Monthly Challenge

This Month's challenge for the Viva Las Vegastamps!  Blog.

Each month we will pick a new theme and we hope you play along with us. At the beginning of the next month, we will pick a winner and that card will be featured on our Blog and the winner will receive a $25.00 Gift Certificate to our online store or if you are visiting Las Vegas, stop by our Retail Store to use your Gift Certificate.

November's Theme

"THANKS"

The Viva Las Vegastamps! online store has lots of  stamps to choose from
CLICK HERE

How to enter:
1) Must be a follower of the Viva Las Vegastamps! Blog - I will check
2) Post a card/project  on the Viva Las Vegastamps! facebook page using the Theme by NOV 30, 2011 11:59PM Pacific Time
3) Card MUST use a stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps!
4) Winner will have their Card featured on our Blog - how exciting it that! - and get a $25 online store credit.

We will pick a winner the first week of December , 2011 and post the next month's Challenge on the 1st of each month. We hope you play with us...

The Bonecracker Suite

Happy Halloween Everyone!!! Susan here and I am so excited to be posting on Halloween. Today I am sharing the "Black Magic" technique using two Viva Las Vegas Stamps: Skeleton Flashing #1041 and Ballerina Dancer #1555. 

 

The Black Magic technique creates a dramatic look by stamping on dark cardstock with light ink and coloring it with colored pencils, then adding high contrast with a white gel pen. 

I stamped both images to create a scene using Colorbox white pigment ink onto black cardstock then heatset.

Using Berol Prismacolor pencils, I gradually build up layers of color from light to dark over the images. Berol pencils are great for this technique and blend well. Except for a handful of basic colors, I haven't used these much since art school, and I miss my old friends.

A dramatic effect is created with the lighter edges toward the outside blending to darker in the center of the objects. As I layer colors, the Ballerina begins to pop off the page. The dimension in the curtains really have a velvety feel. I continued to add more layers of color to increase contrast and achieve more depth.

At this point, the skelton has become lost in the image, and was reversed in the image when stamped in white. So to repair this, I am stamped him again with Black Onyx Versafine on white coated cardstock.

I heat set, greyed him a bit with Weathered Wood and Pumice Stone distress ink and cut his hands out to place in front of the curtains. I cut the curtains to fit him into the image then add a little more colored pencil to blend in with background seamlessly. I added back some details with a black pigment ink marker and pops of white and gold with gel pens. I added some pale pink gem accents to finish her off. Here are details of each:

HERE IS THE FINISHED MASTERPIECE!

To complete this, I made a shadow box housing. I mounted this into an old Frango Chocolate box from Marshall Fields in Chicago that was housing some old cabinet hardware a friend gave to me from updating her cabinets. I painted the box with gesso, then lime green, black and grey acrylic paint. I also painted hardware to mount on outside of box to make it a little ornate and vintage looking. I finished this shadow box off with some fabric scraps folded into curtains and some fancy gold trim at the bottom of the stage.

Today is the last day to enter thee VLVS Theme Challenge for October. Submit your "Halloween" theme creations using Viva Las Vegastamps for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate at the VLVS online store. CLICK HERE for info on submissions. Also check out the Viva Las Vegastamps store - and the Bargain Basement Blowout going on through today!

Thanks for visiting & if you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE.

Happy Howl-oween!

See this stamp?

Isn't it ADORABLE!!!!!

Oh how I do adore the wieners!

I have two Halloween tags for you today...

These babies are going to Canton, Ohio on Saturday (along with 40 of their relatives)

 to my Fiskateer pals!

 Tag started life out as cream colored card stock. 

Stamped with back ground swirls, sprayed with Memories Mists (Copper), 

and inked with Distress Ink (Black Soot).

Die cut black scalloped rectangle.

Die cut cream card stock rectangle and stamp with swirl back ground stamp.

Ink with Black Soot and layer onto black rectangle.

Put rectangles onto tag!

Stamp Sexy Witch with black ink and emboss.

Color her to make her even sexier (I used regular ol' water based markers).

Rub some Stickles onto her dress.

Coat her hat with purple Crystal Lacquer.

Oh, sexy!

Once your Lacquer is dry, flip her over and put some Miracle Tape on the back and cut her out.

Stamp and emboss broom sentiment on a scrap of orange card stock.

Tear out.

Ink edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

Stick it to the tag.

Add Sexy Witch to the tag.

Oh, sexy!

And to make these tags really sturdy (and because they weren't flat after all the stuff I did to them!!),

 I attached them to card board using Miracle Tape.

