Things I Want To Do

{jane bosi} On the last day of 2015, I cannot think of any better advice that that found in the Technique Junkie stamp set, Things I Want To Do!

I've combined these words of wisdom with one of my most favorite floral images, also from Technique Junkie stamps, Flourished Floral.  I love the eclectic feel of the image and its versatility.  Above, I've watered colored the image with distress inks.  Here, I embossed the image onto a stone tile and then colored with Copic markers:

So many great ways to use it all!!  Have a great, and safe New Years---be sure to visit the Technique Junkie blog tomorrow--New Year, New Stamps and we are hoppin' with inspiration to share with you all!!

Until tomorrow--be awesome!  Jane

Making the New Year Weird

It's nearly time to say cheers to the old year and welcome in the new!

I created this card in true celebratory spirit, just letting the ink drop and drip where it may.  But first, I stamped the sentiment, from SS048 Double Weird Sayings, with Stazon Jet Black ink and scribbled over the top of it with a wax crayon to create a resist.

I stamped the cocktail glass from Palettini PS006 Spirited Bunch with Stazon in Metallic Gold on a separate piece of cardstock, and painted it with the gold shimmer ink to fill my glass.  I adhered this to the cardfront and outlined it with a graphite pencil, smudging the lines to make it stand out more against the background.

So cheers to you! I hope you have some creative time set aside over the New Year weekend.

Sally Lynn MacDonald
www.facebook.com/sallylynn.macdonald
www.SallyLynnMacDonald.com

Winter Wonderland Tag

Good morning Junkies!  Since Winter has officially arrived, I thought I'd create a tag that was appropriately wintery looking.

1)  Stamp Whimsical Winter on a large tag using Azure Sky and Sooty Blue ink.  

2)  Mask of your stamped image then stamp Star Power with Versamark ink.  Sprinkle with silver embossing powder and heat emboss.

3)  With the Whimsical Winter image still masked off, spray the entire tag with Art Anthology Ink Spot.  Dry and then wipe with a baby wipe.  The silver embossing will resist the ink.

4)  I wanted my trees greener and sparkly so I painted them with Art Anthology Parakeet Sorbet.  When dry, add snow using Cotton Velvet.

5)  Stamp Winter Wonderland from Winter Wonderland Sayings Set of 3 with black ink then clear emboss.  Add to the top of your tag.

6)  Run blue sparkly fiber around the edge of your tag.

7)  Paint wood stars with Splashed Sorbet and then scatter them across your tag.

8)  Finish with some variegated blue fiber and white eyelash fiber.

This tag does take a bit to do, but I think the end result was worth the effort. 

Until later......................
Marilyn

Bringing in the New Year...

Good morning Junkies! Pam here today. I hope everyone had a wonderful and Merry Christmas.  The weather here was just delightful-almost 70 degrees. I hate to admit it but we could have used just a small, albeit very small dusting of snow for just the day, lol.

Now that the Christmas rush is over, it time to focus on the New Year 2016...so this card does just that.

This card features the Happy New Year sentiment stamp and the Star Power back ground stamp. Star power makes such a festive back ground for a New Year's card! It was stamped with Versamark Ink and covered with Ranger Silver embossing powder to make it sparkle.  Some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls spray and various Distress Marker colors were added with the mister!

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy 2016!

Embrace Imperfection!

Pam

  

Sweetheart Card from A Bushel and A Hug

Hello Junkies! Jerri here to share a quick card today.

I know, I know. We don't even have Christmas out of the way and I'm already thinking ahead to Valentines Day.  Hey, it pays to think ahead sometimes.  

This Card was made using Sweetheart Pillow Ticking and I Love You stamp SDX033.

This card is pretty straight forward but thinking ahead, though it could be a real cute card for Valentines Day.  I stamped the background stamp on white card stock and embossed in gold.  I matted it with a coral pink paper.  Next I stamped the sentiment in black matted it on the same coral paper as well.  

The card turned out very pretty.  The color didn't quite come through in the photo but of course you could do this in any color you like.  

Marry Christmas to you and yours!

Jerri

Silver & Gold

Christmas is almost here Junkies and today it's The Crafty Nurse here with some holiday inspiration for you.  I hope you get a chance to get inky this holiday week, I know I will.

