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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Mosaic Look Card

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a card that I created with some leftovers from a really fun project that I've been creating! I used free-hand cut squared from the Echo Park Paper's For the Record 6 x 6" Paper Pad (but really you could use ANY of their beautiful lines for this project). I just cut up a whole bunch and then inked the edges by running them across the Walnut Stain Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad. Next I started randomly gluing them down to form this the mosaic pattern. Well, that of course wasn't enough so I used a few stamps from my stash to add a little bird here, a butterfly or five there and the word "Hi!" so I can use this card for any occasion.



Well, it looked pretty cool but of course I felt it needed more... so I pulled out this package of "spritz screens" that I picked up on clearance somewhere I decided to use the bird shape. I just wanted a subtle pattern so I grabbed my Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist... and after 2 spritzes I realized - I'm going to need ANOTHER bottle, LOL! Well, I grabbed the plain gold and misted and then got called away buy the kids. Well, there my card sat for several days, with the screen on top and the Gold Glimmer Mist in blobs all over the screen. Well, when I came back and took off the screen I thought the effect just wasn't big enough, so I laid my screen back down and grabbed the Walnut Stain Distress Ink again.



This time I used the foam applicator to add a bit of ink around the image so it would pop more and still have the beautiful glimmer. Well, I liked it but... I thought, "I wonder if I can use the screen like a stamp and put some of that Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint on my card? That would REALLY finish it off nicely!" So, I grabbed the bottle, coated my screen really well and slapped it (carefully) into place. Then I smooshed it down REALLY well to make sure I got the Crackle on good. Well... I must had waited a tiny bit too long (like 10 seconds) because when I started to peel my screen up, the paper started to come too. Luckily I had started pulling up slowly and when I realized what had happened. I simple smooshed that screen right back into place and LEFT it there! Well, I LOVE the way it turned out! The Glimmer Mist that had dried onto the screen looked like I was trying to do it that way. And inking around it really made it pop just right. It's funny how some times the accidents in crafting and experiments really can make all the difference! Oh, and for those who were worried that I no longer have that screen... you can all sleep easy because I had purchased two boxes thinking maybe I could use one as some sort of page accent! Yep, my inner hoarder paid off... now I've gotta place an order for some more Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist....

Monday, January 30, 2012

Have You Seen This???

I'm very excited to share with my readers this AWESOME new product from Ribbon Carousel! It's their new Ribbon Carousel©, what an amazing idea!

Here's the stats straight from the source: The Ribbon Carousel© is made out of White Marine Board Plastic (High Density Polyethylene), giving it a textured top with smooth scrolled edges. Each Carousel comes with 8 Clear Acrylic rods allowing for many different configurations. You can use it as a 4, 5, 6 or 8 post Carousel, depending upon your individual needs.


The Ribbon Carousel© holds up to 60 rolls of 3/8" ribbon using 4 rods, 40 Wooden Spools or 16 spools of your favorite Baker's Twine using 8 rods. It SPINS around on a Lazy Susan, allowing you to access your ribbon and twine easily! This easy-to-use organizer is compact, with a footprint less than 7" square on your workspace. The Ribbon Carousel© holds ribbon spools of any size up to a 4" diameter. Minimal assembly required.

I'm sure my long time followers remember that I'm a bit of a ribbon hoarder, and being on the wonderful May Arts Ribbon Design Team has only contributed to my growing stash. I'm pretty sure I will need to order several of these... or if anyone is looking for a good gift for me, LOL!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Picture It Perfect Blog Hop

Well, you've reached my blog in the "Picture It Perfect" blog hop! If you have just stumbled upon my blog today, you can start the hop at Gill's Blog. The challenge for this hop was to take a photo, magazine picture or postcard and create a card with it. Well, I had recently cleaned out a LOT of my clutter (AKA Magazines) and I wasn't about to cut up my Scrapbooking Magazines so I started looking around the house for something I didn't mind cutting up. Well, I stumbled upon an old AAA Guide Book to Southern California and Las Vegas. Besides making me want to take a nice vacation, there were lots of beautiful photos. The only problem was, some of them were a little small, and I couldn't decide how to choose just one... so I picked a BUNCH! Then I got the idea to create a "Quilt Block" of my photos. Well, I loved the first one I did so much that I did several! Here's the progression:


This first card I simply made the block 3.5" x 3.5" (all of the strips are .5" wide) and made my card base 4" x 4". I wanted this to have a real quilt feel to it so I used my pen to "stitch" the strips together. I think it turned out really cool! I call this my "City" card because I used some of the cool Vegas and LA buildings highlighted in the travel guide.


For this card, I did things a bit different. I took a bunch of my strips and randomly laid them on a diagonal on a 3" wide scrap of paper. Then I cut that into .75" pieces and then did my quilt pattern. Then I cut really skinny strips of black to outline my pieces. I love the effect this has!



The block for this card is one of my favorites! I mixed some really cool architectural photos with some more famous ones to get a really funky feel. Then I used some strips along the bottom and used my label maker to spell out "it's the JOURNEY" and the inside reads "not the destination". What a great reminder...



For my last card I'm only going to show you the block. You will have to watch for the actual card in an upcoming May Arts blog post! I used the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint to get the cool effect on this card.

This challenge was really freeing, and got me to try something new, which in crafting is usually a good thing! So, grab some photos, advertisements or what ever and try it yourself! I betcha' can't make just one!

You next stop in the hop is Lisa's Blog. Thanks for stopping by!