The Caged Bird Sings

Greetings, and Happy Friday to one and all!  Today's post is a mixed-media canvas celebrating Spring and the Weekly Challenge at Classy Cards N' Such blog.  

The topic this week is "Flutterbys" celebrating birds or butterflies, or both!  

I started with my Bird Sanctuary die set from Spellbinders SB-S5-033, also available in the Classy Cards N' Such Online shop.  I have had this die set for quite awhile, but haven't had the chance to try it out yet. After cutting it all out with my Cuttlebug machine, I started arranging pieces to fit my 8" X 8" canvas.  I dug through some of my "scraps" of die cut images I keep from when I try out my dies, and found a frame from the Romantic Rectangles Spellbinders die. So after smearing out some of my favorite colors of Golden Acrylic paints on my canvas, I stamped my Music All Over Background Stamp from Impression Obsession, on the canvas in brown Memento ink. I then attached my rectangular frame in the top left corner with a little adhesive and two turquoise brads. I then adhered a strip of the Spring Market printed paper from Websters Pages to the rectangle with foam tape to give a little more dimension.

I then started attaching my Bird Sanctuary die-cuts on top of the frame.  There was a beautiful bird cage, some greenery leaves, two small birds - one with dimensional wings, and a decorative greenery border.  I also added a 3-D Mini Daisy from Sizzix and Susan Tierney-Cockburn, left on my desk from the "Flower Garden Challenge" a few weeks ago. A decorative button topped off the bird cage after attaching the leaves and bird.  After my "arrangement" was complete, the lyrics from a poem by Maya Angelou kept repeating over and over in my mind; "I know why the Caged Bird Sings."

After adding the phrase, I still needed something decorative in the top right, and bottom left corners of the canvas.  I dug out one of my Prima Stencils and applied a little molding paste to the corners. I let everything dry overnight, and when dry, I colored the molding paste with Dark Bark chalk ink to antique it just a bit and tone down the "whiteness".

I hope you enjoy my canvas as much as I enjoyed making it. I love all types of winged creatures, from butterflies and birds to dragonflies, ladybugs, and bee's.  I guess that is another reason I enjoy Spring so much. It is an awakening of sorts, a new beginning of life, both in plants and creatures, after the cold bleakness of winter.

Snowflakes and Reindeer in July

Merry Christmas in July!  Snowflakes and Reindeer are closer than you think! All over "bloggy-land" in the paper arts region there are Christmas goodies galore all over the web. It is so hot here, it's hard to imagine snowflakes and Christmas when the temps are over 100 degrees.  But what the hay, let's imagine the snow drifts and snowmen, icicles and peppermint, and start dreaming of the fat little man with his jelly-belly and reindeer.

I received the Reindeer and Snowflakes die from the Paper Wishes/Hot off the Press monthly Die Club, so I had to give it a try. I had the brown and teal card stock out at the time, and thought I would try my die's out in a different color scheme than typical Christmas colors. Luckily the printed stock I wanted to use was a double sided paper, so I had coordinating prints that worked well together. I die cut the deer and three of the swirls, and three of each of the sizes of snowflakes.  I then layered the snowflakes, and attached them together with a turquoise brad. I also reversed every other layer so the printed side showed in between the solids. 

The backgrounds are layered 1/2" to 1/4" apart, and then adhered to the stock card base. The snowflakes and swirls are glued directly to the background with Tombow liquid glue, and adhered the deer with foam tape to pop it off the surface to give dimension.  I stamped the Merry Christmas from the Bows and Holly clear set from Lawn Fawn and  Rich Cocoa Memento Ink from Tsukineko. I highlighted the words and embellishments with my gold glitter Gelly Roll pen from Sakura. 

I am entering this card in the DLArt, Thankful Thursday Challenge-#114 Christmas in July ,

 and the Little Scrap Pieces, Fun Friday Challenge- Christmas in July.

Thank you for stopping by today, I really enjoyed sharing this card with you. I hope you will start thinking about making handmade cards for your holiday cards this year. Although, it is still months away, start enjoying all the card ideas presented in our favorite blogs. You may find something you want to try for the season. Happy Card Making!

