KittieKraft

On The Farm

The Splitcoaststampers Tuesday Color Challenge provided me with an opportunity to try my hand at another hand painted project. The required  colors to use were burgundy, hunter green and saffron. When I saw the challenge I instantly thought about a rustic barn scene with dark green evergreen trees in the scene.

I lightly pencil sketched the large evergreen tree and barn on my paper and then brushed water over the paper preparing it to accept the paint. I made a dark blue wash and painted in the sky area and around the top of the barn and then mixed a light hunter wash and painted in the the ground area.  I used the side of a large round brush to apply both of these colors toleave open places of white to so I could apply the yellow saffron to the sky area and some brown in the ground area and heat dried the paint. I mixed a paint combination of red and burnt umber to create my burgundy color and lightly painted in the barn area using a small round brush.  I combined blue, red and raw sienna to create the light shade of black and used a rigger brush to paint the roof line, barn door and window and to create the appearance of barn siding. I heat dried in between each of these steps. I notice that I get a little to heavy handed when I outline an image and it gives too much of a cartoon appearance. That is a goal for me to concentrate on for my future projects.

I used a small round brush to apply hunter green to the large evergreen tree as well as two trees in the left hand corner and heat dried. I mixed the dark hunter with the some of my black mixture and painted on the branches using my rigger brush. Note...a rigger brush has long, thin bristles and is the perfect tool to paint fine thin lines.  I created a light gray and painted in the silo and then framed it in with the light black paint mixture and heat dried.  I was not so happy with my attempt but softened the lines by adding smooshed touches of brown (is smooshed a painting term?).

Using a large round brush I painted on light shades of brown to create the working area around the barn. I guess I think of no grass growing in an area where the tractor drives in and out of the barn as well as all other activities that would tend to leave the  ground bare.  I added touches of brown to the grass areas on both sides of the barn but lots of it got covered up when I decided to frame in my scene.  I used the rigger brush to paint in the little wire fence in the background. I wanted to create a bit of a glow over the barn, tree and ground area so I painted a light wash of the saffron mixture.  It is amazing to me how a little light wash of yellow or orange can make images come to life.

I enjoy working with rustic images and am always on the look out for stamps to play with.  I love watering cans, flower carts, fences, birdhouses, etc. I do not think I could ever give up my wonderful stamped images but it is so much fun to attempt creating them myself.

Stamps:  Sanded Background

Paper:  Arches 140 lb. Cold Pressed Grain Fin Watercolor, Hunter Green

Paint:  Cerulean Blue,French Aquamarine Blue, Burnt Umber,Golden Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Chromium Green, Light Red, Raw Sienna, Permanent Rose, Chinese White, Paynes Gray,

Accessories:  Brushes- Large Round # 7, Small Round #4, Large Flat, Rigger, Gingham, Nestabilities,

Final Treasure Hunt Tuesday

It’s Treasure Hunt Tuesday at Rubbernecker .  This is the VERY LAST one!  If you hop on over to the Rubbernecker Blog Page, you’ll get all the details you need to participate today.  You’ll also find a list of all the Rubbernecker Designers so you can poke around and find out who has blog candy. Be sure to check out the Rubbernecker  Rubbernecker .  There are some great free stamp offers with purchase and a very, very long list of sales items. Click on this link to go to sales page. 

Fun With Dogs

The Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper Challenge featured Barbara Schram aka Stampfilled Dreams, and her gallery filled with gorgeous work. It is always fun to browse through someone else's gallery to find inspiration and Barb's is definitely a treasure trove.  I was instantly drawn to a darling card created on the cut out word Dad and titled Kindred Spirits for Dad. Barb's card had several darling vignettes of a dad doing fun things with his kids and the coloring was so light and airy and every image was perfect.

I challenged myself to come up with a word card to do a matching theme scene on.  I quickly found it is not easy to come up with words that can be cut out and leave enough card front to work on.  My original plan was to do the word FUN but I couldn't figure out how to make those letters work together on a cut out. By using Barb's example I created the word DOG and used the darling retired Stampin" Up! set Bow Wow and a couple of accessory pieces from Anna Wight's Good Dog set.

   I created my template with a scrap piece of cardstock and then lightly traced all the cut lines on my folded card front. I used my craft knife to make all the cuts through both layers of the cardstock at the same time and it was much easier than I expected.

It took me a few minutes to figure out how to place my images to show well around the holes. I stamped and masked images as necessary to create the scene. I used an artist pen to sketch in the little fence and tree trunk. I normally do not like to color on plan cardstock as the colors usually do not dry as vibrantly as they do on watercolor paper but I was not willing to try my hand at cutting through two layers of folded heavy watercolor paper.  I painted all the images and created the grass and leaves with images from my Kittie Kits "Cause a Scene" Outdoor Master. I was ready to create my sky and as I reached for the blue ink pad I noticed that my finger had smudged a big blob of red ink up in the left hand corner of the sky.  Ugh!  I decided I could fix the problem by using a darker color blue for the sky and that created even a bigger problem.  I am used to sponging color on watercolor paper and being able to control how the ink goes down. The white cardstock is no where near as forgiving and I ended up with a big blue blob over my red blob. I was getting frustrated but would not give up on this darling little project. I finally used my leaf image to create a tree branch coming from the side of the scene.  It sort of fixed the problem but all the blue sky was so dark that it looked like a night time scene. I decided I could add some yellow ink to create a moonlight effect from under that new branch but all I ended up with was a dark green sky area.  And to boot the yellow created a vibrancy on the sky and trees that made the dog images look dull.  Well....I had to try to bring the colors of the scene all together so I sponged yellow totally over the fence, doghouse and dogs.  This did allow the whole scene to have continuity. I cut out an additional dog food bowl full of little bones, the baseball and a big bone to pop up in the scene. The finished project was nothing like I had envisioned with a sunny sky and a big tree shading the doggy yard.  But I am pleased that I could over come the "red" blob and finish a fun scene despite it.  My motto "Never Give Up" seemed to be really tested on this project.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up (retired) Bow Wow, Anna Wight's Good Dog, Kittie Kits Outdoor Master

Paper:  Plain White 

Ink:  Distress Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Faded Jeans, Going Gray, Black Stazon, Adirondack Latte, Butterscotch

Accessories:  Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Brushes, Copic Marker

Inspired To Try

I speak quite often of how I feel the daily challenges on Splitcoaststampers have helped me learn new skills and techniques.  I am also thrilled by the community acceptance and encouragement when I try new things and upload my attempts in the challenge gallery.  The Saturday Inspiration Challenge provided a wonderful on line store, Mackenzie-Childs Tableware and Home Furnishing filled with gorgeous products to choose from for inspiration.  There were so many wonderful items but I finally decided on a MacLachlan Hors D'Oeuvre Plate. 

