My Cards and Tags: More from 100 Proof Press

I recently blogged about one of my favorite online stamp stores, 100 Proof Press, and included a link to their website which featured a tutorial for a card I made (you can click here if you missed that post). 

But they have so many great images that I couldn't stop with just one card!  Here are two others I made with another few of my 100 Proof Press favorites:

This card was made with 100 Proof Press's Little Squirrel Girl stamp.  This image is so versatile!  And see the white embossed reversed polka dots on the side of the house?  That's another one of my 100 Proof Press faves: Honeycomb Texture.

For this card, I cut out a house shape from some text paper by 7 Gypsies.  I drew a door on the house and filled it in with acrylic paint.  I inked around the edges of the house with Tim Holtz Black Soot distress ink and heat embossed the honeycomb texture to the house using Tim Holtz Embossing Ink and Recollections Opaque White embossing powder.  I also smudged on some Tim Holtz Distress ink in Walnut Stain and Peacock Feathers.

To add some dimension, I cut around the door and folded it open a bit, then stuck some dimension foam squares behind it.  I stamped the Squirrel Girl image and colored it in with Spectrum Noir markers and added some pink chalk to her cheeks.  I cut here out and adhered her to the door.

I added a "Welcome Home" sign made with a piece of My Mind's Eye paper and some alphabet letter stamps from Recollections.

The background of this card is from a picture I took of an adorable house in a forest that I saw on vacation on year.  I love how it turned out!  I'd never thought to combine stamped images with real photography before, but I'm definitely going to employ this technique more heavily in the future.

As I've said before, one thing that I love about 100 Proof Press is their variety of stamps.  Here's another amazing image: Queen of Tea and Cake.  I decided to make it into a Tea Party tag.

I thought the pastels made for a nice party atmosphere and I built up the background with strips of Washi tape and acrylic paint.  I stamped our royal lady with some Ranger Jet Black Archival ink.  And what's a party without some cake?  So I image-transferred a cupcake onto a piece of fabric and stuck it on.

I added a tag at the top and tied on some fabric strips and yarn.  A flower by Petaloo gives it even more oomph!

This lady is such a stunner and she's a great image to work with!  

All in all, it has been a true honor to be a Guest Designer for 100 Proof Press and I highly recommend stopping by their shop if you're needing some truly unique images!

My Cards and Tags: 100 Proof Press Stamps

So I have to share with you one of my favorite online stamp stores: 100 Proof Press!  I've had the honor of doing some guest design work for them this month and I've absolutely enjoyed every minute of it.  They have such a wide variety of images and you can order their stamps unmounted, mounted on cling or mounted on wood.  Their owner is an amazing artist herself and has been wonderful to work with.

Here's a card I made featuring 100 Proof Press's Red Riding Hood stamp and their Mode de Paris stamp.  Click here for the complete tutorial on how I made it (including that nifty "colored haze" around the stamped image).

So really, if you're looking for a pretty sweet stamp store, do check out 100 Proof Press!  And keep checking back here, too, because I'll be posting a couple of other projects using their images soon!

Product Reviews: We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

Being an avid card maker who never has the right sized envelopes to fit my cards, I was intrigued when I saw this Envelope Punch Board from We R Memory Keepers.  I admit that while I do have the Martha Stewart scoring board, which comes with an envelope-making attachment, the attachment always looked intimidating and math-ish, so I never gave it a whirl.  I hoped that this envelope-making board would be easy to use and I am happy to report that it is!

Here's the board with the 6x6 piece of paper I decided to make my envelope with:

The nice thing about this board is that it has a bunch of sizes listed on it so you can see exactly what size of paper you'll need to make which size of envelope.  The instructions are also written right on the machine, which was very convenient.

Here's the paper after I'd punched the sides and scored it according to the directions.  It was super fast and easy to do.

The last step was to fold my envelope and glue down the sides.  NOTE: while you can fold scored lines either way (toward you or away from you), if you're using a double-sided piece of patterned paper and you want a certain pattern to be on the outside of your envelope, be sure to put that side facing down.  Whichever side is facing up will be the inside of the envelope if you're following the indentations of the scored lines.  I didn't realize that and had to fold my lines opposite of how I scored them.  Not a big deal, but something I should've noticed sooner in the process.

