New Elements and Project Life by Asia King

BlogStar Asia King is back again to introduce this week’s focus – the new Elements stamps in our April Catalog. These 5 images focus on a collage of several elements on a particular theme, the ones she’s chosen to use are the Typing Elements and Phone Elements. These are big stamps, meant to be the focus of most of a card.

W093 Typing Elements

W094 Phone Elements

Since Asia is in the UK, it takes a little longer to get our goodies over to her. So she’s also bringing the Elements into our Project Life event we did a couple weeks ago.  Suzanne Czosek also did a Project Life page that didn’t get included in the original event, so we’d love you to go look at it as well.

Hello Stampendous Friends! It’s time for another inspiration with Asia King . Today I am playing with Becky Higgins’ Project Life. My super talented DT Sisters have recently provided lots of inspirational eye candy for you with their Project Life pages – in case you missed it, be sure to check it out here. Project Life is all about celebrating your every day stuff so I decided to scrap about the thing that ‘happens’ to me every day….(except the weekends! lol) – my job. One of the things I love about crafting is that it’s a way of recharging my batteries after a challenging day. Crafting helps me to ‘leave’ my work behind. So you might say that scrapping about my work would defeat the object lol .

That’s why in my page I wanted to focus on the ‘little’ things I enjoy about my work place, like beautiful aubretias trailing down the wall nearby, sipping coffee from my ‘Best Wife in the World’ mug (given to me by my hubby, just to clarify!) or shopping in the new Polish deli shop at lunch time. But most importantly – all the lovely people I work with whose optimism and sense of humour really brighten my days .

Let’s start with the supply list:

Stamps: Cling Typing Elements, Cling Phone Elements, Cling Blossom Spray, Perfectly Clear Smashing Notes, Perfectly Clear Big Top Type, Perfectly Clear Vintage Lowercase, Perfectly Clear Vintage Uppercase.

Essentials: Aged Wine Embossing Enamel, Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel, Stamp N Bond powder, Sunflower Micro Glitter, White Detail Embossing Powder.

Other: Project Life page protector – Design A, coffee spritzed papers, alcohol ink markers, clear embossing ink, Sepia or Coffee Archival ink, Black Memento ink, ColorBox chalk inks, selection of photos.

1. Spritz some coffee over white card and allow to dry.

2. Cut two panels from the coffee card to the size of your journaling pockets.

3. Stamp the Typing Elements and the Phone Elements onto your journaling cards with brown ink.

4. Stamp Blossom Spray along the edges and in corners with black Memento ink.

5. Stamp the word ‘office’  in Google colours onto scrap coffee papers with a selection of alpha stamps and using ColorBox inks. Add to your photo some additional journaling and a ‘Google maps’ pin.

6. Colour the flowers with the alcohol ink markers.

7. Stamp an accent letter from the Vintage Uppercase set with clear embossing ink and sprinkle the image with Stamp N Bond powder. Warm the heat gun for a few seconds then heat the powder just until it melts.

8. Quickly sprinkle the image with the Sunflower Micro Glitter. Press the glitter with your fingers to aid bonding.

9. Fix the letter to your card with small staples.

10. Sprinkle your cards sparingly with Aged Wine and Aged Ivory embossing enamels. Heat the powders from underneath.

11. Stamp various expressions from the Smashing Notes set directly onto your photos using clear embossing ink. Heat emboss with White Detail embossing powder.

As you can see, these Elements stamps are just perfect for everyday life scrapbooking, especially documenting your office/working endeavours. Their vintage look adds a really quirky contrast against their modern ‘equivalents’ .

Thank you for popping in here today and I hope you enjoyed reading about this project. As always, I’d love to know what  you think!

Happy crafting!

Big hugs

Asia

Anchors aweigh! Pushing the boat out onto Stampendoulicious waters…by Asia King

Ahoy Stampendous friends! Asia here with a new project to inspire you and to err…. push the boat out so to speak! Today I would like to share a mixed media canvas that features lots of Fran•táge, my beloved napkin art, and a new technique for me – Faux Airbrushing (as featured in the UK’s Craft Stamper magazine March 2013). Let’s cast off and get underway!

Step 1 – supplies:

- blank 8″x8″ canvas

- set of printed napkins with nautical theme

- Decopatch glue, an old brush, fine art sponge (or a regular washing sponge as long as it has fine holes)

- distress inks: Shaded Lilac (not included on the photo), Faded Jeans, Broken China, Pumice Stone

- stencil with various sized circles. I created mine from acetate and die cut Nestabilities circles. You can later use your die cut circles as masks.

