21st Century Pillow Book

Greetings! Can you believe there are only 10 days left to the 31 Days of Halloween? Today I've got another card with an alcohol ink background. Admittedly, I made a whole bunch of these at once, so I will have one more of these backgrounds to share at a later date. What I love about them is how very different they can look from each other, even if you are using the same colors. I thought this particular background looked very much like a sky, so I really wanted to use this older stamp from Stampendous . It's not available on the Stampendous web site any longer, but they do offer lots of other stamps that you can use to get a look similar to this one. As in my post yesterday, I used Ranger's Alcohol Inks to create this background. I used Stonewashed, Eggplant, Cornflower, and Pitch Black on Epson Glossy Photo Paper. I blended the colors with Ranger's Blending Solution. Forgive the glare of my light in the photo above, but I wanted you to see the magnificent shimm...

Hello! It is Day    of the 31 Days of Halloween, and today I have a tutorial that I created for Imagine . I really enjoy working with wood so I created a  raven plaque that can be hung on the wall or on a door. Keep in mind, that you can use any combination of images you'd like. If you're not a fan of crows, (gasp!) you can always use cats, flowers, stars, etc. I'm entering this plaque on the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge : "A Walk on the Dark Side." I used a small unfinished wooden plaque for this project. You can get these at any craft and hobby store. Mine is about 3" x 4."  Using a 3/8" Stencil Brush, I applied the brown shade that is in the VersaCraft Velvet palette. VersaCraft ink is fantastic for using on things that go way beyond paper. It's great on fabric, for example.  After the brown ink dried, I swiped Real Black (in the same palette) on the wood, following the grain to bring out the texture. I focused a...

Hello! The Stampendous July Catalog has loads of new goodies for your holiday crafting. Tons of Halloween, Fall and Christmas images from all our licenses as well as our own Fran Seiford, plus lots of new surprises, will all go live for retail sale at http://www.stampendous.com on Friday, June 30th. This week our team is each sharing a favorite project created for this catalog to give you a little sneak peek of what's to come. Some of these great stamps may already be available in your local stamping or scrapbooking store! I love the new Andy Skinner set called Birds and Bones, so I knew I had to use it as my preview for all of you. It's of course great for Halloween, but I will be using it all year round. Remember that the Stampendous website at www.stampendous.com is offering Free Shipping through August with any order of $50 or more! Use Promo Code TEAM717 at checkout. Here's how I made this card. Supplies: Stampendous : ASCRS10: Birds And Bones St...

Hello! It's Day 8 of the 31 Days of Halloween. Today I am sharing a project that came together quickly. We all need to make quickie cards once in a while, right? Well, this is one of them. I started off by stamping this fabulous image with crows from Inkadinkado on to my scratched up cardstock. The cardstock is printed this way. It's from an older DCWV paper pad...the Twilight inspired one. So I stamped the image with VersaMark and embossed it with Detail Black Embossing Powder. For my card base, I just used a regular white card and smeared Black Shimmer Delicata Ink all around the edges. Now it has a nice shimmer. I also inked the edge of my mat with Tuxedo Black Memento , just to make it stand out a little. Then it was time for the super fun part! Spraying my faux blood everywhere. And I do mean everywhere...... My kids thought I got bit by a dog. Anyway, to create this fabulous catastrophe, I used once again, Love Letter irRESISTable Spray from Imagine . That s...

Greetings! It's Day 2 of the 31 Days of Halloween, and I have a project that is chock full of Stampendous and Imagine today. This is a 6x6" Mini Page. I think I'll have a bunch of these this month. I like the size and the fact that I can just pop them into an album once they're done. For this one, I started off with Desert Sand Memento and Wheat Versa Magic from Imagine, and I streaked it across my cream colored cardstock. Then I stamped and embossed the Raven Skull stamp from Stampendous.  Next, I played with one of my all-time favorite stencils, Houndstooth . I used the stunning Black Shimmer Delicata Ink from Imagine and a stencil brush. I applied it semi-random, with a varying coverage. Then I used an older stamp set from Nat Kalbach (via Stampendous) and Brown Shimmer Delicata to ink the brown splotches. I also used the Brown Shimmer on the die cuts I made using Stampendous' Build a Wreath Die set. This set is fan-freaking-tastic, and is goin...