For my card I began by stamping "Christmas Tree, Set of 6" with Flitterglu and applied Indigo Blu Mega Flake in Chariots of Faire and Winter Dawn.  I did the same process with the fabulous "Snowflakes" stamp then sprayed it all with "Gilded Gold" Fairy Dust by Art Anthology.

For my card base I created an interlocking die background by cutting a flag die out of Silver and Gold pattern paper then lined them up to create a fun background.  This is a take on the Herringbone background.  For my sentiment I used the Tim Holtz Holiday words "noel" die.

We here at Technique Junkies wish each and every one of you and your families the most wonderful holidays and look forward to showing you the great new release coming on January 1st!

The Crafty Nurse

Contemporary Floral

Hello folks, it's Beth Norman here with a bright card for you.  I fell in love with this Contemporary Floral stamp and scooped it up.  My sentiment is from Simple Sentiments 2a.

I sprayed my background with Dylusions ink and sponged SU Marina Mist over top a stencil. Next, I heat embossed Contemporary Floral with white embossing powder, and stamped out my sentiment in Marina Mist. Last, I matted my image in Marina Mist.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season.  I'm working 3-11 on Christmas Day, but I had Christmas with my daughter on the weekend, and our family Christmas will be at my place on December 26th.

Cheers!

Love My Shoes!

Nearly every woman knows that the right shoes can "make" the outfit!  I don't know many women who (even as we grow older and older) do not want their shoes to meet 2 basic qualifications: comfort and style.  These two characteristics bounce back and forth in importance depending on how and when we will wear a particular pair of shoes. But no matter what the occasion or purpose for our shoes, women still want comfort and style in our shoes. Even the women I know who would be classified as "senior citizen" want their shoes to be stylish and/or cute.  So we love our shoes.  

I always had more shoes than my husband did. And he had more shoes than most men.  But retirement has brought about different needs for different styles of shoes than when I was working. But style and comfort are still important.  

So I just love this Technique Junkie November Release stamp Love My Shoes! http://techniquejunkies.com/love-my-shoes/.   I also used the November Release Technique Junkie stamp Celebrate in Style http://techniquejunkies.com/celebrate-in-style/.  Don't they go together perfectly?

I used the Antique Glimmers technique for the background and then stamp the shoe randomly over the background.  I inked up the shoe in a pigment ink (and the sentiment) and covered both with clear embossing powder and heat embossed them both. I used dye based markers to water color the shoe and added a few rhinestones for bling.  I layered the shoe on a vellum overlay to add a little more depth. I ran the shoe through my Xyron machine so I knew it would stick down very well.  I punched out the sentiment and layered it on another punched out piece of bright pink card stock.  

For the second card, I used the same Technique Junkie shoe stamp,heat embossed it with clear embossing powder, and color it in with Copic markers. For the background panel I stamped the Technique  stamp Love Fulfilled http://techniquejunkies.com/love-fulfilled/.  I stamped it on a white piece of card stock and then spayed it with Art Anthology Colorations Sprays. http://techniquejunkies.com/techniques-and-tutorials/products-and-accessories/?sort=featured&page=3.  I stamped the sentiment Live in the Present http://techniquejunkies.com/live-in-the-present/ on a piece of vellum and then tore the vellum to add interst. I placed it on the background panel placing the adhesive under the shoes. The shoe is popped up with foam tape that I could easily cut to fit correctly. 

Both of these shoe cards are very different and very unique in how I used the stamp.Do you have a favoite.

I hope your fingers are getting inky!

A Zebra Does Not Change It's Spots

Hi, it's Gini and today I have a witty card for you.  I used the Zebra ATC but first stamped the spotted background using the Palettini Wasted stamp.  The sentiment is from the Zebra Quotes set.

I hope you have had a wild time today - lol!

~Gini

Merry Christmas!

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?  I'm just about to wrap up all of mine.

I've had these little chalkboard plaques for quite some time, now.  

Finally, I thought of a way to use one!

I, randomly, stamped the background with S203 Music Stanza Panel using a white ink pad.

S203 Music Stanza Panel

Then, I added a little Merry Christmas banner using the SDX065 Merry Christmas 2 stamp.

