It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hey Junkies,

It's the Crafty Nurse here back with a little holiday spirit!  Okay, okay, it's a little early, but would you believe there are only 12 more weeks until Christmas?  It's okay though, Pat has released some gorgeous Holiday stamps that you can use to make multiple cards or gift sets so I thought I'd share a few quick ideas to accomplish that.

All my cards began with the Peppermint Swirl stamp from the September release.  I stamped the first layer with white pigment ink and then a second layer of dye ink.  Easy peasy!

The first card's focal point is another great September release called, "Ornament 1."  I embossed 4 layers of Liquid Platinum from Ranger and then stamped right into the wet powder after it was melted.  This works great for very detailed stamps.

Close up of "Ornament 1"

 For this card I only used the white pigment ink and no dye overlay ink.  I did some inlayed die cutting with the snow die making for a very quick and easy card that is great to send through the mail because it's completely flat.

My third card uses the same technique as card #1 with the focal stamp being "Joy", also from the September release.

Close-up of the "Joy" stamp dipped in multiple layers of embossing powder after it was heat set.

I hope you've gotten a little holiday spirit and look forward to seeing you at our Blog Hop that starts tomorrow on October 1st!

Goodbye for now,

The Crafty Nurse

Spooky Black Cat

Boo!  Trick or Treat.  Beth Norman here, and the season is upon us.  I find Black Cat to be such a versatile stamp and have so many ideas to do with it.  Here is how I created this card:

• Pick four colours of ink
• Cut a cloud shape out of heavy cardstock or watercolour paper
• Starting from the top, sponge over top of the cloud with the lightest colour
• Continue sponging colour on top of the cloud
• After all clouds are sponged, lightly sponge the appropriate colour in the white space below the cloud shape

Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Daisies

 

Hi, it's Gini, back to share another card with you. The designs on the Palettini Collection from Technique Junkies really lend themselves to coloring with watercolors.  For this Vintage Daisy Collage, I embossed the image first, to keep my lines bold.  Then I started painting with the Spectrum Aqua watercolor pens.  Quick and easy, but elegant. Thanks for stopping by!

Just A Note

Happy Saturday, Stampers!  

Robin, here, to share this quick card I made for you.

I used this stamp set, PS003 Just A Note.

I stamped the typewriter on a piece of white yardstick and cut it out.

Then, I cut a slit where a piece of paper would be placed in the typewriter.

Finally, I stamped the words on a little piece of paper and slid it into the typewriter.

I mounted it with Foam Squares on this paper I thought went PERFECT with the typewriter.

Until next time...

Black and White

{jane bosi}  Happy Thursday, Junkies!!  I have a simple heat embossed card to share today that features a beautiful image called Flourished Floral.

I often find inspiration, like lots of you, on Pinterest.  Years ago, when I saw a project that I loved, I searched diligently to obtain the exact product used so I could completely copy the whole thing.  After many years of hoarding.......collecting, inspiration happens differently and I am always delighted when I am already set to go!  I love making the most of what I already have.  It's one of the reasons I have loved Technique Junkies for so long!

I embossed both the Flourished Floral image and the So Sweet sentiment using white pigment ink and white embossing powder.  When embossing on black, I am always certain to use my embossing buddy to reduce random areas of powder cling---I hate that messy speckled look!

Once the embossing cooled, I was able to add some multi-colored gems and mat and mount the image piece.  It's really a striking card, in real life!!  You should totally give it a whirl!!

 By the way, the Technique Junkie CD's are the perfect addition to your stamping stash.  The tutorials found on each CD provide you with lots of inspiration and new ways to use the products you already own.  Definitely check them out!!  Use coupon code  techniques at checkout to receive a 25% discount on all CDs!!  Isn't that awesome?

TTFN, Jane

Happy Halloween Card

The cooler temperatures have me pining for Halloween decorations. I think my kids are thrilled…or at least tolerating me as I start to drag the boxes and boxes out of the attic. The way some people decorate for the Winter holidays is how I am about Halloween! The kitschier and kookier, the better!

To kickstart the season, I made this gatefold card using Technique Junkies’ stamps: S599 Bat Swarm and SD447 Happy Halloween Circle.

