Mooch at Peace

 

This card was inspired by this one made by Kath Stewart.  It also inspired me to order the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Christmastime 2 stamp set which was part of the 2019 release.  Although I have used other stamps in the set, this it the first time I have used the stamp that made me want to buy the set to begin with.  Six years!  How could I let that happen?!

I started by spraying Villainous Potion and Uncharted Mariner Distress sprays and water on watercolor paper and let it dry naturally.  Then I stamped and embossed the sentiment in gold and while I had everything out I gilded the edges of the panel with gold.  Now it was time to stamp Mooch from Lavinia Stamps in black Versafine ink and clear heat emboss him.  Yes, his name is Mooch.  Lavinia sells individual stamps and gives names to the fairies and animals depicted.  I bought him Christmas 2020 and used him quite a bit for a while, but lately I have been using cat die cuts and he has languished in my stamp drawer for a couple of years.  I stamped the holly from the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamptember 2018 set with Harbor ink, a dark teal from Close to My Heart.  The clear embossing resisted the ink, so it looks like the holly is behind him.  I used gray Prismacolors to create a shadow to ground him.  Once I had the sentiments, Mooch, and the holly in place, I knew where to put the stars using a Tim Holtz Sparkle stencil and transparent matte texture paste.  I had almost forgotten about texture paste until I broke it out for my Abigayil and Her Kittens card last month.  Amazingly it was still spreadable after sitting for a few years.  I had placed a piece of Press and Seal plastic wrap over the the jar before screwing the top on and it really did work to keep the paste from drying out.  The last step before attaching the panel to a card base was to use a Jelly Roll #700 sparkle pen in the center of the stars and along Mooch's head and left side to look like reflected starlight.  This is what the card looks like if you tip it towards light.

Working on this card reintroduced me to some older stamp and and other products that have been neglected, so I am entering it in the Shopping Our Stash "The Cat is in the Bag" and The Neglected Stuff challenges.  I also am entering it in the Jingle Belles "Baby It's GOLD Outside,"  Crazy is Our Fame, Stencils are Our Game (optional theme Nature), Addicted to Stamps and More "Make Your Mark," and Show Us Your Pussycats challenges.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Lighthouse and Waves for Mojo Monday

When I saw this Mojo Monday sketch I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it.  Finding the time this week was another story!

To make the background I stamped my new Hero Arts Waves background stamp using Versamark, embossed the image with Ranger White Detail embossing powder, and sponged on Distress Inks.  I left one at that and sprayed the other until it was saturated to the point of puddling and let it dry to a soft watercolor look.  I then ran it though my Cuddlebug with the sandwich I would use to die cut plus two pieces of cardstock to flatten it back out.  Lastly I sponged around the edge of each panel with Chipped Sapphire to ground it against the card base.  Background done!

Next I heat embossed the lighthouse and birds from Close to My Heart's Perfect Day set in white on vellum.  This is one of my favorite stamps because, not only do I love lighthouses, but this one resembles the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in my hometown.  The trick to attaching vellum is to apply the adhesive behind the embossing.  For one I folded the top over the edge on the background panel and glued the flap to the back.

Rather than trying to match colored cardstock to ink, I cut strips of White Daisy cardstock and sponged on the same Distress Inks.  The scripture verse was stamped with Blue Denim pigment ink and embossed with Stampendous Clear Detail powder.

The Harriet Beecher Stowe quote was stamped with Versamark and embossed with Stampendous PEARLuster embossing powder.

Both sentiments were attached with foam tape.  A few Bitty Sparkles from Close to My Heart complete the card.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

My Favorite Crafting Tool

When I saw this Atlantic Hearts Sketch I found myself thinking it would make a good scrapbook page for a single photo and I just knew just the one I wanted to use.

With four babies born within six months to stay at home moms on my block, it was only natural for us to hang out. My daughter was very small (14 pounds at 15 months) and had several physical challenges which limited her mobility, but we always found a way for her to participate.  When Katherine had hip surgery and was in a cast from her armpits to her ankle on one side and her knee on the other, the other moms brought their walkers over to see if we could wiggle her into one so she could be upright.  This not only allowed her to participate in many normal activities, it kept her neck and trunk muscles strong which lessened the recovery time once the cast came off.  I will always be grateful to the those mom's.  This picture was taken at a "garden party" where we had a wading pool set up.  When dealing with toddlers in the days before swim diapers, it was easier to let them skinny dip.

