Best of 2014 – The Write Stuff

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Ornaments 2 Ways

Posted on December 6, 2014 1:18 PM by Julie 1 Comment

Best of 2014!
For today’s Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast (IC470), I chose THIS for my first card and THIS for my second. I’m actually using the same ornament image on both, just different techniques and I actually had to do “surgery” on my ornament image. I wanted a blank ornament but all I could find was this ornament which originally had a nativity scene inside, so I took a craft knife and carefully cut it out. On this triple ornament card, I saw a card Lydia posted on the SCS FB page of some free form water color ornaments and really liked it. I don’t remember who did it or how long ago it was, or I’d link it.

So after the image surgery, I stamped the ornament, masked & stamped twice more using pumice ink (after stamping off once) onto water color paper. This w/c paper isn’t my fave..it’s a little rougher & grainer than what I usually use, but I couldn’t remember where I put the other paper. Anyway, the pumice ink after stamping off 1 time, just leaves a bare outline that pretty much disappears when all the coloring is finished. Now the coloring took me a quite a while because the color has to be painted in layers & allowed to dry in between. I’m not one to appreciate watching paint dry, so I helped it a lot w/ a heat gun. The splotchy, free form look is intended to be that way & I’m pretty satisfied with it.

I added a little splatter & went back w/ a fine line paint brush to remove some paint for the highlights along the edges then stamped the greeting & drew the lines to the ornament tops. The finished card is 4.25 x 5.50.

For this card, I stamped the same surgically enhanced ornament w/ the black ink & colored with Copics. The stars were stamped on top and I used a white gel pen to fill the large one in then fussy cut it. The pine branches were stamped w/ the evergreen ink then I die cut the panel w/ one of the matting basics rectangles. I took a curved border die and cut off the bottom & attached the two parts on top of a background I made a while back using distress inks, spritzing & w/c paper. I added another little curved border strip on top of the bottom section & stamped half of a greeting under it (the other half is on the inside). A die cut red bow was added on top & these are the Copics I used.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: DRS Designs- (1. Triple Ornament card) Nativity Ornament, Beautiful Holiday Greeting (2. Red Ornament card) Nativity Ornament, Pine Bough, Lovely Gifts Christmas Greeting, Retro Starburst, 3 Wisemen Peace (for small star)

Paper: 1. water color, red linen, 2. X-Press It, water color, red

Ink: 1. Distress Ink pumice stone, Versafine onyx 2. Memento tuxedo black, Distress Ink evergreen bough, worn lipstick, spun sugar, pistachio, tumbled glass

Accessories: 1. tube water colors, #10 round brush, #0 liner brush, Copic markers, Spellbinders A2 matting basics A & B 2. Copic markers, Spellbinders A2 matting basics A & B, curved dies, white gel pen, Cheery Lynn Pretty Pretty Bows die

Serendipity SSCB#37 – Thankful!

Posted on November 5, 2014 12:00 AM by Julie 6 Comments

Best of 2014!

Welcome to the November Challenge for Serendipity Stamps! This month the challenge is appropriately…Things you are Thankful or Grateful! You can get all the details over on the Serendipity Challenge Blog. The DT has the added challenge telling a story about why we chose the images/dies we used.. And as always, we have a have a gift certificate up for grabs to a random player. The sale this week is 20% off both the Thanksgiving and the Autumn Categories … good through Nov 11th.