Hello! We are Getting Ready for Halloween over at Wicked Wednesday . That's our theme this week, and we are sponsored by MMedel Illustrations . I used 2 of their images, and they're both adorable! I colored the images with my Tombow Dual Brush Markers. I fussy cut them out and added them to a spiderweb background. I added some super fun, chunky and uber sparkly Frantage from Stampendous in the corners. Please be sure to visit the rest of the Wicked Wednesday team over on the blog. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

When I first heard that Imagine was going to have a new black Delicata ink, I couldn’t have been more excited. I love anything that shimmers—and I love black. What can I say? Goth girl right here! My style tends to go toward the creepy end of things, so I decided to showcase the new Black Shimmer in that way. Skill : Intermediate Time : 45 minutes + drying time Directions:  Step 1:  Tape the stencil to cream colored cardstock. Using the Picasso Shield, block off part of the ball, where the claws would be. Ink up a stencil brush by rotating it gently on Black Shimmer Delicata. Use the same circular motion to apply the ink to the stencil. Step 2:  Once you finish inking the crow (I gave it 2 coats), use Dark Brown Shimmer Delicata ink in the same way to ink up the weather vane and the ball that the raven is standing on. I used a smaller stencil brush for this part. Flip your Picasso Shield so that you don’t ink on to it’s claws. Wipe down your stencil brush aga...

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it's already here? It's Day 31 of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween! Today I have one last card to share with you. I used the fantastical Raven Background stamp for this card. First, I took my Mixed Media Paper and smudged 3 colors of VersaFine ink from Imagine Crafts on it. Then I stamped the Raven Background using Black Versafine. I shredded the edges and used some liquid adhesive on the hat. Then I psrikled some black micro glitter from the Fall Glitter Mix kit on to it. For my card base, I used black cardstock, and sprinkled Spoonful of Midnight on the corners and 2 sides. I also added a bit of Black Detail Embossing Powder just for a little more liquid-looking black. That's it for me! I hope you have enjoyed my projects for the month. I wish there was more time! I have so many other things that I wanted to make. Thank you so much for all of your kind words. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of yo...

Good day to you! It's Day 24 of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween! Today, I am officially posting on Stampendous ' behalf, and I think (hope!) that you will like my project. It uses a couple of wonderful Dreamweaver stencils and some fun products from Imagine Crafts . I started off with the Mosaic Swirls stencil, taped to watercolor paper. I took 3 colors of Amplify from Imagine Crafts; Electric Yellow, Electric Orange and Black, and I swirled them around on top of the stencil. I followed the pattern of the stencil a bit, but I wasn't too careful about it. When I felt like I had enough coverage, I used my Paste Spreader  to push the color through the stencil and on to the paper, just like you would with embossing paste. I had to go over a couple of areas 2 or 3 times, and I did that with my Palette Knife . When I was satisfied with the coverage, I lifted the stencil off and heated my paper. And that's when it got really fun! I love to watch the Amplify...

Happy Day 4 of the Smeared Ink 31 Days of Halloween! Today I have a quickie card, that has a bit of cool creep factor to it. I started off the the Crowscape Stamp from Stampendous , and I stamped it with StazOn on to vellum. I tore all 4 edges to give it a more ragged look. Then, I took my card base and I used Aged Silver embossing enamel from the Silver Frantage Encrusted Jewel Kit  along the edges. Can you tell I am obsessed with these kits and this effect? You've got to get at least one to try them out! They are so much fun. This card took me about 10 minutes to make, which is fast! Sometimes you just need to bang out a quick card, and I'm really happy with how this one turned out. So for now I bid you adieu. Please be sure to check out the rest of the Wicked Bloggers, all listed in my side bar. Thanks for stopping by. Have a creeptastic day!

Hello! It's time for a new Left of Center challenge. This week, we are sponsored by Ike's Art and the theme is Splash of Paint . I used Raven Poe for my card. I decided to not do anything to alter that image, but rather to play with my background. My card base is a single layer Monoprint, done with the Rectangles Creative Palette from Stampendous. I used acrylic paint in 3 colors on the palette. Them I embossed my Crows stencil with Black Embossing Paste . After the crows dried, I splattered some Stormy Weather Memory Mists  on to the card. Last, I applied Ike's Raven Poe. I love to play with paint! If you do too, then you should join in with Left of Center 's challenge this week. Please be sure to visit the challenge blog to see even more painted projects. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Hello again! It's time for a new Wicked Wednesday challenge, as well as a new Create and Inspire challenge. For WW, the challenge is Use a Fold. We are sponsored by DRS Designs, and I used their sandcastle image. I asked my sister to make me a paper crane or two to use as my "folds," and I think they turned out great! She decided to make 4 so that she could practice. I colored the image with my new Tombow watercolor markers. Seriously, how cute is that teeny tiny crane? Create and Inspire's challenge is Anything Goes or Use a Die Cut. We are sponsored by Nikki Burnette. I used the gorgeous Raven Mask Masquerade image for my card, which has also been colored with my Tombow watercolor markers. My background was done with watercolor paints. I used a fun metallic copper rub-on in the corner there. It's nice and shiny. Nikki Burnette's image is a stunner, so I didn't want to add too much to the card. Create and Inspire is having a DT c...