New Buttons...

Since I got my new computer I've been trying to rebuild my favorite links.  I was searching blogger to try and find a friends blog and I wandered into the blogger blog and it happened to talk about a fun new gadget they added.   

It's at the bottom of every post now, it will let you send a link about an individual post to friends via e-mail, facebook, twitter, you can repost it on your own blog, etc.  It's also got this +1 button which will basically put in a good vote for a particular post and will be added to various search engines.

I hope you enjoy it :)

Enabler Alert - Estate Sales...

I wanted to tell you a bit about a new link in the right hand side-bar....

It is a link that will take you to a web-site that hosts a list of one of my favorite activities....

Estate Sales !!!

How fun is that??  You know how much I love shopping for vintage finds and incorporating them into my art.  Well I know many of you out there enjoy it as much as I do.  At this web-site you can search by state to find dates and times for the various sales going on in any given area.  Most of the listings also have a description of  a few of the items for sale and some even offer photos.  So if you're ready for some fun shopping time be sure to check them out.  You might just find a gem you didn't know you couldn't live without - LOL!!

Get Inked Kit - June 2011 - Vintage Wedding

Happy Monday!!

LOL...I know I know ~ shut up right?  Well, at least the sun is shining and it's not broiling hot here. 

Today I wanted to share with you the June Get Inked Kit I designed for Queen Kat Designs.  The theme is Vintage Wedding and I'm very proud of this set.   The inks for this kit were shades of brown.  I also used Bisque Liquid Pearls which complimented the kit perfectly!

Here are the images included in the kit...

And here are the cards I created using this kit....

This is a flip card ~ the brown card foundation looks so dark in the first photo but it's actually closer to the second photo.

Forever After - Faux Mother of Pearl Background paper.

Best Wishes

Would you like to own a set of these vintage wedding stamps?

If so, simply post a comment telling me what month you were married.  If you aren't or have never been married, tell me what month your ideal wedding month would be and why.

You have until 6-25 to enter.

Have a wonderful day friends!!

Ink Stained Card Sketch & JFF Stamps!

Happy Friday!!

Woo Hoo...it's finally cooling off here after a scorching week ~ temps in the upper 90's with VERY high humidity.

O.k...here is this weeks card sketch....  The background looks a bit confusing with the ribbon tossed in there but it's actually only two different background papers instead of 4.  The ribbon just slices them all in two.  You'll see what I mean when you check out the cards below.

And here are the cards I created using Just For Fun Rubber Stamps. 

Note: this card uses the rainbow paper I made earlier this week using the brayer technique -

 Easy Rainbow Brayering.

Now it's your turn to give this fun sketch a try!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Glassine & Twinkling H2O's

A couple weeks ago I shared some techniques to help you play with your new *Ideaology Kraft Glassine Paper (Glassine & Alcohol Inks and Glassine & Distress Inks ~ Embossed Glassine).  Well today I've got another fun technique that I've been playing with...

Glassine & **Twinkling H2O's!

*Ideaology Kraft Glassine Paper is a new product in the Tim Holtz line of goodies.  I have gotten several e-mails from people who have bought it but after they had it in their hands they weren't sure what to do with it.  These techniques are designed to help you start to play! 

**Twinkling H2O's - If you're not familiar with this product it is a highly concentrated shimmery pigment that comes in a solid cake form.  You add a drop of water to the cake and let it soften.  You can then easily pick up the color with a waterbrush (which I prefer) or a regular paint brush.  Once the TH2O's have dried there is nothing more you need to do to them ~ no sealers are necessary.   I find for some applications I like them better than Perfect Pearls and they come in many many colors.

Supplies:

Glassine
Archival Ink
Rubber Stamp (Sunflower from April Get Inked Kit)
Twinkling H2O's
Waterbrush or paint brush & water
Heat Tool - Optional

Instructions:



1.  Stamp desired image onto the glassine using Archival Ink.  I like to heat set it to speed drying other wise you'll need to let it set for a while.

