Dance Yourself Clean Handmade Card

Happy Saturday, friends! I'm popping in to share a card I just created for Visible Image. I was really really excited to get the Born to Perform set because I don't have any stamps for dancing or performing arts and this set is super unique and artsy. 

One of the techniques I like to use from time-to-time is to use my ink pad directly to press ink on to my paper. In this case, I used Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide.

Next, I spritzed the ink with water to let it bleed and soften the hard edges. 

I stamped a series of words to create a graffiti-like effect in the background. 

On the bottom layer of my card base, I added a little bit of stamped grunge with the Universal stamp set. 

I added some hand-drawn stitching, washi tap and black gemstones, along with a stamped ballet dancer to finish off the design. 

I hope you all like it!

Elegant Poinsettia Stamped Christmas Card

Hello Ladies and Gents,
It's getting sooooo close to Christmas! Anyone else still working on cards? Anyone else trying to decide if they are actually going to address all those envelopes to people this year even though you've made a bunch of cards?

Sigh* sigh*

Alas, my mantle is getting full of Christmas cards and I would feel mighty guilty not returning some joy. I have weekend plans, yo! 

Anyhow, I'm popping in to share a reminder that STAMPlorations is smack dab in the middle of the December Theme & Sketch challenge, which has lots of prizes up for grabs.

For my card, I decided to use the theme, along with a very loose version of the sketch. 

I cut a background using the Stitched Snow Hills CUTplorations dies and then spritzed it with water, then Barn Door Distress Spray Stain.

Next, I used some InkaGold and liberally wet my paintbrush to create some gold splatters in the background. 

I used some decoupage to add lots of chunky gold glitter. I embossed a very merry sentiment (Merry and Bright Typografia) and then added in some elegant poinsettias to complete the look. 

Taaaadaaaa! Now to go address some cards. 

PS! If you want anything in the STAMPloraitons store, definitely give yourself a little giftie because you can use code STAMPGIRLBECCA to get 20% off anything in the STAMPstore.

2017 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

It's a hip hop, a hippity hop, a hip hip hop hooray!

(if you haven't heard that song, you need to google it now so that it's as stuck in your head as it is in mine.)

Anyhow

I'ts the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! Woooo!!!

I know you all have many places to hop along to, so I will keep this post short and sweet. 

When I think winter, I immediate think Valentine's Day, because that' my favorite part about winter. Ergo (using antiquated words is fun, huh?), I decided to create a wintry love-themed coffee card for this particular hop. 

I looooooove this cheeky stamp set (A Cuppa Love), which I designed for super sponsor STAMPlorations. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, lovey-dovey cards, friendship cards, and more. 

Best of all? This set is only $10 AND during the hop you can get it (and anything else in the STAMPlorations store) for 20% off using code STAMPGIRLBECCA at checkout. 

Well what are you waiting for?! Get to hopping you crazies! I'll be popping in with more cards throughout the hop and can't wait to see what you make! 

Inspiring Blackout Poetry - Visible Image

Do you hear that?
If you listen really closely, no matter where you are in the world, you can hear the sound of my happy dancing. 

Why? Because it's my very first post as an official member of the Visible Image design team and I am over-the-moon excited to show you what I made with their stunning products. 

I've shared my love of blackout poetry a couple of times through my blog, though mostly share these pieces on my Instagram account. 

But when I got my inky hands on the Face It! set from Visible, I couldn't help but to want to make a blackout poetry set. Drawing eyes and mouths are my least favorite thing, so it makes me sooooo happy to finally have a fool-prove face-making method! 

If you're unfamiliar with blackout poetry, let me explain. To create a blackout poem, you find a phrase or "poem" you want to highlight using the words on a book page (in this case, I'm using Homer's "The Odyssey"). Finding the right phrase can be a lot trickier than it looks! 

Once you've identified your words, scribble around them to make them pop out. 

Once I had my poem, I used my Misti to stamp eyes, nose and lips. 

Kind of creepy to have a face staring out at me from my Misti. :) 

Next, I used the Strobes stencil and inked it up with a black pen and outlined where the rest of my drawing would go. 

I sprinkled the sunburst with yellow and orange Ken Oliver Color Burst crystals and used a very, very slightly damp brush to spread the color. You don't want to use too much water because the pages of books are very thin and they will warp easily. 

I painted up an abstract flower hairpiece using a variety of purple paints and white gesso.

I painted her hair with colorburst crystals, and added detailing to the facial features. 

The whole blackout poem reads:

"All that dwelt around were
Fettered
Of Heart
But
She
Threatened to Raise
The Sky"

I hope you love my project today! Make sure to stop by Visible Image's blog for some awesome inspiration from the rest of the VERY talented design team! 

