Holly Tag

Today I have another holiday tag to share with you which was fashioned into a small card so a personal message could be included.

The holly tag is from the Christmas Giving set by Penny Black.  I kept the design crisp and clean and focused on the ribbon as my main focal point.

I began by stamping the holly twice with black Memento ink on a separate piece of white cardstock.  I colored one full impression and the ribbon/berries on the second impression with Copic markers.  Before I colored the ribbon and bow, I added some stripes with a black pen.  After I completed the coloring, I trimmed the images.  I like to edge all my cut pieces with a black marker.  It really makes the edges look sharp and defined.

The main image is attached with dimensional foam and the additional bow/berry accent was bent a little then attached with glue.  To accent the berries, I applied red stickles then sprinkled red glitter on top.  After the stickles dried, I brushed off the excess glitter and added a small black dot with a black Glaze pen.  The pink stripes on the ribbon were colored with a sparkle Gelly Roll pen.  Glossy Accents or red gemstones would be other fun ways to highlight the berries too!

Thanks for visiting.

Elizabeth

Holiday Gift Tags

I remember as a child how long it seemed to take the holidays to arrive.  Now, they seem to approach in a blink of an eye.

My good friend Judy starts making her holiday gift tags early and always has a beautiful selection to choose from when she is wrapping her gifts.  I love creating miniature items and decided to start stamping a few myself.

This pair of cling stamps called Christmas Giving had the perfect images to get me started.  Fun and quick to color! 

My first tag I wanted to be colorful with a bit of an antique touch.

The smallest piece of white cardstock was rubbed with Tim Holtz’s Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks with a few snowflakes from the Crystalline set stamped afterward with Antique Linen.  The distressed cardstock was matted with white and red cardstocks.  The hanging tab is a 1” inch circle with a ¼” hole.



A closer view

I stamped an extra scarf and slightly tilted it on the main image to make it appear that it is wrapped around Frosty’s neck.  Copics were used for coloring.  I also added dimensional foam between the layers and Crystal Stickles to the snowflakes.

This tag could also be made into a small tent card and used as a name plate for seating at the holiday dinner table.  Just omit inking the “to” and “from” portion of the stamp. 

Here are a few upcoming items planned for the studio----

* Tomorrow I will share a tag made with the holly leaf that is part of this cheerful set. 

* On Friday I will announce the winner of the “Halloween Blog Candy”, which there is still time to enter if you haven’t had a chance.

*World Card Making Day is this Saturday, October 2, and I have a “world” of thanks to share with you. 

Thanks for visiting the studio and have a great day.

Elizabeth

Where There Is Love

I am amazed that it has been a week since I started this blog and want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement.  During your visits you may have noticed a few new features appearing.  One recent feature that has been added is a subscription button which will allow you to subscribe to this blog by e-mail.  If you would like to receive e-mail notices each time there is a new posting, feel free to subscribe using the link located on the right.

Even though fall officially arrived last Thursday, I was in the mood to stamp some colorful blooms with this brushstroke stamp by Penny Black.

For the flowers, I applied ink directly from the markers to the “Daisy Fields” then lightly misted the ink with water before making the impression.  “Life” was stamped with Onyx Black VersaFine and heat embossed with clear powder and the “Scroll Pattern” was stamped in Antique Linen Distress ink.  I use this background stamp so much that I don’t even bother to put it away!

Be sure to visit the Penny Black Blog this week where each day they will feature an artist from their Design Team along with some of their favorite pieces of Penny Black art.

Thank you for stopping by the studio.

Elizabeth   

Upcoming Penny Black Halloween Class

I'm looking forward to my fall teaching schedule and wanted to share the next scheduled class with you.  

If you are going to be in Petoskey, Michigan, on October 2, 2010, I will be teaching a Penny Black Halloween class at Scrapper's Attic.  

The first session has been filled, but there are still openings for the second session.  For more class information or for registration, please contact Nicki at 231-347-3606 ext. 201.  Seating is limited and reservations are required.

Thank you for stopping by the studio.

Elizabeth

Witching You...

"Witching" you a happy Friday with a card and video!

Today I would like to share a card using Penny Black’s new Treatin’ Witch stamp from their “Cling” collection.    

You can see here in these photos that I made several different accent pieces by stamping select portions of the image a second time to build up the layers.

 

In my classes, I get many questions about masking and wanted to share a video with you on how I created the “spooky” moon.

You can view the complete instructions for today’s card on Penny Black’s blog.  While you are there be sure to check out the new Flickr group and Facebook page.  These new social circles are filled with great artwork and inspiration.


Thank you for stopping by the studio.

