KAT Toys

Stamping, Chowder and Friends!

2011-09-08T12:40:00.004-04:00

Happy Thursday - I just spent the last two evenings out with some girl friends - a good drink (yes I am a light weight in the drinking department), good food, lots of laughter, the friendship - priceless! So if you are feeling down spend some time with your friends who can fill your world with laughter!

Today is another card using new stamps released from Innovative Stamp Creations - This & That and the butterfly is from Friendship II:

The background stamp is my favorite of the new release - I LOVE background stamps and this is just right up my grungy alley! The background is stamped with Hero Hues white dye ink - WHAT not a Ranger ink pad? Shhhhh don't tell my distress and archival pads they may pack up and leave!- I discovered this ink pad at an Archivers class and I really like it - think a white dye ink pad that you can actually see on craft paper... All is right in my little inky world today!

Off to cut corn off 4 dozen ears and to make Corn Chowder for dinner! Have you ever tried it? I made if for the first time 3 weeks ago and Yummmm... Here's a link to the recipe of you want to give it a try. I sprinkle a little green onion, chopped tomatoes and cheese (well this is just for my DH) on top! Easy and a BIG YUMMMMM!

Spend some time with a friend you love and Happy Creating!

KAT

Stamps - all Innovative Stamp Creations

Is it Fall Already?

2011-09-07T06:27:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday!

It's feeling pretty crisp here in Ohio - last Saturday, you know 4 days ago, it was 90 and so humid - today the low 60's - what's up with that? I'm not ready for fall but I do love fall colors.

Today how about some poppies in orange?

The flower is from the new stamp set from ISC Friendship Flowers II. The flower is blended with distress ink and some distress stickles in the center. The entire flower is popped up for added dimension.

This card has lots of my favorite things - flowers, basic gray paper, sewing and my Tim Holtz distress inks - sigh - just makes me smile!

Here's a close up:

Still thinking about Christmas - maybe I need to do something Christmas themed?

Have a great day and Happy Creating!

KAT

Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations

Thanks Friend

2011-09-06T13:25:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day! We had our family picnic at my house on Sunday and I had a beautiful lazy day on Monday!

Today I wanted to share a tag made from the new ISC Friendship II stamp set:

The entire stamp was used second generation stamping in the background using sepia Archival ink. Then stamped on crap paper using peeled paint distress ink for the sea grass level. The girl was stamped with black archival, hair coffee archival and the dress and hat were paper pieced.

Here is the close up of some of the details:

Here is another sample using the same set. The square was masked off and then blended with Vintage Photo distress ink. The dress and hat were water colored with the same blue in the background panel.

This is actually beautiful IRL - but the photo kept coming up dark for me... Sorry!

Hmm - I find myself thinking about Christmas.... Anyone else thinking about Christmas yet?

Enjoy your Tuesday and Happy Creating!

KAT

Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations

Nature's Beauty

2011-08-24T15:16:00.004-04:00

Okay - really I am back. Life has been hectic with my Mom but I have figured out a way to carve some time out to create! Over the next several days I will be sharing the Innovative Stamp Creation's August Stamp line release.

Today Natures's Beauty:

I love fall leaves and these detailed leaves in a river bed (that is what I see) are simply beautiful. I water colored the main image using my Distress Ink pads.

Here is a close up so that you can see the glossy accents that I used to highlight the "river bed":

The background panel is the larger image in that stamp set stamped off once. The leaves on the side are from the main image water colored and hand cut out.

The stamps from the August release of ISC are fabulous - take a moment to check them out here!

Have a fabulous Wednesday and Happy Creating!

KAT

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T12:17:00.005-04:00

I hope the Easter Bunny left you your favorite Chocolate Bunny or some of his special jelly beans (have you seen Hop?, if you have you know about his special beans LOL).

Thought I would share two Easter cards full of Tim Holtz and Ranger stuff... (gasp - I cut into my Seasonal Stack!)

Chocolate Bunny:

Side View:

The bunny was molded using Mold and Pour and UTEE from an real chocolate bunny (only a few chocolate bunnies were injured during the making of this card):

This card was inspired by a Make and Take that Tim Holtz did "somewhere" and Mario Tweeted it (he is the king of BTS you know - if you are not aware you should follow him on twitter. He shares what is going on "behind the scenes" with Tim and his love of Starbucks! ).

Vintage Bunny:

Side View:

This one is full of Tim's dies, ink and idea-ology. That awesome bunny I bought at a stamp show last week - it's from 100proofpress (I like that they have unmounted rubber - my fav). I also used some of Tim's Glassine paper on layers of the flower.

I wish you lots of great chocolate today and I also hope that you get to spend today with your family and friends!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff - Pretty much Tim Holtz and the Vintage bunnies 100proofpress

Life is Good

2011-04-21T09:58:00.003-04:00

I found out this week when trying to get my MOJO back that all I need to do is play with new stuff (and yes I am guilty of buying new stuff that I just have to have and some of it never sees the light of day). So more new ISC images, Tim Holtz products and sticky back canvas today!

Life is Good:

The main butterfly image is clear embossed in sticky back canvas using Delicate Swirls Butterfly (butterfly = good) and then colored with Vintage Photo Distress Stain (Distress Stain = good). I removed some of the canvas thread to give the panel a frayed edge (frayed edge = good). The flower and the background panel is from the Crowded Attic paper (new paper = good) and there is a layer of Glassine (Glassine = good) on the flower. Vintage dictionary definition ($1 find at a thrift store = good) and Butterfly fragment charm (charms from stash that never seen the light of day = good). Finally some sewing, inking, more stamping and distressing (that's all = good)!

Side view:

Be sure to visit the other ISC Architect’s blog/gallery:

Kathy Tucker
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook

Today = good - last night not so much! My Mom fell twice last night and every time it's a miracle that she has not really hurt herself. Life as a care giver and stroke patient = NOT so good.

Creating = Good! Have a great day!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - all ISC - Delicate Swirls Butterfly, Artful Decor
Other - Tim Holtz and Ranger

ISC April Release - Artful Decor

2011-04-18T04:00:00.000-04:00

Hello fellow bloggers and visitors! A long time with no blogging from me - life got in the way in a MAJOR way. My Mom had a stroke in the beginning of January so I've been taking time off to help her recooperate.

So I've picked my rubber and inks back up and I am trying to "get back in the saddle again"! I've discovered it takes a while to get my creative juices flowing! I am glad Innovative Stamp Creations has a new line of images that are butterflies - one of my favorite images to work with!

Artful Décor Stamp Line:

These small-dainty images add a lovely touch to your creation! Here are a few tips to consider:

Use a 1 ¼” or 1” circle or square punch

Use glossy accents on top of punched image and let dry. Punch holes before you apply the dimensional glue to give them a button effect - then affix on your card

Create your own bauble!

These images fit nicely in Memory Frames by Ranger

Affix with glue on top of flat brads to give your artwork a final touch

Affix with glue on a paper clip

My card I used a 1" and 1 1/8" punches to create my Dreams in Black and Cream patchwork card:

All the images are stamped on black and cream patterned paper. The background cream paper was created using Antique Linen Distress Stain.

Here's another angle:

Be sure to visit the other Architect’s blog/gallery:

Kathy Tucker
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook

Happy Creating!!!

KAT

The Stuff:

All Stamps by Innovative Stamp Creations

I'm Back

2010-12-06T04:21:00.000-05:00

Where have I been?

Let's see - a trip to see Tim Holtz in Boston.... Making Christmas gifts... holiday baking.... holiday decorating.... holiday shopping... holiday parties.... Oh let's squeeze Thanksgiving in there too.... Yeah that about sums it up!

Overall I am in great shape for Christmas - some shopping left and wrapping and a little more holiday baking... Oh and let's not forget addressing and mailing my cards... Not too bad considering there's 19 days until the big day!

Betsy over at Innovative Stamp Creations asks us to create a little desk calendar that could be a quick and easy gift for someone. So here is what I created:

The back piece is two unfinished pressed paper coasters linked together with little grunge paper hinges. The Holly and calendar pieces are clipped on and can be changed for each month/season. I used Tim's lost and found paper for the month because my printer is not working and I could not print out the "real" months.

Another view of the Holly - I used vintage text on grunge paper and then inked with distressed inks to create the Holly and berries and some distress stickles:

November:

Close up of tree panel:

Here's the backing without the clipped on pieces:

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Angelical Holidays, Marvels of Nature III, Odd Findings, Distressed Script, Textures and Sentiments
Other - Distress Inks, grunge paper, idea-ology hardware

2010-10-24T04:38:00.000-04:00

Are you ready Christmas (the most wonderful time of the year)?

Each of the Creative Architects’ for Innovative Stamp Creations were given a different Christmas line to create a card! So I am wondering:

Have you started Christmas shopping yet (me - yes - I actually have a friend who is finished and thinking about starting her wrapping - we can all hate her later okay)?

How many handmade Christmas cards have you created (I am over half way there)?

Do you buy store bought Christmas cards instead (nope it's either handmade or none)?

So I hope my Christmas card will inspire you to either get started or complete your Christmas cards today!

I thought this Angel needed an elegant background so I used the cream, black and gold color palette. The angel was blended with antique linen distress ink and gold stickles applied to her wings. I used a gold dabber on the textured background panel (cuttlebugged) and the bracket panel. Some gold embossing, Krylon Gold paint pen finished the card.

Please be sure to visit our Talented group of Creative Architects’ and become inspired:

1. Kathy Tucker (UR Here)
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
All Stamps - Innovative Stamp Creations- Angelic Holidays, Christmas Trinkets, Eclectic Christmas

Celebrate Fall

2010-10-23T04:28:00.000-04:00

You may not know this but Betsy, owner of ISC, resides in New England and the inspiration for this Line was from her back yard! She says; “Fall in New England is truly gorgeous, especially further north of Manchester, New Hampshire. “

Celebrate Fall:

I used a markers to color the main image - not something that I use very often but worked out beautifully with the leaves and the tree! The larger leaves were colored using distress inks and then a little cutting therapy! the "C" is a piece of chip board and then a went a little stapler happy with Tim's Tiny Attacher!!!

Please be sure to visit our Talented group of Creative Architects’ and become inspired:

1. Kathy Tucker (UR Here)
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Fall in New England, Autumn Leaves, Scrapbook Words

Fall Foliage

2010-10-22T04:12:00.000-04:00

Fall is such a beautiful time of year! Don't you agree? The leave colors are truly mesmerizing and breathtaking?! The fall colors work perfectly with the new fall stamp sheets being released from Innovative Stamp Creations this month - this card uses the new Foliage stamp sheet:

The card was created using the Joseph's Coat technique with a Kaleidacolor pad - I've had this pad for YEARS and just took the plastic off of it for this card! Typically the Joseph's Coat technique is done using black dye ink - I used chocolate chip ink on this one to go with my fall inspiration.

Please be sure to visit our Talented group of Creative Architects’ and become inspired!

1. Kathy Tucker (UR Here)
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Foliage

Another Look

2010-10-19T04:38:00.000-04:00

Today is another Sneak Peak of the images being released by Innovative Stamp Creations later this week...

Fall Dreams:

A close up:

I love fall images!

The focal panel was embossed on card stock vellum and then I colored on the back side with permanent makers (slick writer and sharpie) . The side leafs were stamped, hit with just a little color, cut and crumpled. I love the DREAM word!!!

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
All Innovative Stamp Creations - Foliage, Fall in New England

Fall Friend

2010-10-18T13:48:00.003-04:00

Hello - yes I am alive! I was on vacation in OBX and then had (have) a nasty cold - can we say cough, cough, cough - believe me you don't want to hear me at night!

Today I have a little sneaky peaky for you of an image from Innovative Stamp Creations - Fall in New England.

Fall Friend:

A close up of the main panel:

The main panel was created by blending distress inks and then stamping fall leaves with three color on them. Then I stamped the new image on top. The new release of images will be available this Thursday!

