Time Flies.

Hello, Mary here and today, we're stamping into clay :-)

Stamping in clay is one of may all-time favorite things to do!  This time, I set out to create tiny book covers for a miniature book I wanted to create.

To make the book a little lighter, I created a form out of chipboard.  This is perfect if you wanted to create a jewelry piece, because who wants a 10 pound necklace??  I also like to mix a small amount glue into my clay to strengthen it a bit.

Just cover the form with clay and give it a good stamp!  I used the Clockface image for this piece.

When the covers were completely dry, I gave them a quick sanding to even out any rough edges.

Give them a base coat of paint and finish it off with a layer of glue.  This will keep the color safely on when you go to distress the piece in the next step.

Now, add a top coat of paint and let it dry for a bit.  You want it dry to the touch, but not cured!  I let mine set for about a minute or two.

Then, rub off any excess paint for a distressed look.  My little girl wanted this book and begged for a pink one, so pink is is!

Here's a close peek.

I finished it off with a twine closure, a key chain finding...

...and inside pages.  I've used the Clockface image again with some Perfect Pearls and also the Time Flies sentiment.

Now, baby girl has a brand new key chain and a little reminder to stay little as long as possible.  Thanks so much for joining me today!!

xx Mary

Time Flies

Hi guys- Karen here with you again today..

I thought I'd try for something a little different today.. nope it's still a tag..

 

Just a little different with he colour.. well sort off.. I've gone for a brighter than my normal background, but still sort of me if that makes any sense.. So without to much more babbling...

 

 I started off inking my background with several different red/ orange shades of distress ink, Then using the bullseye stamp from plate 949   I stamped using water as my medium onto the background then heated it with my heat gun.

 

 

I then added in a little machine stitching and another layer to my background by randomly stamping the Grunge writing 1787.

 

My next step was to stamp, colour and fussy cut some other images. then lastly layer them all onto my tag. I also added in some gears that I had die cut previously for another project but hadn't used.

 

And as always a couple of close ups..  I love the colour in the background, it's a little different for me..  But I think it turned out ok.

 

 

Stamps Used:

 

Time Flies

Admit one ticket

Bulls Eye Target

Hot air balloon with flags

Men in Balloon Basket

Flying Watch

Grunge Writing 1787

Set of Pointing Hands ( I used the hand pointing towards the right) 

 

I hope you found a little inspiration  and want to say thanks for dropping by today,

 hope to see you again soon..

 

Happy Stamping - Karen xxx

 

 

 

Still in Christmas Mode

Still making stuff for Christmas. As you know from my previous post I do love hearts and couldn;t resist buying this candle holders, which together they form a heart. And to make it myself easier I made altered this box and turned it into a candle storage. The original box already looked like a book but I didn't like the decor, so I stripped everything I didn't like.

And this is what I did with it:
1. I put a layer of all over the cover, not to thick because I wanted to show a bit of the original decor. Then stamped the Harlequin Diamond Background stamp (18920) all over the front cover. then stamped the Spotty Background (1461) on the lower half with a different colour. With Stazon Black I stamped the text December and Daily from the December Daily plate (1430).
2. Take a piece of paper and stamp with Stazon Black the Girl with Wings (19005), mask the image and stamp Flying Watch (19004). Cut this out and colour with water colours. Then stamp with Stazon Black the wings (not the whole girl) on transparant sheet, cut out roughly and put it through the Xyron Stickermaker. Peal off the backing and put some gold metall leafing on it (the photos don;t show it that well, but it looks awesome in real life), cut the wings out and glue them on top of the wings of the image.
3. Glue the girl with watch on the front cover and make some shades with watercolors.
4. Stamp on the spine: the dotty line, twenty, 12 and again the dotty line from the December Daily plate. And the barcode at the bottom.
5. Take some washi tape and tape the edges of the whole cover (so front,  spine  and back). And take some washi tape with text and glue on the box.
6. Put some candles in it and there you are! ready and set for Christmas.

VLVS materials used:
Harlequin Diamond Background 18920
Spotty Background 1461
December Daily plate 1430
Girl with Wings 19005 also on plate 893
Flying Watch also on plate 893
Stazon Black

Hope you like it.

