What a Mess

I love stamping and creating. I hate cleaning up afterwards.

I always put it off and off and then I can't stamp because it's so messy. The funny thing is it never takes me more than 15 minutes to clean it up. I have my room fairly well organized so it's easy to find homes for everything. I just get lazy and don't do it.

So, before I cleaned up last time, I took a photo to share. I know that we'd all rather stamp than clean!

Spotty Eiffel Tower

I love this Eiffel Tower Stamp (Art Impressions). I don't know what it is about it, but I just love it. And I love the background stamp which I've used on several cards recently.

The background is the same as has been featured all week. This one was done with Victorian Velvet & Dusty Concord Distress Inks and the Seeing Spots folder. I then stamped the background image (from "I See Paris" by Tim Holtz) with Dusty Concord. I stamped the Eiffel Tower and saying (Inkadinkado) in black overtop.

To create the perfectly matching bottom design, I cut the spotty background and a purple cardstock at the same time with one of my Tim Holtz border dies. The trick is to make sure your purple cardstock is about an inch bigger than what you are going to layer on top of it. Then place and match up the bottom and cut the rest of the sides to fit.

Then I just stamped the saying below the panel. It's another saying from one of Tim Holtz' word sets stamped in Dusty Concord.

Black & White & Red all Over

I love the colour combination of black, white and red. It seems so strong and it really catches my eye.

Today, I used the negative background of the card I posted yesterday: Fired Brick, Dusty Concord & Retro Circles Embossing Folder. I had been getting back into the groove by working off of sketches, but this time it just kind of came together on its own. Not to say that I didn't struggle, but I had an idea in my head and then just went for it.

I cut the flowers using one of my backgrounds (I think from the left over scrap from yesterday's card) using my Tim Holtz die. But they were lacking some punch, so I stamped on them and added the black brad. I was getting somewhere. Then I put them on little red squares to make them stand out. I cut the background to fit and then matted it with a very thin black border. I tried putting that directly on the red card but it didn't pop enough, so I added a white background, but that was boring. Remembering my newfound love for black, I stamped a black background. I used the same background stamp from "I See Paris" that I used yesterday. I love how it's a nice background (and big), but not too cluttered. Then I tried stamping a saying in Fired Brick at the bottom. You can't really read it,but it added to the depth, so I just left it.

Happy Birthday Colleen

It certainly is the little things that make life big. This simple little card is a tribute to my friend, Colleen. She was over the other day and I was showing her the fun foam embossing folder technique and she told me to do one with red and purple. I was skeptical as it's not a combination that I've used before, but I love it. The background was done with Fired Brick and Dusty Concord Distress inks and the Retro Circles embossing folder by Tim Holtz.

I cut the background down to 4x4" and put it on the card. Then I stared at it because I didn't know what else to do. I was working off another sketch and so I cut the white and red paper, but didn't know what to do with it. So, I just started looking through my Tim Holtz sets until I found something that would fit. I placed it over top of the background, but the empty purple spot was bothering me, so I took one of the stamps from "I See Paris" (one of my favorite stamps) and stamped it in black. Normally, I like a more subtle background for something like that, but I quite like how it turned out. Then I just added a little embellishment and I was done.

I've been using black more on my cards lately and I really like it. I used to think it was too bold and I tended to stick to my other colours, but for now, the black is working for me.

So, this card is for Colleen. Happy Birthday!

Yellow Telling Time

The other day, when I was playing with my new technique, I did this background first. I really liked how the Seeing Spots folder turned out. I used Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold Distress Inks.

I had just finished making all these backgrounds which was the fun and easy part. Then came figuring out what to do with them. It had been awhile since I had stamped and it always takes me a little while to get back into the groove. So, I grabbed my Sketch book (I referenced it in another post as well) and started flipping through it until I found a sketch that caught my eye. Then I just started adding elements and in the end, I really like how it turned out. I love how the black went with the yellow. The stamps are Tim Holtz, as are the embellishments.