Before I tell you about my scrapbook page, I want to say a word about the judicious cropping of photographs.  It didn't occur to me to write about this until after the photo was already cropped and mounted, so please forgive the cut lines.  This is the original photo pieced back together.  You can see that the edges are a busy and detract from the subject.

Now look what happens when you trim about a quarter of an inch off the top and a half from the side.  There is enough background to see that they are in a garden with a makeshift fort, but the focus is now on the interaction between the girls.

Now back to my project:

I combined this sketch with the Heart 2 Heart challenge to use tools to create a project.  Because I like to play with ink, my favorite tool is a sponge (or sponge dauber) which can be used in many ways.  You can use sponges to ink a stamp in multiple colors, create a background, distress an edge in one or more colors, add dimension to a shapes, or outline a shape to ground it which is particularly helpful if you have a black and white object against a white background.  My favorite way to use a sponge, however, is to resist emboss which I did in this card which is still still getting hits three years after I posted it.


I knew I wanted to use the Hello Lovely cardmaking stamp in the background around the photo, but wanted to keep it subtle do avoid making the layout too busy.  I could have used second generation stamping to keep it light, but emboss resisting would be more fun.  Plus, I wanted to give my page a sweet, vintage feel.  Now the problem was how to position the stamping.  I could cut out completments leaving the backing paper intact so I could rearrange them, but once an image is stamped it can't be moved around.  Thin cuts to the rescue!  I love Close to My Heart's thin cuts because I have never been that skilled at lining up a stamp on a cut out image.  It is so much easier and less stressful for me to stamp, line up the thin cut, hold it in place with a bit of washi tape, and run it through my Cuddlebug.  I stamped and cut three and played with them until I was happy with the look.

I then removed everything except the die cuts and traced around them lightly with a pencil so I knew where to stamp and emboss.  Of course embossing required another tool, a craft heater, to melt the embossing powder.  Once I erased the outline, I used a sponge to rub Desert Sand ink over the image, layering and pulling the ink out lightly toward the center and in from around the edges of the page.  As I worked I periodically placed the photo and main elements back on the page to check the look.  Here is what the background looked like when I was finished:

I did the journaling and date on my laptop and printed it in dark brown on cardstock that had been cut to 8.5 x 11 to fit in my printer.  The flowers hide the edge of the not quite long enough  strip of paper.  For the date I cut out the center of the frame from the Hello Lovely compliments pack and put the printed date behind it.  Lastly, I rubbed a little bit of ink across both pieces so they would blend in and distressed the edges of all the elements including the complements.  Now it was time to put everything together.  How did I make sure all those strips of paper were straight?  I used my Versamat, another handy tool.  Now all I had to do was bling it up with some gold glitter gems and some hearts from the Hello Lovely complements.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why not head over the Atlantic Hearts and Heart 2 Heart challenge sites for some inspiration?  You might even be inspired to enter Heart 2 Heart's tool challenge which is open through the end of March.  Until next time,  Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Hello Lovely (only available until April 30), Colonial White, New England Ivy, and Desert Sand cardstock
Ink:  Desert Sand
Stamp:  Hello Lovely (available until April 30)
Embellishments:  Hello Lovely compliments, Gold Glitter Gems, Clear embossing powder
Tools:  sponge, craft heater, Hello Lovely thin cuts, Versamat, paper trimmer

Color Throwdown Black, White, and Gold

I have been doing a lot of playing with White and Gold which is quite elegant, but when you add Black per this week's Color Throwdown it really pops!

These are three of several variations.  First I did a few where I embossed the angel with Gold powder:

Next, in addition to embossing the angel, I used the powder to gild the edges of the sentiment which I attached with foam tape:

Finally I went for a softer look by embossing the angel with Clear powder and sponging on Metallic Gold ink:

My original plan had been to use only black sparkles to embellish, but they did not give as much sparkle as much as I wanted, so I used mostly clear ones instead.  

