Clear Artistic Stamps

I'm lucky enough to have been asked to be August Guest Designer for Clear Artistic Stamps, and this is my first project! (Sorry about the two nearly identical pictures, I can't figure out how to delete a picture!)

I used Blackberry Fields on this card, it such a pretty set! The little vining border stamp is so much fun to use, it looks great in corners, and as a background. I loved it everywhere I used it!

Summer Afternoon, Summer Afternoon

I mixed Scenic Route and Basic Gray paper DP (designer paper) here. The colors are perfect together, and I loved the way the very crisp SR looked behind the oh so nostalgic Artistic Outpost stamp from the Keeper plate. I added a little bling to this rather simple card with some Stickles in Patina, some gems, and Holographic EP in the left corner.

Acetate Birthday

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the sentiment is on acetate. It's from one of those ready to use acetate sheets, and I have to say, they are pretty easy to deal with. I've done some acetate stamping, and it isn't the easiest thing in the world. Acetate is slippery! With pre-printed acetate, your only trouble is hiding the adhesive!

Clown Card (Shudder)

Two things I'm bad at: Bright & Cute. Plus, I think clowns are creepy, and I'm not the only one who does, either!! Why do I have this stamp, you ask? It was one of the stamps in my huge eBay win. I thought I'd have a go at it, but I think it got the best of me! I still have this stamp, I think. I know I've sold some of that haul already, but if I have this one, I'm going to try and make a better card. Maybe if I did it in pastels, then I'd only have to battle one of my weaknesses. My sister gave me the cupcake die cut. She has about a million dies. I'm not into the dies, but this one is pretty cute. I think this card is about a year and a half old. This card does have Stickles on it, that's pretty good! This is Aqua. You can get great deals on Stickles at Creative Play Stamps. They always have something on sale!

Dragonfly

This is another stamp from my huge eBay win. I think I made it about two years ago. I stamped the SU! background in Radiant Pearls, then colored the dragonflies in RPs as well.

Penny Black Flower

I made this card a couple of years ago. Back then, I didn't feel like I had to put at least one of everything in my stamp room on a card! Now I feel that this card is naked. I'm sure I could add four or five layers and several embellishments, but I think I'll leave it. It's painted with Radiant Pearls, so it has a lovely shimmer in real life. My photography skills are improving, but I still have a hard time capturing subtle shimmer like this.

Big Happy Birthday

Michelle W., who has been leaving lovely comments here lately, said she wished I'd give more details. It made me realize how lazy I have become about my posts. I just throw some pix up, and off I go! Well, Michelle, your wish is my command! This card is very simple, especially compared to yesterday's, but I'll still tell ya all about it!

The small flower is an old DOTS stamp I won in a huge lot on eBay. I still haven't used all those stamps, and it was over a year ago! I embossed it in SU! Detail Black, and colored it in Bashful Blue re-inker. The button is SU! Soft Subtles. I used my white Inkssentials (the BEST!) gel pen to make it look like it was sewn on. I embossed SU!'s Big Blossom in the blue from the retired pastel stack. SU! has always had such nice quality embossing powders, but every catty for the last eight years has had less ep than the one before, it seems. Oh, well, I love Ranger and Judikins ep, too! Plus, I know everyone isn't as crazy for embossing as I am. I'm just mad for it! I emboss on probably 95% of my cards.

I cut the big flower out and glued it down to Chocolate Chip. After I did it, I wondered if the light blue ep would have covered well right on the CC card stock. I never tried it, so I still don't know. Those of you who have been stamping for a long time will remember the Happy Birthday stamp from good ol' Button Bear. I sold mine years ago, but that stamp was in the huge eBay haul.

Finally, I rounded the corners, mounted the CC on Kraft, and doodled some dots. The inside and the matching envelope are stamped with ColorBox Ice Blue. (ColorBox pads are on sale! Click the link if you need ink!)

Hero

Artistic Outpost's fabulous Hero plate. I've mixed it with Basic Gray, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Faded Jeans, and some Red Stickles. Did you know that Ranger has come out with Stickles to match the Distress Inks? Who loves Ranger? I do! I do!! This is another remodeled card. The original is around here somewhere!

