rubber stamping - Keepsake Crafts

WOYWW-Making Cards

May 262015

Happy What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday everyone!

On this week’s desk are some supplies of mine you haven’t seen in a while: card making stuff! I’ve been so busy with other things that it’s fallen by the wayside. Only so many hours in a day and all that.

In fact, a few months back I decided to give up trying to keep up with the Tim Holtz monthly tags. I felt a little sad, but it has been one less stress every month.

But, just for today I’m going to play with technique ideas I’ve been storing up and make a dozen or so cards.

Whatever you’re doing, may you have happy creating!

To see what’s happening on the desks of many other crafty and creative people, go to What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday. Cuz it’s Wednesday and that’s what we do.

WOYWW-Crackled Gold Leaf

Apr 142015

Happy What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday all!

This week’s desk shows a project I’ve nearly completed, which is the next class for CraftArtEdu. (For a sneak peek, check out the upper left.) Also on the desk I’m once again working on the next dragon for my challenge. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m participating in the Polymer Clay Adventure, which has a new polymer clay class twice a month. Last week’s class was by Laurie Mika teaching how to make gothic mini shrines.

I have absolutely no interest in making any sort of shrine, but did like how she used gold leaf and rubber stamping on clay, plus how she embedded all sorts of doo-dads into her piece. Crackling the leaf on clay is super easy and I love the look.

Check back tomorrow to see my completed dragon #15!

That’s all I’ve got for this week. If you wonder why I’m sharing a photo of my desk, it’s this fun little blog hop game we play over at Julia’s called What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

WOYWW – Tim Holtz Tag of March 2014 – Dogwood Flowers

Apr 012014

Happy Wednesday! Here’s what you came for, my slightly messy desk today. (Click on the pics for a closer look.)

As usual, it amazes me how many products are needed to make one little tag. Also, I’m pretty sure a few things had been put away before I remembered to take this photo.

I’d kinda put off working on Tim’s March tag because I really liked his stamp set with the bird’s nest & the feather and was hoping to find it locally.

Instead I used Hero Arts’ & Sizzix’s Butterflies & Flowers Stamp & Die set. The flowers were stamped in Worn Lipstick distress ink. I used Broken China and Peeled Paint inks to stamp the butterflies. Tim’s idea for a technique was to smudge the ink right after stamping, but I didn’t think it made that much of a difference.

What really DID make a difference, and is my favorite new (ish) technique, is going over the stamps with distress markers and then a waterbrush to blend. For the distress markers I used Spun Sugar, Crushed Olive and Mustard Seed for the flowers, and added a bit of Broken China to the butterfly.

It would have been fun to play with the Distress Marker Spritzer, but that’s another tool I haven’t been able to find locally. It’s on my Amazon wishlist, though! Have any of you had a chance to try it out?

Are you thinking that the pretty spring time flowers are all well and good, but wondering why I shared a photo of my piled up desk? It’s because it’s What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday. A bunch of us share, take a peek, have fun and are often quite inspired. Join us over at Julia’s if you want to see what the fuss is about.

Happy creating!

Layered Stamping Card – Tim Holtz August 2013 Tag Technique

Aug 212013

Tim’s technique for this month was an interesting one. Rather than his usual style of lots & lots of layers of stuff, this involved using masks to make layers of stamping. It results in a nice flat card that has the look of dimension, but is easily mailed.

Naturally, I had to pick a stamp that was kinda tricky to make a mask from, Hero Art’s Silhouette Grass stamp. I only masked the solid parts of the grass, so the letters from my Old Letter Writing Stamp would show behind the thinner bits of the grass.

My stamped butterflies were kind of lost, so I outlined them with a Picket Fence Distress Marker. The trick with this white marker is patience. When you first put marker to paper, it looks like you’ve accomplished nothing, but if you wait just a few seconds, the white will appear.

A little bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the edges and some Baker’s Twine finished it up.

It’s not the fanciest card I’ve ever made, but it was quick, and it’ll do. 🙂

Happy creating!

WOYWW – July Tim Holtz Tag Caged Bird Card

Jul 302013

Yet another monthly Tim Holtz tag done in the nick of time. Actually, I made a card, not a tag.