The story behind my card is bittersweet and hard to tell without tearing up. This wasn’t the original card I set out to make, but this image was really calling my name. And though the little bird on the birdhouse looks suspiciously like a chickadee, I colored him to look like an American goldfinch because…well let me back up. Two years ago this Friday, we lost our long time companion…a red mask conure (parrot) named Odie who had been part of our family for almost 27 years. He loved to watch the birds at the feeder and the goldfinch (birds see in color, unlike dogs or cats who see only black & white) was his favorite. We’ve had dogs and were always sad when they passed but this little bird was something special. He was an import from South America (back when they could still do that) and we rescued him when he was about a year old. He had been dumped on a friend on mine who didn’t know what do with him. My husband and I had been reading about parrots and really wanted to adopt one, so we took him. The reason we named him Odie was because we also had a cocker spaniel at the time and Odie could see him through his window and the first thing he did was imitate the dog barking. He later had a pretty good vocabulary and contrary to public opinion, birds are super intelligent (even more than dogs or cats). They have reasoning ability and other than man, they are one of the only species able to construct and use tools to help themselves. It’s really something to have a “pet” who can not only talk to you, but also lives with you longer than most children! So that’s my reason for using these images as I’m ever so thankful for the almost 27 years we had with such a special little bird!

After stamping the birdhouse and coloring it with Copics, I die cut using a little bit of my out of the box technique on the left side. I left the die in place and sponged on a little antique linen ink. I added a few more die cut layers using paper from one of my fave paper collections. I also added some stamped, colored & fussy cut maple leaves and two die cut acorns on top along with the greeting. The finished card is 4.25 x 5.50 and these are the Copics I used.

Here’s a little look at the inside & if you’d like to see a picture of Odie, look down toward the bottom of my sidebar. That’s Odie on his favorite coffee cup. 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please be sure to visit and comment on all the DT blogs so you’ll be entered to win!

Special Guest Designer: Lisa Minckler

Supplies:

Stamps: Serendipity Stamps –Bird House Autumn 1179H, Miss You 624B, Maple Leaf Cling set 806QCL, Happy Thanksgiving 1127D

Paper:X-Press It white, dp (Basic Grey – Indian Summer)

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Distress Ink antique linen

Accessories: Spellbinders A2 matting basics B, labels 28, decorative labels 28, Copic markers, Serendipity Oak Leaf Scroll die 035ED, Oak Leaf outline & Acorn dies 034ED

This entry was posted in Best of 2014 Birds Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving Serendipity Stamps Spellbinders Nestabilities Splitcoast Challenges Splitcoaststampers Weekly Favorite Sponging and tagged autumn Birds Copic fall Serendipity Stamps Spellbinders Splitcoast Splitcoast Weekly Favorite Thanksgiving

Autumn Watercolor

Posted on September 15, 2014 8:07 PM by Julie 1 Comment

Best of 2014!
Today’s Technique Challenge (TLC499) on Splitcoast seemed easy enough, then I almost forgot the main objective…taping off an area for the greeting. I started by adding a couple of watercolor washes from each side of a piece of w/c paper. Then I realized I had forgot to tape an area off. So I quickly added a piece of torn painters tape and added a bit more color. Then I stamped the solid leaves using a combination of the Distress inks, misting the stamp a bit and stamping. Then I added the outline leaves. After I removed the tape, I wet the masked area with a water brush and blotted with a paper towel to remove a little of the color. Dried it with a heat gun then stamped my greeting.

Because it looked a little too simple to me, I die cut the top, added a die cut white layer and put it back on the frame left from die cutting the top piece. I’ve found as long as you add a layer between, you’ll never miss the missing back 🙂 And this way you don’t have to do two pieces to match. A few extra leaves were fussy cut and added on top. For a little sparkle, I added some orange stickles here & there.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: DRS Designs- Med. Silhouette Leaf, Open Leaf, Beauty of Autumn

Paper: white, water color

Ink: Versafine onyx, Distress inks in warm honey, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon

Accessories: stickles, Spellbinders A2 matting basics B dies, Peerless water colors, water brushes

This entry was posted in Best of 2014 CAS DRS Designs Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving Glitter Masking-Reverse Masking Spellbinders Nestabilities Splitcoast Challenges Splitcoaststampers Weekly Favorite Watercolor and tagged autumn DRS Designs fall masking Spellbinders Splitcoast Splitcoast Weekly Favorite water color