Clean and Simple Card and Distress Oxide Inks

OK - I will admit it - I am addicted to my distress oxide inks and I am anxiously waiting for the next group of colors to come out.  I think I should be stalking someone but I don't have time for it.

The new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches intrigued me.  How could I pull this off and then a light bulb went off in my head - cleaning stopped - and I was off to create.  Of course, it does not take much to let me leave cleaning and create or just do anything else.

I use a rectangle die to cut a piece of Bristol smooth card stock.  I love to use this with my oxide inks.  I also cut a scrap piece of paper to work out my cuts and once satisfied, I cut two dies into the shapes.

I smooshed oxide ink on my work surface and sprayed it with water.  I dipped the large triangle and then sprayed with with water to make it lighter in color.  The small triage was dipped a couple times to get a darker color.  After this was done, I laid all three pieces on my work surface and added splatters (I have a problem with plain white - it is so plain - it scares me.)

I had a new floral stamp from Rubbernecker stamps and decided to stamp that on the large triangle with VersaFine black onys ink.  I just kept moving the stamp over and down until I filled the bottom of the triangle.  I stamped the sentiment with the same ink on the upper piece.

I made a top fold card base and adhered my pieces to the card base.  After it was assembled on the card base I decided it needed just a little piece of something along that line.  My Favorite Things has a 6 x 6 pad dedicated to black/white narrow stripe paper - one design straight and one design on the diagonal.  It is wonderful.  Thank you My Favorite Things for doing this.  I then trimmed down the card base so the card sketch covers the entire front of the card base.

I liked it so much I had to make a second one but in a different color.

Addicted to Stamps and More's challenge this week is clean and simple.

The challenge at the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp is Anything Goes.

I  am also entering this card into the challenge at Rubbernecker Stamps where the challenge is Ready For Summer.  I love all the flowers in the summer.  Before I had paper therapy I had dirt therapy which I still indulge in.

Thanks for stopping by.  It has been a good week because I have gotten to do some creating this week.  Being creative is so good for your inner soul.

Playing With Paper and a Sketch Challenge

This week I have a little time so I am playing with a few challenges.

I really liked the sketch at The Paper Players.

For some reason I had a 12 x 12 Iris case on my design table and there was this very old grouping of paper.  It is very well aged but I think you will agree it still makes a wonderful card.  I did have to add a dark brown mat to the base layer of the sketch.  Of course, it used up more pieces of the paper which is great in my world.  Only one million more pieces of paper to use and that is not counting the 500  6 x 6 pads.

The sentiment is from a Penny Black set.

The pink strip was cut with a My Favorite Things die and then a little twine bow was glued to it.

I have kitted 3 more of this same card.  I have a friend who is going to send cards to troops from her state of Minnesota.  She helped me earlier in the year with card for Wisconsin soldiers.

Remember of show some love for your old supplies.  You can always come join me for Oldie Moldie Monday where I always try to use some old paper in my cards.

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday time to show some love to your old supplies.

I had these cute minion stickers and I wanted to make some kids cards.  The plaid paper had been floating around my craft room so I finally used it.  The majority f the other paper used is scraps from the overflowing scrap bin.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.  You might just bring a smile to someone's face and what a wonderful thing to do.

Happy Birthday Avery

Teenage boys - what do you do for a birthday card for them.  Even when I finished this card I was afraid it was too young but his Mom said it would be fine.

The image is a digi image that I have had - and I have no idea where it came from.  I do apologize for this.  The patterned paper is very old but I loved the colors the when I ran across it so wanted to use it.  There are still scraps so maybe there will be more cards coming.

I am entering this at the Seize the Birthday Challenge blog.  The challenge is to use patterned paper.

This is the inside of the card.

Thanks for stopping by.

You Are Great

I celebrated my birthday this month.  One day in the mail, I received a beautiful card and a new stamp set from my friend Annie.  I had to use the stamp set immediately and make a card to send back to her.

I colored the background with oxide inks.  (I love my oxide inks - when are the next set of colors coming out?)  The flower is done with two different stamps.  The darker orange inside is a solid stamp you stamp on top of the first layer of stamping.  I colored the main part of the flower with a Gina K Ink.  The sentiment is two stamps also.  

I can see all kinds of design possibilities with this stamp.  I need to carve out a time to just play.

I am entering this card into the weekly challenge for the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp.  The challenge is to Use More Than One Stamp.  I used the same stamp set but it was four different stamps used to make this card. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please have a lovely and safe holiday. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday - time to who some love for your old supplies.

I have been working on cards for the Collins Home  and a military box and had picked up these stickers on clearance or at the dollar store - not for sure.  But I made three cute cards that will some child's day special.

The paper is old Basic Grey.  Miss that company.

Remember to use your old supplies.

Oldie Moldie Monday

As I was cleaning, I came across a sheet of double sided pattern paper from Basic Grey.  It started talking to me and I immediately went to my design table and made four cards.

The first two cards will go to the Collins Home in Seneca, South Carolina.  The cards I sent are given to the children who live in the home.

