Quick Creativation Recap

Hey … what happened to January? Can’t believe we are in February already!

I have some Valentines ready to go, but first I need to do a quick report on what was new, fun, and fabulous at Creativation, the big trade show for the craft and hobby industry (a recent report puts crafts and hobbys as a $36 billion-plus industry!)

So here are some quick shots:

More Distress Oxides? Yes, please, may I have another??? From Ranger.

Whaaaa? Macrame is back? Yes, but hipper and cuter. These are kits from Plaid. There was a lotta knottin’ going on….

Plaid also has a nifty acrylic marbling ink, just dribble from a jar. This opens up such possibilities! Check out this one:

Cool, eh?

Check out Tim Holtz in the cool shades, ready to show off his new 3D embossing folders for Sizzix:

(No, it’s not your eyes … you need the glasses to make sense of the sign!)

 

Here’s a folder:

There’s more to come!

Check out my Instagram account @RobertaWax.

Fabulous Finds Friday: New at Ranger

Today I have a packed Fabulous Finds Friday with some new items from Ranger that will make summer a little brighter.

Let’s start with Enamel Accents, an opaque, dimensional medium that dries to a glossy finish. I love making my own domed dots with the black enamel, so I think the new colors will be a must-have in my embellishment arsenal.

Besides Black Tie and Glacier White, Enamel Accents now come in Pink Gumball, Classic Cherry, Cheese Puff, Lemon Twist, Electric Lime, Lily Pad, Carribean Coast, Blue Ribbon, Wild Orchid and Grape Soda.

I’m a big fan of Ranger’s Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks — I especially love to use them when I’m watercoloring. They stamp so crisp and bright and can also be used with markers, acrylic paint and even Alcohol Ink. New colors are Vibrant Fucshia, Bright Tangelo, Vivid Chartreuse, Paradise Teal, Majestic Violet and Shadow Grey (which I think will be my favorite grey.)

Alcohol Inks, those fast-drying, fade-resistant dye inks specially formulated for non-porous surfaces such as glass, acrylic, tile, etc., are ready for summer, too, available in three-piece sets or individually. Summer sets include Spring Break (Valencia, Limeade, Turquoise), Beach Deco (Flamingo, Patina, Amethyst) and Retro Café (Pink Sherbert, Pool, Espresso).

New flip tops are a nice addition to Tim Holtz® Distress Paints, which is a great segue to Tim’s newest medium, Grit-Paste. As the name says, it has a gritty texture, holds its body, and dries to a textured, matte finish. You can use it with stencils and color it using the usual suspects: Distress inks, sprays, paint, crayons, etc. They all have different saturation levels on the paste, so just play!

Dina Wakley and Dyan Reaveley both have some cool new stamp designs. Dina has new borders, scribbled text elements and faces and wings, while Dyan added more of her fun and funky designs. Dyan also has new colors in her Dylusions paints: Funky Fuchsia, Pure Sunshine, Chopped Pesto, Polished Jade, Ground Coffee and Slate Grey.

Head over to the website and check out the fun new items!

Gone Camillia Crazy….

Must. Stop. Stamping. Camellias.

Here is the last batch from my Technique Tuesday camellia crazy card making spree.

This time, I used the stamp more as a background:

This top-folding card was really fun. I stamped the first camellia in the upper left hand corner, then made a mask and stamped all over the card using Wendy Vecchi’s archival Watering Can grey (from Ranger).

Check out the teeny camellia in the lower corner!

I stamped the camellia on scrap white card stock (using that same Wendy Vecchi watering can ink) then painted it using my water brush and Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Markers (Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet) and some leftover green ink on my palette from my Faber-Castell PITT brush markers. When the piece was dry I cut out the center of the flower, plus two leaves.

I stamped and black embossed “Beautiful” (Technique Tuesday) on a strip of vellum, which I attached by wrapping the band to the inside of the card, attaching with Scotch Brand vellum tape. I also anchored the vellum on the front, using the same tape, where I knew I would put the flower, which I attached with foam squares.

