First Spinner Card

The idea for this card started festering in my head about a week ago. I've been mulling it over in my head trying to figure out how I wanted to do it. I'd been in a grumpy mood and vented to my boss. Then I felt guilty about venting so I apologized and told him I'd come back to work the next day with an attitude adjustment. Him, being the smart aleck he is, asked me, "Is there some sort of adjustment knob for that? 'Cause if so I need to find mine too." And this card is the result of that comment.



Today I found a tutorial on the spinner card over on Angie's blog. If you want to make your own...you can click HERE and view her video tutorial. Basically there is a channel cut in the front of the card and the image (in this case the 'knob') will roll inside the channel. If you view Angie's tutorial you can see why they call it a "spinner" card.

For the 'knob' I used word art in Word and put it into a circular shape.

Jane

Embossing Paste Tutorial

When I went to the craft show this past weekend I was struck by one of the samples they had hanging in a booth. So...there went my first 20ish bucks at that booth. I bought the embossing plate and the embossing paste. They also gave me a sheet of directions on how to do the technique. I figured even I could manage to smother a metallic plate with goo and squeegee it off! LOL.

So here's what I started with supply wise:



Embossing plate of choice
Embossing paste (this is glossy white)
Dark colored paper
Spatula (I used a Pampered Chef pan scraper)
Tape (low tack)

First step is taping the stencil to the paper (so it doesn't move):

Back side:


Front side:


Next step is to add some embossing paste to your spatula and spread across the template. The trick here is to start off the template...drag across the template...and do NOT lift it up or put it down in the template itself (or it forces paste into areas where you don't want it). They sell spatulas (that look a lot like cake decorating spatulas...but I just used a Pampered Chef pan scraper.



Turn over and take off the tape and gently lift the stencil away from the paper. If you want to add glitter...now is the time to do it (while the paste is still wet). I used the ultrafine clear glitter. Then set the cardstock aside to dry (do not use a heat gun). It'll take a few hours to dry. Then make your card!



Do you want to know a secret? I managed to get embossing paste on the outside border (where there should have been a solid outline around the tree background). So I just trimmed the cardstock right up against the trees and then mounted to another piece of cardstock the same color so you can't tell I made a boo boo.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Jane

First Copic Tutorial w/New Stamps!

Since I work from home on Wednesday's it means I have a chance to play today. Not because I'm playing when I should be working (no, really, not!) but because I don't have two hours of drive time nor do I take a lunch. So my Wednesday's seem SO short in comparison! LOL.

So...since I had a chance to play I wanted to share why I LOVE my new Copic markers. I am SOLD on these suckers. I put off buying them because they are expensive and you need a fair amount of colors before you can really do the shading and such correctly. And I figured I had my waterbased markers and I didn't use them much. So how much would I REALLY use these markers and would they be worth the $$ to me? But while I was on the Design Team for Clear Dollar Stamps I got a discount and I decided if I was going to jump on the band wagon...it was a good time to do so. And I'm so happy I jumped!

For starters...here are the supplies we will be using. I bought MY markers at Clear Dollar Stamps (they sell them in sets) but you can also get them at many places online. The stamp I'm using is one of the new ones I picked up this weekend from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps.



I started off by stamping my image with black ink onto colonial white cardstock from CTMH. I used plain old Marvy ink. I think there are some inks that work better than others with these markers but from my limited experience the Marvy works fine and cleans up easy. It's always been my favorite black ink.

Next I used the lightest color (Honey) and colored in the whole pumpkin.



Then I used a darker shade of orange and outlined the outside areas of the pumpkin.



To blend the colors I went back to the original color (Honey) and blended over the darker lines by going in little circles.


It looks great now, as is...but I wanted my pumpkin more realistic...and how many pumpkins do you know of that don't have a few whiter areas on them?

So I pulled out the "colorless blender". This really is NOT a blender. It's more like a "lifter". It pulls the color up that you've put down. So I did that in a few areas to lift some of the orange off and "rough up" the pumpkin.



Here is a card with the finished pumpkin.



I went ahead and stamped it a second time on colonial white cardstock. Then cut out the pumpkin I'd colored (just the pumpkin) and mounted it over the pumpkin on the second stamped image with pop dot adhesives to give the card some dimension. I mounted it to a piece of cardstock that I'd sanded and then roughed up the edges with scissors. I mounted some decorative paper to the card base and tied a twill ribbon around it...and lastly attached the panel with the pumpkin on it to the base. Finished card fits in a standard letter size envelope.

