Vintage Stamping

Today I made some vintage tags that I can use in other projects.

I started with a shipping tag that I bought from Staples.  I covered it with Antique Linen Distress ink using a blending tool.

 

I sporatically added Vintage photo distress on top of that.  I didn't cover the entire tag.

 

I went around the edge with Black Soot Distress.

 

I stamped my image using a Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Scissors Stamp, with Archival Ink.

 I randomly stamped around the border using Stampers Anonymous Slight Alterations Stamp (CMS 060)

 

When I stamped the border, I held the stamp and rolled it as I applied pressure.

 

These are some additional tags that I made using the same method. I love this vintage grungy look.

Love Trying New Techniques! Today, I Tried Two New Techniques.

This is a background that was created using tags that were embossed.  You can find the full tutorial HERE.  It gives the background a LOT of texture.  I also tried stamping on tissue paper and using gel medium to adhere it to the page.  Not so sure I like that part.  Mine looks like I glued a cut out to the page.  The one from the link, blends into the background.  I'm not sure what I did different.  I may have to give it another go another time.  I gessoed the page and used watered down acrylic paint to color the page.

Next, I die cut Sizzix "wildflowers" Thinlets.  I colored them with Distress markers and then used Gel Pens to add some detail to the one that looks like lavender.  I also die cut two of the Tim Holtz "Layered Dragonfly" and embossed them.  I colored the body with black marker.  I colored the wings with "weathered Wood Distress paint.  Once the paint dried, I went over the them lightly with a sanding block.  This took off some of the paint on the embossed veins of the wings.  I then went over the wings with "black soot" using a blending tool.  I added some highlights using gel pens and a white Signo pen.  I rubbed "Crystal" Stickles over the wings for some sparkle. I used a background stamp with "coffee" Archival ink to add some more dimension to the page.  I glued the two dragonflies together and then glued everything to the page using Matte Gel Medium.

The tissue stamped images don't look as bad on the real page as they do on this photo.  They blend into the background much nicer.

Here you can see the two dragonflies layered together for dimension.

I was trying to get a good picture of the sparkle on the wings but the camera just wouldn't capture a true image.

On to the second technique.

I have always wanted to try image transfer but thought I had to have an image from a Laser printer....But, I saw a video from Donna Downey that showed you could transfer an image from an ink jet printer.  I took two pictures because taking it with the flash washed out the image.

This is with the flash.  It is hard to see my vintage lady.

This is without the flash.  It gives a truer picture of the color.  I love how not all of the image transferred.  It gives it an old photograph look to it.  I love Donna Downey's how to videos.  If you haven't checked her out I strongly suggest you do.  She is loaded with ideas and techniques that will keep you busy.

Some Journal Fun On A Snowy Day

 
I did this page a while ago and didn't have time to post it. It is my fist try at Steampunk.  I'm happy with it.  It could probably use some more grunging up or  something but it is as steampunk as I could get.

 This is a tag that I did using a method I saw on the internet. First I used some scrapbook paper and covered a tag that I had.  I blended Vintage Photo around the edges and smudged it over the tag.  I used a stamp and black archival ink around the edge.  Then I went around the edge of the tag with a gold leaving pen.

 I used Ferro "Metal Effects" Modeling Paste through a key stencil.  Then I went over it using Viva Modeling Creme (Mother of Pearl).  I let that dry, which surprisingly didn't take long at all.  Then I used Silks acrylic glaze (Nutmeg) with my finger and I lightly tapped this on the areas of the Modeling Creme.  I love the way the key looks.  Nice and old and gungy.

 

I added some scrap lace to the bottom and some ribbon that was originally off white but I colored it with Distress spray Vintage Photo.  

 

 This cute little girl I found HERE (the page is photo intensive and takes a little while to load) As soon as I saw her I thought of the child's poem "Mary had a little lamb and wanted to do a page based on that.  I did a search for school houses and I found this  (HERE):

 

  I copy and pasted this picture into Microsoft Word and sized it to fit the page that I was using.  I cut out the desks and half of the chalk board.  I covered my background with scrapbook paper and added some stamping.  I embossed a clock stamp using a mixture of black and copper embossing powder.  I love how it turned out.  I don't think the picture does it justice.  Then I inked the edges with Vintage Photo ink.  I colored the little girl using Distress markers and a water brush and glued everything in place.  I only glued the sides and the bottom of the desks, leaving the top open so that I would be able to insert a tag.  I wrote Mary had a little lamb, added some ribbon to the top and glued some paper flowers to the top of the tag and placed it inside the desks.  So cute, if I do say so myself.

I Love A Good Fairy Tale.

