Charms are Arriving!!!

Hey all you altered charm swappers out there....

Charms are beginning to arrive!!!

Woo Hooo!!!

It's always so very exciting when the charms start rolling in and this swap is no difference.

So far I have rec'd charms from an Aussie artist ~ Sandie; Esther ~ from Kiwi land (New Zealand) and finally a package from the great state of Texas ~ Olga!

I have to tell you these charms are wonderful...very pretty and oh so different in design. 

You still have about a month left to create and get them to me.

I hope you all are having lots of fun making your charms!

Have a super day!

Warm Thoughts....Faux Sandy Background

Happy Thursday!

Well, today was a very full day so I didn't get to work on my second example of the Shattered Glass Technique I wanted to share with you.

Instead I thought I'd share a fun technique I used to make this beachy "Warm Thoughts" card.

The faux sandy backgroud paper I mounted the shells & sandals on is very dimensional and has such a beautiful shimmer IRL.  I wish you could see it in person but you'll have to take my word on how neat it really is up close and personal.

I made it by applying a layer of Artists Spackle over a piece of plain white cardstock.  I made sure it was a pretty complete layer with only a few bits of the cardstock peeking through.

After the spackle had dried, I misted it with Walnut Stain Maya Mist but really any of the shimmery mists will do.  This needs to be a pretty good coat as the spackle will suck it right up so it doesn't spread much.  Let the mist dry completely.

Tear the edges of the paper to the desired size for your project.  It's not necessary but I also inked the torn edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink for a nice contrast.

Your finished piece will have such an amazing texture and shimmer that makes people want to reach out and touch it. 

I finished the card off with several stamps from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps and a bit of pattern paper from K & Co. 

Shattered Glass Stamping Technique

Today I thought it would be fun to a couple different ideas using the "Shattered Glass" stamping technique. 

Today's example is an all over stamping technique which goes as follows...

1. Tear up several pieces of masking tape, tissue tape or washi type tape and criss-cross it over your sheet of cardstock. 

I personally like to start off with an over sized sheet of cardstock (larger than my finished card) because that way I can ink and stamp then cut off the excess rough edges for a more natural finished look.   Other people like to cut their cardstock to card panel size and use the entire panel.  Totally up to you.

2. Next, stamp your images over the entire piece...  no worries if the images over lap or cut into an adjoining section.  Just stamp away!

3.  Ink up the card.  You can ink each cell as I did here or you could just ink it up across the entire panel.

4. Carefully remove the tape to reveal your design!  Isn't it cool?  I love this technique because the results are always way cool :)

And here is my finished card....

So, pull out your tape and go shatter some glass ;)

Tomorrow I'll share a more structured look.

Halloween Bamboo Tile (Domino) Charm

Today I wanted to share a fun way to use those bamboo domino tile pieces and turn it into a nifty Halloween charm....

First you need to print the desired images onto cardstock.  I am using a few images from the Mini Holiday (AP698) sheet from Altered Pages.

Trim the images and glue them to the tile.  After they are dry, sand away the excess paper.

Next to add that extra bit of vintage feel I inked all of the sanded edges with brown ink using the Ink Blending Tool.

You of course could stop here but it's always fun to add that extra little bit of something special so I pounced the edges of each tile in clear embossing ink...

then dipped it into Stamp n Bond embossing powder.  If you've never worked with Stamp n Bond before once it's heated the powder magically turns into a sticky adhesive!  GREAT for use with flock, foils, metal leafing, etc.  It's great stuff :)

After you've dipped it in the SnB, heat to melt the powder and let it cool a bit.

Next, I chose to use copper metallic foil to cover the glue...  You simply press the silver side of the foil into the sticky glue and peel the plastic away.  The foil is left behind on the glue! 

Now, add a length of wire and a few little beads if desired....

And you've got yourself a way cool Halloween charm!!

Now it's your turn to have some fun :)

Nifty Background Idea...One Stamp - Lots of Ink!

Today I wanted to share a card I recently made... 

