Glimmer of Light Mixed Media Canvas

***Warning*** Photo heavy post ahead so get your eyeballs ready for some visual happiness. 

 

 I had some messy fun in my studio and I can't wait to share the results with you all!

I've had this bright red canvas staring at me for quite some time. I've always thought it's just been too obnoxiously vibrant, but tonight I decided to conquer it. 

What better way to tone down the red than to cover it up? haha
I used a sheet of old, old music given to me by a bloggy friend and cut it into a face shape. 

I LOVE how easy it is to make emotive faces with the Face It! stamp set from Visible Image.  I stamped the closed eyes onto the sheet music. 

I used some Dina Wakely Scribble Sticks to add some colors to shading. 

Even though Scribble Sticks might not look like much when you scribble them on, as soon as water is added to them, they activate and make all kinds of gorgeousness. Around the edges of my face, I used some Faber Castell Gelatos to add depth and dimension.  I also stamped my background with some numbers from the Somewhere in Time stamp set to grunge it up a bit. 

I took some metal gears and transformed them with some Inka Gold metallic paste. 

I embossed a sentiment from the Glimmer of Light set. 

 

 I glued down the gears to the top of my gal's head, along with some turquoise gemstones and then sprinkled the whole dealio with some Picket Fence Distress Spray Stains. 

 

Pretty much in love with the way this turned out and no longer intimidated by all that red. 

I had to add the stripeys to the side to complete the whole shebang. 

Thanks for tuning in and have a very happy Saturday!

Sunshine on a Rainy Day Stamped Card

March in North Dakota usually means blustery snow and cold. But this week, right before we got walloped by a blizzard, there was a thunderstorm and tons of rain! Mother nature acted a little bipolar. 

In honor of our rainstorm, I busted out the Sparkle in the Rain stamp set by Visible Image and let my inner optimist shine with this card design.

I began by embossing the umbrella girl in black and then scribbled over her with shades of yellow gelatos. 

I blended the gelatos with my fingers and then used a damp paper towel to wipe off the excess gelato from the embossed image. 

I masked over my image and most of the yellow portions of my card and then stamped some raindrops using blue Distress Inks. 

I thought the card paired perfectly with this big ol' happy sentiment from the Express Yourself set. 

I embossed it on black paper and then painted in the sunshine with a bit of yellow Distress Oxides, followed by a healthy does of Spectrum Noir sparkle markers - because who doesn't love all things GLITTER!?

A little background of patterned paper and viola! My design was complete!

I'm going to play along in a few challenges: 
Just Add Ink - Just Add Water
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes plus a sentiment
TIME OUT Challenges - Bold (I used lots of bold colors)

Thanks for popping by, my friends and be sure to head over to the Visible Image blog to check out some awesome inspiration!
 

Shine Bright

Hello Friendly Friends!
Let's talk about glitter. Basically, it's my favorite thing in the world, and my least favorite thing all in one. There is nothing that makes a card sing more than some open sprinkles of shimmer... but it gets EVERYWHERE.

I am fairly certain my vacuum cleaner is the sparkliest and fanciest sucking machine around.

I started my design with some black cardstock and nice layer of Fossilized Amber Distress Oxides. I spritzed it with a little bit o' water to create some dimension.

Next, I used some gold texture paste through the Strobes stencil and then pressed some loose glitter into it.

I used my heat tool gun to make the texture paste dry. I also love the way it makes the paste crack and bubble.

I stamped and embossed a lightbulb from the Shining Bright stamp set on a piece of heavyweight vellum.

 

I love how inspirational this set is! 

I cut out the lightbulb and applied a thin layer of glue to the back, then busted out the glitter for real, pressing it into the glue. 

I put all the pieces together, along with a sentiment from the same Shining Bright stamp set.

This card really shines in the sunlight! I can't wait to give it to someone! 

Thanks for popping by!

Romantic Expressions - New Release

Valentine's Day might be gone, but I just can't make myself stop with all things glittery and pink. 

Luckily there are some new releases over at STAMPlorations today that are making it easy for me to keep on with my love of... well... love. 

Hop on up to the STAMPlorations blog to see Romantic Expressions 1, Romantic Expressions 2, and Romantic Expressions 3 in action.

Because I wanted my design to be all full of elegance, I broke out the embossing gun and sprinkled on some platinum powder. 

I also used a sketch from Sunday Stamps. 

Some foiled papers brought the elegance to the forefront of the overall design. It's textured and lovely and I just want to keep running my hands over it and twisting it in the sunlight. That's not weird - right? 

Thanks for popping by!

Gracielle Designs + Coffee Loving Papercrafters Blog HOp

Woop woop! There's a collaboration going on in the blogosphere and it involves coffee and a lovely new digital stamp set called Coffee & Love released by Gracielle Design. 

You're going to want to make sure to hop along because there are some awesome prizes to be won AND a ton of gorgeous inspiration. 

I started by cutting out a buncha circles using a die cut from Studio Katia. 

Then I made an adorbs little background by inlaying my circles. 

One of the things I love about digital stamps is that you can size them just perfectly for what you want. And this particular set is soooooo pretty!I love the big ol' blooms spraying along the side of the coffee cup. 

I added some crinkly ribbon to finish of my look and wound up with a cozy, pretty design. 

That's all she wrote from me, but make sure you hop along to the next stop which is:

DANA GONG

Llama Tell You - Stamp Release + PRIZES

YOU GUYS! Errrrm... ok you (mostly) GALS! There's a new stamp set on the block and it's all sorts of adorable fun. 

Yours truly just designed a new stamp set for STAMPlorations called Llama Tell You. Who doesn't love a party animal?! Hehe - sorry I just thought I'd throw in one more pun for you. 

And there are **PRIZES** at stake so pay attention! 

The card above was inspired by the sketch at Sketch Saturday 

Not only am I giving away one of these stamp sets personally to someone who leaves a comment on my blog or the other two designers who made cards for this hop, STAMPlorations is giving away a $25 gift card to one of of the lucky commenters, too!

So come on over and party hearty with us! 

P.S. This week all of the Big Grins by Becca Cruger stamp sets are 10% off, and you can also get an extra 20% off by using the code STAMPGIRLBECCA at checkout. Pretty nifty. 

Start hopping here! 

You can find Llama Tell You in the STAMPstore. 

Mixed Media Distress Spray Stain Card

If there ever comes a time when I can't spend my Friday nights in my studio with my one true love (aka Distress products), I don't want to live on this earth anymore. 

 
This week, I had a chance to play with some of the latest stamps released by Visible Image.

When I saw the new Organics set, I knew I had to have it for my very own. When it comes to the perfect artsy stamps for mixed media backgrounds, this is it folks!

I stamped it on a white sheet of heavyweight cardstock and then I spritzed it with some Blueprint Sketch Distress Spray Stain. 

To messy things up just a little bit further, I used some picket fence Distress Spray stain and flicked it onto the card using the end of the open cap.

(Pro tip. You may want to tighten your cap all the way instead of just setting it gently back in the bottle and then tapping the whole thing with your elbow and then spending the next 10 minutes cleaning up stain from your table. Don't ask me how I know.) 

I used one of the eye handprints from the In Your Hands set, embossing it in black and fussy cutting and then added two circle cutouts, with a stamped sentiment from the same set to complete my look. 

Add caption

Love how this turned out, and it definitely wasn't too time intensive to make. I can see me using this design for graduation cards or when one of my friends might be going through a tough time. 

Thanks for joining me today! Pop up to the Visible Image Blog to check out some more inspiration.