What goes around...

This month, I happened upon a couple of complete strangers who could use some cheering up, or at the very least some friendly support. So I made cards for them, and sent them out yesterday.

This one was to the lady I initially met:

The outside says, "Adopt the pace of nature;
her secret is patience. -Ralph Waldo Emerson"
Inside, I wrote, "I hope this card gives you an
excuse to smile and take a deep breath."
I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in 'Vintage Photo',
'Walnut Stain', and 'Antiqued Linen'. I also used
Stazon ink in 'Timber Brown'. Embellishments
were 'antiqued' with Adirondack Acrylic in 'Eggplant'.
Ranger Stickles in 'Icicle' were used to decorate
the flower and flourishes. Stamps are 'Natures Secret'
by Stampin' Up, and flourishes by Hero Arts.

This card I made for her best friend, who was
recently diagnosed with breast cancer:

It was made in much the same manner as the first.

Inside, the quote by Richard Bach, says,
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
the master calls a butterfly."
And I wrote,
"You don't know me, but that's ok.
I know you've recently been diagnosed with
breast cancer. I'm so sorry.
Even though I am a complete stranger,
I wanted to do something that might
lift your spirits during this possibly
scary and difficult time, so I made this card for you.
And even though I'm not Christian,
I asked my Christian friends to pray for you.
I hope you get well again."

I hope they get a smile and good feeling
when they get these, like I did while making them.

Nile Dragonfly

This is a necklace I made yesterday. The button design was cast from a Czech glass button with Suze Weinberg's Mold n Pour, and is made of Suze Weinberg's clear UTEE mixed with green and blue To Dye For solvent inks, psychedelic embossing powder, and Krylon gold leaf pen to color the insect and rim the piece. It is mounted onto a brass ox filigree finding, that has various glass seed beads, and Czech fire polished glass beads in gold and emerald hung from the bottom. The pendant hangs on a gold tone figaro chain, with a heart (lobster) clasp, extension, and tiny gold leaf dangling at the very end.

Now this is the cool thing I discovered: When you mix a psychedelic embossing powder with UTEE, it gives the initial appearance of being glittery blue on the surface, and when looking at it indirectly. But if light should catch the button, you will see the original color, which in this case is green. The next picture is of the button being held up to a light, so you can see it's actual color.
Isn't that just awesome??
This UTEE is fun stuff!

Mechanical Aeshnidae

As I've been saying for a while, I've been playing with UTEE (Suze Weinberg's Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). While I've made a handful of buttons and embellishments, this is my first piece of art incorporating a creation made with UTEE:

I made a mold of a Czech glass dragonfly button, with Suze Weinberg's Mold n Pour. I used Suze Weinberg's To Dye For solvent ink dyes in blue and green to get the beautiful teal color in my otherwise clear utee. I also mixed a little embossing powder called 'Psychedelic' to get a rich sparkly blue effect in the button. I used Krylon gold leafing pen to color the dragonfly, and rim the button. I used Loctite Super Glue Gel to adhere it to a 1-1/2" fender washer treated with Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Rust, Espresso and Butterscotch. Surrounding the button, are copper ox findings, star lock washers in various sizes also treated with Alcohol Inks, aluminum Metal Mesh also treated with Alcohol Inks and Krylon gold leafing pen, and large brass ox findings on a 4x4" black ceramic tile.

Here is a close up of the 'button':

inky inky 4x4, hanging on the kitchen door...

I've been making gifts for people. I know the people these are going to are of religious persuasion, so I figured I'd make something to help them celebrate their beliefs.

These are 4x4" ceramic tiles I bought from Home Depot, in 'Almond' color. I colored them with Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks, then stamped and heat embossed them in silver. I trimmed them with plumbers' foil tape I also purchased from home depot. I'm making wire frames for them, that will be twisted into scroll work and embellished with Czech fire polished beads in complimentary colors. I made 4 of this design, (the other 2 are in speckled pinks and striped purples.) I'm making about 10 of these tiles, 6 of which will have various stamps and embossing colors.

I have also been playing with my Utee, so I'm going to post my Utee experiments next! Stay tuned!

Where the dominos grow

I've been playing with dominoes the past 2 days. I've made a bunch that I really like, but the set I'm posting tonight are painted with Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink, then hand painted with acrylic. I really like the way they've turned out! But in doing these, I ran into something curious: if you paint acrylic over the alcohol ink, let the paint dry a bit then rub the acrylic off with a paper towel and water, the acrylic will pull up a bit of the alcohol ink, in exactly the pattern that had been painted. Look closely at this last picture, an enlarged view of 'Irises':
Notice the lighter swirls? I originally painted a swirl pattern, but wasn't satisfied with it. So, I took the acrylic off with water, and found what was left to be really pretty.

Cutting corners

I really love art, and live for my crafting. Unfortunately, I usually can't afford to just go out and purchase any ol' tool or craft embellishment at my whim. Necessity being the mother of invention, I often find ways to 'cut corners'. Here's my first post describing a couple ways I've found to cut those corners. Literally. Substituting design elements or embellishments may not look nearly as fancy as a professionally designed product, and often takes more time to accomplish. But, I think the time and intention put into a project is every bit as special as something that looks uber fancy or nearly store bought. This might sound like I'm trying to justify being 'cheap', but fact is, poor thrifty people like to craft too.