Here's my envelope after I glued it together. There weren't any rules on how to glue it (which flap goes down first, etc.), so just do it whichever way you think looks best.  I also folded down the little rounded tab that was poking up in the middle to give the envelope a more angular look.

Last but not least, I inked around the outside of my envelope just to give the edges a little more definition.

After using the envelope punch board, I must give it two thumbs up.  I hate math and really appreciated how all the dimensions were written right on the board.  The scoring tool also stores inside the board, which is another handy feature.  It also has two punches in one: the first makes rounded indentations and the other side of the punch makes rounded corners.  Pretty genius to have one punch doing double-duty depending on which side you stick your paper in.  Another nice fact is that the punch doesn't require superhuman strength to press down and the whole thing seems sturdy enough.  I can see this being a very useful tool and for under $20, you can't beat the price.

Thinking of buying the envelope punch board for yourself?  Here's a YouTube video of this cool tool in action to help you make the final decision.  It really is as easy as it looks!

 

My Other Creations: For the Love of Bracelets

As Stamptember is in full swing, the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog issued a great stamp-related challenge this week: embossing!  And one of my favorite things to emboss are little trinkets and tidbits that I attach to jewelry.  It's quick, it's easy and it gives an added little dimension to ready-made jewelry components.

Here's a bracelet I put together using a gorgeous set of chains from Art i Cake, as well as some ribbon, a Tim Holtz plaquette, and a Prima birdie clip and flower.  I added just a hint of extra shine with some metallic silver embossing powder.

I added the embossing powder to the edges of the number plaquette and to the green Prima flower, as you can see in this close-up.

It's just a small touch, but it's a detail that makes this bracelet unique and gives it just that extra bit of shine for that deserving wrist of yours!

The great thing about heat embossing is that it requires just a handful of supplies.  One tiny bottle of embossing powder goes a long way.  I also adore Tim Holtz Embossing ink.  I've tried other kinds, but Tim Holtz Embossing ink seems juicier than others, which makes it that much easier for your embossing powder to stay in place until you can solidify it with your heat gun.

Here's a list of the products I got from Simon Says Stamp that worked amazingly on this project:

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink

Metallic Silver Embossing Powder

Heat Embossing Tool

Prima Bird Clips

Tim Holtz Number Plaquettes

There are so many ways to emboss and I would love to see what you come up with!  Bask in Stamptember and enter your masterpiece into the Simon Says Monday Challenge blog for a chance to win your own $50 Simon shopping spree.

Tutorials: Adding Dimension with Masking Tape

Being the tape addict that I am, I knew it would only be a matter of time before my paths crossed with masking tape in some crafty way or another.  Sure enough, it did!  And if I would've known how fun and easy it is to add masking tape to collage backgrounds for a little added dimension, I would've tried it much earlier!

So here's what I did:

I started with a sturdy piece of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye.  I had a page from a trashed vintage book that I attached to my patterned paper with Gesso.  I also added some Gesso over the top.

Next I added the magical ingredient: two strips of plain old masking tape.  I just sort of wadded it up and wrinkled it as I stuck it onto the page.

Step number three was to add some random splotches of light teal acrylic paint, which I applied with a foam brush.

While I was at it, I thought I might as well add a layer of green acrylic paint, too.

Once all of that dried, I trimmed the paper to a postcard-size and inked around the edges with Tim Holtz's Walnut Stain Distress ink.  I dabbed on some Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers Distress ink, also from Tim Holtz. I then added this lovely honeycomb image with a stamp from 100 Proof Press.

Perhaps my favorite part came next: the addition of this hilarious postage stamp sticker from K&Company.  How cute is that??  Using Ranger Jet Black Archival ink and Tim Holtz's Peacock Feathers Distress ink, I threw on some postmark stamps from Ma Vinci's Reliquary and some text from a Tim Holtz stamp.

For the finished product, I stamped out the "Miss You" sentiment using Recollections brand alphabet letter stamps (purchased at Michael's) and attached a Prima flower.