Isn't she sweet?  She looks so dismayed. I can't even begin to say how the background was done as it was several mistakes...or attempts that I didn't like and covered over with gesso to start another try. The pictures are from various images found on the Internet. The gold border are flourish stamps embossed with gold.  I added gold flourish to the pumpkin with a gold metallic pen.  The rays for the moon were done with a white signo pen but It looked too odd so I went over it with a yellow alcohol marker.  The saying says, Once upon a time, this pumpkin was a coach, the mice were horses and I had TWO shoes..."  Someone had quite a night out!

Oh, the little girl was a black and white photo that I printed on white cardstock.  I colorized her using water color crayons and a water brush.  I enhanced her facial features using Distress markers. Then I went around the edges of her with Vintage photo distress ink.

Happy Halloween!

 

I haven't added anything to my blog since March!  Wow!  Spring came and I played in my garden, went on vacation and  dealt with other events in life.  As the cooler weather is coming so is the desire to be back in the craft room.  What better way to start than with Halloween.This was created with various images found on the internet, Tim Holtz Houses die, fence, cat, and bat from a Cricut cartridge.  Background was Distress inks with random stamping.  I had a lot of fun and love the Gargoyles on the house, the little trick or treater's and the skeleton man.

Twinkie's Happy Place!

I bought a couple of new Stampotique stamps and I couldn't wait to play with them.  Meet Twinkie and his Mushroom Garden.

This was so much fun and so relaxing to do.  Almost everything on here was a stamp of some sort.  I added a little doodling to some of the stamps so that they dripped and oozed a little more.  The flowers are from the Tim Holtz Flower Garland die.  Everything is colored using Distress and Copic markers and the background was colored with Gelatos and gone over with a water brush.  The saying was typed, printed, cut, colored and glued.  It's so cute but yet so gross!  LOL.

It was done on plain white card stock.  If I were to do something like this again, I would probably use water color paper.

I Am Excited That This Turned Out As Well As It Did!

I saw a technique on Pinterest and thought it looked intriguing and I gave it a try.  I couldn't find the video or tutorial or whatever it was but I figured it wasn't that complicated and I could remember the steps.  I used Gesso that I added some color to.  I can't remember what I used for color because I did this page about a month ago and I hated how it turned out.   Basically, I scraped the colored Gesso through a stencil using a very thick coat.  When it dried the next day, I had no idea where I was going to go with the page so it sat and sat and sat some more.... Until today.

 When I opened my journal to this page all of the sudden I thought it looked like a tree. So I got my Walnut Stain Distress pen and colored the white space of the stencil.   I should have taken a picture before I did the brown so you could see how plain it looked.. 

Then I used TH Gardern Greens Die and cut several leafy branches.  I colored them with Peeled Paint Distress Markers and the colored the branch part of it with Walnut Stain.  This way it would match the branches of my tree.  After they were colored I used the word stamp with Vintage photo to add some texture to the leaves.

I used this die and cut it from white card stock.  I cut two of the birds off and colored them using Distress Stains and a water brush.  I distressed the outside of the birds with /Walnut Stain.  I cut the "Garden Greens" leaves and glued them to the page

This is the final product.  I added the bird nest by cutting up some threads that I pulled from some burlap.  I stained some of them using "Walnut Stain" Distress stains.  I glued the nest in place with Tacky glue and shaped it as it was drying.  The eggs for the nest came from some items in my stash.  I also took my "Stormy Sky" Distress pen and outlined the background around the branches and rubbed it with my finger to give it a little more color and definition.

I really like how it turned out considering I thought I was going to trash this page.

Window Treatments

I started my project with the thought that I wanted to use the Tim Holtz Window & Window Box Die.

Then I added a window topper using Cricut Ornamental Iron 2 (I cut it at 4 1/2).  I cut it all from black paper and used a white Signo pen to add highlights to all the creases on the window and window box.  I also added highlights to the wrought Iron top with the Signo pen.

 

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 I did the background using brick red acrylic paint that I dabbed through a brick stencil.  I sponged on some brown on top of the red. I dried everything with a heat tool and used Vintage Photo and Walnut stain Distress ink over the brick to fill in the spaces between the bricks.

I stuck the window topper, window and window box to the page using bits of foam tape.  The white foam tape really stood out on the wrought iron window topper so I used my black Pitt brush pen and colored the foam of the tape black and presto you don't even notice it now.

 I used this photo that I found on the Internet for the view inside my window.  I glued some lace curtains with some lace trim that I had in my stash.  Then I glued the window to the picture.  I had to cut the bottom of the picture off to fit the window

Then I used my two favorite Martha Stewart punches to add greenery and flowers to the window box.  I cut strips of each punch from white card stock an colored them with Peeled paint distress marker. 

