Two Techniques, Double the Fun

Tami Bayer, lead at Fiskateers.com, hosted a Stamp Out online crop a few weeks ago.  This card had some issues and didn't make the stamp out deadline but I'm happy to post it here, now.  

The background utilizes Tim Holtz' brushless watercolor and rock candy distress stickles techniques.  The background stamp is from Fiskars Plumage set and I generously applied additional distress ink with blending tool and foam before doing the rock candy part.  

The book plate is Anna Griffin (a bargain set from Tuesday Morning).  This is where I ran into trouble.  I stamped "cheers" (Fiskars stamp) with Fiskars navy pigment ink on white card stock and heat set.  I then went over that with various blue/blue green shades of distress ink.  All good.  I adhered my card stock to the book plate with Glossy Accents, still good.  Then I added more glossy accents to fill in the "air space" between the stamped/inked paper and the inside edge of the bookplate.  Still doing fine!  Set aside to dry.  No problem until I dropped a couple of pens into my Glossy Accents--no, no, no!  Round 2 worked even better when I placed that bookplate across the room!  

Additional notes on the bookplate--I used my Fiskars fingertip craft knife and # 5 micro tip scissors to cut away excess card stock after everything was good and set.  I used a push pin to drill through the holes on each end to run some $ Store fiber through them.

Thanks so much for looking at my fun to make card.  Oh, I actually used some 400 series Strathmore Watercolor Paper for the card base--nice and substantial for a special card.

A Few Cards for a Fiskateer Challenge

Lead Fiskateer Tami Bayer hosts a monthly color challenge at Fiskateers.com.  April's prompt was NEON and it really took me back down my memory late--about 4 decades!  Both cards utilize Michael's Recollections brand card stock and Fiskars Give it a Swirl, Cupcake, Apron Lace, Threading Water and Lace border punches.

The hat on this card has little tabs along each side that I folded under.  The tabs are attached to provide a slight bend to the party hat.   The purple flower trim was made from purple tissue paper.  Each flower consists of 8 layers of tissue punched with the Fiskars Seal of Approval squeeze punch.  I used stickers for the Celebrate and 21.  The 21 has a thin layer of black stickles on top.  I cut the numbers from the sticker sheet and applied the stickles to the sheet.  When dry, I carefully peeled the numbers from the sheet.

Here's a different variation of the same card design

For the trim on this card, I gathered sections of crepe paper streamers by hand basting with thread.  Stamped Celebrate! with Fiskars Simple Stick Birthday Cheer stamp set.  I decided to skip the tabs and bendy front on this card and just use pop dots to attach the party hat.

Thanks for dropping by.  Hope all your celebrations are NEON bright and happy.

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 10, last class

Only one tag for this day but it is a beautiful technique.  I'm looking forward to using this again and again!

See the shine?  I love that!  This technique was Rock Candy Distress Stickles.  My stamp is from Fiskars Asian Inspired Set.  It's a large background acrylic stamp and I had trouble getting the stamp to accept the distress ink.  When that happens, I usually rub a white eraser over the acrylic.  I couldn't find my eraser!  So I used Colorbox pigment inks.

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 9

I was practically shining by the time I finished these tags : )  I had a hard time getting a good photo but you can at least tell that they shine.

From left to right:  Perfect Distress Mist technique, Perfect Distress technique (Tim Holtz stamps)

and Perfect Splatter Distress technique.

The last technique will be up in a few--so sad the class is ending.

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 8

This class has been so much fun and I've learned so much.  Sharing day 8's tags with you

The techniques from left to right are Dabber Resist technique, Crackle Paint Resist technique and Shattered Stains technique.  All stamps by Tim Holtz.  The butterlies are some old, naked chipboard from WalMart!

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 7

No substitutions!  I had just what I needed for today's class.

From left to right, Nostalgic Batik technique (Hampton Arts and Tim Holtz stamps, Rusted Enamel technique and Distress Powder Resist technique (stamp from Fiskars Plumage set).