Botanical Pocket Card

Hello Friends, it's the beginning of a new week, and I have a little different style of card to show you today. It has been awhile since I have done cards using this technique that I learned years ago from the ladies at A Stamp in the Hand Stamp Company. I don't believe the company is in business anymore, but both ladies that taught this technique are still teaching stamping out and about. So for Joyce and Kat, I hope these cards make you proud knowing that what you taught years ago actually "stuck" in one stamper's mind.

To start with, you use a few different supplies from the normal basic card stock and stamps. The paper that gives the best result is Glossy Card stock, I got mine through Ranger. Using red rubber stamps and Marvy Inks and markers, you can create beautiful, and vivid color creations on that glossy paper.  I like to build layers on my cards using this technique.  Starting with the background images, in this card I stamped the large leaf spray in each of the four corners. When you use the red rubber stamps, you can color directly on the rubber with the Marvy markers. Starting with the lightest colors so you don't contaminate your markers, draw the light green marker over the surface of the leaf, touching here and there with the bright green color. Next, draw the olive green marker over the stamp, touching where the darker green areas would be on the leaf stem. Finally, use the darker purple marker to highlight the stem and base of each leaf.  If the ink looks as if it has dried a bit while adding colors, breathe directly on the stamp's rubber, huffing a bit so your breath re-moistens the ink. Stamp onto the glossy stock one or two times to get the graduated colors of the first and second stampings. Re-color your stamp with the markers and stamp again, as many times as you wish.

NOTE: Dye based markers work best with this technique, because they dry slower than do Copic's or Sharpie's.

The next layer on the card base is done with the Marvy Ink pads and a stipple brush. A stipple brush is a stiff bristled brush that is usually flat on the tip end, and is used to "pounce" the ink onto the card. They come in many sizes, from small (1/2 inch) to large (1 1/2 inch) in diameter. I like using the larger sizes because they cover the card base faster when stippling.  Stippling makes tiny dots  on the background if you hold the brush in an upright position when pouncing. Tap the brush on the ink pad several times as it picks up the ink, and then pounce on the paper, shadowing around the edges of the card, blending the colors you want to use.

I then inked and stamped several images on the library pocket, along with gluing several strips of patterned paper and ephemera to the pocket before attaching the metal tag with the dragonfly brad. I stippled a little more ink on the pocket, and then adhered the pocket to the front of the card with red-line double stick tape. The red-line double stick tape is preferred when adhering to the glossy card stock, for stronger hold.

When complete, you can adhere the glossy stock to a card base, or use the glossy stock as the card, the glossy finish is usually only on one side, the other side is a matte finish. I placed an Artist Trading Card in the library pocket, but you could also use the pocket to hold a gift card or handwritten note.  Many ask if the glossy card stock is a necessity?  If you look closely, you can see that the colors stamped on the glossy stock are much brighter and more vivid than the same colors stamped on the library pocket.

I hope you have enjoyed this technique, and will try it on a project soon. I enjoy using it on cards where bright colors are used, and hope the cards will brighten your day. Take care, and have a great week!

Mindy

I've been Caught by the Fashion Police!

Have you ever prepared to leave the house, going somewhere, and your spouse or family member says, "Are you wearing that???"  I caught myself saying that to myself as I passed the mirror this past weekend.
When I was a teen, my Mother used to always tell me the "Fashion Police" were going to take me in for what I was wearing. That is what inspired this page in my Art Journal.

These pages should be for inspiration only, because I have trouble remembering what I did and when. I work on them in stages, a little bit at a time, for days and days. I think I started this page by spritzing on pink Smooch sprays and then added layers with Lime green and Ivory acrylic paints. I then used a large stipple brush to dot on layers of black and brown Memento Ink.  I then adhered apiece of book page and the cute little dog from my June Nesting Components kit from Paper Wings Productions.  I also adhered the large Prima Tag with a handmade doll from Julie Nutting's book Collage Couture. Her dress was pieced with scrapbook paper, and the rose stamp from Paper Wishes was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored with Copic Markers. I shaded around the doll image with PanPastel chalks and then added colors from the background page to help it blend in with the background.  I added a few Die-cuts from the PWP June Kit and journaled on them after adhering to the page. I added letters for the words "Fashion Police" from the sticker sheet in the June kit, and highlighted around each element with a gray Posca marker from Uni.