I used my distress markers in Wild Honey, Fire Brick and Scattered Straw to color the flowers After I colored the strips of flowers, I cut the flowers from the vine so that I could add them randomly through the greenery.  I used this stamp and Vintage photo distress ink on the flowers and vine.  I also used Tim Holtz

Garden Greens die to add a variety to the mix of leaves.  I colored this with a marker of a yellow green color. (I don't know the name of the markers. Just some random markers in my stash.)  I added some stamping to this also.  Then I cut everything to fit in the box and glued everything where I wanted it.  As a final touch, I added bling to the center of each flow.

 Then I added this little bird...also fund on the Internet.  I copy and paste him into a Word document.  Then I sized him to fit in with my page by grabbing the corner grab bar on the image.  Once he was the size I wanted, I grabbed the left grab bar on the image and pulled it to the right, which gives me the mirror image.  I cut him out and glued him in position and this is the final page:

I would love to read your comments.

I Made Sand

This is another Vintage photo that I found on the Internet.  When I saw her it made me think of the children's song, Little Sally Ann.  I cut her out and colorized her with water color crayons.

Then  I thought, surely someone on the Internet has found a way to make sand.  I did a few searches and Of Course, Tim Holtz has a great tutorial on how to make sand HERE  He did it on a tag and I wanted it for my journal.  I wasn't sure how well it would come out but I think the end result is pretty good.  My sand isn't done drying yet.  I was too excited and wanted to get it posted.

This is a closer picture of the sand.

I would love to read your comments.

My Bumble Bee Found A Home!

Remember this little bee that I made a couple posts back?  He is from the Cricut "Art Nouveau" cartridge.  I think he is adorable but I didn't know what I was going to do with him.

 This is what I ended up doing....

I LOVE it!  I started by covering the page with a sheet of scrapbook paper from "Vintage Essentials"  The paper is like tissue paper.  It is very thin and fragile.  I used Matte medium to stick it to the page.  If you look close you can see in the bottom left corner, that the paper tore.  I figured this would be added texture and kept on going.  In the past, this would have made me think the page was ruined and I would have torn it out of the book.  So I am learning that sometimes mistakes add to the beauty of the finished picture.

Next, I used some stencils and distress inks to the background.  The stenciling was very subtle and you have to look close to see it.  I found the poem on Pinterest and typed it up.  I tore it out and used the same colors of distress inks on it.  I went around the edge with Walnut stain.

 I used  Sizzix Honeycomb die to cut a couple from cardboard.  Then I cut sections off of one of the die cuts and glued the two pieces together to give it this shape.  I added a couple of the punchout pieces of the die to the top.  I randomly coated the Honey come with Perfect Medium embossing ink.  Then I used a mixture of Antique Linen" and "Vintage Photo" distress embossing powder.  One I heated the embossing powder, I thought it looked like a pale yellow, which wasn't the look that I was going for.  So I went over it with Spiced Marmalade.  I glued the honeycomb to the page and added the bee using foam tape to make him pop on the page.  I added the flowers that I made using the Tattered Flower Garland Die.  I cute them from scrapbook paper and distressed them with a little Vintage Photo.  They are held together with a brad that I added a little bling to.  The leaves are from my Martha Stewart edge punch below. I use this a lot too.

So my cute little bee has found a home in my art journal.  Love him.

Would love to read your comments

Blocking Out The World For Just A Little While

This week has been filled with a lot of emotional turmoil and stress, both at home and work.  It seems to have really taken a toll on me.  So I blocked out the world by turning off my phone and shutting myself in my craft room to play for a while.

I have  had Dina Wakely's "Scribbly Birds" Stamps for a while and I have been dying to play with them.  They are so adorable! 

I inked the background with Peacock Feathers and Peeled Paint distress inks using a blender tool.  Then I splashed water on it, let it sit for a minute and blotted it with a paper towel.  I went over the pages again with Peacock Feathers ink. Then I stamped the birds on white card stock.  I colored them with Tombow markers and blended the colors with a water brush. I used my white Signo pen to go around the eyes and to define the highlight of the eye.  Then I cut the Sizzix  Die "Branch w/Leaves" out of white card stock.  I cut three of these.  I used one for each page and the third one I cut in pieces to add more leaves and berries to the branches.  Notice the page with the bird facing front has more leaves behind the bird.

I colored the Branch's, leaves and berries with my Tombow markers.  Then I turned

the branches over on a piece of Fun Foam and used an embossing stylus to create lines in the leaves.  Afterwards I used a blending tool with "Tea Dye" ink over the leaves, berries and branches.  This was to give definition to the leaves and to tone down the bright color of the markers.  I glued the sections of branches and berries together and added the highlight to each berry with a white paint pen.

