Hello Awesome

The Wednesday Challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog is Anything Goes this week, and one of the companies they are focusing on is Lil' Inker Designs.  It just so happens that I recently ordered some dies and stamps from Lil' Inker, so I decided to play along.

I used three Lil' Inker products on this card: the Stitched Mats: Rounded Rectangles die, the Awesome Word die, and the little "Awesome" word stamp from their Notebook Doodle Stamps.  I cut the rectangle out and stamped the "awesome" background with embossing ink.  Since the stamp had some black ink left on it, it came out grey in some places.  I also stamped the "hello" with a Hampton Art stamp.  I cut out 6 "Awesome" words from glitter cardstock and stacked them to create depth, offsetting the top layer for a shadow effect.  A glitter cardstock background and some fun sequins finished it off.

This was my first experience with Lil' Inker products and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.  (Please note -- I have no affiliation with the company and don't get anything for reviewing their product.  I'm just a regular consumer who happens to like what she got.)  I have dies from a few manufacturers that I have to shim with multiple layers of paper or run through the machine multiple times to get a clean cut.  My Lil' Inker dies cut cleanly and perfectly on the first run without any shimming, even when cutting glittered cardstock.  The stamps also made a clean impression, with every detail coming out crisp.

I'm super busy trying to get my house ready to sell because we're moving to another state, so creative time is at an absolute minimum for me right now.  Taking this challenge and trying out my new goodies was a really fun way to get some art into my day.  I always feel inspired when I have something new to play with, and doing a challenge is a great way to focus on a specific design element.  This all makes for a much quicker creative process for me.  Usually I sit around for hours trying lots of different ideas and product combinations.  This time I knew what stamps and dies I wanted to use, I already had the glitter cardstock out from another project I'd just finished, and instead of going, "Hmm... what little embellishments should I add?" I decided on sequins and didn't even look at anything else.  I love how quickly it all came together, and now that I've had a little creative fix, I can face sorting through another kid's closet without losing my mind.  :)

Happy Crafting, everybody!

Materials Used: cardstock: DCWV and Crafter's Companion, dies: Lil' Inker Designs, stamps: Lil' Inker Designs and Hampton Art, sequins: Studio Calico, Adhesive: ATG and Art Glitter, ink: Ranger, other: card blank

Scrapbooker's Blog Tour

Hello!  I was nominated by the fabulous Robyn at Cozie Nook Homestead to participate in the Scrapbooker's Blog Tour!  I love Robyn's country distressed style and her use of mixed media and metal on her scrapbook pages.  You should check her blog out!

On with the tour: 

1.) What am I working on right now?
Right now I am mostly working on trying to (once again) organize my office, which serves as my writing and creating studio.  I recently took out a card table and replaced it with a bookcase and a small piece of countertop that was left over from our kitchen remodel.  I'm also hoping to finally put away the pile of stuff on the floor that has been waiting for a home.

I've added shelves to the wall over my desk and moved my inks up there from their old position on the hutch.  That is now occupied by an Ott Light that sticks out over the spot where I do most of my creating.  I've been bringing in and taking out different organizational units (shelves, tables, racks, drawers, etc.) trying to find the right combo to finally have a place for everything and everything in it's place.

Once things get cleaned back up I'll start on the baby album for my newest Great-Niece.  I think it's funny that I'm only 41 and I have 15 Great-Nieces and Nephews (and another on the way!).  Some of them are older than my kids!  That's the fun of having a large family with 16 years between the oldest and youngest sibling.  :)

2.) How long does it take me to create a project?
This varies greatly.  If I have a good chunk of time where I can escape to my office to work, I can get a LO done in a couple hours.  Usually it happens over a matter of days, though, because I'm constantly being interrupted by my kids (being Mom comes first and foremost) or have mixed media elements that need to dry.

3.) What are my favorite things to create with at the moment?
Right now I'm really into stamp and matching die sets.  I always liked to fussy cut things for my work, and this is an easier way of doing the same thing.  I'm also having fun playing with various gels and pastes for mixed media techniques.

