No Stamping Holiday Cards

While I love to stamp, I'm not really that great at it (tho the MISTI has greatly helped) and sometimes it's more trouble to get out the supplies than I have time for. For this card, I used an embossing folder and some dimensional, glittery stickers to make a holiday card.

It came together very fast and I can just write a sentiment inside...or I can break out the stamps and put in a more polished greeting. Either way, this card is so fast and easy. I love embossing on metallic paper, it seems to really make a statement with very little effort. Here's a close-up of the gold embossing.

For this next card, I embossed die cut plates into white cardstock and then layered them. Then I took a preprinted acetate scene, added Diamond Stickles to the back of it and adhered when it was dry. 

Another fast and easy card with no stamping. I'll break out the stamps and inks soon, but honestly, it's a mess when I'm finished! I should try to be more organized when creating. Bwahaha! Who am I kidding? That is NOT me :)

I did just purchase a magnetized bowl meant for the workshop and screws and whatnot. I saw someone had one for their little dies and I'm forever misplacing those while working, so I'm hoping to stop losing those with this bowl. Gotta keep it away from the computer though!

                                        

Happy Friday!

Chark

It's All About The Bling

So, at the Fort Wayne Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Show, I made these two cards with Mary from Stamp On It and we did the same technique twice. You take a printed acetate, back it with adhesive glitter paper and then adhere to a card and decorate with outline stickers. Best part is that it takes moments to make and has a pretty big impact.

Here's the close up of the glitter paper.

 

And here's the fall scene acetate. So pretty. If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see the white glitter better.

 

Here are the stickers I had to have. Can't wait to use the animals. And the coffee cups should be fun. See how unassuming those line stickers are? They don't look like much, but they add just a perfect touch. I used silver ones on the Paris card.

Happy Wednesday!
Chark

I Can Stamp On That

If you're like me, you love experimenting with your inks. I love Staz-On for its ability to stamp on pretty much any surface. So I tried it out. Previously, I've stamped on cork like this.

I used Hero Arts Bubble Talk in black and then embossed a white heart.

I also tried this awesome bubble stamp by Designs by Ryn on clear packaging...I love this stamp on any surface, but this would be fab for a shaker card with fish or mermaids.

And finally, I used a Mimi Penny Black stamp on muslin. I used copics to color her, and it tends to bleed a bit on fabric (like most markers) but is still so cute. I added Stickles too. Worked great. I think this will be a birthday card for a little niece. I will have to gently iron her first.

Have you tried stamping on different materials? If you do, let me know how it goes!

Happy Wednesday!
Chark

Whales Galore

We went whale watching last summer in Massachusetts and saw literal tons of whales. I took a million pics, mostly because my new camera didn't have a  viewfinder (I realized then) and the day was so sunny, I couldn't see the screen. So I just pointed and snapped and hoped for something good. I got some good ones, although some are far away. At any rate, I printed a lot of them, mostly because it was such a great experience that we probably won't repeat.

Here's a page I made yesterday with the coolest clear overlay (the words are printed on there) and that I've had soooo long, the store I got it out has been gone for years. It was tricky to photograph, so this is what I got so it doesn't show the reflections in the overlay.

It looks as if I boosted the color on these, but if you look at the kraft page, you'll see it's a normal color. The ocean and sky were just these colors that day in June. 

Check out my daughter's hair...it was sooo windy on the boat. And cold, even though the temperature was fine when we left. Luckily, I read that you should take a jacket, so we did. 

I added some pebbled paper at the bottom to mimic sand (I just tore it in hill form) and used some gelatos on the pre-embossed kraft cardstock. I used white, purple, green and blue. 

It wasn't a hard page, but it took me forever to choose the pics and placement.

It was a Whaley Good Time (you're welcome for the pun)!