Now...I guess I need to go do something "useful". LOL. Have a great evening!

Jane

Tutorial - Stamp Rolling

This technique looks great with leaves or fruits in particular.

Supplies Needed:

(This is simple...you only need two things!)

Solid image stamps
2 or 3 coordinating inks
(I used a sunflower yellow, an olive green, and a burgandy red)

Step One:

Ink up your stamp in the LIGHTEST color (in my case the sunflower yellow)



Step Two:

WITHOUT cleaning the stamp - pick up your next darkest color (in my case the olive green) and roll the edges of the stamp in it.



Step Three:

WITHOUT cleaning the stamp - pick up the last color (here it's the burgandy) and roll just the very outside edges of the stamp in it.




Step Four:

NOW you can stamp the image! Clean the stamp and start over if you need more than one image. Always move from the light color to the darker color and clean between actual stampings.

Here's a few of the leaves close up:



I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Like I said, this is one of my favorites and it's SO easy once you get the hang of it.

Have a wonderful day!

Jane

Kool Aid Card Tutorial

I originally saw these cards on SCS but they were using tea bags. I don't know ANYONE who drinks tea. So I decided to modify the card and make it a kool aid card. With a little more modification you could even do packets of hot cocoa or maybe soup mix (for a get well card).

Also, as a disclaimer...in the future I think I'd make my measurements a little bigger. I measured my kool aid packet and then made the card slightly bigger. But once I added the adhesive to the pocket portion...the pocket was too small! So I had to fold in the one side and bottom to make it look right in the card. It still works but would be good to make it a little bigger next time.

Ok...I started by cutting my cardstock to 4 1/4 x 9 inches. I then scored at 3 inches and again at 6 inches. On the far right panel I used my paper trimmer and cut off a portion of the top at an angle.



Next I adhered red sticky tape to the bottom and right side of the right panel (the one that you cut at an angle). Remove the liner from the tape and fold over to make a pocket.



Your basic card is finished! Now decorate the front however you want....here I used one of the $1 stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps. I colored in the popscicles using an orange marker and then used clear stickles on each so they shimmer. For the saying I downloaded a font off the good old internet and printed the saying on cardstock.



And now the total project from the top view so you can see it all...



How cool would these be for aides at the kids' schools? "Thanks for being a great aide!" could be your saying.

Thanks for stopping by! I've been in the mood to do some holiday "blog candy" so make sure you come back by this weekend. I'll plan on posting it on Saturday morning and you'll have till Sunday night to enter.

Jane

Altered Picture Frame Tutorial

I decided on my first couple of items for the Design Team application. And the first is an altered picture frame. I grabbed my camera and took pictures along the way so I could share how to do it with all of you.

So...step one...go to Michael's and get a picture frame to alter. This one I got on sale for $1 a few weeks back.



Next, I'm going to use my frame as a template to cut the paper that I'll be adhering to the front. So I turned my paper upside down (so the pencil marks would be on the back and wouldn't show) and then traced closely around both the outside and the inside of the picture frame.



Next, I'm going to paint the sides and back of the frame with acrylic paint that will coordinate with my papers. It's better to do a couple thin coats instead of a heavy coat. Also...think about where your paper is going to lay and what areas are going to show. After initially doing just the sides and back...I laid my paper on the front and decided I wanted a border of the paint showing...so I went back and added a little paint to the edges. I also noticed the inner part of the frame was going to need to be painted. So I went back and painted that as well.



Then, lastly I adhered the paper to the front of the frame and embellished. (Basically think of it as a card front...any holes that need to be punched for faux stitching or brads or eyelets, etc should be done BEFORE adhering your paper to the frame.) Once everything is in place then adhere. I used sticky tape on this one because of the dimension. I've also used modge podge on others that were just paper (no dimension) and then modge podged over the top to seal. So that's your choice.

Here is the finished frame:



The large circle at the top of the frame is one of the items included in the Designer's Packet that we had to use...it's actually a huge acrylic button! I thought it'd be a perfect embellishment for the frame. The flower in the center of that is another item included in the packet. None of these items (including their choice of colors or papers) would normally be my "style" but it was kind of fun to think outside the box. And I really like how it turned out. The poem is printed on white cardstock and then I used Autumn Leaves flourishes to faintly stamp onto the poem. I really like how it turned out...I hope they do to!

