Scrappin&#39;, Stampin&#39;, &amp; Singin&#39;

Stencil - Stacked Circles

Dies - Circle Set

Rub-ons Flowers and Swirls Hero Transfers

Other - many liquid watercolors, inks & sprays

Hero Paste, Hero Wax & Hero Pearls

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Gingerbread Boy Trio

Hi all - hope you're surviving the heatwave if it's affecting you! We had a tremendous thunderstorm early this morning so we aren't seeing the extreme high heat that was predicted - yay! 93F here with a light breeze - very pleasant and the lawn looks happier thanks to some free water!!

I'm popping in with my third and final card for the July Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Gingerbread Treats. Thanks to Jo (Jos Blogs) and elf Carol (just me: c) for a fabulous challenge!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah White; Anchor Paper Kraft;

Authentique Festive 6x6 (plaid);

BoBunny Snowfall 6x6 (brown strips);

Paper Studio red & Christmas Basics (gingerbread pattern)

Dies - Spellbinders July 2023 Large Die of the Month;

My Favorite Things Blueprints 6 (retired);

Lawn Fawn Winter Big Scripty Words

Hot Foil Plate - Lawn Fawn Big Scripty Words

Other - foam tape; Spellbinders foil

Yesterday I finally opened my July 2023 Spellbinders box that arrived on Saturday. Among the lovely contents, I spotted the Large Die of the Month set. It includes a sweet gingerbread boy; I immediately grabbed him for a CKC card. Then I cut the decor pieces and assembled (including extra gingerbread boys to stack for dimension).

Next I trimmed a piece of gingerbread patterned paper to A2 size and covered a premade card. Added a strip of plaid, a scalloped trim and two brown strips. Die cut 3 doilies to hold my gingerbread boys who got popped up with foam tape. I had a stash of LF foiled sentiments so picked one, then die cut a red shadow plus extras for dimension. Assembed the card - done!

Since my gingerbread boy die is new, I'll also add this card to Darnell's July NBUS Challenge.

Thanks for stopping & happy crafting!!

Sunday, July 23, 2023

Gingerbread Cookie Jar

Hey crafty friends - hope you're enjoying the weekend! I was doing some crafty clean up yesterday and found the stamp set I sought when I made a previous card for the July Christmas Kickstart Challenge - yay! Jo (Jos Blogs) and elf Carol (just me: c) are doing Gingerbread Treats and I just had to play along a second time!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah White; Anchor Paper Desert Storm;

My Favorite Things Petite Gingham 6x6 (retired);

Tim Holtz kraft metallic

Stamps with dies - Hero Arts Gingerbread House Stamp & Cut

(retired at HA but a couple in stock HERE at Frantic Stamper)

Dies - Hero Arts Kitchen Crocks

Other - Copic Markers

First I created the background with the bitty stamps in the set. Die cut it with a stitched rectangle and blended some brown ink around the edges. Adhered to a kraft A2 card. Next I stamped and die cut the gingerbread house and some gingerbread boys on Neenah White cardstock and colored with Copics. Stamped and die cut the sentiment.

Here's another example of a card going off in a new direction. I was going to put the house and one cookie on a tag with the sentiment. While passing a stack of items recently purchased at my LSS Anchor Paper, I spotted the Kitchen Crocks die set which I hadn't used yet. I decided the crock, minus the handles, would make a fine cookie jar! And wouldn't the house be a cute decoration for the jar? But how to add the jar to my card?? I was surfing some of my blogging friends' posts and spotted this cutie by Lisa (My Paper Tales) where she'd used a narrow strip of gingham - bingo! Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!! And I like the sentiment on part of the gingham strip. I cut extra bits of the crock from gold to add details, then decided that a couple more gingerbread boys could be popping out the top. Done!

Since my crock is new, I'll also add this card to Darnell's July NBUS Challenge. It's been a while since I've been able to play at the Sweet Stampin' Challenge so it's past time! They're doing Christmas in July so I'll link up there too. I was inspired yesterday by my Diva teamie Dawn (Dawn's World) with her darling card HERE.

Thanks for stopping & happy crafting!!

Saturday, July 22, 2023

More Mixed Media

Hey there - I'm back with some more projects inspired by last weekend's Hero Arts Mixed Media Stamp Along. I have a card and a journal page for you today.

Supplies: please see list at end of post

The panel for this card was done with the help of a 3x3" square gel plate. I neglected to photograph the print before I cut it up but I had enough for four cards. I made a previous card with another quarter of the print (at bottom of post HERE).

I basically brayered ink onto the gel plate and used it as a stamp without pressing down too hard on the edges; didn't want harsh square edges (but you can see a few). I brayered over a stencil on the gel plate and also sprayed through the stencil direct to paper with some glimmer mist. Once dry, I die cut with a stitched rectangle & stamped with a cling script stamp inked with Hero Wax (very subtle gold in spots) and then with a clear script stamp held on my fingertips with some teal ink. I matted the printed the print with black and added to an A2 card formed from Hero Arts Bermuda cardstock. A label made with a Dymo embossing tool became the sentiment strip.

Here's an accordion art journal page I made using part of the watercolor sheet I'd used as a work surface (see that photo HERE). I added a LOVE diecut (Hero Arts Love You Stamp & Cut XL) along with a leftover sentiment strip.The narrow strip on the left side near the page's edge was trimmed off another page that I'd cut too large. Didn't want to waste it, right?

Thanks for stopping and if you haven't entered our July Die Cut Diva Birthday Challenge, I hope to see you there by 7/31 at 9p Pacific!!

Main Hero Arts Stamp-Along Supplies:

Stamps with Dies - Beautiful Day Bundle

Stamps - Encouragement Sentiment Strips,

Positive Script, & Rough Dot Bold Prints

Stencil - Stacked Circles

Dies - Circle Set

Rub-ons Flowers and Swirls Hero Transfers

Other - many liquid watercolors, inks & sprays

Hero Paste, Hero Wax & Hero Pearls

Friday, July 21, 2023

Birthday Time with My Favorite Things!

Hey there - I'm posting inspiration at Die Cut Divas today for our July Birthday Challenge! We're celebrating My Favorite Things' 17th Birthday by using their wonderful products but you can use anything from your stash. Just be sure to include a die cut or embossing folder in your design.

I bought some June release MFT items to play with - as usual, their customer service was amazing! I ordered and 2 days later - package at my door! Had an idea for a box card which I finally finished on Tuesday:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Artic

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Craft Consortium Retro Summer (waves)

BoBunny Enchanted Garden (rock wall)

Stamps with dies - My Favorite Things Oceans of Fun (dies HERE)

Dies - My Favorite Things Under the Sea,

Outside the Box Wavy Days, &

Outside the Box Level Up

Other - Copic Markers

I thought the Level Up box card set would be amazing for the arched rock wall in the Under the Sea set. I used the new waves die for this style box card and cut them from some ocean looking Craft Consortium paper. Next I die cut a bunch of the sea critters, coral & foliage from Neenah White cardstock. Using the negative at a template, I popped them into the MISTI to stamp, then colored with Copics. Stamped & die cut the sentiment panel.

I assembled my box and flattened it, as for mailing, to arrange my elements, then glued to card. That was the fiddly part, otherwise this came together easily. I just love how it turned out! Here are a couple other views.

Still with me? I have a bonus card using MFT's June card kit (products available separately). I couldn't resist adding to my MFT blossom collection and the new happy die with coordinating stamp set is amazing!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

My Favorite Things cardstock (Orange Zest, Lemon Drop & Limelight)

& striped from a retired 6x6 collection (can't find the name)

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 21 (retired),

All the Happy, Bold Blooms, & Bold Greenery

Stamps - My Favorite Things Happy Occasions

For more visual interest, I cut the top and bottom happys the same orientation, then rotated the die 90 degrees to cut the middle one so the stripes went a different way. The little leaves were trimmed off a sprig of 8 leaves. I stamped and fussy cut the word birthday. Added everything to a pierced rectangle panel, matted and glued to A2 card. Done!

I'll share at Darnell's July NBUS Challenge since I used new stuff for the first time. I'm always super happy when I used something new right after I get it - such a change from waiting a year or two!! I was also inspired by my friend Gundi (papierelle) to join in the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #573 where they're doing sea life. See Gundi's darling card HERE.

Thanks for stopping and I hope to see you in the July Diva Birthday Gallery by the 31st at 9p Pacific! MFT has generously donated a $25 gift card to their online store which we will award to our random winner selected from eligible July entries.

Thursday, July 20, 2023

More Journal Pages Inspired by the Hero Arts Mixed Media Stamp Along

Hey everyone - thought I'd pop back in with some more accordion art journal pages I completed after the Hero Arts Mixed Media Stamp Along last weekend. First up, one I did on Sunday.

Supplies: Dies - Hero Arts Delicate Butterfly

Plus see event supply list at bottom of post

As recommend by Kathy of The Daily Marker during one of her 30 Day Coloring Challenges, I had used pieces of watercolor paper as a work surface during the event. Forgot to photograph the one I used here but it was very messy with inks. I trimmed part of it to a journal page and continued to embellish with script stamping & stenciling. Very shimmery in real life thanks to irridescent spray. Slapped a white die cut butterfly on there with a sentiment strip left from the event, added some Hero pearls for a "flight path" - done!

I used a second slab of watercolor paper for a work surface during the event and remembered to photograph it.

You can see where I did some ink blending and spritzing of flowers for my Saturday pages. So far I haven't used this sheet for journal pages, except I did snip a green section from under the Hero Paste for some leaves you'll see later. I'm sure the rest of the panel will find its way onto a project soon!

