Take a Journey Inspired by my Crafting Muse

Miss Monica over at TaylorMadeCards4U is turning 50! In celebration, we're bringing you a Journey inspired Hop full of amazing prizes! All you need to do is hop along and if you're inspired, create your own Journey Inspired project and link back to Monica's blog post.

Monica has long been my card making muse. Her eye for a vintage flair and her steampunk influence are what I aspire to create. I was honored when she asked me to hop along with her for her birthday and hope I am able to inspire you to try something new!

The greatest thing about mixed media is that anything goes. Any items you find laying around can be used and it's a great opportunity to upcycle! Keeping that in mind, here is my creation

I started out with a page from an old book. It had very few photos in it, but with our hop theme of "Journey" I thought this image was a great fit.

Using Ranger Distress Oxide Inks in Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo, I used a sponge dauber to darken the edges of my photo.


Grabbing two rolls of washi tape, I adhered random lengths to the right side of my image.











Using a script stamp from Rubbernecker stamps, I stamped a little script in the lower left corner. It's tough to see, but it's those little details that make for an added vintage feel.

I then took a scoop of Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste and mixed it well with a spritz of Walnut Ink in Terra Cotta. Using a paper towel, I spread it over the entire card front then hit it with my heat gun. This provided a glossy finish, and strengthened my very brittle book page.

I then hand tore the edges and opted to leave them white, for the simple contrast.

Finally, I stamped a sentiment from the Unity Stamp Co February Kit of the month in dark brown pigment ink and clear embossed it in the upper left side. It reads "Life Brings us to Unexpected Places, Love Brings Us Home." I thought this was an excellent tribute to our challenge!

I mounted my card front onto some terra cotta paper and onto a chocolate brown card base.

This card was very quick to put together and I'd encourage you all to give something like this a try!
More so, I encourage you to hop on over to Monica's blog and leave her some Birthday love, as well as read about all the ways you could win one of many fabulous prizes in honor of her special day!
Thanks for stopping by on your journey!

Merry Snarkmas Blog Hop! Have Yourself A Snarky Little Christmas

Thank you so much for hopping along with me today!

You're in for a snarky treat and could be the winner of a $25 So Suzy Gift Card! Just be sure to comment at each stop along the way and a winner will be announced Monday! Thank you, Suzanne for sponsoring our hop!

Providing you with some snarky holiday inspiration today is:

Aimee  <--- You are here!
Kara
Salima
Josefine

If you're a fan of the So Suzy Podcasts, like I am, you may have caught "Using Snark The Right Way" Although I'm a long time fan of snark, and that's what initially drew me to Suzy, I picked up a lot of great tips from this podcast. The best tip I learned is to surprise them with the snark. In other words, keep the exterior of the card traditional, and slap them with snark on the inside!

That's exactly what I did with the card I'm featuring today.

As I mentioned in a prior blog post, I'm a fan of cutting my stamps so I can better customize them. That's exactly what I did with this sentiment from So Suzy Stamps This sentiment is definitely getting a lot of love this year from me! 

Using Spellbinders Contemporary Strip Shapeabilities and A2 Devine Eleoquence Card Creator die cuts, paired with paper from DCWV  I pieced together my card front using two different patterned papers. I stamped my Christmas Tree layered image from Hero Arts using Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, and Pine Needles. I embellished them with Red Berry Crystal Drops from Nuvo and a few swipes of Clear Wink of Stella. I popped the tree image using a few strips of foam tape. 

Now for the snark! The second half of this sentiment captures the spirit of the season (see what I did there). Stamped onto the same striped paper used to feature the sentiment on the card front, I departed from a traditional white interior. I stamped and fussy cut (yes, fussy cut) a wine glass, colored the liquid portion with Golden Sunset Nuvo Crystal Drops then once it dried, I colored over it with a red marker. 

Thanks so much for hopping along today! I hope you enjoyed my feature card and would love your feedback! Be sure to leave comments along the way to be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card to So Suzy Stamps! Be sure to leave your comment by December 12th 12pm Pacific Time Zone (3pm EST)

Your next stop is with Kara! Tell her I sent you!

Aimee  <--- You are here!
Kara
Salima
Josefine

Update! Congratulations Lisa! You're the winner of a $25 So Suzy gift card! Josefine will he in touch with the details!
Thank you everyone for hopping along with us! We wish you a Snarky Christmas and Sarcastic New Year!

For Her Eyes Only - Snarkfest

Need a great stamp set for your inner circle? Check out these sets from Unity Stamp Co. This three piece card set was made using the PMS Peggy set and She Used to Care set.

For the first card, the image is from the PMS Peggy Set. I stamped her in VersaFine using my MISTI to get a dark image. I then tore one edge of the paper. Using Distress Ink I dirtied up the card front, then inked the edges. The image was mounted on printed paper and using the design on the paper, I placed a handful of copper embellishments. The sentiment, from the She Used to Care set was stamped onto a pre-cut tag and mounted with foam tape. 

The second card in this set, utilizes the image from the She Used to Care set and sentiment from that same set. 

I stamped my image on white card stock, then cut it out using the Postage Stamp Die Cut set from Simon Says Stamp. I then mounted it on solid card stock and trimmed it flush with the edges of the die. This was mounted onto striped card stock and accented with Nuvo Crystal Drops from So Suzy Stamps. I tied hemp twin around the base and mounted the card front onto an A2 size card using foam tape. The sentiment is stamped on white card stock, then mounted on solid card stuck and adhered with foam tape. 