I am a Miracle Tape addict.

Wonder if there's a 12 step program for Miracle Tape addiction??

Ahhhhhhh, Miracle Tape....

I love it (almost) as much as I love my wieners!

I mean, look at that face!!

So, because I love my wieners soooo much, I felt the need to do a Wiener-riffic Halloween tag!!

Yeah!

 This tag started out the same as the Sexy Witch one did, and was treated the same way.

Black scalloped rectangle layered with cream card stock rectangle which was inked with Black Soot.

Stamp & emboss wiener dog (this guy looks just like my Sammy!!), color with markers.

Flip him over and add Miracle Tape (see, Wieners and Miracle Tape, a match made in crafty heaven!!), and cut him out.

Add him to the tag and say awwwwww.

Now, get your Sexy Witch again, and stamp & emboss just her head on a scrap of paper.

Cut her hat off.

Put some Miracle Tape on the back of her hat, and cut it out.

Color hat with and orange marker, cot with orange Crystal lacquer, and stick it on your wiener's head.

Awwwwww.

Now, anyone who has a wiener  knows that wieners love candy, so ya gotta take him trick or treating! Get a cute Halloween button, cut off the shank, and glue it to the tag.

Find yourself a Trick or Treat sticker, mount it onto some card stock, trim, ink with Black Soot, and add it to your tag. I also gave him a little doggie bone (sticker).

Have a wienderful Halloween!!!

Using Static Cling Mount Foam!! + Robins Nest goodies!

Hey VLVS! Fans!! DeeDee here again...

Now, I know I Promised a video in my last post.. but my card reader is not working correctly and I can only upload photos at this time... so here is a PHOTO tutorial on using the Cling Mount foam from VLVS! --- This foam has an adhesive side.. and a smooth side.. and once adhered to your rubber stamps allows them to cling to acrylic blocks like photopolymer clear stamps!!! No more heavy bulky wood hanging around.. just easy peasy cling mounted rubber!! 

Onto the tutorial:

Step one: gather supplies.:
Cling Mount Foam (1/8 inch thick) and (1/16 inch thick)

VLVS! unmounted red rubber stamps - I used the Small Flourish Alpha --- $1!!

A nice pair of scissors (Click here for some via VLVS!)

Step two: cut foam to size of stamp

Step three: peel backing from ADHESIVE side and stick to underside of stamp

Step four: Cut and trim individual stamps

Step five: remove 2nd backing to reveal cling... press to acrylic block.. ink up.. and STAMP AWAY!

And here's what I ended up with! Small party favors at a local Halloween party! Paper and Dew Drops courtesy of The Robins Nest!!
The small bottles can be found HERE @ VLVS!

Hope this helps!! -DeeDee

Beware the Pumpkin Eater!

The Pumpkin Eater card by Joe Morgan

Halloween, my favorite holiday, is almost here! For this week's post, I made a cute card using three different pumpkin stamps. To start out, I stamped the three stamps on white cardstock, and colored them with Copic markers. I cut out all three of them. One of them includes a graveyard scene in the background, but I cut that off so that I would just have the pumpkin by itself.

For the sentiment, I wrote my own, and then printed it directly on a 6”x12” piece of the light brown cardstock. The font is called Centaur, and I thought it looked like a good storybook font. Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them for easier reading. For the tree, I cut some dark brown cardstock with a Tim Holtz Sizzix die. I cut out a silhouette of a man to use for Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater.

When assembling, I glued down the moon and then the tree. I glued down one man silhouette and then placed black pop dots on top of him and then put an identical silhouette on top for a 3D effect. For the pumpkins, I glued down the center one, and then used pop dots for the two on the outside to add dimension.

Here are the three stamps I used for this project:
Pumpkin in Cemetery #6264
Jack O’Lantern #5896
Pumpkin Sneering #6490

For an added Halloween bonus, I am posting a second card that I made for Viva Las Vegastamps! ad in Rubber Stamp Madness magazine.

Frankenstein Collage Card by Joe Morgan

For this card, I used Frankenstein stamp #5842, some colored paper and acrylic paint dabbers from Ranger. To start out, I cut eight colored squares of paper about 2.5”x2.5” I adhered four of them to the front of a 5”x5” card.

I stamped on the four remaining squares using paint dabbers instead of ink on my stamp. I stamped blue paint on the greenish white square, black paint on the purple square, purple paint on the blue square and green paint on the yellow square. You can do it any way you like. I then cut out my monsters and adhered them to the squares on the card in the order I liked best. You’ll want to wash your stamps ASAP when using paint. I doesn’t hurt them, but the longer it sets, the harder it is to clean.

