April and May Challenges at Voila, Ink!~

I host an inking and stamping group, and we have monthly challenges; we had a nice turnout for the April Showers Challenge at  Voila, Ink Group over at Bella Creations. Participants had to use an umbrella in their artwork. June at Dezinaworld sponsored the April RAK, which was a voucher for the winner's choice of clipart. The winner was Helen H., who is our newest member...way to go, Helen! Our Group is sure growing!  We now have 81 Inkers. Here is Helen's entry~

The theme for May's Challenge is the May Pole~ Participants are to use the following image from Graphics Fairy on a card, ATC, tag, LO or altered item. You have plenty of time to enter as the deadline is May 25.

The RAK for a lucky random recipient is a fun Studio K Tag book...come dance around the May Pole with us at Voila, Ink!

I Won!~

Kimberly at Hannah's Design Team Blog contacted me to tell me I won a Tim Holtz Configuration Box. Woohoo! I never win things, so this was a cool surprise. It will be a fun project for the upcoming summer!
Meanwhile, our neighbors are moving so we awoke to the sound of shouting, bangs, crashes, and moving vans early this morning. Since I was up I decided to work on a card using paper from the Flying Unicorn Store.

I stamped the brick background with Distress Antique Linen. The paper is graphic 45 Baby To Bride edged with Distress Vintage Photo ink. I painted the bird with Distress Picket Fence Crackle Paint. I used a Stampendous Music Score stamp on the punched oval. The button and cream flower are also from the Flying Unicorn. Like the effect of the embossed edge punch...it is my newest punch from Martha Stewart. I usually go for lots of color, so this was actually a stretch for me to use a soft palette but I like it. I admire the monochrome white on white or all cream cards and LO's I see, but don't know if I can manage it! My inclination is to add color! LOL~ This is a start, eh?

Bunnies and Shortcake~

I am such a nut when it comes to seasonal decor! Rico, our 24" tall penguin named after a character in the movie Madagascar, stood guard on the stair landing for the duration of December and January. Now it is time for the white bunny to make an appearance. So I gussied her up with a festive Easter bow and placed her on the kitchen island. She watched over the preparation of the first season's batch of fresh strawberries and home-baked shortcake.

I used the shortcake recipe in my Baking Illustrated cookbook. Every recipe I have used from this book has been outstanding~ Anyone want whipped cream with theirs?

Easter cards~

Easter is coming and I had yet to make some greeting cards to send out! It was rather hot today, so I decided to stay inside and create....of course, I am good at finding any excuse to spend some time in my scrapbook room. Before heading upstairs though, I made a quick trip to the backyard for a vasefull of cuttings. It is so nice to be able to walk outside and collect a few fresh flowers for the kitchen and bedrooms. Here are the irises growing under our Bay Tree.

So, with Iris and roses for inspiration, I got started making cards.

I used a blank Krome Kote card and cut it in half in order to have 2 separate pieces with which to work. On the card above, I smeared Distress Ink on my Ranger Craft Sheet then misted the ink with water. I pressed the piece of Krome Kote onto the beaded ink/water mixture, then lifted and patted dry with paper towels. Next, I used my Ink Blending Tool to blend various inks around the perimeter. Using my Marvy square punch, I punched out a scalloped square and stamped it with my Stampendous Music Score wood stamp.

The flower and bee are K and Co die cuts. (thanks, Heather!). I also used my Martha Stewart embossing edge punch on the Krome Kote, then mounted the die cuts on foam dots. A little bit of Stickles finishes this one!

I am such a fan of resist techniques, so I used wax paper and a hot iron to create the effects on this cards' Krome Kote piece. Crumple a piece of wax paper, flatten it, lay it over the tag/card,etc. Place a second tag or card over that, or a piece of scrap paper. (wax paper in the middle, like a sandwich). Place a larger scrap paper over the whole thing and iron with a dry/hot iron for several seconds. You do not want the iron to touch the wax paper. Discard wax paper. A waxy design will be coated on your tag/card 'bread' pieces! You can now mist, spread or blend ink onto this and watch the pattern appear. Look at the card above, under the square K and Co. flower tag...see the marbled looking inked piece? That is the Krome Kote onto which I blended Distress Ink in Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Bundled Sage and Spun Sugar. I finished the card with colored cardstock, ribbon, edge punching and Adirondack espresso paint dabber for the K and Co tag. 

