Connie-Snowy Mailbox

Here is a card I have made using a technique called

"Distressed Water Backgrounds"

This is courtesy of Tim Holtz and his Distress Inks of course.

Also includes a lovely stamp by 

Teresa Sherman titled "Snowy Mailbox"

exclusively for 

 Sweet Pea Stamps

Below I have included photos of the steps

taken with this card for you:

First swipe Distress inks across a nonstick craft pad

keeping them a bit apart so not to contaminate them:

Then spritz water on them until small beads appear like this:

 Blot paper on this and heat until dry.

This is what it looks like the first time swiped and dried:

Swipe paper across wet inks a second time and dry with heat tool:

You can swipe and heat several times until you get the depth of color desired.

Then overstamp your image and finish.

Painted Canvas Tutorial with Elaine Cox's Plate #84

A while back, I saw a class mentioned in a newsletter for a faux canvas, so not being any where near the location I did a quick search and found this version of the technique...to be honest I can't recall where I found it but then if you had to take your head off to sleep at night I would be in a lot of trouble!

Now my technique is a bit hard to capture with a camera but fairly easy to talk you through. For starters, you will need a stamped, colored image, dimensional adhesive such as Diamond Glaze, 3D Crystal Lacquer or Crystal Effects, I think Glossy Accents will work also and a toothbrush.

Working on a protected, clean surface, take your dimensional adhesive and lightly add streaks to the stamped image working from top to bottom. Try not to have an large globs.

Once you have layered streaks all across the image, take your toothbrush and run the bristles in the same direction as the adhesive, working across the image - you will want the texture the bristles are making. The layer of adhesive will be thin and will dry fairly quickly.

Once the first layer is dry, if you wish you can add another layer in the same direction. But if you are happy with the coverage then you will add streaks of dimensional glue from side to side. Once more, spread the glue with the toothbrush also from side to side and allow to dry once more.

After the image is dry, use it to create your own little work of art!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing this technique enough to give it a try, it really gives the image the wonderful brushstrokes you would find on a canvas along with lots of shine. Thanks for stopping by!

How I mount and store my Sweet Peas

Hi everyone! It's Angela here and I wanted to share with you a tutorial on how I mount my plain raw rubber Sweet Pea's. First I cut out all my images then I turn them upside down. I did all my newest images outside as the weather was just too pretty to stay inside.

I use Aleene's 'TACK-IT' Over & Over glue. You can purchase it at Michaels that's were I got mine. You can probably find it on some on-line stores. I know Joann and Hobby Lobby carries the Aleene's glue but NOT the TACK- IT Over & Over glue. And that's what you need. Just to warn you this glue is VERY, VERY sticky. So keep a wet rag handy. Make sure you shake the glue up GOOD or it will be watery.

You will need a brush to apply the glue over the rubber. Any small to med. paint brush will work.

I just squeeze a small amount on the back of my stamps and brush all over the rubber, you may need to add more glue or less depending on the amount you need.

After you have applied the glue all over in even coats let them dry for at least an hour or longer just to make sure they are completely dry. When dry they will be sticky and you can attach then to your acrylic blocks if you want to stamp right away or they are ready for storage.

And I am going to show you what I use to store them on/in.

I use these clear plastic storage containers called Scrap Onizer's. I purchased mine at Unity Stamps but you can Google them and find them at other places. This was the cheapest place I found them at. You will also need to purchase the clear folders to attach them to. They come just like any other folder, but to get the best use out of them I cut them in half where they bend over. That way I have 2 pieces and I can lay them on top of each other. Here is a picture of one of the folders before I cut it in half.

After I have cut them in half they are ready to be attached to the clear folder and ready for storage. When you want to use one, just pull it off the folder, stamp, clean and stick back.

Here's a picture to show you where I started sticking my stamps to the folder. And you can see glue where the light is hitting the dry glue.

I turned the folder up side down to show you they are stuck and not going anywhere.

I also use the bottom of the storage container and stick some of my stamps to it. As it is made out of the same stuff. Then you can just start stacking up the folder halves on top of it.

Here is a picture to show you the container from the side. They are only about an 1" to 1.5" thick and can be stood up like a book. I have tried alot of different way's to store and attach my plain rubber stamps and this is by far the best to me that I have tried. I even use these container to storage my foam mounted rubber stamps. These storage containers works great for both. And the Aleene's TACK IT Over & Over glue is under $5 a bottle and this bottle goes a long way.

Well I just wanted to show you how I store my stamps and how I attach them to my acrylic blocks for stamping. I never have to worry about losing a stamp either and I can see through the containers. I also take a marker and write the stamp company on the spine of my containers. Here is a picture of how they look stood up on my shelf.

Today I also have a card to share that I colored last week and finished this week. I used Enchanting Gold by ching-chou kuiks fantasy art collection at Sweet Pea Stamps (plate #41).

Isn't she jsut beautiful? I get lost every time I color on of these images. Just the way they start to come to life. This is a pretty big image and I had so much fun with her.

Supplies:

Stamp- Enchanting Gold by ching-chou kuiks for Sweet Pea Stamps(Plate#41)

Ink- Memento Tuxedo

Paper: Image was stamped on Neenah Solor Crest, Metallic CS, DP- can't find at the moment

Accessories- Butterfly was cut out of the same DP, Leaves and flowers came from Hobby Lobby's Wedding Department, foam tape, added glitter glue to the flowers and leaves

COPICS:

Skin- E02,E00,E000,E50,E51

Hair-E49,E47,E57,E35,E53

Clothes: C0,C1,C3 and I went over it with a clear Sakura pen

Background- C5,C3,C1,C0

How to make a bow decoration.

