Thinking Inking

Ornament Trio and Tool Tidbits

Welcome! I've been playing with a couple of new stamp sets--love these! I don't often order stamps, simply because I have more than I have time to play with already. Once in a while though, I see a set that I just plain need--at least I think I do! When I saw the Nordic Winter and Holiday Ornaments sets from Waltzingmouse Stamps, they reminded me of my niece's sweaters, a perfect and sweet Christmas pattern.

The background set, Nordic Winter, is a great building set--long acrylic stamp strips that you can either repeat or alternate to build your own desired pattern. I didn't plan ahead on this; I merely stamped several different strips, then used my Genesis Trimmer with an edge light to cut them apart. Now, I don't usually explain my tools; but since Christmas is coming, I thought I would share some of my favorite tools, just in case you find yourself in need of something similar. (I'm starting a new post category called Tool Tidbits.)

I have several trimmers, each for different jobs. But the one that I use the most is my Genesis Trimmer that I purchased a few months back from Bonnie's Best Art Tools. If you like to cut stacks of cardstock at one time, this is probably not the tool for the job. However, if you generally cut one piece of cardstock at a time but want it cut perfectly, this might be just the tool for you. I don't use the edge light all of the time, but when I need to see through something, it comes in quite handy. Patterned papers, stamped papers, lighter colored cardstocks, or lighter weight cardstocks--the edge light shines through those. Darker, heavier cardstocks--not so much. FYI, I do not work for Bonnie; I just like her trimmer!

After I cut my strips apart, I arranged and rearranged them until I was happy with them, then lightly tacked them to red cardstock so that I could stitch the seams between patterns. Speaking of stitching, my old sewing machine died last week and I bought a new one. I'll tell you about it another day after I get more accustomed to using it.

The ornaments in the Holiday Ornaments set coordinate with the Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornament die template set, which makes it super simple to get a perfect cut on those ornaments! I used metallic string (purchased from Stampin' Up several years ago) to "hang" each ornament, mounting them on foam tape. I used Copic Various inks in R29 and R37 to dye my white seam binding to coordinate with the Pure Poppy ink that I had stamped with. So, that's it--one Nordic sweater card, done! Thanks for stopping by.

Vintage Christmas

Welcome back! When I got back from Chicago, I had a couple of fun packages waiting, one of which was an order from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I had ordered a Spellbinders-compatible frame set and a Christmas sentiments set--Holiday Labels 14 and Compliments of the Season (currently backordered).

I stamped the frame on Papertrey Ink's Kraft cardstock with Scarlet Jewel ink and cut and embossed with with a Spellbinders Labels Fourteen die; I love this shape, especially when paired with the skinny ovals! For the center I stamped the sentiment on Vintage Cream cardstock in Scarlet Jewel ink and then cut it with a Petite Ovals die before adding distress ink to the edges of both pieces. 

Patterned paper is a piece of Melissa Frances Holly paper--a little more muted than the Scarlet Jewel ink that I was using, but still in the same family. Ribbon is some off-white Hug Snug seam binding (from e-Bay) that I colored with a few Copic markers--first E07 (which was a little warm), then RV29 (to cool my too-warm hue), and finally some R59 (to mute the other two layers of color). It's a bit more saturated/intense than it should be, but I still like it. :-)

 

The Zva Creative pearl swash was white (PE-03CA-110), which I airbrushed with a Copic Airbrush System and Copic E07 to add a bit of color and make it coordinate with the paper. One hint: when you airbrush with a darker Copic marker on a hard surface, it may get a bit sticky. The best product that I have found for sealing the surface and taking away the stickiness is Creative Impressions Super Seal. It is a water-based sealer, so it won't make the markers run like a solvent-based-sealer would. My usual craft-haunts were out of it, but I found some at Overstock.com if you are needing some.

That's about it--have a lovely day!

Wishing You Peace and Love. . .

It's a gorgeous weekend in the U.P. of Michigan!  The leaves are a bit past their peak colors, but our woods are still every shade of gold. I just finished a Fall scrapbook page last night that I'll share next week, but for today I have another Christmas card.

I love vintage papers and styles--hmmmm. . . Could be my age. ;-) Today I've used papers from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather Collection (Deck the Hollies), along with a sentiment stamp from the JustRite Stampers Christmas Nested Sentiments and Verse. The sentiment is cut out with a Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestability. The frame stamp is from Very Vintage Labels 2 by Waltzingmouse Stamps, die-cut and matted with Spellbinders Labels 2 dies. I love Claire's Nestie-friendly label sets--just ordered a new one yesterday.

The bottom border is cut with Classic Scalloped Border Petites and encrusted with Zva Creative rhinestones (CRW-01CB-140).  Ribbon is some Copic Various inks-dyed Hug Snug seam binding (Y31 and 0). Card size is 5-1/4" square, designed to fit my large square Papertrey Ink envelopes. 

That's one more card for my stash. Thanks for stopping by!

Afternoon Tea

Welcome! I have a shabby little card to share today using the Afternoon Tea set from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I don't often shop for stamps since I have far too many that need my attention already, but once in a while I peek in on Claire and order a little package from over the pond. ;-) I also used her Very Vintage Labels #4 on the blue patterned layer.

Papers are from the Girls Paperie Paper Girl line. I used a few Copic markers (RV000, R20, w1, o, and Y23) to tint the image, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa ink. The pink pearl swirl is from Zva Creative (PEB-03CA-113).

Twill is some cream twill tape that I tea-dyed, and buttons are Sweet Blush Vintage Buttons (Papertrey Ink). Finally, I used three Spellbinders dies on the card front: Labels Four, Large Labels, and Labels Eight for the border on the yellow gingham piece at the bottom. 

A spot of tea, anyone? Thanks for visiting!

On Your Special Day

Random.org says that the winner of the JustRite drawing is Kelly B, #120. Kelly, I have e-mailed you for your information. Thanks for playing, everyone!

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How about an elegant little birthday card and a giveaway tonight? I suppose that it could just as well be an anniversary or wedding card, depending upon what you stamped inside. I started with some more of the lovely October Afternoon Thrift Shop papers and three stamp sets--JustRite's new 1-5/8" Birthday Centers Round and a 2" border from my Decorative 2" Round Wide Borders set, as well as a Waltzingmouse Stamps Very Vintage Labels Number 5. I couldn't believe how nicely the two borders coordinated, a match made in heaven!

I used Papertrey Ink's Pure Poppy ink and Versamagic Mango Madness ink, as well as some distress ink on the cream cardstock edges. Three Spellbinders die sets were used: a Plain Classic Circle Nestability, a Labels Five die, and a Classic Scalloped Border Petites set. 

 For the little ribbon rose I just twisted, wrapped, and hand-tacked some of the wrinkled seam binding; I'm still loving to play with different textures for accents!

On the giveaway front, I have a couple of JustRite sets for someone out there! First is the new Birthday Centers 1-5/8" Round set that I used, and second is a Decorative 2" Round Wide Borders set (the red border above). If the winner doesn't already have a 2" round wood stamper, I'll see if they would like to send you one of those too. :-) 

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below by 10pm CST Tuesday night, June 8. What I would love to hear is what stamps or dies you wish were available right now--you know, market research!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!