I'm going to make a few more items...my plan is kind of a "cheer up" gift set for a friend. So tomorrow I'll stop by the $1 store and look for some cheap bath stuff and a candle to decorate...and of course CHOCOLATE and then I'll need to decide how to package it all up. Going to be a busy week, eh? Silly people actually expect me to WORK! ;-)

Jane

Is it worth the money???

For the last several years I've been hearing about the prismacolor pencils (just regular ones...not watercolor). Everyone RAVES about these pencils. And if you use them with gamasol (or oderless mineral spirits or baby oil) then you can blend them so it looks more like watercolor. I already owned some colored pencils that I bought at Michael's in the scrapbooking section. I believe they are the ONLY packages of pencils in the scrapbooking section. And I've been using my pencils with oderless mineral spirits. They blend a bit but are hard to bend and I haven't been thrilled with my coloring. This week...the prismacolor pencils were 25% off at Michael's (including open stock pencils). So I bought 5 individual pencils to try out. They were $1.49 each...so I paid $1.25 each for them after the sale price. And here is my comparison to share with you.

First I stamped my main image twice and laid out my supplies. The regular pencils are on the left...the prismas are on the right.



Next I laid down a layer of color around the edges of the images. I noticed that the prismas went on SO much easier (didn't feel like I was having to push hard to get the color I wanted).



Then I used a blending stump and the mineral spirits to pull color in towards the center of the image. The prisma blended really easily and I discovered, if anything, that I'd layed down TOO much color because it pulls so easily. I'll have to note that for the next time. Here are the two finished images. I think either works...but the prisma one is definately more vibrant and was so much easier to do. With the regular pencils I had to push on the stump really hard when blending.



And then I choose my favorite image and made a pop-up slider card with it! Check back tomorrow to view the card! (Yep, I'm a tease!)

You can buy the primacolor pencils in all sorts of combinations. You can buy them singly, in sets of 24, 48, and 100+. I do think I'll ask Santa for set of the 100+ ones. You can get them on ebay for around $50-60 (obviously they are more at Michael's...I'm not sure how the price compares with a 40% off coupon...will have to check that out!)

Today is a holiday...enjoy and go PLAY!

Jane

Basic Masking Tutorial

The limited supply challenge for this week on Splitcoaststampers is to use a non-halloween animal stamp to make a halloween tent card. I figured it was a prime time to do a tutorial on simple masking.

I will be using a hippo stamp and adding a witches hat. The easiest way to do masking is to use post-it notes (at least that's the easiest way I've found. So here are the two stamps I'll be using and the post-it notes.



The first thing I'm going to do is make my mask. So I'm going to stamp the witches hat on the sticky portion of the post-it note. After stamping you are going to cut out the mask just inside (or on) the line.



Now...take the same image and stamp it onto your cardstock. Here I've stamped it onto white cardstock.



NOW, you are going to use your mask. Take the post-it image and place it directly on top of the stamped image on the cardstock.



Once your mask is in place you are ready to stamp the next image (in my case the hippo).





Now remove the mask and your image is finished!



I could have stamped a single hat on white cardstock and cut it out and then just glued it on top of the hippo's head. Sounds easier right? But if you are doing multiples (or if you don't want the cut/paste look) then masking is the way to go. If you're using clear stamps then masking becomes even easier.

Masking can be used in many ways and can be used for more indepth techniques. With masking you can place items inside other items (like placing items "inside" a basket), you can make things sit on top of other things (like a dog sitting on a chair) or you can build scenes with items in the front and then build backwards...masking as you go. It may seem daunting but hopefully the step by step pics makes it easier to understand! You can also do "reverse masking". For example you can make your mask, place it on the image and then sponge blue ink around it to make it look like blue sky. Or...I also use a variation of masking to do my coloring at times. I will stamp my image on glossy cardstock and then cut portions of it out (say all the flower parts I want to be red), then stamp the same image again and cut out different portions (say all the flower parts I want to be yellow)...repeat for each color you plan to use. Then you basically use it template. You lay it over the areas you want to color (so only those areas are exposed and sponge on ink), then use the next template. Sometime I'll show that technique. For now...here is the finished card I made with the basic masking!





Hope you enjoyed!

Jane

Another way to use alcohol inks

I saw this posted on another blog and thought I'd try it out. You use baby wipes and alcohol inks to create a mixed muted coloring for solid stamps. I'm not sure I love it...and it stained my stamp (is it safe to clean rubber with the blending solution???) But it is pretty.