HERMINE

Guest Designer Sandy

Today I welcome back Guest Designer Sandy!! 

Sandy has brought us a wonderful gift set, a necklace and coordinating gift box!!

She used the Fly and Einstein's Tongue from plate827 as well as Time Flies and the Wasp from plate893

Sandy says "For project #2, I used the same stamp plates as I did in project #1, but used Albert Einstein from Plate #827 to create a domino necklace in an Xmas theme and "Time flies" and flies from Plate #893 as the stamps on the accompanying pyramid gift box.  Al was stamped on a domino that had been soaked in bleach, dried and then stamped using Ranger Ink's Archival Ink in black.  Image was then dried with a heat tool to set the ink before coloring.  Red tongue and edge of domino was colored with a red permanent Sharpie marker.  A Tim Holtz eye screw was attached to the domino to thread the ball and chain also from Tim Holtz's Idea-ology parts and a little holly berry cluster was glued to Al's forehead using Ranger's "Glossy Accents" dimensional adhesive.  The pyramid box was cut from black card stock using Stampington's "Pyramid Box" template - for template and instructions, go to www.Stampington.com, scroll down to the bottom of the home page, click on "Project How-to's", next click on "Tempting Templates, and last click on "Pyramid Box."  I added four additional triangle pieces cut from green cardstock and stamped sayings and flies using Staz-On's Jet Black solvent ink to complete my gift set.  Very merry, I think"

Thanks so much for being our guest designer Sandy! We had a lot of fun seeing your projects this month♥

Guest Designer : Sandy!!

This month I have the distinct pleasure of sharing the work of TWO Guest Designers with you :) I may have flopped some words in an email and scheduled two designers for the same month, but it turns out to be a real treat for our readers!!

Welcome our 2nd November 2012 Guest Designer... Sandy Alsfasser! 

Sandy says "Mixed media is my favorite art form. Searching for just the right color paint or stamp pad and item to finish a piece is all part of the adventure.  Each piece fills in a piece of a puzzle where the outcome is unpredictable until the last piece is in place.  I'm always searching for new techniques and new altered art projects and love playing with dyes, inks, and stamps.  Viva Las VegaStamps! quirky stamps always make me smile - please feel free to check out my blog to see what I'm up to." Her blog can be found @ http://altered-artifacts.blogspot.com/

Today she has this magnificent card and envelope for us:

From plate893 she used:
Large Wasp

Time Flies

Hot Air Balloon with Flags

and the Flying Watch

She's also used

Einstein's Tongue and Fly

About her project:

The background on the stamped card front was created on white card stock using three colors of Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Pumice Stone, Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky.  Words, watch, Albert Einstein and hot air balloon were stamped with StazOn's Midnight Blue ink pad; and the flies were stamped using StazOn's Jet Black ink pad.  An extra hot air balloon was stamped, trimmed and colored with a yellow highlighter to mimic a light bulb going off over Al's head.  His hair was colored in with a white opaque pen from Ranger; another clock face was stamped on white card stock, outside colored with a red Sharpie marker and affixed on top of original stamped watch with pop dots.  Various areas were then "painted" with Elmer's White Glue and dusted with Martha Stewart's extra fine crystal glitter (my very favorite go-to glitter) for a more fun look.  This sheet was then attached to a slightly larger piece of navy blue card stock using double sided tape.  Navy background card stock was attached in the same manner to a stock white blank greeting card.

The words "Time flies" were stamped again on the left side inside of the card using Midnight Blue StazOn ink.  Another watch and wings image was also stamped with the Midnight Blue StazOn on an additional piece of the white card stock.  This image was then colored, glittered, cut out and attached to the right inside of the card with a tiny spring coil made from very fine metal beading wire coiled around a pencil and then attached to the card and cut-out with double-sided tape.

 

The red envelope was purchased, stamped on the front, and stamped on the back utilizing the flies and watch once again.  Stamped images were decorated and glittered; and the inside of the envelope was lined with navy card stock to complement the card.  Enjoy!

Give Sandy a big round of applause and leave her some nice comments for taking the time to share her work with us today :)