She Who Stamps & Scraps

A Fond Farewell to Frilly & Funkie

This is my last project as a design team member with Frilly and Funkie, and I want to thank Linda and all my DT buddies for their support, friendship, and encouragement over these last nine months.  I've loved being part of this team!

The current challenge ("Make it a Tag - Winter or Christmas") is hosted by Terry.  I decided to make a jumbo pocket tag using Tim Holtz's Snowflake On-the-Edge die.  I used the Snowflake Texture Fade to emboss my XL tags.  I was careful in placing my old book page upside down so the music would be in the right direction when I folded it over as a flap.

I used a few wintery stamps and lots of Tim's Idea-ology: Adage Tickets, Muse Token, Brads and Metal Corners.  A strip of Linda's white corrugated cardboard (colored with a light rub of Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks) finishes it off.

I used the Vintage Photo to highlight the raised snowflakes, too.  Please join us at Frilly and Funkie to see what the design team has created and then add your tag to the challenge... it's open through Christmas Day.

Thanks for visiting!

Marjie

Tattered Florals Card and Take Ten Magazine

I made this card using Distress Inks and stencils, the Sizzix Tattered Florals die, and a Studio 490 sentiment stamp. I wanted to use one of Wendy Vecchi's new stencils and I chose the Fresh Flowers stencil. You get six shapes on the single stencil ~ three different flowers and three styles of stem.  Kim has all of Wendy's stencils in stock at Eclectic Paperie, including the new Brick Wall one that's on my wish list. (Santa has received a long wish list!)

The large black flower is dry embossed, the center one is heat embossed, and the small one on top is both dry and heat embossed. After stamping and dry embossing, I pressed the flowers into my Versamark pad and embossed with clear powder. 

I used spare chipboard pieces as spacers between the flowers to raise them up for added dimension. I also used Glass Bead Gel for the stem, which adds some really nice texture.  After the gel had set overnight, I used Dylusions Ink Sprays in a Water Brush to color the stem further.  The color soaked into the bead gel very nicely.

Love the way you can see the Glass Bead Gel but also see through it to the stenciling below. Last step was to dip the edges in Versamark and heat emboss them before mounting the panel to the black card. I'll enter this at Fashionable Stamping Challenges for their 'To Die For' challenge, the Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group challenge, and Creative Every Day. I'd also like to share a card that was published in the Winter 2013 issue of Take Ten:

It has little stamping and plain cardstock, so it hardly feels like my style, but I made it for a Washi Tape challenge they had last spring. You have to submit so far ahead that sometimes it's nearly a year's wait to see if they accepted your submission.

Have you seen who's on the cover of this issue?  My dear friend, Lynne Moncrieff, who I know many of you hold dear as well.  Lynne does such intricate stamping and just gobsmackingly gorgeous work with lace.  Besides being the cover girl of this issue, Lynne has loads of gorgeous work featured inside as well. Check out her blog if you aren't already following... you'll be in for a real treat.   

Thanks so much for visiting today! 

Marjie 

Tutorial: Memory Glass Ornaments

    
Making ornaments this weekend was a surefire way to get into the holiday spirit! We got our tree, did most of the decorating, and pulled out our ridiculously large collection of Christmas music.

I had the tunes cranking while I made these ornaments using 2" square Memory Frames from Eclectic Paperie. You can fit up to three layers of paper in each, and they're very easy to use. Just lay out the pieces you want visible (front and back), plus a scrap to serve as a third layer if needed (depending on the thickness of the paper you choose). 

Stack the pieces with the glass serving as outermost parts, and gently set into the opened frame (it hinges open and closed quite easily):

       

Once it's held in place, continue closing the frame and slide the little tab on the upper right into the slot on the side.  All set!  

It's important to remember that anything you add (besides ink) counts as a layer.  I added a little punched snowflake to the snowman with the red scarf, and that meant not adding any other paper.  Same with the words I added to the blueprint snowman - that frame is full now with three layers (stamped image, back paper, and stamped words).

The larger snowman ornament has a sparkly gem glued to the outside of the glass above the punched snowflake, giving it a nice 3D appearance.  The Christmas tree and full-body snowman are from Tim Holtz's new Mini Blueprints stamp set.  