I started by opening up the gatefold and stamping the Bat Swarm stamp in waterproof ink on the top and bottom flaps, aligning the stamp so that the image would be upright when the card was folded shut.

I sprayed the paper with a heavy coat of Art Anthology Paprika Colorations (note: Rustic could be used instead), and the dragged the edges through some Art Anthology Plush Colorations that I’d sprayed onto my craft sheet and let it DRIP.

Once this was dry, I ran Art Anthology Copper Metal Effects paint over the Dot Matrix stencil along the top and bottom edges.

I stamped the sentiment with waterproof ink onto a manila tag for reinforcement and placed it over a lace cutout, also sprayed with Plush.  After spraying it with the two same Colorations and letting them blend together and dry, I painted the circle with Splashed  Sorbet paint to give is some shimmer.  I then outlined the edge with Perfect Paper Adhesive – Gloss, and sprinkled a mix of three colors of Prills over the top: A Penny Saved (copper), Plum Crazy (purple) and Power Outtage(black), to frame it.  Even the names of those Prills seem Halloween-inspired!

A bit of batty May Arts ribbon completes the design.

Now I need to get my thinking cap on and decide how to best dress up for the trick-or-treating this year...

Sally Lynn MacDonald

www.SallyLynnMacDonald.com

Palettini Collection, designed exclusively for Technique Junkieswww.facebook.com/sallylynn.macdonald

Coffee Card & Bring in the Clowns Tag

Good morning!  Hope everyone's week is going well.  I've got two projects to share with you today.

First up is a card I created using Drinking the Coffee and Magic Strands:

I sprayed the background with Art Anthology Timeless, Warm, and Sandcastle Colorations.  Once that was dry I stamped Magic Strands in black ink.  I then stamped Drinking the Coffee on a piece of card and colored the coffee cup with a mixture of Art Anthology Fiesta Velvet and Black Leather Jacket Sorbet.  I also stamped some extra cups and painted them with the same mix.

I mounted both the Drinking the Coffee cardstock piece and the background on a piece of multi-colored paper and adhered it to my card.

I decided that since this was a simple card, I wanted to create a second project.  I decided to make a tag:

I stamped Circus Stars in Tomato Sauce chalk ink onto the tag.  I then glued on various circus-themed elements and tied a piece of red and white striped string through the hole.  Quick and easy.

I hoped you enjoyed this two projects today.

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

Marilyn

Art Anthology Products

This is Judy Jackson. I love learning new techniques.  I love learning about new products for stamp art.  When you combine the two -- it is very nice!  Since Pat Huntoon (owner of Technique Junkie stamps and all of the newsletters and CDs for Technique Junkie) has been showing the Art Anthology products she discovered a few years back.   However, since I had to downsize my stamp room, new stuff and new tools must be truly usable for me to buy them. I am both a visual and an auditory learner -- but I learn techniques best if I can somehow visualize it. So I read her blog, I read the Art Anthology website, and I pondered. 

It wasn't until the recent stamp show in Westminster, MD that I got to see these products in real life and played with them at the Technique Junkie booth that I decided I really must have some of these. So now I want to share with you  the things I have learned about these products. And of course I have cards to share with as well. 

But here is what I have learned:
1. Art Anthology paints are really a "gel medium" but you can paint with them in different ways.  More info on this later with examples.
2. Art Anthology paints dry fairly quickly -- but as with any kind of paints the thicker the paint the longer it will take to dry.
3. You can hurry this process a bit by using a heat gun.  But you have to remember that the heat gun  will make the paint  feel "tacky" even if it dry until it has cooled.
4.  You cannot use typical brayering techniques  because the paints dry so quickly.
5. Art Anthology sprays do not have a wide "spray area" and they are permanent when sprayed on fabric if they are allowed to dry well.
6. Art Anthology sprays are not water reactive.
7. Neither the sprays or the paints hardly have any smell at all.  So you do not necessarily need to use them in a "well ventilated" area.
8. The Art Anthology paints, while not really an adhesive will adhere very small things to a design.
9. You do not need  fancy and extremely high quality paint brushes. 
10. After you have painted with the paints, the brushed must rinsed very thoroughly.  Otherwise, the paint brushes will become stiff and may not be usable.
11. If you need to stamp on top of the Art Anthology paints -- you will need to use Stazon or Ranger Archival inks.  Otherwise, the ink will not dry.  It would similar to stamping on glossy card stock.
12. The Art Anthology paints will also resist the Art Anthology sprays.  So when you paint first and then spray the spray does not change the color of the paints. The thicker the paint, the better the resist.