I cut my little birdies out and glued them on the branches.  I cut two tags using my trusty tag punch.

 

I LOVE this punch and use it ALL the time.  For the first tag, I glued a piece of scrapbook paper to some white card stock.  The second one, I cut the word "HOPE" from white card stock, using the Tim Holtz "Movers and Shapers" die.  Then I used the tag punch, centered it over the word and cut the second tag.  The one shown in this picture wasn't centered very well....oops.

I used Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks to color the "Hope" tag.  I distressed the newsprint tag with Vintage Photo and glued the two tags together.  I used a black Pitt Pen to outline the word Hope and give it a little more definition.  I distressed the edges of the tag, added an eyelet and a ribbon and glued it in my journal. I added the quote "Hope is the only thing stronger than fear" from the movie "The Hunger Games".  To finish I went around the edges of each page with Vintage photo" using a blending tool.

I would love to read your thoughts and comments.

A Few Pages From My Art Journal

 I did this page specifically because I wanted to use the water droplet stamp by Ryn.  I used Dylusion spray inks for the background and then stamped the water droplet in archival ink.  I went over the center of each water droplet with a water brush and then blotted with a paper towel as shown in the "Ryn" link above.  I then put a dot of white paint on each water droplet.  I would normally use my Signo white pen for this but Ryn suggested using white paint for a crisper look.

  I stamped a butterfly and a dragon fly and colored them in with distress markers.  Then I painted over the image with Rock Candy Crackle paint and set it aside to dry.  I had the violet in my stash.  I believe it was made using a Sizzix Die and was colored with Distress Markers.  I punched a border with a Martha Steward edge punch and colored it with....you guessed it....Distress Markers.  I LOVE them.  Then I cut out the butterfly and dragon fly.  I stamped them on the page where I wanted them and glued the center of each cut image on top.  This way the wings curl up and the stamped image below creates a shadow.

I didn't have a flat surface when I was stamping the water droplets and didn't get a clear image on the bottom. Something to watch out for in the future.

 I wanted to use my Cricut Expressions "Folk Art" Cartridge and made these whimsical little farm animals and the birdhouse.  The birdhouse is actually a house but I cut it an inch big and thought that it would make a great bird house.

I used the Tim Holtz Lamp Post die and cut two of them.  I cut the light off and turned one upside down and glued them together.

 To cover the mark where they are glued together I made a flowery vine. The flowers are from Tattered Flower Garland die,colored with distress markers and a little bling dot added to the center.

I glued the flowers in place first, then used the leafy vine, Martha Steward edge punch.  I had to snip off a few branches to get it to wind around the flowers.

While I had my Cricut up and running I also decided to cut this bee from the Art Nouveau cartridge.  The gray part on the wings were cut from white card stock.  I then used Copic markers (C3 Cool Gray) to color the wings.  After that, I gave them a good coating of Rock Candy Crackle Paint. The picture doesn't show it very well but the wings look really cool.  After I assembled the bee, I thought the yellow and orange card sock that I used was way to bright for my taste.  So I went over it with Vintage Photo Distress ink and a blending tool.  I added some bling to his eyes and whala he is done.  I love, love, love him and can't wait to find a project to add him to.

Wow, what can I say about this except that it didn't work out the way I had hoped.

I started out with a page that I had used to clean my stencil from another project.  Then I used Crackle Paste through the card stock remanent from the Moon and Stars Die cut. 

 The paste didn't crackle like I thought it would.  But, I decided to persevere.  I colored the moon and stars by squeezing distress ink daubers to my craft mat and used a paint brush to apply it to the paste.  This way I had a little control while applying the ink.  I used a Copic Marker (Y35) to add dimension to the moon and give the appearance of craters.  I used a gold pen to outline the moon and the stars to try to give it some definition.

Then I thought the moon and the stars looked too much alike.  I covered each of the stars with gesso and let it dy.  Then I went back and colored each star using Copic marker (Y11).  I added various stencils and then wrote the When you wish upon a star.....with a black Pitt pen and outlined this with my gold pen.

The page doesn't look as bad and jumbled as this picture makes it look.  It isn't one of my favorite pages but I had fun experimenting with different products.

This one........welllllllllllllll.  it is the opposite page of the Moon and Stars above and was also started from a page that was used to clean off a stencil from a previous project.  I then used this set of stamps from Hero Arts to fill the background using different color inks.

Then I used various mini stamps to fill each of the shapes.  I used a black pen and outlined each of the squares.  I used an Inktense water color pencil to fill in the background and then went over this with a water brush.

The original stencil in the background hides some of the stamping and makes the whole thing look too busy.  But, again,  I had fun doing it and I used some stamps that I hadn't even tried before so that was fun.