Day 4 Assignment Punched Flowers Card

Ever have one of those days when you don't like anything you do. Well today was one of those days. Our assignment was to take our punches and make dimensional flowers. Only problem is I really don't have punches because I have a cutting machine. I have a circle punch which went into the garbage because it wouldn't even cut copy paper. I tried with my corner rounder and got some interesting flowers but didn't like them. The instructor mentioned that we could use a die cut. O.K. I have the floral die cut I won I can use that. Of course I didn't think of the circle die cuts I have until I was finished. I finally out of frustration went to clean off my cutting table. There was a couple of small cogs left over from a project,a small sun which ended up being too small for what I wanted to use it for,a couple of daisy petals I decided not to use in a previous project, and the leaves from the stencil I made recently.

I took the frame file in Studio and centered it in my panel and cut my panel out. I then mixed white acrylic paint and purple acrylic ink and painted my panel. I was going to emboss it but put it the wrong side in the folder. I actually think I like it better this way. I took another panel and stamped my sentiment with Royal Purple Stazon ink. Then taking my lace background stamp. I used embossing ink and then rubbed chalk over it. I started with a lighter pink and then went darker as the lace didn't really stand out. It really does have a nice sheen to it. Using a small souvenir spoon (I knew there was some reason I was holding on to it.) and a sharpie I curled the petals up. I did paint the purple petal and sprayed the leaves as they were cut from gray card stock. For the leaves I found the spatula for removing cuts from the mat worked perfectly for drawing the veins in. The gems and pearls are by Teresa Collins.

I could not bring myself to pile on the flowers like the instructor did. I felt like it would detract too much from the beautiful shape of the window, the lace background on the sentiment,as well as the debossing on the panel. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by and do come back. I'm hoping tomorrow while my roommate is working to get Friday's homework done.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Layered Butterfly Card

After all the work I put into this card it is definitely going to go to someone who will appreciate it. This was day 3 homework from the class I am taking. Our assignment was to make a layered embellishment either from a stamped image,a photo,or a digital image. Years ago I modified this image changing the background and attempting to give the butterfly and hydrangea blossoms the look of pastels or chalks. I've wanted to do something with it for a card but up until now didn't know what. I did have to take it into Photoshop to get rid of the background so I could trace in Studio all the layers. After resizing the base layer I forgot to resize the image from Photoshop. I like it a lot better though than in the original. Do I have your interest piqued now? Drums,horns,etc. because this card deserves all the fanfare it can get. ;-)

After all the layers were cut out I did decide to cut off the butterfly antennae and  replaced it with scrap floss. Other than that there was no hand cutting needed. Now that the file is made and saved I will be able to make butterfly embellishments which have dimension to them. I decided to go subtle with pattern and card stock panels because the dimensional panel is so striking. The copper colored panel to the side actually has a sheen to it also and was a scrap piece. I did glitter the bottom background panel with Martha Stewart coarse crystal glitter. Part of the assignment was to also use glitter. The sentiment is part of a rubber stamp that I've had for ages. I used a marker in order to stamp only the sentiment. I'm rather limited to the color of markers I have but I think the metallic purple worked out all right. Originally I had sheer ribbon that I dyed trying to match the hydrangea under the sentiment banner but I took it off. Swapping it out for a sheer yellow and the narrow blue. Although the blue is not the same blue as the other blues in the card I think it works.

There you have it my homework assignment completed after pretty much spending all day. Day 4 is going to take just as long or longer because it is to make flowers from  die cuts or punches for on a card. I think I'm going to have to cheat and use Cameron for some of my flowers as I only have one flower die cut and no flower punches.

Thank you for looking and for those who celebrate Easter Happy Easter. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again.

Home Is Where The Heart Mono-print Card

I am having an absolute ball in Catherine Scanlon's Artful Cards 2 class. Yesterday's lesson was on making mono-prints. I don't have a Gelli plate so had to make my mono-prints the poor crafter way. I spent hours playing with making mono-prints and experimenting with different objects. While looking for other objects to play with I walked in the craft room stumbling over my box of scrap glass which I've been debating about whether to sell or keep.  There is in the box this beautiful piece of really textured glass. I used that for a mono-print and the second time pulling my copy paper off of my plexi-glass I was totally blown away. Here is the card I made from part of the print. I didn't do the hand sewing as I felt like it would detract. LOL! Also it would mean unearthing my sewing machine to make the holes. Oh you wanted to see my card. Here it is:

