Fakey Friday

This was my first attempt at faux linen. The effect is very subtle. I'm not sure if it's because the sandpaper I used was too fine or that my ink pads are all drying up or that I didn't use a darker color ink. I would like to try it again after I get some reinkers and courser sandpaper.

The card I made first to test out the technique and the color scheme. It can be an anniversary card as well but it could also be any other kind of celebration.

Stamps: French Script, wine glasses from Katie& co.

Paper: Bordering Blue cardstock, white glossy cardstock

Ink: Always Artichoke, Bordering Blue, and So Saffron

Extras: ribbon and charm from my miscellaneous stash and have no idea where they came from.

I made this scrapbook page for the “She scraps, she scores” challenge for Virtual Scrapbook Night. The challenge was to use faux linen and have metal embellishments and knotted ribbon on the page as well. As you can see I do not have knotted ribbon or a metal embellishment. I was so caught up in the faux linen technique that my 2 hrs were nearly up and I just had time to piece it together. The page is about my great-grandparents’ 50th anniversary. It was a little before my time but still makes another page in my heritage scrapbook.

Stamps: French Script, wine glasses from Katie& co.

Paper: Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Bordering Blue, and white glossy cardstock

Ink: Always Artichoke, Bordering Blue, and So Saffron

Fakey Friday

This is a technique that I developed due to my lack of supplies. There might be a technique out there similar already but I’ve never heard of it. I call it faux bleaching. I use white craft ink and blender pens. In the first sample I just colored in the daisy petals with white craft ink using the blender pens. For the second sample I stamped the angel in white craft ink and smudged the image with a blender pen to make the faux bleach background. Once it was dry, I stamped over the white background with black Staz-on and colored with chalk.

Tool Time Tuesday

This is my Stamp-a-ma-jig. I love it. I usually use it to position letters in titles of scrapbook pages. I waited a while to get mine because I focused on getting stamps and paper first. Once I first used it I realized it would have been perfect to have as a beginning stamper. There were so many times I did not ink the stamp properly and threw the image out because it didn’t look good. With the stamp-a-ma-jig, I can reink my stamp and place it in the exact image I stamped the first time. I still use it for that purpose but not as often as I would have if I had it at first. Another way I like to use mine is if I have a stamp that I want to put more than one color on. Usually markers are perfect for that occasion but since I don’t have any markers yet, the stamp-a-ma-jig works just fine.
Here are some projects I made for my best friend Carly who go married last year along with a close up of the stationary and the 4x4 notecards. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the rose red and the leaves green on the cards and stationary. I also used it to position the French Script Background since the stationary was larger than the background itself.

Stamp Set Saturday

My favorite alphabet stamp set is SU Letterpress Alphabet. It's perfect for scrapbooking titles or monogram sets. For Christmas I made two name frames with this set and gave one to Philip and Dawn and the other for Diane and Judson. I forget the company that made the patterned paper. I used Letterpress Alphabet stamps and, French Script, Linen, the swirl from Fun Filled and "merry little christmas" from Cute Converse. The hardware is from the Hodgepodge Hardware. I would like to make some more with the seasons for my house and one for Lavinia's bedroom with her name on it.

Stamp Set Saturday

This is a retired SU stamp set called Heavenly Heralds. I chose this set to use for my Christmas cards this year. The first card had the fold in the middle. I used the French Script background, masked the circle and stamped the first word from the sentement inside. I used the Poppin' Pastels technique for the main image and used the sketch from Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge 67.
The second card was using the sketch from last year's idea book. It was using a different stampset but I like how it worked with this one too. This was a really quick and easy card.

The third card was done using the bleaching technique. I have tried before to stamp with bleach but, especially with a stamp as detailed as this, it never turned out right. There were spots that were really bold and others did not change color at all. I gave up on bleaching until we did this kind of bleaching technique at our stamp club meeting. In this card I embossed the image in gold then applied bleach with a Q-tip filling in the image.
The last card I did with a blue marker and pencil crayons. I highlighted the dress with the blue marker then used the blender pen to color it in. The rest of the image, I used pencil crayons. I hope to get the watercolor wonder crayons soon. Right now I am limited in coloring mediums. I know the blender pens and classic ink work but I only have one family in classic right now. I still use what I have so I can create and practice for better mediums in the future.
This is only one of the angels in the set. The other angel in the set is picking flowers and goes with the quote, “The love of beautiful things is heavenly homesickness.” I do like the quote but for what kind of card would you use it? I would use it in a card to someone who gardens or scrapbooks. (We all know every scrapbooker has their stash of pretty things.) In that case, I wouldn’t use the angel. Other than someone who collects angels, I really have no ideas. Even so, I do love the set because of the Christmas angel and quote and have often used the other two stamps alone.