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Colonial White and Black cardstock

Ink:  Black with Metallic Gold by ColorBox

Stamp:  Sing Glory (retired)

Embellishments:  Black and Clear Bitty sparkles, Gold and Clear embossing powder 

Time for Christmas Cards

For some people late August means the start of a new school year.  For me it is time to get serious about making Christmas cards.  In January I resolved to play a Christmas themed challenge each week to get a head start, but as with many resolutions, let's just say I got side tracked.  Now to recommit...  The ladies over at Jingle Belles Rock (got to love a blog with a name like that) are playing Tree Skirt Tic-Tac-Toe, a Christmas version of Beach Blanket Bingo:

Now if you have followed my blog through a Christmas season, you will know that I love sparkles and snowflakes, so it was a no brainer to play the center vertical column of Bling, Die Cuts, and Snow which I combined with this Freshly Made Sketch:

It worked out to being a double play with the diagonal of Glitter, Die Cuts and Stamping.  I started by cutting a snowflake using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and then stamping and clear embossing it with a stamp from the retired Frosted Cardmaking Workshop.  Next I used a sponge to rub on some Crystal Blue and Whisper inks to expose the stamped image and then some metallic Silver by Color Box to guild the edges.  While I had my stamps out I stamped a sentiment from Holiday Tags and embossed it with Ranger Silver Super Fine embossing powder which is available from Close to My Heart.  I love how smoothly it melts.  I ran the background panel through my Cuddlebug with using an embossing folder from Darice and put the card together, popping up the snowflake up with foam tape.  Finally it was time to bling up my card with some Tan Sparkles on the snowflake and Silver Stickles in the background.

I made two other versions of this but like the one above best.  Which one do you like best?

Thank you for stopping by!  Now head on over to see some other beautiful cards at Jingle Belles Rock and Freshly Made Sketches and maybe be inspired to enter yourself.  You have until tomorrow, Monday, at 12:00 PST to enter the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and September 9 for the Jingle Belles Rock challenge.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Frosted (retired), Frosted Gray (retired), Whisper, Champagne, and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Crystal Blue, Whisper and Versamark

Stamps:  Frosted Cardmaking Workshop (retired), Holiday Tags

Embellishments:  Silver Stickles, Tan and Blue Sparkles (retired), Ranger Clear and Silver Super Fine embossing powders

Other:  embossing folder by Darice

A Lighthouse Birthday

My youngest brother and sister have birthdays two weeks apart, and of course, I have missed them both.  First up is the card for my brother based on this Freshly Made Sketch:

I used one of my favorite techniques, resist embossing, in which you emboss your stamp image using Versamark and clear detail powder and then sponge over it with ink (preferably dye based) to make the image appear.  When you finish, wiping the embossing with a sponge or paper towel will make it pop even more.  I combined the Perfect Day stamp set (retired) with Timblerline paper (retired) and added a sentiment from Holiday Tags and a couple of grey sparkles (soon to be retired).  The lighthouse panel is popped up with foam tape to give it some dimension.

On the inside I used a sentiment from Card Chatter - Birthday (retired) along with another image from Perfect Day stamped in second generation Ponderosa Pine, which will be retired the end of this month.:

I also plan to enter this card in the Seize the Birthday challenge to use embossing.

I know that I have used a lot of retired products in this card.  Stay tuned for my sister's card which features current products and a hint as to what is coming in the new Close to My Heart catalog.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Timberline (retired), Colonial White and Avolea Teal (retired) cardstock
Ink:  Twilight (retired), Ponderosa Pine (soon to be retired), Lagoon, Black
Stamps:  Perfect Day (retired), Holiday Tags, Card Chatter - Birthday (retired)
Embellishments:  Gray Sparkles (soon to be retired), Clear detail powder

Freshly Made Snow

Tomorrow night we are supposed to get our first snow of the season.  (That third of an inch that melted by 10:00 in the morning we got a few weeks ago doesn't count.)  They are calling for six to eight inches which in these parts is considered serious snow, so you know where I will be tomorrow morning.

My Yankee readers can stop laughing now.  In honor of the pending snow and because I am trying to get a head start on Christmas, I used a snowflake theme for this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I started by using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the snowflake (page 27), used Versamark to stamp it with the snowflake from the Frosted cardmaking workshop, and heat embossed it with clear detail powder.  Normally when I do resist embossing I use a sponge to dab on ink.  This time I used a sponge dauber to rub on Whisper and Crystal Blue inks to get a softer effect.  To complete the snowflake element I sponged the edges with Silver metallic ink by Color Box and embellished with a small circle cut from glitter paper using a hole punch and a blue sparkle.  The sentiment is from the "To You and Yours" stamp set.  Both the snowflake and the sentiment are popped up with foam tape.