I embossed vellum with one of the Cuddlebug "Organic border folders. Then backed it with a scrap of card stock which I had used Vintage Photo distress ink over. The sentiment and birdhouses are by G Studio. I curved the sentiment stamp for stamping on the leaf. I stamped the birdhouses on the same piece of scrap as I did for under the vellum. I cut by hand the birdhouse image. A couple of branches tore off in the process but I think I like the look. I debated about where to adhere the birdhouses but decided since there is so much awesome detail near the top to have them down low. Besides the roofs look like arrows pointing the way up so that you don't miss the detail. The leaf is a Silhouette cutting file. I decided to keep the slit in. LOL! It looks like the leaf is smiling.

Today's lesson is using stamped images to make your own layered embellishments. Shh! Don't tell Catherine but I may pass on using the stamped images that way. I would rather cheat by using my Silhouette.

If you have never taken classes I encourage you to do so. If nothing else it gets the creative juices going and motivates you to create more often.

Thank you for stopping by and do come back. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Embossing Folder Homework (2 cards)

I played with embossing more than two panels using the different techniques in the Artful Cards class I'm taking. However, so far have only made two cards. The rest will probably go in my stash for use at a later date. Sorry but due to the confidentiality contract I signed I can not divulge the techniques from the class.

 

 The sentiment tag is chalked. Yes,Beth I'm still trying to use up that gray card stock I bought by mistake. The yellow flower on the ribbon is a button that I cut the shank off of. Folder used is from Sizzix and is from the retired Best Friend set. I guess I wasn't paying attention in Studio because I cut my panels too short to fill the card. I went and used a marker for a top and bottom border.

This is the card that I'm totally excited about how nicely it turned out. The sentiment is from a scrap of card stock that I rounded the corners with my rounder punch. I stamped with copper ink and edged the tag with the same ink. I decided I didn't want to use ribbon so hope I don't get an F. ;-) Instead I found in my stash this butterfly I had cut out of card stock that I had melted shaved crayon on. The folder is Flourish Owl by Cuddlebug. The top of the folder wasn't embossed as the panel was too short but in a way I like that the owl is not boxed in.

That is it for now. I need to go watch the videos for today and start on my homework. I'm a loving taking this class and it is worth sacrificing getting my hair colored and cut. LOL! I'll take art and crafting classes any day over getting my hair done or buying new clothes.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Pochoir Believe Card

Yea! The sun is shining today and I'm able to have my windows open letting in a fresh breeze. I heard today some unfamiliar bird calls so maybe Spring is finally here. The last couple of days I've been working on a Pochoir card. Cameron my trusty Silhouette got a real workout. After my threat of taking him to the thrift store next time I go he has been flawlessly cutting. :-) O.K. enough babbling and on with the crafting.

Pochoir for those who don't know is the technique of using multiple stencils. It was used in the early 1900's in France for hand-color fashion drawing. Mine is not elaborate as those but I used four stencils.

I used the "test" file from the Silhouette store. Yes,it really is named test in the store. Because it was a print and cut file I had to trace it to get the different layers. I could not get one layer of the flower to trace so decided to go more with the stencil look.  I decided to go with a 4x4 size so drew a rectangle that size for the panel I was stenciling on as well as for each part of the image. Since there are no registration marks like in normal multiple stencils it is important that your stencils and whatever you are stenciling on are all the same size. After cutting out all four stencils and my panel I had a little bit of a puzzle on my hands. I didn't keep the stencils all upright so didn't know how each one went. I finally figured it out but it might be helpful to mark before taking the stencils off which way is up and left and right. ;-)


I started by taking my gesso and adding liquid ink to it to get my color.I lined my 1st stencil and panel up. Then using my round stencil brush I started stamping down and up.  Make sure if you decide to do this to not have a lot of gesso mixture on the stencil brush or it will seep under the stencil. Wonder how I know that. Let dry and then add the second stencil and whatever color gesso you want to use. I added yellow paint to my mixture as the green wasn't the shade I wanted for the leaves. Cheap acrylic paint you can buy at a dollar store will work fine for tinting the gesso.

I wasn't thinking so after all the layers were done and dry I went ahead and chalked the background. I was able to wipe the chalk off the gesso areas where I had gotten some but  would recommend if you are going to do something to the background to do it first. Of course you can always do this on some pattern card stock. I also went and added a dab of orchid liquid pearl in the center of the flower.