If you'd like to see some more examples using this image click around below:

1. Kathy Tucker (UR Here)
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff: All stamps Innovative Stamp Creations - Fall in New England, Autumn Leaves
Inks- Distress and Archival (Ranger)

Artist Box

2010-09-26T04:23:00.000-04:00

Today is the final day of the Innovative Stamp Creations September Stamp Release - today's release is the Vintage Artist Box. Think of the Vintage Artist Box line as your Art-Mural! Once your piece is finished you can showcase it somewhere in your Studio or Art area! Consider the following themes when working on your Art Mural: butterflies, eclectic, faces of women, travel, flowers, vintage and many more.

So this is the focal image:

And here is what I created:

Wonder how I got to the results above from the focal image? I thought I would share some of the steps with you!

Applied Distress Ink direct to paper:

Blend on some Antique Linen DI to "dull" the color:

Randomly added script image:

Stamped the focal image with Versamark and clear embossed, then direct to paper with Walnut Stain DI:

Next I determined what I wanted to go into the boxes and cut out the boxes that I wanted to fill:

I needed the background piece - just blended some green and stamped a larger script stamp (from Dimensional Elements: Edges):

Add the metal and stamped pieces:

Side View:

I really liked how this turned out so I used the artist box to create a birthday wall piece for my SIL:

Pretty much the same process, different colors and images. Side view:

Intrigued? Want to see more of the Artist box? Visit:

1. Kathy Tucker
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
All stamps Innovative Stamp Creations: Vintage Artist Box, Nature Silhouette III; Friendship I; Men of Wisdom; Make a Note; Odd Findings; Dimensional Elements:Edges

RU Nesting?

2010-09-25T04:47:00.000-04:00

The 3rd day of stamp releases for Innovative Stamp Creations - Nesting. This line is simply exquisite, these images are ideal for those special occasions such as a new neighbor, a friend who is moving, to a new baby and how about a friend in need! Nowadays many of the stamps on this line are quite trendy and versatile, that you are able to create a very simple card to even an altered art item.

Me - I went for an altered item. I made a tag 2x4 with a House theme:

Side 1:

The house is from the stamp sheet and I embosses using Distress Embossing Powders (awesome texture). The roof is from the Dimensional Elements: Edges, the pot is a wooden half pot and the OPEN door knob was from my $1 Micheal's find earlier this month. The topper is a little wooden birdhouse that I colored with Distressed Inks and stamped the roof with another image from the Edges set.

Close Up of the Pot and Flower:

Side 2 (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that nest):

The middle egg is a half of a wooden egg, the smaller eggs were stamped on grunge board. The butterfly is on grunge paper and the eggs were stamped on paper and popped up.

Close Up of the Eggs and Butterfly:

Here is a close up of the back of the topper house:

The small nest is an inchie Fragment.

1st Small side:

2nd Small Side:

Hoped you like my Nesting 2x4!

If you would like to see other Nesting Projects:

1. Kathy Tucker
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
All Stamps Innovative Stamp Creations: Nesting, Dimensional Elements: Edges; Marvels of Nature; ATC Elements

Elegant Flourish Anyone?

2010-09-24T04:50:00.000-04:00

The second day of Innovative Stamp Creations September release - Today's stamp sheet is Background Series: Flourish. Do you enjoy background stamps? Don’t they add such depth to your card? What’s unique about the variety of background series by ISC is that many come with a few sayings! The background Flourish sheet has a lovely Tag/Label is ideal for that final touch on your project!

Congrats in Black & White:

Honestly I could not help myself and make a black and white card for this flourish - to me it's just so elegant! The black panel behind the Plumeria I stamp with one of the Dimensional Elements: Edges images using Pearl Paint Dabber - I liked the interest this added to an otherwise plain black piece of cardstock.

Want to see what else was created using this Flourish?

1. Kathy Tucker
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
All Stamps Innovative Stamp Creations - Background Series: Flourish; Plumeria

Happy Monday

2010-09-23T04:36:00.000-04:00

Today is Innovative Stamp Creations first day of their September stamp release. Today's stamp sheet is Dimensional Elements - Edges. The images on this line are truly unique they will accent your card or altered notebook and so much more! Think of these stamps as a diecut or punch! You can create a quick card to more elaborate creations! GO with the flow and have fun! Some of the images on this line: scallop, distressed paper, vintage script, triangle, zig-zag edge and a small label.

Here is the card that I created using the zig-zag edge (had to go with fall colors since it's starting to look like fall here):

Fall Birthday:

I stamped each of the zig-zag edges using distress inks and I stamped over top using the new ISC Flourish that will also be released this week. Then some blending of ink, gluing, sewing and the card is completed!

Take a moment to click around and see what the other ISC creative architects made:

1. Kathy Tucker
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
All stamps - Innovative Stamp Creations - Dimensional Elements - Edges; Background Series - Flourish; Autumn Leaves

A Little Sneakie Peakie...

2010-09-20T16:29:00.000-04:00

I am actually on vacation this week in the Outer Banks and celebrating my SIL's birthday (she's lucky she gets to celebrate at the beach every year!). While I am gone I have lots of ISC projects to share with you - so even though I am gone I am still updating my blog via the magic of auto posts!

So - don't tell anyone but here is a little sneak peak of Nesting and Dimensional Elements: Edges:

The faux crepe paper is a stamp from the edges collections - I just stamped the image on some old tissue paper and gathered it up. The eggs were stamped on the same tissue paper so that they would match!

Happy Creating (me I'm tanning on the beach!)

KAT

The Stuff:
All previews of Innovative Stamp Creations September release - to be released on Sept 24th...

What...

2010-09-18T13:23:00.003-04:00

another Christmas Card? Yeap - I was checking out my stash and I'm "a ways" from having my 44 needed Christmas Cards completed by the end of October - I better get crack-a-lackin (this is a word coined from my friend Diana).

So I created two of this design - Mix and Mingle:

That cute snowman image is from Whipper Snapper.

Here's a close up:

I love the snowflake die from Spellbinders - you can add any color that you'd like to your snowflakes to make them match your card!

How are you doing on your Christmas card stash?

Happy Creating!

KAT

Deer in Flight

2010-09-14T14:31:00.003-04:00

Still playing with some cyber challenges... Today's card is for the Simon Says Stamp and Stuff challenge blog. We were to make something holiday related either Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. So I thought this challenge was a great push to complete another two of my Christmas cards (I make two of each design):

The deer is embossed with Brown EP (Zing - this is wonderful dark brown color) then the deer was masked to stamp on the snowflakes using Pearl paint dabber:

Here you can see the paint resist after the blue and brown were blended on the background.

A close up of the multilevel snowflake:

Hmmm I need to check to see how many of my Christmas cards are completed...

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff - Stamps, Distress Inks, Pearl Paint dabber (Tim Holtz); Snowflake (Spellbinders); Brown Embossing Powder (Zing)

Dance In the Rain...

2010-09-12T11:54:00.004-04:00

I've been having fun not only shopping for my $1 finds this week but participating in some of the cyber challenges. Today is the entry for Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (C3) - Grunge Flowers:

This was made using a cheap old frame I found when cleaning at my Moms. I covered the frame with Tim's Tissue Tape - if you haven't tried this stuff it's MARVELOUS!

The sign is one of my favorite sayings of all times:

I replaced Life and Dance with metal letters.

The focus of the Challenge - Grunge Flowers:

These were covered with vintage ledger, sheet music and dictionary paper and blended with Distressed inks. Here's another pic for dimension:

Of course we can't Dance in the Rain without Tim's Rain Man on Grunge Board:

Hey what is the umbrella?

Well another grunge flower of course!

I hope if it's raining where you are that you are dancing!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
cheapo frame and then lots and lots of Tim - idea-ology (Lost and found, Tissue Tape, grunge paper/board, metal), distress inks, sizzix dies

Just a $1

2010-09-08T23:53:00.003-04:00

A creative girl just can't pass up a steal of a deal.... today at Micheal's I bought these:

For a $1 each.... The bottom ones are porcelain draw pulls - see the clock, key, words. And the top is

porcelain letter balls - I bought my initials, time, santa and extra K's. I can see these in shadow boxes, on chunkies and in Tim's new Configuration boxes.

My creative juices are just flowing...

Happy Creating!

KAT

Diet Coke Meets Chipped Enamel

2010-09-05T13:17:00.003-04:00

Interesting title huh....

Well I made this for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Series - Chipped Enamel on page 44 of Tim's fabulous book!

I made the sign and the flourish in the upper right hand corner using the technique AND a diet coke can (don't worry the Diet Coke can did not suffer during the making of this art - it was already empty and clean)! Tim's Sizzix dies cut through Diet Coke Cans like they are butter!!!

Close up of the metal sign:

I used alcohol ink (Ginger) to color Tim's Tissue Tape.

Hope you like the card - Life... It's all perspective (isn't that true)!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff - it's all Tim's (distress inks, Sizzix, tissue tape, stamps)- Oh and the Diet Coke can!

Almost a Holiday Too Late!

2010-08-29T22:14:00.007-04:00

I started this project on Tuesday and just finished it today and now I am uploading less than 2 hours before the deadline... Cutting it short but this project with 12 sides took me AWHILE to make!

This project is for the Lord of Tim Holtz challenge on Simon Says Stamps and Show. Seriously, how could I not do a Tim Holtz inspired challenge!?!?!? I'll warn you up front this is a long post - I used lots and lots of Tim on this project from techniques, to grunge, to dabbers, to distress embossing powders, to idea-ology, to lost and found, to distress inks and on and on and on....

I made a 3 block Holiday Piece with each side featuring either Christmas, Halloween, Valentines or Easter. All the blocks were covered with vintage book text and then wrinkle free distress technique in corresponding holiday colors.

Christmas:
Top (the tag moves up and down so that you will not see it on the next holiday side):

Middle (I used masking tape to remove the wrinkle free distress ink where the Santa was to be stamped) :

Bottom (based one of my favorite Tim Christmas Tags 2009):

Halloween :

Top:

Middle (faux metal technique on the hinge and skull):

Bottom (look at how the skull from the poison image fits perfectly into the film strip ribbon - did Tim do that on purpose?):

Valentine's:

Top:

Middle:

Bottom:

The rose was made using Lynn's tutorial for a grunge ribbon rose. Below are some samples that I made using larger strips of grunge paper - this rose is the largest one - I glued two pieces of 12 inch GP together:

Easter:

Top (that cute bunny image is from Lost and Found - not sure why this one is light?):

Middle (love putting distress embossing powder on the metal foliage):

Bottom (look at that cute little bunny butt and you gotta love all the grunge and distress stickles):

So that is the end of my big TaDa.... There were times this week when I did not think I would get this finished in time - we'll call this one a Tim-may Labor of Love!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff - well all things Tim Holtz of course! And some vintage book pages and wooden drawer pulls (the feet), dymo label maker

The Dreaded Red

2010-08-27T03:52:00.000-04:00

Why the title? Today is Just For Fun color challenge day and one of the colors is RED - I keep telling myself to just embrace the red... embrace the red... embrace the red... (I did peak ahead at the next few color challenges and there is not red in sight - Yippee)

Today's colors are:So red - I looked at my Just for Fun stamps and went for the obvious - Cardinals are red:

I blended the bird with different colors of red distress ink, the flower and leaves are blended with DI also. The background is antique linen ink direct to paper and then corduroy DI on Tim's wood grain texture folder.

I am sure the rest of the design team was much more successful with the red than me - so give them a visit! REMEMBER - play along and you could win a $50 Just For Fun gift certificate, see the blog for more details.

Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (UR here)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Just for Fun - Large Cardinal, Brushed Floral, Background Block, Thank You
Other - Tim Holt Sizzix Texture Folder, Ranger Distress and Archival Inks

Daisy vs. the Rose

2010-08-26T04:36:00.000-04:00

Happy Thursday and the last day of Innovative Stamp Creations August release! I have two for you today:

Monochromatic Dream:

I just can't help myself - I LOVE black and cream cards! The background image is a large shipping tag that I embossed one side with one of Tim's texture folder and rubbed black ink over. The Daisy from the Nature Silhouette III was stamped in black and I think this really makes the detail pop on the image! The hinge is from one of Tim's Sizzix dies. If you look at the next pic you can see the "Dream" stamp that I am so in love with!!!

