Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Fall Birthday

.Good day to you!  This is a brief -- very brief -- stop in showing Christmas cards.  I have a dear friend whose birthday is today -- on Halloween!  So I must send her a fall card, right?  Of course!



And here is her birthday card! 

Technique Junkie stamps used are:  Bare Tree Duo - http://techniquejunkies.com/bare-tree-duo/, Wasted  - http://techniquejunkies.com/wasted/, and Simple Sentiments - http://techniquejunkies.com/simple-sentiments-1b/.  And it is only all Technique Junkie stamps.

So happy birthday, Donna!

Have an inky day.  And remember to get inky today!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

30 Days of Christmas Day 14 - Technique Junkie Stamps!!!

This is Day 12 of the 30 Days of Christmas challenge both on the Technique Junkie Design team
blog http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com/  on the various  Design Team member's personal blog. 
In addition to the inspiration, ALL Technique Junkies Christmas Stamps are on sale at 20% off. Simply use the word Christmas at checkout for your discount. 
 

One of the things I enjoy about rubber stamping is using a stamp in a different way than perhaps the original artist thought of. I hope I succeeded in this card. I used the Technique Junkie Stamps Pont Alexandre III image http://techniquejunkies.com/pont-alexandre-iii/ 
 
 
I sprayed the bridge floor with Art Anthology sprays-- painted in the lights with Art Anthology gel medium paint.  Then I sponged in the night sky.  My imagination  decided the bridge would be decorated for Christmas with garland and snowflake shaped lights.  And the solitary man is wishing us all a Merry Christmas! 

The garland is a Technique Junkie stamps called Draped Christmas http://techniquejunkies.com/draped-christmas/. The Merry Christmas is a Technique Junkie Stamp http://techniquejunkies.com/merry-christmas-2/ and it is the perfect size for lots of Christmas cards!

Christmas is soon coming!   Are your hands getting inky making Christmas cards?  Ihope there are some Technique Junkie stamps being used as well!

Monday, October 26, 2015

30 Days of Christmas Day 12 - Technique Junkie Stamps!!!

This is Day 12 of the 30 Days of Christmas challenge both on the Technique Junkie Design team
blog http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com/  on the various  Design Team member's personal blog. 
In addition to the inspiration, ALL Technique Junkies Christmas Stamps are on sale at 20% off. Simply use the word Christmas at checkout for your discount. 
 
Any one who has followed my blog for very long knows my life has been turned completely upside down in ways I would not have wished for.   So this year I have decided to try and keep my Christmas cards nice but simple and using as many supplies that I already have.  So I have cut up background paper in various sizes and have been using those pieces and sort of "quilted" them for the back ground.  I did that here. 
 
For the focal image I used  a piece of white card stock, sprayed several different vintage colors of the Art Anthology sprays and then some gold glimmer spray on the top.  Then i stamped the focal image Technique Junkie Stamps The Greatest Story http://techniquejunkies.com/the-greatest-story/ and embossed it.    I used a clear Star Dust glimmer pen to go over the letters and around the edges of the card stock to add dimension and interest.  And it worked.  There is a small piece of Taupe lace wrapped around the layer with the pieces of background paper.   And I am done. 
 
  I hope you have started on your Christmas cards. Christmas will be here before you know it.

Have an inky day.

Friday, October 23, 2015

30 Days of Christmas - Day 9

This is Day 30 of the 30 Days of Christmas challenge both on the Technique Junkie Design team
blog http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com/  on the various  Design Team member's personal blogs. 
In addition to the inspiration, ALL Technique Junkies Christmas Stamps are on sale at 20% off. Simply use the word Christmas at checkout for your discount.    This is the sad LAST day of the 30 Days of Christmas card Challenge by Pat Huntoon and the TJ Design Team.  