The final touches included a dab of Ranger Diamond Stickles on various flower parts a few Doodlebug Designs sequins, attached using Glue Dots micros.

And one last one …

So simple! Stamp the camellia in grey in the lower right corner of a white card stock panel, round the corners and mount it on a Paper Source cement card front (also rounding the corners). Die- cut “happy” (Technique Tuesday) twice, layer the two and adhere to top of card. I added some Ranger Glossy Accents for shine and stamped “everything” beneath it. A few Dew Drops from Robin’s Nest, a black Hero Arts gem and bam! I’m done. Everything was glued down with ScraPerfect Best Glue Ever.

Thanks for coming by!

More Stencils

Yes, we’re still on stenciling. When I’m in the mood to stencil, I figure I may as well do several at a time!

Here’s what I’ve done with three different stencils from Gourmet Rubber Stamps.

(I think I used Distress inks and a foam applicator on all of these! I used Ranger Dimensional Pearls on the butterflies.)

That’s it for today! Thanks for stopping by!

Scintillating Stencils

On Friday, I showed some new large stencils. Today, let’s get card-sized with some of my new favorite stencils.

Here’s a little beauty from Gourmet Rubber Stamps.

Using Ranger Distress inks and a foam applicator, I pounced color through the stencil.

Ta-da!

And put it all together….

…trimmed the panel and layered it to brown cardstock. Added a die cut bird and cage (Tim Holtz/Sizzix). I also stamped a text image to the bird’s body — you can barely see it in the photo. (I need to fix the wing. I may glitter it.) I’ll eventually get around to adding a sentiment.

I’ll have another in my next post.
Thanks for stopping by!

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…

Fabulous Finds Friday — Seasonal Distress…

… and by seasonal distress I don’t mean the anxiety kind! I mean the Seasonal Distress Inks produced for a limited time by Ranger and Tim Holtz.

I had barely enough time to play with the fall colors when it was time for the winter hues! So here we go:

I ran a piece of glossy scrap card stock through a Cuttlebug folder and rubbed it with the Distress winter inks: festive berries, evergreen bough and iced spruce. The piece was trimmed, edged in gold, be-ribboned and attached to a red card. The chipboard sentiment is from a Brenda Walton K&Company box ‘o chips that I got A YEAR Ago (gasp) and was hoarding until the right moment. That moment is now.

Another Cuttlebug-embossed background (a collage background from Tim), same process.

And because I needed to STAMP, here’s one more:

Could I have gone any simpler?  This is so plain it’s a little embarrassing and kinda dorky. But how fast and easy was this? (You can’t see it very well, but the poinsettias (Hero Arts) are dotted with Distress Rock Candy Stickles.

One final Distress Ink card, this one using the Fall palette:

(Yes, you’ve sort of seen this before. I just added a sentiment and some pearls to the card I posted here.)

Thanks for visiting!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Inks!

There’s been so much buzz about Tim Holtz’ new Seasonal Distress Inks … and I was lucky enough to get my hands on some. The colors are so luscious that even though it was 100 degrees when I got them in Southern California, they made me feel all cozy and yearning for fall sweaters.

Being incredibly impatient, I had to pop them open, even though I didn’t have much time to create. But I had to look at the colors. So I pulled out a Hero Arts stamp and just randomly tap-tap-tapped on a plain white card:

‘dontcha just want to put on a scarf and run through a pile of autumn leaves? Haven’t decided yet how to finish the card — maybe some rhinestones or pearls and a simple “happy Thanksgiving” sentiment? The colors are Seedless Preserves, Ripe Persimmon and Gathered Twigs.

But there was one more thing I had to try… I had about 10 minutes left before I had to leave, so I quickly dabbed the inks directly on my craft sheet:

I spritzed with my water mister and swirled around a scrap piece of semi-glossy cardstock, reapplied the inks and then dabbed a piece of watercolor paper:

On the left is the semi-glossy card stock, which did not impress me at all. (Not the inks, just what I did with them! The inks are gettin’ the love.)