Vintage Rose:

The background was created using the large image in the Sketch of Roses II stamp sheet - I inked with Antique Linen ink and then used markers to color some of the background. Since I used the AL distress ink I was able to add some gold embossing powder at the top. The hinge is the faux metal technique.

The Rose is a FABULOUS grunge paper ribbon Rose - can I say easy - here's a link to the tutorial on Lynn's blog - give it a try you'll be surprised how fast you can make these!!! The only thing that I did not like was the added liquid pearls on the rose - I'll skip that step next time!

Take a little to time see the the other designers created:

1. Kathy Tucker (UR here)
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - all Innovative Stamp Creations - Nature Silhouette III, Sketch of Roses III

Mini Ledger

2010-08-25T04:28:00.000-04:00

Day 3 of Innovative Stamp Creations August Release

Mini Ledger

The new Mini Ledger stamp line is ideal for Artist Trading Cards or when you need a quick Mini-Card! Even accents the pages on a small Mini Book too! The tab image is super easy to use as you’ll see in the sample below you can use almost any of the phrases on the inside of the tab to accent your card!

Mini Ledger Trio:

Close Up:

These were all super simple and I love the look of the Ledger "tag" on each of the 3x3 cards!

Go click around to see more fabulous designs (come on you know you want too! :0)

1. Kathy Tucker (UR here)
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - all Innovative Stamp Creations- Mini Ledger, Nature Silhouette III

Silhouette and Ledger - ISC

2010-08-24T04:35:00.000-04:00

Release Day 2 - Innovative Stamp Creations:

Lately have you noticed all the awesome Ledger design paper at your local stamp store? Well, now you can create a ton of backgrounds on your cards and even in a mini book with this lovely Ledger image!

The ISC Creative Architects were challenged to incorporate some of the images from both of these lines on our card. Moreover, Nature Silhouette III bodes well with Nature Silhouette I/II.

A little tip from Betsy: Use caution, but you can cut apart each of the images on the Hollyhock Shadow stamp and place them on your acrylic mount and arrange to your liking, then stamp away!

I used the Hollyhock on this card:

The focal image was clear embossed then over stamped with the small script and finally blended with distress inks. The Ledger was stamped on the pink Basic Grey paper tucked behind the main image. The Hollyhocks were also stamped on the pattern paper in brown.

The DREAM word is one of the stamps on the Nature Silhouette III sheet. I just LOVE this - it looks just like a Dymo Label but you can make it any color that you want!!!! Score!

Make a few clicks and see how the other Creative Architects interpreted this challenge:

1. Kathy Tucker (UR here)
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - all Innovated Stamp Creations - Background Series: Ledger/Nature Silhouette III
Paper - Basic Grey

Sketch of Roses

2010-08-23T04:07:00.000-04:00

Roses - sweet smelling, delicate... Aren’t Roses utterly breathtaking?

Today starts the release of Innovative Stamp Creations August Stamp sets. The Sketch of Roses III has a lovely background image approximate size 4 ½ x 5 which lends itself to some many different techniques. You’ll find this line quite versatile! The delicate Roses are so easy to color-in with your favorite medium of choice!

Feminine Rose:

Rose Close Up:

To create the Rose I stamped with Archival ink 5 times and colored with colored pencils and Goo Gone (works like butter to move the colored pencils around - I believe better than Gamsol). The background stamp from the Sketch of Roses III was used on the bottom half of the card with the embossed piece using Texture Folders and Tim's Die cuts. To make Tim's swirls look old I used the small text image from the Mini Ledger set.

The large ledger background was used to create the "tag" and then I added some pink paint on the ornate plate to make it look nice and feminine:

How about a few more clicks to see what the other Creative Architect made with this terrific stamp set!

1. Kathy Tucker (that's me)
2. Joanne Grzelak
3. Julie Warner
4. Karen Dunbrook
5. Judi Rose

6. ISC Blog

Hope you are finding time to be creative today!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - all Innovative Stamp Creations - Sketch of Roses III, Mini Ledger, Ledger
Other - Tim Holtz (Sizzix) Texture Fades and Die cuts, Ornate plate

Therapy

2010-08-20T04:30:00.000-04:00

Friday's Just for Fun color Challenge:
I really like these colors they are right in my "go to" palette.

I think coloring and cutting is good therapy (and free) when you just want to get away and unwind! This card has lots of cutting!

Each corn stalk was individually cut along with the pumpkins. I blended on most of the color and added some water coloring for depth.

Spend a little time today checking out what the other designers created:

Sherry Cheever
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (yep, that's me)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

So get out your rust, orange and olive and enter to win a chance at a $50 Just for Fun Shopping Spree - check out the Just For Fun blog for more details!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Just for Fun - Corn Field, Mini Squat Pumpkin, Mini Tall Pumpkin, Pumpkin Patch, Sentiments 1

Inspiration

2010-08-18T11:11:00.003-04:00

You can find it almost anywhere depending on what you see.... When I was looking for inspiration I was in the mood for something would smack me right between the eyes!

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to get back in the stamping mode after a 2 week vacation with my Hubby. I received a new Paper Craft magazine and what was in the mag at the very end - how about some awesome Halloween tags by Tim Holtz! So I pulled out my virgin Tim set (we all have stamps that have not seen ink right- it' can't just be me - but if it is don't tell my hubby) and started to play.

Raven Meets Skeleton

Close up of Skeleton

I wanted the Raven to look like he's carrying off the Skeleton but I think it looks more like the Skeleton is petting the Raven's beak(so okay it's a kinder, gentler Halloween card) ...

The Rave and Skeleton were stamped on Grunge Board. Cuttlebug embossing folder was used for the harlequin design and some Stazon was used to add more detail to the bat charm.

Thanks for the inspiration Tim!

KAT

The Stuff - Mostly Tim Holtz, old book page text, sentiment SU

It's Friday

2010-08-13T04:54:00.000-04:00

and that means it's Just for Fun color challenge time!

This weeks colors:

It's odd but I do like burgundy even thought I shy away from red - go figure! I thought these were beautiful colors to make a Christmas Card:

Here's another shot so that you can see the snowflake glitter:

I stamped the large and small Snow Pine with Sepia Archival ink and water colored using my distress inks. The yellow was blended on using distressed inks.

Wanna play along? You could win a $50 shopping spree - see the Just for Fun blog for more details!

Take a little time to see what the other designers created this week:

Sherry Cheever
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (that's me)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Just for Fun - Large and Small Snow Pine, Sentiments 1

The Wings Challenge

2010-08-12T12:23:00.004-04:00

Simon Says Stamps has a new challenge blog that is vintage inspired and that to me means , of course, my favorite products from Tim Holtz! This week was the first one and the theme is "Things with Wings" - any which way you want! And they have a fabulous prize here's a link for more info.

So I dug around in my Tim goodness and made an ATC Chunky (an old 2x4 cut 2.5 x 3.5 - finished on all sides).

Side One - Hears Soar:

Close Up of Heart:

I molded the heart using Mold N Pour and Black UTEE and then put on just a little Copper Dabber and added the Soar definition from an old dictionary (hint - I color copy these so that I can keep the original to reuse again since I only have one old dictionary). The birdcage background is emboss/resist.

Side Two - Time Flies:

The Sides:

Used Sizzix die and sparingly painted with Copper Dabber and then blended over the top with Black Soot Distressed ink - this gives it a old metal finish.

The Top:

Candle cup, copper bead, memo pin and grunge board.

The feet and knob on top:

This is a wooden candle cup - same copper paint treatment as above and then I added some copper wire.

I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of "Things with Wings" and take some time to visit the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog to see everyone's creations!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Everything is Tim Holtz except for the wooden candle cups, wire and copper bead!

Just For Fun - Friday Color Challenge

2010-08-06T04:25:00.000-04:00

Well I am finally back but more on that in another post!

Today is Just For Fun's Color Challenge - the colors are:
All I can say is EAKKKK red - not a color that I use much - but a red marker, ribbons, pin heads and buttons and I am all set!

The background for this card is a piece from an old sewing pattern - I really liked the words "Custom Fit" with the Ornamental Dress Form.

So get out your red, kraft and white and play along - you could be the winner of a $50 Just for Fun Gift Certificate ! More info on the Just for Fun blog.

Grab something cool to drink and visit the rest of the design team to see what they've created:

Sherry Cheever
Broni Holcombe
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra
Kat Tucker (that's me)

Hope you are staying cool wherever you are!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Just for Fun - Fancy Form, Sewing Notions
Inks- Versa Mark, White Pigment, Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger)
Other - old sewing pattern, red marker (tombow), Black and White embossing Powder (Ranger)

Forget Me Not

2010-07-02T04:52:00.000-04:00

Good Friday to everyone! Time for another Just for Fun color challenge:All I can say is UGH purple - all my friends know that purple is my least favorite color! But color challenges are good for you ( I said this to myself when I seen the purple) - they get you to work with colors or color combination's that are not something that you would normally use!

Here's my card:

I incorporated the blue by blending some distress ink on the main panel and the definition. The rose is made out of gold wire mesh using Tim's flower sizzix die and alcohol inks.

Here's a close up of the rose:

Spend a little time to see what the other designers created:

Sherry Cheever - DT Coordinator
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

So play along this week - you could win $50 shopping spree!!! See the Just for Fun blog for more details!

Thanks for visiting!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Just for Fun - Forget Me Not Swirl, Celebrate Definition

Friday Again...

2010-06-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Yeap my Creative Mojo is really coming back - here's my second upload of the day!!!

Another beautiful butterfly card using Innovative Stamp Creations new Take Flight stamp sheet. Love the butterflies on the tree!

The tree and the butterflies are both stamped on patterned paper and cut out. I think that brown text paper is perfect for the tree!

Hope you are having a wonderful Friday!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamp - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Take Flight
Ink- VersaMark; Archival, Distress Ranger
Other - Brown EP, Pattern Paper (unknown)

Happy Friday!

2010-06-25T04:43:00.000-04:00

My Mojo seems to be back and today is Just for Fun Friday's color challenge:Now these are yummy colors - Green, Pink and Cream! Very girlie!

Here is my sample - Pink Corn Flower:
For the background I used Just for Fun's Faux Postage Templates - I just blended some distress inks on the template to create the large leaf background. The corn flower was stamped three times on patterned paper, cut and scrunched to create the dimensional flower:
Take some time to check out what the rest of the design team made with these wonderful colors!

Sherry Cheever - DT Coordinator
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (that's me)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

Or better yet be inspired by the colors and create your own inspiration piece and link it to the Just for Fun blog!

Thanks for visiting today!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Just for Fun - Corn Flower Large, Plato's Friends, Leaf Sprig with Berries, Asian Yarrow
Ink - Archival, Distress Ranger

Mojo Missing...

2010-06-24T16:07:00.005-04:00

My Mojo has been missing I think I may have found her hiding under some daisy's in my garden! I've had some beautiful new stamp releases from Innovative Stamp creations and I kept looking at them and loving them but I had a "block".... Now I think my Mojo is slowly creeping back:

Flutter Birthday:
A close up of the small butterfly:

Look at those beautiful new butterflies - Butterflies II. I did something different with these that I've never tried - I used Alcohol Ink on Vellum card stock and then embossed the butterflies! In person the color really pops!

Another angle to see the dimension:

So take a minute to check out all the new stamp releases at Innovative Stamp Creations Blog. Also visit the other Creative Architect to see what they created!

Kathy Tucker (that's me)
Joanne Grzelak
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook
Judi Rose

Thanks for visiting!