I chose to create a panel  with the Technique Junkie Stamp Merry Christmas http://techniquejunkies.com/merry-christmas/.   It is the only stamp on the front of the card.  I  heat embossed it in detail gold embossing powder. Then I used  moss green and dark red markers to color in the spaces in the letters.  The embossing powders helped to resist the ink in the markers.


 
 
 
I placed that panel on an embossed panel created with an embossing folder.  I placed a die cut poinsettia to the left. The center of the poinsettia are teeny tiny rhinestones.  I used a yellow Copic marker to color the rhinestones for the center of the poinsettia. 
 
I hope you have found the 30 Days of Christmas  inspiring for creating your own Christmas cards.  The entire Technique Junkie Design Team was honored to have you visit our blogs throughout the past 30 days.
 
 


Wednesday, October 21, 2015

30 Days of Christmas Day 7 - Technique Junkie Stamps!!!

 
 
This is Day 7 of the 30 Days of Christmas challenge both on the Technique Junkie Design team blog
http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com/  on the various  Design Team member's personal blog. 
In addition to the inspiration, ALL Technique Junkies Christmas Stamps are on sale at 20% off. Simply use the word Christmas at checkout for your discount. 
 
One of the things i like to do with rubber stamps is to think outside the box.  How can I use a stamp in a non-traditional way?  Sometimes I come up with a card that is lovely and very different.   
 

I used three Technique Junkie Stamps to create this card -- http://techniquejunkies.com/watercolor-ny/, http://techniquejunkies.com/draped-christmas/, and http://techniquejunkies.com/joy/.

I heat embossed the Draped Christmas in three colors by moving the stamp slightly after embossing one color.  I used silver, red, and gold embossing powders.  Then I heart embossed Joy with detail gold embossing powder.

I used Peerless watercolors http://techniquejunkies.com/peerless-watercolors-complete-edition/ to pain the Watercolor New York  stamped image.

Then I sponged yellow ink near the bottom of the skyline.  Then I added a dark blue and then a navy ink to create the image of a setting sun.  Because there was already so many colors in the watercoloring, I chose to make just yellow ink at the very bottom of the sky line.

Does this strike you as a different use of the Watercolor New York stamp?

Have a wonderfully inky day!

Monday, October 19, 2015

30 Days of Christmas Day 5 - Technique Junkie Stamps!!!

Perhaps by now, you are noticing that the Technique Junkie Design Team members are showing lots of Christmas cards!  Christmas is a wonderful season with many celebrations. In addition to the inspiration from the Design Team both on the DT blog and on their personal blogs, ALL Technique Junkies Christmas Stamps are on sale at 20% off. Simply use the word Christmas at checkout for your discount.

My card today features the Technique Junkie Stamps Merry Christmas stamp - http://techniquejunkies.com/merry-christmas/ .  I used pieces of background paper discontinued several years ago. But it goes with this stamp perfectly!


 
I embossed the image with Detail Gold embossing powder.  Then I colored in the letters carefully with a deep green Copic marker.  I added some red rhinestones for bling. Then I cut out some layers with Spellbinder dies.  I edged two layers with a Krylon gold pen.  And I was done!
 
How are you coming on your Christmas cards?    In my reorganization of my stamping supplies, I found a lot of Christmas cards from previous years.   So I am going to use those to save me some time this year. I will still need tomake about 20 or 30 more cards.
 
Have a really fun stamping day!
 
 

 


Thursday, October 15, 2015

30 Days of Christmas Day 1 - Technique Junkie Stamps!!!

Today is a special day.  It is the first day of a MONTH of Technique Junkie Stamps Christmas cards posted on the Technique Junkie Design Team blog.   I believe that every day beginning on October 15 and ending on November 15, a Christmas card will be featured on that blog.  http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com/

In addition to the inspiration from the Design Team both on the DT blog and on their personal blogs, ALL Technique Junkies Christmas Stamps are on sale at 20% off. Simply use the word Christmas at checkout for your discount.

