Embossing More Than One Way

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time the wonderful Jenny is our hostess and wants us to "Enjoy Your Embossing".  Here is how she describes the challenge:

"Make a vintage or shabby chic project of your choice and remember to include some embossing. Use your favourite embossing methods (wet, dry, heat, or any other techniques you want to share) - just enjoy your embossing!"

I have used a couple of types of embossing on this card.  I started with some card stock from Staples for my blank and then added a panel of paper from a Maja Designs pad called Vintage Spring Basics.

Next I ran some card stock through a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Victoria, cut it into three strips and inked the edges of each with Dusty Concord Distress Ink before I adhered them to the background.

I stamped the sentiment from Wendy Vecchi's All Occasion Art on a scrap of white card stock with Jet Black Archival Ink, inked the edges with Dusty Concord DI and layered it on top of a panel of another paper from the Maja pad tucking a little strip of venise lace underneath.

The filigree leaves were bronze but I pressed them into a Versamark ink pad and then covered them with Wendy Vecchi's Fern Green embossing powder and heated the powder to melt it.  I had done it originally with an old embossing ink pad and the result was mottled but when I did it a second time with the Versamark pad, the result looked like enamel - fabulous.

The flowers were stamped three times with a stamp from the Wendy Vecchi set called Daisy Art onto some Maja paper using Versamark, then sprinkled with Recollections Snow Embossing Powder and heated.  Once dry, I fussy cut the flowers and layered them with pop dots.  The top layer was cut between petals and shaped a bit before it was added so the flower would not look so flat.

The bow is made from seam binding that has been dyed with Dusty Concord DI, tied with some burlap string to which I have added a little key charm.  I made a little butterfly from Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay and a silicon mold, inked it with Dusty Concord DI and then rubbed some purple wax paste from Jaygot that I have had in my stash for eons. Finally I scattered a few pearls from my stash around.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Boots  - Ribbon or Lace
House of Cards - Embossing and/or Color Inspiration (I chose embossing)
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Thanks/Gratitude
Sweet Stampin - Vintage or Shabby Chic
Creative Knockouts - Embossing Delights
Moving Along With The Times - Embossing (Wet or Dry)

The following products used in the creation of this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique where you will get lots of the newest products and the BEST customer service:

Guest Designer at My Sheri Crafts

I was honoured to be asked to be a Guest Designer at My Sheri Crafts for the challenge starting today.  The challenge is called Feelin' Fussy and they want to see some fussy cutting on your project.

The timing of this challenge was perfect for me as it allowed me to make this card for my fabulous daughter's birthday, which was yesterday.  I won't tell you how old she is because then you would know how old I am and very few people are privy to that information :)

I started with some Recollections card stock for the blank and added a couple of panels of patterned paper from a new Prima pad I got called Nature Garden that I distressed with my scissors. 

Next I added a strip of eyelet lace that came from my late Mother's sewing room and topped it with some ribbon from an embellishment pack called Say it with Crystals by Prima.   I also added some of the crystals but they come attached to some lace so I cut them off first.

I inked a Wilton paper doily with some of Wendy Vecchi's Tea Rose Archival Ink and then topped it with a scalloped circle die cut from Nellie Snellen that I ran through a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Script and then inked the highlights with Cracked Pistaschio Distress Ink.

The flower is from Wendy Vecchi's Daisy Art set and was stamped three times on a scrap of card stock using Ranger's Coffee Archival Ink.  All three were fussy cut and then coloured using Prismacolors (Peach, Deco Peach, Nectar and Beige Sienna) blended with Gotrick OMS.  The first flower was adhered directly to the embossed circle.  The next flower was adhered using pop dots in a number of places.  The third flower was clipped to allow for some shaping and then adhered using just one pop dot in the centre.  I added some Recollections micro beads for the centre.  Note:  When I come across a section of an image that I want to fussy cut but it is either enclosed by part of the image or is too tight for my scissors to get in there, then I just use an X-Acto or other sharp craft knife on a self-healing mat to get that section cut.

The butterflies are made from Martha Stewart Crafter's clay and silicone molds.  They were inked with Cracked Pistachio DI and then rubbed with some Aquamarine Treasure Gold wax paste to add a bit of shimmer.

The sentiment was computer generated and then punched with a Martha Stewart mini tag punch, inked with the Tea Rose Archival Ink and adhered with a brad from Making Memories that has been in my stash for eons.

Thank you to Sheri at My Sheri Crafts for this lovely opportunity and I hope you will start fussy cutting and create something to share in the challenge.

I am going to enter this in the following challenges:

Just Add Ink - Add Something New (paper)
Cardz 4 Galz - Something New (paper)
Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Something Old, Something New (eyelet lace, paper)
Get Creative Challenges - Something New (paper)
Our Crafty Corner - Anything Goes
The Crazy Challenge - Celebrations
Tuesday Throwdown - Add Dimension

A Night at the Opera

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and I am the hostess this time and am calling it Sing, Sing, Sing.

