For the Love of Rubber Art

More Amusement from Handmade Ryan

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Oh, Ryan...you make my inky fingers quiver and my arty heart go pitter-pat.

Clever Koi Card

Who doesn't enjoy the bright flash of koi swimming in a pond?  Unfortunately, I don't have a koi pond, so I created one...

click the photo to see a larger image

The Clever Koi Die equaled love-at-first-sight and I knew I wanted sparkle, so I pulled out my Stargazers Watercolor Palette for some color and shine.  I spritzed the colors I wanted, Sol Yellow, Mars Red and Antares Orange, and painted them on our Watercolor Paper (it's nice and smooth). This was done "wet-on-wet," wet paper and wet paint, so the colors would blend. Once dry, I die-cut the colorful paper.

To represent the "pond", I embossed Blu Raspberry Card Stock (from our Festive Variety pack) with the Flourishes Embossing Folder and die-cut the embossed paper with a Nestabilities 3.75" circle.  This was popped off our White Linen Mid-Size card and the gorgeous Jasper Leaves die adhered on top.  My die cut Koi were then popped off the pond.

I wish you could see this in person ~ the Koi are super-shimmery and the textures and colors work together beautifully.  Adding the three aqua pearls created interest and...I'm fond of asymmetry : )

I learned how to use the inlinkz link manager!  The items used in this project may be found, below, with links to their product page on Stampassion.com.

 

Memory Box Clever Koi Die	Memory Box Jasper Leaves Die	Stargazer Mica Watercolor Pallette	Festive Variety Card Stock
Stampassion Watercolor Paper	Chevron & Flourishes Embossing Folder Set	White Linen Mid-Size Cards & Envelopes	Memory Box Metal Adaptor Plate
Sea Mix Pearls & Gems	Pop Dots (104/Pkg)	Quickie Glue Pen	Plus Glue Tape Roller - 1/6"

InLinkz.com

Blooming With Happy

I really do adore the things we sell at Stampassion.com and love having time to actually create with them.  There just isn't enough of it, which probably makes me like everyone else.  When I do have, or make, extra time, I enjoy combining four of my paper art loves...stamping, Zentangle, craft dies and embossing folders.  This card does just that and it is for my dear Mary D's birthday today and, being me, it was mailed yesterday. 

click photo for a larger image

The tangle, Splinters, is by Lizzie Maynes and you can find the step-out on my Tangle Patterns board on Pinterest.  It looks somewhat floral and I thought it would be a good focal point for the center of this gorgeous Memory Box die we carry, Loom Circle. I drew Splinters, and the checks, with a Black Micron .01 Pen, colored with PrismaColor Pencils and added sparkle with a Clear Stardust Pen, which you can't see in the photo : (

The circles were cut with Nestabilities dies.  I added dots around the Loom Circle with a Black Glaze Pen. The Embossing Folder is in Hero Arts' Chevron & Flourishes Set, embossed on our Cream Cougar Card Stock and popped off a Cream Linen Card.  A few scattered pink gems help tie-in the color inside the card plus, Mary likes the bling!

 

 

The stamp inside the card is a new image from PrintWorks, called Hope Your Day. It is stamped with a VersaFine Onyx Black Ink Pad on Sour Apple Card Stock.

click photo for a larger image

The small Isabella Butterfly die, from Memory Box, is cut from Razzle Berry Card Stock.  Both Sour Apple and Razzle Berry are in one of my favorite paper assortments, Festive Variety ~ the colors are happy and they work beautifully together. 

I drew the tangle, Finery, on the butterfly and added some Clear Stardust Pen, which you can see sparkling in the sunshine : )

All I can hope is that Mary received her card today and enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it for her. 

Happy Birthday Mary!

Luminous Poppies

via davebrethauer.typepad.com

It's a gray, rainy day but this card from Memory Box Design Team member, Donna Sledzik, cheered me up!  

by Donna Sledzik

She used the new Luminous Poppies and Happy Birthday Background stamps, which we carry on cling mounts (click on each product name for a link to Stampassion.com).  Donna's card is so bright and happy, particularly with the addtion of the Squash Distressed Dots print paper from Memory Box.

Donna's instructions may be found by following the link, above, to Dave's Memory Box blog, Outside The Box.  Check it out ~ she used Distress Markers to color directly on the stamp; a tried and true technique that always looks great.

One of the new saying stamps from Memory Box is the one below.  It is a combo stamp, meaning it's two stamps for the price of one (love that!).  The little flower is on the side of the wood mount.  I can only hope the old saying is true, for if today is the test of it...we'll be blooming like crazy in May!

Snail Mail...

Woo hoo!  The new Memory Box & Poppystamps Spring 2013 Collection has arrived at Stampassion.com.  I am thrilled as I actually got time to play with some of the new dies and here is one of the cards.  The Memory Box Forest Snail spoke to me, for some reason, and I thought it would look good paired with the new Leafy Border die, cut from MB Key Lime Distressed Dots patterened paper.  The sweet little Missing You stamp, from Lockhart Stamp Company, added just the right sentiment and Dancing Butterflies, another new MB die, added movement and a punch of color (I used MB print paper from the Pixie 6x6 collection).

The Key Lime Dots paper is edged with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and Tim's essential Ink Blending Tool.  Missing You is stamped with my much loved VersaFine Vintage Sepia Ink Pad ~ it always stamps crisply!  The bit of sparkle on the Forest Snail is Crystal Stickles and there is Fruit Punch Stickles on the Leafy Border berry tips, as well as Berry Pearls.  I plan to stamp Lockhart's Snail Mail and Itty Bitty Escargot on the envelope...just to carry through on the theme : )

And to Stampassion's E-News Group, be sure to check our latest E-Newsletter ~ you could receive the Lockhart Missing You stamp free with your next order! 