KAT

The Stuff: All stamps - Innovative Stamp Creations - Butterflies II, Favorite Flowers, Nature Silhouette
Ink - VersaMark; Ranger Archival, Distress
Other - Cardstock Vellum, Black EP (Ranger); Lettuce, Sunshine Yellow, Terra Cotta Alcohol Inks (Ranger)

Just Imagine

2010-06-18T04:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!!! It's time for another Just for Fun color challenge! This weeks colors are:Yellow - hmmm not a color I use often but I do like the color! Here is what I created:
When I was taking the pics of this card I thought - I should have made the flower blue and it would have popped more - but I still like it! The leaves and flower are stamped on Basic Grey paper and cut out (cutting therapy). The butterfly was clear embossed on Basic Grey paper and they blended with the blue ink.

Here is a side photo so that you can see the dimension:

Spend some time this morning seeing what the other Just For Fun designer's created:

Sherry Cheever - DT Coordinator
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (that's me)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

Visit the Just for Fun blog and upload your sample!

Have a fabulous weekend!

KAT

The stuff:

Stamps - all Just for Fun - Brushed Floral, Background Block, Color Block Butterfly large
Inks - Ranger - Archival and Distressed
Other - Clear EP (Ranger)

Friendly Fern

2010-06-11T04:25:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post as I am getting ready to go away for the weekend...

It's Friday and it's time for another Just for Fun color challenge:

I really love this color combination because (a) green is my fav and (b) I don't use my kraft card stock enough!

Friendly Fern:

I pulled out some of my dye inks that really never see the light of day anymore - because, well, the distress and archival inks from Ranger are my fav! But for this card it seemed like it was time to dust off these inks pads.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll be spending mine with Tim Holtz getting inky in Amherst NY!

Take a little time to click around to see what the rest of the design team created:

Sherry Cheever - DT Coordinator
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks

Beth Moore

Margarita Ybarra

So why not play along! Make your card and link it on the Just For Fun blog.

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - all Just for Fun - Framed Fern, Friend Definition, Color Block Butterfly

Together

2010-06-04T04:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been a bad blogger - it took me a few days to recover from the family BBQ that was at my house over the weekend (really I was recovering from all the cleaning) and then my little Yorkie was having a back leg issue! The good news it my hottie vet (did I mention that he's a hottie) gave her an anti-inflammatory/pain killer today and she's trying to be her old adorable self!

So - Happy Friday everyone! Time for another Just for Fun color challenge - this week's color challenge is one of my favorites:

Monochromatic and it seems like when I make a monochromatic card I go for browns (all the colors in the crayon box and I go for browns):

The main panel and the oval is glossy card stock with caramel and latte alcohol inks. As you can see on the oval - I discovered that I can't sew "around" something - so I went around three times to make it look like I did it on purpose!

Take a little time to click around to see what the rest of the team created:

Sherry Cheever - DT Coordinator
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks

Beth Moore

Margarita Ybarra

So why not play along! Make your monochromatic card and link it on the Just For Fun blog.
Have a great weekend!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Just for Fun - Queen Ann's Lace, Helen Keller
Ink - Coffee Archival (Ranger)
Other - Caramel and Latte Alcohol Inks (Ranger); Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Scrollwork Alterations (Sizzix)

Classy

2010-05-28T04:57:00.000-04:00

It's Friday and I've been busy getting ready for the holiday weekend. It's amazing the things that you clean when you have people coming over! Because let's face it - who likes to clean?

It's Friday which means another color challenge for Just for Fun! Today's color challenge is:

Gee I really wanted some Halloween stamps - but I don't have any so I made this manly card:
Classy Chassis

I added Pumice Stone and Rusty Hinge to the focal image to grunge up the white panel. The orange panel I took my blender tool and just "bopped" it here and there and then blended over the top with pumice stone.

So before the busy weekend takes over - take some time for yourself and see what the other JFF design team created this week:

Sherry Cheever - DT Coordinator
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (you are here)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

Have a Great long holiday weekend!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Just for Fun - Classy Chassis, '57 Chevy
Paper - Basic Grey
Ink - Jet Black Archival; Rusty Hinge, Pumice Stone, Black Soot Distress Ink (Ranger)
Other- Tiny Attacher, Film Strip Ribbon (idea-ology)

Celebrate

2010-05-26T04:46:00.001-04:00

For some reason I love monochromatic cards - to me they look elegant! Now my favorite color is green but I love browns in a card. So following the ISC Creative Architect challenge to create a monochromatic card and use the Rustic Artsy Swirl set I created this:

I used the solid stamp from Flowers - Watercolor Effect to create the background and hand cut out the ones along the right hand side. The butterfly was blended with distress inks and I added some distress stickles, the swirl from the set was stamped on the bottom of the solid panel.

Here's a side view so that you can see the dimension:

My SIL thinks I'm crazy doing all the hand cutting - but I find it very relaxing!

Why not visit the other Creative Architects to see their Monochromatic creations:

Joanne Grzelak
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook

Hope you are finding time to create something today!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Rustic Artsy Swirl, Flowers - Watercolor Effect, Words I
Inks - Coffee & Sepia Archival; Tea Dye, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain Distress Inks (all inks Ranger)
Other - Fleur DeLis (Spellbinders)

A Gift

2010-05-25T04:11:00.000-04:00

The Innovative Stamp Creation Achitects’ were challenged to use the Passion Flower (BTW - it's on sale!) and create a slider box:
Front:

Side:

These slider boxes are easy to make and would be a great way to present a small gift or gift card to someone special.

I water colored the main Passion flower image using distressed inks and then a lot of blending with, again, distressed inks on the inchies and the box itself.

Now take a moment to get inspired by the other Creative Architects!

Joanne Grzelak
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamp - Innovative Stamp Creations - Passion Flower
Inks- Coffee Archival; Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Straw, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss Distress Inks (Ranger)

Recipe Favorites

2010-05-24T05:43:00.000-04:00

What do you enjoy most about stamping? Simply creating cards or making handmade gifts for others?

The Innovative Stamp Creation Achitects’ were challenged to use many of the oldie-goodie stamp sheets, such as Rustic Artsy Swirls, Flowers Watercolor Effect, & Passion Flower and create gifts you’d give a friend in need or just because!

So for today how about a simple recipe card and card holder? It started out as this:

And with a little paper and ink transformed into this:

A side view:

The drawer pull and lace flower at the top:

Holder with Recipe cards:

The simple recipe card:
Now just fill a small basket with the main ingredients needed, fill jelly jars with the dry ingredients and attached a recipe card and box and you have an awesome gift!

Now take a little time to go see what the other Creative Architect's made:

Joanne Grzelak
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Flowers, Watercolor Effect; About Me; Butterflies
Ink - Craft White, Coffee, Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Other - Memo Pins (idea-ology), chalks, Drawer Pull

Have Tissue...

2010-05-21T04:47:00.000-04:00

... paper? I used tissue paper on this project because as I've written before I don't have any turquoise paper and I needed turquoise for this week's Just for Fun color challenge:

I really like Rust - specifically the new Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and orange and blue are great complimentary colors... So:

This what I created. I tore a piece of paper to create the mask for the two sides of the card. The left side was stamped/embossed and blended with rust ink, the right stamped with the typewriter type background stamp. The flowers were created using Tim's Tattered Florals Sizzix die, smooshed and inked with some of the rust ink.

Now for my confession - I am a tissue paper hoarder! I save all the tissue paper that I get from gifts and, when I can get away with it, others gifts and I fold it nice and neat and reuse it! I had an entire closet filled with the stuff and forced myself to a limit of two boxes (that's a lot of tissue paper) and I had to make myself *gasp* purge some of it. I'm glad I kept the turquoise tissue paper!

Now click around and see what the other designers created for this color combination:

Sherry Cheever
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker (that's me)
Sandy Sandrus
Starla Nelson
Roni Johnson
Glenda Brooks
Beth Moore
Margarita Ybarra

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Just for Fun - Plato's Friends, Typewriter Type, Sketchy Grid
Ink - Rusty Hinge, Broken China Distress Inks (Ranger)
Other - Tissue Paper, Tattered Florals Sizzix Die

Chaos Swap Tags

2010-05-18T19:44:00.004-04:00

I signed up for the Chaos swap on All Things Tim. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Chaos Boards that Tim did here is a link to his. I have the tag in the lower left hand corner - that's right the little one that is horizontal - that baby is 1 3/4 by 3 3/8! I also volunteered to take the last one in the 3rd group and I have the same tag.

So for group #1 - For the Birds

Started out with this bird charm and I made a mold with Ranger's Mold and Pour - my first attempt at using the Mold and Pour and I really like how it turned out:

Then filled the mold with black UTEE:

Then put some paint dabber onto the bird and the details really came out. Just a little, worked in with your fingers and then wiped off - quickly:

Finally the finished tag - For the Birds - I also put paint on one of Tim's ornate plates:

Now for Group #3 - Unlock

The Key Plate was cut from Grunge Board using Tim's Hardware Findings Sizzix Die (cuts like butter). I then sparingly and randomly pounced on Gold Acrylic Paint leaving the bubbles and some of the grunge showing. Hit it with a heat gun and then put Black Acrylic Paint over and wiped off right away and then hit with a wet towel - looks like old metal:

Added some of the Gold Paint Dabber to a key:

Then ink, stamp and hardware up - Unlock:

These were fun to make and I can't wait to see what all the other tags look like!

Happy Creating!
KAT

The Stuff:
Tag #1:
Stamp - Tim's Stampers Anonymous
Ink - Ranger - Black Archival; Distress Inks - Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo
Other - Juniper & Aqua Acrylic Paint Dabbers (Ranger), Mold and Pour, Black UTEE (Ranger); Type Charm, Washer, Mini Pin, Ornate Plate (idea-ology)

Tag #3:
Stamps - Tim's Stampers Anonymous; Unlock (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink - Ranger - Black Archival; Distress Inks - Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Vintage Photo
Other - Black & Gold Paint Dabbers (Ranger), Hardware Findings Sizzix Die

Together

2010-05-14T04:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! Friday is Just For Fun's color challenge day - today's colors are

A pretty bright color palette for me! You know I'm more of a grungy girl - but challenges are good they make us stretch out of our comfort zone. And for me they make me pillage my studio to try to find something close to these colors.... Alcohol Ink to the rescue!

The butterfly background, flower and the "turquoise" band are glossy card stock with alcohol inks.

Now spend some time clicking around to see what the other designers came up with:

Just For Fun® Blog
KAT ( That's me)

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - All Just for Fun - Collection, Helen Keller

Other - Tattered Floral Die (Tim Holtz - Sizzix), Alcohol Inks (Ranger)

Mother's Day Cards

2010-05-12T21:44:00.003-04:00

Just poppin in for a quick update so that I can get myself back into better blogging habits (of course if I stopped reading vampire romance/mystery novels I would get more stuff done!)

This is the card that I made for my Mom for Mother's day:
The background is glossy card stock with Alcohol inks.

Here you can see the effect of the metallic mixative:

For my Mother-in-law:

This is a solid image stamp (you know the normal "blank" space is filled in) and I clear embossed the image and then used small pieces of my blending pads to color the image in with distress inks. You'll notice this card says "Thank You" - well I made two of these cards and I forgot to take a pic of the one that said Happy Mothers Day.

Happy Creating!
KAT

The stuff:
All stamps are Hero Arts (thanks for letting my borrow your stamps Suz!)

Grungy Beach

2010-05-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

Hey - it's been an entire week since I uploaded... What have I been doing? Well except for a crop last weekend I could not tell you where my time has gone. Oh - wait I am re-reading all my Sookie Southern Vampire books... Yeah that's it!

But it is Friday and time for another Just for Fun Color Challenge. This week the colors are:
I like the Blue, Green and Orange color challenge and I added an extra challenge for myself - don't use flowers on this card. When I think of this color combination I naturally think flowers. So I looked at the JFF stamps that I have and used two that have not seen ink yet and I came up with:

Grungy Beach:

I really enjoyed making the background - water colored the Palm Tree, ink direct to paper for the sky and the sand, inked up the outer edge only of the Post Card Background stamp for around the edges and for the first time stamped with bubble wrap - see the orange circles. Who knew bubble wrap could be so much fun?