SDX065 Merry Christmas 2

A Partridge, A Pear Tree

{jane bosi}  This lovely image is so much fun to work with!  I'm not wholly convinced it's a just for Christmas time image!  Despite being Partridge in a Pear Tree, and all the Christmasy connotations, this is an image for year round use!  It's easy to omit the sentiment when stamping, as I've done, and is seasonably versatile.....because I said so!  LOL!!

I wanted an end project that was soft and shabby.  I started by coloring right on to the stamp face with distress markers and then stamping on Fabriano water color paper.  Next, I ran my aqua brush over the tree trunk and branches to enhance the water colored look.

I added accent stamping with both the Fresh Chevron and French Text backgrounds.  I lightened the edges of the focal image with gesso rubbings, allowing just portions of the french script to be seen.  I love how this softened the look and feel of the card.

In all the hustle and bustle, I hope you are still finding time to feed your soul with a little paper and ink....Be Awesome!  TTFN, Jane

Merry Christmas Santa

Good morning Junkies!  Since Christmas is right around the corner, I wanted to create a Christmas tag.  In fact, this tag is being turned into an ornament and will hang on the Christmas tree where I work.

1)  Stamp Winter Foliage onto tag with a mixture of Tomato Sauce and Snowy Evergreen ink.  You can use a deep red and and a deep forest green if you don't have the exact colors.  Emboss with clear embossing powder.

2)  Stamp Father Christmas with Tomato Sauce and Snowy Evergreen.  Paint all white parts like the cuffs of his robe and the fur on his hat by dabbing Art Anthology Frost Sorbet. You want it to look fluffy.

3)  Paint the berries on the Winter Foliage with Art Anthology Ferrari Sorbet.  Dry well.

4)  Spray tag with Art Anthology Granny Smith and Avocado Colorations.  Dry slightly then wipe off excess.  The embossed areas and the areas painted with Ferrari will resist the spray.

5)  Stamp Merry Christmas 2 with black Versafine ink and emboss with green embossing powder.

6)  Adhere Santa and Merry Christmas to the tag.  Outline Santa with sparkly green ribbon.

7)  Top off with a wooden star that has been covered in silver glitter.

I hope you enjoyed today's tag.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Marilyn

Let it Snow!

Happy Saturday Junkies!! While the weather outside isn't frightful (it's 57 degrees here in MA today), the fire is still delightful...and well you know the rest.  My project today features a background created with the fabulous Snowflake stamps.  This is such a simple background to make yet it looks like patterned paper!  

I also used the Date-o-Matic stamp and made it into a Christmas ornament!

I love the look of these snowflakes on this sparkling background. They were stamped with Hero Arts Unicorn white and Ranger Blue Dye ink.

I have to say I am enjoying the mild weather, but of course I would love to see a little snow for the Christmas holiday!

Thanks for joining me today and Happy Holidays to all!

Embrace Imperfection.

Pam

Bee My Honey

Happy Thursday! Jerri here from a bushel and a hug.  I had a wonderful, busy, crazy weekend.  I have most of my Christmas shopping done, which is a bit of a holiday miracle for me.  Just a few small gifts left to  get and I will be done.  I do have a lot of baking to do however. I'm hoping I can get that done in time.

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy card for your special person.  I think it would even be adorable as a Valentine card.

Today I used the stamp set called Bee Quotes.  I used the bee from the stamp and stamped it randomly all over the white piece and then embossed in black.  I chose the sentiment from the set Bee My Honey and embossed it in black as well. Although the photography is poor and it doesn't show, the sentiment was pop dotted.  I also set the card off with a small black ribbon.

Have a Beautiful day!

Jerri

Vintage Botanical Holly

Hey there Junkies!!

The Crafty Nurse here busy making my holiday cards.  Today I broke out the Artistic Effects CD to find a great technique called "Acrylic Stains." This is a super easy technique and perfect for replication of multiple cards.

For the image I used a Technique Junkies stamp called "Vintage Botanical Holly,"  Such a beautifully classic stamp.  After creating the background with the acrylic stain technique, I stamped the holly in Hero Arts Forever Green Shadow Ink.  I then painted over the leaves using Art Anthology Sorbet in "leaf" which adds fabulous texture and sparkle.  I then sprayed the whole background using Art Anthology Colorations in "Timeless," hit the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and finished with a bit of ribbon.

