Index Card A Day – #14

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

Tags

Ali Edwards, ICAD, ICAD2, Kiddies, Ranger, The Crafter's Workshop

M and I both made cards for yesterday but she was a little more specific about how she wanted hers to be than I was!

I stamped script in Hero Arts Mid-Tone Shadow ink, then added some Tissue Tape. Over that I layered paper towel (of course!). This one happened to be covered in bright Dylusons Ink Sprays so I tore it up and just added the pieces I wanted, since there was a lot of open white space I didn’t need.

I really liked the look of the vibrant colours and didn’t want to mess with it too much so I simply smeared some white gesso over a patch, stamped my sentiment, and added some extra texture and dimension with a stencil and Coarse Pumice Gel.

I love that Gel, it feels like sand and the kids can’t stop touching my card! 🙂

M did another beautiful watercolour but then wanted to mist over it. Since she has a hard time trying to push down on the mister (and I didn’t feel like D would appreciate hot pink and lime green on the ceiling) I helped her with that part. She picked the mists, put her finger on the nozzle, and pointed out the exact spot she wanted it to go (telling her mist doesn’t work that way fell on deaf ears), while I helped her push down and aimed the nozzle the right way.

It was a combo of Dylusions, Colour Wash, and Perfect Pearls and I think it looks pretty cool – it has some awesome shimmer IRL!

Back tomorrow with cards from both of us again!

In the meantime, who’s going to crop night? I can’t wait – see you there!

Index Card a Day – #13

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Distress Marker, Ranger, Technique Tuesday, The Crafter's Workshop, Tim Holtz

I taught a class on Distress Markers last night so when I got home and started to make my card, it only seemed natural to pull out the Distress Markers!

First, I scribbled a few reds and pinks on my craft mat and misted with water to make little puddles of colour. Then I dragged my card through the ink. I did a couple of layers like that but it was still pretty light due to the colours I was using so I misted the whole thing with Interference Red Perfect Pearls Mist..

I stamped some leaves in VersaMark and heat embossed in white. I then quickly and messily coloured in the leaves with two colours of green. I stamped the sentiment in Archival, knowing I would be misting again, and stamped a few hearts, then added some tissue tape.

It still needed something so I used my VersaMarker to colour the hearts and then dusted them with Plum Perfect Pearls and added a few details with my Stardust pen and Uniball White Signo Gel Pen. Finally, I misted the whole thing with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist and added Coarse Texture Gel over a script stencil.

It’s OK, not my fave but it’s another card under my belt! I do like how the stencil work turned out – I was impressed to get the detail with a coarse gel, and I like how the white pen highlighted the words. The Stardust pen adds a good sparkle too, though you can’t see that in the pics.

I’ll be back tomorrow with another card – and one from M too!

Index Card a Day – #11 (part 2) & #12

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Claudine Hellmuth Studio, Dylusions Ink Spray, Lego minifigure, Ranger, Stamper's Anonymous, Technique Tuesday, Tim Holtz

Because I was the hostess for Day 11 of Index Card A Day at Daisy Yellow, I made my card for that day early. So then I wanted to make another one…..and I did!

This one was all about playing with my paints. I blobbed on red, teal, and green, then used my palette knife to smear them around and scratch them up – you know, making texture! Once it dried I added a handwritten quote from Winnie the Pooh, who I guess would really be A.A. Milne! 🙂

M and G got new Lego minifigures and M cut up the paper that comes with them so I took one of the pieces to add. I wish I had seen the Lego Red Riding Hood in the cut up pile – she would have been perfect here!

Finally, I added some Pearl Metallic Paint to the edges and around the collage piece. Of course, my favourite part is the fun texture in the paint!

Yesterday was super busy and I didn’t get a chance to make a card until late at night but M got started early, wanting to make one with a Lego figure herself. She did her favourite trick of painted around the edges of the card, all the way to the middle, then she used Matte Glue n’ Seal to adhere the Lego man – one on front, one on back (I forgot to get a pic of the back – sorry!)

