21st Century Pillow Book

It’s no secret that I love the art both of my kidlings make. But really, what mom doesn’t feel that way? So, I decided I needed to have a way to show off their art work, no matter where I am. I thought about a pendant, but…that would be only one piece of art. Then I thought of a bracelet…that could show case a lot of cool things! But how? Shrink plastic!!! What a fun project for you to create with your child(ren)! Wanna learn how? Well, I put it all together in a tutorial for you! Phoenix is ready too! So let’s go! I started of by cutting my Shinky Dinks into 2” squares. The sheets I have are 8 1/2 x 11, so I was able to get 4 squares and a rectangle from a row.  I cut two rows, so I had 8 squares, and 2 rectangles (a good crafter wastes nothing! So be sure to use those rectangles!).  I pre-sanded one side of the shrink plastic before Phoenix started to color. You need to rough the stuff up a bit so that the color “sticks” better. I let Phoenix use my EK Success watercolo...

With all of my stamps, I am always looking for new ways to reinvent them. Giving them a fresh new look makes me feel like I have a new set of stamps to play with! I was going through my Bombshells , and I noticed that I could swap bodies around a bit. This is not a gory project- I promise! ;) To start, you need Butterfly Queen and Bombshell Angel. What we are going to do is put Angel’s head and torso on Butterfly Queen’s legs. So, you don’t need to stamp out the entire image of either. I have made two versions of this “morph,” which is why I have two of each Bombshell. Color in the skin and the hair. I used pencils for that. You will notice that on Butterfly Queen’s image on the top right I did not color in her belly. You can click on any of the images to see it bigger. Next, color the outfits. Please note that I completed the line across Angel’s body. She is now wearing a crop top. On the green version of Angel, I colored her outfit in completely. I used watercolor markers for the...

I am going to show you a simple tutorial for coloring in your Bombshells Stamps with Distress Inks from Ranger. You can create some beautiful effects with these inks using only a few supplies. I will be working with the Pirate’s Life set. Here's what you need: Distress Inks- I usually use about 4 or 5 colors. For this project I used Antique Linen, Milled Lavender, Tattered Rose, Weathered Wood and Walnut Stain. Cut-N-Dry-Nibs- Also from Ranger Cream Colored Cardstock- I used Butter Cream from Prism Brown Dye Ink- I used Chestnut Roan from Color Box Let's get started! 1. Stamp your image in brown onto your cream cardstock. We use brown because it's so much softer looking than black, and a dye based so that it dries quickly and doesn't blend with the Distress Inks. 2. Starting with Antique Linen, rub a Cut-N-Dry Nib in a circular motion into the pad. You'll be using this color for her skin. Test how much color you have on the Niob on a scrap piece of the same crea...