Happy Birthday!

This card is mostly about the adorable paper! I love the colors, the whole thing reminds me of an ice cream shop. Of course the cupcake is cute, too. Hi Carolina! I'll never be able to work with cupcakes for the rest of my life without thinking of you!

Big Hello

Not everybody looks good in red, you know! This Big Hello from Creative Play Stamps does though! I added some doodling with my indispensable Stardust pen and Christmas Red Stickles.

The Stardust pen is without a doubt the quickest way to add shimmering detail to your art. If you don't want to wait for Stickles to dry, or bother with separate glue and glitter, this is the pen for you!

Christmas Red Stickles is a true, pure red. If you want red and gold, get the Candy Cane. I, of course, have them both. That's the old crow in me, sparkles are irresistible!!

Let's Party!!

I went on the Dollar stamp rampage a little over a year ago. Or should I say my little sister went on the Dollar stamp rampage and dragged me along with her!!? I only have 10-15, I think she probably has a hundred. She'll read this and set me straight if I'm wrong;)! It turns out that I almost never use them. I don't know if it's because I don't have them all out where I can see them or if it's because I just don't like them as much as my other stamps. They do look pretty cute with this MME paper, though, don't they? MME makes everything look good!

Hitch Your Wagon!!

This is a redo of a card I did a couple of months ago. I wasn't entirely pleased with the first one, so I did several things to jazz it up. I stamped the wagon again, once in Dusty Concord and once in Black Soot, and embossed both in Holographic EP. I cut out the wagon and popped it up off the original, then cut out the wheels, and popped those up as well. I added the top on top of where it used to say, "friend." I had outlined the word in Black Diamond Stickles and I thought it looked a little goofy. I'm happier with it covered up! I also stamped, stitched and layered the inside. This really takes a card up a notch from, "Wow!" to "WOW!!" I stamped and sponged a matching envelope as well. All of these stamps are from Artistic Outpost's Playtime set. Isn't it fun?

With Deepest Sympathy

No one likes to make a sympathy card, but unfortunately, we do need them. I try to keep them relatively simple and soothing. I did a little bleach stamping and stamping off. I love the look of organdy ribbon and metallic cord. I stamped the inside and made a matching envelope.

Rosie the Riveter

I read on one of my message boards that you could stamp with Glimmer Mist, but there were never any details posted. I tried several times, and never got any usable images. But I did think it might look cool if I stamped on top of the GM image, and that is what I did here. It might work better with a lighter GM, like Antique Bronze, instead of this Candy Apple Red. I don't think it's something I would do again, but it added a little more depth and interest to this particular card. These stamps are from Artistic Outpost's Hero set. You can see the detail of the image a little better on the envelope, it's rich with detail and depth. One of the things I like best about AO stamps, is that you can usually use parts of the images. It's fun to grab a section that interests you and feature it on a project. You definitely do not have to use the stamp in its entirety every time. I used only part of this stamp on the envelope, and you get no feeling that something is missing there.

Celebrate You

I tried the doodling thing. Turns out I wasn't a spectacular doodling prodigy. I've learned to deal with it. I find that the best thing to do in a case like this is to add glitter.

Summer Afternoon

Three of my favorite things:

1. Artistic Outpost
2. Basic Gray
3. Scenic Route

All three are present and accounted for! Plus, the most important food group-ICE CREAM! This peaceful scene is from AO's newest plate, Keeper. I have five or six more things to show you from this plate, but I will save those for another day. This plate is an amazing representation of some of the many things that are so good about summer, all presented in AO's outstanding vintage style, which somehow manages to be totally current!

I made a stitched, stamped and layered interior for this card, and a matching envelope. Maybe if we all make our envelopes very entertaining, our postage won't go up as often! Just kidding, but I do think of all the postal workers who will handle my envelopes, and it's a little bit of eye candy for them as well as the recipient, I hope!

Pearlescent Flower Birthday Card

After I painted this flower, I smooshed the whole thing into my VM pad and embossed it with Pretty Pearl EP.