When I finally got a chance to do mine, I started with a layer of Distress Ink which I then flicked with water to get light splotches – love that trick! I layered a piece of paper towel, then covered the whole thing with Gloss Multimedium, making the ink waterproof. I tried a stencil technique with metallic paint but it was a bust so most of that came off but still left a shimmer behind. I also heat set everything at that point, since the card was pretty waterlogged, and overheat the paper towel so it would bubble a little.

Over all of that I stamped my Mixed Media stamps, a clock, and some Ali Edwards sentiments. A misted wood veneer camera to finish it off and I was done… or not! I had bright pink overspray on my craft sheet (criminal for that to go to waste!) so I wiped it up on the edges of the card – definitely done now!

I’m hoping to get my 12 on Twelve post up today but it will either be late, or tomorrow!

Remember, Distress Marker class at The Paperie tonight – it’s not to late to sign up and come for the fun!

Index Card A Day – #9 & #10

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Ranger, Studio Calico

So, I’m going a little backwards here but I was so busy last night getting the post done for this morning that I didn’t have a chance to do day 9 and, since I’m here, I may as well do both days together!

Day #9

My mojo, as I mentioned, left me this past weekend and I had some major trouble doing anything that didn’t resemble sludge on a card. This one was sludge on a card. Really. I did some misting and stencilling and it was a disaster. I’m learning though, that nasty base layers make for good dimension and interest when buried beneath good layers! And in this case the good layer was some used paper towels that came to my rescue, like the napkins did a few days ago!

You can see some of the stencilling peeking through above the car… Anyway, I slapped on one ply of paper towel, randomly added some stamping, and then, because I was trying to get past my alphabet stamp block, I stamped all my letters and cut them out for the quote. I love Dr. Seuss! The blue stamp on the bottom was done with acrylic paint and the car is a wood veneer shape from Studio Calico. All stamps are Stamper’s Anonymous for Ranger, except the cheap alpha stamps.

The final step was a mist of Perfect Pearls in Perfect Pearl colour.

I love how it turned out – bright, fun, textural, and Dr.Seuss – you can’t go wrong!

Day #10

This card stated with the same base as Day #11 did and again, you can see the letters poking through, I love that!

I used a mask and mist, some Dylusions Stamps (the house was borrowed from a friend but I may have to have the set!) and of course, an Ali Edwards sentiment – she really is the best! Coloured in with Distress Markers and smudged with my finger – love the soft look that gave! – and added tissue tape to the edges which I painted with Gold Adirondack Metallic Paint Dabber.

I really played with the gesso and I love the texture and dimensional aspect it gave the card! This is one of my favourites so far, and it started out as one I almost threw away – yikes!

Still loving this challenge and the inspiration from Instagram and Flickr – people are doing amazing work our there!

See you tomorrow for more stencil fun!

Index Card A Day – #6

07 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Archival Ink, Dylusions Ink Spray, Perfect Pearls Mist, Ranger, The Crafter's Workshop

Two more for you today – one from me and one from M!

For mine, I wanted to play some more with my Dylusions Ink Sprays and the ghosting technique. I misted 4 different colours on my cards then heat set after letting them blend for a minute.

I laid down two different stencils and sprayed water through one and Perfect Pearls Mist through the other. The image is really faint, I don’t think I sprayed enough water, but IRL you can see it and it’s pretty cool!

Then I stamped some Dylusions stamps and an Ali Edwards (of course!) sentiment in Archival Ink so they would be permanent.

I misted my non stick craft mat with Kiwi Perfect Pearls Mist and used a small brush to paint some leaves and tentacles. That’s how I got the bleached but shimmery effect.

And then I called it done! 🙂

M carefully painted a border with watercolour paints around her card then filled it in with increasingly smaller borders until the whole card was painted. She kept her brush super wet so everything blended.

Then, I was called upon to heat set it because, “Mama, it has to be dry before I can add another layer!” I think she pays more attention to me talking about crafting under my breath than anything else!

Once it was dry, she soaked it with Interference Red Perfect Pearls Mist which I had to heat set again. After a close look over, she called it done!

