Mini notebooks with monoprinted backgrounds

I periodically make huge batches of monoprints using plexiglass, various weights and textures of papers, and either ink, paint, alcohol ink, etc. This was a batch I made some months ago, utilizing various water-based dyes.

This week Ive been making up a number of mini composition notebooks. They're all lined and bound with washi tape, and utilize the monoprints, various embossed cardstock, and rubber stamping. Top left and top right both feature stamps by Viva Las Vegas Stamps, and bottom one, stamps by Artistic Outpost. These are fun little gifts to make and I try to always have some on hand. 

Scrap cards

Made to use up scraps on the worktable.

Maintaining Balance

I seem to have a preponderance of friends with foot injuries at the moment. Made up a batch of cards related to keeping one's "footing," or balance. Stamps are from The Stampsmith's "Balancing Act" sheet.

Bday cards

I've been busy celebrating some bdays as my twins turned 11. My daughter asked for canvases. :) Here are their cards this year.

Cards using Stampsmith images

Wrapping Christmas

I know I'm moving forward, but decided to post a couple of the Christmas cards I made...and I didn't make many. But here's a nice and a "naughty" one.

Stampsmith designs

A new sheet of rubber came from the lovely Estelle today. Had some time tonight to ink up and felt thoroughly in the Halloween groove.

"Mum's the word": well, I love plays on words and these images (all from the sheet, except labels and background stamp (Stampers Anonymous) suggested this to me.

"There's a light...over at the Frankenstein house..." Rocky Horror fans, this will be stuck in my head for days. The graveyard and house are both Stampsmith. The tree is a die cut and white gel pen, the tombstone border is from a punch.

Then we have a beautiful black cat with moon, and some masquerade images. Lots of alcohol inks and bling here.

This was fun, thanks Estelle!

Bright colors, black & white checks

I'm playing catchup on some gifts to friends in my art world. This one is for Kathy, a.k.a. Sweetpea, who likes bright colors paired with black & white checks.

These are altered coasters (beer mats), covered in tissue paper that's been stamped with white gesso and sprayed with Color Mists (a la Aileen's techniques at Outside the Margins).

Didn't have a black and white checked ribbon so I painted white onto a plain black one.

Off to Sweetpea in the morning.

Sheryl's deco: Faux Batik Technique (sometimes called Faux Bleach)

My friend Carol asked about a deco page I'd done. I forgot to scan the back page of this one, but here's the front.

This is one version of this background technique. There are many out there. Here, I stamped ivory card stock with embossing ink using an ornate stamp. I embossed using detail clear embossing powder. When cool, I washed it with a very light wash of Twinkling H20s in blues, greens and purples.

When dry, I placed a blank piece of newsprint over and ironed off the embossed powder. The result is a great resist effect.

I wanted to know what would happen layering more ink and another stamp over that, so I tried it and got a different but really cool resist there. I used Fluid Chalk ink in a purple called Wisteria.

The woman w/numbers is from Diva Stamp Impressions and she was stamped on a scrap of paper that had been treated with Color Mists. I keep lots of brightly colored scraps around me (in large piles, if truth be known) and there's almost always something that is just the thing for whatever I'm working on.

This is is Sheryl's deco on the AV group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Art-Venture/

And as a a bonus: "Faux Batik Technique" is fun to say!

Thank you notes

Made a batch of similar, but not completely alike versions of this card today for some holiday thank you notes.
The image is by Stampington and I used it as a guideline. Painted the image and background with Twinkling H20s and then added depth with the oil pastels (my current favorite art toy!) I've adapted this card from one I saw at a stamp show, but tweaked it a bit.

Stampsmith exchange

This is my final card for a months-long exchange we've been doing on the Stampsmith group. Audrey is a single image, available at www.stampsmith.net.

Big thanks to Michelle Anders in South Africa for hosting this exchange. I have received beautiful cards from all over the world.

Stampsmith Exchanges

For the past six months, I've been taking part in an ongoing swap on the Stampsmith Yahoo group. Someone from that list asked to see the cards I've made for this swap, so here they are--most of them, anyway. I think I didn't scan a couple of them.

Estelle Lander Smith, aka the Stampsmith, offers truly wonderful images. Check out her stuff at www.stampsmith.net. Thanks to Michelle Anders in South Africa for hosting these swaps.

Ongoing Stampsmith exchange

I'm getting better st stamping with photo images. This one is for an exchange on the Stampsmith Yahoo group.