This Is Not A Photo Opportunity.

Hello, Mary here.

Today, I have a project to share featuring one of my all time favorite ways to use rubber stamps!  It's well known that I LOVE fabric.  The only thing I love more that fabric, is creating my own printed fabric.

To create the covers for this book, I grabbed some of my favorite unbleached cotton fabric along with my StazOn ink pad and stamped myself a one of a kind pattern with the Flying Saucer Diagram and Field Of Stars rubber stamp images.

To embellish the cover, I stamped a small section of white cotton with the Banksy This Is/Photo Op image, and stitched it on (I thought it was a funny nod to the cliche of a UFO enthusiast's desire to catch one on film!  HA!!). I then layered together several panels of cotton, felt and chipboard and sewed them together to create a soft, quilted book cover.

I love the vintage look of this book!  And the versatility of stamping your own fabric is endless.  How sweet would it be using nursery rhyme images for a baby book?  We're talking Humpty Dumpty, The Cow Jumped Over The Moon, and The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon stuff here.

Oh, yeah...

Well, that's it for me today---thanks so much for joining me.  Now, go grab some rubber and get crafty!!!

xx Mary

Time Flies.

Hello!  Mary here with a little inspiration for the March Challenge.  If you haven't seen the inspiration board yet, here's a peek...

And here's my take...

To create my stripes, I've masked off and repeatedly stamped the Toy Airplane image in StazeOn ink and then used a flat paintbrush to add my green ink.  I'm not a fan of actual birds, but I figured this airplane fits the bill!

A few ink splats came next, and then torn tissue tape and a bit of machine stitching.

I finished off my card with the stamped Time Flies sentiment that I've stitched down and a few hand cut gold triangles for a pop of sparkle. 

So, with this card, I've covered green, white, stripes, music notes, black, writing, birds, splatters, tape and triangles!

Have you played along yet?

I hope I've inspired you to grab your favorite VLVS! rubber and get your stamp on!!

xx Mary

Celebrate Everything.

Hello!  Mary here with a simple, yet fun stamped project step-by-step for you.

I began by stamping the Large Button and Small Button stamps with StazOn ink in Jet Black.

Then, because I was stamping on watercolor paper which is very textured, I filled in my stamping with a Faber-Castell pitt artist pen.  The black fades a bit and matches the StazOn ink perfectly!

A little Distress Ink painted on...

... with a few flicks of water add subtle texture.

 Then, I added machine stitching for even more texture.

I embellished with the sweet Girl in Princess Costume stamp and the Until Further Notice sentiment stamp to finish my book covers.

And now, all that's left is to make a book!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope I've inspired you to grab your favorite VLVS! rubber and make something today!

 xx Mary

Dragonfly Art Journal Page

Hello and welcome everyone to a new day of inspiration here. I made it into a video YAY. So check that out below!

I played in my art journal. YES it was fun too! I got to play with some new sprays, and some metals, and a new stencil. I am crazy excited and loved how this page turned out. 

Here you can see the Dragonfly Wings - 11042 were stamped and cut out. 

You can see all the stamping I did here using Staz-On Ink and Prima Chalk Inks. All the stamps are listed below. I used a a bit to build up a background!

I used glass beads, in the 3d gloss gel with a stencil. 

The tag was a fun add too but I wasn't sure what to write on it or stamp on it so I colored it in with some Bloom Sprays.

The stamps I used are the following:

Dictionary Page - 19015

Dragonfly Wings - 11042

Tag - 19079

Writing Circles Background - 19567

Three Staples - 19576

Staple X - 19577

Double Coffee Rings - 19568

Six Staples - 19578

If you would like to see how I created this art journal page check it out HERE!!!!

Who are you?

Hello all :) Nataliya is here :)
Today I'm brought to you my new card about our real "I" that we often hide from everyone, even from ourselves. So who are you really?

I just adore this effect with pearl powder...hidden pattern)

And little tutorial for you :)
I very love to do stamping background! Maybe you have noticed it :)
For the beginning I stamping on the scrap paper using Gelato - what lovely color blends are obtained!

I did a little "script" details with StazOn and Memento Luxe:

It is time to pearl powder! I did stamping with VersaMark.

As you can see, powder stuck on VersaMark and Memento Luxe, but drawing with VersaMark visible only at certain angles.

Adding some blots:

and my fav Be Adorable stamp :)

For Men I used black StazOn, again:

And with Gelato I add shadow:

My VLVS!
Harlequin Diamond Background 4 1/2 x 5 3/4Writing Background 4 x 4
Waybill/Invoice Background 4 1/4 x 5 1/4
Victorian Flourish 2 1/4 x 5
Be Adorable 1 3/4 x 4 1/2
Businessman Silhouette 1 1/4 x 3 1/4

My other products:

Paper - Lemon Owl

Ink - StazOn (Jet Black), Memento Luxe (Rose Bud), VersaMark
Spray - Walnut Ink (Cornflower), Mister Huey's (Inky Black), Adirondack (Red Pepper)

Gelato - Earl Grey, Guava, Metallic Melon

Pearl Powder

PanPastel Framed.