See you all tomorrow – I love looking at everyone else’s cards at Flickr!

Index Card A Day – #5

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2, Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Claudine Hellmuth Studio, Crayola, Ranger, Studio Calico, Technique Tuesday

The card for June 5 was a doozy. It just wouldn’t work for me – thank goodness for children!

How about if I explain that a little? 🙂

This card started with the most amazing wash of blue and teal and green watercolour paints. It was gorgeous. Sigh.

Then I used a stencil and Distress Ink. Yuck. I’ve now ruined my beautiful background and have nothing. Frown.

And then M let out a roar, “G is ruining my paints!”

That G… He rubbed his paintbrush into all the pots until we had a lot of brown mud and a very unhappy painting girl. So I took a napkin and wiped out each pot, cleaning them all out and explaining to the 3-year-old that it wasn’t nice to ruin his sister’s things (I’m 99% positive it went in one ear and straight out the other).

BUT…. I had this napkin full of cool colours. Hmmmmm.

I peeled apart the layers, tore off a section, and used Matte Multimedium to ~~adhere~~ smoosh it onto my card. Tore the edges, leaving them ragged, and let it dry. Pretty cool.

And then I noticed the stencil showing through the napkin – even cooler! A good mist of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls, a great Ali Edwards Stamp, and a wood veneer heart. Awesome!

See that blue? That’s in M’s Crayola set – so beautiful!

Remember this moment
Cherish this story
Celebrate this life

My kids saved my butt today!

And now, here’s the very special card:

M’s ICAD

M made it herself! And she stopped painting before it made brown sludge (that’s normally her end point!) She had cut the top off the card before painting so she picked several Washi tapes to stick it back on – that was the only thing I helped with, lining them up over the seam properly.

Don’t you love it? Wait till you see tomorrow’s! 😉

Index Card A Day – #3

04 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, American Crafts, Amy Tangerine, Dylusions, Dylusions Ink Spray, ICAD, ICAD2, Ranger, Technique Tuesday

I decided to try a new product in my stash for this one – Microglaze. It’s almost like a firm type of Vaseline, or a less firm wax. Somewhere in between those…

Anyway, I spread a very thin layer over a Dylusions stencil, then firmly rolled paper towel over to pick up any excess (I didn’t want it to smear when
I added additional layers).

Next, I misted some Dylusions Ink Spray on my non-stick craft sheet and dragged my card through, then carefully wiped the excess from the Microglaze – awesome resist!

I then stamped a bunch of sentiments from Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday, pulling out all the ones with the word “life” in them. A fuchsia sharpie, some doodling, and an Amy Tangerine Fabric sticker finished it off!

Life

Final thoughts – I had no idea where I was going with this but I really like how it turned out. Love how the Microglaze worked and there’s no greasy or waxy residue left over. And the small pops of pink make me happy! 🙂

Something New…

30 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Sara in Art Journal, Week in the Life 2012

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Art Journal, Dyan Reaveley, Dylusion, Gesso, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Mixed media, Ranger, The Crafter's Workshop, Tim Holtz

I’m going to try my hand at Art Journaling. Not anything personal, like a daily, write your thoughts, dreams, wishes, type of art journal, just one where I get to play!

And I’m a lucky girl because I have two friends, Cathie and Tina, who are doing this with me (though they already art journal, I’m the newbie!) If we’re super lucky, we’ll actually get together once a month too!

Here are the things I have to begin my Play Art Journal:

1. A mixed media album and some watercolour paper:

The album had the most heinous cover ever so that got gessoed and moulding pasted over immediately. It already looks better! Love the dimension, can’t wait to see what happens when I get around to adding colour:

2. The Crafter’s Workshop Stencils:

These are the Dylusions by Dyan Reavely – I’ll get more of these for sure! I love the patterns, the size, and that they come with a border too!

And these ones are mostly Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Great designs, I have new ones of these already on the way!

