:

The large flower is Hero Art’s PomPom flower K5571; the small flower and the butterfly are from Close To My Heart’s Cardword Puzzle set C1494. Happy Day sentiment is from Technique Tuesday.

Hope you are having a Happy Day!