On the right is the watercolor paper, which I misted first, then dragged through the ink. I supplemented the dragged ink with some ink that I picked up with my waterbrush.

I almost threw away the first one, the semi-glossy scrap that looks lame in this photo. Luckily, I didn’t. When I came home from work and had a snack (eating always revives me!) I decided to play with that piece and make a Halloween card (which I showcased earlier this week):

…and ‘lo and behold, it’s not too bad! The diamond pattern was stamped using the Gathered Twigs; the rest were all black embossed. The white spider web that you can barely see in the background was stamped using white pigment ink.  (Stamps by Close To My Heart; edge by Spellbinders)

Thanks for hangin’ in there with me!

Boo! Halloween’s Creeping Up!

Yowzas! Halloween is right around the corner!

I haven’t been much of a Halloween card maker, but since my friend Connie’s birthday is on Halloween, I’ve started making her spooky birthday cards each year. She gets so excited that she spurred me into re-thinking the Halloween thing! Then I met a new stamping friend, Nancy, who is REALLY into Halloween. She convinced me to buy a spooky tree stamp and a Martha Stewart punch.

So here we are…. making Halloween cards.

I’ll start with my favorite, which came about entirely by accident.

It started because I was testing those scrumptious Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Inks from Ranger. I smooshed the three inks (gathered twigs, ripe persimmon and seedless preserves) on my craft sheet, misted and then just plopped down the first piece of scrap paper at hand, which happened to be a coated cardstock. (I am SO impatient — I had to try these immediately — practically as I was running out the door!) I wasn’t planning on using the piece. (I’ll have more about these inks in another post.) But when I came home, it looked so yummy I trimmed it and figured I may as well stamp something on it!

I stamped the diamond pattern using the gathered twigs ink, dried it with my heat tool, then stamped and black embossed the bird and the sentiment. A little trick: Before stamping and embossing, I swooshed the piece with my anti-static bag. Mine is an old one from Stampers Touch, but I believe you can find them at Sparkle ‘n Sprinkle and other sources.

All stamps are from Close To My Heart; the white border strip is from Spellbinders. The spider web is stamped in white pigment ink.

Here are the others:

The background was made using ClearSnap’s Smooch Spritz sprays (Donna Salazar color collection) over a Crafter’s Workshop stencil. The tree (Stampendous) was black embossed (thanks, Nancy, for making me buy this stamp!), the fence was punched (Martha Stewart) from gray cardstock then colored with Stephanie Barnard black dye ink (NEW from ClearSnap). (Check out Stephanie’s website here.) The bat and sentiment are from Artistic Outpost.

And another version:

The flying witch is an oldie from Hero Arts, black embossed then colored a bit with neon gel pens from Sakura.

One more, made quickly:

Images all from Close To My Heart; punch is from EK Success.

Have a fun — but safe! — Halloween, and thanks for stopping by.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Lots of Embellies

In the June issue of Crafts ‘n things magazine, I highlight some new embellishments found at the hobby trade show. Take a peek at a small sample:

We’ll get to those later… First, I want to tell you about another new product — Color Me, an embossed paper from Hot Off The Press.

The paper doesn’t look like much to begin with — white embossed images on white paper. But magic happens when you add color (in this case, Distress Inks from Ranger):

After coloring, I cut a flower using a Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut. I found some similarly white-on-white embossed letters from Close To My Heart, and when I rubbed these with Denim Adirondack ink, more magic!

(Paper from Close To My Heart)

Here is a close up of the flowers:

In my efforts to cut down on my scrap supply (Ha! Like THAT will ever happen!) I am determined to use up the paper once I start. So here’s what I did with the other half of that navy blue paper used in the first card:

The flower is made by cutting several layers of tissue paper (I think I cut four or five layers) using another Sizzix flower die. Stack the different sized flowers, poke a hole and insert a brad (I used a pretty pearl brad from K&Company). “Fluff” the flower by gently crunching and “smooshing” the tissue layers. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Thanks for coming by. My next post will show what I did with the rest of those nifty embellishments.