Sympathy Card

Well, now that I have a giant card rack up at church all the time, I am feeling the pressure to actually put cards in it.

So this morning I got up an hour early so that I would be able to make a few sympathy cards before work. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but it was going to have to be quick and easy. Unlike some people, I try to be on time for work.

I know, I know. Can you believe they fired me the other day for coming in late?

Yes, Shelby, I can. You were almost two hours late. Waitresses cannot show up for the lunch rush at almost 1 p.m. But back to my story . . .

I sat down to peruse my latest Catch-Up issue of the Stampers Sampler . . .

The one you keep in the bathroom?

That's the one. I found the perfect card to CASE. It's on page 108 if anyone has her copy close by. I studied it really close, read the description to make sure it didn't have a tricky technique that would take me more than an hour to replicate. Then I happened to look at who the artist was who made it. The card was made by Shelly Hickox!!!

Your friend who lives in the country and doesn't throw anything away?

If I could make art out of refuse, I wouldn't throw anything away either. Anyhow, I just thought it was cool that out of a magazine full of stamped cards from the US and abroad, I would pick out my friend's card to CASE. Anyway the birds are by Penny Black, the words (both English and French) are by Stampin' Up!

I stamped the coordinating envelopes so she wouldn't be late.

Until next time,

Cyndi and Shelby

Faux Dry Embossing

That's so strange. I just found this card by the computer, which was apparently going to be uploaded today, but I guess Cyndi didn't have time to scan it this morning. The weird thing about this card is that the embossed medallion isn't really embossed. I know this for a fact, because I touched it and was surprised that it is as smooth and flat as Oklahoma. Click on the picture so you can see it real good. You won't believe it!

Shelby, what are you doing with (1) my card and (2) my computer? And when did you start uploading stuff on your own?

Well, you're at work, so I assumed you weren't going to get this done today. I was just being helpful. I have to leave for work in a few minutes, so why don't you quickly tell us all how come that center medallion looks embossed, but it's not.

I guess you're talking about the red part and not the silver brad and it's cute filigree enhancement.

Naturally.

Let me start by telling you that this card was made for yesterday's Splitcoaststampers challenge where everyone was invited to scope out Christy S's gallery, pick a card we liked and change a few things. I picked out this card, which is fabulous, and since I just received the Stampin' Up! Circle Circus stamps, I CASED it.

The medallion is made using a technique called Faux Dry Embossing. First I stamped the image in white craft (pigment) ink, and then, using my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I moved the image over just slightly and stamped it in Rose Red, the same color as the cardstock. Actually, I discovered that it works better when I stamped it twice in Rose Red, holding the Stamp-a-ma-jig in the same place both times. It covered the white better.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm late for work now. I just took a new job as a waitress, and I'm pulling a lunch shift today.

Lunch shift! It's 12:40!

I know, I said I was late.

Until next time,

Shelby and Cyndi

Challenges, Challenges

This card started as a response to a color challenge on Splitcoaststampers, to use Ruby Red, Baja Breeze, and Whisper White. I also wanted to play with some of the techniques in the Technique Junkies Newsletter.

Specifically, I wanted to know what could be done with the Bargello technique. I remember as a teenager doing some Bargello with yarn and plastic canvas, and I remembered that we did a lot of variations on the pattern.

I also got into a conversation today with the very talented Shelly Hickox about whether or not you could make your own alcohol ink out of . . . well, alcohol and ink. More about that later.

I just got this new Stampin' Up! set called Rustic Rooster. I would link it, but it's not even available yet except to the million and a half (intentional exaggeration) Stampin' Up! demonstrators out there. I thought this fine fellow would look good using the Clear Collage Technique, again from the Technique Junkies Newsletter. But I cheated. The rooster was colored with Ruby Red dye ink after it was covered with clear embossing powder and heated. "How did she do that?" you may ask your computer. "There's no way to get regular dye ink to stick to what amounts to a plastic surface! It will just bead up, smear all over the artwork, and wipe off! She's messing with the very laws of science and nature!!!!"

Woah! Settle down. It's okay; I just bent the laws of science and nature to suit my own purposes. As I hinted at earlier in the post, I added a little alcohol to the dye ink and painted it on with an empty water brush. It didn't bead up, and it didn't wipe off. It didn't even come off on the glass of my scanner (which is good because it would have been very hard to explain to my husband how the "cat" got red ink on the glass of the printer).

The other stamping was done on a sheet of acetate, because the Bargello, while very cool looking, is not a very smooth surface to stamp on. I put a little warm white acrylic paint on the backside of the acetate so that "Thinking of You" would show up against the background. It turned out to go pretty well with the Clear Collage part.

Cyndi

New Card Rack

Yesterday I just happened to stop by my local scrapbooking and stamp store, Eclectica, where they were having a "garage sale." Among the treasurers for sale were two racks formerly designed to hold Transfer Titles. I bought one rack for $10 and brought it home.

My husband deftly cut off every other "pocket" on the rack and repainted it, I made some acetate pocket liners, and now it's a 30-pocket greeting card rack where I can sell cards at my church that support our mission project.

Not a bad investment.

Cyndi

Stencil Stamping

For those of you who are subscribers to the Technique Junkies Newsletter, you might recognize the new technique "Stencil Stamping" on this pear. You will notice that this pear has a subtle pattern in it, that's from a brass stencil!

Wait a minute. The flower thingy is not part of the stamp?

Good morning, Shelby. I didn't realize you'd be up before noon today.

Your cat woke me up 10 minutes ago by sitting on my bladder. So, the pattern that's in the pear isn't a pattern that's in the stamp?

No, the stamp is from the Oxford Impressions plate Field Notes. The samples I've seen using the Stencil Stamping Technique use a solid stamp, but as you might remember, Shelby, the pear stamp I used is a photograph of a pear, thus giving me a natural highlight on the left side of the pear.

Oh yeah, I remember that stamp exactly. I have memorized every stamp you own. All 12,973 of them. How did you get the pattern onto the pear?

I don't think I'm allowed to tell. It's a Technique Junkies secret. Suffice it to say that it involves a stamp, a brass stencil, and craft ink.

That does not suffice at all. I don't think you know what "suffice" means.

Go back to bed, Shelby.

Until next time, happy stamping!

Cyndi and Shelby