So sit back and click around and see what the offer JFF Designers have been up to:

Just For Fun® Blog
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Sandy Sandrus

Starla

Sherry Cheever
Terre Fry

Magarita

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Have a fabulous Friday and spend some time getting inky today!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - all Just for Fun - Swimmer Girl (not the real name), Palm Tree, Post Card Background

Ink - Coffee Archival, distress inks (Ranger)

Red Sky at Night

2010-04-30T04:11:00.000-04:00

Sailor's Delight... As the old wives tale goes... How about a Red Sunset:

This card was created for this week's Just for Fun color challenge:

As you can see I am doing a better job embracing red! The Tropical Sunset image was colored using my blending tool, distress inks and a post it to mask the sun. The sand was created using a piece of card stock and Frayed Burlap Distress Embossing Powder - it feels like sand - well sand paper anyway!

Click around to see what the other designers created this week:

Just For Fun® Blog
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Sandy Sandrus

Starla

Sherry Cheever
Terre Fry

Magarita

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

I'm off to a crop for the weekend to work in Christmas stuff - YES Christmas stuff!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - all Just for Fun - Tropical Sunset, Sketchy Grid, Thank You

Inks - Jet Black Archival, Distress Inks (Ranger)

Other - Frayed Burlap Distress Embossing Powder

ISC Inspiration Challenge

2010-04-29T09:37:00.005-04:00

Yes - moving past reliving my Tim Holtz classes today - sigh...

How about an Inspiration Challenge from Innovative Stamp Creations?

To see the inspiration piece to go to the ISC blog... Here is my interpretation:

I chose to use the funky paper layout as my inspiration and I kept with the flower/bug theme. The back most panel is distress ink direct to paper, the squares are wrinkle free distress and all the pieces are water colored with distress inks. The wings on the bee are stamped on vellum.

So how would you like the opportunity to win a Free ISC stamp Sheet of your Choice? All you need to do is create a card using the inspiration piece as your starting point and use only ISC images. Then post a link on the ISC blog... You have until Sunday May 9th to participate!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Beautiful Flowers
Other - Distress Inks, Coffee Archival (Ranger)

Intrigue and What to Wear...

2010-04-28T17:11:00.010-04:00

Today the pictures from Tim's Idea-Ology Intrigue Class and what we wore to the event.

We made a Necklace:

Here's a close up - the heart is made from a mold out of mold and pour and black UTEE. We then added some paint and wiped it off to give the heart a stone look.

A Floral Pin:

This was made from lots of flower cut outs from Tim's new Tattered Floral die. There were different fabrics ranging from burlap, tapestry, cotton weave, mesh, fake silk and lace. There must have been about 25 flowers that we used. There are also two layers of grunge paper flowers covered with dictionary text.

Here is a side view:

The really neat thing about this pin is how we made it look all tattered - we used Tim's Tonic Scratcher to fray up the edges of the fabric!

Finally a Charm Bracelet:

You could pick any word that you wanted and we used Tim's new Lost and Found Paper for the fragments.

Now What's a Girl (insert Tim Fanatic here) to Wear to Tim's Classes? My SIL and I made this:

An apron with Grunge Board pockets, muslin plackets, misting and stamping.

The Plackets - misted and stamped:

Close Up of Bird Cage with my name KAT in Type Charms:

Pocket - sewn Grunge board:

Other Pocket:

Close Up of Memory Capsule:

Another Pocket Close Up:

Bird Nest on the Pocket with Hand Made Wire Nest:

Stamping and Masking on the Apron:

These were really fun to make BUT very time consuming - specifically the pockets!!!

Here is a picture of my SIL and I with Tim (Warning the Apron Adds About 100 lbs):

And of course we could not leave out Mario:

My SIL Apron is different from mine - once I get my hands on hers I'll share more pictures. If you have any questions about how we did the apron either leave me a comment or send an email!

That's the end of my Akron Journey with Tim! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

KAT

Tim's Exploring The Adirondacks Class

2010-04-27T19:47:00.003-04:00

So now on to the second class that Tim taught on Friday - Exploring The Adirondacks. In this class we also made four tags:

This tag's background is paint resist with distress inks. The bird cage was painted by pouncing the silver metallic paint dabber onto the grungeboard cage.

This is a better look - we just pounced the paint and allowed it to "fluff" as Tim called it and then hit it with the heat gun just to speed up the dry time. Awesome huh.... Makes it look like old metal!

The second tag is emboss resist. The blue panel was black card stock with the text embossed with clear embossing powder. The heart is grungeboard painted black and embossed with clear embossing powder. For this technique it's important that you let the paint dry only until it's not tacky any more - if you allow it to dry too long you won't be able to remove the paint from the embossed area.

This one is some wild colors compliments of Alcohol Inks. The background panel was created by scribbling metallic mixative and alcohol inks on your craft sheet and then drip some blending solution over the inks, place your glossy card stock over the inks and give it a little twist then lift. You can go back pick up more color if needed.

The flourish, butterfly and bead/ribbon are all colored with alcohol inks. What was really interesting is the butterfly and flourish are both grungeboard. By painting the grungeboard with Pearl Paint Dabbers you can make the surface "act" like a glossy cardstock - pretty neat huh... think of the possibilities!

The last tag features one of Tim's new texture fades. They used heating tape (this can be found in your Home Depot or Lowes type stores in the heating section) which is sticky metal tape. The tape was placed on a piece of card stock and then run through the texture fade. We used Alcohol Inks right out of the bottle to color each square. Then we rubbed Jet Black Archival ink over the image and wiped off immediately for the finished look - this removed any color from the raised portions.

This is a better look at the details on this tag.

Mood after second class - still amazed by Tim's brilliance and talent!

Tomorrow the recap of the last class!

KAT

Tim's Discovering Distress Class

2010-04-26T20:18:00.006-04:00

I wanted to share with you what we made with Tim Holtz on Friday at his Discovering Distress class at Adventures in Stamping. We made the following 4 tags:

This tag shows how deep his new texture folders will emboss.

This tag used perfect pearls, masking and his new butterfly Sizzix Die - each wing is separate so that you can decide how you want your butterfly to take flight.

This tag showcased his Distress embossing powders. The corners are embossed and then inked over top - the Distress embossing powder resists the ink.

The close up of the flowers shows how Distress embossing gives a beautiful texture to the metal flowers.

This tag features coloring and stamping on photos - per Tim - this is his Yard Sale Cousin. The photo is colored with distress inks with a nib and then stamped. Next is a close up - the dress is really pink but it's not coming across in the photo well.

We had a great time in the class. There were five of us together - so a shout of out to Ro and Krust (we are huge Tim fans) and to our Tim Class Virgins - Diana and Jodi (they too are now big Tim fanatics)!

Come back tomorrow for more class information!

KAT

Just for Fun Friday

2010-04-23T05:00:00.000-04:00

Hello! I'm not really here - I am getting grungy with Tim Holtz today (can we do one heck of a happy dance???).

But I wanted to share with you the Just For Fun color challenge this week:

Love blue and orange... hmmm gray - I don't work with gray much but I was thinking about this color challenge when I was cleaning up my workspace looking at the grunge paper that I was putting away - I had an duh moment - plain grunge is gray... So:

The scroll work and butterfly are plain grunge paper. The tag background is wrinkle free distress. The tag and butterfly are the Societe du Lourve stamp from Just For Fun. I will admit that I liked the butterfly better before I added the distressed stickles.

Click around to see what the other designers created this week:

Just For Fun® Blog
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project.

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - Societe du Lourve (Just for Fun)

Inks- Broken China, Spiced Marmalade, Pumice Stone Distress Inks; Jet Black Archival (Ranger)

Other - grunge paper, trinket pins, mini safety pin (idea-ology), Scrollworks Alterations Die (Sizzix), Spicec Marmalade Distress Stickles

Just a Quick Hello!

2010-04-22T15:50:00.003-04:00

I've been busy creating this week something a little different for the Tim Holtz classes I'll be taking tomorrow - but it's a secret so I can't share yet....

This is a twitter picture taken by Mario of some of the supplies that we'll be using in the classes!

Look at all the Grungy Goodness - Can't wait to see what we are making and what we'll learn. There is a group of 5 of us going so I know that we will have a blast!

I will also get a chance to meet the owners of Just for Fun at the trade show on Sunday. So if you are in the area and looking for some creating inspiration - go to Adventures in Stamping at the John S. Knight center in Akron on Saturday or Sunday - who knows - you might even see me there!

Happy Creating!

KAT

Stamping On Fabric

2010-04-15T20:38:00.002-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! Time for another Just For Fun Color challenge - this weeks colors are:

I wanted to try something a little different today so I misted and stamped on fabric - tea dyed muslin to be exact:

I used a mask and misted on the fabric background. The fern was stamped using a black paint dabber. The hinge is grunge board and the butterfly is two layers with grunge paper. That black mesh is actually gutter guard material that I snagged from my hubby a while ago (just being green - not a hoarder).

With this week's Color Challenge Just For Fun is offering a 25% discount for one lucky participant - see the Just for Fun blog for more information. Also visit the other talented designers to see what they created:

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project for your chance to win!

Happy Creating!

KAT

the Stuff - All Stamps Just For Fun - Fern, Collection

Ink - Jet Black Archival (Ranger)

Other - Hardware Findings (Alterations - Sizzix), Mists (Tattered Angels); Grunge board, Grunge paper, trinket pin (idea-ology); Pitch Black Paint Dabber (Ranger), Scrap of Tea Dyed Muslin

Artistic Projects - Nature's Beauty

2010-04-14T06:56:00.001-04:00

Today is the last Artistic Inspiration project for Innovative Stamp Creations - Nature's Beauty:

I love the background on this card - I used 3 different script type stamps, blended 3 pieces of scrap paper slightly different shades of brown and flicked on some either water or brown ink. Then I could not resist sewing around each of the pieces (I did this late at night and I may have been losing some of my marbles...)

Oh - a side view for you:

So - today is your last chance to leave a blog comment to be entered to win an Innovative Stamp Creations stamp sheet of your choice - just leave a comment on this blog post and if you like to increase your chances visit these talented ladies too:

Kathy Tucker (you are here!)
Joanne Grzelak
Sabrina Jackson
Karen Dunbrook
Wendy Weixler
Julie Warner

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations - Bush Flowers, Odd Findings, Butterflies, Assemblage, Friends Are Special
Inks - Distress (Ranger), Archival (Ranger)

Artistic Projects - ACT Trio

2010-04-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

Today is the second day of the Artistic Projects for Innovative Stamp Creations. Today's inspiration was a trio of ATCs where the design spans across all 3 ATCs. I don't work with the ATC format much - I find the 2.5 by 3.5 inch area confining to me - but I have seen some great works of art created these small spaces!

To span the design across all three I created the background first (the paper is 3.5 by 7.5):

I used pink ink to color the paper, embossed the flowers and then blended and stamped over top - an emboss resist. I then cut them into the ATC size.

Here are all 3:

Close up of the Butterfly:

Close up of the flower:

Each of the words are stamped behind film strip ribbon.

So a reminder - if you would like the chance to win an ISC stamp sheet of choice leave a comment on this blog post. You can also visit the other creative architects and leave comments on their blogs to increase your chance to win:

Kathy Tucker (you are here!)
Joanne Grzelak
Sabrina Jackson
Karen Dunbrook
Wendy Weixler

Julie Warner

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for the next inspiration piece!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps (All Innovative Stamp Creations) Nature Silhouette I, Let it Bloom, ATC Elements, Friends Are Special
Other - Caged Bird Alterations Die (Sizzix), Film Strip Ribbon, Tiny Attatcher (idea-ology)

Artistic Projects - Template Inspiration

2010-04-12T12:39:00.006-04:00

This week Betsy from Innovative Stamp Creations asked us to dust off some of the ISC images that we've had for a while and create three Artistic Projects based on inspiration pieces. Today's inspiration is a template card - I chose to make a Template Wall Hanging Beautiful Spring:

This piece was created on an 8x8 piece of 1/2 wood. I kept the color palette simple using my new distress inks Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet. I added the pink to all the images to help pull your eyes to each element.

So why not dust off some of those old images you have not used in a while, find your missing Mojo or try something new?

