Journal cover

Hello everyone, this is Astrid here from the UK with my very first post for Sin City Stamps.

I was over the moon excited when they asked me to become part of their team as I adored their stamps just from looking at the pictures of them in the store. But when I received my stamps to work with, I got even more excited as these are the best stamps I have ever laid my inky hands on, - they are so deeply edged you just cannot go wrong. No ink in places where you don't want it with these stamps!

SIN CITY STAMPS SWATCH BOOK

Hi everyone!!  Today, I wanted to share with you my "SinCity Stamps Swatch Book"!  I didn't know what I was going to call this book until it was finished!  I haven't made the cover yet because I only thought of the name 10 minutes ago!!  

I was thinking recently about what my next project would be.  I already had 3 SCS sets before being part of the design team(BECAUSE THEY ARE THAT AWESOME!!) and now, having even more, I thought I would stamp the images into a book.  When I run out of room, I can add cardstock pages in between.  Then, when I want to see what images I have all I have to do is open a book and see them all!  No more looking through all the drawers of stamps and stuff.  Just a little book!  I thought it was a fabulous idea!!  Here is how I made it.

Vintage Seed Catalog Card with Rosette Hearts Stamp

The Rosette Hearts stamp set from Sin City Stamps  is perfect for a vintage, romantic look.  I used the large background image for my Vintage Seed Catalog Card.

I am a complete sucker for anyone holding up a beautiful object and saying, “This makes me think of you!”  So when a very sweet fellow dealer at my local antique store held up a roll of stickers and said just that, I had to buy them!  They reminded me of the fabrics and fibers I’ve been using to make pumpkins, and I decided to use them as my inspiration for today’s project.

Life's a Witch, then you Fly!

 Hi Everyone, Michelle here to get you in the spirit of Halloween with a fun splatter card!

 Materials needed to make this card:
Halloween Takes Flight plate of rubber
Yellow, orange and red markers, any size.

Part Two of Tropical Travelogue Project Lift with Pam Bray

 Good Morning!!! Today it my turn on the SinCity Blog to share with you my second part of Tropical Travelogue Project Life, if you did have the chance to see the first post just click HERE.

I started by spraying three pieces of white card stock with Dylusions Spray.....

Altered CD Wall Hanging

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the blog.  I am so glad you stopped by today because I have a really fun project to share with you.  If you are like me, you have a stockpile of blank or old CDs just waiting to be altered.  If you are intimidated by large canvases or art boards, then this is a good place to start because your "canvas" (CD) is small and easy to finish in a day or two, depending on drying time for your mediums used.  So let's get started.

Supplies Used:



Sin City Stamps:  Art Journaling with Terri Sproul,  A Wing Above the Rest, Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2



Blank or used CD

Map Collage print paper (Paper Studio)

Rebel Teal Distressed print paper (Glitz Design)

Kraft-Core Nostalgic Collection card stock (Tim Holtz)

White Gesso

Twinkling H₂0's (Mustard Green, Cranberry, Snap Dragon, Irish Mist)

Black India Ink pad (Stewart Superior)

VersaMark ink pad (Tsukineko)

Gold detail embossing powder

Distress Paint (Wild Honey, Broken China, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo)

Distress Ink (Black Soot, Vintage Photo)

Workable Fixatif (Krylon)

Grunge Paste (PaperArtsy)

8" black nickel fine cable chain (Hobby Lobby)

7/8" circle punch

Fast Grab Tacky Glue (Aleene's)

Embellishments (Tim Holtz Idea-ology)



Directions:



Trim a piece of map collage print paper to fit over the CD.

Adhere paper to CD using gel medium or your favorite wet glue.  Trim around CD, and use a piece of sandpaper or nail file to sand edges smooth.

Apply a thin coat of gesso over paper, leaving some of the image showing through.

Stamp focal image (A Wing Above the Rest) onto CD using Black India Ink or any archival, waterproof ink.  You do not want your stamped images to bleed.

To make a mask, stamp the same image onto a piece of notebook or plain paper, cut out, and apply a removable glue to the back.  (I used Zig 2-way glue for this.  If you let the glue dry first, it becomes removable.)  Use the mask to cover the image and protect it from further stamping.  This also allows it to remain in the foreground.  All images stamped over the mask will appear to be behind this image.

Begin stamping images on the CD and over the masked image.  I used the honeycomb ( Art Journaling with Terri Sproul), the bricks and flourishes (Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2) and STEAM (A Wing Above the Rest), in Black India Ink.

Spread a bit of grunge paste or heavy gel medium along the edges and stamp into the wet paste with the honeycomb image.  Immediately wash off your stamp under running water and use a soft brush to remove all of the medium.  Remove the mask and color the focal image with Twinkling H₂0's.

