Stretch Your Stamps, Day 1 (Again)

I've been playing in my craft room all day and made a couple of cards using the emboss resist technique we learned on Day 1 of the Stretch Your Stamps 2 class.

All stamps and supplies are CTMH.  The ones on the black base card are current, the ones on the Fall card are retired.

The fun thing I did to stretch my stamps on the top card was how I did my sentiment.  The "hi" stamp is actually a word bubble stamp.  By using it over the circle die cut, I gave it a whole different look.  The fun one on the bottom was creating my own background over which I stamped the words.  After embossing, I used the direct to paper technique to apply black ink and completely block the colored leaves underneath.  I thought about ironing off the embossing powder, but I used too dark a brown on my acorns and needed the shine to help read some of the smaller text.

It's been a fun crafting day, but now I'd better apply the lesson I learned from my first card of the day and do some clean up.

Until next time,
Becca

Stretch Your Stamps, Day 6

Although I have been watching the videos, I've not been keeping up with my Stretch Your Stamps 2 homework.  Since I had some time today, I combined several of the techniques for Day 6 on how to stretch outline stamps with this card.

Of the four ideas presented, I used the following three: no outline coloring, cropping a larger image onto a smaller workspace, and the layout from stamping on something other than paper.

I love how this card turned out...but how can you go wrong when shamelessly CASEing the amazing Debby Hughes?

The sunflower stamp is retired from CTMH as is the green patterned paper.  Actually, I stamped over top of patterned paper using a large background stamp from Stampin' Up! for one of the first days of class and hated it.  After cropping it down, it worked great as a background.  The torn notebook page and matching stamp for lines is CTMH from the Artiste Cricut collection.  I'm not sure where the die-cut sentiment is from.  I think I cut a bunch when I had the free trial period from my Cricut Explore.  If someone knows where it's from, please leave a comment and I'll add the information back in. 

I used Copic markers to color the flower, die cut sentiment (which is actually a dark green rather than black), and the small sequins.  Liquid Glass went over top of the sentiment and attached the sequins and Baker's Twine.

Tim Holtz distress stain in Peeled Paint watered down was flicked across the back panel.  I've noticed the Debby Hughes seems to add a touch of texture or color to all her backgrounds before she builds the rest of the card on top.  It's subtle--really subtle--so I'd not even noticed it before.  I got too much color on what I intended to be the bottom part of the background panel.  It took an embarrassing amount of time to realize I could simply turn the panel upside down and hide the bulk of the distress stain behind the three papers.

Now for my big tip.  I have learned a new technique that allows me to keep from messing up my Liquid Glass when I add it as an accent like I did over the sentiment.  If I clean up my desk and put all my stamps, embellishments, and ink pads away, it miraculously seems to be just enough time for the Liquid Glass to dry.  Amazing!!

Until next time,
Becca

Christmas Color

I will readily admit that some of the color combinations our fearless leader over at Color My Heart comes up with leave me scratching my head.  This was one of them.  Sorbet and Barn Red together, yes.  Sorbet and Pear, that works, too.  But Sorbet, Barn Red, and Pear?  I just wasn't feelin' it.  After trying to be clever and come up with something not Christmassy, I bowed to the inevitable pressure of a due date and came up with this:

The thing I like best about this card are the fake enamel dots because I made them myself.  I punched circles using two different sizes from Sorbet and Barn Red cardstock and, after affixing them to the card, covered them with Liquid Glass.  It gives you the same effect as the ones you buy pre-made, but you get to choose your own colors, sizes, and quantities.  LOVE that!

The tree was cut at 3.5" using the Artbooking cartridge.  I created the panel behind it by pulling a couple of retired Christmas sets, grabbing words and small images at random, and placing them on an acrylic block with no particular rhyme or reason other than switching up font sizes and layering in the images.  Without these particular sets, the same effect could be done by using multiple stamp sets (because who has just ONE Christmas set???) or even by creating words from different alphabets.  I stamped them in Pear and then used a Sponge Dauber to add a soft color wash over top.

I made the background for a different idea I had which, after an hour of fussing, just needed to be tossed.  It's the chicken wire background from Distressed Backgrounds.

Since I get to see what the rest of the Color My Heart Design Team comes up with before the new challenge goes live, I encourage you to go see their wonderful, non-Christmassy creations.  They will inspire you!

Until next time,
Becca

Writer's World Wednesdays-Research

I told you before, I could get lost doing research.  It's my favorite part of being an historical writer, especially when there are so many varying viewpoints.  My next project, "Valley of Shadows," begins the day Lincoln was assassinated.  Suffice it to say, depending on the lens through which events are viewed, scholars disagree quite drastically about what led up to and who was involved in the plot to kidnap Lincoln which then morphed into an assassination.  I just finished "Dark Union" and am now reading "Assassins Accomplice."  On my shelf are "April 1865" and "The Day Lincoln was Shot."  I've already read "Killing Lincoln" and "My Thoughts be Bloody" which got my plot going.