Be sure to visit the Viva Las Vegastamps! blog to see what the rest of the design team have created for Halloween! There are lots of great ideas this month!

I hope you have enjoyed my cards as much as I enjoyed making them! Feel free to check out my blog at Create & Craft for more fun ideas! Thanks for stopping by!

Who's Your "Sugar" Daddy???

In the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, this stamp collage piece is done "tongue n' cheek" with the screaming lady, who realizes her "sugar daddy" is a zombie.  By stamping  screaming lady to the right and in the front she looks like she is running away.  I

used the Masquepen so that I could stamp the zombie and tombstone words and not have the zombie covered in black ink.

VLVS Stamps  and Products Used:

Screaming Lady  11098

Pointy Eared Alien Lady 10722 - Note:   I used her as the zombie guy

Sugar Daddy 8189

The Return of the Living Dead 3692

Miracle Tape

Other Products:

Cardstock, White, Decorative Purple, Decorative  Stripe, Word Paper, and Decorative Zig-Zag

Masquepen

Stewart Superior Black Memories Ink (VLVS Sponsor)

Colored Pencils

Epoxy Stickers

Black Bat - I cut from paper

Glue Pen just for loops of striped paper frame

Scissors

As a mixed media artist who collages a lot, I like to even sort of collage with stamps.  There are various ways to do this.  This is the simplest because only one image overlaps. 

I start out by stamping out the images on scrap paper to see where I want to place the images and to see if any would overlap.  If they overlap, then I have to "mask" the image (in this case the zombie), so when I stamp "Return of the Living Dead," it won't mess up the zombie image.  So, I started with the zombie image and stamped it first on the upper left side with the black Memories ink.

I next used the Masquepen and filled in the head and shoulders of the zombie with the product.  Let dry.  Stamp "The Return of the Living Dead" over the top of the zombie's head and use your index finger to roll off the masque.  While the Masquepen has a fine tip, the flow was smooth and easy so it took no time to fill in the area to mask it.

Stamp the Sugar Daddy candy bar just below the zombie and the screaming lady to the right.  Use colored pencils to color the images like a cartoon page.  I only did a little bit of shading with a light and dark shade of color on the sugar daddy candy, a little bit on the screaming lady, and background.  Cut out whole art piece when done coloring.

Assemble to finish following the illustration above.  I used the purple paper first, adhered the word paper to the striped frame and then on top of the purple paper.  Then I adhered the stamped art piece and added embellishements.

Bonus:  Ultra  High Gloss Clear Embossing Powder Masking

Use Ultra High Gloss Clear Embossing Powder to work as a mask or resist.    The Skeleton Businessman was stamped first using PIGMENT INK.  Pigment ink is juicy and stays wet longer so you can then sprinkle the Ultra Gloss EP on top of what you just stamped an tap off the excess.  A heat tool will melt the EP to a shiny, epoxy-like surface.  

Stamp the words "Gossip" over the skeleton businessman with dye or permanent ink.  Because of the EP, the ink will not stick on it.  Use a soft cloth and wipe over the skeleton and the ink will remove!  Now all the gossip words are in the background.

Here is the finished art.

I did one more piece using the same stamps but making a paper wall hanging.  I cut out ghosts from The Robin's Nest Paper - one of VLVS sponsors.  Also from The Robin's Nests are Dew Drops - colored accents to coordinate with your art. 

Happy Haunting ~ with Viva Las Vegas Stamps!

                            

Viva Las Vegastamps! Halloween Party Decorations

Having a Halloween party this year?

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

  Want to bump it up a notch?  

Use stamps from Viva Las Vegastamps! 

to create a witches work haven that could make your skin tingle!  

Set the tone with candles.  Pick up inexpensive candles at the dollar store.  Decorate with Robins Nest Halloween papers, Halloween Glitter Stripe and Glitter Ghost Camo (reverse side), wrap the candles using VLVS Miracle Tape and tie with twine.  

Gather bottles and jars.  Sources are yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores and your very own kitchen.  The collection in this post is from all the above.  Remove all labels.  

A couple of the jar lids had writing on them.  For this project I covered them with twine that had been dipped in glue and wrapped around the lid.  Set aside to dry.  Being impatient, in the oven they went at 150 degrees (for about 1/2 hour) watching them closely as not to burn them.

Go through your Viva Las Vegastamps! and find some that would make great labels for witches potions, tonics or poison.  Not all are typical Halloween stamps, the possibilities are only limited by the imagination. In a word processing program plan layouts and wording for the labels.  All images here were stamped using Memories™ Black Dye Inkpad on ivory card stock. 

