HIMCR #290 Any Holiday

Happy Saturday everyone. I'm excited to introduce you to a new source for cutting files.  This week's sponsor is The Cutting Cafe. They have some neat cutting files which come in many different formats including PDF so you can print them out if you do not have a cutting machine. One lucky person will get their choice of three cutting files of their choice.

I had asked for the card in a box but somehow ended up with the CD Folder file along with the St. Patrick file. You know the saying about lemons and lemonade. This is what I came up with .

I resized the file so that it can be used as a gift envelope. I wasn't paying attention when I glued the St. Patrick image inside the cutout so the flap is on the side which would be sealed. You could also use the CD folder to create a pocket card.

I sized this image from one of the St. Patrick image sets and printed it on a laser printer. Then I foiled it. The Shamrock is colored with a glitter gel pen.

I fell in love with the "subway art" image so decided to create a card where the art would peek through the front.

I had in my stash some 6 x 6 pattern paper so I cut it to fit the front. I then printed and cut out another image from the set. The shamrocks were painted with Liquid Metals and curved with my thumb. The pot was colored with a pencil and a glitter pen used for the trim and the margin.

I took scraps left from the front and glued them inside. I decided that I wanted to cover the seam where the subway art and pattern card met so took sequin trim.

I was going to add shamrocks inside which would be popped off the fold like the inspiration piece but thought it would be too much.

I hope you will join in the Any Holiday challenge this week. Thank you for stopping by and Wishing You Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

HIMCR #289 Embossing Challenge

Hi everyone I'm excited to be sharing with you another MHK Designs digital image as well as one I've used previously.  MHK Designs has so many wonderful digital images that I had a difficult time choosing one. I finally went with the Beachy Keen set. With all the snow and ice lately my thoughts were winging to warmer weather and Summer.

The challenge this week is embossing. You can do dry, wet, or even use an embossed paper. The winner at Hiding In My Craft will win their choice of three images. I hope you will join in the challenge as you are going to love MHK Designs even if you are normally a rubber stamper. You can find details about the challenge here:http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/2017/02/himcr-289-embossing.html

For the background I took a piece of adhesive cork and heat embossed. I used a stencil with VersaMark embossing ink. I forgot to shake up my antique gold embossing powder so places have black but I like the look. The sand dollars were embossed with clear embossing powder but doesn't really show. The flip flops were heat embossed on a scrap of a gelli print. Both sand dollar and flip flops are Just For Fun stamps.

I added the sentiment to the image in Silhouette Studio and then printed on matte photo paper using my inkjet. For some reason using photo paper there is less chance of the ink smearing when water is added. Most of the time if I know I'm going to be adding water I'll print with my laser printer.

The sky and sand was colored with Distress Ink using a blending tool. I used a Fantastix to color the waves with Salty Sea Distress ink and then brushed over the waves with a wet paintbrush.

The white breakers were heat embossed using Imagine Crafts Radiant Neon Amplify. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to heat emboss on the photo paper or not. I love the added texture. Now that I'm getting the hang of using the Amplify you may see it used more often in projects. After all I bought all the colors of it. 😉

The rest of the image was colored using Prismacolor pencils. I'm glad my sister told me about using Peach for  the skin. I was wishing I had a color picture to see while I colored as it took me awhile to realize it is a straw hat on the sand.

There is still snow and ice where I live in fact my dogs and I are still unable to walk to the Bay our favorite place because of ice on the path.

I had not been successful using a diffuser with embossing folders. Then I realized that I needed to put the diffuser under the embossing folder and on the bottom plate. The diffuser plate gave me a smooth circle to place my image.  The folder had left over Stazon ink on it which transferred when I embossed.  After embossing I brushed Liquitex Iridescent Medium over my piece giving a shimmery look.

I printed the image using the Sepia mode on my printer. Then cut it out in a circle and edged it with Vintage Photo ink.



Thank you for stopping by. I hope I have inspired you to emboss on a medium you might not normally emboss on. As well as to try out diffusers if you want a flat space for either stamping or for placing a cut out image.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Play Day Shapeability Card

Hi everyone I was walking away from the craft section at a thrift store when my eye saw something metallic in a pile. Of course I had to investigate to see what it was. I couldn't believe my eyes as I found a Spellbinders Spectacular Spin die set. I keep looking in craft sections of thrift stores but this is the first time I've found any dies. 😃 Of course today with it being cold and wet weather I had to play. It was so much fun folding and tucking. This is what I came up.

I used copy paper and typing paper which has been in my stash for years. As well as a food divider which I used my airbrush with a marker to color for my shapes.

The cute bee was a freebie at all free download dot com. If you are looking for free images this is a great place. After printing and cutting out I went ahead and hand cut the wings apart so I could bend one wing forward to make it look like the bee was in motion.

I hate to say  it but the card base has been in my stash as long as the copy paper and typing paper. It came in an assortment of card bases and is one of the few colors I don't often use.

If you get the chance check out yard sales and thrift stores. You never know what you might find.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

HIMCR Super Scraps Saturday

Hi everyone it is time for the Hiding In My Craft Room Super Scraps Saturday. The sponsor this week is Sami Stamps and one lucky person will win a $12 gift certificate.