I enjoyed the Distress Powder Resist so much I made a second tag with a Heidi Swapp stamp.

Oh!  I haven't forgotten Day 6.  I do not have distress markers and haven't found the specialty stamping paper but I do have lifetime access to the class.    

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 5

Here you go

The techniques from left to right are Stained Kraft Resist (Hero Arts stamp), Stamping with Stains (Hero Arts and Stampabilities background stamp), Marbled Stains (Fiskars For the Birds stamps and Tim Holtz stamps).  I'm not very happy with my stamp selection on the first two tags.  Love the images just not for these techniques.  I also couldn't find picket ink distress stain and substituted white acrylic paint.  I will retry when I get my hands on some of that neat stain and will post my tags when I do.

Thanks for looking!

Creative Chemistry 101 Marathon--Day 4

Hi, there!  I've been playing catch up on the technique tags from class for the last few days.  I will be making separate blog posts for each day -- easier for me to link to the class gallery.  Thank you for your patience.  Without further ado, here's day 4.

From left to right Watercoloring With Reinkers Technique (Wendy Vecchi stamps), Layered Misting (unknown source for stencil), Custom Stamp Pad (Inkadinkado stamp).  Note, I couldn't find cut and dry felt anywhere in or near my town so substituted a stack of baby wipes.

Day 5 coming up!

A Fun Tag

I needed a break from all things Distress and Cheryl Waters, Lead Fiskateer at Fiskateers.com, had just the ticket, er tag!  She issued a challenge to create a mixed media tag using at least five tools and three different mediums.  I came up with this!

My mediums were colored pencils, white craft paint, pigment ink pads (Fiskars and ColorBox), Ranger Glossy Accents (on the bubbles), Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Fireworks pigment ink spray.  The tools I used were Fiskars desktop rotary trimmer, #5 scissors, interchangeable border punch with Lacy Doubles cartridge, Tim Holtz/Tonic paper distresser, my computer (sentiment) and stamp from Studio G.  You might not see in this photo but I first ran the tag thru my Big Kick with the Fiskars Netting Texture Plate to give a tile like embossed grid.  The dark blue swirl and dots in the upper right corner are Cloud 9 Raindots.  All paper from my scrap bin.

I'll be back in a day or two with more Tim tags from class.  See you then!

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 3 Tags

We are on day 5 of class.  See the title of this blog post?  Yes, I'm running behind!  No classes on the weekend so I do have time to catch up.  Here are my day 3 tags

I do not have the full compliment of Ranger products so I'm substituting where necessary.  I do want to improve my Ranger stash but will do so over time--and I'll go back and recreate the tags with all things Ranger as I acquire new, fun things.  I think it will provide an interesting comparison.

The first tag  illustrates the Alcohol Ink Agates technique.

I used Ranger Alcohol Inks, Mixatives and Glossy Card Stock, Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous stamp set and StazOn Jet Black.

The next tag shows the Archival Resist Technique.  I do realize that my sentiment is crooked and made a note in my stamp binder to watch for that the next time I use that stamp.

The surface is Ranger Glossy Card Stock.  I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink, StazOn Jet Black and Memento (orange/yellow/red).  The leaf stamp is by Stampendous and sentiment is from Wendy Vecchi.  The dots are just regular old bubble wrap and the chevron grid pattern is from plastic needlepoint canvas cut at right angles.

The third tag was a troublesome little thing but I really do like the result.  It was worth all the effort, took 4 tries!, at least to me.  Now that I've had some practice, I don't think the next time will take so long.

This technique goes straight onto a manila tag.  The embossing folder is from The Paper Studio.  The stamps are from Fiskars Harlequin set.  I used StazOn Jet Black and Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

Thank you so much for looking.  I'm elbow deep (and oh so colorful) in Day 4's tags!

Creative Chemistry 101--Day 2 Tags

Long time no see, right?  I'm taking Tim Holtz' Creative Chemistry 101 over at onlinecardclasses.com.  The class is all about techniques and we're making tags to illustrate each one.  The photos below are from today's class.  All inks used are in the Tim Holtz Distress line.  The stamp in the second batch is from the Fiskars' Plumage set.   Thanks for looking!

