Have You Started Making Christmas Cards Yet?

I am busy here thinking forward....for once. I am getting a jump start on my holiday prep with my cards. I have created these cuties digitally with Viva Las VegaStamps! Love those VLV stamps!

this one is called "blue dog"

this one is called "Holiday Cheer"

I have a BIGGGG sense of humor and the VLV stamps play right into that. Check out their Christmas and Holiday stamps...and start your own prep. They have a super deal (see post below this one) going on right now so grab them while you can!!!

I used...

12219

10689

10879

10103

wish you were here...

Here is my end of summer card for my friends created with my very favorite VLV stamp...living at the beach, I get to invite friends from all over the world to visit. This year I will use this card as an invitation to my 60th birthday bash!!!

Don't forget to stop on over at Viva Las Vegastamps, they literally have something for everyone!

The Bride Returns

I am having so much fun with Steampunk...I almost can't stop creating the art...Viva Las VegaStamps! has so many fun items and images to use it is hard to choose...

This is a digital collage was created from old photographs, real sprockets and gears available from VLV and the following stamps:

16020 Steampunk Heart Large 2 1/4 x 2

16006 Steampunk Background/Collage 2 1/2 x 3

1806_1 Eiffel Tower/Large 2 1/4 x 5

gears7 Sprocket Gears

Steampunk Flights of Fancy

Steampunk designs are really hot, hot, hot!!! I waited a while to jump on board, but here is one of my artworks using this style...

"I'll fly away" - mixed media artwork on canvas 10" x 10"

I had so much fun creating this mixed media art. I used two Viva La Vegastamps! in the above design. (See below) I also used several pieces of ephemera from my collection. I have been collecting vintage paper items for years. I also love using rusty and found objects in my art, so steampunk is a natural progression for me.

VLV stamps has a ton of stamps for Steampunk designs...plus so much more...

Basket Descending 4 1/2 x 4 3/4 Item 9391

Pocket Watch 1 3/4 x 2 Item 5538

Halloween Designs Already

I have a friend who loves Halloween and collects Halloween art and crafts. Her birthday is early July...I always do an art project for her every year. I am creating one to attach with a Miracle Sheet to the lid of a box!!!

So I created this piece for her with three Viva Las Vegastamps!

I used these:

I Don't Do Floors 1 x 1 3/4 Item 7876

Pretty Witch 2 1/4 x 2 1/2 Item 1639

Frog Background 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 Item 6035

Kickin' Up Both Heels Flamingo Cards

A really cute art card to use as a congratulations greeting. I live in Florida, so flamingos are a beautiful thing to see. I created this one digitally...

I used a combination of paint brushes and erasers to color the bird after I stamped it on a white piece of paper and scanned it into PhotoShop.

This is VLV stamp 5167...

3-D Mixed Media Art Card

I had so much fun creating this mixed media art card. I used a dog stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps to create the 3-D angel dog.

click to enlarge

a close-up of the wings

To create this mixed media artwork card, I stamped the dog image on white watercolor paper and shaded it with Copic markers. I punched a 2" circle of white paper, cut it in half, folded it and used a corner stamp to punch the design. I combined the dog and wings on three layers of handmade paper.

I painted dots around the circle with gold metallic acrylic. Then I added beads and metallic threads along one side.

stamp - Bichon With Bow 2 x 2 1/4 Item 11156 Plate 1165

Mother's Day Cards with Digital Design Elements

These cards were created with three of the beautiful women's face stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps. VLVS has over 75 images of women's faces available to you.

Being a digital mixed media artist, I love to combine traditional elements with digital. For this set of cards, I wanted to show stampers how easily it is to use the stamped images with digital elements. I also wanted to create three different cards using the same few design elements. It is important to note that you must respect the stamp manufacturer's copyright policies when creating anything.

I stamped each image on white paper and scanned them into PhotoShop. I created the card background elements in PhotoShop. The faces were colored and decorated digitally also.

Viva Las VegaStamps Used in these cards:

Lady In Big Red Hat 2 x 2 1/4

Item 2495 Plate 729 Ladies Woman Women Page 489

Lady In Chapeau 1 1/2 x 1 1/4
Item 5796 Plate 595 Ladies Woman Women Hat Hats Page 328

Lady Round Hat/Large 3 1/2 x 5
Item 7564 Plate 252 Ladies Woman Women Page 14

Honest, I Didn't Burn the Beer Digital Collage

vintage art with VLV stamp and old magazine ad

VLVS stamp 12509

When I first saw this stamp from  Viva Las VegaStamps!, I had about 10 caption ideas. I love working with VLVS stamps because they have the same sense of humor as I do and loads of vintage images.

The above artwork is just one of those many ideas.

Here's the backstory: The wife is getting ready for her first party after her marriage. She is in her brand new kitchen, but doesn't have a clue how to cook!!! She has burnt everything and her new husband walks in...all she could think was, "Honest, I didn't burn the beer!!!"

This is a digital collage. I love digital collage because I can use the artwork as a card, party invitation or even a work of art. I scanned the stamped image, colorized it and created the collage in PhotoShop. Here she is colorized:

For a step-by-step tutorial with photos visit my blog: Cre8Tive Compass Magazine.

Please visit Viva Las Vegastamps! and see the thousands of designs available. Also visit the other VLV Design Team members and tell them I sent you!

Terri Sproul, Team leader: Terri's blog
Chris Hurley: Chris' blog
Kim Prince; Kim's blog
Cheryl Lindsay: Cheryl's blog
DeeDee Catron: DeeDee's blog
Jennifer Bliss: Jen's blogYou can also find our work on Stamp Art Forum.

You can find more of my work at:

Cre8Tive Compass Magazine

Cre8Tiva's Blog

Frameable Dressmaker Collage and Card by Rebecca E. Parsons

"Dressmaker Dressmaker Make Me a Dream..."

I am Rebecca E. Parsons and this is my first design for Viva Las Vegastamps! I am honored to be on their new design team.

I love dress forms and this VLV Dress Form stamp (6388) inspired me to create an artwork that honors the time worn tradition of dressmaking. I design all my cards to be frameable pieces of art for the recipient. They just need to insert this in a 8X10" frame and hang it to enjoy forever.

The artwork is titled: "Dressmaker Dressmaker Make Me a Dream..." It is in honor of my grandmother Annie Niland who taught me how to sew on a Singer treadle sewing machine when I was just a young girl. She had an old dress form in the corner of the sewing room and the bits and pieces in this collage are all reminiscent of that time I spent with her.

Here is how I created this Collage and Card (step-by-step directions with photos on my blog):

I stamped the image on a piece of heavy watercolor paper with BRILLIANCE Cosmic Copper pigment ink by Tsuneko. I did free-motion stitching with black thread and my sewing machine in an oval shape around the image. This was very random allowing the stitches to show and create texture and depth.

Next I began to collage bits and pieces to accent the image and the theme of dressmaking. I used old pattern tissue, an antique button, an old tape measure, etc. I glued the pieces down and sewed around them again to secure the tissue. I removed the shank from the button and hot glued it in place.

I then went to work on the background. I had this Vintage Black Harlequin cardstock (no longer available) from The Paper Studio in my stash. I cut and frayed the edges of some cream colored burlap and glued it on the front of the cardstock at an angle.

Next I painted the dress form with Copic markers to add shape and dimension. I then glued the artwork to the background. I felt it needed a little bling so I added glitter glue in gold to the base of the form and wrapped some gold pearls around the image and glued them with dots of hot glue. Here is a close up of the art:

Please visit Viva Las Vegastamps! and see the thousands of designs available. Also visit the other VLV Design Team members and tell them I sent you!

Terri Sproul, Team leader: Terri's blog
Chris Hurley: Chris' blog
Kim Prince; Kim's blog
Cheryl Lindsay: Cheryl's blog
DeeDee Catron: DeeDee's blog
Jennifer Bliss: Jen's blogYou can also find our work on Stamp Art Forum.

You can find more of my work at:

Cre8Tive Compass Magazine

Cre8Tiva's Blog