Handmade Birthday Card by Linda Hess

A friend of mine recently said that the only thing she would like for her birthday was a mailbox full of handmade cards, so that she would receive something besides bills.  Be careful what you wish for (hehe)...off to the studio I go!

First thing I pulled out was Creative PaperClay.  Those who know me realize that this is a "clay" outside my normal realm, but the time I spent on the Creative Paperclay design team was an eye opening experience into what can be done with this product.  For this project, it should be the perfect base for my card.  I conditioned a bit by squeezing it in my hands and then rolled it flat in my pasta machine.  (NOTE:  for those of you  who do not own a pasta machine for clay or might even use your pasta machine for...well, pasta...you may roll the clay flat with a rolling pin or acrylic rod.  An even thickness can be obtained by rolling between 2 pieces of cardboard or a stack of playing cards...you get the idea)

Once rolled flat I placed the clay on a sheet of paper to work on the design.  In our box of goodies for this month we received a metal template (Ornare Vellum) from Ecstacy Crafts (www.ecstacycrafts.com).  I placed it on top of the sheet of clay and then rolled over it with an acrylic roller to press the clay into the openings. 

Once I had the clay impressed with the template design I used an exacto knife to cut around the edges.

I opened the tiny pinholes in the template using a turkey lacer (NOTE: a beading pin or sewing needle will also work).  This will take some time...you may have to give your hand a stretch every so often. 

I brushed over the other openings using Pearl Ex powders in multiple colors.

Then carefully, slowly I peeled the PaperClay away from the template.  At first it came away easily, but then I ran into a glitch.  I started peeling too quickly and of course the clay ripped :-(  They are pretty scraps, but not exactly what I want to send to a friend. 

Back to the drawing board.

This time I powdered the surface with cornstarch before repeating the above steps.  With luck the cornstarch acts as a release and the design peels easily away from the template.

Woohoo!  The template came up nice and clean.  Only "drawback" (if there is one) is that you need to hold the template in place as you go around cutting and detailing.  Otherwise the design will move.

After cutting and piercing, I brushed the surface lightly with rubbing alcohol before applying Pearl Ex powders.  During the process of powdering (with cornstarch) and then detailing, etc. Creative PaperClay will begin to dry out.  The addition of rubbing alcohol re-wets the surface and helps the Pearl Ex to adhere. 

Now to unveil....WHEW! 

Obviously I used a bit too much rubbing alcohol in the one corner, but it can be covered with embellishments :-)  Brush around the edges with rubbing alcohol to clean up any roughness.

The center is stamped with one of my favorite sayings using ColorBox archival ink in "Wicked Black".  Holes are opened slightly around center image using a turkey lacer.

From my stash of paper I found a soft pink.  It was stamped using the "Romantic Background" unmounted stamp from Sin City Stamps and VersaMark ink, sprinkled with Recollections "plum" embossing powder, and heat to set.  Then I cut out the image.

 

 

 

Roses are placed in corners to cover "boo-boos".  For now they are only placed.  Once the Creative Paperclay dries they will be glued in place using "The Ultimate" glue from Crafter's Pick (my favorite glue).

Being an impatient sort when it comes to projects, I placed the card in the oven and baked at 275 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.  This speeds the drying process, so that I can continue rather than wait (the little kid in me rearing her ugly head!).  (PLEASE NOTE:  Creative PaperClay will draw up and curl slightly if "forced" to dry.  A weight of some sort might be desired on top of the image will keep it flattened).

Now to finish the embellishments.  Looking at the rubber stamped images I realized that something else was needed....maybe a little dimension.  I pulled out the mold that I made a few projects ago ("New Wave "Batik" canvas: Pt 2 [http://sincity-stamps.blogspot.com/2014/04/new-wave-batik-canvas-part-2.html]) and a little bit of polymer clay.  I pressed clay into the mold, shaved off the excess, and unmolded the watch. 

