My Other Pages

To make it easier to read about our trip to Ireland, I have made a page that is just for that. There is a tab above for Ireland Trip 2014 or click on the Home tab to read my other posts. I have also created a new page for My Weight Loss Journey if you are interested in that, click on the tab above.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Gold Leaf, black hot glue & Make a Mold OH BOY!

Hello everybody!
What a fun time I had this past weekend.
There was a stamp and scrapbook convention in the area on Saturday and Sunday and QKR Stampede/Biblical Impressions/Eureka! Stamps were here.
Fellow design team member, Jessica and I helped out with demoing.
We got to meet Maribeth, the owner of these 3 sister companies, and her husband and grand daughter.  What lovely people they are.

I got some fabulous products that I hadn't worked with before and learned about them and had just an absolute ball teaching others about them.

The title says it all.  Well maybe not all, there is even more, and I'm going to tell you a bit about these products, how they are used and show you what I made with them.

I have some pictures to show you from the show as well as the card I made with my new products.  So let's get started. There is a lot to tell you about!
This is a picture of Kristie (that's me) Maribeth (the owner)
and Jessica (friend and design team member)

The next few pictures are of Jessica giving a demo on how to use Sticky Powder and Gold Leaf.

We used the Leaf (#3901) stamp from QKR Stampede for our demo.
The first step is to ink up the stamp with a VersaMark watermark pad.
Then cover the stamped area with Sticky Powder, just as you would if you were using embossing powder.  The Sticky Powder will stick to the VersaMark.
Now here is a very important part, heat up your heating tool until it is hot, then heat the Sticky Powder, when it turns from white to shiny STOP heating it.  You do not want to over heat it, as it will become dried and not sticky any longer.  Now you have a sticky impression.  This will stay sticky for a while, so if you are making a quantity of cards, go ahead and do 8 or 10 of them, then move on to the next step.  Experiment with this as the temp and humidity in your space may make a difference in how long it will remain sticky.

Next put your piece into your container with the Gold Leaf and cover it with pieces of Gold Leaf.  Use a fairly coarse brush and pounce over the sticky image, pressing the Gold Leaf onto the image.  Then begin to brush the extra off the image.  You don't need to be gentle at all, you want to get all the extra Gold Leaf off and back into your storage container. 
Nothing dainty about this process.
Once you have gotten all the excess off, take a soft cloth (we used Swiffer cloths, you can use an old diaper, a scrap of flannel, whatever you have handy) and buff up the image.  This is metal, so buffing it will make it shine.
Now you have a beautiful image that can be used on a card, scrapbook page or any other project you can come up with.  Gold Leaf can be used on other surfaces as well, glass, ceramic tile, acrylic, wood.  Use your imagination and play with it, see what you can come up with.
This is a card I made with one of the images I made at the show. 
I used a pen with metallic ink for the dash lines around the outside border.
Here is a little bit closer picture.
Can you guess what that dragon fly is made with?
Believe it or not it is BLACK HOT GLUE, yep that's right! 
I'd never seen it before either!
I did demos on Make a Mold and Black Hot Glue along with the
Sticky Powder and Gold Leaf on Sunday. 
What great products they are, so much fun!  Oh and then there's the Mica Powder!

Make a Mold is a product that allows you to make a mold of any object that you would like to be able to make multiples of.  Maribeth had made the dragon fly mold by pressing a drawer pull that she had bought at a home supply store (like Lowe's or Home Depot) into the Make a Mold compound.

All you do is mix equal parts of the compound together and press an object into it, let it set up for about an hour, pull the object out and you have a reusable mold.  You can used, beads, buttons, drawer pulls, jewelry, cameos, what ever you like, I have even used ribbon roses to make molds.

What I did with the dragon fly mold was fill it with black hot glue.  When you do this you need to do it slowly with the tip of the glue gun right down in the glue, so you don't get bubbles.  Then you set it aside to cool.
You can use any kind of medium that will hold it's shape once it is dried/cooled.  Polymer clay, paperclay, hot glue to name a few.

Once the glue is cooled you remove the piece from the mold.
What I did next was use a little bit of Mica Powder on the tip of my finger (you can also use a small paint brush or even a Q-tip) and rub it over the surface of the molded piece.

Now I had a Gold Leafed image and a dragonfly.  What do I do with them.  Well, of course, I combined the two.  Since the dragonfly is made of hot glue all I had to do was heat the back of it just enough to make it sticky again, then I could place it on the card stock piece and it is stuck for good.
If you have a small piece, put it onto the card and heat from under the card.  The card will heat, then the molded piece and it will be adhered to the card.