You will also need:

- Stampendous Cling Navigateur stamp

- Coffee Archival ink

- Inktense (or water colour) pencils, water brush

- ivory card and a piece of ivory fabric, scissors, paper distresser

Step 2 – covering your canvas:

- peel the top printed ply of your napkin, cut and arrange the pattern on the canvas.

- adhere to the canvas with Decopatch glue, covering all the sides as well. Don’t worry about small creases – let the glue settle for a minute and then smooth the creases gently with your fingers.

- avoid adding any glue on top of the napkins at this stage. You will want to keep the napkin unsealed with the medium.

Now you are ready to add some bubbles!

Step 3 – water bubbles:

- pinch your sponge so you get a nice round tip

- gradually add inks by gentle tapping/dabbing of the sponge through the stencil. Dabbing with the sponge instead of swiping it in a circular motion will create a gradual ‘dotted’ effect, similar to airbrushing (hence the name of the technique)

- to create the ‘bubble look’ keep the centre of the circle uninked. Then depending on your chosen light direction add more ink to opposite sides to create shading

- add layers of overlapping circles. Use your (previously) die cut circles as masks to add more shading. Depending on the location of the shade you can either bring the bubble forward or set it behind another

- work the inks from lightest to the darkest shade

Step 5 – Bling it on!

- swipe Boss Gloss (or an embossing ink pad) along the edges of the canvas> Leave some areas uninked

- cover with Aged Marine Embossing Enamel, tap off the excess, heat set then allow to cool

- swipe embossing ink over the remaining areas overlapping previously embossed parts

- sprinkle with Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel and heat set

- using the technique shown by my fellow BlogStar Tobi in this post randomly add layers of  Champagne, Steel Blue, Royal Blue Crushed Glass Glitter and Powder Blue Colour Fragments

- stamp bunting images onto fabric with a permanent ink. I used a free stamp from July 2012 issue of the Craft Stamper magazine. Alternatively draw several bunting flags with a Sharpie pen and cut out. Adhere to the canvas with hot glue gun and embellish with a string or ribbon.

Step 5: Main panel

- stamp Cling Navigateur onto ivory card with Coffee Archival

- colour the image with Inktense pencils or alcohol markers

- add water bubbles following the same steps as above

- distress the edges of the panel with paper distresser

- using the encrusted jewel technique add Shabby White highlights to the image

Step 6:

- stamp Cling Better Travel sentiment stamp with embossing ink onto acetate

- heat emboss with Black Detail embossing powder

- trim the acetate close to the sentiment

Step 7:

- glue burlap, cheese cloth, buttons and trinkets to the canvas

- crumple the stamped panel slightly and layer over the fabrics

- once in place, seal the image with a layer of Decopatch glue (it will dry clear)

Step 8:

- embellish further with Glossy Accents bubbles

- add highlights to your design with buttons and glass pebbles – can you see my cute ‘ship in a bottle’ below?

Inspiration photo credit

I would love to see your take on the Stampendoulicious ‘Faux Airbrushed’ projects so get crafting and let me know what you create!

Oh, and if you’d like to see more of the close up photos of my project, feel free to hop over to my blog .

I hope you enjoyed today’s inspiration and I look forward to seeing you again next week .

Big hugs

Asia

Stamps & Glue Pad with Fun Flock Tutorial

We love all the great things Kimberly Crawford creates over at For the Love of Paper! Today’s blog post is a tutorial using stamps and a glue pad with Fun Flock by Kimberly Crawford herself!

When I use Fun Flock, The Essential Glue Pad has always worked well for me. There is a little trick to it, so read on. It also cleans up easily with stamp cleaner. (clean the glue off as if it was ink, any cleaner will do)

When I am going to Fun Flock in a darker color, I stamp the image in ink similiar to the Fun Flock color I am going to use first. Using acrylic stamps makes this so much easier.

Once the colored ink has dried, push your stamp into the glue pad, just like it was ink. Line up the two images and stamp. Here is the little trick *let the glue dry for a minute or two*. Yep, let it just sit there. (remove the stamp though)

After a few minutes, be very liberal with your Fun Flock application. I poured almost the entire bottle over this ornament. Gently push the Fun Flock down onto the image and let it dry for several minutes. (get a soda or a treat while you wait )

Here is the finished card. Fun Flock is wonderful for holiday cards and believe it or not, it is time to start thinking and planning for those! *wink*

For this card, I stamped the leaves on the bottom half of the card with glue and then applied the Fun Flock.