My second card was made using the same stamp, but this time I stamped it using acrylic paint by Ranger in "Pearl."  Once that was dried, I distressed with Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, and Evergreen Bough.  I lifted off some color using water and added some glitter paper for sparkle.

I think I like the second one better, what do you think? 

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful time of the year and taking some time to get your fingers inky.  

Take care for now,

The Crafty Nurse

Wine With Friends

Hi, it's Gini. Today, I have the perfect card for the wine lover in your life! I created this card using the Wine With Friends stamp set.  I created my own background paper with the names of wines, and then added the focal embossed wine glasses.  This would be a wonderful set to use to make a gift tag for a bottle of wine this season.

Permission to Play Cover

Hello, Stampers!  How is your December coming along?

Today, I'm sharing how I completed the cover of an art journal I'm working on.

I think this lady is so beautiful.

P060 Let's Face It 5

SA059 Outline Grunge Upper Alphabet 

I love these alphabet stamps!  

I stamped them in black, then painted yellow around them so they would pop, 

making it more easy to read.

SA060 Outline Grunge Lower Alphabet

Until next time...

Sweet and Simple

{jane bosi}  Happy Thursday, Junkies!  I'm having a hard time believing it is December already! Today, I have a simple little card that makes good use of scrap paper and features my favorite, Merry Christmas 2!

May the rest of your holiday preparations be as sweet and simple!

Have an awesome day!  Jane

Stare Journal Page

Good morning Junkies!  I've got another journal page up today for your viewing pleasure.

I misted a watercolor journal page with water then rubbed on Art Anthology Cayman, Pumpkin Spice, and Leaf Sorbet using a makeup sponge.  Once that dried, I stamped Winter Foliage onto the page using Fern Leaf ink.

Next I stamped Contemporary Floral directly onto the page and painted with Art Anthology Mia Bella, Baby Blue Eyes, Pumpkin Spice, and Ferrari Sorbets.  I then inked up the People Will Stare (small) stamp, and stamped it at the top of the page.

It looked bare, so using the Almano Upper and Lower Alphabet with Numbers stamp set, I randomly added numbers all over the page.

Well, that's it for today.

For more great stamps, visit the Technique Junkies web store!

Until later.........................

Marilyn

Are Rules Made To Be Broken?

Now we are almost into the month of December, My Christmas cards are mailed. The Christmas decorations are almost out. Presents are bought and wrapped (I hope - I am writing this post in early November), and I have moved on to other things than Christmas cards.

When I was at the York Heirloom show and shopped at Pat Huntoon's Technique Junkie booth I bought some new stamps.  I am only now getting to make cards with these. This is one of those new stamps I bought.

Then I must also confess - sometimes as stampers we just hit a dry spell, when we cannot think of a new card layout or a new placement of element on the front of the card.  There are some things you can do about this when it hits.  You can give up until inspiration hits you.  That is not a good option in my opinion although it has happened tome this way in the past when I have been ill for a while.

Or you can look for new card front layouts and new ways of presenting the focal image.  There are lots of places on the internet to do this.  I subscribe to  a lot of blogs for this purpose. I follow those blogs whose author pays attention to detail and the way they create fits my own creative thinking.  Sometimes they do not show cards with stamps I like (or own for that matter) but I will like the layout. I will save those images.

You can look on Splitcoast Stampers for cards made with a specific stamp set or with a particular theme or subject matter in their search box.  I have searched both ways.  And in the last few years you can look on interest.  I rarely just "go" to Pinterest but use the email they send me to find new things.   And that was how I found this layout.  I thought it was perfect for this stamp set from Technique Junkie Stamps!

The Technique Junkie focal image stamp set is The Rules -  http://techniquejunkies.com/the-rules/.  I also used the Vintage Dictionary stamp http://techniquejunkies.com/vintage-dictionary-page/  for punching out the small squares.  Then I stamped - Love My Shoes http://techniquejunkies.com/love-my-shoes/  .  I only colored in the flowers because most of the shoe image would be tossed away.  I used a small flower punch and ;punched out an area within the stamped flower image.