I thoroughly enjoyed this project and couldn't believe how easy it was to work with masking tape!  Who knew it would be so fun?  I must say that I will definitely consider masking tape a valuable addition to my crafting supply arsenal from now on!

My Other Creations: Artsy Tea

 STAMPtember is upon us, so be sure to check Simon Says Stamp often for lots of exciting stamping themes and projects and products!  And Oh what fun is to be had at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog this week!  The theme is Stamping All Stars and we pay homage to those go-to, never-fail, all-star stamps that never let us down.  I love bird images and quirky images, whimsical people and random objects, but really and truly, I would not survive long without alphabet stamps.  Maybe it's the English Librarian geekazoid  in me, but I love letters and the freedom to spell whatever sentiment I want. 

Here's a project I made using a set of my beloved alphabet stamps:

What in the world is it, you ask?  Hmmmm.  That's a tough one.  I'm not quite sure myself.  It's a backwards frame onto which I stapled a bunch of colored tea bags.  I added a piece of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye to the background and stamped one of my favorite quotes on the side.  The quote is by Marianne Williamson and I stamped it with Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink.

I'm not a tea drinker (hot chocolate is my go-to beverage of choice), but I love the look of tea bags. I decided to color them using a whole range of ink sprays, which worked remarkably well.  After I spritzed them, I left them outside to dry.  The finished product reminded me of summer and wind chimes and happy things.

Here's a list of the products I used, which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Dylusions Ink Spray In White Linen	Dylusions Ink Spray In London Blue	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Postbox Red	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Pure Sunshine	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Squeezed Orange	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Vibrant Turquiose	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Fresh Lime
Dylusions Ink Spray In Fresh Cut Grass	Archival Ink - Jet Black	Hero Arts Playful Alphabet Stamps	Color Shine Heidi Swapp - Tropicana Teal

As always, if you've got a great project to share with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, we love to see what you've been up to!  And hey-- if you enter, you've always got a chance to win some free moo-lah (fifty bucks worth) at the Simon Says Stamp store.  

 

Product Reviews: Prima "Every Day Vintage" Paintables

For today's product review, I bring you Prima's Paintables from the "Every Day Vintage" collection.  This was a product that was new to me, so I decided to pick up a pack and give the cards a try.

These come in a package of 16 pieces (two each of eight designs) and they retail between $4.99 -$5.50.  They come in three different design packs and the cards come in two sizes (3" x 4" and 4" x 6"), which are the ideal size for Project Life.

These cards are buff-colored and heavy duty with a texture similar to watercolor paper, though not as thick.  But since they are touted as being "paintable," I decided to start with basic, cheapy watercolors.

The paper held up beautifully!  It stayed flat and didn't curl up or shred at all.  Here's the post-painting pic:

After the watercolors worked well, I decided to throw everything I had at this paper.  In the lower left corner, I hit it with two spritzes of Dylusions ink spray (Calypso Teal and Fresh Lime), then followed it up with several layers of stamping (Stampendous Music Score stamp and 7 Gypsies text stamp) and even added some Gesso and acrylic paint.  I used some Recollections alphabet stamps (bought at Michaels) to create the sentiment and stamped a pair of glasses on our distinguished lady using a stamp set from We R Memory Keepers.  I used Ranger Jet Black archival ink and Tim Holtz Black Soot distress ink for the sentiment and to ink around the edges.

All in all, I give this product two thumbs up.  The paper is not invincible (it did get a bit wavy after I hit it with the spritz ink, but I sprayed it at close range and did the spritzes right on top of each other...pretty wet stuff no matter what kind of paper you're using).  But it held up extremely well and I love the images and the vintage look.

Another thing I liked about this product is that it was a good combo of ready-made art and personal art.  I didn't have to do all the work, but the cards were blank enough to let me alter them however I wanted.  The convenient size also makes them easy to turn into a quick gift card or tag.

Lastly, on some subconscious level, I found these cards relaxing to work with.  As I painted inside the lines, it reminded me of all those carefree painting days of childhood.  I didn't have to overthink or stress; I just painted and was happy to follow the lines for once.

Here's a link where you can check out these paintables yourself if they look like something you'd enjoy: Prima Everyday Vintage Paintables.