I stamped these on Specialty Stamping Paper which really makes a difference.  It's a bit more expensive but it takes ink like buttah! It's especially useful on small projects like this... I don't use it all the time but it really pops when I do. I masked off the two snowmen so I could keep their whites, white. Using a combo of Distress Markers and Distress Inks, I colored them in.  I used magazine cut-outs so the backs will be nice looking when hanging on my tree.  

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. The frames and glass are available in a variety of sizes at Eclectic Paperie and they can be used for jewelry making, as well.

Have a great week!

Marjie 

Linking to Creative Every Day

Frilly & Funkie - A Light in the Darkness

Rebecca Primrose is hosting the current challenge at Frilly and Funkie, and she asks us to create with light in mind. I thought I'd try to get into the holiday spirit with some of my favorite Tim Holtz holiday ATC-sized stamps.  I used distress markers and distress inks to color these, after first stamping in jet black archival.  

I restamped the faces onto Specialty Stamping Paper (Ranger) and used the picket fence marker to color the hair and beards.  I used a strip of Linda's corrugated cardboard, dyed some ribbon with distress stain, and attached some of Tim's Idea-ology.  

The little lantern is another ATC-sized stamp, which I colored with distress markers and then heat embossed with clear powder. Three little stars from stash.

That's it for me!  Hope you will join us at Frilly and Funkie.  Though Linda's shop is temporarily closed due to her move, we are still issuing a $25 gift certificate to her shop for a random winner (redeemable upon reopening in January) as well as a blog badge for the design team favorite.

I'll also enter this at Our Creative Corner (Santa) and Try it on Tuesday (Inky).

Many thanks for the visit.

Marjie

First Time Selling at a Craft Show

Thanks for all the encouragement last week about taking my first booth at a holiday fair! It happened on Sunday, and it went very well. Here's a shot of me and my space:

Most people hadn't heard of mixed media before but they seemed interested and I had quite a few sales. My sister Cathy helped me and it was great to have a second pair of hands and eyes. I was also really lucky to find a tag sale on Saturday where a woman was selling store fixtures for next to nothing. I purchased the best little dress and two metal racks that held my magnets:

  

I also had many sizes of canvases:

Last night I added the remaining magnets and canvases to my Etsy shop. Please pop over to see the full inventory if you're looking for any gifts, stocking stuffers, etc.   

Thanks so much for the visit.  Have a great week!

Marjie

Dance!

Here's a new favorite... I made it last week for the craft show I attended today. More on that tomorrow!  This is a 9" X 12" on canvas. The color comes from Dylusions Ink Sprays. I've alose used Tim Holtz's Tissue Wrap and lots of Prima flowers.

I'm sharing this with Artists in Blogland. Thanks for stopping by!

Marjie 

Eclectic Paperie Design Team - First Post!

I'm posting today as a member of the Eclectic Paperie design team... so honored to join this talented team! My fellow new team members, Alison Bomber and Annette Green, are also posting today so please be sure to check out their creations, too.

It was fun to rifle through the box of goodies Kim sent from EP and come up with a plan. I knew I wanted to work with an inexpensive wood framed mirror I'd picked up recently at Michael's. The new Curiosity Collection from Authentique appeals to me and I realized I could make the mirror a teacher's gift since many of the patterns are school-ish.

I used two pieces of a Maya Road triangular chipboard album to make the frame more interesting, covered them with paper, and added Wendy Vecchi's Blossom Bucket flowers to each one. This is the first time I've used the BB pieces... they're really very intricate and highly textured, yet not too heavy.  I think I want to get another set and save it to use as stamps!

After cutting squares and distressing the edges, I embellished the plain teal squares with a Market Street Stamps alpha stamp and Dyan Reavely's letters background stamp, using black archival ink.

I started thinking of this hanging in a teacher's classroom and how there are frequently motivational signs in classrooms saying things like "You're a Star Student!" so I grabbed some Maya chipboard stars and covered them with more of the patterned paper.

I picture some little cutie Kindergartener smiling at his/herself in this one.  

Please visit Eclectic Paperie and check out Kim's site, store, blog, videos, etc.  On Tuesday, December 4th, EP is participating in Ali Edwards' December Daily Giveaway so you might want to sign up to follow the EP blog... there will be prizes!

Hope you have a great day!

Marjie

Maya Road - Mixed Scallop Triangle Banner Album

Wendy Vecchi - Blossom Bucket - Large Flower Centers

Authentique - Original Collection Kit

Dylusions Cling Stamps - Basic Backgrounds

Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot

Art Journal Cafe - Color Challenge

Happy Friday! I hope everyone who enjoys Thanksgiving had a lovely day yesterday. I'm joining my friends in Belgium today with the color challenge they're hosting over at Art Journal Cafe.  

