SDC #254

Hello, again! It is me!! Back with another super fun challenge for Stampotique! This time around the challenge is, "Text Background". This one really was a cinch for me. I LOVE using text pretty much ALL of the time on my mixed media projects. I didn't want to just make a card, so I asked my son to choose some monsters and poof....a door hanger. Is that what these are called? I don't even know.

So, for the text, before I even had a picture in my head, I knew I wanted to use the "Approach With Caution" stamp for my background. Only using 1 text wasn't enough though. I used a sheet from an old dictionary and covered the hanger (from hence forth they shall be door hangers, whether this is correct or not). A smattering of gessso over it, but not enough to cover all of the words.

Next, of COURSE the Dylusions sprays came out to play. I am for serious. I friggen love the things. It came out way better than the picture in my head. Once it was all dry, I stamped the mess out of the background. Texture is another fave, so Dylusions large triangle stencil and Ranger texture paste were in order. A bit of Faber Castell gelattos and it was ready.

HOW FLIPPING FUN IS THIS?!?! Excuse the all caps, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome. Not very often that the picture in your head comes out on paper as well as you had hoped. Check out how you can see some of the dictionary words along with the stamped words. Also, side detail, the little ink dots that stayed and didn't run are SO NEAT!(sorry, caps again)

Last but of COURSE, not least, these little monsters. Noah chose Feathery Monster, and Unicorn's Cousin for his hanger, and coloring these was so fun! Watercolor pencils and water brushes. I just kept layering and drying and layering until the desired effect was reached. Both of these little monsters fit my son's personality so well. I can almost see his laughing face in them. 

I hope my little project has inspired you to go forth and create something fun with these stamps for your home. If you do, don't forget to hop on over and post your entry on our link up!!  Also, be sure to check out my team mates (posted on the left bar). They have much more eye candy to eat up! Happy creating!

Ingredients:

Stamp: Feathery Monster
Stamp: Unicorn's Cousin
Stamp: Approach With Caution
Ranger Dylusions Spray
Faber Castell Gelato
Spellbinders Circle Dies
Spellbinders Scallop Dies

Back To School!

So, it happened. My baby boy is now a 4th grader. I really can't believe it. Its frightening. Time just keeps slipping away. On the positive side, I have time to catch up on chores and to craft, so, its a balance.

Today I was dragging. Seriously dragging. Getting up before 7 is for the birds. And for those who may scoff, I have reasons. K? Like, medication reasons. Anyway, in an effort to bring up the mood, I crafted. And with what else? A new stampotique stamp! Cause, not only am I obsessed, I am kind of on the team so I get to bring you delightful art in addition to my own art! 

Stampotique just had a release so, of course, I had to jump right on that and create something else. I created a bookmark. Love the style of these stamps and how they go with the style of Ms. Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. I decided to use Sargent and can see her maybe being Olive with her chunky boots. For coloring I used watercolor pencils. 

Because this is a bookmark, I made sure that it didn't have a lot of elements that could fall off or mess with the spine of a book, but I just HAD to add some texture. Texture paste to the rescue. Just enough to give the bookmark texture without breaking the spine or leaving an imprint in the pages. 

Really love how vibrant the colors are and how it just pops. The sentiment, from Cosmo Cricket, was kind of perfect. Esp if you have read the aforementioned book. Now that my son is in school, maybe I can sit and READ a book instead of listening to an audio book like normal...if I don't fall asleep. ;)

Ingredients:

Sargent, Stampotique

Cosmo Cricket Sentiment

Stencil Girl Circle Stencil

Dylusions Key Hole Stencil

Dina Wakely Acrylic Paint

Ranger Texture Paste

Master's Touch Gesso

Watercolor Pencils

Americana Acrylic Paint

Time For Another Stampotique ATC swap!

Its that time again! New month, new ATC swap for Stampotique! Lets get this party started! Hop on over to our event here if you are interested!

This month the theme of the swap is, "Sentimental". Choose a sentiment, be it sarcastic, sweet, kind...it doesn't matter. I think we all know what kind of sentiments I prefer....Which is one of the many reasons I love being on this design team!

The stamped sentiment I used is from Stampotique. It is called, "Sarcasm". Told you I loved this company. I think I shall put this on my next job resume. It might win points...you know, for honesty! The background was stamped using the "Circles Cube". It was stamped using glacier white pigment ink from ranger, and then I used Zing embossing powder to make it pop and give it the texture you all know I love. A bit of washi and some bling...all on a background created using Dylusions sprays (I might need to just get a job at Ranger since I use their stuff ALL of the TIME....) The sentiment was colored using Faber Castell Gelatos and a watercolor brush pen. 

I sure hope the recipient of this card enjoys it and gets  a smile from it. Be sure to head over and join us in our ATC swap on FB. All you have to do is make sure you use one of Stampotique's fantastic stamps for your card. Hope to see you there!

Ingredients:

Stamp: Circle Cube

Stamp: Sarcastic

Ranger Pigment Ink, Glacier White

Ranger Archival Black Ink

Dylusions Sprays

Faber Castell Gelatos

Zing Embossing Powder, White

Sequins

Adhesive Pearls

Release Day Blog Hop!