I was intrigued by the country scene and wanted to try my hand at a total free hand watercolor painting.... well....only a 8"x5" one. The scene actually looked sort of easy and I now write that with a bit of a snort.

I would like share the self talk "babble" that was going on in my head while I share how I created this project. I had just finished watching a watercolor presentation by Bob Davies on how to create trees in a scene with a few sketch lines and then painting over them so that is how I started. 

 I lightly pencil sketched my scene and tree lines on a piece of watercolor paper and then washed plain water on the paper to moisten to prepare it for paint.   Woo Hoo!  I did it. Now on to the harder stuff.    

I mixed a vibrant blue watercolor wash to create my sky area.  The paint needs to be a fairly deep color as it dries about 50% lighter on the paper than it starts out being. I followed Bob's suggestion to use the side of a large brush to add this sky color wash as it allows some hit and misses to leave some of the areas of the sky without color. I did a lighter wash of blue over the lake area and then finished off the ground area with a wash of light green. I moved to the lake area and realized it had dried way to light so I added darker blue. I brushed a light shade of yellow over the missed sky areas and to the lake to give the appearance of sun shining in the sky and reflecting on the water. I am more pleased with the sky and lake than anything else and feel they are the redeeming feature of this project. . I heat dried the paper with my heat gun. Whew!!! I felt I was off to a good start.

I painted in the brown of the tree trunks and limbs and then created the green foliage by dotting on the color with my brush.  Wait!!!  Is a dotting motion with a brush a watercolor technique?  I have no idea but that is how it worked for me. I added a little yellowto the foliage for interest. As I stepped back and really looked at myscene it became very obvious that I have a fairly heavy hand with color and my work in no way resembled the gorgeous light appearance of the inspiration piece. Although I have lots to learn I kept on moving forward to finish.  After all, nothing is really perfect and how will I learn if I don't keep trying.  I added dots of green and some brown color around the lake and along the ground line. I felt there needed to be something more along the horizon so I used a fine brush and added two little trees in the distance and one more small one on the front side of the lake. Who knew you could paint right over the green grass and blue lake and have it show up so well?? I used black and white paper and gingham to frame and embellish the picture and to represent the black and white checks on the dish. This is by no means a great work of art but I am proud of myself for trying and for having the courage to post it here.

Paper: Watercolor, Black, White
Paint: Windsor & Newton Watercolor-Burnt Umber, Lemon Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Chromium Oxide Green,
Accessories: Nestabilities, Gingham, Brushes: Round, Spotter, Liner

Stamper's Quest Magazine Tutorial #2

Please check out Stamper's Quest Magazine for my fun and easy tutorial on creating a Mini Accordion Album.   

Weeds to Wildflowers

I hope this post finds you enjoying your long holiday weekend.  Bob and I have been enjoying time off together as we have four days straight off from work. It is the first time in our eleven years together that we have had more than one day off together during the holidays. Bob works for Disney and it is very uncommon for employees in the entertainment division of the company to have several days in a row off. Disney also does not allow vacation requests during the holiday season so you can't really make long term travel plans to spend time with family out of our area. It was a thrill to pull up Bob's work schedule last week and see that he had been granted so many days off.  Wheeee! I know most people think that Disney is all about "family"  and they are!!! Just customer families.....not employees!! 

My favorite Christmas present this year is a set of eight step by step watercoloring lessons. The set is called Watercolour Secrets by Bob Davies.  I also joined Bob's on line painting community called I Draw & Paint.  A few weeks ago I stumbled onto a You Tube presentation by Bob on how to paint clouds. My interest was so sparked that I asked Santa hubby to get me the whole program. I have been painting images on my cards for quite a while but have used always used sponges and a cloud templates of some kind to create sky and  texture images to enhance the ground area.  I feel it is a natural progression to learn more about creating whole scenes whether around stamped images or my own sketches. Bob's instructions are simple and totally unthreatening.

 I created this fun card and silly card using the simple watercolor sky technique taught in lesson one. I also painted the whole tree top (it is a little ugly) instead of using my little mini fern stamp as well as painting the ground area.  I stamped the fence across the page, masked the fence and stamped Anna Wight's Bo-Vina using Stazon on  the images. I then washed the whole piece of watercolor paper to dampen and prepare to accept paint. I painted the top portion of the sky with a dark wash of blue purposefully allowing blank spaces left to create the appearance of clouds. I painted a soft yellow wash along the second half of the sky area down to the ground line to give a soft glow to the horizon. The wet blue faded down into the yellow creating a natural looking sky  I used my heat gun to dry.  Yippee Skippy!!!!  I was having fun. I tried my hand at painting in the top of the tree and really only got a green blob but will keep working on it.  I used an artist pen to sketch in the lines of the tree trunk and painted with a wash of brown as well as painting in a few hints of branches to the tree top. I used a light green paint to paint the ground area around the fence and up to the sky line.  I added darker green leaving a few areas of light green for texture.  I have to work on this technique as well but I feel good about this first attempt.  I painted Bo-Vina with a couple of shades of brown and love the darling expression on her sweet cow face. Who wouldn't love her?  I finished off the little scene by creating a little line of flowers using a small scruffy brush dipped in a "real" watercolor paint called Permanent Rose and by adding little green stems with a new brush to me called a rigger brush .  By real paint I mean "from a tube of artist grade paint" and not my reinker.  I will gradually learn to play with the new Windsor & Newton watercolors that Santa brought me. I love the little sentiment "May all your weeds be Wildflowers" from Anna's Sweet Expressions set. I stamped it, embossed with clear embossing powder and hand painted a couple little wildflowers around it.  I thought the pink gingham ribbon was the perfect attachment for the sentiment.

It takes courage to step out and try new techniques but the feeling of enjoyment and accomplishment is well worth it. I do not expect perfection in my new attempts at watercolor and am sharing my "imperfect  project" here on my blog to encourage you to experiment with any new technique you may find interesting so you can learn new skills.

Stamps:  Whipper Snapper Bo-Vina, Anna Wight's Sweet Expressions, Rubbernecker Kittie Kits

Paper:  Arches Water, Bliss Blue, Regal Rose

Ink and Pint:  Distress Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, Adirondack Lemonade, Lettuce, Windsor & Newton Permanent Rose, Stazon

Accessories:  Brushes- Round , Spotter, Rigger, Clear Embossing Powder,Gingham, Deckle Scissors

From Our House To Yours

Happy Holiday from our house to yours.  This photo is taken in my very "sunny" and "unsnowy" Florida yard.  Daven, from SCS, challenged us yesterday to create a card for the Holiday Challenge Extravaganza using a photograph of something representing Christmas at our home.  We cannot make snowmen on Christmas day in Florida but we can enjoy the poinsettias growing in our yard.