I used paints and archival inks on this one, along with Tim Holtz's tissue wrap, and the Sizzix Washer Border and Word Play dies.  Speaking of Sizzix... I'm hosting the product focus today over at Frilly and Funkie, and we're focusing on the Word Play and Cargo Numbers dies.

Lots of play with the colors and blending... I really enjoyed this. I stamped the cage on clear plastic packaging and adhered it with some matte medium. The vine is a punch, and I used some black enamel accents to make a chain to hang the cage. 

Thanks so much for the visit!  Please do have a look at my Etsy shop ~~ everything is 20% off today through Monday to celebrate Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Use code THANKSGIVING20.  

Shopping hand made is so much better than big box... don't you think?   

Marjie 

Grateful

I'm hosting the current challenge at Frilly and Funkie, and I've chosen chipboard and metal as necessary components for whatever you feel like creating.  Be it stamping, scrapping, art journaling, collage.... whatever makes you happy, please make something using these two items and join us.  Our challenge runs through Tuesday, November 27th.  

I'm also joining in with the Simon Says Stamp and Show 'give thanks' theme. I've made this card for my sister and her husband, who have hosted Thanksgiving for the last 20+ years.  They are wonderful hosts and always make it seem as if it was easy to pull off, even when they have 30+ people.  This year we'll be a 'small' group of just sixteen.

I'm also very grateful to have had my first 'in real life' meeting with Anita Houston last week.  You know Anita from The Artful Maven Haven.  We laughed and talked like old time pals (well, we reallyl are, after all this time together in blogland!):

 

I've had the pleasure of working with Anita on the Our Creative Corner design team, as well as currently on Frilly and Funkie.  She's amazingly talented and very funny. 

I used the Sizzix Wordplay and Tag dies, Tim's Scallop On-the-Edge die, and two Texture Fades for added interest.  My color comes from Ranger's Archival Inks (Ginger, Saffron, Rust, Monarch Orange):

After applying the colors randomly with Ink Blending Tools, I spritzed the letters with Forever Red Perfect Pearls Mist.  Check out the sheen:

I've aged the keyhole with paint and added a flower and brad from my stash.  The keyhole made the tag look like a door (in my mind, anyway) and made me think of my sister's house. Once I went to put the letters on I realized I was a bit long on the word, so I switched out the 'r' for a thinner one from stash:

Thanks so much for visiting. Please join in at Frilly and Funkie. There's a $25 shop gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique for a random winner, and a blog badge for the design team's favorite project.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

Marjie 

Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Word Play Die	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tag and Bookplates Die	Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fades - Dot Matrix and Gridlock Set	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Locket Keys
Ranger Archival Ink - Sepia	Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Brushed Corduroy	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot
Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists - Perfect Pearl	Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool-With 2 Blending Foams	Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Foam

Wendy Vecchi Group Challenge and Masking Tutorial

This week the Wendy Vecchi yahoo group is looking for gesso (one of my favorite things) and Paper Issues wants stamping.  I pulled out a 12X12 piece of Ranger's manila card stock and went to town with it, and then cut it down into 6X6 quarters to use on different projects. I used Wendy's new flower stencil with gesso on the painted/inked panel.

There really is something special about that manila. I've tried using file folders but the paints and inks just don't show the same way. One of my favorite posts from earlier this year was showing as many projects as I could make from one piece of it, which I posted here.

This journal is made up of watercolor papers, and this page is one that's been painted with gesso to cover previous efforts: 

The challenge for myself on this was to bring the journal page up to match the manila paper. Because the paper bases were different it took some time to play with my Golden Paints to make a match. This is one of those ones where if you have time to let things dry, it's a pleasure.

I stamped the open design flowers randomly and then made a mask using sticky-back paper, like post-its:

I covered the flowers with the mask one at a time, then stamped Wendy's script background without a block, intentionally missing some parts. Then I painted over the page several times with different washes of color:

Last, I layered on paints and more stamps. I liked the way the gesso seeped into the paints on the manila piece, maintaining its white but showing traces of the underlying colors. Gave it a pop of magenta paint in the center and outlined everything with black Faber Castell gelatos, smudged with my fingers.

Thanks for the visit!

Marjie