Mail Art Monday Continues (video tutorial)

Hello Again! 

It's me Tera here...

 I am so excited to share the 2nd official Mail Art Monday tutorial with you!! :D 

(there is also a sneak peak of what I'll be sharing in September in the video so you can be ready for halloween!! ) 

Stamps Used: 

Plate 1455 <<<< AMAZING PLATE!!!!

Pen Tips 2 3/4 x 2

Fed-up Vintage Lady 

Stitching

Staple X

Three Staples

Writing Circles Background

Sawtooth Stitching lines

Sheet Music Background

Deliver To  <<< a mail art must!! 

Ink Run 

I hope you will join us for the next Mail Art Monday in september!! :D 

Stay Inky!! 

VLVS and Pocket Letter Pals

Hello Everyone!!
I'm So excited to be back as a part of the VLVS design team!! I hope you all are ready for some fun stamping inspiration!!!
(It may get a little photo heavy in here)

Have you heard of the new fun craze in the crafty mail world? 

It's called Pocket Letter Pals!! Read about it HERE or a short video HERE from the woman who started it. 

I am in love with creating these!!! 

Naturally I love creating ATC's and you know any excuse to create a decorative envelope gets me excited!! So, needless to say this new trend is right up my alley!!!

 I hope you all love what I have to share with you and give it a try also! I know you will love it too!

Stamps used:
Plate 1455 (seriously a MUST HAVE plate! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this plate!!!) 

Pair of Boots 2 1/2 x 2 1/2

Grunge Plus Sign 3/4 x 3/4

Coffee Ring Stain 2 3/4 x 2 1/4

Banksy Achieve Greatness 1 1/2 x 2 1/4

Skinny Minnie 1 x 2 3/4

Pen Tips 2 3/4 x 2

Large Lightbulb 2 x 3

Moon Circle 1 3/4 x 1 1/2

Whimsical Owl in Clothes 1 3/4 x 3

Window Fish 2 1/2 x 3 1/2

Other supplies: 
 Dylusions paints (or whatever you want to create your background with)
Black Ink
Memento Ink in pink (optional used for some background stamping)
Scissors for fussy cutting the owl out
pink marker (color in top right card)
White Gel Pen (add highlights and depth)
Black Marker (to draw "hello")

I started with these super fun painted backgrounds (these two were actually created for me by my mom :D whom is also a craft addict! her blog is HERE) 

           (created the owl card with a cut out from this sheet)

Next I cut the paper up into individual cards measuring 2.25in x 3.25 in (if you don't want to mount yours on black standard ATC size is fine also)... NOW the fun begins!!!

(Here you can see how my layout started... {Sorry this photo is a bit washed out}
and
from the final picture you can see things have been moved around some)

I start by arranging my base cards so that they are pleasing to the eye.. then I start stamping :D I like to add something tea or coffee related since people often send these items with thier letters, so thats what I start with. my next step is usually my "Hello" or about me card. From there i tend to bounce around adding qoutes, and things that blend nicely and make me smile :D 

(Feel free to simplify yours I got super excited and went stamping crazy!! )

Below are some close up - detail shots

(the boots and fish are my 2 favorites... :D )






(had to share one more close-up of this one! I love it!!)

(with VLVS there is no limit to what you can do with these things! Some prefer to work by theme, or style or even color inspiration... Heck you could do cats, dogs or things that start with a specific letter..lol) 

I hope you feel inspired and as excited as I am about these! Let us know if you'd like to see more Pocket Letter inspiration!! 

Family Love Vintage Style Collage

Greetings stampers! It's Amy blogging today, to share a vintage style collaged canvas. I have 7 different Viva Las VegaStamps! on this canvas, and I think they all work so well together.

  I started by prepping a 12x12 canvas board with...of all things, a sample of Benjamin Moore blue paint I picked up at the hardware store for $1. I then layered on vintage style papers, layering them on with Mod Podge. When this had dried, I added layers of mists in light browns, and spread them on with a brayer. A layer of white acrylic paint was the final of the canvas layers. 

The fourth layer on this canvas is the background stamping, where I used the checkerboard and cursive writing stamps randomly all over. I kept the harlequin diamond stamping just over the area where my photo cluster would be. 

 After layering on vintage papers and elements, I stamped the Bee Cards, Paintbrushes in Jar, and Pen Tips onto untextured cardstock, and fussy cut them out. Adding them throughout the clustered area of the collage, gave the perfect unique vintage touch.

 The Directional Wheel stamp added a perfect bit of movement on the bottom and top corners of my layered cluster. I love the look and how it blends seamlessly with the style of the piece.

I'm really excited with how this canvas turned out, and I hope you enjoyed seeing it too! I hope you have a creative rest of the week! <3

Supply List:
Viva Las VegaStamps!:
Backgrounds: checkerboard, cursive writing, Harlequin Diamond.
Other: Bee Cards, Paint Brushes in Jar, Pen Tips, Directional Wheel.

Canvas board
Ink: IMAGINE Crafts, Ranger
Paint: Benjamin Moore,Plaid Crafts
Mist: 13 Arts, Tattered Angels
Paper: Tim Holtz, 7 Dots Studio, Vintage
Metals: Prima, Bead Landing, Vintage
Photograph: The Sparkling Gnome

Sneak Peek Pen Nibs and Script!

Hey everybody, DeeDee here today :) 

I have a sneak peek of an upcoming event to share with you! I've been working on a lot of "not for the public's eyes" works... publication submissions, future blog hops, and even some collaborations with other artists! Today I'm sharing a sneak peek of a piece involving three different fabulous companies. Of course I had to be there to represent VLVS! and even though you can't see the whole piece yet, you can still marvel at some of the Viva Las VegaStamps! beauty. 

To create the corner of this work I used the

Pen Tips 2.75 x 2 - $9.00

and the

Writing Background 4 x 4 -$15.50

I stamped the pen tips in adirondak's Archival Black ink. For the script stamp I inked up the rubber with vintage photo distress stain and then misted it lightly with water. This created a sort of rained on old letter feel. I've also splashed some tattered angels charcoal mist and luminarte's solar gold silks. 

I promise you will get to see the rest of this project very soon.. and won't be disappointed!!