Comparisons: Distress vs......Distress?

Hi all!  I decided to do a little comparison today with a lovely stamp that found it's way into my stash yesterday.  It's one of Rubbernecker's watercolor stamps and it's whole purpose is  to create beautiful imperfection.  Since this post will be image heavy - I'll try to keep the chatter to a minimum.  Let's start with the image from Rubbernecker.

Original Source: Watercolor Poppies

If you click on the link, there's a pretty great demo video available.  I personally love this set and was super excited to work with it!  While the demo tape uses distress inks and markers to color the images, I thought I'd give distress paints a try as well.  In each picture, the distress paint image is on the left and the distress ink/marker image is on the right.  The final image is colored with distress ink and markers.

A few notes - I really prefer the distress inks and markers for this image with one exception.  I really liked the vibrancy of the first image on the left.  I think the pinks are much more vibrant.  The blue image on the right is my hands down favorite of them all.  I think I might have enjoyed the painted version more if I could have done a better job of lining up the second stamp and would have had the exact same colors.  Sadly, distress paint is not available in tumbled glass or peacock feathers so I was working with a pretty different color palette.  I might give white a try as the base on my next run.  If you want a better look at each sample, click on the picture.

I absolutely can't wait to do more with these sets and play around with a few more solid/brush stroke stamps I have in my stash.  I also have a great idea for some existing flower stamps I have that are outlines.  I'll keep you posted on how things progress.  I'll also start providing full supply information when I've got a better handle on things.  I hope everyone's been doing really well.  Until then...

Friday Fiasco - The Late Version

Today is my good friend's 50th birthday.  Being a self-proclaimed recluse, only big occasions seem to get me out of my house these days.  You would think that with all of that time on my hands I would have had a card prepared before 6:30 pm the night of her birthday dinner...and you would be oh...so...wrong.

Picture this...me in a complete relaxed state watching videos mulling over what new technique I'm going to try on my friend's birthday card.  Picture me choosing this very cool technique from the uber-talented Britta Swiderski.  Picture me reminding myself that things could get dicey BUT IT WILL BE OKAY.  Then picture me sitting down at my craft table to do said technique and basically just losing my shit.  Why?  Because there's a learning curve and no matter how much I prepare myself mentally, I'm never going to be okay with a piece of paper that looks like this...

This is my very unfortunate first attempt.  I decided to give gelatos a try instead of distress ink to change it up a bit.  Rule #1: It is not the best idea to "change it up a bit" when learning something new.  I was frustrated but I pushed on going back to the original instructions.  I ended up with this...

In my opinion, there are a few things that went wrong here.  My color choices were not strong enough.  I really wanted colors similar to the ones used in my first try but I don't have those colors in distress inks.  My friend loves pink and I'm a teal girl - so I was a little stuck (part of the reason I reached for the gelatos first).  I choose to use a yellow spray mist - which really cancelled out the pink and reds I had added from my distress ink stash (spun sugar and worn lipstick).  I'm still not sure what color spray ink to use on a pink project.  My spray mists are uber-saturated and bright.  I thought about throwing in the towel at this point.  But I moved on...

The paper was originally slated to be part of the background of the card.  I had already chosen to use the SHE was a daughter stamp from Unity Stamp Co.  I decided to shift gears and make it the pattern on the dress.  I wasn't so happy with this choice but I REALLY wanted to try and make it work.  Pretty soon I realized there wasn't enough contrast.

So I got out my trusty gelatos and tried to deepen the contrast and even add a little pink and red to the mix.  I wasn't successful in bringing out the pinks and reds - but there was a little more contrast between layers of the dress.  I was somewhat satisfied.  I then moved on to putting the pieces of the card together.  By this time - I had maybe 15 minutes to get everything done so I had to work fast.

And there it is...  the finished card.  Surprisingly, I am really happy with it.  There isn't a strong resemblance to it's original state.  However, I was able to make it work which is really all that matters.  If I had to do it over again - I would stamp the image and color the dress with gelatos.  Unfortunately that wouldn't have been nearly as fun as sweating it out to the finish line (in this case). There were a number of other different errors - the card was too big and I ended up sticking it down and letting it flow over the edges.  I also made a mistake while writing and ended up having to cover the inner part of the card...

Notice the extra portion of the card in brown on the opposite page.  I could not find any envelopes.  I had to put the card in one of those small brown paper bags you get when you buy something small from your LSS.  I stapled it and stamped a birthday balloon on the front.  Done and done.

Anyhoo,  before I head out for the night, I want to leave you with a few things I learned today.

• Being a beginner sometimes means following directions...EXACTLY.  
• It's okay to accept your beginner status when trying new things even if you've been doing some other version of that hobby/craft/activity for years.
• Sometimes you have to accept the mistakes and move on.  Cutting the front of the card down would have been a much bigger mistake than having a 1/4 inch overflow on two sides.  Weigh your options.
• When things go wrong - reinvent.  I could have totally walked away from my orange background - but I pressed on and I think it worked in my favor.  
• As always...it's okay to mess up.  It's okay to lose it sometimes.  It's okay to just say screw it and throw your experiment in the trash or to push on and see where it goes.  Both options have value.  Only you can decide what choice is right.  In this case, I had no time and I'm really glad.  

So there it is...two fiascos, lots of steps, and one finished card.  I'm totally ready to try the technique again - staying closer to my own chosen color palette and see where it leads.  I will post the results here.  I hope everyone is having a great Friday evening or Saturday (wherever you are in the world).  Until then...

Product Love

Source Image

I'm completely in love with hand sewing on my layouts thanks to Amy Tangerine.  It started with her great embroidery stencil kits and has grown.  It has given new life to my punches.  I just can't wait to see what else I can do.  I'm in love with embroidery thread.  It's inexpensive.  It comes in SO many colors.  It's wonderful.  And...it really packs a wallop on layouts.  It has the ability to take a layout to another level.  I'm slightly addicted.

Supplies: Paper: American Crafts; Echo Park Paper; Stickers: American Crafts; Simple Stories; Stamps: Hero Arts; KI Memories; Brad: Basic Grey; Buttons: October Afternoon; Studio Calico; Spray Mist: Studio Calico; Ranger Dylusions; 

This layout was definitely the moment when I realized how much hand sewing had to offer to my scrapbooking process.  I can't say enough about it.  I love it so much.  The elephant is actually a stamped image from Hero Arts that I sewed and cut out.  I made the circles with a Fiskars punch with leftover scraps.  I pieced the scraps together to make full circles and then sewed around each.  The pictures are actually tucked into the folds of patterned paper.  The boy is definitely the star of this layout.  However, the embroidery thread/sewing just makes it so much better.

So that's it...my pick for this Monday.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Until then...

Here, There, Everywhere - Part Deux

Good morning!  Once again I have a few fun things to share with you today.  This is going to be a link/picture/word heavy post.  I hope everyone enjoys! :)

Not Sure What to Do Here!
I'm back with three stamps to share from my personal stash that have me completely stumped.  I'm not sure where the disconnect is happening in my right brain - I wish I could fix it.  Let's start with one more Memory Box stamp.

Inspire Butterfly Collage - Memory Box

I think this stamp is absolutely beautiful.  I made one bookmark with it for a friend from work - but that's where it all ended.  I've tried multiple things - coloring, painting, twinkling H2Os, and distress inks - but to no avail.  So - once again I started searching!  Before I start posting links - I just want to give a plug to the Memory Box website.  They have amazing examples and tutorials to help people like me out. So without further ado...

*Spring Greens Card - Memory Box (with instructions)

*Inspired by a Butterfly Card - Memory Box (with instructions)

*Enchanted Butterfly Collage - Dave Brethauer (tutorial)

*Sponge Inspired Butterfly - Create x 3 (instructions)

Meredith the Teacup Girl - Stamping Bella

Scarlet the Teacup Girl - Stamping Bella

I love these stamps so much.  They're whimsical, fun, and cute.  My favorite thing is that the sweet girls in the images lend themselves to different skin colors - which is pretty much perfection in my book.  So - why in the eff can't I color either one of them to my satisfaction?  I've had this stamp since April and have pitched every attempt at coloring each image - maybe they're too cute.  Who the heck knows - but if you haven't noticed, it's really pissing me off.  So the search began - and I gotta be honest, I'm a little more frustrated by how cool people can make them look.

*Meredith the Teacup Girl - Paper Expressions Blog - I absolutely love the black embossed hair!

*Meredith the Teacup Girl - Jackie Pedro

*Meredith the Teacup Girl - Jodi Collins - I love the clear embossing

*Scarlet the Teacup Girl - Kay's Crafty Corner

*Scarlet the Teacup Girl - Jackie Pedro

*Scarlet the Teacup Girl - Karen Motz

*Scarlet the Teacup Girl - Jodi Collins

Lots of inspiration.  Lots of cool coloring.  Hope I have a little inspiration to color one of the girls up nice today. We'll see!  If you hear the loudest swearing ever - don't worry - it's just me.  :)

Product Love

To be honest, I hadn't planned on doing another product love today.  I thought I had unloaded enough product yumminess yesterday - but not so much.  Only one thing to share today from one of my favorite stamping companies.  

Lizzy Lollipop - Stamping Bella

Meet Lizzy Lollipop from Stamping Bella.  I absolutely love all things bee.  I love bees so much that I've planned to someday get a tattoo of a cupcake with a flower top with a bumblebee buzzing around it.  Love bumblebees - all of them down to the transformer.  But I digress...I have a little confession to make.  I never noticed this stamp on the Stamping Bella site until I saw this card.  I just love what Jeanie Witmer did with this image.  I also loved this card by Paula Tracy.  Just love this image - it must be mine!

Fun Finds & Inspiration

*Check out these new fringe scissors from Fiskars.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around using them.

*I love this Art Grid Calendar from Paper Source.  This is a great product for it's utilitarian function and for making art prints later.  I LOVE the trees.

*I love the design of this kitchen by Sarah Richardson from Sarah's House on HGTV.  I love her style so much.  For more Sarah Richardson love - check out this Elements of Style post.

*I love the colors in this Double Torsade Necklace from Anthropologie.

*I love these invitations from Minted on the Green Wedding Shoes blog.

*Check out this tutorial from Operation Write Home's blog on Paper Punch People.  So cute.

*Check out this sponging technique from Paula Tracy - so great!

*Check out this great canvas art from Lucy Edson - love it!

*I'm in love with Design Sponge's post on nurseries.  I love all things design and this post really hit the spot!

So believe it or not - that's almost it for now.  I still haven't done my daily search for CHA sneak peeks so there might be another post a little later.  Before I go - I wanted to leave you with a tip and a cool resource.  

Tip: When looking at fun blogs on paper crafting be sure to take a deeper look.  Jodi Collins's cards are definitely in the running for my favorite cards of all time.  I love everything about her blog.  I often look at it and want to flog myself for not being so creative.  Recently - I started trying to look at things a little differently.  While Jodi Collins is an amazing artist - there is something more to take from her posts then just envy.  I've started to look more closely at the structure of the card to take away a sketch or the layering of patterned papers.  This has given me even more ideas/sketch resources and has helped my shaken ego a little. :)

Cool Resource: Check out Beate (pronounced mia-ta like the car) Johns blog.  She has great video tutorials on her blog.  

No More Promises

A girl should not make promises she cannot keep.  It's a rule of sorts.  I'm breaking it today.  My fun technique did not turn out so well for me - while it did for my friends (very happy about that!).  The wax paper shifted and nothing is straight.  What the hell - here's a picture of my "mistake."

It's not the best picture in the world - but hopefully you get the gist.  The technique is super simple.  I think it might work better on less intricate designs.  I used the collage embossing folder from Tim Holtz.  I'm sure it can be salvaged in some way - just not sure how in this moment.  I'm pretty stumped at this point.

Since I'm not sharing the project I did with my technique - I thought I'd share some semi-recent scrapbook pages.  The first page is from the beginning of the year.   It's a direct scraplift from Elizabeth Kartchner from her Dear Lizzy column in Creating Keepsakes.  When I say direct - I mean direct.  Basically I changed the colors and a few other things.  The second page is based on a theme from one of women in my circle journal group.  She wanted to know three places we would visit if money and time were no object.  I could only pick two.  I'm a homebody and don't think about going too many places.  The third page is about my favorite little guy in the world right now.

Isn't that the best picture you've ever seen of a baby ever!  Love him so much.  The last two layouts were inspired by two sketches from Pencil Lines.  Paradise is based loosely on this sketch.  Flying By is based on this sketch. So that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a great Friday!  I have a date with Hero Arts.  Until then...

Tips/Tutorials

Since starting this blog - I've had a considerable amount of inspiration in the crafting department. I think it's because I have my mind on creativity more often. There's a lot to be said for a daily creative ritual. However, today the creative bug really isn't hitting me. I really like my topics on the first three days of the blogging week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). Unfortunately this leaves me a little clueless on Thursday and Friday - a real deterrent to the whole creative flow thing. So in an effort to be more inspired, I will be "trying" to list online tips and tutorials on Thursdays.


Over the weekend, I made these three tags. For the first two tags on the left, I used rubber stamped images, clear embossing powder, and Ranger color wash sprays. It was my first time using color wash sprays and I think I got a little too close to the paper. The third image (with the dress) was made with clear stamps, distress inks, and watercolor pencils. Watercoloring has been difficult for me to learn and feel confident about on my own. I had planned on taking a watercolor class this week at Archivers. The class had a reasonable price - $15. But then I saw that Hero Arts had a video on watercoloring stamped images. So - I decided to take the You Tube route before throwing down my money. I'm trying to avoid the feeling of nausea from the huge amounts of spending. And I'm sure glad I did. Watching the videos gave me just the confidence I needed to give watercoloring one more try. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement and there's a good chance I will take the class at a later date, but for now, I'm definitely good. Gotta love the generosity of the crafting community. In an effort to help people find the confidence I got from watching technique videos, I am adding some links. I hope you enjoy.

Hero Arts - Watercolor Pencils + Stamping

Paynete's Watercolor Pencils

Watercolor Pencils & Blender Pen

Jewels's Quick N Easy Watercolor Pencils

There are so many great watercolor pencil videos on You Tube. If you need more inspiration, definitely check out the videos on their site. In other news, I got my new stamps from PaperTrey Ink - the very last of my stimulus plan purchases. I decided I must have them after seeing an example of their use on the designer's blog - Melissa Bickford. I can't wait to play with these new images. I hope you find inspiration today. Until then...Happy Crafting.