Bear Kisses

Aren't these bears just adorable?

This is one of the new releases from Penny Black called "nose-kiss". There are 3 new bear stamps.....all so cute!

I used Memento inks as my palette to watercolor the bears. By pressing each color of ink pad that I need onto a non-porous surface.....I use a piece of acrylic packaging or my glass work surface.....I create a palette of dyes to pick up with my waterbrush. I used watercolor paper here but I often use just a good quality paper. Watercolor paper allows more manipulation of the color without shredding the paper. With regular card stock, the color can't be reworked as much nor will it tolerate as much water.

It's a quick way to color.......at least, I think so! The longest part is waiting for the paper to dry.

The daisy background paper is from Imaginisce. I added a touch of glitter to the red mat edges. The heart has glitter glue on it.

I challenge you to get out any water based dye ink.....Memento or Ranger Adirondack inks will work....and try your hand at watercolor!

Have fun - create something!
-judy

It Snowed...

....and snowed, and snowed....

The sun finally came out today! Hooray!

We have had snow since last Wednesday, December 23. I know it's over 18"! The good thing is that it wasn't cold.....it was even above 32 on Christmas Day.

These 3 photos show the snow on our truck and car as the snow progressed. It's a little hard to see the changes....the 1st photo shows a bit of the bumper on the car near the shed, then less and finally on Saturday, the bumper wasn't visible.

Late Christmas Day I went outside to check for snow on our satelite dish......internet service was so slow. I thought perhaps the dish had snow on it......no luck, it was clear. Must have been all the other snowed in people surfing the web.....

The snow was perfect for making a snow man.....what fun!

(He does have 2 eyes....one is covered with snow)

We didn't leave home until Sunday morning when we ventured out to church. The snow plow went by so we thought it was okay. We made it out but snow was drifting into the tracks. Coming home was not so good. More drifting had filled in the tracks. We got stuck! It was only .4 mile from home. We walked home and came back with the tractor to open the road. We just got the car shoveled out when the snow plow came back.....if only he'd been a bit earlier.

We woke to more snow this morning with blowing and drifting. We hadn't had much wind all during the huge snow fall. When the wind blows, huge drifts form on our country road. Thank goodness I had today off from work (I had planned to spend time with family in northern Minnesota. So much for plans! ). At least I didn't have to try get through the snowy road.

Yeah! The snow plow went by again this afternoon! The wind and snow have stopped. It's like being set free!

As for stamping......I did some yesterday. It's not quite ready to share.

Until next time......smiles to you!

-judy

A Gift to Share

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying this special day. Here in Minnesota, we're in the middle of a huge snowstorm. It sure changed lots of plans.

I have a gift to share.......

I made several of these to give to special people.

All stamps are from various Tim Holtz holiday stamp sets.

I created the ornament first.......

The Santa face is stamped with Espresso on white card stock. I added Distress inks for color. I stamped "Christmas" from the "Christmas Carols" stamp and embossed it with gold. I used a Ranger Memory 2x2 Frame and glass.
Then I stamped the background to look like branches of a Christmas tree using Pine Needles and Distress EP. Music lines are stamped below the branches and it's all aged with Distress inks. I also added a touch of gold embossing at the corners.
I wanted it to be on the front of a card. Okay, that's pretty dimensional for a card front so that led me to create a box type card.

I created a frame box out of card stock deep enough to hold the ornament. It didn't look right plain so I stamped music, script and "believe" over it and distressed it all. The cover is the same paper as the frame box on the outside with dark red inside. I stamped Merry Christmas embossed in gold with space to write a message. Pine branches are stamped all around the edges with Walnut Stain.
The cover is held in place with hinges from Judikins. They work so well......the cover opens completely flat. I tried paper hinges but they didn't work as well.

The back of the ornament has another Santa face with "Believe" in gold, also colored with Distress inks.

I added a gold cord hanger and a bow that's distressed a bit to tone down the color.

The ornament is held in place with removable glue dots....easily removed to hang on the tree. Some of the cord is tucked through a hole and looped behind. A simple tug on the knot will release it.

I hope you enjoyed this gift!

May you have a blessed Christmas!

