Bright & Beautiful

This week I learned that "all things bright and beautiful" is the first line of a poem/hymn written in 1848 by Mrs. Cecil Alexander whose published work was called Hymns for Little Children.

I've also spent the week converting wood stamps to cling mount and testing them (a project not for the faint of heart).

So to take a break and to link up with Simon's Monday challenge, I used various stamped "test" remnants along with an old book page, a vintage photo and some washi tape to create a collaged journal page.

I also had to try a technique I discovered this week where you stamp with Distress Oxide ink and then smear it just a bit with a blending tool. The page border was created this way and I have Stacy Hutchinson (via Tim Holtz) to thank for sharing this tip.

Stamp credits: Inkadinkado, Tim Holtz, Penny Black

Extra Ordinary Joy

Embracing the old and the new and some extra-ordinary joy with this tag, made on-the-fly today because I could and I did.

I have a lot of side-projects going on related to reorganizing my crafting space. Like converting some favorite wooden stamps to cling now that I have a stamping platform. I tested one of them today (French Collage) using a Big & Juicy stamp pad (remember these?) on a manila tag. And I just couldn't leave well enough alone. So....

I curated a Found Relative (the latest release has new images) and fussy-cut it like I used to before there were Paper Dolls.

I cut out some images from a newly purchased stamp set called Stamp Collector, then foraged around for more paper bits and found the leaf/vine cutting and the polka dot paper (I save most of my scraps).

Put it all together with a glue stick, add some Remnant Rubs and Scribbles (the dotted border) and there you have it. Extra Ordinary Joy!

Thanks ...

After working on this card, I now have new respect for the challenges that this art form presents and for the artisans who make it look so effortless.

Mixed-media? No problem--you can just paint over a part you don't like. Card making requires more planning and if you make a mistake sometimes you just have to start over.

But practice makes perfect, right? So I plan to do just that and purchased the June Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. It features a lovely stamp set called Beautiful Flowers and I have used it for this card.

The kit came with three dots (red, yellow, blue) of an artist-grade watercolor paint from Daniel Smith and this was the only paint I used to tint this stamping.

Using the science of complimentary colors becomes critical in this scenario because you must tone down the primary pigments for the colors to look more natural.

The border was made with kraft paper using the new Tim Holtz 3D embossing folder called Botanical (also included in the kit) and machine-stitching provided some accent.

Otherwise, it's a bit of a plain jane but I didn't think it needed anything else since the flower image is such a show stopper. Thanks to this new stamp set, I now have some sentiment stamps that I was sorely lacking which will help me with my new quest in card-making.