I cannot give you a direct to that blog because  as I write this post the first Christmas Card blog has not been posted yet.   I will have two cards posted on my assigned days -- but I wanted to challenge myself to create as many different Christmas cards using Technique Junkie Stamps as I could on my own blog. So this is my first day!  I have two similar cards for you today.

Both of these cards use the same technique -- but with two different stamps.  So I wanted to post them on the same day.  I used the Smooch Painted Texture Tutorial from December 2011 Technique Junkie newsletter using a Tim Holtz embossing folder.  Then I added the Technique Junkie Stamps beautiful ornament http://techniquejunkies.com/ornament-1/ stamped on Star Dream card stock and embossed with detail gold embossing powder.  I fussy cut around the ornament, added a small bow, and  popped it up using pop dots.  I added some sparkly snow to the branches on both cards.

 
This next card used the Technique Junkie Stamps Merry Christmas stamp http://techniquejunkies.com/merry-christmas/  stamped vellum. The greenery was colored in with Copic markers, and the letters with a white gel pen. Then I added a few red rhinestones for berries here and there. 

 
Christmas is coming and are you ready?  In the move to my new stamp I "found" about 75 Christmas cards already done.  So after this year I feel fairly ready in that area of my life.
 
Have a wonderful inky day!
 


Wednesday, October 14, 2015

When You Need to Extend Sympathy

Unfortunately, all of us need to extend sympathy to friends and family from time to time.   It is always a difficult time when someone who is loved passes away.   But I can tell you from a very personal perspective receiving sympathy cards is very helpful and healing for those who are grieving.  So please do send sympathy cards.  Long flowery prose can be nice but knowing that people care is very important! 
 
Technique Junkie stamps has a nice Sympathy stamp set  http://techniquejunkies.com/with-sympathy-set-of-5/ .  I used two of the five verses in the set on these two cards. 
 
 
This first card also uses Daisy Garden http://techniquejunkies.com/daisy-garden/.  
 
 
 
 
The second uses Dogwood Blossom http://techniquejunkies.com/dogwood-blossom/ and fussy cut around each flower.

 
 
I hope these cards encourage you to send some cards to folks today. 
 
 
Thanks for sharing these with me.   Have an inky day!
 


Monday, October 12, 2015

You Are Incredi- Ball!

There is nothing quite home canned goods in the middle of winter. On my canned goods shelves, I have tomatoes, tomato juice (only a few jars), spaghetti sauce, peaches, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, Chili sauce for a condiment, and soon I will have apple sauce, and some apple pie filling.  In my freezer I have freezer jam with peach jam, strawberry jam, blackberry jam, and red raspberry jam.
 
My children and my grandchildren have all caught various bugs over the years in canning jars.  I am showing this kind of activity on this card. I used the jar set from Technique Junkie Stamps http://techniquejunkies.com/incrediball-canning-jar-set-of-2/  and this Technique Junkie butterfly stamp http://techniquejunkies.com/butterfly2/.  
 
 
 
Those same children and grandchildren have made fairy dust that sparkles and shines from "glow sticks" broken open into canning jars.

 
To create this raspberry jam this is what I did.  I stamped the jars on clear acetate with black Stazon ink.  Then i flipped the acetate and colored the inside of the jar with a red Copic marker.  But now I need the "bumps" for jam.  I used the small dots on the Wasted stamp with red Stazon ink and stamped over the Copic ink.  The saying on the front of the card comes from the Technique Junkie Stamps Mae West Sentiment 2 set http://techniquejunkies.com/mae-west-sentiments-2-set-of-5/. 

 
 
Do you do any canning in your house to prepare for winter?   Have an inky day!
 