I knew I wanted to use ribbon for the sentiment. The problem was I didn't have a color I liked. You would think with the ton of ribbon I have that I would have the right shade. Taking the liquid purple that I had used to color the gesso for the flower I made my own color mist. Then sprayed some off white grosgrain ribbon. Once it was dry I heat embossed with turquoise embossing powder. The stamps I used are from Fancy Pants Bella stamp set.

I am so excited!!! I just started today over at My Creative Classroom Catherine Scanlon's Artful Cards 2. There is still time to join in the fun. The registration is open until April something. I don't remember the final date to register.

 In case you have never checked it out My Creative Classroom has all kinds of classes and they are reasonably priced. They also have a few free classes. If you are looking for a frugal way to take classes go check them out. My Creative Classroom LOL! No they don't pay me to advertise for them.  I am just impressed with all that is offered as well as how helpful everyone is.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm off to watch more of the video lessons and then start on the homework. LOL! The homework is optional. Today's lesson is on embossing and she has some wonderful techniques she is teaching. Hope to have soon an embossed card to share.

 My Big Shot will finally be happy to be getting used again. ;-) I knew there was some reason last night that I reorganized my embossing folders. I also was thinking that I really needed to be dusting my Big Shot off.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Hydrangea Thinking Of You Card

It is early morning and I confess that I have not been to bed yet. Once my paint dried I was so excited to put this card together. For the most part I'm pleased the way it came together but I'm still in search of a better water color hot pressed paper. Would you believe that Michaels did not carry the hot pressed. Only the cold which is more textured. O.K. enough jabbering for now. Without further ado here is my card.

I found at Michaels some water color paper that did not say what it was and decided to try that. I wanted to do a reverse resist technique with water color. Basically what you do is with a clean wet brush  remove some of the paint. You keep rinsing the brush out as you work so you are not just pushing the paint around. I was doing that with the blossom part of the hydrangea but then noticed that the paper was starting to pill so quit before I ruined my paper.

I started off by stamping with Stazon ink using Hydrangea stamp by Hero Arts. Then painted metallic water colors all the way across my paper.  I decided to go ahead and paint the leaves and stems. Although it didn't turn out the way I had in mind I like how it turned out.

I found the pink lace in my stash and decided to add it to the bottom. I wish now that I would have used a longer piece of paint sample to put the sentiment on. I punched all around a piece of a paint sample. The sentiment is by Studio G and the stamp has a flower. I used my Memento markers to color just the sentiment for stamping.

One of the women in my book club fell and is in a rehab center so this card will be going in the mail to her. I hope that it will cheer her up.

I'm off to bed. Thank you for looking and do come back. I have some stencils to cut out and hopefully I'll be successful in making a card using the Pochoir method. I also bought at Michaels some acrylic inks and will be playing with those.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Bird Card Using Gesso With Die-cut Negative

Alisa Golden in her book "Painted Papers" shows using stencils with a mixture of gesso and acrylic paint. I decided to see what I could do instead of using an actual stencil using a die-cut negative. Since today it has been snowing and sleeting it was the perfect day to play. Here is what I came up with using a negative from a print and cut bird. I think the bird was a weekly freebie.

I cut my panel out of card stock I bought at a dollar store. Then took my die cut negative of a bird and using a mixture of gesso and white pearl acrylic paint that was tinted started stamping down and up with a stencil brush that was almost dry. After I had totally filled in the cutout I then went and took a dry stencil brush and stamped it up and down to give some texture to my bird.  After the gesso was dry I took my sharpie fine tip pens to color the beak and put the eyes in. Then I took chalk and used both blue and white to add color to the bird.  The sentiment is stamped on a piece of a metallic paint sample which I rounded the corners of with a punch.

Thank you for stopping by.k If you are enjoying Spring weather please send some my way. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Don't Throw Out That Die Cut Negative Yet!

