Any Holiday Halloween

Hi everyone it is the 4th Saturday which means it is time over at Hiding In My Craft Room for the Any Holiday challenge.

The way this year is flying by before I know  Halloween will be here before I know it. I don't send out a lot of Halloween cards but I do a few. So when Pickled Potpourri sent me files of images I knew it was the perfect time. By the way Pickled Potpourri is the sponsor for this week's challenge. Be sure to go and check out what they have. They will be giving out a $7 gift certificate.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I flunked drawing 101 so I often cheat. This time I used a Paper Studio embossing folder and embossed plastic. Then I took Studio G glitter glue and filled in the debossed lines for my spider webs.  I adhered the plastic once the glitter glue was dry to black card stock and then glued a frame I had cut out and colored with my eBrush and a bronze marker on top. The frame hides the adhesive marks.

Happy Halloween is from a tag which was a freebie at one time from Silhouette. I printed it out and then decided to cut it by hand free form.

The image is the Boo To You file. It comes in both JPG and PNG format. After printing out and cutting to size I took black and violet chalk for my background.  I carefully used my fingers to blend being careful to not get the chalk where I didn't want it.  I then applied paste wax to the chalked area. Let it dry and then buffed it. Then I was able to go ahead and apply a light coat of paste wax over the rest of the piece.Once dried I used watercolor pencils for the moon and the grass. I dipped the pencils in water in order to color. The pumpkin is colored with Mandarin Orange Distress ink. With all the markers and paints I have you would think I had a good orange. I used Antique Linen distress ink for the haystack but then decided to also use a Spectrum Noir marker.

It took longer for the Dimensional Magic to dry for the windshield and headlight than to put this card together. I used Silhouette Studio software. Picked my shape in the library and filled with a gradient fill. I did an external offset for my shape so I could cut it out of pattern card stock. Happy Halloween was from a file in the library. I used the gradient fill to color the letters.

The bird in the car, hat and sentiment is from the Life Is Tweet file.  Although the bird in the car and the hat are in png  format they didn't work for what I wanted to do. I used the trace and detach function in Studio. This left a transparent background but filled in images.  I placed the hat on top of the bird and grouped the two before placing on the background. The trick sentiment is png so worked perfectly.

After everything was grouped together on the gradient panel I printed and had just the shape cut out. Then came the fun of coloring with pencils. Adding the clear Dimensional Magic and waiting for it to dry before I put everything together.

I'm not sure who I'm going to give the first card to but I know a boy who would love the second card.

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Reading Is Beary Awesome

HI everyone it is the third Saturday of the month which means it is time for either a theme or technique challenge. As I write this the challenge has not been totally decided since we had a problem getting the images. Originally it was going to be Back To School and when the challenge goes live it may well be since many of us worked with the images we already had from the sponsor with that theme in mind. Also this week we did get the images.Thankfully I had left a space in my project just in case I got the images.

Details about the challenge can be found here:
Hiding In My Craft Room

This week the sponsor is Melonheadz. The giveaway for this challenge is a bundle in either precolored or black and white.

When I was thinking of school I was thinking about the importance of reading. In fact reading was so important to me that I spent a whole summer teaching my younger sister who was struggling how to read. I must have been successful because today she enjoys reading just as much as I still do. Some women are not to be trusted with a credit card for me I can't be trusted with a library card since there is no limit on how many books I can check out. LOL! Right now I only have ten items checked out and two of those are DVD's. For me this is a small amount. O.K. enough yakking. On to my project. I hope the library staff will like this card.

Bookcase is free clipart I found online. The bear here on the front and inside is from the Bears Colored collection. The word "read" is not included in the set. After cutting out the bear I pop dotted him on the front.

I added "Reading is" to the beary awesome which is part of the collection.  The bear does not come with the Reading Room image which I also found online. The boy is from the Library Line Art collection. The line art is black and white. Of course I had fun coloring him.  The background from pattern paper in my stash. Also the alphabet washi tape used to cover the folds is from my stash. It is by Studio G.

Thank you for stopping by. Come back soon. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Mixed Media Tissue Challenge

Hi everyone  today I have a piece I'm entering in the Happy Little Stamper Mixed Media challenge this month using tissue. Details are here for this challenge over at Happy Little Stamper. There are also other challenges you might be interested in at  Happy Little Stamper. Details are here:http://www.happylittlestampers.com/2017/08/hls-august-mixed-media-challenge.html

I started by adhering pieces of tissue gift wrap paper on card stock.  I then took an unused dryer sheet and with my air brush and a bronze and silver Sharpie  added color to the dryer sheet. Then I glued a part of  it with school glue over part of the tissue paper panel.

I saw in a book where Model Magic had been used on a card and decided to buy some and play with it. After I made my tile I stamped it. I let my tile dry and then painted it with water color paint along with a snow writer.

I had so much fun playing with the Model Magic by Crayola that I think I may make charms for a bracelet. Model Magic can be air dried and will remain flexible as well as light weight. It also can be cut with ordinary scissors.

That's all folks for now. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Super Scraps Halloween

Hi everyone this is the second Saturday meaning it is Super Scraps Saturday over at Hiding In My Craft  Room. The challenge is being sponsored by Scrap N' Dipity who graciously provided me with Little Witch and Kitty digital stamp. They will be giving away three digital images.