2. Wet your Twinkling H2O's with a dot of water.  After it has softened, load your waterbrush/paint brush with color. 

3. Begin massaging the color onto the image.  Yes, I said massaging.   Now here is the interesting thing ~ glassine paper is naturally resistant to water.  If you spritz it with water it will run into little droplets.  When you begin painting the stamped image the Twinkling H20's will initially pool into little drops of color but as you massage the color into the image it will begin staying put.  I don't know why it works but it does...

In this photo you can see I have painted the upper portion of the sunflower.  If you look closely at the petal my brush is near you can actually see the droplets of color.  

Also, the Archival Ink has a bit of resist to it so the ink won't stick to the image lines but stay inside the lines as you add the color. 

I must say it's a pretty fun technique to play with.  It's amazing how the paper, inks and pigments all work together.

Here is what the flower looked like once I had all of the petals painted (massaged).


3. Continue massaging/painting the image as desired.

4. After you have finished colorizing the image, speed drying with the heat tool or let it dry naturally (which may take a while depending on temp/humidity/etc.).

And here is what my finished glassine stamped image looks like....

Now it's your turn!

Go massage your glassine paper ;)  LOL!!

I'm going to continue to experiment with the glassine to see what it likes and what it doesn't. 

 I'll be sure to share my findings with you all :)

Time for Another Charm Swap???

I posted a poll to see if you're ready for another charm swap.

I have been itchin' to make some more charms and a couple others have been asking about it as well.   I think I might even get my Mom talked into joining in on the fun this time. 

So, I thought I'd toss it out there to see if there is enough interest at this time or if I should wait a bit.

I'm game for one now or later...it's all good for me.

If you weren't around for the last one it was a make 5 and receive 5 different charms plus a charm pin back.  (I will supply the pin)

Everyone is welcome....there are no border restrictions here :)

So, please take a second and vote if you're interested or not. 

Thanks everyone!

More Brayer Techniques

I have a couple more brayer techniques I wanted to share with you to help you pull those brayers out of the drawer, dust em off and put them to work!

The first technique is one that combines dye and pigment inks on the same roller.  It's very easy but the results are way cool.

Brayer Stampings

1. Load up your brayer with a nice even layer of dye ink across the entire roller.

2. Ink up your desired image with a contrasting pigment ink.

3. Roll the brayer across the stamp once or twice. 

You have now picked up the inky image on the brayer.

4. Roll the brayer across the cardstock.

5. Clean the roller.

6. Repeat steps 1-4 with the same or different color combos until the cardstock has been covered with ink & images.

This is a GREAT way to make a quick color blocked stamped background paper.  This is also a super easy way to make some really fun gift wrap paper or ink up a plain gift bag.   You can make matching gift tags in the same fashion.

Quick Joseph's Coat Variation

Normally when you see a card made using Joseph's Coat Technique it's a brightly colored image with a black brayered background.  Here is a nifty variation on that technique using the scrap paper that I told you to keep yesterday!

Here is the paper that I used to clean my roller each time I changed color for the Brayered Rainbow technique.  I told you this paper would come in handy ;)

1. Cut the paper to desired card size.

2. Stamp desired image onto the paper using clear embossing ink.

3. Sprinkle with clear embossing powder; shake off excess and heat to melt the powders.

4. After the image has cooled, cover the entire piece of cardstock with desired color of ink.  As I mentioned it is usually black but I like to play with other colors.  For this example I used Denim Adirondack ink. 

5. Wipe off the excess ink on the image with a dry cloth.

And here is an example of how your image may turn out... (the flash washed the tree top out a bit but IRL it's quite vibrant).

So there you go...a couple of fun, quick and easy techniques to help put all of those neglected brayers to work! 

Hope you all have fun playin'!

*Request* Basic Brayer Techniques

Today I have a requested technique for a few people that I've been meaning to get to for a while now (thanks for waiting ladies!). Janie and her friends in Canada asked to see a few basic brayer techniques.  They were lucky enough to get a great deal on some brayers from a local shop but had no clue on what to do with them so they asked me to share a basic brayer technique or two. 

Here you go ladies....

Basic Brayer - Ink Application

1. Ink your brayer by rolling it across the ink pad several times.  I like to roll it until I can see a nice even coat of ink across the entire roller.