Today is release day over at Stampotique Originals!! You should have arrived here from

Julie Steed

If not, you may want to head over to our hop blog post and start from the top so you don't miss anything!!

When I saw this sweet Agatha Indian and her Tee Pee I had to color them whimsical colors. Could't have colored her any other way! She also seemed like a very "Happy Camper" to me. Thought this could be a great wall hanger. Esp for like, a little office area....or my crafting space, you know, whatever.

Loved  coloring this little girl. I used watercolor pencils and water brush pens. She needed to be happy, whimsical colors, as did her teepee. For the textured background, ranger texture paste and a Balzar stencil. 

The colors are all Dylusions Sprays and Gelatos.  I used my water coloring technique to create a bright background. LOVE using water and color to bring a project to life. Love this happy camper quote. Can be used for happy OR sarcastic....perfect! 

And of course, the sweet teepee. You can see the words from the stencil better on this panel. Love the way the colors all work together too!

Alright, enough about me! Its time to hop on, and be sure to check out the Stampotique Originals website! Lots of amazing new stamps to be had! Happy hopping!!

Now, head on over to 

Arwen McCullen

Ingredients:

Agatha Indian (Stampotique Originals)

Tee Pee (Stampotique Originals)

Happy Camper Text (Stampotique Originals)

Ranger Dylusions Ink Sprays

Faber Castell Gelatos

Balzar Stencil

Ranger Texture Paste

Water Color Pencils

American Craft Eyelts

Prima Handmade Flower

Sneak Peek

Over at Stampotique Originals we are having a release very, very soon! I am so excited because there are a lot of fun and adorable images from our artists and waiting to share my project is getting more and more difficult. So, how about a sneakie?

The images I chose to use for our debut are so fun and easy to color that I went all out whimsical. Teal, orange, purples....lots of my favorites. 

Hope this gets you excited! Come back here and to our Designers Challenge Blog to join us on the 25th of July for a blog hop introducing the newest images (and crew members you are starting to get to know). Each and every post will be dripping with creativity and inspiration! 

SDC #252

So, I am THRILLED to be announcing that I am have been chosen as a member of the Design Team for the company, Stampotique Original Stamps. I am thrilled, humbled, and  excited beyond belief. 

This is my first challenge as a member of the team and I had a lot of fun with it. The theme of the challenge is, "Party". When I think party, I think banners! I love creating banners. I made this one a mini banner, but I was thinking this is the perfect size to take to work for someone who has a small desk area or a cubicle. Cause work parties need to happen more. 

I had a lot of fun creating this. Did I mention that? I used the stamp, Bat Boy for the character as well as the stamp, "keep on keeping on". I figure, if you are celebrating you NEED to keep on keeping on, right? I colored the adorkable Bat Boy with watercolor pencils. 

I created new paper out of some old paper stacks I had. I used Authentique, "Latest and Greatest" and My Mind's Eye, Jubilee. Then, I created a mess with Dylusions sprays and water and water colored the already patterned paper for an awesome pop.  

I used water brushes and watercolor pencils on smooth watercolor paper with my stamped Bat Boys. 

The center uses Plushy, who is wearing Bat Boy's hat. The sentiment here is a free silhouette file I had. What a day indeed if these two showed up at your party! I also used Hanging Hearts along the top of this panel. 

The swirls of paper are also free Silhouette files. The circles and scallops were cut using my spellbinders dies and my cuddle bug. Still like old school.  

So here I am, world!! Partying down like its 1999! Be sure to head over to meet my other team mates (links on the left bar) and be sure to participate in this fun challenge! 1 week left so, hurry!

Ingredients:

Stamp: Bat Boy
Stamp: Plushy
Authentique "Latest and Greatest" Paper
My Mind's Eye "Jubilee" Paper
Ranger Dylusions Sprays
Ranger Texture Paste
Dylusions Triangle Stencil
Spellbinders Circle Dies
Spellbinders Scallop Dies
American Craft Eyelets

Stampotique ATC

I am participating in the ATC swap over at Stampotique this month.

This month, the theme is, "Frame It". I thought this would be a fun challenge. With ATCs your space is limited and it actually was a bit more challenging then I had at first anticipated. In the end, I decided that an "instax" type frame, or "Polaroid", if you prefer, would be the perfect solution.

I love this girl, "Moth Fab". She is so funky and just screams for like, "fab" colors and style. Of course, she is a little large for a 2.5 x 3.5 inch sized canvas so, the frame was the perfect fit. It kind of reminds me of a middle school picture for a yearbook when it is placed this way. I used watercolor pencils and water brush pens to color her.

Not sure what it is, but I can't just leave things simple anymore and I really do try. However, I just imagined that if "Moth Fab" was to give this photo away she was going to doodle on it and write all over it. Least, that's what I always did in school. This, after I used Dylusions Sprays and Faber Castel Gelatos to create a distressed, colored frame. 

To acheive this I used the "Just Keep On" sentiment as well as "Hanging Hearts" on the frame. A little washi tape and just a bit more doodling with my Poscca paint pen and it was, I think, complete. 

Ingedients:

Stamp: Moth Fab

Stamp: Hanging Hearts

Stamp: Just Keep On

Dylusions Spray

Heidi Swapp Color Shine

Faber Castell Gelato

Washi Tape

Poscca Pen

Watercolor Pencils