Since I had narrow strips of black and pattern orange paper I decided to place them on the diagonal for my background.   For my digital image I placed it on a black background and a orange frame on top. I used a glitter marker on the broom and a glitter pen for the hair along with a color pencils. Alas the sparkle in her hair doesn't show in the photo. The rest of image was colored with pencils. Halloween and the spiderweb with the small witch are Dover Sampler images which I've had in my stash for a few years. I used my glitter pen on the Boo.

If you have  narrow  scrap strips consider putting them on the diagonal.

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Christmas Challenges

Hi everyone I'm still in the creating cards for Christmas mood. I happened to come across the blog Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge  This is the link for their current challenge. They also right now have a call for guest DT members. :-)

The other challenge is the monthly Christmas challenge over at The Happy Little Stampers. Check out all of their challenges. Here is the link for their Christmas one. http://www.happylittlestampers.com/2017/08/hls-august-christmas-challenge.html
Alas I discovered that I don't own a Poinsettia stamp nor did I find one at Michaels. :-(

I encourage you to check out both challenges and either get started on creating your Christmas cards or add to your stash. You know the holidays will be here before you know it and if you send cards wouldn't it be nice to have them all done. O.k. enough yakking! Here is the card I did this week.

For my background I used a retired Sizzix embossing folder. I thought of sanding after embossing but decided to leave it as it is.

I bought this Santa stamp from a friend a couple of years ago and oh the shame this is the first time I've inked it up.  The stamp is I believe called Christmas Wish. It is by Stamper's Anonymous and it looks like it is available as part of a clear stamp collection by Tim Holtz.

I inked the stamp up with Ranger Archival black ink and then colored using Tombow markers. I managed to score a couple of sets this week at Michaels on sale.

I hope you are finding time to craft as Summer quickly winds down. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Retro and Watercolor Challenge

Hi everyone I'm once again caught up with my obligations for the design team so while I wait for images I thought it would be fun to play and enter a couple of challenges.  While searching for challenges I found a site which has challenges using stamps which are a year or older. The challenge right now is colors.

Details can be found here:

http://www.retrorubberchallengeblog.com/my-blog/2017/08/challenge-68-colors.html

The other challenge is Happy Little Stamper Watercolor challenge 

 

Details can be found here:

http://www.happylittlestampers.com/2017/08/hls-august-watercolour-challenge.html

Here is my card.

I love playing. Both the window panel and behind the window was created using glossy photo paper which is waterproof. On a piece of plastic I dropped drops of moss green re-inker. Then I dropped water on the plastic causing the re-inker to spread and placed the photo paper in the ink. While still wet I quickly placed plastic wrap. For the window backing I used the Moss Green and Festive Berries ink.

I used a Spellbinder die to cut my window. Then used double sided foam to attach the red panel.

For my butterfly I used the first rubber stamp I bought back in the 80's. Although the copyright is 1981 I think it was more like 1982 or 1983 when I bought it. Alas as far as I can tell the company in Seattle Washington is no longer in business. I  stamped it with Ranger's Archival Ink. Then I painted it with  iridescent pan watercolor paints.

The sentiment, flowers and bee is from Simply Defined Aviary Blossom,Floral Corner Set which I found this week at a thrift store. After stamping and cutting with the dies I once again painted with the pan water colors.

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Pocket Full Of Posies Color Challenge

Hi everyone can you believe it is already the first Saturday of August. With it being the first Saturday that means it is a color challenge over at Hiding In My Craft Room. This week the challenge is being sponsored by The Cutting Cafe who generously supplied me with the Pocket Shaped card file which I created my inspiration piece with. Even if you don't have a cutting machine you can use the files from The Cutting Cafe. One lucky person will win three cutting files.

Here is this week's colors:

I had to use a lighter blue as the navy blue was too dark and covered the print lines but I tried to come close to the rest of the  colors For some reason my camera wouldn't photograph the red as dark as it is on my card.. Here is my inspiration piece.

There are so many pieces in the Pocket Shaped card file that it was difficult for me to decide which to use. I finally decided on the back pocket shaped card base along with the printed pocket topper. I used two different blue Spectrum Noir markers along with the blender marker in my eBrush in order to create my pocket with the look of being denim. After airbrushing I happened to spy a scrap of rickrack which was perfect both in the length and width. Sometimes it pays to hoard small scraps of trim. LOL! As well as to shop for trim from your stash like I did with the lace for the heart.

Adhesive was adhered everywhere but at the top of the topper leaving an opening near the fold of the card base forming the pocket when placed on the card base.

The file comes with the flowers and stems all as one as well as with separate pieces. I decided to piece my flowers together. After the pieces were cut out I airbrushed the stems trying to get as close as possible  the green for this challenge.  I decided to use a muted pattern paper for the flowers. I glued squares of the paper over my cutout flowers and trimmed the paper. I didn't get the paper down tight in places so in places the white of the card stock shows but I decided that it is time I stop being such a perfectionist. I used a dark red marker to color the dots for the center. I placed the flowers in the pocket but decided I either needed to do more flowers or add something. I opened up the misc file which comes in the set and there was the heart. After cutting the  heart out I doodled with my airbrush and a dark red marker. Then after placing it in the pocket to see how it looked decided to add  narrow lace around the heart.

I normally don't use these colors and to be honest I probably would not use this combination. Sometimes though it is good to get out of your comfort zone and use different colors and combinations. I encourage you to try creating with colors you might not normally use.

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!