Christmas Cards - Screen Printing

 

I am so excited about these cards!  I took my first screenprinting class at Double Dutch Press this past November.  It was a two night class and Katherine made it fun and easy to use the vacuum table and print the cards.  The tough part is coming up with a design.  The text is in silver ink and the snowflakes were printed in white ink and then had 'flitter' applied.  My plan is to try a three color screen print card next year.   Peace!

Christmas Cards - Gingerbread Theme

My family loves themes.  Birthday themes, Christmas themes, interior design themes,...  you get the picture.  This Christmas, the chosen theme is 'Gingerbread' and here is the card\ornament I made.  The stamp is from the Tim Holtz Blueprint Christmas set.  The red and white background paper came from wax paper gift bags I found at Michaels.  I think the grommets through the cardboard are nice - I do love a good grommet!

May your holidays be full of peace, love, and lots of time to craft!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - November

Here is my November Tim Holtz tag.  I had so much fun making these autumn leaves!  I used the same Distress Paints that Tim used except I did a final drag with some of the dyed leaves through some Fired Brick Distress Stain.  I drew the veins on the leaves with a marker and then did the spattering.  I only used the gold accents on the background and they don't show up well in the picture.  The bird tag is from Stampin Up and then I used some alpha stamps to do the text.

So many things to be thankful for in this beautiful world - and many thanks to my dear husband and friends who support me in all my craft endeavors.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - October

Happy Halloween Everyone!  Tim's tag this month was lots of fun.  I am in love with the Texture Paste through a stencil technique.  The spray distress stains are on my Christmas list, and you can see that the background came out quite differently using the ink pads smooshed onto the craft sheet with added water.  I still love the effect, but, I am itching to try out the spray stains.  As a side note, I colored my staples purple and they look much shinier in person.  I didn't mind highlighting them on this project because staples are scary!  (just ask the girl who stapled her hand in elementary school during an early art project - lol)

Thanks so much to Tim, Mario, and their Creative Team for all of the inspiration.  I got some wonderful swag for winning last month and you will be seeing the results in the next few months.  Now off to make some 'pan de muerto'!!

Halloween House 2014 - Mr. Bones

I got this crazy idea to create my own Halloween village - making a new house every year.  This year's house is for Mr. Bones (my skeletal friend).  My favorite parts are the weather vane and the fencing which is shaped like tiny houses.  I already have plans for next year's house.  Stayed tuned as the village grows.

Halloween Card - Bottle Full of Spiders

 

I saw this idea on the Sizzix blog and have been working on it for quite a while.  The spiders inside the bottle are punched from shrink film, painted black, and then shrunk.  The bottle is made from modeling film and painted chipboard.  The webs are pillow filling.  I really had a fun time with this one.  The number 31 is stamped from vintage business stamps I found at Scott's.  I hope everyone has a fun Halloween!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - September

We'll have to take a break from 'Two Months of Terror' for Tim's September tag.  This tag is so beautiful that I did not change a thing when I made mine.  I love this stamp and I will be making more of these shiny, bright butterflies I assure you.  I thought about making a darker version of this with a skull on a bright background with black bats on the top.   Maybe if I get some time next month, I will give that a whirl...

**  Thanks so much for all of the kind comments.  I am honored to be selected as a September winner!

Published! Welcome to the Ghost House

I am honored to be included in the Rubber Stamp Madness magazine Halloween issue.  Isn't that cover collage gorgeous! Some of you may recognize the ghost stamp I used in the piece.  It is my letterboxing trail stamp and it has been featured on some Halloween cards past.  The interview goes to a second page, and I like the artwork on that page, too!

Witchy Woman ATC Swap

The 'Red Lead' online store hosts a monthly ATC swap.  The September theme is 'Witchy Woman' and here is what I made.  I used their stamps and their 'Wood Word' charms.  The photo is vintage and she looks very serene, but, if you look closely at her eyes - pure crazy.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - August

I decided to do a Halloween take on this month's tag.  When I pile all my favorite stamping stuff on my workspace (as recommended in this month's tag instructions), of course it is all my spooky stuff.  I really love the cat stamp on this one - I whitened his eyes up with a gel pen.

The 'rust' technique that I used with the honeycomb stencil is really cool.  It is most apparent on the upper left hand side of the tag.  And it was fun to fire up my sewing machine and sew the film strip onto the tag.  The skeleton is stamped and then die cut with a framelit die.  Gives it a nice precise look and saves me from having to 'fussy cut'.  Used some black eyelash yarn for the tassel and hand sewed the pen nib to the top of the card.

Getting excited about October 31st yet? 

Happy Birthday Fi!

On this card, I improved the techniques I learned from Tim's July tag.  This time, the faux sand is a lot whiter and brighter, and, the sand mixture came out more crumbly yet it still sticks to the card.  Also, I made the seahorses a contrasting color.  I think they stand out a little better.  I am happier with this effort.

Little Fi is absolutely adorable!  She was much more interested in the wrapping paper, but, someday she might run across this card and marvel at the crumbly sand.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - July

Loved doing this tag! (Tim's tag is here) Using the bubble embossing folder on the shrink plastic is so cool.  I wish my faux sand had come out a little more crumbly, but, next time I will use less Glossy Accents.  Make no mistake, that stuff is stuck on there tight and will not come off.  I hope everyone is having a fun summer!

Mom's Birthday

Happy Birthday Mom!  Still loving my Distress Inks and have been incorporating my stencils as well.  I can't decide if the upside-down hearts are design genious or not.  I do know that Mom is the best and I wish her a very Happy Birthday!

Button Flowers

Here is my first full button flower bouquet.  The pictures were taken from my Mom's front porch.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - June

This month's tag (see Tim's here) involved a technique that took a couple of tries.  The watercolor background works best with the Distress mini's.  I tried it with the larger pads, but, the smaller ones allow for smaller bursts of color.  Also, getting the right amount of water on the stencil took some experimenting, but, I am saving all my 'tries' for various projects in the future.  They were all interesting in their own way.  And this turns out to be one of my favorite tags this year!

My favorite part of this project?  The 'Paula' bow.  I will be using this on many projects in the future including gift wrap.  Where has this bow been all my life?

Here is some detail on the popped up butterflies.  I love the second butterfly best.

Birthday for Jonas

Here is a bit of scenic stamping using some stamps I picked up at Restoration Hardware of all places.  They had sets for different cities (San Francisco, New York, etc) and then some neighborhood pieces.  They were all on sale at Christmas time and so I could not resist (my stamp addiction kicked into high gear). I used the simple shapes with bright primary colors and lots of white space since I was going for the Swedish look that is so popular these days.

I think next time I visit, I will bring these stamps and let the kids have a stamping party.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - May

This was so much fun! (Tim's tag is here) The challenge was to incorporate found objects into a tag and anyone who has seen me at a flea market or thrift store knows that I am like a magpie - finding shiny and interesting bits to carry back to my craft room.  I have muffin tins full of little objects and I love incorporating them into my art.  The hardest part was culling it down to the essential items for this tag.  I thought about making a bigger tag, but, I am trying to keep the size uniform this year in hopes of making a tag book.  So here is the list (clockwise from top)

1)  Tim Holtz ideology mini light bulb wrapped in small black cord
2)  Eyeglass parts.  The bug picture is encased in an old spectacle lens.  I had to use wire to hold the frame part around the glass and I used Glossy Accents to stick the picture to the lens.
3)  The color picture of bug was found in an old dictionary that has color pictures.
4)  Sand dollar from the beach
5)  Tim Holtz die cut and rubbing for text
5)  Man in top hat postcard.  This postcard is so interesting because there is a big blank space next to the picture.  So I guess you would write on the front?

Here is a picture of the supplies:

Mother and Child Sepia ATC

Here is an ATC I made for an online swap.  The photo is of my grandmother holding my eldest Aunt.  I think the photo is from 1921 or so. Now, before anyone gets upset, I scanned the photo.  I did not cut up an old family photo.  I used some vintage lace that I have had for quite some time and just a few buttons and pearls.

Ode to Mom

This is going to a long post - so please bear with me.  Just wanted to say how much I appreciate my Mom.  As long as I can remember, she was pointing out nature's beauty to me.  The trees, flowers, birds, even the beauty of a lightning strike.  An art major in college, she always had interesting artwork on the walls (borrowed from the library back when you could do that - can you imagine it now?).  Picasso, Gaugain, and the Impressionists.  And when she didn't want to return a particularly nice impressionist water scene with sailboats, she sat down in the den and painted a copy for us to keep.  An exact copy right there in our den. Of course, Mom made sure I had lots of time with crayons, fingerpaints, pencils, and pens.  And the day when I was very little and I drew all over our walls with a pencil (and I mean I did a MURAL folks), she didn't get mad.  She just shook her head, laughed, and washed the walls.

Anyway, Mom's artfulness spilled into our homelife.  She made a great childhood for me and my sibs and our house was filled with laughter and love.  Oh, and she let us play our rock records loudly in the living room - no complaints!