Jingle All the Way Stamped Christmas Reindeer

Iiiiiiii'm dreaming of a whiiiiiiiite Christmas. 

Seriously, here in the frosty tundra that is North Dakota, things are decidedly... brown. Which is rather uncustomary for this part of the land. Now that it's December, I'm missing the fluffy white stuff. 

And now that it's December, that means it's time for a new Theme & Sketch challenge over at STAMPlorations! wooo! 

This month's theme and sketch are alllll set up to result in some uber elegant designs. The theme is stamps & gold and the sketch involves some scrawling lines and big ol' blooms.

But, naturally, instead of elegant I chose to go goofy and make some reindeer with jingle bell noses. 

I cut three curved lines into my background using Stitched Snow Hills die cuts. Since I also wanted to play along with the challenge over at Shopping Our Stash, which is snow much fun, I stamped some snowflakes from the Christmas Reindeer set and then sponged in two shades of blue Distress Inks. 

I cut out the reindeer and added on some jingly "noses" to accompany the sentiment. Snowy and cheeky! :) 

I hope you come play along this month at STAMPlorations because there are TONS of prizes, yo! You can use any stamps you'd like. 

I'm also going to play along with the following challenges:
Moving along with the times - Christmas Animals
The Merry Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

25 Days of Christmas Tags

If you've been following along in bloggyland at all, you'll know that there is a HUGE event going on over at Tracey McNeely's blog called the 25 Days of Christmas tags! 

All sorts of different talented crafters are showing off their tag game, and working to inspire all of you in prep for the Holiday season. 

Today, STAMPlorations girls are taking the reins. Here's my creation: 

Those adorable penguins and accompanying scene came from the brand new Winter Chill set, which I LOVE! There's also a bunch of great die cuts in the shop, and I used Manila Nesting Dies to create a base for my design, along with Stitched Snow Hills to complete my landscape.  

Big news!!! Practically EVERYTHING in the STAMPlorations shop is on sale for 40% off. So after you get done hopping at the 25 Days of Christmas tags, go treat yourself to some goodies! 

Giving Thanks Blog Hop + Prizes

It's one of my favorite times of the year!! I love thanksgiving because it's a perfect time to reflect on all the things I'm grateful for and to just sit with the knowledge that I am so blessed.

STAMPlorations is having their annual Giving Thanks blog hop and linky party and you all NEED to participate in this!

Since it's a blog hop, I'll keep this short and sweet and tell you that there are some AMAZING new stamps being released in honor of this event. I made this card using a brand new sentiment set called Words of Gratitude.

This past year has definitely seen its up and downs. It's been so rewarding for me with my career, but personally --- well my life was thrown for a shambles earlier this year.

One thing that's always remained a constant is my outlet in the bloggy world and the AMAZING team of creators who make up the STAMPlorations design team.

Shery Russ, the owner of STAMPlorations, is one of the most fantastic human beings I've ever had the pleasure to "meet" and each one of my STAMPsisters is so supportive, talented and encouraging. I know there are so many bloggers out there who can attest that when you get involved in the STAMPlorations brand by playing along with our challenges, you will ALWAYS feel like your artwork matters. We love commenting and admiring.

Speaking of, check out the prizes for this awesome hop:

Prize Info

Prizes for commenting on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blogs:

• THREE (3) winners randomly drawn from all comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blog will each receive a $25 certificate to the STAMPlorations store

Prize for liking, commenting, tagging a friend, and sharing our post on the STAMPlorations Facebook page post:

• ONE (1) randomly drawn winner will receive a grab bag consisting of new products (valued at $25 MSRP) + another grab bag of the same value to the person he/she tags

Prizes for linking up to the STAMPlorations Wishlist Linky Party:

• TWO (2) randomly drawn winners will each receive products in their wishlist (up to $40 MSRP)

Prize for commenting and re-posting our Giving Thanks Blog Hop and Wishlist Linky Party post on the STAMPlorations Instagram page:

• ONE (1) randomly drawn commenter will win her choice of Giving Thanks stamps (Thankful & Blessed; Wonderfall Time; Words of Gratitude; OR any 2 Typografia Thankful stamps)

Commenting on the blogs and linking up to the Wishlist Linky party ends on November 30 at 11:55 p.m. Pacific

To get the full deets on the Giving Thanks blog hop, check out the STAMPlorations blog today. Now get to hopping!! 

InkaGold Mixed Media Card for Guys

When I found out the latest challenge for Seize the Birthday was Circles... well my mind started spinning. 