FLYING DUST

A pinch of Dust on Broom for a smoother ride.

On printed label stamp VLVS Dog Witch on Broom, color dog and broom with brown COPICS.  Crystal lacquer the dog, hat and broom bristles.  Sprinkle glitter on the broom bristles while the lacquer is wet. Set aside to dry.  Distress with brown ink.  Spritz label with iridescent mist. Adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Put glitter in jar for magic dust!   

DRAGON’S BREATH

Warning Pungent

On printed label stamp VLVS Dragon Breathing Fire, crystal lacquer the fire using pastel pink and orange.  Set aside to dry.  Distress with brown ink. Add red COPIC just below dragon's eye add green to the body.  Spritz with iridescent mist. Adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Cork jar to keep dragons breath inside!  

EYE OF CAT

Print label, distress with brown ink and spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar using VLVS Miracle Tape.  Stamp VLVS Cat and Bat Jack o Lantern, fussy cut image, with pastel orange crystal lacquer fill in the face of the pumpkin around eyes, nose and mouth, set aside to dry.  Color stem brown, attach to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill jar with chocolate foil wrapped eyes!

PRINCELY POTION

Print label, distress with brown ink, spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Stamp VLVS Frog Walking with Sign, fussy cut FROG ONLY.  Color frog with COPICS - green tones, then cover with crystal lacquer and set aside to dry.  Stamp VLVS Crown, use VLVS Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder, fussy cut image, then embellish crown with Robins Nest Dew Drops, punch hole in crown (top center) and attach to bottle neck with twine.  Attach dry Frog to the label with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill bottle with liquid potion! 

POISON ELIXIR 

For the deadliest potions and spells!

Print label, distress using brown ink and spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Stamp VLVS Skull and Crossbones and fussy cut.  Color face with red COPIC (leave teeth and crossbones white) use VLVS Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder.  Adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill jar with color liquid!

WITCH WART BALM

Every morning liberally rub over warts to keep ugly and hairy.  

Guaranteed to enhance witchy beauty within hours.

On printed label stamp VLVS Wicked Witch with Broom (small). Note: Only ink top half of the stamp. Use VLVS Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder on the witch.  Color face and hands with green COPICs. Distress with brown ink and spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill jar with key lime yogurt!

SHRINKING TONIC
Test Subject #13

Survived 13.13 minutes

Print label, distress with brown ink and spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Stamp VLVS Skeleton in Long Coat, use VLVS Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder, then fussy cut.  Adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill jar with color liquid and small skeleton!

WOOL OF BAT

For use in hair growth spells. 

Use cautiously, bodily hair could lengthen. 

Print label, distress with brown ink and spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Stamp VLVS Cat and Bat Jack o Lantern, fussy cut bat mouth ONLY and crystal lacquer bat,  then set aside to dry.  When dry adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill jar with hair from your favorite dog's brush!

VANISHING TONIC

Ghostly Disappearance 

Temporarily remove nuisances from life!

Print label, distress with brown ink and spritz iridescent mist, adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fussy cut one ghost from Robins Nest Halloween Glitter Ghost paper, crystal lacquer ghost.  Set aside to dry.  When dry adhere to jar with VLVS Miracle Tape.  Fill jar with colored water.

Supplies:

VLVS Dog Witch on Broom 

VLVS Dragon Breathing Fire 

VLVS Cat and Bat Jack o Lantern 

VLVS Frog Walking with Sign

VLVS Crown 

VLVS Skull and Crossbones 

VLVS Wicked Witch with Broom (small) 

VLVS Skeleton in Long Coat

VLVS Miracle Tape 1/2 inch

VLVS Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder

Robins Nest - Pattern Paper - Halloween Glitter Ghost 

Robins Nest - Pattern Paper - Glitter Ghost Camo 

Robins Nest - Pattern Paper - Halloween Glitter Stripe 
Robins Nest - Dew Drops

Stewart Superior Memories Black Ink

Stewart Superior Memories Mist Iridescent

Sakura Hobby 3D Crystal Lacquer Clear

Sakura Hobby 3D Crystal Lacquer Pink & Orange

Ivory card stock - labels 

COPICS - greens, browns, red

Brown ink for aging

Twine

Glue

Cutter 

Scissors

Marvy Embossing Heat Tool

Bottles


Other decoration suggestions:

Candles

Skull

Pedestal

Mortar and Pestle

Crow

Rat

Candy - Eyes, worms, eggs

Glitter - Flying Dust

Plastic Skeleton

Old Glasses

Keys

Candle sticks

Witches Brew cup & smoke

Creepy Cloth

More old bottles and anything else that you can think of!


