25% off Everything in the Store!

We have a sale on the e-bay store right now for an extra 25% off all of the items in the store (with the exception of the MINC Mini Machine). This even includes some hot new items that we just posted for sale!

There is no coupon code required. Just add the products to your cart and the the discount will be applied at checkout.

Here’s some of the new items listed (Click the pictures to get to the listings):

 

Available in individual jars too! 

Available as individual brushes too! 

 

There’s more listings, but these are the ones I am the most excited about! Check out the e-bay store. There’s some great deals to be had!

Dreamboat Valentine’s Card with Avery Elle Stamps

I had so much fun creating this card and making up techniques as I went along!

This card features the new Stamp set, Dreamboat, by Avery Elle. Remember, our Avery Elle products are currently Buy One, Get One 35% off! You can even mix and match with Memory Box Co. Dies!

On to the card!

Aren’t they so cute!?

Here’s what I used:

Dreamboat Stamp Set by Avery Elle

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers

Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Waterbrush

140lb Watercolor Paper 

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Versamagic Black Ink

Teresa Collins Heart Sequins ( Old pack I found at a craft fair. Didn’t see it online)

Lawn Fawn paper from Let’s Polka Mon Amie

The video of making this card will go live tomorrow on our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lawn Fawn Thanksgiving Card

Last night I made my first Thanksgiving card for the year. I have to admit, I usually skip right over Thanksgiving and move on to making my Christmas cards. It’s not that I don’t think Thanksgiving is important, it’s just so hard to squeeze everything in with how close all of the holidays are together. I just couldn’t resist using this adorable scarecrow for something though!

The sentiment, scarecrow and crows are from the Happy Harvest Stamp Set by Lawn Fawn . The Tree is from the Sweater Weather Stamp Set by Lawn Fawn. That little spot of grass under the scarecrow is from the Critters in the Jungle Stamp Set by Lawn Fawn.

For coloring the scarecrow and crows, I used Ergosoft Colored Pencils and blended using Gamsol with blending sticks. Just lightly color and blend for a nice effect.

I decided that I wanted the outline of the stamps to be grey instead of the typical black and I used Memento London Fog Ink. The other inks that were used are Distress Inks. I used Ripe Persimmon on the sentiment, a mixture of Wild Honey and Fired Brick on the leaves and Walnut Stain for the tree trunk.

Those cute polka dot papers are by Lawn Fawn and they’re called Let’s Polka, Mon Amie . To paper piece and make the dots line up when using multiple papers, just cut the paper small and make sure you stamp the scarecrow at about the same spot. I don’t have the dies for this set, so everything was fussy cut (a.k.a. cut by hand with scissors).

I hope you enjoyed seeing my card. I did use a few Amazon affiliate links in this post. If you end up purchasing any other products, I get a very small commission. Intoxicating Arts also sells some of these products and those have been linked too. Thanks for stopping by!

12 Tags of 2015- July Tag

I managed to do two tags in a row. Wahoo! Below is my tag for July.

As always, I was missing many of the items necessary to duplicate Tim’s tag. I always try to make do with what I already have in my craft room because most of the time I can substitute items and even techniques. I made a video of the making of this tag. It just needs to be edited and I will add it to this post when that is done. I really enjoy doing these tags! Here’s a link to Tim’s tag and the tutorial : http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2015-july/ 

Here’s a few things that I did differently because I was missing supplies:

1. I used a different stamp set that had mini blue prints in it. Since I didn’t have the USA blueprint I decided to stamp it with some letters from one of my Tim Holtz stamp sets and add my own blueprint looking lines and arrows.

2. While I do sell the Distress Microglaze, I try not to take items that I have limited inventory on out of stock. (Which I am glad I didn’t because I am down to one as of this morning!) I had some wax laying around because I’ve been meaning to get in to encaustic wax painting. I had made my own encaustic wax using Damar Resin and Beeswax. I grabbed a chunk of wax and rubbed it over my stamped and colored images. I proceeded to watercolor over it hoping the wax layer would be sufficient. Apparently, it was too sufficient because I had rubbed all around the image and I ended up with more white background than colored background. At least now I know that is an option!  I didn’t have much control over where the wax would be placed when I was rubbing with that solid block. I think that’s a good reason to get the Distress Microglaze as you will get more control with your placement. The microglaze is paste-like and you only need a tiny bit to cover and protect a space from water methods.

3. I do not own a sewing machine. I considered buying a small one for the craft room, but I am really trying to limit myself of larger tools that take up space. So, I just did faux stitching with a pen.

4. My embellishments are different. The number 4 is a grungeboard piece that I painted with a metallic distress paint. The little star is one that I had laying around, and I didn’t have any good charms to add to the top. I really wish I did because it looks a little empty up there.

5. For the spritzing, I had to make my own black marker. I applied some Black Soot ink onto an acrylic block and picked it up with my water brush. The water brush I have will not fit in the spritzer, so I had to hold it carefully and spritz. It ended up working well enough.

6. The crinkle ribbon technique had to be done differently too. I used some seam binding and ran the piece through an ink pad. It laid down the color just fine and it looks about the same in the end. I did have less control over the placement of the color though. If I had the Distress Markers, I would of had a more defined white space in the middle.

So, there’s the differences and how I overcome not having all of the supplies. I hope that might help some of you who are lacking supplies. Just try to think of another way to get it done with what you have. Thank you for stopping by!

P.S. One product I can not substitute is Distress Ink! If you need some, we have it in stock and at a great price!  JUST CLICK HERE!

New Tim Holtz and Dyan Reaveley in Stock!

We just got a shipment in last night of some of the newest products from Ranger.

Dyan Reaveley’s Dylusions Paints are the perfect paint for art journaling. They are quick drying fluid paints that dry to a matte finish. They come in a nice wide mouth jar. Dyan has released youtube videos showing how to paint using baby wipes and create beautiful blending effects. After our 20% discount, you pay $3.99 per jar. There are 12 colors to choose from.

Click the picture to get to the listing!

Next up, we have a new Tim Holtz release. Distress Micro Glaze is a water resistant sealer. It’s perfect for sealing off distress inks so you can continue wet methods on top without reactivating the distress inks below. You only need to buff on a little to protect the inks below. One jar is $6.79 after our 20% discount!

Tim Holtz demos it in this video :

Click this picture to purchase!

Tim Holtz also came out with Distress Refresher Spray. If you have had your Distress Ink Pads, pens, or ink for a while now, they may have dried out a bit. Just spritz it with the refresher and get a nice juicy ink pad again. This refresher also works on other brands of water-based inks. $3.99 after 20% discount.

Click the picture to purchase!

Another Tim Holtz release is the Distress It Yourself (DIY) ink pad. Now this one, I am very excited about. How cool is it that you can take your reinkers and make a custom ink pad?! You can take other brands of reinkers too! The pad includes a blank label on the top for indexing too. After our 20% discount, they are just $3.19.

Click the picture to purchase!

Tim Holtz had been receiving requests from his fans to come out with the perfect sprayer for his fun water splatter methods. He came out with the Distress Sprayer. This is an empty sprayer that you fill with water to create spray effects. The cool thing about this particular sprayer is if you pull the trigger half way you will create water droplets. If you give it one swift pull, you will get a nice overall spray. The trigger also locks for worry free travel. After our 20% discount, it is $3.99.

Click here to purchase!

That’s all the new products we got in this time, but don’t worry, we have plenty more on the way! Make sure to check back and see what fun new crafting items we have for you!

Mother’s Day Card – Mother’s Help Us Grow

I made this Mother’s Day Card almost exactly how I did in my last post except I used a different technique and medium for the stenciling of the Floral Frame stencil.  This one came out so much more vibrant because of this technique.

Here they are side by side:

Using Liquitex Super Heavy Gloss Gel mixed with Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks

Using Prima Light Paste and then brushing Distress Inks over it after dried.