4.) How does my writing/creating process work?
I almost always start with the photos I want to scrap.  Then I pick papers that somehow go with the photos, and add in embellishments from there.  I don't usually use a sketch, but I'm sure doing so would speed up my creative process A LOT.  My journaling is usually off the top of my head, though I often write it out on a scrap piece of paper to make sure it will fit into the space allotted on the LO.

5.) How do I become inspired and stay inspired?
I'm inspired a lot by other people's work, and when my scrappy mojo has disappeared I can usually get it back by checking out a challenge on the Scrappin' Peeps board or a blog.  Sometimes I'll see a random photo or something IRL that inspires me -- usually a color combination.  I recently saw a bhangra dance group on a TV show and their bright, beautiful costumes made me want to create something with those happy colors.

Cornell Bhangra dance group

6.)What is my signature style?
I don't really have one style.  I'm a Gemini, and it shows in my love for many different looks: vintage, clean and simple, shabby chic, mixed media.  I love to learn and try new things, so my style is always evolving, and it really just depends on my mood or the mood I want my LO to convey.

Well, thanks for coming on my little creative tour!  I'm waiting on permission to nominate the next blogger, so once that comes, I'll link up to their blog.

Happy Scrapping!

Pretty Packages

It amazes me how the simplest packaging can add so much to the experience of receiving something.  I recently ordered some stamps and dies from CASual Fridays and they came packaged like this:

Just a strip of cute tissue paper around the middle, tied with a piece of twine, but it made me smile.  It made me feel like they cared enough about me as a customer to put in the extra effort to package my order in a cute way.

I had a similiar experience a few months ago when my mother-in-law got me a subscription to Somerset Studio for my birthday.  (Yes, I won the MIL lottery.  She's awesome!)  One day I found an envelope in my mailbox with this inside:

What a beautiful way to announce my gift subscription!  I felt like I was really going to get a high quality product from this company if the gift announcement was packaged so nicely.

Even an extra little message added to a card envelope can make someone's day.  This was on the card my sister sent me for my birthday this year:

That's one way to ensure the envelope will be saved!  :)

Sometimes as crafters we get so used to what we make that we don't realize the impact our creations can have.  This pillow box was so simple to make, but the response to it was great. 

I put some chocolates and a gift card in these to give to my son's teachers at the end of the year.  He has some learning difficulties, so his IEP team had been working with him for a few years, and he was now moving on to middle school.  I wanted to let them know how much we appreciated what they did for him and how far he had come with their help.  I put a little note inside that said "Thank you for helping him SOAR!"

When I dropped these off at his school, the office staff kept commenting on the packaging and how cute it was.  They couldn't believe I made it.  I was surprised by the reaction because it was so easy to make!  I'm so used to what I make, and to seeing the amazing creations of my fellow crafters, that I forgot how special what we do actually is.

So next time you're looking at a website, a magazine, or even a friend's work and think, "Oh, I wish I was that good!" remember:  YOU ARE!  To the people who receive your handmade cards or albums or even just pretty packaging on something, the effort you put into it makes them feel extra special.  And that's worth more than anything.

Happy Crafting!

Heartfelt Creations Flowers

I've had some Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies for awhile now.  I've used the Sweet Juliet dies to make flowers, but this is the first time I've used the stamps and dies together.  I got out the Vintage Floret sets and went to work on a lay out for a challenge on Scrappin' Peeps.  (The challenge was to use a 6-Word Memoir on your lay out.)  It was a lot of work making all the flowers, especially since I haven't found a good method for combining the stamps and die cuts yet.  I need to invest some time in watching videos on ways to do it.  In the end, the effort was so worth it, though.  I absolutely LOVE my lay out!  I think I'm going to get a 12x12 frame for it and hang it up somewhere.  I mean, who wouldn't want to see my cute babies every day?  :)

Everything on this lay out is paper and ink, which is kind of amazing to me.  With all the scrappy goodies out there to embellish with, I sometimes forget how much you can do with just paper!