Using an exacto knife I cut out the center of the fob as well as the center of the watch (opening it up).  I brushed it with Pearl ex powder and baked it at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.  Once cooled, the "Romantic Background" image is cut to fit inside and glued in.  Gives the illusion of painted picture in a frame, don't you think??  (Please use your imagination here)

 

A silver ribbon highlights the rubber stamped center.  (Note: I used a wired ribbon to ease the threading process). 

 

 

 

The watch is glued into place (over the boo-boo).  A tiny charm designates this card as "hand made" just as my friend requested :-)

Now to create an envelope....but that will be a demo for another day.  See you soon!



"With This Ring.. I Thee Wed"~ Design Team Post featuring SinCity Stamps and Ecstasy Crafts

"With This Ring I Thee Wed"

By WildHeart Art featuring SinCity Stamps and Ectasy Crafts

I love creating these fun little wedding cake journal pages and what better time to do this project than in May! I love to work with all kind of fun textures and this project lends itself well to that type of artwork! You ca also use up alot of little "do dads" for the decorating as it doesn't take much in the way of supplies to decorate them! I  also happen to be using some beautiful items from SinCity Stamps and Ecstasy Crafts.

~Supplies~

Journal page

Assorted markers for shading

Ranger Liquid Pearls

Tim Holtz Stickles

Acrylic paint in corresponding color for background

Gel medium-matte

 Vintage style tissue paper for the background

SinCityStamps Butterfly  & Bee Die cast

Selection of corresponding collage papers cut into rectangles to represent each layer

Gold die cast lace stickers and Pearl Dots  from Ecstasy Crafts

Velum quote

1) Start by gathering your  pre- cut rectangle  collage papers and tissue paper.

2) Using you Matt Gel medium glue down the tissue paper for the background onto the journal page. I also dabbed some acrylic paint here and there for interest and color.

3) Glue down the rectangle papers of different lengths to represent a wedding cake with size different tiers.

 4) You then will start the detail work positioning the lace stickers as shown above and adding the self adhesive pearl dots. Feel free to also outline the tiers in maker to give the cake depth.

5) This collage paper already had a butterfly on it about the same size, so I am just gluing it down over the existing pattern.

Here you can see the detail up close.

 6) I wanted to give the illusion of a stained glass butterfly so I applied  Ranger Stickles glitter glue inside the butterfly wings for a bit of color and shimmer to the wings.

7) I then detailed the lace and the cake with "Liquid Pearls" by Ranger

 I just love how it all comes together with all the beautiful detailing!

8) The last thing I did was to add the velum quote at the very top of the wedding cake!

I hope you all have had a wonderful time  creating this beautiful tired wedding cake!

*For those of you who love Stampington  & Company Publications ~ Check out their Summer issue of Somerset Studio Gallery Magazine which hits the newsstands June 1st~

 I am featured in the Artist Spotlight with my "Vintage Beach Houses" Mixed Media Canvas! YAY!

In Love & Faith

Sherri

Project Life with Sin City Stamps!

Hey there!  It’s RobinRedd (a.k.a. RockinReddRobin)!   

I’m here to share with you a Project Life layout I made this week using Sin City Stamps 

and Ecstasy Crafts, whom we are teaming up with this month.   

I enjoy Project Life, however, 

I will probably just finish the year I started working with it, 2013 and that’s pretty much it.   

I’m so far behind with that year.   

I have plenty of Project Life layouts that still need to be completed.

I love this little peacock feather stamp from the Wildlife stamp set.  

 I stamped it with one color, then added color to the center top portion with markers.

And who doesn’t love Pearl Dot Embellishments!   I used the
Decorative Pearls Dark Red from Ecstasy Crafts.

 So simple to add to any project and makes such an impression.

Speaking of impressions....keep in mind you can use embossing folders in your Project Life layout.  So quick and simple and makes a very unique card on your layout.  I used the Flower Border 1 embossing folder from Ecstasy Crafts. Since the cardstock had a white core, I sanded over the embossing to make the image “pop” more.  I love the results.

I hope I’ve inspired you to create something today.

Until next time…

~Robin Redd