I was being buried under a mountain of die cut negatives. Some of the card stock I had saved because I could get another shape or two out of the card stock.  Some were print and cuts that only half the page was used. I decided yesterday to throw out the ones that didn't really have that much space left on them. My throwing out came to a screeching halt when I found an interesting negative from a print and cut I had done at Christmas time. I remembered seeing in a book using the negative as a mask so immediately sat down to craft. Here is my card which I had so much fun making. (Click image to enlarge)

First I took the negative and placed it over my card stock panel. I decided to go with just one color of distress ink instead of two. Taking Peeled Paint I rubbed it in the opening. I like to use a cotton ball and rub in a circular motion. You could use a foam blending tool. Taking a slightly darker pigment ink I then stamped with my lace background stamp. The lace doesn't show up as well in the photo but it gives a little bit of texture and dimension to the panel. Any background stamp will work. Taking Concorde Grape distress ink I stamp the flowers from a girl's stamp set. I believe it is by Hero Arts but not sure. Then I took two of the sentiments also in the set and stamped using Vintage Photo distress ink. Next step was to outline the shape with my black fine Sharpie. I was making this on a separate panel so did not worry about the Sharpie bleeding through to the other side. Then took my white gel pen and went around the outline again. I took yellow metallic chalk and rubbed it on the background. I knew that the gel ink line would resist the chalk so I could just rub it off. The chalk gives it a little bit of glimmer which unfortunately does not show up in photos. I also took the white and rubbed it over the stamped image for a little bit of glimmer. The panel looked like it needed something so I edged it with a Krylon silver paint pen.

If you are not into stamping you could embellish it with cut out shapes,flowers,stickers,etc. Many of the negatives also make great stencils. I have also used the negative itself adhered on card stock.

That is all for now. Thank you for stopping by and do come back.  Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again! Also Happy Spring!

Cherry Blossom Thanks Card

Today I have another card to share with you.  It took me all afternoon but that was because I was trying to follow directions in a book and make a monoprint for the background. Although my making a monoprint was not entirely successful and I had to do some adapting I'm happy the way this card turned out. Drum roll please!

After much play and getting a nice background but smeared looking tree I gave up and decided to just do the tree. The article for making monoprints said you could use a card stock shape but alas when I tried with card stock it stuck to the panel when I lifted the card stock up. I had a plastic covering from a cutting mat I threw out because it was warped. That worked perfect for cutting my tree out. I painted the plastic tree and placed it on a old acrylic plate from my Big Shot paint side up. A piece of  plexiglass could be used. Then placed my card stock on top and ran my brayer over it. Lifted the card stock up and there was my print. I tried first placing my shape paint side down lifting it up and then placing my card stock on the plate but I didn't like it as well. I love how the paint lifted in places when I pulled the card stock up and carefully peeled the plastic shape off.

Taking chalk ink and a cotton ball and rubbing in a circular motion I did my sky. Then I took my grass mask and using Peeled Paint distress ink made my grass.

I decided to see about heat embossing on ribbon. I think I have heat embossed on certain ribbons but don't remember if I have. I used a copper embossing powder. I debated about using the copper or gold and decided that the gold would be too bright.

I have no idea where I got the cherry tree cutting file from. If you know who the designer is please let me know. All I know is that it was a free file. I only made it smaller as I make standard size cards. I cut the blossoms out of colored card stock. I didn't like the color so while still on the cutting mat I used chalk to soften the color and to give them more of a pink tint. Then patiently glued them on.

That is all for now. Thank you for stopping by and leaving comments. My next card will be using the negative as a mask on a card with stamps.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Easter Popup Card

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope everyone is having a good Sunday. I just finished making an Easter popup card for my granddaughters. This was a real labor of love. I do like how it turned out even though the image ended up being pixelated after taking it into Photo Shop to get rid of the colored lines for folding and cutting.

I do not remember where I got the black and white template from for this popup card. It was probably on a website geared for children. I took the jpg into Studio and traced it. Then I had to add the fold lines in Studio. Then I took the image into Photo Shop to get rid of the colored lines. No easy task. Once it was cut out then it was time to play. I chalked the sky and grass. Colored with color pencils which I really enjoyed doing. I colored the bow with a glitter pen. I had to go back and use a black colored pencil to give it definition. If I do this card again I'll color the bow in with colored pencils also. The Happy Easter was colored also with a glitter pen. I hope that my granddaughters will like it.

That is all for now. I'm off to do sentiments for the inside of my Easter cards so I can get them in the mail this week. That way people can enjoy them a little longer rather than waiting at the last minute.

