Paper Towel and Reinkers experiment

How fun! I wish I had a rainbow of reinkers in my collection. (Time to save money to get more!)
This is a very easy technique, albeit messy. You will need the following:

*Plain (no patterns) 2 ply paper towels
*A bowl of water
*A 9 x 13 disposable cake baking dish
*A variety of reinkers
*Spritz bottle filled with water
*Brown paper bags
*Latex gloves

Tear about 8 sheets of paper towels and set aside. Put on your gloves. Drop three or four different colors of reinkers all over the bottom of your baking dish, taking care not to add the drops not TOO CLOSE to each other. Spritz with water. Your ink wil run together, and that's OK. Try to have a mix of light and dark colors. Soak one sheet of paper towel and lay nice and flat over the reinkers. Soak the next paper towel sheet and place over the first one. Press down to absorb some of the ink. Keep doing this until you've got all of your paper towels used up. Lay your paper bags flat on a surface where it won't be disturbed. Remove the inked paper towels, one at a time, and lay them over the paper bags. You'll notice that some sheets will be more vibrant than others. That's OK. As they dry, the vibrant colors will fade a little bit. It's neat to have a variety. In the picture below, you'll see a full sheet that's been allowed to dry overnight. I used versafine ink for stamping since it tends not to run. Your towels are porous, so you don't want to use ink that will run too much (if your stamp has fine lines). Also, since you've used 2 ply, you'll have double the number of sheets to work with.

To cut out your stamped image, try to use the sharpest scissors you have or even fabric scissors. To adhere to cardstock or a cardbase, place the adhesive on the caredstock itself, and not the back of the paper towel. You run the risk of tearing your towel if you try to run an adhesive runner or a glue stick on the back of it.

Chalk Resist Experiment

I experimented this afternoon with the Chalk Resist technique. You need Alabaster Chalk by Colorbox, a medium color chalk ink (preferably by Colorbox because this ink tends to stay wet longer), an "open" background stamp or stamps, and an "open" focal stamp. First, you ink up your background stamp with the Alabaster chalk ink and stamp on glossy cardstock (it has to be glossy). Then, you quickly dab your medium colored chalk ink over the spot where you stamped until you've saturated the area well. Taking a paper towel, quickly rub the ink over the alabaster ink until you have a nice, smooth surface. You'll see the Alabaster ink "resist" the medium ink. Ink you focal stamp with StazOn and stamp on the background paper. Voila!
The stamps I used for my experiment are PSX Calla Lilly and the background swirls are by Autumn Leaves (Rhonna Farrer stamps).

I've started a Circle Journal Swap on the Stamp-Shack

This is my Circle Journal for a swap I'm hosting on the Stamp Shack. There are six players in this swap. My journal is 6" x 5 1/2" and is made of chipboard. I'm holding it together using loose binder rings. I love participating in circle journals and collecting the creative input of other artists on one specific theme. My book (obviously) is on "quotes." Each player can interpret the theme however they wish, but they must include a quote on their pages. Since this swap is on the Stamp-Shack, each person is encouraged to use a rubber stamped image or quote in their pages.



This is the sign in page. The collage stamp is by Diffusion. I added alcohol inks to glossy cardstock and stamped the image using StazOn. The words "sign" and "in" are rub-on letters by Bohemia. I added loopy brads to keep the page closed so it doesn't get bent while it moves from one person to the next.



This is what the inside of the sign-in page looks like.



Dontcha just love this quote? It comes from one of my favorite John Hughes movies. The stamp of the boy is by Paper Artsy. I made the "frame" using chipboard and my Marvy Uchida Giga Square punch. It gives me a chance to use up the monumental amount of embellishments that I keep accumulating.



This is fun page. I really "dig" the Spike & Lucy stamp by Lost Coast Designs. It adds a good balance to this page. The smiling girl stamp is by Paperbag Studios (sorry for the blurry picture).



This is the third page and last input on my part until I get the book back in August. I love this quote and think the Marilyn Monroe stamp (Stampsmith) is perfect for it.

Glimmer Mist

I'm still trying to get used to this new product in my tool box called Glimmer Mist. Before I stamped the image, I colored the cardstock with Distress Inks (pink and blue) and some Pink Grapefruit Glimmer Mist. If you see the card in person, you'd notice some gold dust glimmering from the card. After stamping, I colored it with prismacolor pencils. Layered on Anna Griffin paper.

New York Style

This is one of the stamps I had purchased over the weekend while shopping at the Virginia Beach AC Moore. I colored it using SU markers (to give it watercolored look). I added a gold bead to her ring finger for added interest.

I'm home and I'm ready to play!

