the CLASSroom

Copic Blender Bleaching by Sharon Harnist

Happy weekend to you all! I have a fun Copic technique to share with you today, that you can use with just about any rubber (or clear acrylic!) stamp. I used it on this tri-colored birthday tag:

It's pretty quick and easy, so here we go with the tutorial:

1. Airbrush one of Inchie Arts' new 3" White Art Squares with Copic R83 marker along the bottom third portion:

2. Then airbrush Copic Y21 in the center of the square:

3. Finish with Copic BG13 on the top third of the Art Square.

4. Use an alcohol prep pad to as a "stamp pad" and wipe it all over the Fantastic Birthday cake stamp. You could also use Copic Colorless Blender Solution, but the alcohol prep pad is a little more cost effective and works in the same manner as the Blender Solution would, by "removing" or pushing aside the color. Plus, it saves your Blender Solution for refilling your markers!

5. Then, quickly stamp onto the airbrushed Art Square. It will take just a few moments, but you will see the alcohol start to "develop" and remove the airbrushed Copic color! You can use a heat tool to speed up the process:

6. To prep the tag, use the birthday sentiment stamp as a spacer (or go ahead and stamp with Memento Tuxedo Black ink first), then start placing the My Mind's Eye Decorative Black Washi Tape washi tape (I LOVE these new 8-roll packs of two colors of coordinating tape!). I started with the chevron pattern at the top, used the Art Square as a spacer so I would know where to place the polka dot tape towards the bottom, then covered the sides with the striped tape:

7. Use Copic High Tack Double-Sided Tissue Tape to securely adhere the heavy weight matboard Art Square to the tag:

8. To trim the bottom of the tag, I custom colored White Pom Pom Trim with Copic BG13 Various Ink Refill, to match the airbrushing at the top of the Art Square.

9. Place the pom pom trim inside a snack-sized ziplock bag, along with a few drops of -0- Colorless Blender Solution and "knead" the baggie from the outside so the solution distributes over all of the trim. This will help ensure the next step of color will distribute more evenly throughout the trim. Then squeeze in a few drops of the BG13 Various Ink Refill and knead the bag again:

If you happen to get some heavier patches of color in spots, just squeeze in a few more drops of Blender Solution.

10. Remove the trim from the bag and blot with a tissue or paper towel; let dry.

11. Attach trim to bottom of tag, using the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

12. Tie Maya Road Sparkle Silver Twine to top of tag.

And there you have a fun, unique birthday gift tag!

Thanks so much for joining me today!

~ Sharon

{Supplies}

HA ClearDesign Fantastic Birthday Stamp Set	Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black	Copic Sketch Markers	Copic Various Ink Refill, BG13
COPIC Colorless Blender Solution 200cc Bottle	Inchie Arts 3" Art Squares, White	Copic Airbrush jSystem Starter Kit 1N	My Mind's Eye Decorative Tape, Red & Black
Pom Pom Trim, White, 3yds Precut	Tim Holtz, Tiny Attacher	High Tack Double-Sided Tissue Tape, 1/4"	Maya Road Twine Cording, Sparkle Silver

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WCMD 2012 Challenge 3: Sketch Challenge by Sharon Harnist

Hello and welcome to the CLASSroom for World Card Making Day Challenge 3 ... I'm so glad you joined me today for a sketch challenge!  I LOVE using sketches, they make the process of creating a card SO much easier, I think . . . half of the hard work is already done for you!  All you have to do is choose some paper or cardstock, a stamp or embellishment and you're all set to go!

There's a Fall chill in the air so for my card today, I chose this beautiful Big Pumpkin image from Lockhart Stamp Company:

It was stamped on Copic X-Press It Blending Card, die cut with MFT Die-namics Stax Traditional Tags and then colored with the Copic markers (Y21, YR01, YR12, YR16, YG03, YG63, E50, E21, E23, B0000).  Here are a few step-out photos for you (click on any photo for a larger view):

Start with Y21 in the centers of the pumpkin sections, where the pumpkin is the roundest (standing out closest to you) and would reflect more sunlight:

Next, base coat the entire pumpkin with lightest YR01 (I did try to avoid coloring over the Y21 entirely, so that the very centers would still retain the yellow color, but blended the edges of the Y21 where it met the YR01):

Then add deeper shading with YR12 in the crevices of the pumpkin:

Go back and blend everything with lightest YR01 and then add darkest YR16 to the far left and right sides of the pumpkin that would be furtherest from you, and near the bottom of the pumpkin:

Finally, add a few shadows with E23 along the bottom of the pumpkin.  Next, color the pumpkin stem with E21, E23 and vines with YG63.  Color the flowers and their centers with Lemon and Orannge Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pens.  Finally, airbrush the sky background with B0000 and the ground with E21.

I used a date stamper and word **celebrate** to stamp on the end of my tag, along with the date of the recepient's birthday. To make the perforation marks on the end of the tag, I used Tim Holtz's Design Ruler and a paper piercer.

Here's your sketch to follow:

I hope you have fun with it!  For my flags, I used My Favorite Things' Fishtail Flag Die-namics Stax dies, but you could also hand cut your paper or use pieces of ribbon.  Enjoy!

So what's my answer to the question below that YOU need to answer?  I think you can probably guess . . . my favorite papercrafting tools are Copic markers!!  

~ Sharon

Lockhart Stamp Company Big Pumpkin	AC Dear Lizzy Roller Date Stamp	Blending Card by X-Press It, 25 Pack	Echo Park 6x6 Pad, For The Record 2-Tailored
Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black	Memento Ink Pad, Rich Cocoa	Copic Sketch Markers	Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pens
My Favorite Things Die-namics Stax, Fishtail Flags	My Favorite Things Die-namics Stax, Traditional Tags	Copic Airbrush jSystem Starter Kit 1N	High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2"

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Other: Paper piercer, chocolate rick-rack trim; linen thread

---

SKETCH CHALLENGE

Now it’s your turn! Create a card using the sketch above as inspiration! Once you have completed this challenge please be certain to link directly to that specific project in our WCMD Challenge Blog Candy post!

BLOG CANDY

What is the tool you use most when papercrafting?

Be certain to leave your answer in the comment section on this post to be entered in a random drawing for the following goodies. All comments must be made by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 7th to be eligible.

Double-Embossed Copic Background by Sharon Harnist

Experimentation is one of the best aspects of papercrafting, I think.  Here's what one recent experiment turned up -- a Copic Double-Embossed Background:

To achieve this look, DRY EMBOSS a piece of Neenah Solar White Cardstock with an embossing folder -- I used Lifestyle Crafts Floral Embossing Folder (and wouldn't you know it -- I didn't check to see if this particular one was in stock before creating my card and it's currently not available! But Ellen has a SLEW of other embossing folders to choose from, HERE):

Next, HEAT EMBOSS the background by gently swiping a Versamark ink pad or Ranger Distress Embossing Pad over the top of the raised dry embossed background.

TIP: Using a freshly inked emboss pad will achieve different results.  My older pad was definitely in need of reinking and I was having to press too hard to get the ink applied to the raised dry embossing. Thus, more ink got into the crevices and flat base of the cardstock than I intended/wanted, so you may achieve different results! I will definitely be ordering a Versamark Reinker and trying this technique again soon!

Next, use Clear Embossing Powder and Heat It Craft Tool to heat emboss the background, then have fun by using your Copic Airbrush System and a few Copic Sketch Markers (I used BG53, RV55, and YG03) to airbrush the background:

Then take an alcohol prep pad (alternately, you could use Copic Colorless Blender Various Ink on a tissue or paper towel) and gently wipe off the surface of the raised embossing until you achieve results you like.  The Copic ink will easily wipe off the slick surface of the heat embossing, but still remain on parts of the cardstock that were not heat embossed (or use a lighter touch and only remove Copic ink from the raised areas)!

This is where I wished the flat areas of my background had not picked up as much emboss ink as it did, but that's okay -- I like the softer pastel results I got!

To finish my card, I used Copic's High-Tack Tissue Tape to securely attach the background to my black card base and here's why: a large area of heat embossing will usually warp cardstock (even though I heated the background from the underside, to try and help counter react some of the warping) and the high-tack tape works very well to keep the background flat against the card base.

Next, I used Maya Road's Vintage White Paper Roses and airbrushed them to match my card . . . I love that all the colors perfectly coordinate!

Lastly, I stamped a Hero Arts Everyday Sayings sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto more Neenah white cardstock and die cut it with these pretty Sizzix Framelits Fancy Labels dies. While the cardstock was still in the die, I airbrushed my lightest pink Copic RV52 around the edges of the sentiment.

I popped the sentiment frame up with Copic's X-Press It Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape over another black die cut frame.  Black Baker's Twine finishes off my card. Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom today!  ~ Sharon

Stamps: Hero Arts Clear-Everyday Sayings;
Dies & Embossing Folders: Lifestyle Crafts Floral Embossing Folder; Sizzix Framelits-Fancy Labelsdies;
Paper: Memory Box Notecard-Licorice; Neenah Solar White Cardstock; 
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark ink pad & Memento-Tuxedo Black; 
Copic Sketch Markers: BG53, RV52, RV55, YG03
Copic Airbrush System & Windstorm Sparmax Air Compressor;
Accessories: Ranger Clear Embossing Powder & Heat It Craft Tool; Sew Easy Baker's Twine-Black; Maya Road Vintage White Paper Roses; X-Press It Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape & High-Tack Tissue Tape;
Other: Alcohol prep pad or Copic Colorless Blender Various Ink; 

Ready Set Grow by Sharon Harnist

Hello and welcome to the CLASSroom today!  I got a few things planted in my yard over the long holiday weekend and it put me in the mood to create something about growing, too!  I don't think I ever colored this sweet Lockhart Ready to Plant image when it first came out this time last year, so I thought it was the perfect choice. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card and then colored it with these Copic Markers:

I recently discovered that Ellen started carrying this wonderful line of Sizzix Framelits dies and I couldn't wait to try them! I started off with these Fancy Labels:

While my colored image was still in the die, I airbrushed it with Copic BG11 for the sky and G40 for the grass. Then I die cut a matching frame out of this fresh, springy My Mind's Eye Be Happy-Follow Your Heart 6x6 patterned paper. I hand cut little flags of coordinating paper and machine stitched them to my card base.

The card base is a fabulous new cardstock by Neenah: Environment-Desert Storm! The product information about this pretty cardstock says: 
"Neenah's Environment Papers are made with 100% green electricity. The smooth surface is wonderful for creating designer looking cards." I like that!  It is 80 lb. weight and definitely IS a lovely smooth cardstock AND such a pretty warm, light kraft color!

I finished my card with light pink seam binding custom dyed with Copic Various Ink Refills R21 and R22. Pinking shears were used to trim the bottom edge of the card.  Are you ready for all the pretty flowers of summer?  I sure am!  Thanks for visiting today!  ~ Sharon

 

Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company Ready to Plant #2151; 
Paper: Copic X-Press It Blending Card; Neenah Environment-Desert Storm; My Mind's Eye 6x6 Be Happy-Follow Your Heart; 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; 
Copic Markers: BG11, BV02, C4, C6, C7, E31, E35, G40, G43, R21, R22, Y08
Copic Various Ink Refills: R21 & R22
Dies: Sizzix Framelits-Fancy Labels; 
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System 3 (ABS-3); Sparmax Windstorm Airbrush Compressor; 
Other: pinking shears, light pink seam binding, sewing machine + thread

Copic Airbrushed Direct To Rubber Background by Sharon Harnist

I have a fun Copic background technique to share with you today, using a solid stamp and your Copic Airbrush System!

 

I love the rain or water-like effect this background ended up having!  Here's how to achieve it:

1. Airbursh a solid background stamp.  Here, I'm using Hero Arts cling stamp, Large Blossom.  On my first attempt I used Copic Y21 marker and the result was the golden image in the lower right of the photo below:

 

Very soft and pretty!  I wanted to try a little bolder color, so for my second attempt I used B23 and loved the outcome!  Airbrushing will evenly and easily cover the whole stamp quickly.  If you don't have the airbrush system, you could alternately just color the whole background with one or more marker colors.

2. Since the alcohol solution of the marker color will evaporate and quickly dry after aibrushing or coloring on the stamp, you will need to reactivate the color before it will stamp.  To do this, after airbrushing the background stamp, use a Mini Mister filled with Copic Colorless Blender Solution and spritz the stamp generously, from about 10" away.  QUICKLY stamp the image onto Copic's X-Press It Blending Card.

 

Next, I colored the image with these Copic markers and a little Lemon Atyou Spica Glitter Pen:

 

The card was finished by trimming and mounting it onto Memory Box Sunflower cardstock and then mounting it with 3D Foam Squares to a Memory Box Ocean notecard. 

Edited to add Step 3 -- Cleanup!
To clean your stamp, you can use Copic's Colorless Blender solution, but either alcohol prep pads or straight rubbing alcohol applied to a tissue, paper towel or cloth, or hand sanitizer are less expensive and work just as well!  Be sure to then clean your rubber stamp with your normal stamp cleaner, to remove any alcohol residue and help recondition it -- the alcohol can be drying to the rubber. 

The Hero Arts sentiment was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and finishes this simple card.  I hope you try this technique and let me know how you like it!  ~Sharon

 

Stamps: Hero Arts Cling: Large Blossom & Clear Design: Find Joy,
Paper: Copic X-Press It Blending Card; Memory Box Sunflower cardstock & Ocean notecard OR Cardstock Collection: Summer Brights,
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black,
Copic Markers: B23, V0000, V12, V15, V17, G21, G24, G28, Y21, Colorless Blender Solution, Lemon Atyou Spica Glitter Pen,
Tools: Copic Airbursh System-1, Sparmax Windstorm Air Compressor,
Accessories: Ranger Mini Mister, Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares,

Emboss Resist by Sharon Harnist

Today I wanted to cover a few different ways to accomplish the emboss resist stamping technique (even with your Copics!) with this 8-inch Spring wall art:

 

For the base of my wall art, I used a square 8-inch piece of scalloped acrylic I had on hand but any of these 8-inch fabulous shapes of Maya Road chipboard backdrops Ellen carries would make great bases, too! 