Happy Monday,
Chark

Who Are You...Who...oo...Who...oo

I think this song is a good one by the Who and it's running through my head as I write this post. Sharing the video (I'm assuming this hair means the video was recorded in the 70s) just in case you're not getting the song I'm thinking of...it's the theme song to the original CSI, if you watched that.

 

It's a different Who I'm thinking of today, since I did a Dr. Who layout yesterday. I put a bunch of related pics on a page to show how Dr. Who has invaded our lives through the years. My daughter was a Dalek at Halloween, she had a Who birthday cake one year (I made it before I even started watching the show, she gave me the highlights and I looked up what a Tardis looked like) and the little stone angels are pound cake cut with a cookie cutter. My son took his Sonic Screwdriver to his get his photo taken and asked for Who gifts for a later birthday. Seriously, lots of Who stuff here.

I started with the paper and die cut from Scrap Your Trip. It was the only place I found Dr. Who related scrap paper (except digi paper). The quality is good and they were on time with their products. The Dalek and word 'exterminate" are theirs, the Tardis and "hello sweetie" came from Viva Las Vegastamps. They have the best fun stamps and naked rubber if you need to save money. The set I got with the police box has great Dr. Who phrases (fish fingers & custard) and images (bow tie, weeping angels). If you're a Who fan, check these sites out.

I'm entering it over at Viva Las Vegastamps for their February challenge. 

The rainbow swirl reminded me of the time vortex swirl from the show. I didn't use the whole rainbow, but used these colors together (Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean alcohol inks) on acetate to make the swirl, stamped the police box and colored with Prismacolor pencils and then cut it out and popped it up on the design. It was originally a card, but I thought it would go on this page perfectly.

Oh, and hey, Happy Bagel Day today! Love bagels and they are actually easy to make, so if you're interested, here's a recipe. I love homemade bread and these bagels are no exception. They're not fast (you gotta let them rise) but they're fun to make and then be all like, "yeah, I made those from scratch."

Happy Monday!
Chark

Christmas For Whovians

I haven't watched the new season with the new Doctor, but I will once it's out on DVD. In the meantime, I made this card to submit to Papercrafts Magazine before they closed their doors. Susan Opel did, in fact, love it though she doesn't watch Dr. Who, so that made me happy. I have a couple of projects coming up in the last online edition—January/February—which also makes me happy, even though the loss of the mag is felt. 

Here's my last submission card. It's the Tardis (blue phone box time machine)—the stamp came from Viva Las VegaStamps. They have some very artsy and fun images, including a steampunk octopus or two!

If you want to create a vortex of sorts like I did, get some Raspberry, Cranberry and Ocean Blue Adirondack alcohol inks, drip them on acetate (stamp packaging here) and lightly swirl with the felt applicator. Let dry, trim and adhere to white cardstock to really show off the color. I used dot adhesive in just a few places so it didn't show through too much.

I stamped the Tardis, colored with color pencils and also Tombow markers, trimmed it out and then popped it slightly up with dimensional tape.

The sentiment is also Viva Las VegaStamps and goes right along with this card. River Song is played by Alex Kingston and her signature phrase is "Hello Sweetie."

Hope you have a happy Monday,
Chark

Turkey Day Tomorrow!

The point of Thanksgiving to me is just to be thankful. I know a lot of people spend time with their families with traditional foods and activities and that seems like a brilliant idea. In that spirit, I'd like to say I'm grateful for everyone in my life, family, friends, fellow crafters and people who do their jobs to make my community a beautiful place to live. 

I'm also grateful for craft supplies and a way to channel my creativity. Here's a little hello card I made with acetate and alcohol inks. It says hello, but really it should say thanks today. I used a foil paper (DCWV) and alcohol inks for the hello die cut.

The background is the acetate sheet, alcohol inks and a Hero Arts arrow stencil.

And if you want to support small business, here's an adorable $5 digi stamp from this etsy shop. Go to printmagic and check out more!

Hope you have a gratifying Turkey Day!
Chark