Something Wicked This Way Comes

 With Halloween just around the corner, I created this postcard in the spirit of the holidays and a little bit of humor on keeping up with "social distancing." This could easily be a journal page as well.

Supplies:

Witch Holding Broom

Banksy Gas Mask Flower Girl 

Kids with Giant Jack-o-Lantern

Field of Stars 

Something Wicked This Way comes

Markers (I used Tombo standard pens) 

White Jelly Ink pen

Black permanent ink

Post-it notes for Masking stamped images

Scissors

 

 Directions:

1. I stamped the Banksy girl, the Jack-o-Lantern kids and the witch using the black ink, allowed to dry, then stamped these same stamps onto the post-it notes for masks. 

2. After cutting the images out of the post-it notes, they were applied over the stamped images to protect them from all the coloring I was going to do.

3. Using the stars stamp, the background was filled out. Something Wicked stamp, was also inked up then stamped center top over the stars.

4. Colored in the background and created a floor line while blending pens. Once background was colored, the masks were removed to allow those images to be then filled with color.

Happy Halloween!

--Mercy

Cards for the MANLY Type... or Just for FUN!!!

Hello everyone! Susan here today to share some fun masculine cards using Viva Las VegaStamps! I was crowned "Queen of Snark" for Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers "C is for Cake" Challenge and I was invited to join them as a guest for the current challenge "SSOS #36 - D is for Dude". With my ever-growing stash of VLVS! images and phrases... I had stamps with fun quips set aside to get five or six cards in the works real quick!

Who doesn't love drinking frogs??! Paired with "How 'bout a beer? Soitenly!" and stamped on a scrap of patterned paper, double matted on a coordinating Basic Grey plaid. I added a bit of color with watercolor pencils {sans water} and I'm done. CHEERS!

This quick make is stamped on a scrap of distressed creme patterned paper, accented with watercolor pencils {again no water}. Get over the Mondays with this fabulous quote "I'm out of bed and dresssed! What more do you want?". Textured blue cardstock mattes and photo corners complete this Groundhog Day special.

This Pig Smoking Pipe just had to go with this scrap of distressed pajama stripe... and he's asking for a cigar – LOL! Stamped on a scrap of patterned paper and colored with watercolor pencils {again no water blending} and set of on layers of grey and creme cardstock mattes. Love the layered look and the photo corners give a nice pop of texture.

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From Viva Las VegaStamps:

"Pig Smoking Pipe" #5368

"Has Anyone Seen My Cigar" #9981

"Groundhog Relaxing" #18088

"I'm out of bed and dressed..." #4493

"Frogs Drinking" #6407

"How 'Bout a Beer?" #2136

1/4" Miracle Tape

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Thanks so much for dropping by! Have you seen the JUNE inspiration board... its AMAZING! CLICK HERE to jump over and view my take on it.  I invite you to join us and play along with the June inspiration challenge {CLICK HERE for details}. Just make a creation using the inspiration above and your stash of VLVS! stamps... linkup and you could win more RUBBER!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. Have a fabulous day!!  Sb

It's Time to Cut the CAKE and your Stamps!!!

Hello everyone! Susan here with a tutorial using Viva Las VegaStamps! and some birthday cardmaking fun! There is a great challenge over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers "C is for Cake" and I just couldn't "resist" playing along - LOL!

I've had this "Chicken Crying" stamp for a while now and I've been dying to use him. Today is the day!!! I inked him up with some Versafine black in and embossed him with VLVS! Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder. Then while the stamp was still wet, I stamped and cut a quick post-it note mask.

With my quickie mask in place, I repeat the process with the "Cake with Candle" stamp. I also make a quick mask of the cake so I can do something with this plain white background. I don't want to cut out and paste these onto something else... I'm going to work around my grouping and it's pretty easy.

On my craft sheet I smooshed out a few colors of Distress Paint spritzed with a bit of water, then blended with my brayer. With my post-it masks in place, I rolled the color over my images. I picked up more color and reapplied until it was to my liking.

Now to add some music to my background! Using some blue dye ink I stamp the "Sheet Music Background" #19557 over my layers.