Have a great day,

Elizabeth   

A Big Day for Mini Cards

As I mentioned the other day, I like making cards in all types of shapes and sizes.  So when the Penny Black Design Team was challenged to make a set of “mini cards”, I was thrilled.  The guidelines were to cut an A2 card in half.  After some contemplation, I cut a side-folded card (4 ¼ x 5 ½) in half to create two 2 ¾ x 4 ¼ cards which fit my design idea.  You could also create two 2 1/8 x 5 ½ cards by cutting a 4 ¼ x 5 ½ top-folded card in half.

The “thanks” card  is in a portrait position with the fold at the top.  The blue cardstock base was stamped with Paisley Swirls in Danube Blue Memento.  The first inked impression was stamped on scrap paper and the second impression was used on the blue cardstock.  The white cardstock was dry embossed with a rectangle.  I cut a piece of heavy-weight cardboard to the size I needed and used that as a template on my light box.  Helpful Hint:  Buff the side being scored with wax paper to help the stylus move smoothly across the paper.  Stamp Delicate with black Memento ink and color with Copics.  Stamp one Mini Flutterby so it overhangs the edge of the cardstock and a second Mini Flutterby on a separate piece of cardstock.  Color the extra butterfly with Copics, trim, spray with Sheer Shimmer Spritz in sparkle and layer over the original stamped image.  The sentiment “thanks” is from the Sentiments set.



In this close-up you can see the glitter accents and gem stones.



The “cheer up” card is in a landscape position with the fold on the left.  Delicate was stamped multiple times across the white cardstock with black VersaFine ink and heat embossed with clear powder.  The flowers were watercolored with Staedtler-Mars brush markers.  The little grass border was created from a Fiskars border punch and elevated with dimensional foam.  The "cheer up" sentiment is also from the Sentiment set.  

Remember, using the same stamp doesn’t have to mean using the stamp in the same way.

These card sizes are so versatile.  Besides being easy to mail, they make great gift enclosures, tags and beautiful gift sets.

You can see more mini cards featured on the Penny Black Blog where the rest of the Design Team have their amazing artwork displayed. 

Thank you for stopping by the studio and if you haven't had a chance to check out the blog giveaway posted on September 20, there is still time to enter!

Enjoy,

Elizabeth     

Thank You For Your Kindness!

This card is a special thank you for all of you who visited my studio for the first day of blogging.  I was overwhelmed by all the responses and your kind words made me feel so welcome.

I enjoy making cards in different shapes and sizes and this square card was the perfect fit for these die-cut Nestabilities and Penny Black stamps.  After stamping and embossing You Are Kind inside the circle, the outer edge was inked with a bit of Memento cantaloupe and matted with a green circle.

The scalloped circle was embossed with the Perfect Paisley folder and, to enhance the texture, white VersaColor ink was rubbed direct-to-paper over the design.

To add visual interest to the base of the card, the leaf portion of Simplicity was randomly stamped in cantaloupe ink.

I tinted the button with butterscotch alcohol ink to match the card and the pretty ribbon is from American Crafts. 

Thanks for your kindness and for making my first day so memorable! 

Smiles,

Elizabeth

The Very First Day

Welcome Everyone!

This is an exciting day for me – my first post on my new blog!

If you are meeting me for the first time, this is how my journey began...... 

Since childhood, I have been fascinated with paper and over the years this fascination grew into a passion for rubber stamping and paper crafting. I began teaching classes in 2003 while working full-time and in 2005 my love of art inspired me to pursue my passion full-time.

My creative adventures now include creating artwork and writing articles for magazine submissions, teaching and being a Penny Black Design Team Member.

I hope my blog inspires others as so many have inspired me and everyone takes a moment to find the artist within themselves.

To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to kick off my first day of blogging with a giveaway to inspire everyone to begin thinking about Halloween.



***Blog Candy***

For a chance to win this fabulous set of Penny Black stamps, simply leave a comment (one per person) on today’s post.  To give the lucky person lots of time to create some “spooktacular” greetings, I will randomly choose the winner from this post's comments on October 1 or when 100 comments have been received - whichever comes first!

Here is a card I created with the Back-Seat Witch.  That name makes me laugh! You may have spotted this card on the Penny Black website.  What an honor to have it displayed on their home page!

I stamped the flying hedgehogs on a separate piece of paper then colored them.  After trimming the image, I layered it on the front of the card with dimensional foam tape.

Rubbing coordinating ink on the edges of the yellow and green cardstock pieces adds a nice glow effect too.

I also used Halloween Web and Creep Crawly.

I hope you will continue to visit my “studio” and enjoy all kinds of artwork, tips, videos and inspiration.

I know how precious time is and I appreciate you spending some of yours in my studio.

With heartfelt thanks,

Elizabeth