Marbled Bookmarks

earlier this week I went to the thrift shop, and among my purchases was a children's paper marbling kit.  I have no idea what the original value of the kit was, or how old it might be, but I picked it up for only 99 cents.  Today I played with it, and I think I got 99 cents worth of fun out of it.

In the kit were 5 different colors of ink in dropper bottles.  The instructions directed me to make a salt water solution upon which to float drops of the ink.  The ink behaved strangely - I couldn't tell if that was part of the nature of this ink, or if it had become clumpy over time.  It did float, as  one might expect, but it didn't swirl like I thought it should.  The bold primary colors were not particularly appealing, either.

The kit also included the bases for some projects that the marbled papers could be used.  Among them were bookmark blanks.  Since the bookmarks were longer ( 8 x 2 inches) than the pieces of paper that I marbled, I decided to cut up the paper and piece it onto the bookmarks.

The ribbons came in the kit.  There were blanks for cards and gift tags, too.  I think I definitely got my money's worth here, even if it didn't feel like a true marbling experience.  I also have enough ink left over that I could make even more, if I wanted to.

Warhol Cupcakes

I needed to make a 4x4 with a cupcake theme for the altereddesigns group.  I have a  tiny cupcake punch, so I thought about what I could do with that, and ultimately came up with this:

This was so much harder than I thought it would be.  Trying to glue down 36 tiny bits of paper in some sort of organized fashion is no officially beyond my skill level.

Challenges:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - squares
• Ruby's Rainbow - food

Michael Strong mosaic frame ATCs

I think that I have mentioned before that the first Michael Strong stamp that ever said "buy me!" to me was the cloisonne mosaic frame, but I'm guilty of not using it as much as I should.  When Trix said to me that we should swap ATCs using Michael Strong stamps, the mosaic frame leapt into my hand - it is versatile for all sizes, being blocked into 1/2 inch increments.  Here are the ATCs I made:

The paper is some that I gelli-printed about a month ago.  I heat-embossed the stamp, then cut out the parts that I wanted.  On the green paper, I got a clean impression with the stamp.  On the dark blue, the stamp slid a little, but the distressed effect is pretty cool in its own way.  I couldn't resist cutting out the flowers in the design for the last one, and the gold circles in the middle of the flowers are actually jump rings from my jewelry findings.  I just realized I have the sea, the air, and the land depicted here!

Challenges:

• Artistic Inspirations - swirls
• Incy Wincy Designs - ATC
• TimbroScrapMania - underwater
• The House that Stamps Built - things with wings

Fun with paper tape

I don't really know the difference between washi tape and any other type of paper tape - since I see all kinds of tapes being referred to as washi tape, I will assume mine is, too.  Anyway, mine is really super colorful, and I have had a hard time mixing it with my stamping, but when I saw this card on Shelly's blog, I knew I had to give this design a try.

I have 9 rolls of this particular tape, and I used a little of every one of them.  Once you lay all that tape down, the card doesn't need much more.  The stamps and dies are all from amuse studio.

Challenges:

• Less is More - washi tape
• Card Crafter's Circle - bright colors
• Papertake Weekly - flower power

Art Sugar Gift Tags

If you are familiar to swapping, you may notice that often, in addition to the expected swap item, your swap partner will toss a little extra something into the envelope.  Papers, fibers, all kinds of ephemera - my name for this stuff is art sugar.  I have accumulated quite a collection of art sugar - it's usually stuff that I would never think to acquire for myself.  The lottery theme this month on the altereddesigns group is to make gift tags using art sugar.  Gift tags are different from regular tags in that the expectation is that you will actually use them on a gift, rather than hoard them.  They also need a space to put a name or message.

The base of the tags is some gelli printed paper I made a couple of weeks ago, but nearly everything else is from my art sugar stash.  Even the fancy punched hole at the top is from a  punch that a friend I made through online swapping sent to me.  You can add a name in the oval, and the backs are white, for more words, if you want.

Some of this art sugar is years old - it is good to see it get used!

Challenges:

• Crafty Ribbons - anything with ribbon  
• Sarah Hurley - texture and dimension
• Shelly's Images - scraps
• Crafting by Designs - mixed media
• Crafting for all Seasons - tag

Lacing card

Do you remember lacing cards?  when I was a little girl, all the little girls had them - lacing was a precursor to sewing, and all girls had to learn to sew.  Then someone decided that the laces were a health hazard - really, anything can kill a preschooler if you leave them unattended. Since that seems to be the default for safety regulations, I can understand why lacing cards are no longer sold, but if you are a grandma who actually watches the children when you watch them, how fun would it be to show them a toy you played with when you were little?

But, I digress.  My children have certain expectations of me when it comes to cards.  My daughter expects to get a card that is personal, not one out of the large stack of generic birthday cards that I have on hand.  She also expects a little more in the way of technique than gluing layers together.  This card fulfills both those requirements.

  I love the bicycle silhouettes in the enjoy the ride stamp set from amuse studio, but Sophie has a custom-built bike that has a turquoise frame and a pink chain; Souffle pens were perfect for changing the color, and I used a black Glaze Gelly pen for the tires and other details.  I punched to holes freehand with a 1/4 inch punch and had fun lacing the ribbon through the holes.  The overall effect is homey, but she will know it is a card made just for her.

Challenges:

• A Gem of a Challenge - punch
• Hiding in my Craft Room - stitching
• Pumpkin Spice - coloring
• The Paper Shelter - ribbon

 

Mermaid ATC

The Friday challenge this week at the altereddesigns yahoogroup is for a mermaid ATC.  This is a very technique-heavy card for having such a clean look.

The mermaid image is a packing tape transfer.  The waves started as a scrap of gelli printed paper, which I then diecut into strips with a scallop edge die (from amuse studio), and glued back together in a different order.

Challenges:

• Creative Moments - the sea
• The House that Stamps Built - water element
• The Paper Shelter - dies
• ABC challenges - monochromatic
• Kaboodle Doodles - scallops

Santa's Flight Silhouette

The stamp is santa's flight from a•muse studio, and the technique is Scene Silhouette from the Technique Junkies newsletter.  It is easy to turn any stamp into a silhouette,  and with such a dark background (in spots, I was going for an ombre effect), it helps the image stand out.

I created the background by starting with a very pale blue paper, and coloring bands with my water-soluble pastels.  A little swirling with a water brush melted and blended the colors.  the punched edge is a nice contrast.  I added assorted bling to the stars to give them some texture.

Challenges:

• Jellypark - Christmas
• 4 Crafty Chicks - bling
• ABC Christmas challenge - Christmas trees
• Stamp n Doodle - Christmas
• Cuttin' and Stampin' - clean and simple
• Lady Anne's Challenges - monochrome