All stamped images were colored in with Copic Markers.  I used a border punch and 2 layering square punches.   I stamped the lady first, then placed the layered squares, and then stamped the  two sentiments.  I swiped my Winkastella pen the dress and the hat, and the decorative part on the shoes.

Christmas is coming...

Happy Saturday Junkies! Pam here today and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their loved ones.  Have we all recovered from the turkey and stuffing overload?? I know I haven't yet!  And of course the days after Thanksgiving mark the start of the Christmas season.  I have a fun card project today featuring just that!

I created an artsy background using the Christmas Trees, Set of 6 stamp set, alternating stamping with Ranger Dye Inks Electric Lime and Green.

To add a bit of pizzaz I sprayed the entire panel with red, green and white ink sprays to give it an abstract artsy feel.

The sentiment is from the Simple Sentiments 1b which contains so many great sentiments for every occasion- a must have!!  I added some stars for a bit of dimension and interest to the trees.

A simple yet artsy Christmas card to send to friends and family!

Thanks for joining me today and remember only 27 more crafting days left till Christmas!!

Embrace imperfection!

Pam

Let It Be

Happy Thanksgiving!  Jerri here from A Bushel And A Hug.  I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day. I will keep today's post short so you can get those turkeys in the oven!!

Today's card was made using the stamp set Bee Quotes.

To make this card I first ran a piece of white card stock through my Cuttle Bug with the embossing folder called Honeycomb.  Then I ran a dotted turquoise paper through the Cuttle Bug using the same embossing folder.  I used the outline on the patterned paper as a guide and cut out about nine of the honeycomb shapes.  I randomly placed those on my white paper and glued them down.  Next I used the bee from the stamp set and stamped it on a piece of vellum using Archival Ink. I fussy cut the bee out and then put it on the yellow patterned paper and pop dotted that piece onto the card front.  Using one of the many quotes from this stamp, I stamped Let It Be and cut it out with a label die and placed it on the card. I chose a dark Turquoise Blue card stock to matt the card.

Have a Wonderful Day with family and friends

Jerri

Walk in The Park

Hello Junkies!  

The Crafty Nurse here with my last post for the month using the November release stamps.  My card features the "Brick Wall Background S646" and "Park Walk SD665."  I began by stamping the brick wall with Black Onyx Versafine Ink then heat embossed with clear powder.  I created the brick pattern using art anthology in Teracotta-Velvet, Pumpkin Spice-Sorbet, and Kenyan Copper-Sorbet. I then edged the entire stamp using  “Black Leather Jacket Sorbet," which created great texture.  For my focal point, I stamped "Park Walk SD665" which I sprayed with Art Anthology Colorations in Avocado and Timeless.

I hope everyone is enjoying some family time for the Thanksgiving Holiday this week and hope you'll find some time between eating and family to get inky.  

Gobble, Gobble!

The Crafty Nurse

Flower Bouquet Tutorial

Good day fellow stampers and paper crafters.  Beth Norman here with a 30th birthday bouquet for my daughter.  If you look closely you will see a Serenity Butterfly amongst the flowers and Happy Birthday nestled in the front of the basket.  I thought you might like to see the process I went through so you can recreate a flower bouquet too.

Supplies:  Co-ordinations cardstock, regular cardstock, designer paper, paper flowers, basket, styrofoam to fit your basket, ribbon, liquid glue (I used Tombow), quick dry bondable glue (I used Speed-Sew), wooden stir sticks, green paint, paint brush, paper straw, flower dies, sanding block, embossing machine, embossing folders

Cut out your largest flowers using the Co-ordinations cardstock and designer paper.  Run your flowers through the embossing machine with the embossing folder then gently sand away the raised portion of the embossing to expose the lighter undercoat.

Cut the second layer with plain cardstock.  Make sure the pieces are smaller than the first layer.

Using a mixture of Co-ordinations and regular cardstock cute the smallest flowers. Run flowers through embossing machine.

Layer your flowers are desired.  In the center add store-bought little flowers, or buttons.

Paint stir sticks green for the stems.

Using good bondable glue to adhere your flowers to the stir sticks and Serenity Butterfly.

Glue styrofoam with good bondable glue.  Lay different products around the styrofoam to keep it in place while the styrofoam dries.

Add paper straw and ribbon and complete as desired.