Leave a comment on this blog post for your chance to win a free stamp sheet from ISC. You can post on each day, now through Wednesday, to increase your chances to win! Good Luck!

Please visit all of the ISC blogs - another way to increase your chance of winning!

Kathy Tucker (you are here!)
Joanne Grzelak
Sabrina Jackson
Julie Warner
Karen Dunbrook
Wendy Weixler

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for the next inspiration piece!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Nature Silhouette II, Rustic Artsy Swirls, Artsy Victorian, Assemblage, The Tropics, Alterable Words, Oriental Nature Elements

Friends

2010-04-09T04:30:00.000-04:00

It's Friday and time for another Just For Fun color challenge - but this week I did not struggle using red *insert happy grin here*! Today's colors:

This challenge was a great excuse to use my new distress ink colors - Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage:

The background panel is wrinkle free distress, the grid panel is paint resist and the girls were water colored using my distress ink pads. Oh - the flower is using Tim's floral Sizzix die.

Don't those girls just put a smile on your face! Reminds me of my best friend when I was young!

If you'd like to see what the other Just For Fun designers created with this week's colors here are links to their blogs...

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Heidi Blankenship
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Happy Friday and Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - (all Just for Fun) Best Friends, Sketchy Grid, Typewriter Type, Plato's Friends

Ink - Lots of distress inks and Coffee Archival (Ranger)

Other - Tattered Florals Alternations Die (Sizzix), Pink Souffle Pen (Sakura), Shell Pink Adirondack Paint Dabber (Ranger)

Give Me Wings...

2010-04-05T13:21:00.005-04:00

I am participating in a Chunky ATC swap on the Stampers Anonymous Yahoo group. The only requirements are the size - 2.5 x 3.5 and 1.5 inch thick, use Stampers Anonymous stamps and you have to decorate all sides. Here's mine...

Give Me Wings:

I covered the block of wood with old book text and removed some of the print with Masking Tape on the front and back - I left all the print on the sides. Color was added using the wrinkle free distress technique with blue distress inks. The bird on this side was stamped on glossy card stock, blended with color and then I glued idea-ology packaging over top - this gives the bird more structure than just paper alone. The bird's rest is a drawer pull.

The Other Side:

The chandelier and bird cage were embossed. The bird was stamped on white card stock, I used pens to add the flower color and covered with Matte Accents.

Close Up:

The bird nest is made using pearls, wire and needle nose pliers - if there is interest I can do a tutorial on how to make the nest -it's very easy! The feet are small wooden spools painted with black dabbers and then some gold. Then to add a little interest I wrapped some wire around them.

The sides:

The Give Me Wings sentiment stamp is the inspiration for the entire piece (cuz I love bird stuff). The sides are the sentiment - this side - give me wings (grungeboard). The film strip ribbon with the birds on a wire wrap around the sides.

And I:

Will fly:

I really enjoy working with these chunky blocks of wood - although I will admit that I do like the tag size more - see mine here - because I have more room to put more stuff on the piece!

Happy Monday and Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - all Stampers Anonymous - Mostly Tim Holtz line
Ink - Chipped Sapphire, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Wild Honey Distress Inks; Jet Black, Coffee, Sepia Archival (Ranger)
Other - Drawer pull, ornate plate (idea-ology), 22 gauge wire, pearls, cobber & silver embossing powder (Ranger), wooden spools, plastic packaging scraps from idea-ology packaging, grungeboard wings, pitch black & gold paint dabbers (Ranger), masking tape, misc metal letters

Just for Fun Friday

2010-04-02T04:30:00.000-04:00

It's Friday and time for another color challenge for Just for Fun! Today's color challenge is

Red and Yellow - hmmm... Colors that I don't work with much. My Christmas cards are not even red and I don't own any red card stock. But challenges are to help us grow right? So....
This card was made with all white card stock and I brayered on the red and yellow. But I was feeling a little grungy when I made this shockingly bright card (well for me anyway) - so I also made this...
And the inside:

Look I used red and don'tcha just love the Dream Voyage stamps and the postcard background.

Now take some time to see what the other designer made - I am sure they were much more successful with the Red, Yellow and Black color combination than I was - really!

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Heidi Blankenship
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - Dream Voyage, Post Card Background, Travel, Filler Stamp, Letter Slot, Airmail Travel (All Just for Fun)

Ink - Barn Red, Mustard Seed, Faded Jeans, Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone Distress Inks; Jet Black Archival (Ranger)

Other - Grunge Paper, metal embellishments, compass mask (idea-ology)

A Look Inside the Book

2010-03-31T10:46:00.005-04:00

Do you ever feel like you're just running late? Right now I feel like everything I either want or need to get done is behind... Today I want to play some catch up with myself (you know it's the last day of March and where are my March Christmas cards???)!

I wanted to share some of the inside pages of the book cover I shared here. I'm not much of a scrapper and if I do scrap anything it's always a smaller album - never a 12x12. What I wanted to share with you today is the pages in your scrap books can be a simple or as complex as you'd like to make them.

Here is a simple page:

A little pattern paper, butterfly stamp and flourish mask.

Then you can get creative with supplies you have easily on-hand:

This is an envelope from my stash, pattern paper and definition background stamp.

Here is the back side of the envelope:

Just some scraps of pattern paper and the flower stamp on more scraps.

Here is the pull out page:

Picture on beautiful Theresa Collins transparency.

Then you can get complicated and creative - dig through all the awesome metal stuff you have and:

You can get something like this. All of the squares with the metal embellishments are white card stock that was stamped and blended with flourish mask. The background pattern paper was black and white that I blended the blue on to pull the color through the page.

Here are some close ups:

Oh - I wanted to share again that a lot (hmmm I think most) of the supplies for this album are from the Bracket Kit from Innovative Stamp Creations (it's a steal of a deal - go check it out!).

Okay - I'm off and running to work on my "list"! Have a great day!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Bracket Kit from Innovative Stamp Creations
Stamps - Friends Are Special, Time, I Heart 4 You, About Me (all Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink- Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass, Black Soot Distress Inks; Jet Black Archival (Ranger)
Other - Pitch Black & Snow Cap Paint Dabbers, Matte Multi Medium, Distress Crackle Paint, Rock Candy & Black Soot Distress Stickles (All Ranger), Flourish Mask and misc hardware (idea-ology)

Just For Fun - Friday Color Challenge

2010-03-26T04:30:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone! Having a great week? The weekend is almost upon us! Today is Just for Fun Color Challenge Friday! This week's color challenge is:

Hmmm Teal - didn't have anything teal so I made my own:

Peeled Paint Distress Ink + Blue Patina Perfect Pearls = Teal

Of course in this photo it's looking a little greener but believe me - IRL it's Teal! What you can't see in the photo is all the shimmer from the Perfect Pearls and the Stardust Pen that I used. Here's another look:

You can see it a little better in this photo. Don't you just love the expression on the Man and Boy's face - love this image!

Sit back, drink your caffeine of choice and go take a look at what the other designers created....

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Heidi Blankenship
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Linda Duke
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Thanks for the visit and Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - Music Men, Glorious Song, Treble Clef

Ink - Peeled Paint Distress Ink, Coffee Archival (Ranger)

Other - Long Classic Rectangles (Spellbinders), Stardust & Brown Micron Pen (Sakura), Blue Patina Perfect Pearls

Journey the World

2010-03-24T10:34:00.007-04:00

One of the themes that I am into now is all the travel papers, ephemera and stamps that are available! Innovative Stamp Creations has a new stamp sheet Destination that has an awesome vintage map background stamp!

The sample that I made is a pocket card -Journey the World:

The world map was stamped on Vellum and then I used the faux parchment paper technique that can be found on Tim's blog here. The navigation piece has a base of grunge board that the image was stamped on and then, of course, sprockets, gears and spinners.

Here is a side view:

On the inside page the map is blended with color (I just use a small piece of the blending foam on blending tool to control the color). The little pocket for the ticket is vellum sewn on.

The ticket charm has a world stamped on grunge board and a type charm.

Hmmm maybe I should make a bigger one of these to put in my cruise album?

Thanks for the visit today and Happy Creating!

KAT

The stuff:
Stamps - Destination, Time, Assemblage (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink - Stormy Sky, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain, Old Paper distressed Inks; Jet Black Archival (Ranger)
Other - Grunge Board, Sprocket Gears, Game Spinners, Swivel Claps, Type Charms, Trinket Pin (Idea-ology), Vellum Cardstock

Grunge Treasures

2010-03-21T17:33:00.005-04:00

Here is the bud vase the I made using the same five point flower from Friends are Special new stamp release from Innovative Stamp Creations.

Grunge Treasures:(Sorry - that's my house in the background - I had to take this one outside...)

Here is a close up of the flowers (also brown chandelier beads, organdy ribbon and wire twirls):

Close Up of the half open bud:

The half open bud uses the bud tutorial in my post below and I added 3 additional petals wrapped around bud (sorry I forgot to take a photo).

Close Up of the ornate plate:

The full flower is pretty basic grunge flower instructions. It take 3 flowers and you'll have a few single petals left over.

Since this is a five point flower cut one petal from 2 of the flowers and leave one whole:

To color the enters I use a small piece of a blender pad to control where the color goes:

Glue the four petals together using Glossy Accents:

I use these clips that I found in the bead sections of my local craft store - these can also be found at a hardware store. Before I had these I used paper clips to hold the petal together.

It's very important that the Glossy Accents dries before you move on:

I use my large hole punch to put a hole in the five point flower and "snip" the butt end off the of the other two (this allows them to nest together). I then form the petals using your thumb and 1st finger and the magic of the grunge paper holds it's shape!

Then you simply stack them together one layer at a time using your glossy accents and clips to hold it until it dries. You can choose any flower center - the one I used was an ornate rhinestone brad. But you could use a bead, button, idea-ology pieces - the possibilities are really endless!

Well that's it for now! I'll have more samples to share as the week goes on!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Friends are Special, Sayings (all from Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink - Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss Distress Inks, Jet Black Archival (Ranger)
Other - Grunge Paper, Glossy Accents

Vintage Baby and Bud Tutorial

2010-03-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today I am sharing a cover of a baby album that I made using vintage baby pictures, new stamp images from ISC, the March Kit from ICS, lots of Ranger products and lots of do-dads.

Vintage Baby:

Close up of Flowers - love how the flowers and flower buds turned out!:

Chandelier Beads and Crepe Paper Trim:

The flowers were stamped on white card stock twice for each flower, form into their shape and then I covered the petals with Distress Crackle Paint. After the crackle dried I added Black Soot and Rock Candy Distress stickles in the center.

The crepe paper is the cheap stuff you can buy in any store in the party isle. I gathered it on my sewing machine, folded it in half and then sewed it to the back side of the picture.

Here is the picture of the March Kit from Innovative Stamp Creations (BTW - it's a steal of a deal for $12):

Here is a link to read more about it.

Now how about a tutorial on how to make the cute little flower bud?

FLOWER BUD TUTORIAL

And I'll warn you - there are 13 photos coming your way - but stick with me - the buds are really easy to make!

Stamp flower image:

Cut out three of the petals and blend with color or your choice -here Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey:

Form the 3 petals into little "cups":

Here's a photo of the backside:

Bend and form into a little bud:

Add glue around the edges of the petals:

Reform into your little bud over lapping petals and hold for a little while to allow glue to dry:

Cut a piece of wire and "twirl" one end - this is what keeps the wire inside the bud:

Use a paper piercer to poke a hole into the "butt" of your bud (I can hear the butt bud jokes already):

Now you need to slip your wire into your bud - either through the top or at the butt where the 2 end petals meet - you'll need to judge what opening will work - AND - then slip the wire through the hole that you poked:

Add a small amount of glossy accent to the twirl at the end of the wire:

Now pull your wire through and add another dot of glue to the butt of the bud:

I then place the bud in my pin cushion to dry (this pin cushion is just a scrap of foam from a decorative brad container)

That, my arty friends, is how I make little flower buds!