Make a shabby chic or vintage project with music as the central theme. You can add musical instruments, music paper, sentiments about music or even vintage images with a music theme.

I should probably write a disclaimer - I can't sing or play a musical instrument but I do love to listen to music, especially jazz and 1940s and 50s big bands but not rap, most country or heavy metal.  I also don't really understand opera but I do like classical music and am really impressed with the voices of the great opera singers.

Now on to my card.  I have never used this image by Rick St. Dennis so I thought this might the perfect time to colour her and build my card around her.  She looks like she is all dressed for a night at the opera - or perhaps she is the star.

I started with some card stock from Staples for the blank and then added a background panel of paper called Golden Age from a Graphic 45 paper pad called A Gilded Lily.

The next panel was scrap card stock that I inked with Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar Distress Ink and then added some texture paste through a Tim Holtz stencil called Flourish.  Once it was dry I mixed some Lindy's Magicals Fuzzy Navel Peach with some cc and painted that on.  I dyed some lace with Antique Linen, Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar Distress Ink and added that under the panel.

Next I added a panel of cream card stock that I ran through a Tim Holtz texture fade called French Script and then inked the highlights with Wendy Vecchi Tea Rose Archival Ink.  The vintage opera poster was added next and came from Italianways.com.

The musical note strip was die cut for me by Pamellia on one of my visits to her and I inked it with some Black Soot Distress Ink.

I coloured the gorgeous and very well dressed lady with Prismacolors that I blended with Gotrick OMS.  She is popped up with some foam dots.

The floral corner and the button were rubbed with some Rose Quartz Treasure Gold wax paste and I added a little feather from my stash.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafter's Cafe  - Square Cards
We Love Vintage - Anything Vintage (with lace - if I read the translation correctly)
Ruby's Rainbow - Show Us Something New (image)
House of Cards - Embossing and/or Color
Simon Says Stamp - Stencil It
Paperminutes - Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash - Something New (image)
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

These products used in the creation of this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique where you can pre-order some of the best new products from the CHA show:

Oh So Blue

It is time for the next monthly challenge at Stamps and Stencils and I am the hostess this time.  I decided to call it Oh So Blue and here is how I described the challenge:

This time of year it is easy to start feeling blue now that the festivities surrounding Christmas are over and winter is making its presence known with less sun and more miserable weather so instead of giving in to it let's celebrate blue. Create a primarily blue mixed media project that includes some stamping and/or stenciling. You may add one other colour to your creation but it must be mostly blue. 

For a split second I regretted the theme of this challenge because blue isn't my favourite colour but it was my Mother's favourite colour so I thought she would have loved this, especially since she was very creative/artistic.  She liked blue so much that in addition to her blue clothes and her blue dishes, she had an 800 piece collection of blue glass that I inherited when she passed away.  Since it wasn't something that excited me and I sure didn't want to dust all that blue glass, I chose a few special pieces to keep for myself and give to my siblings and then I sold the rest.  Sadly, many of the pieces were reproductions and not worth as much as she thought but she had fun collecting them all and it made her happy so that was a good thing.

On to my project and I decided to make an art journal page.  There are no process photos because I did this during the holidays and quite frankly did not think of it - oops.

I have been using a Canson Mixed Media wire-bound book as my art journal but have found that I need to glue two pages together because they have a micro perforation and they are not particularly heavy.  So I did that again and it was looking quite fine until I added a coat of Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso.  When it dried, I saw vertical strips of bubbling in random spots.  I debated starting over but then decided to leave some as is and split some open on the top layer to provide a little interest and dimension.  It is also rather warped and while I am going to add it back into my book as it is I would welcome any and all suggestions on how to prevent that.

Next I used some Golden Light Molding Paste through a Dylusions Dotted Flowers Stencil and a TCW Mini Geometric Art Layers Stencil to create some texture.  I also added some drips with Golden Clear Tar Gel.

Then I gave the page a coat of Lake Wanaka Fresco Finish paint.  On top of that I added a coat of Space Cadet Fresco Finish paint, removing some of it with a baby wipe after a few seconds.

Once the paint was dry I spritzed it in random spots with Tumbled Glass Distress Spray Stain.  Then I added some Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise Ink Spray and followed that with some Sun Up Blue Pearlescent Acrylic Ink from Daler Rowney (the camera really picked up the shimmer from this ink).

Next I used some Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger to do some stamping with a Recollections script stamp called Haunted and a butterfly set from Hampton Arts called Vintologie.

The next step was to fussy cut a couple of large butterflies from some Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap called Melange that I have had in my stash for ages.  I glued them on the page and coloured them with Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink using a water brush.

The word "fly" was stamped using Jet Black Archival Ink and an alphabet set from Studio G that I found in the clearance bin at Michaels.  The remaining words for the sentiment was made on my computer.  All the text pieces were inked with Blueprint Sketch.