Thank you for stopping by and do come back again. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

The Beauty Of Easter Card

Today was a rainy day so I decided to play. The hours quickly went by as I tried one thing and then another. I spent awhile playing around with gel resist but didn't like the panel I worked on. I think it might work better with a foam stamp than with an eraser. Since I was going to use it as a background on a card I decided to play some more. Using an eraser as a stamp with ink. Since the eraser shape was pretty much filled in I decided to see if I could do some embellishing of the shape with colored pencils. Since it worked I changed my original idea. Oh and I was listening to Jewel sing again. LOL! I think my muse must really like her singing.

I love how this card turned out. I think the person getting it will love it.

For the background I rubbed Breeze Recollection chalk ink over the gray card stock for sky. I cut a mask out to use for the grass. I used Peeled Paint distress ink. I took a butterfly shaped eraser and stamped the butterfly with Stazon Rusty Brown Ink. Then with a brown colored pencil drew in the body and antennae. As well as used  yellow and vermilion pencils on the wings.

I traced the basket in Studio and turned it into a print and cut. I only wanted the Easter basket and not the rest of what was in the original graphic. I inked the edges of the basket with Vintage Photo distress ink. Originally I was going to weave narrow ribbon in the basket where the ribbon is but when I tried there was some ripping.

I don't know who the quote is by but I love it. I used Lucida Handwriting font for it and use the graduated color option to fill the letters. I inked the edges of the panel with gold ink.

I did a test cut on the popup file I was working on. It worked but now I want to see if I can get rid of the colored folding lines in the image using Photo Shop. If I can't I'll use the file the way it is now. I don't think my granddaughters will mind.

Are you working on any Easter or Spring projects? Have you tried anything new lately?

Thank you for stopping by and do come back. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Spring Joy Card

I don't know whose law it is but all Winter I kept running across my set of Spring/Easter stamps. Now that I've started making cards for Easter I can't find the set. I did find one stamp from the set that had somehow gotten separated. I really think my dogs are crafting when I am not looking.

I am loving the card that I made today. Here is my Spring Joy card:

Usually I do not use my pattern card stock as so many of the patterns seem so large for use on cards. However, I decided to play around after I had the focal image adhered to the circle. Although I had other pattern card stock which would work I liked this the best. It echoes some of the colors. This pattern is from the Me and My Big Ideas Specialty Papers 12x12 pad.

My good friend Beth Norman sent me a newsletter that showed how to use two nestabilties dies by first embossing using two of the dies and then cutting out the larger one. My circle one worked the best for the focal image that I had already printed out. I decided to cut the focal image out with a smaller die. The focal image was a border but I went and cropped it in Photo Shop to use. I thought the words Love were too faint  so I traced over the letters with a blue glitter pen.

I thought I had white grosgrain ribbon but could only find cream color. I decided to use this green ribbon that Santa brought me. It was a little too narrow for all of the flower to show on the i and j but I think it worked pretty well. I am loving how nice stamping on ribbon is turning out. Especially stamping on grosgrain ribbon which is textured.

That is all for now. I am working on modifying a pop up template to work with my cutting machine. So far I think it would be faster to print it and cut it out by hand. LOL! Hopefully I can get it figured out and made up soon.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Don't Throw Out That Old Phonebook

I don't know about your neck of wood but not too long ago we got new phone books. In fact we got one at home and one was in our Post Office Box. Guess the city wanted to make sure that we were covered. Well my roommate got out to the recycle bin the old phone books before I could stop him.

 I decided to use magazines for a card. Well I must have tossed the magazines when I was cleaning because all I could find was some craft magazines that I'm not ready to destroy yet. However, I was sorting through a box marked miscellaneous and there was a phone book from 1998. I had to laugh as that box has made now five moves and phone book has traveled across a couple of states. I decided to use it as collage for a card.

Here is my card:

After gluing the  pieces I had torn out of the phone book and gluing them down with gel medium I brushed some gesso over part of the panel. Once the gesso was dried I started brushing acrylic paint wash over everything and blotting with a paper towel in places like where it says FLOWERS,HAPPY,the sunrise, and the phrase GOOD FOR YOU.  I would let the wash dry and then brush on more I kept doing that until I had the color I wanted. I made the wash with thinned down gold paint,white pearl paint,and Stream alcohol ink. I then stamped flowers and the butterfly after the paint was dry.