You can see that by mixing the Distress Inks directly into a clear glossy medium, you will end up with vibrant results. Brushing the distress ink over the opaque Light Paste gave it more of a pastel effect. The card on the left did take significantly longer though. I had to mix each color individually and then carefully apply it through my stencil using a palette knife and masking off areas that I didn’t want a certain color in. For the card on the right, I just applied the Light Paste through the stencil , let it dry, and then brushed the Distress inks over top after placing the stencil back on to protect the surface underneath and keep the color just on the stenciled areas. I used the same Distress Ink colors except the green. I believe I used Peeled Paint for the card on the right.

For a list of supplies, please refer to my last post.  Here’s the YouTube video of me making this card:

Thank you for stopping by!

Mothers help us Grow – Mother’s Day Card

I created a Mother’s Day card using our new Stencil Set “Mothers help us Grow” . This card was very easy to make and a lot of fun!

Here’s what you need:

• Mothers help us Grow Stencil Set

• Moroccan Tile Stencil

•Luster Mica Spray Mist in 3 colors. Or mix Luster Mica Powder in a spray bottle.I used Blue Ice, Shallow Waters, and Hawaiian Orchid.

• Prima Light Paste 

• Palette Knife

• Distress Inks (one or two greens, a purple, and a pink)

• Watercolor Paper cut down to 4-1/4 x 5-1/2″

•Black paper cut down to 4-1/2 x 5-3/4″

• Cream card base measuring 9-1/2″ x 6″ , scored to create a 4-3/4 x 6″ card.

• Painter’s tape (or something to hold down the stencil

• Sponge Dauber or cosmetic sponge

• Recommended, but not necessary, non-stick craft mat and heat tool.

First lay the Moroccan Tile stencil on the watercolor paper and quickly spritz with the 3 Luster Mica Spray Mists. You need to do this quickly because the paper will start to curl. The cool thing is, you will end up with a concentration of color in the middle and it will fade out to the edges. Let that dry for a second and then grab the Floral Frame Stencil and place that on top of the watercolor paper and tape it down to your work surface. These stencils are made specifically for 4-1/2 x 5-1/2″ card bases so it makes it easy to get it perfect. Grab your palette knife and Prima Light Paste and apply light paste through the stencil. Carefully remove the stencil when you’re done applying the paste. It’s best to let this air dry, but if you are impatient, you can use your heat gun. Just be careful because it will bubble if you leave the heat in one area for too long. One that is dry to the touch, re-apply the stencil and grab your distress inks and sponge. You can easily color the flowers and leaves since you have the stencil protecting the surface underneath. Dab on color as you see fit and then remove the stencil. Let that dry for a little bit and then apply the “Mothers help us Grow” stencil. If you line this up with the paper, it will align itself perfectly inside the floral frame. Grab another distress ink and a sponge and sponge the ink through the stencil. I found that cosmetic sponges work better than the small sponge daubers for this stencil. Since it has words on it, there are a few areas that the sponge dauber would snag on, but the cosmetic sponge did not. You can carefully lift the stencil and peak if everything went through properly before deciding if it’s done. Then all you have to do is tape it on the black piece of cardstock and then the card base. It’s that easy! Check out the dimension you get when you used the Prima Light Paste with one of our stencils! Thank you for stopping by!

Floral Birthday Card for Older Sister

Another month has passed and another family member’s birthday has passed as well. I don’t know about you guys, but it seems like there is a birthday every month between my family and friends. There’s some months that I end up celebrating 2-3 birthdays!  For me, April and May are the only months that I don’t have to make cards for, but of course I could make Easter and Memorial Day cards if I wanted to. I love that it means I absolutely MUST craft to make a card . Sometimes it’s a little hard to fit it in, but I try to make an effort to make them feel special on their day.

This is the card that I made for my older sister. I used a laser cut wood piece that I had laying around and tried out my new mica powder colors on her card too! I plan on releasing these very soon, but I wanted to test/play with them a little first. The dies that I used were Spellbinders and I got the pack for $10.00 at the rubber stamp event we went to. The flower stamps were in a $0.79 pack that I got from my LSS. Can you believe I found a red rubber cling stamp set for only $0.79!? That was a major score! I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder and peacock feathers distress ink for the background. The paper was an old Prima pad that I have and I can’t remember what it was called, but I want to say Sunflower since that’s pretty much what the entire paper pad was comprised of. Here’s the card:

 

She really liked it and says she wants to keep it! Of course, that is pretty much the best complement, since us card makers can’t even fathom the thought of a recipient throwing away our crafty gift that took us hours to make and we even were nice enough to use our special secret-stash-hoard items on. Yeah, you know what I mean! I hope you like the card as much as she did. Thank you for stopping by my blog!