I used a snowflake folder by Darice to emboss the center panel and embellished a few of the flakes with grey bitty sparkles.  My stitch guide made it easy to pierce the border evenly and in a straight line.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now I am going to finish my grocery list.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper:  Frosted (retired), Frosted Blue (retired) and White Daisy cardstock, Silver glitter paper

Ink:  Whisper, Crystal Blue, and Slate along with Silver metallic ink by Color Box

Stamps:  Frosted cardmaking workshop (retired), To You and Yours 

Embellishments:  Blue Sparkle (retired, but you can use a ShinHan marker to color a clear one), Grey bitty sparkles

Other:  Snowflake embossing folder by Darice, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Freshly Made Halloween Kitties

The Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Thistle and Sunset, the colors in Close to My heart's new Scaredy Cat paper.  The first card was based on this Freshly Made Sketch:

For both cards I started by using clear detail powder to heat emboss the tree from the Eek & Shriek stamp set and then sponged over it with Thistle and Black.  I had planned on keeping the upper right corner uninked, but it did not quite work when I started to put the card together, so I sponged on a bit of Sunset which warmed it up and fit better with the rest of the paper.  The cat was cut using the Artbooking Cricut cartridge (page 70) cut at 2.75 and then stamped.  The thing to remember about the Artbooking and new Artfully Sent cartridges is that the images on a given page are designed to cut in proportion to each other to make a particular project.  In this case the images are intended to make a scrapbook page with the size set to 11 inches.  If you set the size to 2.75 and do not push the real dial size button, you will get a .75 inch cat because the Cricut thinks you are making a 2.75 inch scrapbook page.  I know this because in my rush enthusiasm I forgot to set my Cricut on real dial size...   I used my ShinHan markers to color the collars and sparkles.  The metal medallions are from the Scaredy Cat assortment with Bamboo and Sunset papers behind them to help the cutouts show.  On the second card I sponged the edges of the striped layer with black to give it a cleaner line against the card base.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head on over to Freshly Made Sketches and Color My Heart to see what others have been inspired to make?  If you are inspired to take the Color Dare you have until Thursday night.  You do not have use Scaredy cat paper and if you do not have the exact colors use the closest ones you have.  Feel free to throw in any neutrals.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper: Scaredy Cat, Bamboo, Sunset, Slate and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Black, Thistle, and Sunset with Marigold and Peony Purple ShinHan markers
Embellishments:  Scaredy Cat assortment, Clear sparkles
Other:  Artbooking Cricut cartridge

Heartfelt Sympathy

It is no secret that I love lighthouses, so I was pretty excited to see that Close to My Heart has a new lighthouse stamp.  For this card, I used the emboss resist technique in which you stamp your image with Versamark and emboss it with clear detail powder and then sponge over it with dye ink to make the image appear.  It is one of my favorite techniques.  Usually I leave the embossing and wipe off any excess ink.  The problem this time was that I wanted to use this sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

This meant I would be stamping at least partially over the embossed image and the ink would, well, resist.  The solution was to remove the embossing by ironing it off.  To do this you place a sheet of paper (I used copy paper.) over the image and iron over it using a low heat.  The embossing transfers to the paper.  I found I had to do this several times, using a fresh part of the paper each time, to get it all,  The surface felt smooth, but there was still a bit of a shine.  I stamped the sentiment using pigment ink and embossed it with clear detail powder to make sure it "stuck."

I used Whisper ink to sponge the image and around the edge.  I had a lot of trouble selecting the framing layers.  I finally went with one of the patterned sheets, sponged with Desert Sand, and Glacier cardstock.  Given the reason I need this card, I decided not to use any embellishments.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Seaside with Glacier cardstock

Ink:  Whisper and Desert Sand along with Black pigment ink

Stamps:  Seaside Greetings, Look to the Light

Color My Heart in Pacifica, Crystal Blue, and Red Barn

This week's Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Pacifica, Crystal Blue, and Red Barn to create a project which dovetails nicely with Heart 2 Heart's "Rhapsody in Blue" challenge.  I started by using pigment inks and clear detail powder to stamp and emboss the girl and sentiment from Close to My Heart's "Dreamer" stamp set.  Then I sponged over the girl with Pacifica dye ink.  To add texture to the background panel, I used Crystal Blue pigment ink to stamp the butterfly from the set diagonally across a piece of Crystal Blue cardstock.  The sequins came with the Ivy Lane Workshop on the Go Cardmaking Kit.  I had to add a few Blue Sparkles...  If it weren't for the embellishments I would say that this is almost CAS.

After being away from my craftroom and the bloggersphere for a while, it feels good to be back.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head on over to Heart 2 Heart and Color My Heart to see some more creations?  Better yet, why not take the Color Dare yourself?  If you don't have the exact colors, just use the the closest ones you have.  We would love to see what your creation!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Crystal Blue, Red Barn and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Pacifica, with Pacifica, Crystal Blue and Red Barn pigment inks

Stamp:  Dreamer

Embellishments:  Sequins, Blue Crystals (retired)

Other:  Clear Detail embossing powder

Once Upon a Time...

