Shimmery Butterfly Garden Card

 

Hello friends and visitors! It's been too long since I've had time to make something, but I had a little free time recently to start a card for the last challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog. Sadly, I didn't have the ability to get the card over the finish line until this week. So you'll see that shimmer, shine, and sparkle Janna was looking for in her challenge last week. In the spirit of Suzz's current challenge - 'Triple the Heat', I kept to my original layout, but I sifted through my box of butterflies to find two additional bugs to add to my vellum Specimen butterfly, played with the color a bit (to be sure there are just three colors at play), and added 3 green gemstones. Oh, and I specially chose a three word sentiment.

Here are a few closeup shots to show off that shimmery background (better late than never, Janna!).

When you're going through your craft supplies in an effort to downsize and pack them all up, you find things you forgot you had! Like this embossed black panel and an old jar of interference green pearlized powder (which if you hold to the light a certain way looks blue, so I apologize for the 4th color).

Check out the butterfly's bright green antennae! I also found a variety of Twinkling H2O's, and I chose a lime green to match the two little already colored and stamped butterflies from my stash. I also used the H2O's to splatter to my finished card, wiping any splatters from my focal butterfly.

I cut two each of the Flower Field die cuts from white and black card and cut them to stretch out the scene. I colored the white ones loosely with Distress crayons: Mustard Seed and Twisted Citron and layered them with the black ones adhering with collage medium. 

I stamped and heat embossed the Tim Holtz Specimen butterfly on vellum and colored him on the reverse side with the same crayons. You can see I glued him at his body and then each of his wing tips to create dimension. The encouraging three words come from Tim's Metallic Quotations stickers.

I'll be leaving this card with my daughter (so no need to worry about crushed wings!) when we drop her off, once again, next week in the big city of Charlotte as she starts her new life in her new apartment and finishes her final semesters in grad school in person! Thanks for dropping by! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge Shares:

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog Triple the Heat

Simon Says Stamp Monday Heat Embossing Challenge

Christmas in July--A Mixed Media Hoop

 

Hello! It's been quite some time since my last post, and honestly since the last time I got into the Closet to make something. I almost forgot how to do it! Having been a DT member for Frilly and Funkie, I couldn't pass up the Funkie and Frilly challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog. I took some time to make a Christmas ornament, inspired by Jenny's beautiful crackled ornament trio and finding my vintage stand up Santa on a top shelf in sarascloset. I'm in the process of trying to reduce my craft supplies by 50% and most everything in my Closet has been pulled out and either packed away, moved from it's original storage area so I can't readily find it (can you say crafty chaos three times fast?!) or gone to a needy home. So I was limited to my available stash I could actually get my hands on. Always a great way to get the creative juices flowing!

Let's take a closer look while I try to describe my steps I took in making it. A product list will be provided below this post, and most items can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I started with an embroidery hoop that was close at hand, having just purged my sewing things. I gave it  a coat of white gesso, and then smeared on some hardening Crackle paste I had just tossed in the trash. Since that didn't crackle too well, I had to dig in one of my moving boxes to find another jar. The first one I came to happened to be gold. It also didn't crackle well, so I torched it with my heat tool, which helped. I sprayed the hoop with Bundled Sage Oxide spray and dried, then rubbed with Ground Expresso crayon and Walnut Stain paint to get the most out of the crackling. I glued trim from my stash around the back edge of the hoop and set it aside while I worked on the background and embellishments.

I chose a Christmasy background ready made from my stash. This is a stencil-clean-off panel, and later a craft-mat-clean-up of those tiny drops of I chose a Christmas background ready made from my stash. This is a stencil clean off panel, and later a craft mat clean up of those tiny drops of ink left over ink . It was so pretty, I had to keep it. All I had to do was cut a circle to fit the back of the hoop. I decided to add a coat of Crazing, wanting to tone it down with Distress crayon. 

When it dried, I added background stamping and a festive sentiment using Tim Holtz sets, Winter  Watercolor and The Poinsettia along with Distress Archival inks. I was surprised that the archival ink bled into lines left by the crazing. After that first stroke of the brush, I knew I should have inked first, but I was already committed. Lastly, I smeared with Ground Espresso crayon. 

I backed the completed circle with a chipboard circle from my stash (delightfully the perfect size!) the sides/edges painted with Festive Berries paint, then red cardstock and and finally a green doily cut to size.

I had just gone through my doily and button stash and reserved these buttons and a stained crocheted doily, knowing I would get to the project soon. I cut off a piece of the doily and aged it a bit more with Antique Linen spray stain and threaded the buttons with some gold thread. I found a couple of fabric and gauzy poinsettias in my stash and adhered microbeads to the centers. There was a lone length of tinsel thread tangled with the red trim, so I added that to the arrangement for some extra frill.

I sprayed watercolor paper with Bundled Sage Oxide, dried, then dipped it into watery Mowed Lawn ink on my craft mat. After drying that, I gave it another spritz, this time with Rustic Wilderness spray stain. I sprayed with water to blend the color and dried a final time. Using Funky Festive Thinlits dies and the inky green panel, I cut some holly leaves and another winter sprig to add to the arrangement. I always dip the backs of my die cuts into a watery puddle of corresponding ink, so I don't have white edges. While they are still damp, I shape them and set them aside to dry.