Spritz & Flick

Brushless Watercolor

Wrinkle Free Distress

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

The circles just exploded all over this page!  In my last post I mentioned a Fiskateer's challenge to create a layout using CHA in the title.  Lucky for me, I have a cutie pie nephew named Chase.

I created the title tiles in MS PowerPoint by drawing an auto shape box.  I added the woven mat background, changed the black line to 6 point weight and added the letter--88 point Algerian font.  The patterened paper is all DCWV La Creme stack and the brads are Spare Parts from The Paper Studio.

All my circle cutting tools participated on this layout.  For the large, torn circle, I pulled a big salad bowl out of the kitchen and traced around it.  Then I wet my tracing line and carefully tore around it.  For the largest of the smaller circles, I used the Making Memories circle cutting tool and mat.  I punched the remaining circles using the Fiskars Round n Round XL and L punches, The Paper Studio 1 inch circle punch and a half inch circle punch from Marvy Uchida.

I may not be finished!  I'm kicking around the idea of adding a small journaling block in the lower left corner. 

Thanks for visiting!  Please leave a comment and let me know your opinion about the journaling block.  I appreciate each and every comment received.  Have a terrific day!

WHAT A WEEKEND! PLUS A LAYOUT

The challenges were flowing fast and furious during this weekend's online crops at the Fiskateers and Dare 2 Dream!  And guess what Chickie's?  The Fiskateers crop continues until Wednesday, January 27! Can we do it?  Yes, we can!  Well, maybe.  I have to find my craft table first!  Cleaning chores are my first priority when I finish this post.  Then I'm going to put together a layout for a Fiskateers challenge--create a layout with the consecutive letters, CHA, in the title.  Maybe I will share that one tomorrow!

Today's layout is from one of Saturday's Fiskateer Challenges, Embellish your Embellishments.  The required item was embellished chipboard.  I chose to embellish my  naked chipboard title (Best Occasions), Full Moon, by painting it with Perfect Pearls (Ranger).  I thought I had an oops moment because I forgot to paint or paper the chipboard first--but, the Pearls covered just fine without taking the extra step.

All papers are from DCWV except for the silver portions of the triple mat which is Wausau Papers.  I used the Fiskars  Pearls of Wisdom corner squeeze punch on the mat.  The silver ribbon is from ki Memories and I picked up the gem clip stars at Office Depot.  A bit of adhesive and some dark blue embroidery floss and I was done.

The photo was taken in December, 2008 while vacationing in Aruba.  There is a companion to this page but it is nothing special--just more moon photos and very basic journaling.

Thanks for dropping in.  What did you do crafty this weekend?  I love hearing from you so leave a comment and let me know!

FUN TIMES AHEAD & WEEK 3 of HOMEMADE FAMILIES!

You know CHA is happening out in California, right?  Didn't get to go, like me?  Then what are you doing for fun this weekend?  If you are looking for activity then join Debby Lewis on her new ning.com site (see Debby's Dare blog link on the right, in my favorite blogs, to find more info) for a  terrific online crop tomorrow, 1/23, starting at 1 pm EST.  The Fiskateers (once again, look to the right for the blinkie) are also having a bit of an online crop but their crop is going to be hoppin' for 5 days!  It starts at 7, I think, tomorrow morning.  I expect a bunch of different Fiskateers to help with crop hostess duties on Saturday plus a few of our Fiskateer celebrities to jump in after that.  Don't miss out on all the fun!

My latest Homemade Families layouts are complete!  This is week 3 of Debby Lewis' Homemade Families 52 week challenge.  Here is my two page spread

And this is the left side, with the recipe

 

I used MS Office clip art for the knives and forks in the "M" of the title.  The "D" is a drawing of a pastry blender that I found and copied from the internet.  There is no pastry in this recipe but I couldn't think of any other D shaped kitchen tool!  The checked pp is an MS Office background texture.  I also used the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch around the recipe.  The little birdie is a Heidi Grace "We Are Family" acrylic stamp on an EK Success 1 inch circle punch.  It's layered on the 1.5 inch Seal of Approval scalloped circle punch from Fiskars.