You see... I'd been working on an art project a couple of months ago and had cut out an excessive amount of die cut circles. Like WAY more than I wound up needing. So now I have a bag full of a gazillion circles that make me mad every time I look at them because they were SO MUCH WORK. 

Well, they came in handy because I'm guest designing for Seize the Birthday through the end of the month. 

Their Toppings theme this time around is "Circles". You can really make any kind of birthday card you want and link it up to their challenge, but they give you an optional theme every time, too.

I created a shiny background using a wet paintbrush and some InkaGold. I'm definitely going to be making more backgrounds like this because, in the end, it looked like brushed copper. So pretty! 

I ran my painted background through my embossing machine, using an embossing folder with a clock print. 

The circles were cut out on white paper, then I used my fingers to slather some green, gold and copper InkaGolds all over. Looooove the textural look of the circles. 

I stamped a sentiment and old-fashioned car from a Unity kit to complete my design. 

I'm going to play along at:

More Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes (option of black)

I also used the color scheme from The Color Throwdown.

So. What's circling in your brain? Give the latest challenge over at Seize the Birthday a try!

Elegant Autumn Leaves Thank You Card

Happy Thursday! 
This weekend, I'm off to a concert series down in the Twin Cities area and I can't wait! 

But before I go, I get to show off the design I made for the latest Fusion challenge. I loved the warmth of the inspiration image and I took a stab at the sketch, too. 

I've had these gold leaf stickers from Martha Stewart for so long. They're just so lovely and I haven't been able to bring myself to use them. I finally found the perfect design that would let me part with them. 

My little design is also going to go play along over at
Die Cut Divas - Autumn 
Little Red Wagon - Harvest Time

I hope you'll come play along at Fusion this fortnight! 

Cheers!

Happy Birthday Artsy Masculine Card

Hi Friends!
It's a brand new month and that means a brand new challenge over at STAMPlorations Theme & Sketch.

I'm not usually a 1-layer card kind of girl, so when I saw this sketch, I was a little intimidated.

For this challenge, you can either use the theme OR the sketch OR both. It's really up to you. :)

I faced my fears head on and decided to tackle the sketch. I pulled out some funky little gear shapes from the Artsy Tribal Doodles set and stamped away using Distress Inks. 

Once I had the stamps alinged, I used some Distress Spray stains and dabbed them on, spritzing them with water so they bled onto my card. 

I added a sentiment using the CUTplorations Celebrate Word Die and some little Tim Holtz sticker sentiments to complete the look. 

If you want to check out any of the products I used, or wind up adding anything from the STAMPstore to a shopping cart, make sure to use code STAMPGIRLBECCA for 20% off your purchase. woot! 

I hope you'll go check out the Theme & Sketch challenge and play along this month. You could win some AWESOME prizes. 

Growing in Unity Hop + Prizes

Boy (or in this case girl) - do I ever have an exciting couple of minutes planned for you. I'm so jealous because you guys (or girls in this case) get to hop through some AMAZING talented cardmakers AND you get the chance to win some awesome prizes from Unity Stamp Company.

If you're here from the hop, you're on the caboose of the talent train. 

Here's the official order:

Terri Burson from Waving My Wand

Sarah Vait from Sarah's Stamping and Stuff

Deborah Adams from A Creative Life 

Becca Cruger from Damsel of Distressed <-- YOU ARE HERE

Here in North Dakota, we saw the first snow of the season this week! Naturally that put me in a Christmasy mood (aka the pre-Christmas panic of realizing I haven't made any Christmas cards this season and I now have exactly ONE MONTH to get crack-a-lackin'). 

I bought the Unity Itty Bitty stamp set All is Calm All is Bright stamp set last Christmas season and never opened the package. So now I'm killing two guilt birds with one stone! I get to use a never-before-used-schtuff (in the words of Darnell Knauss) AND start my Christmas card spree. 

I stamped my image and then sponged over it with some Broken China Distress Oxides. Then I spritzed it with a little bit of water. 

To add a little texture and shimmer to my background, I schmeeeared some Heidi Swapp metallic white embossing paste through a stencil. 

Instead of letting it air dry, which would have produces flat circles, I used my heat tool to dry it. You can see that this causes the paste to bubble and crack, producing a yummy texture (and helping impatient crafters like me get on with their business). 

I put it all together, and got this little lovely! I even think I can get away with mailing it with no extra postage. Woot! 

Thanks for popping by! If you're new to my blog, I'd love for you to give me a follow. I love teaching new mixed media techniques and sharing my processes with you all - so you won't be bored! 

Now get to hopping and win some prizes!