Yes, I've neglected my blog. But, for good reason. I've been playing the "single mom" role for the past ten - eleven weeks, now, and this past week was just hectic beyond belief. But, after a wonderful weekend with my husband and son in Washington DC, I am back and I'm ready to play. This card is made using Glimmer Mist spray. It's a water-based ink that has fine mica mixed into it. I sponged the cardtock with Tea-Dye Distress Ink. Then, I sprayed Olive and Copper Glimmer Mist spray. After drying, I stamped the "Dutch Room" image (Queen's Dresser Drawers). I stamped it again on ivory cardstock, added party hats to each girl, and colored their dresses to match their hats.

Cards for Troops

I got busy this evening and made 20 cards for US and Canadian Troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and South Korea. Since the folks in Iraq and Afghanistan don't have access to a Hallmark Store, I wanted to pitch in and contribute cards to be sent to them so they have something to send to loved ones back home. This is part of an ongoing effort on 2peasinabucket.com. I'm trying to meet a goal of at least 10 handmade cards each day/night. Usually, I make pretty elaborate cards with many layers and sometimes, many embellishments. Since these cards needed to be light (so all they have to do is place just one postage stamp on the envelope), I hade to be sure not to overdo it with layers and embellishing. Also, since the soldiers are going to need cards for a multitude of events and purposes, I tried to make most of the cards as generic in theme as possible.

Just a few cards I made today. The first one is just a funky one using the "Darling" stamp by Stampers Anonymous. Friendship word is by Stampin Up. The second one uses the Spots background stamp by Stampin Up and the sentiment is by TAC (The Angel Company). TFL!

Happy Mother's Day!

I'd like to wish all moms a Happy Mother's Day! I hope you have a very relaxing day and you're pampered to the fullest!

And now.....for some green and pink cards.....

I'm running a little low on my birthday card stash. I am in love with the Nick Bantock Chartreuse Green ink. I got a deal online a month ago (12 ink pads for $12). What a steal! These ink pads are so juicy. Just love 'em! Anyway, these cards use a combination of Stampin Up, All Night Media (Anna Griffin), and The Angel Company stamps. On each card, I used some poster tape to give a part of the card a "lift." The butterfly is colored with Prismacolors.

My muse is back!

It's been a busy week at work, I am the HR person where I work, and this week, we had to conduct orientations and trainings for new and old employees, Let's just say my muse ended up falling asleep because I was too preoccupied with work. But, this Saturday morning, I got my tush in gear and whipped out the last collage card I'm submitting for a swap on the Stamp Shack, Eiffel Tower Collage stamp is by Stampers Anonymous, Woman collage image by Stampin Up and Postage cancellation stamp is by Renaissance Artstamps.

Just a few cards I plan to submit

Just a few cards I've made. I plan to submit the Marilyn Monroe card to a magazine (keeping my fingers crossed it will be picked up). The other two cards are for a swap I'm in on The Stamp Shack. TFL!

The Glance

This is an attemp to intermingle a vintage image with more eclectic, whimsical stamps and a little more "modern" flair (by using the scalloped punch and polka dot paper). The image of the woman is called "The Glance" by Stampington & Co. I used Autumn Leaves stamps (from Rhonna Farrer's "Swirls" and "Flowers") for the side border. Adding primas ties it altogether and gives the card texture. I may use this card as a Mother's Day card. I'm not sure yet. I know my sister-in-law and my mom would like it.

And the winner of this week's Blog Candy is........

none other than aunt T....Teresa! Woo-hoo! Thank you, everybody, for taking part in the drawing. Teresa, please email me so I'll be able to mail your new stamp to you. You guys came up with wonderful captions! I love them all! Everything from Just bee-cause to You're the Bee's knees! Thank you, everybody! Don't forget to check out my monthly blog challenge (link to the right). Deadline to submit a link is tomorrow, April 20th.

Friendship

This pretty paisley stamp is one of the newest by Anna Griffin and All Night Media. Sentiment by Stampin Up. Corner punch by EK Success. I don't know if you can see it, but I added some glitter to the flowers. I believe it's called "Dazzling Diamonds" by Stampin Up. It's ultra fine glitter. (It's hard to capture it in a photograph). I made this card for my friend Carrie. Her last day at work was yesterday, and I couldn't be there to say goodbye (I've been sick over the last two days). I'm going to bug her at her other job when I get a chance, but for now, I want to let her know I was thinking of her, even though I couldn't be at work to say goodbye.

Blog Candy

Isn't this the cutest stamp? It's by Stampabilities and it's by the folks who draw the House Mouse stamps. All you have to do for a chance to win this stamp is to leave me a comment with a caption/sentiment on what this image says. Deadline to leave a comment is Saturday, 4/28/07 at 11:59 p.m.. I'll take everybody's name and draw a winner on Sunday. If you do win, be sure to email me so I can get your name and address and send your bunny stamp to you.

Butterfly card

Just a simple card, this time. Stamps are by Papertrey Ink. Papers by Bo Bunny Press. Thank you for stopping by!