Mixed Media Tag - Boy on swing

Hey everyone,

Today I'm sharing this vintage mixed media tag and a super fun stamping technique with you.

 

I cut my tag from a piece of watercolor paper to a size of 6 x 3,5 inch and simply added some stamping. 

Next, I spread some texture paste with a palette knife in various spots of the tag. The paste I used is quite thick (an older one, already starting to dry in its container). I would recommend using a heavy body paste or gesso for this technique, but honestly I haven't tried out a thinner one. Now comes the fun part: I took a stamp and stamped right into the paste before it's dry. You will lose some detail, so the stamp shouldn't be too delicate, but even the numbers that I picked worked well.
Make sure to clean your stamp immediately with water. A stiff brush can also be helpful. You really don't want that texture paste to ruin your stamp, right?

After the paste was dry, I started building some layers of color with some Lindy's Gang Moonshadow Mists.

I added some more stamping with the numbers, but this time in a more common way. For a little color pop I sprinkled acrylic spray over the tag.

After browsing through my stamps I chose this guy on a swing as a focal image, stamped him dirctly on the tag (no fussy-cutting this time) and added a little color with some ZIG brush pens. I also darkened up the edges with some Oxide Ink and Archival Ink. 

I added the little die cut birds and a quote, embossed in gold onto black cardstock. To finalize my tag I adhered it to some cardstock and added a bow.

Stamps used:
Vintage Boy on Swing (19729)
Numbers Set (19659)
Writing Circles Background (19567)
Don't Waste A Moment (19786)

Other material:
- Canson watercolor paper
- Black cardstock
- Archival Ink (jet black, pebble beach, seafarer)
- Versafine Ink (onyx black)
- Versamark Ink
- Distress Oxide Ink (ground espresso)
- texture paste (heavy body)
- Lindy's Gang Moonshadow Mist (treasure island aqua, van dyke sepia, buccaneer bay blue)
- ZIG real brush pens
- embossing powder (Altenew - antique gold)
- die (Memory Box - small flock of doves #99015)
 

Hope you're giving this technique a try and that you found some inspiration here.

See you soon,

TOOT your STAMPED Party Horn!

Hello everyone! Susan here with a tutorial using Viva Las VegaStamps! and washi... washi... washi tape – my second obsession. Who needs paper when you've got rolls of colorful goodness??!

I've been on a bit of a washi tape kick lately and I've been having a lot of fun using it for crafty projects. To create this fun birthday card, I have a quick tutorial on how to incorporate stamping with and ON washi tape... including a variation of making DIY washi tape, too! Now I've shared previously how I make DIY tissue tape, but this new way gives a different effect.

The "happy happy happy birthday" background is DIY washi using this white paper bandage tape I found at my favorite place to find crafty goodness... the Dollar Tree. TaDA!!! You have to hunt around the aisle with toiletries and soaps, but it's there folks.

I layered three strips together and spritzed with yellow and lime green mists, then stamped "Happy Happy Happy Birthday" repeatedly to make the background.

   

Then I selected some yellow and blue striped washi to stamp some fun embellishments that I will mount on cardstock and fussy cut. I stamped everything using Royal Purple StazOn ink onto the washi tapes.

I picked a lime green and a blue polka dot tape to be the border and left a yellow at the top to help hold things together so I can transfer it as a whole piece onto white cardstock.

**A HANDY TIP** place removable tape over the seams where tape edges meet and rub down - so you can easily peel this up as one larger piece and mount to your cardstock... and your good to go!

This was super quick and easy to put together – the hardest part was fussy cutting the stamped party horn, streamers and confetti bits and popping them up. This card is so fun and I just I love how the striped washi tape contrasts with the scalloped border trim.

"Toot to your Happy Birthday Horn"

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From Viva Las VegaStamps:

"Happy Happy Happy Birthday" #10479

"Party Streamers" #130

"Party Horn" #8825

1/4" Miracle Tape

Other Supplies: white card blank, white and teal cardstock scraps for matting, detail scissors, various washi tapes; Paper tape from dollar store; Doodlebug "Fancy Frills" scalloped border; Royal Purple StazOn Ink; 3M Scotch Matte Finish removable tape; and 3D foam dots.