I thought my purple ink was dried but alas it smeared when I was gluing the panel down to the front of the blank card. I think this purple ink is only good for heat embossing as I've had problems with it smearing before. As well as a couple of other pigment inks I bought by the same company. Since this is a shabby card to begin with I won't throw it away. And who knows someone may appreciate getting an artsy shabby card. LOL!

The focal image is from Dover and I turned it into a print and cut.  I really like this image.

Next time I think I'll use spray adhesive to adhere the pieces of paper from the phone book. Also I'll use a thicker paint and then dry brush off the excess paint so that it doesn't wrinkle so much.

What have you been working on? Has Spring come to your neck of the woods yet?

Thanks for stopping by and do come back. I'm actually dusting off my Big Shot to use for my next card. I had to play with it today as I could not remember how to emboss using a die with it.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

A Little Bird Told Me Birthday Card

I hope you are having a wonderful day. I've been crafting today listening to Jewel sing on my CD. My muse must like her music because this card evolved from my original idea and I am loving it. I don't know about you but I have trouble making  more masculine cards.

Well I've hung my clear stamps and cling stamps up on a wire rack. When I saw the bird stamp by Stampendous and the sentiment stamp from Inkadinkado Inspiration Lift set I knew they would be perfect together for a card.

Without further ado here is my card:(Click to enlarge)

First I took the bird stamp and used my liquid embossing liquid. With a stamp like this you get more even coverage than with a embossing ink pad. I used my hard mouse pad under the card stock to stamp. It worked better than my stamping plate. Then heat embossed with a copper embossing powder.

I tore a piece of copy paper in a crazy pattern to use for my mask.  Put it on my card stock and chalked with the different colors so that it would look like a sunrise. Or at least I think a sunrise. LOL! I'm never awake that early to see one. Then I chalked the bird. Because the image is heat embossed the chalk will not stick to where it is embossed. I noticed I missed a few spots on the bird so will chalk those before I mail this card. I am going to leave the background showing through the branches and the leaves.

I decided to stamp the sentiment on a piece of ribbon instead of directly or on paper or card stock. I decided to stamp using once again my hard mouse pad. I got a good crisp stamp that way. I discovered that although my black ink worked that it smeared when I cut the ends. :-( My Forrest Green Stazon ink worked perfectly. Originally I was going to stamp on a cream ribbon but when I saw the orange in the rack I decided to try that. I noticed that it really makes the background pop. LOL! It pays for me to have my ribbon now where I can see them instead of in a box.

Although I put in Studio the exact dimension that my blank card is suppose to be my card stock was cut just a hair short. So I decided to have the base color show at the bottom. I will keep that in mind next time I cut card stock for a panel on the front.

What do you think of my masculine birthday card? I'm thinking I can take the same idea and print on the ribbon Happy Easter for at least one card. I'm not sure though whether printing on grosgrain ribbon will be crisp. The only way to find out is to try it. :-)

Wishing you a Blessed day as well as Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

St. Patrick Vintage Lass Card

Here is my last St. Patrick day card. Tomorrow I will get the cards in the mail along with a package for my granddaughters. Everyone should get their cards in time. :-) Although this card did not turn out like I had intended I still like it. I once again experimented and discovered a fabulous technique for making a background.

I know you are anxious to see this card so drum roll.

I decided to see if I could make a background using antique decoupage medium and a cheap bristle brush. Brushing it on card stock. I was going to cover the whole front with this background but alas the card stock was not tight enough on the cutting mat. I managed with some trimming of the mangled piece to come up with a panel to fit part of the card front. I rubbed green peeled paint distressed ink over the card stock let it sit for about five minutes and then rubbed off with a clean cotton ball the excess. If you don't rub off the excess it will rub off on hands in the envelope,etc. I have no idea where I got the faded shamrock digital paper. I edged the square with Forest Green Stazon ink. The lass is from graphics fairy blog, I edged her in Vintage photo distress ink to give her a little more definition. The top border is orgami foil glued on card stock. Then a panel heat embossed. I didn't realize that it was embossing enamel not powder but decided to go ahead and use the strip. After embossing I rubbed Antique Linen Distress ink on the strip. Then glued the shamrock strip below the embossing. The row of shamrock image is also from graphics fairy blog.

If you have some regular decoupage medium you could probably tint it with a little bit of acrylic paint. Alcohol ink or  reinker would give you a more transparent look.  I used Royal Coat Antique Decoupage Satin over gray card stock. Although I  found the Royal Coat Clear Decoupage finish I could not find the Antique on Plaid's web site. However, Mod Podge has an Antique Matt finish.