This is the right side of the spread

 

It has a few more little birdies, photos of me (I'm in the blue shirt) and friends and some journaling.  The photos are a tad degraded but they are 30 years old!  Why not scrap the older photos?  I did the journaling block in MS PowerPoint--basic shape outline with a 6 pt line and Lucinda Handwriting font.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I welcome your comments.  Please join our on line crops this weekend if you can and want to have a whole lot of fun!

HOMEMADE FAMILIES, WEEK 2!

Remember the new weekly challenge I'm doing at Debby's Dare?  Well, week three's question is up so I'd better jump in and share week two!  The week two question was "What's for dinner?"  This is what I came up with

My husband never asks "Whats for dinner?" but rather "Whatcha got cooking?"  Sometimes, it's this soup.  This is an old Weight Watchers recipe that I've changed up a bit over the years.  I usually make a big pot every month or two during the winter.  It freezes well and is a snap to defrost/reheat in the microwave.

I created the title circle and journaling block in MS PowerPoint and added a red dotted background to both using the same program.  I punched the recipe border with the Fiskars' Lattice & Lace border corner punch.

The flowers were made using punched shapes from the Fiskars XL Seal of Approval squeeze punch, Fiskars L Round 'n Round  squeeze punch and EK Success flower punch.  The "wordy" patterned paper is just a photocopy of a cookbook page.   I also used a big Bazzill black flower.  The smaller brads are from K & Co and the large polka dot brad is from Bazzill.

Thanks for dropping in and taking a look.  I'm working on week three of the challenge now!  Hope you're cooking up something crafty!

RIBBONS, RIBBONS & MORE RIBBONS!

Craft supplies organization seems to be THE hot topic every new year.  I am always looking for a better way to store my tools and sort my pretties.  I want them out of the way until I need them but I don't want to forget what I have.  If you've ever made an unintended duplicate purchase, you know exactly what I mean!   

Ribbon storage has been a problem ever since I started using it to adorn my projects.  First I had it stacked on a shelf and that worked great for the wide ribbon that I use for floral bows and such.  When I started purchasing thinner ribbon for paper crafting, I threw that in a plastic bin.  Look at the mess I created!  Boxed ribbon, carded ribbon, loose ribbon and spooled ribbon--just thrown in the bin or stacked on the shelf. 

I had to do something because I couldn't find the ribbon that I wanted and was spending way too much time digging and putting back.  Plus, I was running out of room and I love ribbon!   So this is my solution, at least until I come up with something better.  I've been using this system for a few days and it works for me, right now.

Six stacking Sterilite shoe drawers came to the rescue.  The ribbon is sort of organized by color--one for black, white & nuetral ribbons, one for red to yellow ribbons, one for blues and greens, one for holiday and special occasions/sentiments, and one for lace and the miscellaneous stuff that didn't quite fit in the other categories.  The sixth drawer was empty so it provided a home for my paints.  I left most of the ribbon on the cards and spools that they came on.  I picked up a couple of packages of old timey clothes pins to wrap the loose ribbon around and will wrap the carded and spooled ribbon when it becomes necessary.  The cardboard spools waste space so I'm balancing a wrap time vs space issue.  Most of the 3 inch wide ribbon is now in the original, before, plastic bin in the closet with all my other floral supplies.

Once the ribbon was organized, I needed to do a layout with ribbon!  So here's one that I did for my Fiskateer's Liftateer circle of friends.  The title is "busted!"  and the journaling reads "C. found the best hiding place ever.  Well it was the best until he was . . ."