I will show several cards today using the same flower from Greetings http://techniquejunkies.com/greetings-set/. This is the first one of seven.  I stamped the flowers several times.  I used Memento ink.  I then started with  one of the yellow Art Anthology paints, then added some red, and then the green.  I added a brown in the center of the flower, followed by some

Prills which when the dry stuck very well to brown paint.   Then I sprayed some Art Anthology sprays for the background. I then stamped a greeting and added a rhinestone embellishment. The greetings is from the set "Things I want to Do." http://techniquejunkies.com/things-i-want-to-do/

For the above card I stamped Random ABCs http://techniquejunkies.com/random-abcs/  and then flower several times.  Then I painted the flowers with a red Art Anthology paint thinned with water so it is not as "clumpy." I added the Art Anthology sprays and it still resisted!   I added a saying "Seeds of Today" http://techniquejunkies.com/seeds-of-today/ on some card stock with the "over spray" (I had placed a scrap nearby purposefully). Layers and a ribbon -- done.

The next card was done with similar techniques as the card above.  I also some leaves by laying down some paint with my brush in a "leaf shape."  It is not exact but gives a impression of leaves.  I used a greeting from the same set as the flower.  Some Prills and some ribbon, and layers -- done.

 

For this next card I sprayed the Art Anthology sprays first and then stamped. The paints were only slightly thinned with water and then Prills. More leaves were painted in.  Then I used a stencil from Art Anthology --  Soliloquy Stencil http://techniquejunkies.com/soliloquy-stencil/ and I used Lava Stone paint http://techniquejunkies.com/lava-stone-effects-dimensional-medium/ to add the word to a piece of  yellow vellum. When that was dry then I torn the vellum, ran it through one of my Xyron machines and adhered it to the card front.

This next card is a result of  trying to brayer the gel medium paints to the card.  It did not go well until I added a lot of water. Then it worked because didn't dry so quickly.  Again I added leaves to the stems and I used a different word on the stencil with the same paint.

 

Anyone who follows my blog knows I really like using the Antique Glimmers technique from the Technique Junkie newsletter. So I wondered if I could that with these Art Anthology Gel Medium paints.  You tell me -- does it work?

 I placed a small amount of the gel medium paints on my craft mat.  I sprayed the paints VERY LIBERALLY with water.  Then I started pulling the card stock back and forth through the paints with the water until I had the coverage I desired. What I liked about doing this was the intensity of the colors were quite varied.  I let it dry for quite a while before stamping the flowers and then painting them.  I had already discovered through "boo-boo sheets" you never see that for this step of stamping I need to use Stazon as regular dye-based inks would not dry and would smear badly!   I used Stazon ink and stamped the greeting. The greetings came from the set "Things I Want to Do." http://techniquejunkies.com/things-i-want-to-do/ . 

So I am curious -- did you learn anything new about Art Anthology products? 

Have a wonderful day!

To dream...

Good Morning Junkies! Happy Saturday! Pam here today and I am back in the studio after a fantastic two week vacation at the beach and so excited to be creating again!

This week I am featuring two fantastic stamps fromTechnique Junkies Wasted from the Palettini collection and the sentiment Have Wings.

I absolutely love the background stamp Wasted and for this card I stamped it with white acrylic paint to create a resist.  To create the ethereal background Distress Inks were used over the resist.  A second piece was also created with distress inks using the same colors and then the butterflies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix Movers and Shapers)  were die cut from this to coordinate with the background.

The sentiment Have Wings was just perfect to finish off this card! All pieces were adhered using homemade Xyron dimensional adhesive and the Xyron Creative Station.

Thanks for joining me today and be sure to follow the TJ Design team blog and my blog for more great inspiration and techniques using TJ stamps.

Fright Night!!

Happy Thursday Junkies!
Jerri here from A bushel and a hug to share a card I made with one of the new September stamps.