Here is another picture of the one on the cover of the album- it's covered with Distress Crackle Paint:

I have a grunge paper one in the works to share with you in the next day or two. I'll also be sharing the inside pages of the album that uses the goodies from the ISC March Kit.

Happy Creating ( today I pick up my copy of New Moon - CUZ - I'm a Huge Twilight Fan)!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Friends Are Special, Sketch of Roses (leaves only) - All Innovative Stamp Creations
Ink - Pumice Stone Distress Ink, Jet Black Archival (Ranger)
Other - Pitch Black and Snow Cap Paint Dabbers (Ranger); Matte Multi Medium (Ranger); Distress Crackle Paint (Ranger); Rock Candy and Black Soot Distress Stickles (Ranger);
Paper - Theresa Collins (from March ISC Kit)

Queen Ann's Lace

2010-03-19T04:30:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful week we've had here in NE Ohio - Sunny and in the 60s and it's March - it's been so beautiful!

Friday is Just for Fun's Color Challenge day! This weeks color challenge is

I love black and cream - I think the colors are classic! Here is my sample:

The Queen Ann's Lace was stamped with Snow Cap Pigment ink and then colored in with Pearlescent chalks. What you can't see in the photo is all the glimmer. The chalk really pops the detail of the beautiful image. The butterfly panel was stamped twice to create the longer black piece (the butterfly stamp is square).

Give your fingers a little exercise and go take a look at what the other designers created....

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Heidi Blankenship
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Linda Duke
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Hoping that Spring is really here!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps: Queen Ann's Lace, Collection (Just For Fun)

Ink - Snow Cap Pigment, Jet Black Archival, Black Soot Distress (Ranger)

Other - Pearlescent Chalk (Pebbles)

Clearly Thanks

2010-03-17T10:36:00.005-04:00

I've been busy, busy, busy creating goodies for a new stamp release and wanted to share one of them with you today.

Clearly Thanks

The base of this card is a Theresa Collins Transparency and the stamps are from a new line of images from Innovative Stamp Creations that will launch later this week (Friends Are Special)! Don'tcha just love that dictionary background? The flower and butterfly are stamped on Grunge Paper - I even used petals from the flower to create the leaves.

Notice the new Distressed Ink Colors? Rusty Hinge, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss and Tumbled Glass - I'm in Distress Heaven here! Thanks to Simon Says Stamps for sending the Distress Goodness my way!

Here's a side view so that you can see of the magic of the Grunge Paper - Gotta love the dimension!

Okay one more thing - Hels shared her work space today - brave girl right? Take a visit to her blog - she creates wonderfully creative things and she is hilarious! So I took a few pics of my work area - relatively clean for me - notice the use of the floor!

Hope you are finding time to Be Creative today!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Friends Are Special (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink - Black Archival; Rusty Hinge, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Forest Moss Distressed Inks (Ranger)
Other - Grunge Paper, Game Spinner (idea-ology); Ribbon Tag Trio (Spellbinders); Transparency (Theresa Collins)

JFF Color Challenge

2010-03-12T04:30:00.000-05:00

What? It's Friday already - when did that happen? Guess you lose track of time when you have a beautiful, sunny week and the 3 feet of snow that was in your front year is now history!

But it is Friday and Friday's are Color Challenges over at Just For Fun. This week's color challenge is

Ahhhh - Green, Blue and Brown - Green and Brown are some of my favorite colors! Here's my sample - since it was 70 here yesterday:

The background on the main panel is wrinkle free distress and the palm tree was water colored. The small post card was cut out of the post card background.

Do a little blurfing and take a look at what the other designers created....

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Heidi Blankenship
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Linda Duke
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Have a Fabulous Friday!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - (all Just for Fun) Palm Tree, Post Card Background, Air Mail, Filler Stamp

Ink - Coffee Archival; Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain distressed Inks (Ranger)

Just For Fun

2010-03-05T10:16:00.004-05:00

Today I am "letting the cat out of the bag" so to speak - I am happy to announce that I am joining the design team for JustFor Fun® Stamps! I am excited to be working with a very talented design team with awesome stamps!

Today Just for Fun is also launching their new Just For Fun® Blog! You’ll be able to find albums for all the designers on the right hand side where you can view all their designs in one place. You’ll want to check out the new Designer page where you can read more about your favorite designers and get to know them better.

Saving the best for last . . . . we are announcing a new weekly color challenge . . . Just For Fun® Fridays. Each Friday there will be a new color challenge posted on the Just For Fun® Blog and samples will be posted on each Designer’s blog. We are inviting you to play along with us and show us your work! There will be a Mr. Linky at the end of each Friday’s post for you to
link your own card.

This week I was challenged to use Pink, Green and Brown. Here is my card:

Pink Ferns:

Side View:

What you can't see in the picture is that all the pink is glimmery - the pink was stamped with Coffee Archival ink and then misted with Tattered Angels Glimmer mist.

Go check out what the other designers created - you'll be impressed with their talent!

Just For Fun® Blog
Broni Holcombe
Heidi Blankenship
Kat Tucker ( you are here)
Linda Duke
Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson
Terre Fry

Make sure you visit the Just For Fun® Blog and leave us a link to your own project!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - Fern, Typewriter Type (all Just for Fun)

Ink - Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain Distress Inks (Ranger), Coffee Archival (Ranger)

Other - Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Flower Creations (Spellbinders)

Grungy Shimmery Christmas

2010-02-26T11:08:00.007-05:00

I needed to complete my February Christmas cards to keep on track with my Quest - Complete all 40 cards by end of October, 4 a month. This month they are based on a new technique that was inspired by Tim's Perfect Distress technique - here's a link to his video.

I call this technique Perfectly Distress Background. Here are the steps:

Start with a dark card stock, here I used chocolate chip:

Apply your Distress Inks direct to paper - starting with your lightest color first:

I used 3 inks (recipe to follow) - I did not want full coverage as you you see here:

Loosely apply your Perfect Pearls, don't blend them together and again you are not looking for full coverage:

Here's what it looks like with all the Perfect Pearls applied:

Next HEAVILY mist your carstock:

Now let the water and Distress Inks work their magic (you can see them running and blending together):

Dry with your heat gun:

Here is the background completed - see the shimmer:

The recipe for this background (DI - PP):

Scattered Straw - Heirloom Gold
Peeled Paint - Green Patina
Aged Mahogany - Rust

Now the Christmas card that I made with this background:

Another view to see the shimmer:

The second Christmas card:

Another view to see the shimmer:

Recipe for Snowflake card:

Weathered Wood - Blue Patina
Faded Jeans - Blue Smoke
Black Soot - Pewter

The snowflake background was stamped using Snow Cap pigment ink - dye based inks do not stamp well over this background.

Here is a butterfly that I made stamping on the background (this will find a home later):

I hope you will give this background a try - it is Grungy Shimmery in real life!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Santa (inkadinkado), Snowflake (Here Arts)
Inks - Coffee Archival (Ranger) - all Distressed Inks listed above, Snow Cap and Pitch Black Pigment (Ranger)
Other - Perfect Pearls (listed above - Ranger), Picket Fence, Tarnished Brass Distressed Stickles (Ranger), Gold Leafing Pen (Krylon), corners (idea-ology), Classic Frame (Spellbinders)

ISC Challenge

2010-02-25T10:56:00.004-05:00

Do you love layout and color challenges? Get out your Innovative Stamp Creations images and come and play along with the creative architects - you could win an ISC stamp sheet of your choice!

The Layout and Colors:

Be inspired by the above layout and colors and create a card using only ISC stamps and then head on over to the ISC blog and leave a comment to be entered for your chance to win. You have until March 7th to complete your design!

To help inspire you here is my sample Butterfly Because:

Side View:

The main panel is a reverse image stamp. I stamped the text first on vanilla card stock, inked the edges, then clear embossed the image. Then I blended with distress inks using my lightest colors first and did a final blend with my watercolor brush.

Thinking of spring - but we are expecting more snow today!

Happy Creating!

KAT

the Stuff:
Stamps - Nature Silhouette I, Assemblage, About Me, Thoughtfulness (all Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink - Coffee Archival; Old Paper, peeled paint, fired brick, aged mahogany distress inks (Ranger)
Other - Fleur De Lis (spellbinder)

Artful Flight

2010-02-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am so into Birds... I love either birds that are realistic or silhouettes. My Niece, Kristen, is also a bird girl. This is the Valentine box that I made for her:

Artful Flight:

Notice the ribbon on the side - the top of this actually opens like a card. The flower is made with 5 layers from my Spellbinder's Flower Creations Die, smooshed up and then misted with Tattered Angels Vintage Pink glimmer mist.

Here is a side view:

What the gift printouts look like inside:

See the post below for a link to the box tutorial!

Happy Creating!

KAT

Stuff:
Stamps - Artful Flight (Stampers Anonymous)
Paper - Hey Sugar (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink - Black Archival, Spun Sugar Distress (Ranger)
Other - ticket (Jenni Bowlin), Hitch Fastener, Ornate Plate (idea-ology)

Artful Box

2010-02-17T11:49:00.003-05:00

For Valentine's day I bought some of the special women in my life some Tim Holtz idea-ology products. Of course, they are not available yet (trying to wait patiently) so I wanted to have a fun way to present their gift:

Artful Artifacts:

Drawer:

Each drawer contained a print out of what was purchased - the hitch fastener opens the draw.

There are 4 Drawers:

Here is a close up:

I added some drunken scotch pieces (arrow, heart and keyhole).

I used the alphabet stamp and Snow Cap pigment ink to create the resist technique in the background.

Oh - most importantly before I sign off - I want to give credit for the fabulous box tutorial! The tutorial can be found on Kirsten's blog.

Tomorrow I'll have another box to share with a completely different look!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Artful Artifacts, Good Thoughts (Stampers Anonymous)
Ink - Snow Cap Pigment, Archival Black; Walnut Stain, Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks (Ranger)
Paper - Cosmo Cricket
Other - Cranberry, Ginger, Rust, Caramel, Butterscotch Alcohol Inks (Ranger), Scotch Scrapbookers Glue; Mini Grunge, Swivel Clasp, Hitch Fastener, Keys (idea-ology)

Butterflies in Spring

2010-02-14T13:55:00.003-05:00

I know I promised you Spring Butterflies yesterday but instead I had an early Valentine's date with my hubby. That's a BIG deal around here because he's more of a stay at home type. We went to see Avatar and had dinner. I thought Avatar was AMAZING... especially the colors in the night scenes - anyone who is involved in art an any capacity would love the vibrant colors!

So how about some vibrant Butterflies - Drunk Butterflies:

These are Alcohol Inks and silver Metallic mixatives smooshed on glossy cardstock and then the image is embossed in black. And, since the butterflies are "drunk", I sewed a stitch through the butterflies to add interest.

In Circles:

Close up of Butterfly:

Same butterfly as above stamped on Lilly Kate Basic Grey paper and pink stickles added to the detail lines.

I'm off to watch the snow fall and THINK of Spring!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Eclectic Butterfly, Nature Silhouettes, Dandelions (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Paper - Lilly Kate (Basic Grey)
Other - Steam, Wild Plum, Butterscotch, Silver Mixatives (Alcohol Inks - Ranger), Alcohol Blending Solution (Ranger)

Continuing the Spring Theme

2010-02-12T10:43:00.003-05:00

Today how about some new Dandelions from Innovative Stamp Creations?

Dandelions in Resist

I started with white cardstock, stamped the Dandelions in black and then with Versamark stamped the Netting background and embossed, blended with distressed inks. Try this technique with any of your open image background stamps.

Puffy Dandelion

These puffy type flowers are all the rage right now - so how about a puffy dandelion? The dandelion was stamped on homemade paper and then cut with a circle punch, layered and then "smooshed".

Still waiting for early signs of Spring - tomorrow how about some butterflies!

Happy Creating!

KAT

Stuff:
Stamps - Dandelions, Netting (Innovative Stamp Creations)

Daisy's Looking for Spring

2010-02-11T11:33:00.003-05:00

Are you ready for Spring? I know I am! We've had lots of snow but we have been luckier than some of the folks south of us. Odd thing to say since Cleveland Ohio was voted the place of the worse winters.