Spray CD with a workable fixative and allow to dry to protect what you have done so far.  The Twinkling H₂0's are water-based, and my next step will make them run.



Replace the mask over the focal image, but cut away the wire dress form beneath the bodice so that your background colors will show through this section.

Dab wild honey distress paint over the honeycomb images, spritz with water and allow to drip a bit.  Lightly dab some paint off and heat set.  These paints react with water until you heat set, then they become permanent.

Dab broken china and fired brick over the remaining portions of the CD and spritz with water.

Lightly dab some of the paint again and heat set.  Dab vintage photo distress paint around the edges of the CD and heat set.  Gently remove your mask.  I will tell you that I found the Zig 2-way glue became more stubborn to remove after heat-setting the paints.  In this picture, you can see where it removed some of my image, but there are a few ways to fix this.  Yay, isn't that good to know?

One way to fix this is to re-paint the wing with the Twinkling H₂0's.  I decided to repaint the whole image to bring it back to life.  I want my winged dress form to really stand out.

If you don't like this (because it did remove some of the stamped detail in the wing) you can always stamp the wings onto another piece of paper, cut them out, color them, and glue them over the original wings.  You see, no sweat.  There is always a way to fix things, and sometimes you like the "fix" better than the original.



I decided to leave it the way it is because I like the distressing in the wing, and to make it pop even more, I used a technique I learned from Terri Sproul in her art journaling videos about using black and white around an image to bring it to the forefront.  To do this, I replaced my mask, including the bottom  part I previously cut off, and lightly dabbed black soot distress ink around the dress form and wings.  Start the inked sponge on top of the mask and pull outwards away from the masked image.  I also used my finger to feather some of the ink out.

Now, that looks better, but I think it needs a bit of refining.

So, if you have a charcoal pencil, you can run the point along the outline and feather the charcoal more.  I decided to use my black Pitt pen and feather it with my fingers before it dried.

If you want to bring back some light on one side, you can then run a white Pitt pen along one side and feather it before it dries.  Determine where your "light source" is coming from and color only on that side.

Now, these colors are a bit bright for me, so I sponged vintage photo distress ink over the whole CD, which brought out the dimensional honeycomb.  I really like this look better.



Now let's embellish the CD.  It first needs a hanger, so punch two holes in the top of the CD.  A crop-a-dile works really well for this.  Set eyelets if you like.  I think it finishes it off.

At this point, I decided to cover the back of my CD with the rebel teal distressed print paper, just to finish it off.  That way, I could punch my hanger holes before inserting the chain, and my CD will be flat when I do it.  Once I add my dimensional embellishments, it won't be so easy.

Thread the fine cable chain through the holes, front to back, and close ends with a small jump ring.

Stamped winged clock (A Wing Above the Rest) onto a scrap of aqua and tan Kraft-Core card stock using Versamark ink and gold detail embossing powder.

Fussy cut the entire aqua image, and only the tan pocket watch image.  Save those tan wings for another project.

Adhere tan pocket watch over aqua image, using foam dots for added dimension.

Use a quick grab tacky glue to adhere winged clock to hanging chain.

Punch a 7/8" hole from the same tan card stock and cover the glue and hanger with the circle.

Dab tarnished brass distress ink and broken china distress paint over the number "3", let dry.  Glue embellishments to the front, as shown.

I hope I have inspired you to dig out those old CDs and make some wonderful art with them.  You can make a wall hanging, as I did, or mini book covers for a mini album, or even an entire book using them.  There is no limit, except your imagination.



As always, thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you will take some time to visit the blog to see more creative works from the fab design team.  Also, be sure to check out the newest stamp releases this month, as well as the special promotion going on now over at the  Sin City Stamps store.  They have the most wonderful stamp images that I know you are going to love, and coupons to boot.  All you need to do is visit the coupon page and scratch off the blocks to reveal a random discount code.

Have a wonderful, creative weekend, and go do some SCS shopping!!

Barbara

ART JOURNAL PAGES

 
Hello everyone!  My name is Daniella and I am one of the new members on the SCS design team!  For my first post, I want to share how I used Sin City Stamps in my art journal pages.

I am taking the class that the AWESOME Terri Sproul has on Facebook.  Click HERE if you want to join the fun!!  This week, we learned about texture.  And we were to use a quote about mistakes.  

I started by priming my pages with Gesso and then I used Gelatos in Yellow, Gold and Pink.  I had to spray some ink on too!  TIP.  When you have bottles of things that are sticky or get hard at the lid, (like gesso) just put vaseline on it.  Your lids will always come off easily.