The theme for last week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is "Once Upon a Time"... and I need a birthday card for a little girl... and Close to My Heart has this wonderful unicorn stamp... and I have been wanting to try the Northern Lights technique ever since I saw Kay Kalthoff's video tutorial on it...  Yes, it was all coming together!  In a nutshell, for the northern lights technique, you sponge assorted colors in stripes (I used Lagoon, Pacifica, Cotton Candy, and Buttercup), layer a single darker color over them (Outdoor Denim), and then stamp your design on the background you have created.  The only problem was that unicorns are white, and even pigment ink is not opaque enough to keep the background from showing through.  The solution was a variation of resist embossing.  I stamped the unicorn with Versamark on Colonial White cardstock, heat embossed it with clear detail powder, and proceeded with the northern lights technique.  I did have to wipe residual ink off the embossing as I worked.  For my first try I used sponge daubers which created a soft, watercolor effect:

The Outdoor Denim altered the colors somewhat but was not particularly dramatic and had little texture.  I used the Love Life stamp set from Close to My Heart to stamp the background.  While is not in the catalog this season, it can still be ordered because Close to My Heart does not retire stamps that are compatible with Cricut cartridges.  On my (or any other consultant's) website, click on "My Acrylix Stamp Sets" on the menu to the left and scroll down the page to the "Cricut Compatible Sets."  There you will find all the Cricut compatible sets that you wish you had ordered when they were in the catalog.  I may have gotten a little carried away with the swirls.  Then again, when you are making a card for a seven year old girl can you really have too many swirls (or sparkles)?   Because Kay used a sponge wedge in her video, I gave that a try:

All the colors blended nicely with much more texture.  I had just washed the sponge that I used for the Outdoor Denim so it was still sightly damp.  When I wiped the thin layer of ink off the embossing I ended up picking up some of the ink around the image which makes it look like he is glowing.  For my last card I tried using sponge daubers for the bottom layer and a sponge quarter to apply the over layer:

The softer color stripes below seem to shine through the textured Outdoor Denim layer.  I was also more careful as I wiped the unicorn.  For each card I sponged some Outdoor Denim around the edges before I put the card together.  Now the question is, which one do I like best?  Thank you for stopping by!  Now go see how others have interpreted "Once Upon a Time" at Heart 2 Heart Challenges.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Colonial White and Twilight cardstock

Ink:  Lagoon, Pacifica, Cotton Candy, Buttercup and Outdoor Denim

Stamps:  Unicorn Dreams (available only as a hostess reward), Love Life

Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkles, Pink and Purple Sparkles (retired), star shaped sparkles from Michael's 

Other:  Clear Detail powder  

A Heart 2 Heart Sketch Challenge

This month the ladies over at Heart 2 Heart are challenging us to use this sketch:

This one proved a bit challenging for me, but isn't that the point?  I had trouble deciding what to do with that oval.  Then it came to me.  I had just gotten Close to My Heart's new Timberline paper pack which has an outdoorsy, camping theme to it which got me to thinking about my days as a Girl Scout camping at Seashore State Park (now First landing State Park) which was near the Cape Henry Lighthouse.  It was time to break out the Perfect Day stamp set!  I used the resist embossing technique where you stamp the image with Versamark, heat emboss it with clear detail powder, and then sponge over it with water based ink to make the image appear.  Sometimes you have to wipe over the embossed area with a tissue to remove the thin film of ink that can coat to your image.  In this case, I sponged Juniper, Twilight, and Pondersoa Pine over the image stamped on Bamboo cardstock.  I sponged the edges of the "corner squares" with a little Colonial White pigment ink.  I do not have any Ponderosa Pine cardstock, but I found that Avonlea Green from the retired paper pack made a good substitute.  For embellishments I started with the new Durables Triangle Studs which have really grown on me.  To complement them, I cut the prongs off some brads and attached them with Liquid Glass.

I am not sure if this will be a masculine birthday card, thinking of you card, or note of encouragement, so I have not done anything on the inside yet.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now head on over to Heart 2 Heart Challenges to see some more takes on this sketch.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Timberline, Bamboo, Avonlea Green (retired) and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Juniper, Twilight, Ponderosa Pine

Stamp:  Perfect Day (retired)

Embellishments:  Duarables Triangle Studs, Metal Brads (retired)