Tuesday Trigger: It's Completely Collagical!

hey all you crafty types!

there's a new challenge i wanted to participate in for this blogpost...  again over at Moxie Fab World for the Tuesday Trigger: It's Completely Collagical from July 30th. today's the cutoff - nothing like leaving it to the last minute!  but to be fair to myself, i DID pull out a bunch of stuff from my stash when i first saw the challenge pic, because the inspiration started to flow right away!  love the colours and images used here:

can't get enough of this blog - there's ALWAYS awesome inspiration, and being the Trends Editor for Paper Crafts Mag, of course Cath has the latest and greatest pics and products to share with her followers.

so on to my submission for this challenge:

i started by inking up this Hero Arts cling stamp called Flourish Background, using Colorbox Chalk ink (by Clearsnap) in Toffee, to stamp my card's background.  then i tore up a page from an old Maeve Binchy book and glued the pieces down with a Scotch Wrinkle-Free gluestick.  i thought since the paper from the book-page is quite thin, i didn't want it getting all warpy on me.

then i cut out some faux postage pieces from ArtChix Studio that i've had in my sticker drawer forever, and stuck them on randomly.  first i inked their edges with the toffee ink.

next came a great wooden teapot from Kaisercraft that happens to have flourishes that really matched my background stamp well!

a few other additions of some buttons from my jar, and a definition from this pack by embellish IT!,

 and a dimensional frame from this K&Company pack called Tim Coffey Fall Frames.

last but not least, i added a few red pearls by the definition label, and a piece of twill ribbon that was pre-printed with 'treasured moments' that really fit with my theme!  here's a few close-ups of my card:

so there you go!  i sure hope Cath likes my submission, cuz i really like how it turned out!

cheers,
Karin the Crafty Girl

Tuesday Trigger on Moxie Fab World

hey all you crafty types!

anybody a follower of the blog Moxie Fab World, hosted by the uber-fab Cath Edvalson?  she is the Trends Editor for Paper Crafts Magazine, which i subscribe to and absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!  yes folks, that was a triple-love...  it's a great magazine with lots of awesome ideas, tips & tricks, and a monthly contest to boot.  and if you subscribe, you also get the digital edition free, which i load onto my iPad so I can view it when i'm just sitting around or in need of inspiration.


anyhoo, back to my opening train of thought about the Moxie Fab World.  Cath holds lots of challenges over there on her blog, and if you get a chance to play along you totally should!  you can win some GREAT prizes, even just for leaving comments!  check out the blog - you'll become a follower in no time flat!

i decided to play along with today's Tuesday Trigger challenge, and the photo is...  dum da da dum...

lovely colours, don't you think?  of course, you can glean whatever inspiration you want from the photo, whether it be the colours used, or the pattern, or whatever!  i happened to pickup some PinkPaislee "resist" Artisan Papers recently, and one of the patterns jumped into my mind to use for this challenge.  so it was the circles that caught my eye, rather than the colours...

here's what i came up with:

been playing with gelatos a lot lately, and i just keep learning new ways to use them!  gotta get me the whole colour palette!  these metallic colours i used really have a nice shimmer to them.


supplies used:

white & purple cardstock
pinkpaislee resist artisan papers (circles)
Faber-Castell gelatos - metallic colours
q-tips & baby wipes - to clean off 'resist' areas
Mark Richards glitter dome crystal stickers
Peel Offs silver border stickers
Sookwang double-sided tape
Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares
Hampton Art Stamps - you are amazing
Offray 1/4" ribbon in turquoise
Staedtler pigment liner (for black edging on sentiment)
Marvy corner notch punch

have a crafty day!

karin the crafty girl

Playing with Distress Inks

hey all you crafty types!

i've been away far too long...  i think it's high time i got back into the blogging groove! need to drum up some new followers, and provide some inspiration for my current peeps!  :)

so - speaking of inspiration, i have made a bunch of card-packs recently, based on a lovely (and luckily, EASY) technique i found on the Ranger website.  those folks (especially t!m holtz - my craft guru as you probably all know) sure do know how to inspire the masses!

let's get started - i was careful to take step-by-step photos as i went along, so i could share my efforts with you all.

