Monday, April 13, 2020

Left Unsupervised -

If there is one thing you don't want to do, it's leave me unsupervised!

The Snarky Cats stamp set from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous has turned out to be a real favorite. When I started making cards I decided to use several of them because they reminded me of my foster cat, Moose (pictured below) and his antics.
The background is made by blending Distress Oxides through the Tangled stencil using Distress Blending Brushes. They give a soft color but allow for the thin tangled threads to show.
Here is my foster cat Moose. He is so expressive!
See? This one immediately came to mind when I saw the stamps.
To make my card I wanted it to be interactive, but don't own any interactive dies or products, so I kind of Macguyvered mine. I don't recommend my way. There are plenty of dies and tutorials on line to teach you the proper way to do a pull card. I've linked some of the dies and things below, and here is a cute slider card done the proper way by Nicole Spohr.
Sadly, I didn't even take a picture or video of the interactive elements of this card for some reason, but if you pull a tab at the bottom of the card, this kitty moves down and reveals claw marks down the wall.
My interactive element on this one was a wobble. I have a link below to some wobbles. They are fun and allow the fussy cut cat to wobble back and forth like he is ready to attack something.
This one had two interactive parts. He wobbles and slides upward. When you pull the tab at the top of the card, it reveals little marks indicating he is shooting up, and he wobbles in fear as he moves upward. I wanted it to seem like he saw something scary and freaked out and jumped up like cats do.
I've put off posting this card because I really didn't want to do a tutorial on the interactive elements that I Macguyvered. But hopefully it gave some of you actual card makers ideas for putting your stash of interactive goodies to work with these Snarky Cat Stamps.

Thanks you so much for checking in. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to youThis helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

To Move the World... Sizzix Chapter 2

Socrates said “Let him that would move the world first move himself.”
🌎🌍🌏
Although I went with a travel theme with this quote, it has a much broader application. We can move ourselves and in turn move the world right where we are. I’m thinking of things as simple as being positive and kind and helpful and encouraging. So let’s load up our “suitcases” with kindness, positivity, support and love for each other and watch that move the world.
💙🌏💙🌎💙🌍💙
This is officially the last of the Sizzix samples I made for Creativation 2020. I feels like ages since I made this Mini Clipboard. It's designed around the suitcases and a simplified version of a Socrates quote.
The actual quote of the simplified version above is "Let him that would move the world first move himself." I shortened it and cut it out of Blackout Cardstock with the Tiny Text Alphanumeric letters.
 
The Mini Clipboard comes apart so you can paint or age the clip and board separately. I put some Distress Collage Crackle Paste on the star and on the clip. Then I smeared Distress Crayon over both to age them. Walnut Stain and Ground Espresso on the clip and Peacock Feathers on the star.
The board I covered with Distress Woodgrain Cardstock that I colored with Peacock Feathers Distress Paint.
I applied the paint with light brush strokes going with the grain.
Then I sprayed it with Distress Hickory Smoke Spray Stain.
I cut it into 1/2" strips, inked the edges with Walnut Stain, and then applied them to the board as if they were weathered wood siding.
This fabulous globe is from the Chapter 1 Circle Play dies.
The Baggage Claim suitcases are whimsical and allow for some fun customization. Baggage Claim is a Bigz die, so it will cut things that are thicker than cardstock, allowing you to get some great texture.
I chose to cut some faux leather I got from a craft store fabric section. The teal I used was some some I had purchased at a different time. Since I made this sample, Tim Holtz and Ranger have released the Distress Cracked Leather cardstock which would be absolutely perfect for this die, and you could make each suitcase any color you want.
I even cut all of the little details out of the faux leather. It really is fun to dress up these suitcases.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I always appreciate everyone who takes the time to come by and read my posts, leave a comment, or even try to make their own version of a project. Many thanks to each one of you.
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to youThis helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!



Monday, April 6, 2020

Make the Days Count - Stampers Anonymous

If there was ever a time for this sentiment, it's now, right? 
We can make the days count in little ways right now, it doesn’t have to be anything big. Things like having a talk with, or just listening to a family member, texting or facetiming a friend or loved one, making a favorite meal, playing a game or working on a puzzle with someone, crafting with someone, sending a card, looking through old photos and sharing memories, even cuddling with a pet. Those are all fairly simple things that really count because they are are part of investing in relationships. 💙💙💙
That being said, being creative and inspiring others counts too, so let's talk about how to make this card. It's really much easier than it might seem, and made using stamps and products from Tim Holtz. First, I stamped the Baroque stamp on the smooth side of a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock. Stamp the large stamp along the top and bottom of the card and then emboss it with gold embossing powder.
Press some ink from the Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink pad onto the glass media mat. Then using a water brush, pick up some of the ink to watercolor within the gold lines. That's all this is, just water coloring. It's very relaxing and if you stamped and embossed multiple cards, you could just watercolor through a favorite movie. This would be so nice to see done in lots of colors like Victorian Velvet, Evergreen Bough, Seedless Preserves, Aged Mahogany.....the list goes on.
 
 To finish it off, I matted the card base and sentiment with gold Metallic Kraftstock, stamped the sentiment from the Tiny Text Stamps and embossed it in gold, and added two retired Mirrored Hearts colored blue with Alcohol Ink.
I wanted to close with a reminder not to count the days right now, just focus on simply making them count.
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to youThis helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!