This is what happens when you post from work....you get too busy!

I must have a bit of a scrapbooker in me since I love to use old family photos on my cards. Here are 2 artist trading cards that I created for swaps; one in Buffalo and the second in Syracuse.

I wanted the baby image to look like it was a slide so I used to different size square punches to create the slide mount. I jazzed it up a bit with a stamped overlay of "French Script" by Stampin' Up. The baby image is from The Stampsmith's "Ooh Baby" unmounted sheet and it was stamped on glossy white cardstock with Archival Sepia ink. The clock is also from Stampin' Up's "Artifacts" set and the film strip from Tim Holtz's "Mini Muse" set. I cut out the centers of the film strip and glued photocopies of my cousin on a pony, my uncle as a baby and my grandfather in his WWI army uniform. I then modpodged over the film strip to make it shiney like it was real. This turned out to be one of my favorite ATC’s!

I wanted to break out of my neutral color zone so I added the turquoise cardstock to the back. This is another family photo of my Uncle Wally over 80 years ago! The "Dream/Discover" stamp in from Stamper's Anonymous and I embossed in black the used bleach to lighten. Sponging the edges and around the photo gave it a grunge look. This is another favorite of mine!

February CNY ATC group make 'n take

Here is my group make 'n take ATC for February's CNY stamping gathering in Maine, NY. I had to prepare 27 of these and there are 10 pieces of card stock for each - I was a cuttin' machine! I stole this idea from Judy K who gave me a larger version for my birthday a few years ago....she is soooo creative! People think I am creative but I am just a good copier!

More ATC's for the Central NY stamp day in October

I created this first ATC for a swap for the Central NY stamp day in October. The figure is from Lost Coast Designs and is a part of a set called 3 Flying Flower Girls. I cut out the figure, masked off the face and button, then sponged with Stampin' Up orange ink. I cut up an old (the price was 50 cents) murder mystery paperback...after reading it of course.... then used Timework masks from Tim Holtz and sponged with Stampin' Up Eggplant Envy ink. The flourish is Autumn Leaves Clear Stamps By Rhonna Farrer: Flourishes V.2 that I bought at A.C. Moore. I used a white gel pen to highlight. The work 'FLY' was stamped with a movable type stamp.

This next ATC was a group Make 'n Take. Boy, were they blessing me when they saw that they had to cut out the crows! The stamped image is also from Lost Coast Design, called a Murder of Crows. I thought this was very appropriate to do right before Halloween! I did the same masking technique as above and popped up the top crow with some 3d dots.

CNY May ATC swap

Wow am I a slacker! I had visions of publishing to this blog at least twice a month, maybe more, but I only want to post stuff that I am especially proud of. That still isn't much of an excuse since this ATC is from May! Let's see if I can't catch up...


Here is an ATC I created for the May stamping gathering held in Syracuse, NY. I used grey card stock for the background and all of the images were stamped with Palette Hybrid Noir Black ink. The line of fractions is from Paper Bag Studios. I added this for more visual interest on the left side of the umbrella man. He is stamped on Tim Holtz's Grunge Paper (go to link then click on "Grungeboard" on left) , cut out, sponged edges, and popped up with a 3D dot. The Grunge Paper works great when you have to cut so close because it is very hard to tear. Umbrella man and the rest of the stamps are an unmounted set called Mini Muse that you can find at Stampers Anonymous by clicking on "Cling Mount Sets #61-65" on the left and then scroll down to the second line. How cool are these?! and perfect size for ATC's!

CNY February 2009 shoebox

This is my "shoebox" project for the CNY stamping day in Maine, NY. All the materials are from Stampin' Up except the yarn (which I got at the dollar store - gotta love that!).

I started by cutting 3 sets of tags, the off white a bit smaller than the black. I stamped the tree image from "Lovely as a Tree" set with Handsome Hunter ink.

The background is Really Rust card stock that I stamped with the Print Pattern background stamp dipped in bleach. I then stamped with French Script using Chocolate Chip ink. I cut the background into 2 different size strips and glued them onto Chocolate Chip card stock.

Assemble the tags and glue down as pictured and you are done! This makes a really nice masculine card for any occasion.

A tip on bleaching - make sure you rinse your rubber stamp off as soon as you are done stamping so as not to damage the rubber. Also, a well ventilated stamping area is probably a good idea too!

CNY November 2008 shoebox swap

This is the card that I created for the SplitCoastStampers CNY November 2008 shoebox swap. My Stampin' Up demo, Joanne Tofte, demonstrated this template to us at an SU party. You can see another version on her blog. The card stands up like a teepee when open and folds flat to fit in a standard envelope.

Supplies:
2 4" square white card stock
1 4" square green card stock
1/2 3.75" square green card stock (cut on diagonal)
2"x3" white card stock
green ink
white ink
Versa Mark ink
Stampin' Up label punch
Stampin' Up Snow Swirled stamp set
2 silver brads
silver glitter embossing powder
Stamp-a-ma-jig

1. Stamp the two white 4" square card stock with snowflake stamps in green ink and stamp the 4" green square card stock with snowflake stamps in white ink.

2. Fold each 4" square card stock in half on the diagonal.

3. Glue the left half of the green square on top to the right half of the white square.

4. Glue the left half of the other white square on top to the right half of the green square.

5. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the image with the long side of the card stock to the right, stamp the Christmas tree with VersaMark ink and emboss with silver glitter embossing powder.

6. Glue the green triangle to the front of the 2nd 4" square white card stock.

7. Stamp the word 'Joy' to the 2"x3" white card stock in green ink and punch out with SU label punch. Sponge green ink on edges and place silver brads on each end. Glue to front under tree.

8. Slit the back of the 1st 4" square white card stock to receive the right point of the 2nd 4" square white card stock so card will stand up like a teepee.

CNY #7 6x6 Scrap pages swap

This is my first attempt at 6x6 scrap pages to swap for the CNY #7 gathering in Elmira, NY. There are 22 people in this swap and we will end up with the months of the year, holidays and special occasions! I need to buy an kewl album to showcase these!

The calendar is printed on a transparency and you can leave it as is, put a picture under it, or just take it off. The stamp set I used is Autumn Harvest from Stampin' Up. I stamped the images with brown Stazon ink and then watercolored them. The card stock is also from Stampin' Up - Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie and Shimmery Vanilla.

I destest making bows so I ended up with knots instead....66 of them!

ATC swap for CNY #7

This is the ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I created for a swap for the day of stamping of the Central New York Splitcoast stampers. We are gathering at the Arnot Mall in Elmira, NY February 2nd and I am by no means close to being ready!

I was signed up for another swap on ATCards.com where you had to use book pages somewhere on your ATC. I had a old english English dictionary that I found in the dorm room when I went to Oxford University's summer school with the National Trust for Historic Preservation way back in 1983. I stamped the pear image from Art Impressions on a dictionary page with black Stazon ink. Next, I cut out the image using a deckle sissors and then washed it with acrylic paints and Modpodged it. I glued the pear to an antiqued gold metallic paper, wrapped it with metallic fiber and adhered to final layer of SU mellow moss cardstock. I created enough to use for both swaps and a few extras for one to one trading.

This is my favorite ATC so far!

Dragonflies

I created this card for my shoebox for the February gathering of Central New York stampers. I used Stampin' Up stamps Measure of a Life, Print Pattern, French Script, and Warmest Regards. The dragonfly was colored with watercolor pencils and then blended with water.

This is the Artist Trading Card that I created for the ATC swap. I used the same stamp but cut it closer and used Twinkling H2O's for a much richer color palette. This is my favorite ATC so far!

Best Blossoms

This is my shoebox project for the May gathering of CNY stampers. I used Stampin' Up's Best Blossoms set and colors that are not normal for me! The two large flowers were inked using the Rock and Roll technique to give them more color. One of these flowers is popped up with a 3d foam dot to give it more definition/dimension. I always create a "how to" direction sheet and get a kick out of watching other stampers ignore the directions and go their own way. Some turn out fantastic and others I just shrug and point at the direction sheet - doh! My friend, Judy, gets exasperated at me when I forget to look at the directions for her shoebox - I eventually get there in the end!

Judy's mom taught us how to Tole paint which uses outlines to follow.....needless to say no two projects ended up the same! They always reflected our own personalities though and isn't that what it is all about anyways?!

Spinner Card

Recently, I got together with 39 other stamping fanatics at the sixth Central New York stamping gathering in Syracuse. We all have to prepare a shoebox that included all of the components for everyone at your table to make your card. I brought along a Spinner Card. I embossed the white background with a Cuttlebug and then used a brayer to add Versamark to the raised floral design. I used to chalks to give the design its color. The butterfly image is a retired stamp from Stampin' Up and I painted it with Twinkling H2O's to give it some shimmer when it spins!