    

I covered my base with this gorgeous Graphic 45 Springtime 8x8 paper -- SO pretty, I love all the patterns in this collection, especially these whimsical fairies!

 

The "spring" letters are Prima's Ivory Textured Alphabet Stickers, airbrushed with Copic YG63 marker.  The flower was die cut from more Springtime paper, with Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals Bigz die.  This flower is quick and easy -- I used one piece of the Primrose Cottage Graphic 45 Springtime paper and die cut all the flowers on this die.  Then I simply flipped every other flower over and used the reverse "newspaper" printed side.  Each layer is stacked with EK Success 3D Dots thick foam tape.  A cream button, also airbrushed with Copic YG63 marker, finishes the center of the flower.

Doilies are a hot trend in papercrafting right now, and Ellen has put together some fabulous sets of her own paper doilies that you could also easily use for this project:

   

But for those times that you may want a patterned doily, what better thing to have than a die that you cut whatever color or pattern of paper to make your own doily!  Ellen carries several dies that will do this -- you can find them listed in the store HERE. 

Today I used Spellbinders Eyelet Pendant die to cut some coordinating turquoise Springtime paper and then used Copic BG72 marker to color the raised embossed areas around the outer edge of the doily, before removing it from the die:

 
 
The green dotted scalloped piece was cut with Spellbinders Big Scalloped Border Petites dies and then green sheer narrow organdy ribbon was threaded through the holes in the border, and finished with a Jenni Bowlin Cream Vintage Sew-On Button.  A pretty Zva crystal swirl accents the left side of the wall art.

 

On the right side of the wall art, I stamped this sweet Hero Arts Essential Messages sentiment with Adirondack Espresso dye ink on more floral patterned Springtime paper, die cut it with Spellbinders Labels Thirteen Nestabilities die (I trimmed the right side off), and then added a little leftover Zva bling that I trimmed off the swirl from the left side of the wall art.  Maya Road Small Organza Pink Roses accent the sentiment.

 

Now for the emboss resist!  For any emboss resist technique, you will need to begin by stamping your image (I chose this adorable Hero Arts Cling-Dancing With Flowers) with a watermark ink -- I chose Versamark (shown above).  Then use any color of heat embossing powder you would like -- I chose Clear Embossing Powder, and heat set it. Normally, most emboss resist techniques are done on solid white or neutral cardstock and then colored ink rubbed/sponged around the embossed image.  But I wanted to try the look on patterned paper, so the pattern would show through!

 

I sponged Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink around the image.  When you are finished sponging the ink, be sure to use a clean tissue to wipe the excess ink off the embossed image.  Or you may opt to cover the image with a sheet of clean copy/printer paper and with an iron on low setting, heat the image until the embossing heats up enough to melt off and onto the copy paper.  This method may be especially helpful when using the Copic marker technique below.

I also wanted to see if I could accomplish this technique with Copic markers, so I airbrushed Copic Y28 marker all around another stamped/clear embossed image:

 

and then sprayed Copic Colorless Blender Solution in a Mini Mister on tissue, to wipe away the marker from the embossed image (or you may use the iron heating method described above, to remove the embossing).  This was the result:

 

I was pretty excited this worked so well . . . think of the possibilities!  To finish the focal image, I trimmed the image and then machine stitched it to a gingham Springtime patterned paper, timmed with pinking shears.  I hope you enjoy trying this technique!

 

Stamps: Hero Arts Cling-Dancing With Flowers & ClearDesign-Essential Messages,
Paper: Graphic 45-Springtime 8x8 paper pad,
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Espresso dye ink & Tim Holtz Distress Inks-Brushed Corduroy; Tsukineko Versamark ink pad,
Copic Markers: BG72, YG63, Y28, Colorless Blender Solution,
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz die-Tattered Florals; Spellbinders Eyelet Pendant & Big Scalloped Border Petites dies, Labels Thirteen Nestabilities die; Ranger Heat It Craft Tool.
Accessories: Maya Road chipboard backdrop, Copic Airbrush System-1 & Sparmax Windstorm Airbrush Compressor, Prima Ivory Textured Alphabet Stickers, Ranger Ink Blending Tool & Mini Mister, Clear Embossing Powder & Heat It Craft Tool; Maya Road Small Organza Roses-Pink, EK Success 3D Dots thick foam tape, Jenni Bowlin Cream Vintage Sew-On Buttons, Mini Glue Dots, Zva crystal swirl,
Other: pinking shears, light green narrow sheer organza ribbon, sewing machine + ivory thread,

12 Days of Christmas: Day 11 - By Sharon Harnist

A new year brings a new release from Lockhart Stamp Company . . . wait until you see these darling new images!  I chose three new images and three new sentiments to share with you today:

 

These cards and tag were all created with papers from Cosmo Cricket's 6" Mini Deck-Pixie Licious . . . I thought they were a good representation of Spring and whimsy that would coordinate well with the whimsical style of Karen Lockhart's stamps.

How sweet is Bennie Bear?!!  I think he's my favorite of this new release!  Combined with this darling I'm here if you need me sentiment, I thought he would make a great encouragement card for a child or friend.  Or wonderful new baby cards!

 

I stamped Bennie on Copic's X-Press It Blending Card -- if you haven't tried this wonderful cardstock yet, you will be very pleased with how easily your Copic markers blend on it (and how easily mistakes erase/blend right off of it!).

Bennie's sweater was colored with Copic BG11 & BG72, then BG75 was added to the deepest crevices & folds of the sweater, and along the neckline of the sweater where it would naturally cast a shadow underneath the deep cable knitting:

 

COPIC TIPS: Don't be afraid to add quite a bit darker colors for shading, as it will make those areas recess and give your image a more realistic look.  Bennie was colored with E30 & E31, and E35 used for the deepest shading (in the folds where his legs meet his body, along the bottoms of his legs where light would be blocked by the tops of his legs, and under the sleeves of his sweater where the sweater would cast a shadow on his arm).

Along the same lines as adding darker color to the deepest folds of skin or clothing, keep features like Bennie's protruding nose and feet amongst the lighter colors you are using, since they are closer to you.  This will instantly make his nose appear closer to you.  Visualize where your light source is coming from -- I usually have mine coming from the upper right, as it's easier for me (being right-handed), to add darker colors over on the left side of images.  W1 & W0 were used for Bennie's cast shadow on the floor.  Using the W1 first, then softening the edges with W0, will fade the shadow along the outer edges nicely.

I finished the image by circle die cutting it.  The background was airbrushed BG11 while the image was still in the die (*See more about airbrushed background Copic Tip below).  I die cut a scalloped border from coordinating Cosmo Cricket striped paper and placed tied buttons in the centers of the scallops.

These darling Ducks will make great Easter or new baby cards, or when combined with this new Ducks in a Row sentiment, a fantastic "sorry I'm late wishing you a happy birthday" or late for anything type of card!

 
 

*COPIC TIP: On these cards I stamped my images and die cut them first, then airbrushed the backgrounds.  Then I used my Copic 0 Colorless Blender marker to remove any overspray that may have gotten on the images.  I find this is quicker than stamping and fussy cutting out a mask!

 

The ducks were colored with Y11 and shaded with Y21 and the areas receiving the most light (tops of heads & bodies) were left white.  An orangey YR21 was used for their beaks & feet.  G21 for grass & leaves and V01 for flowers.  BG11 & E31 were airbrushed for sky and ground; W1 was used for ground shadows. The image was oval die cut and is popped up on foam tape.  Crop-a-Dile's Corner Chomper was used to round the top corners of the card -- it cuts through multiple layers of cardstock and paper like butter!

This Caught A Bug? in a jar cracks me up -- and it's sure to cheer up anyone you know that may be ill!  I thought he'd make a good tag to tie onto a jar of homemade soup to share with a sick friend:

 

Bug is colored with Copic G20, G21, V01, & V05.  BG10 was used in the corners of the jar, where it would have the deepest color and BG0000 was used on the rest of the jar.  The cork was colored with E30 (lightest top of the cork), and the sides shaded with E31.  The part of the cork inside the jar was also colored with E30 & E31, then BG10 colored over it to make it darker and give it a realistic look that it's really inside the jar.

 

The image was die cut with a Labels-Lg die and popped up on foam tape over the scalloped circle tag base. 

I hope you'll take a look at the rest of this new Lockart stamp release and answer the question below, for your chance to win a fabulous Lockhart stamp package!  ~ Sharon

Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company Bennie Bear #1011, I'm here if you need me #10080, Caught A Bug? #4006 & Caught A Bug? Sentiment #10079, Ducks #2135, Ducks in a Row #10078,
Paper: Cosmo Cricket 6" Mini Deck-Pixie Licious, Copic X-Press It Blending Card, Memory Box Lagoon notecards, 
Ink: Tsukineko Memento-Tuxedo Black,
Copic Markers: BG10, BG11, BG000, BG72, BG75, E30, E31, E35, Y11, Y21, YR21, V01, V05, G20, G21, BG10, BG000, W0, W1, 0 Colorless Blender marker, Clear Atyou Spica Glitter Pen
Acessories: Copic Airbrush System & Air Compressor, Spellbinders Labels-Lg, Oval & Classic Scalloped & Classic Circle Nestabilities, Big Scalloped Border Petites; Hero Arts Art Buttons-Spring (green) & Summer (teal), Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, EK Success 3D foam dots,
Other: white embroidery thread, plum satin ribbon

ETA: We are aware of the gramatical error in the newest sentiment and are happy to share with you that Karen is working on it immediately. With all things in life, little mistakes happen - the good news is that we always do work to fix them as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and support.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

On the eleventh day of Christmas my goodie box could be...

• African Violets in a Teacup
• Bennie Bear
• Caught a Bug?
• Caught a Bug? (Sentiment)
• Clear Lake Chair
• Ducks
• Ducks in a Row
• English Garden Flowers
• I'm here if you need me
• Ribbon Heart
• Lavender in a Teacup

 

To participate in this random drawing, please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only for each goodie package. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

What is now at the top of your paper crafting wish list?  Is there a specific product or product line that you are enamoured with?  Please share in the comments section below to be entered in this random drawing!

Remember to visit the following 12 Days of Christmas blog candy drawings -- be certain to post a comment to the question on each individual post to be included in that drawing!

• One Stampin' Treasure
• Two Melting Tools
• Three Copic Goodies
• 3 Stamps + 1 Color Sampler = Four Memory Box Treats
• Five treats from Claudine's Lines
• Six Sizzix Goodies
• Seven Alterable Items
• Eight Oodles of Inchies
• Nine Packs of Paper
• Ten Toys from Tim's World

12 Days of Christmas: Day 3 - Copic Airbrushed Graffiti Style Cards

Watching trends is something I really enjoy. This past year I have noticed that there are a ton of "tattoo art" shows on TV, as well as airbrushed looks being shared in some of the graphic design magazines I enjoy. I haven't brought myself to watch any of the shows yet, but was thinking that it would have been handy for this post - LOL!

For today's post I thought I would try and create something that has quite a different look for me and create a project that might appeal to a teen in your life. Maddi offered her arm as a spot to try a temporary alcohol ink tattoo, but I thought it would probably be best to just create a card :-D

 

Most "heart" tattoos I have seen have been a combination of red, pink and purple and so I used that as my guide to start this project.

 

To begin I stamped the new Hero Arts fabric background (LUV IT!!!) using Pearl Paint Dabber as my "ink." Remember how I shared that acrylic ink can act as a resist when used with dye ink, well I wanted to see what would happen when alcohol ink was added. Since I was going for a rather ethereal look I felt this would be a fun combination.

 
To get the image to pop I used an ink blending tool, with Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress Ink.

As you can see I don't always go with my first choice - LOL! To stamp over the acrylic paint I prefer to use Archival Ink. You need to select a permanent ink for this to work. I snapped the photo and then realized that this text would not be ideal for the look I had in mind, so I started over and used the new "friend" dictionary stamp. Rather than take photos all over again I thought I'd just admit that I changed my mind part way through :-D

 

Using the Winged Heart die I cut masks from the Art Magnetic Masking material.

I then positioned my heart and wings and pulled out my airbrush system. The airbrush is PERFECT for creating a graffiti look and the best way to control the spray pattern is by using it in conjunction with masks. Someday I hope to do an entire article (or two, or...) on creating masks to control your airbrush spray but today I thought I would once again share how wonderful these magnetic masks are. The air from the spray does not move a magnetic mask :-D They are so very easy to place and relocate until you get them into the position of your choice. AND they are reusable!

The Craft Assistant was placed on my work surface, then my stamped cardfront and the magnetic masks snapped into position atop my cardfront.

I began by spraying around my mask with the darkest purple, V17.

 

I then removed the wings and airbrushed using V15 for a slight contrast in color next to the heart.

 

As you can see the look is quite striking! The Copic ink is translucent enough to see through, yet adds more depth than regular ink because it does "stick" to the acrylic paint.

To add emphasis I free-handed additional detail using a Copic Brush Multiliner.

 

A teen card would never be complete without glitter!

For added depth and sparkle I cut the "scrolly" heart, from the same die, out of Craft-a-Board which had Be Creative (Sookwang) tape adhered to the surface. I removed the tape backing and sprinkled with Burgundy Microfine Glitter, burnishing the glitter into place.

 

The last little trick I would like to share is one I learned from Claudine. To ink up regular stamps you can put a little Studio Paint on your non-stick craft sheet and use an ink blending tool saturated with paint to "ink" your stamp. I figured if you can ink a stamp that way, why not just stamp with it?!? I love the little block design that resulted :-D Hmmm - what other shapes could one cut these little sponges into?

 

I felt it was still lacking something and so I grabbed the Ranger White Opaque Essentials pen and added even more contrast to the wing outline. The crown was completed by painting Pearl Dabber on the Craft-a-Board die cut, embellishing it with black gemstones. A little sewing to outline the focal image and this graffiti style card was complete.
 

stamps: Hero Arts Dictionary Greeting, Cling Fabric Design

ink: Archival Jet Black, Distress Ink Pads - Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick, Copic V15 and V17, Brush Multiliner

paper: Neenah Solar White, Craft-a-Board

accessories: Tim Holtz Heart Wingz Die, Pearl Paint Dabber, Air Compressor, Air Brush System, Be Creative (Sookwang) Tape Sheet, Burgundy Microfine Glitter, White Opaque Pen, Black Crystal Gemstones, Craft Assistant, Art Magnetic Masking Material

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me (OK, so perhaps we are not your true love, but maybe crafting is - LOL!)...

• a Copic Airbrush System,
• a DVD showing how to use the Airbrush System,
• and a Copic Multiliner .03

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only for each goodie package. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

It so very easy to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas. Today all you need to do is leave a comment telling us what your favorite part of stamping is, or what your favorite technique is. I'll start - my favorite part of stamping is coloring... it is SO relaxing! :-D

Don't forget the following 12 Days of Christmas blog candy drawings --- be certain to post a comment to the question on each individual post to be included in that drawing!

• One Stampin' Treasure
• Two Melting Tools

Christmas Photo Tray by Sharon Harnist

Remember when I made this Fall photo tray project?  I promised a Christmas version and here it is!  When I made the Fall tray, I used repositionable adhesive to hold each panel in the tray.  That made it easy to remove each section and store them until next Fall, enabeling me to change out this tray seasonally!

 

Once you decorate one of these trays, you'll be hooked -- they are so much fun! Here's how I created each section, starting at the top:

 

On the top left is Spellbinders Wreath die, cut from a Memory Box Dill Notecard.  I sanded the embossed areas of the die cut, then added Christmas Red Stickles for berries.  Jillibean Soup Red Twine ties up the the wreath that is adhered with  EK Success 3D Dots.

 

In the center of the wreath, I placed our family monogram using Ellen's Traditional Seasonal Alphabet Digital Download -- a red letter H tied up with a bow coordinated perfectly with these gorgeous Webster's Pages Waiting For Santa Petite Papers I used!  The darling Christmas Wish List in the center section is a fabulous Melissa Frances Retro Printed Chipboard piece!  I thought it might be fun to have my girls write their wish list to Santa here!

 

For the top right section, I made a Tim Holtz Paper Rosette and topped it with another piece of the Retro Printed Chipboard.  The Christmas tree is a fabulous dimensional Melissa Frances resin Christmas Tree that I airbrushed with these Copic markers:

 

The YG63 was used to base airbrush coat the tree, then YG97 used to add depth directly with the brush tip.  These colors were still a little too bright for the papers, so I finished the piece with a light airbrushing of E25 to give it a more antiqued look.  The tiny tag in the middle far right side, tied with red twine is another MF chipboard piece!

 

On the bottom left section, I hand trimmed a letter "A" ornament from the Webster's paper (both my girls' names start with an A!) and popped it up with foam squares on top of a Martha Stewart Large Snowflake punched piece of cream Webster's paper.  The center section has another Melissa Frances Retro Printed Chipboard snowman that says "Holiday Memories" and is accented with a Melissa Frances Candy Cane.

 

The photo of my girls was framed with Spellbinders Snowflake Frame, cut from more Webster's Waiting For Santa paper.  The bottom right section has another Retro Printed Chipboard "the Season's Greetings" large postage stamp adorning the Webster's paper.

 

Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today -- I hope this Christmas home decor piece puts you in the holiday spirit on this almost first day December!  ~ Sharon

Paper: Webster's Pages Petite Papers-Waiting For Santa, Copic X-Press It Blender Card, Memory Box Dill Notecard,
Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Wreath & Snowflake Frame; Sizzix Tim Holtz Paper Rosette Decorative Strip Die, Martha Stewart Large Snowflake punch,
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers: YG63, YG97, Y26, R39, E25
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, 7 Gypsies Black Photo Tray, Melissa Frances Christmas Tree Applique, Retro Printed Chipboard & Candy Canes; Traditional Seasonal Alphabet Digital Download, Ranger Stickles-Christmas Red, Jillibean Soup Red & Brown Twine, Sanding Block, EK Success 3D Dots, Glue Dots-Mini & 3/8",

Orchid Wish Card by Julia Stainton

Do you see a stamp that you just have to have? There is just something about it that speaks to you and you can't wait to get creating with it. When I first saw this beautiful Phalaenopsis stamp it reminded me of my mother. She always grew orchids and had such a way with them. I don't have her green thumb but I grow a few in my home today as they never fail to make me think of her and smile.

Today's card pairs up the beautiful Phaleanopsis stamp by Lockhart Stamp Company and gorgeous papers by Pink Paislee. I'm so excited that Ellen is now carrying this wonderful manufacturer.

Airbrushing a background for your image is a great place to start coloring your image and also anchors it visually. I like to leave some white space in the design so I've just airbrushed around the image with a light application of Y21. The flowers are colored in with RV32, RV34 and R89. Orchid leaves are a dark glossy color and I've used YG97, YG95, YG93 and YG03 to shade them. The terra cotta pot is colored with YR14 and YR24.

A really cool product that I know you are going to love is the Artisan Elements by Pink Paislee. These embellishments are gorgeous dimensional stickers that you can ink, paint, distress, etc. to create your own custom accent.

Today I've airbrushed the artisan element with YG95 and added in some highlights by directly coloring prominent areas with YG03.I like to cut the element out of the packaging leaving the backing intact. This makes it easy to alter and also move around your project to decide which spot looks best.

Supplies: Neenah Classic Solar White Cardstock, Phaleanopsis stamp by Lockhart, Tiny Type Black by Cosmo Cricket, Bayberry Cottage 6x6 paper pad by Pink Paislee, Artisan Elements Swirls by Pink Paislee, Copic Markers and Airbrush, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen by Ranger, Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Tsukineko, Labels 8 Nestability Die Set by Spellbinders, Pewter Antique Stick Pin by Jenni Bowlin

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom and joining me today!

Paper Flowers by Susan Tierney Cockburn and Ellen Hutson

Today's post is going to be a LONG one, but I think you will want to make certain to read all the way to the end as we have some very special blog candy today :-D

First off I would like to remind you to join in the fun of our flower parade by adding a link to your flower creation. Go to Becky's August 2nd post and link us up :-D

One of the greatest blessings of my job is the wonderful women who are a part of my life! It is with both sadness and joy that I share with you that Kim Hughes will be taking on some wonderful new adventures in life. Kim's creativity will be missed here in the CLASSroom, but I am so very supportive of her new ventures and wish her much success as she joins the talented Provocraft team - Congratulations Kim!!! The good news is that our friendship will always remain and I look forward to the times that she will come back as our guest. We love you and will miss you here in the CLASSroom sweet Kim!

As I shared above it is the friendships, that I have developed from being involved in this dream of sharing creativity with others, that are so very precious to me. It has been a couple of years now since Susan and I met. Today was one of THE most special days - creating together with Susan, collaborating on this project, makes me smile inside and out!

Susan Tierney Cockburn has been creating beautiful paper flowers since she was confined indoors during a snow storm many years ago. Gardening and baking are two of her passions and she excels at both! My family gasps with delight each time I come home with that special white box with it's gold seal - they know that something absolutely delicious awaits them. To see more about what I am referring to you MUST visit Susan's culinary blog! We thank you Susan for sharing your love and incredible culinary skills with us! AND today I thank you for sharing your beautiful flower making techniques with me and with all of you.

Susan has developed the art of creating the most exquisite flowers from punched shapes. She has researched in depth each flower variety and then worked until she has perfected the art of that flower. She is the author of multiple books in which she shares the "how-to" create these beauties. We carry her latest book in our store and one VERY lucky person will be the recipient of an autographed version by leaving Susan a comment on this post!!! In my opinion this is a must-have book in your library if you are passionate about gardening. Creating these miniature little versions of the flowers we love is so very rewarding.

Today we are going to share Susan's techniques for creating this beautiful hydrangea grouping!

Begin by punching little natural white hydrangea's using the Martha Stewart 3-in1 Hydrangea punch. Use a pen, such as a Sakura glaze pen, to push down on the center of each flower to shape or create a "cupped" shape. Add color to the centers with a YG00 Copic marker. Once you have completed all of these little blooms create your base.

 

We used the very tip top of a small styrofoam egg. Typically Susan uses a small styrofoam ball as her base, but we made do as I didn't have one. Styrofoam is quite versatile and Susan squished it down slightly to flatten the tip slightly. It is important to cover the styrofoam using a circle of Mulberry paper. This serves two purposes. It gives a nice green base for whatever peeks through the surface and it helps keep the glue from absorbing into the styrofoam.

 

Use a white craft glue such as Flower Soft's glue or Crafter's Pick Ultimate glue. It is easiest to apply the glue using a toothpick and holding the small petal with a self-closing tweezer as shown above.

Place each petal on to your base.

We used a toothpick to hold it our base in position as shown above. This allowed Susan to place the petals down to the bottom part of the base without disturbing the other petals while they were drying. Continue to position petals until the entire surface is covered.

There are many ways to color the hydrangea petals - today we decided to use the Copic airbrush system. You know me - I love to airbrush :-D

As you can see Susan brought a variety of gorgeous hydrangeas from her garden to inspire our color selections. If you look at each picture you will see the fabulous variety that can be created.

I began with B63, then B66, V15, B69, R59 and ended with B39. Use short bursts of air and keep spinning your hydrangea bundle as you work to allow the ink to vary. It looks so much more natural that way.

I began with B63, then B66, V15, B69, R59 and ended with B39. Use short bursts of air and keep slowly turning your hydrangea bundle as you work to allow the ink to vary. It looks so much more natural that way.

Then Susan added Ultrafine Flower Soft to the centers by putting a small dot of glue in the center of each blossom. Again use your toothpick to complete this portion. This was a combination of Sage and Vanilla.
 

Next Susan created the large sized leaves. Susan had some prepunched leaves with her, but we could have used the Martha Stewart Rose Leaf to come close to this shape. Using a stylus Susan creates veins in the leaves.

Next she added depth to the leaves using an ink blending tool and Forest Moss ink.

  

We didn't have the same paper to punch out the Ivy leaves, so we created what turned out to be THE perfect Ivy paper. Tattered Angels English Ivy mist to the rescue. We spritzed it on to Natural White Neenah cardstock, dried it with our Heat It tool and then punched out the little leaves.

Once again we created veins - the first vein runs the length of the leaf, then flip it over and add four additional angled veins.

 

Next Susan holds the leaves with the self-closing tweezers and pinches them to shape them. We decided we needed to add a little more yellow green. To keep these little treasures from blowing away during airbrushing create a circle from the remaining cardstock.

Add color to the ivy vine (OK so it really is a Flower Soft wire :-D) with a Copic marker.

 

Wrap the wire around the bird cage curling the ends by wrapping them around the tip of the stylus. Position the ivy leaves along the wire and allow to dry.

Alter the white mat with distress ink.

 

As you can see these minature versions are incredibly realistic.

Whenever you see delicate paper flowers you can envision Susan working in her garden. Many of us have learned and will continue to learn from this beautiful woman who I am privileged to call my friend. So whenever you see a delicate paper bloom you can think of Susan's garden - she is the mastermind behind this beautiful art form!

Today we are sharing Susan's book, Paper Bouquet with one of you. To participate simply leave a comment on this post before midnight Saturday, August 7th. We will use the random number generator to select our winner. Please note that our winner will not be posted until Tuesday, so please do not worry - we will not forget :-D So please leave some love for Susan and Kim in this post to be entered.

Thank you for joining us again today!

paper: Neenah Classic Crest Natural White, Webster's Pages 6x6

ink:Copic Markers (see picture above), Tattered Angels English Ivy Glimmer Mist, Antique Linen, Pumice, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Forest Moss Distress Ink Pads

accessories: Martha Stewart Punches - 3 in 1 Hydrangea, Rose Leaf and Fall Leaves, Craft-a-Board, Real Wood Cherry, Sticky Back Canvas, Tim Holtz Caged Bird Die, Chandelier Crystals, Antique Brass Jump Rings, Teensie Butterfly, Sage and Vanilla Ultrafine Flower Soft

Feminine Birthday Blessings by Sharon Harnist

 

Hello and thanks for visiting today!  As we continue with our "Goodbye to CHF" week here on the CLASSroom, I have a new card to share with you that uses three of CHF's wonderful lines of stamps -- The Rummage Bin, Kim Hughes & Mona Lisa Moments.  As of this writing, all the products I used were in stock but you'll need to hurry if you'd like to add any of these stamps to your collection, as they are disappearing fast!

I thought I would use one of my favorite Rummage Bin sets, Primitive Christmas, to show how it can be used for other occasions, too.  I used the journaling block from the set and stamped it with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto Neenah Natural White cardstock -- don't worry about the sleigh, we'll cover it up later!

 

Then I used different sentiments from Mona Lisa Moments-Classic Essential Expressions that would pertain to a birthday and stamped them onto the journaling lines using Worn Lipstick Distress ink. Some of the phrases I used were Happy Birthday, Birthday Blessings, Celebrating You, Birthday Wishes, Oh Happy Day, and Wish Big.  With more than 62 phrases to mix and match in this set, you'll always have the perfect sentiment to choose from!

 

To make the journaling card match the patterned papers I chose, I lightly airbrushed it with Copic R20 marker.  The edges were distressed a little, using Tim Holtz's Paper Distresser and inked with Antique Linen Distress ink.

 

Next, I stamped the solid leaf and outline flowers from Kim Hughes-Collage Elements, using Adirondack Lettuce dye ink & Worn Lipstick Distress inks.  I colored the flowers with Copic markers R20 & R22 and then decided to experiment with some of the fabulous new Glitter Ritz glitter Ellen recently added to the store.

 

I wanted to test the results of using different adhesives for the Transparent Microfine Glitter-Warm Highlights, so I tried Ranger Glossy Accents on the flower on the left and Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive on the right flower.  Each dried perfectly clear, which is a great thing when working with transparent glitter because anything you use under transparent glitter will show through.  That can be a good thing when it pertains to seeing underlying color but a bad thing when it pertains to adhesive!  As expected, the Glossy Accents left a finish that was more shiny and the Art Glitter Adhesive's finish was more matte.  Hopefully you can see all the pretty glitter by clicking on the photo below for a larger view:

 

See how the Copic shading still shows through the glitter, once it is dry?  Awesome stuff!  To finish my card, I adhered strips of Basic Grey's darling new Olivia 6x6 patterned papers onto thin cardstock and then die cut them with Spellbinders Labels Eight largest die.  EK Success Donut Chain Edger Punch was used to punch more pink paper from the Olivia pad and it was added to the lower part of the card, dividing the paper patterns.  This piece was adhered to a folded card base that was also die cut with the Labels Eight die.

Thanks for joining us today! ~ Sharon

 
Stamps: CHF The Rummage Bin-Primitive Christmas, Kim Hughes-Collage Elements, Mona Lisa Moments-Classic Essential Expressions
Paper: Basic Grey Olivia 6x6, Neenah Natural White
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Ranger Adirondack Lettuce dye ink & Worn Lipstick & Antique Linen Distress inks; Copic markers R20 & R22
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, Spellbinders Nestabilities-Labels Eight die set, EK Success Donut Chain Edger Punch, Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, Ranger Glossy Accents, Glitter Ritz Transparent Microfine Glitter-Warm Highlights, Tonic Tim Holtz Paper Distresser

Altered Camera Bag by Debbie Olson

 

Welcome to the Classroom! I recently replaced my camera and needed a larger bag for the new one and its lenses. When I saw the large Prima blank canvas camera bags, I chose one as the perfect new camera home; I was very pleased with the quality of the bag and the thickness of its padding when it arrived. As part of Ellen's Crafting with Your Kids week, this project is something that a teen might love. Think of the possibilities for expressing oneself! (The camera bag is also available in a smaller size too for cameras without multiple lenses.)

Altering canvas isn't quite as scary as it sounds. Keep in mind that if you really mess up, you can always gesso over it and start again. In fact, I can tell you all about that "starting again" part: more about that later. I had observed artist Traci Bautista demonstrate her art journaling at the Copic booth at last CHA and was amazed at how free and flowing her drawing motions were. In a positive way, she reminded me of how non-judgmental an elementary student doodling instead of taking notes in class can be--whatever happens on paper or in this case, on canvas, is good--better than notes, in any case! 

So when I stared at the blank bag, Copic Multiliner in hand, I was thinking "Traci. . ." Guess what? It's harder than it looks! I should have at least sketched on paper first to get an idea of where I was going. (Traci didn't do that. She just made cool art as naturally as breathing.) Of course, Traci has experience in freeform arts, and I--well, in spite of an art background, am one of those perfectionistic, uptight artisans. . . I need planning and structure. I want control of my medium. Here is my first try, with no underdrawing. I sketched freehand on the front of the camera bag with the Multiliner and then colored with my Copic markers.

 

Big Mistake. The flowers were all too close to the same height, and the type was atrocious--bad letterspacing, poor planning. . . On to Plan B, which I didn't have yet. 

I knew that I could gesso over the pocket and paint with acrylic paints. However, I really wanted to use my Copic markers to color my image, and Copics are not supposed to be used on top of acrylic paint. (If you do it, use them quickly, only over absolutely dry paint. Airbrushing is a much better idea; then you won't damage your marker tips.) 

So what was Plan B? I remembered having some of Claudine Helmuth's Sticky -Backed Canvas in my stash. Love that stuff! I used various widths of Copic Multiliners, an archival pigment ink pen compatible with Copic markers, to draw over my lightly penciled sketch lines. After the ink was completely dry, I used a gum eraser to remove my pencil lines and then made sure that ALL eraser particles were removed before I started to color.

 

Next, I started coloring with my Copic markers. Coloring canvas is different from coloring paper, but it is not hard to adjust if you know what to expect. Cloth is very absorbent and tends to wick the ink out of the lines. Rather than coloring around the perimeter and working your way into the shape, start in the center and work your way out, allowing time for that wicking action to spread the ink. It is important not to oversaturate the canvas since you will have a hard time getting rid of coloring overages. 

 

Here are the markers and pens that I used; the one that you can't see in the back is a Black Copic Multiliner SP BS (Brush Small). I really liked it, but you should be aware that it is more of a flexible brush tip--not a standard hard tip. You control the width of the line by hand pressure. It is perfect for doodling applications.

 

Here is my completed replacement panel. I stitched randomly around the edges before removing the paper backing from the sticky canvas. That made removing the backing a twenty-minute job, and I'm not sure I would recommend doing it that way again. (Aren't you glad that I made the mistakes so that you do have to? ;-}) I also sponged a bit of distress ink around the edges to make the panel tie in better with the creamier color of the natural canvas. Since I had filled in the rest of the panel with color, the edges were really the only place that stood out as noticeably white, but I certainly got more vibrant color when working on white as opposed to the natural canvas. The texture is a finer texture as well--a bit easier to color that the original front panel had been. Keep in mind that working on canvas is harder on your marker tips than working on paper, and uses more ink as well. Since replacement tips and ink refills (Copic Various Inks) are readily available, it was worth the extra wear on my marker tips, and the sticky backed canvas was a great surface since I was using fairly large Copic Multiliner point sizes.

 

I was happy with the pocket panel at this point, but I needed some cover for the rest of the bag. Please Note: rather than depending solely upon the sticky-backed canvas to stay put on something that would get quite a bit of wear and tear, I added some Helmar Gemstone Glue to the edges to make sure that the canvas would stay attached. This glue stays flexible and is washable too. I pulled out an assortment of masks and started airbrushing with my markers. Airbrushing is not recommended for cloth that will be washed since it does not soak into the cloth as far as it does when you color with your markers. I am not planning to wash this bag, so it should be fine.

Note: Not all of these masks are available in Ellen's store; in fact, the black masks have been discontinued, so if you want one of the patterns left in stock, you should get it. The Tim Holtz masks (such as the flourish) are still available, but the Heidi Swapp masks (Polka Dots) won't be available again that I'm aware of. The circles and stars were given to me by someone at CHA; they are manufactured by Crafter's Workshop. Also, the camera bag contains a long adjustable strap as well, but I haven't decorated it yet.  

 

 

My bag is an ongoing project. I think it needs some black ink on the airbrushed body of the bag as well, but I thought I might save that either for doodling when the mood strikes, or for autographs. I bet Marianne would draw on my bag if I asked nicely! 

Thanks for stopping by the Classroom today, and I hope that perhaps you will consider altering a blank canvas piece as well. If you are not feeling brave, hand the bag to your teen along with a multiliner!

June Beach Calendar by Sharon Harnist

 

I haven't shown you all my desk calendar for this year ... so I thought it was time to remedy that!  I've been making it with 4-inch coasters, attached together with ribbon "hinges", so it can stand up like a book on my desk.  Well, I finally ran out of those 4-inch coasters, so Ellen's Craft-A-Board came to my rescue!  I cut two pieces 4" x 4" and rounded the corners with the 1/4-inch side of WRM's Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper.  Then I covered the CAB with Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely 6x6 patterned papers ... so bright, cheerful & summery!

 

I thought Karen Lockhart's Beach Chair image would be perfect for this month starting off the summer season ... I can't wait to be on a beach chair in the sand at the beach somewhere, and will be dreaming of it until the end of the month when I get there!  I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock and colored it with these Copic markers:

 

Next, I trimmed the image to 3.25" x 3.25", punched the corners with Martha Stewart's Sand Dollar Corner Punch and the straight edges with Beach Shells Edger Punch ... I love how this frame turned out!  Then I masked off the shell edges and airbrushed Copic BG11 on the background:

 

The edges of the shell frame and blue paper behind it were inked with Antique Linen Distress Ink and here's the easy way I accomplished this:

 

Here's a great Ranger tip I came up with:  Antique Linen Distress Ink is my favorite Distress Ink color and I use it on the edges of about 80% of my work!  So while browsing Ellen's store, I came across this empty Ranger Standard Foam Pad and I wondered how it would work as pad to ink the edges of my artwork.  So I inked one end of the foam pad with my Antique Linen Distress Reinker and now I have a quick and easy pad to grab and ink the edges of anything!  This foam pad is soft and gives a softer look to inked edges than the standard felt pad of the Distress Ink pads.  Now I certainly may not be the first person to think of this, but I certainly was bouncing in my chair when I discovered it worked so well!

 

One hint: It won't take as much reinker as you might think to soak the pad, so go lightly at first, letting the ink gradually absorb into the pad and testing it after each addition -- until you have it inked as you'd like.  I made the mistake of putting way too much reinker on the first time and ended up blotting off quite a lot of the ink because it swiped onto the edges of cardstock darker than I usually prefer.  I also have room on the other end of the pad to for a different color -- I hope you have fun with this idea!

 

Next, I printed my computer-generated calendar onto Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock, trimmed it to 3.25" wide, and used the same Martha Stewart punches on the lower edge of this piece and the Corner Chomper on the top corners.  The month name of "June" was spelled out with Cosmo Cricket's Cream Tiny Type Letters ("dream" on the beach chair image is also from this set of stickers) and Copic BG11 airbrushed lightly on this background, too. 

 

The finishing touch is a top border of Neenah Natural White cardstock punched with the border punch again, inked with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and then the whiter star-shaped punched-out pieces of cardstock glued back onto the border for some contrast and texture!

I hope this June calender gives you a few helpful hints for your summer papercrafting and helps to put you in the spirit of summer!

Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company-Beach Chair
Paper: Cosmo Cricket DeLovely 6x6, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Antique Linen Distress Reinker; Copic markers: E30, E33, BG11, BG72, RV14, Y15, W1
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System-1, Essentials by Ellen Craft-A-Board, WRM Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, Ranger Standard Foam Pad, Martha Stewart Sand Dollar Corner Punch & Beach Shells Edger Punch, Cosmo Cricket Cream Tiny Type Letters

Colorful Butterflies by Sharon Harnist

 

Can you get any more colorful than this?  I don't think so!  I LOVE these gorgeous bright summery colors in Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely Mini Deck!  To start this card, I used the May 15th Inchie INKlings Inchie card sketch #6 for inspiration. 

My card base is the DeLovely paper with rounded corners, adhered to a Memory Box Currant notecard.  The yellow base for my Inchies was created with Spellbinders Labels Four, by first die cutting & embossing the yellow paper, trimming off all the embossed edges, and then adhering it to a pink mat cut with the same die.

The butterfly Inchies were created by punching Eclipse Masking Tape with Martha Stewart's Monarch Butterfly punch.  To achieve successful results, apply the masking tape on printer paper, turn the paper over so the masking tape is on the bottom side of the paper, turn the punch over so you can see the metal underside and punch the paper.  I found punching this way (two butterflies on the left in the photo below) gave cleaner results than punching from the Eclipse side of the paper (right butterfly).  When the punch pushes the Eclipse tape into the paper, it doesn't cut as cleanly and you'll be left with some of the inside areas (that are supposed to punch out) still attached.

 

NOTE: This punch is one of Martha Stewart's collection considered to be a "double punch", as it punches a shape with "holes" in it. This punch will not punch the butterfly out all the way. Your shape should remain attached to the paper with two little "tabs" which you will need to cut (you can probably see where the butterfly is still attached at the tops of the wings. This will prevent the punchout from getting stuck in the punch. Simply use your paper snip scissors or an X-acto knife to free your beautiful Monarch butterfly!

 

Next, I placed the butterfly masks onto my Inchie Arts White Inchie Squares and sprayed them with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (this one is Viva Pink):

 

I didn't have a shade of green Glimmer Mist to match my papers, so I airbrushed Copic YG23 onto this Inchie Square and then made it shimmer with Old Lace Glimmer Mist:

 

Caribbean Blue Glimmer Mist was used on the other Inchie -- hopefully you can see all that pretty sparkle in the photo below!

 

I was very pleased with how well the Inchie Squares "hold" the Glimmer Mist and didn't warp from even the heaviest of applications of the colorant!

To finished my card, I used Copic markers B02, R85 and YG23 to color the edges of the corresponding Inchies and I stamped Hero Arts ClearDesigns All Occasion Messages with Ranger Jet Black Archival ink onto each of the Inchie Squares.  The yellow popped-up diecut is accented with Zva clear crystals and May Arts Fuchsia wide silk ribbon ties it up!

The bonus to this technique is that you can also use those butterfly masks you made and turn them into another similar card, or break them up and use them on smaller note/gift cards!

 

This is a Memory Box Key Lime notecard trimmed to 3.50" square. Inchie is accented with Spellbinders Big Scalloped Square-Sm Nestabilities diecut.

Thanks for being with us on our colorful journey here in the CLASSroom!

 
Stamps: Hero Arts ClearDesigns All Occasion Messages
Paper: Cosmo Cricket DeLovely Mini Deck, Memory Box Currant & Key Lime notecards
Ink: Ranger Jet Black Archival, Copic markers B02, R85, YG23
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, Inchie Arts White Inchie Squares; Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Caribbean Blue, Viva Pink & Old Lace, Eclipse Masking Tape, Spellbinders Labels Four & Big Scalloped Square-Sm Nestabilities dies, WRM Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, May Arts Fuchsia wide silk ribbon, Zva clear crystals

Father's Love Frame by Sharon Harnist

 

I made this hinged frame & poem combination gift for my husband for Father's Day, out of sturdy Craft-a-Board ... here's how:

Beautiful pieces of Webster's Seaside 6x6 Petite Papers were used to cover the Craft-a-Board, the corners rounded with the Corner Chomper and edges inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

 

To create the photo side, I used Spellbinders Big Scalloped Square Nestabilities-Lg & Labels 12 dies to create a photo frame out of Craft-a-Board.  You can cut both of the dies together, taping them in place -- just be sure the dies aren't touching each other:

 

I cut another frame from coordinating Webster's paper and covered the Craft-a-Board frame with it.  It's popped up on foam tape over the photo (photo was die cut with with the same Big Scalloped Square Nestabilities die).

 

Here's my favorite part: For the poem side, I traced my youngest daugher's hand onto Art Magnetic Masking Material and cut it out, to make a mask!  The magnetic material also cuts very easily with most dies.

 

Using Ellen's fabulous new Craft Assistant, I was able to move the hand mask around on my paper, to find the perfect spot.  The Craft Assistant is black coated metal that holds the magnetic mask securely in place for airbrushing, misting with color sprays, or sponging ink color on -- and then it's very easy to wipe clean after using it!  Next, I airbrushed Copic BG11 marker over the mask:

 

I printed the computer-generated poem out on regular printer paper first, and then aligned my patterned paper in just the right spot over the poem, securing the paper in place with repositionable adhesive.  Then I ran the paper back through my printer, printing the poem in a chocolate color. 

 

I love the soft outline of my daughter's hand on the paper and the poem's reference to hand-held walks!  On the back of the frame, I dated it with the age of my daughters.

 

I finished the frame with Small Hinges secured with brads and a few seashells!  Here's the poem, if you'd like to copy and paste it to use.  (I found the poem online somewhere and now cannot find where, so my apologies for not knowing who the author is or if the author was even listed):

FATHER’S LOVE

Loving eyes that shine with pride,
Thoughtful words that teach and guide.
Rowdy games and quiet talks,
shoulder rides and hand-held walks.
Always there for smiles or tears,
a beacon through the troubled years.
The days have passed before our eyes,
wondrous times with laughs and sighs.
And though the child has gone away,
Father’s love is here to stay.

 

Paper: Webster's Petite Papers Triple Pack-Seaside/Garden/Nature
Ink: Ranger Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, Copic BG11 marker
Essentials by Ellen: Craft Assistant, Art Magnetic Masking Material, Craft-a-Board
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, Spellbinders Nestabilities Big Scalloped Square-Lg & Labels 12 dies, WRM Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, Simply Swank Small Hinges, Ranger Ink Blending Tool, Brads, Tonic Tim Holtz Non-stick Serrated Scissors

Magnetic Masked Butterfly - By Lisa Strahl

It's Monday and time for another week of work, school and keeping up with life in general.  I hope you had a chance to relax on the weekend and do something that you love.  It's amazing how just a small amount of "me" time will make huge difference in how well my week goes.  Today I spent a few hours in a hammock in our back yard reading.  It was perfect!

I created some Artist Trading cards last week for a swap that were airbrushed with Copic markers and it inspired me to do some airbrushing again this week.  The main point that I want to share with you about this ATC is that I stamped it on Craft-a-Board.  The best way I can describe it, is that it's a really smooth creamy chipboard that takes ink like a dream!

 

I want to share a design with you that uses Magnetic Masking Material.  These 8.5 x 11 flexible magnetic sheets have with a white topcoat that allow you to stamp and then cut out the shape.  It is thin enough to be cut with most die cut systems, dies and electronic cutters including the Cricut.  I am going to use it with the Craft Assistant which is a metal craft plate that acts as an extra set of hands. It assists by holding the magnetic masks firmly in position while I airbrush.

Stamp desired images on the white side of the magnetic sheet and trim out with sharp tip scissors.  Usually when I am cutting am image out I leave a white border, but in this case I am trimming right on the line or even just slightly inside.

Stamp the image again, this time on the paper you wish you airbrush on.  The stamp set I am using in Antique Engraving (Hero Arts) and the paper collection is Origins 6x6 Paper Pad (Basic Grey).

Place your stamped image on the Craft Assistant and then place your hand cut magnetic mask over the image.  It will stay in place even with the force from the airbrush!  So cool.  I have airbrushed around the butterfly with G28 Ocean Green Copic Marker using the chisel tip which produces a finer mist of ink.  I do use the Sparmax AC-101 Windstorm Airbrush Compressor and have to admit that I LOVE it.  It truly works like a dream and I use it a lot!

 
 

I will keep this mask and use it over and over again.

 

To finish the card:

-color the circle details on the butterfly with Lemon and Melon Spica Glitter Pens (Does anyone else notice that those two words use the exact same letters?  I am such a geek.)  Apply Glossy Accents over the areas you just colored and allow to dry.

-stamp the sentiment "My soul is in the sky" with Jet Black Archival Ink from the Vintage Butterflies stamp set (CHF)

-prick to small holes with the Tonic Retractable Craft Pick just above the butterfly's head and insert some of the wire stems from the Ivory Mini Gypso Flowers (Prima) and secure them with tape on the back side.

-die cut a Large Classic Scalloped Rectangle from Vanilla Bean Cardstock (Memory Box)

-attach small Offbeat brads to each corner of the rectangle

-adhere a Green at Heart button with Mini Glue Dots

-adhere the Origins flourish corner layer to a Vanilla Bean Note card which is sold with the matching colored envelope (show in the photo)

-adhere the focal image to the flourish corner layer with 3D Foam Squares

One more quick and simple project using Arturo Note Cards and Craft-a-Board to create your own letter press designs.

Stamp Artsy Blooms (*Please note that Ellen only sells this image Cling Mounted) image onto the Arturo Note Card with an ink compatible with Copic such as Memento or Adirondack.  Color the image as desired.  Most letter press is printed with solid and even colors, no shading.  We all spend lots of time learning to shade with our Copics, but they are fabulous to create a block of color too!

Stamp the image again, this time on Craft-a-Board and fussy cut it out.  Do leave a small white border around the edge of the image this time.

 

Create the following sandwich for your die cut machine:  plate, embossing mat, stamped Arturo paper, Craft-a-Board cut out image, plate.  I used a few pieces of Judikins Eclipse Tape to ensure that the image doesn't move while going through the machine.  It's so thin that it won't leave a mark on your paper and sticky enough to "stick" but not leave any residue behind when you remove it.

In case you can not tell from the picture, the image is embossed deeply over and just to the outside of the entire image. 

Told you it was quick and simple!  I just created a set of these as a gift for some one and left them blank so that they could be an any occasion card.

Well, that's quite enough yaking from me for today.  Have a great week!

Cheers, Lisa

Spring Charm Card by Julia Stainton

Now and then, it's fun to create a card that is a little more than just a card. Today's Spring Charm card features a little 2 inch square charm set in a Memory Frame. This little frame makes a sweet gift as it is easily unattached from the card. Clip it on bag, hang from a ribbon as a decor piece or thread with a ribbon to make a beautiful bookmark.

To start off this project, I airbrushed in a background for the sweet image using the Copic Airbrush System. I actually used three colors of Copic Markers, B0000, B00 & B000, to get a very subtle variation of color. Unfortunately, it doesn't show up well photographed but it is noticeable in person.

The Birds Nest Wreath by Lockhart is a gorgeous classic image that is lovely to color.

 

Here it is colored. The details are tiny so don't worry about shading.

 

The Ranger Memory Frame I used for this project is 2" square and the perfect size for mounting your image on a Twinchie. I used two of them to the get depth for the frame and adhered the image to one and a piece of coordinating patterned paper on the other.

To add a little dimension to my project, I altered a Grungeboard Butterfly. Tim Holtz Grungeboard Minis set has a great assortment of tiny pieces that would work great for this project. The butterfly is painted with Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint and allowed to dry.

 

After the butterfly is dry, I sponged it with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and adhered it to my Twinchie image.

What I think makes this project special is the shaker aspect of the frame. The Ranger Memory Capsules are a really fun way to make the frame special and to be able to include some sweet embellishments to your project.

 

Here's what the frame looks like all put together. To make the fun shaker frame, I added in some Spring Blooms Dew Drops by The Robin's Nest. The frame is easily clipped tightly over the capsule/twinchie sandwich. For some added movement, I clipped on a Crystal Binding Ring Dangle from 7 Gypsies.

The card base it kept simple to focus on the pretty charm. The card base is kraft cardstock from Memory Box, and the layers die cut from Neenah Classic Natural White cardstock, and papers from the Cosmo Cricket Mini Decks, Material Girl and Earth Love. Each layer has been die cut with a different sized Labels Twelve Die by Spellbinders.

 

To attach the frame to the card, I pierced the card and threaded through some twine to tie it on with.

 

To add additional stability that still allows the frame to be removed, I rolled up a couple Glue Dots and adhered them to the frame.

 

Here's a close-up of the final project. I hope it inspires you to add a creative charm to a project you're making.

Thanks for visiting me in the CLASSroom. Have a great weekend!

Back to Basics: Background Stamping by Sharon Harnist

"Back to Basics" is a relatively new regular feature here in the CLASSroom ... twice a month, each of the teachers will be highlighting and going back to the basics of stamping.  We hope this will help out any newcomers to stamping and also help others revisit some basics you may like to be reminded of and try out once again.  You can find all of these archived Basics courses by clicking on "Back to Basics" over in the top left sidebar of this page.

Today I'm going to highlight one of my favorite things, background stamping.  Since there are many options of beautiful patterned papers on the market today, a lot of us may have steered along that path (myself included!), so I wanted to revisit how pretty, functional, quick & easy background stamping can be.

 

My first sample uses a whole clear stamp set of sentiments for its background, Hero Arts All Occasion Messages clear stamp set:

I just left all the sentiments on the clear acrylic sheet they come on, put some removeable adhesive on the back of it, stuck it to a 5x7 Clear Acrylic Block, and stamped it with Hero Arts Hero Hues-Latte Chalk Ink onto a Hero Arts Earth Folded Card. I rounded the corners of the notecard with We Are Memory Keepers' Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper and placed a strip of Webster's Pages Petite Papers-Garden Gala/Seaside paper along the left folded edge. 

 

Next, I covered this sweet chipboard bird from Maya Road's Birdcage Chipboard Book with more of the Webster's paper and adhered him to the card front.  Some twine tied around the branch and a Hero Arts Neutral Felt Flower finishes off this card ... quick and easy for ANY occasion!

 

My next card uses Hero Arts Outline Flowers wood-mounted stamp (please excuse the harsh orange color above -- it's not really that glaring, but I can't seem to get it adjusted!):

It measures 4.50" x 5.75".  I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a Hero Arts Sunshine Folded Card.  If you haven't checked out these wonderful notecards yet, you definitely should: They come in a pack of 12 notecards, 4 each of 3 colors for just $2.99.  At just .25 cents each, these are a fabulous bargain!

Next, I colored the flowers with these Copic markers: Y38, YR31, W1, W0 and Spica Glitter Pen in Melon.  I love the way this background turned out ... just as pretty as any patterned paper, I think, AND in the colors of MY choosing!

 

I love the look on this adorable owl's face!  He's from Hero Art's Owl Trio of wood mounted stamps.  I stamped him on Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock with Tuxedo Black and colored him with the same Copic markers.  The "Thank You" sentiment is from the All Occasion Messages set I used above as a background.  I rounded the corners of his focal piece and then machine stitched around the edges, tied the piece with ribbon and mounted it with foam tape to the background.  A Hero Arts Art Flower-Summer finishes the focal piece and a few tied Hero Arts Card Buttons-Summer complete the background. I like that I can make this same card over and over again, varying the colors of the flowers and notecard, and achieve a totally different look every time!

 

My third sample is an example of using a large single stamp, not necessarily a huge overall background stamp, as a smaller notecard background.

This Hero Arts cling stamp, Friend, measures approximately 3" x 3.75" and was stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa onto a Hero Arts Blush Folded Card.  I trimmed the horizontal top-folded card down to a 3.50" x 4.25" notecard and colored the image with these Copic markers: R81, R85, YG06, YG07, W1.

 

A beautiful Prima Innoscence Snow Angel flower was added to the largest stem and Hero Arts Small Accent Pearls and Ranger White Opaque Pen accent the smaller flowers.  So how many large stamps to you have in your collection that may seem too large for a standar A2-sized card?  Use them to fill up a smaller notecard!

 

My last sample uses this beautiful Hero Arts Antique Writing cling background:

It measures 4.50" x 5.50".  I started with Glossy White Cardstock and dropped Copic Various Ink Refills in B45 & V15 onto it, starting with V15:

 

And then adding B45:

 

I kept adding drops of color until I achieved the depth I was looking for:  

 

After allowing the Copic alcohol ink to dry, I buffed it with a tissue (this removes any possible residue from the surface of the paper and buffs it back to a glossy finish). Then I stamped the butterfly background with Ranger Jet Black Archival ink. Once dry, I matted the background with Memory Box Ocean cardstock and then adhered the background to a Memory Box Licorice notecard.

 

I stamped the largest butterfly in the background again with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock, colored it with Copic markers V12, V15, B32, B45 & E25 and cut it out.  The butterfly's wings were bent and the whole thing glittered with Star Dust Stickles.  It was attached with Glue Dots to the background.  A piece of Prima Jaqueline Lace was Copic Airbrushed with Black-100 marker and attached with Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher, to finish the card. 

 

This same technique could easily be applied to any number of background stamps -- just choose one that has an element that can easily be cut out and attention brought to it, such as the Outline Flowers background stamp I used on the owl card above.

 

I hope these ideas help bring you back to the basics of background stamping!

{Bird Card}
Stamps: Hero Arts All Occasion Messages clear stamp set
Paper: Hero Arts Earth Folded Card Set, Webster's Pages Petite Papers-Garden Gala/Seaside
Ink: Hero Arts Hero Hues-Latte Chalk Ink
Accessories: Maya Road Birdcage Chipboard Book, Hero Arts Neutral Felt Flowers, WRM Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, Sanding Block, 5x7 Clear Acrylic Block, twine

{Owl Card}
Stamps: Hero Arts Outline Flowers & Owl Trio wood mounted stamps
Paper: Hero Arts Sunshine Folded Card Set, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers Y38, YR31, W1, W0 & Atyou Spica Glitter Pen-Melon
Accessories: Hero Arts Card Buttons-Summer & Art Flowers-Summer; WRM Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, sewing machine, ribbon

{Friend Card}
Stamps: Hero Arts Cling-Friend
Paper: Hero Arts Blush Folded Card Set
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Copic markers R81, R85, YG06, YG07, W1
Accessories: Prima Flower-Innoscence Snow Angel, WRM Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, Hero Arts Small Accent Pearls, Ranger White Opaque Pen

{Butterfly Card}
Stamps: Hero Arts Antique Writing Cling
Paper: Ranger Glossy White Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cardstock; Memory Box Licorice notecard & Ocean cardstock
Ink: Ranger Jet Black Archival ink pad, Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic Various Ink Refills: B45 & V15 and Copic markers V12, V15, B32, B45, E25 & 100
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System-1, Prima Jaqueline Lace, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Ranger Star Dust Stickles, Glue Dots

Stuck on You Part Three - Liquid Adhesive Ideas by Julia Stainton

While adhesives aren't the most exciting part of your project, they can be a great way to add special touches to your creation as well as holding everything together. Today's project is the third installment of the Stuck on You series andfeatures some quick and easy ways to use liquid adhesives to embellish your designs.

A great adhesive for embellishing is a glue pen. For my project I used the 2 Way Glue which gives you a little more adhesive.

For extra fine detail, the Quickie Glue Pen is also a great product. Either one is a great choice, can be used interchangeably and they are just a matter of personal preference.

 

I love these adhesives as they are very easy to use, non-messy and accurate as well as being very portable. As a little goes a long way, these adhesives will last you for a very long time. To ensure longevity, make sure you tightly replace the cap after using.

Here's how I created today's project...

 

To create the image panel I first cut the Neenah Classic Solar White cardstock to the desired size and airbrushed the background in layers. Eclipse Tape is a great product for this. Just tear off a piece and airbrush starting at the horizon line, moving the mask each time and darkening the color. If you look at a landscape, you'll notice that color fades as it gets further away so the darkest and most intense colors should be at the top and bottom of your image.

Here's what it looks like finished. You'll notice I moved the mask and used a couple different pieces torn differently to vary the look.

 

Copic colors for this project: BG02, BG45, BG10, G40, YG93, Bg93, YG63, E31. Because I wasn't trying to perfectly blend the colors, I used slightly different shades.

 

The Hero Arts Bicycle is a darling stamp. I stamped it onto the landscape using Black Archival Ink and then added touches of color with my Copic markers. I love the depth and intensity of this ink. Planning ahead to my end card layout you'll see paper from the very darling Nutmeg 6x6 paper pad by Cosmo Cricket.

 

Here's where I finally got to add in the adhesives. The Two Way Glue Pen is fabulous for adding glitter to a stamped image. I used Carnelian from the Martha Stewart Glitter Set.
 

The Two Way Glue Pen is also great for adding interesting detail to patterned paper. Here I've traced the clouds with this liquid adhesive and then applied Polar White Flower Soft for a fluffy look.

 

The other great liquid adhesive I used on this project is the Making Memories Ribbon Glue. Often dry adhesives don't adhere ribbon well for long periods of time and this glue is easy to use and has staying power. It's nice and thick so it won't be oozing up through your twill and ribbon fibers.

 

To finish off my card the Hello, friend sentiment comes from the Friend Centers stamp set by CHF. A little knot of twine on the handlebars with a Glue Dot and some tiny Basic Grey buttons add a sweet look.

I'll be back next week for one more Stuck on You tutorial. You can find Part One and Part Two by clicking on the links.

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom today!

Airbrushed Masked Canvas by Sharon Harnist

Following up on Becky's Technique Tuesday this week of using masks and the Airbrushing article I did for Ellen's InTouch Newsletter this past weekend, I've combined the two techniques to create an airbrushed canvas wall hanging!

 

I used Tim Holtz' Alphabet Ransom mask set to spell out Live and Love on my 4" Canvas Frames.  Then I accented the bottoms of the canvases with Tim's Borderline mask.  These clear "plastic" masks are easy to peel and stick or reposition as needed: 

I started airbrushing the tops of the canvases with Copic R89:

 

I graduated the colors of markers, using (in this order) R83, R85, E31 & E57 to airbrush the rest of the canvas.  As a final step, I thought the Live & Love were a little too bright white, so I used E59 to splatter airbrush (using the brush end of the marker will give this affect) over the top.  In hindsight, I might have omitted this step!  You can see the difference in color where I airbrushed over the Live & Love vs. the border at the bottom, where I didn't.

 

To finish my canvas, I blinged the bottoms with crystals, and hinged the two canvases together with the enclosed eye screws and used ribbon to hang it.

 

I hope this gets you to thinking what you all you can apply masks to and then airbrush with Copic's wide spectrum of marker colors . . . I know I have some more ideas I'll be sharing with you!  Sharon

 
Ink: Copic markersR89, R83, R85, E31, E57  E59
Tools: Copic Airbrush System, Sparmax AC-101 Windstorm Airbrush Compressor
Accessories:  4" Canvas Frames, Tim Holtz Alphabet Ransom & Borderline Masks, Adhesive Crystals, Ribbon

Nook and Pantry ATC's by Lisa Strahl

Hello CLASSroom followers!  I am thrilled to share with you that I will be joining you every Monday as a regular CLASSroom Educator.  What a joy to be able to work with dear friends that I admire so much.  I hope that my style and interests in this vast world we call paper crafting will be an inspiration to you.  I believe that each of us has the ability to draw on creativity within us.  With that, please allow me to share a set of three Artist Trading Cards with you.

I have become completely enamored with what I generally call "art in a small space."  Artist Trading Cards are simply a canvas measuring 2.5 x 3.5 inches in which you can express your creativity.  There are no other rules!  How many of you Type A paper crafters love rules?  If my travels and teaching are any indication, most of you like rules.  Perhaps it's the freedom with this medium that I am enjoying so much.

This ATC was created with the Nook and Pantry 6x6 inch paper pad and the Domestic Love stamp set by Cornish Heritage Farms.  I am ready to make my first confession to you.  I am a 6x6 inch paper pack ADDICT.  A few years ago there was nothing more frustrating to me than finding a patterned paper line that I loved only to discover that it was very hard to work with because the elements and patterns were too big for my project.  Then along came the 6x6 inch, scaled down version of my favorite papers!  Now I buy almost every single one I see.  How lucky for me that Ellen carries a great selection of 6x6!

Here are some details of this ATC:

 

 

I began by stamping (Coffee Archival Ink), fussy cutting the couple and layering them over one of the more solid red patterns in the Nook and Pantry 6x6 paper pad.

Paint a Philosophy Tag with Modern Red Studio Paint making sure the paint goes deep into the debossed words and numbers.

Gently wipe the paint away from the surface of if the tag, leaving the paint to highlight "Cherish." 

Punch the edge with the Binding Edge Border punch. 

Color the 1/4 white silk white ribbon with the R11 Pale Cherry Pink Copic Marker.

 

I used that same marker to color the man's dress shirt and the woman's dress.  Now technically Archival Ink (Ranger) is not Copic friendly, but this was a small space and I was careful!  I also could not resist adding yet another earring to the image.  It's a Nook and Pantry Brad.

The ticket comes from a wonderful embellishment book called Adage Tickets. 

The next ATC features the egg beater image from the Domestic Love stamp set.  Again, all papers are Nook and Pantry.

 

Now, you didn't need me to show you how to stamp this image, but I wanted to share that the old saying "necessity is the mother of invention" holds true in my craft room.  I couldn't find a clear stamp block in the piles on my desk, so I grabbed the nearest clear object that could hold my stamp.  The Tim Holtz Design Ruler was perfect!  Stamp the beater and sentiment with Coffee Archival Ink.

Use the Binding Edge Punch on the strawberry paper.

I really wanted to use a button but didn't have anything quite right so I used my Copic Airbrush Compressor System and the Dark Brown Sketch Marker to create one.  A quick note about the air compressor...it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I did start with the smaller air can, but found that I liked the flexibility of airbrushing to customize my project that I was using up cans.  Edited to add:  When I linked the compressor to this post I noticed that it's almost 20% off the retail price!

 

The Tonic 8.5 inch Guillotine Trimmer is perfect for cutting the thinnest shred of paper.  I cut a few very narrow stripe to use in the place of thread for my button.

Drizzle some Clear Spica Pen on the strawberries...

...and some Silver Spica on the beater.

 

Last but not least, this one is for all of you who DIDN'T have a great Valentine's Day!

 

More stamps from Domestic Love and paper from Nook and Pantry.  Brads from Indian Summer Collection.  The base card stock is Memory Box Dill.

Stamp the vacuum with Coffee Archival Ink on the paper keeping in mind what pattern you want on the dust bag.

 

I love, love, love the Tonic Paper Piercing tool because it's heavy duty and can go through chipboard.

 

This little flower is found on a sheet from Nook and Pantry in a repeating pattern.  I cut out different sections from three different flowers.

 
 
Then layer the different sections of the flower on top of each other and secure with a Nook and Pantry brad.

Creating these Artist Trading Cards has left me feeling very domestic indeed.  Thanks for joining us on the CLASSroom today.  See you next Monday!

Lisa

Heart Cupcake Decor by Sharon Harnist

 

I have some Valentine framed art for you today . . . I thought my hall entry table was missing a little something for the holiday!  Would you believe this 6-inch frame started out looking like this:

 

I found a great buy at the Target Dollar Spot on 3 of these white frames (the opening is 3.50") in a package for $2.50 -- I couldn't pass them up!  Now, I'm not too big on all-white things but I knew I could somehow paint or alter these.  I recently finally acquired an Air Compressorfor my Copic Airbrush System and decided this project would be the kind where the air compressor would work out great -- as opposed to using up about half of an Air Can 180!

I used Copic E42 & E44 to airbrush a base coat on the white frame, then I used R24 to splatter (by using the brush end of the Copic marker, you'll get a more speckled spray pattern) a little red here and there so the frame would match the colors in my artwork -- I love how it turned out!

 

For the background paper in the frame, I stamped Hero Arts' Heart Flourishes background stamp with Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Natural White cardstock and then colored it with these Copic markers:

 

Next, I airbrushed Copic E42 around the edges of the cardstock, to give it a more aged look:

 

I placed the paper inside the frame (under the glass).  On the outside of the frame, I placed an Inchie Arts Inchie + wheat colored square, stamped with a portion of Karen Lockhart's "Peas be mine" sentiment stamp.  Then I stamped this sweet new Lockhart Cupcake With Sprinkles onto Neenah Natural White cardstock and colored it with these Copic markers:

 

The cupcake was cut out and popped up on foam tape on the Inchie + Square and the top heart cherry glittered.  To make the paper flower, I die cut several pieces of the leftover background paper I made and Memory Box Cranberry cardstock with Classic Scalloped Circle Nestabilities.  Next, I spritzed the papers with water and crinkled them up:

 

The nice thing about Memento ink and Copic markers is that the water won't make your colors run!  Once dry, I layered the scalloped circles together with foam tape and adhered the flower to the frame.

 
Stamps: Hero Arts Heart Flourishes, Lockhart Stamp Company Cupcake With Sprinkles & Peas Be Mine sentiment
Paper: Neenah Natural White cardstock, Memory Box Cranberry cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, Copic markers (E42, E43, E44, R21, R22, R24, R29, R000 R81, R83, R85)
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, Airbrush Compressor, Inchie Arts Inchie + Neutral Squares(wheat), Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle Nestabilities dies, Ranger Star Dust Stickles

Artist Trading Cards by Sharon Harnist

 

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) ... what are they?  Do you love them?  Do they scare you?  What's the appeal?  Hopefully we'll cover a few answers to those questions today!

Artist trading cards are a way for artists to create miniature works of art that can travel the world through trading.  ATCs originated in 1997 when Swiss artist M. Vanci Stirnemann created an exhibit of over 1,200 handmade cards.  He asked others to create cards as well, so that on the last day of the exhibit he could trade his cards with them.  The idea was a hit and turned into a world-wide phenomenon!  Today, artist trading cards are used to share work, network, and practice creating on a smaller scale.

Artist trading cards are pieces of watercolor paper, cardstock, or illustration board that are 2.50" x 3.50" in size.  An artist creates an original work of art on these tiny canvases and then trades them with other artists through groups and events -- similar to trading your Inchies!  Trade is the operative word ... cards should not be sold.

Any medium is "allowed" on trading cards.  Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects).  This is the perfect opportunity to use up all those little scraps of paper, ribbon and other embellishments you have lying around!

On the back of the cards the artist should print their name, contact information (an email address is fine), the title of the work on the artist trading card, and a number if it is part of a series.

To make the most of one piece of 8.50" x 11" cardstock for your ATC bases, follow this cutting guide (you'll get 10 ATC bases out of one piece of cardstock):

 

For my trading card, I chose a line of stamps that make Artist Trading Cards a breeze ... Cornish Heritage Farms' All Things Considered line.  There are many different sets to chose from, and all the elements in the sets are perfectly sized for ATCs!

 

I stamped the floral frame with Cranberry ink onto Natural White cardstock, trimmed it to 2.50" x 3.50" and then colored it with these Copic markers (sorry for the fuzzy photo, they are R30, R32, R37, G21& E25):

 

The center floral image was stamped with Rich Cocoa ink and colored with the R-series of Copic markers shown above. 

 

Next, I airbrushed the background of the card with my custom lighter YR31 Copic marker (made by filling an empty Sketch marker with 2 parts Copic Colorless Blender Solution and 1 part Copic YR31 Various Ink Refill).

 

The edges of the floral center and ATC were sponged with Brushed Corduroy ink.  The center is popped up on foam tape.

To finish my ATC, I colored a Maya Road chipboard letter (it appears the store is sold out of the particular alpha set I used but if you keep a watch on this link, I'm sure they'll be back in stock soon!) with Copic R37 marker and then covered the letter with Glossy Accents.

 

Copper Stickles were added to the flower center and the edges of my ATC were distressed.  And there you have an Artist Trading Card ... not so scary after all!  Fun to create and trade, or just keep for yourself!  Wouldn't a grouping of ATCs you or your friends created look wonderful framed all together?  It would make a very unique home accent!

 
 
Stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms-All Things Considered, Botanical Bliss (uncut) or Precut
Paper: Neenah Natural White
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Cranberry dye ink & Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, Memento Rich Cocoa ink pad, Copic markers (shown above)
Accessories: Maya Road Chipboard letter, Copic Airbrush System, Tonic-Tim Holtz Paper Distresser. Ranger Glossy Accents, Copper Stickles & Ink Blending Tool. Foam tape
 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 10: Ten Toys from Tim's World by Ellen Hutson

ETA: I apologize for not putting links into my post --- perhaps sleep deprivation is not a good thing - LOL! I have tried to come back in and link to the supplies I have used. Just a quick FYI - more Hero Arts stamps are in transit and I will let you know when they will be arriving once I get the tracking number :D (yippie!)

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit down and "play" with the Studio Line of products. Today I want to share just one of the discoveries I made that day. 

With a background in interior design I was able to utilize so many wonderful wall finishes and products as I designed interiors for customers. It was as I sat and thought about correlating that past with my present, that the idea for "old wallpaper" came up. So the technique that I am sharing first today I am calling just that---old wallpaper technique. 

Because today's blog candy drawing includes ten "toys" from the Tim Holtz product lines I decided to pay homage to the beautiful tags he creates.  It was our very own Kim, who inspired me to use the HUGE size tag and turn it into my card today.

Many of you have asked for more information on the Studio Line and this little lesson is going to focus on Gesso.

Gesso is an art supply that is similar to paint, but it dries hard. It is typically applied to a surface to "prime" it or prepare it for painting. It helps to create a surface that paint will not seep through and provides a tooth that the paint will "stick" to. It also adds "substance" to the product you are applying it to, giving it more durability. Even though it dries hard, it still is a flexible product. It can be used on canvas, fabric, paper, wood and so much more.

When dry, gesso has a somewhat chalky appearance. It can be mixed with numerous pigments and applied as a colored mixture, but I have mostly experimented using the white.

As you can see in the photo above I typically apply a dollop of gesso to the paper surfaces I plan on priming.

 

I then use my craft scraper to spread the gesso over my papers. For this project today I spread gesso on one side of a x-large manila tag. I also spread gesso on two 4 1/2" squares of Classic Cream Neenah cardstock (I'm glad I made two as you will see later in this post --- it is just as quick and easy to make two when experimenting and believe me when I tell you that it was a happy thing today :D )

 

Lastly is where I created my "old wallpaper." By simply spreading the gesso in a very thin layer over one of the papers from the Sugar Rush series I was able to age the paper and add a more chalky, plaster like finish to my paper, making it reminiscent of old wallpapers I had to remove in one of the design homes I participated in.

If you find that your scrapbook papers are a little to vivid this is a wonderful way of muting them and creating a unique vintage appearance.

Next I utilized the Mini Floret Mask. I applied it to the front of my tag card along the right edge. I then airbrushed over these masks using YG67. I had initially planned on applying the gesso over the top of all of these pieces, but sadly they just didn't adhere well enough, so on to plan B.

After removing the masks I applied a thin layer of gesso to create a unified surface for my project.

Once I was certain my gesso squares were dry I then stamped this gorgeous flower using VersaMark Dazzle Frost and then applied my silver embossing powder. When looking at the Sugar Rush line of papers I was intrigued by the grays that were used in this line and felt that this silver would fit nicely with those grays.

I am sharing this next segment with you to share something that did not work well for me. I believe that because the gesso surface creates a very smooth chalky-like finish not all dye inks will dry well on this surface. I watercolored in my image using Distress Reinker colors.  I allowed it to sit to dry, I used my Heat It tool think this would set the color --- yet it still did not dry.

I finally ended up just pulling away much of the color with a paper towel. It still was quite pretty, but not what I was wanting and so I abandoned ship here - LOL!

Next I decided to try using Adirondack Dye Ink Pads. I believe that there is some "ingredient" in the Distress Inks that extends the dry time and therefore does not allow the ink to dry well on the gessoed surface. I was not about to give up and so I went with the ink pad to non-stick craft sheet method. Applying Peach Bellini, Mountain Rose, and Watermelon Dye ink pads directly to the surface and misting with water was the next step.

I swirled my remaining dried gesso squared in this mixture. I LOVE the magical appearance that was the end result.

I had wanted to use this technique on the interior of my tag and was very pleased with the end result. Once dry (you will see this in the last photo) it has the incredible appearance of an old plastered wall like you would find in Southern France or perhaps Italy. The texture that the gesso provides is extraordinary!

As you can see the Adirondack inks dried beautifully.

I then repeated the silver embossed flower on this square. I did come back in with my waterbrush and add a little additional reinker to bring a little more boldness to the color of the image. 

As Beks would say---I then fussy cut (love that term :D) my flower. Adding a stitched brad to the flower center. Oh my goodness... I'm in love with the idea of applying gesso to everything and seeing what happens - LOL!

I stitched the Sugar Rush old wallpaper to my tag.

One final view of the tag interior. All it needs now is a sentiment in the silver embossing powder. Being I don't have a destination in mind for this beauty the sentiment will have to wait.

A little silk ribbon, combined with some old favorite Basic Grey trims and my project is complete.

The most important tip I can share is to clean your tools promptly upon completing the application of gesso. I keep a few baby wipes handy to clean my non-stick craft sheet as I go, so that things don't get too messy. As well I have a water dish that I place my tools in so that they don't dry out. Even though this can be a bit messy it is SO worth it and I encourage you to try something new and different. You can use it with some of your old favorites, or add a few new twists. I have other things that I have tried and hope to share with you soon as well, because they are oh, so cool!!! I hope that you will give gesso a try!

Now on to the drawing for today :D

TENTH DAY BLOG CANDY

On the tenth day of Christmas my goodie box could be:

• ten toys from Tim's world

 

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

This is going to be a longer comment requirement - LOL! Word on the street is that Tim has 12 new Distress Ink colors coming out at CHA as well as new BIgz dies. Do you see yourself buying these new inks sooner rather than later? Do you still purchase and use the large size dies such as Bigz? Would you like for us to carry the complete line of Tim's accessories? and last but not least, you have suggested that you would like us to share how to use the "old supplies" - please share an example or two of the products you have in your stash that you would like us to incorporate with the new :D

Don't forget the following 12 Days of Christmas blog candy drawings --- be certain to answer the question on each individual post to be included in that drawing!

• Favorite Scoring Tools
• Two Soldeirng Starters
• Three Inchie Art Packets
• Four Cournish Stamps
• Five Fab Fine Art Fixings
• Six Dies for Cutting
• Seven Alterable Items
• Eight Copics for Coloring
• Nine Packs of Paper
 

You Rule Princess Card by Julia Stainton

I love designing with all things pretty so I thought it would be fun to do a very lacy style card today. Using panels of lace and trim is a great way to add texture and interest to a design and they can be adhered right over your cardstock or patterned paper.

To start off a project, it's always a great idea to pull out the supplies you want to use and go from there. If you start by coloring the image it may be difficult to find papers and embellishments in your stash to match. I never would have thought to color the crown pink, purple with a lime green accent but it's bright, fun and girlie and works great with the supplies I chose.

This card was easy to put together with a Key Lime Memory Box notecard base and patterned paper from the Webster's Pages Magical Wishes 6x6 paper pad. I loved how this particular piece had the word princess on it and worked that into the design.

To apply the lace you can either stitch it or use a strong dry adhesive. I like to use my Glue Glider Pro for a good clean hold. This gorgeous trim is the new Webster's Pages Postcards from Paris/Nature's Storybook trim collection. When applying trim to a card, I always cut it just a little long and then trim the edges cleanly once they are all adhered.

A Royal Birthday is a beautiful stamp set from CHF that works well for other occasions as well. After stamping onto Neenah Classic Solar White cardstock, I die cut out my image layer with the Spellbinders Labels Six die. I chose this die as I liked how it echoed the shape of the top of the crown image. To get a nice even border effect, I left the die in place when airbrushing around the edges.

Here's the Copic colors I used...

The You Rule sentiment is fro the same set. It is colored and cut out and then adhered on top of the crown layer. To embellish the crown, after all every princess needs a little bling, I added a couple Accent Pearls.

To finish off the project, I adhered the images on dimensional foam tape over the lace and added a little bow made from twill ribbon. As a final touch, I distressed the right edge of the patterned paper with my finger giving a little peek at the other side.

 

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom! Happy creating!

Fall Whimsy by Debbie Olson

 

As I watch the leaves spiral madly from the trees in our back yard today, I look at some of my stamps differently. For instance, the weeping willow from Primitive Beginnings never shouted "fall" to me before, but today it begged to be used with the colors in Basic Grey's Indian Summer papers. (This paper is also available in a 6" x 6" pad; I just happened to have a few sheets of the 12" x 12".)

To ink the tree, I started with four Adirondack ink pad colors and one water-based dark brown marker. I inked the inside top leaves with Lettuce ink, then Sunset Orange below the green, Terra Cotta at the very top, and Cranberry at the very bottom. I used the corner of my ink pads and didn't really mess my ink pads up at all. For the tree trunk and branches, I used a water based brown marker directly on the rubber, then huffed on the rubber to re-moisten it before stamping my paper. (If you aren't pleased with your first try, be sure to clean your stamp before re-inking, or you may end up with muddy colors.)

To add a bit of background and "ground" the tree, I tore a piece of Eclipse paper and used the top half to mask for airbrushed grass (Copic YG95), and the bottom half to mask for a hint of sky (Copic Y32).

For the patterned paper background, I chose the brown leafy sheet as my base and accented it with the striped layer and the rose-toned layer, using the Binding Edge punch as well as some machine stitching to add interest.

This card started out quite normally, as you can see by the progression of pictures. When I got close to the end, however, it seemed to need something--like a bit of whimsy. I added the sheep and paper pieced him with some of the Indian Summer paper. Of course that made him need a creative sentiment, right? Finally "Home is where the heart lives" became "art lives" and my sentiment was born. 

That's it--an evolution from fall to whimsy. Sometimes your creativity doesn't take you where you thought you were going, but it generally works out anyway. Enjoy the journey, and thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today!

Cornucopia Stamp of the Month by Sharon Harnist

There's a chill in the air and it's finally feeling like Fall down here in the South USA, so I thought I'd get a head start on my Thanksgiving cards AND wish our Canadian friends a very happy upcoming Thanksgiving!  Karen Lockhart's beautiful new Cornucopia stamp is perfect for the holiday and I have step-by-step Copic coloring tutorial for you today. 

Some of the supplies I used are from this month's Stamp Of The Month Kit.  Ellen put together this wonderfully matched kit of notecards, patterned paper, cardstock, ribbon & buttons and all you have to do is choose which stamp you'd like to pair it up with!

 

Here's your step-by-step Copic coloring instructions, under each photo.  You can click on any of the photos for a larger view:

1-Color cornucopia with E33, shade the bottom and edge opening with E35, color pumpkin and orange with YR12, add YR12 highlights to cornucopia.  2-Blend pumpkin and orange with YR00, color inside of cornucopia with E39.

3-Color squash and top of apples with Y21, base coat pear & right apple with YG11, add shadow to lower part of right apple with YG23.  4-Shadow lower part of pear and squash with E21 and color lower part of acrorns, add darker shadows to pumpkin and orange with YR04, color center apple with R24.

5-Blend pumpkin and orange with YR00 and base coat the oak leaves, color pear with YG93 and use to add shadow to bottom of green apple, use Y21 to blend green apple and add to oak leaves.  6-Color grapes first with V12, add shadows to bottoms of grapes with V15 & V17.

7-Color fruit leaves with YG93, color acorn tops with E35.  8-Color oak leaves with YR12, YG23, E35; blend with YR00.

9-Color vines with YG23, flowers with V15 and dots around flower with Lemon Spica Glitter Pen.  10-Shadow around bottom of cornucopia and fruit with W1, blending edges with 0-Colorless Blender.

11-Die cut image with Classic Circle Nestabilities; airbrush outer edges with E31.

There you have it!  I finished the card by zig-zag stitching a brightly colored piece of the Indian Summer paper onto another piece of brown leaf paper from the pad and punched the lower edge.  Karen Lockhart's Give Thanks sentiment was stamped onto the Mango notecard.

 
The focal image was layered onto another die cut (Labels Three Nestabilities) of paper from Indian Summer and popped up on foam tape.  Thanks for visiting today -- I hope you all enjoy a bountiful Thanksgiving!

 

• Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company-Cornucopia (stamp of the month) & Give Thanks sentiment
• Paper: Neenah Natural White, Basic Grey Indian Summer 6x6 & Memory Box Mango Notecard (from October Stamp of the Month Packet)
• Ink: Adirondack Espresso, Copic markers (shown above) & Lemon Spica Glitter Pen
• Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, Classic Circle & Labels Three Nestabilities dies, Martha Stewart Simple Scallop Edger Punch, sewing machine 

Welcome, Autumn by Debbie Olson

Yesterday was a good mail day. It brought some new toys to play with: the Cosmo Cricket Mini Decks, and a CHF Autumn Trees set. Today happens to feel more like summer than autumn, but I'm definitely seeing more trees changing--something that always makes me want to create fall cards!

I began with three sheets from the Earth Love mini deck and a couple of images stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

When I got ready to color in the green leaves, I had a bit of a quandary: I didn't have greens that were just right with the paper. So I thought that I would show you a bit about tweaking colors by the addition of warm or cool grays.

The original green trio that I used is shown on the left, and the tweaked versions, the top with WARM grays added over the colors, and the bottom with COOL grays added over the colors, shows you how you can manipulate color to be what you need it to be. [Remember that you can click on any picture to see it larger.]

Here is my almost-complete focal image with the chosen papers. It seemed to need something still, so I decided to airbrush a bit of grass and sky. 

I used Copic BG45 and YG63 for the backgrounds. I did not mask anything, so I was careful to spray lightly. When you are airbrushing, it's always better to start farther back from the image than you think you need to be and work your way closer as you want to deepen the color. It's much easier to go darker than to go lighter--trust me on that one!