Products used include:  Plain Kraft and yellow cardstock, DCWV orange textured cardstock, Imagine That patterned paper, Heidi Grace chipboard hearts, Cloud 9 Raindot alphas, ColorBox yellow and orange pigment ink, Sakura Gelly Roll white journaling pen, Offray ribbon and JoAnn's rik rak, Zots glue dots and Tombo adhesive tape runner.

Tools used include the XL Round and Round squeeze punch, Hearts and Threading Waters border punches, paper crimper, #5 microtip scissors, 12 inch desktop trimmer--all Fiskars. Plus a little sandpaper to rough up the edges of the large circle so the white journaling ink wouldn't look so stark.

Do you use ribbon?  How do you store it?  Until next time, have a wonderful crafty week!

 

VOTIVE CANDLE HOLDERS

So many times our hand made gifts naturally fall into the homey, shabby chic, vintage style.  While I personally love that style, it doesn't fit in everyone's decor or taste.  I made these for a Christmas gift with that thought in mind.  I got the original idea from the FiskarsCrafts.com site but the example used there incorporated candy filled jars.

I found the two sleek vases (about 7 inches tall), two urn shaped votive candle jars and a basket of shells at the dollar store.  I took a strip of three inch wide Magic Mesh and cut it in half lengthwise and wrapped the lengths around the vases, overlapping at the front.  Then I took some basic twine to wrap and make a bow over the mesh.  The ends of the twine have a few beads knotted on.  The beads were clear so I altered with a little Latte alcohol ink from Adirondak/Ranger.  Next came the simple assembly--arranging the shells in the vases and plopping on the votives.  An easy, inexpensive project and a cute gift for almost any occasion.

Thank you for stopping by Traveling Down A Crafty Road.  Hope your Sunday is grand!

SOMETHING NEW IN THE NEW YEAR

The holidays are over and I'm slowly getting things back to normal.  I was a crafty tornado between my last post and December 23rd!  I worked on layouts and finished some Christmas presents and then made some last minute type presents, too!  As soon as I locate the photos on my hard drive, I will share.

I'm participating in a new weekly scrapping challenge this year on the Debby's Dare blog.  It's Homemade Families and it's theme is something near and dear to my heart--the moments where our friends and families gather together to break bread.  Each week Debby poses a question for us to scrap and we are to scrap two pagers with that question in mind.  I'm doing 8 x 8 pages and here is my answer to last week's question, "What was your first recipe book?"

The journaling reads: 
The Joy of Cooking was as much a part of my mother's kitchen as the sink or the stove.  She had the 1940's edition with the blue cover and it was held together with tape of various colors and types and rubber bands.
My parents gave me my own Joy about 30 years ago and was I ever thrilled!  Mine is a 1970's bridal edition, even though it was to be 10 years plus before I was a bride.  She just thought it was pretty.  My book has changed kitchens nine different times, survived a grease fire and seems to bear my husband's title change with dignity.
The title change has nothing to do with the book and everthing to do with the cook!  Gary was in big trouble then but we both got over it and think it's funny now.  I believe it appeared when I tried substituting jalapeno peppers (with the seeds) for mild green chili's!  Gary has always eaten everything I've prepared but I was afraid he would hurt himself with that one!
I've got a little secret.  I've never used a single recipe in the Joy--at least not line by line.  I use it all the time but more as a kitchen and entertainment handbook.  It's a great read!

The apron border and the embellishments are MS Office clip art.  The frills and pockets were colored with a Marvy Memory Series pen in English Red.  I added thin black ribbon "ties" (from Hobby Lobby) to the embellishments and accented the pockets and frills with gold Stickles.  The journaling block was cut with my Fiskars scallop decorative scissors and the title stickers are Colorbok.

I'm having a wonderful time working on the questions.  I've already completed week 2 and will share those pages shortly.  If you would like to play along, check out Debby's Dare--link in my blog list at the right. 

Have a wonderful, scrappy day!

AN ATC FOR YOU!