I loved the patriotic theme of Tim’s July 2013 tag, but since I’m doing it at the end of July and don’t have the Old Glory die, I decided to use one of my favorites, the Caged Bird.

I felt bad sticking the little birdie behind bars, though, so I let him peek out. 🙂

Tim’s technique of coloring over Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint with Distress Stains gives such a cool effect. I used Broken China Distress Stain for the bird, Vintage Photo Distress Stain for the branch, and Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain for the birdcage.

Some of the other embellishments:

Trinket Pin
Mini Gear
Jump Rings
Symphony Tissue Tape
Glass Pearls from Joann’s
May Arts 1″ wide silk ribbon

I also really liked Tim’s idea of stamping ribbon with Jet Black Archival Ink and then coloring patches with Distress Stains. I used Broken China and Wild Honey which make a pretty emerald green when mixed.

Oh, and lest I forget, today is What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday, so here’s a pic of my desk when I was done making this card. Just about as messy as you’d expect. 🙂

Happy Woyww and Happy creating!

Iwo Jima Memorial Scrapbook Layout

Jul 282011

Since yesterday was my son’s last day in the Marines, it seems only fitting that today I share with you the last of the bootcamp scrapbook layouts.

Doncha just love that bottom left pic with my younger son? “Yes, I’m in the photo, but I don’t know those people.” He was 16 at the time and SO acting his age. ===sigh===

When my husband and I were in DC a couple of years before this some how we missed seeing the actual Iwo Jima Memorial sculpture. We were glad to get the opportunity to see Parris Island’s (smaller) replica.

There’s lots of stamping and inking on these papers to grunge them up. The pocket on the right page is just a square of cardstock with pop dots on three sides. The title on the left side is made up of grungy alpha stickers over vellum. The helmet and dog tags are Jolee’s stickers.

Beautiful Gifts From Abroad

Jun 132011

I receive an amazing package over the weekend. I was so excited when I saw it on my doorstep, but I was utterly stunned when I opened it.

You see, Julia over at Stamping Ground has been hosting What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday for the past two years. To celebrate the second anniversary, since nobody appreciates handcrafts like another handcrafter, many of us participated in a PIF.

My package came from Sam over at hettiecraftcz.blogspot.com. Oh my, she just went above and beyond. Everything is so lovely!

I was thrilled and amazed at all the work she’d went to when I opened the package and found the album. It is gorgeous and as I’m a scrapbooker, you can be assured it will be put to good use.

But then I opened it and, wait, there’s more! Inside the album was another wrapped package, this time a canvas with flowers, a sparkle-arkily fairy dress and a butterfly. It. Is. Beautiful. I LOVE it! It’s already hanging right next to my computer monitor so I will be sure to often think of my new friend from Wales.

And then I peeked into the envelope and there was still a card waiting to open. It’s terrific, love those flowers and the scalloped edges.

I just hope the gal who gets the package I sent along will be just as happy as I am!

Happy, happy crafting, all.

First Father’s Day – Scrapbook Layout

Jun 022011

Father’s Day is coming up fast, so I thought I’d share this layout, my hubby’s first Father’s Day.

I made a pocket to keep the cards he received and had a blast coloring in the frogs with watercolor pencils. Aren’t they adorable? Oh, and the baby’s kinda cute, too. 🙂

The title is made with Grungeboard Alphas. First I painted them with the Denim Paint Dabber and Peeled Paint Distress Crackle Paint, then for added dimension I went over them with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.

The papers are from K & Company’s Hopscotch Boy 12×12 Paper Pad and the stamp is Penny Black’s Toadily Clear Stamps set.

For watercoloring first I stamp with Black StazOn Permanent Ink (you have to use a waterproof ink or else it will run when it gets wet.) Then I use a basic set of watercolor pencils, Faber-Castell 24-Color GRIP Watercolor EcoPencil Set is great. A Waterbrush is perfect for doing the blending. (This link leads to a medium size brush, but you should be sure to get fine and large sizes, too.)