Before removing masks, I added one more stamp to ground my scene - the "Smear/Smudge" #19573. Now it's Reveal time!! A little paint got under my mask and I'm perfectly fine with that.

Now it's time for some color with Ranger Distress Markers and a little glittery shimmer!

  

I need to make a quick sentiment and I don't want to cut and paste words together in this case... so I give you a TIP – I'm cutting my stamp, "Happy Birthday from One Old Buzzard to Another!". I gently cut "birthday" and "another" apart from the phrase and lined them up on my block. Don't be afraid this is very liberating!!

I stamped onto the edge of my creation so it matches and give it a kiss of embossing powder for some POP! I made the ... by tapping the back end of a paintbrush into the ink using as a stamp.

I trimmed everything, layered with mats and Miracle Tape and I have a fun birthday card ready to go! This is so going to my sister who's birthday is next week... she's cracking the big 4-0.

"It's My Party and I wanna Cry"

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From Viva Las VegaStamps:

"Chicken Crying" #9464

"Cake with Candle" #5161

"Sheet Music Background" #19557

"Smear/Smudge" #19573

VLVS! Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder

1/4" Miracle Tape

Other Supplies: white, teal and blue cardstocks; Ranger Distress Paint, Ranger Distress Markers; Sakura of America Gelly Roll® Stardust® Pen, paper trimmer; sticky back gems; and May Arts trim.

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Thanks so much for dropping by! It's a holiday weekend and that brings a SALE at the VLVS! store... CLICK HERE for details. Also are you a fellow rubber addict?  Here's your chance to join the design team {CLICK HERE for details} and stamp til your hearts content!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. Hope you have a fabulous day!!  Sb

EGGstra Special Easter Wishes...

Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps! Susan here today to bring some seasonal crafting inspiration... and a Bunny who's all dressed up for the Easter Parade!

This project is a little altered home decor project using a leftover scrap of Ranger Distress Stain painted cardstock and a plaster egg decor piece... and my stash of VLVS! {of course}, with one "Fancy Bunny #17610" to star in this crafty redux. This egg base is partially decorated on the front and is glittered, which will make a great finish for the backside – so I will alter the backside which is flat and plain just screaming for some inky stamped goodness.

 

First thing, trace shape onto my painted scrap of cardstock, stamp bunny with Versafine ink, and make a quick mask.

I traced shape onto a section of Miracle Sheet, trimmed and adhered my stamped background with mask applied to the backside of the egg. Using purple and green dye inks, I stamped in some grass and pattern to the egg background... and my bunny is perfectly safe!

Now the magic is revealed!! A few minutes of fussy cutting is always worth it for layering stamps and seamless image. I had planned to use "Fancy Border" #18951 for grass, but it wasn't working... so I smooshed the edge of ink pad to paper making chunky grass. 

Now for the finishing touches... lots of hand coloring and doodling using a variety of pens and a waterbrush. I tied off some creme organza ribbon for a hanger at the top with a bow – and from the bottom, hung a ribbon tail with a triple matted sentiment block combining words from two different stamps. This stamped lovely is ready to hang and is super sparkly!

"Mr. Bunny brings Easter Wishes"

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From Viva Las VegaStamps:

"Fancy Bunny" #17610

"Easter" #18114

"Best Wishes" #826

"Washi Lines Background" #19073

Miracle Sheets

3/4" Miracle Tape

Other Supplies: painted cardstock using Ranger Distress Stains; Versafine Black Pigment Ink; green and purple dye inks; Sakura of America Gelly Roll Stardust Pens; waterbrush; Faber-Castell Pitt Pens; Offray organza ribbon.

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Thanks so much for dropping by! It's a brand new month - check out the April inspiration board... just makes you want to get inky. Join us and play along with the April inspiration challenge {CLICK HERE for details}. Just make a creation using the inspiration above and your stash of VLVS! stamps... you could win more RUBBER! Take some time to browse around the blog here and the amazing creations from the entire VLVS! Team... there's so much amazing inky inspiration to see!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. Hope you have a fabulous day!!  Sb

WOW... It's Chilly Outside!