Day three already of our PanPastels feature! Today we're starting off with MARY BROCKWAY!

Hello!  Mary here, with a picture frame I've jazzed up with a few of my favorite VLVS images and Pan Pastel.

This frame started it's life as raw wood.  I gave it a nice coat of flat white paint and then stamped the Gnome, Butterfly Specimens and 'pure' from the Pure Imagination images in StazOn black ink.

I then blended Magenta and Hansa Yellow PanPasel onto my frame and sprayed it with a clear sealant to keep the pastels in place.  I LOVE the areas where they blended together to create that lovely coral color!!

Finally, I embellished with black thread, white twine, gems and a large heart-shaped stone that my baby girl gave me.  A bit of splattered white paint softened everything.

Ok, that's it for me!  Be sure to pop in tomorrow for more PanPastel and VLVS inspiration.

xx Mary

Time Flies.

Hello!!  Mary, here with a fun shaped mini album.

 

I've been wanting a creative way to showcase some photos of my kiddos in a 'then & now' way---something that could capture the way they were as littles and how those same traits have morphed and changed into who they are at this moment.

 

 

When I saw the Time Flies sentiment, I knew it'd be perfect as the title and main focus of this mini!  The Feather Silhouette makes an amazing embellishment.  I love the look of the gold embossing on the black cardstock.

And here's a peek at the bird-shaped mini book.  I'm still working on it, but the Stars embossed in gold over a wash of watercolor makes this Prima Marketing 'Life Time' paper happy.

 

Well, it makes me happy anyway!!

Ok guys, that's it for me!!  I hope you've enjoyed this peek at my book.

 

xx Mary

Make A Wish.

 

Hello!!  It's Mary here, with the very first ATC in our ATC BASH! 

 

For my ATC, I've done a bit of double stamping.  First, I've inked up the Blowing Dandelion stamp up with a variety of Distress Ink colors and stamped down.  A small amount of water sprayed over the image allowed the inks to bleed.  Then, I re-stamped directly on top with Staze-On.  The resulting image is solid black with a touch of watercolor.

 

 

To finish it off, I've stitched the word 'WISH.' from the Make A Wish sentiment stamp.  A bit of white splatter and some glitter peeking through finishes the ATC.

I'm pretty new to ATC's, but I have to admit these small works of art are really fun!!  They're tiny, but they can pack some serious punch.  Stay tuned for more ATC fabulosity from the rest of the team over the next two weeks!

 

xx Mary

Roses and Rocks.

Hello, Mary here :-)   I thought it fitting, with all the fabulous January birthdays out there, that I bring you a little stamped jewelry/card combo---perfect for gifting on birthdays or any days!

 

 

 

This card was super simple.  I just stamped the lovely Rose image onto watercolor paper and dropped a bit of Lindy's Stamp Gang spray mist onto it to add some color.  I then layered vellum and some Gauche Alchemy ephemera under the image and it was ready to stick down.

 

 

The base of my card is rockin' more of the Cross Stitch (my FAVE!!) stamping to add a little texture to my background.  A splatter of glitter and a pretty ribbon embellishment later, and my card was ready for givin'!

 

 

This necklace is another of my stamped paper clay creations and I absolutely LOVE how rustic it looks.  I just free-formed a heart from a small portion of paper clay and stamped into it with one of the super versatile cloud images from Plate 910A.  I think it adds prettiest swirly pattern, and you'd never know it was a cloud stamp!  Just a bit more Lindy's spray mist and some hardware finishes the piece.  Together, I think this combo makes for one HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

 

 

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I'll see ya next time!!

 

xx Mary

 

Aliens and Organizers.

Hello :-)  It's Mary joining you today to share a little VLVS 'stampin' love' in the form of a brand new organizer---ready to help me stay on track this year!!

 

It all started with an old book cover...

 

 

The aged look of this cover was far too pretty to cover completely, so I chose to use only a single focal embellishment.

 

I created a freeform heart from paper clay and stamped into it with my all-time favorite stamp lately, Cross Stitch.  White paint and some Lindy's Stamp Gang spray mist gave some fabulously bright color,  while a bit of black paint brought out the amazing texture the stamp left in the clay.

 

The inside cover was rockin' some amazing handwriting from the original owner, so I opted to keep it simple with more misting and a single image. 

 

How amazing is the Alien Circle stamp??  I think it adds a bit of mystery a la Area 51!

 

 

The divider pages were collaged with ephemera from Gauche Alchemy and some patterned paper from the 'ol scrap bin with a thin coat of white paint to unify everything.  I've repeated the Alien Circle and Cross Stitch stamps using Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder and Staze-On black ink.  A bit more spray misting and she was finished!!

 

I absolutely adore mixing stamped stitching with the real deal! 

 

 

 I gotta say, I'm super happy with how it came out.  All that 'stampin'-stitchin'-painty' goodness is the perfect combo of function meets fab!

 

Ok guys, that's it for me.  Thanks so much for joining me today, and I'll see ya soon!!

 

xx Mary