First, a disclaimer: When at all possible, please invest in the proper and safe tools recommended by the pros for the tasks you want to do. I am sharing what I use to accomplish certain tasks or crafting effects, and should you decide to use my examples, you do so at your own risk and assume any and all responsibility for your own actions.

That said, let's get started! I recently made a 'bookmark card', and had to figure out a way to temporarily attach the book mark to the card, without adhesives, and despite the fact I don't have photo corners to use on them.

(in the card tutorial, I cut right into the card itself.) But in this example, I cut out a contrasting base paper slightly smaller than one half of the card I'll glue it to. I then position the bookmark on it at a pleasing angle. Then I used a fine tip black pen to mark points on that paper. Imagine drawing a diagonal line across a corner of the bookmark, at least the size and depth a photo corner would be. Draw a little dot to mark the very edge of the bookmark, along that imaginary diagonal line.
I don't need to be exact or measure it, but I try to keep the dots in approximately the same depth and length on each corner. For extra stability, I also marked 2 dots on the left and right sides of the bookmark, to make small rounded tabs.

Click the pic to see an example of the dots.
I remove the bookmark,
and using a craft knife on a cutting mat or other surface safe for cutting, I make straight incisions from dot to diagonal dot, at all four corners. I should then have 4 slits that the corners of my bookmark will slide into. Next, I carefully cut a half circle incision, that points to the center, on both the right and left sides, using the dots I marked for these tabs. Please see the first photo for reference.
When I have all my incisions made, I gently separate each incision, and slide my bookmark into the slots.
Here's a hint: Substitute the word 'bookmark' for photo, card, or design element.


















This is another corner I cut: I do not have a proper paper distressing tool, though I have every intention of buying one as soon as I can. Until then, I use the sharp edge of my craft knife to distress/age the edges of my card stock.

I grasp my card stock firmly, at an upper corner, and carefully drag the sharp edge of my craft knife down the edge/side of the paper. It may take several passes to get the effect I want. I like making small scrapes, sometimes back and forth to rough up the fibers. This method isn't without it's challenges. If I press too hard, I could accidentally cut or tear the paper. But I've found this issue to usually make the paper look even more interesting. Tip: if my card stock is bending up or down, I am pressing too hard. I like to take my time and be safe.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial, and as I come across more ways to cut corners, you'll be the first I share them with.
Inspiration to you!

Tribal Leftovers

I've been working so hard to get my cards and various gifts made, that I'd been neglecting tutorials I've had in the works! While I am still nowhere near finished with my holiday rush, I just have to take time out to share what I've done with left over rubber from mounting rubber stamps. A couple months ago, I started buying my first Stampin' Up unmounted stamp sets on Ebay. The rush I got from assembling my own stamps was awesome! But my goodness, there was so much waste! I sat there, my cogs turning, wondering if there were other applications for these rubber 'leftovers'. And it came to me: I would cut them down to various sized blocks, and save them for later.

At first I had the idea of making my own tile background for stamping. I got out one of my huge wood stamps that I knew I'd never sell, and started fitting and mounting the leftovers together on the top of the stamp, to form a pleasing pattern. I then put it away until last week. A friend of mine decorates his home in 'tribal' design. So I went on the internet, and drew inspiration from some very lovely examples of African tribal art to make something unique for him. That's when the gears finally fell in place, and I had a use for the leftover rubber! Not only that, I found some very creative uses for other items in my crafting supplies.

As you see, I used a handful of supplies to make the stamped picture. I made a small rectangle stamp using a piece of the leftover rubber. I simply peeled it up off the large stamp I'd made, and stuck it to the 'top' edge of another wood stamp in my collection. For ink, I used Opaque Stazon in Cotton White, on the black paperboard background that came with this 16x20" frame. Working from the outside to the center, (stamping from top to bottom) I used a long ruler to butt the bottom of the stamp against to keep my patterns even, as I worked one stripe at a time, from top to bottom.

To make specific patterns for this tribal look, I used the 'I' and the 'O' letters of the Jive alphabet by Stamp Craft. You can see their respective patterns just under the 'I' stamp, and to the left of the 'O' stamp. I also used a stamp from the Stampin' Up set 'Artifacts'.







I then took a foam stamp I bought at Walmart many moons ago, and I cut it down to get abstract line patterns. (See the deep red, Oriental foam stamp? The round center stamp is what it looked like before I release the tribal patterns from it. You will see remnants of the actual foam stamp I cut up with a craft knife to the top, bottom, and very left if it. Notice the pattern right under the very left stamp for which it was used? Cool, huh?)



:::This is the final product! Isn't that just cool looking? I made a monogram in the middle to match my friend's name. For the overall pattern, I used 4 various sizes and shapes of leftover rubber, 2 quirky alphabet stamps, 1 cut up foam stamp I hadn't otherwise used in 4 years.

While I was making this, I also realized the design potential for this technique to be EASILY modified to look like tire tracks. I thought of it, because this also fits my friend, as he rides a motorcycle. See, wherever you take this technique, the point to this tutorial and a great tip is to think twice before you throw those scraps away!!

Before I go, I want to share with you another blog that I found to be absolutely fantastic, that has a tutorial similar to this one. While I stayed blocky, she took her leftover rubber to a whole new level. Please check it out for more ideas on what to do with those scraps!