Once They All Believed in Dragons

Excerpt from 2011 Dear Diary -

December 23rd

Today one of my co-workers gave me a little Christmas gift. Nothing expensive, just unexpected. I should have just said thank you and left it at that. But no, the guilt blossomed like a rose in a too hot room and I said, “I have something for you, but I left it at home”. Had to stop at the store and buy something for him. New Years Resolution is to make a ton of little gifts so I don't have to fib!!

I remembered what happened last year and I am determined to follow through with my promise. No one is going to taunt me with "Liar, liar pants on fire." Umm...something just sparked my creativity (pun intended) and I'm thinking fire and two Viva Las Vegastamps - If you can't stand the heat and
Knight burned by dragon.

Before



After

Side/Back View

Supplies
Plain Old Box of Matches
Scraps of Checker Board Paper, Coordinating Paper, Red Glitter Paper
Viva Las Vegastamps - HERE and HERE.
Miracle Tape
TH Black Soot Distress Ink

Directions Remove the match drawer and set aside. No need to paint the box, just cover the top and bottom of the box using your trustworthy Miracle Tape. Apply the Checkered Paper on the top and the Coordinating Paper on the bottom. Let the red edge of the box show through. Cut strips of the Coordinating Paper and attach to sides of box. Be sure not to cover the sandpaper strike area. Stamp your VLVS images and distress heavily. Add TH Black Soot Distress Ink. Cut a square of the Red Glitter Paper. Attach all with the Miracle Tape. Cover the front and back of the match drawer with paper and fill with the matches or red fire hot candy. Repeat over and over again until you have a full stash of Dragon Decorated Match Boxes.

This little 15 minute gift is both fun and practical. What I really mean is this little gift is both cheap and easy. Remember that the next time you get that unexpected gift!

A Christmas Cracker

Hello Fans :) VLVS! Marketing and Artistic Director DeeDee here today - I've been busy keeping track of the store for a few days while the boss is on vacation so needed a quick "GET IT UNDER THE TREE ALREADY" gift for everyone...

... I always love to give everyone their favorite candy, and usually throw it in their stocking, but that sure seems like A LOT of candy. It donned on me a few nights ago I should make CHRISTMAS CRACKERS! They're the perfect vessel for a few of everyone's favorite morsels and are nice and festive at the same time!

So I've been making Christmas Crackers.. and here is one of them for you to view :) 

I started with an empty cardboard tube... could be old wrapping paper, a paper towel or toilet paper tube. I covered it in an old vintage pattern, and tied it off with May Arts Ribbon. 

I used a VLVS! NOEL stamp, VLVS! Ultra High Gloss EP, Archival Ink, Distress ink in vintage photo and hot glue. 

I'll have more crackers to share at a later date!!

Sledding In a Winter Wonderland*

I fell in love with the new trees on plate 887,  the little sledders, and the scenic cabin!  Take different elements and put them together to create your vision. 

VLVS Images:

Pulling Sled in Snow 12718
Log Cabin 15573
Small Trees 18947
Flock of Bats (using a part of the stamp as birds) 18909

Miracle Tape
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad

May Arts Ribbon - Trim

Other -
Pastel Pencils
Paper Mache' Ornament
USAQ Jewelz Mica Powder
Tsukineko Brilliance Inks - blues, Clearsnap Colorbox White Pigment Ink
Cream Cardstock
Small, Soft, Mop Brush
Small Sponge or Tim Holtz Distress Ink Applicator
Gold Paint
Pencil
Scissors

Trace ornament on cream cardstock.  Set ornament aside.

Tap light Pearlescent Brilliance (pad on right) and use sponge to work into top part of tracing, going over the trace marks lightly.  Then use the darker blue to shade the edges at the top.  Do the same with the white pigment ink in the middle-center and on the bottom.  Shade the bottom edges with the lighter blue.

 

  Stamp your images and then use a blue and pearlized white or interference color of mica powder to add texture and shimmer.  NOTE:  The small trees is stamped on the left and right sides to add more trees.

 

Cut image out.  Note:  I added the birds (bats) and sled image afterwards because I didn't know what I wanted to add - but best rule is to do it first .  Start using the pastel pencils and start shading.  I usually use 2 to 3 colors of the same shade, mid-tone, highlight, and shadow.  Don't forget to add smoke in the chimney so it looks more realistic.

 

Paint the edges of the ornament gold.  Use the Miracle Tape and adhere image to top of ornament as well as run it along the outside of the ornament.Press trim in place.