My First Try at Stampscapes

I went to the Rubber Stamp Events Convention yesterday with my mom. We now go every year together since she moved back to AZ. It was a nice time and I finally bought some things I was eyeballing last year.  I did find a couple items on clearance,  but of course, the main items I wanted were full price.  Being that I still wanted them after all this time,  I let myself purchase them.

Stampscapes are these awesome silhouette style stamps that are used to form landscape scenes.  They are unique in the way they are designed because you don’t end up with harsh edges and it is easy to put together a truly organic scene.  A major bonus is there are over 100 informational videos from Stampscapes on You Tube. I’ve been binge watching them since last night!
Here’s what you need to get started:

Dye based inks,  glossy cardstock,  Stampscapes stamps,  sponge daubers (or some type of blending tool), white gel pen (for highlighting), protective work surface,  inka gold is optional for rubbing around the edge of the finished piece.

Close up on stamps I bought:

As you can see, one of those stamps is not by Stampscapes,  but I figured it would work pretty well. I also found a life-like Victorian House stamp when I was digging around in my craft room that I figured should work.

My first try at stamping the scene,  I put the mountains in the completely wrong spot. You can see that on the left sheet.

The second time I stamped,  I got it right.  You will need to do some simple masking along the way.  I used just a paper towel. Which I then also accidentally smudged ink with that same paper towel in the sky and proceeded to try to make that accident look like it was on purpose.  Not too happy that happened!

My coloring and blending skills could definitely use some work.  I used the gel pen to add highlights,  waves, and tried to make a foggy light coming from the light source in the background.  I might continue to blend this,  but it was almost midnight and I had already been working on it for a while. You MUST have patience when blending or you will end up with ruined foam pieces or harsh lines.  Light pressure and continued strokes is key.

Here’s my end product.  If I do this same scene again,  I will make the Victorian a light grey and probably do the same for the mountains.  I was playing downstairs and only brought a few inks down. My laziness of not wanting to go up to the craft room resulted in less than desired results.  However,  it was still a TON OF FUN and I will definitely be making more of these and turning them into Christmas cards :-)!!

A Spooktacular Halloween Card

Hey everyone! I was able to get some crafty time in yesterday (wahoo!). I had so much fun making this card.

 

I started off the background using only inks from the Tim Holtz Distress Mini Distress ink kits #1 and #2. < Click there to purchase for the super low price of $5.59! I blended them using foam. I started off with Mustard Seed, then Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, and lastly Salty Ocean. When the blending was done, I gave the background 2 spritzes of Hawaiian Shores Luster Mica Spray Mist. Then I stamped the tree and leaves from Lawn Fawn’s Sweater Weather Stamp Set.  I used a silver metallic gel stick from Faber-Castell mixed with a little bit of water to stamp the stars at the top. The ground is a mixture of spackling and slate grey acrylic paint that was applied with a palette knife. I dried one layer a little with my heat tool (it will bubble if you heat it too much) and then applied a second layer which was then sprinkled with Martha Stewart glitter. The cute little monsters are from Lawn Fawn’s Spooktacular Stamp Set.  I colored them with watercolor pencils ( a technique I am trying to get better at!) and fussy cut them. They were applied with homemade glue dots. The beautiful sentiment on the side of the card is a chipboard laser cut by Intoxicating Arts.  These are $1.69 and come in a 2 pack with one Card Maker size and one Scrapbooking Size.  The chipboard was colored using the same silver metallic Faber-Castell Gel Stick, but this time it was mixed with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gloss Medium. I also used the gloss medium to adhere it to the card stock. I hope you enjoyed this card and if you have any questions, please let me know!