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Thanks so much for dropping by! Have you seen the JUNE inspiration board... its AMAZING!  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. Hope you have a fabulous day!!  Sb

Guest Designer : Sheri Levitt

Today we have Sheri Levitt with us as a guest designer.

 

--Sheri's blog--

Hi everyone! Sheri here your Guest Designer today.

Today's project I made ATC's and a postcard. The background I did for them is nail polish. Yes I said Nail polish. Much like with nail polish marbling on your nails you can do it on paper.  to Very easy, very messy, and very smelly. So I suggest if you want to try this do it outside or open your windows.  

You need water, something to put the water in. (a plastic cup if your doing something small like ATC's. For what I'm showing you today I used a round cake pan I got at Dollar Tree) cardstock, and of course nail polish. Don't run out and buy the $5 bottles for this go to the dollar store and pick up some. The ones I got were free samples from freebie sites. Oh and gloves if you don't want the polish to stick to your nails (trust me it will).

I poured the water into the cake pan. Then pour a bit of the nail polish in, like in the picture. You can see its floating at the top (though a little does sink down to the bottom.)

Then put a piece of cardstock that you cut to size of an ATC or Postcard and lay it down on top of the nail polish then pull up. If you're using a plastic cup, you dip the paper into the cup and then pull it up. The result you get is this. Pretty cool right! 

So after all the pieces dried I glued them to empty cookie box for sturdiness. I edge the cards with black craft paint. I pulled out some VLVS! Stamps. To add more to the background I used black StazOn and stamped various stamps. The main images I stamped with Black Versafine inkpad on white cardstock. Colored the images with Color pencils. I attacked the images with foam tape. The sentiments I stamped on a scrap of watercolor paper that was on my desk with black Versafine ink pad. I cut the sentiments and glued them to the pieces. 

Stamps used here left to tight: Martini background, housewife reading recipe, my next house will have no, triangle banner, Wheeley frog, if you have crazy, brick background, tiny arrow heart, grungey guy, and on the flip side.

Left to right Whimsical cloud, SuperDog, All my heroes wear their, Whimsical cloud, whimsical boy in hat, and I'm not insane.

"We'll Always Have Paris..."

Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps! Susan here today to share a page in my Christmas Holiday Travelogue that I started last year {CLICK HERE to see the post}. A lot of new challenges have popped up that peaked my interest: one being the "Place: Paris" Challenge 154 at Drunken Stampers and also an "Ombré" Challenge #6 at Craft Stamper's Take It Make It Challenge. Many years back my hubs and I travelled to Europe and visited Paris in April. That year I photoshopped a wreath and some festive hats and I had some Christmas postcards printed. One of these has been posted on the side of my fridge so I snagged it and gave it a permanent home with stamped goodness!

I prepared my AMAZING No-Gelatin Printing Plate made from Amazing Mold Rubber and applied three colors of Ranger Distress Paint; Antique Linen, Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky.

 

With a brayer, I gently rolled to blend the colors to create an "ombré" effect. Pretty simple, right?

The great thing about this AMAZING No-Gelatin Printing Plate, is I made it to a size of my preference {this one is approx. 6" x 7"} perfect for art journaling and altered book pages. I have several other sizes AND SHAPES as well. I aligned it to my recycled day planner, now Christmas Holiday Travelogue; with darkest color at top and pressed directly to page.

I flipped it over and rubbed it down, then gently peeled back revealing the beautiful perfect gradation from dusky blue to creme. Now to make another ombré to fill the bottom half of the page.

I prepared my AMAZING No-Gelatin Printing Plate again with Ranger Distress Paint; this time Antique Linen, Bundled Sage and Forest Moss. I repeated the steps as before with brayer and applied with darkest green at the bottom of page.

Completed ombré on page. There is some texture to my green on the base because one of my paints gushed out all over the place when I went to add a little more of the mid range color. So between pix - I made up some additional monoprints with all the overspilled paint.

  

I stamped with Stone Grey StazOn on vellum cardstock, then painted Ranger Snow Cap Adirondack Acrylic paint to the backside to make the paper more opaque.

No stamping project is complete without some good old fashioned "fussy cutting".

After trimming out the polaroid centers, I brushed the edges with a few chalk inks. Then I layered the frames and mounted to my postcard using Miracle Tape. Once affixed - the frames get one final trim out to leave me two faux layered polaroids containing one continuous photo.