Thank you for stopping by and do come back. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Another Top Of The Morning Card

I lost an hour today. Don't know about you but I really miss that hour. I know I will get it back but it takes awhile for my system to adjust to losing it. I don't even understand the thinking behind the time change. Seems to me it is like cutting the top off of a blanket and sewing it to the bottom trying to make the blanket longer. It just doesn't work. O.K. off my soapbox and back to talking about crafting.

I made today another card using the Top Of The Morning. I had to change my plans as the card stock I had painted with gesso tinted went through the printer crooked. I also forgot to change to the draft setting for the printing so the ink smeared. I thought after I saw the printer grab the card stock and go crooked that I could hand cut the shape. :-( Not all my work was wasted as I was able to take the bottom portion of the card stock and cut it for the background. Enough babbling...here is my card.

This time I resized the image and printed it on heavy gray card stock. Yes, I'm still trying to get rid of the card stock I bought by mistake. LOL! I decided to edge the image with gold ink and usually I'm really a perfectionist when I edge but this time I allowed it to be irregular. The background it is on is my gesso card stock. I was surprised that the green ink I used to tint the gesso turned this color instead. The music stamp I used is from Teresa Collins Vintage stamp set. While playing with the stamp on scrap I thought it was me but after looking at the stamp I realized it was the stamp itself. It is stamped with my Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I was going to use gold ink but it didn't show up well on a scrap of gesso card stock. I am always at a loss when deciding what color to use for the actual card. After playing around with what I have in my stash I decided to use this one as it echos the color in his outfit.

O.K. Because I love you I decided to see if I could find the image for you since several people wanted to know where I got it. Alas while researching I found some other neat images. Good thing I have a large hard drive and external hard drive. LOL! Here is the link:
 http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/2010/03/free-st-patricks-day-clip-art.html

Guess I should have threatened Cameron my Cameo sooner about selling him on Craigslist. Once again he cut out a perfect print and cut. The funny thing is I had upgraded to the newest version of Studio and several people have had problems with print and cut using that version.

That is all for now. I have another piece of gesso card stock drying. LOL! Hope this time it will work for me. In the meanwhile I have a birthday card to work on which I hope to get done and post tomorrow or Tuesday.

Thank you for stopping by and leaving comments they are appreciated more than you will ever know. Happy  Frugal Crafting till we meet again.

Top Of The Morning St. Patrick Card

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I decided to make a St. Patrick Day card today. It is not perfect but the person getting it will appreciate it. (Note to self do not try to iron a napkin down on card stock or heat emboss near an open window. Also do not heat emboss on napkin before ironing it down it makes a mess.)

O.K. Here is my card.

The napkin was iron down on card stock using plastic wrap. If you do this make sure you use parchment paper so you don't mess up your iron. Just in case you might get the urge to iron. If you do let me know as I can find some for you to do.

I used an embossing ink pad and a Teresa Collins border stamp. The embossing powder is antique gold I finally found it after being out for months. I love the black in it.

I used orgami foil to put the the focal image on. I did not think of my double sided mounting squares showing through the foil. Now I know next time I decide to use orgami foil to not use the squares.

The image is one I found somewhere on the internet years ago. It is a print and cut and is printed on vellum. The next card I will be making with the image I will make it larger. With Studio software it is so easy to change the size.

That is all for today folks. Thank you for stopping by and do come back. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again.

Time To Break Out Those Crayons And Play

O.K Let's be honest if your are an adult how often do you take time to play? How often do you say for today the laundry and dishes can wait because I'm going to take fifteen minutes,half hour or horrors even all day to play? When was the last time you had a crayon in hand? If it has been awhile then go find those crayons. If you have kids go raid their stash of crayons. Take fifteen minutes at least to play. You don't really have to be good at drawing for this project. The object is to have fun. If you have dye ink pads grab those too.

Promise you won't laugh but I don't profess to be good at drawing. However, I keep trying and who knows when I'm a hundred and one maybe I will finally get the hang of it. O.K. taking a deep breath first. Here is my card.

I drew the flower with my crayons. Then filled it in with distress ink. I think my Concord Grape ink was too close to the crayon color as you can't really see the shading I did with the crayon. And I might have not used enough pressure for the stem and leaf with the crayon. However in the center you can see where the yellow dots really pop after I rubbed Antique Linen distress ink.