Fill Bottles and Jars: 
Candy - Eyes, worms, eggs

Glitter - Flying Dust

Plastic Skeleton

Colored water

Green Yogurt

For more Halloween party projects check out these VLVS DT posts: 

 Halloween Lantern Tutorial

Halloween Treat Boxes

Halloween Witchy Kitty Giftie

Halloween Treat Cone

Get more inspiration on the VLVS Blog

New posts by the VLVS Design Team        
 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

Visit  the Viva Las Vegastamps! store HERE!

Join the monthly challenge... 

for a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate

Find out more about the

VLVS! October Halloween Theme Challenge HERE!

FREE RUBBER 

Just post the Viva Las Vegastamps! Blinkie on your Blog or Website and get a FREE Grab Bag of Unmounted Rubber...  details at the top of the VLVS blog sidebar! 

One last thought... 

don't you think these labels in this post would make great cards?  

I am going to make a set this week... 

watch for them on VLVS Facebook page!!!!

Visit my blog Dreaming of Castles HERE!

Have fun with your Halloween projects, 

this is Lyneen signing off...
 until next time have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Treat Boxes - Free Pattern!

I’m not a big fan of horror stories, scary films, haunted houses and the like. They make my heart pound and I scare pretty easily. Maybe that’s why I prefer the spooky but fun approach to Halloween.

When I saw the Eyes Inside Pumpkin stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps! it made me chuckle. The design comes in two sizes (#10871, #10880), so you can use it to create a suite of projects that complement one another. Combine it with Halloween Glitter Stripe paper from The Robin’s Nest and Purple Grandeur paper from Core’dinations and you’ve got all you need to make these three spooky Halloween treat boxes and tag.

One sheet of Halloween Glitter Stripe paper gives you enough strips to decorate about 9 boxes and a couple of tags. One sheet of Purple Grandeur will make all three boxes. I cut in to a second sheet to make the tag. Miracle Tape from Viva Las Vegastamps! makes it fast and easy to secure pieces when making the boxes.

Embellishments

To create the pumpkin embellishments, I stamped the Eyes Inside Pumpkin stamps on orange glitter paper from Colorbok’s Autumn Glittler pack with StazOn Jet Black ink and fussy cut them. I touched up the stamped lines with a black sharpie. To make the eyes really pop, I used a drop of Inkssentials White Enamel Accents by Ranger for each eye. After that cured, I touched the center with a black Pigma Micron Pen (0.3 mm) from Sakura. I applied green chunky glitter to the stems using Crystal Lacquer as an adhesive.

The two Happy Halloween sentiments are #7737 and #8709 from Viva Las Vegastamps! I stamped them on scalloped ovals and rectangles cut with deckle scissors.

Window Treat Box

Here’s a free pattern in PDF format to make the window treat box. I stamped the inside with Happy Halloween from Viva Las Vegastamps! This box makes a great container for candy, jewelry, a key, tickets, etc. I filled mine with Reeces Pieces because I love the colors they come in!

Triangle Favor Box

Triangle Treat Box Pattern

Start with a piece of cardstock measuring 6” x 4”. Score it down the center (3”) along the long side. Then score it from the center of the short side (2”) to the center of the long side as shown. Punch a 1/8” hole ½” down and ½” over from the each of the four corners. Fold along the score lines; fill it with candy or a small gift and threat ribbon through the punched holes to tie the box together. One mini candy bar fits just snug.

Triangular Tube Kiss Box

The kisses container is a breeze to make and could easily be mass produced. Start with a piece of cardstock measuring 5½” x 4½”. Score it at 1”, ½” and 4” along the short side. The finished piece will be a triangular tube that is 5½” long. Fold at the score lines, adhere the ½” piece on the bottom and you’re done! Anchor the end kisses with a glue dot don’t so they don’t fall out when you pick it up. The tube holds 6 kisses.

Halloween Tag

If you’re giving someone something too big to fit in a favor box, just attach a Halloween tag to it! I started with Purple Grandeur paper cut to fit the tag and dry embossed it with the Pumpkin Harvest Cuttlebug embossing folder by Provo Craft. Adhere it to the tag and then lightly sand it to make the embossed design pop. Add your embellishments and your tag is ready to go!

You can see more of my projects on my blog at Create & Craft.

Joe Rotella