The February release of stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations will help to get you in the spring mood. Today how about some Daisey's?

Delicate Daisy:

The daisy paired with Lilly Kate paper just screams spring!

Daisies For You:

Both of these cards were made using the new stamp sheet Delicate Daisy. This daisy is perfect for watercolor, wrinkle free distress technique to stamping on pattern paper (that is what I did on both of these cards and then I added a little water coloring to make them pop).

Want to see some other samples from the February release? Visit the ISC blog to see what the Creative Architect created to put you in the Spring mood.

Now if the snow would just melt...

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamp - Delicate Daisy (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Paper - Lilly Kate (Basic Grey)
Ink - Black, Coffee Archival (Ranger), Spun Sugar, Brushed Corduroy Distressed Inks (Ranger)
Other - Cuttlebug embossing folder

Grunge Heart and Drunken Scotch

2010-02-10T11:51:00.004-05:00

Interesting title? Today is my first attempt at a mini tutorial and it's based on this Valentine for my husband:

Grunge Heart:

The heart is from idea-ology Element set and I based the patchwork off an inspirations piece from Tim Holtz. I flipped the heart over and actually drew lines with my ruler to determine where I would cut (I only had one large heart). And the MOST important hint I can give you if you try this is you need make a map and label the backs of your pieces so that you know where are they go to put your "heart back together" pun intended.

Here's my Map:

I painted the pieces with metallic Ranger paint dabbers (I used my map to write the paint colors on first so that I would not have pieces that were the same color or texture next to each other).

Painted Pieces:

I used the cuttlebug embossing folders to create the texture and lightly sanded each piece (in this photo only the gold ones are sanded).

Antiquing:

I then dabbed some of the black acrylic paint on my craft sheet and spritzed a puddle of water next to the paint and used my finger to antique the pieces with a mixture of the water and paint.

I then glued the heart onto heart shaped card stock, put stitching holes and wire stitched on the heart.

Drunken Scotch Tutorial

See the Rusty Key on the card? I call this technique Drunken Scotch. The steps are pretty easy...

Here are the supplies:
Cover the grunge with a generous amount of glue all over (I've only tried this clear glue):

Drop on your colors of Alcohol Inks - it will move across the glue:

Heat with your heat gun (it will bubble) and the results:

I like how this now looks like a rusted, textured key!

Here are a few other pieces:

This technique works on both grunge board and chip board.

Hope you like the technique - let me know what you think and if you give it a try!

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Inks - Tea Dye, Walnut Stain, Black Soot Distress Ink (Ranger)
Alcohol Inks - Rust, Ginger (Ranger)
Acrylic Paint Dabbers - Silver, Gold, Copper, Black (Ranger)
Other - Cuttlebug embossing folders, sanding block (idea-ology), Scotch Scrapbookers Glue
Elements Grungeboard (idea-ology), Tiny Attacher (idea-ology)

It's Face Art

2010-02-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to play with my new Wendy Vecchi stamp set and thought Wednesday's sketch challenge on SCS would be the perfect layout.

#5 - It's Face Art:

Here's a side view:

These are the punches that I used for the flowers:

This card was made with vanilla and black cardstock, one stamp set, inks and a couple of punches. Keeping to one stamps set was the challenge for me - I like to just grab stamps from whatever when I create but I loved the images in this set and forced myself to use almost all of them.

Happy Creating!

KAT

Stuff:
Stamps - It's Face Art (Wendy Vecchi - Stampers Anonymous)
Inks - Back Archival, Distressed Inks (Ranger)

What Can You do With a 2 x 4....

2010-02-02T12:28:00.004-05:00

I'm back from a successful arty weekend with my friends and I completed my projects. Today's is from this block of wood:

This idea came from posts on the Stampers Anonymous Yahoo group where they were talking about Chunky ATC's. I'd never heard of them so I did a google search. Thought, hmmm interesting, same size as an ATC on 1.5 inch piece of wood. Liked the idea but I don't like being confined to the small size of an ATC. So I measured some 2x4 stud walls that are in our storage room and what did I find.... You know a 2x4 is not actually 2 inches by 4 inches.... It's 1.5 inches thick and 3 and 3/8 inches wide... As soon as I seen the width I thought of the tags that we use with lot of Tim challenges - found my DH and presto... I have a block of wood the size of a shipping tag.

I am calling this a CHUNKY TAG:

The entire wood block is covered with old book pages using Claudine Hellmuth's Matte Multi-medium. Works kinda like modge podge BUT the adhesive is much thicker than MP and does not warp/bubble your paper. The blue background is the Wrinkle Free Distressed technique using Distressed Inks.

The rainman is stamped on grunge board, the flower on grunge paper (small Wendy Vecchi flower and I removed some of the petals to make the flower smaller). The tree trunk is a drawer pull.

The other side:

Here's the rainman again (love that image!), the butterflies (ISC) are stamped on pattern paper - some are adhered flat and others with wings bent. See Tim's idea-ology film strip at the bottom with more butterflies and hardware?

One Side (sorry this one's a little dark):

The sides are based from one of my favorite Tim Sentiment stamps "The Journey Awakens The Soul". You see parts of the stamp and metal, grungeboard and chipboard letters.

Second Side:

Top:

Another Drawer pull.

I am thrilled with how this turned out! Let me know what you think!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Mostly Tim Holtz's Stampers Anonymous, Butterflies (Innovative Stamp Creations), Flower (Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonymous)
Paper - old book pages, butterflies from scraps
Inks - All Ranger - Archival Black, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Broken China, Weathered Wood, Blue Jean
Other - Idea-ology - Grungeboard, grungepaper, film strip, washers, brads

Distressed Ink Blender Storage

2010-02-01T16:12:00.003-05:00

I have been participating in a discussion thread in the SCS forums about Distressed Inks. There was some interest in how I store my Distressed Ink blender pads so I thought I would share that here.

Case Closed:

This is a bead/craft storage case.

Case Open:

Each Distress ink name was printed using my Dymo printer. I store both the blender pads and sponges in the same "hole".

I like to keep each color to it's own pad so that my colors will be true and not get muddy.

Thanks for the visit!

KAT

PS - I had a very successful weekend and I will be sharing my COMPLETED projects with you this week!

Creative Weekend

2010-01-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am going to a Crop this weekend (or a Crap as my husband refers to it)...

Here's a teaser of what I'll be working on...
My plans for the weekend:

Get both projects finished
Have a great time
Spend time with friends
Be available for "arty" advice :0)
Watch some great chick flicks
Laugh too much (is that possible?)

If I am successful I'll share what I did with this "stuff" next week!

Have a great creative weekend!

KAT

Getaway...

2010-01-28T15:31:00.003-05:00

It look like a blizzard outside my window - so I thought I would share a warm weather card.

Getaway:

The boats are cut out of the image and popped up, I dry brushed some antique white paint on the boats to make them look weathered.

Wishing for warmer weather!

KAT

Stamps - One the Shore (Innovative Stamp Creations)
inks - Coffee, Black Archival (ranger), Tea Dye Distressed Ink (Ranger)

Blue Bird

2010-01-26T09:00:00.001-05:00

I made this card for the Technique Lovers Challenge over at SCS - make a Side Step Card - here is the link.

The hardest part of this card is choosing the images you want to use - after that a little cutting and scoring and you end up with:

#4 Blue Bird

All of these stamps are new - Thanks to all my crafty Santa's (you know who you are). The blues were water colored using Prismacolor pencils and Goo Gone.

Now I have a song stuck in my head - Some where over the rainbow Blue Birds fly...

Thanks for the visit!

KAT

Stuff:
Stamps - Inkadinkado, Memory Box
Inks - Broken China, Vintage Phota, Frayed Burlap Distress Inks (Ranger), Coffee Archival (Ranger)
Other - Classic Frames (Spellbinders)

Today is January 25th

2010-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

Do you know what that means? YES - only 11 months until Christmas! This is my first installment of my 2010 Christmas Cards (I made 2 of each design) :

Birdie Greetings:

That neat ribbon behind the bird is from May Arts and it was originally pink - I sprayed it with some Tattered Angels mist to make it match the card.

Very Merry Reindeer:

Love that little rusty snowflake! This Colorbox paper has been in my stash for a few years (actually since 2006) - I had to dust it off so that I could use it!

Here's a KAT Christmas fact for you - I love shopping for Christmas stuff after the holidays - getting decorations and crafty goodness for 50 to 75% off it's original price. I haven't paid full price for Christmas wrapping paper in 20 years. Today I was organizing my wrapping paper and I discovered that I have FORTY SEVEN, yes 47, rolls of Holiday paper - WHAT WAS I THINKING?

It's 11 months until Christmas have you started your holiday cards yet?

Thanks for the visit!

KAT

The Stuff-
Birdie:
Stamps - Inkadinkado, Stampers Anonymous
Paper - Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)
Reindeer:
Stamps - Reindeer Flight, Letter to Santa (Stampers Anonymous); Textured Backgrounds (ISC)
Paper - Colorbox Christmas 2006
Ink - Fired Brick, Shabby Shutters, Walnut Stain Distressed Ink (Ranger), Coffee Archival (Ranger)

On The Shore or "Cut It Out"

2010-01-21T17:02:00.003-05:00

This card was made for today's Ways to Use it Challenge on SCS - "Cut It Out" here's the link. The challenge was literally to cut something out. On this I cut the top off of the Boat image, the frame and that little itty bitty piece of paper in the silver frame.

On the Shore:

What you can't see real well in the picture is the Rock Candy Distressed Stickles and Crackle Paint. Here's a little better photo of the frame where you can see the crackle paint:

I love to cut stuff out stuff - I find it very relaxing -unlike a few of my friends - Hello Diana and RoRo.

Thanks for the visit!

KAT

Stamps - One the Shore, By the Bay, Fruitful (frame) - all from Innovative Stamp Creations
Other - Rock Candy - Ranger

Posy Thanks

2010-01-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

In my quest to do 96 challenges or new techniques in 2010 I would like to share with you...

#3 Posy Thanks or Cute, Easy Scrunchy Flower:

See the cool scrunch flower. It was sooo easy! Here are the steps:

1. Stamped the With All My Love stamp on scrap printer paper 6 times.
2. Punched them out with scalloped punch.
3. Blended with Antique Linen Distressed Ink.
4. Blended around the edges with Vintage Photo Distressed Ink.
5. Stack them all together and put a brad thru the center. (good way to use ugly brads)
6. Scrunch your paper till your little heart is content.
7. Added Button using pop dots.

Easy, fast and adds a big punch to your project!

Thanks for the visit today!

KAT

Stamps - I Heart For You, Batik Flower (background image) - All Innovative Stamp Creations

Picture Nature

2010-01-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

I was on a quest to find an image in my ISC stamps to pair with Tim Holtz's film strip ribbon...
I did not have to look very long!

Picture Nature:

This large "film square" is a perfect match to the ribbon. I added lots of background stamps, smaller images and used post-its to masks the different areas. There is even a small butterfly in the idea-ology charm.

Nature here in NE Ohio is kinda looking like a muddy mess - snow and melted snow with squishy mud showing through... Hmm maybe a sign of early Spring?

Happy Creating!

KAT

Stamps - All Innovative Stamp Creations- Photo Negatives, Nature Silhouettes II, ATC Artsy Backgrounds, ATC elements, Birch Tree Paintings, Collage of Leaves, Butterflies

Girlie Valentine

2010-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

As I promised yesterday here is a Girlie card!

You Make My Heart Soar:

The background on this card is a new technique that I found on Linda's Works of Heart Blog. It's Glimmer Mist and Tissue Paper - here is a link to Linda's Video. The technique creates a beautiful, soft glimmer background and you get a bonus piece of glimmered tissue paper.

With the tissue paper I created this 3x3 card.
Pink Love:

Girlie right?

KAT

Stamps - Innovative Stamp Creations - With All My Love, I Heart for You, Nature Silhouettes I
Other - Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist