Hey - Spray, Dab, Stamp & Sponge!

 

Hey there, everyone!  Broni Holcombe here to show you how I made this bright and fun card for my son-in-law's birthday!

I started out with a piece of white cardstock, my non-stick craft sheet, some TCW 6x6 stencils and some Dylusions ink sprays in Vibrant Turquoise and Fresh Lime.  Love those colors!

Instead of spraying directly onto the cardstock with the ink spray, I spritzed it onto my craft sheet.

I wanted better control of where the color went and I wanted a softer stenciled look, so I used a baby wipe to dab up the Vibrant Turquoise ink from the craft sheet and then onto the cardstock through the Mini Numbers Collage stencil.

Then I did the same thing with the Fresh Lime ink spray and the Mini Chevron stencil.

Next, I wanted to add just a little darker navy blue to the piece since I knew I was using a navy card base.  I lightly and randomly stamped on some backgrounds, a grid pattern and a script pattern, in navy blue ink.

To add a little more of the navy color, I decided to sponge on the same navy blue ink using an ink blending tool and my Mini Confetti stencil.

At this point I liked the background just the way it was, so I added it to my card base.  Then I stamped the gentleman image from the fabulous Dylusions Mini Couture stamp set onto white cardstock using Memento tuxedo black ink, and colored it with these Copic markers:

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the "hey", then colored along the left edge with the BG11 marker.

To finish the card, I added these elements as well as a couple of buttons laced with twine using Scor-Tape and foam mounting tape.

And here's the finished card again.

 

That's it for me, today!  I hope you enjoyed the post, and I hope you'll go forth and Spray, Dab, Stamp and Sponge!! 

Clean and Simple

Hi everyone, Micki here.

I thought I'd share a quick, clean and simple card with you today.  Years ago, I used to quilt, so when I saw the Quilt Prints stamp set from Wplus9, I knew I had to have it.  As much as I love color, I am also a big, big fan of white space and the clean and simple card making style.

Using the Fiskars Stamp Press to stamp, makes this really easy and fast if you are creating several cards. As you can see, it is a really simple card.
After stamping the quilt circles, I stamped the sentiment from Strictly Sentiments 1 also from Wplus9 right over the circles.

Then to add a bit of color, I added a strip of Bo Bunny Double Dot Bold Brights  paper, punching a 1" hole before adhering it to the card.  I used the 1" window to showcase (for lack of a better term) the patterned square which I had just stamped onto scrap white card stock and cut out with my scissors.
Clean and simple and fast.  And if you are new to stamping and or card making and have a limited amount of supplies, these two stamp sets from Wplus9 are a wonderful way to start.  Limitless possibilities!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope this inspired you to get a little inky today!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

USA Banner

Hello! Annette Green here today with a fun and easy home decor project you can finish in an afternoon made with all kinds of great products you can find right here in the eP store. Just click on those linkies at the end of this post and they will take you there. 

My USA banner pays tribute to our fine country and can be displayed during the summer season from Memorial Day to 4th of July all the way through Labor Day. Or if you are a die-hard Americana fan, all year round.

It all starts with a 3-pack of these Scallop Tags with Trim (Art Parts by Wendy Vecchi). I decided to switch things up a bit and flip them over the other way.

I covered each with papers from Little Yellow Bicycle's "Just Because" line (perfect with all its reds, whites and blues) then added some tissue tape along the sides. Then inked them with Vintage Photo to darken the bright colors a little, then inked with Walnut Stain around the outer edges.

I ran some white chipboard coasters through the new Pediments die by Tim Holtz, then gave them an aged look by first applying Tarnished Brass Distress Paint to the surfaces, dried them well, then a layer of Walnut Stain Distress Paint which I quickly spritzed with water and mopped up with a balled up paper towel to create texture. After that was dry, I inked the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I used Tim's Mini Paper Rosettes die to create three small rosettes from more of the "Just Because" paper. Even though the paper is only 6 x 6, there's no reason why you can cut two strips and piece them together to fit the die. I inked their edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I grabbed some old chipboard letters and covered them with some of the new Collage Mini Stash papers from Tim Holtz. This is the postage stamp page. After sanding to clean up the edges, I inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Now for assembly. Papers go down first, then tissue tape, then the embellishments. 

Several Idea-ology pieces adorn each letter.

I connected each tag with chain from Tim's swivel clasps and then added a full swivel clasp to each end for hanging on the wall.

Hanging from the bottom of the middle tag is one of the new Collage Keys from Tim Holtz (also hanging from one of the swivel clasps). I love these Collage Keys! They come with several vintage images on stickers or you can put your own thing inside. A clear epoxy bubble seals it. 

Incidentally, a Crop-a-dile works just dandy through the thick paperboard tags to make the holes.

This accent on each tag is also part of the Scallop Tags with Trim set. I've covered them with the ruler paper from the Collage Mini Stash collection, sanded it smooth and inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

That's it for me today. Thanks for popping by to check it out. Have a wonderful weekend!

Learn to pause

Hello everyone, Alison here to share a project using one of the fabulous Tim Holtz burlap panels with you.