The last card in this set features an image from Hampton Arts. Stamped on a 3.75 x 5 inch size white card stock with VersaFine black ink. The edges and background are shaded using Distress Ink. The image was then mounted on printed card stock. The sentiment from the She Used to Care set is stamped on white card stock, adhered to another, larger piece of card stock, and embellished with Nuvo Crystal Drops. The image card stock was also embellished with matching Nuvo Crystal Drops. 

Overall I was hoping for a shabby chic look to this set. I love the sentiments and know they would be appreciated by my sarcastic group of friends. How about yours?

So Suzy Stamps Guest Designer - A card for all Seasons

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a fabulous week!

Things were very busy around here! I got a last minute invitation to attend an Anime/Martial Arts exhibition and although I didn’t feel that my cards were a good fit for the venue, sales greatly exceeded my expectation. Not only did I sell out of an entire line of cards that I wasn’t even advertising, but I picked up a custom order as well. You never know when you’ll be in the right place at the right time to make that sale! Plus it’s always good to get out of our comfort zones from time to time!

Let’s get to this week’s cards! I’ll be featuring a bunch of different stamps I used to make Spring, Summer and Fall themed cards and hope you like what you see!

For my first card, I cut three strips of white paper measuring 4 x 1.5 inches. I then used the Bride and Groom stamp set on the corner of my strips and stamped just the swirl from the bride’s dress in Dusty Concord, Cracked Pistachio, and Mermaid Lagoon Distress inks. I stamped Butterfly 3 in the same colors and ran them through my Scan N Cut.

I then mounted my strips onto a piece of dark pink card stock and stamped the Small Merci in Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and adhered the piece to my white card base.

I used a few pop dots to give my butterflies flight. I adorned them with a single white pearl from Hero Arts and added a row of pearls to underline my sentiment. I love the Spring Feeling this card gives!

My next card for the week has a Summertime feel. I again cut three strips of paper but this time I used the Wedding Dress stamp to create my swirls. I stamped them in Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, and Chipped Sapphire. I then stamped the Daisy Doodle in the same colors and blinged them with some clear rhinestones. I used the Bonjour stamp for my sentiment in Chipped Sapphire.

I adhered the three strips, light to dark, on a piece of patterned paper, then mounted them to a solid blue piece of card stock and onto my card base. Leaving a small boarder around each. I used pop dots to adhere my flowers and voilà!

   

For my last card of the week, I bring you a Fall inspired card. Fall feels like a lifetime away, but the colors are lovely and the options in Suzy’s shop for Autumn theme stamps are as abundant as the leaves on the trees!

For this card, I stamped my three white card strips in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Festive Berries Distress Ink using the Blowing Leaves stamp. I stamped the Line Leaf 1 images in the same colors and used my Scan N Cut to cut them out. I then stamped the Autumn sentiment in Festive Berries.

I adhered my card strips to a green embossed leafy patterned paper and onto a white card base. Leaves were popped up with foam dots.

I’d love to see your take on this layout using your So Suzy Stamps and the new line of Ink Bites!

So Suzy Stamps Guest Designer - Tulip Love

I had the pleasure of being a Guest Designer over at the So Suzy Stamps blog. Here's one of the designs I shared.

Suzy has an amazing range of stamps in her shop that work so well for romantic themed cards. My favorite are the Paris themed stamps. The sentiments are beautifully scripted and replace apostrophes with hearts, and who doesn’t love hearts!

For each of the cards I’ll show you today, I used the Tulip Stem stamp.

The first card features the Mon Amour stamp. I love this stamp with the O replaced with a heart. The size is great and the script is beautiful!

To make this card, I simply cut a piece of white card stock, inked the stem up in both Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and the flower and sentiment in Victorian Velvet. I used 100 lb card stock which did tend to bleed a little with the distress inks but I think it lends itself to a softer, more romantic sort of stenciled or airbrushed look. I then matted my white card stock on two shades of pink and adhered it to a white card base.

For my next card, I paired the Tulip Stem with the J’Adore sentiment. I stamped my stem in Mowed Lawn and the bottom half of my flower in Festive Berries Distress Ink and the top in Worn Lipstick. It gave it a nice Ombre effect. I then stamped the sentiment in Festive Berries.

I mounted my image on a distressed red card stock, then onto another deeper red card stock, and further distressed the edges using a sanding block. I then mounted it onto a white card base, keeping a 1/8 inch boarder.

What’s a So Suzy card without some snark? For my last card, I again used the Tulip stamp and this time paired it with the Common Sense stamp from the Snarky section of the shop.

I again stamped my stem in Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and used both Seedless Preserves and Milled Lavender. I then stamped the sentiment in Seedless Preserves and mounted it to dark purple card stock onto a lavender base card.

If you haven’t picked up the Tulip Stem stamp be sure to do it right away! It’s so beautiful and makes a lovely focal point for cards of any occasion. I hope you enjoyed the clean and simple cards this week and I’ll see you again next week featuring another set of cards! 

You can pick these up at Suzy's shop in Bloomfield NM or check my Etsy shop for a similar design.