I was allowed to pick one stamp for this challenge to use. It was difficult to pick one stamp since Sami Stamps has incredible digital stamps. I finally decided on "I Love The Rain" I love this image and had so much fun playing. Even if you are not a digital stamper check out the incredible stamps as you just might be converted to use one. 😉

While cleaning my playroom I found the scrap which I used for my background. This is a piece I played with acrylic paints and a brush

The dotted piece is a scrap of frosted plastic which curled when I sprayed frost paint on it. So I took it and ran it through my embossing machine. The embossing machine helped to flatten the piece a bit.

I printed my image twice on card stock. I was going to use a piece of  a scrap of gelli  print but the printing didn't show on it. So since I had already picked out a scrap of sheer fabric to use for the umbrella I went ahead and printed on the fabric the whole image. Then glued the gelli print on the girl. After that the fabric was glued on the image I cut the girl out and cut the fabric off the umbrella handle.

I love the texture from both the fabric and the frosted plastic which I embossed.

I had so much doing this piece. For my background I used a sheet of acrylic paper which is textured. Then I tried something I had never done before by wetting the paper and then taking a wet stipple brush applying different colors of metallic acrylic paint and allowing the paint to run. I used FolkArt but I think any brand of metallic paint would do.

The dotted is a scrap from my embossing the frosted plastic. My "Bring On The Rain" printed on deli paper.

The focal point is a transfer I made using a laser print of the "I Love The Rain" image. I did this transfer using caulk.  Now to go buy clear caulk to do more image transferring.

I printed and cut out the umbrella and then used a scrap of lace from the dress of a broken angel. The girl was colored with pencils.

Because it is difficult to adhere plastic without it showing I placed the embossed panel a little under the focal point. Then used glitter hearts from Dollar Tree at the corner. Then I went ahead and used those same hearts with the image transfer.

There you have it my two fun projects for Super Scraps Saturday. I hope you will join in this challenge as it is a good way to use both paper and fabric scraps.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

HIMCR Red,Pink Plus One Color Challenge

Hi everyone new week and a new challenge. This week the challenge over at Hiding In My Craft Room is to use the colors of red and pink plus a color of your choice. The challenge is being sponsored by Pickled Potpourri. The winner will win a $7 gift certificate.

Pickled Potpourri very generously supplied the design team images to use and it was fun picking out three sets and seeing what I could do. Of course with Valentine's Day quickly approaching one of the cards I did was for that. I did two cards this time and although my inkjet printer was not cooperating I still have my hair and now lots of scrap cardstock to play with. LOL! As if I didn't have enough.

I printed my base with the red border. For some reason it printed out larger so part of the border is folded over to the back. At least I finally got the border to print red.

I was asked to use one of the border files from Pickled Potpourri so after doing some playing in Silhouette Studio I went with this background as it sort of looked like a paw print. In the background set there is three different images. The cute dog and sentiment is from the "Fluffy Friends" set. By the way many of these sets come with several different words or sentiments so are very versatile and the price is right. 😃

After I printed out my focal image I used red crochet thread to stitch the stem, leaf, and flower to give more definition since everything was printed in purple ink.( My camera for some reason always sees this color as black.) Also for some reason my printer didn't print the stem as a solid stem which it is.

The cute fluffy dog was colored with a pink coloring pencil.  My pink glaze pen for some reason decided to leak all over the place. But fortunately before I used it to go over the letters of smile. So I used a clear glitter pen.

I love how this turned out. It turned out totally different from what I imagined when I first picked out the "Loving Thoughts" set.  And decided to use the Rose corner and this sentiment from the set.

I duplicated and flipped one of the rose corners. Then using Silhouette Studio I centered my sentiment between them. I then added a shape I had in the studio library and did an offset to place the images on. Lines set to print and I was good to go. I did make the lines a little thicker in studio in order to get good foiling. Just so you know if a printed image is too light or the lines too thin you will not get good results foiling. For foiling I print on a laser printer.

Although it doesn't show in the picture I went ahead and used Stazon Cherry Blossom ink on the edges as I don't always get as clean a cut as I would like. Yes, you can change the color of foil including household foil with Stazon ink. You just need to remember to seal in between colors if using more than one color.

The rose corners are colored with color pencils. The leaves were actually colored with a gold pencil but I was wishing I could find one with a brighter gold color.

I did not have the stencil I used for the background until last week. A friend dragged me into a thrift store and there was the Dreamweaver metal stencil. I looked at it and knew the x's and o's would be perfect. I did have to cover up the Kisses and Hugs in the center with my focal piece. By chance last month I also found Dreamweaver gold paste at Goodwill. 😀 LOL! Going to thrift stores is like a treasure hunt as I never know if I might find something which has been on my wish-list.

The red card stock for the background and the pink for the mat has been in my stash for years so this challenge was the perfect opportunity to use them.

There you have it red, pink plus purple and red, pink plus gold. I really hope you will join in this challenge it would an excellent way to get some Valentine's made. Who knows you may also be the lucky winner of the gift certificate.

Thank you for stopping by. Also thank you Pickled Potpourri for providing these fun images to use.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!