After using sea foam chalk ink on the background I decided that I needed something else so I stamped on the flying bird. Then colored with a colored pencil and didn't like the color so chalked over the bird.

The card I saw with the crayon resist had a ribbon on the side with a bow so I decided to go ahead and use the purple ribbon in my stash.

There you have my crayon play now I want to buy some glittered crayons and perhaps draw more abstract.

Thank you for stopping by and do come back again. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting!

Thinking Of Spring

Monday was a beautiful day and my thoughts started turning towards Spring and this inspired me to make a card with Spring colors. (Click to enlarge image)

I had cut my pieces out for this card and temporarily placed them on a piece of fabric which I embossed. I liked how it looked and decided to use a piece of the fabric for the background.

For the square I took white pearl acrylic paint and add stream alcohol ink to it to color it. After brushing the paint on I then took the white paint and added plum alcohol ink. After brushing it over the blue I took bubble wrap and pressed down on and let it sit for a minute or two. The bubble wrap pulled up the pink paint.

I made the frame from a flower file after ungrouping it and deleting the middle of the flower. I did an offset and then made a compound path. I didn't like it so went and did an offset again and came up with a new flower and frame. The frame was heat embossed with seafoam embossing powder. The flower was cut out of clear contact paper. On the sticky side I sprinkled Martha Stewart flocking powder.

The butterfly was cut out of a scrap of neutral colored pattern paper. I rubbed it with metallic chalk.

The love phrase was a pain. Twice my Cameo would not cut it out right. The third time I cut it out and got ready to heat emboss it only to not find it. Then I cut it out of colored card stock and tore it when I was gluing it. Then I saw a scrap of glittered DCW paper. Knowing that it cut best with the glittered side down I mirrored the phrase. The phrase was made using Lucida Calligraphy and Lucida Handwriting welded together.

Thank you for stopping by do come by again. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting!

Wait! Don't Throw Out That Dryer Sheet

Sorry I have been gone for so long. My roommate is a really generous person and he decided to share the "Creeping Crud" with me. I have been in bed for two weeks and those who know me know that is just not me. Anyway until a couple of days ago I didn't even feel like crafting.

I have used dryers sheets before. Using colored glue and gluing wax paper on it. Gluing tissue paper on it,etc. But I never thought to use it as an overlay until I found a book called "Creative Foundations". In that book not only is the dryer sheet dyed and used as an overlay. It is also used as a ruffle and flowers made from it.  LOL! I also discovered leafing through the book where I went wrong when I tried to use acrylic paint to make a monoprint background. LOL! I still like how the background turned out and the dryer sheet softens it.

O.K. Without further ado here is the card fresh off the press.(Click image to enlarge)

For the background I painted acrylic paint on a acrylic plate for my Big Shot. I only had Holly Red,,Black and Pearl White. The rest of my acrylic paints are glitter paints. Unfortunately the white paint dried on the plate before I could even run the paper through my Big Shot. I used a scrap of parchment looking calligraphy paper. Still I like the way it turned out.

In another book on making paper mosaics there was a project using clear contact paper and paper squares. I decided  to go with thin triangles and circles. I cut my flower out with my Cameo. Then patiently attached the triangles and circles on the flower. Both the triangles and circles were cut out of scraps of paper.  I then brushed PVA glue tinted with alcohol ink lightly over to make sure that the shapes were down tight. It changed slightly the color of the circles and lightly tinted the contact paper. I didn't like the circles so went ahead and dabbed some Mandarin Orange Perfect Pearls thinned with water on the circles.

 The butterfly is one I was playing with using Perfect Pearls on photo paper. I went ahead and added some of the leftover Mandarin Orange on it. I also used brown for the body and antennae but for some reason it rubbed off. I cut a  piece of plastic from packaging into a narrow strip and folded it accordion style and then glued the butterfly down.

After playing with inks on scrap pieces of dryer sheet I ended up using my Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. It showed up the best. I also knew that I could glue down the dryer sheet without worry about the ink bleeding. Originally I was going to glue down the dryer sheet with my gel but I could not find it. I did however find Antique Decoupage medium by Royal Coats. LOL! And I think it is antique as my grandchildren weren't even born yet. It worked perfectly.

Thank you for stopping by and looking. Also thanks for leaving me some love. Happy March and Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!