The heroine of "Valley of Shadows" is the niece of John Wilkes Booth; the hero has been associated with Booth's older and more famous brother, Edwin.  I have to put my heroine in jail, but I'm not sure what prison for females looked like back then.  Thus, "Assassins Accomplice" about Mary Surratt, the only woman to be convicted of helping John Wilkes Booth kill Lincoln, and the first woman to be hanged in the United States for a crime.

Because my fictional characters bump up against such famous events, my notes on this story look like a grad student paper.  I'm keeping meticulous record of where I got certain details so I can write an Author Note which explains why I chose to include certain elements in my plot.  It's painstaking work for a project I'm not even sure will sell, but this is the writer's world--reading and writing about things we find interesting and hoping someone else finds it worth publishing.

If you'd like to read more about "Valley of Shadows" and see how long it's been percolating in my brain, here's another post for you.

There is a conference coming up in September.  I'd like to have this story done by then to see if some smaller publishing houses are interested in purchasing it.  The 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination is coming up this April and it would be nice to piggy-back on that publicity.  The reason I would need to sell to a smaller publishing house is because they have a shorter turn around between finished manuscript and publication.  If I can't get any of them interested, I just might decide to self-publish the story.  With my novella coming out in February, I'd like readers to have at least one more option of something to read from me if they like Karl and Marta's story.

Until next time,
Becca

Stretch Your Stamps, Day 2

I combined a couple techniques from Stretch Your Stamps 2, Day 2 for this card.  I used the ombre effect and coloring in images.

The background stamp is retired CTMH Leafy Print, the sentiment is retired Stampin' Up!, and the butterfly was cut at 1.5" using CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge.

I used a combination of distress inks and dye inks to get my background.  I started with Tim Holtz Wild Honey (bottom to top) and Spun Sugar (top down) Distress ink.  To deepen the color, I added CTMH Cotton Candy over top of the Wild Honey at the bottom working more up the left side of the card than the right.  Then I colored the flowers with CTMH Cotton Candy and Tulip (flowers) and Tim Holtz Peeled Paint (leaves) using a paintbrush.  When finished, I spritzed the whole thing with a fine layer of pearlized mist (Pearl Create A Shade paint mixed with water in a mini-mister). I find that using a base of Distress ink allows me to get the same water reaction even if I put dye inks over top.

I bought the ribbon at Hobby Lobby on one of those 50% off days.  I had no idea how I was going to use it, but it worked perfectly with the colors on this card.

Such a fun day of classes.  Looking forward to tomorrow.

Until next time,
Becca

Stretch your Stamps, Day 1

Yay!  So excited for the new Stretch Your Stamps, 2 class.  I'm also excited for my friend, Carla Laureano, whose debut novel, Five Days in Skye, won the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Fiction at the recent Romance Writers of America convention.  I wanted to send her a card to celebrate.

The background is a long-ago retired CTMH stamp called Chinese Tulip. My plan was to emboss in clear, watercolor, then iron away the embossing powder.  Then I looked at the stamp again and thought, "Why not emboss in black to match the way the image appears?"  So I did.

Now, I must be honest and tell you that I did this on watercolor paper and could not get a solid background image, so I went over it with a black Copic marker at the end.  If I wanted to make a bunch of these, I would invest in the Tim Holtz watercolor paper that has both a smooth and rough side (and use the smooth, of course).

The sentiment is also a retired CTMH stamp embossed in black on vellum and then wrapped around my 4x5.5" colored panel and secured with tape.  I mounted the top panel on foam mounting tape to add a little dimension (which is also why it looks like the left side of the car has more of an edge than the right, but they're even...honest, they are!)

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Until next time,
Becca

The Future Belongs...

Today we are welcoming the spouses of our new battalion commander and command sergeant major.  Although it's always difficult to say goodbye to those we have come to love, the Army life does allow us to meet and grow to love new people.  I made a couple cards, one I showed you previously and kept in my stash, and this new one.

I used CTMH Ariana paper and the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge on top of a card base with the Vineyard Berry background paper that has been sitting in my stash for so long it's embarrassing.  The Vineyard Berry paper was cut with deckle edge scissors and I hand-drew the gold border with a gel pen. I mixed some Create A Shade pearl paint with water and spritzed it over the top of everything plus added a few other touches of straight paint to some of the splatters to give them a little more oomph.

The sentiment reads, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~Eleanor Roosevelt"

I don't do a lot with these roses because I mail most of my cards.  Since I will be hand-delivering this one, I went all out with flower, gems, and pearls.  Liquid Glass is my friend!!

Time to get ready for the party!

Until next time,
Becca