Friday, October 26, 2007

Quick Note

I am off to Hampton, VA this weekend for the Stamp Scrap Art Tour, and I am very excited! I always love to see what is new and different. I have my ATC and pin ready to enter, and I am hoping to win a gift certificate to spend at the show. Think good thoughts for me! I will post my thoughts and impressions of the show when I get back.
The card for today is made using images from Impression Obsession. The images by Leigh Hannan (one of their designers) often have tiny little details to them. I find that using VersFine ink really helps show off each and every line. The berries are raised dots that I created using red Liquid Pearls. I am quite pleased with how it turned out (even if one of the "la's" didn't fit on the end. :)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Sad Crafting News

I don't have a card ready today, but I wanted to blog about the closing of all the Recollections stores. I shop at the Sterling VA store, and I know I am going to miss it! I had heard that they were closing, but you never know what is rumor and what is fact. Well, Michaels made their official announcement about closing the stores today.
I never really bought stamps at Recollections (I work at a stamp store after all), but I loved to look at all their papers and embellishments. They always had a huge selection from so many different companies. Plus, their workspace is ENORMOUS! I feel bad for myself (I hate to take away my shopping opportunities), but mainly I feel sorry for all the employees that gave their heart and soul to creating such a wonderful store. I wish them all the best!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay, it is a month away, but I am already thinking about Thanksgiving. When you design cards for classes, you tend to think about holidays before anyone else. Don't worry though, I haven't started my Easter cards yet!
Today's card is a rather easy card to make. I used images from Impression Obsession and stamped them onto 90lb watercolor paper using VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink. After the ink dried, I colored in the leaves using Twinkling H2O's and a waterbrush. The border at the bottom was created by stamping the leaf image onto a scrap of watercolor paper, coloring it with the Twinkling H2O's and trimming it down to a narrow strip. I then attached the narrow leaf strip to the card. Very simple, but I liked how it turned out.
On another note, I have a 10 in 10 Christmas class this Saturday. Yes, I am already thinking about Christmas too. I am so excited because my mom will be taking the class! Yes, she is driving 4 hours to take one of my classes. I guess it had better be good!
If anyone is interested in the class, we will be making 10 quick Christmas cards using images from Impression Obsession, My Favorite Things, Hero Arts, Stampington, Memory Box, and more. The only stipulations are that you bring double sided adhesive and you are nice to my mom!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Treat Bags

Sometimes it is fun to take a break and stamp something other than cards. For today's post, I am including some treat bags I made using some of the new clear border sets from Impression Obsession. The paper itself comes from a kit made by the Paper Cut. You could cut and fold your own, but to me it is better to have someone do this part for you. Why do extra work if you don't have to? I also used the 4" x 4" plastic bags from the Paper Cut to hold the candy. Again, you could use larger bags from your household, but then you would have to fold them to be the correct size to fit in the paper frame.
Before I stamped any lines, I folded the paper frame so that I could get a sense of what it would look like when finished. This was important so that I would know which way was "up" on each of the sides. I really didn't want to stamp the words upside down! I then used a light pencil mark to measure 3/8" all the way down the front of the bag. The marks really helped me space my lines somewhat evenly. **great tip- buy yourself a clear grid ruler. You will love it! Instead of measuring 3/8" on a standard ruler, I just moved my clear ruler over "three squares." I can't tell you how easy and fast it is to use these rulers!
For the Halloween bag, I stamped images from IO's Fall/Winter borders set. The pumpkin border was inked with Colorbox Pigment orange and the words in VersaFine black.
For the Christmas bag, I stamped images from IO's Christmas borders set. The words were stamped with VersaFine Crimson Red and the trees were stamped with Memories green. For both of my bags, I stamped the words with VersaFine so that all the tiny details of the lettering would be noticeable.
As an extra embellishment for the Christmas bag, I included a shrink plastic charm made from the peppermint image in the Leigh Hannan Holidays set. To make the embellishment, I stamped it with Satin Red Versafine onto ultra thin white shrink plastic. I used the Satin Red color because colors darken as they shrink, and the Crimson Red would have been too dark. I also picked the ultra thin shrink plastic so that I wouldn't have to sand the plastic before I stamped on it.
General tips for stamping on shrink plastic....normally I use Staz on when stamping onto plastic. However, it is not a good idea to use Staz On with clear stamps. Staz On is just too rough for the clear polymer and is almost impossible to get off of the stamp. Instead, I used VersaFine ink. It was more prone to sliding when stamping onto the shrink plastic, but it did dry when heated (I had my doubts). Also, make sure you punch a hole in the plastic BEFORE you shrink it!
General tips for the candy... don't fill the candy bags too full. I put too much candy corn in the Halloween bag, and it bulges a bit. Also, I unwrapped the peppermints before putting them in the plastic bag so that they would photograph better. This is a BAD idea if you want to give the candy to someone. My peppermints have stuck together to form a solid peppermint chunk.....very bad for eating but heavy enough to possibly be used as a weapon.