I asked Gary to write his own thoughts and memories for this layout, but he hasn’t done it yet. In the meantime, here’s what I wrote:

Gary is a wonderful, hands-on dad who loves hanging out with his new little guy.
Photo, opposite page: Changing little boys’ diapers can be a dangerous activity. You have to be ready for anything that might spring up. Gary always gets a fresh diaper open and ready, just in case. Josh doesn’t seem to mind wearing it for a minute.
Photo, top middle: The matching shirts Mom made for her two guys.
Photo, top right: Josh often gets fussy right before his dinner time, but it takes a few minutes to warm up the bottle in hot water on the stove. To keep him distracted, Gary flies him around while we’re waiting. (Gary’s mom finds this maneuver quite horrifying.)

Warming up the bottle in hot water on the stove!?! I was so very thankful when we got a microwave a couple years later.

Cropping these six photos to 3″ square, then matting them all on a 7″ x 10 ¼” rectangle lets you get a lot of pics onto one page without it looking too busy. I like the added touch of rounding just the two left corners, it makes the whole more cohesive.

Happy crafting, all!

First Mother’s Day Scrapbook Layout

May 092011

Since Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day, and Sunday was Mother’s Day, I thought I’d share with you my First Mother’s Day scrapbook layout.

I had a LOT of fun with this, after doing many boy-type pages with blues and greens, I went all out girly. 🙂

This one is FULL of fun techniques, it was such a blast to do! Here are just a few of the products and techniques:

The QuicKutz Spooky Scroll border die to make the arches. I don’t think they look spooky at all, but put me in mind of a garden trellis.
For the journaling tag, the Spellbinders Nestabilities Mega Dies, Labels 8
For the flowers, several layers of white mulberry paper, cut with the Sizzix Flower Layers #3 die. Simply crumple each of the flowers after die cutting, then stack, offsetting the petals.
I used Dimensional Adhesive to make a pocket for the Mother’s Day cards I received. The one you can see, “For You Daughter,” was actually from my mother-in-law. How sweet! It still brings tears to my eyes when I read it.
The transparencies are Prima Clear Paintables. They come in 12″x12″ sheets with four 6″x6″ designs on each sheet. It was a blast painting the back side with alcohol inks and blending solution. Go here (steps 1-15) to see terrific step-by-step instructions by Tim Holtz for this technique. (One of these days I’ll make a video for ya’ll.)
The background papers are from K and Company’s Que Sera Sera Collection. LOVE those papers. I’ll be sad once I’ve used up the whole paper pack.

Each of those little squares was done with a different technique involving distress inks, rubber stamping, embossing and painting with a variety of media. I’ll share each one in a separate tutorial some time soon.

It’s hard to believe that little baby is now 23 years old and a Marine. Jeepers, where does the time go?

I’ll leave you with the journaling:

My first Mother’s Day was May 8, 1988, Joshua was just 17 days old. Our church always had special recognition for the mom’s on that day: the mom with the most kids, the grandma with the most grandkids, the newest mom, etc. My friend, Karen Wilson, went into labor at nearly the same time as I did. Our husbands were surprised to see each other in the waiting room at the hospital. Sadly, by the time I was ready to go home with Josh, she was still in labor. It was awful and lasted over 72 hours for her. So, when she got the Newest Mom roses, beating me out by less than 48 hours, I was happy for her. She told me later she thought of sharing them with me, but decided she’d earned them. I heartily agreed!

WOYWW – Easter Cards

Apr 202011

Sorry this is so late, technically it’s still Wednesday, right? I had a last-minute opportunity to go down the Cape and do a little work. (For those of you not from Massachusetts, “go down the Cape” is THE correct way to say, “going to Cape Cod.” Trust me on this.)

Anyhow, the lavender jacket alterations are done, the Easter dress is done and the Easter cards are done. Phew! Pics to follow of the clothing in the next couple of days. I promise.

Right now I need to go address a bunch of envelopes and hope the post office is being super speedy this week.

Oh, and if you’re wondering why I posted a pic of my workdesk, go here to find a whole bunch of other people who have done so as well. It’s interesting to see what everyone else is up to.

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