Ave Maria

Who's thinking about Christmas in July? I AM!! When it's Artistic Outpost's breathtaking Ave Maria set! The design team just got a sneak peek of the two newest plates, which we will be getting in the next few days!! Then we will be able to torment everyone with them, and work you all up into a frenzy until they go on sale to the public! I am so excited about these two new plates that I needed to work with some AO images, so I got out Ave Maria.

I embossed with SU!'s Classy Copper, which is in my top three favorite ep's. It's not a detail ep, though, so you really can't see the incredible details of this stamp. It's still a spectacular set, and I think it looks gorgeous embossed, even if you do sacrifice a bit of the detail. The flourish is TH grungeboard-super fun stuff! If you haven't tried it, you might consider getting a package. It's a very good value, I think, you get lots of stuff. This is from the swirl set.

Celebrate U

Remember this set? I made this card about a year ago, maybe more. I've been looking over old designs to see which ones have stood the test of time. The ones that haven't, I remodel in some way. This is what school teachers do when they're bored.

May the comfort of God's love...

I used to color a lot with my Radiant Pearls, then I would emboss over the top with Iridescent Ice. It added outrageous sparkle, and helped with the interminable drying time of RP's!

Stylized Flower

I'm always pleased with this flower image from A Chemistry With Paper. It's from the Stylized Flowers set, and I use it a lot. I'm not a huge fan of cutting, but this flower is so easy to cut, and looks so pretty layered, that I do it all the time with this set. The sentiment is from Spiritual Sentiments, another pretty ACWP set. The ribbon on this card just might be my favorite of all time. I might shed a little tear when I use the last of it, it's so pretty and sophisticated!

ATC sized gift card

I ordered these tiny envelopes once when I was ordering other envelopes. They were irresistible because they're cute, and because they're cheap. I got white and ivory. They have been handy to have around for gift cards, and the ATC size is a lot of fun to work with, as the many ATC obsessed will attest!

Happily Ever After

I made this card well over a year ago. Many times when I get out an old card, I think of all the things I would do differently. I didn't do that with this one, I still like it! The big silver heart is actually a card stock punchie, and was originally red. I just smooshed it into my VM pad and embossed it in silver.

This card is on its way to Canada. I sold it in my new Etsy store for $5. Of course, time wise, it's worth much more because I'm exceedingly slow. I will never make a profit selling my cards for $5 on Etsy, but I liked that a mom chose MY card to give to her daughter on her wedding day. That's worth something, isn't it?

Pretty Purse

I love this ADORABLE little purse from Creative Cuts and More! It was so quick to make, and I am so happy with the way it turned out. This would be perfect holding a piece of jewelry or a gift card for one of the women in your life.

All I did here was stamp the fleur-de-lis in VersaMark and emboss it in SU! Antique Gold Glaze. Then I took a Crafty Secrets chipboard tag, and smooshed it in the VM pad and embossed it in the same EP. While it was still hot, I pressed in the Dew Drop. I am out of this glaze, and SU! doesn't sell it any more, but you can get it from other companies. Glaze embossing powders are very chunky, and are designed for techniques like this tag, because they put on a thick layer. You can get the same effect from regular ep by just either dipping the item back into the ep before it dries and reheating, or waiting until it has dried and pressing it into your VM pad, then the powder, then heating.

Most people would not use a glaze for a detailed stamp like this fleur-de-lis, because it lumps up and doesn't show detail. I like to use it for detailed images, because I like the imperfect look it gives. I prefer things sort of messy and imperfect, perfect symmetry makes me a little uncomfortable!

My final touches were to combine a length of pink embroidery floss with a length of gold crochet thread to tie the tag to the purse, and I added some gold Stickles dots around the edge of the purse.

Sassy Skull

This Creative Play Stamps set always surprises me! I really enjoy using quirky combinations with it, and usually am so pleased with the results. There's lots of SU! copper here, including cord, brads, card stock and embossing powder. There's also Copper Stickles. I used SU! grosgrain and added some sophistication with a small piece of satin ribbon, and the cord. The copper swirls on the Sassafrass Lass DP are from CPS's Polkadots and Flourishes. I punched the Basic Black card stock with Marvy's Giga Scalloped Oval. I very lightly sponged the edges with Encore's fab copper pad as a finishing touch.

