Challenge Fun

Hi everyone!  Last Monday 2 Pea stampers ended WSW14--10 days of challenge fun.   Here is my favorite cards that I created for the event. The background is made with a technique called Summer Coat.  Similar to Joseph's Coat but done on printed paper and dry embossed.  Bird tags by Red Lead stamps and sentiment is from Hampton Arts set.

Sadly on Wednesday we received the news that 2Peas is closing its doors completely on July 10.  The forums were closed immediately but the store, gallery and PMs remain open until the 10th.  For those active stampers at 2 Peas it will be a major change to find new places to play. So this card is a memory of our good times we shared at 2Peas.

Other news this week included learning my re-purposed tissue box in my last post here was selected to be spotlighted at Simon Says Stamp.   What an exciting honor!  I hope to have my badge soon so I can display it in my sidebar.

One other exciting bits of news this week-I was invited to be on the Mixed Media Card Challenge Design Team!  This is a brand new site which will be posting its 1st monthly challenge on July 1st.
You might want to stop by before then to read all the details.   I can wait for the fun to begin!

Happy stamping!....Jan

Repurposing tall tissue boxes

Hi everyone!

I re-purpose several tall tissue boxes with the tops cut off for the organization of my cards and supplies. First I test out the box to see if it will really hold A2 cards or handmade technique backgrounds. These boxes come in slightly different sizes and some are not completely square so A2 items may fit in one direction but not the other. Some boxes are large enough to hold embossing folders. If I want the box to be a little stronger I add a coat or 2 of decoupage or white glue to the inside of the box.

I wanted more of my own work in my space so I decided to makeover a box with 4 individual panels. I embossed the panels and painted with distress stains and acrylics. This is the first I used Dina Wakley's new stamp set and I really enjoyed them! I edged the top with Viva's Pearl Pen and added a border inside.

I designed my project to take  a reasonable amount of time and am happy with the results.

I an entering this project into this week's Simon's Monday Challenge which is paint.

Today begins 2 Peas Stamping Forum's homegrown stamping event WSW14 which runs until Monday June 23.  This container makeover is inspiration for a challenge I am hosting.  All stampers are invited to visit and participate.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Happy stamping!...Jan

Tag-find joy everyday

Thanks for stopping by.   I love working with mixed media to create artsy work and hope you enjoy my Hot Pepper tag today!

I haven't played with Tyvek in years. In fact these scraps of used US priority mail envelopes have been hanging around for 5+years.  As I am busy reorganizing my craft room the time has arrived to use them or say goodbye to them.  So here it is...one more chance Tyvek.
 

To get re-acquainted with this product I made this tag.  I used Tim Holtz' washer border die and hand cut pod shapes. Then painted my shapes with Lumiere, a light weight acrylic paint. While heating the Tyvek it melted into concave and convex bubble shapes. The Lumiere separates with the gold mica flowing into the Tyvek's bubble pockets. OH MY, this technique has these 2 fun actions occurring simultaneously...be still my heart!

However one has very limited control as the Tyvek melts on itself. Narrow pieces like the washer strip melts very quickly and bends onto itself.  Pre-planning  to precisely use the results often does not  work.

Tyvek does not release any odors when melting but be safe and heat in a well-ventilated area.


The background for the Tyvek is some very textured handmade paper and is colored with distress stains misted with lots of water.  The sentiment and  water stamping leaves at the top of the tag are Hero Arts stamps. I love the soft subtle background effect water stamping creates.

I will be sharing this tag at the following sites...

Many thanks go to the fabulous inspiration Virgina is providing each month on her challenge site. Virginia's View Challenge iis a well followed challenge blog as she begins her 4th month of challenges.  This month the challenge asks for making a tag or a scrapling with some recycled materials.  It is open until June 18th. 

Each Friday, Splitcoaststampers has a Mixed-ability challenge.  This week's challenge is to use a medium product which is heat reactive.

A  Blog Named Hero: Challenge #45 features anything but a card this month. And of course Hero Arts Stamps are always used.

Thanks for stopping by! 
Happy stamping...Jan

Mixed Media card with Rock n Roll technique

Hi everyone!

Today I had lots of fun playing in a challenge at 2 Peas in a Bucket and created a Mixed Media card.  The stamping forum had a Stamp N Dash challenge to use the Rock n Roll technique. Here is my completed card:

For this old faithful technique one inks a stamp in one color and  rolls the edges in another color to accent the edges. I fancy cut 3 blooms and added a touch of sparkle with a stardust gel pen.

As I thought about how to use the colorful blooms on a card I quickly moved to some thoughts for some Mixed Media fun. I started by blending distress ink across portions of a burlap stencil onto watercolor paper.

For the next layer I colored some embossing paste with a drop of distress reinker and stenciled the leaf fonds into place.  Inkintense pencils were use to add shading to the leaflets.  Finally I filled the corners with the freshness of a little watercolor. The addition of color droplets and a stamped flourish add the layer I wanted. Final touches included adding the flowers, circular sequins and sentiment. The panel's edges were distressed with an edger and accented with Viva's Pearl Pen

Stencils: Tim Holtz burlap; Garden Fonds by Memory Box
Stamp: Judikins Mod Mum; Stampendous flourish
Coloring products: distress ink and re-inkers, inktense pencils, distress stains, Gelly roll stardust pen, Viva's pearl pen
Texture-embossing paste, dimensional squares, distressing edger 

NEWS:  A new Monthly Challenge for Mixed Media for Card Makers begins July 1.  I provided a link so you can check out all the details!   A call for design team members is open until June 20...the details are available with the same link.  You might want to consider throwing your card into the ring...I am.  But either way it is gonna be great fun to make some new friends who enjoy making cards with mixed media!!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy getting inky today!...Jan