I knew I would love playing with these panels the minute I saw them in the new releases earlier this year... and they are very yummy!  You get great texture, great dimension and a great shabby chic look before you've even done anything...

I've used one of the smaller sized 4x6 panels as the base "canvas" for this project, which also uses some of the new 8x8 TH Collage papers... very useful new sizing if you generally work smaller scale than a 12x12 page.

I started by tearing some of the papers into strips of various sizes... some music manuscript and some handwritten text - no surprises so far, then - and played around with their positions on the panel.

I used Distress Inks to stain the torn edges - makes such a difference to the overall look...

The little boy is from Nicecrane Designs, the Child's Garden of Verses V, beautiful vintage book illustrations all ready to be coloured, cut out, or whatever else takes your fancy.

I printed him out in a couple of different sizes, so that I could see what worked best, and then used Distress Stains to watercolour him in a neutral palette using a water brush.  A bit of simple fussy cutting, and he was ready to take his place on the layout.

A couple of Idea-ology metal embellishments take their place... some moulded corners and one of my favourite clocks, all shabbied up (down?) with some gesso and gilding wax.

Having decided where everything went, it was time to remove it all!  I wanted to add some gesso to the burlap to emphasise the texture, and now I knew whereabouts it would have the most effect.

(You'll notice things have moved around just a little by the time we get stuck down... for instance, the clock worked much better above the boy - as though it might be on the wall behind him - rather than by his left knee!)

The gesso emphasises the burlap by drawing a bit of extra attention to it, like a highlight.  Once the papers were stuck, I decided to experiment with adding an extra touch of texture using some of the fabulous Liquid Platinum embossing powder by Ranger.

Love how the effect is different according to whether it landed on the burlap or the paper!

The sentiment, by Tim Holtz, is stamped in Coffee Archival with some Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain DIs also blended onto the stamp, and then embossed with the SuperFine Clear embossing powder from Ranger.

So that was the straightforward view of the piece, but if you'd like a whole "different angle" on things, check out the photographs over at Words and Pictures today!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, and I'll see you again soon.
Alison x

If there's something that's tempted you amongst the ingredients, you'll find it in the eclectic Paperie store by clicking on the links below.

Gesso Resist & Ranger Day

Hi everyone and welcome to another day of crafting fun and techniques on the eP blog!  Today I'm so excited to share a project that I created after attending a day of Ranger training at The Collins Group show, an event held each year for retailers on the east coast.

What a great opportunity to meet amazing designers, instructors, other store owners, and product manufacturers.  You literally leave with your head swimming with ideas.  I came home, after being gone for three days, and sat down in my office to make something...anything...my husband came downstairs and said, "aren't you all crafted out?"  In all honesty, I was so tired, but also so inspired that I couldn't wait to try out some of what I had learned...even if I was half asleep! LOL!

The technique that I'm sharing today is called gesso resist.  Tim referred to it as speckled gesso resist because of the look that the gesso produces when using a credit or gift card to apply the gesso.  Claudine Hellmuth had produced a number of videos during the winter CHA show, using gesso as a resist so I was familiar with the technique.  Of course Tim added his own unique spin to the technique and then brought in those wonderful Distress products!

And guess what?  I made a quick video demonstrating the gesso resist technique, showing the tag that we created in the Ranger class, and then two other projects (both shown here) that I made using the same technique.  You can see the video here and I'll quickly run through the steps below.

1. Place a small amount of gesso on a non-stick craft sheet
2. Use a credit and gift card as an applicator; pick up gesso on one edge of the card
3. Keeping the card completely level with your stamping surface, very gently slide the card (with gesso) over your paper.  This will allow the gesso to just barely skim the surface of your tag or paper, creating the speckled or aged plaster effect.
4. Once the gesso is dry, apply Distress Stain, using 1-3 colors, over the paper.  The gesso will resist the stain.
5. Spritz with water to blend the Distress Stain colors.
6. Once dry, use stamps to decorate the surface.

 I used the following products on the journal page, shown above.  Distress Stains (Wild Honey & Barn Door), Gathered Twigs Distress Ink (around the edges), Dylusions Journal (I tore a piece of the manila paper out of the journal to create the page...the manila paper is perfect for the stains!), Hollyhocks stamp, sentiment from She Sprouted Wings stamp set, gesso.  

Oh look!  It's Dyan Reaveley!  OK, she doesn't have anything to do with today's project but she was at the Ranger training day and it was the first time I met her or took one of her classes!  WooHoo!  So much fun; I learned a ton from her and can't wait to share some of those details!  She's a delightful instructor and a great artist!

 Here is the tag that we produced in Tim's class and is the project that I demonstrate during my video.

And then...I also made a card using the same technique.  I just used a piece of scrap paper and followed the exact same steps to produce the background...just using different stains.  This is a darling stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy.

Isn't it great that you can take a simple technique, and just a few products, and then use those same steps to produce multiple projects and designs!  I really wanted to be able to share my ideas that came from that one short demonstration.  I also share a few more ideas in the video!

Super fun and super easy!  Give it a try and then tell us about your experience and share your project on our Facebook page!

Enjoy!