Tall Trees

I made this card using the technique I described yesterday. I used the Tall Trees embossing folder by Tim Holtz (I love it because it has a matching stamp). I used Crushed Olive and Forest Moss Distress Inks to create the backgrounds. Then I overstamped with the stamp (from the Reindeer Flight set by Tim Holtz) in Olive Pastel Chalk Ink. Then on the one, I just stamped the saying right on the card. On the other, I stamped it on vellum which I stapled on the card. Both are very quick to make. One card is with the positive side of the fun foam stamp and the other is with the negative side.

The negative side:


The positive side:

It's been awhile ... again

I seem to go in bits and spurts. I will go hard and create a bunch of stuff and then I have to tend to real life demands and catch up on everything I've ignored while creating, and stamping and scrapbooking takes a back seat. I keep thinking that I will commit to crafting a little bit each day, but the reality is that I have 3 small children, a husband, a household and a business to run and sometimes those take all my time and I can't get in there. Or, I'm just tired and don't feel like it. And that's OK. I am jealous of people who can stamp for an hour or two every day, but often their children are older and I don't want to wish my time away. It would be so nice to have time every day just for me, but I know that will come one day and I'll be wishing that I had my children in my lap instead. Or, at least sometimes I might.

So, the reality is that sometimes I'll be here blogging away and other times I won't. I hope that my readers understand. Many of them know me and know I'll always come back. I love playing with my stamps and my room will always draw me back and then I'll share here.

I invited my cousin over to scrapbook on Thursday and I felt more like playing, so I flipped through some old Technique Junkies newsletters (I LOVE those things) and found a cool technique to try. I really like when I find a technique which uses stuff I already own. I know that seems odd for someone who sells stamping supplies, but I also believe it's my duty to show people what they can do with supplies they already have. And, in the end, I often find that they order more of those supplies anyway. And if they don't, then that's fine! I always hear people say, "I need to use what I have." And I agree. There are monetary and space limitations; we can't simply have everything new. But that said, a new technique with existing product will always be cool.

So, a new technique. This one is so easy (really, I shouldn't need to write that since I don't do complicated ones). You will need a die cut machine (Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Wizard), embossing folders, Distress Inks, fun foam, spritz bottle with water and white matte cardstock. I often demonstrate techniques with Distress Inks and I'm asked if you can use other dye inks instead. The answer: in my opinion, not and get the same effect. You could probably make it work, but the Distress Inks are made to be work well with water and the colour won't break down like with other dye inks. I love my distress inks and except for a permanent black ink, they are the ones I reach for 90% of the time.

First step is to run your fun foam through your die machine in an embossing folder. You might have better luck to heat your fun foam a bit before doing this. You will not get as deep an impression as if you used paper (and since it's so thick, you may need to change your sandwich), but that's fine. Then choose two colours of Distress Inks. You are going to ink most of your fun foam with your lighter colour (just rub the pad directly around on the fun foam). Then go back and add a second colour in a few areas. Spritz with water and place your cardstock on, rubbing over it from the back. Peel it up and you have a very cool watercolour type stamped background. Put aside to dry or use your heat gun if you are impatient (ie: me). Then you can flip your fun foam over and do the same thing using the other side of the fun foam to get the negative version of the design.

I made quite a few of these the other day and just labeled the fun foam with the name of the embossing folder so I could use them later.

Today, I'm just going to show the background I made with the Seeing Spots folder. I really love the big dots of this folder; it's easily one of my favorites. And it looks very cool when you used the negative of it! For this sample, I used Victorian Velvet and Dusty Concord Distress Inks.

Here is the positive side.


Here is the negative side.


I'll be back over the next several days to show you the cards I've been making with this technique. I hope you enjoy it!!

You will get your fingers dirty doing this one. If that bothers you, you can wear gloves or you can try a Craft Scrubbie by Ranger which does a fantastic job taking the ink off of your fingers.