Your kindness...

It took me quite a while, and several inks and papers before I could come up with a satisfactory impression with this image. I finally stamped it in VM and embossed it, and that seemed to work pretty well. Then I colored it, added some sparkle, and paired it with Sassafrass Lass DP. I've been working with this line a lot lately. Today I used Skulls 1 from Creative Play Stamps with it. I'll post it soon, it's drying now.

Thanks

This is one of those SU! sets that I liked in the catty, but then was mystified about how to use it once I bought it. You know you have sets like this, too! This is probably my favorite project I've ever made with it. That may have something to do with the Antique Gold Glaze, which I love! I used up the last grains of it on this project, so I had a little moment of silence when I threw the jar away. I have a jar of Gold Glory, which is pretty good stuff, too. Come to think of it, I never met an embossing powder I didn't like!

Happiness

This is one of my all time favorite SU! sets, I just love it! This is the height of simplicity for me. A little embossing, that's about it. The DP is Sassafrass Lass.

Graduation Card

This isn't the greatest card I've ever made, but I'm posting it anyway for a couple of reasons. First, I had the little cap stamp from an old SU! set, but no sentiment. I was trying to remember what I had that would work well with the cap, when I ran across my favorite old Spiritual Sentiments set. I thought, "What could possibly be more appropriate for a young person striking out on their own than a word from God?" Forget all those schmaltzy sentiments, go to the Word!

Second, this is just a library pocket, and it's perfect for cash, checks or a gift card. Oh, and one last reason I posted this card: eighth graders aren't as sophisticated as you are, they won't know this isn't a FAB card!

Hope you're having a Happy 4th! We're celebrating tomorrow. We're going back to CO, to DH's parents' ranch, where we're having a huge family reunion for two days. Sun, fun, and more family than we even knew we had-sounds good, huh?

Blue Roses

I used Tattered Angels stencils to make the top of this card. I'm sorry about the picture, I'm having a bad computer month! We finally got Internet after 20 days, then my computer crashed! It's completely dead. I'm on DH's laptop, and I don't have my regular photo editing software. Don't you hate using someone else's computer? Everything is alien, from the keyboard, to the programs, to the screen. The pictures on this computer are beautiful, but they are all smashed a little, shorter and wider than usual. What's up with that? Well, wish me luck in getting my puter issues all resolved, I'm going to assume they eventually will be!

When I first got my cuttlebug, I went wild buying folders and embossing quarter sheets of card stock. I still have at least a dozen sheets left from that time, almost two years ago! There are two reasons why this embossed flower sheet was still around. First, I don't really like Taken With Teal, second, I was baffled by how to use this particular folder. I decided to use the darling little boy from Artistic Outpost's Playtime sheet in the middle of the flower. I popped him up on foam. I then thought I needed something more, but what? Well, when in doubt, put glitter on it, that's what I always say! So, I outlined all the embossed parts with Beetle Black Sugar Coating from Doodlebug. I stamped the sentiment in TH Black Soot, and embossed with Holographic ep. Finally, I dragged out my SU! gingham, which I haven't used in years, and added that as my final touch.

This card has a similar story. I was trying to use some of my cb embossed quarter sheets. This is also from AO's Playtime sheet. I stamped the wagon in TH Dusty Concord. I glued some little buttons on the corners, and outlined the main image in Art Institute glitter in Azure, it looks beautiful with Almost Amethyst. Since I had the gingham out, I went ahead and used it on this card as well.

By the Way, make sure you stop by and see AO's newest plate!! I'll be posting my projects here soon!

"Keeper" is the newest plate from Artistic Outpost featuring nostalgic images from the lazy, hazy days of summer. On this plate you get 7 deeply etched images, including a snapshot of a boy with his first catch and a scenic view of a wonderful summer cabin. We're sure you'll love the versatility of this plate.