Friday, October 9, 2015

Keep Your Balance

Life has a way of changing -- and we all need to make adjustments to living.  And just like riding a bicycle, you do need to keep moving in order to keep your balance.  This first card also uses the new October release stamp "Wood" http://techniquejunkies.com/wood/.  I wrapped brown ribbon around the card layers before adhering it to the card base.  The Keep Your Balance stamp was inked with markers in order to get both colors.  This time the man on the bicycle was trimmer close enough to bottom of the wheels to crate the "grounding effect."
 
 
 
For the second card, I drew some scribbly grass underneath the wheels to achieve the "grounding" effect.  Don't let your focal image just "float" on the card.  Your card will be much more esthetically pleasing to the eye  if your focal image is grounded -- whether it is a bicycle, a vase, a person, or a flower.  The background stamp is Key Script http://techniquejunkies.com/key-script/.  



I hope you are enjoying the fall and letting yourself get inky from time to time. 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Vintage Daisy - Two Different Cards

 
 
Both cards on my blog today were both created in the same way. I painted the daisies on both card with Art Anthology Gel Medium paints http://techniquejunkies.com/search.php?Search=&search_query=art+anthology+gel+medium. I added Prills http://techniquejunkies.com/prills/  to the middle of the flowers using the Art Anthology Gel Medium as the method to adhere the Prills.  I let them dry a bit, and then sprayed the Art Anthology sprays over them.   All of these products are available on the Technique Junkie website. 
 
 


I layered the focal image http://techniquejunkies.com/vintage-daisy-collage/ and used various embellishments on the cards.  And even though these cards were created in the basically the same way, the cards have different looks.

Have a wonderfully inky day. 

Monday, October 5, 2015

Pont Alexandre III - 2 cards

 
I have two cards for you today using the Pont Alexandre III stamp from Technique Junkie Stamps --http://techniquejunkies.com/pont-alexandre-iii/.
 
 
This first card was so simple to create!  I masked out the sky first and created the  moon and added some color with a yellow Art Anthology spray.  Then I masked the moon.  I added a very tiny amount of the Art Anthology gel medium for the light but it barely shows up.   Then I added more Art Anthology sprays with various colors for the street and the sky.  Then I layered and mounted the focal image.  
 
 
 
This next card uses the same stamp for the focal image.  I added some yellow Art Anthology gel medium for the street lights.  I allowed it to dry, and then sponged ink colors from stamp pads for the street and the sky.  Then I added the word "Breathe" and snowflakes from SDX027 Breathe set which is a Limited Edition set.  I heat embossed both with silver embossing powder.


Same focal image - very different look on the card. 

Have a wonderful stamping day!

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Roses and More Roses

One of the things I love are flowers -- all kinds of flowers. I may not know the name of  all the flowers I like but I love to have the colorful addition of flowers in my garden and in my life. I love having the splash of color in the yard that flowers bring to my life.    Some of the kinds of flowers I love are Vinca flowers in my flower bed.  They are bright and colorful.  Once they get established in the spring, there is not much you can do to kill them.  They withstand drought-like conditions, excessive rain,  bright sunshine and shade. The leaves are shiny, and the colors pop. And they bloom (without deadheading them!)  all summer long until a hard frost in the fall. 
 
And I love the Knock-out Roses for much the same reason - they bloom all summer and they come back the next year, no dead-heading, bloom through drought or excessive rain, they do need a lot of sunshine, and they just bloom and bloom.  They are bright and colorful and add beauty to my yard.
 
This Cottage Rose stamp http://techniquejunkies.com/cottage-rose/ from Technique Junkie Stamps reminds me of the Knock-out Roses.   So very pretty. 
 
I colored in the roses on this card with the Art Anthology Gel Mediums.  I used several shades of  pinks, a coral, and reds.  I painted the leaves with two  shades of green.   I set it aside and let it dry for a few minutes, and then I spritzed the background with a couple of sprays of color from the Art Anthology sprays. The Gel Medium resists the sprays. I use a paper towel to soak up any extra spray and to "mop up" what is being resisted on the Gel Medium.  I added a  saying from the new October Release Mae West Sentiments 2 set http://techniquejunkies.com/mae-west-sentiments-2-set-of-5/ at the bottom of the card. 
 
