Inchies

A while back I won this beautiful inchies box in a blog giveaway, and have finally made my first inchies, so maybe now I can begin to fill up my little box. If you're not familiar with inchies, they are simply 1 inch x 1 inch pieces of art, using whatever technique you like. For mine, I brayered orange ink onto glossy white cardstock, stamped some images with black ink, then followed that with some heat embossed images using Versamark ink and detail gold embossing powder. Unfortunately, the embossing doesn't appear to be metallic in this photo.

Pelican Card

This card was recently made to satisfy a request for a fast and simple birthday card. It needed to go in the mail immediately, so I quickly attached the pelican to a stamped background and a bit of scrapbooking paper from Provo Craft. It needed a little something extra, so I added the cord as an accent.

Stamped Frame

Another easy stamping project is a photo frame. This frame was made from 4 layers of heavy chipboard, which were glued together with PVA glue. The front piece of chipboard will need a slightly smaller center hole, in order to hold your photo in place. The frame was then painted with gold Lumiere paint. Next, I stamped my images on a piece of vanilla cardstock and colored them with Radiant Pearls paints. After everything was dry, I applied a crackle medium, let it dry, then lightly sponged a light brown ink into the cracks. Finally, I cut the cardstock to fit the frame and attached it with more PVA glue. I've used a thin acrylic sheet to protect the photo.

The crackle medium I used was a 2-step kit that didn't require layers of paint either under or over the medium. I've been unable to find another kit, but Ranger makes a 1-step crackle accents product that can be used over stamped images and will produce results similar to mine. You can get it online at Texas Art Supply.

Baby Card

I've been on a heat embossing kick lately, and as part of my "really simple card" series, I used that technique on this baby card. The flowers and the word "baby" were stamped with Versamark and embossed with winter white powder. I then attached eyelets to the greeting and threaded them with a pale yellow ribbon. I don't know anyone who is expecting a baby, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have an appropriate card handy!

Stamped Silk Scarf

Those of us who love to rubber stamp are often so caught up in making cards that we forget to try other stamped projects. Stamping on fabric is fun and easy if you have the right products for the job. Here, I've used black Versacraft ink to stamp on a silk scarf from Dharma Trading. Just remember to pre-wash your fabric to remove sizing, unless you purchase PFD fabric (Prepared for Dyeing), which doesn't have sizing. You'll also need to heat set the ink.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day here in the US. Best wishes to all the mom's everywhere, both here and abroad!

Stamped Pillow Box

These little pillow boxes are available at most craft stores, and are a great choice for party favors or as jewelry gift boxes. They are pre-scored for easy folding, but you do have to be careful when folding the curved edges. Before assembling, I stamped this one with flowers and leaves and spattered it with ink from a couple of brush markers. After folding, I tied it with sheer pink ribbon and gold cord. The tirckiest part is keeping everything together while adding the contents!

Blogger Problems?

Blogger seems to be having trouble displaying photos today, so if you can't see any of my images, I apologize. It appears to be a problem on every blogspot I've visited this evening. Hopefully they'll have this fixed soon.

Gel Transfer on Formica Chip

Golden Gel Medium is one of my favorite products. I most frequently use it for image transfers. For the project pictured here, I transferred a free image from Dover Publications onto a formica sample from the local home improvement store. I then applied metal leaf (another favorite product), and finished the tag with several pieces of decorative cord.

Inspiration from Nature

I'm always inspired by nature this time of year, and usually can't get enough of my camera. I'm completely infatuated with all the new growth that is popping out everywhere, but I also love to see what was left behind last season. I have no idea what that is in the top photo, but I've been watching a number of these in the yard all winter, sitting atop stalks that are taller than me, and thinking what great photos they would make. I'm glad there were still a few left when I finally brought out the camera. The bottom photo is from a low branch of a pine tree in my back yard. I guess this is an "out with the old, in with new" sort of photo set.

And speaking of in with the new, we will be relocating one more time, in less than 2 weeks. Making a living here in Southern Illinois has been a tough road, so we are moving to Little Rock, where I have a job waiting for me and Dan has some good potential opportunities. I'm extremely excited about the new job. I'm going to be-- wait for it! -- a technical writer/blogger. I keep hearing the question, "People get paid to do that?" Well, yes, they do! And I'm so looking forward to it!

I've set up a bunch of automatic posts for the next two weeks (love that new Blogger feature!), so I'll be auto-publishing at least every couple of days, although I may not be available to quickly respond to comments for that period, or to comment on all of your wonderful blogs.

I'll be back "in the flesh" as soon as we get to Little Rock. Creative wishes to everyone!

Gift Packaging

I enjoy making my own gift packaging, but rarely do it because items like the one pictured here are hard to ship, and also because I reserve the effort for those that I know will truly appreciate it. Since most of those people live several hours away from me, they don't often get gifts that are packaged like this. For this little basket box, I used a purchased die-cut box made from glossy cardstock, and stamped the flowers with Versamark ink, then brayered a lavender ink over that. The flowers aren't sharply visible, but this technique resulted in a slightly aged, subtle pattern. I completed it with pink tissue paper, sheer white ribbon, and a leaf charm attached with gold cord.

Stripes - Wednesday Stamper

The current theme at Wednesday Stamper is stripes. For this card, I used a forgotten but recently rediscovered sheet of blue and white striped scrapbooking paper, and heat embossed the flowers with Versamark ink and Winter White embossing powder. I've been challenging myself to limit my color choices, so this may be the first in a series of very simple cards.