I can imagine so many ways to use the Make a Mold and the Black Hot Glue!  Cards, scrapbook pages, embellishments for frames and vases.  Use your imagination.

I know this is a very long post, but I just needed to share this with y'all.  I am so excited to share these products and techniques with you.
Below is a list of the products from QKR Stampede
that I used.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you will try out some of these techniques, they are really a lot of fun!

Product list
Sticky Powder (check out the different ideas for using it here)
Gold Leaf (there are many colors to choose from)
Mica Powder (many color choices here too,
the one I used was from True Metals)
Follow the links above or go to QKR Stampede and use the
search box to find these products.

These 2 products below are not currently on the website.
I will check on how to order them and post that information as soon as possible.
Make a Mold ($14.95 for a large kit)
Black Hot Glue ($9.99 for 10 - 10" glue sticks)
New info: These products will be up on the website very soon. If they are not there and you have questions or would like to order, please e-mail Maribeth through the "contact us" link.


                                 Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Happy Birthday

Hello there stampy, crafty friends!

Today I'm sharing a card that I made with a few QKR Stampede images.
I used "Fishing Gear" (#20401)  "Fishing Hat" (#20309) and "Happy Birthday" set (#22803)
I stamped onto watercolor paper with the "Fishing Gear" stamp and colored it with watercolor crayons.  I used some "Perfect Pearls" on the fish to give it that shimmery, iridescent look that fish have.  Unfortunately the shimmer doesn't show up in the pictures.

I stamped and colored "Fishing Hat" on another piece of paper and fussy cut it, then adhered it with foam tape.

The "Happy Birthday" was stamped onto the card with Moss Green VersaFine ink.  This card could have just as easily been for another occasion.  I just happened to pick birthday.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you will stop over to the QKR Stampede shop and see what other wonderful images they have. 
They have something for every occasion and need.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Happy Day

Hi all!

Today I'd like to share with you a "Happy Day" card.
For this card I used the "Butterfly Background" (#58501) from Eureka! Stamps
I also used part of the "Happy Birthday" set (#22803) from QKR Stampede and some of their lovely paper flowers. 
Did you know that QKR Stampede also has supplies other than stamps?
If you "Go Shopping" then click on the 'supplies' link you will see that there are links for Sticky Powder, Paper Flowers, Gold Leaf and more.

For this card, I started with plain white card stock and used Distress Ink to make a nice shade of sky blue, I layered the paper flowers and added some brads in the centers and attached them to the card with glue dots. 
I stamped the "Butterfly Background" on water color paper with VersaFine ink and colored it with watercolor crayons, fussy cut one of the butterflies and attached it with a pop dot on the body area. I curled the wings out to give them a 3-D look.

I have cut apart the Happy Birthday greeting from the "Happy Birthday" set and used the pieces to stamp Happy Day onto the front of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you will stop by Eureka! Stamps and 
QKR Stampede and check out the stamps and other supplies that they have to offer.

Until next time, Happy Crafting! 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

QKR Stampede August Blog Hop

Hello Hoppers!

If you have just happened upon this blog hop, welcome!  But you should probably start at the beginning on the QKR Stampede Blog.  You don't want to miss out on any of the fun projects that the other design team members have to show you.

If you came from Jessica's blog, great, you are on the right track.  I'm sure she had a great project to share.

By now you know that our theme is "Boys, Trains, Planes and Cars" this month.  I have decided to go with this wonderful boy image.
QKR Stampede has many 'boy' images and "Going Fishing" (#13209) is one that I love to work with.
I stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with watercolor crayons.
I used scraps from my scrap stash and layered the image onto them.
I had some brown brads that I've had in my stash forever and this is just why I have been saving them.  I knew I would find the perfect place to use them.

I hope you like my 'boy' card.  Leave me a comment if you wish and pop on over to QKR Stampede to check out the fabulous images they have to offer.

But first, hop on over to see what Kristine has to show you.  I'm sure it will be something wonderful.

Thanks for hopping along!
Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Flying Girl

Happy Day to you all!

Today I would like to share a happy card with you that I made with 3 images from Eureka! Stamps.

I am having so much fun working with the balloons and holders.  If you haven't seen these images, you should go check them out in the Eureka! Stamps Store.
Just "Go Shopping!" then click on the "balloons/holders" category.
There are so many options and once you have a few, you can interchange them.

For this fun card, I used the Flying Girl Holder (#21701), Oval Balloon (#5201) and Heart Balloon (#5204)

The Flying Girl was stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with watercolor crayons and fussy cut.  The balloons were stamped onto various colors of scrap card stock and fussy cut.

I used crochet cotton for the balloon strings, which were all gathered for the girl to hold on to. 

Some of the balloons were adhered with ATG Tape while the girl and the rest of the balloons were adhered with foam tape to give a bit of dimension to the card.
The clouds were free handed onto white card stock and adhered with ATG Tape.

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope this card made you smile and that you have enjoyed it.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

 

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Mama's Little Man

Hello there blog followers!

Today I'd like to share with you, a kind of silly card that I made using a couple stamps from QKR Stampede.

The image I used is "Picking" (#15714)  I stamped it onto watercolor paper and colored with watercolor crayons.
The sentiment "Mama's Little Man" is from a digi stamp
"Mama's Man" (digi15211)

Since the sentiment is a digi I could cut out parts and rearrange the words to fit the card.  The stamp actually says "From Mama's Little Man" but I rearranged it for this card. 

Did you know that most of the QKR stamps (if not all) come in rubber and digital form?  With the digi you can resize them and make them work where you need them.  I don't do a lot of digi, but it is a wonderful option to have.

When my son was a baby, I used to call him my little man.  He was a big baby at 10 lb. 3 oz. and just looked like a little man.
Now on Monday that little man will be 19 yrs old.
I told him this card would be perfect for him.  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by today, leave me a comment and tell me how old your kids are.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Noah balloon update.

Hello there!

I just wanted to pop in and show you an update on my Noah holder and balloon project.
My husband is a photographer and custom framer, so I asked him to frame this piece for me and I think it came out just fabulous.

How cute would this be in a child's room?!?!

Check out these and many more holders and balloons at Eureka! Stamps.
"Go Shopping" and then to the holder/balloon category.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Balloons and Holders

Hello everyone and welcome to the Eureka! Stamps Blog Hop.
Today we are sharing some of the fabulous balloon and holder stamps that Eureka!  has available.

If you have come from Dawn's blog you are on the right path.
I'm sure she has a wonderful project to share with you.
If you have just happened onto the hop, you should probably start at the beginning.
Hop on over the beginning at the Eureka! Stamps Blog.
If you get lost along the way or a link doesn't work, you can hop right back there where all the participating blogs are listed.

Now on with my projects.
I am having so much fun working with these images and as soon as I saw Noah and all the different animals, I knew I wanted to create with them.
I need to apologize as this project isn't quite finished.  It needs to be put into a frame, but I don't have one handy at the moment.
I stamped all the images onto watercolor paper and colored them with watercolor crayons. 
The background is also done with watercolor crayons and paper.
The boat is freehanded onto card stock then colored and cut out.
I fussy cut all the pieces and adhered them with foam tape.
I tied a piece of string to each balloon and attached them to Noah's hand so they wouldn't float away.
I love how this turned out.  Hope you do too.
There are many more animals in the Eureka! Balloon and Holder colletion, so if you don't see your favorite, pop into the shop and see what else is there.

My 2nd project is a card done with the Pirate Balloon Holder and the Parrot Balloon.
I used the same techniques for stamping, coloring and cutting as the other project, then made a card with the images. 
I used some Cosmo Cricket sticker for the "Ahoy Matey"

All the images I used for these projects are listed below and are available at Eureka! Stamps.  There are lots of fabulous images in the balloon/holder category as well as in the rest of the store, so pop in and see what you might like.

Now leave a comment if you wish and head over to see what fabulous project
Roxie has to show you.  I'm sure it will be worth the trip.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have enjoyed seeing my projects.
Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Here is a list of the images I used for my projects:
7953(488) Noah Balloon Holder

11804 Moose Balloon
23906 Parrot Balloon
24101 Monkey Balloon
5205(438) Elephant Balloon
5209(416) Giraffe Balloon
8001(499) Zebra Balloon
8002 Rhino Balloon
8009 Lion Balloon


23907 Pirate Balloon Holder
All available at Eureka! Stamps in the balloon/holder category

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

3-D Fish

Hello everybody!

Today I have a card made with one of the fabulous 3-D/pattern images from Eureka! Stamps. 
I have used "Fish Pattern" (#28901) to create this sweet fish.
Each 3-D/Pattern stamp comes with instructions on how to put the 3-D piece together.
I used watercolor crayons to shade his fins, then added a bit of Stickles to give a bit of shimmer.
I also used the Stickles for the bubbles.

The 'sand' on the bottom is made with torn kraft card stock.
I simply tore the paper and used some VersaMark ink to give a bit of variation in color. 
 I roughed up the paper a bit, then layered strips on top of each other.

There are many 3-D/Pattern images to chose from, so pop on over to
Eureka! Stamps and take a look to see which ones you like the best.

Thanks for stopping by today, leave a comment and let me know which
3-D/Pattern you like the best.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!