Now I know Mom is tsking right now.  She does not like being praised so much, but, maybe she has stopped reading already and headed out to the garden to enjoy her Mother's Day.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - April

I went a little bit off the map here, but, this is my favorite result so far this year. Tim's tag is here. The mirrored pieces (second circle down) make me think of introspection and I love the quote from my newest set of Tim Holtz stamps.  I didn't have the lattice die, but I used my Sizzix framed circles instead.  The heart charm is actually a flea market grab bag find (big surprise - I am constantly digging around at flea markets and thrift stores).

I will have a lot of uses for the mirrored paper come Halloween.  Am I thinking of Halloween already? You bet I am!!

Happy Easter!

Here are the Easter cards and crafts for 2014.  The Tim Holtz blueprint stamps have been my Easter 'go to'.  They remind me of my Dad - a civil engineer and a man who loved Christmas and Easter.  The dominos are fridge magnets.  I bought the images for the dominos on Etsy and then coated them with Diamond Glaze.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Altered Peat Pot

These are so much fun to make!  You just paint a peat pot and decorate as desired.  I added stamped images to the side by stamping with sepia Stazon onto tissue paper.  Using Mod Podge or Multi Medium, adhere the tissue paper to the side of the painted peat pot.  Just keep brushing and smoodging the image onto the side until the tissue paper disappears.  Magic!

I was going with a monochromatic look on this one, but, I would like to do some with color next time.

Note the button flower at the top.  I am addicted to making button flowers - more on this later.

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Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - March

Time for Spring I Say!  This month's tag taught me about using a lighter touch with my distress inks.  I also allowed myself to doodle onto the 'birds on a wire' images that I inked from a template.  I rarely doodle onto cards due to low confidence, but, I really am happy with the result this month.  Tim's tag is here and I have to say the smudge-stamping technique is lots of fun!

What my Swap Partner Made

Pictures just don't do this piece justice!  And notice that Giova Brusa handstitched the word 'Create' into the delicate muslin.  Her blog is here and she also has an Etsy shop here.  I feel lucky to have had such a talented swap partner.

Great Stitched Postcard Swap

I hope that my swap partner in Amsterdam likes this postcard.  The only requirement is to include stitching, so I hand sewed the paintbrush to the card.  I really love the background - I have been playing with my distress inks and spattered water onto this one to see what it looked like.  The theme is 'Create'!
Along with the card, I included a stash of vintage papers and cards for my partner.  Can't wait to see what I get in return!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - February

Here is my take on Tim Holtz's February tag.  I really love the background technique.  I did not have the arrow that Tim used, so I used a black plastic arrow that I inked over with silver.  The chalkboard technique is fun and I will be using that again.  Happy Valentines everyone!

My First Spoolie

Made this for a swap on 'An Altered Place'.  Now I know what to do with all those wooden spools I have!

Birthday Button Fairy

Just can't stop making those button fairies!  This one is for my niece (an absolute genius designer and artist).  I was shying away from birthday cards this year in hopes of improving my holiday efforts, but, then I went to the stamp show in Lawrenceville and came away with this lovely girl.  I had an idea of starting with a simple card and sending it off to my crafty friends to embellish.  Might be a good idea for a swap in the future.

Winter Button Fairy

A fitting post for a wintry day in Georgia!  I used this same image for my Christmas cards a year or so ago.  I do love this girl.  I hope everyone is safe at home and not stuck on our freeways.

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 - January

This year I am challenging myself to make all of Tim Holtz's 'Tags of 2014'.  For Christmas this year, my husband gifted me with all of the Tim Holtz Distress Inks and I am in creative heaven!  You can see Tim's tag here.  Since I did not have the watch die, I made do with circles and the fob is the top of a key stamp. I cut the arrows out of paper and coated them with melted UTEE.  However, the rest of the tag is Tim Holtz products - Distress Ink in pumice and black soot, various masks, stamps, rubbings, and the number one tag is from his line as well. I am going to try and include a number on the tag for each month (this month is one obviously).

Jeanne D'Arc ATC

This is an 'Easel ATC' I made for a swap on 'An Altered Place'.  I coated the sword that holds the picture in place with melted UTEE.  I learned that you really don't need a fancy, expensive UTEE melting pot.  You just need to sacrifice a small pot and heat that stuff up on the stove (low heat only).  I kept feeling like this ATC needed a little more, but, couldn't settle on anything good.  Hopefully, less is more and Amy Y. will enjoy her ATC.

Christmas Ornaments

My love affair with glitter continued through Christmas as I made ornaments instead of cards this year.  The circular embellishments  were made from wire, book pages, and glossy accents (that is what the circles are on the detail picture).  Everybody's ornament was slightly different as I kept changing my mind about what looked best.  I hope to improve my ornament effort in 2014.