Birthday Gal card

I made a couple cards for some friends birthdays and this was my creation. The oval is cut with Nestabilites circle...hint (note to self) make sure you put the CUT side up on the Wizard spacer plate....double check! Don't ask...it happens. The image is from I Brake for Stamps and I colored it with a blender pen and chalks. I used diamond glaze on the balloons and set it aside to dry while I worked on the rest. All paper is SU, I used barely banana for the card base and the layer under the white image. I used perfect plum and my circle nestie for the bottom layer and the old olive emblishments were cut with a Wizard die too. The tag is from a punch and the flowers are from a bunch that I picked up at Hobby Lobby and tore apart. I mounted them with eyelets. The ribbon is from Dollar Tree. It's amazing the things you can find there. Oh, and the greeting inside reads: "We're not old, we're recycled teenagers." I love that! The picture doesn't really do it justice but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Plans for credenza

Since I can't seem to get ambition to make plans good enough to even think of asking money for, I'll try to explain what we did.

First figure out your size. I wanted 2 foot deep X 4 foot long....that makes 2X2 slides. DSIL bought some of the lumber but didn't think that when he purchased 1X12 lumber, it's milled down. He cut and glued the pieces using large clamps. My side pieces are 22 3/4 inches. Which is fine BUT it makes more work cutting the shelves. You can make it a single tall unit also. After I was done and worried it might not fit, I was wishing I would have done that but now I'm glad I didn't, I have work space for my wizard!!

The shelves were the hardest thing to figure out how to actually them in. I had first thought of saw blade grooves but the logistics of getting them even and lining up was mind boggling. DH came up with using corner molding.

Now, it's not a cheap thing to build. I so wanted acrylic shelves until I priced them. I think it would have been over $10/shelf, maybe more. I just remember that wasn't an option. It was going to be hard to get the right size and cutting the 3/8" pieces I was told was very hard to do without cracking....just what I need a piece ruined. I was lucky to get things on sale but I think it still was over $225.

Here's a picture of building.

Each piece of corner molding (L shaped) was glued and stapled down. (I held, wiped the excess liquid nail and pounded the staples that didn't go in all the way....then threw the ball for our border collie....hold, wipe, pound, throw, repeat.....102 times) We marked 1 inch apart and drew lines. This left a little over 3/8 inch between each piece. Do some math, your pieces might not be the same size. The shelves rest on the top, they don't on an edge. We started down 2 inches. If I could do it over, we would have gone down a little more so we could have put the L brackets on the inside instead of back. My unit has 102 of these molding pieces glued on, each end piece and the middle piece had them on 2 sides. Each was cut the length of the board. I was lucky to get the molding 1/2 off when our Home depot closed. I also bought a 1 piece sheet of wood for the top of the credenza that was 2 X 6 foot. I didn't have room for the full 6 feet so cut off 6 inches so I could have a little over hang in the back and sides. You can't have it on the front or it will get in the way of your shelves and labels. .

Here is the unit upside down as we were putting the bottom. We glued and screwed everything together. I used 1 inch pine for everything but the back and shelves. Since mine wasn't going to be against a wall, I wanted something nice on the back so bought a 3/8 inch piece of nice plywood even though I had the lumber for the back, DH thought it would make it too heavy.

The shelving is made out of a material generally used for backing of furniture bought in 4 X 8 " sheets. It has a finish on one side. Since my sides weren't 2 feet, it took a lot more cutting to make the shelves fit and since we aren't cabinet makers, some fit in spots others wouldn't. But they all slide well and I love it.

Next it was time to finish it. Since the shelves had a finish, I didn't need to do those also. But I did have to use a left over piece of the back for 4 of them (chose to to the bottom 2 that are farther apart) so those 2 needed finishing. I can't imagine how much work it would have been to stain and varnish 52 of them!! After the 3rd coat of varnish, DH put on the 6 casters and it went in my room to be loaded.

That was work! Unloading the binders (which I couldn't wait to do) and figuring out the categories...see the mess? It's much better now, trust me!

There, that's it. if you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Stamp Storage Questions answered

Thank you everyone for your kinds comments. Since I posted, I have had a few chances to use my 'unit' and it's fabulous! Just by pulling out the shelf, I can see every stamp in each category. No clutter on my work space either!
The shelves are made out of a press board that is finished on one side. I had originally wanted to use acrylic sheets but they were very cost prohibitive, I don't remember exactly how much but want to say about $8 for each shelf, take that times 52.... $416 just for the shelves. Plus I was told it was very hard to cut without cracking when it was that thin. As it was, I think it was close to $200 in materials but I was lucky to get things on sale since our Home Depot was closing.
My stamps with the tack-it-over glue on stick but peel off nicely. My other stamps sit on there easily without any slipping, even when the shelves are all the way out and at a slight angle. I counted a few shelves to see how many stamps, the ones that had the most stamps on had over 60 with lots of room to spare.

With my new workspace on top I'm able to keep my Wizard out so I might actually use it more.

I am thinking of drawing up actual plans and maybe selling them for $10. It wasn't too hard to make and anyone that can saw a straight line with a circular saw and use an electric drill to set screws should be able to make one or take it to a relative, friend or woodworker. It would make a perfect BD or Christmas present for any stamper!

It's FINALLY FINISHED!! Rubber stamp storage

After a year of planning and trying to convince my dear hubby that it would work, I have my Rubber Stamp Credenza!

I've been through it all, storing my unmounted stamps in CD cases, binders, EZ mount folders and anything anyone else has said works for them, I came up with this. Sure, it's not for everyone but boy is it slick for me and I'm sure there will be other people who will think the same.

My unmounted stamps were falling out of binders, getting lost, forgetting about them....(the list goes on). I knew there had to be a better way. I always had binders open and out and they took up so much valuable work space. CD's just didn't hold enough and the cost to buy those and find what was in them, to me, seemed like a waste of money, let along try to find the CD cases.

So, here it is, my self designed stamp credenza with 52, 2X2 foot square shelves for my stamps.
Basically it looks like a paper storage unit but the difference is the shelves are 1 inch apart and slide out. The bottom 4 shelves are 2 inches apart so I can put some mounted stamps on them.
I have a new 2 X 4.5 foot workspace on top and best of all, my stamps are organized and I can easily find each category put them back. Here are a couple shelves pulled out. They stay up when they are out, will pull completely out if needed and I can put sheets of images on them if I want. If you wanted you could make a 1/2 size one or taller one to work for you or smaller shelves. It has turned into a wonderful idea...and thanks to my hubby for all his help! I was teasing him while we were working on it that I had 3 people who wanted us to make one for them. He gives me this dirty look and says this is it. Then when we were about done he says, "I suppose our daughter will want one too." I said I didn't think he would make another one. He said for her, yes. LOL

Now that everything is organized, I can maybe find time to stamp!!

Tell me what you think.......

Encaustic Wax Horses

Spend a little time looking at the websites with Encaustic Wax art and you'll want to explore it yourself.
I was completely enthralled with the look and of course had to buy the wax and the iron. (No, crayons aren't the same type of wax, it doesn't move like the real stuff) I probably didn't need their craft iron but the price wasn't out of line and I leave it out to use for my other card making needs.
It takes a lot of playing to get it to look right, trust me, I wasted and used up a lot of glossy cardstock on things that didn't look good.
On this card, I stamped the horses first on the glossy cardstock with black archival ink. The stamps are from Sutter Stamps: http://store.sutterstamps.com/ They have awesome animal (especially horses) and scenic stamps for great prices.
Next I started moving the blue aroundthe sky to look like thunderstorms. I used the tip of the iron to color the horses and then with the green on the iron, I placed it on the bottom and then with the iron flat on the paper, just pulled up to make the grass look like grass. It's hard to explain but once you play, you know. Here is the site I got my stuff from and they have some awesome tutorials. http://www.encaustic.com/
Here are the tutorials, since they're a little hard to find: http://www.encaustic.com/techniq/LTStechniq_index.html
Like I said, it's fun to play with and if you never do a landscape, the wax makes great backgrounds too.

Cork Moose

Well, it's not really cork but cork paper I got from Evo, Evolving Images. It looks like cork but is paper!! I really like this as it doesn't add alot of thickness to your card. This is especially important with the new USPS rules and thickness and extra postage. I stamped the moose on the paper with black Archival ink. I got the striped paper at Hobby Lobby (gotta love it when they have 50% off paper) and someone gave me the corrugated cardstock. I even got the ribbon from Hobby Lobby also...50% off! It was a punch that made the bottom corner pieces.
It's not really a Wow card but I like it...It looks better in real life.
Moose stamp from Stampin Up! and Greeting from Dream Impressions.

Aged Tiles Card

Here is one I did using a stamp from Scottish Borders Stamps.
It's a technique from the Technique Junkie newsletter. I stamped the image and colored with Prisma colored pencils and blended with Gamsol and stubs. The piece of cardstock on the bottom right was a strip that I rounded the corners on. I was to cheap to purchase a punch that made those little strips so I made my own.

I hope you enjoy it!

My Horse passion

It's not summer yet, it doesn't even feel like Spring up here in North Dakota. It's very dry where I live and I'm so afraid we're going to go right into a long HOT, dry summer. So, we try to get our riding in now. It's easier to put on more clothes than take off more!

Last weekend DH and I loaded up our horses in our 38 foot long gooseneck with 20 feet of camper (living quarters) in the front. We finally got into the DeMores Riders campground on the east side of the Teddy Roosevelt Natl' Park. We were on the waiting list for 13 years! They only let 50 families in at a time and most never quit. Even if they die, the kids get the first chance to get take that space. Anyway, when you get in, you have 40 acres of fenced campground, water, electricity and best of all, a key to get into the ND Badlands. (It was an agreement made years ago with the park). Anyway, our camper has a kitchen and BATHROOM!! That's important.

THis is a picture of me and Duchess the first day out.

When I'm not stamping, I enjoy spending time with the horses and dogs. There's nothing like the outside of a horse for the inside of a woman!

Here I am on my horse Moose. If you can't tell, it was COLD last Sunday. We just completed a jump over a small gully.

Opalite Thistle (Scottish Borders Stamping)

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated my blog!

Here is a card I did using a Technique Junkie technique using Opalite pads. Basically I rubbed the Opalites on then sponged dye inks on. I stamped the thistle on the background in black and white inks. The stamp is from Scottish Borders Stamps. Joyce has tons of Celtic, English, Scottish, Wales, adoption stamps. Check out the website.

http://www.scottishbordersstamping.com/sbs_001.htm

The Thistle is a Scottish symbol. Since DH is a Scot and DD studied in Scotland, I thought it would be a fun card to send her.

Next I stamped the large Thistle on a square and small on smaller squares, I colored with Prisma Colored pencils and blended with Gamsol and blending stubs. I edged the squares with silver Krylon leafing pen.

Mini-Mister Giraffe

I received inspiration from Tim Holtz blog on making sparkle misters using Ranger Distress reinkers, Perfect Pearls and mixing in water. It's all done in the mini-mister, tiny little spray bottles. Recipe is 1 dropper (not drop) of reinker, a scoop of Perfect Pearls and fill the mister 3/4 full. He was right, they are addicting! You can make your own sprays so easy. I ended up ordering a bunch of the mini-misters.

This card (5 X 6.5") has the background made by spraying my mister made with Marmalaide Distress reinker and copper PP. I sprayed my matt cardstock (CS) with the spray, let dry and stamped the images on with gray, black and dark green dye inks. All images by Dream Impressions. I distress the edges with a thread cutter, like what Tim uses only I picked up mine at JoAnn for a couple bucks. I layered that onto black cardstock I distressed the edges on then added black eyelets.

My main image was embossed in black on a mustardy colored CS. I tore around the image and rubbed black distress ink on with foam cut and dry (I sound like a Ranger commercial). I layered that on black mullberry with raffia. HINT: To tear your mulberry paper easily, brush water where you want it to tear. I usually have an aqua painter with water handy for that. This is a morph of Technique Junkies Burnt edges technique

I wish you could see the shimmer in the background on this but alas, scanners just don't do justice to anything sparkly. :(