Sandy’s Craft Bag

This week’s Monday Simon Says challenge was “ Anything But A Card ”. The only other thing I really wanted to do is make a tag. The STAY CRAFTY WITH HERO CHALLENGE #20 was to incorporate a gift card holder. So, I decided to make a double-sided tag with a design on one side and a card holder on the other. I also have been wanting to try doing some mixed media, so that is how I came up with this. I’m not going to go through all the steps it took, but just give some general information instead. I didn’t have any tags, so I had to make them on my Cricut Maker. I cut 2 tags from 100 lb. Kraft cardstock. This way I could do each side & glue them together. I also cut the card holder at the same time. The different techniques I used were: cutting with the Cricut Maker, stamping, modeling paste with stencil, die cutting, heat embossing, embossing with toilet paper, glazing with Glossy Accents, and coloring with Copic markers. The stamps I used were: the Crackle & Reverse Crackle Simo...

The Altenew Flower of the Month was pansies or violets. I’m not happy with the way this one came out, it just didn’t come together well, but I’ll enter it anyway.  I downloaded a drawing of pansies that I used with Cricut print then cut, and colored it with Copic markers. Then I used a water brush, with some Distress Oxide Salty Sea that I pounced on an acrylic block, to fill in the background. I added some black speckles and went around the edge with Black Soot.  Next I embossed some toilet paper in an embossing folder that I pounced with Distress Oxide Dusty Concord on one side and Milled Lavender on the other. I used this tutorial by Carol Tinson .  After die cutting the lace edging, the lace circle , and the ‘hello’ , I cut the purple mat and used a starburst die on it. I put it all together on an A6 white card base and added some sequins. Thanks for stopping by! Sandy

The photo for  The House That Stamps Built - DCC Challenge F321 is so pretty! I can just see that pretty wreath on the outside of the door with flakes of snow on it. So that’s what I decided to go with. For a nighttime look, I blended Distress Oxide Stormy Sky in the center of a piece of 4-1/4” x 6” cardstock and Chipped Sapphire around the edges & towards the middle. Then I added splatters using white craft paint. Next I die cut a bunch of different types of leaves in several shades of green; then the smaller wreath from the Shapabilities Woodland Wreath set, and the letter part of the CZ Design “Hello” die set in a lighter green. I also die cut the back part of the sentiment and the little snowflakes, using a Marianne Design Craftables die, in white. I glued the wreath, leaves, and snowflakes into a circle shape on the inked mat and then added the sentiment, some clear sequins, and attached it to an A6 white card blank. Thanks for stopping by! Sandy

It was no contest as to what I would use for the  Simon Says: Favorite Technique challenge: Trapped Embossed Resist. I just love the effect you get, and it makes a great background for so many other techniques and designs! I have a rose print background stamp that I’ve had for a long time, but never used, so I pulled it out for this. After stamping it using Versamark ink and embossing it using a fine detail clear powder (Stampendous), I blended 5 different shades of purple Distress Oxide ink over the top & buffed it with a microfiber cloth. Next I pulled out my Cuttlebug, and die cut the letter portion of the Simon Says “hugs” set, and 3 copies of a rose outline die (another one I’ve had for ages), from lavender cardstock. Then I cut the back part of the “hugs” and a stitched rectangle from white.  I put it all together on an A6 white card blank and added some clear sequins. Thanks for stopping by! Sandy

For the  MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge - Sketch 529 ,    I didn’t get too creative. I basically copied this design on the challenge web site by Courtney Kroeber. After stamping a 4” x 5-3/4” piece of white cardstock with the Altenew Tulips Outline stamp, I used my Cricut Maker to cut a 3” circle in it. From black cardstock, I also had it cut a 4-1/4” x 6” mat and the 2 pieces that went on either side of the circle. I then colored in the design on the 3” circle using Copic markers.  Once the white mat was attached to the black mat, I lined up the design on the circle with that on the mat, and attached the circle with black foam dots. I glued on the black pieces and embossed the sentiment in black. The sentiment is from the Simon Says Anna’s Flowers set. I decided the design on the circle, even though colored, was just a bit too dull, so I applied a layer of Glossy Accents just on the colored parts. It’s difficult to see here, but it’s all shiny now, which really ma...

The  Simon Says: Add Some Texture challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to try using modeling paste like I’ve been wanting. When I went back to find some tutorials they were mostly using texture paste or embossing paste. I have no idea what the differences are, but I have the modeling paste so that’s what I used. This is one tutorial, by Paula Cheney , that I read. I really like this flourish design, but I don’t have the stencil for it, so I had to get creative. I do have the Sizzix Mixed Media cutting dies, and one of those is a very similar flourish, although a corner design. I cut a piece of cardstock with that die twice, moving it the second time so I had better coverage for my card. Taping a 4” x 5-3/4” piece of white cardstock to my media mat, I put another piece of tape across it to divide it into 2 parts, top & bottom. I taped my homemade stencil on the top part and spread the modeling paste across it, filling in the stencil. After removing the stencil and tape,...

The colors for the  MFT Color Challenge 159 and the SugarPea Designs Clear Stamp - Mix It Up Challenge #76 are almost identical and I wanted to make something special for my nieces birthday, so when I saw this tutorial by Jennifer McGuire I thought they would combine really well. I began by cutting vellum and lavender cardstock, making the vellum 3/8” longer than the lavender and creasing it at the point that would make them the same length. Using my Cricut, I also cut a piece of white cardstock 2.75” x  7”, creasing it halfway down, and had a verse & frame drawn on. I also cut 2 thin frames of lavender that would fit around the folded card. Using the Picket Fence Peony Bouquet stamp set, I silver embossed a whole peony flower in the middle of the vellum. Next I embossed peony blooms around the rest of the page with Lindy’s Gang Magic Moon Pearl embossing powder. Once set, I colored in the central peony using Copic markers. I also silver embossed the sentiment on a strip...