I did add the birds and the sledding children after the fact, if you aren't sure of the images you want to use; plan the focal point, then add the other images.  Add a little more mica powder as needed.  The photo's do not show the shimmer and texture of the snow - it is a wonderful touch for sparkly tree lights!

Hang the finished ornament proudly on your tree.  Make a few and give as gifts.  Start a tradition by sending a loved one or dear friend an ornament every year.

May your holidays be blessed with love and joy *

Cre8tively Yours - Lea

 

 

Art journal fun

Hi there,  Glenda here with some art journal fun! I'm one of the hosts over at the A Year in the Life of an Art Journal and the prompt for today is this:

THE PROMPT: Tradition! 
THE STUFF: What is one of your favorite holiday traditions? Don't have one? Was there ever one you wished you had? Take a picture or 20 that represent this tradition.
THE TECHNIQUE: Try a little "tinsel" on your page! Glitter, actual tinsel, or something else.

When I thought of traditions at Christmas the first one I thought of was Christmas stockings! Ever since I was a little girl we always looked forward to opening our stocking and finding all kinds of treasures and trinkets. I continued this tradition with my own kids and even at 18 and 22 still have a Christmas stocking for them! This was a great page for me to document and I loved using the Viva Las VegaStamps Chevron stamp

to make this art journal page for the above prompt:

 Chevrons are so huge right now that I love how it modernizes the old fashioned look of this page.

I know I will be using this stamp alot and would love to have any of you art journalers play along with us over at the A Year in the Life of an Art Journal!

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

Pin it to Win it!!

--Don't forget to check out our Guest Designer post this morning!!--

It just so happens that the BOSS has gone away on VACATION!! and that leaves ME in charge.. and I like to GIVE THINGS AWAY and give you DEALS! 

It just so happens our brand new plates have arrived, have been pressed, and are IN STOCK and SHIPPING.

Rather than change the price on all of them, I thought I'd extend to you, our loyal fans, the PRE ORDER pricing (20% off!) on stamps that are ALREADY here and ready to be MAILED to you! (lasts till Thursday next week... because that's when he'll be back after all!)

On top of that.. I'd also like to GIVE ONE AWAY! Fan's choice! Just pin this picture with the following message! 

"Pre-order pricing on #VLVS! stamps IN STOCK and SHIPPING! @ vlvstamps.com | Mixed Media | People | Steampunk | Vintage | Words and sayings PLUS SO MUCH MORE"

Thank you and GOOD LUCK!!

December Guest Designer.. Louise Nelson!!!

I seriously cannot tell you how excited I am to be introducing our December Guest Designer... LOUISE NELSON!!!

Her work has always blown me away, and where in the past I've asked card makers and scene stampers to be a guest, I thought it was time to get a mixed media/scrapbooker in here! And... I got the best!! 

You can find Louise in the following places:

Blog: an Uninterrupted view

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loolabelle1961

Twitter: https://twitter.com/loolabelle1961

and here's a bit about her "I have always had creative hobbies, before taking up scrapbooking 6 years ago I loved to restore furniture. Since I have started scrapbooking I have also devloped a love for portrait photography, and more recently I have begun to dabble in painting. During the last 6 years I have been fortunate to have been a Creative Design Team member for Scrapbooking Memories Magazine [AUS] in 2009 and currently a Scrapbooking Memories Master for 2011-12. Also fortunate to be invited to be on the Creative Design Team for UK based scrapbooking magazine; Scrap365. Currently I create for Aussie Scrap Source, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Imaginarium Designs, Tattered Angels and 7 Dots Studio. I have been blessed to be published in Scrapbooking Memories [AUS], and have also been featured in the last 4 editions of Somerset Memories, with technique articles and layouts in the reader gallery. I am so honoured that DeeDee asked me to contribute this month to your wonderful inspiring blog; thank you so very much for allowing me to share my stampy scrappy passion."

Now.. onto the work:

Materials list:

Viva Las VegaStamps! Crackle Background

12 x 12 grey board - Imaginarium Designs

Impasto

Krylon spray gesso

Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist

Prima Metal Trinkets

Green Tara Leaves

Indian ink

Cotton Thread

 

 To achieve the background Louise says she applied a thick layer of impasto to the background, stamped the image in to it, and then gave it a final coat of spray gesso.

 Leave her some love and let her know what you think :)

Santa Is Coming!