DISTRESS INK BLENDING - CARD SETS

MY FINISHED SET

tools required for this project:

• 4 Distress inks in coordinating colours, light to dark for a graduated look
• black ink
• foam blending tool
• 3"x5" sticky notes
• white cardstock, 4" x 5 1/4"
• cardstock for the card base, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (kraft or black look great, but use whatever colour you like that coordinates with the Distress Ink colours you choose)
• a large background stamp, at least 4" long so you don't have to try and line it up
• a long, tall stamp in your choice of image
• a sentiment stamp
• corner punch of your choice (i used a small corner rounder)

begin by choosing 4 Distress Ink colours that go well together - a light colour first, then continuing darker colours.  you will finish with the darkest colour.  (my choices were Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Weathered Wood, and Broken China)

gently tear sticky notes down the long side, leaving the repositionable sticky back part intact to stick onto your cardstock as a mask towards the left side - you will end up with blank space on the right side to stamp a sentiment.  (just reverse sides if you want your sentiment on the left!)  next grab your blending tool with foam attached, and beginning with the lightest colour, add ink to the top 1/4 portion of the white cardstock.  continue with the next 3 colours, lightest to darkest, overlapping a little with each new colour.  as the distress ink dries, you'll be left with a smooth, blended look that is awesome!  (HINT:  i did 4 of these at a time so I would end up with a set of 4 cards...  you could just do 1 card, or 100 if you're so inclined!)

leaving your sticky note masks in place, stamp your chosen background image in one of your Distress Ink colours (I used Weathered Wood in this image, with a background stamp from the Mixed Media set by Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz collection.  sorry - no photo of that set!)

once again leaving your masks in place, choose your main image...  it can be one that fits completely within the open area, or a wider image - but keep in mind that only the portion that fits within the open area will be left when the masks are removed.  i have used both of these stamp sets and they look lovely!  on the left is Delicate Branches, and on the right is Meadow, both by Inkadinkado

ink up your stamp with black ink - i used Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, but have also used Momento Tuxedo Black for a nice, crisp image

please off your sticky note masks to reveal the great, uneven edging

now that the Distress inks are completely dry, you can see how the colours have softened up and blended really nicely!  add a sentiment to the right bottom corner, round the right top & bottom corners on the layering white cardstock, as well as the card base, stick your layers together with double-sided tape - and voila, you're done!!  i left these quite simple, but if you want to add ribbon, rhinestones, or other accents to make it your own, have fun & embellish away!

 

take care,
karin the crafty girl

R U still out there?

hey all you crafty types!

just wondering if anybody is still out there, hopefully waiting that i will someday post again... well today is your lucky day! i had the urge to send a shout out to the blogger world. hope to keep this up, as life might actually slow down for a while and allow me time to play!

cheers,
crafty girl

National Craft Month

hey all you crafty types!

did you know that march is National Craft Month? what a terrific reason to celebrate! for those of us who love to craft, vow to try a new crafting technique during National Craft Month; or perhaps you can teach someone how to do your favorite craft. (i know that having more stamping friends couldn't hurt!) i think National Craft Month can also be the perfect excuse to pull all those half-finished projects out of their hiding places and get them done. i have a few left from the CHA Show workshops that need to be completed. then i could put everything away!

for those who don't make crafts (god forbid!), what better reason to start crafting? crafting has many benefits - it can help reduce stress, bring families closer together, and you can learn new skills too! now if only i could get my husband to do some rubber stamping with me... i know he's just itching to get his hands on all my goodies! hehehe! (i know he's going to read this.) there is such a wide array of options out there if you're looking for a new hobby - just a quick google search and you'll find oodles of ideas. it's quite incredible!

in my opinion, EVERY month is craft month... LOL!! if i went even a week without doing some sort of crafting at my uber fabulous desk, i'd go berserk! and since i know he's reading, thanks again matthew for building me such an amazing workspace. love you sweets!

cheers,
crafty girl

My ETSY Store

hey all you crafty types!

do any of you sell on ETSY? i started a site of my own last April. www.craftygirlcards.etsy.com. it really hasn't done much, but then again, i haven't really had the time (or made the time?) to spend on it. i had so much to do with all my craft fairs in the fall that i barely even put any christmas cards on there! not to say they would have sold if i did more... none of the ones i HAD listed sold. but anyway, i'm not getting discouraged.

i finally decided this week that i'd get a bit more involved and get some more products listed on my site. you can't sell if you don't try, right?! cruise on over there sometime and check it out. there's so much cool stuff to see on ETSY that i'm sure my little site gets lost amongst the crowd, but it's an effort at least to get my products seen by people all over the world. ain't the web a marvelous invention?!


here's a couple of the cards i made last week that i listed on my ETSY site. hope you enjoy your day and get some crafty-time in somewhere!

cheers, crafty girl