Under The Sea

Hi everyone can you believe that August is here. Once again a heatwave has begun so after running errands I holed up in my playroom and did crafting. I was happy when I saw that the challenge this week for Stampotique is the theme "under the sea".  From the time I first saw the ocean when I was eight the ocean has been my happy place. Even when I can't be there in person I go there in my mind.

To join in the challenge or to view all the wonderful inspiration please click on the badge on the left hand side.  You don't have to use Stampotique stamps in order to join in the fun. You can use any rubber or clear stamp. :-)

Since the deadline is not here yet I'm also going to enter this in the "No Ordinary Paper" challenge over at Simon Says Stamping . I went back and reread the rules and I can enter more than one project. :-)

Without further ado here is my under the sea creation.

This was a fun card to make it was also a learning experience. I learned you can creamate adhesive cork if you cut it cork side up. I also learned that colors appear differently air brushed on the cork than on card stock.

I first cut out my card base using Kraft card stock. I was going to cover the whole card base with the cork but cremated it with my first cut so I had to cut it down a little narrower. Luckily cutting it with the lined side up it ended up being a clean cut. The adhesive cork is by DCWV. I bought it on sale as I thought it would give an interesting texture to projects. I took a seashell stencil and used my Ebrush air brushing machine with Spectrum Noir markers.

My underwater background was an experiment to see what Brusho Color Crystals would do on wet photo paper. I bought a lot of water resistant photo paper at a dollar store several years ago just so I could play with  them in crafting. I misted my photo paper and then sprinkled turquoise crystals over the wet paper. Then I took my mister and spritzed the paper to help the crystals dissolve more. I love the resulting pattern.

Over the photo paper is scrap from a page protector which I ran through my eBosser embossing machine with a couple of different stencils. I then used a sponge roller with Liquitex Iridescent Medium. I rolled on a very thin coat as I wanted just a hint of the iridescent but didn't want to hide the background of the photo paper. After that was dry I randomly placed drops of Dimensional Magic in some of the de-bossed circles.

Not being sure if running the plastic through my Xyron Adhesive machine would smash the bubbles or not I stapled it to the photo background. I decided I didn't like the staples showing so the die cuts hide those.  The greenery is cut using Spellbinders Sprig Corners die set. I modified by tearing pieces off after they were cut out of scrap paper. The fishes  were cut using the patterns in the ScanNCut machine using parts of a couple of gelli prints.

After stamping my sentiment on a piece of non stick parchment paper which I had used for my air brushing and other things I decided to cut off all but the happy place of the sentiment.  Sometimes I don't like to use all of a stamped image..

Have you done any projects using adhesive back cork?  Do you like to use stencils in your projects? If so do you have any favorite stencils that you find yourself using over and over.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Page Protector And Corrugated Cardboard Card

Hi everyone hope all is going well with you. Another week and another Mojo Monday Sketch. Also I saw on a blog that Simon Says Monday Challenge is no ordinary paper so I decided to combine the two challenges and make a card. The Mojo Monday Sketch this week is making a tall and skinny card using the sketch. I think I'm a liking making tall and skinny cardss. Here is this week's sketch.

I decided to substitute the circle with a butterfly. Otherwise I tried to stick fairly close to the sketch. I had so much fun making this card. As well as playing and experimenting seeing what things work and what don't. Here again this sketch is a great way to use up those scraps.

Drum roll please! Here is my card and I love how it turned out using plastic, corrugated cardboard and paint samples.

I started out by making my card base using a scrap of page protector. Then I was going to use a paint chip for the background but realized that the back was going to show inside. Opps! So if you are going to make a card base out of plastic keep that in mind. I ended up using for the background a leftover scrap from my Brusho Color Crystal and Perfect Pearls Mist experiment. It is amazing how both sides of the paper look different.

(Inside the card. I may add embellishments when I get ready to finish the inside.)

My blue panel on the card is believe it or not a paint chip from Glidden. Glidden makes good size paint chips which are great to use in crafting. I do find that if I cut the paint chip down that I need to ink the edges.

Playing with corrugated cardboard was loads of fun. Who knew you could mix metallic paints with window cleaner and use in an air brush or mister bottle. Just make sure you clean either the parts of the mister bottle or the parts of your air brush good immediately. After the paint was dry I used a stencil with aqua gelato and misted with left over diy Brusho color mist to soften the stenciling. The corrugated cardboard did separate from the backing but now I have striped paper for another project. ;-)

My sentiment was stamped with Stazon ink on a scrap of my oil pastel/orange cleaner paper. I'm a saver of narrow pieces when I cut a piece down because you never know when they may come in handy. ;-)

I bought Glitter Deco Fabric markers to use with my airbrush but have not been happy with them. After I discovered that Brusho Color Crystals was not going to work with this particular stamp I decided to see if the marker would work with the stamp. I wish you could see the glitter on the butterfly. The butterfly is stamped on another paint  chip.

I thought the cardboard looked naked so added some flower beads I've been hoarding. I also got out my Xyron Creative Station to use for adhering the background to the plastic. I quit using it because I thought the cartridges were too expensive but after finishing off another tape cartridge in my tape runner I'm starting to rethink things.

What no ordinary paper have you used in your projects? Have you tried making your own color mists? If so what did you use to make your color mists? If you haven't made your own color mists what brand of color mists do you find yourself using?

Since the cleaning fairy has been partying and from the looks of things the partying has been happening while I've been away I need to spend some time cleaning. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Minion Pull Tab Birthday Card

Hi everyone hope life is treating you well. July is getting away from me and  I almost forgot my son's birthday. I have been fascinated by the Minions ever since I saw the first movie of them. My granddaughters love them also so dad may have to hide his card. I also love interactive cards. It took me some thought about how to put the card together. I love how the card turned out. Of course you know me I had to do experimenting. O.k I know you are anxious to see the card.

 I used a blue marker with my air brush for the border on the card base. I decided after I made my card base that the white was too stark yet I like having a white inside to stamp or write on.

I noticed that Stampotique this week has a challenge stamping a background using household type things. I decided to see what I could do using crumpled foil and bubble wrap and instead of using ink using Brusho Color Crystals. After I did my stamping I thought the background needed a little bit of softening so went ahead and spritzed water over my stamped background. This not only softened the edges but also toned down the colors since Brusho is bright, vibrant colors.

The cake is a Silhouette Store file. I think it came with my Cameo. I mixed Brusho with texture medium for the cake frosting. I used fabric paint on the candle,flame,candle-holder, and cake trim. I would have used the same fabric paint on the trim but it was really globby paint as was the clear glitter one. I do think it gives the candle more of a melting wax look. Of course this morning I discovered that I have blue Scribble 3D paint but didn't want to cut out trim again and wait for the paint to dry. The top of the cake is glow in the dark glitter and that is the only glitter I have which I thought looks like sugar sprinkled on top. The cake is adhered only on three sides creating a pocket and leaving the top open

The pull tab is airbrushed to match the border and then I wrote pull on it. I positioned my print and cut Minion so only the Happy Birthday would show until he was pulled up. If you put a search in for Minion Clipart you can find all kinds of it. :-) You can't really tell in the photo but I used Dimensional Magic for the glasses.

If you haven't made pocket pull tab cards I encourage you to do so. They are tons of fun to make and the possibilities are endless for what you can use as a pocket. Also I encourage you to play and see what backgrounds you can come up with using different household items.

I've been listening to the rain dance against the window while posting this and once in awhile glanced out the window to watch the raindrops bounce off the plant leaves like they were on a trampoline. We need the rain so no complaints.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!