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. :(

Wedding advice and tips

A few people have asked for my ideas that I had for my daughter's wedding and any tips I have.
Well, make as many things as you have time for and let the bride and groom have final say. I told my daughter from the start that I would throw out ideas and if she didn't like them to say so and that would be the end of it. She liked most of my ideas, some she didn't and I didn't push a thing. If I thought she had an idea that wasn't quite going to work out or maybe a better way, we discused it.

The best thing we did was have a theme. Since it was a fall wedding, my daughter wanted celtic oak leaf. We were so lucky that the groom is an artist and drew one. That became the theme and was used on EVERYTHING from the invites to the garters. I had a stamp made of the image in 2 sizes. DD is very talented with Microsoft publisher and she used the image on everything she made. We made the invites, programs, place cards (ones on wine corks and mini-pumpkins), centerpieces, pew decorations (the wheat sheves), garters, guest book. The best luck I had was 2 gals I work with recently got married so I used the people they knew that were good. The cake lady works out of her home, the decorator was very reasonable and had all the stuff, but we opted to make our own centerpieces and pew decorations (grooms idea to use wheat) .

These were the bridesmaid garters, DD promised them garters to hold the flasks she got them for gifts. I made them out of ribbon and the oak leaf is the celtic one on shrink plastic. I made one in blue and put on the brides garter too for her something blue.

A big savings we had was on invites. I was lucky to be able to use the color copier at work for a very reasonable cost. DD perused the internet for invites she liked and then we worked on recreating them adding our personal touch. She picked a beautiful one with ribbon, no stamping but she used the celtic oak leaf in a watermark background. I did a lot of searching and found a place to get stardream cardstock and envelopes at a wonderful price. http://www.envelopemall.com/

Here are the pew decorations:

The invites she saw were $6.50 each online. We made them with the response cards (postcard type)and stardream envelopes for less than 80 cents each!! Plus I have leftover cardstock for my personal stamping. I watched sales for the ribbon and another thing, I took the mockup to the post office before I made them all to make sure postage wouldn't be extra. So watch the thickness and size, square are more postage.

Another big saving we had was on photos. My brother is pretty good so we had him take them. My other suggestion would be to have a helper if you do that, someone who will do some research and be good at setting people up and making sure you have all the photo's you want taken. We own all the photos this way. Some friends have told me that they found people that will do that for about 1/4 the price of a regular photographer. IF my DD was still in town, I think we'd do that together, I could pose and she'd take pictures (she has the camera).

This was the guestbook I made using handmade paper and matt board, a small centerpiece and the programs, the wrap on them had the celtic leaf embossed and was made out of left over pieces from the invites..

If anyone has any questions, please contact me and I'll see what I can do to help.

Upcoming projects:

Thank you to everyone who checked out my ornaments and commented. I was totally overwhelmed by your complements. They are so much fun to make and very easy. Tonight I'm going to make a few more and will try to post more pictures.


Check back often, my next project will be altered clipboards for shopping lists and mini-altered clipboards made out of those large formica chips you get at home improvement stores where the countertops are. I'm still working out details and supplies for finishing them.

TIP: Home Improvement stores are a great place to find crafting items at a reasonable price. I found Krylon pens in the stenciling departments for about 1/2 what crafting stores charge. I've even found a scrapbooking area in one with things like Fiscars cutter replacement blades cheap. But keep looking, found hardware, glues, paints, paint chips found some really big ones with sticky background at one! I'll try to post some pictures of cards I made with them soon.

If anyone has a wedding in your future, let me know. I have tons of money saving ideas and tips. I will try to post some of the things we made for you to see.

This is a picture of me and my daughter who got married Oct. 13. I can't believe my baby is married! We made all the invites, the programs, centerpieces, pew decorations, guest book, place cards, and anything else we could think of. It was a beautiful fall wedding.

CD Christmas Ornaments

I played around with making some ornaments out of CD's last year and they just didn't click. This year my muse actually came out of retirement (she's been gone for a while) and I kicked a bunch out yesterday.

Here's how I did them:

First I picked my embellishments from my stash I picked up last year at Hobby Lobby. Next I picked my Christmas paper. To cut the paper, I used my Fiscars shape cutter on a mat and just cut around the CD, very easy and a nice cut. Another hint, green papers don't show up well on trees.

Then I worked on my layout. Do all your design work and especially stamping BEFORE you mount the paper on your CD, they warp....don't ask how I know that! I stamped, embossed, added borders with leafing pens etc. or embossed the border. This is a perfect time to get out your sparkly embossing powders.

TIP: If you are in doubt about how something stamped will look on your project, stamp it on some clear acetate and lay it on your project. You can move it around and preview it before you stamp and wish you hadn't. This works for all your stamping projects and has saved some mistakes for me and ruining a project like I did before I figured out this tip.

After you layout is complete and stamping done, I mount it to my CD that I ran through my Xyron with adhesive cartridge in. Sticky stuff on printed side. Then line your paper up with your CD and stick down. The reason I use my Xyron is when I tried to use my ATG gun for adhesive, it left some bubbles.

Then I attached my embellishments with sticky dots or stamped cut out items, some with dimmensional stickies.

The skiing snowman has the glittery snow you can buy. I got mine at Menards for $1.25 and dumped it in a ziplock bag I just applied glue where I wanted the snow and put it in the bag and pressed the 'snow' on.

TIP: If you are using buttons with shanks as embellishments, cut off the shank with a side cutters and then use a grinder to grind off the pieces that are left on the button, holding it with a needle nose pliers. You can use a Dremel too. There, 3 things you can ask for Christmas, side cutters, needle nose and Dremel if you don't have them and something ALL husbands can find. I use mine ALL the time. Oh and if you don't have Crop-a-dile, add that although they might have a time finding one! DD found mine at Hobby Lobby last year and I got it for Christmas, with 40% off coupon they are only about $15.

I use my Crop-a-dile to punch the holes in the CD for the string. It works great. Last year I was heating them and trying to use a regular punch. I think that's what discouraged me, the crop-a-dile is slick!

I plan on tying these on packages, a double gift. Make sure your reciepients know it's an ornament.