Mar 14, 2024

The Creative Crew Tackles National Poultry Day!

 Carol is our host for the March Creative Crew Challenge. She informed us that March has a National Poultry Day on the 19th.  Who knew? Not me!

She gave us the "Rustic Rooster" image by Stampin' Up and designer papers from The Paper Studio's "Country Road" pack.



I really like the papers from Carol's kit.  The brick paper was especially realistic.



The papers are mounted on Close To Cocoa card stock by Stampin' Up.  Probably my all time favorite color!  


I embellished with some brown gems and blue ribbon from my stash.




The image is colored with Castle Premium Soft Touch pencils and leftover inks on yellow and green blending brushes were used for the background.  The edge of the die cut has a bit of brown applied with a blender brush.


Here's a closer look at the brick paper and the rooster.


Carol, thanks so much for a great kit this month! The card really seemed to come together easily (once I looked up how to color the rooster, hahaha)


Please drop by the blogs and galleries of the whole Creative Crew gang. Here are their links:

Barb - Barb's Inkin' In Retirement

Carol - Lost in My Craft Room

Jeanette - Cre8tive Play

Lorraine - SCS Gallery

Terry - It's Totally Terry

Tracie - Crafty Creations by Tracie

Mar 12, 2024

Hot Mess = Success in March

On the 12th of the month a group of friends and I have a "Hot Mess" Challenge.  We are to make any sort of card we like, as long as a mess is made in the process. 

I decided to play with a variation on a card made in last weekend's virtual card classes during Stamp Joy, which is hosted by Taylored Expressions.  Here are my first and third attempts.



















Ink is applied directly to white card stock using ink pads. I really like this technique because it yields rich colors faster than blending brushes. 









Then I used Gold Glitter Glaze by Brutus Monroe and a dot stencil by Taylored Expressions for card #1.

The paper is saturated from the ink so the Glitter Glaze took a really long time to dry. Despite using my heat gun on the reverse side of the panel.  I just left it overnight to dry throughly.





Time for the 3rd attempt.  This time, using the same stencil I used Slippery When Wet (gold) Lunar Paste by Simon Hurley. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! 

I left it to dry overnight also.  

Both cards feature sentiments that were included in Taylored Expressions Stamp Joy kit. They're stamped onto a small piece of white with the same inks blended on to it. They are cut with a couple of dies from my stash.

These are flat, easy to mail cards.  Currently I am going back to flat cards so it's easy to pop one into the mail.

What happened to my 2nd attempt, you ask?   Well...let's just say it went wrong in so many ways. I wanted black polka dots on my blended panel.  But I also wanted some shine. So I dug out some Raven (black) embossing powder by Brutus Monroe that also has glitter in it.  

Now...I know better, but was in denial I guess 😂  When you ink blend a panel, the powder has a wicked preference of sticking to the paper, even though it's treated with a duster to prevent that issue. 

When I lifted the stencil, there was so much black glitter everywhere on the panel that I just put it in the trash. While attempting to knock some of the powder off by flicking the backside of the panel, I sent the panel across my desk, and right through the loose black glitter/powder.  HOT MESS.


I actually had to tell myself to remain calm. Glitter gives me anxiety under the best circumstances...heavy sigh.

Later, after the mess had been cleaned up I was laughing to my friends at my rookie mistakes and subsequent panic attack.

This morning, Amazon dropped off this little Lady!  (It's a small vacuum).  Thank you Barb!!  Her name is Nelle, short for Coccinelle, which is French for Ladybug.  Nelle should save me during future Hot Mess card making!

Be sure to stop by the Hot Mess Team and admire their creations!  Here are their links:

Feb 22, 2024

Unity Stamps for February Double Duty

On the 22nd of each month some friends challenge ourselves to create 2 different cards repeating the same image, sentiment, etc on each card.  We have a predetermined list of the stamp company or specific challenge for each month and then...away we go!

This month we feature any stamp set by Unity Stamp Compapny and I decided to go their "The Owl & the Moon" stamp set.  As Gramma D in my other life, it's pretty obvious why I bought this set!

I had big plans for this card...but at the last minute I made a decision that didn't work out. 

I stenciled the stars using Simon Hurley's "Slippery When Wet" Lunar Paste and loved the result. The sentiment is heat embossed in gold. So far, so good.

I colored the image with blending brushes and inks, masking off different sections as I went along.

Then the bad decision. I decided to use the Lunar paste on the moon. I am not happy at all with my results.


The second card was colored with markers, using "Twinkle" Stickles on the moon.  There's a random piece of leftover DP for the background panel, but I have no clue what company to credit.

I consider these two cards my practice cards before Gramma D makes something worthy of her Little Man!  As Gina K famously says, "They're better than horrible".  But just barely, hahahaha 

Please visit the blogs of the other Double Duty members:

Barb

Jeanette

Carol

 

Feb 14, 2024

A February Birthday Creative Crew Challenge!