 Everything was assembled and adhered. I added another button and some ribbon to the top to finish it off. I'm tickled pink to have had the time to craft again and especially to join in with the challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog. I hope you are finding time to make something, too! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge shares: The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog Funkie and Frilly Challenge

                              Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Out With The Old and In With The New Everything is old except The Poinsettia stamp set. It's not a new release, but I've had it in my stash and have not used it yet.

Products used:

Distress Paint - Walnut Stain, Festive Berries

Distress Spray Stain - Antique Linen, Rustic Wilderness

Distress Oxide Spray - Bundled Sage

Distress ink - Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness; Archival - Black Soot, Peeled Paint

Distress Crayon - Ground Espresso

Distress Mediums - Crackle paste, Crazing, Matte Collage Medium

Prima Gold Crackle Texture Paste

Tim Holtz Stamps - Winter Watercolor, The Poinsettia

Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Funky Festive

Two Patriotic Tags

 

Happy 4th of July to all those that celebrate it! I was playing yesterday and made a couple of background tags. I got up early this morning to see if I could make something out of them. Here's a brief description of what I did to create the background followed by some close up photos.

I started by making the tag on the right. I smooshed Chipped Sapphire ink on the reverse side of the rays stencil and sprayed with water. I laid a tag over it to transfer the ink, let it migrate a moment before drying. . After cleaning the stencil, I flipped it and applied multi medium in matte (discontinued) through the stencil. Taking a second clean tag, I flipped the stencil onto it, transferring what was left of the medium.  I removed the stencil and put it in water to soak. Working quickly, I applied Fired Brick Embossing Glaze over the wet medium on both tags, and set them aside to dry completely. When dry, I heated the glazing powder to melt. 

I was happy with the one on the right, but the one on the left look liked it was headed for the trash. I decided to give it a coat of Picket Fence paint. I wiped the paint from the embossed rays, and when it was just about dry, blended it with Chipped Sapphire ink using outward strokes in the direction of the rays from the right to the left side of the tag. I was tickled pink how this turned out, but it needed some fireworks. I used a floppy paintbrush to splatter some white paint, and while it was good and wet, applied Distress Glitter Dust. While the paint was out, I splattered some onto the tag on the right.

I decided this morning to add some stamping using the  Tim Holtz Glitch 1 and Faded Type sets and Faded Jeans Archival ink. What a save!

The quotes are from Small Talk Occasions -- I just dipped the white one here in Antique Linen ink and edged with Chipped Sapphire crayon.

While I chose the same patriotic girl from my huge Paper Dolls stash, they differ slightly in the way they are cut. Both were colored with Distress crayons--Chipped Sapphire and Fired Brick.

A couple of 3D Impresslits add some detail. I used a scrap of fabric along with some old Tim Holtz Ideaology Twine to finish the top.

Another 3D Impresslit cut from Metallic Kraft Stock and toned down with Prima Old White wax.

I topped this one with a strip of denim, grunged up with a brown crayon and used one of those stars with the prongs on the back from the 80's, I'm guessing. You know the ones everyone was decorating their denim jackets with. LOL! I just love it when I can find the perfect thing in my stash to add detail.

Hope you're flyin' 'em proud today! Off to make some hamburgers and potato salad! See you in a couple weeks! Sara Emily

Sharing:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Red White and/or Blue

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes

Celebrate Freedom

 

Welcome friends! Well, I haven't quite got it going on in the making department yet, but I couldn't let 4th of July pass without at least one crafty make. I made this just for me, because I thought these boys might be sitting watching fireworks and celebrating their freedom. Hopefully, we'll be sitting in our usual spot tomorrow night watching the fireworks. I really missed them last year. How will you be celebrating 4th of July?

I started with a failed background I had in my stash. I think I was attempting a monoprint with paint using the stars stencil. Who knows? This only had blues on it, but I added some Fired Brick. I had one silver metallic kraft stock 3D embossed Starburst in my stash, so I thought it would be fun to pull in some red and blue, too. Each one was smudged with Prima Old White wax. That is God's gift to crafting in my humble opinion. Leaves a sparkle on the starbursts without all the glare.

Aren't those boys adorable? I gave the boy in the middle some red converse sneakers with the help of Fired Brick Embossing Glaze and a blue tee shirt with Speckled Egg. Just a little pass with steel wool takes off the nasty shine. All the boy's blue jeans were colored with Chipped Sapphire Crayon.

I had a silver kraft stock stars Impresslit laying around, and I patted the stars with Picket Fence paint. When dry, I smudged the whole thing with Fired Brick Crayon. A couple strips of some old Design Tape and a pair of Small Talk stickers finish it off. There was a little stamping on the background where I apparently cleaned off a stamp, so I added a little bit more of a shadow with Walnut Stain Crayon.

I had a strip of foam core out on the desk which was just perfect to pop this group up a little bit.

