House of Dreams (and a Dream Job for Shelby)

Look at this house and tell me that's not the cutest house ever! You wouldn't believe it but the plain paper mache house sat in my stamp room for months without creating inspiration. Then one day I got out my light green metallic paint, and this lovely version was completed within days.

Every light green metalic painted house I've ever seen has had that exact same effect on me.

Hey Shelby! What do you think of the house now that it's done?

It's whimsical, alright. What's with the little red tiles?

Glad you asked. As everyone may know, I am totally addicted to the little pearl stickers and the nailhead stickers. Well, when I was at Archivers last weekend I found these mosaic tiles and fell in love with them. I bricked the "walk" around the house and the chimney.

What's going on here (see picture above)?

Here you can see the wisteria on the side of the house and the ornamental iron door. Actually that's not the best photo of the door because there's too much detail of the copper fireplace inside. The top picture shows the door better. It was created in a very complicated process using black wire and a wire jig. The green wire wisteria vine actually helps to hold the whole think together.

How did you make the wisteria?

With flower soft. The window treatment is just a little piece I embossed and cut out using Ten Seconds Studio's Big Daddy #4 mold.

Okay, here's the detail of the roof from the front. I embossed metal using Ten Seconds Studio's Kabuka #2 embossing plate and the trim is Dresden foil that I got from Rock Candy Studios.

This is the roof at the back of the house.

Look! I even did the inside of the house. Note the copper fireplace. When the roof is back on the house, there is a red tile brick chimney that fits on top of the fireplace, but since it's attached to the roof part of the house box, you can only see it when you have the roof on and you look through the windows.

Or the door?

Correct. I made some really cute baseboard and chair rail out of tiny strips of white chipboard. The floor is just a piece of caramel cardstock with lines and dots drawn on it and then distressed with ink.

I see lines in the floor, but I don't see any dots.

Well, in real life, I added two "nails" on either side of where the planks join together.

That's a lot of detail.

Well I don't want my imaginary floor to come up.

This house looks better than the room you gave me to live in. I don't get the ornamental iron door. What's it protecting? Are tiny men going to break in and steal the firewood? There's nothing in this house.

Which is why it looks a lot neater than your overcrowded room.

Onto another topic, I need you to teach me how to stamp because . . . drumroll please . . . I have a new job!

Woohooo!!! Shelby that's fabulous! What are you going to be doing?

You are going to be so jealous. I got a job at Archivers scrapbook store.

NO, YOU DID NOT! I am so freaking jealous!

They needed someone to help customers in the store and teach stamping classes.

You don't stamp, Shelby. Why would they hire you to teach stamping?

They asked me if I knew how to stamp and I said, "I have thousands of stamps at home, and believe me, they are well used." So anyway . . . could you teach me?

Until next time,

Cyndi and Shelby

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

Memorial Day Weekend Stamping Extravaganza

Guess what I did this Memorial Day weekend? I stamped. I stamped a lot. A whole lot.

See, here's what happened. There's a group based in my church, Maanza a Leza, and we make jewelry, sell the jewelry, and use the money to support a village in Zambia. (I went to Zambia to meet them. They are the nicest people ever! They had an unrealistic desire to educate their children. Now that desire is being realized. Yeah!!!) This coming weekend we're going to sell our jewelry at the Memphis Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in Jackson, Tennessee. Anyway, a sideline to the jewelry is hand-stamped cards. But we didn't have any to sell, because I've been a slacker lately. I spent the three-day weekend catching up. Here's what I made:

I started off with the above card because I had made some that were very similar last weekend with my friends in Missouri. The layout is from an Anna Griffin advertisement that I loved and tore out of a magazine several years ago. (You don't have to keep the entire magazine. Just tear out what you like and toss the rest.) The stamps are Anna Griffin. I made 15 of these cards. My husband immediately bought the two packs of six because he has some thank-you writing to do. The cream background was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

Okay, you might notice that this one looks REALLY similar. Instead of using cream cardstock for the background, however, I used my favorite Anna Griffin background paper, Cuttlebug-embossed it, and then sanded it. Again, the stamps are by Anna. I made 18 of these cards. My BFF Joyce bought six of them. (You're thinking I'm not going to have any to sell at General Conference, aren't you?)

Oh, and those wayward spots on the main images of the above cards are actually gunk that was on the glass of my scanner. I have since cleaned my scanner. I don't want you to think I'm a sloppy stamper!

The above card contains no stamping at all! The main image is embossed and sanded colored metal from Ten Seconds Studio, and behind that is the same embossing on cardstock and then inked. I only made 6 of these because I need to figure out how to be neater with the spackling. You have to spackle the back of the metal so it won't cave in during the mailing process, but I end up inadvertently getting it on the front, and then it dries, and it looks not so good.

So last week I had a discussion with Shelly Hickox (yes, the Shelly Hickox) about upcoming trends. She assured me that I cannot go wrong with an Indian/Persian theme. Okay, I'm using that as an excuse to buy fabulous Persian-themed paper from Basic Grey, and also an excuse to get out the Mehndi set from Sugarloaf Products (now Inque Boutique--but it was just Sugarloaf when I bought them--I used Inque Boutique for purposes of complying with the Angel Policy). The gold stripe across the middle is a piece of red-line tape covered with tiny gold beads. I made 12 of these.

Some more Basic Grey and some more from the Mehndi set. Oh yeah, and the sentiments on these two cards are Stampin' Up! I made 15 of these.

This is a blatant CASE from the most recent Take Ten issue of Stampers Sampler. I added the flower at the bottom, changed the sentiment, and you can't tell it from here, but the black background has been Cuttlebugged with Swiss Dots. All the stamps are from Verve. I made 12 of these.

Since we're supporting Africa, I had to make a couple of Africa cards. The giraffe is by I Brake for Stamps, and the verse is by PSX. Look real hard at the left of the stamp and you can tell it was Swiss Dot Cuttlebugged. I don't think you can see that it is also scored with a Score-It just to the right of the Swiss Dots. The scoring line gave me an excuse to have the card open not at the edge, but at the score line, which is different and kind of cool, although there is less writing area inside the card. I made 12 of these.

Okay, I've got to admit, I LOVE this one. You've got to love these running zebras by Beeswax. The tree is by I Brake for stamps, and the verse is from Stampin' Up! The paper is from Graphic 45, and I may have to buy stock in this paper company. What I love about the background papers is that they remind me of the chitenge cloth that the women in Zambia wear. And the sentiment definitely captures the spirit of my Zambian friends. I made 18 of these.

That, my friends, is a total of 108 cards made in one weekend! Whew!

Cyndi