Welcome to Viva Las VegaStamps! Susan here today and I'm so overwhelmed by my ever growing stash of VLVS! stamps – I can't decide what to stamp or create. So what's a gal to do??? Scroll through the hundreds of emails in my yahoo box from blogs I subscribe and see what's shakin'!

I found a winner... a cool challenge over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers. SOSS #25 - W is for WOW it's Cold. Winner winner chicken dinner! I'm off and running and I know exactly what I'm going to use to make a couple ATC's to enter in the challenge.

I started out with a leftover section of marbelized paper using T!m's technique with Ranger Distress Paint Daubers, in wintery colors. Then I made some quick trimming to get my ATC blanks ready to stamp. I stamped my images using black waterproof ink and created a quickie mask of each with post-it notes so that I can layer in some scenery.

After stamping, I hand colored with my waterbrush and Sakura Color of America Gelly Roll Starburst and Soufflé Pens – this really gave the characters a fun "POP" of shimmery color. I added some layers of torn handmade paper at the bottom of each for snowbanks using Miracle Tape. EASY PEASY! I finished off with labelmaker stamped words and a smudging with Tsukineko Antique Gold Dewdrop ink around the edges. Totally chilly and fun!

WOW it's COLD!!!

Snow Much Fun!

From Viva Las VegaStamps:

"Flamingo Skiing" #5090

"Chicken/Rooster in Winter Parka" #10983

"Barb Wire Fence" #14021

"Christmas Trees Large" #18942

"Christmas Trees Small" #18941

Miracle Tape

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Thanks so much for dropping by. Don't forget about the January inspiration challenge. Just make a creation using the inspiration above and your stash of VLVS! stamps... you could win more RUBBER! CLICK HERE for challenge details. Also, you definitely want to subscribe to the blog feed and to the Viva Las VegaStamps! newsletter to be IN THE KNOW of everything going on at the Viva Las Vegastamps! store. There's so much amazing inky inspiration to see!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. Hope you have a fabulous day!!  Sb

Find Your Bliss...

Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps! Susan here today to share a new art journal page using Viva Las VegaStamps! with Sakura of America Cray-Pas® Expressionist® Oil Pastels and Gelly Roll® Stardust® Glitter Pens.

When I visited the VLVS! store back in April, I returned with Two POUNDS of Rubber and more! One of the stamps in my new grab bag was this "Carosel Horse" #3787. I knew that this would be beautiful embossed and hand-colored using the lovely glittery ice cream colors of the Gelly Roll® Stardust® Glitter Pens.

 

I have been a fan of oil pastels since I was in junior high school. Oil pastels give you the texture and feel of paint, but without breaking out all the wet, messy stuff. I was playing around with them to see if I could get a soft blended effect like I've seen by others using PanPastels. As much as I would love a new set of art supplies to use... I really think I could get the effect with supplies on hand. With a little experimenting... I got a nice blended background - very similar to that of PanPastels.

I first tried coloring the cray-pas on freezer paper, then smudging and picking up color with a make-up sponge. It worked in theory, but had a very streaky look and the makeup sponge didn't really hold up to all the rubbing {it was falling apart}. I have this huge box of camp stuff in my kitchen for my Monday afternoon Art Camp, where I spotted a bag of small dense foam blocks I got for stamping with paint on totebags. These turned out to be perfect for smudging and blending the pastels. It worked by applying pastels to paper and blending out - but I got the best blending by applying the pastel right to the block and then rubbing out on paper in a circular fashion. This particular art journal I'm using has drawing paper in it, and it's not super smooth - but I really like the subtle texture from the blending.

Since the Carosel Horse is so bold, I wanted to add a little pattern to my background... yes there's MORE! So I grabbed my 1/8" Miracle Tape, and applied randomly to create a large mosaic pattern. I burnished the tape down with a bone folder before removing backing to ensure good adhesion on top of the pastels. I peeled off the backing then covered the exposed tape with Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder.

