Shadow bucking horse & real live sleeping horses!

I seem to have gone retro this past weekend.  I saw a card on SCS using shadow stamps and decided to dig mine out.  I wonder what caused these to 'go out of style' so to speak?  The first one I did I thought I could just eyeball..boy was I wrong!  I had to mark the center of each side and pull out the stamp positioner to get things lined up.  The shadow stamps are from Dream Impressions and I stamped in SU saffron, Dusty Durango, Tangerine and Ranger Distress new Sage.  Next I stamped the bucking horse (SU) in black and edged the card using my score pal. I wanted to try to give it a little depth so took a C01 Copic marker and edged it on one side and the bottom.   Very clean and simple and just one layer.  Gotta love that right!

Now here is something you don't see very often.  All 4 of my horses were sleeping flat out.  Since horses are prey animals (food for predators) usually one will stay up and guard.  They must either have been really tired or felt safe.  I know you can really only see 2 or 3 if you look but all 4 were down.  Now I know you must be thinking but horses can sleep standing up right?  Well yes they can lock their knees and doze up but they need REM sleep just like us and the only way to do that was to lay down.  This was taken Saturday, cold, windy and just plain yukky.  Now Sunday was beautiful, as is the rest of the week so far. 

You Make Life Bearable...and a small tutorial

Back to retro so to speak.  I used a couple old techniques that I forgot about, Shrink plastic and embossing on brads to change colors.  I used a Technique Junkie new Technique called masked Spellbinders for the image area.  Oh and the bear image and saying are from an old Dream Impression set call You Make Life Bearable.  I colored it with Prisma pencils but didn't like it so I went over it with Copics.  Still not the happiest but it is better.  Under the bear is a Spellbinder Pendant sponged with brown ink and I stuck a few Martha punches in around it all layered on top of a piece of brown ran through Cuttlebug folder and rubbed a brown pad over it. Now the greeting was HUGE, I think planned for the inside but I wanted it on the outside and a lightbulb went off, SHRINK PLASTIC!  It's been a long time since I used that.  I stamped it in Brown Stazon  and did the foot prints on top after I off stamped the first impression on scrap paper so it wouldn't overpower the greeting.  Next it was cut out with the same Spellbinder die I did for the image, one of the new Labels. (sorry, don't remember what number) and sponged that edge too.  Next punched a hole; always remember to do that before you shrink it and heat it and you can use a big hole punch since it shrinks a lot.  When it was cool I tied it to the image with some twine. 
Now for the brads...I can't believe I keep forgetting this technique!  It's really easy and if you don't have the right color brad, you can color one.  This card I used some brown distress embossing powder and it gave a neat look. 
TIP: use a wire snips or similar tool to cut the ends off of a brad that too long.  The ones I used on this card and tutorial are a box I got at an office supply store for CHEAP!  But the ends are to long for the edges of cards so they need trimming.

What you need are something to hold it (I used a hemostat, you could use a pliers or needlenose), embossing pad, piece of styrofoam, brad you want to change color of and some embossing powder the color you want (or use pigment ink the color you want and clear embossing pad, the color won't be quite an intense though) and a heat gun.  I don't know about you but I have tons of colored EP and never use it like I should. 

I dipped it on a Versamark pad and then right into the embossing powder (I used weathered wood for this series). Then I heated it.  I repeated this 2 times.

I use an old piece of styrofoam to hold it until it cools since if you set it on it's edge, it will mess up the edges. 

Here is a close up of what it looks like, it's got a dimple distressed look I just love!  If you want, you can repeat the dipping process another time.  So just buy silver or gold brads and make the color you want!

OCC Sketch challenge

This is from a sketch from OCC Thursday sketch challenge this week HERE.

The Stamp is by Whiff of Joy, I used the large cuttlebug embossing folder from the Asian collection and put some sticky gems in the circles.  I colored Charlotte with Copics.  It really needs something else but what I don't know so I finally gave up....sometimes you just have to walk away and give up!  I can tell I really need to invest in the copic air brush system since I really don't like the look of sponging anymore.  I normally wouldn't post this since I don't consider this my best work but I really put a lot of time into (hard to believe) so I figured what the heck!  I do like clean and simple but this is just not right...I might be playing with it to add some flowers or something...yeah that might be it!

OCC and Create 4 Fun challenge

Since Saturday was such a cold windy day, I was able to play a little in my stamp room and it's been a long time!  I decided to try a few challenges and was able to combine a couple  in this card (which is destined for my niece since she just got engaged.
This uses the Sketch from OCC here and the pink, cream and brown challenge on Create 4 Fun here.
I used a Clear Dollar Stamp Charlie horse stamp and Gina K Saying. and DP from a Hobby Lobby pack,   Martha Stewart made the punch, it's a good thing.   :)

Rooster

Nothing special, just a quick post of a card I made a while ago.
 Rooster by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Pressed flowers Herringbone

Here is a TJ technique using strips of paper to make the background.  I also did another TJ technique, out of the box on the focal image with is off the Pressed Flowers Gina K new release set.  To do the flower, I inked it up with a pink then took the edge of Red Riding hood pad on the edge of the stamp.  To get the center yellow, I used my finger to rub off the ink and then used a marker to color it.  I made a mask of the flower then stamped the leaves in Moss ink.  After I cut it out, I left the Spellbinder die on and sponged yellow ink around it. 

The corners were punched and then to get the look of stitching I used a push pin and some mesh used for some sort of needle craft I don't do!  I keep a piece of some foam type stuff with the pin so I can easily do this.  After I had them punched I took a red gel pen to connect the holes so it looks like stitching.  EASY!

Koala Bear - Gina K

Here's another card I made with Gina K's new Hang In There release.  I thought these would be good cards to send my kids when they are down on themselves and need a little encouragement. 
I ran Craft cardstock base card through the branch Cuttlebug folder and highlighted it with green ink, just straight from the pad.  Then I sponged the edges of the base with the same green and used my Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper to round all the corners.   I do love that little thing.  I was thinking after I bought it maybe I shouldn't have but it does a great job and punches through the 2 layers of a base like butter. 
I stamped the Koala bear in black Distress ink on another piece of Craft CS.  It stays wet long enough to emboss.  Sprinkled with fine black embossing powder.  Then I got a little cup with some fresh bleach in and painted the bleach on the image to bleach the area so I could color it in.  I used my Prisma Color pencils and blended with Gamsol.   I cut a mask and stamped the leaves over the image that I cut out with a nestie and distressed the edges with my distress tool...aka thread cutter and embossed the greeting in black too.   Then just layered on black and a nice brown and added buttons.