I was inspired by an old 70's commercial I saw while dh was flipping through the channels one night.  It was sort of a wave shape that was comprised of various shades of yellow, orange and brown ~ typical 70's.  I thought that I could do basically the same thing and take one stamp, a few colors of ink and really make something that would pop. 

I am really pleased with the results and I think it will make you take a second look at all of the stamps in your stash.

Here is what I came up with....

Stamp Credits: Just For Fun Running Boy, Celebrate Definition

So here is what I did...

I started off by gathering 3-4 shades of ink per color. I'm sure for most of us this won't be a problem but if you find that you don't have as many shades as you would like, several companies offer tiny ink cubes that you can usually find for $ 0.99 - $1.25.  A great bargain! 

 Since I was using this little boy I went with shades of green, blue and purple.

I cut an over-sized piece of cardstock ~ it made following the pattern a bit easier since I could work with the design on a larger scale.

Next I started with the blue wave by stamping lightest to darkest...stamp color A, wipe, reposition and stamp color B, wipe, reposition and stamp color C.  Each time I stamped just a tiny bit to the right and either up or down depending on where I was in the wave pattern.

NOTE: I stamped my wave pattern free hand but of course you could always draw a pencil line wave as a stamping guideline that you could later erase once you were finished.

After I had stamped my shades of blue I used the boys head and feet as stamping guidelines for the green and purple images.

I think it turned out pretty cool and by adding a simple sentiment box it really makes the background stand-out which is exactly what I was going for!

Now it's your turn!

Pull out a favorite stamp, your ink and paper to see what kind of wave you can create!

Horse n Around Welcome Slate

Happy Saturday!

Yes I know, I never post on Saturday well, I've been working on something today and I just couldn't wait to share it with you.

We have a new person buying hay that our family was acquainted with when I was a kid.  He lives on his parents farm which has an OLD barn....it either has or had a slate roof ~ can you say WAY cool!!!  Anyway, dh & ds were over there the other day and he gave them a couple pieces of the slate so I thought it would be nice to make him a welcome sign to display at his house or barn.

I knew I wanted to make something with horses because that's what he raises so when Mom and I were shopping yesterday I found a basic horse stencil but couldn't find a welcome sign so I decided to try to make my own stencil. 

I down loaded a cool western looking font and typed out welcome on my word program.  I changed it from a solid font to only a small outline.  I then spent quite a while cutting it all out.

And here is how it turned out....

I'm really quite pleased with it! 

I hope he likes it!

Christmas in July Challenge

Did you know that Third Coast Rubber Stamps has started a new challenge blog?

Well they have and it's called - Third Coast Creative Challenges!!

To kick off the fun the first challenge is a month long - Deck our Blog with Boughs of Holly.....simply put....Christmas in July!!!!   Woo Hoo...

I know it's a ways off but it's the perfect time to start thinking about designs for your Christmas cards.  I always say I'd like to start early figuring out my cards but rarely take the time to actually do it.  This challenge however is the perfect excuse for setting aside everything else and experiment with design, stamps, colors, papers to come up with some fun fresh ideas for this years cards!

You can see the post for full details but I thought I should let you know that the Grand Prize is a $50.00 gift certificate to Third Coast Rubber Stamps!!!!  Mmmmmm, just think of all those fresh images waiting to be inked.   You have until July 30th to post your entry on the TCCChallenge Blog!

Here are a few ideas to get you started...

I stamped the same penguin image, a mask and multiple colors of ink to stamp this happy little chorus line of cuties.

The darling little elf was stamped on white cardstock then colored with a combo of Bic markers & Distress Inks.  The evergreen bough was covered in stickles for a little big of shimmer.

For the main image I stamped and embossed with Stamp & Bond embossing powder.  When melted it turns into glue which is sooo cool!!  You can then cover the image with glitter, flock, leafing flakes or press some metallic foil into the design as I did here!  I stamped the main image a second time on white cardstock, colored then trimmed out the bird and mounted it on the foiled image...

So you can see the foil a bit better....

Now it's your turn....

Run to your supplies, make a fun new Christmas card design and post it on the TCCChallenge blog for your chance to win $50.00 GC to 3C!!!

Good Luck Everyone!!!

Beating the Heat...sort of....