2. Apply the ink to your cardstock by placing your brayer just off the edge of the paper and make one complete pass over the paper from edge to edge.  If additional ink is desired, roll from edge to edge again. 

Tip: Don't push your brayer back and forth. Since the roller never leaves the paper you will end up inking the same exact areas over and over without really covering the whole area.  Just remember edge to edge.

Easy Rainbow Brayering (If you don't have a rainbow ink pad)

1. Choose 2-3 colors of ink (or more if you're feeling adventurous!).  For this example I'm using primary colors - red, yellow and blue.  

2. Ink up approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the brayer with the first color; roll it onto the paper - edge to edge.

3. Roll the brayer across scrap paper to remove any excess ink and clean the roller with your favorite rubber stamp cleaner.   I know...CLEAN it??? Yes, it's easy and only takes a minute.  This prevents ink buildup on the roller which tends to get muddy after one or two additional colors.

4. Apply your next color in the same fashion as you did the first.  Apply the ink to the paper slightly overlapping the first.  This will naturally blend both colors creating a third.

5. Remove the excess ink on the scrap paper and clean the roller.

6. Add additional colors of ink, overlapping the previous color when you apply the ink to the cardstock.  Remember to clean the roller between each new color.

and here is what your Inky Rainbow might look like....

For a bit of interest I spritzed some stamp cleaner into my hand and flicked it onto the cardstock.  Let it set for a few seconds then dab away the cleaner. 

Don't throw away your scrap paper....after a few rolls you get some pretty cool looking designs which could be used as a card background or you could even use it to stamp your main image onto. 

Tomorrow I'll share a couple more basic brayering techniques so be sure to check back then :)

Busy Busy Busy...Up coming Previews!

Happy Monday!!!!

(do you feel all that energy?!?!)

LOL!!

Things have been wild here and I know some of my posts have been short but there is a good reason.  It's CHA time again (I know I know...just seems like the stuff from the Winter CHA in January are just now shipping) and I've been working my tail off the last couple weeks on projects for Ranger. 

I ended up making 28 cards, tags or other stamped goodies in the last 2 weeks and I'm wiped out!  Now I don't know how many they are going to use at CHA but I can tell you this...you will eventually get to see them all right here!  I will be posting them with complete directions after I know what's what.

For today though I thought I'd share a few very close-ups just to entice you!

And for a bit of fun...

How about a Guessing Game & Give-A-Way to make it interesting ?????

I know it's tricky but can you guess which products are being showcased in each photo???

Mystery #1 -

Mystery #2 -

Mystery #3 -

Mystery #4 -

All correct responses will be entered into a drawing for assorted Ranger Industries goodies!!!

You have until June 21st to guess!

Good Luck Everyone!!

Third Coast Rubber Stamps!

Woo Hoo....

I got some very exciting news last night....

From the Third Coast Art Rubber Stamps web-site....

I am delighted to announce our first ever Design Team!


These fabulous stampers have bravely volunteered to be a part of the inaugural group. I had over 60 applications, and it was just too hard to decide, so I added five more positions than I had originally intended. Several other applicants will be offered a spot at being a Guest Designer for a month. I appreciate all of the interest in Third Coast and our stamps. Truly! If you missed out on this round, please consider applying for the winter team. I will be mixing things up a bit in December!


Anesha Marshall - Cambridgeshire, England
Donna Cook - Missouri, USA
Karen McAlpine - Michigan, USA
Kathi Rerek - New Jersey, USA
Leigh Snaith-Brunton - California, USA
Lynda Brough - Suffolk, England
Michelle Burress - Florida, USA
Milo Lilja - Trollhättan, Sweden
Stempelientje - The Netherlands
Riet van Zundert - The Netherlands
Roni Johnson - Indiana, USA
Sandra Levy - Paris, France
Shelly Becker - Alaska, USA
Susan Shuler - Michigan, USA
Valerie H. Wilson - Nova Scotia, Canada
And our sole Painter:

Barb Urbassik - Maryland, USA


Doin' the happy dance here!!!

I can't wait to get started :)