Anyways, here's the steps I took.

1) Choose 2 or 3 coordinating colors for your image. Set a baby wipe (or 2) on top of a plate or something you don't mind getting stained (I just sat on top of my Crafter's Sheet...LOVE THIS THING!) Then drop droplets of ink onto your babywipe...not touching but close together...in a random pattern.




2) Immediately take your stamp and use the inked area on the baby wipe as your ink pad.



3) Stamp on your paper. I was using a photo paper (matte) and it tended to stick to it (not sure why). I had better luck just using plain old white cardstock. Here is the finished image.



Anyways, just thought I'd share my new attempts at trying something new. Hope you enjoyed it and maybe it sparks an "ah-ha" moment for you. Maybe you'll find a way to branch off from this even. If you do...make sure you come back and let me know!

Jane

Alcohol Inks Agate Background Tutorial

Here is just one more thing you can do with alcohol inks!

To start with you will need:

2-3 colors of alcohol inks
1 color mixative (I used copper)
1 blending solution
craft mat (or layers of scratch paper) to work on
glossy cardstock
applicator tool
felt for applicator




Place the glossy cardstock on the craft sheet. Adhere a rectangle of felt to the applicator. Apply ink colors to the applicator BY PLACING THE TIP TO THE FELT AND THEN SQUEEZING. I used two colors and did kind of an 'x' pattern where I put one color at the top left and then bottom right and did the opposite with the second color. Next, open the mixative color and apply it in the center of the colors. You don't need nearly as much mixative color...just a little will do.



Pounce onto your cardstock, covering the whole piece. Let dry, repeat (refilling ink if necessary). Then to the same applicator add the blending solution and pounce over the cardstock. It'll cause all the colors to blend into each other.

Here's my cardstock before adding the blending solution:



And here is a piece of it after (it's the piece on the right...the other piece is a transparency from yesterday's tutorial):



And, for the finished card I ended up embossing a boot onto the cardstock. You can stamp with black archival ink but with these colors my image wasn't as clear as I wanted because the colors are dark. So I opted to emboss instead.



You can also use this same technique on metal surfaces...I like how that looks with the copper mixative on metal. I saw a cute container at the thrift store that was .49 and had a red ticket so was 50% off. So I spent a whopping quarter and used my alcohol inks...and now it's beautiful! I'll post a picture of that in the days to come.

I also have made several cards in the last couple days. So lots to share. Keep coming back!

Jane

Alcohol Ink on Transparency Tutorial

Ok...I did the best I could with the pictures. Since I still haven't found my digital card I had to be a little stingy on the pictures I took (otherwise I'd fill up my camera's memory too quickly).

So...to start with for the TRANSPARENCY you will need:

2-3 colors of alcohol inks
applicator
felt pads
transparency
and either some newspaper or one of these craft sheets like I'm using to stamp on

This picture shows all the supplies we will be using for both the transparency and the agate background so there are a few extra items in the picture for this part of the project.



Place your transparency on top of the craft sheet (or several layers of newsprint or scrap paper). Take a piece of felt and apply it to your applicator. Basically the applicator is a wood block with a piece of velcro on it and you just push the felt onto the velcro. Next we are going to add the ink. I used 2 colors. Place the tip of the alcohol ink to the applicator BEFORE squeezing. Otherwise it'll be a mess that doesn't clean up easily. Here you'll see I squeezed on 2 colors in a total of 4 areas. It's ok if they run into each other a little bit.



Once the applicator is inked up, pounce it onto your transparency. Do one layer let dry. This should only take a moment.



Then re-ink (if necessary) and repeat until the transparency is covered. Here I held the transparency over a bit of white cardstock so you can see what it looks like finished.



Then you can choose to layer it over a stamped image or use it by itself. Because it is see through whatever adhesive you use will be able to be seen. Brads are a good choice for adhering...or use well hidden adhesive like I did on my project. Basically I backed the front section on the inside of the card so it didn't matter that I used adhesive.

To clean up: If you used scrap paper just throw it away. If you used a craft mat, you can use the blending solution (large bottle) to clean all of the ink off your mat. This also helps with any you get on your fingers.

Here's my finished card! In this case, I made it into a window card so the fish is actually stamped on the inside of the card. The colors look better in real life. Seems like the scan didn't do it justice.



Ok...I'm saving the agate tutorial for tomorrow.

Enjoy playing!

Jane