Materials Used: paper: Heartfelt Creations (Countryside Evening Collection); ink: Tim Holtz Distress (Pumice Stone, Walnut Stain, Broken China), Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist (Buccaneer Bay Blue), Wink of Stella Brush (Clear); stamps and dies: Heartfelt Creations (flowers = Vintage Florets, leaves = Sweet Juliet and Delicate Asters); flower-shaping tools: McGill; pen: Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen (black); adhesive: ATG and Art Glitter

Experiment: Adding Color to Modeling Paste

I decided to try adding a bunch of different colorants to modeling paste to see which ones work best.  The experiment itself went pretty well.  Making the video?  Yeah... not so much.  lol  I had planned to fast forward some of the scenes to make the video shorter, but my editing software wouldn't let me do it.  Then the end of it was all wonky and staticky, so I ended up cutting it and doing a new ending.  But the important thing is that you get to see what happens when adding things like spray ink and Twinkling H2Os to modeling paste.  I will warn you that the video is almost 14 minutes long, so grab some popcorn and snuggle into a comfy chair.  :)

Materials Used in the video:  stencils: Heidi Swapp and Studio Calico, Twinkling H2O : LuminArte (Hot Cinnamon), gelato: Faber Castell (Tangerine), spray ink: Lindy's Stamp Gang (Yellow Rose of Texas), india ink: Dr. Ph. Martin's (Grass Green), acrylic paint: Craft Smart (Mediterranean Blue), metallic rub: Viva Inka Gold (Violet), molding paste: Golden, cardstock: from my scrap pile

Camp Iwannascrap 2014 Water Wonders: Fiber Paste

Hello Campers!

This is my final post for Camp Iwannascrap 2014, so I want to take the opportunity to thank you all so, so much for playing along and giving me your feedback over the last two weeks.  I have had so much fun  making these tutorials for camp and joining in with all the other camp activities!

Today it's all about fiber paste!  This is another art medium that can be found with the gels and modeling paste in the fine arts section of many craft stores.  What sets fiber paste apart is the handmade paper appearance it has once dry.  This video shows off one my absolute favorite techniques for using this!

I noticed in the video that it's a little hard to see the yellow color on the star, so here's a close up of the star and butterfly I inked:

Here are some flowers and butterflies I punched out, painted with Twinkling H2Os, and added to a LO:

 

Once again, thank you to everyone who took the time to watch my videos!  Don't forget, I have two challenges going -- one on Scrappin' Peeps and one listed here on my blog hop post.  The deadlines are at the end of this month, so you have plenty of time to work on your projects.  :)

I hope you'll continue to visit me here at Terrapin Creek Design Studio!  Happy Scrappin'!

Camp Iwannascrap 2014 Water Wonders: Modeling Paste

Hi Campers!  Today we're going to play with modeling paste!  Yippee!

Modeling paste is an acrylic polymer that you can use to create amazing texture on your lay outs and cards.  It can be mixed with acrylic paint to color it before applying, and once dry it can be painted over with acrylics, water colors, inks... all kinds of stuff.  So it's a very versatile medium to play with.

Modeling paste is also called molding paste by Golden Artist Colors.  When I looked up what the difference was, I found out there really isn't any.  According to Golden's website, Mr. Golden just carried "molding paste" over from a similiar product, but it's basically the same thing.  (Apparently he also used it to fill a dent in his car bumper... oh, those creative types!  lol)

I have another video tutorial for you, but I'll warn you that it's a little on the long side (7 minutes).  The first half is the modeling paste technique and the second half is an insight into my crazy process.  Here you go:

And here is the finished LO:

As I mentioned in the video, I did this for the Everything's Coming Up Roses Challenge at Scrappin' Peeps.  The pink roses were made using a tutorial found at Stacy Cohen's blog.

Materials used: cardstock: American Crafts, patterned paper: DCWV (Blossoms & Butterflies), flowers: Recollections, bling: Queen & Co, sequins: Studio Calico, molding paste: Golden, adhesive: Beacon and Multicraft Imports

Photo taken by Studio Mark Emile in NH