Halloween Trivet

One day I found some old iron trivets with tile inserts in an antique store.  I didn’t like the pictures on the tiles, but I thought the bases would make great frames for small artwork.  They did!

I just got the Halloween stamp sets from Sin City Stamps and they are perfect for my Halloween trivets!  I really like simple designs that I can combine in different ways when I decorate.  I chose one image from the Halloween Takes Flight stamp set and one image from the Halloween Bingo set. 

Friends Are Forever

Hey Everyone. It is Shanna here with a new card to share with you.

This time I am using one of the stamp I first got from Sin City Stamps.

I am using a stamp from the Fairies and Blossoms.

Circus Invitation from Sin City Stamps

I made the easiest invitation with the new Steampunk Circus stamps from Sin City Stamps.  This new plate has several clown stamps, a bunch of phrases, the cutest little gears and a few other things, as well!
This invitation is perfect for a circus, carnival or clown theme party!  You could easily make a stack of these and then use the same stamps, along with the others from the Steampunk Circus plate, to make favors and decorations.

Ponderings Mini Album Part 2

 
Hello Sin City Stampers, and welcome back to our blog.   Barbara Rankin here today with Part 2 of my mini album project.  But first, I want to let you know that, in case you have not heard, Sin City Scraps is now Sin City Stamps.  In addition to the new name, I hope you will check out the new stamps, stamp plates, and other fabulous products they sell in their online store.    You will love what they have to offer.

Art Journal With Terri Sproul

This is the first page of my first art journal!
Sin City Stamps has a new plate of Art Journal stamps just in time for Terri Sproul’s online art journal class!
Terri offers a free online mixed media art class every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time.  To get all the information and links for the classes, visit the All Things Terri Sproul Facebook page.  Terri is a great teacher and I love her classes.  She is knowledgeable and generous with her knowledge, laid back and fun.

Ponderings Mini Album Part 1

Hello Sin City Stampers, and welcome back to our blog.  Have you heard?  Sin City Scraps is now Sin City Stamps.  I love the new name.  I think you will, too!  It just seems to roll off the tongue so easily, at least it does for me.  In addition to the new name, I hope you will check out the new stamps and stamp plates they have come out with.  Oh my, are you going to love them!  And they are very reasonably priced, too!

Needle Case with Sin City Stamps Dressform Stamp

I made a needle case featuring a new dressform stamp from Sin City Stamps!
I sew a lot, and I’ve been having more and more trouble getting my hand sewing needles in and out of the manufacturers’ packages.  I’ve been thinking about making a needle case for a while now, but when I saw the new Antiques & Dressforms rubber stamp plate from Sin City Stamps, I knew it was time!
This plate has three different dressforms, corset lacing, a candelabra, a chandelier, a typewriter keyboard, a jumble of old fashioned keys, a strip of lace, the D for the Roman numerals set and several phrases.
The purpose of the needle case is to give you a place to park your needles, so they are protected and you know where they are.  I have needles everywhere, stuck into little pieces of fabric.  This is a bad idea if you have little ones or inquisitive kitties in your house.

The needle case is basically just a rectangle folded over like a book.  You can add a closure if you want to keep little hands away from your needles.  You want to choose a fabric that won’t harm your needles and that will keep your needles in place.   So I would avoid burlap and satin, in general, for the inside. Otherwise, it’s pretty open.  You can use as many layers as you like and any embellishments you like.
I had a three-layer rectangle already assembled, and I decided to use that.  It was supposed to be a jar cozy, but one of the seams became crooked somehow, so it didn’t look right on the jar.  I loved the fabric in it, though, so it was hanging out in my studio waiting to be used for something else.

You could make your needle case with one layer, but this works really well because there are several layers to grip the needles in place.  If you want to make a really simple one-layer needle case, I recommend using a piece of wool or cotton batting.
I used one of the dressform images from the Antiques and Dressforms plate for the cover of my needle case.  I stamped the image and the word “Needles” onto a piece of teadyed muslin.  It helps to put a piece of craft foam under the fabric.  I used Chalk Ink and heatset it with my iron after it dried.

I added some lace trim.  First, I pinned it in place:

Then I stitched it down with my sewing machine.
Then I pinned the muslin piece in place onto the outside of my rectangle:

I attached the muslin piece to the rectangle with four mother of pearl buttons and some hand dyed embroidery floss.  You can attach it any way you want.  If my rectangle hadn’t already been assembled, I probably would have stitched the muslin down to the top layer before sewing together the rectangle pieces.  That way the stitching wouldn’t show.
The finished needle case measures about 5.5 by 6.25 inches when closed (5.5 by 12.5 inches when open):

I hope you will try your hand at making a needle case!  Please let me know if you have any questions!