I had a lot of fun the other day playing with this card.  I used an embossing folder to create the background.  I inked up the inside of the folder with some purple and a tad bit of orange Distress Stain from Tim Holtz.  I did this one some watercolor paper.  The technique can be found on the Emboss or Die CD.  Once the paper was dry I brushed my black inked across the top of the raised portion to add even more dimension.  I also rubbed some of the metallic stain on some areas.  And.... because I can't leave well enough alone sometimes, I also added some white to a couple of the raised areas using a white pen.  I wanted to make sure they popped against the purple background.

The featured stamp on this project is called Fright Night. I love this stamp and actually used it on my card last week as well.  I love it so much though that I thought it could be used alone.  I stamped it on a piece of white card stock and then cut it out with a Spellbinders die.  Once cut out, I rubbed some of the Tim Holtz Pumice Stone and some of the Tim Holtz Black Soot along the edges.

I hope you enjoyed my project today.  Check out all of the awesome new stamps at the TJ Website.

Have an awesome day!

Jerri

Watercolor Christmas

Hello Junkies!

I hope you are enjoying the holiday release as much as I am.  Today I took a stab and creating a watercolor scene with the gorgeous "Christmas Trees" set of 6 stamps just released.  I started by masking off the bottom of the watercolor card stock by tearing painters tape and adhering it on an angle.  I then applied water and dropped blues, greens, yellows, and grays then allowed that to dry. I like to start light, then build up the colors.

Once the background was created I stamped two of the Christmas Tree stamps using Staz-on Midnight Blue.  Using a waterproof ink allows you to go back and add deeper colors.  I then removed the tape, applied gray to create snow and stamped the "Joy" sentiment, also in this holiday release. To finish, I added some gems and splattered the top portion of the card with green watercolor.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the holiday stamps, please stop by the Technique Junkies website so you don't miss the new goodies. 

Until the next time,

The Crafty Nurse

Shaving Cream Tutorial (Beth Norman)

Boo to all you readers.  Halloween is just around the corner and what better way to scare your friends then to send them a scary card using Black Cat.  I paired Halloween Cuttlebug dies with this stamp.  Trees are Spellbinders leaves. 

The shaving cream technique has been around for a long time, but what hasn't been around is using black as part of this technique.  The one nice thing about this technique is that you can add three or four pieces of paper on top of the shaving cream technique before you have to add new ink.

I used a second generation background, as I discovered that by using Memento black ink didn't cover the stamp well enough to end up with a dark image, so here I used black StazOn which gave beautiful coverage.

Now on to the tutorial...

Supplies:  dish/plate/tray, foam shaving cream, alcohol ink/ink refills/food colouring, stick/straw, spatula, black StazOn

Spray a thick layer of foam shaving cream into a container/plate or tray

Drop colours of ink into shaving cream

Using a stick/straw, move colour around

Lay your paper on top of shaving cream and move paper around a little so all areas are covered

Using your spatula, scrape off all of the shaving cream

Your piece will show the ink placement

Once fully dried, stamp out your image and embellish and finish your card as desired

I hope I inspired you to try this fun technique out.  Boo!

Where I Needed To Be

 

 Hi, it's Gini and I'm back to share another card for all of the Technique Junkie fans! I love this very vintage image of Alice, but wanted to create a card that gave an antique type feel.  My solution...? I stamped the image and colored it with Spectrum Noir markers, and then placed a vellum overlay with my sentiment over the top.  It almost gives a dream-like quality. 

Technique Junkie Stamps

Stream Meeting

Needed to Be

Planner Dashboard!

Happy Saturday, Stampers!

It's me, again, Robin Redd.

It seems like it's been a LONG time since I've been here.

It feels great, all the same.

Have you jumped on the planner band wagon, yet?

Oh, boy, I sure did!

I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate 

Technique Junkie stamps into my planner.

I came up with this dashboard.  

Yeah, there's a whole new lingo to go with the planner craze.

I used one of my favorite stamps, #P006 Let's Face It 1, for my focal point.

After I stamped her, I painted her hair with Art Anthology's Black Leather Jacket Sorbet to give it some texture and dimension.  I love how it turned out.  

I colored in her face with Prisma Colored Pencils.

I also used Art Anthology's Cayman Sorbet for her eyes and Mi Bella Sorbet for her lips.

I used an old stamping trick, Pick and Omit, with #SDX001 Be Silly.