3. Paint, Stain, Mist:

These are super cheap watercolour paints and I have some big plans for them! Also, aren’t they pretty! 🙂

I have a bunch of Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Paints, all the Adirondack ColorWash and Dylusions Ink Sprays, Distress Stains and Inks, and more. These are going to be fun!

4. Gesso, Moulding Pastes (my friend Marg gave me a couple to try out that are amazing!), and Multi Medium.

5. Stamps:

I think my faves are going to be the Tim Holtz and Dylusions from Stamper’s Anonymous, but I have some Ali Edwards ones that I know will make their way in too. And there are some Dylusions stamps with people that are going to have to be mine very soon!

6. I also have the basics – a water mister, paint brushes, Archival Ink (need more colours there too!).

To help me along my way, a few of us are doing ICAD through Daisy Yellow. This is where you make one Index Card A Day – it can be written on , or painted, or gessoed, or whatever you want. The point is to do one a day. I see this as a great place and media on which to experiment!

In the past, I have only done one thing that has mixed media stuff going on – at The Paperie Retreat in May, I had fun with my Week in the Life album:

front cover

back cover

Yes, I know I haven’t posted the album yet, that’s because it’s not quite done. Almost though, and I will post it then, promise!

Want to join in the fun? I’m planning to post my Art Journal stuff on Wednesdays, once I actually start and I’d love to see your stuff too! Even join me for ICAD, it’s easy and anyone can do it, even if you only want to doodle everyday!

See you all tomorrow, maybe with a colourful Art Journal cover in tow! 😉 And if anyone has some suggestions for this new adventure or links I should check out, please let me know!

12 on Fourteen & a mini…

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by Sara in 12 on Twelve, Mini Album, ScrapBook, Week in the Life 2012

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Clever Handmade, Kiddies, Mini Album, Ranger, Sassafras, Simple Stories, Sticky Back Canvas, Technique Tuesday, Unity Stamp Co.

(note: This is a long one, with lots of pics – you might want a coffee, or wine, or…. whatever, to get you through!)

So…. You all know how much I love the 12 on Twelve photo taking adventure each month, right? I love that little collage of one ordinary day in pictures – no journaling, just snapshots of our life.

And this month I forgot all about it. Sucks. I was bummed. And then that little person in my head went, “knock, knock, knock. Hey dummy! You can take 12 pictures any old day!” Ummm, yeah. Duh!

So today is the day! Anyone want to join in? There’s still lots of time! And my camera battery is dead so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that absolutely nothing happens for half an hour! 🙂

I’ll have today’s twelve ready for Wednesday.

The other thing that occurred to me was that I haven’t shared any retreat projects with you yet – sorry!

My Week in the Life album is almost done, just a couple of papers left to toss in there and then I’ll photograph and share it. Still love that project and I’m so happy I stuck with the album and finished it (almost!).

The thing is, when that album was done, I had a handful of pics not in there. Either they were cute, but didn’t really tell a story, or I had better ones to tell the story of the day, so they got cut. But, as I said, there were some cute pics – what to do, what to do?

I made G a mini album with the extras and some more of the fabulous Clever Handmade Embroidery Board!

Love Cards that I Love!

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by Sara in Cards, ScrapBook, Techniques

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Distress Ink, Hero Arts, Ranger, stamping, Technique Tuesday, The Paperie

And I love them because they are made with the brand spanking new Spring Seasonal Distress Ink Colours – Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, and Shaded Lilac. Seriously though, don’t they sound awesome, even before you know what the colours are? Yup. They do!

I wanted to give the inks a test run, see how the colours dried and blended, so I made two super simple cards using the Hero Arts Lotus Background (one of my faves!) and an Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday set – Love Always Wins.

For the first one, I simply added ink randomly to the stamp, misted with water to allow the inks to blend, and stamped onto watercolour paper. Once it was dry, I added the sentiment and some twine:

For the second, I wanted to see more of the true colour so I swiped each ink pad over the stamp to make three lines of colour. I lightly misted with water to get some slight blending and again stamped onto watercolour paper. Another awesome sentiment from Ali Edwards and some twine and I called it done: