the CLASSroom

Finding Inspiration in Unexpected Places by Debbie Olson

A few days ago I received an e-mail ad from the Land of Nod featuring children's bedding. As I browsed through the girls' comforters (purely for inspiration since I have no girl), I ran across the sweetest bed ensemble that inspired me to create a card. For today's CLASSroom post, I thought I would document the process and perhaps encourage you to seek inspiration from unexpected sources. 

I had one more objective in making this card: a few days ago Jennifer McGuire, creative powerhouse for Hero Arts, began a Cards for Kate drive asking card makers to make cards for five-year-old Kate who has brain cancer. This card is for Kate. Would you consider making a card for Kate or her family too?

I started by choosing some Memory Box cardstock in colors approximating the comforter above.

Next I chose some CHF Scrapblocks reminiscent of the patterns in the comforter, Tulle Damask for the top, stamped in Red Pepper Adirondack ink, and Fiery Floral for the bottom, stamped in Brilliance Coffee Bean. In order to stamp a single flower from the Fiery Floral background, I used some Eclipse Tape to reverse-mask the flower. 

Making the mask took a bit of fiddling; my first mask was a mirror image of what I needed, so I trimmed it and laid it on a second piece of Eclipse Tape, cutting a second hole in the same place as the first. Then I flipped the double mask upside down and taped it to my scrapblock. There is probably a simpler way, but that was how I did it.  

After layering my top pattern and bottom pattern, I sewed around the card perimeter in brown thread. Next, on the green cardstock, I used one of the Fleur de Lis border dies to cut and emboss a border, through which I laced a piece of white grosgrain ribbon. This is what the strip looked like from the back after lacing the ribbon through. I find it simpler to tie a bow separately and attach it with a mini glue dot than to try to tie a nice bow through the holes in the die-cut strip.

For finishing details, I chose some small brown buttons and added a pink heart rhinestone to the center of each button. 

That's is--a pink card for a sweet little girl! Thank you for visiting 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

Cool Mist card by Kim Hughes

When I think of these trees, I think of cool colors.  So, I thought it might be fun to try using colored pencils on grungeboard and I love the soft result.

 

Supplies:

Basic Grey Buttons, Granola

Martha Stewart Baker's Twine, Solids

Kim Hughes, Autumn Trees PRECUT

Grungepaper

Distress Ink Pad, Frayed Burlap

EEE2 Notecards and Envelopes, Robin's Egg

other:

colored pencils

sheer white ribbon

 

Stamp both trees onto the grungepaper.  I colored the owl a little bit more with a brown colored pencil.  The brand of colored pencils you use, is up to you.

 

Next, color the trees with a white colored pencil  You might also like to try using a white crayon.  No need to color in perfectly...it will give it a grunged, artistic look.

 

use a light orange pencil to color a moon and pick up the white pencil again and color over it to appear like clouds.

 

Use a light blue pencil to color in the rest of the image.  Using a darker blue color with give it a drastic night effect.

 

Go over the moon once again with a darker orange color and accentuate the clouds.

 

Once you are dome coloring, cut down the grungepaper and machine sew around the edge.  Mat onto a cool mint colored card base and add a ribbon treatment consisting of a clear button and twine knotted center.

I am so happy that you stopped by today, thank you.  :)

End of Summer Trees Trio by Debbie Olson

Welcome to the CLASSroom!  In my part of the country (Debbie,from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan), the days are starting to get cooler and a few maple trees here and there are shifting into their fall finery at the very tops. I wanted to make a fall card for today's post, and I was regretting not having Kim's latest seasonal stamps sets. Then it occurred to me to color the Spring Trees trio as if they were trees at the end of the summer, on the verge of fall.

I started by stamping the trees in Memento Rich Cocoa ink on Natural White cardstock and coloring with the Copic markers shown below, YG91, YG95, and Y21.

For the tree trunks I used E55 and E57, and for the pair of bird in the foreground, Y21, Y23, and YR18.

I chose my favorite sheet of Memory Box Butterfield paper for the background, Since I am always zig-zag stitching rolling hills, I thought I'd switch gears and show you a no-sew way to get a similar look.

I used a pair of pinking shears to cut along the hills and then sanded the pinked top edges before layering the hills on a sheet of background cardstock.

 

For creating depth, I was using foam tape, which is fairly thin. My top hill layer has one layer of foam tape, while the one underneath it has two thicknesses of foam tape, and so on.

 

I finished it with a length of twill tape, tied in a bow and topped with a button--FALL trees!

Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today.

Debbie Olson

Fall Piece Owl by Sharon Harnist

Fall is almost upon us -- it's one of my favorite times of the year!  So when I saw all these fabulous new Fall & Holiday Memory Box stamps and papers, I thought this darling owl would look great with this new Twilight paper.

I started by stamping the owl onto four different patterns of Memory Box's new Twilight papers:

and also onto Neenah Natural White cardstock.  Then I cut out the patterns and glued them to the white cardstock.  TIP: If your stamped lines are hard to see on darker patterns of paper, try holding the paper up to a light source -- usually you'll be able to see the stamped lines perfectly!  Ms. Owl is popped up on dimensional foam tape, perched on the branch of the patterned paper.

Her eyes are accented with Black & Clear Copic Spica Glitter pen and were colored with the Copic markers listed in the supply section below.  Black 100 Copic marker was used to color her inner ears -- the Copic totally covers the pattern in the paper, giving an easy extra dimension to her head.

The leaves were all punched from the same Memory Box papers as used for the owl, using Martha Stewart's Maple Leaf punch, and were machine stitched to the Memory Box Pea Pod notecard.  A button tied with Martha Stewart's Baker's Twine (the cocoa colored twine, colored with black Copic marker) was used in the upper right corner, to resemble a big orange harvest moon, casting that orange shadow into the night sky!  A custom sentiment made with my label maker finishes off this card.  Oh, and the distressed edges -- I just can't seem to stop using Tim Holtz's Paper Distresser, I think it lends a wonderful, interesting texture to just about anything!

• Stamps: Memory Box Scalloped Owl
• Paper: Memory Box Pea Pod Notecard & Twilight patterned paper, Neenah Natural White cardstock 
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, Copic Markers-Y38, YG63, YR31, 100 and Spica Glitter Pens-Clear & Pitch Black
• Accessories: Martha Stewart Maple Leaf punch & Baker's Twine (colored with Copic 100), Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, Button

Cosmo Cricket Mini Decks and Graphic 45 are Here :)

Yeah!!! Can you see me jumping up and down, and running around the warehouse, giddy with excitement?!? Three of the four mini decks have arrived - Jolly by Golly, Earth Love and Early Girl. As usual we all have to wait for "the Boyfriend" - why is it that men are so slow sometimes? LOL! OK, I'm just kidding, but it usually is my DH who we sit in the car waiting for rather than myself (insert silly grin.) The trim (oddly enough the Boyfriend trim is here without the Boyfriend) and "the Boyfriend" are scheduled to arrive at Cosmo headquarters soon. They have promised me they will have them on their way to me ASAP. I'm holding them to that promise :D

Graphic 45 is also here!!! Christmas Past, Domestic Goddess (we are tempted to paste these papers all over our walls here at work in hopes that it will inspire us to become "domestic goddesses" ourselves - LOL!) and Renaissance Faire are all absolutely, totally, incredibly... STUNNING!!! Once again Diane has done an incredible job putting these lines together!

Yet, MORE punches have arrived and I have word that many of the our latest Spellbinder Dies are on the road as well!!! Let the fall creating begin - all these wonderful goodies have my brain just running in circles, and I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is to wait for each of our teams creations throughout the week! YUMMY! So stay tuned :D

If you don't subscribe to simple dreams I must tell you that I have shared the above creation over there tonight because I just couldn't leave those papers alone!

Inchie School Card by Kim Hughes

It's never too early to think about teacher's gifts and cards.  Plus, with kids getting back to school, it's the perfect time to play with school theme stamps.  I am totally feelin' it.

 

Supplies:

Adirondack Dye Ink Pad, Ginger

Flower Soft, Summer

Chipboard Squares 1"x 1"

All Things Considered, School Primer PRECUT and Kim Hughes, Making the Grade (Cornish Heritage Farms

Martha Stewart Baker's Twine, Solids

Art Flowers, White & Cream

EEE2 Cardstock, Robin's Egg and white card stock (Memory Box)

Other:

Chestnut Roan ink by Clearsnap

Zva Creative dimensional foam circles

 

start with white card stock and cut into 1 inch squares.  Pick out school theme stamps that have a pattern or small images to fit on such a small surface.

 

Then place the stamp onto the inchie and press.  It's alright to have some of the image cut off.

 

Here is what all of the images look like once stamped.

 

I then added the paper squares onto chipboard inchie squares and placed them on my card along with soem flower accents.

 

I decided to add some dimension to the flower centers.  I thought about the double sided, dimensional foam circles that are sticky on both sides.

 

Pel off one side of the sticker and press into the Flower Soft container

 

There you have it, easy peasy fu flower centers to jazz up the card.

Then add a twine border and stamp sentiment.

Thank you so much for joining me today. :)

Canvas Bird Friend Card by Debbie Olson

 

Welcome to the CLASSroom! I'm still playing with bird images, but this time I'm using a Nested Bird die set and and some Claudine Helmuth Sticky-Back Canvas, combined with some Cosmo Cricket Early BIrd papers (Cherry Pie and Farmer's Market). Please note that I have used 12" x 12" papers here; I'm waiting for my 6" x 6" pads to arrive! The patterns will be approximately 25% of the size you see here in the 6" x 6" pads, and they are on the truck--yay!

I began by cutting the medium and small bird image from sticky-back canvas with a set of nested bird dies. As you can see, the die does not cut all of the way through the canvas and backing material, but it cuts through far enough that it's simple to snip out quickly. 

I used the medium Nested Bird for the bird body and the small bird for the wing, covering the beak with a button. (This is not my original idea; I think I saw Sharon Harnist use the smaller bird for a wing last year.) Next I used a Ranger Juniper Acrylic Dabber to paint the bird. If you have the Studio Acrylics line, you could probably mix a bit of Classic Teal with some Landscape Green to approximate the color of the bird. I was using what I had on hand. 

For the background, I pieced together some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird, along with a stamped line of sentiment from the Kim Hughes Pretty Birds stamp set.  Most of the type ended up covered, but it seemed a bit sparse without it altogether.

A bit of sewing, a small tag, and a ribbon finished my card off. Other dies that I used were the Border, Deckle, and Scallop die and the Double-Ended Tags die (cut to length after stamping my tag).I really enjoyed using the sticky-back canvas; its texture is such a simple and fabulous addition to almost any paper-crafted item. Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today!

P.S. Through Monday, August 17, Ellen has a storewide sale going on. The promo code to type in at checkout is the word thrifty. Enjoy!

Debbie Olson

"thrifty" shopper alert

This little special announcement is especially designed for those of you who are our faithful blog readers. As always we thank you for your support - we appreciate you so very much! Also be certain to visit our In Touch blog to be inspired by Sharon's fabulous creation for this month's newsletter!

Save 15%

Thrifty Shopper Alert!   This coupon is valid on EVERYTHING we carry in our store (in-stock items only.) This offer cannot be combined with any other coupon code. Please note that once an item is no longer visible on our website it means we are currently out of stock - so shop early! Please note that upon completion of your order the discounted price will be listed on the individual product line and not at the end of the invoice. Please join us by shopping at Ellen Hutson LLC or contact us at [email protected] with any questions you might have. Upon reaching the checkout page please type in the following promotion code exactly as shown to receive your special discount - thrifty

Offer Valid: Saturday, August 15, 2009 through Monday, August 17, 2009

Trick or Treat - how to create your own 3-D scene inside your greeting cards

As a child I was always enamoured with minature doll houses. The rooms would be wallpapered and the itty bitty furniture covered in exquisite little print fabrics. It was Beate's Stairstep creation that got my mind whirling when the Splitcoaststampers Newsletter arrived in my inbox. It got me thinking about how I could use my stamps to create a minature scene.

The new Memory Box stamps that we just got in were beaconing me from afar. So on Thursday evening when my little one was at camp I stayed late here at work and began my creative adventure.

 

It started with the cat and the table. I knew that I needed more substance to the lamp then the base provided and decided to create a light pattern. Using Eclipse Twins I created my lines and airbrushed with the Y21 marker, spraying a little heavier along the edges to create depth.

The lamp shade was pieced with the new Twilight papers. I must say that I think this is a must have series of papers. The scale of these is FABULOUS for paper piecing - something I adore :) I then colored the table base with a neutral Copic and added additional "woody" texture using my Prismacolor pencils.

I think that the pièce de résistance of this little creation are those adorable mice. I had some of the test strips of the new Martha Stewart punches sitting on my desktop and it was almost one of those "slap your head moments" when I spotted these mice. OVER THE TOP hilarious and cute is all I could think. Look how the cat has her head turned and the mice are all scampering around her. OK, so I'm perhaps a little odd, but I think it is absolutely hilarious!

By cutting the mouse strip in pieces I was able to completely surround the regal cat.

 

Next came the window. Once again I airbrushed the open window and then colored in the frame and pumpkin with a combination of Copic Markers and Prismacolor pencils. The shade was made by stamping on patterned paper and gluing it in place. What is a window treatment without a little "bling?" A row of Halloween jewels added just enough sparkle to make me happy.

Next came the staircase. Stamping on two separate pieces of patterned paper and then piecing the base in a similar manner to the method I used on this month's stamp of the month quilt I added dimension to this piece. Using W2 I added shadows to the "wallpaper" behind the stair spindles. If you ever need to add a vintage quality to your patterned papers, just grab your "W" series of Copic markers. They are perfect for creating that aged look.

The chair and bird were a little tricky to cut out - LOL! BUT I was determined!!! First I stamped the image on white Neenah CS. I stamped it a second time on the floral pattern and cut out only the seat. A must have tool when gluing these tiny pieces to their bases is the Quickie Glue pen.

 

Now I needed to create my floor. I love the diverse patterns in this series of paper and selected one that I felt could represent a carpeted floor. Coming up with the measurements for the little "pop-up" folds was the trickiest part of this project. The "test pieces" (said with "tongue in cheek" because they were not intended to be test pieces) I created will atest to this being the part I needed to figure out previous to creating this little "masterpiece."

I will hopefully spare you a little of my pain by laying it out for you. Ü What I would like to suggest to you is that you create the little pieces that you would like to use in your 3-D scene. Cut them out and determine the placement of these items. Then measure the items when they are placed flat on the card base to determine the base distance from the fold or the edge of the card.

The cat is the largest and for perspective purposes I wanted it at the front of my little scene. To ensure that it would lay flat inside the card without bending it needed to be at the front edge. The back stairs and chair are smaller and could fold forwards, but I also wanted to be certain that they would remain within the inside "walls" of the card.

I cut my decorative "carpet and wallpaper" to 5 1/2" in width so that the paper would fit nicely to the interior of my card. First I attached the wallpaper, scoring it at the fold. 

Next I created my carpeted area. To try and simplify this for you I have created a PDF file of the 5 1/2"w x 6"l piece of decorative paper.

Download Room Scene

Using my Scor-It I was able to score and precisely fold this piece. I then applied adhesive inside the peeks to hold them together and affixed this piece firmly to the interior of my card.

As you can see I added little "tabs" to the bases of some of the pieces to hold them in position behind the folds. The first fold with the cat attached folds back into the card and the back two folds flip forwards.

I needed to still create the "front" of the card and wanted to keep it simple. What would be more perfect coming in to this room scene than two little "Trick or Treaters?"

A little masking to create more of those fun light patterns, some extra color and my card was complete. I'm so silly proud of this little thing - LOL! It makes me giddy to open it up and play with the pieces. Perhaps I should be going back to my interior design work rather than playing with paper, but because I am so devoted to what it is that I am currently doing I guess I'll just try and satisfy that desire in new ways.

For those of you who love to decorate, I encourage you to give this a try. It was so over-the-top fun to do something so different Ü

stamps:  Cat and Lamp, Chair and Bird, Shady Window, Staircase and Pumpkin, Trick or Treaters, Happy Halloween

ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

markers/pencils: COPIC - B0000, Y28, YG00, YR14, YR07, E19, W00, W2, 100; Prismacolor - Jasmine, Metallic Gold, Burnt Ochre, Chocolate, Sepia, Mineral Orange, Pumpkin Orange, Apple Green

paper:  Twilight 6x6 paper pad, Neenah Solar White, Jack O Lantern Notecard, Black Cardstock

other:  Martha Stewart Edge Punch with Wings, Mice; Scor-It, Halloween MB Jewels, Clear Spica, Eclipse Twins, Fingertip Craft Knife, Snips, Rectangle Nestabilities

image shadows by Kim Hughes

Hello everyone.  I have missed the CLASSroom dearly during my move and I am thrilled to be back!  I'd like to show you a very easy way to add a shadow to an image.  I used rub-ons on my card, but this technique can easily be applied to stamps as well.

 

Supplies:

Basic Grey Bling It On Alpha Series, Best Value Complete Set

Basic Grey 12"x12" Collection, June Bug

Memory Box - Jack O Lantern card stock (card base)

COPIC Sketch Marker R27, Cadmium Red

Mona Lisa Moments, You're a Classic (sentiment)

Adirondack Dye Ink Pad, Pitch Black

Paper Distresser, Tim Holtz

Martha Stewart Baker's Twine, Solids

other:

scalloped scissors

Start by distressing the edges of the deep orange card base with a distressing tool

I decided to be a little "green savvy" and used the cover page of the Basic Grey Collection pack.  You will need the same image, in white and black.  If you are using stamps, you will need white and black ink.

 

Once I decided which portion of the cover page that I would like to use, I cut it down and distressed the edges.  I love how this page has perfectly spaced, miniature patters on it.

 

I then decided to add a scalloped edge to the bottom of the paper panel, so I drew a line on the back side of my paper for a guide.  This line helps a ton to line up scalloped edges

 

I sewed around the paper panel and added the scalloped border strip along the bottom.

 

Apply white rub-on (or stamp with white ink)

 

place the black rub-on sheet on top of the white image.  Once you have decided where it will go, carefully rub it on.  In most cases, the shadow will be on the bottom portion of the image.

 

and this is what it will look like.  You can experiment with different colors of rub-ons or inks.

 

Change the color of the clear jewels with a red Copic marker.

 

Tie a green bow at the base of the flower and stamp sentiment onto the top of the card.  Voila, it's as easy as that to add a beautiful, interesting accent.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Stamp of the Month Inchie Spotlight by Sharon Harnist

Supplies:

• Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company Rocking Chair (Stamp of the Month)
• Paper: Basic Grey Ambrosia, Neenah Classic Cream
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Sketch markers (colors shown below)
• Accessories: Spellbinders Labels Three Nestabilities dies, Inchie Arts White Inchie Squares, Prima  Jellie Ribbon Lace, Basic Grey Buttons-Ambrosia

This sweet Lockhart Rocking Chair stamp is included in this month's Stamp of the Month packet (hopefully it's still showing available in the store by the time you read this!).  I thought I would show you some other ideas for it, once you get it home.

I chose to do a spotlight technique and focus on the basket of apples.  By stamping the chair image on gray paper (Basic Grey Ambrosia) and a portion of the image on an Inchie Arts White Inchie Square, this allows the main focus to be on the apple basket, while the chair recedes into the background.  After stamping onto the Inchie, I colored with these Copic markers:

My custom lighter Copic YR31 on the bottom left (created with 2 parts Colorless Blender and 1 part YR31 Various Ink Refill in an empty Various Refill bottle, then put into an empty Sketch marker) was used to make a sunshiney background.  The YR21 is the first layer I used on my apple tops and then I continued shading the apples with R02, R08 & R29.

The image was then die cut with Labels Three Nestabilities die and the Inchie adhered over the top of the stamped image. 

TIP: I used my N7 Copic marker to edge the die cut -- this covers the white edges of the paper where it was cut and gives a little bit of pop to the edges of the die cut, makig it more prominent. 

Two more patterns from the Ambrosia 6x6 paper pad were adhered to the A2 sized (5.50" x 4.25") cream card base, then machine stitched.  The focal image was then added with foam dimensional tape and pretty Prima crocheted lace trim and buttons complete the rustic/vintage look I was going for. 

There are a variety of Lockhart sentiments that could accent this image well ... Cozy, Friends, Give Thanks, "Get comfy, rest and get better", "sit back and relax".  I chose one of my favorites, "thanks a bunch" to compliment the highlighted bounty of apples.

I hope this sparks some ideas on how you can use this sweet Rocking Chair image or to highlight other images with this Inchie spotlight technique!

Bye Bye Birdie by Debbie Olson

Welcome to the CLASSroom!  Today I have a going away card for you. I've wanted to play with bird images lately, and this one from the Kim Hughes Pretty Birds set, combined with a branch and sentiment from the Landing Pad, seemed to be perfect with some Cosmo Cricket Earth Love papers (coming to the storefront soon). 

I started by choosing a background, Remember for the sky and Recycle for the ground. Next I hand cut some rolling hills, sanded their edges, and zig-zag-stitched them to the cloud background.

I stamped the bird and tree branch on Natural White cardstock with Rich Cocoa Memento ink and colored them with Copic markers: E55, E57, YR21, and YR24.

After trimming closely around my colored images, I mounted them on foam tape and attached them to the card front. I stamped the sentiment in Rich Cocoa Memento on Natural White as well and then cut and embossed it with a Double Ended tags die, trimming the die-cut to the right length after stamping and cutting it. 

For finishing touches, I added a twill bow and some Antique Linen Distress Stickles to the dandelion centers--sweet and simple! Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom blog today.

Debbie Olson

Stamp of the Month, August

Creating this month's stamp of the month project was so much fun! When I first caught sight of the new Martha Stewart punches I could hardly wait to turn the little word punches in to tab-like accents. (I have tried to remember to list all of the products used at the end of this post under "supplies" and include links when appropriate.) I know that not everyone is going to have this punch and would like to suggest that you use a little word stamp to create a tab to take the place of the punch if you need a replacement.

 

To begin stamp the Rocking Chair image on Neenah Solar White paper.

 

As you can see I started with three very different colors for the apples - Y21, R14 and R29. Once I had the images colored without blending, I colored back over the top using R02 to blend the colors by saturating the area with this color. As you can see it did "blur" outside my lines, but I wasn't worried about this because I wanted it to have a rather rustic feel and I knew that I would be coloring over top of many of these areas with other colors.

  

To create the patterned quilt on the rocking chair I just couldn't help myself - I HAD to paper piece it with the fabulous little designs that Dave has included in his latest Memory Box paper collection, Twilight. This newest release of Memory Box papers is absolutely delicious! I love, love, love the scale and balance of the colors in these new collections.

The tricky part is being able to see your stamped image lines on the dark color. So I used this piece as my base and then cut out the sections to be pieced from the lighter color patterned piece. The Quickie Glue Pen is essential when piecing such tiny pieces! Using the Copic Multiliner .03 I added some stitching back on top of my light colored pieces.

Before attaching the quilt to the my main image I colored the base of the blanket with E79 and added a little black Prismacolor for shadowing. I also colored the seat cushion with YG00. Adding Limepeel and Dark Green with Prismacolor pencils added some texture to the seat cushion, making it more "fabric-like."

To add the last sparkle to the apples I applied Clear Glaze and a little subtle sparkle to the butterfly and trail with the Stardust Glitter Pen. I still turn to this pen on occassion when I want my "glitter" element to not be silver or gold. The Stardust Glitter Pen seems to change with the light and I find that element appealing in some situations.

 

Finally I "dirtied" up the image just a bit with my ink blending tool and some Tea Dye ink. If you have an airbrush system this is the perfect time to pull it out instead.

 

To complete the pull-out tab I punched two separate Thanks sentiments, from both Jack O Lantern and Key Lime, shadowing them as I attached them to my white base. This tag is then slipped in behind the chair with only the words peeking out for a little surprise element to your card.

With school just around the corner I felt that this was not only a great fall image, but could easily be used when your child brings their new teacher and "apple." What sweeter way is there to say thank you to those who give so much of themselves to our children?!?

 

stamp of the month packet (available in limited quantities)

stamps: Rocking Chair (Lockhart)

ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tea Dye Distress Ink

markers/pencils: COPIC Sketch Markers - Y21, R14, R29, R02, E08, E19, E79, YG00; COPIC Multiliner .03; Prismacolor Pencils - Limepeel, Dark Green, Burnt Ochre, Sepia

paper: Twilight 6x6, Jack O Lantern NC and CS, Key Lime CS (Memory Box); Neenah Solar White

other: Martha Stewart Edger Punch with Wings -Thanks, Clear Glaze Pen, Stardust Glitter Pen, Yellow Suede Ribbon, Colored Staples, Nestability Squares, Quickie Glue Pen

Graphic Framed Botanics by Sharon Harnist

I'd been playing with the idea of stamping on fabric but then remembered the fabric-type qualities of Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Back Canvas, so I decided to use that instead.  The nice thing about the canvas is that I could use any of Claudine's Studio paints to get the exact color of "fabric" I wanted!  Here's the project I came up with ... a 5"x7" piece of botanical framed artwork:

Supplies:

• Stamps: Kim Hughes Silhouette Blooms II
• Paper: Graphic 45 Botanicabella collection (Antiquity & Secret Garden) & Botanicabella Tags
• Ink & Paint: Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints-Landscape Green & Charcoal Black
• Accessories: Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas, Sunflower Dew Drops, Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Sanding block 

After choosing which papers wanted to use from Graphic 45's Botanicabella collection, I custom-mixed a green shade of paint, to match the green in my papers:

I started with Landscape Green, but as you can see in the photo below, it was a little too light and bright to go with my papers (straight out of the jar Landscape Green is on the right):

I mixed a little bit of black into the Landscape Green, to get a deeper green shade (left in the photo above).  After painting the canvas and allowing it to dry, I used Charcoal Black Studio paint on Kim Hughes' Silhouette Blooms II stamps to stamp the flowers onto the canvas.

TIP: Immediately after stamping, be sure to clean your stamps ... otherwise, you'll be scrubbing for days to get that dried paint off your stamps (ask me how I know this)! 

After the painted canvas was thoroughly dry, I lightly sanded the entire surface of the canvas, to let more of the canvas texture show through and to soften up the canvas some (the dried paint stiffens the canvas a little).  Hopefully you can see some of that texture in the photo below:

The result ended up looking like a printed fabric!  I also distressed the edges of the canvas with the Tim Holtz Paper Distresser.  The butterfly strip above and tag below are both from the Botanicabella Tags sheet.  Below, I stamped Kim Hughes' "Live Love bloom" sentiment onto the tag using a Stamp-a-ma-Jig to aid in precise placement and added amber Dew Drops to enhance the tag (there's a little bit of the same amber color in this butterfly tag, as well as the butterfly strip at the top):

Machine stitching finishes off the canvas.  I found this frame at the dollar store.  It was the size I wanted (5"x7") and shaped to be the shadow box effect I was looking for but was pink!  So I also painted it with Claudine's Charcoal Black Studio paint and then lightly brushed it with the Landscape Green, to compliment the green on the canvas and patterned paper.

The next time you think fabric might work well in your project, try using this canvas -- I think you'll find it easy to work with and add that bit of "fabric" flare you are looking for!