Love Birds

Hello! Do you remember me?
Wow, it has been a looong time!
Believe me I've wanted to post. If only my thoughts could have loaded a photo and written something!
Tonight I have a card I created for Penny Black's newest release of Valentine's and love stamps. You can see all of them here. Check out their home page, too! One of my cards is featured! The teddy bear with a heart box is also one of my cards. How cool is that!

I used the new "the forever dream" stamp for the love birds stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa. I added just a touch of color using these Copic markers: Y32, YG03, W00, E42, YR0000, YR000, E21, 0.
Once I had them colored, I used an Eclipse mask over the birds and then sprayed the background with Pearl Glimmer Mist.
The card front was stamped with "pointelle" (dots stamp) repeatedly with Versamark ink and then embossed with Silver Pearl embossing powder.
I used 2 circle Spellbinders dies for the opening around the birds: one in the card front and second smaller one for the inner border of luster weave paper.
Just part of the verse "full of life" is stamped on the oval, the rest is stamped inside. I used the Rich Cocoa ink and embossed it with clear.
I added a sheer ribbon to complete the design.

Thanks for stopping to look! I promise to have more to share after Christmas!

In a Pear Tree

Simple stamping with lots of glitter...

I simply stamped this image with Memento Rich Cocoa on white card stock. No distressing or coloring! Hard to believe for me!!!
I added some bling with Stickles Aqua and Copper glitter glue and added a turquoise glitter mat. That paper is from American Crafts......lots of different colors and lots of glitter shine.

The stamp is from Penny Black's transparent set "in a pear tree". A fun whimsical set!

I stamped the bird a second time to cut it out. It's mounted on a foam dot.

When I trimmed the glitter mat, I ended up with a few thin strips. They were too pretty to just throw away..........so I added them for a little accent.


"Noel" is stamped and embossed with copper EP.







One more Christmas card to add to my pile. I've been scavenging through all my cards to find all of the Christmas ones. I found enough for about 1/2 my list. Thank goodness......hopefully I can get the rest put together this week. I love making Christmas cards but around this time, other things like shopping, decorating and baking eat into my stamping time.




If you click over to the Penny Black website, check out their new Valentine's release. Just click on the purple heart. I had the opportunity to work with some of those stamps before the release. I'm honored to say that all the card samples shown are my creations. Yep, even the frog! What a thrill to see them in print!

I hope you're keeping cozy and warm. We're recovering from a snowstorm....the season's first blizzard. Along with it came frigid temps.......below 0 tonight. It's not expected to warm up much tomorrow either. Brrrrrr...!

Inspired by Tag 3

I'm sure enjoying Tim's Christmas tags!

Did you see his blog today? He used alcohol inks to create plaid backgrounds for 2 Christmas tags. I had to try it tonight!

Here's my creation..........


I wanted a subtle blue plaid. My stripes are more visible than the plaid. It's a quick easy technique!

For today's tag, I decided to use a piece of glossy paper the same size as a #8 tag but without a hole or cropped corners.

I stamped the deer with Archival black ink, then embossed it with Ranger Blue Glass EP........very shiny like glass. I masked the deer to stamp the trees, again with Archival Black ink. I added the snowflakes with Distress China Blue and Polysparkle EP.

"Believe" is stamped on glossy paper with Archival Black and embossed with Blue Glass EP. I rounded the corners and added brads. Holographic string is wrapped around the brads and behind the image. I added Polysparkle EP to each brad head.

I added Blue Glass EP to the edges of the dark blue mat. It's all added to the front of an aqua card with snowflakes around the edges stamped with Broken China and embossed with Blue Polysparkle EP.





This photo shows the background before I added any stamping. I used Ranger alcohol inks: Stream, Stonewashed, Denim.


Try this technique. It's so easy!

I hope you enjoyed my take on Tim's technique!
Now, you try it!

Thanks for visiting!

Smiles to you,
-judy

A Christmas Tag

Are you following Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas?

I'm always inspired by his work, especially his Christmas tags. Tim uses such a variety of his products and supplies. His photos are a mini technique lesson! Check out his blog each day for a new tag!

This is Tim's tag from Day 2.

Tonight, I created a tag using his Tag 2 as my inspiration!

I didn't look at his blog again tonight, instead I worked from what I remembered after seeing his tag this morning. I definitely didn't follow it exactly. I didn't have the metal corners for one thing. I forgot that he added Perfect Pearls. I chose a little different color scheme, too.

Here's what I created.......

I used Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, and Scattered Straw for my background after stamping the frame (embossed with Distress Antique Linen EP) and "Season's Greetings". I clear embossed the greeting so it's darker.

The scroll stamp I used is from Tim's Reindeer Flight set as I didn't have the one he used. I stamped it with Archival Black ink although it doesn't quite look black in the photo. I added some snowflakes (from the same set) with Faded Jeans and Broken China inks. You can see the subtle blue around the greeting. (If you click on the photo, you can see it bigger!)

I tied a bow through the tag hole and added the flower through the same hole. The dots at the top of the frame are made with Fired Brick Distress Stickles. I thought the color was a bit too red so I dusted them with black embossing powder (not heated, just let the powder stick to the Stickles) before they dried. It's just enough to darken the color yet show some red.

So, what do you think of my tag?

It's creating...my style!

I hope you get a chance to check out his other tags. You'll learn lots about using his products. He's giving away great prizes, too!

I'll be checking his blog every day for all 12!

Vintage Fleur de Lis Ornament

A different paper ornament.........


This ornament was created using Spellbinder Fleur De Lis die. I was inspired by Becca Feeken's ornament. I chose to make mine more vintage looking and this ornament is one sided having a flat back.

I started with 2 of each of the center out of dark green pearlescent paper and 2 big fleur de lis die cuts out of cream cardstock. I also cut a pearlescent dark green circle for the back. You see the color peeking through the cutouts near the edges. I used Antique Linen Distress ink on the edges before folding.

You can follow Becca's tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers for the cutting and folding directions. If you want to make it like mine, only cut 2 of each and add the circle backing.

The antique button that I found in my collection seemed made for the center. I added a touch of green with a Copic marker. The ribbon hanger is glued to the back before adding the backing circle.

I wish I had time to do a step out of all the steps..........too many other committments. Becca's directions are super! I think you'll be able to figure out the changes I made. You may even prefer her ornament. If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment. I'll be happy to answer.

Have a super Monday!
-judy

Holly Foil Card

This is a simple Christmas card I created using a holly 5 x 7" embossing folder from Provo Craft.

I started by embossing a piece of green craft foil. I then trimmed it to this size. It could easily be cut first and placed in the folder to get just this pattern.

To remove the color, I lightly rubbed Ranger's Solvent stamp cleaner over the raised pattern. I swiped the cleaner top on a paper towel occasionally to clear off the color. A word of warning, if too much cleaner gets on the foil it will run into the debossed areas and remove color there as well. By swiping it on a paper towel, it cleans off the color as well as dries the cleaner top slightly. It's a simple technique to try on all colors of foil! There are no scratches as with sanding.

For the card front, I used Core'dinations Whitewash paper. I sanded the color off with a large emory board. I like the subtle holly pattern that accents the foil yet doesn't detract from it.

The foil is layered onto red and white cardstock. A simple knotted ribbon and greeting tag complete the card. The verse is from Hero Arts Holiday Sayings set.

..........hoping to find more time to stamp soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving greetings to you all!

I'm enjoying a day with family. We've got the food prepared and awaiting the turkey which is taking a bit longer than we anticipated. That's good....I'll be more hungry!

Can you believe it? I spent last weekend in sunny Florida! (The photo is the view out our hotel window the first morning.) My youngest daughter competed in a NPC national body building competition. It was huge, 520 athletes! I went with my other daughter to support her and take in the show. She did well finishing 4th in her class! Incredibly good for her first time.

Don't I look pale in this photo next to Sarah? She has multiple layers of spray tan for her competition! We took this photo in the hotel lobby where they had a huge Christmas tree.










I apologize for not having any stamped art to show! I haven't had any stamping time in over a week......major withdrawal. I hope to find time this weekend.

I wish each and every one of you time today to count your blessings and share this Thanksgiving day with family or friends. You are all blessings for which I'm thankful for every day!

Blessings to you!

judy