  

                                   

Merry Christmas to you and your family and blessings of peace and happiness for the coming New Year. 

                  Bob and Kittie Caracciolo

                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                             

Birthday Balloons

The SCS Tuesday Color Challenge was an off the wall color combination. Whew!! I love the colors Orchid Opulence, So Saffron and Cameo Coral, but who would think to use them together?  I knew I had to make an attempt especially since my Monday post was an "invitational challenge" to everyone to join in the challenges to develop their technical skills and to experience creative growth.  Hmmmmm!  Why do these things always come back to bite us in the fanny? On top of this color challenge dilemma, I really wanted to play in the Holiday Challenge Extravaganza and combine the challenges on one project.  Jimmi's (jpmayo) fun challenge, As Easy as 1,2,3 was not as fast and easy as it sounded. She challenged us to make a fast birthday card that would be easy to do while being so busy preparing for the holiday. 

         

 

Here are Jimmi's challenge requirements:

Make a BIRTHDAY CARD with the following requirements:

1. One Piece of Designer Paper (if you don't have any you can make your own using stamps!)
2.Two Colors of Cardstock Only (not counting 1 neutral)
3. Use Three Punches on Your Card
 RIBBON can be your ONLY embellishment

After giving thought to combining these challenges I decided nothing would be cuter using these colors than an image designed for Whipper Snapper by Anna Wight-Delivering Balloons. You can never really go wrong wit brightly colored balloons and an orchid delivery van.

My next challenge was to create my own designer paper as I didn't have any that would fit the bill for these colors.  I dusted off my retired Stampin' Up! plaid maker and used glossy white paper.I used all three colors but wanted them to be muted so allow the balloons and car images to really pop and be the main focal point of the project.  I stamped the car and balloon image on watercolor paper and stamped the balloons a second time to allow me to cut a few extra to pop up.  I colored with watery reinkers and a brush and cut the images out. I sponged versa directly on all the images and embossed with clear embossing powder for lots of shine on both the van and balloons. I really don't think it shows in the photo. I created the sentiment tag using the retired Stampin' Up! Nice & Easy Notes.  The little sentiment was originally all on one line so I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to place the words one over the other and then cut out with a Nestabilities small tag.  I used larger Nestabilities tags to create the layer under the van. They were also embossed using versa and clear embossing powder as well as the main orchid card base. I wanted everything to shine. I created the saffon crimped layer to place under the main images to add a little interest and then assembled the card and by attaching the van and popped up balloons.  I used a black glaze pen to draw the balloon strings and extending them from the original car image out to the balloons. I thought the trailing ribbon pulling the sentiment would be the perfect finishing touch. I attached each little curled section of ribbon using glue dots to hold it in place.  

This was a really fun project and I especially loved challenging myself to move out of my "watercolored scene box" comfort zone and creating a card that allows the images to stand totally on their own.  

Stamps:  Whipper Snapper Delivering Balloons, Nice & Easy Notes (retired Stampin' Up!

Paper:  Glossy White, Watercolor, Orchid, Saffron

Ink:  Black Craft, Saffron, Orchid, Coral pads and reinkers

Accessories:  Crimper, Nestabilities, Snips, Glue Dots, Grosgrain, Versa, Clear Embossing Powder, Plaid Maker, non SU Plaid Maker, Corner Punch 

Challenges Build Your Creative Skills

I love to participate in the Splitcoaststampers Daily Challenges. There are regularly posted challenges every day of the week with the following schedule:

Sunday: Featured Stamper- 

Monday- Technique Lover's

Tuesday- Color Challenge

Wednesday-Sketch/Layout

Thursday- Ways to Use It

Friday- Limited Supply

Saturday- Inspiration

I attribute my personal growth in both skill and creativity to "taking the challenge" each day that I can and giving myself permission to push the envelope and to take the opportunity to learn something new. I may not always like the finished project or enjoy the technique and process, but those occasions are overshadowed by the many, many times that I have felt the thrill of accomplishment from what I learned from the experience.  I invite you, especially you new stampers, to come along and play in the challenges as often as possible and to start building your creative muscle and skill set.

I made this card for the Monday Technique Lover's Challengeto use the Faux Silk technique with the addition of adding some Pop.  Not only were there step by step instructions for our challenge but also a link to Ann Clemmer's video tutorial. Check out the challenge for the complete details.

Faux Silk is created on a card front by laying crumpled up tissue paper over the image layer and adhering with glue.  The crumpled paper givesthe appearance of silk line. To add "pop" to the project we were to stamp the image on the tissue paper as well as on white card stock.  The white card stock image was cut out and adhered to the main card layer. Two way glue was applied over the complete main layer and cut out image and the tissue paper was lined up and adhered ove the main image.  The white of the cut out image seems to pop out of the faux silk layer. For my project I stamped several evergreen trees onpale blue card stock and I used a brush to create falling snow with white craft ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. I attached my white cut out houses to the blue base,  applied glue and then layered my stamped and crumpled tissue paper over the houses. It was hard for me to get the images lined up perfectly but it worked.  I created a layer of ground snow for in front of the houses by crimping a piece of white card stock, cutting the edges with deckle scissors and attaching with mounting tape. I added my multi loop bow . If you are interested in seeing my ribbon tying tutorials please click here.

 Today is Treasure Hunt Tuesday at Rubbernecker.  It’s been a year now since we started the Treasure Hunt and Mr. Rubbernecker has decided that next Tuesday will be the last one.  So all you Treasure Hunters, you have today and next Tuesday to hunt for that free stamp.  Don’t worry, I do believe that there are things in the works to replace the Treasure Hunt!  You can find out more info and the Designers who are participating in today’s Treasure Hunt on the Rubbernecker Stamps Blog.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Neighborhood, Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose

Paper:  Bashful Blue, White, Black, Tissue

Ink:  Black Stazon, White Craft, Going Gray, Summer Sun

Accessories:  Gingham, White Embossing Powder, Brushes, Crimper

Holiday Wrap

                                                                         

This is the project that I did for our monthly Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni Challenge.  Jami  gave us a wonderful theme to work with along with a couple of interesting requirements and restrictions.

Challenge Focus: A Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Card inspired by a childhood holiday memory or favorite thing about the season. Tell us about the memory or inspiration in your gallery description

Required Element: Wrapping paper. Use a piece of holiday wrapping paper on your card in some way.