Adventure ahead and in just a matter of days!  Yes, Santa is coming.  I tried my hand at coloring Santa and creating a wintery forest background for him with Copics and Stickles.  First, stamp Santa with Tree image on Kromecote.  Create a paper mask of this image and stamp Tree image around and below Santa image.  Set with heat gun.  Color in with Copics.  Add glitter to branches and robe.  Allow to try overnight.  Layer onto papers and stamp expression.  Merry Christmas!

Santa with Tree  #18939
Christmas Tree #18932
Adventure Awaits #19009
Kromecote
Miracle Tape

Embossed Greetings for the Holiday

Happy Tuesday stampers! Before I was a "stamper" I always loved the look of embossing on a card...especially a holiday card. With Viva Las VegaStamps High Gloss Emboss Enamel you can achieve the embossed look on you own cards. For this card I chose to use a collage image from Altered Pages but you could also use images from old holiday cards to stamp and emboss upon with this fantastic Ornament Ball Stamp!!
For my card I centered the ball stamp over the top of my collage image and stamped with Versamark Watermark Ink and sprinkled the ultrafine High Gloss Emboss Enamel. I dusted the very top of the ornament with Bronze Mixers to give the look of metal to the top. I attached a May Arts raffia ribbon through the hole of the ornament to finish it off. I mounted my ornament on top of an embossed piece of coredinations card stock which I had sanded to reveal the green for the leaves. I clear embossed snowflakes on the background piece. I clear embossed Season's Greetings in the bottom and then dusted it with Bronze Mixers. I zapped the top of the ornament and the sentiment one more time to melt the mixers into the emboss enamel.

For this project you will need:
Coredinations Card Stock
Emboss Folder and Sanding paper

Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoyed my project! ~leslierahye

Time FLIES When It Comes to Greencrafting...

Happy Monday and Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps!!! It's only 15 days until Christmas and I'm going to give you a break from the HOLIDAY extravaganza. Today I am sharing a greencrafted creation that I created for the Anything But A Card Challenges a few weeks back.

I needed to create a "TIME" themed project for the challenge. I knew I wanted to use the new flying watch stamp, but I didn't know what I was going to create. As I muddled about, my "ONE TOUCH RULE" began to take effect. You ask, what is a "ONE TOUCH RULE"??? I set this up for myself because I am really bad about putting my craft stuff away and it's pretty simple: if I pick up something in order to get something else needed for a project - IT'S getting used in TODAY'S PROJECT. This collage utilized many leftover items taking up residence on my craft table - resulting in a gorgeous green-crafted transformation of an empty holiday card carton.

       

Stamps used: Girl with Wings #19005 and Flying Watch #19004.

This project began as an empty carton that a set of holiday cards come in - REALLY!!! I've transformed this gem into a shadow box with some clear gesso, leftover painted paper and textured paper scraps, silver cellophane tissue, an empty perfume mini, a broken skeleton key, loads of miracle tape, some May Arts stitched grosgrain trim, and a trio of stamps from Plate #893 from Viva Las VegaStamps!. Using Helmar 450 adhesive, I finished off edges with ribbon edging, and some swirly metal photo corners.

After priming the box base with clear gesso, I covered all sides and edges with Miracle Tape and adhered crumpled silver cellophane for a textural base. Then I applied more miracle tape to line the walls of box with textural paper scraps rubbed with black and silver inks. I mounted a section of collaged paper into the background to complete the box. Miracle tape made assembly quick and easy...and best part - it's INSTANTLY DRY!

The secret of this project is that I stamped using Black Staz-on ink onto acetate. This reason was two-fold: first my collaged background is quite textured with paint and handmade paper so this is difficult to get a clear stamped image onto; and second, this is how I was able to get my Girl standing perfectly atop the bottle. I placed the bottle in position on top of the acetate, placed down a post-it note to mark the placement of bottle top, then aligned my stamp accordingly. **A TIP** I also made my acetate slightly larger than the inside of my box and trimmed it to fit when ready to assemble.

Presenting my Altered Collage Card Box!

Don't forget about the Viva Las VegaStamps! new release plates that are on pre-order for 20% off for only a few more days. The two plates below have one image on each {highlighted in purple} that were illustrated by yours truly. On the left is plate #909 ; and on the right is plate #918. CLICK HERE to see  all of the new plates for you to "ink, drink and be merry"!

Thanks so much for dropping by today! Hang around a little while and check out what the rest of the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team has been up to. Don't forget to visit 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