Art or Trash?

We all know that one man's trash is another man's treasure. So what is grunge collage art? Is it art or is it trash? Let me know your thoughts on this kind of 'art'.

I really love making this type of art card with lots of distressing. I enjoy making a piece of ephemra from scratch, taking something new and making it look old. Here is a card that I worked on over the weekend. All images on the front panel are from Artistic Outpost. I stamped the image of the woman on Very Vanilla, cut it with my Nestabilities Tag Shape 3 die, sponged it with Creamy Carmel and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distressing ink and it was instantly aged! The 'photo' was stamped on Very Vanilla, the edges cut with deckle scissors and sponged with Creamy Carmel and Vintage Photo. I made a crease in it and sponged the crease to simulate an old photo.

Check out the butterfly and the flower embellishment. Both were coated with Versamark and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder was applied, heated and again, instant aging. They look like old, rusted metal. The new Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder is amazing and so much fun to use!

Here's the inside. Don't forget, you can click on the photo and it will open as a large photo display. That will allow you to really see the details.

Leave me a comment and let me you if you like this type of art or not.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Keeper by Artistic Outpost, Natural Beauty by SU, Laundry Line
Paper: Stampin' Up! Afternoon Tea DSP, Very Vanilla
Ink: Stewart Superior India Ink, Creamy Carmel (SU), Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Versamark, Blue Bayou,

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Labels 2 and Tag Shape 3 dies, Martha Stewart tripple scallop punch, SU circle punch, SU natural hemp, natural crochet thread, white embossing powder, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distressing Embossing Powder, metal butterfly from Making Memories, two flowers from Lost & Found jewelry findings, sewing machine, Prima flower, random silk flower

Take & Eat

I purchased the First Holy Communion set last year from Our Daily Bread Designs and used it to make several cards. It's a really beautiful set and one that I am sure to use over and over again. Since it's the time of year when many children are making their first communion, I wanted to do something really special. Here is the outcome of my efforts. The color purple doesn't seem to really be true with either my camera or my photo editing software because the real color is a little

more on the purple side than the photo depicts.

The image is stamped on Whisper White with Stewart Superior India Ink and watercolored with a combination of watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons. I was actally just messing around with this edition of the image, sort of doing a draft. I liked the way it came out so well that I decided to go ahead and use it for my card. The purple cardstock is Creative Memories that I ran through the Script embossing folder with my Cuttlebug and then brayered gold ink lightly over it. The cross in the background is the center die cut from the Spellbinders Frameabilities die. I had to lengthen the vertical piece by cutting it, which is covered up by the main image. I thought it needed a little something more so I cut the corner pieces from the same die set and then added the gold pearls for a final effect.

I thought the inside panels came out really beautiful. The sentiment, beautiful in itself, was heat embossed with Gold Detail EP and framed with the outer portion of the Spellbinders Frameabilities die. It was too tall so I cut it and collapsed it. Then of course, I had to patch the cuts so they wouldn't show. I used the same corner pieces that I used for the front, this time in purple and stenciled them with gold ink. The corners of the right-hand panel are punched with a Fiskars corner punch and the panel is edged in gold.

Now that I have it finished, I think it is probably to adult-looking for a child's First Communion. But adults who have gone through the process to join the Catholic Church also have a first communion so I think it would work great for an adult. Or since I didn't put the matching stamp on it that says "God Bless You on your First Holy Communion", it could be used for any Christian celebration. As a happy conincidence, the card layout matches the March 21st sketch for Our Creative Corner so I am going to link it there.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: First Holy Communion by Our Daily Bread Designs

Card Stock: Purple from Creative Memories, Whisper White, Really Rust and Gold from Stampin' Up!,

Ink: Versamark, Encore Ultimate Metallic Gold, Really Rust from SU, Watercolor Pencils and Watercolor Crayons

Accessories: Cuttlebug Script Embossing Folder, Spellbinders Frameabilities die, Spellbinders Rectangle Nestabilities, gold pearls from Michael's, gold embossing powder, sewing machine, Fiskars corner punch