I thought the ink on the text and the butterflies looked a little lot purple and when I cleaned the water brush tip on a piece of paper towel, it split and I could see the pink in it so I knew I was right - drat.  Shaded Lilac DI does the same thing I discovered a while ago.  Anyway, since I really wanted blue and everything was glued down at this point, I just carefully went over the Blueprint Sketch with Weathered Wood Distress Ink to try to tone it down a bit.  It is definitely better than it was but still not as blue as I hoped.  I think Tim should have called this one Blueberry and we would have all known it was purple.

Finally I drew around the edges of the butterflies with a white Prismacolor pencil and then used some Wendy Vecchi Cornflower Blue Archival Ink and the top from my little water spray bottle to create some circles.

This page looks better in real life and I am happy with the texture on the page while still keeping it flat enough to put in my book.

I am going to enter this in the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash - Color Me Monochromatic (or Pink)
We Love 2 Create - Anything Mixed Media/Creative Goes
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Altered Art or Mixed Media

Tag Trio

It is time for a new challenge at Anything But Cute and this time Anne is our hostess and she is calling it "Ring Out The Old, Bring In The New".  She describes it this way:

To celebrate the New Year, we would like you to create a mixed media card or project using something 'new', perhaps you got some fabulous new craft item for Christmas or you have something new that you have not used yet - just remember to tell us what the new item is!

My husband is retiring and he started to bring things home from his locker and bits and pieces from his desk. He brought a whole bunch of small tags (Avery Shipping Tags #6) and I thought I would use them for this project since they are new to me. They are rather thin so I wish I had glued two together to give them a bit more stability but if I am careful I can probably do that now as long as I am willing to refinish the background since I did both sides.  OK, so I am not adding another tag - too much work.

I didn't take photos of my process but I will explain in my narrative how I created the tags.

I started by coating each one with Liquitex Clear Gesso on both sides.  Then I inked them with Twisted Citron, Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed Distress Ink all of which are new colours that I just purchased.

Next I sprayed them with some Lindy's Starburst called Ramblin Rose Pink, dripped some Tim Holtz Barn Door Distress Spray Stain on them and added some Liquitex Red Oxide Acrylic Ink with a natural sea sponge.

I did some stenciling with Wendy Vecchi Fern Green  Archival Ink and a TCW stencil called Mini Circles along with Wendy Vecchi Tree Branch Archival Ink and a TCW stencil called Mini Chicken Wire Reversed.

Next I added some stamping on the fronts only with Jet Black Archival Ink using a stamp from Kaisercraft called Sheet Music and a stamp from the Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge set.

Now it was time to embellish and for this first one, I adhered some old book paper to a scrap of card stock and traced around a couple butterflies on a Heidi Swapp stencil using a .005 Pigma Micron Pen.  I fussy cut the butterflies and then inked one with Wendy Vecchi Orange Blossom Archival Ink and one with her Dandelion Archival Ink.   I layered them and added some pearls for the body.

I dyed some seam binding and some cheesecloth with Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed DI.  Then I added a little strip of corrugated cardboard over the cheesecloth that was painted with Medium Yellow acrylic paint from Folk Art.  Then I coated it with Gloss Mod Podge and highlighted the raised areas with some Classic Treasure Gold wax paste.  I added some small beads to the top of the cardboard.

The key is new came from the clearance section at Michaels.  I altered it with some Poppyfield Alcohol Ink.  The button is from my stash and the text is computer generated and then inked with Carved Pumpkin DI.  The fiber around the seam binding is really old and has been in my stash for so long I do not remember who made it.

On this next tag, I adhered more old book paper to a scrap of card stock and used an EK Success punch to punch out three flowers.  They were inked with Wendy Vecchi Red Geranium Archival Ink and then outlined using the Micron Pen.  I stacked them and added a button from my stash.

I ran a scrap piece of orange card stock through a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Victoria and then punched flowers with a smaller EF Success punch.  The raised areas were highlighted with Rose Quartz Treasure Gold wax paste and a pearl was added for a centre.  All the flowers were mounted on a strip of red burlap.  The bronze butterfly was altered with a mix of Sunset Orange and Lemonade Alcohol Ink.  The text was done the same as the first tag and I finished the top with the same seam binding and fibre.

On the final tag, I created the butterflies in the same manner as the first but just reversed the colouring.  The strip of cardboard was painted with Pumpkin acrylic paint from Deco Art.  The arrow is from my stash and was altered in the same manner as the key.  Again the text was done the same as the first tag and I finished the top with the same seam binding and fibre.

I am going to enter this project in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge  - What's New
Crafty Friends Challenge - Use Something New
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Something New
Live and Love Crafts - Something New

Saturday Step X Step for Frilly and Funkie

Today I am presenting the Saturday Step X Step at Frilly and Funkie.  Here is a sneak peek at what I am going to show you.  Pop over to Frilly and Funkie and you will get all the details.