Next, a crafty disaster on Monday - who said crafting isn't dangerous?!

Don't ask me how it happened but I was using purple liquid watercolor on some leftover flowers and dropped the bottle! Oddly it landed straight up but the dropper went flying and liquid splattered everywhere! I had my flip-flops on when it happened but took them off for the photo so you could see more splatter. That's packing paper in the upper right corner - on the floor, luckily, to catch some liquid. I was able to scoop some of the liquid onto a palette, then I had the great idea to soak some up with a slab of watercolor paper. I cleaned up the rest (my toe is still a bit purplish around the nail) then used the purple watercolor paper for this page:

I used a stencil & brayer with some of ink saved from the spill to add some subtle texture. Then I stenciled some dots with a teal ink, plus some stenciled circles with Hero Paste. And there is the sweet flower which was getting purple ink when the disaster happened. I die cut some Poppystamps leaves from that work surface piece above & used a YOU from my stash (Hero Arts Love You Stamp & Cut XL) along with a leftover sentiment strip.

That's it for today - hope you're enjoying the day whatever you're doing! Thanks for visiting!!

Main Hero Arts Stamp-Along Supplies:

Stamps with Dies - Beautiful Day Bundle

Stamps - Encouragement Sentiment Strips,

Positive Script, & Rough Dot Bold Prints

Stencil - Stacked Circles

Dies - Circle Set

Rub-ons Flowers and Swirls Hero Transfers

Other - many liquid watercolors, inks & sprays

Hero Paste, Hero Wax & Hero Pearls

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Day Two of Hero Arts First Mixed Media Stamp-Along!

Hi all - thanks for stopping back! **Warning - photo heavy post ahead**

I had a crafting marathon this weekend - a Mixed Media Stamp-Along online with Hero Arts and their fabulous instructors!! We created pages for an accordion art journal - I shared my first page from the Friday night session HERE. Saturday's classes ran into the evening, then I had to watch the Twins game (beat the Athletics -yay!!) so I waited until today to blog them. Most sessions ran 90 minutes then we had a 30 minute break (1 hour for lunch most of which I used to craft). I've listed the main supplies at the end of this post.

First up on Saturday - INSPIRE page by Mindy Eggen. She used a lot of ink blending, die cutting and rub-ons with some splatter to finish it off. Here's my take on the project...I made my letters wonky so I didn't have to align them - LOL.

Next, a Life is Tough page by Nichol Spohr. Her class title was actually based on the companion card she created using others of the encouragement sentiment strips. I used different sentiments, plus created a card using the same techniques. I used seafoam white embossing powder on my flowers & leaves so they didn't stand out as nicely as Nichol's did using a brighter white ep. We randomly stamped on the flowers and leaves with a text stamp.

Next, Life is Beautiful page by Jessica Frost-Ballas. We used a ton of shimmer spray on those flowers! And since I made an extra flower, I created a card too.

Next up, Follow Your Heart page by Channin Pelletier, using lots of liquid watercolors and some white embossed dots, plus paste through a stencil.

Next - our art journal covers. For these we had a session with Mansi, a mixed media artist, who was very inspiring. Mansi went as the spirit moved her. In fact, she made a entirely different pair of covers during the session than the ones on the handout! She did not want to see us make replicas of her covers; she wanted us to play! One of her concepts is to move on from a technique after a few minutes so you don't start "thinking". We played for 90 minutes and here's my result using watercolor paper:

See the ribbon between the covers? It started white and we painted it gold with Hero Wax, then added past through a stencil for some texture. And the bottle in the upper left corner? A tonic water bottle - I used the bottom to stamp the blue dotted circles. I'd been meaning to try it on my gel plate for ages but hadn't got around to it. Finally just used it to stamp!

And here's the journal front tied with the ribbon through a gold die cut wheel. LOL - I'd meant the panel at left in the photo above to be the cover but when I glued them on, the one at right landed on the front - oops. Otherwise the ribbon wouldn't have gone round the journal!

The evening event was a recorded video from Jennifer McGuire - so inspiring! She was live in the chat but had the session recorded so she could comment and answer questions. She made some amazing cards using gel print backgrounds with mixed media. I was creating along with her using a 3x3" plate applied to a much larger sheet multiple times. When the session ended, I left my unfinished print to sit. Worked on it more this morning and turned part of it into this card:

Whew! After all that, you probably won't see me until my Diva post on the 21st (still working on my card). This month we're doing Birthdays over at Die Cut Divas so check it out!

Thanks a bunch for sticking with me & happy crafting! If you haven't tried mixed media, try it!

Main Hero Arts Stamp-Along Supplies:

Stamps with Dies - Beautiful Day Bundle

Stamps - Encouragement Sentiment Strips,

Positive Script, & Rough Dot Bold Prints

Stencil - Stacked Circles

Dies - Circle Set