Filmstrip card by Cathy N

Hello and good morning, Cathy here with a fun card for you today.

                                                                     Stamps Used:

                                                                19219 whimsical elephant 

                                                                17545 writing background

                                                                20572 doodle triangle 

I started out cutting an die cut of a large film strip with black cardstock. Then I cut out the center die with white cardstock and smooched 3 different distress inks on a plastic sheet and the smooched it on the cardstock. I dried between colors so they wouldn't blend together. 

 I then stamped whimsical elephant with black ink in the middle of the card. I then added writing background in the same 3 distress colors I used on the background in the same color area. After that I stamped doodle triangle in black ink randomly on the background. Lasty, I added washi tape for the elephant to stand on and add it to the black die cut piece. 

No one took me serious by FRAN CHALMERS

Hi everyone :)

I have lost my mojo a bit so I have made only a simple postcard this time.

First, to make the background I blended three distress inks - Kitsch Flamingo, Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet.  I went round the edge with Villainous Potion.

 I then stamped the elephants on card, making sure they were really black.  I wanted them to stay just black and white as they are so detailed. I then cut them out.

I stamped the sentiment straight onto the background.

.I went round the edge of the elephants with a black pen to make sure all the white bits weren't showing after cutting them out.

Before sticking the elephants onto the card, I stuck some washy tape for them to sit/stand on.  I also went round the edge of the card with black fine liner to add more interest.

Quick and easy! See you next time.x

Stamps Used:

Whimsical Elephant 19219

Sitting Elephant 19157

Banksy No One Took Me Serious 19963

Other Items Used:

Distress Inks in  Kitsch Flamingo, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Villainous Potion

Versafine Clair ink in Nocturn

Washy Tape

Black Fine Liner

Mail Art Monday - Guest Feature

We recently got a super cool piece of Mail Art through the post and I wanted to share it with you - this envelope came via Lesley M. all the way from Scotland!

Unicycle Frog | Sunbathing Bird | Skateboarding Turtle | Sitting Elephant

Whimsical Elephant

Good stuff, right? Thanks so much for sending it in Lesley!!! I left the VLVS! Address there in case anyone else wanted to send in some mail art. We love it and display it in our store where the stamps are!

The Elephant is in the room, Art Journal page

Hello and Happy Wednesday!!  Tina Walker here today!

Today, I am sharing an Art Journal page, full of texture, color, and fun!  If you have seen several of my past posts, you know that one of my favorite techniques is to create Art Journal pages using Gelli Plate Prints.  I love the  instant background you achieve with the prints and I love to embellish them to create an art journal or doodle page.

To create my art journal page, I enhanced the circle design to add more texture and interest.

But before I did this, I created my focal point....the stamped, embossed elephants.  I LOVE this Whimsical Elephant stamp.

I added color to each elephant using Gelly Roll Pens.  (love these).  They have a great opaque, bright color and are perfect!

Once the pen dried, I started added texture and embellishing the circle design.  To do this, I punched a circle from a scrap piece of cardstock to use as a mask.  I then stamped within the punched shape.  This only added the stamped image to the circle.

Super easy, but effective.

The stamping added great texture and interest to the plain background.  I love this technique and will be using it again.

Stamps used:
Dictionary Page
Design Crosses
Lacy Lines

I hope you enjoyed my page today!  I am always looking for new stamp techniques.  Please share them with us.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Afterthought Mini ;)

Hello and Happy Wednesday!  Tina here today with a project that I hope will make you smile and say, 'yes', I've done that too.

I am a messy crafter, at least while a project is 'in the works'.  I don't throw anything away until I am POSITIVE that I won't need even the smallest piece.  Every scrap, every extra piece, every 'trial run mistake'.

I had just finished my VLVS projects for the month, (or at least I thought I had), and I was cleaning up my crafty disaster area, when I spied one of my trial run mistakes laying on top of my ink scrap.  And I thought, 'Hey, I like how that looks'.  Well one thing led to another, and BAM!  I created a Mini Album.  From clean-up to completed project in an hour.

Using all of the left over bits & pieces on my desk, I pieced together a fun little mini that will be used to keep memories of 'everyday' life.

Nothing was 're-created' for my pages.  Every page was created using scraps, mistakes, or ink off bits.  The only added embellishment was a strip of washi tape or two.  :)

(Note:  The base of some pages were included to 'hold' a picture or embellishment)

I am SO happy I didn't throw anything away.  I love the random-ness, and eclectic feel the album has.  It is a great compliment to the 'everyday life'. 

Have you ever created a project using the scraps on your desk?  Did you like how your project turned out?  Please share your projects...I'd love to see them.

VLVS Stamps used:
Whimsical Elephant
Banksy Rain Under Umbrella Girl
Dictionary Page
Directional Circle