On this card, I stamped the entire butterfly image on the cardstock and another piece of cardstock. The second butterfly got stamped with glue and then Fun Flock was added. I cut out the butterfly and foam mounted it. (stamping it first, lets you “keep” the antennae )

The background was stamped with glue and then Fun Flock was applied. The butterflies were stamped with watermark ink.

Recipe

Stamps:

• SSC169 Wild Blossoms Perfectly Clear™ Stamps
  
• SSC098 Happy Flowers Perfectly Clear™ Stamps
• SSC195 Butterfly Beauties Perfectly Clear™ Stamps
  
• SSC1022 Damask Season Perfectly Clear™ Stamps (to find this stamp set, ask your local retailer. Find your local retailer here)
• SSC1023 Damask Fall Perfectly Clear™ Stamps (to find this stamp set, ask your local retailer. Find your local retailer here)

Other:

• Stampendous Fun Flock (FL402 Chili Pepper Red, FL821 Chocolate Lotto, FL407 Lemonade Yellow, FL803 Pixie Pink )
• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark
• Tsukineko Essential Glue Pad
• Palette Ink (Belle Rose, Chartreuse, Paris Lights, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate)
• Prism Cardstock (Simply Smooth, Frosted Pink, Intense Pink, Frosted Teal, Intense Teal, Suede Brown Medium, Suede Brown Dark)
• Ribbon (Offray Striped, May Arts White Sheer, American Crafts Pink Striped, Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy Grosgrain)
• Button from Making Memories
• Twine from May Arts

Fuzzy Fun Flock for Miniatures!

Look at this terrific use we’ve found for our Fuzzy Fun Flock! Lesley Shepherd has a passion for miniatures and she’s spent more than twenty years professionally teaching a wide range of crafts. She’s created these beyond adorable tiny rugs and carpets with our vibrant Fun Flock colors. You can read all about them, and Lesley, on About.com: Miniatures. We’re so excited we sent Lesley some goodies to see what else she comes up with.

Here’s Lesley’s review of our Fun Flock
http://miniatures.about.com/od/miniaturebasics/gr/funflockrev.htm

In this 8 step tutorial she uses a swirly organdy ribbon to make an adorable miniature rug:
http://miniatures.about.com/od/dollhouseaccessories/ss/flockedribbonrug.htm

In this 12 step tutorial she uses the Sticker Background Technique to make a miniature rug with snowflakes.
http://miniatures.about.com/od/dollhouseaccessories/ss/Flockedrugs.htm

Adding Fun Flock to the back side of any Class A’Peel stickers and then using the Therm O Web Peel N Stick to create a background with Fun Flock will allow you to adapt this technique to any greeting cards. Like this one:

Recipe for Damask Flower Save the Date Card (card designed by Gennifer Lewis):

Stamps:

• SSC174 Wedding Word Perfectly Clear™ Stamps

Stickers:

• AC1015 Scrollwork Flowers Class A’Peel Stickers in Mirror Silver

Other:

• Therm O Web Double-Sided PEEL n STICK™ Adhesive
• FL803 Pixie Pink Fuzzy Fun Flock

Flock & Father’s Day

As we prepare to honor our fathers this weekend, we’ve been on the look out for some fun Father’s Day projects on our favorite blogs. Kimberly Crawford has posted some fabulous gifts for our favorite guy on her blog, we know you’ll love these. But upon surfing Kimberly’s blog we discovered that she’s done a tutorial for one of our favorite products, too! We love using our Fuzzy Flock™ with a glue pen, our Class A’Peel™ stickers, or more recently on Thermo Web’s Peel ‘N Stick, but Kimberly has managed to make a success of it with Tsukineko’s Glue Pad. A feat we’ve yet to master. Be sure and check out her tutorial for instructions.

To check out the recipe and instructions for this go to Kimberly C.’s blog at http://kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com/.

To check out the recipe and instructions for this go to Kimberly C.’s blog at http://kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com/.

To check out the tutorial at Kimberly C.’s blog at http://kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com/.

Finally, here’s one of our flocked creations for Dad.  Look for more great Father’s Day ideas on Thursday. To get the recipe and instructions for this card go to www.stampendous.com

Speaking of Fuzzy Flock, if you’d like a hands on experience with this terrific product and you’re in the Florida area this summer, you might want to find yourself at the Craft and Hobby Association’s first ever Craft SuperShow for consumers. Stampendous will be offering a class for consumers at this show on Friday, July 31. We’d love to see you there! You can get lots more detail about the events at this show here: http://www.craftsupershow.com/eweb/dynamicPage.aspx?WebCode=EdEvents