Jeanette is our hostess for February this year, and said:

"I thought I'd do something that isn't specifically winter because if you're like me, you're ready for winter to be over!"

So she gave us a "Birthday" theme this month. 


Jeanette gave us the "Nice One" image by Penny Black and the Happy Birthday sentiment from Technique Tuesday's Lots of Sentiments set.

The papers she included were from DCWV and Paper Studio.

I used Spectrum Noir markers to color up the happy guy and color the Happy Birthday sentiment.

I used Card Layer Dies 1 & 2 by Jaded Blossom to cut the papers and they are layered onto brown and green stock by Stampin' Up.



Thank you, Jeanette! This was a bright and fun kit and it was easy to work with!

Please drop by the blogs and galleries of the whole Creative Crew gang. Here are their links:

Barb - Barb's Inkin' In Retirement

Carol - Lost in My Craft Room

Jeanette - Cre8tive Play

Lorraine - SCS Gallery

Terry - It's Totally Terry

Tracie - Crafty Creations by Tracie




Jan 21, 2024

Double Duty with Sending Hugs

On the 22nd of each month some friends challenge ourselves to create 2 different cards repeating the same image, sentiment, etc on each card.  We have a predetermined list of the stamp company or specific challenge for each month and then...away we go!

This month we feature any stamp set by Stampin' Up and I decided to go with Sending Hugs stamp set and matching die.  



This is the first card. The image is gold embossed and then painted with my watercolors by Yasutomo. I love the mica in these watercolors and on black card stock it really pops!

The panel is layered on a blue embossed foil paper from DCWV's pack.


The second card duplicates the black and the blue embossed foil paper using the matching die. 

The "Hugs" sentiment was die cut and layered on top of the black letters.  The whole die cut is popped off the foil panel with foam strips under the letters.

My first idea for the challenge was to paint the image similar to the first card except on white card stock. I wasn't happy with the results so my second card is Plan B.

Both of these are going to two dear friends who are grieving the recent loss of their son.  They will travel in a little box of some heartfelt things that are specific to their son.  In time, perhaps it can make them smile. It will take time. And love.

Please visit the blogs of the other Double Duty members:

Barb

Jeanette

Carol


Jan 14, 2024

Snowmen Creative Crew Challenge

Today's the day! Time to post our Creative Crew Challenge Card.  This month Barb provided the theme: Snowmen.  And since many of us are getting snow storms lately, it is a most appropriate theme!

Here's my card:   















I went with an A7 size for the card because I loved all of the papers that Barb included and wanted to use each of them.  Speaking of love, how about that snowman?  Isn't he the cutest guy?

The snowman image is called "Frosty Flakes" by Penny Black.  Patterned papers are from the Winter Magic series by Echo Park Paper. Gorgeous!

Barb also gave us the cute little snowflake embellishments.  I added a sentiment that is gold embossed and die cut from The "Christmas Sentiments" stamp and die set by PinkFresh Studio.


Here's a close up to show that entire card face has been shimmered up using Glimmer mist by A Muse Studio.

The image is colored with Castle Premium Soft pencils. I was going for the weathered look on his hat.

Thanks Barb for such a sweet kit and theme for this challenge!



Please drop by the blogs and galleries of the other Creative Crew members: 

Barb - Barb's Inkin' In Retirement

Carol - Lost in My Craft Room

Jeanette - Cre8tive Play

Lorraine - SCS Gallery

Terry - It's Totally Terry

Tracie - Crafty Creations by Tracie

Jan 11, 2024

Hot Mess January Challenge

On the 12th of the month a group of friends and I have a "Hot Mess" Challenge.  We are to make any sort of card we like, as long as a mess is made in the process. 

This month I decided to use some of Simon Hurley's amazing Lunar Pastes. These are super creamy and have a smooth texture, dry fast and are really fun to work with.

Here's my finished card.


The die is a cutting plate Called Kaleidoscope by Taylored Expressions.

The sentiment is from Fancy Phrases stamp and die set by Gina K Designs.

The white card base has been sponged with 3 colors of Lunar Paste:

  • Tater Gator (green)
  • Triple Berry (magenta)
  • Slippery When Wet (gold)



I used domed foam daubers to apply the paste. I made a little pool onto a silicone mat, saturated the foam dauber and them applied in circular motions to the card stock. 



Here's a picture of the process.  My go-to mat for this type of thing is actually an oven liner. Easy clean up and it provides a large work surface.


The back panel of the folded card base is masked off, which also keeps it from sliding around when blending.


The Lunar Paste washed out of the foam domes rather easily with dishsoap and water.  The silicone mat wiped clean with a damp rag.


I ended up making 6 of these for a swap on Split Coast. I do think if I had used Solar Paste instead of the Lunar Paste the colors would have been more vivid behind the blue kaleidoscope panel. 

These pastes are really fun to work with and not so messy  that I get stressed out, hahahahaha.

Be sure to stop by the Hot Mess Team and admire their creations!  Here are their links:

Jeanette

Barb

Terry

Carol