To finish it up, I added strips of light mint green ribbon with brown dots to the edges, some swirls and squiggles with the pale peach Posca marker, and a giant floral brad that matched the colors in the top right hand corner. I forgot to mention that the roses and the doll are popped  up from the surface with foam tape to give the page dimension. I also accented the folds in her skirt with some holly green Stickles glitter glue, and added two tiny flowers at her waist. 

These art journal pages are so rewarding to me, because when I finish, I feel as though I have added a piece of myself to the page.  Plus, I have tried a new product or technique that I have never used before to express my artful feelings. I hope you all try something new to stimulate your creativity, and have a wonderful Wednesday!  Please visit again.
Mindy

You're the Best - #1 Dad

Today is a terrific Tuesday, and I hope everyone is having a great day!  Today's card is a masculine card that I am using for a masculine birthday, or it could also be used for Father's Day. (I know that was this past Sunday!) Anyway, this card is very masculine with lots of layers and texture, and here is how I made it.

First of all, I had this wonderful image stamp from B Line Designs, Button Card duo.  I stamped it out on Neenah white card stock in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I then inked around the outside edges with Sepia Archival ink and shaded his shirt with a little lightest blue PanPastel chalk. (it's hard to see in the picture, sorry)  I then hit my button stash, and adhered some mother-of-pearl shirt buttons to the card. While this was drying, I started to build the layers of the card.

Using a base card of kraft colored stock, I cut an A2 size card  5 1/2" X 8 1/2", and scored it down the middle for a side opening card. I then found some Skeleton dried leaves in both rust and ivory, and picked out one of each that would fit on my card. I then picked an antique writing paper strip from the Engraver Collection of papers from Prima. I started layering first a background sheet of brown card stock, and then glued the ivory skeleton leaf to the left of the card using my Tombow Mono liquid glue. Next came the layer of patterned paper attached to the right side with double sided adhesive. The I attached the button card on top, and slightly to the left, overlapping the patterned paper and leaf.  Using the Mono glue again, I attached the other rust colored skeleton leaf on the top of the button card and to the right. 

For the messages, I stamped the #1 Dad stamp from Fiskars on white stock in the Sepia ink, and cut a remaining strip of the brown stock in a straight banner length and used rub-on letters, (style: "all mixed up" by Doodlebug Designs) to apply the phrase "You're the Best!"  I used a BoBunny Bodacious Brad to attach the banner to the front of the card.

 I will be entering this card in the DL Art Thankful Thursday Challenge #111 for Father's Day.

And there you have it! One masculine card, for one super-terrific guy! I hope you all have a great week. See you again soon.

Mindy

Your Kindness IS Appreciated!

Happy 1 year Blog-aversary to ME! 

Happy Thursday to one and all! Today is my 1 year blog-aversary, and it has been a fun year that has just flown by. It doesn't seem like it has been a whole year since I started my blog, back on May 9. 2012.

I hope the next year will bring New projects, New ideas, and New friends together sharing the Paper Arts that we all love so much.

Today's card is to thank you all that have visited my blog and commented on it over the past year. Your kind words ARE very much appreciated, and I hope you will continue to visit in the years ahead.
I started with a white stock card base, and added a bright pink background. On this background I sewed a strip of polka dot paper across the top, and a cute striped pocket below it.  I also stamped the Pure Innocence Hula Girl from My Favorite Things on white stock and colored her with my Copic Markers.  After fussy cutting her out, I used foam tape to pop her up next to the stripey pocket.  Onto the pocket I added a circle punched from printed paper with a tiny pink brad, and stamped the word "Thanks" on it. To complete the card, I printed the phrase on white stock, cut it to fit in the pocket, and then rounded the corners with my Corner Chomper and placed it in the pocket.

A very simple, and nice card to remind those you love they are appreciated. Before I close for today, I want to remind you that there are still a few more days left for you to leave a comment on my blog and be registered to win the prize package- blogaversary give away mentioned in the right margin of this blog. I have collected a lot of fun products I want to share with you, and all you have to do is leave a little bloggie love to be eligible for the drawing on Sunday, May 12.  I will announce the winner on my post next week, so get busy typing, and let me know what is on your mind and if you have any questions on any technique you have seen on my blog.

Until I see you again, "Happy Stampin', and journaling!"
Mindy