Happy 4th of July! I may be back tomorrow with a few tags I was playing with, if I can figure out what to do with them.

Sharing:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Red White and/or Blue

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes

Somewhat Snarky

 

Hello friends! This mixed media card pretty much sums up my creative process in how it came together and quite frankly just how life in general is right now. I was having a play with new to me Folk Flowers Thinlits die and created a panel by using just the inserts (waste) on a piece of medium weight card stock. This was just an experiment, and I didn't use my 'good' cardstock, but I had so much time invested in gluing all those little bits, I felt I needed to use it. Everything else on the card are literally leftovers I had sitting on my worktop except for the Transparent Wings. It can be so much fun to create with just what you have in front of you. You can see another card I made with this die, and some of the bits used here were left over from that play.

This really wasn't as difficult as you might think, although it was time consuming. For the most part, the little pieces stayed in the card. I just used a toothpick to apply collage medium to the bits a little at a time, flipped the die cut over on the plain card and poked them out onto the card with the toothpick and with my pokey tool for the really tiny pieces. I repeated this until I had the entire die cut done.

I really love how the background turned out. After adhering all those little waste bits from the die cut, I gave it a coat of Distress Collage Medium Matte and allowed it to harden a few minutes. Then I gave it a few sprays with Gathered Twigs Oxide spray and wiped with a clean cloth leaving behind just enough color. I blended Walnut Stain Crayon around the edges, adhered to bright yellow card and did some really bad wonky stitching.  

I had the little stars cut from a play with the Funkie Cactus die set that Linda was so generous to give me from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. It's a great die set and still in stock in her shop. The Prima Design Tape butterflies and pieces of Collage Wrap were an afterthought--it just needed something. Now that is really winging it!

My lady was fussy cut from one of the Group Paper Dolls; her 'better half' was used on this tag. I colored her shoes with Crackling Campfire Embossing Glaze and an Embossing Pen. Love those red shoes. Here's a bit of red shoe trivia--our southern town has old local ordinance which states it is unlawful to walk down a certain street in red shoes!

That's it for me today! I see we have a hurricane warning (joy, joy!), so I better get this posted before the inevitable loss of power. 

I would like to share this in the  Snarky, Sassy, and Silly Summer Fun challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday We Can See Clearly. Thanks for stopping by! Hugs! Sara Emily

Thankful With Folk Flowers

Hello again, friends! I know it's crazy that I should have two posts in a week after such a long absence. After loosening up my creative muscles a bit with my last card making session (thanks to Autumn's inspiration), I couldn't help but use one of my more recent purchases from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Inspired by Anita Houston's shaker card, I had to add Tim Holtz Folk Flowers die to my crafty stash, and this is it's first time out. I'm working on another that I started using this same die in a completely different way, so stay tuned.

Contrasting with my simple cards in my last post, this one was a bit more time consuming with all the little bits. To make it easier, I started with a background from my stash. To see how I made the Faux metallic background for the die cut, please visit The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog's  Saturday Showcase for a tutorial. This was a fun technique I discovered when I felt more inspired to play. The technique is improved with the die cutting, in my opinion.

I die cut a couple more Folk Flowers from white and silver Metallic Kraft and used some of the bits to fill in random flowers and some of the flower center dots to add even more movement to the background. This is such a happy die cut! I fussy cut a few of the flowers from the die cut to tuck in here and there.

I cut some more flowers and foliage from two older Tim Holtz sets--Funky Foliage and and Large Funky Floral for the arrangement, popped a few of the leaves up with foam dots and tucked in some old black mesh for contrast.

The panel is layered over bright yellow card and matted on black card and a textured metallic panel. A Big Chat sticker is edged in Mustard Seed ink for a simple sentiment on this busy card. I'm so thankful you popped in for a look! Happy crafting to you! Sara Emily

Inspired By...

Hello friends! It's good to be back in the Closet again after a short break. I found myself in need of some quick Thank you cards and without any mojo at all. So I pretty much copied this brilliant set of cards from Autumn--you can see her lovely original cards at her blog-Sew Paper Paint. Thanks so much for your great design and inspiration, Autumn! I even dipped into my old Stampin' Up stamps for the background and sentiment, inspired by Autumn's use of her friend's Stampin' Up set and borrowed her color scheme, too. I did change the focal florals, though, choosing one my favorite Tim Holtz set, Illustrated Garden. I didn't stamp the background images too well, I'm  afraid. These are old rubber on wooden blocks and can't be used in my stamping platform. The images you get with the platform can't be beat.

To give importance to the sentiments, I heat embossed them on old Tim Holtz Thinlits--Stacked Labels and Stitched Rectangles. I'm afraid I didn't do the best job, but I needed to get these in the mail quickly.

It's so fun to fussy cut the flowers to make them unique for each card. The Distress ink colors I used are Mowed Lawn and Mustard Seed. I squeezed a little Liquid Pearls for the centers. That's it for me today! I hope to be getting back into the Closet with a little more regularity soon and to visit the wonderful friends who have left sweet comments recently. Big hugs! Sara Emily

I would like to share this with  the Simon Says Stamp Monday Beautiful Blooms challenge.