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

Easter Wishes

I made this card for Splitcoast Stampers Wednesday sketch challenge SC220. It's the sum and total of my stamping efforts for the entire weekend. As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to participate this week. I wanted to use this Rubbernecker stamp before Easter so there was no problem deciding which stamp to use. Ditto for paper. I purchased this Crate Paper pack called Baby Bee a few weeks ago and love the soft spring colors. So that part was easy. The challenge for me came because I wanted to do something different and eye catching. Something that would make the viewer say 'Wow!" when they saw it. So I lingered over the design and deliberated and pondered, sigh. And unfortuntely, not much came from it. But I do love this lacy trim from the Chatterox artsy.licious line and the colors matched up perfectly. And Pumpkin Pie ink from SU also matched well as did the sentiments from the SU All Holidays set. Overall, I am happy with the way the card turned out, but it just doesn't have the zip and zing that I had hoped for. I'd give it a 7 on a 1 to 10 scale.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Rubbernecker, Stampin' Up All Holidays

Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky, Crate Paper Baby Bee, Watercolor paper for main image

Ink: Stamped - Pumpkin Pie, for watercoloring: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, More Mustard, Lavender Lace, Lovely Lilac,

Accessories: Image stamped with Versamark and Stewart Superior India Ink, clear EP, Cuttlebug, Bloom Dots embossing folder, Long Rectangles Nestabilities, Martha Stewart border punch, Chatterbox artsy.licious ribbon/trim, Crystal Effects, bead caps, art pearls.

Wishing you many blessings on your week,

Liberty for All

This card was a mid-week card, which is quite an accomplishment for me lately. I am participating in a challenge on a private blog to do a thank you to the troops card. Actually, Iam trying to get two done by Friday, March 20th. I don't have many patriotic stamps so I went to a Victorian clip art CD that I have and found this lovely photo of a colonial painting and framed it using Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles. I cut three layers of thin cardboard, glued them together and painted them with Tim Holtz Pickett Fence Distress Crackle Paint. When it had dried, I took some Adirondack Acrylic Paint in Snow Cap, mixed it on a palet with SU Night of Navy dye reinker and stamped the stars on the frame. The bue stared paper is old, old scrapbooking paper from Creative Memories that I took a sanding block to, removing the top layer of shine to come up with a faded, aged look. The Thank You label was also cut with the Curved Rectangle Nestabilities from thin cardboard to which I applied Versamark and silver embossing powder. I heat set two layers of EP and then, after inking my stamp with Versamark, stamped the Thank You into the hot EP which gives it the look of stamped metal. The Red stars were run through the CB with the Distressed Stripes embossing folder and then lightlysponged with Chocolate Chip ink for a slightly distresssed look and sewn down using a machine blanket stitch.

The top inside panel features a quote by John Adams dated July 3, 1776. I cut the panel to somewhat resemble a scroll. The bttom matching panel thanks our troops for helping to uphold the promise of freedom for America. All the print on the inside two panels was done on my printer. Using a minimum of stamping, I was very happy with the way this card turned out.

This is a very different type card than my norm. I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of it.

Have a blessed day,

Shabby Envelope

I didn't have time to make a card this week so I am sharing one I made last September. This was my second ever attempt at a collage card and I was thrilled with the way it turned out! It is so soft and romantic. It was a real project from going through my stamps to find just the right vintage images to hunting down paper and ribbon. There there was making/stamping every little detail.

I first made the base of the card by layering Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel together. The edges of both layers were distressed using a pair of scissors and sponging with Creamy Caramel. When I am going for a real vintage look, I like to use scissors to distress the edges rather than a distressing tool. It rips the edges up a bit more and makes some actual tears in the paper. You can't really see it, but the Creamy Caramel layer was clear heat embossed with the Baroque Motiffs stamp from SU. I created the corners by cutting thin cardboard with the Cuttlebug Vintage Corners die, which I then embossed with gold EP. The "envelope" was made from some old Creative Memories paper by folding it into the shape of an envelope. I distressed the flap edges with a tool and by tearing them, then sponged all the edges with Creamy Caramel. After that, I used the Gentler Times stamp to gold emboss a filagree pattern along the flap edge. The sentiment is from the Verve Visual Asian Flair set. The llittle daisy flower was made with an old Creative Memories flower punch. The young girl's picture was stamped in Creamy Caramel from the Days Gone By set, as was the Honey Almond Cream "label". The inside of the card was also finished off with distressed layers and gold embossing from the Gentler Times set. I love both of these vintage Stampin' Up! sets.

Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Days Gone By, Gentler Times, Asian Times from Verve Visual
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip for the base, envelope is constructed from Creative Memories paper
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Versamark for embossing
Accessories: Gold EP, SU ribbon, a piece of gold net ribbon from my stash, SU button, the small flowers were embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and punched out with a Creative Memories punch and the brads are SU, Cuttlebug and Vintage die, machine stitching, random silk

Have a great weekend. Hope to see you back next week for a new card that I hope to get done during the week next week. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my vintage Shabby Envelope!

Pretty in Pink

Another Rubbernecker image. This was made for SplitcoastStampers sketch challenge SC218. Isn't this sweet little bunny the cutest? I was in a spring mood and pink just seemed to be the right color for her dress and I branched out from there. The paper is from SU's Bella Rose designer paper pack. The bunny's shoes and eggs have been glazed with Crystal Effects and Stickles was applied to the ribbon on her hat. I gave a light coat of a shimmery mixture of LuminArte Simple Solutions 2 and LuminArte Metallic Mica Luster Pearl. It's hard to see the sparkle of the Stickles or the shimmer of the LuminArte in the photo but it really livens up the image.

The hardware is from Elite Better Beads (I believe they are called bead caps). I took an SU brad, snipped off the prongs and glued it to the bead cap. I think it makes a nice, interesting embellishment.

Both the upper and lower inside panels have been finished off. In keeping with the monochromatic color scheme I had going, I used the Pink Pirouette ink to stamp the Easter Blessings stamp which was also clear embossed. It was stamped on vellum and overlaid on a circle of Whisper White that had been run through the Swiss Dots CB folder. The bottom white panel was punched with a Martha Stewart Ribbon Threader punch and matching pink ribbon from Jo-Ann's ws treaded through and single knotted on each end.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Rubbernecker Bunny and Sentiment
Ink: To watercolor bunny: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Creamy Caramel, Certainly Celery, Blue Bayou and Lavendar Lace, Versamark and Pink Pirouette for the sentiment
Paper: Bella Rosa Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!, Pink Pirouette. Whisper White, vellum
Accessories: Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots embossing folder, Circle and Long Rectangle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart edge punch and ribbon threader punch, Elite Better Beads (from Michael's) and SU pink brads.

Easter Bonnet

Oh my goodness, I am so happy to finally get a new card posted on my blog. I have been so busy this past week with work, then Ash Wednesday was super busy for me since I work at a Catholic church. Then my husband had surgery on Friday and I had an all-day retreat I facilitated on Saturday. So today, Sunday, I took some me-time and finished this card that I started earlier this week. Isn't this sweet little chick from Rubbernecker just the cutest in her fashionable Easter bonnet? I stamped her on 140# watercolor paper with Versamark and Superior Black India ink and then clear embossed her. She was watercolored with my SU ink pads. I found a pack of spring like paper with colors that matched up well with SU's Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava and Certainly Celery. It's Chloe's Closet from Making Memories. I used Stickles on the flowers to give them some extra bling.

I took some of the double stitched grossgrain ribbon form SU, gathered it and glued it to the back of the circle I cut with my Nesties and then mounted that piece on a larger scalloped circle aslo cut with Nesties. The eggs too were stamped on the watercolor paper, watercolored and then glazed.

This card is a little departure from my vintage, retro, distressed norm but it was fun to work on.

Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Chick and Easter Blessings are from Rubbernecker and the Easter eggs are from Studio G Clear stamps (the $1 stamps from Jo-Ann's).

Paper: SU's Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou and Whisper White, Making Memories Chloe's Closet DSP.

Ink: Versamark, Stewart Superior Black India Ink, Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery, Almost Artichoke and Groovy Guava

Other: Cuttlebug and Circle/Scalloped Nestabilities, the flourish is a QuicKutz die, Martha Stewart double scallop punch, Blue Bayou double stitched grossgrain ribbon, stickpin from Chole's Closet line by Making Memories, Crystal Effects, pearls and some crystals from the SU Pretties Kit, small crystals are Sworski and the tiny green butterfly charm is from Jewelry Findings, sewing machine.