Using the Stone Grey StazOn I stamped a variety of Parisienne themed images and some script {all listed below} to form a collage; and added a few strips of my DIY Miracle Tissue Tape {CLICK HERE for details} as a base to ground my photos upon. It only took 13+ years - but now this trip is properly documented with a perfect painted sky to tie it all together :)

"We'll Always Have Paris..."

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Viva Las VegaStamps used: "Paris Address" #17539; "We'll Always Have Paris" #17529; "Bonjour" #17525; Holly Leaf 3760; "Parisien #17541; Polaroid Print Standard Size #17543; Polaroid Print Small #17544; Grunge 1787 Writing Background #17545; Pretty Lady Stamp/Cancellation #17538; Jingle Bells Sheet Music #10686; Washi Reverse Grid Background #19075; "Paris Skyline" #10995; Dotted line from the December Daily Plate #1430; and Checkerboard Border #7952. Supplies used: Vellum Cardstock; Recycled planner calendar; Stone Grey Staz-On Ink; 1/4" Miracle Tape; various colors of Ranger Distress Paints; Snow Cap Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint; and various Cat's Eye Chalk Inks.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Have you visited the VLVS! Online Store lately... it's PRE-ORDER time!!! Also there is the December 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. I wish all of you a very Happy Holidays and a very Merry New Year in 2014!!  Sb

I'm Totally "DYLUSIONAL" with Art Journaling and Viva Las VegaStamps!

Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps! Susan here today bringing you something a little "DYLUSIONAL"... and totally batty because... YES - I've finally inked up my dandelion stamp!!!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking a class from Dyan Reaveley. Her bright, bold and funky art journals are completely different from my style, but I love learning from other artists. I had an AMAZING time and I'm a totally "DYLUSIONAL" now. If you are stranded over on Distress Ink Island - I dare you to take a walk on the bright and colorful side and try out the Dylusions Ink Sprays... you will be hooked!

My right hand after the 4 hour workshop... the left was equally impressive!

Dyan demonstrated her art journaling, and we learned to create beautiful blended backgrounds, stencil / stamping techniques and adding magazine cut-outs to your journal pages. Being from over the pond, Dyan is a little "CHEEKY" and quite fun. We were instructed not to bring ANY tools or supplies to the class {which I though was ODD}, so I packed a late afternoon lunch and was off on my creative road trip to West Palm Beach. We were provided with a brand-new "THE Dylusions Journal". This is a wonderful blank journal that is a combination of manila cardstock and matte white heavy cardstock, ideal for the application ink sprays and techniques using water, inks, paints and mediums. It's certainly a book that will hold up to whatever paint I can throw at it.

She had a particular "devilish way" of getting us out of our comfort zone to work freely. First she had us "ruin" our PRISTINE new books, by having us spray random colors randomly on pages, then close the book. This was repeated several times. She had the whole class, on the edge of our seats waiting for the next step - then we were ORDERED to spray the cover. I was particularly amused by how squirrely all this uncertainty was to most of the students. But not me, I was like a kid with my first set of crayons! She had a good laugh and said, "now that you've properly ruined your books, we can get to work". Random magazines were provided to select images for our art journal pages and we were instructed to pick a figure and a face and tear them out. When everyone was done, she had us pass our selections to the right... twice! WHAT??!!! So everyone got something totally RANDOM and made trying out some new techniques really FREEING and FUN. Needless to say... I totally loved this class!

Imagine that... a purple splat!

Today I am sharing a page in my journal using my interpretation of Dyan's Style - except - I'm using some of my Viva LasVegaStamps!. This background is just one of the several randomly sprayed pages I made in the class - and make a great starting point.

I traced around an ornate salvaged paper backing from some product packaging to trace around to create a border from pearlescent black paper. Using sticky notes, I used it to masked my sprays so I could stamp this swahili text in the repeatedly across the background using Pumice Stone Distress Ink.

After removing the mask, I applied 1/8" Miracle Tape to my hand-cut border and placed it in position. Then I placed my beautious Bluebell chipboard floral stem from UmWowStudio that I spritzed with black and silver metallic mists to match my shimmer paper border. I glued this in place using Diamond Glaze {my hands-down favorite adhesive}.

I stamped the border repeatedly using Lightning Black Tsukineko - Brilliance Dew Drops Pigment Ink around the pages and it gives a real, hand-drawn feel. Quick and easy.