Restricted Element: No snowflake stamps, papers or embellishments.

My Special Memory

I dug around in our big collection of wrapping paper and found just the perfect thing. It was paper that had multiple vignettes repeated over and over and my favorite was a snow family out gathering their holiday tree. I grew up on 300 acres of gorgeous farm land right outside of Charleston, WV. We never, ever purchased Christmas trees. Our parents would bundle us all up (4 girls) and we would walk the woods on our property to find just the right tree. As you can imagine these trees were never perfect as they had not had the attention and pruning that purchased tree have but they were always *perfectly wonderful* to us. We thought our father could do anything in the world as he cut down our tree and let us girls help him pull it home. He was beloved in the eyes of his daughters and well adored. No flaw in our tree could ever mar our love for both of our parents. Christmas in our home was all about "family" and I still hold these memories dear and close to my heart even though both my parents are gone. Mother and Daddy...you will always live in the hearts of your girls.

Creating My Card

I cut out several of the little blocks and attached them to cardstock with Mod Podge to make them stiff enough to apply to my card front.  I cut out the main image layer of the snowmen and left off the trees. I cut the little snow child and snowbaby out to pop up over the original layer to add dimension and embossed each piece with clear embossing powder to match the shine of the trees. I stamped one tree with Stazon and cut out to be the tree "cut" for Christmas. I ran a strip of glossy paper through a crimper to attach to the base of the card and lightly sponged a little Baja ink on it to match some of the blue on the snow family.  I loved the little birds and cut them out to pop up on the snow base.

I stamped the trees across the main layer of white glossy paper using green Stazon and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I used a small handmade cloud template and sponged Baja Breeze ink onto the sky area with an ink blending tool. I left the ground area totally plain to allow the glossy white show for the snow. I started assembling the card by adhering the main image layer on the scene of trees and then attached the popped up pieces.  I attached the strip of base snow with mounting tape and applied the little red birds to the snow.

I created the sentiment on my computer and cut and layered it with Nestabilities dies. I loved adding the dark green satin multi loop bow with the sentiment tag attached. I popped up the little gathered tree in front of the family and attached the little birds. This was a timely project but it was wonderful fun using wrapping paper.

Stamps:  Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose

Paper:  Glossy White, Red, Wrapping Paper

Ink:  Olive Green Stazon, Baja Breeze

Accessories:  CLear Embossing Powder, Mod Podge, Crimper, Satin, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Snips, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Nestabilities, Mounting Tape

Skating Fun and Falls

                                                                                                                                I think this little skater is so adorable.  She is from the Rubbernecker North Pole Collection -When at First You Don't Succeed. 

I stamped the snowman and little girl on scrap watercolor paper, painted and cut out and set aside.  I stamped the trees with Olive Green Stazon and then did a water wash over the watercolor paper to prepare it for watercolor the sky and icy pond.  I brushed Distress Faded Jeans mixed with water over the sky area and added a small amount of Scattered Straw to add light around the trees for highlight.  I brushed a watery Black Soot mixture for the ice. I spread Liquid Applique' around the ground area with an old beat up brush, heated and then added white embossing powder to coat and seal.  I dabbed on the little falling snowflakes using a small brush and white craft ink. I sponged versa direct to paper over the ice and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I applied the little snowman in the background and then popped up the little skater.  What a fun project.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and that you don't work too hard preparing for Christmas.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker North Pole Collection-When at First You Don't Succeed, Kittie Kits Trees from The Moose is Loose

Paper:  Not Quite Navy, White, Watercolor

Ink:  Black and Olive Stazon, Distress Black Soot, Faded Jeans, Scattered Straw, Tattered Rose

Accessories:  White Sharpie, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Liquid Applique', Brushes

Holiday Sorrow

One of my good work friends lost her fiance this week in a motorcycle accident.  It is such a heartbreak.  Our administration asked me to make a card for all of us to sign. I knew the card needed to be large enough to hold all of our signatures so I decided on a 8.5" x 5.5" card. I scratched my head trying to figure out what set to use as I don't make sympathy cards often. I chose to work with Lovely as a Tree and to create a scene around the winter trees. I have been checking out a site called I Draw & Paint to learn more about watercolor and scene work and thought I would try out some of what I have learned.

I stamped the trees with gray Stazon across the paper and then prepared the paper using a large brush to apply a water wash. I used the large brush to apply Weathered Wood reinker to the upper sky and Scattered Straw to the lower sky. I painted in the ground area with Vintage Photo and the trees with Slate and Black Soot.  I created a bit of road traveling from the forefront of the scene to the far distance and used a waterproof marker to sketch in road side weeds.  I used Black Soot to add a land line behind the trees. I finished off the scene by brushing Spiced Marmalade reinker across the tree line and lower sky as well as across the whole ground area.  It gave the whole scene a glow while maintaining the solemn feel. I added the ribbon and tag for simple embellishments.

I so wish this card photographed as lovely as it really turned out.  I waited for my husband to come home before I actually put the card together as I wanted him to help me decide if it was worthy as giving to someone and represent my whole company at the same time. I have a good husband as he always supports me...no matter what. Next time I think I will t to use real watercolor paint and see how that works out.  I have had some for a long time and have been too fearful to try.

I hope all of you have a good upcoming weekend and your final holiday preparations.

Homemade With Love Gifts

Would you like to see what this tag is attached to?  I would love for you to check out my first tutorial  as an artistic designer for Stamper's Quest Magazine. I have written a step by step tutorial on how I created a fun and easy container to give with homemade goodies.

                                                       

  

Out of the Box Colors for Holiday Cards

Today's Rubbernecker Stamps Blogger Challenge is being hosted by Shelly and it is a great one.  So many of us feel there are only a hand full of colors to use for our holiday cards. We usually use some shade of red and green, white, gold and silver. Shelly's challenge for us is to make a holiday card using non traditional colors. Come play along with us and post a link to your blog or gallery upload over on the Rubbernecker blog. You may also enjoy checking out all of our design team blog posts to see what they came up with for the challenge.

I got to combine today's blogger challenge with the SCS Tuesday Color Challenge to use Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, and Basic Gray. I don't think of aqua or gray as being colors I would choose to use on a holiday card so I was inspired to see what I could come up with using these colors for Shelly's challenge.

Just this week I received the North Pole images from Rubbernecker Dave. They are so adorable and can really be used for any winter card occasion and not just for holidays.  The name of this adorable little girl image is Eye Spy.  I thought she would be so cute looking for something out of a body of water or looking down over a valley. It was much easier to come up with the edge of the frozen lake and to let you imagine what she was looking at or for.