 
 
 
For this next card I colored the roses with my Copic markers.  I sponged blue ink over the background for the sky. And I added a couple of gentle spritzes of Art Anthology sprays.  I stamped a greeting from the Things I want to Do set http://techniquejunkies.com/things-i-want-to-do/.  I swiped an ink pad over the base card stock edges, added layers and some beads -- and I finished.  



I hope you have some colorful flowers in your life!  If not -- then stamp some! Add some color with inks!  Have a great day!

Friday, October 2, 2015

A Toilet, A Toothbrush, and A Surprise


 

Children are full of adventures and surprises. This particular day the adventure was about a toilet and a toothbrush.   They do not seem compatible do they?  After all toothbrushes are for cleaning teeth, right?  So after naptime, what is a cute and adorable 2 year old supposed to do, but brush her teeth right?  I knew the older brother was awake, but I didn’t think she was awake. 

In just a few minutes, both of these children came to me.  The front of her shirt was soaked – AND had blue spots all over it. But her pants were dry.  HMMMM – what was that on her shirt?
 
Then she said, “I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet.”  Ahhh – that mystery solved.  The blue spots were from toothpaste!  And brushing her teeth explains why the shirt was soaked and the pants were dry.   So I asked the older brother, “Is her toothbrush still in the toilet?”  Foolishly I thought one of them had pulled it out and perhaps put it with the other toothbrushes on the sink.  And if not I HOPED it was still in the toilet.  But no, the report was that she flushed the toilet and the toothbrush is “UNDER the house.”  So I sent Mommy a text to tell her she need to buy a new toothbrush while she is at the grocery store. 
 
Children do childish things.  And this is one of the adventures you can have with small children living in your house.  And either you laugh or you cry.  Laughing is MUCH better!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

October Release Blog Hop!

It is that time again -- another release for Technique Junkie Stamps.  I find these releases so exciting.  I love seeing and using new stamps!  You should have arrived here from Jerri Jones's blog --  http://www.abushelandahug.blogspot.com If not then please start at the Design Team Blog http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.com. 


I have two cards for you using three new stamps or stamp sets!    Both cards feature the new hawk stamp http://techniquejunkies.com/hawk-small/.

For this first card I stamped and water colored the hawk sitting on the branch with Peerless Watercolors.  Then I masked out the sky and focal image to create the moon.   I sponged in the moon to color it, and then covered it with a mask.  I created a mask for the hawk, and stamped  Blustery Day http://techniquejunkies.com/blustery-day/ over all with black ink.  Then I sponged in color for the night sky.   I used a saying from the new word set called Mae West Sentiments 2 http://techniquejunkies.com/mae-west-sentiments-2-set-of-5/ stamped on vellum and then adhered with adhesive from my Xyron machine.
 
My second card also features the hawk and the new Wood stamp  http://techniquejunkies.com/wood/.  I also used a stamp called Living on the Edge http://techniquejunkies.com/living-on-theedge/ for the greeting on the front.  I stamps and water colored the hawk with Peerless Watercolors. Then I used the same hawk mask from above and masked out the hawk.  I spritzed a small amount of the Art Anthology sprays for the sky.  I stamped the wood grain stamp on light brown card stock, sponged over it all, and then I also spritzed this piece and the saying piece with the Art Anthology sprays carrying over the same type of look.

 
I want to send you on the way to the next blog to hop so that you can see the exciting work being done.



 
  
After you have finished hopping your next stop should be here: http://techniquejunkies.com/september-2015-releases/. Please remember that all October Releases (only) will be discounted with a 15% off through October 9. The discount will show up in your shopping cart at checkout.

Have a great inky day and enjoy the Blog Hop!  Hop along to Marilyn's blog and see her wonderful creation! http://DollsEtc.blogspot.com