Signs of Spring

...always grateful for the sweet signs of spring.

 

A Tangled Valentine

I must thank Maria Thomas, one of the founders of Zentangle, for the inspiration for my husband's Valentine card. Although I'd made a card for Dan last month, it ended up in a Stampassion E-Newsletter, which he saw, so I thought I should come up with something else.  I saw Maria's blog post and loved her ATC...after seeing that, I was ready to tangle.

So with that inspiration in mind, I also started Dan's card with a Zentangle Artist's Trading Card, or ATC, plus a heart, rather than a circle - how clever am I?  The tangle inside the heart is one I'd pinned to my Pinterest Zentangle board some time ago.  It's called Garlic Cloves and this is the first time I've drawn it.  Check the step-out here - I think the blogger is from Denmark, but luckily, drawings are universal.

I actually shaded the tangle with a PrismaColor pigment color pencil, rather than a graphite pencil.  Why? Because I'm brave and also didn't want smudging inside the rays : ) Do this only if you are confident in your pencil coloring skills since pigment pencil is there to stay! The heart is filled with rich Red Uniball Signo Pen - a gorgeous color.  I popped-up my finished ATC on Licorice Distressed Dots card stock, from Memory Box, then red card stock and a Licorice Duplex Card.  Three little Berry Pearls add a little balance and color. Best of all, Dan really seemed to like it!

Here is the gorgeous ATC from Maria that got me thinking. 

To look at larger photos for each of these, just click on the image.  Note how prevalent Maria's shading is.  When I went to my Certified Zentangle Training, class #4, I asked Maria about shading and was pleased when she told me she really went for it.  I have always done that too, with any art or stamping, so it was good to hear.  It make all the difference when you want a one dimentional drawing to pop and look more 3-D.

The items in blue are available at Stampassion.com.  If you have questions, please leave me a comment and thanks for visiting!

Melissa

Crow & Pumpkin

I absolutely love combining rubber stamps with dies ~ they are naturals together. One of my fav dies lately is Magic Flourish.  I often trim and/or cut it apart so it will fit where I want it (and that's a lot easier with a die cut, rather than with a stamp!). 

In addition to the Magic Flourish, I used the Crow And Pumpkin stamp and one of the new alphabet die sets, Parker Lower Case, all from Memory Box.  The card stock comes from our Festive Variety package which includes my favorite Halloween colors...Sour Apple, Grape Jelly & Orange Fizz. Here, I used a scrap of Hilary from Bazzill, for the green strip. The base card is Stampassion's Cream Linen Note Card.

What really spiffs up this card is the stripey detail on the flourish. Ever since I fell, hard, for Zentangle®, I often find myself including a touch of Z-ish detail that really adds zing to my projects. Is it a Zentangle?  No, but it is ever so useful to have those patterns running around your head : )  I drew the stripes with a Micron Pen.  My trusty, much-used, Quickie Glue Pen stuck down of all the little parts ~ thank goodness Sakura invented that product!  Of course, I mucked something up but managed to cover it with the tiny maple punch. You know how that goes?

The Pumpkin And Crow was first stamped on my card and again on Cougar Cream paper.  What can't be seen on the photo is that the pumpkin was then stamped with another Memory Box favorite, Distress Garden Background and Bundled Sage Distress Ink.  It's subtle in the photo but adds texture and looks great in person.  The pumpkin was colored with Copic Markers, cut out and popped up.

The card is going to our Halloween girl, my niece, Lauren, for her October 30 birthday : )

 

 

 

Honeyblossom Sprig

I needed a card at the last minute (of course!) and this super-quick one is what I came up with.  It was easy-peasy, yet as a "less-is-more" sort of card designer, I really enjoy it.  The card is clean and simple, but effective with just a touch of color along with the crisp whites.

Honeyblossom Sprig is just one of over thirty new dies from Memory Box.  I cut it out in super-smooth White Cougar Card Stock and added it to a White Linen Note Card.  Although it is white-on-white, the smooth die-cut on top of the textured card creates contrast. I like the size of our Note Cards, 3.5" by 5"; you don't need to add lots of stuff to fill it up, either inside or out.

I felt a little color was in order, so I added Razzle Berry card stock behind the open flowers. Razzle Berry paper just happened to match the new Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.  So...to stamp "Just For You", I had to open a set of the Summer Seasonal Distress Inks—'natch.  That stamp is from from Impression Obsession. A bit of sparkle was added to the pink flower centers via Star Dust Stickles.  Stickles and bling—rarely a bad idea.

I prefer decorated envelopes to naked ones.  A decorated envelope gives you a peek at the contents and a clue that there is something above average inside.  Pay attention : )

One of my go-to stamps is this one, Sonoma Print, stamped here with, you guessed it, Picked Raspberry.  I knew I could find an excellent excuse to open that set of new Distress inks.

 

 

Summer Seasonal Distress Inks...in stock!

In-stock and ready to ship! 

Tim Holtz Summer Seasonal Distress Inks are bold and beautiful. The colors include: Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn... yum.

Click here to get yours!

Stampassion also has the matching re-inkers, so do your inky best—you won't run out! 

Check out Tim's video all about this wonderful new palette of Distress colors...