I stamped the girl image, masked her and stamped the trees all around her. The little trees in the Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose are so perfect to use for small scenes on card fronts.  I do not mask these trees when stamping to create a forest of trees.  I just start stamping the trees with Kiwi Kiss across the scene and the ink of one tree being stamped and layered over the edge of another just adds to the appearance of one being in front of or behind one another.  I hope that sentence made sense. I painted the girl image with Baja Breeze and Basic Gray and watercolored the small patch of lake with Basic Gray. I sponged Barely Banana along the tree tops and then sponged the sky in with Baja Breeze using an Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool.  I applied Liquid Applique to the ground area and the fluffy hat trim using an old stiff brush that allows the liquid to be spread out more evenly to create a look of natural snow and to help remove the dreaded blobs when applied too thick. I put white embossing powder over the heated LA and heated again to create a perfectly white snow and hat fur trim.  I used a small brush and dotted on white craft ink for falling snow and embossed with white embossing powder. I applied Diamond Glaze to the lake for the look of ice but it doesn't show well on the photo.  I cut a frame using an oval Nestibilites die, mounted with mounting tape and attached a multi looped bow for a soft embellishment.

I am putting a picture of the Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool so you can see exactly what I am referring to in my post.  If you haven't tried this tool I would highly recommend that you do. This is one of the most beneficial tools in my work room and I have several that I keep right in front of me for easy access. I have one each for brown, light and dark green, and light and dark blue.  The foam on the tool lasts for a very long time and blends better than any other sponge I have ever used.  When it wears out I simple pull it off the Velcro holding it in place and replace it with a new one.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker North Pole Collection-Eye Spy, Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose, Easter Collection-Dot Square

Paper:  Arches Watercolor, Baja, Kiwi

Ink:  Black and White Craft, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Barely Banana, Basic Gray, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink

Accessories:  Liquid Applique, Glaze Pen, White Embossing Powder, Handmade Cloud Template, Brushes, Ink Blending Tool, Twill, Nestibilities, Diamond Glaze

Let it Snow for the Downhill Racers

Happy Tuesday!  I just got this adorable Downhill Racer image in the mail last night from Rubbernecker Dave.  It is in the North Pole Collection along with some other darling images. I was going play with these images when I got home from work this evening but for some reason my eyes opened at 3:30 a.m. this morning and wouldn't close again so I got up and made this fun scene card.  You can't tell in the photo but the sled, bear and bunny have been cut out and popped up and the bunny ears and scarf are popped up with double layer mounting tape and really look like they are flying in the wind. 

I stamped the image, painted with a brush and reinkers and cut out and set aside.  I created the tree scene using two sized trees from the Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose set.  I sponged on the sky area using an Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool and a handmade cloud template. I used an old brush to apply Liquid Applique' to the ground area and spread it lightly to create the appearance of snow. Beware....this ruins your brush as LA dried hard on it. I heated and applied white embossing powder over the LA and heated again to create a whiter snow and to eliminate the sticky rubbery feel.  I painted little dots of falling snow with a brush using white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  I cut slits in the sled and bear hands to run the satin ribbon through and used Mod Podge to hold the ends in place. I used the Dot Square image from the Easter Collection to create the falling snow on the green base layer. The Let it Snow sentiment was stamped with Distress Fired Brick and embossed. I love how this turned out!!

Don't forget today is Treasure Hunt Tuesday at Rubbernecker Stamps.  You can go to the Rubbernecker Company Blog to find out the details of the sales events going on and also to hop over to the design team blogs to see who is offering blog candy today. 

 

Half-baked Snowy Window

 

The SCS Ways to Use It Challenge this week was to use half or a portion of an image on our project. That is where the half-baked part comes in. There are lots of fun samples in the challenge gallery.

I love the fun window in the Stampin' Up hostess set-Window Dressing. There are so many adorable images to use. I chose to use the two snowmen in a scene allowing only about 3/4 of the image to show. I added 1/2 of a tree from my Kittie Kits -The Moose is Loose on the other side of the scene. I love the appearance of not having the images centered in the scene as it is so realistic from a window view. 

I stamped the window on watercolor paper, and the scene images on another.  I painted the images and created the snowy scene in the background.  I cut the window out with my craft knife and cut the whole image with my snips so I could pop it up on the card front. I addedthe scalloped snowflake layer under the image and made a tiny snowflake tag to attach with gingham.  oo bad you cannot see the embossed snowflake well in the photo.  I love how this project turned out with the ballet blue popping in contrast to the bright red and the crisp white. Hint: Using my SU Color Coach always helps me choose colors that work well together for projects that seem to pop off the screen.

Stamps:  SU Window Dressing, Rubbernecker-Kittie Kits, SU Canvas

Paper:  Real Red, White, Watercolor

Ink:  Black Craft, White Craft, Ballet Blue, Artichoke, Distressed Fired Brick,

Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Cuttlebug Folder, Decorative Scissors, Craft Knife, Brushes, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Liquid Applique, Circle Punch

Carolers and Snowflakes

Here is a link to my favorite Christmas card made this season.

Rubbernecker Bucks Blog Candy Winner

This shade is gorgeous!!!

My favorite card this holiday season is:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1143746?cat=500&ppuser=158949

Blue is apparently my color for this season. Thanks for the chance to win!

Posted by: Michelle B. aka JustPaintingAround| December 09, 2008 at 09:01 AM

Random Integer Generator   Here are your random numbers:  3  Timestamp: 2008-12-10 10:11:18 UTC  

 

Rubbernecker Blogge Challenge 13

The Blogger Challenge this week is being hosted by Sherry.  She made a fun and easy one by challenging us to make a card any shape except the normal 5.5" x 4.25" and to use snowflakes on the project.  I didn't have time to get too fancy last night as I got home late from work.  I decided to make a 5.25" square card but to use an oblong frame using an oval opening on the front. I thought it would be interesting to combine different shapes and the little circle tag was the perfect finish.  Now I would love to let you think I could really think all that out before I got started..........but..........NO WAY!  I always create my projects by the seat of my pants and there really isn't much in the way of planning before hand. All of those different shapes are just what I happened to end up with and thought they worked out alright in the end. I combined this challenge with the SCS color challenge and combined Taken with Teal and Riding Hood Red for a frame cut in a totally different frame shape before I realized that it was a little bit too large and didn't cover the whole piece of watercolor paper, Doh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I also realized that the combination of the two colors did not make the scene pop. My motto is to "never give up" on a project unless it is absolutely necessary and I lovingly refer to these cases as "happy mistakes".  Thus....my finished project.