With a black Pitt Brush Pen, I inked up just the words I wanted, leaving out the word "kind".

Then, I stamped it so it would read, "Be Silly, Be Honest, Be Happy."

For more details and close-up pictures on how I created this dashboard for my planner, 

please visit my blog, Redd Robin Studios.

Until next time...

Your Heart.....

{jane bosi}  Happy Thursday, Junkies!!!  I completely adore the sentiment found on this image and often find myself drawn to use it! 

For my project today, I had wanted to use a Tape Texture technique for some added dimension and interest on my card well, project because when I started, I had no idea what was going to happen!  Who else works like that? 

I started with a precut tag and some masking tape.  After covering the tag with randomly sized bits of tape, I applied gesso to the whole thing.  When the gesso was completely dry, I added various distress inks to colorize and highlight the texture added by the tape.  I added my stamped image, Old Friend, over the top and let it dry completely.  When I got around to using the tag, I decided on a card, adding some extra hot pink ink (Pink Carmine, Faber Castell PITT pen, to be specific) around the edges to tie it to the base cardstock a bit more. 

My background is Sea Waves, which I stamped several times and then cut apart into the three panels.  The scattering a sequins was the finishing touch and really seemed to pull the whole piece together. 

Have a great day, and don't forget to be awesome!  TTFN, Jane

Birds, Leaves, and a Butterfly Journal Pages

Good morning Junkies!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

I have a bright journal page for your today using one of the new September releases.

I stamped the new release Oak Leaves onto my page several times, carefully matching up the edges, using Gingerbread ink.  I then painted some of the leaves with Art Anthology Velvet in Desire, Tango, Lemon Tart, and Shamrock.

Next I stamped Birds, Set of Five in several different colors of ink and cut out.  I arranged them on my page and after gluing them down (I used my Xyron sticker machine), I outlined then in black Sharpie to make them stand out.  To finish the page, I added words from the Sizzix Thinlits Adventure die set.

The front is simpler. 

I sprayed Art Anthology Wild Orchid and Salted Caramel Colorations onto my page.  Next I stamped Big Winged Butterfly on a piece of mixed media paper and cut out.  I painted the butterfly with Art Anthology Sorbets in Pixie, Coral, and Mi Bella.  Before gluing it down, I added dots using the Art Anthology Dottie stencil and Azure Sky Blue ink.  Once my butterfly was in place, I then added circles using the top of one of my Art Anthology paint bottles, Tuxedo Velvet, and white paint.  The word "life" comes from the same Sizzix Thinlits Adventure set I used above.

Until later..................
Smiles~
Marilyn

July and August Release Stamps

After my hubby passed away I was so overwhelmed with everything that there was to do.  The "tyranny of the urgent" was my life for many days and weeks.  For many weeks there were cards to be read in my mail box, bank accounts, bills, credit cards, life insurance questions, and more to do every day.  And that doesn't count planning the funeral service and all of the physical things that had to be done in my house.   So I stamped cards only as I had a need to do so -- including for my blog or the Technique Junkie Design Team blog. Needless to say, I was woefully behind  in stamping the new releases for Technique Junkie Stamps.   I have finally caught up with stamping.  I still am dealing with the financial aspects of everything but I have reached the point where I have to deal with those things as they appear in my mailbox.  It is a weight lifted on my shoulders.  So You will have to bear with me as I share a few cards today created with August release stamps.  This post will feature "doggie stamps."  Another blog post soon will feature other July or August release stamps.

This  doggie obviously wants to have fun but he must have had something not  fun happen to him. http://techniquejunkies.com/fun-and-games/   I used dye based markers to color him.  I layered him on panel stamped with an alphabet stamp.  http://techniquejunkies.com/random-abcs/

The next two cards use the same doggie stamps - http://techniquejunkies.com/dapper-doggie-couple/.

 

This cards also uses a July Release background stamp called Star Gazers - http://techniquejunkies.com/stargazers/.  Dye based markers were used to color the dogs and the flowers.  The sentiment is Believe in Yourself - http://techniquejunkies.com/believe-in-yourself/. 

The sentiment and Treble-Clef stamps are http://techniquejunkies.com/life-is-a-song/  and http://techniquejunkies.com/treble-clef-small/.

More cards to come! Have a wonderful Labor Day!