Hi, there!  Welcome back to Traveling Down a Crafty Road!  I've been working on a bunch of ATC swaps and would like to share the only non-Christmas one that I've done.  Keep in mind that I've recently completed 4 swaps.  Three were Christmas or sort of Christmas themed and involved a grand total of 63 cards!  This one only required 12--one for each month and I was responsible for September.

I found the seed packet image on the internet (morning glories are the September flower) and I replaced the seed company name in MS PowerPoint.  I also accented the flower with a little Perfect Pearls painting technique.  The sapphire-like jewels are from Michael's Recollections brand.  Stampendous Royal Blue pigment ink finished off all the edges.

Now let me send you to fabulous places! 
Debby Lewis, Fiskateer of the Year for 2008, hostess of the 52 week long Dare Ya! challenges, owner of Debby's Dream Studio shop and a wonderful crafter is doing "12 Days of  Home for the Holidays" on her blog (link below).  The ever creative Debby has invited 12 guest designers to share their holiday traditions and creativity.  It's a fun time over at Debby's Dare and I encourage you to visit and maybe learn something new.  I've also signed up to participate in the Dare Ya! challenge for 2010 so you can look for my challenge layouts right here on my blog starting in January!  I would love to have your company in the challenges.  Find out more here:  http://debbysdares.blogspot.com/

Lisa Falduto, another amazing designer and fellow Fiskateer, is hosting a Week of Holiday Cards on her blog, Paper Fashions.  Lisa is always inspiring and her cards are absolutely beautiful.  Please take a minute to check them out.  They are really super!  And she's got a giveaway going : )  Here's the link
http://www.lisafalduto.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you are having great success doing all the crafty things you do and preparing for the holidays!

LONG TIME, NO SEE--A 10 x 13 LAYOUT

Hi, I've so missed being here but I haven't had much crafty time!  We've had some immediate family illness and some extended family illness in the last month.  I took a road trip to Chattanooga to visit my aunt--she had a little accident that turned into a rather big deal.  It is an ongoing "deal" and there have been a few set backs but she is recovering.  Not a bad thing since she will be 91 years old in less than 3 months!  She is the sweetest aunt I could ever ask for and I love her.  A BIG get well soon, Aunt Ruth!  Best wishes on walking on your own!

My Aunt Margaret, here in town, celebrated her 90th birthday on Thanksgiving Day!   Seventy family and friends celebrated by suprising her with a party on the Sunday before.  All 6 of the "first" nieces and my sister in law got together 3 months or so ago to start the planning process.  Don't worry about the women doing it all--we had lots of help!  We had grand nieces and nephews creating a banner and a slide show of photos thru the years!  We had help from the hubby's with set up, cooking, photography and all the stuff that gets forgotten at home during a big party!  Thanks to my Gary for his patience while I made party sandwiches and cut tons of apple and pear slices! 

I made this framed layout for the gift table and also as a gift for my aunt.  Sorry I couldn't get a shot without the overhead lighting!

I used an old 10 x 13 frame that I picked up on sale at WalMart.  I think it was $1 but no more than $2.  The background patterned paper is from Heidi Grace (a pack of 20 or so sheets for $1 from Big Lots) and the photo mat is a white shimmery card stock from Wausau Papers.  I also used mini white flowers from Heidi Grace, Prima pink flowers and gemstone flourishes, Floradoodles blue flowers, Offray ribbon and Recollections self adhesive pearls and brads.  I dotted the dots on the polka dotted blue/white Floradoodle flowers with Stickles!  I love Stickles!  The larger white flowers are from a JoAnn's bush that I cut to pieces using my Fiskars Stem Cutter--it is such a cool tool!

The photo was taken at my Aunt's retirement party from the "telephone company"--think it was South Central Bell or maybe Bell South by that time.  We lost my Uncle Earl about 7 years ago, he was a Fire Chief and we all miss him.  Happy Birthday, Aunt Margaret! 

FYI, I don't want to let "life" keep me away from the blog in the future!  I usually have something creative going on whether paper, fabric, food, garden, goofy, etc. regardless of what life hands me!  I do like to share and will do so with your indulgence!