Well, since much of the country is experiencing record setting temps (yes, Indiana is in the thick of it) I thought it would be nice to help us all try to beat the heat a bit and....

Think Snow!!!

Stamps - Third Coast - "Let it Snow" WS-079-C; Sweetie Pie VB-356-I; Sweetie Skater VB-357-J

I stamped my "sweetie pies" on white cardstock then colored with a variety of Distress Inks.  After the inks were dry I added the Flower Soft around the fringes and gave the little girl a glittery Stickles button.

*btw, I forgot to add that I did a bit of experimenting with the Distress Markers.  Normally I add shadows with a shade or two darker color of the original but this time I used milled lavendar to add shadows to the Worn Lipstick colored outfit...I think it worked pretty well.

The background is a sizzix embossing folder with some giant snowflakes that I highlighted with a bit of stormy sky DI. 

I hope you're all keeping at least relatively cool today...

They are saying these temps are going to continue until at least the end of the weekend so everyone please take care, drink plenty of water and stay cool!

Happy 4th of July!!

Hi Friends!

Since tomorrow is 4th of July I thought it would be fun to make a Gothic Arch celebrating the day :)

I was pondering what stamp to use for the main image when I happened to think I had a cool housewife stamp that I hadn't inked up yet....  The only problem was she's holding a broom...

(Altered Pages - Housewife)

Not exactly the look I was going for....but not to be discouraged I decided to do a bit of "stamping surgery" ;)   I stamped her with sepia Archival Ink then...snipped off the bottom part of her broom!

I knew I wanted her to hold a flag so I left the majority of her broom handle and tried to figure out how to make a nice looking flag.   I had a few left over images from the Altered Pages Americana collage sheet that I used to make my Recycled Lawn Timber Firecrackers last week and low and behold there was a flag image that fit perfectly with her dimensions!  Couldn't get a better fit!

So I colored my housewife, trimmed out the flag then glued the flag to the back of her hand where the broom handle was.  I think it turned out pretty good ....

I used my basic Gothic Arch pattern, covered it with vintage sheet music; inked on some stars with a bit of starry punchenella (star sequins waste material) and blue ink.  I then added some gold and silver leafing to the background...added some collage images to the bottom and affixed my flag wielding housewife to the arch using double stick foam tape.   I free handed a few stars which I covered with silver foil, added the sentiment & Dresden Trim to the edges.

Altered Pages products used: Housewife Stamp; Americana Collage Sheet; Silver Foil (on the stars); Gold & Silver Leafing (around the edge & background); Ink Blending Tool & Foam; Inks (brown & blue); German Scrap

I hope you all have a wonderful

holiday!!

Please stay safe and cool!

God Bless America!!!

Postage Stamp Charms

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all survived the massive storm that went through on Friday!  It hit us with a fury but thankfully our end of town was topped this spring so no limbs down on lines and we still have electricity!  I know there are many folks that don't and won't have power for several days ~ what's even worse are the 90 & 100+ temps forecast for this week.  I hope that if you know someone who is w/o power that you urge them to seek shelter at a cooling center for at least part of the day so they have some reprieve from the scorching temps.

Recently I was talking about postage stamps and by chance my ds bought me several bags of stamps this past weekend while he was visiting an antique tractor show.  I thought it was the perfect opportunity to incorporate them into a charm!

Stamps come in several sizes with a variety of themes and colors....

The first thing I did was to glue the stamp face down onto the charm....  I used 3D Crystal Lacquer but there are any number of glues that will work.

After it was dry I sanded off the excess paper....

Here is what they look like at this point...

You have a choice from here...you can either coat them with a layer of the lacquer to seal the stamp or you can glue a piece of ephemera/pattern paper to the back to protect the stamp.  Either way your charm is sure to be a hit!

Now you're not just limited to acrylic charms...Here I've used a few more stamps paired with "fillable" charms...  Simply glue your stamp to the charm then fill with desired glue/lacquer. 

You can see how cool they turned out....

An Irish Stamp....

I made this one for myself :)

So there you go...

remember to always check your envelope for postage stamps...

they come in soooo handy!!!