I chose to work with the Rubbernecker Carolers and Street Light set from the Winter Holiday collection. I knew the color challenge colors-Taken with Teal, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze and Whisper White would be a perfect combination to create brightly colored coats, hats, and mittens. I colored all the images with a brush and reinker allowing each section of color to dry before moving on to avoid the colors running.  I chose to use Distress Antique Linen and a dab of Vintage Photo on the song books and the boy's pants as I knew those colors would not clash or draw attention away from the bright red and blues. I used an ink blending tool to apply Baja to the sky background and used a white water based Sharpie to apply the falling snow and to color all the white areas of the clothing. I knew my falling snow would be enough to allow this to qualify for Sherry's challenge to use a snowflake but I thought the addition of using the Cuttlebug snowflake folder with the teal would create a striking contrast to the red and white. I used a circle punch to cut one teal snowflake out and placed on a little larger circle layer.  I cut around the larger white circle with my scalloped decorative scissors to create more interest and added a big white snowflake brad to the center.  I loved the contrast of colors layered over the white card base and thought a white bow attaching the snowflake tag would be the perfect finishing touch. 

Stamps: Rubbernecker Winter Collection Carolers and Street Lights

Paper: White, Ridinghood Red, Taken with Teal, Watercolor (Arches 140 lb)

Ink: Distress Broken China, Fired Brick, Antique Linen, SU Baja Breeze

Accessories: Nestabilities, Brushes, Sponges, Satin, Cuttlebug Snowflake, Circle Punches, Snowflake Brad, White Sharpie

 

Treasure Hunt Tuesday, Blog Candy & Woodland Night Tealight Shade

 It’s Tuesday and that means there's a Treasure Hunt at Rubbernecker! You can find all the details on the Rubbernecker Stamps Blog .   Every one of our Rubbernecker Design Team members are so very talented and have so much to share. While you're at the site you need to check out each of the team's blog posts because someone besides me is offering up Rubbernecker Bucks blog candy.

I love it when it is my turn to give Rubbernecker Bucks blog candy.  It's fun for me to read the answers to my blog candy question in comments left on the post. Today's request is a little bit different.  Most of us are busy with holiday preparations and one of the most significant task is creating our Christmas cards.  All you have to do to qualify for my blog candy is post a link to "your on line gallery or blog post" showing your favorite Christmas project.  It could be a link to the card you chose to mass produce this season or if you are like me and never make exactly the same card twice, link one that is very special to you. If you don't have a blog or on line gallery you can still qualify for the blog candy by telling me about the set or sets, designer paper, paper and ink colors, etc. that you are using on your cards.

All Rubbernecker, Stamp Oasis and KK Original images are on sale until 12/16 or while supplies last

Woodland Night Tealight Shade

                                                                                     

The Monday Technique Lover's Challenge on SCS was to make a tealight shade with vellum cardstock. The template provided is the perfect size to fit over a wine glass or any small tealight lamp. I had the best time with this project and think it could be a perfect small gift idea. You can buy some inexpensive wine glasses or votives along with tealight candles at Big Lots, add good quality vellum, your favorite stamps, punches, decorative scissors and you are good to go.  Check out the SCS vellum shade gallery to see many other examples of the fun project.

I am drawn to nature for decorating my home for the holidays. I decorate with evergreen, pine cones, birds and tons of red berries. I was instantly inspired to create a snowy wood cabin theme for my shade as it would fit perfectly in some nook with some pine around the base.

I printed the template directly onto my vellum cardstock and cut it out just inside the printed line so it wouldn't show.  I patted my embossing buddy all over the vellum to free it of static so I could emboss with ease.  I stamped the forest of trees with olive craft ink all around the vellum leaving enough space to add the cabin and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I applied masks to the little tree in the middle and both sides of the opening left for the cabin and stamped the cabin in close to cocoa craft ink, removed masks and embossed. I used a small brush dipped in caramel craft ink and lightly painted in the cabin and embossed. I brushed white craft ink around the ground area leaving lots of open spaces around the base of the shade as I wanted the unpainted vellum to look like it was the edge of a frozen lake.  I painted white craft ink on the roof of the cabin and also added little fine dots of white of ink for falling snow and embossed once again.

                                                                                 

See this side view of the shade and how the forest of trees goes all the way around. I printed out two more templates, one if white and one brown cardstock so I could create a border for the top of the lamp. I used my deckle scissors to trim the borders and the bottom of the shade for a rustic look. I added the simple multi loop bow a little offset from the center of the shade for my embellishment and to match the olive from the trees. I wanted to share a photo taken in the dark with the lamp nestled into the pine and berries on my entertainment center. This was a hard picture to get but after several tries I finally figured it out.

Don't forget to link your favorite holiday card project in your comment to have a chance to win blog candy.  Check tomorrow for the winner.

 

Stamps: Rubbernecker Kittie Kits-The Moose is Loose

Paper: Vellum, Brown, White

Ink: Green, Caramel, White Craft and Close to Cocoa craft ink

Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Deckle Scissors, Twill

Digital Carolers

 

The SCS Sunday Featured Stamper Challenge featured Anna aka annascreations.  I was drawn to the layout of her fun snowmen card and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try, for the first time, using Carolers, a brand new digital image by Squigglefly. This is such an interesting concept to me.  The Carolers file was downloaded and saved on my computer.  I pulled it up in Paint Shop and was able to resize it to any size I wanted to work with. You can do this resizing through your word processing program as well. 

I sized my image and copied and pasted it several times to fit on a full sheet of white cardstock. I wanted to have a few copies of it so I could cut parts of the image and pop up in my scene**.  I heat set the ink and watercolored with a brush and reinkers.  I am going to experiment printing on watercolor paper next and seeing if the ink will hold or if I need to spray with a fixative to set to set.  I used Liquid Applique' on the clothing trim by applying with a tiny stiff brush (stiff from using it with LA) to spread it evenly to avoid blobs when heating. I cut the image out and set aside. I painted the lamp and wreath ( the wreath is almost lost in this scene) and cut out.  I used a large brush to apply a watery light coat of gray ink to the block wall and fence area.  I painted the window and the lamp yellow using a light wash of butterscotch reinker and added depth to the lamp by touching up with dabs of stronger butterscotch reinker where the candle or gas flame would be. I used a small brush to apply white craftink over the window and on the sill, along the top and base of the fence and lightly on the lamp post and base and embossed with white embossing powder. I adhered the lamp post in the scene but only popped up the lamp with a dimensional. I sponged a light shade of yellow around the lamp and window to show a glow from the light. I popped up the carolers and on dimensionals and attached. I used balled up glue dots to attach the wreath to the window. I created the circles and the two layer frame with Nestabilities. I attached my ribbon across the green background layer and then mounted the frame over it with mounting tape. I applied Diamond Glaze to the lamp post and window to give the appearance of glass and along the wrought iron fence. I tied a multi loop bow (see my ribbon tying tutorial) and attached it to finish the project.  I thought the dark burgundy gingham was so perfect with this old fashioned scene.

**Hint: If you want to paper piece images on your project and have them look perfectly placed over the original image in the scene you should color the ourter portions of the original images with the exact colors used on your cut out image. This will eliminate any white showing under your paper pieced image if you didn't get it cut exactly perfect. Note that you can see the lines of the original lamp but it doesn't really hurt the scene as it matches in so well. 

Image:  Squigglefly Carolers

Paper:  Mustard, Artichoke, White, Wassail by Basic Grey

Ink:  Adirondack Butterscotch, Caramel, Pesto, Distress Aged Mahogany, Black Soot, Tattered Rose (for skin), SU Barely Banana, Basic Gray

Accessories:  Gingham, White Embossing Powder, Diamond Glaze, Liquid Applique', Nestabilities, Mounting Tape, Glue Dots, Brushes, Snips

Glowing Trees and Mr. Snowman

 

The Inspiration Challenge on SCS's today was to pick an inspiration piece from Images Under Glass. I choose an adorable snowman image called Woodland Snowman to work with.  I loved the trees and the light surrounding them and the snowman.  I tried to capture the light with my scene but got a little carried away with yellow craft ink and clear embossing powder.  I stamped the small tree, masked, stamped the snowman, masked him and then stamped the large tree. I painted the hat and nose with a brush.  I used a mini tipped sponge applicator to apply lights to the tree with yellow craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I sponged craft ink around the snowman to show light reflecting on him and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I wanted to put clear embossing over the lights so I could apply a dark blue sky around and not blur into the yellow. I masked the snowman to protect him and used an ink blending tool to sponge the sky with bashful blue, bordering blue,and not quite navy.  I wanted to show a lighter blue around the lights and snowman and then create darker shades up in the top of the sky.  I applied Liquid Applique' to the ground area, dabbed with my finger to spread it evenly and heated.  I used a small sponge dauber to apply white craft ink to the snow area and embossed with white embossing powder.  I used the point of my paper piercer dipped in a pool of Liquid Applique' to create the tiny little snowflakes and heated.  I cut slits with a craft knife to push my ribbon through to create the scarf, tied and attached well with glue dots. I attached the ribbon across the corner of the scene and tied a multi loop bow to finish.  If you would like to see my ribbon tying tutorial on creating this multi loop bow check it out on the Rubbernecker Stamp Company Blog.

Stamps:  Flourishes- Forest of Trees, Retired SU Thanks Snow Much

Paper:  Real Red, Not Quite Navy, Watercolor

Ink:  Black Craft, White Craft, Summer Sun Craft, Barely Banana Craft, Bashful Blue, Bordering Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Not Quite Navy, Black Soot, Peeled Paint

Accessories:  Clear and White Embossing Powder, Grosgrain, Cuttlebug Folder, Liquid Applique' Mini Tip Applicator, Sponge Daubers, Brushes, Paper Piercer

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

 The Friday Limited Supply Challenge on SCS's was to create a project using only snow or snowflake stamps, it had to be monochromatic, we could use only a one word sentiment and we were to use lots of sparkle or bling.  Sadly, it is very hard to get sparkle to show up well in photos.  It may just be the problem of this particular photographer. 

I masked off the snowy bottom portion of a piece of glossy white paper stamped falling snow with white craft ink in the sky area and embossed with white embossing powder.  Keeping the mask in place I used an Inkssentials Blending Tool (I love this tool) to apply blue to the sky area. I was going to let the white snow area of the glossy paper show on it's own but couldn't resist painting on white craft ink with a big brush and embossing with white embossing powder. I used a Rubbernecker snowflake image for the snow image on the blue card base and the falling snow is Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Backgrounds. Ipunched out the snowflakes using the Cuttlebug Snowflake die, attached them to the simple little scene and applied Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamond Glitter. I just had to add one of the little stars from the die punch to the sky with added sparkle. I put a rim of glitter around the sentiment as well.

This close up gives you a better idea of how sparkly the glitter is.  I created a multi loop bow to finish this project.  If you are interested in seeing a You Tube tutorial on how to make this blow check out the Friday Focus on the Rubbernecker Stamp Company Blog.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Snowflake, SU Itty Bitty Background

Paper:  Bayou Blue, Glossy White, White

Ink:  White Craft Ink, Bayou Blue, Bordering Blue

Accessories:  Grosgrain, Cuttlebug Die, Dazzling Diamond Glitter, Diamond Glaze, Brushes, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Mask, Oval Punch

Friday Focus Ribbon Tutorials

 

So many people have asked me for a tutorial on how I tie my bows. I promised that I would do my best to overcome my "lack of technical skills" and record You Tube presentations for you and believe it or not....I managed!!!  Today's Friday Focus on the Rubbernecker Stamps Blog has three  tutorials on tying different styles of bows to embellish your projects. One of the tutorials will show you how to create the multi looped bow like the one on my sweet little 3" x 3" gift card.  The Ways to Use It challenge atSCS's on Thursday was to use an envelope in some way. I didn't have much time so I chose to do this little snow scene and matching envelope that would be perfect as a gift tag or gift enclosure. I hope you will check out my tutorials and please feel free to let me know if you have questions as I will be happy to respond.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Stamp Oasis- House in Fun Stuff, Kittie Kits-The Moose is Loose

Paper:  Real Red, White

Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Bordering and Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Going Gray, White and Black Craft

Accessories:  Satin Ribbon, Liquid Applique', White Embossing Powder, Brushes, Sponges, Post-It Notes for Reverse Masking, Rice Baggie for Red Background Layer

The Riley's Go Camping for Christmas

   

I love Riley.  I say it every time I post a project with him but it can't help it. No sweeter face can be found anywhere. These images are part of the Hanna Stamps December release- Van Riley and Trailer Riley.  I an issue or two with this project and had to cover up a portion of the Airstream trailer but I decided it looked Riley was backing his van into the parking area by the trailer so he could easily unload the Christmas tree. I used the layout from the Wednesday SCS Sketch Challenge with three identical layers across the card front.  I decided to create a scene that I could cut and continue from layer to the next.  Sadly, I miscalculated where I stamped the trailer image and ended up having to cut Mrs. Riley's antler and arm off. I decided she needed to be wearing a bow on her antler that would disguise the mishap a little.