This is how far I've gotten just with just the original splats, a border with a chipboard element, and some stamping... a very nice start! Now it's time to hunt for some collage matter to add from my plethora of magazine and junk mail salvage... and add some coloring and doodling by hand.

The finishing touches are my favorite part... and I just let my muse run wild. If you want to see the finished pages - please, please, please...

... Come back later today for the big REVEAL!!!

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Supplies used: STAMPS - ""Blowing Dandelion and Extra Seed" #19045, "Hatch Mark Background" #10896, and "Early in Morning Swahilis" #1692. Other supplies: Dylusions - "THE" Dylusions Journal; black metallic cardstock; Staz-On Black ink; Miracle Tape; Diamond Glaze; Ranger Distress Markers; Pumice Stone Ranger Distress Inks; Bluebell Chipboard floral stem from UmWowStudio; Fresh Lime & After Midnight Dylusions Ink Sprays; and Lightning Black Tsukineko - Brilliance Dew Drops Pigment Ink.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Have you seen what the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team has been up to or dropped by the Viva Las Vegastamps! store lately? 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 how I've been playing along with each round of the Gallery Idol Competition, too! Sb

Attention...Please look up at the Blackboard Stampers!

Welcome to Tuesday at Viva Las Vegastamps!!! Susan here with a technique the you definitely want to try... the BLACKBOARD technique. It seems to be the hottest thing in the past week in my email inbox...so I wanted to give this a try and it's SUPER EASY and really INKY!

A little known secret... I am a rubber hoarder and I have acquired a significant stash of rubber from VLVS! in the past year. I just can't resist their Pound O'Rubber and I always look to see if they have "Delinquent Dies" {these are my secret gems - a grab bag of slightly defective rubber dies that have some defects from pressing}. So in my recent order I received a new class of little delinquents... I received this Mary Vogel Lozinak stamp #18366. You can see in the stamped image that the image is mottled and with interesting imperfections. So I'm going to use this to make an interesting background. 

OK - I had a sheet of Kromecote that got wrinkled so I put it to good use also - because the Chalkboard Technique is DISTRESSED. I cut two pieces two  4" x 6" and stamped all the new Washi borders on one and stamped my delinquent sun #18366 onto the other - all using Ranger Resist Ink. Then I heat set and applied Black Soot Distress ink directly to paper on both. I rubbed the color in with a makeup sponge and buffed excess away with a paper towel. These are the results...

For the background on the left using the delinquent stamp - I stamped it 4 times on the sheet.

Now for a variation...that has more contrast! I stamped using Ranger Embossing ink and applied VLVS! Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder, then hit it with the heat gun. I rubbed it with the black soot as previous and rubbed in and buffed away and this is the result! Love it!!!

*USE CAUTION with Kromecote*... your fingerprints will act as a resist. See my thumbprint?

I trimmed out my pieces and added some dusty concord Distress Ink. This had to be heat set to stay put on the Kromecote. The high gloss coating soaks up the ink like a sponge, then the rest is buffed away. Drying the ink with the heat gun helped the purple soak in on top of the black. I used my Miracle Tape to adhere everything down and 3-d adhesive lines to pop up the stripes, arrow and phrase. I'm ready to fill up this blank journal that I found when dusting my bookshelves. I've chosen the word "INSPIRE" for this year and I'm ready to doodle in...

my new "Inspire" Art Journal

Supplies used: STAMPS - Sun Background #18366 {a DELINQUENT DIE}; several stamps from Plate #917: Six Hexagon Background #19076, Washi Chevron Background #19072, Washi Reverse Grid Background #19075, Washi Lines Background #19073, Washi Grid Background #19074 and quote "Writing Arrow #19078" and "Inspire" #18888; Also used Kromecote Cardstock, VLVS! Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder, Miracle Tape; 3-D Foam tape; Ranger Black Soot and Dusty Concord Distress Inks; Ranger Resist ink and Ranger Embossing Ink.

I hope you give this technique a try. It would be great in traditional green like an "old school" chalkboard. Thanks so much for dropping by. If you have a little time... check out what the rest of the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team has been up to. Or if you have a VLVS! gift certificate in your hands - head on over to the Viva Las Vegastamps! store - for all your stamping needs and for every occasion...and MIRACLE TAPE, too!

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