I used the binder edging punch along the lightest patterned paper and did some machine stitching to add warm coziness. Buttons are great for adding warmth and pulling in accent colors as well. Don't be afraid to play with your marker colors; try new combinations on scraps of cardstock, and try tweaking colors with the warm or cool grays. It's okay--you won't hurt the markers since Copic markers do not cross-contaminate, and after all, it's only paper--enjoy!

Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today.

snowpuff branch card by cindy lyles

This style card doubles as a holiday hello card or as a seasonal thank you. I've borrowed Debbie Olson's technique that I learned from her, of keeping the Nestabilities die in place while airbrushing.  This creates a wonderful edge to the die-cut cardstock.

Memory Box Snowpuff Branch image and CHF Kindness sentiment were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto white cardstock.

The image was die cut and embossed with Nestabilities Labels One.  I left the die in place, and began airbrushing with Copic B21 - getting closer to the cardstock where I wanted darker color and kept the gun at a distance where I wanted softer color.

Using Ruby Red Liquid Pearls I dotted the 'berries' of the branch image.  Allowed to dry about 30 minutes (less in drier climates). 

Now time for some fun:  I traced a Quickie Glue Pen on top of a few branches, then scattered Flower Soft Ivory on top of the liquid adhesive to mimic snow.  Allowed to dry (about five minutes) then carefully brushed off excess flowers. 

Card base is Memory Box Kraft - size is 4-1/4" x 5-1/2".  Patterned papers are from Memory Box Dewfrost.  A Martha Stewart border punch was used for the Dewfrost paper edge, and red silk ribbon was added to complement the berries.

Snowpuff Branch image was stamped on the envelope with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, and again without reinking, on the card interior.  Strips of extra Dewfrost patterned paper add interest to the inside of the card.  Thank you for stopping by the CLASSroom today!

Wise Friend by Sharon Harnist

I think the Cosmo Cricket people were exceptionally wise when they decided to start making their wonderful papers in a smaller scale AND easy-to-store 6-inch pads ... I'm loving their new Mini Deck papers!  I thought the Fallish colors in the Earth Love mini deck would pair nicely with Kim Hughes' owls -- I don't know why, but I always think of Fall when I think of owls!

For my 5-inch card today, I chose to die cut one of the smaller gold papers in the mini deck to represent a harvest moon.  The owl's branch was stamped with Versamark onto a slate colored pattern in this mini deck and heat embossed with clear powder.  Hopefully you can see the shine of the embossing on the branch below:

Wise owl was stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto Neenah Classic Cream cardstock and his body given a base color of Copic Sketch marker E33.  His wings were colored with E35.  Then I thought it would be neat to try and make real looking feathers, so I took Copic E25 and touched the tip of the marker to the lower part of the owl's tummy, making a tear drop shape.  I repeated this all along the bottom of the owl:

For the next two rows of feathers on his body, I used the E33 again and made same tear drop shape.  For his wings, I used slightly darker E25 to make the tear drop shaped feathers.  I really like all the texture this created!

I found Adirondack Slate dye ink to be a very close match to the slate color in the patterned paper, for stamping my sentiment (also from the U R A Hoot stamp set).  After die cutting the sentiment, I used Copic Y31 (which is a very close match to the gold moon I created) to color the outer debossed edge of the tag.  I chose the "My wise friend " sentiment from this set, but there are several others in the set that would work well for our back-to-school theme this month -- "Owl be missing you" or "Owl always love you" (if sending a student off to college); "Congrats" or "Wise guy" for a student's achievements, or encouragement -- "Who loves you?" or "I give a hoot" ... I love all these punny sentiments!

For the card base, I didn't have a cardstock in my stash to match that pretty slate color, so I used Copic W7 to color just the outside edges (that would show) of my cream card base, creating a perfect match (those Copics are pretty wise, too)!

The closest match I had for a yellow button was too light, so my Copic markers once again came to the rescue -- I airbrushed my lighter yellow button with Copic YR23 and this turned out to be a close match to the moon and tag.  And again -- Copic W7 was used to color the twine for the button and the white silk ribbon!

Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today, wise friends! ~ Sharon Harnist

• Stamps: Kim Hughes-U R A Hoot
• Paper: Cosmo Cricket 6x6 Mini Deck-Earth Love, Neenah Classic Creamcardstock
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa ink pad, Versamark ink pad, Ranger Adirondack Slate dye ink pad, Copic markers (listed above)
• Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities-Lg & Ribbon Tags Trio, Clear Embossing Powder, Spring Card Buttons, Copic Airbrush System, May Arts 1/4" white silk ribbon, Martha Stewart Baker's Twine

Christmas and Copics and Cosmo, Oh My! by Debbie Olson

I am thrilled that Ellen will be carrying the new Cosmo Cricket lines in the 6" x 6" pads that are being introduced at Summer CHA! When Ellen mentioned that the July newsletter had a Christmas focus, I asked if I could share some of the new Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly line. 

I chose one of the CHF Kim Hughes images from Heart Warmers to paper-piece for my focal image. The really tiny prints are from the cover sheet of my 12" x 12" paper collection, but since these are being produced in 6" x 6" pads, the scale is 1/4 what it is on the 12" x 12" papers--you won't need a cover sheet to get small patterns.

Next I stamped various trees on the small patterned paper pieces, and the tree trunks on a fifth paper piece.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . . For my focal image base, I stamped the tree image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Natural White cardstock and used my Copic Airbrush Systemand a BG15 Copic marker to airbrush the sky, with a Classic Plain Rectangle die as the mask. I did not mask the snow because I was using white felt to cut snow. (I think Ellen carries the BG13, but that would work the same--just a bit more subtle.) The Claudine Helmuth canvas would be nice for this too--more opaque. I used felt because it had more loft.

 

With my trimmed paper scraps, I pieced the trees and trunks, tucking the trunks behind my felt snow.

One thing bothered me about my sky and snow, however: it was too white and clean to coordinate perfectly with the patterned paper. A bit of airbrushing with a Copic E31marker took care of that little problem, giving my scene a gently aged look more suitable for the paper. (I could have used distress ink on the cardstock, but I wasn't sure how else to get felt snow toned down besides with my airbrush.)

I zig-zag stitched the two papers together and straight-stitched a border around the entire background to give a subtle mat effect.

Here is a close-up of my finished card, with a twill bow, button, and tag to complete it. So, what do you think of the Jolly by Golly? Mmmmmm--just what I was hoping for this Christmas! Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today.

Way To Go by Sharon Harnist

 

Supplies:

• Memory Box Sunny Panda stamp & Way To Go sentiment
• Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad
• Copic: Sketch Marker R81-Rose Pink & Airbrush System
• Spellbinders Scalloped Edge Frame die set, Classic Oval-Large & Petite Oval-Small Nestabilities
• Memory Box Raspberry cardstock
• BasicGrey Euphoria 6x6 patterned paper pad
• Neenah Classic Solar White cardstock
• Spring Art Flowers

• Island Blossom Dew Drops

My oldest daughter just found out last week that she passed her state-mandated elementary school tests and was officially promoted to fourth grade.  I thought this sweet panda would make a cute card to congratulate her.

I started by making a notecard 4.50" x 3.25" (top folded) from Solar White cardstock and adhered the floral patterned paper to the card front.  Then I die cut the Scalloped Edge Frame from Raspberry cardstock to fit on the card front.  Here's how the construction looks from the back:

 

I stamped Sunny Panda onto Solar White cardstock and cut her out.  Then I stamped her again onto the coordinating Euphoria paper and cut out her dress and hat.  The patterned dress was pieced over the black & white cut out Panda and the hat was popped up with dimensional foam tape.  Copic R81 was used to accent the bottom of her dress and top of her hat.

Sunny was originally holding an umbrella, but I stamped the "way to go" sentiment onto Solar White cardstock and die cut it with the smallest Classic Oval Nestabilities.  While the cardtock was still in the die, I airbrushed Copic R81 in the center of the die cut.  This little "sign" was adhered over the umbrella and then what was left showing of the umbrella was cut away.

Sunny was popped up over a Petite Oval Nestabilities die cut of coordinating Euphoria striped paper and small blue paper flowers, accented with Dew Drops, finish off this card.

I think this little Panda could be used for all types of congratulatory occasions, such as graduation, overcoming a sickness/health issues, meeting a goal.  Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today!

Grungepaper on Canvas by Debbie Olson

 

Last week I played with some Grungepaper for the first time. This week I have a simple gift canvas to share, with flowers created from die-cut and embossed Grungepaper.

I started with a blank canvas, Shabby Shutters and Old Paper Distress Crackle Paints, and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I painted the canvas, both top and sides, with the Old Paper (lighter color), and then went over the edges with the darker color (Shabby Shutters), blending the two together. After the crackle paint was dry to the touch, I used my heat gun on it to speed up the crackling process and then sponged a bit of Vintage photo distress ink on the sides and edges. TIP: On the crackle paint, the thicker you apply the paint, the deeper the cracks will be. I kept mine fairly thin so that I would have plenty of the canvas texture still showing, but that also meant that the cracks and crevices are smaller.

Next I used a Flourish Mask and a Copic YG95 marker with a Copic Airbrush System to airbrush the mask onto my canvas.

It looked a little too rigid for me, so I saturated a square of textured paper towel with the 0 Copic Various ink (clear blender fluid) and patted my airbrushed canvas, giving it a bit more of a fluid look.

Wanting still more background interest, I stamped the CHF Leaves backgrounderonto the canvas with white ink. That's it--it's ready to embellish with a sentiment and some Grungepaper shapes.

 

Next I cut my grungepaper shapes with a flower die, and the scrollwork with a Flourish Accents die. I used the same steps shown in last week's post, except that I ran the flower shapes through a Cuttlebug folder after finishing them. I used foam tape to layer the flower for added dimension.

For the sentiment I chose a verse from the Mona Lisa Moments Scripture Essentials 1 set and stamped it on vellum cardstock in Coffee Bean Brilliance ink before heat embossing it with clear embossing powder. I then sponged the edges with some Vintage Photo Distress ink, scraped the edges, and sewed around them. The accessories on the side are a mini paper clip and a button from my stash. Pearl accents (visible in the top photo) are found here.

Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today!

Spring Fling Challenge by Sharon Harnist

When asked to choose a stamp from Karen Lockhart's latest release that would have something to do with my Mother, I immediately said this Wicker Chair.  The house I grew up in had a screened-in patio/sun room on the back that had a table and wicker chairs just like this one!  I have lots of fond memories of just sitting & chatting, drinking iced tea with my family.  Although those chairs had bright orange cushions (hey, it was the 70's, LOL!), I paper pieced these with pretty pink patterned paper:

Above is the portion of my project that fits with the sketch we were challenged to use.  It started out as a card, but not with much of the pretty patterned paper showing, so I decided to expand it to 6-inches and it grew into this scrapbook-type of frame that I'll be giving my Mom for Mother's Day!  The BasicGrey Urban Prairie papers I chose carried out the color portion of our challenge -- this floral pattern has all the colors in it.  Here's the full project:

(Sorry for the strange angle -- both pages are 6-inches square, but I couldn't get a good photo of the picture without tilting to this strange angle to prevent glare!).  

The scalloped frame on the left side was made with Spellbinders Scalloped Edge Frame die set which is approximately 5-1/8" x 4" but I cut two of the frames and spliced some extra pieces into the sides of one, to make it 5-1/8" x 5-3/4".  (It appears you all scooped up the last of this die set while I was making my project, but I'll update here if Ellen expects to get more into the store.)  The crystal gemstones are covering the cuts on the left and right sides; gems were also added to the top and bottom to balance out the project.

I used the patterned paper that I cut the cushions out of as a mask when I airbrushed BG13 and YG03 for the sky and grass.  Then I colored the rest of the image with the Copic markers listed in my supply list below:

I used the new Chocolate Copic Spica Glitter Pen (available soon!) over E31 Copic marker for the sides of the chair -- I love the bit of sparkle it added!  Summer Art Flowers and an Urban Prairie button carry out the circle element of the sketch.

The right side of my frame was made with the negative space left when I die cut one of the large Scalloped Edge Frames:

I added "grandma's" with Kim Hughes' Playful Alphabet and Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, then I went over it with Pink Spica Glitter Pen.  The "girls" was made with a stamp from Kim's Little Gal stamp set that said "girly" ... I just used a marker to selectively ink just a portion of the "y" to make it into an "s"!  Then I went over it with Copic's new Baby Blue Spica Glitter Pen (available soon!). 

"Girls" was die cut with Classic Circle Nestabilities and then framed with Classic Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (one cut from the same floral patterned paper as under the chair and one cut from the same turquoise paper as the scalloped lace).  The lace was cut with Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Edger Punch (which was still showing in the store when I started this project, but appears you all scooped it up with the sale this weekend!  I'm sure it will be back in stock soon).

I backed each of the 6-inch pages with Craft-A-Board and covered the backs with more paper from this same Urban Prairie collection (yellow is my Mom's favorite color!):

 

The Round It All 1/2" Corner Rounder easily cuts through these two layers of paper and the Craft-A-Board, to round the outside corners.  Holes were punched and tied with ribbon, so the two pieces will stay together and form their own stand.

I'm glad I'm all ready for Mother's Day a little early and can't wait to see what the other girls did with the challenges!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Lockhart Wicker Chair, Kim Hughes Playful Alphabet & Little Gal
• Paper: BasicGrey Urban Prairie, Neenah Natural White
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Inks: Worn Lipstick & Shabby Shutters 
• Copic Markers: RV17, RV34, YG03, YG17, BG13, E31, E55, E57, YR31, W1
• Copic Spica Glitter Pens: Chocolate & Baby Blue (coming soon!); Pink
• Spellbinders Dies: Classic & Classic Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Small & Large Labels, Scalloped Edge Frame (Which appears to be out of stock at the moment.  You could substitute either of these frames).
• Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, Craft-A-Board, Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edger Punch, Round It All 1/2" Corner Rounder, Summer Art Flowers, BasicGrey Urban Prairie Buttons, Clear Crystal Gemstones,