These last two cards will be sent to a friend who is gathering cards to be sent to some troops from her home state.  Many of my card making friends helped me send cards over to a group of soldiers from Wisconsin so I like to help out my friends doing the same thing.

The cards are very simple but they will be appreciated by many.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Happy Little Stampers May ATC Challenge

It is time for a new ATC challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

An ATC is a small piece of art that measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches.  It is so fun to create in this small format.

The challenge is to use Gold on your ATC

My ATC start with a kraft base.  I brushed white gesso on the edges of the kraft base.  I then stamped two of the flowers on vellum and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  I also embossed two leaf stems.  The leaf stems had a coordinating die so I did not have to fussy cut them like I did the flowers.  I heat embossed the sentiment in gold on kraft. 

I really like how the gold and vellum look on the kraft.  It is a real contrast. 

I hope you will pop over to Happy Little Stampers and play along with us this month and make an ATC using gold on it.

There is a prize - $20 to the Happy Little Stampers store.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies May Challenge

It is May - it is time for a new challenge using your dies at Happy Little Stampers. 

It is the best kind of challenge - Anything Goes.

I have some birthday's coming up so wanted to get a start on my cards.  The background for the card is made with distress oxide inks.  I do love my oxide inks.  I just used three colors and made wide stripes across a panel.  The white was die cut with a overall die.

The flowers are dies from Tim Holtz wild flowers.  The paper was first colored with distress oxide ink - Black Soot.  The birthday sentiment is three layers glued together with the top layer colored with the same pink oxide ink used in the background. 

Here is a close up of the sentiment.

Here is a close up of the wild flowers.

Please come join us at Happy Little Stampers for our Anything Goes With Dies Challenge. 

Did I tell you - there are prizes.  The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to use at the store.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

I had this new little monkey stamp and wanted to make a card for a friend who loves monkeys and her favorite color is orange.

The orange papers are well aged oldie moldies.  The sentiment bubble and stamp is something I bought at Hobby Lobby on their recent huge clearance.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Little Stampers May Mixed Media Challenge

It is May - time for a new mixed media challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

It is a fun challenge with all kinds of creative opportunities.

I needed to make a birthday card for my great niece.  She is a wonderful artist so I always feel a little intimidated making a card for her.  This year I decided to go the mixed media route because she has not dabbled in that area of creativity.

For my gold I decided I wanted to use gold foil - not in a nice orderly way - but more abstract in how the gold was used on the card.

The background was made with (guess what) distress oxide inks.  I had received the gold paper with the hearts on it from a fellow card maker and decided to use it on my card.  The Happy Birthday is washi tape with a strip of gold glitter washi tape on top of it. 

The Dina Wakely birds were heat embossed and colored with different oxide inks.  I fussy cut them out.  I added a next of black thread behind the birds . 

So here comes the messy gold foil.  I used a glue pen for foil.  On the top part I just dabbed it across the top so there were all kinds of irregular shapes.  After it dries a little, you just place the gold foil over the top and rub it.  On the birds I just highlighted different areas with the glue and rubbed the foil on.  This was a very fun card to make.

Here is a close up of the birds.

Close up of the sentiment area.

Here is a close up of the top left corner.

I even decorated the inside of the card.  I had a bird left over so I did not want it floating around the design table for years.  I just dipped the inside page onto some distress oxides to add the same blue color as the front of the card.  Glued the remaining bird on and then used my glue and foil to add some gold accents.

Please come join us at Happy Little Stampers for our May Mixed Media challenge. 

Did I tell you there were prizes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Little Stampers May Christmas Challenge

Are you building your supply of Christmas cards for the 2018 Holiday season with the monthly Christmas challenges at Happy Little Stampers.

This month we have a fun challenge for you - it is stars.

I used some new products on this card.  The polar bears are a stamp set from Michaels I bought last season.  I like that there is very little coloring on polar bears.  The star die cut which goes across the entire back of the card is from Penny Black.  (Yes, I did save all those little stars for a future use.)

The background was made is distress oxide inks.  I do love to play with those inks.  I am anxiously awaiting more new colors.

I die cut the stars from the sky portion of the paper.  This was mounted on a silver glitter mat so that the glitter showed through all the openings.

The sentiment was heat embossed in white fine detail embossing powder.

For the snow drifts, I added a layer of gesso which I tapped onto the oxide ink background to give a white/snowy appearance.  I cut two hills from this white/blue colored paper.  I dabbed more gesso on the top of each snow drift to give a very visible line.  The front snow drift is popped up on dimensional tape so I can slide MaMa bear behind it and baby bear sitting in front of her.

I bought some silver star sequins which I glued onto the sky to have a few prominent stars in the sky.

Here is a close up of the stars.

Here is a close up of the sentiment and more stars.

Here is Mama bear and  baby bear looking into the sky admiring the beautiful stars.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers for our May Christmas Challenge.  

Did I tell you there are prizes - check it out.

Thanks for stopping by.