I stamped several of the little evergreen trees from the retired SU set-Happy Winter, masked them and stamped the trailer in place.  I masked the trailer and stamped several trees to appear behind the trailer and removed the masks to paint. I used a dry brush directly to the ink pad and stippled olive over each tree. If you try to paint over water based ink with a wet brush it makes it run and blur. I painted the main image with a brush and reinkers, heat dried and then applied craft ink for the ground snow and falling snow and embossed with white embossing powder. I cut the image into three panels, attached to the red layer and attached to the card base. I stamped Van Riley on a piece of scrap paper with the intention of cutting out and popping up where the sentiment was to be placed according to the sketch layout. Again I stamped with a brush and reinkers, heat dried and applied craft ink for the snow. I used a tiny brush to apply touches of craft ink for snow to the top of the van and trailer and around the door and window frames and embossed with white craft ink. I underestimated the size of the image and it was too large and overpowering for that spot. I had thought it would be darling to see the trailer in the woods and having Riley bringing home the tree. I had to modify my plan and attach Riley's van in the scene and in front of the trailer. I had worked too hard on both images for this project to discard it.  I never give up....! The ribbon was attached to the bottom of the card before I realized my error in calculating image sizes so I just popped the van over the ribbon and kept it in place. Sometimes our biggest mistakes can turn into something very wonderful even though different than the original plan. I refer to this as a "happy mistake".

Stamps:  Hanna Stamps-Van Riley, Trailer Riley, Happy Winter, Itty BItty Background

Paper:  White, Real Red, Watercolor

Ink:  Black Craft, Old Olive, Ballet Blue (for sky) Adirondack Slate, Distress Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, White Craft

Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Clear Embossing Powder (sentiment) Twill, Linen Thread, Satin, Deckle Scissors, Brushes, Inkssential Ink Blending Tool, Cloud Template

Rubbernecker Blogger Challenge 12 *Nix the Ribbon*

Good morning!  I've been extra busy the last couple of days but wanted to play in the SCS Tuesday Color Challenge as well as the Wednesday Rubbernecker Blogger challenge so I combined the two.  The challenges during this time of year are always dedicated to creating my Christmas cards. I was stuck for a few minutes on how I could use the colors Sahara Sand, Black and Vanilla for a holiday card. I started sifting through images hoping something would spark a thought. Do you do that? As I was sorting I came across my Kittie Kits-The Moose is Loose set and knew I could make a lovely monochromatic scene using the cabin and trees. The Rubbernecker Challenge is to use any kind of fiber on the project as long as it isn't ribbon.

I stamped trees first that would be on both ends of the cabin as well as one in the center and masked them. I wanted the trees to hide portions of the cabin to create the feel of being nestled in with them. I stamped the cabin where it needed to be and then removed the masks. I masked off the the roof of the cabin and added a few trees behind it and a couple extra on the front and side yard area to complete the scene. The set has three different sizes of the same tree but I wanted a couple in the scene that were even a little smaller so I masked off the bottom portion of the smallest tree with tape, inked it up, removed the tape and stamped. That is a trick you can use if you have only one sized tree and yet want to create several sizes.  Just move your mask up or down on the bottom of the stamped to create different sizes. I brusheda dry watercolor brush directly across the Sahara ink pad and then lightly stippled in color on the front of the house and chimney.  I left the top of the chimney and the roof free of additional color to represent piled snow and did the same with the ground. I didn't want to apply type of sky as I wanted to leave total contrast between the tree/cabin images and the stark vanilla. I am normally a *more is more" kind of girl when it comes to my scenes but this simple elegant monochromatic scene didn't call "more". I embellished the simple scene with a black layer, black brads and a black bulky cotton twill. It appears as ribbon in the photo would it really looks quite rustic and appropriate for this project.

I just wanted to take a minute to draw your attention to how creative you can be by using masking for creating scenes.  This scene was extremely easy to do.  The hardest part of masking is cutting out the masks but you do that once and save them to use over and over. Get an idea in mind of where you want your images to be and remember that you need to plan for the scene layers and stamp the foreground images first, mask and continue on until you have totally finished your scene.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Kittie Kits-The Moose is Loose

Paper:  Sahara Sand, Vanilla, Black

Ink:  Sahara

Accessories:  Twill, Brads, Brush, Masks

Treasure Hunt Tuesday and a Huge Sale

 It’s Tuesday and that means there's a Treasure Hunt at Rubbernecker! You can find all the details on the Rubbernecker Stamps Blog .   Every one of our Rubbernecker Design Team members are so very talented and have so much to share. While you're at the site you need to check out each of the team's blog posts because a couple of them are offering up Rubbernecker Bucks blog candy.

All Rubbernecker, Stamp Oasis and KK Original images are on sale until 12/16 or while supplies last

Just Chicken In

I had to finish my Christmas decorating yesterday and was really busy with household chores but snuck in time to do a project fulfilling requirements for two different challenges. The featured artist on SCS's Sunday Featured Stamper Challenge was flowergal36 aka Dawn and I was inspired by the layout of her card. I changed the theme and colors for my project but kept true to her sketch.  Day three of Paper Craft Planet's Twelve Days of Christmas contest required the use of hens in the project.  You know........ 
three french hens....two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

I couldn't resist using the three different chickens in the Stampin' Up! retired set- Best of Cluck.  I stamped and masked off the images and painted with a brush and reinkers.  I used black and white glaze pens to add the dots on the hen bodies. I sketched out the fence using an artist pen and drew the evergreen trees with an Adirondack Lettuce marker.  I added touches of white streaks to the trees with a white gel pen. I sponged the sky and then heat dried the whole project. I used Liquid Applique' to create the snowy ground, dabbed it around with my finger, heated. I applied white embossing powder to the applique' and heat again. This creates a coating over the applique' to eliminate the sticky rubbery feel as well as changes the color from cream to pure white. I put a little puddle of Liquid Applique' on scrap paper and used the tip of my paper piercing tool to apply tiny dots of snow to the sky and heating. This method allows you to apply a small enough amount of LA to not turn into a blob and heats it to the perfect size snowflake  for fun dimension. I thought this would be fun winter card to send to a friend for "Just Chicken In" on how they are doing.

Stamps:  SU Retired Best of Cluck

Paper:  Real Red, Arches Watercolor, SU Designer Paper

Ink:  Clack Craft, Distress Fired Brick, Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo, Ballet Blue

Accessories:  Liquid Applique', Faber-Castell Artist Pen, Adirondack Marker, White Embossing Powder, Grosgrain, Circle Punches