How to make a bow:

Here's a little tutorial on how to make your own bows. It's very simple, you just need a good glue or tape if you prefer that.

My best tip ever is to only buy white ribbons and then colour them with your promarkers or copics. That way you will not only save money, but also always have the right shade of ribbon. Just be careful because you usually need to use a lighter shade on the ribbon than what you've used to colour your image. You can also use the backside of the ribbon that tend to be a bit lighter.  If you are talented you can even doodle on it to make it more personal.

Here's how I made the basic bow. You can mix colours, widths and materials as seen on the examples at the end.

Take two pieces of ribbon, the desired size of the bow twice as long and a smaller piece 3 times as the ribbon width.(You will understand it better further down)

Add glue to the edges of the longer piece and fold it so the edges meet in the middle. This is what the front looks like:

 Then take the smaller piece and fold it around the middle. Don't glue on the front, only the edges in the back.

Ta-daa, you're done. You can use the same ribbon or different widths and colours or even types. Why not an organza ribbon with a silk middle? Here is the fantastic glue I use for everything. It dries clear and is perfect to add metal, plastic or just about anything.

Here are a couple of cards where I've used this technique:

 Same ribbon throughout.

Coloured with different shades and glitter.

Double in different turquoise shades and widths with a flower and brad on top.















Hope you've enjoyed my tutorial and will give it a try . If you do, please link back to your work so I can have a look.

/Katarina

Enchanted garden and flower tutorial

This time I want to show you "The Serene Night" - another wonderful stamp from Sweet Pea that I hadn't played with until now. The text is from sheet 7 plate 29 and the stamp from sheet 4 plate 24. I actually had this image coloured and matched with the papers. It was laying around and I needed to clean my space a bit so I thought it was time to get it finished. I also made two flowers from a gift wrap paper that happened to match perfectly! I love how this card makes me feel - like I was in some enchanted garden.

Here's a detail of the embossed background with golden birds that I made:

Here's how I made the flower:
I used my blossom nesties, but you could use circles or cut shapes out by hand. I even embossed them to give them an extra edge, but I don't know if it really shows. Cut out 6-7 of them in silk paper (the ones you have to gift wrap)

 After you've cut them out, poke them into your hand like shown on photo to scrunch them up.

Glue them side by side and work your way around until you're satisfied with the result. You might want to use a smaller shape to fill in the gaps in the middle.

 Use different shapes to make different sized flowers:

And there you have it. If you use my tutorial, please leave a comment linking to your post so we can have a look.

/Katarina

Create low profile bling!

 

This technique will help you create a low profile bling embellishment. I picked up a 3 ounce bottle of glitter glue for less than $3 at a major mass merchandiser, this bottle will make many glitter dots! Besides using a hole punch, I had great luck creating shapes with punches, also. I recommend creating your shapes within a day of drying out the glue as it tends to become wavy with age and harder to punch.
   
Supplies:

Other elements
    Glitter Glue (Sulyn Industries)
    Crop-A-Dile (We-R-Memory Keepers)
    Sticker Maker (Xyron)
    Wax Paper (Reynolds)

Directions:
Working on wax paper, squeeze the glitter glue into a 1" strip about 2" long, a paper clip can be used to smooth out and ridges.

Allow to dry about 24 hours.
Remove the dried glitter strip from the paper and run through the sticker maker, smooth side down.

Using the hole punch, cut holes from the strip and catch them as they are created.

Peel the backing and attach to your projects as needed.

I also tried several other ways of creating my bling. The first was Stickles by Ranger - this was not a good idea, it crumbles too easily, which is too bad since there are so many wonderful colors available. The next attempt was using Diamond Glaze by Judikins with glitter, which actually turned out nicer than the glitter glue, for this method follow the instructions above, but immediately after creating the ribbon of glue, immediately cover with a generous coating of glitter before allowing to dry.

I hope you will find these tips to be helpful in your creations and as always enjoy sharing!!

Sweet Pea Index Booklet

Today I want to show you a little booklet I made to keep track of which Sweet Pea stamps I have. I keep my rubber in a zip-lock bag and it's hard to see which stamp is which and how it looks stamped. To avoid this problem I have stamped all stamps I have on slightly heavier paper than I normally use. Then I used a nestie shape to cut them all out and made a hole in every corner to fit a ring.

I also cut out a bit of heavy cardboard (like the one on the back of a notepad) to make a front. I then painted the back with white and pink paint and glued on a piece of  pretty paper on the front.  Finally I cut out letters, added a flower and added some dimensional glaze on the green/yellow bird in the top left corner.

 

On the back of each image I have written the name of the stamp and which plate it belongs to. Then I sorted them chronologically with the oldest sheet in the back and newest in the front.

 

This project is fabulous to bring on a vacation or if you just feel like colouring but don't want to make any cards. I always colour my images to match patterned paper so it's hard to bring images to colour on vacations (unless I want to bring tiny pieces of  patterned paper as well, which makes it too big of a hassle)

I hope you've enjoyed this project and gotten some ideas of how you can store and view your Sweet Pea stamps!

/Katarina