I am a Guest Artist at Gecko Galz~

Gecko Galz is having a Spring Sale~ Purchase any digital item before May 1st, and get another item of equal or lesser value free! My altered chewing gum package is being featured at the Gecko Galz site, along with projects by the other Bella Creations' designers; look on the left side of the Home page under Guest Artist to see our creations. We each used this whimsical image of a lady sitting on the moon as inspiration for the current April Muse Challenge at Bella Creations.

Graphics Fairy~

If you have not visited before, check out The Graphics Fairy for over 1800 wonderful free images! With Mother's Day, wedding showers and graduations around the corner, this charming cup could be used on place settings, tags, cards, invitations and more.

Have Ink, will Travel...to the tropics!

Well, we can just pretend we are in the tropics, right? Ocean breezes, balmy temperatures! Here is a super quick tag card I made using a 'direct to paper' ink method. I cut a blank 5"x 6.5" card in half, and used a 3 by 6 inch tag, a piece of ribbon and various Distress Inks. No need for an ink blending tool yet....you are going to simply drag the ink pad across the tag. It does not need to be 'perfect'.

I decided to make the sky and used my inks in 'rainbow' order. Then I added a bit of twine netting and 3D stickers to complete the scene.

I used my Ranger Ink Blending Tool to add soft yellow coverage to the white card edges. Next, I stamped a greeting inside. It was easy but provided a striking scene! 

Iris~

A friend sent this K and Co Tim Coffey Die Cut Assortment to me, so I used it to make a card. The foam dots were placed under the leaf to add dimension. I also used Adirondack Paint Dabber in espresso to frame the Iris image and bring out the curly embossing that was along the edges.

I used Bazzill cardstock in olive, brown and lavendar. The final touch was the pretty dragonfly~

My Muse...an empty gum package!

Standing in Target and buying another multi-pack of gum for my teen, it occured to me that these little containers would look adorable if altered. Because of Ms. R I have access to a plethora of empty Trident and Orbit boxes!

I started by opening the gum package on a piece of Cosmo Cricket paper, tracing the shape and cutting it out. I creased the cardstock where it would fold once it was glued onto the package, then used a liberal amount of Beacon's 3 in 1 Glue, my favorite for a permanant hold.

You can paint the interior and/or cover with pretty cardstock. In this photo you can see where I cut a part of the gum package away (green section) so I could more easily attatch the stretch cord throught the bottom. I planned to use a decorative brad and looped stretch cord for a closure. I have also used velcro tabs in the past, and if you can find them, mini magnets work too! I used the Bella Muse Challenge image for April and made a charm for the front of the gum box with a Tim Holtz Fragment and Glossy Accents. (Put Glossy Accents on one side of the fragment and press the wet side onto an image of your choice. Trim excess, if any) Don't forget to insert brad BEFORE you add decorative cardstock in order to hide prongs.

Can you see the stretchy cord loop extending from the bottom? Poke a small hole and insert the ends into the box bottom. Once inside the box bottom, tie a secure knot. You can also tie a tiny bead, safety pin or Tim Holtz Game Spinner onto the ends to hold  them securely inside through the fastening and unfastening of the altered box. (won't pull out!)

Here is a shot of the gum box opened and the interior tags exposed. I made double sided tags for photos, quotes or small memorabilia. I also added 7 Gypsies stickers to the face of the box above the stretch cord.

This is the outside of the box. The Muse image is a woman sitting on the moon. In my imagination, she was daydreaming about travel, and thus pictured herself on the moon....so I made the little box with a travel theme. The 'bon voyage' is chipboard matted with mulberry paper and there is a vintage postage stamp under the fragment charm. Scraps Of Darkness is offering an RAK for the April Muse Challenge~ Come play!

Tried Liquid Pearls?

I had not used Liquid Pearls until I made my submission for the Bella Creations April Technique Challenge. Our sponsor, Flying Unicorn, is offering a wonderful RAK for this challenge. I used the gorgeous G45 papers and lavendar Liquid Pearls from the Flying Unicorn Store to make a Springtime card~

I started with a Prima Build A Swirl stamp and Inkssentials Watermark Ink to stamp the umbrella. Next, I followed the stamped image and placed pearl drops along the design. I layered and punched Graphic45 Baby To Bride and Flights Of Fancy, and finished it off with flowers and brads. The final touch was a K and Co bee~ The trick to using the Liquid Pearls is to draw an imaginary circle as you stop squeezing and pull away from the surface, otherwise you may get a Hershey Kiss shape instead of a plump pearl.

Here is a tutorial to get you started.(I placed my pearls directly on the umbrella, but you can use a sheet of acetate too). http://www.swirlydoos.com/page.php?35

 You could win these goodies from Flying Unicorn!!