 

I heat set the embossing powder and this added the

perfect amount of "oomph" to my blended background. Voila!

I stamped the Carosel Horse onto a manila tag with black Versafine ink and embossed with Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder. Then I hand-colored the horse with the Gelly Roll® Stardust® Glitter Pens. To make a pole, I added some gold ribbon/trim with Helmar Fabric Adhesive. I fussy cut the horse and applied using 3-D foam dots. I finished this journal page off with a quote punched out with my mini "Smash" label maker.

This has such a painted feel
and I've certainly "Found My Bliss"!

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Supplies used: STAMPS - "Carosel Horse" #3787. Other supplies: journal with white drawing paper pages; #8 manila tag; Versafine Black ink; 1/8" Miracle Tape; Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder; Sakura of America Cray-Pas® Expressionist® Oil Pastels; Sakura of America Gelly Roll® Stardust® Glitter Pens; 3-D foam dots; Helmar Fabric Adhesive; mini "Smash" label maker; and gold ribbon/trim.

Thanks so much for dropping by. We have a BRAND NEW Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team - so you definitely want to subscribe to the blog feed and to the Viva Las VegaStamps! newsletter to be IN THE KNOW of everything going on at the Viva Las Vegastamps! store. There's so much amazing inky inspiration to see!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. I'll be back soon with another stamping adventure!  Sb

Anyone Have a Quarter??? Having Some Hot Summer Fun at Viva Las VegaStamps!!!

Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps! It's July and it's time to turn up the heat for some summertime fun! Susan here today with a hot little number just in time for the 4th of July... this is one of those times that a stamped image is worth a thousand words - and a good belly laugh, too! Did you know that among the over 20,000 stamps in the Viva Las VegaStamps! catalogue... there's a section of "NAUGHTY" stamps, too. 

 

I recently received this "Nudie" girl in a grab bag from VLVS! and I knew exactly how I wanted to use her. She's like a 50s pinup girl and goes perfectly with my coin-operated "Space Ship" – I fondly remember these outside so many stores when we were kids.

I have always wanted to try some stepped folded cards and this project is perfectly showcased with a specialty folded card. I used my paper trimmer and Scor-Pal to easily form a "Center Step Card" base to mount some patterned paper scraps received from my scrap swap group {we gather up our scraps and trade for a new stash of scraps}.

I stamped "Space Ship" #9191 on plain white cardstock, masked with sticky notes and then stamped "Nudie" #748 using Staz-On Black ink for a waterproof image to hold up to my hand-coloring.

 

I just returned from a crafty road trip to attend the StampFest in Orlando this past weekend with my sister and Mom where I came across an interesting little gadget called an "action wobble". I never heard of these before - and they are so GREAT!!! Action Wobbles are a one-of-a-kind self-adhesive collapsible spring that adds motion and dimension to flat objects for a unique 3D effect. They add FUN to anything creative and are my newest addition to my supply arsenal.

I hand-colored the image with Ranger Distress Markers and my water brush. For the space ship, I applied Brushed Pewter Ranger Distress Stain on my craft sheet and picked up color with my water brush to apply to my image. I fussy cut out the image and cut apart space ship from the stand. I adhered the stand to card base with Miracle Tape, then layered the ship with the Action Wobble. 

She's ready for another ride... Anybody have a quarter???

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Supplies used: STAMPS - "Nudie" #748, and "Space Ship" #9191. Other supplies: white cardstock; Staz-On Black ink; Miracle Tape; Diamond Glaze; Ranger Distress Markers; Water Brush; Brushed Pewter Ranger Distress Stain; Star gem stickers; patterned paper scraps; paper trimmer; Scor-Pal and an Action Wobble disk.

Thanks so much for dropping by. We have a BRAND NEW Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team - so you definitely want to subscribe to the blog feed and to the Viva Las VegaStamps! newsletter to be IN THE KNOW of everything going on at the Viva Las Vegastamps! store. There's so much amazing inky inspiration to see!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. I'll be back soon with another stamping adventure...and my round 5 projects I made to play along with the Gallery Idol Competition. Did you take the challenge???  Sb